Man, you guys that know exactly how many seconds fast your wrist watch is every month, apparently have too much time on your hands.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
<<snip>>
Is your Marathon quartz?

Yes, it is... the primary reason for it's amazing accuracy so far!

For grins and giggles I just checked my Marathon against the NIST time server, and it is dead-on, to the second! Not too shabby after several weeks of wearing it constantly!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
“A high price doesn’t always mean accuracy.”

You’re right.

A relatively cheap battery watch will generally be more accurate than an expensive mechanical watch.

To say nothing of the no-extra-charge, zero-extra-weight timepieces that update themselves, built into the mobile phones people can't be separated from.

Mechanical watches are the flintlocks of the 20th century. Mechanically elegant, beautiful anachronisms.

They aren't anachronisms. They're something worse, driven by markup and a lack of innovation.

Most automatic watches use one of about seven or eight off the shelf movements made by ETA, Seiko, or Citizen. These moments range from $100 on the cheap end up to about $2000 for something chronometer certified. That might be ok except...

1) the price of these has not gone down despite precision manufacturing getting cheaper
2) the accuracy or quality have not gone up substantially
3) there are very few innovative new features that require design or development

Most watch "manufacturers" are taking an off the shelf movement, dropping it in a case made by a CNC shop, adding a crystal, face, and a band, and charging a few hundred percent markup. What's worse is when this money goes to pay celebrities or licensing fees for a name.

Marathons are cool but what's different about them versus a Monster?

It's no surprise the industry is dying being taken over by Apple and Garmin. Call me when a Rolex or Tag costs somewhere around the cost of its parts and labor, so about $500.