Good watch, everyone wants it to last.

Long enough to last forever.

Long enough to accompany generations through the vicissitudes of the world.

Most ordinary watches use stainless steel as the case material.

But steel itself has many weaknesses.

Therefore, a better metal than steel won: gold.

Whether it is platinum, gold or rose gold, and platinum that has nothing to do with them but is more expensive, it is the first choice for high-end watches.

There are two reasons: although the modern watch industry is also using steel as the raw material for watchcases, in most cases, the cheapness of steel makes it unattractive.

This is what we call "good looks are worth money".

When choosing the watch you bought, the most important thing is the movement.

At that time, I liked to spend money on what I called "cutting edge".

Therefore, steel watches have become the first choice.

1.4435 or 3 16L should be the most commonly used stainless steel.

After touching quite a few antique watches, I found the most fatal weakness of a steel shell: it will rust.

Even 904 steel, known as the king of steel, has been used for decades.

It will still leave traces of human sweat corrosion on the inner wall of the back cover.

Because people's sweat will seep into the joint between the back cover and the middle frame, especially for repaired watches, the back cover is often not tightened by the original factory, and that gap is enough for sweat to seep in.

If you don't pay attention to maintenance, these small pits will affect the waterproof effect.

And it will leave a small psychological shadow on people.

Another defect of the steel shell is that the whole steel shell will be slightly deformed.

I think it must have something to do with the production process.

I have seen some antique steel watches, and there will be some gaps between the back cover and the middle frame.

I think it has something to do with the deformation of steel shell.

There are reasons for internal stress and external interference.

But in any case, this is a troublesome thing for the watch case.

Because it directly affects the waterproof effect and visual perfection.

The third weakness of steel shell.

It can't be said that it is a shortcoming, but an anti-magnetic performance.

With more and more magnetic things such as home appliances around us, avoiding magnetism should become an important performance of watches.

I don't have any data to say that there is much difference between steel shell and K-gold shell in shielding and retaining residual magnetic force, but some friends who engage in physics told me that steel shell will lose in these two points.

If the steel shell still has weaknesses, it must be allergic and cannot be processed at high end.

Many people know that stainless steel can make some people allergic.

At this time, the steel watch becomes your enemy.

Steel can't be processed with high-end technology, and professional friends will explain it scientifically.

We will find that few steel cases have the most advanced polishing and technology.

Generally, what appears on the steel shell is only simple "live" characters such as mirror surface, frosting and wire drawing.

This is related to the value of the steel watch itself and the physical properties of the steel.

Falling in love with gold should not be a matter of money.

By the same token, a person who loves watches will spend half a year's salary to buy a watch he likes, which will make people who don't like watches with the same salary not understand.

This has nothing to do with income.

2. Dial and hands

We will notice the material of the dial.

A good dial is not only beautiful and scientific, but also durable.

Imagine a perfect watch, but the dial is getting old under the comfort of years, which really makes people feel sad and sorry.

People often praise the aging of dial as a kind of natural beauty, but in the antique second-hand market, the condition of perfect dial is much higher than that of oxidized mottled faded words.

The dial of a watch is mostly made of metal.

Mainly copper alloy.

The top grade is enamel or porcelain surface, which is oxidation-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and many people do not change color for a hundred years.

What's more, multi-color enamel is used to paint on the dial, and even micro-painting.

Or people or things, extremely exquisite, not only the simplicity and durability of the dial, but also the mastery of art and culture, which makes people impressed.

One of them is cut into pieces with precious stones or semi-precious stones (such as agate and lapis lazuli) and covered with a metal plate as a whole, which is gorgeous, luxurious and eye-catching.

Followed by the K gold surface, 18K gold surface is as beautiful and durable.

And the golden case complement each other, with a high-level pride and fairy wind.

It is more common to paint or paint.

It will oxidize and fall off.

But because of its low cost and easy processing, it is also chosen by many brands.

Pointer or scale is also the object of oxidative damage.

The hands of high-end watches are all made of gold.

What's more, diamonds or high-grade rubies and sapphires are inlaid into scales.

Folk saying: drilling words.

Shine in the sun or light, and even better, the dial is covered with diamonds.

Party all over the sky asked:

Fully embody the charm of high-end watches.

There is also an advanced pointer called blue steel needle.

Although it is called steel, the process is extremely complicated.

