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Comment by balls187 | Hacker News Reader

Interesting that even with importation fees, it was cheaper for Costco to import watches.

That's especially likely to happen when manufacturers are deliberately trying to charge very different prices in different markets (like you see in a lot of parallel importation cases).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_segmentation#Geographic...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination#Internati...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_import

On the right day, you can get a high end watch for a lot less than going into a boutique.

I bought a Omage Aquaterra, with the big white dial for $1400 years ago. This watch was going for $3500 in the authorized retail stores.

Swatch took Costco to court, and lost.

There's no factory warranty, but most of these new high end watches will keep perfect time for 10 plus years. Oh yea, Costco does have some watchmaker that supposedly repairs watches. I can repair, so I don't trust anyone anymore.

It's too bad companies continually screw Americans on price, on so many products--the medication cost difference really bothers me.

Besides the obvious battery life and water-resistant depth, what is the functional difference between that $1400 watch and the $20 Casio I just bought for my girlfriend?

people who like expensive watches (ie other rich people) can tell that his is expensive, so he's part of the ingroup. it's an impractical amount of money to spend, even at his steep discount, on something that is also functionally outmoded for most people by smartphones, and thus acts as a high-cost (honest) social signal.

some people also like sophisticated physical mechanics (likely including GP, since he can repair watches), but i believe that's typically secondary.

It's kind of interesting that we've come full circle. We started with pocket watches and moved to wristwatches when it was too inconvenient to take something out of your pocket to check the time in the trenches of WWI. Now we've transitioned back to pocket watches in the form of a phone because it's "more convenient."

High end watches serve the same function as jewelry. They're also magnificent pieces of art and engineering in many cases.

If you just want something that keeps time, the $20 Casio is fine. In fact, most people I know just look at their phones. However, there's elegance and sophistication present in a luxury watch that you don't get with a simple digital watch.

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