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Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#31

Post by willis936 »

vinay427 wrote: post #19

Thanks to better technology, quartz watches are now cheaper, easier to maintain, almost always more accurate, and often more robust to shocks and damage. Even the cheapest quartz watches are often more accurate than a $500 (or more) mechanical watch today, and more expensive digital watches are certainly more accurate than anything mechanical no matter the price. For functionality, then, it seems to me like affordabi…

I don’t see watches as very functional compared to smartphones. Mechanical movements have a lot of charm though.

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#33

Post by mrob »

ctordtor wrote: post #21
aidenn0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In on the fence with my warby parker glasses. They seem to scratch far easier than my previous lenses. After 18 months I can't wear them in the dark anymore as they are so scratched that off axis light causes terrible glare. On the other hand, I can buy new glasses five times as often, and I usually will break or lose my glasses due to misfortune within 7 years, so it's still cheaper.

I tend to be ridiculously un-careful with my specs except with how I clean them, my current glasses are regular plastic with no coatings and they haven't scratched yet. I wash them under warm water with dish detergent and my fingers and them hit them with compressed air or a micro fiber cloth to dry. I wonder how you are cleaning yours as my current pair are over a year old and I can't find a single scratch.

Mine are also regular uncoated ADC plastic, and I wash them with warm water + dish detergent + microfiber cloth. I then rinse under a thin stream of running water, slow enough that it has laminar flow, and I angle the glasses so the water hits the lens close to parallel to the surface. The water sheets off the lens without splashing and leaves it visually flawless. I always rinse the microfiber cloth before use to remove any grit or abrasive dust, and I avoid touching the lenses with anything but the wet microfiber cloth.

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#35

Post by gattilorenz »

bigie35 wrote: post #34

A Seiko 5 is a great entry level automatic watch for anyone looking to get their first watch. Cheap, reliable, good looking.

Yep. Or, perhaps cheaper, a Vostok Amphibia, but the quality control went down over the years, so it might not be as amphibious as the name suggest (I've got a very rusty Amphibia, now).

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#36

Post by billfruit »

gattilorenz wrote: post #35
bigie35 wrote: post #34

A Seiko 5 is a great entry level automatic watch for anyone looking to get their first watch. Cheap, reliable, good looking.

Yep. Or, perhaps cheaper, a Vostok Amphibia, but the quality control went down over the years, so it might not be as amphibious as the name suggest (I've got a very rusty Amphibia, now).

Or perhaps even the 10$ or so Chinese Tevise automatics.

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#37

Post by jaclaz »

Swizec wrote: post #7
lrem wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never worn glasses... But it does seem that in Europe you can get them in the range of €2-€5000. And they all basically have to work, otherwise the seller could get in trouble. Can you tell me why is the range so wide? And are you saying the top end is of equivalent quality, but cheaper in Japan?

In my experience in wearing glasses my whole life it comes down to "you get what you pay for". Not in the functional department since they all use the same lenses, but in the fashion department. I've worn 30euro glasses. They work and bring no joy. I've had 300 euro glasses. They work just the same and you think "Damn I'm hot" every time you take a selfie. This effect is even more pronounced with sunglasses. I get th…

>Lifetime of 2 to 3 years, daily use ...

It seems to me like a short expected lifespan, following is anecdata.

The glasses I am wearing (the frame) are/is 36 or 37 years old.

Every several years I had new lenses fitted to them, mostly because my eyesight slightly changed, right now they sport a brand new set of lenses because I broke one lens and since I use the photochromatic kind I couldn't have only the broken one replaced (the colour and capability to darken changes a bit over the years), but I don't think I replaced the lenses more than 4 times in these almost 40 years.

Then I have another four pairs, one spare in the car glove compartment, one spare always in my suitcase, one for the motorbyke (sun lenses + short stems to fit under the helmet) and one as spare-spare.

And I believe that (besides changing some lenses as well) none of these latter frames are more recent than 15 or possibly 20 years.

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#38

Post by billfruit »

sdrothrock wrote: post #4
Yuval_Halevi wrote: post #3

When it comes to pricing the product watches and glasses are similar in many ways. Companies can definitely reduce the price but the price is a status quo in those products.

> Companies can definitely reduce the price but the price is a status quo in those products. This is why I always advise glasses-wearing friends and families to buy glasses whenever they come visit Japan; prices are MUCH lower than in the US without the Luxottica tax.

Or in India from LensKart, you could get a solid pair in 10 or 20$.

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#39

Post by lvturner »

willis936 wrote: post #31
vinay427 wrote: post #19

Thanks to better technology, quartz watches are now cheaper, easier to maintain, almost always more accurate, and often more robust to shocks and damage. Even the cheapest quartz watches are often more accurate than a $500 (or more) mechanical watch today, and more expensive digital watches are certainly more accurate than anything mechanical no matter the price. For functionality, then, it seems to me like affordabi…

I don’t see watches as very functional compared to smartphones. Mechanical movements have a lot of charm though.

I can check my watch without having to pull my phone out my pocket, depending on what you are doing that can make a huge difference.

Practicality and functionality mean different things to do different people.

Re: Mark Twain’s Quest to Bring Affordable Watches to the Masses

#40

Post by dksbzmx »

digikazi wrote: post #26
vinay427 wrote: post #19

Thanks to better technology, quartz watches are now cheaper, easier to maintain, almost always more accurate, and often more robust to shocks and damage. Even the cheapest quartz watches are often more accurate than a $500 (or more) mechanical watch today, and more expensive digital watches are certainly more accurate than anything mechanical no matter the price. For functionality, then, it seems to me like affordabi…

That's very true. My two quartz watches, a Seiko and a Timex are both reasonably cheap, accurate and save for the odd battery change maintenance-free. My mechanical Seiko on the other hand.... it's beautiful but it seems to have a mind of its own. In the 8 months that I had it it started gaining about 5min a week. I understand automatics do gain or lose a couple of minutes a week, but even so. After being spoiled by…

A couple of minutes a week is excessive. Something’s wrong with the watch.

When a solar flare finally hits us (or the Ruskies and the Yanks decide to nuke the world), however, your Seiko will still be a minute/week off. Your quartz watches will be week/week off.

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