Watches Are Not a Tax on Your IQ, But Excessive Maintenance and Repairs Can Be!

People often ask me whether watches are a waste of money. I have given a clear answer: when you are still living on the poverty line, any product that exceeds your income and consumption capacity will be considered a waste of money. For example, jade, diamonds, watches and even luxury cars. However, if you have a good quality of life, then wearing a good watch can show your status just like other conceptual products. Because you can't wear a ten-pound gold chain across your waist to prove that your career is on the rise.

In the watch industry, there are often some people who have only been in contact with watches for a year or two and then start to brag. They will tell you that you must buy a watch with a self-produced movement, and that watches with ETA movements are not worth the price. They will tell you how exquisite and superior self-produced movements are. Basically, people who say this have never bought a watch. This is because they have never experienced the maintenance and repair of a watch.

First of all, you need to understand the industrial chain of mechanical watches

Mechanical watches are highly praised mainly because they are easy to break. In fact, quartz watches can be made very luxurious and expensive in addition to being accurate and durable. However, this is not conducive to the development of the entire industry chain. If the watches you buy are hard to break, how many people will be unemployed in this industry. The reason why mechanical watches are highly praised is that the entire industry chain, from brand owners to accessory manufacturers, movement manufacturers, sales staff and subsequent maintenance staff, can make a profit. Therefore, people in the entire industry will say that it is good.

Mechanical watches are priced differently, and there will be a clear difference in price depending on the brand.

If you are cutting a watch strap, if the watch strap you want to cut is from brands such as Casio, Tissot, and Seiko, they will usually charge you only 5-10 yuan. If it is from Omega, IWC, TAG Heuer, or even Longines, they will charge you 20-50 yuan. If it is from Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, or Audemars Piguet, it will cost you 50-200 yuan just to cut the watch strap, and you may even be charged 100 yuan for cutting a small section.

Mechanical watches are being over-maintained

After you wear a watch, you will find that you need to clean the movement of the watch regularly. Some people even confuse the maintenance of the movement of the watch with that of the car engine. When a car engine reaches a certain mileage, it must be maintained. But the movement of a watch is not the same as that of a car engine. Generally speaking, as long as the watch does not have a large error in running time or stops running, it does not need to be cleaned.

Because as long as your mechanical watch has any fault, all maintenance personnel will tell you that the movement should be cleaned. In the process of cleaning the oil, the movement will be disassembled. Generally, the cost of cleaning the oil of the cheapest mechanical watch will not be less than 500 yuan. Maintenance and repair are complementary. During the maintenance process, 95% of your movement parts will be told that they are damaged and need to be replaced. In itself, the movement parts will wear out, but this is the key to generating income. Therefore, you don’t need to clean the oil before the watch breaks down.

The most important thing about value positioning is the sense of identity. As a luxury product, the essence of a mechanical watch is not important. What is important is that almost everyone knows that it is expensive and has a sense of identity. This is just like the most useless function of a Hermès bag is to carry things. Many big-name clothing and shoes do not support washing because they should be thrown away directly after wearing for a period of time. But this does not affect their ability to sell at a high price.

Therefore, you should choose popular watches, because there are more repair systems and channels for popular watches. As for the fact that many people say that you should choose watches with domestic movements, it is okay if it is a popular style. But for niche styles, when your watch is broken, you need to send it to the main store. In addition to the 1-3 month repair and inspection cycle, you also have to pay a high repair fee. But if your watch is an ETA movement, the maintenance and repair costs will be much lower and you have a lot of choices to compare.

Most of the self-produced movements are like the colored gold and 3D hard gold in the jewelry store, while the ETA movement is like gold. In fact, everyone knows that gold is the most valuable, but when you go to a jewelry store to buy jewelry, all the salespersons, including yourself, will think that gold is cheap. Colored gold, 3D hard gold, and diamonds are the profitable products.

Watches now play more of a role as a decoration that shows status and has a tasteful style. They are not much different from other expensive luxury accessories. So whether watches are a waste of money depends on each person's income level and financial strength, and there is no need to discuss it in depth. However, choosing popular styles and a movement that can stand the test of time can greatly reduce the cost of use. If the watch is over-maintained and repaired, it is really a waste of money.

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