Timepieces

[dgaddis]

The Plastic Pelagos is complete. Stock photo vs modified version w/black bezel, combi bracelet, and inverted digital display.

[dashDustin]

I'm quite confident you could sell these at a significant mark-up.

[dgaddis]

I'm quite confident you could sell these at a significant mark-up.

Have you seen how much people are paying for these things with ~$80 worth of Chinese "Royal Oak" parts and/or painted markers? If you're thinking "surely not more than $400" then you are WRONG.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27473595051...MAAOSwqXhgXNE0

https://iflwatches.com/product-category/casioak/

[randonneur]

The Plastic Pelagos is complete. Stock photo vs modified version w/black bezel, combi bracelet, and inverted digital display.

Wow. The inverted digital display looks and reads so much better.

[j44ke]

A plastic watch for $700. The world is broken.

[alexstar]

A plastic watch for $700. The world is broken.

Wait til you hear what some people pay for bicycles.

[j44ke]

Wait til you hear what some people pay for bicycles.

I know what bikes cost. I’m not talking about the high price per se, but the object itself. This is a mass-produced plastic Casio watch run by a chip or two on a micro board and at $150 retail is probably marked up by a considerable percentage but with some added decorative plastic is selling for $700.

[theflashunc]

I know what bikes cost. I’m not talking about the high price per se, but the object itself. This is a mass-produced plastic Casio watch run by a chip or two on a micro board and at $150 retail is probably marked up by a considerable percentage but with some added decorative plastic is selling for $700.

And Rolex is selling stuff at cost? Cmon.

[j44ke]

And Rolex is selling stuff at cost? Cmon.

Did I say that?

Really, I just expressed my amazement that a re-decorated plastic watch could sell for $700. People bought Pet Rocks way back when so I guess whatever. Why am I even amazed.

[theflashunc]

Did I say that?

Really, I just expressed my amazement that a re-decorated plastic watch could sell for $700. People bought Pet Rocks way back when so I guess whatever. Why am I even amazed.

Your comments just read as the same kind of blithe elitism and gatekeeping that is pervasive in the hobby, when the collectors of "real" watches are every bit the same kind rubes you're ascribing people buying the modded G-Shocks to be. These watches aren't for you, and that's fine, but they're clearly for somebody who wants to pay that money for that product and service.

[j44ke]

Your comments just read as the same kind of blithe elitism and gatekeeping that is pervasive in the hobby, when the collectors of "real" watches are every bit the same kind rubes you're ascribing people buying the modded G-Shocks to be. These watches aren't for you, and that's fine, but they're clearly for somebody who wants to pay that money for that product and service.

Wow, I am completely offended by this post. I have a Citizen I bought in 2013 for probably about the same price as the plastic Casio's original price. Before that I wore a watch given to me by my wife when we got married 25 years ago. A Victorinox that got so scarred up that the watch stores treated me like I hadn't washed recently every time I took it in for new batteries.

[alexstar]

Whoa, that escalated quickly. Everyone take a step back and a deep breath.

[dgaddis]

I know what bikes cost. I’m not talking about the high price per se, but the object itself. This is a mass-produced plastic Casio watch run by a chip or two on a micro board and at $150 retail is probably marked up by a considerable percentage but with some added decorative plastic is selling for $700.

No no no no. It's worse than that actually, it's a $100 watch at full retail directly from G-Shock, not $150. The limited edition one I got was a whopping $110.

I'm with you, people buying those are idiots. I'm most annoyed at the $400 'royal oak' versions because they literally took a $100 watch and put an $80 aftermarket kit on it, which any dipsh*t with thumbs can do. All it takes is removing and re-installing four screws. At least the painted version requires at least something hinting at skill to do make.

In related news, Casio isn't blind to the popularity of doing the metal mods and they're already coming out with their own version (in several colors) with a resin strap (and sticking with the negative display....grrrr). An all-metal version (bracelet and case and all) is bound to be in the pipe line. If they do one that's solar and radio controlled, and fits like the resin model, they'll have my money too!

https://www.g-central.com/g-shock-gm...steel-casioak/

[funcrusher]

i think trying to go upscale with materials for the casioak kinda defeats the point which was to have a cool/storied shape in an affordable form factor

but if they do a solar/atomic version they will have my money too

[dgaddis]

The whole 'casioak' thing bugs me. They weren't trying to do anything derivative from the Royal Oak, it's just the analog version of the square. They took the iconic, and original, G-Shock shape and made it fit a round dial.



vs

[funcrusher]

well it looks like a royal oak and that's why the fanboys like em

i'm willing to bet they've embraced the resemblance internally

[DJB]

[

[Too Tall]

I've posted this before. Jason Musgrave's Seiko which he sold in support of the Fukishima Disaster relief fund.
What I dig about this watch is first and foremost it is as tough as Jason Musgrave. I never take it off other than to work on electrics or to switch to my Omega.
Jason had some tasteful work done which is lost on my foolish uneducated eyes HOWEVER the cool factor, to me, are the dual English and Kanji dates and the ridiculously accurate time.