After the high-grade steel pointer is formed, it is placed on a metal plate filled with copper powder and barbecued with an open flame below. The degree of mastering fire skills is extremely strict.

If it's too dark and too white, it's not easy to ask for dark blue.

The famous Breguet is famous for its gorgeous blue steel pointer.

3. Watch mirror

A watch mirror is also called glass.

There are three kinds of watch glasses:

In earlier years, it was acrylic.

Its advantages are good elasticity and collision resistance.

It can be polished and repaired by itself.

Even the height of the bump can save the space of the frame itself and make the body look thinner.

Disadvantages are soft, scratch-resistant and easy to spend.

It made its debut in the 1960s.

Cheap cost, good hardness, easy to produce various shapes, so that the industry does it one brace up.

Unfortunately, brittleness is its big hole.

It breaks when it hits, so not many people like it.

Followed by artificial sapphire.

Modern watches with higher grades are all made of artificial sapphire glass.

As a non-chemistry major, I'm too lazy to look at those molecular formulas.

I only know that the so-called artificial sapphire, similar to steel and jade, has a hardness of 9. In fact, various colors can be produced by adding various chemical elements.

Colorless is commonly used now.

Its cost is not as expensive as it sounds, it is an ordinary domestic product, but it is only tens of yuan.

The more expensive cambered chamfering will be as expensive as several hundred yuan each.

If you add another layer of anti-glare oil (also called coating), it will be more expensive.

But note that its advantages are actually similar to glass.

Hard, but deadly fragile.

If it's broken, it can't crack like acrylic. It takes days and months. You must change the glass at once.

Broken glass will scratch the panel and even fall into the core. A high cost of cleaning oil and repairing accessories will disappear with a crash ... All kinds of glass have their own advantages and disadvantages, and players and consumers have their own emphasis.

waterproof

A good kernel must need a good protection environment.

Otherwise, the invasion of harmful substances such as water vapor and dust will make a very good core aging.

Therefore, the waterproof performance of electric meters has always been a concern of manufacturers.

The current 30-meter waterproof means that it can only be worn daily.

Resist some splash, Mao Mao rain and other environment.

100 meters can swim.

Because most of them use lock handles.

The deeper is 300 meters.

Thus, waterproof nominally became a symbol of practicality.

A little helpless, most of the real high-end watches are waterproof every day.

Many of Patek Philippe's styles only have the effect of 25 meters.

I think it has something to do with the environment of the wearer.

It also has something to do with the style of the watch.

The only consolation is that the material of high-end watches: gold.

The waterproof effect of the back cover is really better than that of steel.

This is also because of the physical advantages of gold.

There are only three modern back covers: spiral locking structure, multidirectional small screw locking structure and gland structure.

General push-pull handles are waterproof by inner rubber rings. If the rubber ring ages, the waterproof effect will be lost.

Moreover, some handles are locked by screws, and even if the apron is aging, the bottle cap structure can completely ensure the daily waterproof effect.

Many modern watches imitate Rolex Rolex locks. It's a pity that some of them are cheap because of the quality and process of steel, and the handle is too bad, so it's better to push and pull.

Compared with the general pry bottom, the lock bottom has the same advantages as above, that is, it is waterproof.

Moisture and dust are not easy to enter, which ensures the good state of the movement and the life of lubricating oil.

create an image

A good case must have its own characteristics and unique technology.

Whether it is the cutting and molding of materials or the polishing of the surface in various ways, it is the object of players' body odor.

Just like Rolex's oyster, it combines mirror polishing and friction marks to unify exquisiteness and nobility, so that any discerning player will not find flaws when playing.

This is a skill.

Breguet's shell, the combination of polished gold and coin patterns on the side, the hand-carved patterns on the pure gold silver-plated dial and the famous blue steel Breguet needle give you a full aristocratic atmosphere. Perhaps this is the charm of high-end technology.

Classic: What is a classic? I believe that people's aesthetics will definitely change.

Many friends who just entered the business and didn't like Rolex praised the oyster style a few years later.

However, under the filter of time, many styles have changed from appreciation to numbness or disgust. I believe in so-called classics.

