11 ms·

Timex Is Making Watches in America Again

97 points by ycombonator 8y ago

4thaccount 8y ago
Interesting article on doing more manufacturing in America. The problem is that this is an extremely expensive and niche product. I want slightly more expensive products made in the USA and I'll pay a premium for it, but nothing astronomical. If I can pay 20% more on coffee and chocolate to make sure the farmers were paid a living wage, we can do similar things in the US. I understand that US wages are much higher and make this more difficult, but it would be a step in the right direction. Globalism has brought down prices and made many things very cheap and affordable, but at what cost? I'd like comments from anyone with more understanding of the issues.
- Intermernet 8y ago
  Just wondering how the economics of us manufacturing handles global logistics. Can a product made in the USA ship to the rest of the world at a price competitive to those made in China? I honestly don't know the answer to this. If it's "yes", then bring on us production! I ask because I'm in Australia, and we're a wierd case when it comes to global logistics.
  - faet 8y ago
    Textile manufacturing is coming back to South Carolina, USA as it's cheaper to produce in SC than in China. Along with favorable trade agreements they're able to access/use South American markets for cheaper as well. There are fewer jobs than in the past in part due to automation. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article9148256.html https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article91482... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/04/why-its-now-cheaper-to-produce-some-goods-in-the-south-than-in-china/?utm_term=.6924a6c4cd28 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/04/why-i...
  - bluGill 8y ago
    Depends very much on the product. The more a factory produces the more automation pays off: it takes a big up front investment to pay for the machines, but once the machines are working it costs very little to make more. Shipping has a bunch of other issues. Wars, border issues, weather, [long list skipped] all interrupt shipping, and the farther something needs to go the more likely it is one of these interrupts your shipment. Everything that depends on that is in turn disrupted. Cars are best assembled near where they are used because when fully there is a lot of empty space (the cabin). The alternator for that car can be made pretty anywhere, it is small and dense and so shipping costs are not high. Most other products have elements of each along the way. Large companies often have a large department dedicated to mapping out logistics. It is no easy to make sure that all the parts needed to build their widget arrive on time.
  - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
    It depends; I believe it works really well for e.g. consumer electronics because of the value per volume, but as another commenter mentioned, not so much for cars. Car parts on the other hand are much more efficiently packaged, so for example Tesla has an assembly plant in Tilburg, NL.
- adilmoujahid 8y ago
  Manufacturing output in the US has more than doubled in the last 3 decades, but the number of jobs in the sector has shrunk from 17.5M to 12.4M [1] The main reason for this is automation. I think the right question to ask is how to make the productivity from automation benefit more the workers? [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/25/most-americans-unaware-that-as-u-s-manufacturing-jobs-have-disappeared-output-has-grown/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/25/most-americ...
  - jjoonathan 8y ago
    Are these the funny numbers that use intel's massive profits multiplied by a moore's law value adjustment factor to hide the decline of everything else? https://qz.com/1269172/the-epic-mistake-about-manufacturing-thats-cost-americans-millions-of-jobs/ https://qz.com/1269172/the-epic-mistake-about-manufacturing-...
- keeganjw 8y ago
  Watches are a weird market in that a $30 one from Walmart keeps better time than pretty much any watch from a luxury brand costing $5000 or more. $500 is way more than the average person will spend on a watch but once you get into the watch world a little bit you start to become numb to prices and all of a sudden $500 seems dirt cheap. I don't think this is targeted to a normal person, but the type of people who already own tens of thousands of dollars in watches and will buy this as a novelty with out even blinking. It's a weird and very rich (elitist) market.
  - anthonybsd 8y ago
