Rant : wtf Cartier prices?!

Mainly because my wife reckons the Tank Francaise is the one and only watch she wants, I am keeping my eye on them.

Fair enough.. Iconic, timeless, stylish.

I may be able to rationalise their price for an automatic based on arguments such as
* it is tiny and
* difficult to engineer and
* high quality movement with great accuracy

... Even though the thing has been around for nearly a century, so surely the costs have been recovered, and economies of scale have kicked in by now!


But why the heck are they £2000 for a stainless steel quartz? To add insult to injury, the bigger the case (I.e. easier to get a movement to fit in it), the higher the price!

Sorry, had to come out.

Movement costs are incidental when you talk watches like Cartier. You pay for the bling and the history. You'll get a pretty good quartz movement though. Cartier knows their watches.
Another example of the theory that watches today are more jewelry than time machines.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T1ck

Mainly because my wife reckons the Tank Francaise is the one and only watch she wants, I am keeping my eye on them.

Fair enough.. Iconic, timeless, stylish.

I may be able to rationalise their price for an automatic based on arguments such as
* it is tiny and
* difficult to engineer and
* high quality movement with great accuracy

... Even though the thing has been around for nearly a century, so surely the costs have been recovered, and economies of scale have kicked in by now!


But why the heck are they £2000 for a stainless steel quartz? To add insult to injury, the bigger the case (I.e. easier to get a movement to fit in it), the higher the price!

Sorry, had to come out.

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Moderate supply meets infinite demand. At least, en passant, a decent watch is built ;-)

Market Supply and Demand Economics 101.

Sometimes it works for you, other times against you......