Matthew Maschler:
Welcome to the Real Estate Finder podcast. I’m Matthew Maschler, the realestate finder@realestatefinder.com.
Staci Garcia:
And I’m Stacey Garcia, also a real estate finder@www.no hoa boca.com.
Matthew Maschler:
And no, h o o a Boca is works two ways. It’s no h o a if you don’t want an h o a or it’s k and o w no, h o a if you wanna know what’s going on in an h o a. So it’s a little bit of a double entendre, which I enjoy. Uh, and we had to register both names, uh, to get it done that way. And, um, we are really enjoying this podcast. We’ve been doing it for four or five, six months now. Um, and even though it’s called the Real Estate Finder Podcast, uh, sometimes there’s investments that I get involved with or people I know get involved with that are not real estate related. Uh, so I think that, you know, anything investment wise, any way to make money, um, is, is a valuable thing to talk about. We’ve had a discussion about crypto, and we’ve had a discussion about vacation properties. Um, so we have a very, uh, interesting, um, guest today, uh, to talk about an alternative investment, an alternative investment to real estate. Uh, you can still invest in real estate, but if you wanted, uh, invest in some personal property, not real property, we have Steve Monzon. Steve, how are you doing today?
Steve Monzon:
I’m doing well, Matt. How are you?
Matthew Maschler:
I am doing great. So Steve, uh, a couple years ago, back in, I guess it was late 2018 or 2019, I was in my local jewelry store and I, and I asked the salesman, uh, you know, is there a hurricane coming? Because it looks like you got totally wiped out of watches. It looks like the shelves of Publix before the storm where there’s no bread and no milk. Did, did, is there a hurricane coming? Did someone steal all of your Rolex watches? There’s four cases, uh, that are totally, totally empty. And, uh, that simple observation or, or joke, um, changed. I don’t, I’m not saying changed my life, but, uh, opened up a, a world to me that I had not known about, uh, a world of, of of watch investing and, and trading. Um, and, and you’re, what is your company? You’re the watch trader.
Steve Monzon:
The watch trader company. Yep.
Matthew Maschler:
The Watch Trader. Yeah. So, so I’m the real estate finder, but we have the Watch trader here. So tell us a little bit about what you do about the, at the Watch Trader company.
Steve Monzon:
Yeah, so, you know, at, at a high level overview, you know, there, there’s three kind of pillars that I do when it, when it comes to buying watches and things of that nature. So you can buy a watch to park your money. A lot of people tend to say, you know, I have X amount of cash still in the bank, or in something too volatile that they’re, you know, not comfortable in like certain stock market, you know, even crypto to a certain extent. Um, and so they’re like, yeah, I want somewhere safe where I can park the money. It’s not gonna get ed with inflation, and I know that I’ll be able to liquidate it relatively quickly, um, depending on the wash model you’re buying. So, um, so then you have that one strategy, right, where you’re protecting your money, and then you have the second strategy, which is, again, you’re, you’re trying to make money pretty quickly, so then you can buy certain watches at certain times. And, um, you know, you can find some good deals. You know, there’s a lot of negotiation strategy and stuff like that that goes into it. Um, but you can buy certain watches at, at a price and make 10 20 up to even 30% return on your investment in a relatively short time period. Like, you know, like, I think I’m averaging right now this year around like nine days.
Matthew Maschler:
Nine days, um,
Steve Monzon:
Nine days. Yeah. So that’s my turnaround time on, on most watches. So, uh, so yeah, so, you know, it’s, it’s one, and then, you know, each watch can imagine, you know, 10,000 watch, even at 10% it’s a thousand dollars. So if every nine days I’m doing a thousand dollars, you know, it, it, it starts to add up really quickly.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. So, so you would consider, would you call that a flip in real estate? We would call that a flip if you tell something so short.
Steve Monzon:
Yes. Yeah. From a real estate perspective, yeah, I would call that a flip.
Matthew Maschler:
Okay. So, so I was, you know, the perception I had growing up about watches was, you know, you, you know, you’d pay a certain price, but you know, if you watch, uh, you know, pawn stars on the history channel, you know, people don’t get the, the value that they paid for it. You know, Eddie Murphy trading places, not, not Eddie Murphy, Dan <inaudible> trading places, you know, he had a PA on his watch and, um, you know, you know, he got like 30 bucks for it. And he was talking about what a great, it was a Roche Poco, it was a Swiss Swiss watch, and, uh, in Philadelphia it was worth 30 bucks. So, so I’ve always seen a watch as a depreciating asset similar to a car. So when you’re trading these watches, are you buying them new or are you buying them used?
Steve Monzon:
No. So, you know, as far as, yes. So there’s levels of strategies that come into play when you’re buying new. Um, if I buy new, it’s only because I’m getting it from a Rolex or, uh, from a, a Rolex authorized dealer, from a panic authorized dealer or an auto R p A, because the in instantly, the moment you buy a, a Rolex, now not every Rolex, not every auto market and so on and so forth, but most, if, if you know which ones you’re buying, uh, which ones are the good ones, most of them are, you’re gonna get easily, uh, you, you spend, for example, on a Rolex sub Mariner, I think it’s like 9,000 plus tax, put it at like ten five. And right now they’re selling for 16. So right away
Matthew Maschler:
We wait, wait, wait, <laugh>, if there’s, you could buy the watch for with 9 90, 500 or 10,000 with tax, and then right away they’re worth 15,
Steve Monzon:
They’re worth 16. You can literally liquidate it the next day and someone will buy it from you for 16.
Matthew Maschler:
Wow. And, and, but why, why, why does, why does the store discharge more?
Steve Monzon:
Because they’re not allowed to. So Rolex, they’re not allowed, you know, Rolex has, yeah, Rolex has, has put some, um, guidelines, uh, on dealers and said, Hey, you’re not allowed to, um, market up your, your price. It’s not like the car market where, you know, you can, you go into a, into a dealer, and then the dealer’s like, oh yeah, because of market value, we’re gonna have to, you know, increase the price by X amount. Right.
Matthew Maschler:
With this car shortage, I was at a Chevy dealer and at a $40,000 car, they were asking 60 for it, because they could get it, but Exactly.
Steve Monzon:
But,
Matthew Maschler:
But the Rolex authorized dealer, they have to sell it at the set price. And that’s the reason why there was nothing in the case, because the people that were buying it could immediately flip it for 50% or, or more.
Steve Monzon:
Or more. Oh wow.
Yep, yep. So, and there’s even some watches that, you know, you get offered, and we’re talking now, we’re talking now the 50, $60,000 watches, which is, you know, those are potential investment pieces. ’cause they will appreciate over a duration of four, eight, up to 12 weeks. So, and they’re gonna appreciate a lot. So depending on the model and, and, uh, you know, like the way, the way the bezel is and stuff like that, just, it really depend on the model. But, um, for example, like I had a, a buddy of mine just recently, um, he, he texted me, he is like, Hey, I got this Rolex dealer offering me this, this watch, and it’s $60,000. I don’t know if I, I should pay for it. You, what do you think? And I’m like, immediately, as soon as I saw it, I was like, buy it. I was like, I literally just said, buy it <laugh>. And then next thing you know, he’s rolling up with it. He is like, yeah, so like, what, what do you think I should do with it? I’m like, you already made $20,000 off of it by just buying it. So just enjoy it. Let
Staci Garcia:
Me ask you a question, Steve. Do you try to hold onto it longer to make more money? Or do you wanna flip it faster?
