Are Expensive Watches Always Better and Are They Worth It?

The assumption in life and especially in watch collecting is that the more expensive it is, the better it is. While a lot of the time this can be true, it’s not always the case.

You can find plenty of expensive watches that are not that great and even more cheap ones that are amazing.

Cost is not everything and not always the first thing you should look at when buying watches.

Why Are Some Watches More Expensive?

I’m sure you’ve seen the range of prices that are available with watches. You can start as low as £10 and end up and the dizzy heights of 10k and beyond. Both watches tell the times, so what exactly are you paying more for?

Build Quality

One of the first differences you with a more expensive watch is the build quality. This starts with how the watch is designed. A complex mechanical watch is going to be harder to build than a simple quartz one. All those little cogs that need to be manufactured and then assembled are not cheap.

You then have to look at how it is assembled. Cheap watches can be quickly made on an automatic assembly line where as some watches are assembled by hand. When you take into consideration the time and skill that can this can involve, it is no wonder why the price is often higher.

If you also look at the finish of the watch, it should correspond to the price. An expensive watch is going to be perfect. Every little detail is going to be exquisite where as on a cheaper watch, even the best cheaper watches, you may find little issues. You might have to look very closely, but they are more likely to be there. 

Materials

Very simply, precocious metals like gold cost a lot more than plastic. If your watch is expensive it could well be due to the materials used to make it. High end watches often use precious metals and even diamonds, which all are going to attribute to the cost of the watch. 

Longevity

How the watch is made and the materials it is made from are going to add up to make a product that is going to have some real longevity.

Luxury watches should be lasting you for many years, if not a lifetime. They are built to last and part of the cost will factor this in. This why you find fake watches fail after a short time. They are not built to the same standard and it shows. Of course they are only made to exploit you and part you from your cash.

However, other lower quality, but legitimate watches will not last as long, simply as they are not built in the same way. This is why they are often cheaper. They are almost produced as a disposable item.   

(You can read more about – Will A Cheap Watch Last Forever?)

Brand Name

It doesn’t matter if you like it or not, but some of the cost of your watch may be for just the brand name.

This is seen in fashion watches, where the quality of the watch isn’t amazing, but the price is certainly a lot higher than a watch of similar calibre. The only thing inflating the price is the brand name on the dial. 

The same can be said for some micro brands. There watches are exceptional quality and could easily be better than some of the bigger brands, but if you are a small and new company, no one knows who you are, so you can’t charge the same price as the bigger brands.

Looks

I think this is really too subjective to include and it can’t really have a bearing on the watch being better or more expensive. Every ones views will be slightly different.

I personally enjoy the look of some very cheap Vostoks, but I also like the look of some very high priced watches.

Likewise I can think of a whole lot of very ugly cheap watches and there are a surprising number of expensive watches that I just hate the look of. 

(You can read more about – Will a Watch Impress People?) 

Time Keeping

This is one of the areas where being expensive makes no difference.

While an expensive automatic such as a Rolex is going to be more accurate than a cheap Vostok automatic, they are both blown out of the water by any super cheap quartz watch.

My £8 Casio F-91W is going to beat them both simply as it has a quartz movement which is so much more accurate than any mechanical watch ever will be.  

Functions/Complications

If I look at my £8 Casio F-91W again, it can tell me the time, the day and the date. It also has an alarm a stop watch. I know for a few quid extra I can get a digital watch that will have all this and a world time function and a countdown timer too. Pretty much every function you would ever need from a watch.

If you look at the Rolex Submariner, its £7150 and can only tell me the time. Sure you can use the bezel as timer, but it’s not quite the same. 

This is where a digital watch will always bring you far more value than a mechanical. However, some mechanicals will have these functions, and when they do, they are pretty expensive.

You have to remember that a mechanical watch is a bunch of little moving cogs. The second you want to add stopwatches and date functions you need a ton more cogs. Trying to fit them into the already small watch is a true work of engineering genius and causes the price to go up.

Supply and Demand

Sometimes an expensive watch shouldn’t really be as expensive as they are, but supply and demand is everything. 

If we look at the Rolex Submariner I mentioned above, the 2021 model reference 124060. Its currently £7,150 on the official Rolex website, which is pretty pricey, but I think justifiable. 

If I go onto a well known website for selling watches, the same model, also new, is £13,185. That is just shy of double!!

Just remember this is the current model that Rolex is selling. It’s not some rare vintage model or limited edition. It’s simply supply and demand.

Everyone wants one, but there is hardly any available. This means that if you do manage to buy one at the shop, the second you walk out the door your money is pretty much doubled if you want to sell it.

It’s crazy and of course the Rolex situation is a little unusual, but it is real life, it is actually happening and it really shows supply and demand can really play with the cost of your watch.

You can even see this with cheap Casio’s. They will slowly go up over time based on supply and demand. Personally I bought a Casio A168 about 10 years ago for £16 they are now worth about £35-45. Maybe not as quick or extreme as a new Rolex, but that price has still doubled!   

The Price Of A Watch Isn’t Everything

While price can give you a rough idea of the quality of the watch, it does not tell you everything. Lots of things go into the cost of a watch and some things will be superficial, such as the brand name and the supply and demand levels, meaning you could be paying a lot more for a watch than you need to.

Likewise you therefore can find plenty of watches that are quite cheap, but are of the most excellent quality. There are plenty of micro brands and even established companies like Casio that can produce some seriously impressive watches at extremely affordable prices.

Don’t get caught in the trap that a high price instantly means better quality. The price is only what people think it is worth, the real thing you need to look at is the quality and decide if that is equal to the cost. This will tell you if it is actually worth it or not.

(You can read more about – What Makes Swiss Watches So Expensive?)