Luxury means different things to different people, and the answer can change based on where they live and what age and stage they are in life. To define luxury, you must consider who is answering the question.
Surveys by Chrono24
Chrono24 has been the leading marketplace for luxury watches since 2003. They have received 4.8 out of 5 stars from 130,000 reviews worldwide. The company, recognized as “The World’s Watch Market,” is a platform where watch buyers and sellers meet. Chrono24 recently collected data through a survey in their magazine that asked, “What are the little luxuries that brighten your everyday life?” The categories were: time with friends and family, time to care for oneself, pleasure in owning luxurious goods, the freedom to express oneself in attire, and the enjoyment of good food or wine. The survey occurred in December 2022 with audiences in several European countries and Japan.
Results
The results varied by country. Time with family and friends took first place in all but one country, Spain, where the people felt that the freedom to express themselves in what they wore was most important. Not surprisingly, good food and wine led the way in France, and owning luxurious things was consistently in the middle range in all six countries surveyed.
A second survey on Instagram@Chrono24 showed that 30% of those polled believed luxury was associated with money and status. I firmly believe it is no one’s place to judge another’s choice in what is important in life. You have no idea why something may be important to another individual. When it comes to luxurious possessions, that, too, has varied answers. Growing up, I recall one friend who owned a beautiful estate, and her passion was to redecorate with new furnishings every few years. Another friend was all about fashion and new boots. She had boots in every color and style.
Maybe you are interested in watches like the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra. The Omega Watchmaking Company began in 1848 with the production of pocket watches and, in 1849, made its first wristwatch. Masculine and eye-catching from the first look, the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watch comes in numerous colors silver, white, Omega Aqua Terra black, grey, blue, ivory, brown, or champagne; something to match each person’s personality. These watches boast various designs on the dials and backgrounds and are perfectly symmetrical. Omega watches feature high-quality parts, and the move is clear.
The Rolex GMT Master II is another exceptional watch as a single piece or part of a luxurious collection of timepieces. This watch, referred to as The Cosmopolitan watch, has a conventional hour, minute, and seconds hand, an arrow-tipped hand that circles the dial once every 24 hours, and a bidirectional rotatable 24-hour graduated bezel. GMT stands for solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London—the location of the original meridian used to calculate longitude and different time zones around the world. With the Rolex GMT Master II, you can set a second-time zone to keep you on time anywhere in the world. Whatever your preference is for tangible luxuries, it is a personal choice and can change for different reasons.
People in Your Peer Group
Other considerations are what people grew up with and who their friends are; there is some truth to “Keeping up with the Joneses.” In this case, a luxury car may not be the most essential thing on your list of luxuries. However, if you live in an upscale neighborhood, no one wants to look at your junk car in the driveway; there is a standard according to your lifestyle and with whom you associate at work and home.
Stage in Life
Finally, the most influential factor is your age and stage in life. Young people today seem to be all about what they can “do” now. Money is saved and then spent on luxury adventures and experiences. As they age and look for a significant other to begin a life and family, those luxuries often shift into houses and cars. They are moving up the proverbial ladder of success and “dress to impress.” They spend most hours on the job, networking, and making purchases and investments. After that phase, time becomes a luxury. Following years of work, it is time to enjoy the fruits of their labor and spend time with family and friends. The question to ask yourself in every stage of life is, “What does luxury mean to me right now?”