Expensive quartz watches

Expensive quartz watches

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blueg33

35,586 posts

223 months

Monday 17th July 2017
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TheGuru said:
It's no good getting all defensive, you have missed the point completely

The OP was advised by someone to avoid expensive quartz's because the movements are cheap and relative to the price there is no value.

My point is that it is exactly the same with most automatics, especially those with ETA or Sellita movements. You're a fool if you believe these large corporations are paying big dollars for the ETA movements and are having expensive resources hand-making them for weeks. They use modified ETA, so maybe adds £50 to the costs. The point is the cost of the movement is still a very minor part of the overall cost and not that much different from quartz watches

And cheap is not necessarily synonymous with poor quality,
Why would a hand made movement with the error factor caused by humans be better than a machine made one where tolerances can be much better and consistency much higher.

ZesPak

24,421 posts

195 months

Monday 17th July 2017
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blueg33 said:
Why would a hand made movement with the error factor caused by humans be better than a machine made one where tolerances can be much better and consistency much higher.
It's not about better, it's about "value".
A partially hand made Royce Rolls will be a lot less reliable than a machine made Lexus, and an Ikea cabinet will probably have better shutlines than most hand crafted furniture, but the cost of the hours comes a long way of explaining the premium.

I do agree with the above sentiment though, a lot of quartz watches are overpriced and, rightfully so, get slated for that.
However, more often than not, all is forgiven as soon as it's an automatic from a respected brand, even though the production cost involved will be, for example, not more than GBP 100 higher.

If you want vfm, we'd all be wearing Seiko 5's and driving Toyota Auris (I'm not saying the Seiko 5 is the Auris of the watch world, mind you), it's very reliable, very inexpensive and objectively better than 95% of the movements out there.

Crockefeller

327 posts

155 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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taxboy said:
For me in this context expensive is £1000 plus.

The watch has obviously lost it waterproofing as condensation suddenly appeared on the inside of the glass and hands and stopped running totally, although I do baby it a bit, ie I don't swim, wsh with it on, and even take it off to wash the car.

My concern is I had it fully serviced 2 years ago and it's gone wrong again so I'm thinking I'd probably be better placed putting the repair money into something new. If I twas convinced the repair would give me another 7+ years of service then I wouldn't hesitate
Do you have any pictures of the watch showing water damage? Which model is it?

BobToc

1,768 posts

116 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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critical mass said:
Not all - a number of models are available as either quartz or mechanical. There is a price differential.
Thanks a lot, appreciate there's a price differential but it still seems like a lot to spend on something that has a limited life span.

taxboy

Original Poster:

259 posts

197 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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Crockefeller said:
Do you have any pictures of the watch showing water damage? Which model is it?
It's an older style BC 03. I'm afraid no photos at the moment as it's back with Goldsmiths awaiting collection. However thereally was what looked like condensation on the glass and hands and it stopped working

Crockefeller

327 posts

155 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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Do you happen to know which movement it uses? Is it an ETA 2824-2?

taxboy

Original Poster:

259 posts

197 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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Crockefeller said:
Do you happen to know which movement it uses? Is it an ETA 2824-2?
I'm afraid I can't be certain but a quick Google suggests it might be a 2836-2

marcosgt

11,011 posts

175 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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ZesPak said:
It's not about better, it's about "value".

A partially hand made Royce Rolls will be a lot less reliable than a machine made Lexus, and an Ikea cabinet will probably have better shutlines than most hand crafted furniture, but the cost of the hours comes a long way of explaining the premium.
I wonder if you can back up either of your examples with figures to prove them?

If I made a cabinet or a Rolls Royce, you'd be right, but if your theory held true why do F1 engines get assembled by hand?

As for Ikea furniture, I think you're plain wrong biggrin

Rolls Royce, for example, hand beat panels because they can achieve a much more precise finish that way than stamping them.