Steve Monzon:
So, you know, so that’s a great question. So what I tell people is it’s all about projection. So I’ve gotten really good at understanding projection, and I don’t, you know, the worst thing that you can do personally, you know, from what I’ve thought and from an investment perspective, is try to buy at the low and sell at the highest. Right? Right. It’s just, it’s not, it’s never a good idea. ’cause you’re never gonna be, you know, you can’t predict a market like that. But what you could do is buy it where it makes where it’s still low, it’s still cheap, might not be the lowest, but if even if it’s selling for five or $7,000 over the cheapest, you’re okay. Because the amount of trajectory that’s left to go all the way to, you know, even midway or closer to the top is still a lot of money left. There’s a lot of margins left. So, um, so ultimately, yes, there’s certain pieces that when I look at projection, I’m like, okay, well if I buy this piece for a hundred thousand dollars in the next, you know, probably month it’s gonna be one 15. Am I okay with one 15? Like, am I okay with making 15 K in one month? But then, you know, and then, and
Matthew Maschler:
Then in that, in that month, are you wearing the watch or are you keeping it Oh,
Steve Monzon:
Absolutely. You’re
Matthew Maschler:
Wearing the watch
Steve Monzon:
<laugh>. Yeah, you wear the watch. I mean, it’s an enjoying, that’s the thing about watch, it’s, you get to enjoy the asset. You know, it’s not like your stock market where, you know, you just, you can’t use it. You, you can only see it. It gives you stressful times at times, you know, ’cause you’re looking at it going down, up, down, down, up, down. Like this is one of those things that you wear it on the wrist and, and it, and honestly, one of the things is you get to enjoy it, but it does open up doors as well, you know, through networking. People really start seeing, you know, these watches on your wrist and they’re like, wow, like this is amazing. And then you explain to ’em like, these are investment, you know, investment opportunities that you’ve taken advantage of. And ultimately it’s just one of those things that people get attracted to that they’re like, they can’t believe that it’s an alternative asset investment with a very minimal risk and super high upside. Right. And so, like
Matthew Maschler:
That story you just said of, of your friend, he bought a 60,000 watch. So now he is walking around with a 60,000 watch. And if, you know, people think he, people think he’s, you know, big shot, but then he sells it, sells it for 80, and he pockets $20,000. He gets to do it again. That’s, that’s pretty amazing.
Steve Monzon:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, I not, not to tell people, I’m like, listen, like, whenever you get these calls from these dealers, from these authorized dealers, you know, it’s, it is great and all, but it’s, uh, they’re very picky on who they sell because they have limited inventory coming in at, at any time. So you, you do have to, um, be kind of aware of that. You know, you might only get three, four, maybe even five allocations a year. Uhhuh <affirmative>, which is great. Like, that’s more than probably anyone, you know, there’s are people that I know that haven’t gone one, they’ve been trying to get an allocation for two years.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. Because I hear people, I I, I’ve heard of people being on waiting lists. Um,
Steve Monzon:
Yeah,
Matthew Maschler:
Exactly. For, for for years. One of those watches that you talked about, you know, there was a, there was a James Bond movie with, with Daniel Craig, and he’s on the train and the girl’s, the girl notices his watch. When you said that, I started thinking about, you know, getting noticed with the watch, the girl notices his watch and, and she says, oh, what is it? Is it a Rolex? He looks at her and says, it’s an Omega.
Steve Monzon:
So it’s an Omega.
Matthew Maschler:
So does Omega have the same kind of status as the Rolex?
Steve Monzon:
So it’s kind of, I wouldn’t say the same status. Omega’s a great entry level watch to begin with. So those are, you know, your, even at M S R P, you’re looking at like 4,500, 5,000 up to like 10. Mean there’s a couple of other ones out there that are more expensive, of course, like the rose gold ones. But the thing about Omega though is that like, there’s certain, again, brands that don’t necessarily, uh, appreciate as soon as you buy them, they depreciate Right, right off the get go. Right? Right now, omega is one of them. So Omega, you know, if you buy the M S R P like from a boutique or dealer, um, chances are you, you, you’re gonna lose 10%, 15% kind of right off the get go. But that’s it. Like, you kind of take the hit. So if you buy like $5,500 wat you’re probably gonna be able to sell it back if you need it to liquidate it fast for like 4,500 or like 4,200. So, right.
Matthew Maschler:
That’s, and that’s what I’ve always thought about watches until I discovered what, what was going on. And you said it’s, it’s three brands. It’s Rolex Partic, Philipp Flip, and Amar bga
Steve Monzon:
And Amar pga. Yeah. Those are the three kind of big ones that the moment you buy them cha you know, there’s a 90% chance that you’re making money right away.
Matthew Maschler:
Um, a couple of years ago I was at an Atmar boutique, Briga Boutique, and, uh, and it was done with one of the clubs that I’m in, and they had every watch and every style, and I, you know, I, they were expensive watches, 35,000, 50,000 watches. Right. And, uh, and, and now when you go into Anmar gay boutique, like I’ve been in Vegas or Miami, you walk into one of these stores and, and they’re completely empty. And I was like, oh man, if I could go back in time, I could have had anything I wanted. And <laugh> and, and as expensive as they were, they’re, they’re worth double and triple, uh, what Yeah. What they were asking. And it was pretty amazing.
Steve Monzon:
Yeah, it’s incredible. I mean, pre covid, before Covid hit and kind, everything went crazy. Like, you could go into any Rolex boutique, you Amar Paddock, and you could get whatever you want, really. I mean, there’s a couple models here there that might’ve been a little harder to get, but it wasn’t overly difficult. I mean, you could go in there and buy with they HSS or some Mariner or so things that are popular. And, um, and if, and if you’d done that before Covid and you just kept it, you made a ton of money. Like you, you probably doubled or close to, to double your money on each watch.
Matthew Maschler:
Now, when I, now, when I pass those boutiques, I think there’s, I think down here in south Florida, the Galleria Mall has a Rolex boutique, and, and the Ba Harbor Mall has a roll boutique Miami and Design District, and there’s no watches. And I, I try to think, what do those salesmen do all day, <laugh>, if there’s no watches in the store?
Steve Monzon:
Well, you know, here’s like a funny thing about even watches that I tell people that they don’t even, you know, people being gotten really creative with watches is like, it’s, it’s also been like it currency because it’s such transferable and people don’t really understand. Like, I’ll tell you, kind of like something that jewelers tend to do is, you know, whatever they need to liquidate, you know, their assets and or they wanna transfer money to from one country to another. The easiest way to do it without having to deal with DTSs, uh, dealing with these from other countries and stuff like that, is to wear the watch and then go to that country and sell it over there. And then wow. You, you avoid all those things. And again, this is kind of like a loophole, right? It’s not, it’s not illegal, uh, whether you think it’s found, it should be frowned upon or not that, you know, that’s just up to your opinion. But ultimately these are things like, they’re global currencies, you know? And, and like people don’t really understand that. Like, I know a lot of people that, you know, wear like the a hundred thousand watch because they know they can liquidate it in another country and they need it. They need that money in, in the other country for investment purposes. So they do that. They’re like,
Matthew Maschler:
They not, I always suspected that with the, with with some of the super high-end brands that a lot of the celebrities and football players would wear, I always, I always like suspected like, you know, forget crypto. That’s a good way to, you know, move a lot of money. And, and I always wondered if the watch stores were in on it. Like, if you could buy a watch in, in China or Venezuela and then bring that same watch in the box to New York and, and sell it back to Oh, absolutely. Sell it back to the store at a discount. <laugh> <laugh>. And, and I’m like, the, the whole, the whole watch company’s a front from a money laundering obligation,
Steve Monzon:
<laugh>.
Matthew Maschler:
That’s just my imagination running wild.
Steve Monzon:
That would probably be easy
Staci Garcia:
To do on a cruise. The hits all
Steve Monzon:
The country watch. You’d be surprised. Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely. On a cruise. Yep. Yeah, you can take advantage on cruises too. Um, and I, especially if you go to like the islands and stuff. Yeah.
