Hi Dan,

Now, you can also consider the OTHER way by investigating a bit of time searching for young names recognized as master watchmakers into Valley de Joux or Geneva who market promising limited series. They'll become valuable pieces over the years to come. Such people have usually been trained with the big guys and you find ample choice for your budget according to your wish list in "movement complications".

My advice is to stay below 300Sfr or above 3000Sfr -- nothing in between.  There's very little inside that price band that's worth the money.

How much can you afford?

It seems that some of mine and OP's replies disappeared from this thread, Nir, Oded, what's going on?

Hi:

to: Catalin  >> Suggest you check the other thread you left messages on which was titled " advice required".. I guess Dan P realized it was neccessary to zoom onto watches, reason why he opened a second thread. Hope this responds.

Catalin - what Milord said :-)

O

Ooops I will go hide now

He said in another post that his budget was 8000 and my answer was the following (lightly edited) :

I am by no means an expert in watches but here are my thoughts:

You will then need to choose between quartz (battery powered) and mechanical, either manual or authomatic movements. Quartz watches are generally slimmer and cheaper, while mechanical are thicker/heavier and more expensive. Your budget places you in the upper range of quartzes and lower range of mechanical. Quartz are also much more accurate than mechanical, mechanical watches are not very accurate except the very very expensive ones and deviations of 2-3 minutes per month are normal.

It is largely a matter of personal preference, but there are a few independ watchmakers left and that is where I would look, it adds a sense of charm and unicity for me. Independent manufacturers typically source the movements from the big corporations like Swatch for their lower ranges and make their own in-house for the upper ranges. I bought a Frederique Constant automatic for my dad, it is and independent manufacturer based in Geneva; it made more sense for me to buy from a local manufacturer. Your budget would allow you to buy one of their mechanical watches with in-house made movement, but the design is a matter of personal preference like I said. You could also look into Tudor, it's a sub-brand of Rolex and it fits your budget as well. I would start by doing some reading on the internet until your personal preferences start to emerge.

I had a very good advice at a friend who is himself crazy about watches: he knows the ones on wich you will not loose money with time.

As he is in the business, he sells new used watches at very good prices with the garanty of a professional.

Watches are not generally a good investment.  If you are interested in watches you should buy one (or more) that interest you and that you will enjoy wearing, otherwise there's not much point.  People usually collect watches simply because they like watches.

It's also worth bearing in mind that Geneva is a very expensive place to buy watches, so not a good place to start.

For price range; I don't agree that there's nothing worth having below $3000, $8000 or whatever.  It all depends what interests you.  As a rule though, it's generally held that anything below $100 is a watch and anything above that is jewellery.

I'm not an expert on watches and I don't think I'll ever invest 8000 CHF on one. But since some people used the word 'investment', let me just say this: Buying a watch, no matter how expensive, is not an investment. Something is only an investment if you can reasonably expect that over time the value will increase.

Generally, the value of a luxury item drops significantly (e.g. 50%) in the first year after purchase. If you want to invest in watches, jewelry, cars, etc. (which means you buy it to make a long-term profit), you should probably purchase them second-hand to avoid this initial drop. Then over time the value may increase, but this will be a function of supply and demand, i.e. how rare your watch becomes and how 'fashionable' it will be in the future. Given that young people right now do not wear watches, and that there are many luxury brands, I don't think you should expect your watch to be worth a fortune 25 or 50 years from now.

The term 'investment' is a marketing term that is used to communicate the lifetime of the watch. I think this is a valid point: if you buy a 8000-CHF watch you expect it to last a lifetime, or longer. Maybe the right approach is to look for a brand that has a history/tradition, i.e. that has made watches for decades and know how to make them last a lifetime. 

You should be able to get a Rolex Air king collection for under 8000chf. Excellent, self winding and practical everyday watch without of the over the top bling of the more expensive rolexs...

I've had one since 1997 and I've worn it almost everyday and it is still somewhat accurate.