In order to purchase or acquire diamonds you rarely need to travel and for the most part you need only afford it. Diamonds are therefore recognized by a large volume of people, but what extra effort has the person wearing the diamond demonstrated? Almost none. Diamonds are recognized by a large volume of people and as a result, it requires a low level of education and sophistication to know that by wearing diamonds you can communicate that you are wearing a luxury item. Therefore, there is a dimension of sophistication value in the realm of social perceived value. Social perceived value then runs along its own spectrum of recognizability and form of social status. This is where things can get both complicated and interesting.Īrguably, a lot more people are aware that a diamond has high value than the volume of people who know that a niche timepiece brand has high value. Social perceived value is further measured by the degree to which a large number of people are familiar with an item’s perceived value. People who wear diamonds might cherish the sparkle, but you can’t divorce a diamond from the shared public perception that diamonds are valuable. Diamonds are a good example, because their real value comes not from pure inherent value, but from the fact that people agree they are valuable. Social perceived value comes exclusively from a shared agreement that something is very valuable or exclusive. Such watches tend to be highly recognizable as expensive and/or exclusive by being produced from commonly recognized luxury materials (precious metals and stones), as well as coming from well-known luxury names (such as Rolex). The message of “this was very difficult to get and I like to show off the treasures of my success” is the primary statement the wearer is trying to assert in this case. These are timepieces whose main luxury value is in their ability to send the message that they are expensive and/or exclusive. At one end of the spectrum is the “predominantly social perceived value” watch.
Now let’s look at two extreme ends of the spectrum when it comes to the type of luxury watch enthusiasts choose to display on their wrist in public. Yes, it is true that a more private appreciation of luxury watches can exist (when someone buys and enjoys but does not publicly wear a luxury watch), but this type of watch ownership is relatively uncommon and in a way outside the scope of this discussion. More so, I want to clarify that I am establishing as a given, the notion that people who enjoy high-end watches also prefer to wear them and show them off.
I’d like to explore each of them and propose that the social perceived value of wearing a luxury timepiece is much more important than people often give credit to. In my opinion, most of the time both types of cultural values are at play when someone chooses to publicly show off their fine timepiece. This is an item’s social perceived value. This is the value in the notion that the so-called luxury item is something that is perceived by other people to be either expensive or exclusive (or both). The second dimension to the culture of appreciating and desiring luxury items is because of social perceived value. For the purpose of this discussion, we can call that a luxury item’s inherent value.
One dimension relates to a person’s ability to appreciate the inherent value of a specific luxury item such as its materials, design, construction quality, and of course utility. There are at least two dimensions to the culture of appreciating and desiring luxury items. So why is it that people like to wear and show off their luxury watches? The Two Dimensions Of Luxury Value Other times people offer contradictory reasons for why they are compelled to wear a small, expensive machine on their wrist whose actual utility in life is marginal at best. This topic is interesting to me because I believe that much of the time if you ask someone why they like to wear high-end watches, they will give you a range of answers – most of which never actually get to the point. I’d like to explore some of the common psychology at play in the minds of people who enjoy wearing high-end wrist watches.
0 kommentar(er)
