Confessions of a Watch Geek
newyorker.com
newyorker.com
Beautifully written.
I can't believe I've now opened a few tabs of watch manufacturers, looking at their goodies. Haven't worn a watch in years, but curious to see if any designs take my fancy.
I'm not a fan of classic, I'd prefer something sci-fi, dark, modern, hi-tech, unexpectedly cool with a comically over-the-top product video... https://youtu.be/R5aj53a1wQE
What would be perfect, is a classic timepiece design with really high-contrast and high-resolution display as a watch face, which would display something only in case of incoming notification. I.e. a smart watch should have a mode where it looks totally "dumb" and classy.
I enjoy watches, especially mechanical ones, and a bit of the marketing and story behind them, but even as a upper income individual, I find their prices to be completely unabsorbable.
Rolexes and Omegas start at 8000 and their second hand market has become just as artificially inflated. An Audemars steel watch starts at 13k! These are impractical prices for all but the very wealthy and betray the working class value that their origin stories rely on.
But what I find really fascinating is the Chinese replica market, which now can make nearly identical watches at almost 1/100 the cost. Does the fact that you can own a completely identical Rolex for just 500 dollars not call into question the swiss market veblen good strategy?
I predict a significant crash in sales forcing some of the brands out of business and maybe inspiring a few to make a real middle class watch. But it's a powerful lesson that China can now manufacture even the most "hallowed" quality to practically the same degree.
(I'm wearing a sub-$50 Parnis flyback chronograph as I type this.)
Most higher-end replicas use "Asian" ETA clones (ie A2824 and others). The manufacturers have copied ETA parts over the years and now are able to create fairly reliable and, when they want them to, authentic-appearing Swiss movements, at least to the untrained eye. This brings the cost down much lower than the Seiko and Miyota automatics, which even purchased in bulk are much more expensive than Asian ETA clones. These Chinese movements look the part, but tend not to last as long, have larger tolerances, etc.
Source: a number of watch shops around my city where people frequently try to trade-in fake watches.
Can you get a similar, and perhaps even better constructed (machines are, after all, more precise than humans) watch from China? Sure. Is it the same watch? No.
These watches are luxury items - a status symbol. They are the Rolls Royce of watches: built by hand, damned expensive, and worth every penny to those who buy them.
Of course, if you prefer the watch from China, then more power to you. I prefer my Dodge car over a Rolls Royce as well; I don't need or want a symbol, just a good car.
They aren't, after all, really that much better than regular cars in the first place. A simple $40,000 luxury model from BMW or Audi is quite comparable in terms of fit and finish. The types of leathers and woods will differ, but for the purposes of a daily driver, that would make no practical difference.
But because of that inferiority (and sensitivity to manufacture), the difference between poor and high quality mechanicals is much more readily observable by the owner than for a quartz. (If my watch gains or loses 30s/day--a reasonable performance for a Seiko 7s26--I will quickly notice, whereas if my quartz gains or loses one second, I may not.)
In the car case, the spectrum is basically continuous; in watches it's segmented in this very peculiar way.
As far as I can tell, the manual labor is roughly the same in both cases. Chinese mechanical movements are not assembled entirely by machines--in fact, in many cases the machining may be quite similar. (Many of the popular Seagull calibers are basically clones of ETA or Miyota designs, and I would guess use the same manufacturing process.)
The main price difference is (obviously) some combination of a) quality control and tolerances (do you ship a marginal unit or do you throw it out?), b) conditions from the factory (do you adjust the movement to n positions before shipping it, or just ship it?), and c) brand, as you note.
(a) and (b) have real economic costs. How much of a watch's cost comes down to those versus (c) is hard to say.
I have an unbranded Rolex "homage" from China with a Seagull clone of an ETA 2824. The case is a bit rough around the edges--quite noticeably if you look--and the timekeeping is (from the factory) about +6s/day. (I don't have a timegrapher, so I can't tell you the positional variation.)
So, definitely not a Rolex. But for about 3% the price I'm not complaining. ;)
Edit: To add to this point, I am reminded of the similarity between ETA's different grades of movements (which are sold at different price points depending on precision/adjustment/quality) and the practice of computer chip makers to do similar (i.e. to sell CPUs at a lower clockspeed if they don't pass QC at the higher speed).
