>The question is why? It's a $20 movement in a poorly finished case. The most important part of the watch isn't made in the USA. It's a $50 product being sold for $500.
Most watches are like that. In the high end, it's $1000 product being sold for $30000.
>Further, it completely misses the point of what made Timex famous to begin with; excellent quality at a low price.
They already do well in that market. It's not enough for them, they want a market with better margins.
It's not like they're the only: Casio G-shocks are now having a "high end" brand, selling $100-$200 worth of watches for 1 to several K dollars. There's a basic square (the classic 6510 and co mechanism that sells for 30-50$) that goes for $800 just because it's now in stainless steel.
Your typical $30k watch has way more than $1k of highly skilled hand labor that's gone into it. Agreed that the component prices don't add up to close to $30k, but throw in all the other overhead typical of manufacturing and selling luxury goods, including labor, advertising, servicing, maintaining physical stores, etc., and the profit margin on those watches is gonna less than, say, selling Internet ads.
That's quite hillarious, $800 Casio G-Shocks and $500 Timex watches. A Tissot T Touch is priced in that range, why would anyone get a Casio or Timex for the price of a Tissot?
Probably because at least with the Casio and Timex you know you're getting something overpriced openly.
With the Tissot you're just getting a pretentious overpriced crap (whether it has this or that custom movement, the margins are still stacked way against the buyer).
Most watches are like that. In the high end, it's $1000 product being sold for $30000.
>Further, it completely misses the point of what made Timex famous to begin with; excellent quality at a low price.
They already do well in that market. It's not enough for them, they want a market with better margins.
It's not like they're the only: Casio G-shocks are now having a "high end" brand, selling $100-$200 worth of watches for 1 to several K dollars. There's a basic square (the classic 6510 and co mechanism that sells for 30-50$) that goes for $800 just because it's now in stainless steel.