4 ms·
interesting to consider how much an average consumer cares about the "quality" of a new watch they are buying today unless you're buying a dive computer or rug
by roymurdock 8y ago
interesting to consider how much an average consumer cares about the "quality" of a new watch they are buying today
unless you're buying a dive computer or ruggedized/solar-powered wrist GPS, you don't need a watch. you have an infinitely more accurate and powerful device in your pocket that fulfills the same function of telling time x 1000000 other applications
time-telling watches are now 100% a status symbol, heirloom, and/or enthusiast good
brand is and will become that much more important as the old school "quality" collectors and wearers die out and are replaced by brand/social signaling watch consumers
same to a lesser extent with clothing - you're sitting in an air conditioned office or car or your home for most of the day, but it's a powerful expression of who you are and what you can afford when you wear your new balenciaga sneakers out to drinks on friday night and pull out your $5 branded bic lighter.
mediocre quality is good enough because our environment is so tame, brand is everything
- qu4z-2 8y agoI still find a watch more convenient than pulling out my phone.
- Invictus0 8y agoI don't think this is really a fair assessment. Watches have always been a luxury good and a fashion statement, despite also varying in quality and price. Quartz watches are still a relatively recent development: before then, watches were the realm of highly skilled craftsmen. I don't think anyone shops for watches based on the accuracy of the timekeeping: shoppers expect that all watch brands keep time roughly equally, and make purchases based on branding and design.
- austhrow743 8y agoQuartz watches have been the pragmatic time telling choice for decades. More accurate and cheaper than mechanical. Plenty, possibly the majority, of watch enthusiasts today have never experienced a time when their mechanical watch was simply a practical tool. So I can't see people who care about quality dying out.
- TheOtherHobbes 8y agoWhen we're talking about unbelievably expensive mechanical products that tell the time with less accuracy than a cheap quartz movement, "quality" is perhaps not the best word. These products - like overpriced fashion brands - are pure capitalist virtue signalling. They're personal advertising tokens and power objects, intended to display to the world that the wearer/buyer is conspicuously untroubled by any material scarcity. It's not about quality in any of the usual senses of the word - except maybe in the archaic sense that being that kind of rich is self-defined as being "a person of quality".
- jiveturkey 8y agoall of the enthusiasts i know hide their watches. it’s about an appreciation for craftsmanship. edit: i guess i do know a lot of folks that wear a watch for brand status but those aren’t enthusiasts.
- bigiain 8y agoI don't hide mine, but mine are bought for odd personal reasons. The one I have on right now is _probably_ a real 1957 Sputnik 1 Poljot commemorative watch. It could be a fake, but if it is it's got the pre 1962 movement in it, so its at least "period"... And I don't actually care, it only cost me $70. I also have a somewhat-less-likely-to-be-genuine 17-jewel Sturmanskie Soviet Airforce watch like the one Yuri Gagarin wore into space in 1961. Again, I don't actually care if it's genuine or not - I like the idea of it enough. Somebody might have gone to enough effort to make a plausible fake out of period-correct parts, and sold it to me for ~$80 - good on them... I still get to use it as a story-starter...
- bartread 8y ago> These products - like overpriced fashion brands - are pure capitalist virtue signalling. I think people might think that's true, and I'm sure some people buy watches to show off but they're sure to be disappointed because here's the thing: nobody notices the watch you're wearing (except for, occasionally, other watch enthusiasts). I felt a bit self-conscious the first few times I wore a "proper" luxury watch, but pretty soon realised nobody was paying even the slightest bit of attention. Now I don't even think about it.
- 20938ny9 8y agoSome people don't carry an adult Game Boy with them at all times like an addict. Some of us don't even own one.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- jiveturkey 8y ago> time-telling watches are now 100% a status symbol, heirloom, and/or enthusiast good or non-status jewelry. men especially can much more easily justify a watch over a bracelet.
- kaitai 8y agoWhen it's 6 degrees Fahrenheit and you're wrangling a toddler outside and trying to catch a city bus, a watch is much more practical. I still wear mine, and it doesn't satisfy any of your criteria. It's just practical in conjunction with a lot of activity outdoors in winter. Won't drop it in the sewer drain or the woods, can't be flung by toddler, doesn't freeze and malfunction like the phone, can be operated while wearing mittens, can easily be looked at while biking. There's a good chance you've chosen the tame environment you bemoan!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- kevinventullo 8y agoNone of the explains the difference between a $5 and a $5000 watch.