Kobold Watches

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rill
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Kobold Watches

Post by rill »

What do you think about these watches...
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continuity
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by continuity »

I used to buy cool, expensive watches, at least x4. I broke them or lost them inside 2 months.

Now I have a cheap G-Shock Casio that has lasted... at least 3 years.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by mbogo »

Overpriced for what thet are.

What sort of watch do you want?

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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by rill »

I was just curious if anybody here has one. They are supposed to be quite rugged...
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by mbogo »

$5000 for a watch with an ETA movement is absurd.

A Seiko is at least as rugged at 1/40th the price. Poljots cost even less, but I'm no fan.

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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

My only jewelry is my wedding band ($80 when I was 20). $4K for a watch? I'd be entertained to hear of the attempted justification for such an expenditure.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by mbogo »

Libertarian_Geek wrote:My only jewelry is my wedding band ($80 when I was 20). $4K for a watch? I'd be entertained to hear of the attempted justification for such an expenditure.
It's a luxury item and doesn't require justification. Just like a Ferrari, suppressor, or full-auto firearms.

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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by Baboon »

Libertarian_Geek wrote:My only jewelry is my wedding band ($80 when I was 20). $4K for a watch? I'd be entertained to hear of the attempted justification for such an expenditure.
Well my Rolex has tripled what I paid for it.
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continuity
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by continuity »

Baboon wrote:...Well my Rolex has tripled what I paid for it.
And my fake Rolex looks just as good. Second hand gives it away, i dont care
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Re: Kobold Watches

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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

mbogo wrote:
Libertarian_Geek wrote:My only jewelry is my wedding band ($80 when I was 20). $4K for a watch? I'd be entertained to hear of the attempted justification for such an expenditure.
It's a luxury item and doesn't require justification. Just like a Ferrari, suppressor, or full-auto firearms.

mbogo
Ferraris, suppressors and full-auto firearms have a functional quality beyond that of their alternatives. Does your $4000 watch drive faster and corner better than a $40 watch? Does it shoot faster or protect hearing while improving accuracy? Maybe it provides its wearer with a cargo-cult type of association with fame and wealth. Either way, if it does something for you, then so-be-it. Somehow, you justify it. Luxury items are not magic, they require justification (at least to yourself) just like everything else, otherwise, the prices (value) are arbitrary. I tend to think that it's the cargo-cult effect or simple status symbol for most jewelry and "high-fashion".

I'm just interested in understanding more about how it adds 2 orders of magnitude worth of value to the function of telling time.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by mbogo »

Libertarian_Geek wrote:
mbogo wrote:
Libertarian_Geek wrote:My only jewelry is my wedding band ($80 when I was 20). $4K for a watch? I'd be entertained to hear of the attempted justification for such an expenditure.
It's a luxury item and doesn't require justification. Just like a Ferrari, suppressor, or full-auto firearms.

mbogo
Ferraris, suppressors and full-auto firearms have a functional quality beyond that of their alternatives. Does your $4000 watch drive faster and corner better than a $40 watch? Does it shoot faster or protect hearing while improving accuracy? Maybe it provides its wearer with a cargo-cult type of association with fame and wealth. Either way, if it does something for you, then so-be-it. Somehow, you justify it. Luxury items are not magic, they require justification (at least to yourself) just like everything else, otherwise, the prices (value) are arbitrary. I tend to think that it's the cargo-cult effect or simple status symbol for most jewelry and "high-fashion".

I'm just interested in understanding more about how it adds 2 orders of magnitude worth of value to the function of telling time.

People buy $4000 (or more) watches because they can. It's a personal choice, a.k.a. liberty, thing.

If you don't get it, there is no point in explaining it to you.


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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

mbogo wrote:...

People buy $4000 (or more) watches because they can. It's a personal choice, a.k.a. liberty, thing.

