Micro brands.

[willy]

You just cannot compare the finishing of watches and use it as a benchmark of a 
good or bad watch.Comparing the finish of say a Lange with a Rolex is ridiculous.
                         But both are excellent watches,made for different segments of
the public.Micro brands have also a place,and many watch people buy them
because they can give great value for money.And not all micro brands are rubbish
and not worth buying.
                                Why i use the marketplace to judge watches on a general
scale,is because in the long run collectors from all over the world are usually 
quite knowledgeable about the quality of watches.And this always reflects on
the used prices.You cannot compare independent watchmaking with industrial
watchmaking.And i would like to mention that Patek-Lange-Rolex-Omega etc etc
are all making watches on a industrial scale.
  
                      But to try to compare the methods used to produce Micro brand
watches,and their quality with brands like Rolex or Omega is truly ridiculous.
                       All anyone would need to do,if they do not believe this,is to
visit a Rolex or Omega-Oris-Longines etc etc production facility.

                  Most Micro brands get their watches made in the same few factories
in China or Hong Kong.They are capable of making watches very quickly and to
almost any design you can give them.And the quality can be okay.The calibers
are usually off the shelf run of the mill Swiss or Japanese.Easy to service and just
as reliable as watches costing much more from established brands.But seeing that
any Quartz watch can do the same compared to the reliability of high end watches,
this does not tell us very much.

                   Many of the Micro brands are in my opinion,just copy brands like
say Steinhart who have made a living of copying other brands designs.They are
really not very inventive at all.And when did you last hear about a Micro brand
that as made a contribution to the art of making watches?
                          Do they invent a new type of balance or excapment etc etc,
or build a caliber ? No of course they do not,because they are not watchmakers.
                          They use technology invented by others,and that makes them
copy artists in my book.
                Many artists can copy the Mona Lisa to almost perfection,but there
will always only be one honest original.
                   Its a bit like the Rolex Sub,and the copies that have been made of
this design by countless brands over many years.