Fans of quality wrist watches!

Thomas Carey

Thomas Carey

Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Nov 26, 2010
Messages
722
Currently we are looking at offering our Minuteman watches with at least the option of an American made leather watch strap.

What we have found as is that our watches are doing very well with veterans who are around age 50 and they all really want our watch with a leather watch strap. That will also show of our case back designs which people have also been wanting to see based on feedback.

The straps would be made from leather sourced from Horween and sourced from Deluca in San Diego. They do a lot of straps for higher end watches like Panerai. Their straps typically sell for around $165.

Even if we only tacked on the cost of the straps with no mark-up our watches would jump up to about $600 in price. Which is why I believe we will have to offer it as just an option. Would love to hear your thoughts on the idea.
 
I've recently got into watches. So I don't know much about them, I do know I like automatic watches with the glass backs that show the intricate gears.
I also like the leather band it came with.
600 seems a normal price for quality watches with good movements.
 
Well that's the thing our watches are quartz and as such our prices are higher than most would expect. There are several things which drive that cost which mostly has to do with our American content. If we offer an auto most likely we will be at about $900 on it.
 
I've looked at your watches and like the design and size as well as the intent behind your company. I also spent 20 years in the jewelry business and sold a lot of watches from citizen and seiko to omega and rolex and many others. Personally I prefer a bracelet on a watch, if your going to go with leather I'd think you would be better off going with a good hirsch or similar brand instead of the much higher cost band. Especially with a quartz watch. Now if you were using a swiss eta auto movement or offering it in cosc I could see the extra for a higher cost band. At your price line though its overkill.
 
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We are using a Swiss ETA movement and its the highest grade for that model. Still its a quartz movement. Overkill on cost is pretty much what I have concluded thus far.

So we have another plan in place for a lower priced leather strap from another source. We do want to offer an auto or wind up which will most likely use ETA movements or a Miyota 9015 next year. The higher strap should be a better fit for that.
 
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We are using a Swiss ETA movement and its the highest grade for that model. Still its a quartz movement. Overkill on cost is pretty much what I have concluded thus far.

So we have another plan in place for a lower priced leather strap from another source. We do want to offer an auto or wind up which will most likely use ETA movements or a Miyota 9015 next year. The higher strap should be a better fit for that.

I had thought Hirsch/Hadley Roma was no longer making straps in the U.S. but looks like they may in fact still be making some items in their Key Largo FL facility. So I will be contacting them.
 
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HwangJino said:
I've recently got into watches. So I don't know much about them, I do know I like automatic watches with the glass backs that show the intricate gears.
I also like the leather band it came with.
600 seems a normal price for quality watches with good movements.
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They aren't mechanical. Priced very high for watchers with quartz movements.
 
The classic rule of thumb is that a $500 quartz watch is too high. But people have been saying that for at least 10 years that I know of.

I can tell you everything pretty much costs a lot more than it did 10 years ago. =)

As dealers we have just gotten the pricing for several new ArmourLite models that have and MSRP of $499. We have also been seeing the same sort of move up-ward from other brands.

But Swiss brands like Tag etc seem to be able to charge more and they get a pass on it. Despite the fact their product may really not be much better.

But at this point I think we are going to look to Hadley Roma for what I hope will be a more affordable strap which would allow us to stay closer to an MSRP $500 - to $549.

Though we are working to bring in retailers so the price they actually sell for will I am sure be some 20% below our retail pricing.

Interestingly the shop that builds our watches in Quincy IL actually feels our retail price is too low. As such they price our current models higher than we do. Thus far they are getting it and in fact are currently sold out. To be honest I am shocked by it. In fact not only are they sold out but literally they recently had a customer order 2 out of stock models which we just were able to build Saturday. The same shop also carry's Hamilton and they have more models than I have seen other jewelry stores stock of those. Reason being they sell a whole lot of them.

We are also working on a lower cost series that would sell for around $300. We simply can not do that with the specs, testing, etc we offer on the current models.
 
Thomas Carey said:
The classic rule of thumb is that a $500 quartz watch is too high. But people have been saying that for at least 10 years that I know of.

I can tell you everything pretty much costs a lot more than it did 10 years ago. =)
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For any expensive quartz watch the movement should be thermo-compensated and COSC certified (+/- 0.07 seconds per day for a quartz movement).
 
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leghog said:
For any expensive quartz watch the movement should be thermo-compensated and COSC certified (+/- 0.07 seconds per day for a quartz movement).
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Well we just are not going to agree and I am not going to debate it with you.
 
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Why don't you just try selling your watches on the quality of the watches themselves and not on the backs of veterans, especially wounded veterans, drop your 25% gimmick discount, and drop the image of the Purple Heart from your home page.

For my .02¢, you're over priced for a quartz movement watch, especially for active duty military, and most veterans I know.
 
Modoc ED said:
Why don't you just try selling your watches on the quality of the watches themselves and not on the backs of veterans, especially wounded veterans, drop your 25% gimmick discount, and drop the image of the Purple Heart from your home page.

For my .02¢, you're over priced for a quartz movement watch, especially for active duty military, and most veterans I know.
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+1 Gazillion.

Well put. I was struggling how to address what you addressed. I hate seeing anyone selling anything using veterans in the sales pitch. Wounded veterans especially. Just sell the watches then QUIETLY give an amount of the profit you choose to charity you choose then claim the tax deduction.

And ditch the pic of the prosthetic leg and foot beside the legs in USMC uniforms (unless they are employees - then I'd recommend so captioning the photo).
 
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If anyone was going to get it, I figured you'd be the one Bill. It just frosts my butt when people take advantage of others circumstances to make a buck. People who are so inclined to make donations to causes will do so without prodding by someone passing their own bucket in the name of God knows what.
 
In my opinion, spending $100+ on a leather strap for a watch makes sense for a dress watch, or something that looks more refined than these watches do. However, I'm not saying these are bad looking. They just look somewhat sporty is all. I'm one of the guys who only wears leather strap watches when I'm in business casual or a suit though, so take that in mind.

I might as well say my opinion on what this topic has turned into while I'm at it. I looked through your website, and really didn't see anything that ruffled my feathers. It's mentioned that the company was started with a Vietnam veteran in mind, apart from an obvious interest in watches, and you clearly explain where funds are headed once you purchase a watch. There's nothing sneaky or distasteful about it in my mind.

What's sad is when companies sell a product, market it as something that will contribute to a charity, and then in fine print you find out 3% actually gets allocated to charities or the like.


I've spent time as a firefighter both for pay and volunteer. If I want something, whether it's a watch, a waffle maker, or a pair of socks, as long as the product is a quality piece, I would be more inclined to buy from a company who would also make a contribution towards injured and downed firefighters just because I bought their product. As long as you don't lie to me about where money is going, then it's whatever. If you don't like the product... don't buy it.
 
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