I’d love to find a thread around here by apple watch owners.
i fear the lack of a keyboard and/or the speech to text + maps failing me into a meltdown.
But I would love to have my phone in the form-factor of a wrist-watch. I imagine it is so much easier to keep track of during the day.
Wait, the KNOCKOFF costs $450???
I bought a knockoff Speedmaster for about $400 - except it was bitcoin that I’ve had forever so it was really about £30.
It was mainly to see if I was prepared to wear a watch all day. Answer seems to be yes. Started off small, with £5k on a Tag, now on the waiting list for a Rolex Submariner.
It’s like anything - if you like it and appreciate the workmanship it’s worth it. If you don’t, it’s not.
They faded back and forth between them every few seconds through the entire video.
I’m not sure that’s a hard and fast rule re: the definition of “art,” is it? I mean, if a skilled craftsman made a production run of 100 finely crafted chairs, I’d consider each of them works of art in their design & composition & craftsmanship, wouldn’t you?
ETFG
Ok right? Like, are these rich people problems? Deciding between the real one and the $450 fake one?
I guess that it’s a valuation that subconsciously counters our current society’s value of Art and lack of value of Craft; it would be more appropriate to consider that watch to be a fine, elevated example of a master craft. There is a lot of skill and talent applied by hand to that watch; learned over years or decades of devotion to the craft. But when I say “it’s finely crafted” it sounds less than “it is a work of art”. Even though Art does not require Craft.
I accept the valuation (although, as said, I can’t really afford it myself) because I recognize the craft and expertise that went into the watch; and I value the time of the Swiss mechanists and jewelers who contributed to that watch. In order to maintain that tradition, the workers must be paid a living salary. Hundreds of hours of a Swiss watchmaker’s time is not inexpensive. The cost difference between the bill of materials and the tools used is probably fairly minimal; the fake watch is cheaper because it uses a mass-produced movement (thus removing a lot of labor and craft from the watch) and cheaper labor.
This is the sadness I get when I look at traditional Asian swords. A Japanese sword is exceptionally expensive because the swordsmith spends so much time on it. A Chinese sword made by just as expert of hands using the same technique in the same time costs a small fraction of that because the Chinese swordsmith makes a tiny fraction of what the Japanese swordsmith must charge to live in Japan. What is fair, in this case? What is right, what is just? I don’t know.
Depends on the watch, I’ve got a bunch of different watches that I’ve picked up over the years, all from new, just because I liked the look of them.
The first watch I ever bought with my own money was a 1972 Yema Rallygraf, a French make that used a Valjoux movement with three complications, and a stopwatch.
It cost me £50, quite a lot when I earned £9.00 a week!
Several years ago the mainspring broke, and I managed to find a shop with watchmakers in-house, who could fix it and service it, which cost me £450!
A lot of money, but it had sentimental value to me. Anyway, occasionally I’d do a google search for that watch, and I found a few online, then one popped up at a London auction house, but didn’t say what it sold for, so I phoned them.
It sold for £3800…
I’ve also got a 1984 TAG Heuer Series 1000 ‘Night Diver’, which cost me £250 new. I remember watching ‘Manhunter’ the first Hannibal Lecter film, and I noticed William Petersen was wearing one, which I thought was pretty cool!
Didn’t add much to its value, it got to maybe twice what I paid, until some watch geeks into the watches worn by James Bond discovered that Timothy Dalton wore one in ‘The Living Daylights’ - it’s now starting to become quite collectible, and there were never that many with the black PVD finish and lumed face, so prices are starting to climb.
The point is, unless you’ve got significant disposable income, buy what you like the look of, especially if it’s a bit out of the ordinary, and enjoy it; if you’re lucky it might become a collectors piece through a connection with someone or something famous.
Hahah awesome on both counts! Manhunter is awesome, and The Living Daylights is one of my favorite Bond films (probably partially for sentimentality reasons, as it was the first I was old enough to see in the theater, plus the “Bond girl” in it is my type and kind of reminds me of an ex, and it’s actually a good if not great Bond film IMHO and Timothy Dalton was a really, really solid Bond – but I digress!)
Thanks for the post. 
FYI I have an Explorer, which I simply like, but I also like the fact that it’s pretty clearly the watch Bond wears in the novels. 
How to turn $345 into $500K-$700K:
Ingredients: Prudency, Time, Rarity
I love Antiques Roadshow especially for moments such as these, and I think this is the best one I’ve ever seen. It actually made me cry. Between his service and all of the horrible things you know this guy experienced in Vietnam clearing bombs and mines (which he alluded to), and that it was connected to his time in the service, and the fact that you know this kind of dollar amount just changed this guy’s life permanently, it’s just so special. Thank you so much for posting it! And how timely for AR to post this clip, given this thread, haha!
This reminds me of how I miss analog. (My terrorist watch is great, but so much tilting when I want to look at the time)
I’m cheap though, so maybe it’s time to go swatch shopping.
(I wish my lifestyle could justify a meistersinger)
Obviously, an Onega Seemaster is a quality knockoff!
I personally don’t see the need to spend that much on what is effectively jewelry. The fact of the matter is that a Swiss mechanical watch is neither as light, precise, or as shock resistant as many cheap quartz watches.
For as often as I wear mechanical watches, I like Parnis. They usually look nice, are inexpensive and don’t pretend to be what they aren’t. They aren’t going to last forever or be particularly serviceable, but that’s really only necessary when your watch costs as much as a car.
I know. I’d like to have seen them both on the screen at the same time. Minor quibble.
(No one’s going to point out that the headline should clearly be “Watch expert have a hard time telling the difference” ?)
A very impressive Rolex was appraised on PBS Antique Roadshow.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
