Country of origin fixation? Unconsious Product Racism?

Regarding the binocular comment, why get on your tippy toes to reach for racism when "county of origin preference" takes you directly to nationalism or its more benign cousin, patriotism? There are people on this website who are excited that watch movements are being made in Arizona. I don't believe that their excitement comes from an improper place.

I can't really say what was the nature of the watch thread comment that you describe. It seems shorn of needed context.  It doesn't sound like WatchCrunch.  Again, I would caution that perceived class distinctions may be a more direct cause of such opinions.

This sort of argument brings more heat than light.

It is an interesting question, but let's be careful about sensationalism. Country of origin does not necessarily equal race and in many cases many countries have the same races. What you are implying is more nationalism vs. race. It is an important distinction. One can be a springboard to the other, sure, but let's clearly define and understand what is what before labeling. 

I am on the record saying I do not care where a watch is made, I care about how a watch is made. Currently, China is known for producing tons of homages, replicas, and low-quality fashion watches. One could argue that is most of what they produce. They also produce many disposable movements like Seagul and Hangzhou, that look cool, but may or may not last more than a couple months. A history of all of the above leads many to want to avoid them. That is not nationalist based, but specific to the products that happen to be made there. 

However, that is not necessarily fair to broadly paint the entire market with that categorization since behind the scenes they are manufacturing some parts for many well-known brands. They also have some up-and-coming independent watchmakers. There could be some exciting products coming out of China and when they make a product with the same reliability and serviceability, they will get buyers.  

This pattern has happened many times before and will happen again. Using cars; Japanese cars were shunned and now arguably make better cars than anything coming out of the US. Korean cars were shunned in the early 2000s due to reliability, and now Kia and Hyundai can seemingly do little wrong. China is at the start of that curve in many industries. They will eventually refine thier products, become expensive to manufacture and the process will move to a new country like India, then various countries in Africa. Hit reset every time.

Now, using the Japanese cars, much of the dislike, similar to German cars, had roots in hate due to previous wars. And do not get me wrong, some people are flat-out nationalists and perhaps racists, but I would like to think that is the minority vs. those not buying as a result of quality or known reliability.

It's a muddled issue. Asia has a history of cheaper labor and (initially) inferior goods. Of course people might want to remember that Switzerland took over the leading British watchmaking for pretty much the same reasons.

Mainly I think this is a benign, stodgy traditionalism. The ninnies that rave over "craftsmanship" and hand-finishing really get aroused by their idea that a little old mustachioed Geppetto type in lederhosen is hunched over with a loupe fiddling with watch bits that they'll buy. Whereas, I suspect, they think Asian production is some Metropolis-meets-Willy Wonka soulless automation. Needless to say, the perception is way off base.

There may be a sort of "Alien vs. Predator" inherent preferentialism going on. In that bad movie, humans sided with the destructive intergalactic predators over insectoid creatures that merely defended themselves in order to reproduce, presumably because the former looked more human, more familiar, in form. Besides ingroup bias toward European heritage, there is also the johnny-come-lately truth that Switzerland has been at it for about twice as long, so the reputation is more ingrained. It takes some people a while to catch up.

Then there are the two political ends, one that sees China as some global enemy of the West, or at least an economic threat, and the other that is uneasy with the fact that fourteen year old housed in barracks and working in conditions way less utopian than the western ideal.

The final point is how the topic of nation of origiin is handled. To be blunt, "Made in China" is never really put forth as a selling point, and often hidden as coyly as possible, often misdirected altogether. The opposite is the brand names that are truly Asian and just ring the western ear wrong. People, somewhat rightly, get miffed when they think they are buying a premium product at a premium price and there is hoodwinking over it being from a "not-so-premium priced" manufacture. One can make arguments both ways about that but it's a murky issue.

Good quality movement, 316 or 904 works for me, sapphire crystal preferably, solid links, solid end links and milled clasp are pretty much my preference when looking at a watch. Unless I'm vintage hunting and in that case it is what it is. I don't care where it's from and I don't care if it looks like something else, as long it's not branded something it's not. Tough times aren't necessarily short-term and people want to have Doxa feel at a Seestern price. I don't want to touch the tone of racism here, people see and hear what they want based on egos not realizing how just letting that shit drop away you have nothing left to judge. The simply impossible....

It's not racism, it is a form of stereotyping, which - like most stereotypes - is rooted in reality, and which also - like most stereotypes - means that you'd miss out on nuance. But then, sometimes the world is too complex to always pay attention to nuance, and you navigate the lesser parts of your life via stereotypes. Stereotypes that are at odds with reality, either because reality moved on or the stereotype (good or bad) was a result of marketing/propaganda, these stereotypes tend not to survive very long in the real world.

The stereotyping by country often makes sense, because products are produced in the same legal, regulatory, economic and cultural context. Cost of labour and supplies will be similar. Many Chinese watches are sold to the West via some trading companies that serve multiple brands. The customer service for one brand is likely to be pretty similar to that of another if it's done via the same trading company, and you are probably totally unaware of that commonality.

Unless you are only into high-end horology, and you wear your Rolex Submariner as a daily beater, because the Grand Complications is a little bit too delicate to wear while fishing for king crabs in the arctic ocean, you miss out not paying attention to the nuances between Chinese watches (watch brands), because there are bargains to be had of great quality, even ones that are uncompromised by intellectual property concerns. We have not reached the point where that view is commonly held though.

Personally, as a German, I harbour an extra fondness for German watch brands. There is certainly an element of national pride there, but there is also an element of national industrial style that roots these brands in the culture I grew up with. Sinn makes Sinn to me [this is a bilingual pun]. Bauhaus design left its mark not only on watch dials. But then I'm also cheap and those watches are not.