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The "Official" Watch Thread and all Things Horological
- Thread starter backmarkerducati
- Start date
It costs about $260 to replace the solar cells and batteries in an Eco-drive Citizen at a jewellers and the OEM batteries can last for 40 years according to Citizen. Capacitors are $30 if you want to do it yourself. Realistically you can get 15 years out of them. If you want it to last forever it’s still less than the cost of one service on an automatic every 15 years and much more accurate to boot.
Yes, but when you want to sell a used citizen, you would be lucky to get enough to buy dinner. About 10% of msrp seems to be a reasonable estimate for used citizens. Prestige automatics often sell close to msrp or more.
Most automatics will lose you money too since buying at MSRP for the models that do appreciate is not normal these days.
What I posted was for the “buy once” thing. If you really wanted to (not sure why you would except if it was your dad’s watch etc) then you can make a Citizen or similar last forever for less cost than an automatic (which also won’t last forever without a regular service).
Actually I guess one thing to consider is how many people will be actively around to be able to service/fix watches in 40 years. The manufacturers will be around (presumably since it’s a profitable business for them) and so they will likely have in-house servicing I guess but what about regional places?
Back in my hometown in the uk we still have thatched roof cottages. As far as I know there’s single digits of craftsmen who can maintain those roofs in the whole of the UK now.
Back in my hometown in the uk we still have thatched roof cottages. As far as I know there’s single digits of craftsmen who can maintain those roofs in the whole of the UK now.
The upside to mechanical timekeeping is there will always be people interested (at least at the hobby level) and every part can be manufactured from scratch with relatively simple tools and materials and a lot of time and effort. If an electronic part dies and there is no replacement available, odds are it is a terminal failure. Even if you wanted to make your own, there isn't enough publicly available documentation to know how the original worked. You could reuse the case and insert an entirely different brain though. Probably the best of a bad situation.
It was interesting that the 'quartz crisis' , the 1970-80s , when mechanical watches went right out of style that a watchmaker was a dinosaur , then starts the revival and colleges start to offer courses again and it become a very viable trade. Manufactuerer training and certificatioin is a big thing , brand protection. I think it will be around for a while .
I would think that automatics would be as reliant on OEM parts if it’s for resale purposes later though. Non-OEM parts might well have them work fine but I’d assume that resale value would go way down. I don’t think the parts will run out but the people able to do this work will probably decrease.
Servicing a mechanical watch is paying a tradesman tradesman's wages for what amounts to the equivalent of having the rad/tranny/oil in your car flushed/replaced and then getting it detailed. Unless you've hit it hard enough to damage the escapement/hairspring/mainspring, nothing needs to be replaced, and a competent guy can repair a lot of that damage. Quartz watches are usually around 50-50 parts that can be serviced vs. parts that are toss and replace only.
Still less moving parts in a quartz so less issues with metal on metal contact = less service. On average they will both depreciate (unless you have one of a select few models) just one will depreciate less than the other.
Wear/own if you like it. They can both be made to last for decades with proper care it’s just that the replacement cost of a quartz will probably make repair a non-starter. Neither are usually good investments for just investment sakes.
Wear/own if you like it. They can both be made to last for decades with proper care it’s just that the replacement cost of a quartz will probably make repair a non-starter. Neither are usually good investments for just investment sakes.
I’d argue buying a Petek or Rolex has never been a bad idea , some models took longer than others . And yes if you’re looking at ‘investment’ , maybe a GIC is a better deal. But a lot of really smart guys are buying and holding good watches and they are not battery .
And wearing a GIC just looks odd .
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And wearing a GIC just looks odd .
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My FIL before he joined the Navy was a trained watchmaker , his dad was a jeweller / watchmaker . He wasn’t rich but always had work , the battery craze pivoted the business, but the jewelry store still exists in Woodstock. New ownership , but all the equipment to make pins , cut gears and make springs is still in the basement. Not sure there is anybody that can use it there anymore.
My omega dealer sends non warranty stuff to a shop in the Chec republic. That seemed odd me but apparently some parts of Europe missed the whole battery phase .
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My omega dealer sends non warranty stuff to a shop in the Chec republic. That seemed odd me but apparently some parts of Europe missed the whole battery phase .
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I was wondering where jewellers make their biggest margins. Presumably it’s on actual jewels and gold/silver ware.
A good idea if you can get it at the right price. If it was “that” good though you’d see many more individuals with hundreds of the same model hoarded in safety deposit boxes. Most watches are like jewellery that is worth what you think it’s worth to you rather than what others are willing to pay for it over and above the cost of the raw materials.
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I agree. My wife's parents wanted her grandmothers sapphire ring reset as a simple necklace as my wife isn't a ring person. Jeweller needed the ring plus $1000 to get it done. Much much less gold in necklace than was in ring so there was some profit there too.
There are people out there. 33.4K members of this FB group, a lot of which would be climbing over each other to get any/all of that equipment. Any question about the movement of any watch and someone on there will answer it for you.
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At one point I tried to trade my water resistance tester for a Breitling. Store didn't have the ability to test watches they opened but didn't care. Hard no. Ah well, get to keep my cool toy.There are people out there. 33.4K members of this FB group, a lot of which would be climbing over each other to get any/all of that equipment. Any question about the movement of any watch and someone on there will answer it for you.
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The watchmaker who runs a repair-only shop in Cookstown is a Czech.
GIC doesn't tell time very well either. As a lifelong and second generation diver, I've lusted after a Submariner all my life. When I was finally able to fulfill that desire, I got one just in the nick of time. I got one of the very last tool watches, as they were transitioning to the larger, more expensive, more fashionable versions. The large cases, ceramic inserts, and high prices propelled them beyond the realm of divers' tools and firmly into jewellery territory, though they are still capable. I couldn't afford one now, but I'm not fond of the new iterations anyway. My Sub is now valued at 4 times what I paid for it; so much that I'm having second thoughts about wearing it in certain places; as we used to say, over on "the other side of the tracks." :^).
My understanding from the in-laws thag last owned jewelry store. Big ticket watches had an MRSP and you did NOT deviate from the price list , a Rolex in Oakville and Collingwood are the same price. Your margin was fixed ( and not awful) , jewelry had a good margin and China/silver/glassware had huge margins . The quality of diamonds, while apparently highly controlled for grade , has a lot of latitude in price at store level. My wife engagement ring ( bought through the family store ) was $1,500 , 30 years ago , retail was $2895.00 and evaluation certificate said $4350. So there is that
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