I was in Watch World yesterday looking for a v-day present for my man, when gentleman (looked like a business man) comes into the store and says to the salesman something like, “I’m on a trip and forgot my watch / watch broke, and I’m looking for a cheap watch”. So, the salesman shows him the cheapest watches they have, Timex, which are about $55 at the lowest. Too cheap, says he. After considerable looking around, he finally settles on a watch that costs about $100 (hey, it’s a small store, and I’m nosy!). I’m thinking to myself, $100 for a watch is not cheap! It’s not ridiculously expensive, either, but the man mentioned he might give it away after he gets home, so it’s obviously no skin off his back!
Now, I’m not judging this man or anything - if he has the money, why not spend it? And he was a very polite customer and all that, but it made me think: am I cheap, or is $100 just not that expensive for a watch? The most expensive one I’ve owned was probably about $60 or $70. The watch I ended up getting for badbadrubberfiance was $80, and more than I wanted to spend, but I really liked and, and thought that he would love it, so I got it anyway.
What, in your opinion, is an expensive watch? Am I cheap, or does this guy have expensive taste? Just curious…
The watch I have I purchased for $10 at Wal-mart. I’ve had it for over a year. I’m constantly getting compliments on how nice it looks (it’s a silver metallic band with a blue face). If a $10 watch does as good a job as a $100, why waste the extra $90?
We had a discussion about this a few months back that actually got kind of heated. One side pretty much had the opinion you expressed here. The other, though, had something along the lines of “you can’t discount aesthetic considerations; if you did, we’d all live in grey-walled bedrooms with white sheets. Plus, some of us just have an appreciation for the fine craftmanship of an expensive mechanical watch, even if the cheapo quartz Timex is more accurate.”
I’ve been wearing the same Timex for… probably about five years now, having replaced the band once and the battery never. My parents gve it to me, but I think it cost about C$60. I can’t imagine buying anything more expensive than that. In fact, when this one needs to be replaced, the only thing keeping me from going with a dollar-store watch is that I want something nice enough to wear with a suit for when I need to dress up. My current watch more than meets that standard.
In short: Cheap watch: $5-$25 Regular watch: $25-$75 Expensive watch: $75-$150 Unfathomably expensive watch: Greater than $150
I think watches are a very personal thing, the two I wear most often go for about $2000 each. I paid no where near that for them. For a lot of people, a watch is more than the cheapest way to tell time. I don’t wear quartz, battery operated watches. I like the idea of having a little machine full of gears and wheels strapped to my wrist.
I generally wear a pocket watch. The most expensive one I own cost maybe $80. To me, a cheap watch is a $5 Casio from the swapmeet. Use it until the battery dies, then throw it away.
A cheap watch is one where a new band or battery costs more than the original watch. I currently have two everyday watches like that, and a sport watch. I don’t grieve when the crystal gets scratched (or for that matter, if the whole thing dies.)
For better occassions, I have a better watch – one that I do bother with taking care of.
The watch I have right now was $20, and it was hard for me to find it (And of course, right after I bought it, I saw another place selling watches for $10 :smack: ). I was looking for something nice that was reasonably priced, ‘reasonably’ meaning under $50, and prefereably under $30. (Again, CND). One store, the cheapest they had was $90. Nice, but not worth the money–though the same could be said for everything else they sold. And even if it was worth the money, I couldn’t afford it.
I still have the watch I had before this one, um, somewhere. I have no idea how much it cost, it was a gift, but the straps alone were $20 each. I would still wear it if I could, but I can’t get straps for it anymore
When I was in college I wore el cheapo black plastic digital watches – maybe $10. I did a lot of messy art projects, dishwashing at the commons, etc., so that seemed about right.
When I got engaged, I decided I needed a nice gold watch to set off my wedding ring. I spent about $70 on a Citizen watch at Penneys. It was a lot of money for me then, but 16 years later it still looks good (the finish is a little worn) and works great.
Mr. S and I recently started doing glass fusing. We took a class in which we made glass bangle watches, and the instrcutor told us that the watches we were making should probably retail for about $150. The watch faces are about $25 retail, so the rest is in the artsy band.
