HoustonHorn

Work in progress

I keep telling my friend this. Don't cheapen your art by selling at lower prices. He doesn't make volume pieces. All luxury items are going crazy right now. All it takes is one person or maybe a couple, to fall in love and they don't care if its $2k, 5k or 10k or more. They are getting a brand new, unknown artist with some absolutely incredible art. That is luxury. That is something nobody else has. And that's worth something. It's like high end unique pieces in the watch world. Prices go crazy because all it takes is a couple people with money to decide they want to be the only one in the world who has it. It's tough to put a value on that. And you get to set the floor for how much it's worth. Because if its that unique, there will be some other rich person who wants it and they know it's going to be more than the original price. He has friends who have a lot of money. Fuck you money. And he can't bring himself to change them for his art.

Your photos are definitely art. Beautiful images.

Keep with it, it sounds like something you are very passionate about. I don't know how to work through something like that but I hope you find it. And share some of your work with us.

Well, I fucking love these. That top one is FINE. Off to search Patricia Qualls. Now, if you're feeling that you aren't giving it the proper space and lighting, I'd be happy to just hold onto it for you. I also just bought another Ken Bonner piece. F. My wife will be PISSED. It may have to go in my office for a while before I break the news.

My friend would absolutely dig that. Art is so personal and it really is just something where the piece either grabs you right away or it doesn't. And some is about beauty and others are meant to provoke a visceral reaction. And while I may not love or even like something, I still appreciate it and the fact the artist is putting themselves out there.

Very cool. An artist I like from Santa Fe is having to move back to Australia and is selling his stuff at a pretty big discount. www.kenbonner.com

Thank you. It's definitely eclectic but he just had piles of paintings. He's also not technology savvy so be patient with any interaction.. [emoji23]

Favelas. My wife practically stole this from him so he didn't fuck it up.

I told him that he needs to take a picture at the end of each day or session or whatever and document all of the layers so that can be a part of the package he sells. This one he worked on for a long time and then one day he decided he wanted to try and paint like a child would paint. So he let my young daughter paint over it. You can see the trees and objects that were there before, but it's all hidden now. Artists are crazy. No offense to any of y'all, it's an awesome crazy.

Some cool shit here. Need to explore but not much in the way of free funds right now. Probably a terrible time to stay this thread in hindsight.

Very cool, I may pick some of this up. thank you.

It's right above the hall toilet. I envision a lesbian gangbang. The only awkward part is rubbing one out in there when everyone is about 10' away in the living room. [emoji16]

A few samples, but they really need to be seen in person.

Anyone else into art? A long time friend of mine is an incredible artist. Has never sold anything although he's given quite a few away, including several to me [emoji16]. In any event, he's not technologically savvy but I got him on IG last night as he's thinking about selling some stuff in the future. Not asking anyone to buy anything, they won't be cheap as he works on them for years, sometimes completely wiping out beautiful paintings and starting over. I bet some of his work had 20 or more paintings underneath. But, he could use some followers and he's understandably nervous about making his work public and could use some positive vibes and feedback if you like his stuff. It isn't for everyone and he's only got 2 posts currently. These were tests last night so we're going to keep refining the photos and getting some macros well. kdadams.art on IG

Because the watch brands are owned by the same luxury brands, LVMH, Richemont, Swatch. It's the same folk. They know how to drive up demand. But they are making some bad choices as far as maintaining brand identity long term. So for that reason, I'm out. Check out the controversy over the Panerai "in-house" movements. There's some interesting articles I'll have to go back and dig up. Found one, very long and watch nerdy but worth it if you're investing a lot of money into buying luxury watches. Know what you're buying. The luxury brands know how to cut costs and lie about what you're actually getting. Not only that, it seems pretty obvious some of the major watch sites are in some ways complicit. This news never really came out and I read a lot of watch stuff. https://perezcope.com/2021/08/08/panerai-in-house-movements-a-pam-of-worms/ "Other ValFleurier calibers are shared as well. For instance Cartier’s 1904-SP MC, which beats as MB 29.22 in Montblanc watches, as 1100P in timepieces from Piaget and as 1326 in certain Vacheron Constantin references. Using the term “in-house” for all of these movements is misleading to say the least." All in on independent brands.

