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Correct. If you're looking for the most accurate timekeeper, well, you already have it, it's your phone. I got into watches because the engineering of the watc

Correct. If you're looking for the most accurate timekeeper, well, you already have it, it's your phone. I got into watches because the engineering of the watch is amazing and beautiful. The fact that someone could design a series of gears and springs that correctly identifies not only the time but the day - including 31 day months and leap years - is astonishing to me.

pdpi 7y ago
There's an important factor here — Some of these things have intrinsic value to the owner, and the social signalling can actually be undesirable (in that you don't want to be associated with the group of people that ordinarily use that item as a status symbol) I currently use a smartwatch, but before that I had a cheap Seiko automatic watch. The whole point of buying that watch was precisely that having an automatic (self-winding) mechanic watch on my wrist makes me the geek inside me a tiny bit happier, because how freaking cool is an automatic watch? I would've been willing to pay a fair bit more money for a fancier, more precise (i.e. MORE GEARS!!!) watch over what I got, but I specifically did _not_ want a showy "I'm a rich prick" watch, and there's just a vanishingly small number of watches in that segment.
- tcmb 7y ago
  Seiko itself makes very high-end watches, especially under the 'Grand Seiko' moniker, some of which are as expensive as the well-known ones from the Swiss manufacturers, but at the same time incredibly understated unless you're really into the matter. This can be a branding/marketing claim in itself, of course. There's an origin story around their Spring Drive mechanism that goes something like a lonely engineer-genius tinkering on it for 30 years until he had it perfected (don't quote me on that). In that way, Seiko appeals to the 'Japanese artisan/craftsmanship geek' who consciously chooses the non-mainstream brand. Not sure if that is intentional marketing or truly authentic company identity.
- Domenic_S 7y ago
  I had the same instinct as you but quickly realized that almost nobody notices most fancy watches unless they're also a collector. Also showiness is often unrelated to price - lots of showy watches are really cheap [0], and some of the most understated are very expensive [1]. [0] example of a watch a normal person probably finds showy: https://invictastores.com/men/invicta-pro-diver-mens-quartz-50mm-stainless-steel-case-black-dial-model-25856 https://invictastores.com/men/invicta-pro-diver-mens-quartz-... [1] $63k on a rubber strap https://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-patek-philippe-aquanaut-18k-white-gold-5168g-001-new-box-unworn-5048489.html https://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-patek-philippe-aquanaut...
AnimalMuppet 7y ago
True, my phone is more accurate than my watch. It lives in my pocket, though, so my watch is more convenient for finding out the time.
- KozmoNau7 7y ago
  I've actually found that not wearing a watch and having to pull my phone from my pocket to check the time has made me more relaxed about time in general, being early/late and being stressed out over other people being early/late.

pdpi 7y ago

There's an important factor here — Some of these things have intrinsic value to the owner, and the social signalling can actually be undesirable (in that you don't want to be associated with the group of people that ordinarily use that item as a status symbol) I currently use a smartwatch, but before that I had a cheap Seiko automatic watch. The whole point of buying that watch was precisely that having an automatic (self-winding) mechanic watch on my wrist makes me the geek inside me a tiny bit happier, because how freaking cool is an automatic watch? I would've been willing to pay a fair bit more money for a fancier, more precise (i.e. MORE GEARS!!!) watch over what I got, but I specifically did _not_ want a showy "I'm a rich prick" watch, and there's just a vanishingly small number of watches in that segment.

tcmb 7y ago
Seiko itself makes very high-end watches, especially under the 'Grand Seiko' moniker, some of which are as expensive as the well-known ones from the Swiss manufacturers, but at the same time incredibly understated unless you're really into the matter. This can be a branding/marketing claim in itself, of course. There's an origin story around their Spring Drive mechanism that goes something like a lonely engineer-genius tinkering on it for 30 years until he had it perfected (don't quote me on that). In that way, Seiko appeals to the 'Japanese artisan/craftsmanship geek' who consciously chooses the non-mainstream brand. Not sure if that is intentional marketing or truly authentic company identity.
Domenic_S 7y ago
I had the same instinct as you but quickly realized that almost nobody notices most fancy watches unless they're also a collector. Also showiness is often unrelated to price - lots of showy watches are really cheap [0], and some of the most understated are very expensive [1]. [0] example of a watch a normal person probably finds showy: https://invictastores.com/men/invicta-pro-diver-mens-quartz-50mm-stainless-steel-case-black-dial-model-25856 https://invictastores.com/men/invicta-pro-diver-mens-quartz-... [1] $63k on a rubber strap https://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-patek-philippe-aquanaut-18k-white-gold-5168g-001-new-box-unworn-5048489.html https://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-patek-philippe-aquanaut...

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

True, my phone is more accurate than my watch. It lives in my pocket, though, so my watch is more convenient for finding out the time.

KozmoNau7 7y ago
I've actually found that not wearing a watch and having to pull my phone from my pocket to check the time has made me more relaxed about time in general, being early/late and being stressed out over other people being early/late.