Many people would say that no watch is worth over $1000, but that’s total misunderstanding. They may be right, the retailers and sellers take lots of money for it, but put in mind how much they’d have to spend to get the watch in the first place. Here’s why some watches so expensive:

  1. Materials used: Obviously, not all metals are equal in cost and rarity. Gold watches will definitely be more expensive than their steel counterparts. Watches with blued titanium screws will be more expensive than ones with normal ones. The material that a watch is made out of will definitely change its value. Which is why you might notice such a big difference between a gold Rolex Datejust and a stainless steel one. Each kind of metal is harder to get than another, so even that would change. The efforts put into shaping and doing all the chemical necessaries to put everything together. Precious metals rise up the value of a timepiece, whether its in the movement or in all parts of the timepiece.
  2. Complexity of the mechanism: Can you compare the time, effort and skill put into timepiece with a tourbillon to a timepiece without one? Of course not. So obviously a more complicated watch with a harder to produce movement will be more expensive than others. Which is why you might find a timepiece with an hour striker (a complication that takes around 300 hours to put together) more expensive than one with just a tourbillon (a complication that takes around 8 hours to put together). The purpose and function of the complication will add to its value of course. A chronograph does more than what a normal watch would do; therefore the price will be higher. Time is money, and time put into a timepiece will add to its value.
  3. Craftsmanship: Believe it or not, handmade watches look and function a lot better than ones made by machine. The human eye can spot mistakes and create details machines cannot make, not yet at least. The relationship between the watchmaker and his timepiece compared to the non-existent relationship between a machine and the watch it creates can never be equal. A humans effort can’t be compared to a machine one. Hence comparing a human to a machine is like comparing a mechanical watch to a quartz one. There are so many things humans can do that machines cannot do yet, the Patek Philippe World Time watch is a great example for this. You won’t just be buying a watch, you are buying art. The manufacturing of this watch is truly magnificent, a simple mistake, and you’ll have to start all over again.

I used to believe that most watches that go for over $1000 are a total scam, but that was because I was so fast to judge without understanding why they cost what they do. So tell me, do you still think expensive watches are not worth the price tag?