A BANKER, who wanted to be known only as John, trudged into a second-hand watch shop two days ago carrying a prized $4,000 Gerald Genta timepiece.

There, the young man, his year-end bonus under siege from Singapore's economic slowdown, sold the watch for a song.

It was the third time in two months that John, who is in his 30s, had been forced to part with a timepiece from his five-watch collection, which had cost him more than $20,000.

Read Jessica Lim's full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.