    > I don't think this is targeted to a normal person, but the type of people who already own tens of thousands of dollars in watches and will buy this as a novelty with out even blinking. It's a weird and very rich (elitist) market. Yeah, and this "weird and very rich" market pretty much exclusively steers clear of anything that says "Quartz" on it. Hell, even state of the art mechanical movement like Seiko Spring Drive suffered from being associated with Quartz watches, even despite the fact that it had nothing to do with them. So there goes that theory. More likely this looks like some executive at Timex finding some Shinola garbage at some local mall and going "Do that, just replicate whatever these guys are doing!" without first asking themselves "Is this business model even viable or profitable?"
    - bluedino 8y ago
      We did a tour of Shinola a few years back. They almost bragged about being unprofitable. >> Despite bringing in $124 million in annual revenue, Shinola is not yet >> profitable. “We’re bleeding cash,” Panis admitted blithely. “It’s >> costly to do what we’re doing. Everything is at top-of-the-line >> quality. We’re cutting no corners.” However, Panis said Shinola has a >> strategy for reaching profitability within the next few years, if >> everything goes according to plan. We had the most confusing ride home.
    - SamReidHughes 8y ago
      > Hell, even state of the art mechanical movement like Seiko Spring Drive suffered from being associated with Quartz watches, even despite the fact that it had nothing to do with them. They have a quartz oscillator controlled by an integrated circuit! Replacing a motor with a generator is neat, but the real trick is that there's no way for mechanical imperfections to affect the rate, making it easier to manufacture.* * Caveat being that I haven't made them, power reserve is the real game there, and they don't seem to be cutting corners.
- dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
  > Globalism has brought down prices and made many things very cheap and affordable, but at what cost? See this oped by James Rebanks, a sheep farmer from England https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/opinion/an-english-sheep-farmers-view-of-rural-america.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/opinion/an-english-sheep-...
  - tonyedgecombe 8y ago
    I have a little sympathy for him but not very much. Sheep farming has a terrible impact on the environment, huge areas of land where they graze are barren. It only exists due to subsidy, one of the few benefits of Brexit is we may be able to kill it off completely once out of the CAP. A lot of the competition in the UK comes from New Zealand lamb where they have a better climate for raising sheep. It doesn't have much to do with industrial farming, it's more about their ability to grow grass year round.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  >Globalism has brought down prices and made many things very cheap and affordable, but at what cost? That depends whether you consider an American job more valuable than a Chinese one. America has the wealth to provide a safety net, it's not the fault of globalism that it doesn't.
  - brighter2morrow 8y ago
    As an American, I certainly do count an American job as more valuable than a Chinese job.
  - adventured 8y ago
    > America has the wealth to provide a safety net, it's not the fault of globalism that it doesn't. The US has an enormous safety net. What are you referring to? On total net social spending, the US ranks just below France at the very top in the OECD, with 30% of all economic output directed at that. For comparison, Sweden and the UK are at 24%. For strictly public-based social spending, the US is ranked with New Zealand and just below the UK, and ahead of Canada and Australia. On strictly public social welfare spending as a share of the economy, the US ranks in front of: Canada, Australia, Iceland, Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland, Ireland. At the rate US public social welfare spending is increasing, it'll surpass the UK and Japan in the coming decade. Most of the total governmental budget in the US (local, state, federal) goes to its various social programs whether entitlements or traditional welfare state spending. For one increasingly large example, the huge entitlement programs in the US involve very large welfare funds transfers to prop up the social safety nets. Just the taxpayer funded healthcare systems for free healthcare services (mostly for the poor and disabled) in the US cost $700-$800 billion now when all levels of spending are accounted for. $7.6 trillion in total government spending. Roughly 3/4 of that is social program spending directed at various safety nets. The US increased its Federal budget by 9% most recently. That's something like a $330-$350 billion increase in one year, at just the Federal level. The vast majority of that is social safety net spending increases. While most developed nations are aggressively restraining their welfare states at this point due to cost, the US continues to expand its welfare state (thus the permanent near trillion dollar budget deficits that are looming, of which ~20% is excessive military spending and ~10% is recent tax cuts (some of which resets), the rest, roughly 70%, is to fund social programs). The myth that the US doesn't have any social safety net really needs to die given the trillions of dollars the US spends every year on it.