If you don't get it, there is no point in explaining it to you.


mbogo
You can spend $8000 on a pet rock if you want to. But you don't. You can spend $800 on a pack of potato chips, but you don't. You have the liberty, personal choice, etc to do all kinds of things. I understand that you can. You could stack a pile of coconuts in your front yard 50' high, but no one does. Saying they do it "because they can" is an intellectually lazy answer.

Besides, I think you're missing the point of my question. I'm not suggesting that anyone justify it to me or make me think that it's worth it (that would be impossible). I'm asking how folks justify it to themselves.

I sense in the phrasing of your response that I may have hit a nerve (It's not my intent. I'm not saying that it's stupid, or dumb or anything other than understand) I'm not trying to offend anyone, I honestly want to know the decision making process. There's some internal value that says: $4000 is OK for this watch, but $40,000 isn't.

Most folks are still paying a mortgage. What internal balances does one strike with his own sense of values to get over the threshold of buying a $4000 watch instead of say, paying $4000 towards the principle of your house or paying off the car?

If this question bothers you, then it's not me, but possibly that internal balance being unsettled by the doubt cast by my question.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by MV10 »

Nothing mbogo wrote struck me as "bothered."

I'm still trying to figure out why you think anyone needs to justify it to you.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by mbogo »

No worries, you haven't touched any nerves here or disturbed any 'internal balance'. I spend what I want to on what I want.

A Casio G-Shock will keep time better than any mechanical watch extant and would be a better choice for 98% of the watch-wearing public. However, if you appreciate better materials, higher level of precision of components, sophistication of movement, fit, and finish of a fine mechanical watch, that will cost serious money. It is a piece of mechanical art (like some high-end fountain pens or custom knives).

The OP's financial situation may permit him the latitude to expend $4000 on a watch. Perhaps his cars and home are paid off, his children are out of school, and he has no appreciable debts. Perhaps the $4000 is merely a small part of his dividend or interest income.

I was once asked how I could spend money hunting Africa when I could donate it to the'needy' instead; my answer was that it was my money to do with as I see fit. You might consider that an 'intellectually lazy' reply, but the fact is, I do not have to justify my expenditures to anyone.

mbogo
Libertarian_Geek wrote:
mbogo wrote:...

People buy $4000 (or more) watches because they can. It's a personal choice, a.k.a. liberty, thing.

If you don't get it, there is no point in explaining it to you.


mbogo
You can spend $8000 on a pet rock if you want to. But you don't. You can spend $800 on a pack of potato chips, but you don't. You have the liberty, personal choice, etc to do all kinds of things. I understand that you can. You could stack a pile of coconuts in your front yard 50' high, but no one does. Saying they do it "because they can" is an intellectually lazy answer.

Besides, I think you're missing the point of my question. I'm not suggesting that anyone justify it to me or make me think that it's worth it (that would be impossible). I'm asking how folks justify it to themselves.

I sense in the phrasing of your response that I may have hit a nerve (It's not my intent. I'm not saying that it's stupid, or dumb or anything other than understand) I'm not trying to offend anyone, I honestly want to know the decision making process. There's some internal value that says: $4000 is OK for this watch, but $40,000 isn't.

Most folks are still paying a mortgage. What internal balances does one strike with his own sense of values to get over the threshold of buying a $4000 watch instead of say, paying $4000 towards the principle of your house or paying off the car?

If this question bothers you, then it's not me, but possibly that internal balance being unsettled by the doubt cast by my question.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by rill »

mbogo wrote:$5000 for a watch with an ETA movement is absurd.

A Seiko is at least as rugged at 1/40th the price. Poljots cost even less, but I'm no fan.

mbogo
I'm well aware of the movements etc. I was interested in any feedback from some owners, as it is an interesting story.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

MV10 wrote:Nothing mbogo wrote struck me as "bothered."

I'm still trying to figure out why you think anyone needs to justify it to you.
As I wrote before. No one has to justify it to me. That's not what I'm asking at all. I just want to know the internal decision making process that goes on to decide to spend $4000 on a watch. I don't know anyone that would do it, so it's a personality "mental model" that I don't understand.

