The $600 I spent on my watch was well worth it, regardless of what it may be worth at some point in the future. It enhances my life now, and is more functional to me than the two Omega watches that have been sitting in a drawer since getting It. I'd say that only a small percentage of mechanical watches hold or increase in value over time, and tend to be rarer pieces. My two mechanical watches weren't doing all that great in the used market the last time I checked. So if I'm going to lose money, I'd rather get all the personal value I can out of a purchase. And for me, the Apple Watch has been a tremendous value.
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Interesting video - views of a watch professional with 60+ years experience
- Thread starter H3rman
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To be fair, he was saying that he couldn't see how you would get the screen off without damaging the case, which is still relevant if all you want to do is change the battery.
Why do people pull the "2 years" thing out of their ass? There's no evidence at all that the watch will be useless in 2 years.
Because it's a technology product.
How many phones, computers, iPads, iPods, hard drives, TVs etc that are two years or older do you still find useful?
Obviously, it's likely that the watch will still work in two years but the battery life will be quite bad and it will feel like an old device compared to the newest Apple Watch.
?? Do you really upgrade your TV, computer, and hard drives every 2 years or less? My t.v is 9 years old, MBA is 4 years old, and my 1tb portable hard drive is 3 years old, all are still working just fine and there really isn't anything a new version of that product product out that makes them feel obsolete.
Now, my iPad and iPhone I do upgrade every year, though this might be the one iPad I keep around for a while as I don't see what else apple can do with it hardware wise except a larger screen which I don't really care about.
So I might soon be down to only upgrading my iPhone every year, but that too will get to the point where I'd be satisfied with the same model for a couple of years.
TV was a bad example, although TV prices per inch, seem to drop every year.
People's reference point is the iPhone- I don't like using the two year old iPhone 5 at all, and it sits there in my drawer, being a useless device.
Outside of the tech sphere, many people are still using 4S devices and other such products. My parents use an iMac from 2007 to this day for daily tasks. So I think the iPhone (and the cell phone market in general) has created this time frame to accelerate purchases, but I don't think it's been adopted 100% by all of their customers. Older iPhones can still fetch reasonable amounts.
THIS. Yes, you can buy a Rolex today and give it to your kid or grandkid when you die and it will keep working without ever having to open the case. And when will that be when you die? 20 years? 50 years? 80 years? Will anyone still wear traditional watches? Will your kid even want the thing?
20 years ago I would have said yes - everyone WILL be wearing traditional watches for the next 100 years, it'll hold it's value and maybe be worth even more when my kid gets it. But now, I have my doubts. Look at how much has changed since 1995. Think about how much more will change in the next 20 years. Hopefully those expensive watches won't lose their value, but I don't think they'll get anywhere near the amount of wrist time that they get now.
I'm not one of those people who believe the AW will kill the watch industry - I don't. But I do believe that as time marches on and technical advances are made, we are only going to become more dependent on devices and the wrist is an easy and traditional place to keep a small device that tells you what you need to know. I'm not sure anymore that a $20k watch is a good investment, or even a $10k watch, unless it's really something special. I mean, sure, if you're personally going to get $10k or $20k of enjoyment out of it, then yeah, it's worth it, but if you're truly "investing" for the future, for long-term "value", not so much.
I just find it weird that the argument everyone seems to use for expensive traditional mechanical watches is that you can hand it down to your kids/grandkids. How many people buy something (anything) with the intent to hand it down to someone when they die?
How's about you buy something that makes you happy and enhances your life in a way that's important to you?
How's about you buy something that makes you happy and enhances your life in a way that's important to you?
I don't think anyone actually plans to do that, as much as they plan to use it for a very long time (decades).
It's using a Rolex/whatever for 20-30 years vs using an Apple Watch for 2-3 years.
I think the point still stands that the product has a shorter lifecycle than a non tech product, like a watch, which is intended to be used for 10-40 years.
I mean sure, but nothing is permanent. I do think the "watch" label does place upon it some, perhaps, unfair expectations.
