With that same money, I could have purchased an entry-level ETA Swiss-made automatic watch, that would last me a lifetime.
I’m lucky enough to own both. On the weekend I wear my Swiss watch, and during the week I wear my smart watch. As someone who’s worn smart watches since the Pebble, the utility of a digital device can’t be replaced by nostalgia.
Maybe there’s a place for both.
Next time it breaks, which I expect to takes less than 10 years, I'll likely get a new $200 watch.
I don't particularly like to throw away working things, but I also feel that 6 times $200 watches throughout my lifetime makes a lot more sense than one lifetime $1,200 watch.
That said, the spending optimum is likely one $5-$10 watch every couple of years, perhaps even if you had to pay for externalities -- I understand that everyone has their own "sweet spot" for longevity, and your is obviously different than mine (and we are both far away from the spending optimum).
It looks a bit unusual at first but I've gotten used to a coworker doing that.
Longevity is overrated. People don't want to wear the same watch for a lifetime, no matter how fancy.
Especially when taking them off to charge at night means losing access to sleep tracking, which for me is the only killer feature smart watches have going for them over the smartphones that I already have.
I'd love a carefully crafted mechanical watch, maybe with a compass (if such things exist).
These days I don't carry a watch but I'm kinda starting to want one because I hate using the phone.
Smart watches however, I have a small collection that didn't make it past the three month mark before they ended up in the back of a cupboard (charging them is super annoying and after every experiment I have had with them, I still find just being able to tell the time quickly is the feature I value the most)
I plan to keep that for the rest of my life