Are Watches TOO Expensive?

I can agree with your point that all watches are overpriced, especially when viewed from the standpoint of the cost to produce. With luxury products, the pricing isn't so much based on the cost of the components that make up a product but rather the desirability of the product, and much of that is dictated by very irrational and emotional decisions on the part of buyers. You can't look at the costs of the raw materials that go into making a watch as the gauge for the price any more than you can look at the cost of the paint for a Picasso.

The watches that you have used for comparison all have pricing that is dictated primarily by hype and desirability. Through a combination of shrewd marketing and social media influencers, people are willing to spend ridiculous amounts for them, not so much for what goes into them but for the status of owning them. Whether or not the pricing is deserved or not, it has been dictated by the market.

I personally find the new Ingenieur quite attractive, but I'm in the camp that says they are over priced for what they offer. The market hasn't validated their pricing, and only time will tell if they sit languishing on dealer shelves because of the price, or if they start enjoying the same hype as the other Genta designs you've mentioned and end up trading at multiples of MSRP.

I like the new Ingenieur enough to consider adding it to my collection, but not enough to pay MSRP. There are too many other watches in a similar price range that I would prefer, and I don't have unlimited funds so I have to be selective. I'm perfectly willing to take the chance that the market will result in these being priced considerably lower in the secondary market. If the market pushes prices skyward, I may regret my decision, but it's a chance I'm perfectly willing to take. It will be very interesting to see how things unfold.

Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I guess we’re in the same boat… I think the new Ingenieur is very attractive too. I put my name down for purchase at my local AD.… But it seems that was in vain as this is now a boutique only model. I guess time will tell if it sits in the window at the boutique or if they become so hot they’re untouchable. That happened recently with the Lange Odysseus. The Internet made fun of it for weeks and months… Now you couldn’t get one if you tried.

For selfish reasons, I'm hoping that the market doesn't support the IWC pricing model, and discounts them even more steeply than other IWC models, so that I can eventually grab one. I'm attracted enough to pay more than what I paid for my Pilots Chrono 41, but nowhere near the level they are asking. I picked up that one for about 60% of MSRP, for a LNIB example less than 6 months old. Well worth what I paid, not worth MSRP.

Can’t argue with that. If it’s not popular I’d love to pick one up… or even a different variant in the line (CEO admitted this is only the start of a Ingenieur line) for a discounted price.