In praise of affordable watches

Written by Jeffree Benet

Watches - Various

Tags: affordable watches | fashion watches | watches

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

o says Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and there's no bigger illusion than the myth that your watch should cost you more than your car. Sure. there's always the prestige that only comes from a fine watch made with precious metals and jewels. But now, technology has made it possible to have an accurate wristwatch as the free toy in a fast-food kid's meal.

I'm sure others can better describe and explain the value people find in owning and wearing fine jewellery, but what it really boils down to is this: any wristwatch over $350 is more jewellery than a timepiece.

So forget about evaluating such items by adding up the cost of components, factoring in the value of precious metals or imagining some supreme value hidden in the mechanism inside.

That takes you on a slippery slope to the insanity of people who argue over technical specifications they don't truly understand, trying to intellectually justify wristwatch values for technical and logical reasons that hold little, if any, tangible merit or benefit. The truth is that the value of jewellery is entirely emotional. Any penny spent over S$400 on the price of a watch is buying you only more jewellery value and greater emotional satisfaction in having something more unique - nothing more.

 

TOP TO BOTTOM (horizontally): SWATCH "Magma Life" ($86.00), CASIO G-ms Crystal Illumination Series ($345.00), Calvin Klien CK Minimal Extension ($171.00), TIMEX Ironman Triathlon 50 Lap Sleek ($77.00),

LEFT TO RIGHT (vertically): ADIDAS Kid's Watch ($63.00), SWATCH "Dragon's Revenge" ($86.00), Seiko Divers Quartz 200M Stainless Case and Bracelet - Orange Face ($710.00), G-SHOCK FIVE RINGS ($264.00),

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