I actually don't think Rolex cares too much because it benefits them. In fact, they just raised their retail prices. What they don't like is having it found out their ADs are dumping brand new watches to flippers and gray market sellers. Bad for their image when regular buyers can't even try a watch on in a Rolex store. But overall they pretty much just stay quiet. Rolex absolutely checks the serial numbers when they are sent in for service against their lost/stolen registry and will return it to the rightful owner. So box and papers only for anything non-vintage. Other brands absolutely are taking measures to control inventory and that is a multi-pronged effort. It includes dropping ADs, reducing AD margins, opening boutiques, and to a lesser extent limiting production or creating limited models to create the assistance of scarcity and increase demand. Gone are the days of the CEOs pushing as many watches as they can make out the door and flooding the market to meet certain sales goals for the quarter. They have changed it so that ADs can't immediately unload a lot of watches at 30-40% discounts while still breaking even or making a little because of the dealer markup built into the suggested retail price. That's why you used to see a ton of brand new Omegas and other brands watches immediately on the gray market at 20-30% discounts. I bought my Omega Speedmaster that way a little over a year ago. That hurts and cheapens the overall brand value because who is going to pay retail at an AD (or maybe a little discount) when you can get it for a couple thousand cheaper online immediately. So an 8k Omega isn't seen as an $8k watch, it's viewed as a $5.5k watch because that's how much it sells for new on the gray market. By constricting supply to the grey market and selling direct in boutiques, Omega stands to make a hell a lot more money on each watch and the value goes up because they aren't available at $5500 new anymore. I believe Breitling actually started buying back their new watches on the gray market for this very reason. I also heard they reprimanded ADs whose watches they found littering the market. Whatever "reprimand" actually means. And to be clear, I'm using gray market as it relates only to new watches being offered at a significant discount and not pre-owned. Pre-owned is a used watch. They can't control that and really don't want to although the higher the used prices the better for the brand overall because the perception is much better. But having brand new watches available at big discounts is a problem the brands are absolutely trying to fix and its starting to work. They want to be more like Rolex, and they should.

I'm not sure this is necessarily Covid, but another way that Omega and other brands are moving to change their distribution and managing inventory. If people have to send their watches in, they can check to see if its the original owner, where it was sold, etc. and all the stuff that Rolex does when you send it in for service. Maybe I'm wrong, that is speculation on my part. I will say Covid is the perfect excuse for these shifts. I think they were planning this stuff all along, and now get to blame Covid instead of getting blamed themselves.

I honestly barely use my watches to tell the time. I use a chrono occasionally for timing pasta or other cooking, my daughter's swim meets, and other random things. Sometimes I use it as a center second and just let it run. A dive bezel is there to turn and enjoy the action and sound - a fidget spinner for the wrist. I don't use it for diving but I enjoy having some in my collection. Often I don't bother to set the time correctly and I certainly don't mess with the date - I don't need it for telling me the time or day. There are clocks everywhere telling me the time and no shortage of places to find the date if I really need it. Accuracy/Chronometer certification matters only in the sense that I have a great appreciation for the skill it takes to create a watch that can so closely keep the time accurately, not because it matters to me as a wearer of the watch. +/- 2 seconds or 2 hours, doesn't really matter. Watches are a beautiful combination of art, design, mechanical engineering, mechanical skill, craftsmanship, love, and creation. Watches are a time capsule on your wrist. Something to be enjoyed and admired. Something that takes you back to an event or occasion or maybe it holds a special place because of who its from or what experiences you had while wearing it or why you bought it in the first place. And its all available for reference every time you look at your wrist.

I like the green better. The traditional white and black will probably have more staying power though. I've liked that Intramatic since it was released. For just a little more than the Tudor I'd go with this.

If you're looking for something a little less expensive, Nodus is solid for under 500. https://www.noduswatches.com/collections/all

I'd look for some sort of daily wear sport casual or field watch. This is a very personal opinion, but you need some color. Check out Farer. Great designs and they are amazing at choosing colors for their watches. Many different models to choose from but most fit in a casual everyday wear type watch. Under 2k, with quite a few under 1k. Their new release I think is 870. Great on straps. http:// https://usd.farer.com/collections/all-watches Halios would be another sport casual brand. https://halioswatches.com/products/universa There are 3 new Oris Big crown watches out that look incredible. https://www.oris.ch/en/watch/big-crown-x-cervo-volante/01-754-7779-4067-set $2k, but Oris are legit well respected Swiss watches and that's pretty reasonable value. Vero has a little different and unique look and 10 year warranty https://vero-watch.com/ William Wood Valiant. Under 1k and very nice looking. https://williamwoodwatches.com/collections/valiantcollection Supports firefighters Don't want color Unimatic might fit the bill and is unique. https://www.unimaticwatches.com/ Monta and Former are both good watches in the 1300 to 1800k range. https://montawatch.com/products/monta-noble-silver-dial https://formexwatch.com/watches/essence-automatic-chronometer-degrade/ The Essence 43 gray fume is a great looking watch, but they also have a 39mm that has different colorways. Orion makes quality watches for well under $1k. I like the Hellcat a lot and have one on the way. The Calamity is also popular for a more diver style. http:// https://orionwatch.com/ Microbrands, yes. But the quality on these is good and you're getting something a little different but solid value for the money.

Meant to quote Mike above. Always loved space/NASA stuff so I've had feelings for the Speedmaster. Don't own a Moonwatch though. I went for the Speedmaster Racing, black dial/orange accents instead.

For relatively inexpensive, Lonestar Treasure on Etsy does nice work.

I always contact the seller to discuss the watch and get some additional details before purchasing. So far I've had good luck but I would definitely be more concerned about brands that are more likely to be fakes or vintage pieces.