This is the work Jason had done:
Seiko 6306-7001
Jack Alexyon at IWW did the work. This is the uber-rare and coveted Japan-only version. IWW did the custom work several years ago.
Beadblasted case
PVD Bezel
Domed Sapphire
Custom second hand


Thanks Jason, let me know if you ever want it back. Good luck, you'll have to trade me for something equally wonderful.

seiko.jpg

[froze]

ALL watches are marked up considerably, get with the program. I had a Tissot Seastar I got back in 1967, if failed in 2020 in such a fashion that Tissot said it was unrepairable, so they offered me a loyalty exchange program, I got a $600 or so Tissot PR100 Powermate 80 for only $230, do you think for one moment they took a beating on that watch? NO, at the very least they broke even, but I have a feeling they still came out ahead.

I actually saw just last year the cost to make a standard $7,000 Rolex Submariner to be only $690!!! and speaking to a watchmaker he agreed that specing out the parts and labor would be around $700 for him to make. And it gets even more lopsided on the profit scale for the gold Submariners! While the cost of the manufacturing is only $690 you then have to add in marketing, merchandising, and sales commission, once that is all calculated Rolex makes $2,100 on every standard $7,000 watch sold. ALL Rolex watches are NOT handmade, they have an assembly plant that robotic machines put the parts together, the only time a human hand touches it is to place the the hands and the hour markers onto the face and then install the movement into the case, they put the bands on the watch, and they hand polish the watches after the machine has polished them; of course one could argue that the machines are human operated, but the reality is they are not handmade watches. The gold by the way used on some of their watches are made at a foundry on the Rolex factory site, so they don't import the gold they actually make it right there.

So since Tissot is a less expensive brand than Rolex and cheaper to build cost, I have a pretty good idea that Tissot made around $150 on my exchange, I haven't see the cost factors but judging by the Rolex paper I saw I think I'm pretty close. But the other thing that helped Tissot in my deal is that they got my old Seastar and can cannibalize most of the parts out of it except for the rotor bearings that failed and be able to fix other watches of my vintage and charge them an arm and leg to repair it. So they probably gained another $500 in potential profit from repairing other watches with my watch.

But that is why Rolex is a very profitable company, between Rolex and Tudor they're valued at $8.8 billion dollars the last time I checked, it may be more now. If you ever price a replacement stainless steel band for the Rolex they're around $375...what stainless band on this earth is worth $375? It probably cost them $10 to make since those are not handmade.

Rolex puts out over a million watches a year, but because of the process involved it takes a year to build one watch and have it ready for sale. So there is a bit of some of the reasons why Rolex has such a high profit margin, because most of the watch is assembled by machine.

[Matthew Strongin]

ALL watches are marked up considerably, get with the program. I had a Tissot Seastar I got back in 1967, if failed in 2020 in such a fashion that Tissot said it was unrepairable, so they offered me a loyalty exchange program, I got a $600 or so Tissot PR100 Powermate 80 for only $230, do you think for one moment they took a beating on that watch? NO, at the very least they broke even, but I have a feeling they still came out ahead.

I actually saw just last year the cost to make a standard $7,000 Rolex Submariner to be only $690!!! and speaking to a watchmaker he agreed that specing out the parts and labor would be around $700 for him to make. And it gets even more lopsided on the profit scale for the gold Submariners! While the cost of the manufacturing is only $690 you then have to add in marketing, merchandising, and sales commission, once that is all calculated Rolex makes $2,100 on every standard $7,000 watch sold. ALL Rolex watches are NOT handmade, they have an assembly plant that robotic machines put the parts together, the only time a human hand touches it is to place the the hands and the hour markers onto the face and then install the movement into the case, they put the bands on the watch, and they hand polish the watches after the machine has polished them; of course one could argue that the machines are human operated, but the reality is they are not handmade watches. The gold by the way used on some of their watches are made at a foundry on the Rolex factory site, so they don't import the gold they actually make it right there.

So since Tissot is a less expensive brand than Rolex and cheaper to build cost, I have a pretty good idea that Tissot made around $150 on my exchange, I haven't see the cost factors but judging by the Rolex paper I saw I think I'm pretty close. But the other thing that helped Tissot in my deal is that they got my old Seastar and can cannibalize most of the parts out of it except for the rotor bearings that failed and be able to fix other watches of my vintage and charge them an arm and leg to repair it. So they probably gained another $500 in potential profit from repairing other watches with my watch.

But that is why Rolex is a very profitable company, between Rolex and Tudor they're valued at $8.8 billion dollars the last time I checked, it may be more now. If you ever price a replacement stainless steel band for the Rolex they're around $375...what stainless band on this earth is worth $375? It probably cost them $10 to make since those are not handmade.

Rolex puts out over a million watches a year, but because of the process involved it takes a year to build one watch and have it ready for sale. So there is a bit of some of the reasons why Rolex has such a high profit margin, because most of the watch is assembled by machine.

Ok, I'll bite. Are you bent out of shape because Tissot wouldn't repair a 53 year old watch that broke? And all they did was sell you a new watch below dealer cost? And you think they're going to harvest your 53 year old parts to fix some other person's broken 53 year old watch? Sorry to break it to you, but your old watch is in the trash. They're not fixing anything that old and they're not charging customers for repairs using parts with 53 years of wear on them. That's just asking for a worse customer service issue than not repairing it in the first place.

Regarding Rolex, what exactly could your watchmaker friend do for that $700? Assemble a kit with a pre-fab case and ETA movement? Maybe. Construct a stainless steel watch with a certified chronometer movement and all the constituent elements? That would be a fair bit more than $700. Actually, that would be a fair bit more than buying a Rolex. Also, FWIW, making $2,100 on a $7,000 sale isn't exactly a thriving business model. Man I don't know where you got your info, but it's pretty disconnected with reality.