It amazes me when people ask for watch/car/house purchase advice and then completely disregard that advice. It dosent bother me in the least, it simply amazes me.
Recently a lad in his late 20's (from work) called into the office to say he had about £300 to 400 and he wanted a vintage smple looking watch that would last him his life, hold value and would be good for daily wearing and for special evening occasions. We had a good chat about automatics versus quartz and buying new versus second hand. My immediate thought was to point him towards a 1970/80s Omega Seamaster or Omega Geneve dial but he wanted to purchase new & automatic.
With that I was thinking Seiko SARB, Hamilton, Tissot Visodate or push out a small bit more to Longines. He seemed really keen and he was scibbling notes the whole time. Anyway, he called into me with his proud aquisition of an Emporio Armani quartz watch that he paid about £300 for from a small local cheap and cheerful jewellers shop (I can only find the watch online for about £120).
Like I say, dosent bother me in the least and the lad seems very happy but I cant help wonder why someone would ask advice and then go completely the other way. I guess life is like that.
Has anyone got a similar u turn story ?
Happens all the time, I think, not just with watches but any specialist area. It's an odd phenomenon. I think perhaps a discussion like this helps someone not familiar with the subject matter to crystalise their thoughts about what they really want so that they can then buy what they really want/like.
To a seasoned watch hobbyist your advice is good and understandable. Your friend clearly has little knowledge and experience so he is simply not ready to take your advice on board. Perhaps the best advice you could have given him would have been to buy a quartz watch for 10 pounds or so now and then take some time to learn about watches and figure out what he really wants.
This applies to many fields. You can give someone excellent advice regarding a scientific or philosophical problem but it will not mean anything to them if they are not ready to receive and process it.
This is very true.Originally Posted by GrandS
Also applies to relationships. You know the ones where a friend will come often upset at what their boyfriend / girlfriend has done and you advise them that that person is really bad for them for so many reasons but back they go....only for it to continue or get worse
Remember..... It's us who are weird..... ;-)
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Perhaps in time his tastes will move on and he will realise that a vintage Seamaster would have been an excellent choice. By which time the Omega will be worth twice the price and his Armani quartz will fetch £25 towards it on eBay.. oh well what can you do, you tried!
Sounds like there is a good salesman in that shop!
I find it just as shocking that someone in there 20's can't google! :-O
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My experience is that lot of people when asking for advice just need someone who will confirm their opinion,
consciously or not.
Yes, similar thing happened to me. Guy at work that likes watches (well, not like us, but more than your average Joe) kept asking me to recommend a cheap automatic. After lengthy explanations and hours of showing him different choices online, he was convinced that he'd get a SKX007. Came in next Monday with a Daniel Wellington...
Well, he got what he deserved.
This is a great point, made by others above aswell. (OP here) I reckon the lad had seen the fashion watch and had his heart set on it. I'm 100% fine with that but I suspect he thinks he has bought into haute horology or something similar.
Well, in fairness to the guy, he did come to his senses and bought a rather nice Hamilton Viewmatic the second time around, after losing his DW somewhere. He's also one of the few genuinely noticing and asking about the watches I'm wearing, so it's not all lost
Well, I guess sometimes has to do with what people think of the brand. I was looking for a watch with my girlfriend for her, and while I tried to explain that there are many nice watches out there, she would rather have a Wellington or a Michael Kors, just because she recognises these brands and that would satisfy her more.
God there's nothing more annoying. I couldn't care less about what someone else wants to put on their wrist, but when they've specifically asked for your advice, you've put effort, time and thought into giving it, and then they've totally ignored it it is rather insulting.
Mate when you're shopping with girls, 99% of the time they're looking for a watch that looks nice and matches their style, not something with an in-house movement or generations of horological provenance.
Know your audience and try not to impose your view on others, as hard as that can be :)
I doubt it's lack of googling skill and more the "have it now" thing: See it, like it, buy it.
I gave up a long time ago :) If a £200 watch makes her happier than a >£1k one, then I guess I am lucky. More cash for myself.
It's the same with all young lads nowadays ,you can't tell them anything about anything,I've given loads advice about various things ,they never learn, mind you I probably was the same
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It sounds like the sales person has swayed this one. They can be quite good at making things sound a lot better than they are. It'll special metal exclusive to Armani this and hand made movements designed by Armani that.