- losvedir 8y ago
  I'm also willing to pay a premium for American made stuff, but sometimes the price difference is extreme. Right now I'm in the market for a wood pellet smoker, and all the common, Chinese made ones (Traeger, Pit Boss, GMG, Rec Tec, etc) are in the $350-$500 range for the size I'm interested in, while all the American made ones (Yoder, MAK, Blaz'n, Royall, etc) are $1000 plus. These things are 100-200 lb steel things, so it makes me wonder if this is what those tariffs were about, or if it's the labor, quality, or what. Your 20% markup is one thing, but 2x or 3x the price is hard to swallow.
maxxxxx 8y ago
That’s a nice looking watch. If it had an automatic movement I may seriously consider getting one.
- ImprovedSilence 8y ago
  Agree completely. However I’m pretty sure theres a cartel (ETA?) for automatic Swiss movements that Timex doesn’t want to cater to. Which basically leaves this watch in the “overpriced fashion” category. And they probably don’t want an Asian movement cuz that appears cheap (although there’s some good ones out there). I think it’d be awesome to see a USA made movement again in this price point, but I’m not holding my breath.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    I am also not sure if they actually want to promote American craftsmanship or just want to sell cheap stuff while taking advantage of ”made in America”.
  - scottlocklin 8y ago
    Konrad Damasko is basically just a guy working in his garage, and he managed to do it. Someone above mentioned Shinola which is, sadly typical of "US products" -basically they're LARPing at "quality" -selling to the type of people who pay $100 for a trip to a 1950s looking barber shop, or who go on expensive trips up the coast on the Jeremiah O'Brien liberty ship.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - wrigby 8y ago
    ETA is owned by Swatch group, which owns a ton of watch brands[1], including Hamilton, which I would say competes head-to-head with the most Timex pieces (at least in the $500 price range). There are other Swiss automatic movement makers though, like Sellita (the SW200 is basically an ETA 2824[2]). 1: https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands-companies https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands-companies 2: https://www.christopherward.com/etasellitastory.html https://www.christopherward.com/etasellitastory.html
AmVess 8y ago
The question is why? It's a $20 movement in a poorly finished case. The most important part of the watch isn't made in the USA. It's a $50 product being sold for $500. Further, it completely misses the point of what made Timex famous to begin with; excellent quality at a low price. This is neither. For $500, they are going up against some vastly superior products. For example, this cannot hold a candle to any similarly priced Seiko. The price is, frankly, insulting. It would be an iffy sell at $50, but at $500, this has complete failure written all over it.
- mikeash 8y ago
  Conspiracy theory: deliberately fail in order to demonstrate that “Made in America” doesn’t work so they’ll get less criticism about manufacturing elsewhere. More realistic: fleece suckers who think “Made in America” make it worth spending $500 for a $50 watch.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    Or, you know, taking advantage of some tax breaks and benefits. It's not like factory jobs are for other races and countries, and Americans should just sit back and solely devote themselves to pure ideas and entrepreneurship. >More realistic: fleece suckers who think “Made in America” make it worth spending $500 for a $50 watch. Most $500 watches are worth way less, even $50, so nothing special about this (regardless of where they are made). Besides, getting domestic jobs for people is still worth something. Those laid off factory workers of old aren't gonna "reinvent" themselves anytime soon and get into Silicon Valley, but if they could get a new factory job that's something - and beats homelessness or low-end shitty gigs like Uber.
    - mikeash 7y ago
