Quiet luxury or ‘creeping wealth’ has taken over among the one percent, who keep their lavish lifestyles hidden and instead leave subtle clues to reveal their fortune.
According to Holly Peterson of The Wall Street Journal.
According to the journalist, your watch can subtly show your place in society and whether you belong to the upper class of the country.
Peterson wrote that a Rolex Daytona, which costs about $45,000, tells you very little, but she added, “You see a Patek Perpetual and you think to yourself, OK, this guy is playing a different game.”
To the untrained eye, these watches are just watches that look like they cost a pretty penny. However, the price difference, which can be around $150,000, separates the “comfortable” from the rich.
To the untrained eye, these watches are just watches that look like they cost a pretty penny. However, the price difference, which can be around $150,000, separates the “comfortable” from the rich.
Women show this separation through jewelry. No big gems or flashy things; they want something heavy.
The kind of chain that could safely secure your $50,000 Czechoslovakian wolfdog, for example, but could also seriously damage someone’s nose.
Foundrae’s sturdy charm necklaces, with various charms and medallions, have also become a favorite piece of jewelry.
Women show the difference between comfortable and rich through jewelry, no big gems or anything too flashy, they want something heavy
Among the rich, exclusivity is key. Plum Sykes, Vogue journalist and author of Wives Like Us, told the WSJ, “You want something that only exists in 10 places.”
She continued that people in England are being invited by the company to purchase a Range Rover “like a Centurion Card or a table at the Met Gala.”
“You could even live in it,” she said.
Plum Sykes, a Vogue journalist and author of Wives Like Us, said: ‘You want something that only exists in 10 cases.’
The wealthy are invited by the company to purchase the bespoke SV Burford Edition Range Rover
“You could actually live in it,” said Vogue journalist Plum Sykes
The idea among the creeping rich is that everyone should know how rich you are, without having to shout it from the rooftops or openly display it on big neon signs.
In Manhattan, the apartments of the wealthy are high and out of sight, but a $50-500 an ounce Ossetra caviar served as a tray of dips can quickly give the impression of wealth.
The Ossetra caviar, $50-$500 an ounce, is served by the wealthy as dips would be served with tortilla chips – completely untouched
According to WSJ, big names and financiers in the art world are now referring to some of the rarest paintings as “paintings,” such as a $40 million Rothko canvas
The next approach is through art and the nonchalance with which one approaches and purchases it.
According to the WSJ, big names and financiers in the art world are calling some of the rarest paintings “paintings,” such as a Rothko canvas valued at $40 million.
This rule also applies to travel. It is not about the expensive hotel that the elite books on a far exotic island, but about the way in which they travel.
The former chairman of the Wall Street bank told the WSJ: “Okay, so you went to St. Barts. So what? That doesn’t tell me anything. How did you get there? That’s the key.”
As a result, flying a private jet has become almost the only way to showcase your wealth through travel.
“Okay, so you went to St. Barts. So what? That doesn’t tell me anything. How did you get there? That’s the key,” said a former chairman of a Wall Street bank
The rule of remaining casual about a private jet is still just as important, so you might want to take off your shoes and pretend you’ve done this a hundred times before, like you could collapse on the couch, Peterson says.
She added that subtle cues still play a role here, and that arriving with a lot of zipped-up luggage means you’re not inclined to indulge in life’s luxuries. If you’re flying private, bags don’t need to be zipped up because you’re just throwing them everywhere.
This includes how you might phrase your private trip. The term “NetJetted” has become the preferred way to let people know you were flying private, only to those in the know.
‘NetJetting’ has become the preferred term for private flying, among those ‘in-the-know’ or the super-rich
This ‘boat’ would be another form of travel that is being downplayed to maintain the nonchalant attitude that the wealthy have come to adopt
Peterson says it’s best to structure your personal travels so that it feels like you’re taking a day trip to the farmers market and back, so that you realize that this is just another Tuesday for you.
The journalist added that someone sailing on water, while adopting the nonchalant attitude that can only be called a mega yacht, could also be described as a ‘boat’.
Most probably wouldn’t say that these are interchangeable terms, since one conjures up images of luxury and partying, and the other… well, it’s probably used for fishing.
What is ultimately clear is that the stress of maintaining a luxurious lifestyle is not an easy road, and it’s all about keeping up appearances.