M.

mikeveal

4,559 posts

249 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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TheGuru said:
But most expensive automatic/manual watches are exactly the same. They use €50 ETA movements. Tag Heur, Omega etc.
^^This is verbal bottom gravy in its most viscous form ^^.
As has been said, the base movement in it's lowest grade may be $50. There are four grades of most movements, and these are often customised by the manufacturer.
That said movements in these watches do not justify the price of the watch. If you attempt to compare the cost of a watch with the price of a watch (or value with price), you'll only ever purchase an F98-W.



TheGuru said:
Probably need to be spending £5k+ to even start getting in-house movements on the luxury brands (e.g Panerai)
Well given that ETA own Omega, Omega's have in house movements. The Co-ax is a good example of a modified ETA to produce something custom.

But why the desire for in-house? A high grade customised ETA is a very good bit of kit.


Going back to the OP's question. A quartz watch in the £1000 bracket will behave no differently to a £50 quartz watch. It may have a better grade of movement, but this will make little or no difference to the performance. You will still have a plastic ebauche. Jewelling and movement friction are less important in a quartz & the manufacturers in this bracket don't do what they don't need to. You are paying for the quality / design / brand of the case, dial and strap, with the convenience of quartz.



Wild Rumpus

375 posts

173 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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Here's some interesting information about what makes a Grand Seiko quartz movement special.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/sexy-robot-the-g...

Wild Rumpus

375 posts

173 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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The Grand Seiko quartz models are designed to be maintenance free for 50 years, the second hands hit the markers all the way round and I don't see any plastic ebauche, either....

nikaiyo2

4,672 posts

194 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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mikeveal said:
Well given that ETA own Omega, Omega's have in house movements. The Co-ax is a good example of a modified ETA to produce something custom.

But why the desire for in-house? A high grade customised ETA is a very good bit of kit.
So they can pay £800 to have it serviced as opposed to £100? I can't think of any other reason?

I can't get my head round this whole in house movement thing, I know what I would rather have and it is not in house. Maybe if we were talking about genuine haute horoloy, a true hand finished in house movement has value, a mass produced movement is a mass produced movement, made by Breitling, Tudor, Tag, Rolex, Omega or ETA I don't think matters much.

I love using Panerai as an example of a movement maker, when they only started making movements after ETA decided they did not want to sell movements anymore and all the really desirable PAMs have 3rd party movements.

SDavyy

56 posts

101 months

Wednesday 19th July 2017
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If anyone is after a lovely watch on the cheaper end of the scale, please see the advert for my Steinhart Ocean One Legacy..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132263197197?ssPageName=...

critical mass

150 posts

104 months

Wednesday 19th July 2017
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BobToc said:
critical mass said:
Not all - a number of models are available as either quartz or mechanical. There is a price differential.
Thanks a lot, appreciate there's a price differential but it still seems like a lot to spend on something that has a limited life span.
I agree- although more expensive I think you would get better value from a mechanical manual wind Reverso.

I bought Mrs C one for a significant birthday a couple of years ago - she loved it so much that she didn't complain when I treated myself to an Ultra-Thin Duo-Face recently.

NDA

21,488 posts

224 months

Tuesday 25th July 2017
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BobToc said:
It's an interesting question, I've occasionally thought about buying my wife a JLC Reverso, which I believe are quartz for women. Crazy amount to spend if they simply wear out after 30 years.
JLC make their own quartz movements - high quality ones too


TheJimi

24,862 posts

242 months

Saturday 29th July 2017
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Lorne said:
I think IWC are using in-house movements now, although as you point out they used to use a modified eta 7750 in the Spitfire Chronograph. I use a very similar spec and similarly modified eta 7750 in my watches. Would be nice if each movement was Eur 50, but the reality is north of £700 by the time it's ready to go into a watch.
Wow. That susrprised me. I'll admit to not knowing the cost price of the movements, but I didn't expect it to run to >£700!