I actually have 2 "fashion watches". The first was an Addidas all st with the trefoil logo on the dial, bought for me by my Mum when i passed my yr9 sats when i was 14. The second is a Storm watch, bought for me when i was 21 and best man at my mates wedding. I love them both becase of the memories. I'm am fat old balding 41 now and both still work perfectly. But they also got me to love watches. I then upgraded to a tissot (but for my 21st by my Mum!), seiko's, more casios etc. Finally after a rollercoaster life, i am finally this year going to get a Hamilton & a Longines.
Everything you say here is accurate, but all relative. The watch enthusiasts are the only ones hating on these fashion watches, and obviously aren't the ones buying them. The people buying them aren't the ones hating on them, and probably don't care about what the watch enthusiasts think. In a world of fast everything and consumerism, the points you make carry across into almost anything. Credit to you for educating people on the benefits of more quality time pieces, but shopping habits won't be changing any time soon. Fast fashion is speeding up at at a time we really need it to slow down.
Great information there in this video. You are a very candid and talented young man. There's a definite niche on RU-vid for your channel. Keep up the great reviews!
Thank you Ben for all your advice on watches! It's RU-vidrs like you who we the audience appreciate the most as you provide us with honest advice. Thanks to you I decided to select a Timex Southview and I love it. Once again thank you for keeping it real with your viewers.
Another encouraging video about fashion watches that give people the courage to buy what you like, not overspend if you have alternatives. That is what we are trying to do and your videos give us some courage. Thank you.
I have the same IKEA lamp in my living room. Love it! I have a Police watch that I bought over ten years ago before I knew anything about watches (and developed some class) but of all the crap watches I bought it’s the only one I have held on to cos I do love it. A little polywatch, a new battery and a new burgundy croc leather strap has given it a new lease of life and I love it for its outright bling ones. It’s my exception to the rule - kind of like an “ironic” T-shirt. It’s my go on the pull watch. And since my best mate’s an avid watch lover too, he hates it so I get to wind him up all the time with my enthusiasm. Pun intended.
A friend bought a Filippo Loreti Ascari, rose gold with a rubber strap. It is beautiful to behold, but the chronometer buttons don't work. A watch repair guy took off the back and saw that the Japanese Myota movement was too small for the already large case, so nothing lined up. Also, the numbers on the bezel are painted on. Basically, all style and no class and way overpriced. I think that it is unfair that Chinese watch makers are held responsible; it is the middlemen, and women, the people who started DW, MVMT and FL who are ripping people off. I have yet to see anyone criticize Curren Watches, which are also flashy Chinese watches, and that is because the most expensive one on their site sells for $30.
"Fashion" is a popular/social trend, usually short-lived. It's vastly different from "style," which is personal and long-lived. A person can follow changing fashion trend, or a person can have his or her own consistent style. I bought what one might call a fashion watch, a $25 Forsining, because it is solely manual wind, which I did not have, has an exhibition case back, which I wanted, and has a big ivory-colored dial, which suited a particular event I was to attend. Since that is behind me, I rarely wear this piece, but I'm getting it out of the box now, just because I can. If I were a reviewer, I'd be open about which sellers have paid for the review, and I'd be harder on them because I think I have to be to achieve balance.
What I think modern fashion watch brands utilize is, that in an over saturated market, and our rapidly changing and accelerating lifestyle, people make purchase decisions faster, from less information, and we assume the quality of a service or product based on its price tag. So they overprice their products to make the illusion of real value. If they have asked less then now, but enough to make profit on each product, they would not sell more! Because the costumer in this case wants a 150-200 $ watch (with the expected quality), not a cheaper 50-100 $ one.
I see both your points and Urban Gentry points. Fashion watches have cheap components and are marked up ridiculously. But I see Urban Gentry's points as well. The established watch brands are lacking engagement with the younger market. My niece is a good example. She doesn't wear a watch and doesn't know a thing about Horology. Imagine if these brands just market their watch properly and see their sales soar.
Everybody can hate dw watches but it is obviously they rule in marketing... They know how get and attract customers... That is why dw are very popular and many people want one... We should learn so much about it. Ben good video like always... Please make one talk about Original Grain watches.
I like my Invicta. Thanks for not bashing them like everyone else. Calvin Klein sells real Swiss made watches. Some are real bargains for sapphire and ETA movement.
I've got a cheap Chinese watch and the brand is tevise it took me around $24 and it's really good good quality for its price though they do have weaknesses but all in all there great.
Ben are you still making content for this channel? I know you are focusing on the watch club but the release of stuff on here is so infrequent nowadays. Thanks!
Fashion watches are fine... if what you pay for them is chump change and treat them as disposable accessories, because "fashion" is inherently fast and disposable.
I hate that these companies are taking advantage of people (particular kids/teens) that know nothing about watches. Convincing them that a 3 dollar watch is worth 150 bucks because Some Joe shmow on Instagram or RU-vid is hyping this crappers up like they’re a Rolex.
