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Post by goodwatchgoodtime on Nov 23, 2007 2:58:01 GMT -5
Why do patek philip watches have such a high price tag? I mean they are rather plain looking and even if the movements are put together by 30 PHD professors, using only their pencil thin erect members, working in unison, it still doesn't justify $30K, $300K or $1,000,000 price tag for a watch. Is this a luxury item only for those who have an unlimited disposable income? Or is it really an object that gets a million dollars worth of parts and labor?
I don't get it. Hell, I'd rather get a Ferrari or a Linguine for that kind of scratch.
Any opinions?
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Post by foghorn on Nov 23, 2007 5:41:41 GMT -5
What's the big deal about the Mona Lisa?? Hell,it's just canvas and paint. Beauty (and worth) are in the eye of the beholder.  |
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cbeeches
innocent
Don't Worry, be Happy
Posts: 30
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Post by cbeeches on Nov 23, 2007 7:09:14 GMT -5
Because they can
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Post by jasman on Nov 23, 2007 9:08:17 GMT -5
Isn't that what's called the classic "free market system"?
If someone buys their watch at $1M, then that's the fair market value of that watch. It does not really matter if it has toothpicks and rubber bands inside of it.
I would pass on the Ferrari, but I would rather have a FEW M-B AMGs or BMW Ms and still have some change for gas and insurance. However, If I am listed on the Forbes 400 list, I may be tempted to get the PP, and the Ferrari, and the Lambo, and the other cars, and the yacht, and....
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Post by boscoe on Nov 23, 2007 10:27:36 GMT -5
Of course they're overpriced! But so is every watch over $400. Before the massive raise in gold prices and the cost of parts, the rule of thumb was anything over $250 on a watch was jewelry value. I've bumped it to $400 for inflation etc.
As to Patek in particular, part of the reason they can/could command their staggering prices was the resale market of their pieces. However, Patek has just been exposed as manipulating the auction prices on used goods - driving the values upwards - which is a tactic to prop up support on brand new sales.
Whether this documented scam will have an impact on prices outside the Watch Geek World is unclear at the moment. The scandal broke about two months ago and we haven't seen the trickle down effect yet.
Lastly, many people would think I'm nuts for spending several thousand dollars on a watch. They'd say: Surely it's not worth it.
But as I said when my new Limited Edition Clerc arrived last week (the second one in my stash):
The Clerc answers "yes" to the question is a $3300 watch really 10 times better than a $325 Invicta?
However, there are some here, including my good friend markdl, who would argue otherwise.
So it's all a matter of perception
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Post by koimaster on Nov 23, 2007 12:21:12 GMT -5
Have you ever owned a Patek? If you did you would not ask that question. Try comparing that to the $300,000 home built by a housing developer. He just made $100K profit on that house if not more. Did anyone gripe or even ask? No. $15K profits on Escalades, did anyone ask if it was worth the money? I would doubt anyone did. Now compare the quality of a PP to many other watches. You can bet that your great grandchildren will be able to keep time with that PP. I doubt the Escalade will be more than a rust bucket and the home would have already been torn down. Are PP and many of the watches out there over-priced? Yes they are. But in some circles people, right or wrong, judge you by what you look like, the way you dress and what you drive. I normally wear Birks or Airwalk tennis shoes. At my office because of my position, I will often wear Mezlen, Church or some other high end shoe. Why, because they last a long time and because make the impression I want to convey to others who do business with my company. It may sound elitist but it is not meant that way. And finally, people will buy things in their comfort zone. I have Invicta. Renato, Seiko along with PP and other “prestige” brands. I normally wear a watch costing less than $2000 every day and wear the others as needed. I suspect most of us are like that.  |
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Post by tbarry on Nov 23, 2007 12:32:08 GMT -5
Patek Philippe brings high prices because the product is not only of superlative quality, but also carries with it prestige. Certainly a PP is not on its face (pardon the pun) worth the money asked, but the materials and workmanship are not all that is being sold. It is very much like a Rolls or top-end anything else - the owner is making a statement and is both able and willing to pay the price.
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Post by slife on Nov 23, 2007 16:35:37 GMT -5
It depends on the person. I personally don't think they are overpriced, its not like you can a Patek for $10.
