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As a tangent to this point, with supercars, I can understand where their high price tags come from. I understand why people are willing to shell out so much more money than your average car to own one.
I don't understand the same feeling with regards to watches though. How do the manufacturers justify the cost and what is it that makes the consumer willing to spend so much? (Let's pick an arbitrary amount of £5k for example)
Is it that it's more an item of jewellery than a time-keeping instrument?
This is just a general question to anyone who fancies chipping in with some info, but I'd be interested to hear people's opinions.
P.S. I can't remember the last time I saw a watch that wasn't a Seiko/Citizen that I'd like to own. I am a heathen.
mmccarthy-
Do you wear any designer brand clothing, or perfume?
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Research and development cost money. Quality workmanship comes at a price. Those men and women in their white lab coats and magnifying headgear are experts in their field
I can't remember the last time I saw a watch that wasn't a Seiko/Citizen that I'd like to own.
Im sure you said once that you liked a Breitling that was posted here.
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While the price hike is clearly not relative, there is no doubt the craftsmanship and metallurgy in a marque time piece is above and beyond cheap manufacturing techniques.
You like F1.
It will still get you to the shops.
Similar non?
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As someone who has just spent £5,500 on a seiko, albeit a limited edition Grand Seiko, I'll give answering your question a shot...
I own a few 'expensive' watches and a plenty of cheap ones too.
For me, I see value in the engineering, finishing and attention to detail as well as the historical or 'heritage' elements too. More importantly for me though is probably the memories associated with each watch...
My Rolex Explorer was bought to wear on my wedding day. An Omega Seamaster gold cap I have was purchased with a small amount of money left to me by my grandmother. My Nomos Metro was bought to celebrate a promotion at work, etc etc.
Going back to engineering, I own normal seiko watches which cost me between £50 and £150 and the difference in quality between that and the Grand Seiko or Rolex is vast. Is it worth a 10x, 20x or even 50x price difference? I guess that's up to the individual. Personally, I've never felt disappointed with any watch I've bought in those sorts of price range.
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I don't understand the same feeling with regards to watches though.
You've sort of answered your own question really. You don't.
How do the manufacturers justify the cost and what is it that makes the consumer willing to spend so much? (Let's pick an arbitrary amount of £5k for example)
It's an incredibly complex combination of economics and marketing. Fundamentally it's about convincing the target consumer that the features they are currently offering are a benefit.
PP make a big deal of legacy (aka hand-me-downs)...which is totally warped if you think about it.
At a £5k you get an entry level Rolex. For that you get brand, trickle down "R&D", build quality, and once depreciated an inflation proof investment. You can assign objective values, but they are inherently meaningless concepts that individuals choose to assign values to. The only things that should matter are comfort on wrist, accuracy, and c.20ft. water proofing.
pdlouche
coppiThat
Ordinata
Soul
hugo7
If watches were cars Seiko would be the Toyota to the exotic supercars of the Swiss watch world. Sure they are going to be reliable, some have clever tech, and some of them don't look all that bad, and some are expensive (analogous to a Lexus?)
But I don't understand why anyone gets excited about any of them.