Quote:
Originally Posted by BMW335icoupe
I know that there is a watches forum but I wanted to get a feel for how you feel towards each brand. If you saw someone wearing an Omega are you more ok with that than someone wearing a Rolex. People with Rolex I think sometimes get a lot of issues from people that aren't into watches. Although I could walk in wearing a Patek and non watch people wouldn't know what it is.
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- I wouldn't and won't give a tinker's dam what watch someone else is wearing so long as they show up places on time -- specifically the meetings they have with me -- if they are relying on the watch to make that happen.
- I have several Rolex watches and two Omegas. I've never gotten any sort of issue from anyone about wearing any of them. At the worst, some 30+ years ago, I got teased playfully by friends about my first Rolex, and that was mostly because I bought mine before they bought theirs. I gave as good as I got once they joined the Rolex "club." <wink>
- As far as my thoughts about the brands, there's no question that as a brand, Rolex far outstrips Omega in terms of the actual business value of the brand. In terms of how folks who know nothing about watches go, Rolex also has the more highly thought of brand name, although both brands are quite well known by most all middle class or higher (economically) people on the planet, as judged by Western standards.
- As far as the watches themselves are concerned, I think Omega is a tick ahead of Rolex on the innovation front, what with their co-axial escapement which is a really super movement. Rolex have been and continue offering in all their watches movements that are substantively unchanged from those offered some 70 years ago, although Rolex have gussied them up with more decoration in the past 20 years. That's good for Rolex as a business, and to their credit, they are excellent, solid movements that aren't fussy and are easy to own. They have a good thing that doesn't need fixing.
- In terms of the art of watchmaking, Omega bests Rolex, hands down. The only complications Rolex offer are GMT and chronograph, and it wasn't until sometime in this century that Rolex even began to make their own chronograph movements, using Zenith's ebauches before that. Omega offers a wider assortment of complications, so I guess on some level, one can say Omega are better watchmakers, although that's only relevant if one actually buys one of those complicated watches, and quite frankly, most folks don't. (Note: Being able to produce one's own movements only speaks to the capabilities of the maker, not whether the watch/movement itself actually performs better.)
All the best.
Edit:
As for who recognizes a Patek or any other fancy watch brand, who cares if folks do or don't? I always recommend folks buy watches to please themselves rather than to please (in some way, even if it's just recognition) others, unless, of course, one or more of those other folks is actually going to pay for the watch, in which case I suppose one must please them at least in terms of their budget constraints. <wink>