Matthew Maschler:
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And when I, when I go on cruises, I see a lot of watch. They have the watch stores, a lot of watch stores. It’s, it’s a lot of, uh, you know, the brands aren’t as high-end as, as Omega or Rolex. There’s a lot of like Tag or Movado. My, my first nice watch was a tag Hower. Um, my
Staci Garcia:
Only nice watch was a
Matthew Maschler:
Tager tag. Yeah. So, um, so I see a lot of that brand that I see that on a cruise. I see them positioned on the higher end and Invicta being on the, on the lower end. Um, and then, uh, most of the watches that you trade and you collect with are, are, there are what’s called automatic. You have to wind them, right? There’s no battery,
Steve Monzon:
Correct. Yeah. There’s no ba Yeah, those are watches. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t really deal with those, even though I have one personally, just in case, you know, I need to wear one that, you know, might not be, because like I do real estate as well, so I invest in certain, certain houses that might not be in the greatest neighborhoods. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I’ll just wear my quartz, you know, the, the battery type, uh, watch. But, um, but yeah, but all, all the ones are all of the higher end, usually automatic. And so, and they have <inaudible> and stuff like that.
Matthew Maschler:
Right. So, and then, so for, if you’re new to watch automatic means that it’s, it’s a mechanical watch. You, you still have to wind it, but then you wind it up and, but as you’re wearing it, the motion kind of keeps it wound. So if you have a Rolex or Omega that’s a mechanical watch, no battery, um, but you wear it every day, it’ll keep time every day because it’s, it’s automatic. It’s a mechanical watch that, that uses the, the, I get kinetic energy to, uh, to keep itself. A lot of watch people on Facebook, they’ll take a picture of the watch on their steering wheel. ’cause it’s a good way to look at your watch and look at your wrist, but then you get the logo of your car and the logo and the, and the watch in the same shot. So one time I posted a picture of my watch, and at the time I drove a Tesla, so someone commented about my watch and the Tesla, they, they liked the combination. And I said, yeah, the Tesla’s cool because it’s completely electric, no mechanics at all. And the watch is cool because it’s completely mechanical, no electric at all. It was a, it was an opposite. Uh, I thought, I thought it was an interesting, uh, way to look at it,
Steve Monzon:
So, oh yeah, absolutely. I’ll send that picture before. So
Matthew Maschler:
<laugh>, see my wife and, um, my stepmom, they’d prefer Quartz because they don’t wanna, wh the watch if that, how
Staci Garcia:
Often do you have to wh a watch?
Matthew Maschler:
Well, if you, if it’s a mechanical watch, that’s an automatic. If, if you don’t, if you don’t wear for a few days. Oh, right. Like it might a a, a watch, basically automatic watch might have a 24 hour or 48 hour reserve. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> some of the higher end, they tout the reserve. Like some, some of the Hubo watches might say that it’s a hundred hour reserve. And, and that’s what makes the watch special. Every watch has to have a, a reason why it makes it special. So a lot of the brands, they have their different heritage positions, right? So like, um, TEG Hoyer might be a diver’s watch and Chop Hard might be a race car driver’s watch, and Brightling might be a pilot’s watch. So that’s part of their heritage. Um, Zenith, a guy went into the sub, uh, atmosphere and he skydived from the sub, from like Innerspace wasn’t fully outer space, and he skydived down from that area. Uh, omega has the watch that Neil Armstrong Water to the Moon. It’s called the Moon Watch. They just came out. Oh. What are your thoughts on that one? So Omega has the Moon watch because Neil Armstrong wore that particular model, uh, the Omega Speedmaster, uh, to the moon. Uh, what are your thoughts on, uh, on what just happened with the Omega Moon watch?
Steve Monzon:
Oh, you’re talking about the, uh, the, the, with the collaboration that they did with Swatch, they did a
Matthew Maschler:
Collaboration with Swatch, and they came out with the moon swatch
Steve Monzon:
Moon swatch
Matthew Maschler:
Nine different colors. Was it $500?
Steve Monzon:
It Yeah, I think M S R P was like, right, right around 4 99, something like that plus tax. Yep. And then, uh, yeah. And people started selling them for like $2,000.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. The Omega, the omega that it’s based on is a $12,000 watch Swatch, which is the parent company of Omega ca, came out with a replica for $500 <laugh>. And there were riots the day that those, the day came out, all the Swatch stores all over the world had lines and lines and lines of people. And it’s not a limited edition. It’s not Swatch can keep making it mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but they obviously sold out the first day. Um, they, they said limit one, limit two. Um, so they obviously sold out that first day, and then people have been trying to flip it for 1000, $2,000, which until the supply catches up could still be done. Um, a lot of people think it cheapened the brand or cheapened, cheapened watch collecting in general. I think it breathed a whole new life into the brand and put a lot of people to look at Omega like when
Steve Monzon:
Exactly. Yep.
Matthew Maschler:
My father worked,
Steve Monzon:
I think so too.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. My father worked on Go ahead, go ahead. My father worked on Wall Street and every day at Wall Street, like outside the offices, there’d be a guy with a little card table selling the fake Rolexes. So my dad never heard of Rolex. He didn’t have a nice watch. Right. But because he saw fake Rolexes, he knew that Rolex must be the best brand because why would you make a fake of not the best brand? So he always believed that Rolex was the best brand, and the reason he believed that was the existence of all the fakes. So he always felt that the fakes were very important to Rolex’s marketing. And then one day he met someone who had a real Rolex on, he was very impressed by that person. Wow. They’re so successful. They have a real Rolex. Um, so he always believed that the fake, um, drove the sales of the real Rolex.
And I think that’s exactly what’s gonna happen here with that swatch with the, you know, it has an Omega Lo logo on it and says the moon swatch. So every 22 year old kid who bought a $500 swatch sold it for 2000, or put it on the wrist and enjoyed it at some point in their life, I don’t know how, not every one of them, but some of them will become future customers. Some of them will dream, their definition of success will be one day gonna get Omega, they’ll buy the real Omega moon watch. And I, I think Omega did brilliant with that because we will see that there’s so many people. One day I’ll buy this rollout. One day I’ll buy this, this Bright link. Well, one day I’ll buy this Omega. And, and I think it’s, uh, it was brilliant of, um, of Omega for trying, and I’m really stupid. I was just like, I knew it was coming out. So like the next day I went down to the watch store, Hey, do you have this one? And they’re looking at me like, I’m a complete moron <laugh>. They’re like, no, no, we don’t <laugh>. I’m like, all right. I was gonna buy like one of each color. They’re like, no limit. One of each color. No one <laugh>.
Steve Monzon:
No. You know, I think it’s great marketing strategy. Omega was kind of falling down a little bit, you know, they weren’t, they’re great watches, you know, they, they’re awesome. Like, they look great on the wrist. And they, and they’re really for, for the price. They, they’re, they’re priced really well. Um, I, and they tried to do a lot of collaboration with like, the oh oh seven movies and stuff like that.
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. They, but yeah, James Bond, like in the last movie there was a, a watch and they had Daniel Craig designed it, and there was two different versions of the strap. The one that he, the one that he wore, and then the one that all the other Double O’s wore. But,
Steve Monzon:
Uh, exactly.
Matthew Maschler:
I don’t remember if it did anything cool.
Steve Monzon:
It didn’t, it didn’t, it just, again, it was just more like giving you an option because I think it was a, there was a, so the, uh, the one option was a mesh bracelet. So, right. That’s a little, that’s, that’s the steel one. And that looks really cool. And then you had the other, um, the NATO bracelet, which, uh, it’s all, it’s very comfortable from, you know, I, I’ve, I’ve tried it on and it was very comfortable. But to me, does take, kind of feels a little bit, uh, like a, I don’t know. Like, it just didn’t, for me, it didn’t, if I’m wearing a 5,000 watch, I wanna make sure pops well. Right, right. And so for me, the, the NATO wasn’t something that would pop.
