Shiny Bits of Life

This $440,000 Porsche Carrera GT was parked on a basic residential street in Aspen. That’s yours truly standing next to it, taken by yours truly’s wife.

That was the very first one I had ever seen in real life. And it was just parked out where anyone could lean against it or scratch it or… Well, anyhow, I was amazed that the owner(s) had driven it to Aspen. I was further amazed that they had not parked it in a garage.

Fine art, for all to see.

Now I have to admit, if someone gave me one and even paid for the fuel and insurance, I would not be able to drive it. I’d be thinking all the time of how much that money could do in the developing world to improve lives – or save lives. But it would be fun to take it for a quick spin!

What conspicuous consumption have you seen in the last few weeks?

Again, Aspen. A new brand to me – Moncler. They produce clothes at greatly inflated prices. Try $1,300 for a down jacket – not even a super-warm one. (Quantity is different than quality, they may tell you.)

Of course Aspen has a store exclusively featuring their wares. It seemed like all they had were short jackets. However, their website features stuff you’d see on the runway.

I was tempted to run away.

Franck Muller makes watches. Or the company named after him does. They are based in Geneva, Switzerland but have a dedicated store in Aspen, Colorado.

Mr. Muller was known as the “Master of Complications” – because his creations were very complicated – many have several dials and mechanisms to tell more than just time. They are works of art, if you like that style. I looked at the tag hanging on one in the window – $21,000. That is a complicated thing to grasp.

Yes, Aspen attracts people who can afford more than one of those timepieces. Maybe one for each day of the week.

I prefer the simple. (When I’d have to take out a 30-year loan just for a watch, something would be very wrong in my little world.)