Why do so many watches look pretty much identical?

Agreed!  That's precisely why I bought this!

And, yet, every time I show off this watch to anyone, invariably, the reaction is this...

What's that link to the Steeldive?

I have 2 steeldive models and think for the price they are great, might be homages but the real things are well over my budget and/or not in production anymore. 

The Steeldive will also be made of components that are the same as those used in many other watches three or four times as expensive. It will do the same job. 

Agreed they will do the same job. No matter if you wear a Rolex or a Seiko, it is 9:15am, and you are late for work.

The components are not the same, though. If you looks at the crown, the threads, and the crown gaskets (plural form!), you will notice quite a bit of a difference compared to an Invicta. Sure, I can order Dauphine hands from China, but under the magnification needed to install them, you will not find Zaratsu polishing, but some machining marks where they shouldn't be. It truly is up to you to determine what that is worth to you.

Why the watches look similar? It's pure convention, and that the way a mechanical watch's function is essentially obsolete. So outside of Richard Mille and a few others there is very little change, because no new function is needed. (Similar to how suits look very similar, as the form is generally more important than the function.)

Had to google Steeldive.  Bronze Ploprofs, holy wrist presence Batman.

You started it and you know we are just busting balls. 😂😂😂

Exactly, the difference is in the finishing, and small details. 

If the small details don't matter, buy a Timex Weekender, or some other affordable quartz Timex and be done with it. You'll save a lot of money, and be more accurate than any mechanical watch. 

I have set a cap for myself for what I'll pay for a watch, but I did it because for me the diminishing returns after about $2500 CAD aren't worth the extra cost. For some people the diminishing returns aren't worth it after $200, for others it's $200,000. 

Because they are made by businesses, and businesses overwhelmingly play it safe rather than take risks. They know what sells, why gamble too much with daring designs?

And there, ultimately is the culprit. Consumers buy safe, established designs. Rolex might as well be stodgy shoemaker Alden, who hasn't released a truly new model since before the Reagan era, and why muck with the formula when it keeps working?

Rolex for the flex, Steeldive for the actual work. Invicta for not so fussy workman.

Why is the Submariner the default watch? Why is every watch in the world an imitation of the Submariner? Why is your default profile picture on this website the dial of the Submariner until you change your profile picture?

I'm pretty sure it's because James Bond wore one in Goldfinger. He has to sneak into a fancy party on a private island to do spy stuff, so he scuba dives up to the beach at night, unzips his dry suit, and he's got a tux on underneath. And when he needs to keep track of the time at the party, he checks his Rolex Submariner because that's a watch for scuba diving and that's what he was just doing. And every man wants to be like James Bond, so everyone bought a Submariner. And every watch company wants everyone to buy their watches, so every watch company imitated the Submariner. And ladies and gentlemen that's exactly the way it's been.

Just like how Seinfeld isn't special anymore because every sitcom that came after it was like Seinfeld, so too is "dive" the vanilla of watch flavors.

Also, let's be real, those clicky bezels are a hoot to play with.

nailed it. If that’s your style, run with it. If you want to plunk down $35k on a swiss guy then do that.  If you’re excited about a $500 seiko that’s great too, $20 Casio? I love it.  That’s part of the appeal of collecting watches, there is a lot for a lot of different price points and as far as my collection goes they all play pretty nicely together. 

These are all Divers by well known Brands at different Pricepoints and if you are trying to tell me they look the same I am going to leave this Platform :D

I think we can all agree upon that there is no way that Rolex Submariner Prices are justified 

edit: I want to add saying that all dive watches look the same is a little bit like saying all jazz sounds the same. I mean yeah obviously it does sound Similar it’s the same genre but not really the same

That last line 😚👌nailed it. My friend likes to tell the tale of the time he was discussing Rolex with his watchmaker wilst dropping off a watch for service. My friend was talking about how much he likes Rolex and admires their work and the watchmaker doesn’t even look up and says yeah, they make a great thousand dollar watch that they sell for ten thousand. 😂

Submariner rip-off 😤 ⬆️

I make the comparison to cars. If you've driven luxury cars, then driven affordable cars, you will notice the build quality, finishes.

I always make the analogy the details. All the small luxury details make the quality apparent to you. I have owned Seikos (which I love), Tudors, Omega, and now a Rolex Sub. I will say that to me the quality is apparent. Just my 2¢. You get what you pay for is my opinion. 

With all due respect, your sampling method seems to be a bit self-serving! You ain't going to win many research grants if you go on like this. 😂

I'm not sure that the jazz example really holds up. Most jazz uses the pentatonic scale which makes most jazz pieces more similar than different. By extension, I suspect that most Submariner type watches are more similar than different. The rest is hair splitting. Perhaps...

The bargain is what Im seeking in life. I want some decent quality at the lowest price. The watch like San Martin's 6200. Sure the watch is beautiful, well made and still not respected because its not 10 000 USD. Do i care? No. The people who want to feel the power of the brand and have all the money in the world can spend zillions on a watch. Their choice.

If you're just talking dive watches, I agree with you. I'm not a dive watch guy. I have nothing against them, but I don't get their overwhelming popularity. They do seem really samey samey. And I don't get the obsession about water resistance for watches that won't get wet, and helium escape valves that are useful only to the ~350 saturation divers in the US. It's all kind of lost on me.

On the other hand, watch collectors and people who populate watch fora are connoisseurs. And obsessing about minutiae is what connoisseurs do. Caring about fine points is what happens when you take a deep dive into anything. Sure, no one notices your watch, but you do, don't you? A lot of people also say, no one needs a watch, so whether you spent $100, $1,000, or $10,000, didn't you spend it for your own pleasure? So the only question is how much the little improvements as you move up the price scale are worth to you. So while I'm no connoisseur of dive watches, and the minute differences are lost on me, they are not lost on me for other watches. I can certainly tell the difference between a $300 Seiko Presage and a Grand Seiko for multiple thousands. Well, I bought me a Grand Seiko, and I don't regret it, so I guess those little differences were worth it to me.