Matthew Maschler:
I bought, I bought the, I bought the nato ’cause that was the one that Daniel Craig wore. Yes. And it, it looks horrible on me. I I can’t wear it. It looks so stupid on me. Daniel, you know, this, I, I don’t look like Daniel Craig. I’m not James Bond. So the stuff that he could pull off, I can’t pull off <laugh>. It didn’t. Oh, for sure. It didn’t look make, so, you know, I wanted to, I thought it’d make me look better. Right. I thought it’d make me look cooler, be look more like James Bond. And I, I look like James. Like, no, James Dous. <laugh> <laugh>. So that watch is just in the A dous bond. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I’m like this, I’m like, this is horrible. I feel like a total more on it right now. So that watch is just in the drawer collecting dust.
I never even considered selling watches until I, I, I met you and some of these other people on, uh, on, on on Facebook. Oh, can I, let me tell, can I tell people how I, how I met you? Uh, sure, yeah. You are my version of it. Yeah. Yeah. There’s, there’s a watch company I like called, uh, HUBO. And um, when I said a lot of these companies have collaborations like Zenith with Subspace and Oma Omega had Neil Armstrong going the Moon. Omega has James Bond and Omega has the Olympics. So they have a lot of heritage with that. Whereas, you know, I w c like Panerai started as like the Italian Navy’s dive watch. So they all have history. Hubo is really a fashion watch. It’s a high-end fashion watch. But so like Fashion Watch is like, that are in Macy’s. You can get a Michael Kors watch.
It’s battery. It’s not a high-end watch. Hugo’s in my, it’s a high-end fashion watch. They have a lot of collaborations with celebrities. So they have a watch with Dwayne, uh, Dwayne Wade, and they have a watch with Ruthie Bolt. And they did a popular watch with Bruce Lee, I guess it was the state of Bruce Lee. ’cause he’s not alive. And, um, there’s a, a, a dj, uh, E D D M artist, a DJ snake. And they announced this watch one day. And it was, I, I just loved the colors. It was all blue and purple and psychedelic. And, uh, they announced this watch one day. And I got, I got, sometimes I got an email. So I got an email from Hugo announcing this watch. They only made 200 pieces. So I called my Hugo dealer. It’s, he told me it was completely sold out. I called every Hugo dealer, um, that I’ve ever dealt with, and none of ’em can get me the watch.
Usually someone can get me the watch. No, none of ’em can get me the watch. Um, and then, uh, and then if I went to a Hubo store, I, I’d casually ask about it. So they were all sold out, but they were pre-sold. Nobody had taken deliveries of them yet, so nobody had seen them yet. So there was a time when the delivery started happening. So everybody started getting them. Uh, they were, they were coming in and, uh, and I ended up buying one, um, for a tiny bit over retail, but it wasn’t so bad, uh, right at the time that you got yours. Um, and, uh, and I, I just like, I, we didn’t know each other. And, and Steve, you were very gracious. I asked Steve a million questions, <laugh>, and, uh, and he answered them, took time to answer them. So, uh, I really appreciated that, especially in the fact that I didn’t buy his. Um, so, uh, but it is, it has become my favorite watch. I’ve only had it for a few weeks, but it is one of my favorite watches. I, I didn’t put it on today. I, I have an Omega James Bond style, not a James Bond edition, but one that I think looks a lot. It gives me a James Bond vibe without making me look. Do, do you feel
Staci Garcia:
That, that theme song in your head as you’re this one?
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah, no, I just, I think, I feel, I feel this one gives me like confidence <laugh>, but the DJ Snake, it’s a party watch. Right, right. Like, I, that’s what I’m gonna wear. Like if it’s Saturday night or if I’m going to Club 11 like that, I’m gonna wear my DJ Snake. So, uh,
Steve Monzon:
Right, right. No, the DJ snake, like, you know, it’s, it’s one of those watches like, well, in first, like, I don’t know if you know, if you knew, but it’s actually a hundred. So they only made a hundred of those. They only made a hundred
Matthew Maschler:
In the
Steve Monzon:
World. A hundred. Yep. So if you own one, you’re one of 99 or one of 100 I guess is theory. Wow. That has one. So, um, but yeah, so you know, DJs, they, there’s all these collaborations that all these watches, you know, all these brands do. Um, but I’ll tell you, this is the one of the most unique watches that I’ve owned, and it’s one of those, you know, watches that is just, it’s such a conversation starter that that’s why I, I bought it. I was like, this is like, I’m gonna wear it to any, any event. And everyone’s just gonna ask, what are you wearing? Like, what is that <laugh>? And so, um, again, and to me it just opens up, um, just opportunities to talk to people and just kind of introduce them into that watch role in a sense as well. The first time they see some school.
Matthew Maschler:
The first time I watched, I wore it, three people asked me about it.
Steve Monzon:
Yeah. It’s, it’s nuts. It’s like, it’s just so, like you said it perfectly, it’s very psychedelic. So it’s like so insane how it looks. The purple with the blue. It just, it’s just a crazy watch. And, um, and it’s so hard to get right. It’s so exclusive. I mean, right now there’s
Matthew Maschler:
A lot of go, a lot of times I regret things that I buy online, but the day it came, I like, I was so excited and I grabbed the box and I like opened it all up. I opened up all the boxes of the inner boxes. I took off all the wrappings and I put it on. I didn’t take any pictures. I didn’t like video, the unboxing. I just, I just, I just tore right into it and put it on. And I was so super excited.
Steve Monzon:
I mean, it’s such a, and the presentation is crazy. I mean, that’s one of the things that I’ll say I give Hubo very props of, is they, the certain watches that they do like big collaborations with their boxes are insane. I mean, I thought I was looking at like an alien bomb or something, and I opened, I was like, did
Matthew Maschler:
DJ Snake worked on with them on a custom box? Cool. So it didn’t even look like any of the other Hubo boxes that you would normally see. Yeah, he, he, he was, he took part of the design and, and, and, and the boxing, the presentation, the marketing. And, and I don’t know if that’s one of the reasons why it’s sold out in one day, but, um, but yeah, it’s a gorgeous, uh,
Steve Monzon:
Gorgeous piece. Are they
Staci Garcia:
Worth more if you have the box versus not having the box?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, so good question. So most, most of the time they are worth a little bit more if you have the original box, especially when it comes to special editions. If you have like a, if you buy a regular normal hubo that comes with the normal, generic box, then you can get away with not having the box. I think what’s more important is really like the kind of the warranty information and or the doc, the documents that authenticates it. ’cause Huba will provide that, right? So as long as you have that, um, ’cause it’ll match the, usually the, the serial number to the watch, then you’re buying something authentic. And so that’s, a lot of people like that because they, it feels more comfortable to say that, okay, this is an authentic watch. Um,
Matthew Maschler:
I, I think if you’re buying a watch, especially as an investment, you want the, the box and the papers, right? Um, and Correct. There was a watch that I wanted to buy. Um, uh, so after, after I started liking watches, um, I, I took my, uh, family to the 2012, uh, winter Oly winter, no Summer Olympics in London. Uh, as spectators, we, we didn’t compete. And, um, so looking back years later, that Omega was, <laugh> Omega was the sponsor, and they, and they made special editions of, of watches for those games. Um, and I had recently thrown away a lot of souvenirs, um, like a giant box of crap from the 2012 games. So I was looking for a, a new souvenir. Uh, so I went back and I bought a 2012 Omega watch that was a special edition for the Olympic Games. Um, and I specifically didn’t want boxing papers ’cause I was trying to just get the cheapest watch that I could find, um, because I just wanted to wear it and not care about it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Whereas if it was brand new and pristine, it had a box of papers if I was buying it as an investment or if I, I thought it would have value in the future. Um, but I wasn’t looking for that.