I do agree that Patek is a prestige object, for those that can and want to by it. Its kinda like Vertu, their cellphones don't really carry anything special, besides the concierge service, but they are prestige objects and sort.
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Post by markdl on Nov 23, 2007 18:44:59 GMT -5
And I bet that Clerc ain't even 40 mm, let alone 10x better than my beloved $325 Invicta! As for the Patek question, something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it I guess. I no longer think about brands like Patek or even Rolex and whether they're worth the money people pay for them. I'll never be able to afford them so why waste what few brain cells I have left thinking about them. |
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Post by boscoe on Nov 23, 2007 18:56:42 GMT -5
mark: right you are! it is 35mmx35mm. Just a girly kind of thing!
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Post by timefinder on Nov 23, 2007 23:16:19 GMT -5
If I bought a $100K watch my wife would shoot me twice. Once to kill me and the second to ensure the first bullet did the job.
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Post by shimside11 on Nov 24, 2007 2:57:35 GMT -5
I know a guy in the industry who has some contacts and some insight into such things. Last year at Basel he had lunch with Rolf Schnyder and Ludwig Oechslin and toured the UN manufacture. So I asked him about all of those 200,000usd and up watches. Do they just make them for rich fools with nothing else to do with their money? Do they put a little polish on them and jack up the price to just be "exclusive"?
He said "it's more of an ego thing for the company. They do it because they can, for bragging rights, they pretty much break even on the cost of the watch."
WTF??? (that means watch talk forum BTW). How can that be? Here is his explanation...
They get an idea for an exclusive watch from a world class watch designer (think Frank Lloyd Wright, Steven Spielberg, Jackson Pollock, etc., to get a handle on the hourly rate for these guys). Then they have to make it. They start by taking the current production watches offline and retool all the equipment to the unique specs of the design. Then after they get all the tiny gears and springs and cases produced they retool everything again. Next they round off and polish and engrave (mostly by hand at this point) and then hand assemble everything several times, each time fine tuning even more.
Now keep in mind, all of this is for about 20 watches, with unique parts made just for that series. That's 20 little tiny gear and spring sets, dials, plates, bridges, cases and hands that have taken up months of valuable labour, resources, and equipment. So several million dollars later, you've got your 20 little precious watches, and if you sell all of them you recoup your cost. But hey, you did it all inhouse just because you could.
Think of how much money your car would cost if they made everything just for yours (and for 19 other lucky sods) and then stopped. At this point it all started making sense to me. It's not that the canon pinion is hand made, it's that it took a $200k machine offline to make 20 of them. Talk about opportunity costs.
I've run this by some people in the industry and have found, to my amazement, that it's not far off the truth.
So, needless to say, I gained a new respect for the new limited double tourbillon, equation of time, perp calandar, minute repeating chrono with moon phase, that xxxxx's 500 year old firm on the shores of lake Geneva has just produced.
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Post by eddie on Nov 24, 2007 8:44:41 GMT -5
Why do patek philip watches have such a high price tag? I mean they are rather plain looking and even if the movements are put together by 30 PHD professors, using only their pencil thin erect members, working in unison, it still doesn't justify $30K, $300K or $1,000,000 price tag for a watch. Is this a luxury item only for those who have an unlimited disposable income? Or is it really an object that gets a million dollars worth of parts and labor? I don't get it. Hell, I'd rather get a Ferrari or a Linguine for that kind of scratch. Any opinions? They are very, very good...unreal level of craftsmanship & quality, among other little things ...in the jungle, they are on top of the food chain  |
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Post by slife on Nov 24, 2007 9:59:41 GMT -5
If I bought a $100K watch my wife would shoot me twice. Once to kill me and the second to ensure the first bullet did the job. What if the watch was for her ?? ;D ;D @shimside : I say a watch is a polite way of bragging. ;D ;D |
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Post by boscoe on Nov 24, 2007 10:17:12 GMT -5
slife: bragging only works if people know what you're talking about. most people wouldn't recognize a patek, iwc - whatever - so bragging is lost on them. actually that's why i prefer "stealth brands." If you want to brag, buy a Rolex. It's the ultimate cartoon Texan watch. (Okay guys, I'm not dumping on Rolex. We here appreciate all brands for what they are. Coronet has great history etc. But the public at large doesn't know that or care. They just say Rolex is expensive so many buy simply to showboat)
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