Why do watch manufacturers

[MarkF]

Exactly....it's only the 5th most expensive watch I've bought!!

Thanks for the comments on the scooter however as much as I like at look them I didn't really want one. It was an Ebay+beer purchase Hopefully I can get my cash back when the sun comes out.

 

[Twenty Inch]

I have a thing for Russian watches and I have been told that if I'm very good I might be getting a 24hr mechanism watch for my Birthday!!

My Vostock self winder is still going strong after 10 years.

Same as that.

I have a Vostok that was presented to my wife's grandmother's second husband after he retired from the Institute of Mine Technology (explosive, not digging) in Leningrad. I also have his ivory chopsticks, that he brought back from Vietnam after a tour advising the North Vietnamese army on how to blow up US soldiers cheaply and reliably.

 

[Globalti]

After years of satisfactory Swatches my wife pestered me to buy something better so I bought an £80 titanium Seiko, which I like because it's plain, un-ostentatious and made from the same metal as my bike. A few months ago I changed the battery then shortly afterwards went swimming with it on, when I discovered that with the chilling effect of the water it had sucked in some moisture. I retreated to my hotel room, took it apart and dried it out with the hotel hair dryer. Since then it has continued to function perfectly!

 

[Mac66]

It's not just watches.

This is a basic marketing ploy to enable companies to sell products with functions that very few people actually need and to charge more for them. This taps into the "oh I've got to have that beacause it's got all this stuff" nerve of a lot of people.

This is true for most home computer users as well. All they generally need is some basic Word processing, web client and email, but they buy vastly over featured PCs for their needs because a high spec sounds good but has nothing to do with their needs.

You've got to admire the marketing that goes into making people want things that they don't need. But I often wonder about the capacity for independent thought that people exercise when buying stuff. Mind you I can't talk, cos bike bling is a must have at almost any cost.

 

[Twenty Inch]

It's not just watches.

This is a basic marketing ploy to enable companies to sell products with functions that very few people actually need and to charge more for them. This taps into the "oh I've got to have that beacause it's got all this stuff" nerve of a lot of people.

Yep, I agree. I laugh when I see the Breitling Seamaster sliderule watches on the wrists of overweight City salarymen.

I use an Olympus OM1 to take photos, a Vostok watch to tell the time, a Leitz compass to find my way, and a portable Sony radio, although theoretically my phone could do all that for me....

 

[tdr1nka]

I hate to tell you but you can get a watch for about £20 from Argos that lasts for years. My Sekonda is doing just fine after about 7 years of almost daily use, although it did need a new battery a couple of years ago. Someone's living the high life at your expense if they charge you £149 for a watch, and living the high life isn't green and should not be encouraged.

With that thinking Simon, if 70 people decide to buy the same watch as you, you are paying for Mr. Argos to mass import more cheap goods which is hardly green either.

I think watch geekiness goes hand in hand('scuse pun)with bikes. If you want a technically perfect hand built frame you would go to a specialist builder and not Argos. The point being that if you want quality and longevity from a product you pay a bit more.

I paid £45 for my Vostok which is the chronometer eqivalent of a sherman tank, it's a self winder so I don't ever have to buy batteries or dispose of them and with the right care and maintenance this watch will probably outlive me.
I bought it when in St. Petersburg because frankly I was sick of cheap battery driven watches with easily scratched glass and crap straps that would only let me down after a few years of abuse.

It does nothing else but tell the time v.accurately and show the date, although for some strange reason when I really need to see the date the hands are either at 1/4 past the hour or between 3 & 3:30!?

 

[Fnaar]

Like bikes, I guess (following Mac66's post)... all we need is something with pedals, chain drive, wheels and method of stopping... but I have 3 of them... for different reasons...

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

what is the limit for diving? i will ask my sister, she's just done her padi.

<bitch> Don't think she'll know much about diving then. </bitch>

I used to dive with BSAC and IIRC Police Divers will only try to recover your body in depths up to 50m. Anything beyond that and if you don't resurface you're classed as a missing body (I presume).

 

[Dayvo]

I bought a 'Tag Heuer' watch in Cambodia this winter that looked something like this

http://www.swisswatchesdirect.co.uk/tag_heuer_mens_watches_f1__formula_1_wac111a_ba0850.html

for a tenner! It actually looks better than the real McCoy, but I don't think I'll go swimming with it on.

It's a self-winder and keeps excellent time. I'll buy a real one one day.

 

[buggi]

I would love hun but I cant as im just a dive master I can just assist in teaching but we can go diving if you have had some tranning and I can help you.

You're on!

i once had an "ish" watch. It was great. My boss bought it me coz i was always late for work. It had no second hand and the numbers were 1ish, 2ish, 3ish, and so on. so when some asked me the time i would show them my watch with only the small hand on it and say something like "it's 4ish". It was a great novelty but i lost it somewhere

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I think watch geekiness goes hand in hand('scuse pun)with bikes. If you want a technically perfect hand built frame you would go to a specialist builder and not Argos.

But Argos are a specialist builder - http://www.argoscycles.com/custom-frames.htm

 

[tdr1nka]

But Argos are a specialist builder - http://www.argoscycles.com/custom-frames.htm

Oh wow! Now what were the chances of that?
Wouldn't mind a frame or two from them at £20 a go, I'll check their Peckham 'retail outlet' tomorrow.

 

[atbman]

In my triathlon days, many years ago, I remember when Timex increased their Ironman watch from 50m to 100m. Apart from wondering why I would want to know the time if I was 353' down in the middle of the Hawaian Ironman, I also wondered why I'd need it during the Lake Semerwater swim in the Dales triathlon, because you can actually stand up in the middle if you run out of steam.

Since I didn't have a wetsuit, a hotwater bottle would have been more useful