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Kent

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    IS 300 Sport Cross Navigator

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  1. Are you sure? There are plenty of Skeleton watches but I've never heard of a Skelton brand.
  2. [ I don't buy the investment argument - if you want to invest money for the future, there are far better ways to make more money - over 100 years you can pretty much guarantee a 7% pa increase on the stock market, turning £5000 into over 4 million quid. How many expensive watches are going to be worth that in 100 years time?The only argument I can understand is that what you are actually buying is a piece of jewellery, and the associated feelgood factor. It's an emotional purchase, not a rational one - hence the reason a logical engineer like myself can't see the point. Ian I agree with the investment point although 7% is a low estimate of a 100 year return and historical increases have been mostly in double figures. However I did not and would never recommend watches as a wise investment, I merely pointed out that unlike a car, which will probably have wasted away to nothing in 20/30 years, quality watches are built to last several lifetimes and can retain a very high percentage of original cost even allowing for inflation. In the meantime you have had decades of pleasure wearing them and showing them off to other watch buffs. Most house and car purchases are far more emotional than rational in my experience. Only investors and builders buy rationally. Most people, including me, take an area they can afford to buy in and then buy the house they fall in love with. I would bet that most people on this forum have bought at least one car which was not the most practical, wisest choice but had that "I want it and I want it now" factor. Kent.
  3. The original poster has now chosen his watch so its all a bit academic really but I would be interested to hear more about the "cheap" and unreliable Breitling movement. The three watches in the original shortlist all use the same base movement or "Ebauche", that is, the Valjoux 7750. This is the most common chronograph movement in the world and is used by dozens of quality watchmakers as a base module. It is recognised as an extremely robust, accurate and reliable movement throughout the watch world. The quality of the finished movement depends on the amount of personalisation that a Manufacturer puts into this base movement. Thus, a company such as IWC will modify and personalise to such a degree that it finishes up with a movement totally unrecognisable from the original. Tag Heuer, Breitling and others will not usually do very much at all with the original other than specifying the best quality materials and then adding a few swirlies to make it look good. hence the price differential. A lot of watch "snobs" won't buy a watch unless the movement is made in house and this helps to create the market for the Pateks of this world. "can't get my head round this at all. I would spend more money on an expensive car than a cheap car because it performs better, has more features or is bigger. I would spend money on a bigger house because it is better than a small house. But a £3000 hour is exactly the same as a £20 Casio hour. You have to adjust your watch twice a year anyway - who cares if it is 0.5seconds out each time." Ian Buying a high quality watch is not only for telling the time. The £20 Casio will be far more accurate than most mechanical watches anyway. An investment of £5K on a sought after timepiece will still be worth a lot of money in 50 years time and even more in 100 years time. My first good watch was my Fathers Rolex which I inherited many years ago. This started off my ruinously expensive passion for watches which, thank *** has now cooled to the extent that I now own only one really good watch and that is a Panerai (which incidently uses the Valjoux 7750 as its base movement) Spending more than £20 on a watch is not foolish. Who says a big house is better than a small house? or an expensive car is better than a cheap car? It depends surely on the quality/location. Almost anything I can think of comes in a variety of qualities and it just depends what you want from an item whether it is worth spending more on.
  4. Patek Phillipe are probably the finest watchmakers in the world but as I said, £3k is unlikely to buy one. They do the Nautilus and the Aquanaut models which are robust and suitable for those with an active lifestyle. Most of the Major Watchmakers have at least a few sports models in their inventory. I have owned a lot of watches in the past but I must admit that a Patek has always been out of my reach especially as some of them can cost as much as a new Lexus! Still, one day maybe! The Vacherin Constantin Overseas Model is another very very handsome sports style watch and is close to a budget of £3K if you import. As a previous poster pointed out, stainless steel offers the best value. Who wants to buy Gold or Platinum and then wrap it round a watch movement? Regards, Kent.
