Versace's contribution You are now aware that "fashion brand" is horology-speak for "cheap mall garbage"
"Decent watch": Sellita SW200 movement is $130 qty 1, call it $80 qty 500 basic bitch hands is $2/set, call it $1 qty 500 basic bitch screenprinted dial is $4 qty 1, call it $2 qty 500 basic bitch stainless case is $75 qty 1, call it $25 qty 500 (they're $30 on aliexpress) basic bitch alligator strap is $7 qty 1, $1.40 on aliexpress, call it $1 Materials costs: $106 qty 500. I could throw that shit together in about 10 minutes, and could teach you to do it in 10 minutes if you gave me an hour. So we'll take a decent rate of $18/hr and divide by 6 and we're at about $115 cost for a swiss movement, chinese everything else. Double it for a profit, sell it for 60% of MSRP to dealers and lo and behold look how fucking overpriced everything Shinola ever made is because they don't even have mechanical movements. Whatever you do, don't run the numbers on a birkin.
Thanks, I won't. I will say that I ogle several watches from afar, though I doubt I'll even pull the trigger unless I become significantly richer. I have a Junghans Max Bill, which is really pretty, but basically a piece crap in terms of durability. I also have a Seiko 7S26, which is less pretty, but way more durable. I have a boner for a Breitling Chronomat, but please tell me how cheap it is so I'm not tempted every time I see a deal on one on Crown and Caliber xDWhatever you do, don't run the numbers on a birkin.
Junghans, for reasons I will never understand, has been rawkin' acrylic crystals long after the point where anybody sensible has switched to Sapphire. That said I'm a fan of the Max Bill. The Nomos Tangente is kind of the same thing but with a bespoke caliber and a sapphire crystal. Of course if you have a Max Bill, you don't need a "modern Max BIll." Breitling anything is good, yeoman-grade stuff like Omega. They mostly use ETA movements, they mostly tweak on them, and they pretty much make great no-nonsense watches. I find their dials to be busy for my taste. In chronometer-land my heart belongs to Universal Geneve. They were, for all intents and purposes, Patient Zero for pretty much every modern trend. Gerald Genta's first work was with UG, first on the Shadow and then on the Polerouter. They invented the chronograph and they invented the 24-hour watch. They were basically to Patek Philippe what Tudor is to Rolex - a cheaper, more adventuresome brand with much in common. Unfortunately they zigged and the market zagged, probably because they were purchased by a Japanese consortium, which means their later watches are (A) cool (B) unlike anything on the market which meant they died. They are still officially in business but they haven't produced any timepieces since 2004.
Yeah, for real. It took me like a day to get a scratch in the crystal. They also have this cool looking but moronic design on the chronoscope buttons (if there's a technical term for them, I don't know it) where they're wide at the very end and very skinny on the shaft. This makes them get caught on your sleeve pretty much every time you move your arm. The thing I think I like about Breitling is that they're like driving a $50,000 pickup truck with leather interior. It says, "Yes I can do a lot, but will I? Probably not."
Polywatch is your friend. The shit is magical. EDITED to add that the Amazon reviews are fucking hilarious: there's like three guys in there using plastic polish on sapphire crystals and being disappointed in the results. Also the add includes a "yellow cloth" that is pretty obviously blue. But then, my polywatch tube is white while that one is gray so maybe it's like that damn dress.
Neither here nor there, but I think you were absent when https://hubski.com/chat came to life. We talk economics, watches, and bread there too.