      Plenty of great stuff is made in the US. I’d rather we focus on making things we’re good at, rather than taking random stuff, slapping “Made in America” on it, and hoping someone is willing to pay a premium for that text.
sara12318 8y ago
World's biggest cat Even you can't believe it's size See her video https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-cat.html https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-cat.htm... See the video a dog shopping and lots of other acts like humans http://bit.ly/2DCpo9I http://bit.ly/2DCpo9I Fish walking with legs like humans See the video on link below http://bit.ly/2XRGyYD http://bit.ly/2XRGyYD This couple is different Girls are both twins and boys are also twin brothers see how they look in video http://bit.ly/2VwoZQd http://bit.ly/2VwoZQd A cute dog is dancing in video Just watch this video and try to control your laugh http://bit.ly/2ZK1XVs http://bit.ly/2ZK1XVs
Emily2636 8y ago
World's biggest cake See the video how they made and how it looks https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-ice-cream-cake.html https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-ice-cre... Very funny video of 2019 Just watch and try to control your laugh http://bit.ly/2IVEv1j http://bit.ly/2IVEv1j Cute dog walking like humans http://bit.ly/2VpFTQB http://bit.ly/2VpFTQB See the video of Cute dog skateboarding even humans can't do this easily http://bit.ly/2IXS2Wj http://bit.ly/2IXS2Wj World's most highest truck jump Even you can't believe this That's not a movie scene it's real http://bit.ly/2VuUme7 http://bit.ly/2VuUme7 See the video of Cute dog walking at rope Even humans can't do this http://bit.ly/2VupwSQ http://bit.ly/2VupwSQ
Zigurd 8y ago
It's for the hipster/nativist niche. Automatic (probably Swatch). Made in America (in big letters on the face, but the movement is ETA/AXIA/Ronda or other Swiss maker). I guess premium-ish-but-not-really PBR is next, brewed by some previously "craft" brewer gobbled up by a mutual parent company. Oh man. A little googling reveals the horrifying plausibility of that. As the watch connoisseurs have pointed out it's not really a moderately priced premium product. It's a cheap product with pumped-up margins so it can get internally green lighted because the margin contribution will be enough to move the needle a bit. You see a lot of the same in clothing e-commerce: Stuff that's not unique, not especially high quality, and shockingly expensive for what you get because it hit a hip vibe.
logotype 8y ago
I’m a developer and a total watch nerd (mechanical watches). Partly what attracts me to watches is the micro-mechanics, but also how it’s a mix of artistry, craftmanship and old technology and know-how. I often post on Instagram, please have a look and hope you like the content: https://www.instagram.com/openworked/ https://www.instagram.com/openworked/
- draw_down 8y ago
  I like the horologist that busts public figures (rappers, mostly) with fake Audemars/Rolex/etc. https://www.instagram.com/fakewatchbusta/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/fakewatchbusta/?hl=en Not so much because I care that people have fake watches, more because the posts point out the subpar quality of the fakes and how you can distinguish the real from the fake, often in quite a bit of detail.
glvn 8y ago
I don't understand this watch. It has a Ronda cal.6004.D movement which is a Swiss Quarts movement. Not that the Ronda movement is a bad movement, there are just so much better options out there for the same price. Why not go with an ETA? And if you're going to advertise that your watch has a "Swiss Movement", why go for a Quartz movement over an Automatic or Hand-Wind. On top of all that, it's $500. Now $500 for a watch isn't that much in the watch world considering how many watches are $1-10K+, but compare this watch to a Seiko SARB. The SARB has 100m water resistance, a 50hr automatic movement, and comes in at >$100 cheaper. Unless you're a Timex fanboy or collector, I really can't recommend this watch over other similar options.
ggm 7y ago
I loved my first timex. I lost it in a swimming pool in Les Eyzes, in france in the early 1970s. It lost 10min a month minimum and I had a NATO watch strap which stank of stale boy sweat. I bought a replacement in the 1980s. It was fantastic. It was identical, lost the same ten minutes a month, had the same sweaty stank on the NATO strap. I lost it in a swimming pool in Swiss Cottage London. I bought the Timex Watch Will Farrell wears in the film, the ironman. It was fantastic. Somehow, I haven't managed to lose it in a swimming pool. Unfortunately, indiglo kind-of sucks, and it lost its alarm function, and I had to move to another watch (I went J Springs, and I love it and it loses 10 minutes a month...)

