Tell me the most underrated watch…
No. Try again.
Nope; not that one.
Definitely not that one.
I’ll stop you, because the question is complete bollocks.
Pet peeve time: this, and similar watch-related questions that involve perception are just not helpful to the narrative.
One cannot know every model of every brand, and microbrand, and historical brand… unless of course you are blessed with a big brain. The point is, even amongst the well-catalogued of collections there will be gaps in your knowledge, and that is ok. Honestly. It’s fine.
You will always come across a watch or brand that you might not know that much about, and it’s not your fault.
There are many factors as to why that is. Most of them are beyond your control.
I have had the misfortune to weigh in on a couple of these conversations in recent days, and the answer is usually the same. Perception does not equate to reception.
Case study 1 – “Why doesn’t anyone like Certina?“ (yes, this was a question)… The simple answer is, who is anyone? In the UK I don’t see Certina a lot when I pound the pavements. I couldn’t tell you offhand who the UK stockists are. I couldn’t tell you if they have a service centre.
It is the same with Mido. I know of both brands through research and the odd vintage listing, and I know that they are both are key brands in the Swatch Group. I know not how the Swatch Group market them in the UK, although I could hazard a guess: very little. Then again, am I looking in the right places, or attending the correct events? I could be forgiven for never really giving them a second thought if they never appear on my radar. Does that mean I don’t like them? How can one dislike what one never sees or experiences? Why am I now the subject of your ire?
One gentleman, in Australia, even contacted the Swatch Group about how to get a Certina, and was told they do not sell them in his state. He is now the villain of the piece, naturally, because he clearly dislikes them. 2 + 2 = 5.
The internet might make things easily available, but marketing is marketing, and awareness is everything. If I don’t know about your watch, how can I dislike it? If I cannot “rate” it, how can I “underrate” it?
Case study 2 – “Why doesn’t anyone talk about Chopard or Piaget?” Again, who is anyone, and what do you want them to say? There are many articles that talk about new release models (although some luxury brands might not be as prolific as others when it comes to this aspect), so perhaps set up a Google Alert or something similar to ensure you do not miss out? That’s a “you” problem.
They clearly sell (refer to the annual Morgan Stanley Luxury Swiss Watch list) as both brands have large turnovers, and shift numbers (Chopard more than Piaget, but the average unit price is quite steep for both – neither of these are what one might call cheap). They might not be a common choice in your area, due to price of entry, and what markets they have their boutiques operate in (i.e. not yours).
The trickle down of those who purchase higher-end luxury watches into what I may describe as “lowbrow watch discussion” is unlikely to be voluminous, so that is why it may seem that “no one is talking about them”. Do they even market to you in your location or recreation?
It all seems so simple, almost as if one doesn’t need to type this?
The fact that people need to be told that there is a whole world out there beyond the tip of their nose is quite amusing.
You wonder why we are getting tired of this?
The Escapement Room 
In the draft of the book I’m writing (f*** knows if it’ll ever move beyond a Word document on my laptop) I began a section with the sentence “show me an underrated watch and I’ll show you a bunch of liars.”
Like you said, underrated is extremely subjective. My favourite brand, Camy, is barely talked about ever on “normie” watch platforms. Does that make it underrated? No. Enough people are talking about Camy. Sometimes that’s just my watchmaker and I, but that’s fine. Eterna can be called underrated by most enthusiasts. Not to me it isn’t. I doubt it’s underrated to anyone else on this blog. I search for Eternas for sale every few days. Just because the modern Hong-Kong-owned Eterna doesn’t have the marketing budget of the big brands doesn’t make it underrated.
As a gen z, watches as a whole are underrated. I don’t know anyone else my age who talks about Omega, but that doesn’t make Omega “underrated” to people born in the mid-’00s.
I am so grateful we have TER to blow off steam regarding how short-sighted many enthusiasts can be. “Underrated” is just a word used to grab attention and get people talking so that numbers make them feel good. If a brand was really underrated, nobody on the planet would have ever heard of it.
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But is the market always right or not? Isn’t the used market value as percentage of original sticker price the true measure of perception as opposed to how many times watch nerds mention stuff? What is the market price for a used Bovet? And how are there still rubes thinking that Cartier has good resale value? Most importantly, what is a highbrow watch discussion? I’d assume it requires all parties to have either an eight to ten figure net worth or extensive horological knowledge beyond looking at images on the internets.
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In order:
The market is the market, but just because you cannot see some or all of the picture does not mean the picture isn’t there.
It’s part of the picture, but again, if your local market doesn’t have, say Certina, how is your local grey market going to differ? You don’t see many vintage Smiths in the US, just like I see very little Illinois in the UK.
Don’t know, I’ve never looked.
Ignore those people. Watches should never be about resale value. If that’s all that matters you wouldn’t buy anything new.
One that doesn’t involve people insisting Longines should be more like Tudor. It would definitely involve some homework being undertaken beforehand.
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The provincialism is noted. I will note that the posters from India seem aware that Titan, HMT, and a few other of their domestic brands are not internationally known to any extent.
I am shocked to hear that people think Longines should be more like Tudor. I may have poor theory of mind as I don’t understand many of these ideas that people have.
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helpfull article
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