I was watching this podcast, and one of the statements (made at about the 41-minute mark) resonated with me. It was this:
“For me, cars and watches are a similar thing, because at a very early accessible price point, they both fulfill their brief. So telling the time and getting from A to B, happens with an Apple watch and a Dacia Sandero. If you’re concerned about the functionality of a car, anything after that is led by the heart.” [And the ego.]
It’s been a constant struggle for me and I think, for many.
I know I’m always going on about luxury stuff, and I think almost every argument on this website has revolved around where your own limits are on the price : quality scale — because in almost every case, we’ve established the functionality of the thing early on.
Hence cars: functionality is achieved with, say, a Honda Civic. Then, if you want a little more speed to go with your functionality, you move on to the excellent Civic Si or even to the Civic R. But you also have a desire for a little more luxury than a standard Honda’s offering, so you look at… an Acura Integra Model S? (Same car as the Civic, more or less the same performance, but with a tad more luxury and a higher price point.) But come on, you say, an Acura? Why not (say) a Mercedes CLA 35 AMG at pretty much the same price point, but with Merc luxury (better than any Acura’s)? (Here’s a comparison.) And then on and on you go, until you start getting serious about all those things that make your parts tingle until you end up looking at stupid money for a product that is completely over the top by any standards (hello Ferrari or similar). (And in SUVs, you start off with a Toyota RAV4 and end up with a Maybach 600.)
Then watches. Functionality is simple: Casio F91-W ($30). Okay, you don’t want a digital watch, so a more manly Invicta Pro Diver ($60). You all know where this is going: up the scale with Timex, Tissot, Seiko, Grand Seiko, Longines, Omega… until you get to Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Audemars Piguet and thence to the stratosphere where you can spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars… on a watch that is functionally little better than that Casio, Invicta or Timex.
With watches, I have my Tissot Heritage and I really don’t feel the need for any other. Maybe if I had some budget I’d consider a Longines Master or even an Omega Railmaster (which makes me tingle, bigly) but beyond that it’s more ego than I care to indulge myself. Unless I went all eclectic on y’all. As with cars with manual transmissions, my timepiece choices are somewhat narrowed by my insistence on manually-wound actions, but there ya go.
Of course, there are guns. Confining ourselves to double-barrel over/under shotguns, we start off with Gforce (never heard of them) for under $400, and while this may be a piece of junk — not judging, just acknowledging that to produce this kind of gun at that particular price point, compromises must be made — there’s no doubt that it’s at least a Timex shotgun, so to speak. Then I guess you’d go on to the Turkish-made CZ Drake, then up the food chain to Browning Cynergy, Beretta Silver Pigeon, Rizzini BR110… and we all know where this ends, don’t we?
I have to confess that my mood swings wildly when it comes to this stuff. On the one hand, I’m perfectly comfortable driving my 150,000-mile Tiguan. But if I had to get a new car and had any kind of budget, given my circumstances, I’d probably consider that Honda Si (decent reliability, performance and above all, manual transmission). After that, I’d need more budget, maybe a great deal more budget to get a car I’d really like to drive for pretty much the rest of my life. While I’m not really brand-conscious (in terms of impressing others), I’d rather drive something that has some kind of heritage — but forget the boutique stuff like Ferrari, no matter how much budget I have. And whatever, it has to have a stick shift.
I’m pretty sure you all know where I stand on guns. I carry either Springfield or Colt 1911s, wouldn’t dream of carrying a Nighthawk or Ed Brown 1911, hate plastic guns of any caliber, and prefer shooting revolvers anyway. And that’s just handguns. Rifles? I’m a Mauser man — actual Mausers as opposed to John Rigby’s exotic Mausers — and while I might be tempted on occasion to look at a custom rifle (purely based on its appearance), I’m just as happy shooting a .30-30 lever action. And finally, when it comes to shotguns I prefer the old-fashioned — that is to say, side-by-side barrels and double triggers — and regard pump-actions as I would hammers or drills: pure tools, nothing more.
Lifestyle choices: budgets, compromises, ego, practicality, dreams… we all have them.
I’m with you on watches and mostly on firearms. The Mauser action is tried and true. It has been going strong for over 120 years with minor improvements if any. My first real rifle was a Ruger Mk II in .30/06 with iron sights. My only other option was a WInchester model 70 however that was about $100-150 more than the Ruger. Both have a Mauser action. at the time I bought it, I didn’t know Mauser was still in business. I don’t recall ever seeing a modern Mauser for sale in the United States.
You’re right about pump shotguns being a tool. Over/Under Double barrel shotguns in the US are much more prevalent. The side by sides sure are beautiful works of art.
For cars I just want something reliable and durable that is cost effective. I’d like a couple of comforts like a comfortable seat, air conditioning, heat, radio. The back up camera is addictive though. Heated seats are nice for my aging back.