Staci Garcia:
You’re not gonna put bubble wrap around your watch when you
Matthew Maschler:
Go out. Right, right. So, so, um, so I was just looking to get the, the least expensive version that, that I could. Um, but then, uh, I’m friendly with the people, the, at the Omega boutique in the Boca Town Center Mall, which recently closed. And they actually got me a box from the Olympic from the 2012 Olympics. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it might’ve just been an Olympic box, but they got me, it was either just an Olympic box or a 2012 Olympic box that I could put in my back of my closet to, to go with that piece. That’s cool. ’cause they knew I went back, went back in time to buy that.
Staci Garcia:
Steve, did you ship your watches out?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, yes. Yes, I do. Um, I, I know for a lot of people it can be a little scary <laugh>, but, uh, yes. I, I’ve shipped, you know, a hundred K watches and all that and, uh, it’s all about, you know, just making sure that you’re packaging it really well. And you know, a lot of people ask about insurance as well. Like, oh, how do you insure that? Like FedEx, you know, it’s not gonna naturally insure that. Right. It’s so expensive. Um, but I tell, but there is a company out there that, uh, that, uh, I utilize that ensures like luxury goods up to I think, um, like 500,000 if I’m not mistaken. So, um, yeah, you pay a little extra, but it, they work with FedEx, so, and, uh, yeah. So now everything’s usually overnight and I don’t, I only ship Monday through Thursday because I, you ship on Friday, it’s stuck at the warehouse and you don’t want, you know, that type watch that, that high amount value just sitting at our own warehouse. So, um, so yeah. So, but yeah, it’s, you know, it’s, and it’s not that expensive. I tell people all the time, like, you know, a hundred K watch will cost me maybe 180, I’m sorry, a hundred hundred $80 to, with insurance to ship overnight. So you, FedEx,
Matthew Maschler:
Do you want to give them a little plug of the insurance company?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, yeah, yeah. So it’s called, uh, it’s info. Sure. So info, sure. I n infos. Sure, sure. Yep. So, or if f sure. They’re, I guess you could say. But, um, yeah, so you just Google them. They, they go short by I f Ss and, uh, again, you can just register on there and then they’ll call you trying to set up your account and that’s totally free. There’s no fee or anything like, I mean, they, they get their own fee, but that’s part of whenever you purchase the label. Um, but it’s not like a membership fee or anything like that. Uh, so yeah, it just, you just register, they’ll call, you set up your account, and then you’re good to go. And then you can start, you know, creating labels. And, and again, it’s good. I, I utilize it for everything. It’s not necessarily for watches. If I need to ship something, it’s even something small. Um, I’ll utilize it. So it’s just, it’s very convenient.
Staci Garcia:
How would you talk, how would you, um, advise somebody that’s just starting out to trade and flip watches to get an, an authorized, um, person, you know, to become, to get an authorized watch dealer to actually call them?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, <laugh>. Great question. So, uh, you know, it, it’s, if you’re in like the luxury good world, you have to understand that it’s all about relationships. You know, it’s, it’s not about how much money you have, right? Because there’s a ton of people that go like, I’m a billionaire, I’m a millionaire. I, I have, you know, $50 million in the bank and I don’t know what to do with it. Like, they don’t care about that. They, they have those so many people that go in there that it’s, it’s just not even fair. They, you know, so they, they’re, they’re used to that. When you, when I tell a lot of people it’s, it’s just more about like getting to know the people that, you know, they’re trying, that you’re trying to buy off. Um, we never, and it works both ways from watches to, like, again, any luxury good. If you’re going out in the Louis Vuitton store to buy a bag to going into a, uh, a car, an exotic car dealership to buy a Lamborghini, a Ferrari or something, you know, it’s, it’s about who you know and, and how you treat them. And so that’s, that’s the key thing. So building a good, solid foundation and, and relationship with the salesperson that you’re, you know, you you’re talking to is, is key. Um, so if they like you, they will sell to you. If they don’t like you, you’re gonna wait five years. They don’t
Staci Garcia:
Have a lottery. It’s not like here with new, new construction where they put you in a lottery, they’re no,
Steve Monzon:
No lottery.
Staci Garcia:
You have to buy put, put them on the holiday list.
Steve Monzon:
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. You put them on a holiday list and you’d be if, if you even, you know, get it. So I, I just,
Matthew Maschler:
You know what, I think it’s like, I think it’s like any business. Like if there’s a restaurant that I go to all the time mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? They’re gonna gimme the better table, right? Right. They’re gonna gimme,
Steve Monzon:
Um, exactly the,
Matthew Maschler:
The, the, the, they’re gonna comp my dessert, you know, bring, bring a, bring some dessert that I didn’t know order. And, you know, on, on the house, uh, the bartender that’s your regular bartender is gonna give you that extra drink for free. Um, you know, if you go to a restaurant and, and it’s, and, and it’s crowded, you know, and you get the table before someone else, ’cause you’re a regular, you know, and any business has to treat their regular as well. You know, my real estate clients, you know, I’m not gonna treat ’em all. I’m gonna treat them all great. But if someone’s done a lot of business with me, I’m, I’m gonna respond much quicker to them. So, right. So if, if exactly. If, if, if a store has a limited allocation, you’re gonna give it to your better, better customers. You’re not gonna give it to a, you know, if, if, if the watch is so in demand, you don’t just put it in the window, give, sell it to the next person that comes in, you’re gonna get, you’re gonna give it to a good customer. And, and I think that’s what any business does. You know, that’s why I can get a reservation at New York Prime for Saturday night and somebody else can’t mm-hmm. <affirmative> because
Steve Monzon:
Exactly. Because
Matthew Maschler:
I, over the, over the, over the years, I, I’m, I’ve proved myself to be a good customer,
Steve Monzon:
So Yeah, exactly. They don’t, and like ultimately I tell people is like, they don’t want people, they, they sell to people that are gonna enjoy the watch. I mean, they don’t really care if you’re gonna sell it at some point or not. They understand it’s part of the game at this point. Um, but what they do care is that, you know, you’re not gonna go ahead there and buy it and then next day sell it. That’s what they don’t like, because it’s like, okay, well, you know, I thought you were cool and I had another cool client that I, I chose you instead of him, and now he doesn’t get the watch. So it just puts, kind of puts them in a situation where like, they don’t appreciate that. And so, and
Matthew Maschler:
They don’t wanna, and they don’t wanna jeopardize their relationship with, with, with their manufacturer, so.
Steve Monzon:
Exactly. Oh yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. So, but why I tell people, I’m like, listen, just enjoy the wash, keep it, you know, for a couple weeks or months, and then when the time comes, I mean, it’s just, it’s an appreciating asset. It’s not like you’re gonna lose money. And even if it, if there’s some small correction or, you know, like every, every business, every uh, type of investment out there, there’s some up and and downs. Even if it goes down a little bit, you’re still well in it to, to make good profit. So, um, I I think ultimately is, there’s, again, there’s a level of just respect that you have to have for these people as well to understand that they’re choosing you out of a hundred pe hundreds of people. I mean, trust me, I, I’m in Jacksonville, Florida, and you know, it’s a smaller, it’s not as big as Miami because like Miami, there’s a, I’m guarantee there’s like a list of like a thousand people that are looking for a Rolex at this point. Right. Um, you know, and there’s here in
Matthew Maschler:
Jackson and there’s more stores in, in, in Miami area though.