In fact, the real classic is the rare 6868. What is a classic watch? From the point of view of word meaning alone, the classic table can easily be misunderstood as "traditional modeling table"

Classic watches must first have a groundbreaking design and be recognized by the market. Second, to become a classic, it must stand the test of time. The recognition of the market must be preserved for at least ten years or even longer, and its shape symbolizes the style of an era. Third, the classic style must represent the image of the brand and become the endorsement and mainstay of a brand.

Fit: Most watches are bought and worn, but in fact, only watches that suit you are good watches.

In fact, watches are just like clothes. It may not look good hanging there, but it will look good in it.

Especially some new models.

Taste: The design of a good watch emphasizes originality and taste.

Mark of IWC, Oyster of Rolex, flip of JLC Jaeger-LeCoultre, the cross star of Patek Philippe, and 6868 of Omega all have a taste that others can't learn.

Imitation is also the dog's tail and mink, which makes people uncomfortable.

A good watch, taste can set off your spirit, taste can radiate your nobility.

Helpless, there are a lot of plagiarism in the world.

Rolex's Sub, Omega's SpeedMaster, etc. , are constantly copying and copying.

Imitate other people's styles, just like the Japanese playing jazz, that is, your skills can really reach the peak, which is not as good as the humming of a black musician's voice.

Blood will have blood.

6. Activities

Balance wheel: My friend, whenever you fiddle with your beloved watch, listen to its crisp and melodious ticking and watch the hands of the watch keep walking happily. Do you think your watch has really been given life? In its body, the balance wheel that keeps moving back and forth is its beating heart.

1675, huygens in the Netherlands first replaced the original pendulum with a balance wheel system.

At present, the common balance wheels are: ring balance wheel (commonly known as light balance wheel), balance screw balance wheel (lotus balance wheel), weight balance wheel, Rolex special internal adjustment balance wheel and double-layer metal compensation screw balance wheel.

Rolex's inner pendulum, Patek Philippe's and AP Audemars Piguet's overweight pendulums, and Omega's coaxial series of outer pendulums are all fitted with hairsprings, which have very good practical effects. This year's JLC Jaeger-LeCoultre also used balance fine tuning combined with non-clamping.

This structure has been widely recognized for its high precision and long holding time.

Grade of hairspring: the highest is the winding structure.

There are alloys and blue steel.

The former has better physical properties, while the latter is more pleasing.

In addition, the open pendulum has excellent control over the maximum and minimum temperatures.

Generally, it is a flat swim.

Due to the development of science, today's advanced alloy hairspring is also excellent in practice.

It's just that the processing level difference is a little poor.

Material: The theory of material is nothing more than decoration.

The material of ordinary watch core has been fixed.

Nothing more than steel and copper alloy.

It's just that a good watch uses more advanced accessories on the balance wheel, hairspring and clockwork.

Beryllium bronze alloy, nickel bronze alloy, Angron continuous spring and so on.

The latest German watches use nickel and silver as a splint.

Beautiful, but love to hurt and dirty.

More advanced watches are made of gold or platinum.

Well, nobody cares.

What people appreciate is that luxury.

In the past, the electroplating of plywood was mostly nickel-chromium.

Titanium nitride for modern low-grade products is golden. Someone lied that it was gold-plated.

Gold plating was very popular in the 1950s and 1970s. The famous rose gold plated by Omega is very beautiful.

Modern high-grade products are plated with rhodium.

There are also palladium plated and gold plated.

Corrosion resistance. Beautiful and expensive.

7. Function

I have always felt the need to draw a clear line between wearing and collecting.

For ordinary wear, three stitches are enough for a calendar.

Minimize the probability of failure (because it is simple, the "no" part is not easy to make mistakes).

But when it comes to collection, it is rare and complicated, and history has become a deadly weapon.

I have never seen a collection. Everyone only collects ordinary models of big three needles and calendars.

What timekeeping, perpetual calendar, tourbillon, minute repeater, alarm clock, and even complicated styles such as double chase, three-dimensional flying, countdown, music and dolls. , golden carvings, hollowing out, enamel micro-paintings, jewelry inlays, etc. are all highly artistic. In short, the more complicated the better.

The less the better.

These watches are art, wealth and luxury goods (this is the lifeblood of high-end watches).

Rarity is very important for a watch worth collecting. If all your brothers have one, it doesn't matter what's strange.

It is very important that people have my essence without me.

Less is not equal to good.

But it must be equal to attracting your attention and making you sigh "I have never seen it".

