by Barbara Paulus

Created on: December 04, 2008

Designer watches are, like all watches, functional tools used to tell time. This remains true even if agreement is ever reached regarding precisely what distinguishes and elevates a designer watch apart from any other quartz or handmade automatic timepiece. Anything beyond this basic fact is, admittedly, conjecture including if the rationale for purchase includes an assessment of understood or expected societal implications granted by ownership. For the purposes of this argument, I will define a designer watch as a Swiss made timepiece. Certainly many watchmakers design and manufacture quality timepieces outside Switzerland, but, in today's global image-driven marketplace, Swiss made watches I believe reasonably fall into the general term: designer.

At present, argumentation against purchasing a designer watch quickly becomes one overtly concerned with the monetary costs incurred. "Extravagant!" "Unnecessary!" and "Frivolous!" are quite commonly used to vituperate those who place an emphasis on a quality, albeit, a luxury, item and have the income that allows for it. What is sadly discounted by such a hasty one-word conclusion, often volunteered without further justification, is the expected longevity of the watch.

Implicit in the purchase of a designer watch is not only a business transaction but an establishment of trust with the brand. The wearer trusts that the watch will remain in working order without a seemingly incessant need for repair, or, at worst, replacement. Further, this relationship is firmly situated upon the grounds that the watch will remain in excellent condition functionally to the standard projected by the company and expected by the consumer as the complications (such as the date function or the chronograph) of the watch are put to the test in addition to the general movement.

Movado, Rolex and Omega, among others, make no secret of the fact that their watches have a storied history of working very well in conditions where watches are subjected to conditions seemingly unsuitable for a timepiece. Too often, however, these designer watch manufacturers who built watches to withstand the strenuous demands of the World War II battlefields, and, in Omega's case, the first manned space mission to the land on the moon, are callously besmirched. In spite of the audacious appeal to the fluctuating concept of over-priced exclusivity, the designer watch remains an item of use. While its value to the CEO or well-educated and well-paid individual may

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