Luxuries and Investments?

In recent weeks we have all seen the volatility of the stock market. From the crazy surges to steep dives, anyone involved definitely felt the heat turn up. Without a doubt most people with their money on the line questioned their investment choices. 

A recent article by The Wall Street Journal listed the top investment choices ranked by year to date performance. The list goes as follows;

Art with a 11% positive yield, fine wine at 9%, iShares 1-3 year treasury bond ETF at -0.5%, classic cars at -1%, iShares 7-10 year treasury bond ETF at -1.8%, front-month gold futures at -2%, S&P 500 total return -5%, and stoxx Europe 600 total return at -11% (all numbers are approximations). 

This data makes it very clear that the traditional notion of investments being in strict business form, either in bonds, stocks, or commodity futures are clearly not paying out. Especially not as their much more entertaining counterparts such as art and fine wine. 

This places the financially venturing individual in an interesting position. Generally high end art and fine wines were always seen as results of successful investments rather than the investment itself. Luxury watches and fine jewelry fit well into this category as well, alongside art, fine wine, and classic cars, while also having other benefits compared to those three. Watches and jewelry beat classic cars in terms of low maintenance and housing costs. They beat fine wine in terms of their continuous reusable nature. Lastly, watches and jewelry are a category of wearable art in itself. They beat fashion trends as they are set in metals and stones which are some of the toughest/rarest materials on the planet which makes them rather difficult to destroy compared to the other categories and thus makes them almost timeless. Jewelry has always been popular since the dawn of humanity while luxury watches continue to grow in popularity despite advancements in their technological counterparts.   Judging by these trends, its a lot safer to take your next $25k and put it into a Rolex President rather than a Apple stock. Rolex Presidents from the 1980s are still in circulation today and looks much better on your wrist than the knowledge of  ownership of a blue chip stock. 

The timeless Rolex Day-Date President in 18k Yellow Gold

You may check the growth of your traditional investments every once in a while but they offer very little pleasure in ownership. Owning a luxury watch or high end pieces of jewelry is something one can enjoy daily. It is something to be proud of that can be worn and admired by others as an achievement. It is the trophy which demonstrates the evident success of your business career. So next time you are in a tough position between treating yourself or investing/reinvesting your hard earned money, there may be away to kill two birds with one stone.