bro Ed.YEO, replying to you in english bcos:
- faster for me than struggling with hanyu pinyin
- so others can read
while i agree with your criteria that buying watches should be based on durability and what attracts us to it, i humbly differ when you say appreciation (or value retention in my own words) isn't (that) important.
after all we sink in thousands, if not tens of thousands in our hobby. shouldn't the least we do is to ensure we don't suffer unnecessary depreciation should i or any heir(s) chose to liquidate them, especially the more expensive pieces?
Actually, I have never taken any hobby to be an investment or money-making opportunity. I think we already have our jobs for that.
A hobby to me is to relieve stress, bringing money into the mix just sours what it means to me. For example, if I'm a photographer, keeping it purely as a hobby would probably mean that I dump money into my camera and lenses, it depreciates over time, and I upgrade. Maybe I can earn some passive income here and there, depending on how good I am, but it's unlikely to cover what I've put in. What you take photos of when you're a hobbyist vs someone looking to earn can be rather different. I would imagine street photography won't be very lucrative at all in Singapore, what I've heard is that the big bucks is in event and wedding photography. But what if I don't like doing events/weddings?
Same for watches, buying what you LIKE may be a pretty shitty investment, but if you look at things that will appreciate in value, they may not always be what you like. I think the best we can hope for is to pick and choose the prices we buy watches at well enough, so that we don't lose too much money. If we get to flip and earn, then that's a bonus, but not a primary objective.
So you gotta pick and choose. Keep a hobby clean, or turn it into a source of revenue, I doubt you can do both.
