What time is it? Watches and horology

Also - ask why no-one else certifies their mechanical watches to +2/-2 s/day. Not even their bestest most expensive ones. Rolex do that for every single watch they sell, a million of them per year. Imagine what it takes to get to that point.

Lol

Yeah for sure - think that had been pointed out but yep people have money and little point having it in the bank etc

You are right, maybe not longine. Maybe patek or similar… I just meant what are the manufacturing costs, against RRP & against future sale value.

Would be interesting to understand how much the “name” was really worth.

Patek is a long way the other way… lazy in their design and dial work these days but the movements are finely finished in a way that Rolex would never do. A lot of craftsmanship there still.

But to your point about cost vs price… hard to know. Rolex and Omega spend a lot of money on marketing though - that has to be a significant chunk of the price.

However both have also invested heavily in industrialising new movement tech, because they’re big enough to justify it, but that has to be passed on to the consumer. Again, nothing like Longines using the same Swatch group ETAs that have been around forever.

Heard a stat from a Swiss specialist movement manufacturer that supplies some mid and higher end brands that reckoned they had sunk >50 million CHF into movement designs that ultimately failed and never came to market. Designing your own movement is incredibly difficult, risky, time consuming and expensive.

Tbh I think the same with as with a lot of asset classes. There is more wealth than ever before and not enough traditional investment vehicles for it (eg gold) so people have looked to other items of scarcity, which are relatively easy to purchase, store etc. and also use to avoid paying taxes. (See farmland/woodland also)

It’s one of the reasons that NFTs have kind of gone crazy (but also more money launderyesque stuff too). My guess is that with them no longer making the 5711 and it already holding cult status and being scarce, this has just kicked things up a notch.

This. I personally believe this is a major driving factor

The Chinese market is by far their biggest buyer and that relies a lot on how the SSE is doing and recently that's been a pretty unreliable thing. I don't think they'd want to be pushing production until that's been more stable for a while or them being able to diversify their markets.

The Chinese market is apparently why car grilles are getting bigger and flashier. Is that also why watches are getting bigger?

Why?

Good choice. Same reason I got it and it's the perfect watch for that.

@swedeee yes they are
@johnnettles2johnnettles2 I must dig out the manual and correct the day function...
@JBJB once in a while, there are some advantages of being an old fart..
@PawGPawG they are not so common, as they were really expensive when they were new, and I don't think they managed to sell very many..

Size is spot on for me. 40mm seems just right. Also if I get shot in the wrist, I’m laughing.

you start to wonder what’s going on.

Isn't it like art or nft, there is basically no way of knowing if it's just a consortium buy back pump scheme.

My bet is it that X money laundering*.

Sounds like an on trend collabo.

That auction had some nice pieces, I think if I had the money to spunk I'd have gone for this;

Such a wonderful watch, genuinely special. Not sure why a 2016 example would sell for over list though, are they hard to get hold of these days…?

i think that whole auction was frothy AF.

Lot 1A going for $6m obvs got people hard

Think you might be right.

Big auction results are always overblown compared to actual market value

I do , but saying that I already have 2 moonwatch as well .

My first attempt at a wrist shot. I shall try to improve.

It's oil-filled, presumably because oil hardly compresses at all. There's also a flexible rubber case back underneath the metal case back, which is not waterproof. (It has big holes in it). The result is that this watch can go down to 11000 metres even though the case is no beefier than many dress watches.

The second pic is a failure because it was intended to demonstrate another benefit of the oil, which is that it makes the dial easy to see at an angle. The effect is much more apparent underwater. So I should have done a wrist shot in the kitchen sink. Occasionally a little bubble appears, which is fun to chase around. A battery change means the watch has to go back to the factory for a service and an oil change. Until today I hadn't worn the watch since the last battery change 2 or 3 years ago. It's gained 2 minutes since then. Is that good for a quartz movement?

I shouldn't have bought it, because I'm never content with a watch without a weekday function. I really ought to try harder to find The One Watch To Rule Them All. I heartily concur with @inchpincher's observation upthread about buying the watch you really want. But I have never identified one with all the features I want.

It's gained 2 minutes since then. Is that good for a quartz movement?

2 minutes in the space of 2-3 years? that sound about right TBH.

Has sir considered a perpetual calendar with moonphase?

Nice B&R, quite an obscure one that.

Well, I'm not interested in moonphase but I'm very curious about Campanola/Citizen minute repeaters, which also do perp calendar and alarm. They're a bonkers quartz pastiche of a Swiss grand complication, but I admire Japanese manufacturers when they really go to town on one of their notions. I'd love to inspect a Campanola. Some people say the finish is breathtaking. (But they would say that, because they've bought one.) The used ones look very durable, so I might just do it, if I can be arsed to sell the B&R and perhaps a few of my other gewgaws. But strictly speaking I shouldn't have a Campanola because there's no lume or external rotating bezel, which are both on my list of musts.

That's the nicest b&r I've seen.

Nice B&R, quite an obscure one that.

It's from 2003 I think, when B & R had a very small, very conservative range which all looked like rebadged Sinns. I can't fathom their current instrument panel bollocks. I'd be embarrassed to walk around with that on my wrist, and I'm one of the people who would love to have a rainbow Daytona. I'm amazed that B&R succeed, but they seem to be doing very well, what with their boutique in the Burlington Arcade. Which is great for me, because you drop your Hydromax off at battery change time, and these charming people send it to the factory and give you pens and notebooks and invites to Drink Spotties. So more power to them. At least they're not stuck in the Submariner homage trough, like half the industry.