I recently did some serious research into watches. I’ve always been a sucker for neat vintage-style digital watches but decided it was fine time to have a real watch, a watch I can hand down someday.
This process, mostly from research in forums like watchuseek, led me to peel back the onion on what it is about watches that are valuable and what it is about watches that we’re emotional about. I found out some interesting things that are relevant to a brand and design discussion.
The net of what I learned is this. There’s a lot of very expensive watches made very cheaply sold to people willing to trust luxury brands for their name’s intrinsic value. But the second thing I learned is there’s a growing subculture of watch makers and lovers that are creating and supporting brands that make watches the old way, well designed, well engineered and built to last.
Here’s what I learned:
1. A watch is essentially made out of 4 things:
(A) The Movement: Either battery operated (called Quartz), Automatic or Wound. Here’s a good overview of movement types. This is the guts, it’s what makes the watch run and keeps time essentially. There are only a few companies in the world that make these movements, as the Swatch Group has consolidated many of them. You can ask any jeweler what kind of movement any watch he sells has in it. If he can’t tell you, he doesn’t know watches. Buy a watch that’s made with a movement that’s well known, either Swiss or Japanese.
(B) The Body: This is the solid piece of plastic or metal or wood, etc. that houses the watch. The movement goes inside this. This is really the part that’s “designed”. Look to see if it’s pressed in a machine or tooled.
(C) The Face & Hands: This is what the surface of the watch looks like, it’s what you look at to tell time. A nice watch will have a “Sapphire” crystal. This is industry language for “scratch proof”. It’s not real crystal. Hands and face designs are really about appropriateness to the watch style and to the preference of the owner.
(D) The Band: This is what you use to attach the watch to your wrist. Look to see if it’s real leather, or SOLID stainless. If it’s not solid stainless, it’s a cheapo.
This is interesting because if you’re a design savvy person and you want to start producing watches, it’s quite doable. Choose a movement (quartz (battery operated) or automatic (self winding) and then design the body, and then make a band. Note to self.
It’s also interesting because companies like Gucci have these kinds of things thrown together and with the Gucci name on it, charge upwards of 2-3k per watch. Yet they may share the same movement as a lesser priced watch. At this point you’re paying for brand and design. But the buyer of this watch isn’t thinking about the movement, they’re thinking about the outside of the watch.
2. Women almost never buy automatic watches:
I found this funny because automatic watches really should be the expensive ones. But they’re not necessarily. My wife was dying trying to find an auto watch with a nice design from brand that wasn’t too widely worn. Nearly impossible (we finally figured it out). For a woman who’s not interested in the mystique of the self winding watch, there’s a quartz movement, essentially a fancy name for a battery operated watch. Gucci watches are mostly quartz. Again, you’re paying in the thousands for a battery operated movement. It’s pretty much the same as what’s in a swatch. The money is for the case design and brand name.
I was surprised to find out that people were willing to just “trust” a jeweler or watch brand that because it’s expensive it must be good. This is not the case with cars, or with any other mechanical device I can think of. It’s true of clothing, but that’s a more superficial purchase.
So if you’re going to buy a watch, ask what kind of movement is in it. If it’s nothing special know you’re paying for something that has no other value to it other than the perception of brand value. Try and find watches that use the best movement sin the world, and if you’re feeling adventurous, something automatic. They have a life of their own.
The fruit of my labors (with a preference slanted towards chunky men’s watches):
Here’s a few brands I’ve discovered that offer tremendous value and unique craftmanship on watches you might love but have never heard of. They’re also all beautifully designed and won’t be unnecessarily perceived as “showy” (it takes a special person to pull off a gold Rolex. Not that it can’t be done, but it’s definitely not me pulling this off):
Hamilton Khaki Watches (mostly Auto) made in switzerland, similar movements to Omega if not the same. Note: In looking to grab one of these I discovered that hands down the best prices are from a jeweler in Cali named “Topper”, I almost bought one of these so I know first hand (this was unsolicited FYI). If you don’t believe me, check them out on the watchuseek forums, their reputation is widely understood as honest and helpful.
Here’s a few watches from the “Khaki” series:
Bill Yao’s MKII Watches, custom designs based on vintage men’s watches. To me, this is the quintessential men’s watch, classic gentleman’s watch with a touch of black ops bad-assness thrown in. Each one hand made and custom orders are accepted as well. Bill has a 4 month turnaround on these, out of Pennsylvania, US. I find these incredibly sexy, and his reputation is for watches worth far beyond what he charges, this will probably change soon:
This guy goes by “watchesu571” on ebay. He makes these by hand, and uses Japanese movements. These are all homages to vintage and military divers and tactical watches, similar to MKII’s but much cheaper, these are “beater” watches, but a hell of a lot of watch if you buy the solid stainless quartz diver. The quartz divers go for about 70 US dollars, and the autos go for about 400. A few weeks ago the autos were going for about 150. I should have bought one. I picked up one of the quartz divers (while I wait for my custom Bill Yao) and replaced the band with a vintage James Bond NATO band from Gnomon Watches.
Here’s that NATO band from Gnomon. Gnomon’s located in Malaysia, but they have the real deal on watches and bands. Compare their prices to anything retail in the US and you’ll be sold. Gnomon also sells MKII watches here.
Ollech & Wajs Watches:
These are such a screaming bargain that they’re almost impossible to get. They apparently make these in batches and are consistently on backorder. They’re designed and manufactured in Germany but use Swiss movements exclusively. These, like Bill Yao’s watches are the kind of watches people will spend 2 – 10k on just by looks alone. These are extremely well made, using fine movements and are gorgeous designs. I tried to get the M65 but then gave up because it’s so widely unavailable. This just ups the appeal.
