How tto Buy ime
Before dropping
$10,000 on a brand-spanking-new Rolex,
you should take a
look at the secondary
market, where you’ll
likely find the same
watch (or something
better) for up to half
the price. Edward
Faber can tell you
how. As the founder
of New York’s Aaron
Faber Gallery, one of
the world’s premier
retailers for preowned
watches, he instructs
his customers to look
for five things before
making a purchase.
“The brand determines
everything else,” says
Faber. Currently atop
the hierarchy are Rolex
and Patek Philippe
because, he says,
“they can be sold at
any time in any city
of the world.” After
brand comes condition
and presentation
(less refurbishing with
the original box and
paper work is best),
metal (“platinum
trumps gold, white
gold trumps pink gold,
pink gold trumps
yellow gold, and all
of the above trump
stainless steel,” says
Faber, unless it’s a
special case from the
order to get into heaven, so the living are responsible for finding past
ancestors and performing the proper rituals for them. Regardless of
their religious intentions, these are the people you want to put on the
case. A group called ProGenealogists, which is not affiliated with the
Mormons but is also based in Salt Lake City, will ransack the millions
of rolls of microfiche in the LDS library and then activate its network
of international researchers to track down your long-lost cousin Guido
in Sardinia or the fishing village in Hokkaido where your family name
was born. Ten hours of research will typically extend one family line
about two or three generations, though anything pre-1850 can take
twice as long. The group can even put together a narrative history of
your family, telling the story from the day Grandpa Pat fled the potato
famine to the day last spring when your own son graduated from
kindergarten. progenealogists.com, $60 an hour for U.S. research,
$65 an hour for international, 10-hour minimum
A Vineyard
Thanks to the Sideways effect on Napa Valley (much like the Under the
Tuscan Sun effect on Tuscany), it can cost at least $100,000 an acre to
buy a Napa estate. If you have the dough to spare, by all means go for it.
For the rest of us, there are still bargains to be had in the up-and-coming
wine region of Mendoza, Argentina, home of the mighty Malbec. At
press time, VineSmart.com (a vineyard and winery real-estate clearing
house) had four properties for sale in Mendoza, ranging in size from
seven to 50 acres and starting at $80,000. Before you sign on the dotted
line, it behooves you to hire a viticulturist to help you assess the soil,
to make sure there is a clean, reliable water source, and to determine
the health and history of the vines planted on the estate. God forbid
cabernet grapes are growing in a chardonnay environment, or the past
10 years have all seen crop failures.
+ BEST LIFE NO-BRAINER
If you’re not ready to take the full plunge and man the land
yourself, buy a share, sit back, and reap the benefits. Domaine
Gayda, which owns and manages vineyards in the Languedoc
region of France, sells vineyard plots starting at $26,000,
which gets you 96 bottles a year of your very own vino.
gaydavineyards.com
pre-1985 vintage era),
complications (more
is always better), and
desirability, style,
and trend (vintage
military tickers are big
right now). Service is
also key, so always
purchase a watch
from a reputable
firm that, like Faber,
guarantees the quality
of its products. One of
the best companies
offering certified
preowned watches is
Tourneau. And don’t
be afraid of trolling the
catalogs of auction
houses such as
Phillips de Pury, the
online firm Portero
.com, and Christie’s,
which meticulously
researches the
history of each watch
offered. “Our sales
have between 200 and
300 lots per sale, so
there’s a big variety,”
says Sam Hines, head
of Christie’s watch
department, which
will hold its auction
in New York in June.
“We just sold a 1962
signed Electro-Chron
watch by Wittnauer
that was owned by Joe
DiMaggio, and we have
lots of modern watches
made this year that
have never been worn
at prices below retail,
which is a big plus.”
Financial Security
The joke going around the hedge-fund world is that there are two good
positions these days: cash and fetal. After years of being ignored, the
best measure of financial health is back in style: cash flow. You can’t
build lasting wealth without it. If you’re lacking in liquidity, fake it by
taking out a home-equity line of credit (HELOC). Don’t tap it though;
it’s just in case of emergency. The time to be approved for a loan is
before you lose your job. Then ruthlessly attack the family balance
sheet: Scour credit-card bills for wasteful spending (you don’t need
Internet access on your cell phone), pay off any balances on credit
cards, refinance debt to take advantage of today’s lower rates, and
call your service providers (cable/Internet/landline/newspaper) and
ask for lower rates. Threaten to walk. Use the increased cash flow
to invest in a money-market mutual fund or take advantage of teaser
rates from banks. Says Manhattan financial planner and president of
ObjectiveAdvice.com Gary Schatsky: “Take it until they stop teasing.
Isn’t that what we learned in high school?” Anything more than
2. 5 percent on a money-market account and 4 percent on a CD is a
good return, but be ready to go elsewhere if the rate falls.
Your Kid’s Love
Sure, the latest video game or MP3 player might bring a gush of
enthusiastic thanks from your child, but it quickly fades, and he’ll
soon be whining again for the next overpriced gadget on his “must
have” list. To really win his heart, try giving him something that helps
him develop a skill or allows you to spend time together. “Giving a gift
that can be shared over a long period of time is a really big emotional
investment,” says child psychologist Anthony Wolf, PhD, author of
the best-selling book Get Out of My Life, But First Could You Drive
Me and Cheryl to the Mall? Get inside your kid’s head and figure out
what would make him happiest. Fly-fishing lessons? Season tickets
for his favorite team? A pottery class? “These are the types of gifts
that become a part of the child’s life over the long-term,” says Wolf,
“with your memory always attached.” ››
