It's almost like poll, but certainly more fun

A post-1970’s 1980’s Rolex? Um, no. They are the boxy Volvos of style. They are essentially visibly recognizable proxies for your bank account.

The value comes only from impressing others. Lots of watches which I feel I’d like the looks of more, and of those I have been really disillusioned with the quality of Swiss mechanical watches. I’ve owned several expensive models and had quality issues with all of them, and mediocre service from almost every watchmaker, from Swatch factory service (which includes a lot of "high-end"brands) to some highly recommended. Perhaps I’d feel differently if I was closer to La Chaux-de-Fonds, and could find extremely reliable watchmakers, but I take no pleasure in buying a brand new watch in a very nice box and finding out it immediately has to be regulated or has a feature which doesn’t work correctly. I’ve owned a Chopard, Zenith and Omega. The Chopard had to be replaced, the Zenith sent in multiple times to help improve the accuracy and the Omega literally fell apart after the third or fourth round of service and I ended up selling it for parts with a subdial hand rattling around in the case.

The best Swiss watch I have ever owned is a 1967 Longines which has absolutely spot on accuracy. If I wanted more Swiss timepieces I’d stick to South American sourced vintage watches. There’s some boutique German and English models I’d rather wear if I was in the mood for something new and felt I could risk the performance.

My hobbies tend to go towards "tinkering" though so in this respect Seiko is a much more fun brand for me to purchase, modify and maintain. I can buy a movement, case, hands, crystal and bands and make a unique piece just for me.

Well, you didn't say your Rolex fell apart. They don't. They break sometimes like everything else but they don't fall apart.

czarivey, what about gold? Definitely better than dollars, or any other currency for that matter.

I like clocks that hang on a wall, not clocks that hang on my wrist   .I'll wear a clock on my wrist when they come out with a very small kookoo clock that I can wear around town.

Guess what @inna 

I haven't said anything about gold yet, but do possess gold coins and would invest there on great deals.

On my experience Rolex or other high-end swiss time brands hold up even better than gold. 

I like wearing a watch especially when you need to see the time discreetly  without signaling to someone that is what you are doing, like rudely looking at your phone. I got a Rolex 20 + years ago after getting sick of the depreciation other nice watches took after a few years and started looking dated. Since I bought it, it is now worth about triple of what I paid. It's a sub - no date and I liked it then and now since the date doesn't take up a big chunk of the face of the watch. As I get older, being done with a decision is a nice thing. Now I hope to only replace Audio gear when it breaks, which is thankfully rare, other that a stylus replacement (or cartridge upgrade) when it goes every 3-4 years.