Luxury fashion goes beyond style. Each carefully selected piece speaks to the wearer’s identity, values, and dreams. In recent years, luxury watches have become one of the most sought-after high-end commodities across the world. With demand now far exceeding worldwide production, many hopeful owners are adding their names to waiting lists that may be up to five years long. The collector-salesperson relationship becomes crucial, because if that phone call comes it means that out of the thousands of people this person chose you for this watch. Attaining your dream watch is truly monumental, and often complete with champagne and the full red carpet experience! Mike Todd of OnPoint Financial Management recently met with Midlothian Lifestyle to discuss his passion for luxury watches.
LAUREL: WHAT DOES LUXURY MEAN TO YOU?
MIKE: Luxury is a mindset.… The best way I can describe luxury is you have one subset of people who are only concerned with going from point A to point B. And then you have another subset of people who are concerned with how they get from point A to point B. And that is luxury… it’s all about the experience, the journey not necessarily about the destination.
LAUREL: WHAT APPEALS TO YOU ABOUT WATCHES, SPECIFICALLY?
MIKE: What appeals to me about watches is the fact that it says a statement without saying the actual statement. Whether it’s a measure of style, a measure of success, an accomplishment… but then also how unique they can be. There are some, what they call, “piece unique” watches which are just one of one. To have the only one in the world of that is just phenomenal. Then lastly, I’d say is the stories that can be behind it. Whether it’s a very famous or interesting person wearing that watch, or it could be styled after a certain individual or an event. There are some watches that have actual meteorite in them or some watches that have the actual piece of the Titanic in them. Stuff like that is pretty cool.
LAUREL: WHAT’S YOUR PROCESS FOR PICKING OUT THE NEXT PIECE FOR YOUR COLLECTION?
MIKE: There are two ways of going about collecting. There’s covering your staple maisons of your watch houses, as in your Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin are some of the major players out there. And then you have your more boutique maisons that may not be as high level of production as those four I mentioned but are still very highly regarded in the watch community. Some collectors will build out their staple pieces, so they’ll build out their Rolex collections… or their Patek Philippe collections… or their AP collections and so on and so forth. And then some will just get two or three of those pieces each and then they’ll dive into their more boutique maisons. Me, I’m kind of doing both. I still have watches on my list of those four staples, but then also if I see a watch that really speaks to me just because I like the way it looks or there’s a really cool story behind it with a lesser, well known maison then I’ll definitely buy that as well.
LAUREL: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
MIKE: One of the things I love about luxury is understanded luxury. You can definitely get ostentatious with luxury, or you can be more subdued and subtle. I’m more of a subdued and subtle type, to where if you put on a platinum Rolex and you go out to eat and somebody looks at it and it looks just like a steel watch, but it could be a $15,000 watch. But to the person who knows that you have six figures on your wrist… if you know, you know.
LAUREL: IN WHAT WAYS IS YOUR STYLE AN EXTENSION OF YOUR PERSONALITY?
MIKE: My style emulates to people is that I take pride in my appearance, I take pride in my work, and I take pride in myself. That helps communicate that no matter what I put my mind to not only am I going to accomplish it, but I’m going to take pride in what I do.
LAUREL: HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU WEAR ONE OF THE WATCHES FROM YOUR COLLECTION?
MIKE: Oh, I feel absolutely fantastic! I feel amazing. There is another subset of people who unfortunately dress or buy these things specifically for other people. In my opinion, the right way is that you do it for yourself. You do it because you enjoy it. You do it because you like it. Whenever I put one of my watches on, it just makes me feel ready for the day. It’s an extension of me.
Learn how OnPoint Financial Management can help you turn your financial dreams into reality: onpointfinancialmanagement.com.
INSIDE THE COLLECTION
Peek inside a watch enthusiast’s collection with Michael Todd from OnPoint Financial Management.
Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic
40mm Automatic Chronograph H, stainless steel with leather strap.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional
42mm Co-axial Master Chronometer Chronograph, stainless steel with steel strap.
Omega Constellation
41mm Co-axial Master Chronometer, stainless steel and 18kt rose gold with leather strap.
Omega Seamaster Diver 300m
44mm Co-axial Master Chronometer Chronograph, stainless steel with steel strap.
Rolex Datejust
41mm Chronometer, 18k rose gold and stainless steel fluted bezel two-tone strap.
Rolex Batgirl
40mm GMT-Master II Chronometer, stainless steel with steel strap.
