Why Luxury Watches are so expensive
It’s a well-known fact that high-end mechanical watches can be very expensive. Beyond the fact that the brands are highly popular, they also include extremely complicated mechanisms, precious metals and overall beautiful design work.
Watches were used primarily as tools around the 20th century, rather than fashion statement pieces as they are today. For example, astronauts needed a watch that would work in outer space, divers would need watches that were waterproof up to 100 meters and surgeons needed to reliably measure operating times. However, this all changed with the start of the Quartz Crisis.
Quartz watches require fewer parts in order to function correctly, and is also more precise than a mechanical watch. Quartz watches quickly became cheap enough to mass produce, which swiftly caused issues to watchmakers at the time. Many Swiss companies faded out due to the fall in production and sales, however other brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe were chased-up market. This is largely the reason why they are known as luxury brands today.
It was around this point that mechanical watches were no longer needed, and thus they became a collectable want by many. Rolex began to start making their watches I sold gold, which helped to emphasize their quality in marketing materials. Their watches have also features silver, platinum and diamonds, helping them to become symbols of respect, wealth and success.
The presence of luxury watches in films have also helped them to remain high-end and expensive. Back in the 1970’s, the Rolex Day-Date was released and became a hugely popular, status symbol timepiece.
It is from here that quartz watches have become the world’s most used, most known time-keeping technology, whereas mechanical watches have been referred to the world of luxury.
High-end watches can be expensive and time consuming to make and develop, with many taking up to a few months to produce perfectly. Brands with high demand often don’t have enough products for their market, which can increase demand and bottleneck production. They also use expensive, handmade movements within their timepieces, which can add to the high price. Luxurious brands can spend thousands of pounds on one movement, though these are usually found within limited edition pieces.
The material of the watch also adds hugely to the price. For example, a plastic quartz watch is not going to set you back too far. Whereas a carefully made, mechanical watch that is gold or silver is going to fetch thousands due to the precious metals, collectability and overall luxury.
Here at Cuttings, we have a range of second-hand luxury watches available. If you’d like more information on any of our current stock, or if you’d like to contact a member of the team for any other reason, give us a call on 01843 584488 or click here.