97 points by ycombonator 8y ago

Interesting article on doing more manufacturing in America. The problem is that this is an extremely expensive and niche product. I want slightly more expensive products made in the USA and I'll pay a premium for it, but nothing astronomical. If I can pay 20% more on coffee and chocolate to make sure the farmers were paid a living wage, we can do similar things in the US. I understand that US wages are much higher and make this more difficult, but it would be a step in the right direction. Globalism has brought down prices and made many things very cheap and affordable, but at what cost? I'd like comments from anyone with more understanding of the issues.

Intermernet 8y ago
Just wondering how the economics of us manufacturing handles global logistics. Can a product made in the USA ship to the rest of the world at a price competitive to those made in China? I honestly don't know the answer to this. If it's "yes", then bring on us production! I ask because I'm in Australia, and we're a wierd case when it comes to global logistics.
- faet 8y ago
  Textile manufacturing is coming back to South Carolina, USA as it's cheaper to produce in SC than in China. Along with favorable trade agreements they're able to access/use South American markets for cheaper as well. There are fewer jobs than in the past in part due to automation. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article9148256.html https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article91482... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/04/why-its-now-cheaper-to-produce-some-goods-in-the-south-than-in-china/?utm_term=.6924a6c4cd28 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/04/why-i...
- bluGill 8y ago
  Depends very much on the product. The more a factory produces the more automation pays off: it takes a big up front investment to pay for the machines, but once the machines are working it costs very little to make more. Shipping has a bunch of other issues. Wars, border issues, weather, [long list skipped] all interrupt shipping, and the farther something needs to go the more likely it is one of these interrupts your shipment. Everything that depends on that is in turn disrupted. Cars are best assembled near where they are used because when fully there is a lot of empty space (the cabin). The alternator for that car can be made pretty anywhere, it is small and dense and so shipping costs are not high. Most other products have elements of each along the way. Large companies often have a large department dedicated to mapping out logistics. It is no easy to make sure that all the parts needed to build their widget arrive on time.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  It depends; I believe it works really well for e.g. consumer electronics because of the value per volume, but as another commenter mentioned, not so much for cars. Car parts on the other hand are much more efficiently packaged, so for example Tesla has an assembly plant in Tilburg, NL.
adilmoujahid 8y ago
Manufacturing output in the US has more than doubled in the last 3 decades, but the number of jobs in the sector has shrunk from 17.5M to 12.4M [1] The main reason for this is automation. I think the right question to ask is how to make the productivity from automation benefit more the workers? [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/25/most-americans-unaware-that-as-u-s-manufacturing-jobs-have-disappeared-output-has-grown/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/25/most-americ...
- jjoonathan 8y ago
  Are these the funny numbers that use intel's massive profits multiplied by a moore's law value adjustment factor to hide the decline of everything else? https://qz.com/1269172/the-epic-mistake-about-manufacturing-thats-cost-americans-millions-of-jobs/ https://qz.com/1269172/the-epic-mistake-about-manufacturing-...
keeganjw 8y ago
Watches are a weird market in that a $30 one from Walmart keeps better time than pretty much any watch from a luxury brand costing $5000 or more. $500 is way more than the average person will spend on a watch but once you get into the watch world a little bit you start to become numb to prices and all of a sudden $500 seems dirt cheap. I don't think this is targeted to a normal person, but the type of people who already own tens of thousands of dollars in watches and will buy this as a novelty with out even blinking. It's a weird and very rich (elitist) market.
- anthonybsd 8y ago
  > I don't think this is targeted to a normal person, but the type of people who already own tens of thousands of dollars in watches and will buy this as a novelty with out even blinking. It's a weird and very rich (elitist) market. Yeah, and this "weird and very rich" market pretty much exclusively steers clear of anything that says "Quartz" on it. Hell, even state of the art mechanical movement like Seiko Spring Drive suffered from being associated with Quartz watches, even despite the fact that it had nothing to do with them. So there goes that theory. More likely this looks like some executive at Timex finding some Shinola garbage at some local mall and going "Do that, just replicate whatever these guys are doing!" without first asking themselves "Is this business model even viable or profitable?"