The Goldsmiths in Leeds I went to when getting my watch (Seiko, which they only do online apparently) was a huge majority of Michael Korrs, Hugo Boss and Armani.
My wife is the same. She has a Michael Korrs. She doesn't even use it to tell the time, it's purely a decorative accessory instead of a bracelet
Is it not just an age thing? I know when I was younger I thought I knew it all, as do most youngsters nowadays.
You can only advise, people will still do what they want or maybe in this case what he thought was right, at the time anyway...
He'll have seen his mates with them (Armanii or Boss) down the Pub. Fitting into a crowd is very important at that age. Wearing a vintage Longine is going to make him feel odd in comparison to his mates. If they were Towie types they'd all be wearing Rolex datejusts same style bezel. I work with an ex footballer from Herts stock broker belt. He's amazed that I wear a Speedie MK||, he's on the Datejust and doesn't get the 70's industrial style at all.
Later on when the lad gets older and more confident in being different from the pack he might go and buy that Longine at twice the price it is now.
Customers' stated preference do not always match up with their actial preference.
People state their main preference with eating KFC or mcnuggets is fresh, quality chicken, but in reality they want salt, BBQ sauce, and fried breadcrumbs and the chicken is of minimal importance. People state they want wider and more comfortable economy seats but when it comes to buying tickets will not pay for them.
People just don't want to admit their true preferences even to themselves.
Likewise your colleague or friend states he wants a good watch but actually wants maximum brand for the buck. I bet if you told him how to get a second hand quartz Tag F1 he would have gone for that.
Have to agree on that. Although I am not old (26) I try to take benefit of advice, especially when coming from a person that knows a thing or two.
But, at the end of the day, you have to process the information and do what makes you happy.
Since he is the one that will wear it, better be something he enjoys. I don't think that your time was wasted, he just didn't choose what you think is the best bang for his money. Although, you are probably right, in his eyes he chose the best option.
I made a couple of mistakes with some Fossils that are sitting in a drawer at the moment, but to my defense, nobody advised me and it was long before I discovered the existence of such forums.
This.
Dave
He'll probably have Armani aftershave or a £120 Armani shirt which will both be good quality and think that the watch will also look good, be well put together and be recognised amongst his mates as being 'a decent make'. He could well think that buying a Seiko is akin to buying a Hyundai?! Oh well, poor lad - at least he's happy :)
Before I joined this forum for advice I did think Seiko were of that ilk to be honest.
Err yes - most of the human race I suspect! Me included...probably.
Well observed.
To be fair, I believe Armani watches are made by Fossil who are a legitimate, serious OEM watch manufacturer including, I believe, for watches that we on this forum would respect. Clearly, though, they can manufacture to a range of quality and components standards.
Sadly Seiko does have the Hyundai image in the UK, even now. It will take decades for it to be erased and Seiko themselves don't seem to be helping in the UK.
What is an OEM watch manufacturer?
OEM while it stands for Original Equipment Manufacurer is a misleading term that in reality means-
manufacturers who resell another company's product under their own name and branding.
Have you ever handled EMporio Armani watches?
I wouldn't pay $10 for them.
Seiko's reputation is not without reasons-
70 of Seiko is like Hyundai, 20% like Toyota and 10% Lexus.
This happens all the time.
I.e seeking and then ignoring advice.
Last edited by RAJEN; 24th October 2016 at 21:27.
As I said, the OEM in this case, Fossil, can (like many other OEMs) manufacture to a range of quality and component standards.
And yes, I would not be surprised if Armani watches cost little more than about $10 to build. I bet some of the better watches that come out of Fossil's production facilities, ones that we would respect here, don't cost a great deal more to build in bulk.
On the definition of OEM:
It stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer". Specifically this refers to a manufacturer that actually makes products for others (or possibly for themselves). For example, Foxconn is (one of) Apple's OEMs. Synergies Horlogères used to be Christopher Ward's OEM (before they merged). Samsung is an OEM that makes mobile processors both for themselves and for other customers.
(Notably, Synergies Horlogères was previously a subsidiary of Fossil).
This is a common misuse of "OEM" but the correct meaning is the other way round as above. The OEM is not the owner of the brand name; the OEM is the actual manufacturer that the brand name uses.
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourc...there+vs+their
Amazing what you can find with Google, isn't it?
M
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