3 ms·

This will sound silly but I don't understand the appeal of expensive watches. I can understand collecting or being interested in unique ones... but to an untra

by robswc 3y ago

This will sound silly but I don't understand the appeal of expensive watches. I can understand collecting or being interested in unique ones... but to an untrained eye (me) its hard to tell the difference between expensive and "fancy" ones. At least with cars, you know when one is a sports car or expensive lol

hammyhavoc 3y ago
They're status symbols. As with most things in life, the quality isn't necessarily reflected by the price. "A fool and their money" et cetera. Cash circulating is a good thing, and provides jobs, even if the products they make are objectively not any better than x.
- AceyMan 3y ago
  Wearing a brand that no normal person would identify makes no sense as a "status symbol". Any Joe Average knows a Ferrari when he sees it, but he's not going to look twice if the guy standing next to him in the Starbucks queue is wearing a Lange & Söhne wristwatch. But I would.
  - hammyhavoc 3y ago
    Who says it's for Joe Average? I have an Artemide Tizio lamp designed by Richard Sapper, Joe Average won't appreciate it, but anybody with a little appreciation for industrial design will at least appreciate what it is even if they've never seen one before, and maybe that's something I'd like to bond with someone over as an enormous lover of Sapper's designs. They're "status symbols" in as much as if someone turns up to a meeting with x pen or y watch, I recognize the value of those things, I think maybe they are successful. Maybe they're also counterfeit, stolen, or what they have to say has no merit, but they do like toys and can't think of anything better to spend their money on. Either way, it's a prop, just like someone's nice suit is a prop, just like their luxury car is a prop. Can someone see through the bullshit? Of course. But in some circles, bullshit is all there is and the props are a crutch for having nothing of value to say or contribute, i.e., they can't possibly be wrong, or worse yet, ineffective, after all they turned up in the German car with a nice suit and nice pen. Spoiler: I love Casio watches, specifically the cheapo G-Shocks. I have an Omega and a Breitling, but the G-Shocks get all my loving. The brand isn't what counts for me, the design is everything. Sapper designed a nice watch... FML.
lowkey_ 3y ago
I used to think the same thing but got into watches a few years ago and feel equipped to answer this. A few reasons: 1) The mechanisms. It's just cool. Many of us on HN are engineers — wristwatches and time-keeping more broadly is one of the most classic, widespread forms of engineering. It's a form of engineering that has been around for a millennia, and it's fun to have something on your wrist, full of tiny gears with a satisfying subtle noise when held up to your ear, that can keep time to around 1-2 seconds a day with the 86,400 seconds in each day. 2) The history. There's so much to find that's unique. One of my favorite watches is the Doxa Sub300 in orange, it was the favorite of Jacques Cousteau who inspired so many of us with regards to diving (invented Scuba) and the ocean in general through his documentaries. Many of these brands have so much interesting history down to each model along with admirable craftsmanship. Some people like models that look like out-of-normality for a brand, like "oh wow can you believe Rolex did THAT?", e.g. a pulsation dial for a doctor to measure someone's heart-rate, while some like the classic model that exemplifies everything about the brand. 3) The accessory. As men, we don't typically have the amount of jewelry that women do, or the ability to wear the same wide range of dress. Watches are that thing where we can show off some aspect of our personality, of who we are or who we want to be, whether that's classy and subtle, fun and unusual, or even ostentatious. 4) The bonding. This is a smaller thing, but when you're into watches, and you meet someone else out in the wild who is as well, you have the best conversations. It's this thing you mutually geek out over, and it's incredibly pure. It's a great feeling, it's like finding someone who roots for the same sports team as you in some random city abroad. Why expensive? In points 1 and 2, the expensive watches are the ones with the best mechanisms and the best history. In point 4, the expensive watch is the one that signals that you really care about watches, because it epitomizes 1 and 2. :)

by robswc 3y ago

hammyhavoc 3y ago

They're status symbols. As with most things in life, the quality isn't necessarily reflected by the price. "A fool and their money" et cetera. Cash circulating is a good thing, and provides jobs, even if the products they make are objectively not any better than x.

AceyMan 3y ago
Wearing a brand that no normal person would identify makes no sense as a "status symbol". Any Joe Average knows a Ferrari when he sees it, but he's not going to look twice if the guy standing next to him in the Starbucks queue is wearing a Lange & Söhne wristwatch. But I would.
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  Who says it's for Joe Average? I have an Artemide Tizio lamp designed by Richard Sapper, Joe Average won't appreciate it, but anybody with a little appreciation for industrial design will at least appreciate what it is even if they've never seen one before, and maybe that's something I'd like to bond with someone over as an enormous lover of Sapper's designs. They're "status symbols" in as much as if someone turns up to a meeting with x pen or y watch, I recognize the value of those things, I think maybe they are successful. Maybe they're also counterfeit, stolen, or what they have to say has no merit, but they do like toys and can't think of anything better to spend their money on. Either way, it's a prop, just like someone's nice suit is a prop, just like their luxury car is a prop. Can someone see through the bullshit? Of course. But in some circles, bullshit is all there is and the props are a crutch for having nothing of value to say or contribute, i.e., they can't possibly be wrong, or worse yet, ineffective, after all they turned up in the German car with a nice suit and nice pen. Spoiler: I love Casio watches, specifically the cheapo G-Shocks. I have an Omega and a Breitling, but the G-Shocks get all my loving. The brand isn't what counts for me, the design is everything. Sapper designed a nice watch... FML.

lowkey_ 3y ago

I used to think the same thing but got into watches a few years ago and feel equipped to answer this. A few reasons: 1) The mechanisms. It's just cool. Many of us on HN are engineers — wristwatches and time-keeping more broadly is one of the most classic, widespread forms of engineering. It's a form of engineering that has been around for a millennia, and it's fun to have something on your wrist, full of tiny gears with a satisfying subtle noise when held up to your ear, that can keep time to around 1-2 seconds a day with the 86,400 seconds in each day. 2) The history. There's so much to find that's unique. One of my favorite watches is the Doxa Sub300 in orange, it was the favorite of Jacques Cousteau who inspired so many of us with regards to diving (invented Scuba) and the ocean in general through his documentaries. Many of these brands have so much interesting history down to each model along with admirable craftsmanship. Some people like models that look like out-of-normality for a brand, like "oh wow can you believe Rolex did THAT?", e.g. a pulsation dial for a doctor to measure someone's heart-rate, while some like the classic model that exemplifies everything about the brand. 3) The accessory. As men, we don't typically have the amount of jewelry that women do, or the ability to wear the same wide range of dress. Watches are that thing where we can show off some aspect of our personality, of who we are or who we want to be, whether that's classy and subtle, fun and unusual, or even ostentatious. 4) The bonding. This is a smaller thing, but when you're into watches, and you meet someone else out in the wild who is as well, you have the best conversations. It's this thing you mutually geek out over, and it's incredibly pure. It's a great feeling, it's like finding someone who roots for the same sports team as you in some random city abroad. Why expensive? In points 1 and 2, the expensive watches are the ones with the best mechanisms and the best history. In point 4, the expensive watch is the one that signals that you really care about watches, because it epitomizes 1 and 2. :)