Steve Monzon:
Absolutely. Yeah. But each store has its own, you know, list. So, you know, each Rolex has its own independent list and, and each mayor’s each, each dealer that’s out there, you know, has its own independent list. So I think it’s just one of those things that, for the most part, it’s just having an appreciation that when they call you and let you know, like, Hey, I got this. Come on in, you can check it out. Just appreciate the fact that, just think that they chose you. Right. I don’t like a lot of people, you know, so, so Yeah. Yeah. But like, like you said, it’s all about like, and like, we, I think we both agree, it’s, it’s all about relationships. It’s all about being a loyal customer to them and, and just, you know, whenever you’re going in there, you’re not seeing them as almost like a sales person, but someone that you know, you can relate to that you, even just a certain extent you can potentially call as a friend, you know, and just ’cause they, they, they know you, like, they try to get to know you and get to know your habits.
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> what you like, what you don’t like. And it’s nice to have that same feeling, being reciprocated to them.
Staci Garcia:
What’s your favorite watch, Steve?
Steve Monzon:
My favorite watch? Uh, you know, man, I’ve had so many of them. I will say that the best, the, the most unique and favorite watch that I’ve owned to date. And it’s funny because I only wore it once, it’s sold in the same day mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so I didn’t get a chance to really enjoy it. Uh, it was a, is the Hubo, um, or Linsky Rose Gold. So it’s, uh, it’s a collaborate, a ative collaboration with, uh, the artist Linsky, very famous artist slash sculptor. And just the way, if you Google it, you just put like, you know, rose Gold or Linsky Hugo, it’s one of the most so unique beautiful watches that you can wear. I mean, people will gravitate to Rolex and to all the paddocks and aps and all this other stuff. And, uh, and just Hubo did such a fantastic job with the design, with Olinsky.
I mean, just the, the dimensions of the watch, if you look at it, is just, it looks cra it looks incredible. Um, and just the rose gold, the way they, they, they were able to incorporate that design with the rose gold is just beautiful. So they, they, they’ve, they’ve made two variations. They’ve made a black one because it’s a skeleton dial, so it means that it’s like, you can see the intricacies of the watch working at the same time right in front, right in the front, uh, like in the front dial mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and so, uh, they did like a, the black one initially that came out, I think in 2020. And, uh, and then last year they came out with the blue one, which was like, just insane. How, how crazy. I mean, blue, blue and green is kind of like the new thing these days. Everyone wants, especially in the watch, in the watch world, like the blue dials and the green dials and stuff like that, that’s really popular right now. And so, um, they just did a fantastic job. So I only got to wear it once, and then I, I sold it the very same day that I got posted it. Literally just saying, Hey, I got this. And then someone just literally messaged me and we agreed on the, on a price. So
Staci Garcia:
Do you have selling regret? Do you regret selling it?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, I do <laugh>, I do. I wish I would’ve kept it a little longer mm-hmm. <affirmative> just to enjoy it a little bit more. Um, but, you know, I, to me, everything is a business. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, uh, I, every, especially when it comes to watches, I try to kind of take away the emotions out, um, because it’s, it’s an emotional part of the game, really. You know, you wear these watches and trust me, like people just underestimate the power of how it looks on your wrist, right? And so the moment you, I have a lot of people that are like, I’ve never worn, you know, nice watches, so, and I’ve got, and I’ve, I’ve literally just landed like, Hey, try it on. And the next thing, you know, and they just, it’s just like, they can’t believe it. Like, wow, this looks awesome. And then they’re hooked, you know, <laugh> and, um, and so, so yeah, I think ultimately it’s just one of those things that, um, yeah, I do wish that, that I would’ve probably kept it a little longer, but, and
Matthew Maschler:
That’s, and that’s and interesting. So, you know, it’s the real estate finder podcast. So we’re talking about finance, right? You know, we’re not talking about fashion and jewelry and clothing here. You know, we’re talking about watches as investments, watches as a store of value, right? The, the way people are so big on crypto, right? But, you know, you could trade a watch and you can use it as a currency and bring it into, you know, do illegal things, right? Pay, pay, right? You have a hundred thousand watch and pay someone a hundred thousand dollars, nobody sees it, right? And, and you know, to me that’s a lot of what crypto’s about. But, um, but actually the watch, you could see, touch and feel, right? Or you can buy low sell high. So, you know, if you’re the type of person who is collecting watches, because, um, you’re a collector, you like the fashion of it.
I, I know people that, you know, they wouldn’t sell a watch, right? But, um, but if you look at the watch as a store of value, like a, like a, as if it’s an N F T or a crypto, but something in real life, um, that you are using to, to make money, it’s your tool to make money. Like I’ve sold a lot of, I’m a real estate agent. I’ve sold people houses that I’ve loved, but I made money on it. It’s, I didn’t, I didn’t buy it for myself. So that, that hubo, if you didn’t buy it for yourself and you enjoyed it for a moment, but then sold it, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re using it as a, as a, as a as either as a flip or as an investment as a store of money. Um, you know, and I, I, me, I’m still like a collector.
I still, I have my watches and my watches. I, I wouldn’t think of selling it, but, but now I’m kind of, you know, understanding this other way of looking at it. I was talking to a friend recently who, um, had a watch that, you know, he wouldn’t sell it because he was, it was emotional to him. It was a gift from his wife. And I said to him, if you bought your wife a sweater, does she have to keep it forever? If you, if you bought her flowers, if you bought her dinner, if you took her on a cruise, right? I mean, what, what gifts do you have to keep forever? Flowers throw you throw away. But a teddy bear, I have a teddy bear that I gave to Wendy 22 years ago. Like, it’s, yeah, but you
Staci Garcia:
Can’t buy a car with that,
Matthew Maschler:
Right? No, it has no value, <laugh>. It’s, but I bought the teddy bear instead of flowers. I was like, well, flowers die, so I’m gonna buy her a teddy bear, right? Just 22 years later, this thing’s disgusting. <laugh> <laugh>, my daughter sleeps on it and blows her nose on it. She loves Misty, the teddy bear. But, um, she’s nasty. You know, it’s, she wouldn’t, you know, at one point it should have been thrown away a long time ago. Now it can’t be thrown away, but it should have been thrown away a long time ago. So, you know, my, my friend who is a financial guy, right? He has a very nice Rolex. Um, and he has other watches, so maybe that very nice Rolex that he doesn’t wear so much anymore, should, you know, he could sell, liquidate it, use the money for other things.
Um, but because his wife gave it to him, he, he can’t. So he’s trapped emotionally, um, in, in, in a, in a financial investment. And the interesting thing about Rolex is, you know, they have stainless steel watches. Now, if you forget the flip, if you forget the increase in value just at M S R P, right? That, that start at one price, then they have the two-tone, you know, gold and stainless that are a little bit more expensive. And then the full gold theoretically, you know, when you start out in life, you could buy stainless, you do a little bit better, you buy the two-tone. And then when you’re very successful, you buy the gold soro, just like cars, you get into the bigger, better cars, right? But what are you supposed to do with the watch when you, you know, with a car you traded, right?
You bought your wife a, a car for her birthday, she can still trade it in on the next car. So you get that stainless watch and then you wanna go for two-tone, ’cause you’re doing a little bit better now, but all of a sudden there’s a stigma that you can’t sell the stainless watch, um, and then eventually go to gold. But, but that’s kind of what it was, what it was meant to be. Although it’s absolutely flipped right now because the stainless watches are, are the most desirable, the most expensive, you know, in the aftermarket or the gray market. The stainless watches go for just as much go for more money than the two-tone and almost as much money as the gold, because everybody wants those stainless steel watches, which is crazy.
