To all of you who replied to my post, thank you for your thoughtful and sincere comments; they are certainly much appreciated and I have taken them all to heart.
Lord Arran, as always you are the voice of wisdom around these parts, and I'm sure you're right that my current state of mind is likely to be temporary. The distinction between art and technique that you mention is indeed at the heart of my issues. I think that where I have trouble is with pieces that somehow have to combine both, such as fine watches, or (to use your other example) fine automobiles. "Pure" art (e.g. original paintings) or even pure decorative jewelry (diamond rings, say) don't give me any second thoughts as long as I can afford them; nor does "pure" function (e.g. my Casio). But at the moment (subject to personal evolution, of course), things that combine art and function have a harder time finding their place in my heart; I get caught up in the "but I can get the same function for less than 1% of the price" dynamic, even as I realize, rationally, that the remaining 99% is for the art, and justifiably so. And so I'm still tootling around in my Honda CR-V!
And touching on those points, pplater, what price art indeed? The core of my issue, in three words!
Velociphile, I particularly loved your story about the 15 year old digital; I too appreciate that "set it and forget it" aspect of these modern marvels, and find something oddly endearing about that sort of loyalty, if a bunch of silicon can be so labelled.
To those of you who commented that it's entirely possible to enjoy both ends of the spectrum at the same time, I completely agree. Except that in my own case, I seem to be more like a pendulum, oscillating between the two. Not quite sure why; just a quirk of my personality I guess.
And JT, touche! You may very well be right. I certainly did plunge in and acquire these watches relatively fast, perhaps too fast. Pity that wisdom has to be gained through experience, and costs so much to acquire!
And finally, Thomas, thanks for your warm words and encouragement, as always. I doubt I'll ever be too far away from these precincts, just as I doubt I'll ever turn my back completely from fine watches. Meanwhile, to no one's surprise I'm sure, this wonderful community seems to have done quite well without me!
With best wishes to all of you,
-Rip