Conspicuous consumption

From time to time I wonder about why people are prepared, eager even, to spend large amounts of money on wristwatches. No doubt clever, perhaps pretty and certainly obsolete. A variation on the passion of our ruling classes for obsolete means of transport.

Then today, my attention was caught by an advertisement in the FT from a company called Bovet for a watch which looked spectacularly useless, not really intended to be used as a watch at all. A collector's item, a piece of male jewellery, a bit of conspicuous consumption for an oligarch, an Arab or perhaps a footballer. But hardly something to help a busy worker - or even a busy boss - to keep track of his or her valuable time.

The Bovet site has nothing so vulgar as prices on it, but reference 1, to whom I am grateful for the picture, offers: 'as I mentioned at the beginning, Bovet watches are those you either love or hate. Personally, I am quite fond of their ornate styling and I can definitely foresee wealthy collectors adding one to their collection. The Bovet Virtuoso VIII 10-Day Flying Tourbillon Big Date is limited to just 80 pieces and priced at $199,800 in red gold, $209,800 in white gold, and $267,800 in platinum'. Perhaps it is just as well that the disaffected voters from places like the Lincolnshire fens don't usually read the FT and don't get any funny ideas about where the wealth of the country is really going.

While I wonder about the effect on the economy of the world of pouring all this value into essentially useless machinery. It is true that, by this device, the Swiss are transferring money from the very rich of the wide world to the workers of Switzerland, which is a useful activity, a sort of wealth tax, certainly more worthy than stashing funds of dubious provenance. Nevertheless it still rather offends me that all this skill is being poured into such a useless endeavour. But then again, is it so very different from the Renaissance merchants of Italy who poured their wealth into clothes and other decorative arts, a lot of the products of which have now been solemnised as part of our World Heritage?

From where I associate to the savages of the New Hebrides, documented by Tom Harrisson and who, when not eating each other, poured their wealth into pigs with expensive spiral tusks. Tusks which went round three times gave the owner serious jungle cred when he slaughtered the hosting pig for a ritual feast. See reference 2 - a snip at $US50 from Abebooks. Perhaps I should sell my own copy.

Reference 1: http://www.ablogtowatch.com/.

Reference 2: Savage Civilisation - Tom Harrisson - 1937.