A slightly heretical thought
I’ve been lurking here for a little while now, but this has been nagging at me recently, so I thought it would be a good time to make my first post.
At the price point that I look at, you can very well describe watches as being full of ‘compromises’. Whether that it’s microbrands opting for Miyota 8000s movements, Seiko's hardlex crystals, or AliExpress companies straight-up whipping out designs using ctrl+c ctrl+v, the profit margin has to come from somewhere. One thing remains constant even at this price point though: everyone loves a good display caseback. And for good reason too!
HOWEVER.
I tend to wear my watches the other way up, so I spend just a smidge more time looking at the dial of my watches than the caseback. And personally, I wouldn’t mind trading a nice display back for some extra love to the front of the watch. Of course, if you’re using mass-manufactured movements which are entirely machine-finished, there isn’t really much to save on. But that changes when we tweak the price point. When you start to add perlage, Côtes de Genève, and complex guilloché by hand, the price quickly stacks up.
Now, imagine for a moment that the JLCs, the Pateks and the APs decide to go all in on the dial and case. How much more can you get if they leave their movements at Rolex levels of finishing?
What about a stock NH35?
In this exercise in futility, how much would you be willing to sacrifice before diminishing returns makes any less decoration meaningless? Or is there no bottom point at all? Maybe, at the end of the day, all watchmakers should just throw in a VH31 for the sweeping seconds and call it there.
Please don’t burn me at the stake.
Gotta admit, this is precisely why I am a GS fan. A bunch of my GS'es have closed case backs. Couldn't care less what the movements look like. But, the materials science and effort they put into the dial, the hands, the indices, and the case is remarkable.
As long as it runs and is reliable, that’s all I care about. Maybe that’s why I drive Japanese cars. They’re not fast or flashy, but you rarely see them broken down on side of the road.
Admittedly, I’m a sucker for a display caseback. There’s something about the smoothness of the sapphire on the wrist and being able to peer into the workings of the amazing little machine on my wrist that mesmerizes me.
That being said, I get and appreciate your point. While I don’t mind paying a little extra for my preference; I do wonder what the “up charge” for it is, and how that could be better deployed on dials and cases. Great post!
I m pretty sure I am misunderstanding the question. I'd always pay a good $25 or so to not have an obscene rear window. Actually, I had a $25 Winner automatic watch that had a super low end movement that appeared to be stamped parts. I was fine with that. I'm still not convinced that anyone really looks at these things past the first week or two.
I m pretty sure I am misunderstanding the question. I'd always pay a good $25 or so to not have an obscene rear window. Actually, I had a $25 Winner automatic watch that had a super low end movement that appeared to be stamped parts. I was fine with that. I'm still not convinced that anyone really looks at these things past the first week or two.
That's fair, and I don't particularly care either way if cheaper watches have a display back or not either. Just thought it would be a fun hypothetical to see people's opinions if you go from this
to this
That's fair, and I don't particularly care either way if cheaper watches have a display back or not either. Just thought it would be a fun hypothetical to see people's opinions if you go from this
to this
I'll double it and say that difference is worth about $50 to me.
I like a display caseback, the finishing doesn't bother me so much, I like to see how it works - maybe because I'm a biker & I prefer retro unfaired bikes where I can see the engine 🤔
Also it was the display caseback that got my Mrs into watches, & many others I'm sure.
Having said that, a display caseback on one of my beloved Seiko divers would be sacrilegious!!!
A controversial opinion indeed, and something I somewhat both agree and disagree with... luxury watches, like most luxury products, aren't about value or effectiveness. Luxury by itself is excess and decadence. On a normal, cheaper watch - sure! Leave out the movement finishing and glass caseback if that means you can cut costs and improve other aspects of the watch, like the dial, performance, and quality. But on a luxury watch, where I'm already paying obscene amounts of money... you could still argue my above point for the lower-end, steel toolwatch designs, sure. But for those high-end golden dress pieces? I want the whole hog. Mirror polishing and bevelling in places no-one will ever see. If I'm going to pay the equivalent of a house down payment on a little coin-sized piece of metal, it better be worth it (not that I could ever afford it anyways, but my point still stands).
As I started reading, at first I was thinking that the heretical thought would be that you always wore your display caseback watches inside out - i.e., with the displayed movement facing you.