Steve Monzon:
Yep, yep. No, and you know, and you touched base good, really good base on it. ’cause like ultimately that’s how, and going back to like, you know, the, the trajectory questions and how the projections work, I mean, you know, you look at something like a stainless steel model selling for, you know, $10,000. Then you see the counterpart, the gold, the rose gold, the all gold or yellow gold, you know, selling for 15,000. You’re like, wait, wait a second. Like that doesn’t make any sense. And then you, and then you go to the two-tone and you see the two-tone is selling close to what the stainless steel is selling. And you’re like, okay, that doesn’t really make any sense because it’s, you know, it’s half steel, half gold, you’re getting gold out of it. So that’s how you started understanding projection and trajectory and like, okay, if the stainless steel model is, you know, is going up, then what’s gonna follow?
Right. Right. It’s almost like a stacking model in a sense. So, so yeah, it’s, it’s, you know, it’s one of those things that, um, for me at least, it’s everything is just business and, you know, and trajectory and, and figuring out projections and stuff like that. Just like how any Stark Trader would do. Yeah. Um, and, you know, and, and to touch base a little bit on like the portion of, you know, like people having these watches that they wanna keep because of an emotional aspect. Like, I have three watches in my collection that, you know, those are mine. Those, like my personal, I don’t, uh, I don’t sell them. I won’t, you know, they, someone would have to really give me an insane price Uhhuh, um, to sell them because they’re just part of what I like, why would I, why would I sell this particular one?
I bought this one for me and I bought it really good. Like, I can make money off of it, but it doesn’t matter. Like, it’s just something for me. And I run into people that, like, are they, they’re passed down through generations, right? So there is a level of sentimental value, um, there. And that’s okay. You know, I, I have a client that I just met a couple of days ago, and he was telling me about that, and it’s like, and I get it. I’m like, listen. And he didn’t even realize like, well, I have a Dayday presidential that was ever, you know, was given to me, uh, you know, at this time. It was a couple years ago. And I’m like, oh, you can sell that for like 30 K. And he was just like, he’s like, what? I’m like, yeah, it’s, it’s a 30 k watch.
And he couldn’t believe it. And he’s like, wow, like this is 30,000, like, that’s more, that’s worth more than my car <laugh>. And I’m like, yeah, yeah. And so, and uh, yeah, but he’s like, and he’s like, and I asked, I was asking him like, Hey, are you looking to sell it? What do you, what do you wanna do with it? He’s like, no, no, no. This is my, this is like a wash. I was getting to be by my father and all this stuff. And, and I get it. I’m like, okay, cool. And then, but he’s like, I don’t, I barely wear it. ’cause I’m so scared of scratching it. I’m like, well, if you’re gonna keep it forever <laugh>, then just wear it. Like, just don’t be scared of wearing that. Don’t wear it in places that it might not be the best areas to wear it, but, you know, it’s nice dinners and, you know, to with friends and family. Sure. Why not? So,
Matthew Maschler:
So when the Apple Watch came out, you know, I really, it really, you know, and, and before, you know, it was announced before it went on sale and I, I really started to wonder like, you know, you know, I’m, I’m not gonna wear two watches, right? And, you know, I’m, I’m addicted to my iPhone. I can’t leave my house without my iPhone. So if the Apple Watch becomes part of my life, so much so that I wouldn’t leave, like I wouldn’t, oh, I’m going to this, you know, I’m gonna a wedding, I’ll take off my Apple watch and I’ll put on my dress watch. Like, that’ll never happen, right? If, if I’m addicted to my Apple watch, if it becomes just so much part of my life that it has to be all the time. Like, what’s the watch industry? What’s gonna happen to the watch industry?
So I never like tried the Apple Watch because I didn’t want to get addicted to it. And I do like wearing watches. I feel naked when I don’t wear a watch. Um, like around the house, I don’t wear a watch, but when I leave the house, even to go to the supermarket, I put on my wedding ring, I put on a watch. Um, and, uh, but I realized, I was like, you know, I really wondered what was gonna happen to the watch industry. And then more so with, when the Apple Watch came out, they came with the special additions, the, the rose gold because they were trying to mimic the watch industry. So they were trying to make high-end versions Oh yeah. Of the iPhone of the watch. Yeah. The apple. And you know, a lot of times, you know, you buy, you buy a piece of tech and then after a year you, it’s, it’s upgraded.
You have to replace it. So when the addition came out, this the special edition of the Apple watches, you know, a lot of people were like, well, why would anyone wear buy this? You know, a tech Philippe, you know, the ad line is, you know, you don’t own it. You merely care for it for the next generation. But to buy a, a piece of electronic, it’s a piece of tech that’s gonna be obsolete in a year or two. Why would someone pay up for it? And, and I, and the answer that, that, that I, that I realized was the same reason why people go on cruises or bungee jump for the experience for the moment you buy that addition. Um, you go on a cruise and after a week, you know, you pay $10,000 and after a week you don’t have anything left. You buy an addition.
And even if two years, it has no value, you got the memory, the experience of having that really cool watch for that temporary amount of time. So it wasn’t an investment, it wasn’t something that you care for for the next generation. It was an expense. But some people liked the expense because some people liked to, um, experience. And, and that really, it kind of changed my view on a lot of things after that. ’cause I’m a bit of a pack rat and a bit of a hoarder. But it, it made me realize that sometimes I can have the experience without buying the souvenir. Um, and why I got rid of those London 2012 souvenirs and little pins and clippings from the newspaper and stuff. I don’t need that. I had a great experience. I have fantastic pictures. I don’t need every souvenir from that event.
Even though whenever I come back from WrestleMania, I always come back <laugh> with a bear. Well, there’s a lot of souvenirs I get every time mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then I pick up for other people. Like one person I know collects a bear, one person I know collects a license plate, and then I’m thinking, Ooh, should I buy one for myself? So it’s like, alright, so besides those things I collect every year, like I gotta pick up for other people that didn’t make it. Do I want to collect their thing? It’s like, oh, too much stuff. Right? So the, sometimes the, you know, we, the experience and that, that’s I think what’s, you know, popular on Instagram and social media is you have the experience without having the, the tangible item. Even though I wanted the tangible item from that 2012 Olympics that I talked about, uh, buying that watch.
So, so in the traditional watch, have value, have future value, or have value to the next generation, you pass it down to your children or whatnot. And there are a lot of people that they wanna pass their watch down. They, they don’t sell it now where they could make money and use that money to really better their lives. ’cause they wanna give the watch to their child. And the child may not even want the watch. Right. Like, they may not even be the type of person to wear watches. So, uh, so it’s, it’s, it’s interesting to have the experience versus to have the item and, and, uh, and the emotional value in a watch. And, and I know my father, when he worked on Wall Street, you know, a lot of guys fell into hard times, would would say, you know, Hey, Shelly, can you, you know, hold the watch.
Let me borrow a couple dollars. You can hold the watch till I pay you back. And no one ever pays it back. You know, <laugh>, they, they walk away from the watch. So I I I, the, when you talking about the, the, the free watches in your collection that are not for sale, my favorite watch is a, is an I W C Da Vinci from, uh, from the late seventies that my father gave me a couple years ago. But, you know, it was somebody else’s, it was somebody who, somebody, you know, asked my father to hold it and never came back for the watch. So, uh, but I love that watch. That’s my favorite watch.
Steve Monzon:
Yeah. I mean, like ultimately, you know, anytime, anytime we’re dealing with like luxury goods, I tell people like it’s, you know, luxury goods is not for everyone. Uh, watches isn’t there for everyone. Nice cars, nott for everyone. Like, some people just don’t, don’t like it and don’t find it core. They just don’t like it. So that’s fine. It’s, you know, uh, it’s, it’s one of those things that, you know, if you, if you, you’re looking at it from an investment perspective, then you’re thinking about money, then you’re excited when you hear about, you know, alternative asset investments when it comes to like watches, cars and stuff like that. Um, but if when it comes to actually just like enjoying the asset and you know that you’re not really gonna enjoy it that much, you know, and you’re not gonna have a great experience in it, then don’t, don’t do it.
