In the literature of watch geekdom we often bump up against watches that cost well into the six figures, some even in the seven. I take a populist stance on the purchase of watches and encourage the intelligent watch collector to purchase what they can afford or, better yet, save up for a nice watch they can wear forever. I also, for the most part, scoff at any watch over, potentially, $20,000.

A few weeks ago I went to the JCK show in Las Vegas, a strange trade show for jewelry manufacturers where I learned a few interesting things. There I was given a glimpse at the real underpinnings of the jewelry world and came away with a few insights. First, most jewelry is literally marked up 100 percent. That $5,000 wedding ring? It cost the shop $2,500 or less. That gold ring for $400? It probably cost $50 to make and sold to the jeweler for $150. The second thing I learned is that the difference between expensive and ludicrous can quickly be crossed when when talking about highly engineered, bespoke wristwatches and that, when wearing a $77,000 on the subway, you often concern yourself not only with not scuffing the watch against a metal pole but also with the possibility of being stabbed for the hunk of steel and precious metals on your wrist.

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Marijane, a nice lady from Connecticut, sent us this nice email about how happy she is with Timex. Since we usually only talk about watches that cost enough to fund a a food program for starving children in Liberia, it’s nice to get some perspective.

I bought an inexpensive Timex watch for everyday use. I chose Timex because it was the first watch I ever owned and I knew it would stand up to ‘the test of time.’ I have other watches (one is the diamond collection series) and I use them when I want to show off the ‘good watch.’ Not that my everyday is not a good watch, it’s a simple Indiglo WR 50M that I purchased from Target for under $30.00. I’m writing because this watch really proved its ability to keep on ticking! I had attached it to my jeans belt loop because I didn’t want to wear it on my wrist one day. When it was time to wash the jeans, I didn’t see it looped on my pants. The pants went into the wash and then into the dryer. Even though I heard a slight noise as the clothes were drying, I thought it was just a zipper or metal button. When the clothes were dry, I took out the pants and began to fold them when I noticed my trusty watch still attached! I was a little scared to unbuckle it for fear I had ruined it. But, to my surprise, it was ticking away.

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