Buying Watches: Common Myths Exposed

There are many myths and misunderstandings about watches. This guide by eBay Powerseller Swiss Watch Boutique LLC

will help to dispel some of these frequent myths and help

empower you, the buyer, to make an informed decision before you

purchase your next timepiece. Updated 08/21/07





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Rolex makes the world's best watches.


Wrong. Rolex makes superior watches and is credited with several

important innovations but that doesn't mean it makes the world's best

watches. Rolex may be the best known luxury brand but Patek Phillipe is

widely considered by experts to be the industry's premium watchmaker.

Sometimes Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin are mentioned in the

same breath as Patek Philippe.





Next to Rolex, Tag Heuer makes the world's best watches.


Wrong. Tag Heuer make watches that cover a wide range of budgets. Most

Tags are mass produced quartz pieces with unexceptional movements. Many

Tags are more noted for their jewelry than their fit and finish. Tag

does make some very fine, high-end models but you need to do your

research.





An expensive watch keeps better time than an inexpensive watch.


Wrong. A $20 Timex will probably keep better time than a $2,000 Omega.

The reason for this is that most watches under $500 use Quartz

movements, which are cheap to produce and are highly accurate.

Mechanical movements, usually the domain of more premium watches, are

inherently more complicated and expensive to produce and will not tell

better time than a Quartz watch. In addition, you will pay more for a

watch often because of its value as a piece of jewelry.





A Swiss-made watch means the watch is completely made in Switzerland.


Wrong. According to Swiss law, a Swiss-made watch means that at least

50% of the parts are Swiss made and that the assembly, finishing, and

final inspection occurs in Switzerland.





The more jewels in a watch movement, the better.


Wrong. A standard watch movement requires 17 or 18 jewels but more than

that doesn't mean it is better. Two watches with identical performance

may contain a different number of jewels. The jewels themselves are

synthetic and are not valuable in anyway except to aid a timepiece's

movement.





Watches sold by non-authorized dealers are rejects, fakes, or refurbished models.


Wrong. Reputable non-authorized dealers, such as Swiss Watch Boutique, only sell genuine watches from

the original manufacturer. They are NOT rejects, fakes, or refurbished

in any fashion.





It's easy to tell if a watch is counterfeit or fake.


Wrong. It's increasingly difficult to tell if a watch is fake or not.

The generic fakes sold on the streets of New York are fairly obvious

fakes but there are sophisticated syndicates operating in Japan and

Switzerland that make virtually identical reproductions, including such

things as the manufacturer's logo and serial numbers.

James Bond only wears Rolex or Omega watches.
Wrong. Although Sean Connery briefly wore a Breitling for the under water scene in "Thunderball", Rolex was the choice of Bond through the Connery, George Lazenby, and early Roger Moore films. However, beginning with "The Spy Who Loved Me", Moore's Bond wore a Seiko for five straight films. Timothy Dalton's Bond returned to Rolex before Pierce Brosnan turned to the Omega Seamaster, which has recently become known as the 007 Bond watch--so much so that Omega released a special limited edition 007 version of the watch in 2002.

The Omega Speedmaster is NASA's only official watch.
Wrong. On July 21, 1969, the Omega Speedmaster became the first and only watch worn on the moon. However, in addition to the Omega Speedmaster Professional, NASA's official permissable watches are the Omega Speedmaster X-33, the Casio G-Shock, and Timex Ironman watches.

Watch Manufacturers don't tolerate the grey market.
Wrong. They generally make pious claims on their Web sites about not selling product on the Internet, etc., but many can't survive without it and it's actually tolerated, although perhaps not promoted, in the boardrooms of these companies. Omega, Hamilton, and Swiss Army, are examples of brands that tolerate the grey market. Why? Because manufacturers need to move their product. Many of these companies make thousands of pieces a year and its well understood that they can only all be sold if a grey market thrives.

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This guide has been brought to you by Swiss Watch Boutique LLC, specializing in fine Swiss watches at wholesale prices.





漏 2006-2007 Swiss Watch Boutique LLC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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