Built in obsolescence in wrist watches

[PaulCumbria]

I've got a Seiko SBQJ0015 HEQ as my everyday best, if that makes sense - admittedly the perpetual calendar will be obsolete in 2100...

My best best is a Timezones Speedbird - lovely watch for little money.

[profpointy]

I am fed up with the plastic wrist band of watches breaking. I have had several go well before the battery runs out. I leave them loose enough to get a finger inside the strap but they still break. Is it me? Can anyone recommend a cheap, moderately waterproof digital watch with a durable wrist band? One of mine lies full fathom five, still telling the fish the time probably.

Yebbut.... Hardly obsolecence - strap breaks / wears out, buy a new strap.

That said my titanium blinged Seiko (albeit cheap rather than high street price) is now on it's fifth rubber strap as the oe titanium one got broken.

[fausto copy]

Paulcumbria, Seiko kinetics are good, so are the Citizen alternatives, the solar powered Eco - Drives. Modern watches, quartz accuracy but with no need for battery changes (for decades).

Fausto copy, yes, it's not a lot of effort or expense to own and wear a decent watch. £50 will buy a nice vintage automatic, still be worth £50 when you decide to sell it too.

Well, that Seiko automatic looks lovely, but automatic?
If I don't wear if for ages, will it reset itself to the correct time and adjust the day and date for me?
It took me half an hour to readjust my everyday Casio last week. Let's face it, I lost half of the time I was supposed to have gained putting the blessed thing back.

Now, where did I put my old Patek Philippe I wonder....

[MarkF]

Well, that Seiko automatic looks lovely, but automatic?
If I don't wear if for ages, will it reset itself to the correct time and adjust the day and date for me?
It took me half an hour to readjust my everyday Casio last week. Let's face it, I lost half of the time I was supposed to have gained putting the blessed thing back.

Now, where did I put my old Patek Philippe I wonder....

Ah, but my "work Casio G Shock is not only solar powered, it is also radio controlled, so as long as I am within 1500km of an atomic clock tower then it is always 100% correct. I use that watch to set my automatics when I pick them up.

[Mick F]

Does it matter how accurate?

Laptop says 21:19
Big clockwork clock says 9:18
Small clockwork striking clock says 9:20
Mobile phone says 21:17

I don't wear a wristwatch.

Edit:
It took me a minute to type this!

[MarkF]

Yes, of course it matters, automatics lose and gain time, then they need a service. I don't want to know about what time it is, but what time it is exactly. Then I know how the auto's are doing.

There are 3 minutes between your times, if I bought a watch that lost 3 mins a day, then I'd want a refund.

[patricktaylor]

I got my Seiko wrist watch in the mid-80's for about £75. It is still spot on time-wise and is on my wrist 24/7 (except for in the shower). The strap that is on it now is Austrian leather and cost more than the watch. Worth it IMO. Still gorgeous after 10+ years. The stitching doesn't rot and it doesn't have the stupid thin fold-over flaps glued round at the watch end (and which come unstuck after a year or so). I don't usually need to know the exact time but a fine leather watch strap is one of life's little luxuries.

[Mick F]

.......... if I bought a watch that lost 3 mins a day, then I'd want a refund.

Me too!

My point is that if you need the EXACT time, there are many other methods to give you that. On the bike, my Garmin 705 has the exact time via GPS. Our computers have the exact time via the internet. Mrs Mick F's Samsung Galaxy ditto, though my old mobile phone wanders a bit over the months. Our bedroom radio-alarm clock - a Roberts - has the time set by the radio signal, but seems to set itself 3mins slow.

We have two old clockwork clocks in the living room, one a 1950s clocking-on clock, and a 1920s mantle-piece clock. The clocking-on clock is quite accurate and the mantle clock not quite so, but both could be put right every day or two.

But why bother?

If I know the time to the nearest 3 or 4 minutes, that's good enough for me.

[landsurfer]

Nearest 15 minutes is good for me , a single handed watch would be ideal ......

[patricktaylor]

Nearest 15 minutes is good for me ......

I can guess the time within 15 minutes - correctly (usually).

[al_yrpal]

I wear an £80 titanium Seiko that I purchased at Nairobi airport in 2002. It has a titanium metal wrist band. The battery has only been changed once. It's very light and totally reliable. I cannot understand why anyone buys cheap watches that don't last? Isn't it obvious that plastic straps will fail quickly? As the OP observes, built in obsolescence, or is it built in early failure? "Please buy yet another crap watch muggins...."

Al

[Mick F]

I can guess the time within 15 minutes - correctly (usually).

I can't, but my stomach can!

It's not been put right since we put the clocks back. I had breakfast at 6:30 this morning, and I'll be ready for lunch by 11.

[reohn2]

I wear an £80 titanium Seiko that I purchased at Nairobi airport in 2002. It has a titanium metal wrist band. The battery has only been changed once. It's very light and totally reliable. I cannot understand why anyone buys cheap watches that don't last? Isn't it obvious that plastic straps will fail quickly? As the OP observes, built in obsolescence, or is it built in early failure? "Please buy yet another crap watch muggins...."

Al

I wonder if the guys who drive Audi's say the same about guys who drive Kia's
Or the guys who drive Aston Martin say the same about guys who drive Audi
Or the guys who drive about the guys cycle.................

I worked with a chap who scraped the face off his lovely Seiko watch on a wall,the two wire bars on my cheap as chips Casio saved it time and again.
The same chap would not buy decent tools to work with or decent boots to work in or decent overalls(Snickers) with knee pads built into them.
He also had great big Daimler Soveriegn that he stored in someone else's garage drove it 2,000miles a year max and complained bitterly about the service costs.
He knew the cost of everything and the value of sweet FA.

[Mike Sales]

I wear an £80 titanium Seiko that I purchased at Nairobi airport in 2002. It has a titanium metal wrist band. The battery has only been changed once. It's very light and totally reliable. I cannot understand why anyone buys cheap watches that don't last? Isn't it obvious that plastic straps will fail quickly? As the OP observes, built in obsolescence, or is it built in early failure? "Please buy yet another crap watch muggins...."

Al

There is nothing wrong with the cheap Casios I buy. The watch keeps pretty good time (within seconds) for years with no attention. That may be the reason they are fitted with straps which break much sooner than the battery needs replacing. Modern electronics produces a good and cheap watch, but that means the manufacturers risk a dwindling market. There is no reason why these good, cheap watches can't be sold with a decent strap. They can be refitted with one easily enough. Lasting straps can be made cheaply enough.
Waste your money on a flash watch which does no more than a cheap one if you want. What I object to is shelling out for another watch just because the manufacturer has fitted a self destructing strap to a perfectly good watch, when a decent strap would cost no more, or perhaps pennies more. I don't see why I should have the hassle of replacing the strap.
I've been surprised at the watch fetishism some replies have revealed. If that is what turns you on, fine. Its no business of mine.

[al_yrpal]

It's wise to economise where style might dictate otherwise. That way you get to spend your money on what you really like, rather than on what is fashionable. Thing is... I have done the cheap watch thing and learned what all you cheap watch people are now beefing about. I am not rich, but I am careful how I spend money. In respect of watches, I learnt you didn't. QED ! It's a case of false economy.

Al