I was looking around for some watches and found these at Amazon
IIRC, Zenith makes a pretty good TV, or did way back when. However, I think a tv and a watch should both go for considerably less than these rascals. (More at bottom of the linked page.)
So, what’s the deal on these watches? Why so high?
Best wishes,
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Pricing error. Someone over at “Perfect Timing” has some order-of-magnitude problems with their data export that they sent to Amazon.
The reviews are pretty hilarious.
Other web sites report it’s a limited edition of 25, and the quoted price is accurate.
Not a pricing error. Zenith really does make watches that cost that much and more. As do others.
Answering the OP: that’s a Tourbillon movement watch, a type of complicated mechanical movement that’s horrendously expensive to make well.
And yes, the reviews are hilarious.
The company that makes this watch is different from the one that made televisions.
Damn. That is one ass-ugly watch for 80 grand.
They are not pricing errors. Nor is the Zenith watch company anything to do with the old US electrical good company.
Pretty much any watch with a tourbillion movement will cost at least $80,000. Zenith makes a wide range of watches. Famously up until a bit under 10 years ago they made the movement that was used in the Rolex Daytona.
Why are they so expensive? Because they can get the money. They are marvels of modern mechanical engineering, and the nearest thing that many men will get to owning jewelry. If you have the money, already own the Ferrari and the yacht, why not have the watch?
There is a shop at Changi airport called Tourbillion. All they sell are such watches.
Who cares! That darn thing has its price reduced by $58,000, and is only $87,000. It’s almost half off. No wonder there’s only one left.
I like below where you can get a $25 gift certificate if you buy two. That’s sales incentive right there.
By the way, this isn’t the same Zenith that produced the TV sets. This is a 150 year old watch Swiss company that’s been selling over priced watches for a century and a half.
The watches are very complex internally and suppose to be tough and sturdy. They are suppose to be able to be used underwater, shock resistant, etc. But, a under $100 electric quartz watch probably has the same specs. I’d say these are status symbols, but unlike Rolex watches, they’re not solid blocks of gold.
I guess someone buys them.
Fancy watches like the one in the OP are far beyond the league of Rolex. In this arena, there are several Swiss watches that have breathtaking price tags. People looking for a Tourbillon movement are hardcore watch collectors with lots of spare $$$.
This movement employs a small rotating cage that holds the balance wheel. The cage rotates very slowly throughout the day, ensuring that positional differences even out, since the balance wheel assembly is upside down as much as itq is right side up.
This is very delicate and quite challenging to make, in a pure mechanical watch. Other pricy watches include alarms and chimes (minute repeaters and the like).
Nobody who sees the watch would know how intricate it’s works are unless the person is a true watch fan, so it isn’t bought just to be bling. IMHO.
They are fitted, assembled, and embellished by hand, over several weeks.
I’ll never have one, but it is worth it to some rich watch geek. The price is not out of line.
Zenith watches have traditionally not been sold in the United States because of the conflict with the other Zenith name.
They were well known for their El Premeiro movement, a very fast movement that ticks eight times per second instead of the more common six or four.
It looks like a Borg watch - if the Borg had watches. Or . . . it could be a very diminutive Borg.
I’m thinking alien plot.
IDK. Having a watch that’s just a watch is like dreaming about a cigar that’s just a cigar. There’s no tension or ambiguity. Is that really any way to live?
I have a Timex data watch that stores my contacts, alarms, schedule reminders, notes, etc. It’s almost a PDA. I could do the same thing more easily with a cell phone, but I like not having a phone grafted onto my body, plus I’m always forgetting it anyway.
This it watch I really want though - the LG cellphone watch. That is nerd nirvana. It will make any gadget guy squeee like a little girl.
Yes.
If someone asks what my GMT II or Sub does, I’ll say ‘It tells the time.’
Looks like the kind of watch that a Klingon would wear.
The Zenith watch is so awesome, you can’t even use it to tell time accurately. It does appear to have several cooling fans on it, though, or perhaps those are gyrocopter propellers that extend and assist you in flying through the air.
If there were ever a watch that would allow you to defeat Iron Man in single combat, this is the watch. Try that with your Casio G-Shock.
Stranger
Well, if you buy 2, you’ll get a gift certificate for $100 from Amazon - so, it isn’t as expensive as it seems.
You want expensive watches, check out Patek Phillipe, topped out by this one for $1.5 million. It’s a fairly regular watch, not even with $1.45 million worth of diamonds on it or something that drives the price up. Also note that that mofo is not even water resistant at $1.5M.
It’s just for people with far too much money, similar to those audio speakers that cost $100k and such. There’s no feasible way this watch is worth $1.5 million. You can get good tourbillon watches for a couple grand, and of course a $20 quartz watch will keep time as accurate as any mechanical watch. Now, I understand that it’s nice to have more than the bare minimum of function offered by a quartz watch, but you can get that for far less than the $90k of the OP’s watch, let alone going into 6 or 7 figures.
Actually, for a brief time (mid-1970’s) the Zenith Radio/TV Co. owned Zenith Watch Co. They marketed some strange watches-these were the “Futur” line, which were analog display, with a quartz movement-with the seconds displayed in a two digit numerical display.
The super-expensive watches with the tourbillion movement are a mystery to me-in a wristwatch, a tourbillon is useless (the watch changes position so many times).
As others have said, it adds cost, but little or no utility-just a way to display how wealthy you are…and when the time comes for cleaning/re-oiling, it will cost you about $1000!
Pretty much sums it up; well done.
My dad (antique dealer) collected pocket watches when I was a kid - we used to go to special watch collector’s shows and sales, etc. It’s a whole different world - and stuff like tourbillons just sent them into a frenzy. And if they had conspicuous income…no different than guys with super-expensive sports cars…
My $8 watch from Walmart keeps VERY! good time. So what am I missing, what kind of actual extra **performance **??? am I not getting from the other $79,992.00 that I am not spending?
Is it really 10,000 times better? Show me.
For the life of me, I can’t imagine wanting something on my wrist worth so much that people would chop my arm off to get it.