Mechanical?? ... ohw right .... eeeeuuhhhm
Where do I start?
I am someone with a very very very very limited budget for watches. For now I am probably not spending more than a 100 bucks for a watch.
Now, most of the mechanical watches cost a looooot of money. On top of that It costs also a lot to get them serviced, sometimes even more than the watch itself. Which I think is stupid. Anyways.
Having all that information. I feel way more confortable buying quartz with à battery that only would need replacement every few years, which would cost me 10 bucks for the new battery.
Now it is true that I am saying this while not being financially blessed, but even if I end up being "rich" I don't think I would make the switch. I don't see the value in it at all.
Is it actually worth it. Spending more than 10k on a watch. I know people appreciate the work behind a mechanical. I honestly would too if some of them didn't cost in the thousands and tens of thousands of bucks. Even if you can afford it, it is crazy.
Now it is true that a rolex for example doesn't lose its value and can even increase in value. So it an 'investment'. Which is okay but not all mechanical right???
Sorry but no.
Just a guy struggling to start à watch collection, I will find a way🥷
You could also pick up any number of used chinese brands from watchdives or even some new mods under$100US. Screw those that say no homages.
If you want a decent auto that's an option. The days of $100 Orient Defenders or Fliegers are gone, prolly forever. But you can very much so have a decent auto watch if wanted under $100.
You can pick up auto’s on Aliexpress for less than $40
Give em a try I have a few and they work reasonably well, obviously not COSC spec😂
Wearing this today, day/date, automatic movement, exhibition case back and claimed sapphire crystal all for less than $35.00 👍🏻
You are doing yourself right by not spending above your means. Nothing wrong with a quartz movement. If at a later date when you are able to afford something more expensive and want to try a mechanical watch do so then or stick with quartz. Grand Seiko makes some really nice quartz watches. Also, just get what you like, screw what anyone else thinks.
You’re entitled to your opinions and buying within your means is on point. That said, lot of judgements and misinformation in your post with a smidge of virtue signaling. Lots of good people on this site across the financial spectrum with varying tastes and viewpoints. Maybe these good people will change your mind. In other words, appreciate the collections of Crunchers without judgment. Be happy for them even though you disagree. Being polite and cracking a joke here or there is a good start. Note — I know next to nothing about watches so I’m probably someone you could mute. Best wishes.
PS: someone somewhere started with less than you have. Just keep looking up not back.
I'm going to assume that you genuinely mean this post as a question? If so, I'll attempt to answer below...
I grew up very, very poor. First generation immigrant, in a family that had everything taken away from it by Mao. Like, you know, 1 bowl of rice a day poor. Special days were when my parents and aunts and uncles got a little soy sauce to go with the bowl of rice.
All my life, I would look at all these unfathomably rich Americans, spending lavishly by buying sodas at McDonald's! Can you believe it? Who in their right mind would spend $1 on a soda? Don't they know that they can get a 2L bottle from the grocery store for the same price???
Now that I have money... well, my entire perspective has changed. I think it would be weird if my mindset didn't also change with my circumstances, right? A couple of weeks ago, we took my 7 and 10 year-old daughters to go see Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, along with a bunch of their friends. We went to this luxury movie theater. I ordered $15 burgers and fries for them. They each took 1 bite, and that was it. Now, before I had money, I couldn't afford to take myself, much less anyone else to the movies! Why not wait till the movie comes out on free TV??? But, even though I have money now, should I have made my daughters eat every last morsel of the burgers and fries? Should I have forced it down their throats? Even though they weren't hungry and had already filled their stomachs with too much popcorn? Growing up, when my family was DIRT POOR, I had to finish every grain of rice on my plate, or I would get beaten. Maybe I should have pulled out my belt and beat them? After all, they were wasting money!!!
The more I reflect on it, the more I realize, "Wow, I really have changed now that I have money."
The way I liken it is to the size of one's stomach. If you have a tiny stomach, and can't fit much food in it, why bother eating the bread and butter? You'd be best served to save your stomach for the main course, the chicken and asparagus, no? When you have a small stomach, everything you use up your appetite on is a major opportunity cost.
But, imagine instead that you have a large stomach. Well, then, you can eat tons of bread and butter and the main course of chicken and asparagus AND even get the creme brulee dessert. There is very little opportunity cost in eating all the different things that you might fancy.
So it is with money. When you have very little, the opportunity cost associated with using any of your money on any goods or services is very high. Therefore, you hold onto that money. You daren't spend it. When you have lots of money, the opportunity cost is very low. So, your behavior changes. And you spend it on whatever you like, at a whim, without a moment's thought.
So, "Is it actually worth it?" Well, we can only judge people based on their actions - it's called "revealed choice." And, well, if people actually spend $10k on a watch, then they're revealing via their actions that, yes, it is worth it!
Theres nothing wrong with having a budget, whatever it may be. And I think you’ll find that everyone looks for value and has a point beyond which they will not go. To me, this place is about what we have in common, not what separates us. Presumably you like watches, and so do the rest of us. So why not focus on the areas where our interests overlap?
For instance, I bought this
for $29 on Amazon. It’s a watch I’ve wanted for some time, but $60-70 seemed like a little too much, so I waited. Yes I have some watches that cost thousands of dollars, but I think this one is pretty great. Maybe that’s something you and I could talk about. And maybe you’d care to share some watches that you have or you like for less than $100. I’ve never seen anyone here mock a watch because it didn’t cost enough.
And finally, if you posted that you were looking for sun $100 watches, I’d bet you would get a ton of responses and you’d find some things you haven’t seen yet.
Cheers.
I’ve been crunching (get it) the numbers over here for awhile, and I am finally happy to share with EVERYONE that after pouring over my countless spreadsheets, pie charts, bar graphs, flow charts and histograms I have been able to conclude with 117% certainty that…
YES, it is indeed worth it.
You can pick up auto’s on Aliexpress for less than $40
Give em a try I have a few and they work reasonably well, obviously not COSC spec😂
Wearing this today, day/date, automatic movement, exhibition case back and claimed sapphire crystal all for less than $35.00 👍🏻
Spot on. Though the Casio Duro rules!! Blue of course 💪
I'd like to point out that no quartz is maintenance free either.
It will run for a very very long time if you keep changing the battery, but once in awhile you should change the seals on the caseback and crown (more often the entire crown).
But as a whole I do agree, quartz, especially modern ones require less expensive maintenance.