TAG Heuer watches?
I tend not to buy cheap tat much. If I want something to last, I'll spend a decent amount of money on it - enough so it's a good bit of kit but not into the 'diminishing returns' region of the expenditure/quality graph. I have however broken this rule once, when I bought my TAG Heuer watch, which cost me a goodly number of hundreds of British pounds. Which leads me to my tale.

Out in Spain once, my mate bought two 'TAG' watches from a street seller. He took about 20 minutes negotiating the deal and appeared in the pub with a smug look and proclaimed that he'd beaten the guy down to (the equivalent of) £13 for the two watches.

Within 10 minutes, the bezel had fallen off one of them.

Within 10 minutes of his wife (then girlfriend) receiving the other one as a present after his return home, it had ceased to function too.

She wasn't best pleased.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 12:56, 7 replies)

My dad applies the "pound a week rule"
for expensive stuff. Namely, if you pay £500 for say a telly, it should last 10 years.

It's not the initial outlay, it's about whether you can afford to replace it when it eventually breaks.

My watch is an Omega which cost a fortune (for my 18th birthday) but will easily last well beyond the "pound a week" territory. Dad still wears his, it's over 30 years old, and he inherited Grandad's too. You definitely do get what you pay for.
( mr_wicksy is.... old., Mon 7 Jan 2008, 13:59, closed)

Mine's a Rolex
Paid about £1800 ten years ago and it still looks brand new. I know I'd be able to get at least £800 cash for it any time I chose. And if I put it on a flat surface at night, it sings me to sleep with the soft ticking of its hundreds of bejewelled parts.
(frankspencer, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 14:11, closed)

Trumps!!
With my watch, I can;
Make phone calls
Send text messages
Receive & send MMS (no camera though)
Choose between analogue or digital clock.

It also has a few crap games, a decent personal organiser, daily and individual alarms and a whole host of other shite I don't use / haven't found. How much did I pay for this wonder of time-displaying marvellousness?

Twenty of the queens english sterling pounds.
I haven't worn a watch since I started to use / carry a mobile all the time. What's the point?
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 14:52, closed)

@ Frank
That's why you had a cheap wedding!
You spent all your money on your watch!

;-)
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 15:05, closed)

Greencloud
How do you carry a mobile to tell the time when you are:

Underwater
In an aeroplane
In a hospital or similar which doesn't allow mobiles
Naked, and thus with no convenient pockets for your phone

or in several other circumstances I can't be arsed thinking about?

I'll stick with the TAG for the time being, thanks.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 15:14, closed)

I think
we've all bought our fair share of "Polex" and "Rolox" watches, along with "Levvis" jeans. My favourite was a "Cortier" watch I bought in Majorca. It lasted for nearly a year - not bad for £4.
(Seance Trumpet has got no beef with a man enjoying a croissant, Mon 7 Jan 2008, 19:08, closed)

everlasting watch (nearly)
I bought a watch for £120 which is powered by light. I never need to change the battery, it can last 3 months without needing to see any light at all before it runs out and has a two clip fastening which doesnt come unclipped the second i catch it on anything. All in all an excellent buy.
I also have a £5 watch i bought from argos for when i went to india. Only used it once and its still sitting in my wardrobe. I think its silly to have one for best. how often will you actually wear it?
(PixelGirl unlock the mind...unmind the lock, Wed 9 Jan 2008, 13:16, closed)