zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Richard, Georges,
: Thank you for your response.
: I'm still puzzled why similar watches
: (stainless steel, sapphire glass, 20 - 30
: ATM water resistance, rubber strap, ETA
: Valjoux 7750 movement) are sold at such
: tremendous price differences, beginning from
: US$ 585 to thousands of US$!
: I remember that Derek, (G'D rest his soul) once
: explained that a watch is a piece of
: jewelry, but I still find it difficult
: understand the justification for the huge
: price differences.

: Thank you,

: Common man

Derek was absolutely correct in his statement about a watch being a piece of jewelry. The best example I can give you of this is Breitling. If you walk into a watch/jewelry store and compare comparable Breitlings and Omegas, you will find that the Breitlings cost more. All of Breitling's movements are ETA based, and all of their chronographs are based on the Valjoux 7750. Omega modifies their ETA movements much more heavily than Breitling does, so what are you paying for in a Breitling? It's jewelry value.

Breitling dials are very detailed (some would say "busy"), and this appeals to a lot of people. Breitling's ability to offer you just about any watch on your choice of a bracelet or many different strap styles also allows them to "custom fit" the watch to an individual's tastes.

Despite this, however, I am extremely disappointed in the quality of Breitling's movements. My father still owns them and likes them, but I sold mine and haven't looked back. His $5000 Montbrilliant Datora has a modified Valjoux 7750 chrono movement, and the pushers feel God-awful for such an expensive timepiece. In fact, my $250 Tissot quartz chrono feels like it has a higher quality chronograph movement.

Also, the SuperOcean that I owned just had an all-around "cheap" feel to it. I may just be imagining this because I'm so used to watching Omega sweep-second hands move, but I swear that the second hand on my SuperOcean didn't move with such an easy, sweeping flow as my Omegas. It almost seemed like I could see the millisecond stops with my naked eye. The fact that it kept worse time than any of my Omegas was another reason I decided to sell it.

I singled out Breitling because they are a perfect example of Derek's statement about paying for jewelry value. Some will argue that the Valjoux 7750 has a great track record for reliability, but I personally just don't like the "feel" of it. Besdies, as you said, it can be had in much cheaper watches than Breitlings.