  - bluedino 8y ago
    We did a tour of Shinola a few years back. They almost bragged about being unprofitable. >> Despite bringing in $124 million in annual revenue, Shinola is not yet >> profitable. “We’re bleeding cash,” Panis admitted blithely. “It’s >> costly to do what we’re doing. Everything is at top-of-the-line >> quality. We’re cutting no corners.” However, Panis said Shinola has a >> strategy for reaching profitability within the next few years, if >> everything goes according to plan. We had the most confusing ride home.
  - SamReidHughes 8y ago
    > Hell, even state of the art mechanical movement like Seiko Spring Drive suffered from being associated with Quartz watches, even despite the fact that it had nothing to do with them. They have a quartz oscillator controlled by an integrated circuit! Replacing a motor with a generator is neat, but the real trick is that there's no way for mechanical imperfections to affect the rate, making it easier to manufacture.* * Caveat being that I haven't made them, power reserve is the real game there, and they don't seem to be cutting corners.
dmitryminkovsky 8y ago
> Globalism has brought down prices and made many things very cheap and affordable, but at what cost? See this oped by James Rebanks, a sheep farmer from England https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/opinion/an-english-sheep-farmers-view-of-rural-america.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/opinion/an-english-sheep-...
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  I have a little sympathy for him but not very much. Sheep farming has a terrible impact on the environment, huge areas of land where they graze are barren. It only exists due to subsidy, one of the few benefits of Brexit is we may be able to kill it off completely once out of the CAP. A lot of the competition in the UK comes from New Zealand lamb where they have a better climate for raising sheep. It doesn't have much to do with industrial farming, it's more about their ability to grow grass year round.
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
>Globalism has brought down prices and made many things very cheap and affordable, but at what cost? That depends whether you consider an American job more valuable than a Chinese one. America has the wealth to provide a safety net, it's not the fault of globalism that it doesn't.
- brighter2morrow 8y ago
  As an American, I certainly do count an American job as more valuable than a Chinese job.
- adventured 8y ago
  > America has the wealth to provide a safety net, it's not the fault of globalism that it doesn't. The US has an enormous safety net. What are you referring to? On total net social spending, the US ranks just below France at the very top in the OECD, with 30% of all economic output directed at that. For comparison, Sweden and the UK are at 24%. For strictly public-based social spending, the US is ranked with New Zealand and just below the UK, and ahead of Canada and Australia. On strictly public social welfare spending as a share of the economy, the US ranks in front of: Canada, Australia, Iceland, Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland, Ireland. At the rate US public social welfare spending is increasing, it'll surpass the UK and Japan in the coming decade. Most of the total governmental budget in the US (local, state, federal) goes to its various social programs whether entitlements or traditional welfare state spending. For one increasingly large example, the huge entitlement programs in the US involve very large welfare funds transfers to prop up the social safety nets. Just the taxpayer funded healthcare systems for free healthcare services (mostly for the poor and disabled) in the US cost $700-$800 billion now when all levels of spending are accounted for. $7.6 trillion in total government spending. Roughly 3/4 of that is social program spending directed at various safety nets. The US increased its Federal budget by 9% most recently. That's something like a $330-$350 billion increase in one year, at just the Federal level. The vast majority of that is social safety net spending increases. While most developed nations are aggressively restraining their welfare states at this point due to cost, the US continues to expand its welfare state (thus the permanent near trillion dollar budget deficits that are looming, of which ~20% is excessive military spending and ~10% is recent tax cuts (some of which resets), the rest, roughly 70%, is to fund social programs). The myth that the US doesn't have any social safety net really needs to die given the trillions of dollars the US spends every year on it.
losvedir 8y ago
I'm also willing to pay a premium for American made stuff, but sometimes the price difference is extreme. Right now I'm in the market for a wood pellet smoker, and all the common, Chinese made ones (Traeger, Pit Boss, GMG, Rec Tec, etc) are in the $350-$500 range for the size I'm interested in, while all the American made ones (Yoder, MAK, Blaz'n, Royall, etc) are $1000 plus. These things are 100-200 lb steel things, so it makes me wonder if this is what those tariffs were about, or if it's the labor, quality, or what. Your 20% markup is one thing, but 2x or 3x the price is hard to swallow.

