Thanks.

The watches below are in the Mongolia special episode of The Grand Tour. Quite an entertaining episode and it looked like it was pretty tough on the team.

Jeremy Clarkson has the Omega Planet Ocean 2500 which he seems to be wearing in many of The Grand Tour episodes.

Richard Hammond wears a Tissot T-Touch Expert T0134201720700.

I can't really say what watch James May is wearing in these screenshots. He is often seen wearing Rado watches so this may be a Rado as well.

I will say I was very impressed with the Expedition watch. It looked good, is very well made and durable. Making it ideal as an actual field watch!

Has anyone else had this brand on their radar? I’m considering pulling the trigger on one!

Expedition watch on BOLDR website

There were hardly any customers in the stores at all and the shop employees looked rather bored. I felt sorry for the guy at the Bvlgari store holding a tray of drinks at the entrance. What a job..

I won't be going into what a luxury watch is as a lot about this subject can be found online. There are entry-level, mid range and high end luxury watches. Check out these three articles on A Blog to Watch: link

Quality of materials and manufacturing

There is no denying a luxury watch has better quality materials and is just made better than an average watch costing much less. A $5000 watch is not necessarily 10 times better than a $500 watch as the value to price ratio is not linear. The value often is in the brand as well.

Timeless design

As I plan to keep this watch for a long time, it should not be influenced by current design or fashion trends. Some watches like the Rolex Submariner and Omega Speedmaster are designs that stand the test of time and will probably always remain in their collection.

Innovation and technology

A luxury watch should have an in-house movement. I am not familiar with many in-house movements but the the technology and capabilities of the Omega 8900 movement with METAS certification was a major purchase decision. And it just looks beautiful through the display case back.

A watch for life

A watch often becomes part of you life and luxury watches are often handed down to other generations as an heirloom. You can of course do this with any watch but a Rolex is just more of a special keepsake than a Timex. I think a luxury watch just becomes more special because it is expensive and often not an impulse buy.

Brand image and recognition

Most luxury brand have a long history and are known by watch aficionados and regular consumers. And it is also recognition for the wearer themselves.

Marketing and brand ambassadors

Advertising and the image of a brand is always important. Many will say they are not affected by any of this (I am only buying the watch..!) but I think anyone will be influenced one way or another, consciously or unconsciously. This can go both ways as some brand ambassadors may not be liked by everybody.

An example for good ambassadors for me are the James Bond franchise and Nicole Kidman for Omega. Not so good ambassadors are Lady Gaga and Beckham for Tudor and it actually turns me away from the brand. 

The buying experience

All luxury brands have their own stores often called boutiques and a network of authorized dealers.  There is no denying a beautiful store with nicely dressed and knowledgeable personnel, attention to detail and trying to please the customer in every way has a positive impact on the luxury experience.

Support and warranty

Luxury brands have their own stores and authorized dealers all over the world and it is comforting to know you can walk into any of these for assistance, repairs and service in most countries. A long warranty of many years is proof a manufacturer believes in their products.

A luxury watch is something you will keep for a long time and you want a manufacturer that can service and repair your watch 10, 20 and many more years from now.

Status symbol

Let's not deny many people buy luxury watches as a status symbol to show the world they have expensive taste, are wealthy and want to flaunt it. Or just want to pretend they belong. I am the opposite and rather keep a low-key profile and a shiny gold Rolex with diamonds is a turn-off.

Exclusive and in high demand

For some the high price of entry and exclusivity is the most important purchase decision. Luxury watches are a good example of Veblen Goods.

So....

Do you agree or disagree with these reasons? What makes the perfect luxury watch for you? Do you have one, planning to buy one or have no interest at all? Can you think of reasons not to buy a luxury watch?

Would love to hear any comments you may want to share on the review page. ?

Read the full review here: 

A recent video shows Bill Gate is still wearing the same Casio MDV106 Duro quartz watch he has been wearing for many years. A reliable and still stylish timepiece is all you need when you're not into displaying wealth and are not a horology fanatic. Even when you're the second richest person in the world.

The Casio MDV106 has been a favorite of many budget -conscious watch fans and even luxury watch owners respect this capable and very affordable dive watch. It can be found on Amazon fro about $45 on a rubber strap. The video capture shows Mr. Gates is still wearing it on that same rubber strap.

https://www.casio.com/products/watches/sports/mdv106-1a

Find it here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ClOlER

Serial number: 181296A 0414

Manufacture date: 296H = 23 October 2018

I like Tudor watches but just don't like the snowflake hour hands. Looks better with a straight hour hand like the minute hand.

Sent: March 15
Delivered: March 19
Returned: March 28
Received: March 30

I received an email from them saying they received the watch and would contact me if any additional information was needed. I was happy to see the watch was repaired and returned so quickly in under 10 days!

The repair note shows the watch received a basic service/repair, gaskets and joints were replaced and the watch was pressure tested. When completed, it was retruned by UPS 2-day service.

Service of watches can take a long time, especially in Europe so I am very impressed with Alpina and their authorized repair center Stoll & Co. They provide autorized service for many other brands as well and I wouldn't hesitate to send in any watch for service or repair.

This is not the first watch I had repaired under warranty. I also send in an Eterna watch for repair a year ago and had a similar experience. Very impressed!

http://www.americaswatchmaker.com/

Zombies, casino in Monte Carlo, deep sea diving, polar exploration, saving the world from bad guys and just looking good at the office. You never know what life throws at you.

Be prepared my watch friends!

Omega and Tudor are my current entry-level luxury favorites and I think they all showed regular full retail prices. It's nice to see most models in the same spot and the Ranger and North Flag were the ones I liked most. Actually more than I thought I would like them.

At the outside, the Horloger display in one of the windows was nice to see.

Selfridges was a nice department store to visit. Their watch department is quite big and open. I started with a picture of their Bremont watch display but soon got an evil look from one of the salesmen. Not sure why they didn't like someone taking pictures..

Along that same street are many other stores of the major brands so I just spent some time window shopping. I didn't go inside any of these stores as I didn't really care to talk to any sales staff.

Not very exciting phone pictures but I went to Harrods and Selfridges on different days after sightseeing during the day and was a bit cold/tired at the end of the day. But is was a nice experience to look at things I probably will never own. But that's fun as well.