Quiet luxury or ‘stealth wealth’ has taken hold of the one percent, who are hiding their luxury lifestyles and instead leaving subtle clues to signify their fortune.
These clues can range from the type of watch on your wrist down to the word you use to describe your mode of transportation, according to Holly Peterson of The Wall Street Journal.
According to the journalist, one’s watch can subtly signify your place in society and whether you are a member of the country’s upper echelon.
Peterson wrote that a Rolex Daytona, at around $45,000, tells you very little but, she added: ‘You see a Patek Perpetual and you say to yourself, OK, this guy’s playing a different game.’
These watches, to the untrained eye, are just watches that look like they might have cost a pretty penny. The price difference however, which can be around $150,000, separates the ‘comfortable’ from the rich.
These watches, to the untrained eye, are just watches that look like they might have cost a pretty penny. The price difference however, which can be around $150,000, separates the ‘comfortable’ from the rich
Women show this separation through jewelry, with no big gems or anything too flashy; they want something heavy.
The kind of chain that could nicely secure your $50,000 Czechoslovakian Wolfdog or do some serious damage to someone’s nose.
Hefty charm necklaces from Foundrae, with multiple dangling charms and medallions, have also become a favorite piece.
Women show the separation between comfortable and wealthy through jewelry, no big gems or anything too flashy, they want something heavy
Among the wealthy, the key is exclusivity. Plum Sykes, Vogue journalist and author of Wives Like Us, told WSJ: ‘You want the thing that has only 10 in existence.’
She continued that in England, people are invited the buy a Range Rover by the company ‘like a Centurion Card or a table at the Met Gala’.
‘You could actually live in it,’ she said.
Plum Sykes, Vogue journalist and author of Wives Like Us, said: ‘You want the thing that has only 10 in existence.’
The wealthy are invited to buy the bespoke SV Burford Edition Range Rover by the company
‘You could actually live in it,’ said Vogue journalist Plum Sykes
The idea among the stealthily wealthy is that everyone should know how rich you are without your having to scream it from the rooftops or by displaying it outright in big neon signs.
In Manhattan, while the wealthy’s apartments are high off the ground and hidden from view, a $50- $500 per ounce Ossetra caviar served just like a tray of dips can give the impression of wealth quickly.
The Ossetra caviar, $50- $500 per ounce, is served by the wealthy like dips might be served with tortilla chips – completely unphased
Big names and spenders in the art world now refer to some of the rarest paintings as ‘pictures’, according to WSJ, such as a $40-million canvas by Rothko
The next approach is through art, and the nonchalance used to approach and buy it.
Big names and spenders in the art world now refer to some of the rarest paintings as ‘pictures’, according to WSJ, such as a $40 million canvas by Rothko.
This rule also applies to travel, where it’s not about the expensive hotel booked by the elite on a faraway exotic island but about their method of travel.
Former Wall Street bank chairman told WSJ: ‘OK, so you went to St. Barts. So what? That tells me nothing. How’d you get there? That is key.’
This has made flying a private jet almost the sole means of conveying your wealth through travel.
‘OK, so you went to St. Barts. So what? That tells me nothing. How’d you get there? That is key,’ said a former Wall Street bank chairman
The rule of remaining nonchalant about a private jet is still equally important, so one might kick their shoes off and pretend they’ve done this hundreds of times like you might collapse on the couch, according to Peterson.
She added that subtle cues are still at play here too, and that arriving with a lot of zipped up luggage signifies you are not prone to the luxuries of life. When you fly private, bags don’t need to be zipped because you just toss them anywhere.
This includes how you might phrase your private travel. The term ‘NetJetted’ has become the favorite way to make it known you flew private only to those in-the-know.
‘NetJetting’ has become the favorite term to describe flying privately, among those ‘in-the-know’ or the super wealthy
This ‘boat’ would be another form of travel downplayed to maintain the nonchalant attitude that the wealthy have come to adopt
Traveling privately, Peterson says to consider looking as if you are taking a day trip to and from the farmer’s market to really drive home the notion that this is just another Tuesday for you.
The journalist added that a person traveling over water, sticking to the blasé attitude, might also describe what could only be called mega-yacht as a ‘boat’.
Most probably wouldn’t say these are interchangeable terms, as one summons the vision of luxury and partying, and the other… well it’s probably used for fishing.
What’s ultimately clear is that the stresses of keeping up the luxurious lifestyle offer no easy road, and that keeping up with appearances is everything.
