Someday I want to try on a Rolex watch so maybe I will understand what makes them worth $5000 and up. It would still work like a watch, right?

Although I have never driven a $100,000 car, I assume there are some extra special controls or options that set them apart from my Chevy pickup or Nissan Versa. For a slight clue of the difference, I look at a 1970s Corvette. Compared to the features we now take for granted, those cars had nothing. I transfer this comparison to the luxury cars of today - they probably have features that a few years from now will be standard equipment in all of our regular cars.

Today's paper has an article about whether stores in the luxury range are going to make it in today's economic climate:

"Luxury shoppers like the ones Crystals is targeting are more interested in quality than price, he said. And not only will they visit Crystals, they will return to shop again, he predicts.

"Everybody talks about luxury like it's just the price, and it's not," Visconti said. "Yes, price is a product of what you use, and ultimately it is a bit more expensive than other stuff, but it's about the materials and fabrication, and, ultimately, about the service. It's the timelessness of some of those products. And there are consumers in the world that want that."

Kate Newlin, New York City-based author of "Passion Brands" and principal owner of a self-titled consulting firm, agrees.

"Why is one pair of shoes worth $39 and another $690?" Newlin asked. "It's not about the buckle on the loafers, it's about investment grade purchases, buying shoes worth repairing."

So maybe Rolex watches are worth repairing and the cheap $9.95 model with the pink band on my wrist isn't. In fact, the cheapy would probably self-destruct if opened for repair.

I think some people have so much money they don't know what to do with it so they buy Rolexes and Bentleys. But they would not consider paying for some poor kid's college education or buying groceries for a family for a month, or an elderly person's heat and medicine bills for a winter. Maybe the problem is they don't know any poor people to give it to. And, like me, they don't trust those agencies that claim to help the underprivileged to actually benefit their clients instead of paying themselves fat salaries.

How rich would I have to be in order to consider paying $13,000 for an 18 carat gold watch without a twinge of guilt? I'll let you know if I ever arrive there.

Meanwhile, here is my tree made of beer bottles.