Nobody is expecting permanent, but yes, the watch label does make it comparable to a traditional watch.
I expect to use my apple watch for 3 years maximum, and the model I will probably get should cost about $700.
That's 700 per 3 years, with probably resale value of about 300 for a loss of 400 per 3 years.
This is fairly trivial for computers but non trivial amount of loss for a traditional watch, which can increase in value especially for certain brands (Rolex, Patek, Panerai, etc).
If I buy a $8000 Rolex today, although the situation may change due to the rise of smart watches, the expectation is that I could use it for 40 years and sell it for the same if not higher (due to inflation) price at any time (but at least five years after purchase) before then.
Service should cost about 300-500 dollars every 5 years.
So that's a loss of 400 dollars every 5 years, for a product with a much higher price (8000 vs 700).
I do think the apple watch should not be compared directly to a Rolex but just on financial terms, it's hard not to for someone who buys traditional watches.
I think both can continue to do well. If you love good quality mechanical watches, especially the non-battery Rolex, you will likely keep getting that. No battery ever does sound great, but a later post describing the repair costs makes me shriek.
I'm guessing the last watch I wore was in college about 15 years ago. As cellphones became replacements for landlines, you just didn't need a watch. You might desire or want one, but the need was gone.
Smart watches have started to turn that around by offering us things we might actually need. I'm starting to like my calendar events showing up on my watch face. The app and complication need a little work, but if I can get into the habit of creating events for all the things I better remember, this will be great. I also found it neat when someone canceled a social event on Facebook today and the reminder disappeared. THAT is a way to use technology. If you have a job that makes you a meeting person, this might save your sanity if you get everybody on the same page with events. Get everybody to schedule events digitally and cancel if needed like that. Emails get lost in the avalanche.
Anyway, I do find it crazy to drop $10k on any watch. What if some breakthrough is achieved and smart watches become the size and mass of those slap wrap bracelets? Aside from use as jewelry, even this watch might be some hunk of junk compared to that. But in 20 years they might turn our damn skin into a display and use current in our body for power and sci-fi crap like that. Then at least I just spent $600 on a paperweight instead of 10,000.
63 Apple 1s know to exist vs. millions of apple watches. Forgive my pessimism, but I won't stop the pension contributions just yet.
Nor should you, that would be silly. But we'll have to wait and see how many Apple Watch 1s will be around in 40 years' time
You're still paying at least $650 for the iPhone (subsidized is actually more expensive as you may know). The cost is just bundled with the monthly carrier fees. It feels like $200, sure, but it's not.
Technically, the SS Apple Watch (head) is only $500/$550. The straps/bracelets can be used in future versions (hopefully). Of course, lowest price is $550/$600 (assuming Apple keeps these prices points) to buy it from the store.
So the Apple Watch is approximately the same cost as an iPhone ($650).
It's two different groups of people with different needs, expectations, and desires.
The group that wants to pass something down is likely older and wealthier and has money to buy luxury watches (Rolex Omega Patek etc). For these people, the heirloom attribute is quite important. It's attractive to hand something that you've worn for years and decades as a reminder of yourself to your offspring. Their expectation is that traditional watches lasts years and decades (assuming you get watches serviced every 5-10 years, and services fees can be quite high).
The other group are typically younger and see the value of electronics, and how these things enhance our lives. Because they grew up with tech, their expectation is that tech gets obsoleted every few yeras. So it's a strange notion that things can last decades.
I also wonder about whether luxury watches, such as Rolex and Omega, will continue holding their value at the same depreciation (or appreciation for Rolex) in the decades to come, given the launch of AW (and others in the same class) that may gain mass adoption and relegate traditional watches to an even more niche market.
Then again, the market for luxury watches may continue for the current generation of people who have bought into the value of traditional watches. I wonder about the demographics of this group of people, but suspect it's skewed to the older crowd (say 30-50). And as this group fades and potentially shrinks over the next few decades, if younger people don't join this group of watch aficionados, perhaps the value of mass produced luxury watches (Rolex, Omega, but probably not Patek) will decrease but the higher value luxury watches (Pateks etc) may continue their depreciation/appreciation curve.