  5. Nothing more than around £3k. Thanks for all your input people. Just having a looook now at some of the suggestions. :D Just rang our local and only stockist in my town of good watches, Omega are reducing the number of stockists by 150 and have over time increased their watch prices to make them more exclusive. I have been very pleased with my Omega Seamaster, (plain one) and have lost very little money off mine in three years. Im still drawn towards the Omega more than anything else at present but not in a hurry to rule anything else out. :) With a budget of £3K I would forget any of the three that you have been looking at. Whist they are fine watches they are not in the same class as Panerai, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Breguet, Chopard (some), Glasshute, Frank Muller, IWC, Jaeger-le-Coultre and you might even find a Vacherin Constantin at £3K if you're lucky although you won't get an A. Lange & Sohne or a Patek Phillipe for that money. There are many others too numerous to mention here. A lot of these manufacturers still make their own in house movements and these are highly desireable pieces. £3K or less will buy you at least one model of most of the above or for that matter a Rolex with a lot of change. Take a look at www.collectorstime.com who has a great selection at very competitive prices and is also very trustworthy. (I have bought from him) Even if you get done for duties etc the favourable exchange rate will still make it cheap. There is virtually no watch in your budget that will show you a profit over time allowing for inflation unless you are lucky or wise enough to buy trade and sell retail (a bit like cars really). What you will get with a well looked after quality watch is a lifetime of service and minimum depreciation. I would absolutely agree that you should avoid all quartz watches and their like. Mechanical is the way to go and it does not matter whether it is automatic or hand wind. Hope this is helpful to you. Kent.
  6. And the truly sad thing is that having voted them in three times our wonderful electorate will probably vote them in again. I know it's called democracy but It still offends me that so many people are institutionally brainwashed into voting Labour no matter what. Whilst it is too much to hope that people might actually vote for the opposition, surely this lot are so completely discredited that even the most diehard supporter should consider abstaining. Another 10 years of them and we will be an almost exact mirror of the old Soviet Union. To quote Richard Littlejohn et al " You really couldn't make it up" With apologies to all the brothers. No personal offence intended. Just a very honest opinion. And yes I did vote labour once. Changed my mind for life when I was first forced to join a trade union under a closed shop arrangement. I watched first hand as militants systematically tried to destroy the company and if their members suffered constant loss of wages then, that was just tough.
  7. I do sympathise with you and agree about the £4K markup being pretty stiff. But this is only for the naive. All prestige car dealers do the same. As you are aware of the difference in Glass's then if you wanted to buy that car from the dealer you would negotiate a price which left you both happy (or walk away). Main dealers need at least a £2k margin or they would be out of business but £4K is just a tester usually. Glass's retail guide price is just that, a guide, and it applies to small businesses as well as very large ones. A small reputable garage may well be happy to turn a grand on a car even though they will generally ask a very full price to start with.
  8. If it is a DVD system then Toyota disks might work. It worked for me in my IS 300. I have no experience of the CD versions though.
  9. Neighbours are still in the stone age and still believe in hunting their food LMFAO So i guess i am safe but will do just in case one of them has inspiration. I too have Netgear in the Hotel and it reaches pretty far with an additional aerial. I agree about the WEP key. It is possible for neighbours quite far away from you pick up your broadband or even anybody parked nearby.
  10. Its about right for a forecourt price although if you wanted to sell him that car his offer (if he wanted it) would be £7K tops. A £3K+ mark up on prestige cars like this is pretty normal in the trade but unless he is the worlds greatest salesman he is not going to refuse an offer a good deal less. No SatNav either. Yes it is a minter but so it should be even if it had done 100K or more.
  11. I did one in 1991. Cost me £10 and was around 90 odd questions in 60 minutes. According to Mensa my results showed that my IQ was in the top 1% of the population and full membership would require attendance for several hours in Manchester after which I would be told my exact IQ. Mensa membership is open to those whose IQ places them in the top 2% of the population and is not based on a fixed IQ. At that time an IQ of 128 or more placed you in the 2% category and 135 or more for the top 1%. After a few silly moments thinking about it I came to my senses and agreed with my wife. "If you're so f***g smart then why are you still working for a (very modest) living and why do you have absolutely no common sense?" Case closed and end of Mensa conversation in our house. I am so smart that when I did this one I gave a false e-mail address and so am unable to get my results. Better put me down as a 94 I think Ahmet.
  12. http://www.twhawkins.co.uk/vehicle-details...ID=65161&popup= I bet you could get it for £29500 no problem. I don't know how this compares to a new one but does it have any significance re the sales of the new Lexus? What do you think?
  13. Many thanks to all. Only 59 and still saving for an SC430
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