Independents

Rocky mountain oysters, calf fries, cowboy caviar…. I prefer calling a spade a spade. I will eat testicles. But not mine...

 

This is just going to "one of those posts".

I am just 48 hours from going downtown to pick up my new De Betune, a "simple Ti DB28"

BUT.

 

Damned the people who design things!

I just saw and examined in detail, well...just pictures...but I bought both the Opus V and the Antiqua way back when without seeing them in the metal.

I got the damned same feeling again.

That HOT flushed feeling that OK..I have to spend money.

Money that that I just don't have enough yet.

Money that like with Opus V and the Antiqua, that I will only be investing, as history revealed itself over the last decade.

This is going to be one LOOOONG shot.

I like the watch, I like the art behind it.

I am ready to buy it.

I am putting down money for it just as I complete my purchse of the DB28.

 

Flash back to 2003 and to 2005, when the Opus Pt and Antiqua Pt were HALF today's prices.

Not always.

There are many exceptions, but rarely would one be paying any less than whatever one paid for them back in the day.

And there is so much beauty to enjoy.

To palpably run thru the fingers and wrists, and to visualise.

I was not that far off with the RM002 when i paid about half what it resells at any half decent dealer today.

Again, depending on where you are.....good thing is, at these prices to gain, you WILL fly out to sell it.

HELL..why am I talking about selling!!!???

Fact is..I am stunned by the BUG Supersport's looks and the price.

OK..it is NOT cheap...but it has all the "right" ingredients!!!!

It is Opus V all over again.

It is a very special Antiqua all over again.

I just wanna share..after I placed my own booking!

Look!

These were and remain ICONS today, and back then..poooh...they were too expensive.

Too..radical.

I say the same for MB&F, no regrets, but what the BUG Sport is...is something far more accelerated.

It will push hard against the envelope, like Opus V did.

I think back to the first days of RM002...man..no body wanted any of them then.

We had some small time lunch in a small restaurant.

I am GLAD I bought one.

At a fraction of what it became later.

I don't really like knives.

But this one is downright a statement piece.

It will slice off a gender and create a eunuch.

But the curves on this watch, this piece of technical sculpture...is well worth risking money.

No better yet, if it does not curve upwards into desirability heaven, I am tempted to say that i will cut off my...

Damned..I said that about the DB25T too....but I am going to eat my words first.

That one is a classic rendition, an Antiqua, waiting to blossom, aging into a fine wine by 2020 or so.

Patina too..wear these damned things and don't wrap them in plastic.

Keep the Pateks in plastic, they sell better that way. Fresh.

But I prefer the watches that age, patinise, gather history, that were worn during times of grief and of joy.

A watch that appreciates, and yet is fully scratched as well...that's the kind the Opus and Antiquas are like.

I really am glad that Patek took down that "you don't really own..." advert, of course you own it, and of course you are going to wear it.

 

Over the last week, I lent my MB&F 1 to a good friend, just so that he could get the feel of it.

Watches should be designed like these...to gather value with the right patina of scratches and a few small dents.

 

Or they would be like keeping these refrigerated.

Take my word for it...I never thought that I would seriously think a wristwatch could appreciate significantly in speed.

but some jolly well did.

Not out of market sentiment, but out of unexplicable value of relevance.

Could I be totally wrong?

Of course!!!!

But I am betting that just about less than 5 years from now...if you didn't sacrifice to get a Bug from Parmigiani, you will want to use that Rambo 3 knife!

This message has been edited by bernard cheong on 2012-03-26 10:51:40

Equally as exceptional time pieces, I'm sure you don't regret buying those when you did

Best,

Jorge

use that knife on my balls.

Just get a custom made sapphire set of balls, similiar to appearance to the Haldimann H8.  So when you look down you can be reminded that watches ultimately led to the demise of your family jewels  But I hope that it never comes to that.

I bet the same thing with my wife, that the DB will be an investment.

This message has been edited by amerix on 2012-03-26 12:01:01

I see it as I saw the Lange 1 when it cost $18,000usd back in 1996. I actually placed the same bet with the IWC cal 5000 ltd edition, which was $15,600 usd in 2002, rg.

Testicles intact!!!!!

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I still have a lot to learn.

maybe I'll need to try those balls if i'm in singapore.

mistake and that will be the end of buying expensive watches.

Let's see...Lange 1, IWC cal 5000, Opus V, Freak, Antiqua,Vianney's classic and Goldpfeil, Panerais (which I actually sold quite a few, after 2 years of wear, to test the theory), RM002, MB&F 1, MB&F 3, Dufour Simplicity, Datograph, FP Journe's octas, Patek simple 3 handed gold designs, all safe.

One mistake I made was the IWC skeletal repeater which I have seen sold lower by 50% of what I paid...at an auction in NY.

So..let's come back to this post a year from now, just 12 months...and I am sure the Bug Super Sport will be doing OK. Definetely better than if I had kept my money in the bank these days.

I think Richemont, with its conservative leader "Rupert the bear", will continue to be a (generally) safe bet.

a bit after thinking about the past performances of anything named after a car, perhaps this will be the exception.

sometimes confronting, even a bit odd with the discussions but they are always thought provoking, at least for me. You have shown since the early years of AHCI, that you championed them and had the BxLLS to commit . In short , you are a watch taste leader. In my own humble collecting, I buy what I like that appeals to my sense of aesthetics , but may have been influenced subliminally by fashion, the arts and architecture.

Great to hear that you are getting your DB finally.

Regards
Rene

While you put it on the wrist, it seems to give an expensive smile on the face, a pricey moment of fun and an unreasonnable joy all day long.

Like your post.

Thanks Bernard

Francois

Pass on those "oysters". I am unfamilar with the bug you are referring to.

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