Mrs. Moto gave me my current watch, a Skagen running about $90.
I gave her her current watches. The most interesting one is a prewar men’s Benrus that belonged to my grandfather. Men’s watches were smaller then, so it doesn’t look out of place on a woman’s wrist.
I had it cleaned and got a new strap, to the tune of about $80. I’ve seen the same watch on vintage watch websites selling for about $150.
It’s true that there are aesthetic considerations at work (which is why my wife likes wearing a 70 year old family watch), so I don’t condemn anyone for wearing a more expensive watch.
My watch is made by fossil, but was discontinued so I got it for $10. I’ve changed the battery maybe three times in the eight years that I’ve owned it. Its on it’s second band.
I love Fossil watches (in fact, it’s the brand I got for my man). They’re about what I consider reasonable for watches, as most of them run between $55-$75 for women’s watches. They last a long time, and I can always find something I like from them. The one I have now is a black leather band, and the “second hand” isn’t really a second hand at all, but a group of silvery stars that flash on the face (it’s not as annoying as it sounds, they’re actually pretty subtle). I paid $65 for it, IIRC. I need a new one, though, as it’s not really appropriate for work, and will probably buy another, more formal Fossil.
I’ve tried to buy cheaper watches before, but it’s hard for me. I don’t like rubber or cloth bands, and cheaper metals tend to irritate my skin (same goes for jewelry). So, I go with Fossil!
You are the best present you can give a watch, as I believe Borges said (or was it Neruda? Borges, I think), and I’m a very cheap date. My watch is $10. (I have to replace the band now, though.)
I wear a classic steel-looking pocket watch, and I have never paid over $25 for one. It is battery-powered and comes from a large retailer most of us hate (yeah, that place), but people always compliment me on it and ask if it was a family heirloom. (It’s not, of course, but it has that timeless style to it.) I’ve had to replace the battery a few times over the years, and buy a whole new watch once… it is currently broken, so I need to replace it, actually. But since I have a digital clock in my newish cell phone, I haven’t been in as big of a hurry to replace it.
I hate wristwatches in general, and I am highly pragmatic when it comes to “functional” devices (cars and watches, as opposed to things like computers and electronics, where features seem more important to me). I think it is ludicrous to pay for luxury cars or Rolex watches when a reliable Honda can still get you around town or an attractive-but-cheap watch keeps perfect time. But that’s just me and how I was raised. When I am more financially secure I might upgrade to a “nicer” silver-colored pocket watch, perhaps with a flip-open face, but I’d still refuse to pay over $50 for it.
I just splurged on watches at Target yesterday! I’d had a $10 sports watch that had gotten splashed and the LED messed up (50 meters water resistant, my ass). So I spent $23 and got another $10 sports watch plus a fancy watch for work. So I guess cheap for me would be the Spongebob watches in McDonalds Happy Meals…
I do love the look of the really high-end watches like Rolexes and used to always want one. Then I started living on my own and realized how much I could get for the same price. But if I ever one the lottery (or wind up in Singapore where I can get a cheap copy), I’ll splurge and get one.
Cheap is the $5 watch from Wal-Mart. $100 is a little on the expensive side to me.
I’m a fellow Fossil fan. My husband and I both wear Fossils, which we bought together for our third anniversary (a year and a half ago). I think mine was about $75 and his more like $80. It was the first Fossil I’d bought in years (I always wore them in high school), and I love it. My watch before this one was an Elgin that my husband (then boyfriend) bought me for my high school graduation. I’ve stopped wearing it because I want to save it.
That is Roman Abramovich, wealth ~$7.5 billion. He likes football so he bought a UK footie team a couple of years ago and told the manager to spend what he liked but make sure they win. The team, Chelsea, had not won the UK league for over 50 years. So last year they made an international record loss of over $100 million. Now they are running away with the UK league, arguably the most competitive in the world: they have by far the best footballers with a collosal wage bill to suit.
So what does his watch look like it cost? Maybe $10? Now that is rich. So fabulously wealthy he does not need to advertise it with a timepiece!