This isn't exactly what ETA does; some of the grades use different material for the hairsprings. But Standard and Elabore are apparently the same material just adjusted to different tolerances, which sounds awfully similar.
I was highly tempted by the Seagull "1963", which is a replica of a model made for the Chinese air force in 1963 (powered by a Seagull ST19 movement, supposedly a clone of a Swiss Venus column-wheel chrono movement!).
But there are quite a number of other Seagull and similar around--some made for the Chinese domestic market, and a (seemingly increasing) number made for export inspired by various classic designs.
I'm basically agreeing with you but just adding that I think the replica market has actually pushed the Swiss/Germans into even more amazing feats of engineering and finishing. I'm not sure that the business side will work out but here's a sample of some of the insane beauty and craftsmanship that has resulted:
FP Journe: https://youtu.be/0nJ0_TVdkmQ
Greubel Forsey: https://youtu.be/ShtL3rKPhQA
The thing I love the most is they are quite unique in the sense they can be passed through the generations and become more than an object.
The watch my grandfather gave to me before he passed away is, and will always be one of my most prized material possessions, which I also hope to pass down to my children one day too.
It's why a fitbit, apple watch or the like will never do for me.
We were watching a TV show where someone gets a Patek as a gift and told my significant other that's a really expensive watch. She had no idea. Then I went onto explain how cool different mechanical watches are because you can hear the different movements tick. She didn't think so.
I wore a fitbit for the last week.
Wow, this person earns a lot by writing o.O
The author seems to be a novelist though, so perhaps that money comes from the royalties on their books or something.
Gary Shteyngart is a quite famous novelist. So, yes. ;)
Best option: get a lightly used one for a steep discount =)
I admit, I love the smooth movement of the second hand on an automatic watch. My sister-in-law got me my first automatic and I thought it was broken....until I put it on.
They are tiny feats of precision engineering, even the cheap ones. I'm partial to a Seiko Men's SNK807 Seiko 5.
I love the designs and the decisions behind them, the stories of the designers and manufacturers, reading about how to dismantle and maintain them. If someone has an interesting one I am asking them all about it, appreciating it as a mechanical object and as an aesthetic piece. I would never ever own one - there's too many things in pieces in my house and garage already.
For past several years they've been aggressively raising prices due to steady Chinese demand, which now has been all but extinguished by a combination of several factors. So the watchmakers are now is a pickle of situation - watches are massively over-priced, their "normal" customers are well aware of that, but they can't lower prices without damaging their "lux" image and upsetting those who bought at a current price level. Some try and introduce cheapened models (like steel Pateks), but it doesn't seem to be working well for them. Fun times.
http://wornandwound.com/bloomberg-reports-swiss-watch-export...
I'm more of a fan of utilitarian watches anyways. Sinn for example makes very affordable tool watches that are also technologically on par with many luxury brands.
Another point about Sinn is that they use pretty standard movements, like the ETA 2824, which could easily be swapped out or serviced by most any watchmaker--it's this ease of servicing that is making me think twice about moving up into some of the more expensive Swiss/German pieces with unique in-house movements. For those reading this who are not familiar with mechanical watch service costs, fancier Swiss watches like AP and others can cost 1500$ or more just for the watch equivalent of a "tune-up."
http://www.damasko-watches.com/
Very impressive line-up of in-house technologies for watches that retail for a couple of grand or less.
I see a few articles on the crackdown on corruption, strong franc, and younger generations being poorer. But surely China is minting huge numbers of new solidly middle and upper-middle class customers all the time?
"Mechanical watches are far less accurate than quartz watches, but often far more expensive, because their bearings are more intricate. All contemporary Rolex watches, for example, are mechanical."
1. They are not more expensive because of the synthetic rubies that are called jewels. They are more expensive because of the name, and marketing.
2. I've noticed a lot of guys under 35 just arn't into mechanical watches. I do get it. And women--just arn't into watches at all. I don't know why, but sometimes I think it's because we die so early.
