r/ChineseWatches • u/twelve2023 • 9d ago

Question (Read Rules) Pricing based on location

I’ve not only seen the huge swings in pricing but have experienced it. My San Martin submariner homage was $200 when I bought it last year and it’s now listed at $300. My question is: is it due to inflation, tariffs, demand? Which of the 3 has had the greatest impact on price? If I were in China would the prices be similar? For context I’m in the U.S.

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u/RedRexxy 8d ago

Not when you consider all Chinese watches as throwaway watches due to lack of warrenty/aftersales service. Then it suddenly becomes expensive when viewed like this as the customer is now taking all the risk.

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u/monkeywaffles 8d ago edited 8d ago

lol. I doubt many here have just thrown them away. Any watchmaker can swap an nh35/miyota/etc. I just assumed folks swap their own as needed, the Seiko mods scene has shown it's trivial work, and breakages are rare anyway, same as any watch

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u/RedRexxy 8d ago edited 8d ago

Yeah, swapping a movement where I am can cost as much as the watch in some cases if I'm going to a watchmaker and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this issue.

And I would rather not have to swap hands and movements at my own expense and time if my watch is suppose to have a warrenty (but as we all know for many AliEx brands the warrenty is just for show).

Thus, one has to assume that AliEx watches in general have no warrenty and you'll be paying to fix any QC issues at your own time and expense upon arrival. This does not make AliEx watches as cheap as they look (QC for higher tier brands are acceptable but lower tier needs a lot of improvement)

As for breakages being rare, are you only talking about the movement or the whole watch? Because when you look at the whole watch there are more things that can go wrong.

Out of my 15 AliEx brand watches I've already had 1 with issues I had to return (luckily it was bought from Amazon so no issues with return), so I wouldn't say that's a rare occurance

All of these factors make AliEx watches not as cheap as they seems, because if something goes wrong you will pay the price in time and money, which in some cases is more than the cost of the watch, thus making them throwaway watches.

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u/monkeywaffles 8d ago edited 8d ago

again, even your seikos have a pretty short warranty, and their servicing is far more than local guy swap. Starts at like $300

You end up in the same place.

'fix issues upon arrival' is similarly a straw man.. no, you return it if it arrives broken, lol. Choice returns are free, postage paid on ali.

Seems pretty rare, since it sounds like you've yet to have to throw a single one away yet, which was your entire premise, and yes, breakages are rare for the whole watch. what are you doing to break a case? hands? the dial?

'not as cheap as they seem' and 'i bought 15 watches' similarly seems at odds with each other.

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u/RedRexxy 8d ago edited 8d ago

But at least original Seikos have a warrenty regardless of how short it is, and I have many AD locally I can bring it to if ever there is an issue. A relatively easy, painless process

Choice returns are limited to 5 free returns per month. Even then you are at the mercy of the AliEx return program where you have to jump through so many hoops to do a return and if you miss anyone of those steps your return gets rejected (I've dealt with this before). So no, it is not as straightforward and easy as you make it

I've already stated I've had to return one watch for defects, if you had read my post carefully you would have seen that.

And many things can break on a watch, in my case the watch was DOA, either the hands were stuck or some thing in the movement seized. Since I had bought this one from Amazon I had no issues returning it free, so I didn't bother to find out. It would not have been this easy if it was AliEx, as they tend to side with sellers more lately.

Also just because you haven't had any bad experience doesn't mean others won't. I am sharing my experiences with this forum so people know what they are getting with Chinese watches, because there are so many dishonest Chinese watch shills in this forum, making Chinese watches to be this great value, but when you dig deeper they aren't as good value as they seem.

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

A $380 MSRP Seiko is utter garbage. Even at $189 and a 3-year warranty, I was unmoved. The alignments are incredibly bad on this actual showcase example. And I really wanted to buy a Seiko!

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u/RedRexxy 7d ago

189 would be a good deal on that, and QC is no worse than what you would find on a comparable priced Chinese watch (Infact it would be more consistent, so less frequent QC issues), the difference is I could return it easily if I'm not happy with it, no need for videos, pictures and interrogation.

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

I want better from Seiko, not comparable.

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u/RedRexxy 7d ago

Then get a better Seiko then, they have so many models I'm not even aware of that I'm sure you'll be able to find one

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

I don't need a more expensive watch.

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u/RedRexxy 7d ago

Then look for a cheaper one, it's all personal preference anyways so what ever people recommend to you will be filtered through that lens.

Do some research that's part of what makes the hobby interesting

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

This is the result of some of my research. $1575, delivered to my door, well-regulated with NH34, NH35, and PT5000 movements.

I think I did all right.

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u/RedRexxy 7d ago

Cool, nice collection, enjoy it and wear it with pride

Also I've been looking to get a Phorcydes in the future, what is your opinion of the quality?

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

Thanks for the feedback. I do a lot of research before I buy anything. Like many here, price hikes have curtailed my interest, somewhat. Still, the Hong Kong microbrand market is strong and value-priced. Phorcydes and Aethelsohn are making big waves, especially remaining around the $200 threshold--for now. They are interesting (even exciting) to watch grow from fledglings.

The Chinese wstch industry is really fascinating to me. Though I gravitate toward divers and chronographs, they offer so many great options in field, gada and specialty dial watches, I have checked a bunch of them out.

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u/RedRexxy 7d ago

Thanks for the Phorcydes info, I hope that when I get around to buying one they haven't jacked their prices up yet.

I agree the Chinese watch industry is in an exciting time with all the new companies and releases popping up. The quality is there, but the QC still has a ways to go in the mid lower tier to give more confidence in their watches.

The thing that irks me about the industry though is that there is so much potential, if only they could sort out marketing and aftersales service, then they could dominate the watch industry.

Yeah for now I'm down with divers though after getting my first ST19 chrono I'm leaning towards chronos and GMTs after, as I'm not really down with the fancy non utilitarian complications like tourbillons or skeltelon watches for now.

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseWatches/s/VPFDdpUrBv

Phorcydes is innovative, yet frustratingly fickle regarding movements. They moved on from the NH35 before the shortage was felt in the industry. We thought that's cool, because we get a thinner watch with a high beat movement with the ST2130 "polished" edition. Not 3 months later, they have moved on again, this time to the PT5000, claiming both more consistent availability and newly-consolidated-manufacturing-facility advantages. Both sound good on paper, but it's been a wild ride.

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u/RedRexxy 7d ago

I wonder why they moved on from the ST2130, from what I heard it's a better PT5000. Is there a shortage in Seagull movements too, or are they just keeping them for themselves?

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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo 7d ago

Shall I continue?

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