I got to wondering if celebrity living involves more than cars, houses, and vacations.
I remembered that key personal item which would likely be number four on the list - watches. And there are lists of celebrities and their watches.
I couldn't comprehend that Martin Luther King Jr. had a Rolex, likely gifted to him by Rolex. This is likely as Rolex noted in an advertisement that he wore it when he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. That seems a sad moment for 20th Century advertising. But it is telling of the 20th Century's elevation of wristwatches to celebrity status.
Watches aren't like cars to the wealthy. Bill Gates skipped the expensive watch experience: he supposedly wears a $70 Casio. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook wear affordable consumer watches. So the assumption is that cars have a higher ranking of success than watches.
There is a long history for the clock/watch. One article says that the first wristwatch was created in 1812 to fit the wrist of the Queen of Naples. They were worn by women. Men used pocket watches until the 20th century. They started to wear wristwatches to allow them to have their hands free - WWI was the defining event that spurred this development.
It is clear that cars are higher on the status list than watches. The most expensive watch ever sold at auction: Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010, for 31.19 million US dollars in Geneva on November 9, 2019 (by Christie's). Wikipedia has a long entry on the most expensive cars ever sold. Number 1 on the list is the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for US $48,405,000 at auction. Another entry lists that model was sold for $70,00,000 privately.
In the articles about what rich people buy, cars always shows up. Watches don't always show up. Gold toilets, private islands, private planes, super yachts - they show up on the lists. Even fossils show up on the lists. Watches are viewed as "another easy way rich people make their wealth known."
I went looking for car pictures - I remember we visited a car display on Yorkville one year, but I didn't find the pictures. This picture comes from one of the Porsche Fun Run events a few years ago.
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