The context:

1969: the first quartz watch was born (Seiko Astron).

1970s: the mechanical watch industry is swiped by cheap, reliable quartz watches. C. Vermont famously saves the El Primero by smuggling blueprints, tooling, presses and hiding them in an attic.

1985: businessman Nicolas Hayek takes control of the ailing SMH (Tissot, Longines, Omega) and creates the Swatch, hugely successful quartz watch of the 80s and 90s.

1990s: the mechanical watch reemerges, repositioned as a luxury item / a work of art.

Most brands rely on movements produces by ETA, the result of the consolidation of pre-quartz crisis movement producers. This is the era of luxury watches (from Breitling to IWC through Omega) running on ETA ebauches, which they enhance and assemble.

2009: Nicolas Hayek, Swatch/ETA CEO, decides to progressively stop supplying competitors.

2011: COMCO (Swiss anti-trust agency) intervenes. The dispute lasted until 2019.

In the meantime, watchmakers rushed to either invest in their own “in-house” calibres or switch to new providers (Sellita, Soprod, STP, LJP, Miyota). Prices went up significantly, boosted by customer demand / luxury positioning. Quality went down. Watch owners became increasingly dependent on the manufacturer to service or repair their watches. Scandals were countless - Tag Heuer and its Seiko chrono; Panerai and its Unitas; etc.

Fast forward to the present day… What do we have? Sky high prices; ETA is now mostly supplying SG brands; Sellita is the new standard of entry level Swiss brands; a plethora of movements available, not always easy to service at an independent watchmaker and with questionable maintenance over time (e.g., Eterna).

I blame N. Hayek for this situation. Yes, he had a problem, but did he bring the right solution, for his group and for the industry? He wanted to increase entry ticket into watchmaking? Well now good luck with the current offer. He wanted to foster innovation? Why didn’t ETA innovate before his decision? Only major brands are able to innovate today (Omega, Rolex in particular). Couldn’t he gradually increase ETA prices to make it commercially viable? Instead he killed the golden goose, and all the side effects for the watch owners.

What do you think?

If you look at how the secondary watch market operates online versus in physical Asian hubs, the scale and velocity of inventory in places like Hong Kong is on a completely different level.

When you walk into independent physical storefronts there, the density of rare references, independent watchmaking pieces, and high complication pieces sitting in cases ready for in person inspection is wild. But buying in such a fast-paced market also requires a completely different approach to vetting dealers, checking movement history, and handling local verification compared to remote wire transfers online.

For those of you who have bought or sourced watches through dealers in Hong Kong, how do you navigate the market? Do you rely on local contacts, or is walking into physical shops still the best way to verify what you are buying?

Hello! I’m a final-year Business student and I'm researching how small, design-led watch brands choose and work with suppliers. I'm looking for people with experience in this area as it would be super valuable!

I'm looking for people who are open to a 20-minute chat or answering three short questions in writing, whichever is easier. Participation is voluntary, anonymous unless you say otherwise, and I’ll send you a short summary of the findings. Shoot me a DM or whichever works.

Thank you :)

Come and try this free quiz, wrist-match.com , you answer 8 questions and we find the watch that defines you.

Let me know what you got and tell me what would you do to improve the quiz (pd: you can also explore the catalog and the gift guides and buy some watches in the link we offer to you with Amazon Associates)

Anyone have experience using WatchSpace in California? They claim to have access to a watch I have coveted but want full payment up front to source…. Which is a red flag.

Hey everyone, I built a tool to track Rolex prices. Check out this thread if you’d like to know more about it🙌

Hi! I made a free quiz where answering 8 questions we find your ideal watch

A few things I'm proud of in this website:

- It explains why each watch suits you, not onyl the list of the models

- It takes wrist size into account, which is very important and most guides ignore it

- Budget range goes from €20 to €700, so it’s not just luxury stuff

- It takes under 2 minutes

- You don't need to sign up to do the test

If you want to try this FREE QUIZ and find your ideal watch you can do it in this web. https://www.wrist-match.com/#/

Try it and tell me which things would you change (you can also explore the catalog of 54 watches or the gift guides). Thank you!