maxxxxx 8y ago

That’s a nice looking watch. If it had an automatic movement I may seriously consider getting one.

ImprovedSilence 8y ago
Agree completely. However I’m pretty sure theres a cartel (ETA?) for automatic Swiss movements that Timex doesn’t want to cater to. Which basically leaves this watch in the “overpriced fashion” category. And they probably don’t want an Asian movement cuz that appears cheap (although there’s some good ones out there). I think it’d be awesome to see a USA made movement again in this price point, but I’m not holding my breath.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I am also not sure if they actually want to promote American craftsmanship or just want to sell cheap stuff while taking advantage of ”made in America”.
- scottlocklin 8y ago
  Konrad Damasko is basically just a guy working in his garage, and he managed to do it. Someone above mentioned Shinola which is, sadly typical of "US products" -basically they're LARPing at "quality" -selling to the type of people who pay $100 for a trip to a 1950s looking barber shop, or who go on expensive trips up the coast on the Jeremiah O'Brien liberty ship.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- wrigby 8y ago
  ETA is owned by Swatch group, which owns a ton of watch brands[1], including Hamilton, which I would say competes head-to-head with the most Timex pieces (at least in the $500 price range). There are other Swiss automatic movement makers though, like Sellita (the SW200 is basically an ETA 2824[2]). 1: https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands-companies https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/brands-companies 2: https://www.christopherward.com/etasellitastory.html https://www.christopherward.com/etasellitastory.html

AmVess 8y ago

The question is why? It's a $20 movement in a poorly finished case. The most important part of the watch isn't made in the USA. It's a $50 product being sold for $500. Further, it completely misses the point of what made Timex famous to begin with; excellent quality at a low price. This is neither. For $500, they are going up against some vastly superior products. For example, this cannot hold a candle to any similarly priced Seiko. The price is, frankly, insulting. It would be an iffy sell at $50, but at $500, this has complete failure written all over it.

mikeash 8y ago
Conspiracy theory: deliberately fail in order to demonstrate that “Made in America” doesn’t work so they’ll get less criticism about manufacturing elsewhere. More realistic: fleece suckers who think “Made in America” make it worth spending $500 for a $50 watch.
- coldtea 8y ago
  Or, you know, taking advantage of some tax breaks and benefits. It's not like factory jobs are for other races and countries, and Americans should just sit back and solely devote themselves to pure ideas and entrepreneurship. >More realistic: fleece suckers who think “Made in America” make it worth spending $500 for a $50 watch. Most $500 watches are worth way less, even $50, so nothing special about this (regardless of where they are made). Besides, getting domestic jobs for people is still worth something. Those laid off factory workers of old aren't gonna "reinvent" themselves anytime soon and get into Silicon Valley, but if they could get a new factory job that's something - and beats homelessness or low-end shitty gigs like Uber.
  - mikeash 7y ago
    Plenty of great stuff is made in the US. I’d rather we focus on making things we’re good at, rather than taking random stuff, slapping “Made in America” on it, and hoping someone is willing to pay a premium for that text.