I would think that the top priority for a time-piece would be how well it keeps time, then durability, then appearance. Those are my factors. With those 3, I personally couldn't come up with enough value to go over $100. The quality of the materials and the precision of the movement are all intermediary to the final 3 qualities by which I personally measure a watch's final worth.

In this case, it's pure curiosity (filling in a mental model of a personality) that makes me wonder about the values of various attributes that other people use for such decisions. Someone spending this much money on a watch seems like an anomaly to me so I want to know more about it. Most folks saying "why pay that much for a watch" would be criticizing the decision, but I'm just wanting to put it under the metaphorical microscope.

I may have judged his response wrong, but it seemed frustrated. It wasn't any more information than what I already had, so it wasn't trying to answer my question. But it was a short, perfunctory response which usually means: "I can't be bothered to answer you and I want you to know it so go away."

For the vast majority of US citizens, $4000 on a watch from my perspective seems like the wheels being worth more than the car. I strongly suspect that the common scenarios of putting 24" overpriced rims on a 1993 LTD decision is driven by they previously mentioned cargo-cult phenomenon (or similar). Might the pricey watch be the same? I don't know yet.

Understand my tone here because there's a large chance that the language used by me to this point hasn't conveyed it correctly. I have zero frustration or emotion on this subject, it's a fun curiosity for me and that's all. I like to understand why people make the decisions that they do as well as how they communicate in direct language as well as sub-text. This forum has been and continues to be an interesting lab of personalities. What I've learned from my interactions through the years (on this forum) has helped me to better debate against anti-2nd amendment folks and recently even flip a few of them.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by rill »

Wow Robert, what timing... this is my hometown, but the Post-Gazette is so Left Wing, I would never have seen that article. It is a very interesting story. The watches are quite gaudy, the movements are pretty average, and there doesn't seem to any consistency with his choice of those movements.
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Re: Kobold Watches

Post by edarahk »

Libertarian_Geek wrote:
MV10 wrote:Nothing mbogo wrote struck me as "bothered."

I'm still trying to figure out why you think anyone needs to justify it to you.
As I wrote before. No one has to justify it to me. That's not what I'm asking at all. I just want to know the internal decision making process that goes on to decide to spend $4000 on a watch. I don't know anyone that would do it, so it's a personality "mental model" that I don't understand.

I would think that the top priority for a time-piece would be how well it keeps time, then durability, then appearance. Those are my factors. With those 3, I personally couldn't come up with enough value to go over $100. The quality of the materials and the precision of the movement are all intermediary to the final 3 qualities by which I personally measure a watch's final worth.

In this case, it's pure curiosity (filling in a mental model of a personality) that makes me wonder about the values of various attributes that other people use for such decisions. Someone spending this much money on a watch seems like an anomaly to me so I want to know more about it. Most folks saying "why pay that much for a watch" would be criticizing the decision, but I'm just wanting to put it under the metaphorical microscope.

I may have judged his response wrong, but it seemed frustrated. It wasn't any more information than what I already had, so it wasn't trying to answer my question. But it was a short, perfunctory response which usually means: "I can't be bothered to answer you and I want you to know it so go away."

For the vast majority of US citizens, $4000 on a watch from my perspective seems like the wheels being worth more than the car. I strongly suspect that the common scenarios of putting 24" overpriced rims on a 1993 LTD decision is driven by they previously mentioned cargo-cult phenomenon (or similar). Might the pricey watch be the same? I don't know yet.

Understand my tone here because there's a large chance that the language used by me to this point hasn't conveyed it correctly. I have zero frustration or emotion on this subject, it's a fun curiosity for me and that's all. I like to understand why people make the decisions that they do as well as how they communicate in direct language as well as sub-text. This forum has been and continues to be an interesting lab of personalities. What I've learned from my interactions through the years (on this forum) has helped me to better debate against anti-2nd amendment folks and recently even flip a few of them.

Relax, take a step back and don't be such a tryhard.
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