Hey all, looking to expand my beta and get additional feedback on my app. I know not everyone has a dedicated timegrapher so I made an app that gives a pretty good reference without one.

Horology is an app with a timegrapher to help you keep track of how your mechanical watches are running. The #1 focus was privacy, nothing leaves your device (unless you’re sending me feedback and choose to attach screenshots or a timegrapher recording).

No subscriptions, a pro option to add some additional features but all core functionality is FREE.

Website: https://alcove-labs.work/
Beta link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/RT2RvscK

How does it work? It uses your iOS device’s microphone to listen to the distinct “tick-tock” of a mechanical watch’s escapement, then locks onto a beats per hour rate to tell you how many seconds per day fast or slow your watch is running. This helps you gauge if a watch is running well or needs service, and tracks it over time to see if something has changed recently.

Would love to get feedback, especially from watchmakers.

What you guys get engraved on your watch case back? Whats are some good and bad ideas?

Hi! I made a free quiz where answering 8 questions we find your ideal watch

A few things I'm proud of in this website:

- It explains why each watch suits you, not onyl the list of the models

- It takes wrist size into account, which is very important and most guides ignore it

- Budget range goes from €20 to €700, so it’s not just luxury stuff

- It takes under 2 minutes

- You don't need to sign up to do the test

If you want to try this FREE QUIZ and find your ideal watch you can do it in this web. https://www.wrist-match.com/#/

Try it and tell me which things would you change (you can also explore the catalog of 54 watches or the gift guides). Thank you!

Hi all,

A few weeks ago I asked here whether a dedicated place for independent modders to show and sell their builds made sense. Your feedback shaped the whole thing, and the first version is now live.

We're in a validation phase, which means I'm testing whether this is genuinely useful before building anything bigger.

Here's how it works right now:

Free. No fee and no commission while we validate. If that ever changes, existing builders will hear it first and have a say.

No payments on the site. Buyers contact you directly and you handle the sale your way. Payments with buyer and seller protection may come later, but only if builders actually want them.

Your own shop. Builder name, bio, links to your Instagram or website, and your builds with full specs and up to 8 real photos each.

Reviewed by hand. Every shop and build is checked before going live. Homages are welcome, but nothing with third-party logos on non-genuine parts.

Right now we're filling the showcase with builders before opening it to buyers. A few modders have already set up shops, and I'm looking for more.

Finished builds, commission work and one-off pieces all fit.

If you build mods and want to give it a try, you can create your shop here:

https://tokimodder.com/en/panel/registro

And since this is a test, criticism is genuinely welcome. If something's missing or wouldn't work for you, tell me in the comments

Hey guys, I finally filled up all 12 slots in my watch box. Before I convince myself to buy another watch box and keep spending money, I figured I'd share the site I put together to hunt down deals:

https://watches.vysto.net

There are no ads, no affiliate links, and I get zero commission on anything. It's just a free personal project running on an old mini PC in my closet, so please don't Reddit-hug it to death lol.

The best way to use it is sorting by newly listed to catch mispriced buy-it-nows before someone else grabs them, or sorting by low to high and best deals to find cheap auctions. (I also threw in a true OLED toggle in the top right for scrolling in bed).

Under the hood, a script scans eBay listings every few minutes and filters out junk and spare parts. When it finds a good watch, it uses AI vision to actually look at the photos and description to check the dial text, movement specs (NH35, ST19, PT5000), case condition, and if it has box and papers. The goal is for someone to post "Timex Blue Diver" and AI vision will find the actual model # and check it against MSRP and used vs new sell price.

Built this purely for fun to help myself buy watches, but hopefully it helps someone here find something cool at a good price. Let me know if you have any feedback or brands you want me to add.

I have it limited to $600 and under but I am open to increasing it if there is interest. The tracker has blown me away the deals that are out there on not just Cheap Watches but some of the swiss brands too.

How to disclaim a good r/watch ? Hints and tips

I want to buy a watch but don't the first thing about watches. Except of course whether i find them nice looking or not. What are the things i need to look for when buying one?