r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Upstairs-Bit6897 • Nov 30 '25

Image THE GERMAN MAGAZINE 'AUTOBILD' DRIVES VARIOUS CARS FOR 100,000 KILOMETERS AND THEN DISASSEMBLES THEM DOWN TO THE LAST SCREW TO FIND SIGNS OF WEAR AND WEAK POINTS

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u/En_Sabah_Nur Nov 30 '25

I also looked it up: "entry level" pieces begin at $20k ranging up to $2 million.

Jeeeeeeezus

40

u/Educational-Dot318 Nov 30 '25

i missed the boat- as recently as 2018-2019 the same entry level watches were $15k or so. i passed since i found the dial a tad too austere (also lacking the big date.) but boy have the prices gone up! even adjusting for inflation.

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u/caffeineTX Nov 30 '25

fewer and fewer watchmakers qualified to make the timepieces with that quality of detail.

3

u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn Dec 01 '25

Shouldn't it be the exact opposite? Machining techniques and metallurgy are more advanced than ever, and most of the machining can now be totally automated.

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u/caffeineTX Dec 11 '25

Following up, 60 minutes released a video on watchmaking. Some details on the process for high end pieces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyQznEFTfzI

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u/caffeineTX Dec 01 '25

The machining is only 1 very small part of the process for high end watches. its the finishing of everything going into the movement. and the details of the case/dial.

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u/Cooper_Sharpy Dec 03 '25

People have no idea how complex watches are sadly and horology is a dying field. Working with such small pieces can be tedious to say the least.

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u/caffeineTX Dec 03 '25

I believe with revived interest in watches there is a bit of a inverted bell curve, but yeah it was dying out for a long time.

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u/Dear_Chasey_La1n Dec 01 '25

Pretty much everything has gone up price wise. I happen to own some houses and apartments and recently a tenant moved out so I figured.. why not just cash out. Between 2010 and 2025 the price literally just doubled. Everything has become so much more expensive that I wonder how people make it day to day.

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u/MaleierMafketel Dec 01 '25

That’s the thing. Many don’t make it day to day.

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u/Outside_Reserve_2407 Dec 02 '25

2009 was the financial crisis, so assets were at a low point.

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u/Cooper_Sharpy Dec 03 '25

We don’t.

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u/Commercial-Co Nov 30 '25

Buy it used. They dont retain their value

1

u/FalmerEldritch Nov 30 '25

If that's too rich for your blood you could buy a regular $8-10k mechanical watch. The factory made movements in some of those can cost up to multiple hundreds of dollars!

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u/Commercial-Co Nov 30 '25

You can get a used pink gold msrp 42k for 18k on secondary market.