today

After my last watch post got to thinking ( I know a scary thought )
As a collector of “all things” LOL watches were the gateway drug. Over the years my accumulation has grown. As some of you know. That being said, the paradigm has changed for me in that regard and quite frankly it was due to the recent gift of the Tag Heuer Connected that Sharon gave me for our anniversary. It literally was a game changer for me and in essence has literally stopped my desire for purchase of any more watches…. I know SHOCKING huh!
I will explain. As a connoisseur of all that is horological, I like many was a timepiece snob, not from a cost or brand standpoint mind you, but more from what is really considered a watch.
I have watches that I love as cheap as $10.00 and some that have five zeros attached to the price tag. I love them all, but with technology, a completely new type of horology has become mainstay, and the luxury brands are jumping in to the pool
Many of the new generation no longer wear watches, as with tech, your phone is the new timepiece. Enter the manufacturers and artists of the digital face. As mentioned before, I was a wristwatch snob! Digital…. No way!, a smartwatch?…. Are you kidding me? Although admittedly I do have a Hamilton LCD digi throwback as I remember my dad owning a Pulsar digi back in the 70’s and it was just high tech cool back then.
As an “Apple” guy, I finally relented and bought an apple watch. A fantastic piece of tech, has everything you would ever want, and a phone! Yes folks I am Dick Tracy. The future is now!
one BIG problem….. it did not look like a “real” watch. Big problem! Convenience aside, the snob in me was bubbling up. I know there were others that were more “watch like”. But was ignorant on what they were like, they ran on Android, and looked cheap!
Here comes Tag Heuer! As an owner of a few “Tags” already it was worth a look and research. Hmmm this might be a winner, but how would the watch faces look? Hmmm this may be a winner. The Tag designed faces were spot on to their non-digital line so now i had immediately had 10 more Heuers including a few Carerras, which if purchased as a “real watch” would have been multiple thousands. They are geniuses!
not only do I get a quality wristwatch, with multiple faces, but also all the techy info needed from our need to be completely informed on seemingly everything….. But wait there is more!!!
Now, enter “high end” Swiss watch makers endorsing digital faces for these “next generation” smart watches and watch wearers. Now only do you now have “branded faces” that replicate their standard line, but you know have digital artists that are changing the watch world, and even bringing the digital watch into actually manufactured time pieces. Everyone is a winner
Companies such as, Tag Heuer, AVI-8, Maurice La Croix, Formex, Waldhoff, MVMT, Shinola, Sinn, Straton, and many more are now creating digital “faces” that are barely discernible from the actual watch
Of course many of your “big guy” companies like Rolex, Panerai, Omega, and others have yet to jump on, but I suspect it is only a matter of time, as the “wristwatch wearing” generation is losing ground and watch sales are in the tank.
Why would a company do this? When they can get thousands for the real watch? Well…. You get 50 people to spend $5,000 on a timepiece you have $250,000. That is a select few and they may never buy another.
On the flip side, the same company gets 100,000 digital watch wearers to spend $1.99 you have about $200,000 with taxes. However here is the jackpot. If you have multiple faces of your most desired watches, these same “wearers” will now buy multiple faces. That is millions
Online face vendors such as Facer, Watchmaker, as well as many more now offer over 100,000 different faces, from both manufacturers and the new digital artists and have created some of the most unique faces available from analog to digital, branded to original. Most of which you can customize yourself so literally millions of combinations
You could literally have a new watch on your wrist every day for the rest of your life and never repeat!
Can’t afford a Rolex, Tag, Panerai, Sinn, Omega, La Croix. Get a digital one, and most of them are endorsed by the actual manufacturer. So it is a “real one” in digital form. To quote Flynn from Tron “Digital Jazz Man”
Will this replace the real deal for me, of course not, but it will most likely be the last watch I purchase, maybe ( haha i know you are laughing ).
it is worth a look gents, especially for those that want to enjoy all the good of horology without too much of a major investment
here is an example. This watch retails for about $4500. Digital face $1.99 +the cost of your smart watch
View attachment 55717
Just some thoughts. What say you?
Cheers
indeed, it will never replace, and there are a few Bucket list watches I would love to find as most are one offs and numbered items like some of the Omega Moon Mission watches to add to my Omegas , or some vintage ones, but this lets you play alot more for alot lessI dunno. It's obviously super cool to have photo-realistic watch faces you can swap every day, but I don't see many people replacing a collection of the real ones. But like you said if you can't afford the real ones I like these options a lot more than what Apple offers.
"Your Enablement is our priority" LOLENABLER. WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME. HAHA Got my thinking.
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Me too, I spent much of last evening looking at smart watches, and I DON"T EVEN LIKE WEARING A WATCH!ENABLER. WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME. HAHA Got my thinking.
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I mentioned this watch to my wife when Dave first posted it. Pretty sure she laughed in my face when I got to the price.ENABLER. WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME. HAHA Got my thinking.
Love ya Gerry HEHEHEMe too, I spent much of last evening looking at smart watches, and I DON"T EVEN LIKE WEARING A WATCH!
You've spent more on Frags, Scotch, Razors, Disney Stuff, etc, etc So think of it as a "preventative" for future spending LOL// BTW @NurseDave did you get that Scotch Hawaiian Shirt yet?I mentioned this watch to my wife when Dave first posted it. Pretty sure she laughed in my face when I got to the price.
I mentioned this watch to my wife when Dave first posted it. Pretty sure she laughed in my face when I got to the price.
I did not. I was really looking forward to it and finally found reviews about the company and such. Printed on-demand, terrible quality, ill-fitting, never showed up, etc, etc. I was really bummed. I was looking forward to embarrassing a lot of people and getting to wear it to tastings!BTW @NurseDave did you get that Scotch Hawaiian Shirt yet?
Which ones were you eyeballing?But if I was going to get one, are the ones under $100 worth looking at? I know that many of the features I probably would not use, but I do like the idea of changing the faces.
I had a feeling as it was a Facebook ad. too badI did not. I was really looking forward to it and finally found reviews about the company and such. Printed on-demand, terrible quality, ill-fitting, never showed up, etc, etc. I was really bummed. I was looking forward to embarrassing a lot of people and getting to wear it to tastings!
As long as it is Android based "Wear OS" you can access Watch maker or Facer. you just load the Wear OS app on your phone and you are good to go. You can do this with an Apple Watch as well. Just the faces dont look right
Usually best to just try and put out the little extra for a known brand. I got my Garmin Fenix 5X Sapphire brand new for about $350. Sure it’s last gen but it’s top of the line last gen and still supported.This one looks good. Amazon $299.00— 45 mm case diameter.
Just my size.
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This one looks good. Amazon $299.00— 45 mm case diameter.
Just my size.
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Tic has been around awhile not a bad one
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