I looked at the Longines Master Collection with the moon phase indicator. What a sharp looking watch. I prefer the analog dial with the larger second hand. The day or date is a nice complication. Chronographs and such just look far too busy to me
In my distant yoot I dreamed of owning a Maserati but could not afford a bicycle. In my sightly less distant medieval period, for a while I lusted after an Aston Martin while driving an employer provided Volvo Station wagon. After employer had shipped me and mine around the world a bit, transport provided, luxury cars became less of an “I want” and more of an “are they worth it”, given that upon signing the delivery papers their values silently depreciate by amounts that have the sales staff laughing in the office at the plight of yet another sucker. As retirement loomed I lusted after a 41/2 litre Bentley and a big lottery win. Now I drive a 2002 Honda 4WD short wheel base 3 door that my wife got second hand when it had 40,000 miles on it. She never drove it more than 2,000 miles in the years since. After she died I dumped my Fiat in its favor, with 67,000 miles on it. The more I drive it the happier I am. Meanwhile, still waiting for that lottery win. Then I’ll be able to afford a garage big enough for Mr Bentley’s truck.
When I retired in ’81 I threw my Timex over Belknap’s fantail. I’ve worked, kinda, since then, but even the couple of years with the Big Agency did not demand any real time consciousness. “Lifestyle choices: […] we all have them.”
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I remember lusting, LUSTING, over luxury things as a yoot. I wanted a BMW soo bad my teeth hurt. I wanted fancy guns, fancy watches, a fancy house with a pool. Didn’t end up with any of it, and no regrets. There’s crap, there’s status, and then there’s good enough. My 2000 era Buick is good enough, and I have the wherewithal to keep it going. My Dewalt power tools are as good as I am with them. My firearms are of sufficient quality.
The rest is just showing off or creating a maintenance headache.
Went into a knife shop years ago and there was a gorgeous automatic in the case. I was almost shaking, but didn’t buy it because….I’m upset if a $100 knife ends up at the bottom of the lake, I’m devastated if a $500 knife suffers the same fate. So now you have an expensive item that sits in a drawer.
I admittedly have acquired a lot of shit over the years. But I use it all.
I have 3 watches. One needs a battery, one needs service, and a Eco-drive that keeps great time.
I have a Colt 1911 Govt model 9mm as my range gun. Warm weather carry 22 Mag NAA revolver, and cold weather a S&W 65-2. I have a Ted Williams bolt action magazine fed 22LR made by Winchester. My shotgun is an old Stevens side-by-side. My deer rifle is a Remington 78 bolt action 30-06.
I am in the process of selling off some of my guns. I just sold a Remington 7600 pump 270 with the top of the line Nikon scope. I sold a VZ-58 last month for 4 times what I paid for it a decade ago.
Robert Pirsig the author of Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance wrote a follow up book called Lila – an enquiry into morals. In that book he dives deeply into quality. What it is, how we define and experience quality.
He explores for example our relationships with objects and suggests that there are different types of quality. On some levels (pardon the pun) the closer we are to an atomic understanding of an object the better equipped the observer becomes to discriminate what is, in this exact context “good and bad” or adding or subtracting quality. Quality is, in his framing capable of being both static and dynamic. Static: Nearly all people look at a series 1 e-type and just know it has quality.
Dynamic: A person who has lived with a tatty e-type has an entirely different relationship with the same object.
You can make sense of the Lila with out having read Zen and but the narrative of Lila is in part an exploration of how Zen came to be written and a more exhaustive exploration of concepts he touched on but didn’t fully explore in the first book.
The visceral way you relate to bang sticks goes over my head as they have not been a big part of my life, but I can still enjoy reading about your passion. I’m the same way about vintage hand tools or old Stanley hand planes, I find the minutiae of these old tools endlessly fascinating for a whole range of reasons.
I find myself aging out of the need to acquire DVA’s (Declining Value Assets). I got the car I always wanted (’65 Buick Riviera GS), I’m happy with the dress watch I settled on (A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia 18K Rose gold) and unless something massively appealing comes along, my gun inventory is unlikely to grow.
I am always open to new experiences and since the Riviera project car is done, I have a ’83 Mazda RX7 that needs a new powerplant. I initially thought about a electric option, but the LS1 swap kit has me intrigued. Or not. I don’t have the garage space and interest is waning.
I also joined the local Izaak Walton League and will be an RSO there, so I expect my range time will go up. I no longer have a decent skeet or trap gun, so I may go down that rabbit hole.
The only purchase of consequence I see in my future is travel. The Last Wife and I are leaving for a week in Spain and a week in England next week. Much Iberico ham and English Ales in my immediate future.