’cause like, again, it’s one of those things that you have to enjoy the, the progression, right? Enjoy what, what you’re buying in a sense. So, um, especially when it comes to, you know, especially when it comes to cars and stuff like that, because cars, there’s a lot of emotional aspects to things. So, um, and that’s just another kind of vertical of investments that you can do that, you know, maybe we’ll touch on on another topic, <laugh> in another, uh, segment. But, uh, either way it’s, you know, to me it’s what I tell folks is like, when they invest with me, I’m like, if I buy you the watch, you know, you don’t wanna wear it, that’s fine. Like, I’ll just gonna keep, I’m gonna keep it in my, my, uh, safe and then, you know, and we’ll go from there. Um, but a lot of the times, the people that invest with me, you know, it’s, it’s one of those things that like, maybe they might not want to wear the watch, but the moment they see it and I just tell ’em, just try it on it, it changes their perspective and the experience.
’cause they can’t believe it. They’re like, wow, like this is such a beautiful watch that’s on my wrist and, or like, wow, this is a $70,000 watch on my wrist like this. And so it’s, it’s crazy, you know? And, and it’s just the experience of being able to feel that. So it’s just, it’s hard to explain it until you feel it, until you see it. Are
Staci Garcia:
You a real estate agent? Estate
Steve Monzon:
Steve? Uh, me? No, no, no. I’m a real estate investor, so,
Staci Garcia:
Oh, I was gonna say, I have, have you ever sold a house with a watch included?
Matthew Maschler:
Ooh, that’s interesting. That
Staci Garcia:
Would be an interest, right? A eliminated
Steve Monzon:
Edition. That would be a good, yes. You know, it’s funny, say that I, I know a guy, um, recently came out on my social media and he’s taking down payments, um, in versions of watches. Oh, really? So he’s, yeah. So he’s, he has his own boutique mm-hmm. <affirmative> and uh, and he’s literally saying like, you know, if you don’t have, but you have the nice watch, I’ll take the watch as a down payment.
Staci Garcia:
Nice.
Steve Monzon:
So it’s, it is such a, you know, again, like global currency, <laugh> nice. It’s a global, it’s a currency. And, and the more people start realizing that, yeah, the more you’re gonna realize,
Staci Garcia:
I’m sure one day somebody will be going through the airport with 12 watches on <laugh>.
Steve Monzon:
Well if you, if you do that, you’re gonna get some at that point someone’s gonna ask a question. Right. But, uh, but, but yeah, we like,
Matthew Maschler:
Do you know anyone but it, do you know anyone that wears two watches?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, no. No. I don’t know anyone that would wear two watches on their wrist, but I do know that people like will bring three because you can fit it in a watch roll. A watch roll usually fits three. So you can get away with, you know, if you buy three watches in another country, ’cause they’re a really good price to bring them here, you can probably get away saying, oh, you know, I brought, these are, these are my watches. I brought them originally and that’s it. So, or what a lot of other, you know, people that I know is they’ll bring like six family members mm-hmm. <affirmative> each one wears a watch and then you get six watches to come back to the states.
Staci Garcia:
So Interesting. I know that someone I needed always had a watch each night of the cruise for a different outfit.
Matthew Maschler:
Wow. Really? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Staci Garcia:
Yeah.
Steve Monzon:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there are people like that. I know people, I’ve
Matthew Maschler:
Changed my watch three or four times a day at home. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but I mean one on vacation maximum two.
Steve Monzon:
Yep. Yep. Well, I’m one of those people, I’ll have three different watches if I go on vacation just, ’cause then I’m thinking about my outfits. I’m like, okay, if I’m wearing black, I’m wearing this one. If I, you know, if I need to really look nice and, you know, wear the gold one, maybe if I need a little bit more classy then I’ll go with a stainless steel with like a black guy or something simple. So it just, it just depends on the outfit for me. But, but yeah, so it’s, uh, it’s a
Staci Garcia:
Fashion statement. It’s,
Steve Monzon:
It’s, to me it’s, yeah, it works with this fashion. Uh, you know, I, I like, I, I honestly, I just, I like expensive stuff, so mm-hmm. <affirmative> just, you know, I’m just gonna throw it out there. I just, that’s, that’s what I like. And so, um, I have a quote unquote expensive case, so I just have to, it, it just fits, fits well with the watches in itself. So I have to kind of make sure that, make sure if the watch fits the out the outfit for that occasion. So.
Matthew Maschler:
Alright. Alright. So I, um, I’m really happy that we did this episode. I’m really, I’m really grateful that you, um, came onto the show and shared with us. This was fascinating and I know I learned something. I hope you enjoyed yourself.
Steve Monzon:
Um, oh, absolutely. This was fun.
Matthew Maschler:
Do you, um, do you have a, do you, do you wanna plug anything? Do you wanna plug your business?
Steve Monzon:
Uh, yeah, so you can just, you know, for right now, I, I’m finished it on my website, so, um, but it’ll be the watch through company. Um, it’ll probably shorten ’cause that’s just too long. So it’ll probably be like the T w t Watch Trader. No, yeah, T W T C is probably gonna be what it, what I’m gonna surname it so it’ll be easier to go. But, um, for now, you can follow me at the Watch Trader company on, I post on I ton of
Matthew Maschler:
The, the trader company on Instagram. You’ll see some beautiful watches and if, and they’re, they’re all for sale. If you, if you, um, wanna buy any and, um, you just let Steve know that you’re one of my listeners, he’ll take good care of you. Um, you can definitely trust them. These are not fakes. They’re all real watches, uh, all exactly as described. And, um, you know, even though I haven’t known Steve all that long, I, we have a lot of friends in common and, and, and I would totally, totally vouch for him. Um, which is important when you’re, when you’re, when you’re buying expensive watches. And, uh, and Steve, I’m making plans to go to, uh, Jacksonville in June, so I’ll I’ll make sure to, to hit you up. We can get together. Uh, my, my other passion, my other podcast is my wrestling podcast and, and there shows at Jacksonville often enough. So, uh, June 11th. Oh,
Steve Monzon:
Perfect. June. Yeah, because they’re doing the U f C stuff here too, so,
Matthew Maschler:
Yeah. So June 11th or 12th, I’m, I’m gonna, I’m gonna be up there, so I will make sure to reach out to you.
Steve Monzon:
Awesome man. Yeah. Looking forward to it.
Matthew Maschler:
Alright, well thank you for joining us on the Real Estate Finder podcast. Hope you enjoyed this episode, and, uh, feel free to reach out Matthew Ashler on Instagram or Twitter or on Facebook, realestate finder uh.com. And, uh, um, our next show, I believe we will be interviewing, uh, real estate broker, Ben Schachter. That will be
Speaker 5:
Fun. Tune in
The future looks bright, and the storms pass by the sky’s blue. When it’s almost that time. Light shows cameras flash when I pass living in the moment, forget about the pass. They saved the best for last Matthew Mania. We about to make a splash. Life is a marathon full of sharp turns, gotta keep pace while the hands on the clock turns high stakes. Five star real estate. I’m running a show. You can tell the bus in place. Electricity energy vibrates. I’m always on time. Even if I’m making, I make dreams come true. Living my life. Hope the same for you. Got a real clear view. If you, the time I give you,
Speaker 6:
You know, it’s time. You know it’s time. You know what, it’s, you know what, you know what, you know what, you know what’s, you knows, you know what time it’s, you know what, you know it,
Speaker 5:
You know what time it, you know time. It’s, you know what time it’s mania. The time it says, you know what time it’s, you know whose time it’s, you know what time it’s mania. The time says yeah. Got him shook, scared. Can’t look. We’re not afraid of the big bad wolf. First comes to.
