More on Mechanical Watches, Omega

Good-quality Swiss or German made mechanical watches are not really about telling the most accurate time possible. In fact, most digital watches or battery-operated quartz watches are long-term more accurate than even the finest mechanical watches. The reason people like and spend lots of money to collect the much more expensive mechanically-driven watches is because of the jewelry / craftsmanship aspects of it. You certainly don't need to spend thousands to get something to tell time, but about $2500-$3500 is about the minimum to get something mechanical / collectable like the Omega Speedmaster Professional above, about $4000 (image on right is rear view of watch).

As you add more functions (called "complications" in mechanical watch lingo), this tends to increase the price because you have more moving parts / gears to add the additional functions. For example, this Omega Speedmaster Broad Arrow GMT below adds a second time zone and date and costs about $6600.


Adding more complications like a "rattrapante", or split-seconds, chronograph function, increases craftsmanship required and cost. Again, it's not about just having a watch that can do stopwatch split times -- heck, a digital Timex can do that for < $50. It's about having these functions executed with mechanical means that makes it desireable to watch collectors. The Omega Speedmaster Broad Arrow Rattrapante below costs closer to $10,000.