Just my opinion so please feel free to ignore it.

I grew up in a repository of luxury goods and did not realize it until the money was all spent. Assuming the quality of a luxury brand had been imprinted into me. I have tried to be more circumspect, but childhood habits die hard--sometimes I find myself wandering into Tiffany's or scrutinizing Loro Piana for no reason.

Being a newbie to watches (since June) I am still trying to learn relative merits, absolute virtues, traditions, etc. Watch fora have served as a short cut and lazyboy school for me. I have a long way to go.

Budget is a factor. I appreciate how watchbugs have assembled collections based on an interest in and appreciation of "lower" priced watches. I have learned that these watches often have as much merit, virtue and tradition as the high priced ones--sometimes more in the category of military and function watches. This even applies to aesthetic appeal in the case of Swatch designer editions (Arnoldo Pomodoro ranks much higher in the artistic pantheon than Patek Philippe).

More important than budget is value. The knowledgable watchbug gets value from a selection regardless of price. I haven't paid my dues yet so I am far from figuring this out. But when I see some of the watches posted by discriminating collectors--an old Omega, Minerva, Zenith, Rolex, Patek, etc, but an occasional contemporary watch too--I sense a great deal of knowledge and effort behind making the choice and purchase. To me this is admirable and creative.

I am trying to be more selective about watches and I hope to see through the luxury brand "massage"--for it is a kind of magician's slight of hand or hallucinogenic potion that clouds reality. Once, in an airport Duty Free Shop I glimpsed an open brown cardboard box--inside were perhaps a hundred new Hermes ties just arrived. They looked pathetic rolled together and crammed in like herring. Yet those ties are then displayed on brass rails over polished maple, served up to the customer like slices of the finest smoked salmon, handled delicately, and packaged in the most exquisite hard case. But I already caught a whiff of them behind the scenes--and they stank.

Whichever watch you select I hope you find real value in it. Personally I would avoid the Montblanc and, if it is new, $26,000 does not seem to be enough for one of the better Pateks so you might look at Roger Dubuis (who used to be with Patek Philippe).

Happy hunting.

Robin