Collectors like to collect a small number of homemade cores, but for pragmatists, such cores are broken and even accessories are hard to find, which is definitely not as real as ETA.

This is the difference in value points.

It can be said that the practicality of many complicated antique watches in history is definitely not half of the current ETA blank level.

However, the grade of those antiques is not reflected by the degree of practicality. It may be inaccurate (half an hour's error is common in a day), it may be extremely inefficient in winding, it may be rotten to the dregs, but its historicity determines that it is expensive.

Novices don't believe that a worn-out old Breguet dial is more expensive than a new Rolex or even Patek Philippe. This is history, and this is the value of culture.

There is an irreconcilable contradiction between the utility table and the collection table.

How to find a practical and valuable watch is an entry-level test for ordinary watch lovers.

8. Numbers

Did you find that the so-called serial number will appear on high-end watches?

The Rolex we often mention has the prefix * *, which is what it means.

The serial number is engraved on the movement or case.

For example, the famous Rolex oyster engraved the serial number and model between its ears and the serial number on its movement.

Omega used to engrave serial numbers only on the movement, and began to engrave serial numbers on the watch case after the 1980s.

Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and other top watches are more serious, with serial numbers, serial numbers and models.

This number is unique for each watch, and you can check the production date and other specific contents.

When the watch is returned to the factory for maintenance, the manufacturer will record the maintenance record in the file according to this unique serial number.

This figure is also the dividing line between "valuable" watches and "worthless" products in large-scale industrialization assembly lines.

Because there are numbers, a sense of life and uniqueness, the watch factory attaches importance to it.

Even if you meet a watch of the same style, it will be different because of the different numbers.

Each watch has its own manufacturing, assembly, debugging and inspection records.

Top watches will even record the buyer's information into their huge files according to this number.

When buying a new watch, there will be a birth paper in the attachment, and the serial number on it must correspond to the number on the watch.

For example, ID cards (some have COSC certificates or Geneva-stamped certificates).

Without these pieces of paper, the value of the collection will be much less and the fun will be much less.

Every watch without serial number is the same. If the core is broken, change it (because it is a blank level). I don't know when it came out, and I can't find the specific content when I check the information.

Even if you return to the factory for maintenance, there will be no record.

It's a mean feeling.

It's only worth wearing.

Now the serial number is a simple dividing line to distinguish between high-end watches and low-end watches.

What I want to mention here is Tissot Tissot. When the Swiss watch group was integrated in the late 1970s, the serial number that Tissot had been using was cancelled.

In this way Tissot will change from a "grade product" to a popular brand.

That little number represents the positioning of the brand. In any high-end commodity (luxury goods) industry, the value of brand occupies a considerable proportion.

9. Value added

Luxury itself is also a cultural phenomenon.

It needs the accumulation of time and the edification of literacy.

Spending a lot of money can't improve your taste.

Famous brands do not represent elegance or taste.

Famous brands also have upper, middle and lower grades.

Then, we often say whether it is worthwhile to buy a certain brand of watches.

Because the overall price involves the cost, brand value, manufacturer's profit, advertising expenses, agency and distributor's profit, various taxes and fees and other miscellaneous components.

There are some things we can't avoid, and there are some things we can weigh.

The two most important measuring points:

One is the value of brand, and the other is the value of technology.

We know that for a high-end watch brand, there are two most important points: 1 and history.

Behind every famous brand, there is a long historical background, as short as a hundred years, such as Rolex; With a history of nearly 200 years, such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Blancpain and so on.

2. events.

Light has a long history, but without its own brilliant creation, it will not become a prominent brand.

Every well-known brand has its own creation to be proud of, not to mention Breguet's many designs that have influenced future generations, nor the moon landing event of Omega, or Cartier, which takes luxury as its beauty, constantly emphasizing the history and background events of its tank series.

When we appreciate the brand value, the length of time and the story that happened in it are the most memorable.

The second point is the craft of the watch itself.

At present, the Swiss watch industry uses a large number of unified machines.

The manufacturing cost of the movement itself is very low, and the ex-factory price of a most commonly used ETA 2892 itself is only more than 200 dollars.

Plus the decorative polishing process, it is about 300 yuan.

Such magnetic cores are widely used in products with a price of 5000-30000 yuan.

At this time, how to choose the process cost has become a science.

At the same price, how to improve the brand value and the value of the watch itself has become the goal pursued by experts.