Amused by Rick

Everything went into the new suitcase very well.  In the first 13 hour stretch I plan on reading, playing Nintendo DS, shuffling cards and if I get bored enough, I might work a little.  I didn’t have time to buy food.  Just waiting for the last 1 gig to load on the Sansa and I can pack this computer away.  I’ll try and post entries and photos of the experience along the way, so please stay tuned.

I’ve been thinking about buying a nice watch and in the process of researching things have learned a ton about the different types and price points.  In general, here’s what I found*.

• Watches can generally be divided into two distinct categories: automatic and quartz.  An automatic  is wound completely by the movement of your wrist, there is no other power source.  By that token they are a technical marvel, using complex gearing and mechanics to keep time.  Quartz watches are powered by an internal battery, most watches out there fit this description, to illustrate: a $1,000 quartz watch is mechanically equivalent to a $5 quartz watch (sans features like chronographs, alarms, etc.).
• The luxury watch segment is extremely competitive between $300 and $700.  There are a flurry of brands with timepieces in this price point: Kenneth Cole, Tissot, ESQ, Fossil, Seiko, Citizen, Bulova, Emporio Armani, Diesel, Michael Kors, Skagen and Swiss Army, to name a few.
• High end brands bottom out around $1,500, $2,000 is more realistic.  Including names like Tag Heuer, Breitling, Movado, Chopard, Oris, Omega, Zenith, Mont Blanc.  Some lines include pieces as low as $1,000, such as the Tag Formula One line, but from visual inspection and comparison to other watches, they are obviously on the low end of the scale.  Take, for example, the Tag Heuer F1 Quartz vs. the Carrera Chronograph Automatic (I held both of these watches in my hand today) — the F1 looked and felt like a cheap watch, the Carrera felt like a million dollars, the F1 was $1,000 and the Carrera $2,000+.
• There is perhaps no end to the amount you can spend on a watch. I spoke with a jeweler today that was wearing a $10,000 watch.
• Within the Quartz watch category the best options are from casual brands.  Citizen, for example, has an Eco-Drive model that doesn’t require a battery replacement and has styling similar to more expensive brands.  You can basically get everything a high-end watch has except for the name and pay no more than $700 for it — more like $500 realistically.

After tonight’s personal preview I think I’ve decided to go with an automatic if possible.  The idea of having a sophisticated piece of machinery combined with it’s unique qualities in a sea of quartz watches is appealing.  Plus they are cool.   The Tag Heuer Carrera watch has a window on the backside that allows you to see the self-winding feature and complex internals, very cool.  No purchase made yet, though.

* Note Bene: This entire blog entry is predicated on buying a new, “nice” watch, say in the hundreds or thousands of dollars. Antiques are not included.