Are the big boy "Luxury" watch brands over priced ???

Mostly overpriced. A few gems still to be had - eg I think the Omega SMP Diver 300m is reasonably priced. Something like the Cartier Santos not too bad either.

Of course they are. They put a lot into branding and making sure they produce a fantastic product for the last part but at days end the price doesn’t only reflect on that alone. They are also targeting a market of people that spend extra money for the flex or life style. Some are not even into watches but just want something expensive on the wrist.

Depends on the brand and model & what you want.

I consider my SM300 to be great value or I wouldn't have bought it.

Dont like Rolex because of brand image, but as an investment they're good value.

Personally I don't consider microbrands or Chinese knock off stuff to be good value, there's no or very little history, heritage, innovations, originality , guarantee/warranty, prestige, etc.

But it's how these magical miniature marvel's make us feel that matters, regardless of price or reputation & we all see value different. 👍

Having a primary collection of luxury watches and a budget sub collection of Seiko and Pagani Design watches, I feel there is a worthwhile distinction between the products. I truly enjoy the feel of my luxury watches, and at the same time appreciate the incredible value of budget watches. If anything, a thought I’d offer about the topic is: Aren’t some of the budget watches really incredible for the money?

Some smart apologist might be able to argue, debate that the luxury brands put in a lot of dollars developing designs, movements and even marketing to sell their products but even though I buy and in my small way support the industry, they are over priced. However nobody is holding a gun to my head and marching me down to my usual ads either. It comes down to freedom of choice, my money my decisions.

They are priced at the exact level that their customers are willing to pay for.

Everything is overpriced!!

Correct. Being overpriced implies that there is a "true value" of a watch, and there isn't. The right price is the one somebody is willing to pay.

From a 'cost of materials' or specs perspective, yes. There is a reason homages, clomages & fakes exist, after all.

But as a luxury item, a watch is worth whatever enough people are willing to pay to make the watch profitable to make and sell.

They are priced at exactly what at least one person is willing to pay for it

The “big boy “ brands sell well so ultimately the consumer has made the decision- with that said of course they are overpriced. That does not make affordable options better or worse it’s ultimately what you want to spend your money on. For me - I like what I like and it cost what it cost - that’s the watch collecting game - a fickle beautiful unfair beast

Yes esp certain models when you spec compare them to even other models under the same company . . . Zero logic beyond greed. That said, it rarely makes sense to buy new unless you want that experience (like the entire store bowing at a GS boutique in Tokyo) esp when someone (even someone on this site) will be offloading a barely used watch at a loss. And thankfully there’s some goodwill among collectors that used prices can be quite fair.

Overpriced for sure! A good way to tell is going on the grey/used market and check the prices there - this will tell you the true price.

No…not overpriced…if they were, all those brands you mentioned would quickly encounter dropping sales volumes (and they’d adjust costs/prices accordingly, insofar as possible). Whether they are value for money…that’s in the case of watches 95% in the eye of the beholder. And kind of a weird supposition(/demand) that watch brand X, type Y should be ‘more afdordable’ / better priced. In the case of water, bread, sanitation etc, yes, fully agree. But a watch? All watchmakers are in it for the money, in a luxury goods market place. So they all may ask whatever price they want. Up to us whether we give it to them :)

Over priced as a “time piece” but to me they are a wearable piece of Art. You really can’t put a “value” on art, just what you are willing to personally pay for it. After all, a Monet is priceless or at least 10’s of millions. But what is the value of the canvas and paints…$15 bucks?

You almost have to turn to preowned for affordability.

Check out the post I made discussing this very topic. You can see how much the big boys charge per watchmaker hour and it’s a lot.

https://www.watchcrunch.com/TheHoroSexual/posts/fine-watchmaking-market-map-232692

Wow That is a fascinating read thanks 🤌

I bought Omega Seamaster 300M mid size quartz for 100,000yen in 2000. Also in the same year, I purchased Rolex Explorer for 400,000yen in watch shop in Shibuya, Tokyo. In the shop I bought the Explorer, I remember seeing Patek Philippe Calatrava being sold for 1,200,000yen. In the year 2007 or 2008, I was able to buy Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean with a co-axial movement for 250,000yen. In 2007, I purchased Omega Speedmaster 3570.50 for 200,000yen. For your refernce, US$1 is about 150yen as of now. I can understand that the movements and materials of the luxury watches have improved from 20 years ago, and more people are buying luxury watches, which results in higher prices. But I still have the image of the retail price around year 2000 to 2008, which makes me feel current luxury watch are overpriced.

Yes and no. Yes, because some of these "big boys" release quartz watches that are nothing more than a price point entry for their brand (not talking about X-33 or Navitimers). It's a slap in the face when Japanese brands have been doing it longer, better, with interesting capabilities, and better more than Swiss luxury.

No come from the models that something extra special besides their branding or history. The specifications on the METAS certified Aqua Terra is worthy, to me. So is are interesting complications that are done by the likes of JLC. Also, if the dial design, case finishing or movement finishing is not the kind that can be done by a machine, I can support an elevated cost.

That is way too complicated a question for a simple yes/no answer. For example is a Omega or GS way over priced in the $5k-$10k range? I don't really think so. I think they could easily cut their prices in half and still be making money. Is something like the Patek Philippe Aquanaut over priced at $49k (retail), at $80k-$110k (market value) absolutely. But then again, you have to take into account makers like A Lange & Söhne, which start at $20k, on paper they would seem overpriced but they only produce about 5,000 watches a year all hand made in-house movements, and the quality of the movements are on another level, so are they overpriced? To me that is a more difficult question.