Alan Voorhees that’s a great point. But at least a Rolex will hold its value. But at the same time it’s ridiculous how much mark up there is with some brands.
worst gift i have ever gotten was a mug with "Fuk U" printed on it... never would I have imagined that anyone would top that.... until i was gifted a MVMT. The strap started deteriorating after a few weeks and the thing looked like shit, honestly as if a 2 year old designed it. what were they fking thinking!!!!
I don't get the hate. I find fashion watches to be quite appealing. Let's be honest, we live in a "throw away" society now and especially when it comes to fashion we all want to look like we're wearing the latest trendy clothes and accessories. Whats the point of spending £1,000+ on a Hugo Boss watch that you won't want to be seen wearing 1 or 2 years from now? Better to spend £20 to £50 and buy a whole bunch of watches throughout the year which you can wear with different outfits and styles, and rotate/replace them out of your wardrobe after a few months. If they last a year, then great!
Well fashion watches might be okay if they sold them for what they are worth for. You can find good price-value relation, for an example, on Aliexspress, but DW and MVMT are very overpriced.
Thats true. but you won't find the kind of ones talked in the video within £20 to £50. All those DW, Vincero and MVMT are pricey for their value. If you go to aliexpress you can find the same watch without the brandname with same quality and price around £5 - £20.
I think some of it is right in the name. The fact that they're "fashion" watches means they're only going to be in style for a short time, and will likely age a lot when they go out of style. People often like to think of a good watch as something timeless, that will still hold up even 10 or 20 years after they buy it, not something that will be thrown out in a year or two. I think the deception on the part of the likes of MVMT is also a big factor. It tends to just piss people off when they find out that the watches with the flashy branding and marketing, that sell for $100-200 are actually just Chinese junk that can be bought from the manufacturer for $2-8. Even if you'd never buy one, it feels like a scam, and it rubs people the wrong way knowing someone is making money off a scam.
Isn't the point of these 'affordable luxury watches' who like you said, the 'middle person' earned consumer market as well as these types of marketing strategy in which the goal is to make the ultimate profit ? 'Buy low, sell high' , I've asked my friend this situation and he compared this situation to that of buying stocks in stock market, are they the same though ?
Great video Ben as usual, I am a collector of watches loving horology from my point of view I want see watches on the wrist of generations to come regardless if they are designated as "Fashion Watches", "Micro Brands" or "Swiss BIG Brand Watches" so that the smartphone doesn't overtake an entire industry or the way we find the time. I think regardless of how the watch is designated by category as long as it is designed with integrity, style & substance then put very simply it is deemed a WATCH in my arena...you have to be able to bring the very best product to the market for each segment of the market otherwise we will be taken over by smartphones & smart watches with the future generations calling the watches that collectors like myself love so much DUMB WATCHES, this is my greatest fear.
Ben Arthur Regarding watches bearing the same brands as fashion clothing labels and such. It is surprising to most people outside the fashion business to learn how small their company headquarters are: just offices, perhaps a few drawing studios, and perhaps a small workshop where a few seamstresses work on making prototypes and one-offs for fashion parades. Reason: the productions of all their products are farmed out to various specialist OEM, the clothes are made by specialist clothes manufacturers who can find a slot to make the number of clothes required. The same goes for other products: a firm famous for their clothes would never want to learn all about the business of perfume manufacture, much less gearing up to make their own perfumes. If they want to include perfumes in their collection they would get an OEM - say, Coty - to do everything. Same goes for watches: they might call someone to visit a watch industry expo in China, get the right combinations of cases, dials, hands, etc, and find someone who can bolt them together: the mark-up just for the dial printing - free of charge if ordered enough units from the dial maker - is totally bonkers.
What do you think about Fossil watches? I definitely see them as fashion watches but I own 2 in my collection and love them. I rock them on any given Fossil Friday lol
Fashion watch is just another word for appearance watch. When you wear one, you think about how you would look from a distance, not what is going on inside the watch or the details on the dials that only you can enjoy. They are like buttons on your clothes that don't button to anything.
First , fashion watches are watches branded by fashion and lifestyle brands. Second, they are invariably cheap crap and cheaply made. Third, invaruably overpriced. Lets be serious, who needs actual quality when you're intentionally buying a name. Worst, you're maybe buying it because it looks cool. So, accessory! Accessories are cool. Even the non fashion brand fashion watches are accessories. But there are both higher end and lower end fashion watches. Do I like fashion watches? No! Are there brands that are both practical and fashion watches? Yes, think about Casio or Timex.
I’ll tell you something: I bought a Seiko 5 and guess what? That crap does not keep the time and after 3 months it just stopped out of blue... on the other hand I have a fossil with japan mvt and it’s completing its 3 years of perfect job.
Watching this video with a watch by Guess loudly ticking away on my wrist lmao. You get what you pay for but at the end of the day if you are buying a particular watch purely as an accessory, the quality of the machinery inside is an afterthought compared to the visual aesthetic and brand name.
Guys wanna your opinions Am Going to a lot of classes with my friends (more than 30).... Winter is coming in my country and i went to these classes in the morning so wanna buy a cheap remarkable fragrance that lasts long (for like 6 hours) so tell me which is the best and suitable for me?? Ck one shock Nautica voyage Cool water Salvator ferrgamo f You can add any other fragrance but cheap..
