Value and quality in the $1500-3000 segment
The $1500-3000 segment of the watch market is highly competitive and offers a lot of “value” (a loaded term in this hobby). When I say value, I mean exceptional quality in the actual watch, agnostic of brand.
What are some brands in this price range that offer exceptional bang for the buck? Monta? Oris? Formex? Vertex, too? Add them below!
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I believe once you pass the, say 500 dollar threshold, value and bang for buck is subjective.
In addition to the brands you already named… Christopher Ward, Farer. Longines to name a few.
There are also good preowned peices in this price range, Tudor and GS for example
Actually I call the 1500 to 3000 price range the DMZ (demilitarized zone) of the watch industry.
Most of the brands to seperate them self below or above this price limit. Especiall the premium brands try as hard as possible to avoid. One of the most importand reasons is, that they want to avoi to be compared to sub 1.5K watches. There is actually more to talk about but I wanted to write an own column about this price range.
So, what you have recognized is, that there are anyway few brands which are located in this price range. There are two reasons:
Some brands do concentrate on their marketing on the emerging markets. By purchasing power a 2 or 3K watch is what we consider as a 5, 6 or 7K watch in the western industrial countries. Therefore they will stay in these range, to occupied this market.
Many other brands which have been before in the sub 1.5K range try to level up them self by offereing better materials, quality and designs to justify their rising prises. So these watches are mostly in a transformation proces. They entered the market actually only to leave the market again after few product cycluses into the premium range of 3K and above.
Anyway. In this price range you can get very high quality watches but minus the bonus money you would usually pay for brand name with much higher reputation.
Other brands like those you have mentioned are:
Rado
Union Glashütte
Nomos
Hanhart
Baume et Mercier
Titoni
Tag Heuer
Tutima
Aerowatch
Montblanc
Armand Noicolet
Alexander Shorokhoff
Limes
Tudor has still some models in this price range, but it's clear that they are leaving this price zone
Longines is stepping into this market with now every new model line.
From Japan you have:
King Seiko , every model line is more to be seen as a own brand
The Citizen, the premium line from Citizen
As a one-off, Atelier Wen Perception gets you a hand-crafted guilloche dial, integrated bracelet and adjusted movement, if that's your bag.
Actually I call the 1500 to 3000 price range the DMZ (demilitarized zone) of the watch industry.
Most of the brands to seperate them self below or above this price limit. Especiall the premium brands try as hard as possible to avoid. One of the most importand reasons is, that they want to avoi to be compared to sub 1.5K watches. There is actually more to talk about but I wanted to write an own column about this price range.
So, what you have recognized is, that there are anyway few brands which are located in this price range. There are two reasons:
Some brands do concentrate on their marketing on the emerging markets. By purchasing power a 2 or 3K watch is what we consider as a 5, 6 or 7K watch in the western industrial countries. Therefore they will stay in these range, to occupied this market.
Many other brands which have been before in the sub 1.5K range try to level up them self by offereing better materials, quality and designs to justify their rising prises. So these watches are mostly in a transformation proces. They entered the market actually only to leave the market again after few product cycluses into the premium range of 3K and above.
Anyway. In this price range you can get very high quality watches but minus the bonus money you would usually pay for brand name with much higher reputation.
Other brands like those you have mentioned are:
Rado
Union Glashütte
Nomos
Hanhart
Baume et Mercier
Titoni
Tag Heuer
Tutima
Aerowatch
Montblanc
Armand Noicolet
Alexander Shorokhoff
Limes
Tudor has still some models in this price range, but it's clear that they are leaving this price zone
Longines is stepping into this market with now every new model line.
From Japan you have:
King Seiko , every model line is more to be seen as a own brand
The Citizen, the premium line from Citizen
This great. Looking forward to your pricing post!