I am hardly racist, given I have peacefully lived for more than half my life in foreign countries and cultures. * How I know about newly rich people in China? Well, someone who has lived for years in Hong Kong and China maybe knows a thing or two about its people and culture (to even have a discussion one most in some way or the other generalize, but of course the intent is not to say that every single newly rich person in China conducts him/herself in the same way). So what is your expertise on the topic, other than of course only disliking that I voice my opinion? * I did not say all who collect highly valuable items do not know anything about such items. I said I respect someone with expertise more than someone who could not be bothered when collecting valuables, regardless of appraised worth. * I used bastards in an ironic way (and apologize for the generalization, I expected you are able to read between the lines), but yes, I do look down to most Middle Eastern countries' leadership. Those who are blessed with oil repositories have done nothing to advance their country and economy. Instead of nationalizing the wealth it is instead accumulated in a few hands of guys who fuck hundreds of women whom they treat like shit without rights (of course all in the name of Allah) and shower their sons with money to make sure the dagger does not land in their own back. What have most of the Middle Eastern kingdoms in common? Invested in tourism (of course millions of tourists want to come to Qatar and Dubai to count the sand and ride camels, right? And how could I forget, providing the perfect environment to fuck escorts and whores who flocked to Dubai from all over the world, oh wait, this is apparently not blessed by Allah, but hey, never mind...). Pretty much every single investment ever undertaken by any sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East has turned out to be a huge loser. No surprise that ailing international corporations fiercely compete to get bailed out by such sovereign wealth funds. Most all the wealth is plundered and instead wasted by relatives of the kingdom, no matter how remote the relationship to the king. Right after the old saying "for family and friends". So I ask you this: If you were sufficiently intelligent, you possessed intellect, you displayed the smallest level of wisdom, would you waste half of your year cruising around with some other kids, without purpose, without meaning, just killing time? Or would you think hard how to make this life count, how to re-invest to build something of longevity? Something future generations can count on? Because matter of fact is that it will only take another 1-2 decades before the wold will not need a single drop of crude anymore. That is the time when those guys will be held accountable. Till then you can laugh about me.
I first came across this brand in 2006. I thought they had died out when apple made the iphone. I mean when you buy a $10,000 rolex it is superior to any $500 dollar watch (Although maybe not better value for money). With these phones you pay a small fortune and you got something that runs Symbian.
You are not buying tech. You are buying craftsmanship, quality and uniqueness. Not to mention vastly superior voice and sound quality. I carry the iPhone for data and the vertu for voice calls. I do agree the tech is way behind,but that's not the point. By the way,the Rolex President hasn't been 10k since the 1990s. Their flagship watch is now closer to 20k.
You at a dinner party and everyone else has a iphone 5 or an s4 and you pull this POS out. Everyone in the room would laugh at you for being such an idiot with your money.
We all love our toys but CalVolibrator is correct in his view that the idle rich who make them a fetish just because they are expensive are rediculous. When I was a high school kid -- in a working class neighborhood -- the father of a girl I knew had a serious stamp collection of very significant value. The family had inherieted a bit of money and he bought well with that money and then added to his collection over the following two decades. He found a small bank where the president was a collector, negotiated a loan and leveraged out (to a reasonable extent) to add to his collection. His practiced eye again allowed him to make superb choices. Even though he had individual plate blocks and full sheets worth serious coin he could get engrossed in the history behind a stamp worth just a few dollars. He collected more than the physical stamps; he collected the knowledge, the history behind the issuance and the totality of that knowledge led him to choose astutely and become quite a wealthy man from a small stake. He cared about the appreciation yet understood it to be but one aspect of his collecting. An entirely different animal than the kid who's daddy bought him $200,000 wheels yet has no idea why the family of Eddie Smith would donate the entire sale proceeds of $27,000,000 from his rare Ferrari to charity to continue Mr. Smith's lifelong habit of philanthropy. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/08/18/ferrari-auctioned-27m/2669487/ Some get it ... and most don't.
Speaking of Ferrari's, back in the day a man that I worked in the same building with, moved out into the country and began collecting Ferrari's and putting them in a barn. I never saw them but it was thought that he had a lot of them. Wish I could remember his name but I can't. Probably worked out pretty well for him.
Gee Surf, 19 pages and you still haven't sold the phone. You're right, markets have changed, they're not like the '80s any more.