sara12318 8y ago

World's biggest cat Even you can't believe it's size See her video https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-cat.html https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-cat.htm... See the video a dog shopping and lots of other acts like humans http://bit.ly/2DCpo9I http://bit.ly/2DCpo9I Fish walking with legs like humans See the video on link below http://bit.ly/2XRGyYD http://bit.ly/2XRGyYD This couple is different Girls are both twins and boys are also twin brothers see how they look in video http://bit.ly/2VwoZQd http://bit.ly/2VwoZQd A cute dog is dancing in video Just watch this video and try to control your laugh http://bit.ly/2ZK1XVs http://bit.ly/2ZK1XVs

Emily2636 8y ago

World's biggest cake See the video how they made and how it looks https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-ice-cream-cake.html https://howto105.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-biggest-ice-cre... Very funny video of 2019 Just watch and try to control your laugh http://bit.ly/2IVEv1j http://bit.ly/2IVEv1j Cute dog walking like humans http://bit.ly/2VpFTQB http://bit.ly/2VpFTQB See the video of Cute dog skateboarding even humans can't do this easily http://bit.ly/2IXS2Wj http://bit.ly/2IXS2Wj World's most highest truck jump Even you can't believe this That's not a movie scene it's real http://bit.ly/2VuUme7 http://bit.ly/2VuUme7 See the video of Cute dog walking at rope Even humans can't do this http://bit.ly/2VupwSQ http://bit.ly/2VupwSQ

Zigurd 8y ago

It's for the hipster/nativist niche. Automatic (probably Swatch). Made in America (in big letters on the face, but the movement is ETA/AXIA/Ronda or other Swiss maker). I guess premium-ish-but-not-really PBR is next, brewed by some previously "craft" brewer gobbled up by a mutual parent company. Oh man. A little googling reveals the horrifying plausibility of that. As the watch connoisseurs have pointed out it's not really a moderately priced premium product. It's a cheap product with pumped-up margins so it can get internally green lighted because the margin contribution will be enough to move the needle a bit. You see a lot of the same in clothing e-commerce: Stuff that's not unique, not especially high quality, and shockingly expensive for what you get because it hit a hip vibe.

logotype 8y ago

I’m a developer and a total watch nerd (mechanical watches). Partly what attracts me to watches is the micro-mechanics, but also how it’s a mix of artistry, craftmanship and old technology and know-how. I often post on Instagram, please have a look and hope you like the content: https://www.instagram.com/openworked/ https://www.instagram.com/openworked/

draw_down 8y ago
I like the horologist that busts public figures (rappers, mostly) with fake Audemars/Rolex/etc. https://www.instagram.com/fakewatchbusta/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/fakewatchbusta/?hl=en Not so much because I care that people have fake watches, more because the posts point out the subpar quality of the fakes and how you can distinguish the real from the fake, often in quite a bit of detail.

glvn 8y ago

I don't understand this watch. It has a Ronda cal.6004.D movement which is a Swiss Quarts movement. Not that the Ronda movement is a bad movement, there are just so much better options out there for the same price. Why not go with an ETA? And if you're going to advertise that your watch has a "Swiss Movement", why go for a Quartz movement over an Automatic or Hand-Wind. On top of all that, it's $500. Now $500 for a watch isn't that much in the watch world considering how many watches are $1-10K+, but compare this watch to a Seiko SARB. The SARB has 100m water resistance, a 50hr automatic movement, and comes in at >$100 cheaper. Unless you're a Timex fanboy or collector, I really can't recommend this watch over other similar options.

ggm 7y ago

I loved my first timex. I lost it in a swimming pool in Les Eyzes, in france in the early 1970s. It lost 10min a month minimum and I had a NATO watch strap which stank of stale boy sweat. I bought a replacement in the 1980s. It was fantastic. It was identical, lost the same ten minutes a month, had the same sweaty stank on the NATO strap. I lost it in a swimming pool in Swiss Cottage London. I bought the Timex Watch Will Farrell wears in the film, the ironman. It was fantastic. Somehow, I haven't managed to lose it in a swimming pool. Unfortunately, indiglo kind-of sucks, and it lost its alarm function, and I had to move to another watch (I went J Springs, and I love it and it loses 10 minutes a month...)