3. As it stands now, a guy could go out and spend 10 grand on a watch. The second it goes out of warranty, and needs a service, or a part; it has to go back to the factory, and is repaired at factory prices. Prices like $800 for a mainspring, and service.
4. See the watch comapnies decided to not sell parts to Watch Repair people(like myself), or even a customer.
5. It's like buying a vechicle, and when it breaks down; you need to take it to the dealership.
6. They claim it's for quality assurance, but it's a money grab. In my American eyes it violates The Sherman Anti-trust Act. Yes--a federal lawyer/Investigator agreed, but didn't feel it wasn't worth doing much about. She said someting like, 'It's a wealthy person's problem, and not on my todo list." All the while, those politicians are wearing Rolexes?
7. The bigger watch houses have consolidated. Swatch owns many of the high end watches you see out there. Rolex is separate. I believe Rolex even own the company that provides the oil to those fancy watches. It's called Moebius oil. And they want it used on all their watches.
8. If you get into watches that's fine. It can be addicting. Would I ever buy a new watch I could not work on, nor buy parts for--hell no!
9. If the Watch Industry reads this, your customer base has changed. Lower your prices, and enough to with the games. Customers are tired of the maximum 20% discount you require your boutiques to stick to. They are tired of being told a grey market watch bought at Costco is not really a Rolex, and you won't even honor the warranty. They are not the uninformed Dongle heads of the past. Don't insult their intelligence--they are all carring around a smart phone that tells the time.
10. My parting words are this. I still love my old watches. I hope more young people get into the industry and Shake things up. There something very gratifying about resurrecting an old watch found on eBay. I went from collecting to repairing, and there's definetly a shift of attitude when you know what's under the hood. My everyday watch is a watch I found in a thrift store. Years ago, the lady behind the counrt said the old Timex is $2.00. I took it home and it set on my desk for 5 years. One night I noticed a little fish on the crown. I thought, why would Times brand the crown? I opened it up, and it was a IWC 853. All the markings on the dial were gone. I served it, and wear it proudly. People think it's a cheap watch, and I don't care. I can wear it to the worst parts of the city, and never worry about theft. I look at that chalky dial, and it just makes me feel good. Knowing how to repair it feels better. Sorry about the lenght of this post--depressed, or something?
I'm not into watches for the same reason I'm not into faberge eggs, or necklaces, or collecting sneakers: I do not need them for any practical purpose, and I am not particularly entranced by the aesthetics. (Plus, it's then just another accessory I have to keep in mind in the morning, another item I have to maintain, another _thing_ that I don't _need_.)
I think I understand what you mean about cars, especially about not buying a watch you couldn't work on. It's a combination of a hobby and a collection - it doesn't have to be practical, but it's also not going to suit everyone.
And we don't die early. We're living longer than ever. Or do you mean the philosophical sense of a human's brief lifespan in the face of universal, geological and historical time?
First, an ENORMOUS chunk of the middle-high end are watches with ETA (or other well-understood mass market) movements in them, and not just models from the Swatch Group[1]. Any reasonable-sized city has a watchmaker who can repair one of those. Sure, if you bought a super-fancy watch festooned with complications for tens of thousands of dollars, you probably need to go to a dealer who may ship it back to Switzerland, but that's the exception.
Second, even the in-house movements used by some makes (Rolex especially) are well-understood by non-dealer/non-manufacturer watchmakers. The mainspring on my 1977 Rolex broke a couple years ago; a local fellow I trust replaced it for $200, and that included a thorough cleaning.
[1]: The Swatch Group owns ETA, who make movements, but also LOTS of watch brands you know, like Omega, Breguet, Blancpain, Longines, Hamilton, Tissot, and others. My "Bond" Seamaster has an ETA movement in it, for example.
The tl;dr is that for most watches, you don't really need "factory" parts for repair.
> There something very gratifying about resurrecting an old watch found on eBay.
I completely understand this; it's how I feel about fountain pens. I've bought dozens - maybe hundreds - of old crusty fountain pens on eBay, Craigslist, and from antique stores. They're fairly easy to repair, but often require a good deal of patience to get apart and clean. Once they're back together and working again after decades of neglect, it's almost like they come alive.