new LEICA watch

[Ces1um]

There was an article that appeared in the WSJ several years ago that the owner of SWATCH was going to stop selling movements to the major Swiss watchmakers, hoping to force them to begin remaking their own parts because he thought the crafts would disappear. A short while after article appeared, he died. Never heard any more about this.

During the summer I also prefer a pocket watch.

Is it a vintage pocket watch, or a new one? There are new ones to be had but I have no idea how they stack up against some of the beauties of the past.

 

[tezzasmall]

Half a dozen years ago I went with a Citizen Eco-drive, which gains and loses maybe a second a month and never needs a battery.

Just checked them out and there's some nice watches there = at a lot cheaper prices than the red dotted ones as well!!!

One lovely looking one 9to me anyway) is even advertised at half price at £149.50 (reduced from £299.00):

https://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk...brown-leather-chrono-100m-at2418-00l-p-48517/

Shame, but I was only recently bought a nice watch and am not really in need of a new one... but then I say that about cameras when I've got loads already, so...

Terry S

 

[4season]

Yes, Leica give you an opportunity to fritter it away all at once.

Is it more noble to fritter it away in monthly installments paid to the credit card companies? Thanks but no thanks, I'll take the watch.

 

[faberryman]

Is it more noble to fritter it away in monthly installments paid to the credit card companies? Thanks but no thanks, I'll take the watch.

So it sounds like the worst of all possible worlds is buying the Leica watch on credit.

 

[summicron1]

Just checked them out and there's some nice watches there = at a lot cheaper prices than the red dotted ones as well!!!

One lovely looking one 9to me anyway) is even advertised at half price at £149.50 (reduced from £299.00):

https://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk...brown-leather-chrono-100m-at2418-00l-p-48517/

Shame, but I was only recently bought a nice watch and am not really in need of a new one... but then I say that about cameras when I've got loads already, so...

Terry S

I bought the "railroad certified" model -- mainly it is how the face is designed for easy reading -- haven't had to spend $10 a year replacing the battery...in a cupla more years it will have paid for itself.

how long will it last? I suppose eventually one of its little electronic components will fail but that's life. My mechanical watches all wore out too (although my father's Hamilton, made in the 40s, still works well.)

charlie

 

[tezzasmall]

-- haven't had to spend $10 a year replacing the battery...in a cupla more years it will have paid for itself.

charlie

That's a good way of looking at the purchase Charlie!

So may be I could find a way around 'saving' more money by purchasing yet another camera and / or watch?

After buying bits for family over Christmas, I always like to spend a little on myself as well, to round up the credit card bill to a nice number if nothing else.

Terry S

 

[guangong]

Is it a vintage pocket watch, or a new one? There are new ones to be had but I have no idea how they stack up against some of the beauties of the past.

My grandfather’s 1918 Hamilton rr watch runs a littl fast but repair is now too expensive. Railroad watches required the crystal to be screwed off to change time so the time could not be inadvertently changed while winding, because rr used to run on very tight schedules. So, besides my Backwards Goofy, I have a wafer thin Gubelin and an Omega.

 

[Helios 1984]

Not too shabby but it will never be as cool as the watch I had when I was a kid.

Spoiler

Mine had the Canadian Airlines colours.

 

[Sirius Glass]

They're aimed at the small penis types who buy BMW's and leave them on the driveway so everyone can see they have one.

There are lapel pins for men and broaches for women that say "BMW: We own them" that help those people.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

There was an article that appeared in the WSJ several years ago that the owner of SWATCH was going to stop selling movements to the major Swiss watchmakers, hoping to force them to begin remaking their own parts because he thought the crafts would disappear. A short while after article appeared, he died. Never heard any more about this....

That would be like Cosina threatening to stop selling lenses or camera bodies in the hope that Nikon, Canon and other top manufacturers will be affected.

The movements made by the SWATCH company wouldn't affect those major marques who have made their own high-end movements for many decades: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger Le Coultre, Breguet, IWC, Ulyssse Nardin, Panerai, Omega, Rolex, etc. Some of those not only make their own movements, but all the other parts.

Since the late 1980's, early 1990's, there has been a resurgence in mechanical watches, with a resulting increase in skills and innovation. So... what he said in that WSJ article strikes me as him being disconnected and delusional.

 

[guangong]

It was quite an extensive article. The owner of SWATC understood that his watches are fashion decor, but said that he was going to stop selling to high end watch companies in order to force them to again make their own movements. He died before end of year. Whether that policy was carried out is a question. I have no doubt they make the other parts, because style is what sells the watches.
I don’t know about Germany, but in America I would say that most likely 1/3 to 1/2 of the retail cost of the watches you mentioned is marketing. A billboard or full page ad for a mass consumer item makes sense, but for an Omega? An Good example some years ago, is Rebok shoes. This was a shoe cheap that sold in US for $15. New management put $35 marketing in each shoe and was able to sell more of the same cheap $15 shoe at $50 than at $15.
My Gubelin watch had to be sent back to Switzerland for repair because the replacement part had to be hand made. Watch is pre-war.
I was presented with a very expensive gold Weil quarts battery powered watch. I doubt that Weil makes the movements, probably the same as my battery run Backwards Goofy. In fact, even looks less substantial. Also, I don’t believe that Disney makes watches.
I know that there are some watchmakers who still make watches, but they are usually in the $100,000 price range.
Do you really believe that Leica makes their own “push and shoots” or their own electronic components?

 

[faberryman]

An Good example some years ago, is Rebok shoes. This was a shoe cheap that sold in US for $15. New management put $35 marketing in each shoe and was able to sell more of the same cheap $15 shoe at $50 than at $15.

