Was wondering if anyone in the community had any knowledge of watches and knew whether it would be a sensible idea to ‘invest’ and buy a Rolex.
Like, as a financial investment? No, not really, I think their only benefit as a purely financial investment is their ability to slide under the nose of the taxman when he tallies your inheritance bills. Useful for people with so much money they’ve few other places to put it.
It may have other qualities, like, looks good, something to pass to grandkids, wear to your wedding etc and they do generally hold their value (but that’s not guaranteed either).
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Indeed. Get the yacht and the holiday home in the Bahamas first.
As an investment? Possibly. I guess they increase in value eventually, but you’d need to subtract from that any increased insurance premiums over the years.
As a watch, I’d say it’s more of a status symbol than a watch. If you value the status owning such a watch might give you, then, for you, it’s worth it.
It might also increase your status as a potential mugging victim, too.
If you have the money and you want one, go for it. YOLO and all that. You could always sell it if you later decide the money could be better used for something else.
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I’d say yes. I got one for my 21st in a style that is no longer in production. I have worn it pretty much every day and it’s now valued ~£1000 more than it was originally purchased for (allegedly). I had it serviced once which was about £200 and it is the highest quality item I have ever owned by far.
It depends on the specific watch. Not all Rolex will automatically go up in value.
If you wanted a watch that has a high chance of increasing in value, you’re better off looking at A Lange & Söhne (in my opinion, the best watchmaker).
Personally, I do not buy watches for monetary purposes, any value they retain or increase is secondary to the collection of watches you develop over the years. The monetary value is subjective anyway. To realise the increase you’d have to be willing to sell it, and a collector would need to be willing to pay an inflated price for it. That only happens meaningfully for quite rare and already very expensive watches.
It’s the other way round. The monetary value is objective, the value in owning one is subjective 
It was the Rolex GMT Pepsi - 2019 I am after if I was to get one. That’s the one I like - and thus was seeing if anyone knew or had any knowledge on the brand to see if it’s worthwhile spending money on such an item for my 21st
It’s a very subjective question. It totally depends on what you want from the watch.
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I would say jewelry in general is not a very good investment. Rolex’s are not even the best watches to buy.
One only buys a Rolex when they want an expensive watch to show off and know nothing about watches.
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What do you own?
What watch do I own? I don’t.
I hate anything that’s unnecessary and let’s be honest, watches became irrelevant for telling time the moment the smartphone was born.
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No, I disagree. If you had an objective value of a watch you would only be paying the costs of production. All value over and above that is subjective.
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If you like it and can afford it, go for it. But don’t just buy a Rolex because it’s the only relatively high-end brand you’ve heard of. I recommend having a look on the watchfinder YouTube channel for exploring the world of watches.
Interesting theory - My experience is very much the opposite (around jewellery being a good investment).
Whilst I wouldn’t buy anything jewellery related as an investment, the actual price of most pieces of jewellery (and certainly watches), has increased over time, meaning that if nothing else, you’d likely get your money back, but more than likely… increase it.
However, for me, that’s a side effect of the main goal, which is to enjoy said jewellery yourself.
Is that opinion based on anything particularly?
I used to have an interest in the “mid luxury” watch category (4 figures, not 5 
) and whilst Rolex can be a little “Marmite”, the same can be said for many brands, and Rolex’s aren’t fundamentally worse than others.
You get to a point, and it becomes more about the prestige or look, rather than the actual mechanics behind the watch.
Lastly… If I were to buy some jewellery as an investment (specifically a watch), I’d want to buy something that had a “cult like” following and potentially attracted people who weren’t experts in the field.
A Rolex would fit that bill, and if you happened to pick a desired model which was discontinued after you purchased it, you could make many thousands of pounds.
Yes, it seems, at least were I come from and the social circles i move in, every frat boy with a modicum of wealth goes out and buys a Rolex for that “prestige” you mentioned. So much so it’s now the Supreme of watches.
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I’m not sure that’s an indication of the product - More an indication of it’s sought after history.
Sure, nearly everyone will associate Rolex with “expensive”, “quality”, “premium” and the like… and let’s be fair, they are certainly more expensive, better made and more premium than most watches people buy.
I’m sure those same people have never heard of the really expensive watch brands though, and likely couldn’t afford them if they did.
Never the less, I don’t think saying “Rolex isn’t very good because frat boys buy them” is a solid argument 
Oh please don’t get me wrong here, I hate all watch brands equally.
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Argos have some nice ones 
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I guess consistency is key there!
FWIW, I bought an Omega watch about 10 years ago. It was the “one watch I’ll ever buy, that’ll last forever, and I can pass down to future generations etc etc”…
I don’t plan on buying others, but it’s nice to know it’ll always be there.
It’s gone up in value (a small amount), just because the cost of buying new has gone up quite a bit, so people are looking to pick up a second hand one for less (yet still more than when I first bought it).
I have no plans to sell it though, but it’s a “nice to have” for anyone who has a slight interest in the subject.