There shouldn't be any problems viewing fashion watches as a positive. There's nothing wrong with form over function. Personally I'd rather see someone wear a MVMT or Vincero over something like a (insert high end brand here) watch. At least someone wearing those might be supporting a content creator they like via affiliate links versus dumping 4 to 5 figures into a watch that honestly if the name was removed would more than likely be passed on by most people
@@BenArthur Completely agree. I'm not a watch enthusiast so having something that looks good is more important to me than heritage. I like big chronograph style watches and really had no idea that some major brands made some affordable ones until recently
I like one fashion watch so much... how it looks but i will not pay for it.. The thing is, i have really specific taste.. and most of the watches ( which is affordable for average human ) i don't like how they look like.. and ofcourse watches which catch my eye by designs are +$10-20.000 so... yup.. I really wish if i can put mechanical ( heart ) of the good quality watch in the case of some good looking one lol.
Let's be honest here, fashion watches from AliExpress and wish are great. You can have a big watch collection for just a small amount of money. Of course you aren't gonna wear em around being proud of it like you'd do with a Seiko or a Rolex. But if it's for a business meeting, a wedding or whatever type of event there may be, a $7 fashion watch can serve it's purpose - to look good. And even those $200 DWs and MVMTs are fine to some degree because people get more interested in watches and will sooner or later be an actual watch enthusiast. For everyone else, it's just a timekeeper and that's fine too. The only real issue is that the watches are advertised as luxury, which is straight up a lie.
Fashion watches are accessories. Either higher end or lower end junk, they are junk. There is a niche in the watch market for various price points and various interests.
it's not the top quality i think but it's not considered a fashion watch either, it's way better then Michael Kors, Wellington and Fossil. I'd say it's entry level luxury
It’s funny before YT this was never an issue people bought and wore what they wanted to. Now some on YT have become so anti fashion they almost guilt people into buying a non fashion brand they don’t want instead of the fashion brand they want. Makes me wonder if they have some monetary reason to do so. 🤔 Also why will watch snobs scream about a fashion brand watch costing $200 being way overpriced but never do the same with an overpriced mechanical watch costing $20,000? Bottom line I own fashion and non fashion brands and each person simply needs to do their research to determine what is a good value. Sure I agree paying $500 for a fashion brand watch from a watch store in a mall is a horrible deal. However, if you are able to find that same watch for $100 somewhere else it may actually be a great deal. I grew up hanging out at malls and always bought/wore Fossil watches when I was younger. Recently I even got one brand new on their website at a steep discount which I wore for a year and then flipped for a small profit. Wouldn’t you say that is a much better deal than someone else buying a $10,000 automatic watch that has already dropped in value by a few thousand? I don’t understand why many watch enthusiasts can’t understand this.
The watches themselves are not the ones hated on, but the dishonest marketing, inflated MSRPS, spotty quality control, and the deceptive prices. Go watch his other video where he compared a fashion watch he bought from their website and one from AliExpress. I believe it's called "Watch this before you buy a Daniel Wellington". It'll shed light on why fashion watch brands are disliked in the watch community.
The fashion watches are good in my opinion like a not 100% watch but can just dib into it and not worry bout all money they spent Amazon do some nice ones but it is nice to go premium Argos do some nice ones for 60 quid lurus one ide never spend 2 to 300 on one
I remember I was in a jewelry store to look at watches and I asked the clerk to pull out a 38mm example because I have a small wrist. She pulls out a Daniel Wellington and I immediately told her to put that back and grab a real quality watch for me to see. She was about to reach for a Gucci watch so I stopped her and said "Can you just grab me a Tissot please. I'd like to see something from a legitimate quality watchmaker, which Gucci isn't."
I like this new channel but I hope you won't make video after video dunking on overpriced tat. Concentrate on the cool watches that've impressed you. I've already seen some great ones on your channel that other RU-vidrs haven't covered, and that's the sort of content I value. If I never hear "Daniel Wellington" again it'll be too soon. edit: one thing I'd love to see is a review of some "smart-ish" watches like the Fossil Q or Withings Steel. I think smartwatches from Apple or Samsung are ugly as sin, but I like the functionality. Today I'm wearing a Seiko SNK807 on one wrist and a Fitbit Charge 3 on the other, but I sure feel like a fanny doing it. I'd love a watch that combines both and looks good doing it.
Why you talk for stupid fashion brands, that few know about their existence. Why don't you talk about serious fashion watches like Tommy Hilfiger, Police, Ben Sherman, Hugo Boss,Esprit etc. I have a T. H. and Police (fashion watches) and by the other hand "real" watches like Lorus and Festina. I don't see a big difference in endurance, quality, price or apparence between them.
Not all mechanical/automatic watches are expensive, some costs just as much or sometimes even less than MVMT or DW watches. If you want to wear a watch as an accessory you are better off buying $10 watches from china directly because that's exactly what MVMT and DW watches are, chinese junk that are sold through good marketing.
