Are Oakley Watches worth the price? - Page 2

I agree. I am thinking of buying an Omega after my barmitzvah. I love the speedmaster reduced and speedmaster day-date. The day-date shows the month, day of the week, the date, has subseconds, chronograph goes down to tenths of a second I believe, has a sub area for 24 hour clock..

I really agree with this.

Also, keep in mind that the Oakley watch designs are very fashion-oriented, and fashions change. To me, several of them look a little dated already. They remind me of the look of stereo components from 10-12 years ago (plastic black faceplates with protuding, rectangular chiseled buttons). A good, understated watch from a solid company (staying away from fashion trends and over-the-top designs) will be something you're proud to wear for a long time. It becomes part of your life, with a history, rather than a flavor of the moment item you wore for a year and a half and then switched to something new and fresher.

Also, another thing to think about is that this type of watch is basically a young adult fashion. You won't find many professionals, businesspeople, etc. wearing Oakleys. The bulbous, techie-fashion look doesn't look that great under a suit, and it doesn't exude a sense of tradition or old-world class or sophistication.

All that said, if you love the Oakley designs, then buy one.

1. theyre tacky
2. theyre not watchmakers

I agree with what you said exactly.

If you like the style, go for it, but I think if I were spending good money, I'd tend toward something more general purpose, less overtly stylized.

I've received lots of compliments about my Sinn 356, it's a classic that I never tire of looking at.

if you want a watch because of its style, then get a watch with style:

again, they're not for everyone... what seems tacky to one may be a work of art to another. personally i don't think Bose or B&O make quality audio products but i have to admit they certainly look good. if it fits one's lifestyle and the person in question enjoys the product, the more power to them... i'm not in a position to judge anyone because these products doesn't have great internals.

i'm sorry if i came across that all traditional watches look gaudy; on the contrary there are a lot that look modern and appealing... like i said before i would love a Oris, Panerai, or a Tag Heuer one of these days. but not a lot of people can afford a "real watch from a real watchmaker." yes, it's something to stive for but at the moment designer watches tells time (really... even cheap quartz movement these days can be very accurate) like any other real watch from a real watchmaker, and does it's job well. there's nothing wrong with buying a watch from a designer company.

yes, Oakley watches are more design oriented than being precision watchmakers, so i will have to agree that they are overpriced when factoring their internals. but like i said before, you're also paying for a design that appeals to an individual, and sometimes you can't put a price on something that is personally appealing. very rarely have i paid full price on my Oakley watches, if i had to i probably wouldn't have so many.

that said, i like both designs but they are very different watches. the Timebomb looks smooth and sleek, while the Judge is very over the top. it depends on what you like... i'll have to favour the Timebomb at the moment though; they're discontinued and are getting increasingly harder to get. however, they seem to have great prices on Ebay lately, hovering around 4-500 for a $1500 watch. i believe Overstock.com still has a few in stock.

Amen 2

It's just like buying a Burberry/Hugo Boss/DKNY/Calvin Klein/etc watch. Having said that, designer watches may use movements from other reputable watch makers! It may be slightly too naive to just say that all designer watches have crap movements.

???

No, what you really want is the Omega II! Though the watch isn't so bad, either.

More seriously, I think there's a false assumption here that a "good" mechanical watch would cost more than an Oakley. Not so. You can get a used IWC for the amount of some of those Oakleys. There's little argument about the quality of an IWC, either. You can get a good used Zenith, too, or an Omega Constellation. I could go on. Then there's the "low end" of luxury new watches, brands like Oris, Fortis and Stowa. Most have the ETA 2824 (or some variation thereof) for the movement with excellent build quality. You're not going to get a chronograph or chronometer, but you're going to get a good watch. Heck, you could get both a vintage Constellation and a new Stowa Antea for the price of just one of the Oakleys. You might be able to throw in a nifty vintage Eterna or Cortebert as well.

So take a look around. There are a lot of terrific watches out there in this price range. Don't assume that "good" ones cost more; they don't. The Bose Quiet Comfort costs about the same as an AKG K-701 or a Sennheiser HD-650... which would you buy?

The two Invictas autos we got were certainly far cheaper than any Oakley but the d series. However it comes with a price. The 8926 works like a charm but the 9321, the ladies version of the 8926, was completely DOA. The second hand runs but the minute and hour do not. Searching Invicta forums shows this kind of QC is par for the course. The watchmaker said it will take 4 weeks to fix. I chose not to warranty it back to Invicta, since given the cost of shipment, and the fact that their warranty service is a complete crap shoot, it's better to just get it serviced locally.

Now the service from Oakley is known to be a great deal better. However they also aren't selling autos.

Bong, I found the Invicta Baby Lupah Espadon really soothes the need for a Crush 2.5. The picture so doesn't do it justice. One thing I can't find is what the wrist measurement for the 2.5 is. The d3 was a bit tiny. I don't have small wrists, but it's the first time it's ever been an issue. If the 2.5 is the same, then I'd rather not. If I knew how long the wrist strap was, I'd know if it really was for me.

As for the Nixon, yeah I have a Nixon Isis, and it really pops.

And to think, I've completed my collection, ya know, until something goes out of fashion or breaks, and I'm on the verge of completing the vaults collection (each one has to have a case, silly, but I'm anal that way)..

Mom sent me a couple of bags from Zappos, the planet pack for my husband (what an awesome backpack especially for the price. Loads of usefulness and character and it's light and comfy), the messenger and matching wallet for me...

And I'll I want in the world right now is the O Pack 4.0. Only two places that have it are Zappos and Oakley. Neither are aware of the other countries in the world, so I'm completely SOL until someone puts one on ebay. I hate having to resort to this gray market crap, but I don't want to hassle mom to send me yet something else.

Oakley watches don't use an automatic movement? They use a quartz movement? That's almost unbelievable for watches in the $500+ price range, and certainly inexcusable for their models that cost more than $1000.

The Bose of watches indeed!

Yup, their flagship, the time tank, over 1k, and it's a 13 jewel swiss quartz movement.

Heh, the baby lubah had an msrp of 450 bucks and that's quartz. Of course, that's not the real-world price, the real world price is a quarter of that.

wow...most informative..didnt know oakley was that expensive....
the styling has an edge.....but at that price out of college/high school budget...curious to know who their intended market is? professionals wanting a stylish watch to kick around on the weekends? artists?

Urgh. That's sad. Not much else to say really.

There are plenty of quality automatic watches from quality (though not luxury) manufacturers with MSRPs under $350, e.g. many Hamiltons have MSRPs less than $250, and they use the ETA 2824 movement. I'd encourage people to at least take a look at some of these kinds of watches. It can feel good to buy on quality rather than on marketing.

I don't have any special insight, but I'm guessing they're aiming at the wealthier segment of the 18-25 demographic. The bulbous styling is too over the top and kitschy for people over 25. Where would you wear that kind of thing? Wouldn't work for the workplace, wouldn't work for a classier restaurant/nightspot...