Daniel visits The Domain

I took Daniel with me one afternoon on a recent day off from work to look at nice watches at Ben Bridge Jewelers in The Domain shopping center in North Austin. Daniel agreed with me that the Omega Speedmaster moon watch was the way to go.

If one were to do a GQ style labeling of his fashion, it would be as follows:
-- Texas Longhorns cotton t-shirt, Target, $5.
-- Mister "The King" toy car, Target, $10.
-- Omega Speedmaster Chronograph, $4000.

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.

Watch me now, hey!

I've never owned a watch, but have been getting interested in owning one lately. Of course, my desires greatly outmatch my budget. Pretty cool article / slide show on the subject in GQ magazine online here. Go through the slide show to see lots of cool watches they like. My favorites in the < $5000 range are the Omega Speedmaster and the Tag Heuer Link Automatic, photos below:

Omega Speedmaster Broad Arrow GMT

Tag Heuer Link Automatic Chronograph

These types of watches are probably the most I could ever see spending on anything like this -- and it's not even remotely within reason today. Heck, right now I can't even afford to buy a $200 watch, much less one for $3000-$5000! Anyway, the above models are about the entry-level price ranges for real Swiss-made watches with real craftsmanship. Rolex is more expensive, with their least-expensive stainless steel models starting above $5000.

In even far less reasonable price range is this IWC Schaffhausen Portugese below, about $20,000...


Or this beautiful A. Lange & Soehne perpetual calendar in platinum:


However, the ultimate choice would be this Patek Philipe Sky Moon Tourbillon 5002S, the most complicated wristwatch in the world. I could not find any retailer listing a price, but I did find one selling on ebay for "only" 1.65 MILLION USD!! Can you imagine spending that much for a watch? Even for a billionaire this collector timepiece would represent 1/500 of your entire net worth. Another question is, would you trust buying something costing that much on ebay?