The last time I saw a Rebok shoe for $15 was in the late 1960s.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Where's the shutter release button?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

.... Also, I don’t believe that Disney makes watches....
I know that there are some watchmakers who still make watches, but they are usually in the $100,000 price range.
...

I was looking for mechanical watches earlier this year. Just to have one where I don't need to change batteries.
After search and studying I ordered it directly from manufacturer, factory store. Those watches are made in million something copies and my new with free shipping and sapphire crystal costs me 99$.
This manufacturer needs no marketing, where are millions of people like me, who just buys watches, not prestige, status signaling or statement, collecting items.
Those who needs signaling devices also buys from same region watch makers, but those are copies of some watch selling companies with marketing to manufacturing cost in 1000:1 ratio. .

 

[JeroenBouman]

Yes -- once Consumer Reports did a contest between a Rolex Oyster and a Hello-Kitty quartz watch for $4 -- you can imagine who won.

I used to see the airmall catalog selling those winding boxes for watches -- $100 or so for one watch, and up for many. The mind boggles...

I was a "Mechanical watch or nothing" guy for years when you could still buy decent wind-up watches at sane prices -- Half a dozen years ago I went with a Citizen Eco-drive, which gains and loses maybe a second a month and never needs a battery. Now I fantasize about winning the Longitude prize with it....such is progress.

Seiko still makes excellent diver watches like the SKX007 for around €200, that's a very reasonable price for an auto-winding mechanical watch. And IMHO, they're much better looking than a Rolex.

 

[Helios 1984]

The last time I saw a Rebok shoe for $15 was in the late 1960s.

They'd still make a profit.

 

[4season]

Welcome to the world of luxury goods! Of course there's always a certain amount of BS involved, and that's okay as long as you never lose sight of that essential truth.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

It was quite an extensive article. The owner of SWATC understood that his watches are fashion decor, but said that he was going to stop selling to high end watch companies in order to force them to again make their own movements...

My point was this: True high end watch companies already make and have been making their own movements for close to 100 years. Patek Philippe, IWC, Ulysse Nardin, JLC, etc. never bought jack from the Swatch group.

Just as Hasselblad never bought camera bodies from Cosina.

 

[guangong]

I don’t know if the late owner of SWATCH included all such makers, but he was concerned that watchmaking craft was in a precarious state should be continued, hence his threat to stop selling movements. He died before planned expiration of sales, so I have no idea how his plans turned out. In recent years, the sale of Swiss watches has steeply declined,primarily with slowdown of Chinese market for “prestige” watches, with backup of maker’s inventory.
I know several watch collectors. They are just as nutty as camera collectors. There is nothing wrong with being nutty and collectors play an important roll in preserving the past.
I may be wrong, but wasn’t the Hassy 35mm landscape format camera a rebadged Fuji?
But whatever, back to the Leica watch: enough has been said about people willingly being separated from their money.

 

[Wallendo]

The the Leica watch require a CLA every few years?
Does it give time that special glow?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I don’t know if the late owner of SWATCH included all such makers, but he was concerned that watchmaking craft was in a precarious state should be continued, hence his threat to stop selling movements. He died before planned expiration of sales, so I have no idea how his plans turned out. In recent years, the sale of Swiss watches has steeply declined,primarily with slowdown of Chinese market for “prestige” watches, with backup of maker’s inventory.
I know several watch collectors. They are just as nutty as camera collectors. There is nothing wrong with being nutty and collectors play an important roll in preserving the past.
I may be wrong, but wasn’t the Hassy 35mm landscape format camera a rebadged Fuji?
But whatever, back to the Leica watch: enough has been said about people willingly being separated from their money.

Maybe the late owner of SWATCH should have upgraded, repaired or replaces HIS works.

 

[guangong]

Maybe the late owner of SWATCH should have upgraded, repaired or replaces HIS works.

Yep, SG, as with digital cameras and watches, there comes a time for all of us, when we are beyond the capabilities of regular maintenance.
His daughter took over management, but I never read any follow up to original article.
By the way, since your other thread, I’m wasting a lot of time searching my library for a copy of a Calvin &Hobbes book given to me over 20 yrs ago. The creator really had an understanding of the little boy mind. Great stuff. Now, if I can find my.....

 

[Theo Sulphate]

The the Leica watch require a CLA every few years?
...

According to most manufacturers, mechanical watches are supposed to have a CLA performed regularly - maybe every five years.

That said, a friend of mine has complained that servicing his watch took six months and cost $500 - this was for an uncomplicated watch with a common Valjoux 7750 movement - essentially the Chevy 350 of watch movements.

I'm lazy - after 20 years I've not had any of my watches CLA'd. If they're not broke, I don't fix them.

 

[CMoore]

Just playing Devils Advocate here.......
Their over-priced cameras do not take any better pictures than my Canon AT-1.
And now their over-priced watch will not keep time as well as my $50.00 flip phone, that is 7 years old, and can also make a phone call.
Brilliant.

 

[Mick Fagan]

Just playing Devils Advocate here.......
Their over-priced cameras do not take any better pictures than my Canon AT-1.
And now their over-priced watch will not keep time as well as my $50.00 flip phone, that is 7 years old, and can also make a phone call.
Brilliant.

Sounds good, but in fact, your mobile phone takes it's time from Cesium clocks that keep the GPS system running like, well, clockwork.

"In America, the master clocks are in Maryland and Colorado; and the GPS-the highly precise and time based creation is given its critical time data from an ensemble of no fewer than fifty-seven cesium clocks held at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington DC, and which in turn are augmented by a further twenty-four at the formidably well protected Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado."

Source:- Exactly, (How precision engineers created the modern world), by Simon Winchester. Pages 352-353. This book was released in July 2018.

Mick.