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I was in the high end custom jewelry business for 35 years. Refused to carry watches, if I didn't make it I didn't want to sell it. I have never owned or wanted to own a watch that I paid more than 100.00 for. I actually like watches, I currently own 6, so it's not that I am anti watch I am just anti paying for advertising and/or "status". To me a Rolex or any other mechanical movement is a clumsy dinosaur better relegated to a museum than used to tell time. Yes they retain value, but only because Rolex so tightly controls supply and demand and does such a good marketing job, much like DeBeers. Dinosaur fossils are expensive also because of limited supply/high demand, but that doesn't mean I want one for my living room. (I do actually have quite attractive cut and polished sections of genuine dinosaur bone that are meant to be set as jewelry if anyone wants to strut their status.) My favorite dress watch is my repro Hamilton Ventura (think "Men in Black") Donna gave me as a gift because I admire the case design, and my Belair Titanium cased and banded dive watch that I actually use for diving for it's corrosion resistance, thin profile and light weight as well as the matt finish is not attractive to barracuda and other preditors such as thieves.

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there's no glory for going slow.

But isn't that all *any* jewelry is? Status? (Other than your basic wedding band, anyway.)

I dunno, sometimes it's about quality. I mean I was willing to pay $900 for my Citizen because it was the only watch I knew of with the features I wanted. Solar, stopwatch, lap timer, multi-timezone, sapphire crystal, titanium case, pilot sliderule.

But I do have a Tag and a Rolex more for their status value, I admit. But again, that's all a LOT of jewelry is. Pearls? I mean they look nice, but the scream status. Diamond stud earrings? Same thing. You can certainly have more artistic jewelry pieces that *don't* cost a lot, too, but in the end it's all just window dressing.

So I get that you don't care for that kind of window dressing. Often times *I* don't, either, since I'm not a regular watch wearer (and don't wear ANY other kind of jewelry, even the wedding band I should be...but that's thanks to too many jammed knuckles from playing basketball). It's all good.


--Donnie

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Not to me, jewelry is a body adornment meant to accent and compliment the body, much like makeup or clothing. Makeup has no "brand" or "status" displayed, and well chosen clothing from Walmart can look better on the wearer and have better value than so called "designer wear". If the designer needs to plaster their name or logo all over the item to create "value" then it's a status item and says to me the wearer has little confidence in their taste and/or sense of design, just too much money. Diamonds are the perfect example of over priced jewelry as status, if it wasn't for DeBeers, diamonds would be less expensive than Moissanite. Diamonds are very plentiful, they are found and mined on every continent in the world save Antartica (mostly because AFAIK no one has seriously explored for them there).

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

I think that you may be missing the point on mechanical watches. I find it amazing that mechanical movements can obtain 99.999% accuracy using technology founded in the mid 1800's. Sure, my kids $9 battery operated desk clock is more accurate but it uses electrical means to do so. The other nice thing about mechanical watches is that you don't have to send them out for battery replacment/re-water proofing like you do with the higher end quartz watches.

I personally don't wear mine for the bling factor, In fact, mine has no special bling outside of the tritium tubes that are difficult to see during the day.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

I think that you may be missing the point on mechanical watches. I find it amazing that mechanical movements can obtain 99.999% accuracy using technology founded in the mid 1800's. Sure, my kids $9 battery operated desk clock is more accurate but it uses electrical means to do so. The other nice thing about mechanical watches is that you don't have to send them out for battery replacment/re-water proofing like you do with the higher end quartz watches.

I personally don't wear mine for the bling factor, In fact, mine has no special bling outside of the tritium tubes that are difficult to see during the day.

I also find amazing the simplicity and durability of the Model T and the fact the Wright Flier flew at all with the existing technology of the 1900s, but that doesn't mean I want to depend on a ModelT for daily transportation or fly on a Wright Flier my next trip, I'll look at them in a museum thank you.
My Quartz dive watch needs a new < 1.00 battery ~ every 3 years and I can change it myself in about 5 minutes and reseal it with a miniscule amount of silicone grease on the case O-ring. It keeps dead accurate time in between. A Rolex need cleaning, timing and resealing for 150.00 (I think was the figure quote earlier) every year according to Rolex to retain less accuracy. A replacement complete movement can be purchased for < 20.00, the tooling to produce a Rolex movement was depreciated decades ago so the price of a replacement movement should be < 50.00, save for the fact you can't buy one unless you are an authorized repair center (read willing to pay Rolex their exorbitantly marked up price and charge the customer the full factory replacement list price).

