Built in obsolescence in wrist watches

[meic]

I have a small collection of decent watches which I inherited but they have all ground to a halt.
I cant see it being worth the cost of a new watch to have them serviced.
On the other hand my cheap Timex (with tough nylon strap) keeps on going for the price of a battery every ten years, despite having its winding crown torn off.

My watches get subject to all sorts of abuse from chemical attack to welding spatter. Drowning to crushing or being rubbed across concrete, I dont want to be wearing a watch that I have to worry about.
They only need to be reset twice a year apart from that they are ignored.

[jb]

Never call a mans watch, its like religion in the modern world - unsupportable but defended to the death. - Whoops, that’s two things that should never be brought up on a forum.

The leather strap on my watch needs replacing every three years or so if its worn regularly but it'll be a cold day in hell before it sees a fabric strap.

[MarkF]

I have a small collection of decent watches which I inherited but they have all ground to a halt.
I cant see it being worth the cost of a new watch to have them serviced.

Give them to me then.

I don't suppose the service is worth it unless you intend to wear them, but a full service need cost no more than £20/25. Once every 10-15 years? Not a lot of money............

[meic]

but a full service need cost no more than £20/25. Once every 10-15 years? Not a lot of money............

That seems to be more or less what I spend on the Timex.

[reohn2]

Oh dear! Now I am being pilloried for buying a half decent watch?

Al

No you're not,my remarks are because you posted this:-

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...."

Which has nothing to do with watches.

[axel_knutt]

I've got a Citizen which I bought in Nov 1985, it was the day my cousin married, and the day I wrote the car off on the way home. It's not particularly special, but as I've had it half a lifetime I'm quite attached to it. In that time it's worn out two buckles, but when I hawked it round every jeweller in town all I got was "can't get those straps, you need a new watch", so it's been in the cupboard for a year while I use the HRM instead. I looked on the site at the top of this thread, but they haven't got the right buckle in the right width.

I was brought up with the ethos that if you buy quality it will last you a lifetime, so it really bugs me that nothing (not just watches) has to last any longer than it takes to go out of fashion any more. The chore of shopping to replace things that are nearly new and knackered seems never ending, and because everything moves with fashion you can never buy another like the one you had.

P.S. If anyones interested in the psychology of consumerism:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spent-Sex-Evolu ... 136&sr=8-1

[MarkF]

I've got a Citizen which I bought in Nov 1985, it was the day my cousin married, and the day I wrote the car off on the way home. It's not particularly special, but as I've had it half a lifetime I'm quite attached to it. In that time it's worn out two buckles, but when I hawked it round every jeweller in town all I got was "can't get those straps, you need a new watch", so it's been in the cupboard for a year while I use the HRM instead. I looked on the site at the top of this thread, but they haven't got the right buckle in the right width.

What's special about the strap and/or buckle, is it an integrated design? Give me the model number and I'll see if I can help.

I was brought up with the ethos that if you buy quality it will last you a lifetime, so it really bugs me that nothing (not just watches) has to last any longer than it takes to go out of fashion any more. The chore of shopping to replace things that are nearly new and knackered seems never ending, and because everything moves with fashion you can never buy another like the one you had.

Automatic watches are just the same as when you were a lad, nothing has changed there, buy one, service it and it'll last a lifetime.

I like old style stuff, my watches, just like my scooter 1962 Vespa GL and car, a beetle, are all repairable and re-buildable cheaply.

[al_yrpal]

Oh dear! Now I am being pilloried for buying a half decent watch?

Al

No you're not,my remarks are because you posted this:-

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...."

Which has nothing to do with watches.

But...spending a large proportion of my life in a design office where everything had a design life, its true. From a watch, to an axle, a centrifuge to an engine there is a design life. On a domestic appliance its often just a few hours. On a watch strap its a number of cycles of being put on and taken off and its by the holes that it will split. So, the designer and original vendor will be well aware of its mortality. And the vendors know they won't either and fail to make replacement straps easily available and are thus treating their customers as mugs IMO. Hope that explains it. You can avoid this by buying a quality timepiece with a well made bracelet, and barring accidents this will last a very long time and avoid angst, but it will cost more. If you like jewelry you may be tempted by a 'designer' brand which will impress some people, but you pay a premium. You pays your money.....

Hope that explains it, no offence intended.

Al

[axel_knutt]

You can avoid this by buying a quality timepiece with a well made bracelet, and barring accidents this will last a very long time and avoid angst, but it will cost more. If you like jewelry you may be tempted by a 'designer' brand which will impress some people, but you pay a premium. You pays your money.....

It's as well to be aware that paying more isn't really a guide to quality anymore, high prices are often as much about the exclusivity of designer brands and fashion as about quality nowadays. So the problem there is that the more exclusive and fashionable a product is, the quicker it will go out of fashion and therefore the shorter it's life needs to be.

@MarkF: There are four numbers on the back:
3801-980204KT
40500916
35-7219
GN-4W-S

Nothing on the strap other than Citizen, but the buckle is the type that unfolds like a "Z" without separating into two halves (which I like, because there's less risk of the watch falling off if the buckle pops open). I didn't really think it would be impossible to get one, but if all the jewellers in town are more interested in selling a new watch, it's difficult to force them to be helpful.

[al_yrpal]

This thread prompted me to look for my watch on the web. To my surprise Seiko are still selling an identical watch at double what it cost me. I purchased this watch in 2002. That impressed me, its obviously a good seller, and an enduring design that sells well. A far cry from a Rolex. I do have one of those too, but its a knock off. I bought it in Asia long ago because we had a bit of an idiot in the office who was always showing off with his real one. People couldn't tell mine from his, which p'd him off big time! Then he left it in a washroom, went back 5 minutes later to retrieve it and it had gone. £2,500 down the drain...


Al

[MarkF]

@MarkF: There are four numbers on the back:
3801-980204KT
40500916
35-7219
GN-4W-S

Nothing on the strap other than Citizen, but the buckle is the type that unfolds like a "Z" without separating into two halves (which I like, because there's less risk of the watch falling off if the buckle pops open). I didn't really think it would be impossible to get one, but if all the jewellers in town are more interested in selling a new watch, it's difficult to force them to be helpful.

Only the last number means anything relative and that brings up pics of several different models. I think what you want is what is called a deployment clasp strap, these are bog standard. No idea why a High St outlet can't help unless they really do know nothing. All you have to do is measure the lug width, it'll be 18mm or 20mm (probably), decide what you want, bracelet, leather, rubber etc and go to RLT again, or Ebay............good luck.

Deployment strap

[axel_knutt]

No hits on the RLT site, but I think I'm getting somewhere now I've got the word "deployment" to put into Google, ta.

[jezer]

I was told that battery life was not dependant on the battery, but the power drain of the watch. By coincidence I replaced batteries on my two watches on the same day. One expired three months ago, the other is still going strong. It seems the advice was correct. BTW I rarely wear either of them, preferring the clock on my iPhone.