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Omega Swatch Speedmaster

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131–140 of 142 posts

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#131

About a million years ago, I was a younger buck with an itch for sales. I got hired at the Times Square store as a floor rep. I had this grandiose design in my head that I'd just sell my you-know-what off and rise to the top. You needed to be bilingual to work there, and I had just moved to the city from a yeehaw nowhere-town, so I just claimed to be, got the job, and started hustling. I moved watches. Like you would…

Great story. I have a friend that my wife met in language school. This girl was from New York and she had an insanely good CV, best uni education from Yale, investment bank and hedge fund experience. But do you know what, she kept getting fired on the corporate gigs she took here. The trouble was, she thought lying a little is okay. Which it clearly isn't in my Northern European country. Schmoozing while a great part…

Oh wow, I've never had to consider the cultural implications abroad. That's fascinating. With hedge fund and investment experience and all, I find that particularly striking that they'd just cut her loose.

I'll surely heed that lesson should I ever find myself with EU compadres. That makes me wonder how it happened. How America became the lie-on-your-resume place, and how those European countries became the tell-no-lies-you-heathen countries. I wonder how long it's been that way.

I mainly stick to typical resume bs now. At my age, I don't generally have to do that bs-ing, and thankfully, I don't really have to do that much job searching. Still, I've always thought it was okay to exaggerate small things. Sat through a Hadoop workshop? Yeah, you know Hadoop. I once spent a year and a half or so in a cube next to someone who was a Powershell wizard. He'd always try and enchant me with his tricks and wizardry. I took some notes and maintained a mild interest in it. I put Powershell on my resume. As long as I don't claim too much expertise, seems counterproductive to just sniff out liars during the hiring process.

Whenever I get too old to attract good work, I'll probably just retire.

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#132
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone is confusing the blueish plastic case of the moonswatch with the steel original ST105.012.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbjBKDeBPL9

They look nothing alike.

Re: moonswatch; The hands are too short, the second hand is shaped incorrectly, the chronograph registers are in the wrong spot, the text is in the wrong spot, the case looks like chinese backyard forge pot metal, it’s on a cheap looking Velcro NATO instead of a bracelet, etc.

At a glance from 10’ away it might look like a speedy pro, but not up close.

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#133
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But even beyond that, many people who're into watches really don't care what other people think about them. that's been precisely opposite of every interaction I've had with watch enthusiasts. in fact, that's been opposite of every interaction I've had with any luxury-goods enthusiast, cars/watches/planes/art , you name it; if it was expensive and rare you're likely going to hear about the purchase at lunch. people…

I guess we hang in different crowds then. It sounds like you're hanging out with people who are big on showing off and projecting wealth, rather than real watch nerds who are in it for the "love of horology".

This. OP’s username checks out though.

I’m around people who spends thousands on a single garment from brands that the unacquainted wouldn’t know about, but the trained eye can tell the difference. There’s a saying in fashion, “if you know, you know”. Some people just like well designed and nice clothing, and yes, they want to look cool, but they don’t need people to know it’s expensive.

It depends on what OP think of as “luxury”. Maybe for fashion, OP will think of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, but those are Veblen goods as other commenters have mentioned. Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, Maison Margiela, basically all the Antwerpen fashion designers are equally expensive as those “luxury brands”, but the untrained eye would not recognize them. Dover Street Market, not Sak’s Fifth.

Vacheron Constantin is an analogy with watches ( in terms of brand familiarity ).

With this said, the real elitism is the people who buy expensive stuff with the intention of being esoteric or that people don’t understand/recognize.

> people don't tend to want to bring up their new 9 dollar Casio or their 1997 Corolla, go figure.

But people do bring up what’s great about Toyota. I think you’re projecting. I’ve spent $200k worth of men’s wear over the past 5 years, but I’ll still praise and highlight Uniqlo, especially Heatech.

It just happens to be that stuff from H&M and Zara is trash. And niche, therefore expensive, products are making an interesting or artistic statement, whether that is functional or not. No one is buying these thousand dollar watches for the function. A Toyota is about function. It’s literally designed to be utilitarian, and utilitarian is usually not the most provocative as with art.

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#134
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbjBKDeBPL9

They look nothing alike. Re: moonswatch; The hands are too short, the second hand is shaped incorrectly, the chronograph registers are in the wrong spot, the text is in the wrong spot, the case looks like chinese backyard forge pot metal, it’s on a cheap looking Velcro NATO instead of a bracelet, etc. At a glance from 10’ away it might look like a speedy pro, but not up close.

> At a glance from 10’ away it might look like a speedy pro, but not up close.

I think we agree.

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

I’ve never seen a nice looking Rolex.

I owned a tag, it was partially made from rubber, it was a formula 1 series watch, the rubber perished, was bad.

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#138
post #18

Beautiful looking, nice branding with nice colors and small details in the different models that make you want them all. In the age of NFTs, these Omega Swatch space themed watches are a nice investment.

Maybe if you keep one for 50 years it would be a good investment. It's not a limited release and swatch has said they're not going to artificially limit supply like other well known manufacturers do.

No joke, I see them for $1500 and up on eBay. Many have more than 10 bids.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OMEGA-x-SWATCH-Moonswatch-Mission-T...

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#139
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?"

Sistem51 isn't a chronograph movement though - and my experience of the longevity/durability of it left a lot to be desired (yes, yes, N=1)

You're right though - not only does it put the price up, it would then beg the question of "Why the extra for a 'real' speedmaster?"

Re: Omega Swatch Speedmaster

#140
People get uptight about this, but from my point of view: 1. I really admire Omega watches, but have not had the income to pursue the high end mechanical watch hobby. I stick to the lower end. I have some career goals that I will celebrate with a Hamilton and a Speedmaster, but they are not coming up soon. 2. I have a long connection with Swatch, having had (still have, somewhere) several of their iconic line in the mid to late 80s.

So to get a hybrid, combining one of my favorite watch style/designs with one of my favorite watch brands at a price point that I can afford on my current salary? Count me the heck in. I can buy one of each of this set and still not have spent as much as I would on a new Speedmaster.

You know who this probably hurts the most? Corgeut, Phylidae, Pagani Design. I'll bet their Speedmaster homages are going to be far less popular now that we can get a legitimate watch with Omega Speedmaster on the dial.

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