The big issue for me is the planned obsolescence of the movement, because the price is at a point where this has a severe impact on the value of the watch.

I remember one day, it was about 20-30 years ago, when I took a pair of moderately expensive shoes with run-down soles to the cobblers, only to be told that these kind of shoes were not repairable. When the soles were done, the shoes were done. That changed my views whether these shoes were worth their price, and I was leaning NO. I was not going back to that shop. Subsequently it was a case of either going upmarket, with fancy, dear but repairable shoes that would last a long time overall, or downmarket, with shoes that lasted less long, were also unrepairable, but considerably cheaper.

Tissot's PRX sits in that cursed middle tier. If I want an automatic that is not worth repairing (financially, or practically), I can go downmarket (Timex, or Chinese, etc). Going upmarket from a PRX is also a problem for them, no - not the Nautilus, but servicable watches at and below 2K all of a sudden become direct competitors to the PRX.

this Sugess caught my eye, about £150

Xonix has some digital models with a stainless steel case.

At the mo I don't own one, so this is hypothetical. But here are my two most likely reasons:

• Because the watch is a gift, and I'm visiting the person gifting it to me (which almost certainly would be mom)

• Because the watch is just a more perfect example of a watch type I like than my cheap watches

If you think the second reason is a bit lame, I concur. But that lameness is also the reason why I haven't got one.

OK, that seems to be a mix of generally Rolex boasting about this watch in particular, and the actual meaning of "superlative chronometer". Rolex puts this label on a number of their watches, and seems to be now hell-bent that all of them match this standard. Not sure this means anything else than (-2/+2) accuracy, but it is an in-house standard, both in terms of definition and certification. I presume it is trademarked. So it means whatever Rolex want it to mean.

As no non-Rolex can acquire this standard and all modern Rolexes do, it is really just another label on the watch that says: "this is a (modern) Rolex".

Oh, I just noticed that they put "superlative chronometer" on the dial.

Has this some formal meaning (COSC etc), or is it just self-praise? Did Rolex head-hunt the watch marketeer from China who came up with brand names like Mysterious Code and Borman?

I have to confess my ignorance here - no idea what a TMI movement is. The Baltany 1926 is actually a bit of a range, with different movements and slightly different dial/case designs on offer (even quartz). I ordered one with a Miyota 9039.