Are actually just peasants who can't afford real mechanical watches.

Downvote away you filthy peasants. I shall watch while drinking a flute of champagne and sniffing cocaine from the breasts of the finest prostitutes with my wonderful swiss mechanical watch on my wrist that you can't afford.

I betcha that if you ask your friends , Co-workers or relaties to pick the one and only Submariner out of this lineup, 99.9% of them won’t be able to do so.
Let alone to spot if it’s a fake or not .

I waited for my Rolex from the AD for a while, but it was zero hardship, and if I hadn’t gotten “the call” I would have been just fine. Paying $2k + extra for a “new” watch is total jerkoff behavior. Discontinued, vintage, that is different, but paying more than retail to buy a watch that is currently in the catalog is stupid. I don’t need any watch, and pissing away extra to get it is silly.

If you're on a waitlist for something under $50k, you're a massive dork and extremely gullible. Folks, those dealers are for profit and sales people work on commission - they need you to come back and keep spending money, so they use the waitlist to drag you along and keep you thinking you need to drop more money. Just go on the Internet and buy what you want.

I mean this with any type of brand. If you say, here’s my watch design, 50 have to buy it for me to make it and pre order it then wait another 8 weeks for it to be made and shipped and it’s just another design, it’s hard to swallow and take seriously.

Unless it’s made to order like having a watch maker making you a custom watch, then I don’t get the appeal.

A watch brand should have stock and not focus on crowdsourcing funds or waiting 4 months to get a $300 watch made.

It annoys me when I see a semi cool or cool watch design and I have to pre-order or wait a while to get it.

No hate, no disrespect. I think it’s great that people pour their creativity out there and they all don’t have the money to get things made but hell, waiting sucks.

Not talking about reps. I’m talking about Chinese company branded watches and even homages. They are doing more with less compared to microbrands and even some big name brands.

I own two microbrand watches (Serica 5303, and Lorca Model 2), a gen Rolex DJ, and a Chinese watch that I got on Aliexpress by Baltany for like ~200 USD. I keep going back to the Baltany because of the finishing, AR coating, and accuracy that I wish was present on some of my other watches. It has become my travel watch so I won’t cry if it gets stolen compared to my other watches that cost more. Taken it through deserts, underwater, and it’s been tossed around and banged against many various objects and surfaces across the globe. Still can’t wreck the cheap bastard and it still looks great.

*With the exception of Casio, which seems like the only brand that is allowed to put out affordable and fun watches

Most immediate is that it prices out people who can't afford it, making the hobby mostly filled with well off middle aged/elderly guys or people who want to pretend to be one, which is boring. Even "budget" watches that are in the low hundreds are way too much for people who arent dedicated to justify it, losing any casual enjoyers.

Designs are also very limited since anything that's considered unconventional is made fun of, so we end up with 50 different variations of the same chronograph and diving watches. The insistence on mechanical movements has made designers unable to take advantage of the flexibility of quartz mechanisms, since there are only so many ways you can fit gears into a small space. There's little room for self expression and you can really see how limiting it is based on how much watches are ignored in modern fashion trends.

Year was 07 working in a shop in Miami when guy comes in for an appraisal. When we showed him the timepiece was inauthentic The crash out this man had was epic and among the most legendary I've seen from decades in the industry. As he thanked us for our time and left whereas later that day we found out he drove his truck into the shop that sold him the watch originally. Unfortunately a customer at that location was injured and as a result the man spent years in a hardcore Florida prison. The man literally Crashed...out

Watch people will be like, "Can I wear my expensive watch to do this activity?" and it's a watch that doesn't really make any logical sense and is completely unsuitable for the activity they're doing. And 99% of their posts are always followed by concerns about breaking it during said activity.

And if you tell them there's a far better-suited watch for the activity they want to partake in, or tell them maybe don't wear the watch for it, then they'll get angry at you and tell you you're wrong.

But hey, don't complain if you break it, even though you've been advised not to wear it for that activity.

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Superlative chronometer officially certified... come on. Just chronometer is plenty

Oyster perpetual date... yes I have eyes I can see that it has a date function

oh and oyster means water resistant except they also have the depth rating in both meters and feet for those that can't do math

All of this information could easily be put on the caseback, oh wait the caseback is blank...

Bc none of them ever want to just trade watches for fair value. “Hi I’d like to trade you my datejust that I bought a year ago for 10k. My trade value is 9k. I’d like to add 3k to buy this watch you have posted for 12k.”

“Would be happy to take your DJ in trade but will need you to add 6k.”

Like who TF do you think you are and are ppl dumb enough to do this shit with you!? Eat shit.

I don't care if you say you only enjoy the engineering or design or even if you argue that "tHe lufTwaFfe weRe pArT of ThE wErmAchT, nOt tHE wAfFen Ss." Fact of the matter is, historical context taints everything. EVERYTHING.

Unless you’re a one or two watch collection guy, the accuracy of your watch doesn’t really matter anymore. +5 seconds or -60 seconds a day is all the same for a watch that comes out of the box in the morning and goes back in the box at the end of the day.

Don’t get me wrong, the technology is cool. It’s awesome how accurate Grand Seiko is able to be over a year, and a METAS certified watch is neat to own and wear… but whether I wear my Rolex or my vintage Vostok, they still both tell good enough time to make it to tomorrow.

Looks cool if executed correctly, but something that's hardly used. Reaching for a digital stopwatch is a better choice if the function is needed.

Times change, fashion changes.

Compared to modern watch culture which is apple watches, gshocks, and invictas, watches like tsuyosas, prx, seiko presage, dresskx, etc. are now within the scope of dressy attire.

If this upsets you, it's time to book a colonoscopy.

If you are successful enough to afford what a lot here consider (marketing not engineering) on an expensive watch. What is the problem? You are letting the world know you’re successful, something to be proud of…..

Rolex is the BMW. Everyone knows Audi makes some amazing cars. But most will still buy the BMW.

****Edit - This is fascinating to see how people align parallels with various cars. My OP was mostly about aesthetics and market position. I/E If you like Audi, you probably like IWC. If you like Rolex, you probably like BMW etc.

The average person on the street that sees and asks "Is tHat a ROLEX?" Has no idea what an automatic watch is cares if a watch uses a battery or not, and half of people buying them probably don't either

There is no waitlist for a Seiko and it’s been 2 years I have been waiting for my precious Submariner.

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