What I don't understand is if these fancy watches are so premium why don't they have longer warranty. I was gifted a fancy omega, didn't wear it much and in 3 years the motor died, cost of repair: 40% of the new price. 1.5 years later its dead again.
Omega Swatch Speedmaster
111–120 of 142 posts
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand this sentiment. I own an Omega Speedmaster and I could not care less that they did this. It's great. They look great. Don't worry, I just went to check, and it's still a good watch.
>I don't understand this sentiment. You are paying a substantial premium for the name Omega on the front of the watch. Here is one website that can give you an idea of how much a watch should cost built out of premium materials, but not with a luxury brand name. Steinhart watches being a great example of quality from a non luxury brand. [1] No one really believes the parts that make up a Rolex Submariner are worth $1…
I'm more like a TAG Heuer guy, so. Partially because I could never justify Omega's prices for myself. I do love mechanical watches, once I had a chat with specialized limited-edition mechanical watches dealer. Man, did he have nice ones. He also appreciated those non-limited edition ones being worn everyday.
I would never ever buy a new Rolex. Maybe a really old one, an antique, but not a new one. To cite the famous actor Nicolas Cage from the master piece movie Gone in 60 Seconds: "I saw three of the at McDonalds yesterday. And that tells me that there are too many people with too much money and not enough taste in this town". Rolex, to me, is like a golden Bentley, only their to show even the poorest dude that you are rich. Money doesn't buy taste or style so. Some Rolex are nice, most seem to be bought by people only to show of wealth.
Not to judge so, because there are certainly enthusiasts out there that own the Rolex of there dreams.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is a brilliant idea. I can imagine this would be a fantastic start watch for the younger crowd. Much better than the Rolex shenanigan that's going on their were a mass produced $6.000 costs you $35.000. People are starting to look for alternatives for Rolex. Why $35k when you can get a nice Patek or Lange for the same price with much better build quality and finishing?
Isn’t a Patek even more impossible to obtain than a Rolex?
A Patek is for guys who want to impress the Rolex guys.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then they should have gone with an ETA automatic movement. They have access to them, and at this point the high end rep market is using high quality automatic movements. Besides, the whole point of the replica market is to have an omega on your wrist, not a Swatch.
That would have dramatically increased the cost of the watch though, to the point that I don't think it would have made such an interesting proposition for customers.
Sure, but Swatch have been adding auto movements to watches for 30 years. The Sistem51 is almost good enough to be COSC certified. All cheaper than the MoonSwatch pricepoint.
IMO they could have put an auto movement in, but then it becomes waaaay closer to a Speedy and way more likely that people start going "is the 5k price difference worth it?"
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#115Apparently there was a huge queue outside the Swatch store here in Melbourne and they sold out all of those "Omega" models in less than 7 minutes. As far as I can tell, this is just another Swatch with quartz movement. Does anyone know why this is so popular apart from the Omega branding?
I’m a huge fan of the moonwatch both for its beauty and history with the space program. Ever since I was 10 I’ve wanted one. However, I’m a PhD student and there’s no way I can afford to get a “real” one. The Swatch release is really attractive to me since it captures the spirit of the watch while making it accessible. For reference, there’s a very popular variant of the Speedmaster Professional that uses a sapphire…
If that's the watch you want, you should get it one day. And when you do, you will value it for the rest of your life. One of the benefits of not being rich enough to just buy one because you can.
I never wanted a particular watch, just a nice mechanical one. I finally got one of my grandmother's inheritance money, an entry level TAG Heuer. It got refurbished twice in the last 14 odd years, I wear it daily. And it is basically my only piece of jewelry. It is also absolutely impractical when compared to a modern Garmin smart watch, the combined refurbishment costs so far could have financed a top-of-the-line Garmin. Which I'd assume is a lot more robust than the fragile mechanics. I'll never get one of those Garmins then, because a good mechanical watch is piece of art.
Getting a nice Omega (lovely watches, especially the Moon one) would feel like betrayal of my TAG.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#116I'm a Seamaster guy (Aqua Terra 38mm w/ steel bracelet, blue dial, & date complication only). In my mind, this is _the_ perfect watch. It's classic and timeless, has the features you'd want with none of the over-the-top stuff watches tend to stack. I'm finding this Swatch x Omega craze to be highly ridiculous. The new watches look like cheap fakes. At least with the weird plastic (sorry, bioceramic) and funky colors…
The ‘Moon’ edition is coloured like an original Omega speedmaster.
I don't think anyone is confusing the blueish plastic case of the moonswatch with the steel original ST105.012.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#117What I don't understand is if these fancy watches are so premium why don't they have longer warranty. I was gifted a fancy omega, didn't wear it much and in 3 years the motor died, cost of repair: 40% of the new price. 1.5 years later its dead again.
These are "almost Veblen goods" for middle-income people. Veblen good is a type of luxury good for which the demand increases as the price increases,
The price for a brand must be high to create value and quality does not affect demand significantly. It's only the appearance and brand image that sells.
The Swatch Group is the world’s largest watch company that owns over 10 brands. They sell mass produced brand where the value is almost 95% immaterial and non-functional (it's all in the mind of people). It's all about marketing.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everything is limited if there are enough bots and scalpers.
You have a point, but I don’t think Swatch is selling these online. All I’ve read is that they’re not a limited edition, but available in “select stores only”.
but available in “select stores only”.
Only for the initial release. Swatch has said that they'll be available from the online store at some unspecified point in the future.
edit: although I can't find that statement on their homepage any more.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#119I don’t get why Omega would do this - my initial reaction is it’s dilutive to their brand and I’m happy I’ve never bought one.
I agree, but to be fair: 1. It has generated significant attention- which has value. 2. Like a BMW 1-series, I imagine the idea is that once people have the "beginner" version, they'll aspire to upgrade to the real thing. It gets people "on the boat". 3. Rolex sells a cheaper version of their flagship watch under the Tudor brand- it's virtually identical and hasn't diluted Rolex's brand value. 4. The funky colors is…
Rolex sells a cheaper version of their flagship watch under the Tudor brand
Cheaper in this case means starting at around 3-5k$ not 300$. Also you have to be pretty into watches to know that Tudor is a Rolex brand. It's not really something they advertise.
Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know about watches, but Porsche does make a Corolla competitor; the VW Golf. I'm sure the analogy isn't perfect, but obviously large manufacturers want to compete across market segments which is why the same company makes Audis and Bugattis as well. Also, as someone who's not that into watches - the Neptune and Mercury Swatches are gorgeous.
But they didn't compromise the Porsche brand to do so. Brand prestige is huge. A much better example here is the Volkswagen Phaeton. A truly stunning product at a great price point - significantly better than the luxury cars it competed with - but it failed because no one wanted to spend their luxury money on a brand associated with affordable normal products.
Phaeton existed in a weird segment, it was like a gimped S-class for the price of an E-class.
It failed because there wasn’t a huge market for gimped S-classes among the E-class buying segment.
The only people interested in Phaetons ended up being corrupt mid-level politicians in eastern Europe, they had full time drivers but didn’t want to be seen in a S-class.
Also keep in mind that for the price of a V8 phaeton you could’ve had such cars as a V6 LS.
Had the phaeton been just a bit nicer, it could very well have survived. But that’s not the car VW built.