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the artist is a utilitarian?

Anyway, to harken back to the first post where I said it would be cool if there was a way to "just link" two cellphones with an "easy" button (ie. if you're both within 30 feet and both press the button, it fires up communication without anyone having to know a number). Well, I recently passed the exam to get my HAM radio license. Turns out HAMs have a version of this already. It's called the National Simplex frequency (146.52). And there's a universal signal of five fingers then two if you see someone you think is a HAM and want to chat with them (like car to car). That's in the 2M band where pretty much everyone's handheld or mobile radio will talk. Kind of cool.

And I am still digging my NATO band on my Rolex. And maybe Chuck will at least appreciate the fact that now people see it and say "hey, that's nice looking" and only seem to notice it's actually a Rolex when they look at it closely. And I like it that way. I'd rather people not know what it is automatically as long as they think it looks good. Oh, and it keeps damn good time.


--Donnie

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No, I think it's pretty funny as well, but I respect Chuck's opinion.

Classic types of jewelry (that goes back centuries) that are in use today are things like rings, chains, pendants, etc. I think that over time some things go out of fashion and some things come into fashion. I believe that watches can be "jewelry" by Chuck's definition of "body adornment meant to accent and compliment the body, much like makeup or clothing". The watch I wear depends upon what I am doing and what I am wearing. So it is an accent that compliments.

It also happens to also be functional. IMHO it is not the only "functional jewelry". Consider the following items...

* Wedding bands
* Belt buckles
* Cuff links
* Tie clips
* Sun Glasses

Since Chuck personally created the jewelry that he sold, he may cringe at this, but I disagree with the "no brand" comment. People will clearly buy particular jewelry because of the brand. I think the "Pandora" brand craze is a perfect example of that today.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

I do find that funny as well! Like a bartender that is a teetotaler. I was trying to explain to my wife the other day why diamonds are worthless. They can not be converted to anything besides the market worth we have placed on them. Very little other use than ornamental. I woulld also like to see somebody in the know tell me if Gold is of any real worth. I know it is used in miniscule amount in stuff but don't we have more than we will ever need? Ok back to work.

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2002 MCS, 2003 MCS Track Rat, 2003 Generic White Yukon, 2003 BMWk1200rs, 1973 CB350F, 02 996. 08 Cayenne Turbo
http://www.clinehallagency.com

It didn't work though did it? You still had to buy her one I bet.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

Semi related topic. We talk about "style", "brands" and "logos". I am a HUGE William Gibson fan and all of this make me think of his book "Pattern Recognition" from a few years back...

http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/pattern.asp

While this is not his best work, I highly recommend any of his books. Anyhow, to the point, the main character in this book is a marketing consultant who has physical reactions to brands. Particularly those that are overused. It affects her in such a negative way so strongly that all of her personal clothing has to be generic in nature (No logos, etc. So she is of great use by marketing firms that are looking for something "fresh". If it makes her physically ill, they don't use it.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

I do too, and that's why I pretty much agreed with him in my first response, though I added that it's all just hoo-hah in the end. My hoo-hah tells time, though.



Yeah, and make-up, too. Hell, people REALLY into that stuff can actually spot particular BRANDS of make-up on someone. No shit, seen it done.


--Donnie

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If it's good enough for James Bond ...

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Nope, she has all she is going to get. She is not into alot of diamonds. Has a pretty good size one on her hand but does not like them on her ears and neck (I have bought and she does not wear) Is wanting to start wearing a z4 or Mustang GT convertible right now though. Small diamond something and keep paid for car would be cheaper!

True Dat on Make up. Said wife can spot Estee Lauder, etc. etc.

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2002 MCS, 2003 MCS Track Rat, 2003 Generic White Yukon, 2003 BMWk1200rs, 1973 CB350F, 02 996. 08 Cayenne Turbo
http://www.clinehallagency.com

Thought he was an omega man.

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2002 MCS, 2003 MCS Track Rat, 2003 Generic White Yukon, 2003 BMWk1200rs, 1973 CB350F, 02 996. 08 Cayenne Turbo
http://www.clinehallagency.com

Pierce Brosnan era Bond wore Omegas, that's Connery's wrist from Goldfinger. As originally penned, Bond was a Rolex man.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.