Perhaps traditional watches will be what pocket watches are today. Heirloom items that serve no real purpose. Kind of retro and cool to those who appreciate it. And kind of cool to think that your great grand father (or whomever) wore this daily for years and decades.
I thought it was kind of cool to hear his impressions. Sounds like he was a big fan of the build quality and I liked hearing his input on that. Honestly his reaction to the edition match my own. It doesn't make much sense to me unless they have some kind of upgrade/trade in program. His statements about having to damage the crystal to remove it were really valuable as that likely extends to all of our watches.
I think his comments about the value of the apple watch as a whole and the tech side were way off the mark but not too surprising giving his background. Even the iFixit guy kind of stepped in there. I think trying to compare the apple watch to digital watches of the past is a really bad comparison and he shouldn't draw any conclusions from it. Digital watches mainly offered the same functionality as other watches where this is something different completely. After using a apple watch for a few weeks I really don't think this is a fad. I think this is an important shift in computing. It really is so much more natural and easy to get information on your wrist. It's so great to be able to turn off those annoying ring tones and get information silently. Really amazing getting so much info at a glance. The activity monitoring has been game changing for me personally. I get the feeling apple is just scratching the surface here. I honestly don't think I could go back to a regular watch after this. It does kind of remind me of going back to a normal cellular phone after using a smart phone. I don't think these things are going anywhere.
I think the guy was dead on with the high end watch bits but way off on the impact of the Apple watch as a whole and on the tech side. Liked hearing his impressions though it was cool to hear his point of view. Kind of interesting when he said he would trade a boat for it. Kind of flew in the face of everything he said about the watch didn't really know what to make of that bit. Maybe he just said it flippantly but the iFixit guy did kind of ask him pointedly about it. Made me chuckle a bit. I kind of got the feeling he didn't like the idea of it but when he held it in his hand he seemed to really like the look and feel of it which coming from him means they did a great job on the design of it.
I think his comments about the value of the apple watch as a whole and the tech side were way off the mark but not too surprising giving his background. Even the iFixit guy kind of stepped in there. I think trying to compare the apple watch to digital watches of the past is a really bad comparison and he shouldn't draw any conclusions from it. Digital watches mainly offered the same functionality as other watches where this is something different completely. After using a apple watch for a few weeks I really don't think this is a fad. I think this is an important shift in computing. It really is so much more natural and easy to get information on your wrist. It's so great to be able to turn off those annoying ring tones and get information silently. Really amazing getting so much info at a glance. The activity monitoring has been game changing for me personally. I get the feeling apple is just scratching the surface here. I honestly don't think I could go back to a regular watch after this. It does kind of remind me of going back to a normal cellular phone after using a smart phone. I don't think these things are going anywhere.
I think the guy was dead on with the high end watch bits but way off on the impact of the Apple watch as a whole and on the tech side. Liked hearing his impressions though it was cool to hear his point of view. Kind of interesting when he said he would trade a boat for it. Kind of flew in the face of everything he said about the watch didn't really know what to make of that bit. Maybe he just said it flippantly but the iFixit guy did kind of ask him pointedly about it. Made me chuckle a bit. I kind of got the feeling he didn't like the idea of it but when he held it in his hand he seemed to really like the look and feel of it which coming from him means they did a great job on the design of it.
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Sure, but from a disposable income perspective most people find monthly repayments easier to handle than lump-sum-up-front.
That is presuming that the Gen 2 watch will be available without any bands at all, which may or may not happen. Otherwise you are going to be paying for a band you don't need or want, and if there are many people in that position then the resale value of cheaper bands will go through the floor.
Anyway, I think we both agree that the real cost of upgrading your watch is comparable to upgrading your iPhone.
I wonder how many returns Apple have had to process since these started shipping out. Complete abuse of policy.
Anyway that beard is epic.