Cars And Watches

[Passport1]

Not comparing cars and watches; only apples/oranges to apples/oranges.
Just to examine the purchase cost and maintenance expenses of Japanese watches/cars to the same from European manufactures.
My experience;

Have had several high end German/Swedish cars and Swiss watches, relative to Japanese cars/watches they (generally);

1. cost more to buy
2. are more satisfying to drive/wear
3. have more cachet
4. need more frequent and expensive maintenance
5. will sometimes last longer and (watches) can become heirlooms
6. are not DIY friendly
7. cars/watches sometimes can be collectable

Japanese cars;
1. cost less
2. are less complex
3. Sometimes can be maintained by DIY
4. Watches are usually reliable, reasonably accurate and almost never need servicing.
5. Watches are rarely collectable

My experiences only. What are yours? /

 

[KGMtech]

I have 47 watches, mostly automatics and mostly Asian movements and brands. I also have Omega, Heuer (before TAG) Tudor, Tissot, and a Jacque Lemans Geneve. I can say the Swiss movements are far more expensive for service and almost always need parts but the Japanese movements just keep going and only need a cleaning to resume reliable performance.

IF the Seiko movements need parts, I can get a complete new movement for less than 1/3rd the cost of a standard service on a Swiss. For specific comparison, the bidirectional winding system on the ETA 28xx series is very sensitive to how it is cleaned and oiled, but the Seiko magic finger system is more efficient at turning motion into winding and is virtually maintenance free. If the gaskets for the case are good, the movements stay clean and will work for 20-40 years - not my experience, but commonly reported in Asian watch forums. Try that with an ETA?

Lexus made inroads and ate MB / BMW / Audi / Jaguar lunches because people who can afford to outlay big sums on a car are very often the same people that hate the inconvenience of breakdowns and big repair bills. I have the same mindset.

What you prefer to wear or drive is your decision, buy what you want to impress yourself - not others.

 

[Skippy722]

I have very very limited experience with watches, but this is as gorgeous as it is expensive at $185,000... I guess this would be the Toyota Century of watches?

 

[wtd]

I have quite a few automatic watches that have the ETA 2824 movement and in the past several years the cost to service these are outrageous. You can probably buy a new movement for less than a service. I've been migrating toward quartz watches lately that are also cheaper in cost because the allure of automatic watches has waned for me.

 

[PandaBear]

I have 47 watches, mostly automatics and mostly Asian movements and brands. I also have Omega, Heuer (before TAG) Tudor, Tissot, and a Jacque Lemans Geneve. I can say the Swiss movements are far more expensive for service and almost always need parts but the Japanese movements just keep going and only need a cleaning to resume reliable performance.

IF the Seiko movements need parts, I can get a complete new movement for less than 1/3rd the cost of a standard service on a Swiss. For specific comparison, the bidirectional winding system on the ETA 28xx series is very sensitive to how it is cleaned and oiled, but the Seiko magic finger system is more efficient at turning motion into winding and is virtually maintenance free. If the gaskets for the case are good, the movements stay clean and will work for 20-40 years - not my experience, but commonly reported in Asian watch forums. Try that with an ETA?

Lexus made inroads and ate MB / BMW / Audi / Jaguar lunches because people who can afford to outlay big sums on a car are very often the same people that hate the inconvenience of breakdowns and big repair bills. I have the same mindset.

What you prefer to wear or drive is your decision, buy what you want to impress yourself - not others.

Basically this sums up how I see a lot of the way Japanese quality are build vs the European in mass produced merchandise. Japanese have hand craft high quality stuff that could also be finnicky but they tend to demand a high premium that targets a different audience than the European craftmanship buyers like Swiss watches or German / Italian sport cars.

One thing I do notice is Japanese designs tend to avoid finnicky concepts or practices until they can get it reliable enough (at least to their export to the West), so their design committee / engineers / managements are not blamed for ruining their reputations. They don't like to pull the "we have the legacy and this is how it is, if you don't like it then it is not our fault, it is you not maintaining it or it is beyond your understanding" that some European brands pull when customers complain about their products.

 

[01rangerxl]

My Explorer is a Timex with Indiglo.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I have owned Seiko and Longines ( battery and automatic ).

I love both brands but I would never buy an automatic again, loses too much time.

 

[UncleDave]

I have owned Seiko and Longines ( battery and automatic ).

I love both brands but I would never buy an automatic again, loses too much time.

They can be set up to gain time if you wish.

 

[UncleDave]

My swiss watches appreciate in value or hold at minimum, but are all in house movement pieces vs generic movement/ custom case watches.

None of my japanese watches appreciated, at best they held.

 

[dlundblad]

What’s a good Japanese watch?

My current daily driver is a Swiss made Luminox the wife bought me for Christmas although I’d like to keep it nice too.

 

[Barkleymut]

Ive owned 1 decent watch that i wore daily for a decade and the band fell apart and it now sits in a drawer waiting to be fixed. Which oddly enough sounds like my F150

 

[zrxkawboy]

I don't buy watches as an investment; I buy them to use. Seiko watches have been very good to me over the years.

 

[DwightFrye]

I bought a Swiss Army Brand chronograph about 20 years ago. It has a quartz Swiss movement. About a year ago one of the stopwatch dials quit working properly. They have a service center in SouCal so I sent it in along with the $35 estimate fee. The estimate was $250. I only paid about $100 for the watch when new. I suppose I would have paid another $100 to get it fixed, but not $250.

One of these days I am going to buy an Omega Speedmaster moon watch. I have wanted one since Apollo 11. Yes, a lot of money but I'm not getting any younger.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Not comparing cars and watches; only apples/oranges to apples/oranges.
Just to examine the purchase cost and maintenance expenses of Japanese watches/cars to the same from European manufactures.
My experience;

Have had several high end German/Swedish cars and Swiss watches, relative to Japanese cars/watches they (generally);

1. cost more to buy
2. are more satisfying to drive/wear
3. have more cachet
4. need more frequent and expensive maintenance
5. will sometimes last longer and (watches) can become heirlooms
6. are not DIY friendly
7. cars/watches sometimes can be collectable

Japanese cars;
1. cost less
2. are less complex
3. Sometimes can be maintained by DIY
4. Watches are usually reliable, reasonably accurate and almost never need servicing.
5. Watches are rarely collectable

My experiences only. What are yours? /

Seiko Quartz purchased in 1981 has ran continuously since then on eight batteries. And keeps perfect time.