A mix of clouds and sun with a slight chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 93F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..
Tonight
Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 73F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
When Chuck Pettry, a retired coal miner from Logan County, walked into a ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä jeweler last fall, he wasn’t looking for anything flashy or trendy. What Chuck wanted was something quiet and timeless, something that could outlast him. That piece of time came in the form of a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. It is by no means the flashiest model, but a sturdy, classic steel watch with a bright blue dial. “It’s not just a watch,†he said. “It’s my story on my wrist. And someday, it’ll be my grandson’s.â€
Chuck is not alone. Across West Virginia, an unexpected trend is quietly but surely ticking away. More and more baby boomers, many of whom grew up valuing hard work over Wall Street smarts, are turning to mechanical watches. These are not just status symbols, but vessels of legacy and even tangible investments.
A Different Kind of Retirement Plan
In the past, retirement conversations were dominated by IRAs, 401(k)s, and mutual funds. But the last decade has seen market swings, inflation worries, and a growing fatigue with paper wealth that exists only in the cloud.
“Stocks rise and fall, but a good watch, you can feel its weight,†said Linda Mayfield, a retired schoolteacher from Beckley. “And if it’s been taken care of, it only gets more valuable.â€
Linda’s retirement gift to herself was an Omega Constellation with a mother-of-pearl dial. As she puts it, “just fancy enough to make me smile without making me feel silly.†For her, it wasn’t about investment in the Wall Street sense, though the model has indeed appreciated in value, but about anchoring a memory.
Time, Legacy, and Tangible Wealth
Luxury watches like Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet have always been admired globally. But in the Mountain State, they’re being adopted less for glitz and more for what they represent: permanence, precision, and generational value. According toWatchMaestro.com, a luxury watch dealer in the Middle East, the demand for watches has been growing throughout the globe, and many people have started seeing them as great investments.Ìý
Tommy Sutherland, a 67-year-old Army veteran fromFairmont, bought a Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight last Christmas. “Didn’t want to go full Rolex,†he laughed. “But I read about how Tudor’s made by the same folks. And man, it’s built like a tank.â€
Tommy sees it as a hedge, not just against inflation, but against forgetting. “I’ve got three kids, and they don’t always see eye to eye. But I told them, this watch stays in the family. You don’t pawn it, you don’t sell it. You wear it when your kid graduates, when you get married. You let it collect memories.â€
His reasoning touches on a growing sentiment that watches are wearable heritage. Unlike a stock certificate or digital portfolio, a mechanical watch can be held, worn, and passed down. It carries not just value, but story.
Why Watches, Why Now?
Financial advisors might scoff, after all, luxury watches don’t yield dividends or compound interest. But here’s the thing: their value proposition lies elsewhere. Well-kept models from reputable brands often appreciate over time, especially discontinued or limited-edition pieces. A Rolex Submariner or Daytona can command significantly more on the secondary market than its original retail price. This is particularly true in today’s world where scarcity drives demand.
More importantly for West Virginians, who’ve weathered enough economic storms to last a lifetime, these watches represent real, tangible assets.
For many boomers here, watches aren’t about flexing wealth but anchoring identity. Watches are a quiet, enduring symbol of a life well-lived. And in a world that often feels fleeting and virtual, there’s something deeply grounding about the gentle tick of a well-made movement.
Redefining Retirement Investments
It’s tempting to write off this trend as sentimentalism, and in many ways, it is. But perhaps that’s exactly the point. Boomers in West Virginia are not abandoning financial prudence; they’re reframing it. They are investing in legacy over volatility, craftsmanship over algorithms, story over speculation.
And in doing so, they are subtly reshaping what it means to “invest†in retirement. It’s not just about numbers anymore; it’s about meaning. Back in Logan County, Chuck polishes his Rolex every Sunday morning. He doesn’t wear it to the store or the diner. “It’s not for showing off,†he says. “It’s for remembering. For passing on.â€
In a state where time has always been both precious and hard-earned, maybe what we really need is something that keeps perfect time and reminds us what time is for.
