I agree I'd rather have a handcrafted, quality timepiece that will last 15+ years without needing service/recharging. Smartwatches feel soulless and serve as yet another outlet for social media addicts who check their notifications compulsively. Imo nothing beats a quality wristwatch that expresses your personality and can be handed down to future generations.
Handcrafted? Are you talking about TAG, Rolex, Omega?? You do realize that all of these are assembly line products, right? Hand-adjusted movement MAYBE. MAYBE. Oris? Longines? Even less hands touching them! In other words, these high end watches have as much "hand-craftedness" as my Apple Watch does on a Chinese assembly line!

(And no, Rolex watch does NOT take one year to make!! And yes, i still own Rolex watches.)
Quality time pieces that lasts 15+ yrs without service?!! LOL. My two Rolex(es) need servicing at 3-5 year period. Omega? 3 yrs for me; actually, one of them needed servicing after 1 year! My father's and bro's Rolexes...same thing 3-5 yrs, they malfunction...needing $800 trip to Rolex service center.
Just for fun, my Apple Watch will probably not need servicing for several years...and IF it does, then it will be to exchange lithium battery for about $75.
Which do you think will have less maintenance over its life? Wanna bet?
Yeah, Rolex and Omega can be handed down...but that requires maintenance fees ($800 every 3-5 yrs and costs ever increasing) and lots of restoration costs. TAG? Hell no, those things (at least newer models) won't last 10 yrs! [MENTION=96581]hikenbike[/MENTION] did research on this and he can tell you!
Actually, my Apple Watch is quite useful. I do NOT have Twitter nor even Facebook! I use it daily to read AND respond to texts and emails. Silent alarm is awesome. Setting alarms is extremely useful. And it probably saves my iPhone battery because i do not use it as much. It tracks my fitness, reminds me to stand, and keep tracks of my heart rate. And as noted a few pages ago, it has SAVED a few lives!!
You think that Apple Watch will stop working in the near future? It is not a smartphone. Apple Watch functionality will last for many years to come with MINIMAL maintenance.
mechanicals will need servicing.
I've got a G-Shock that's going on 10yrs, and that won't need servicing.
IF you really want no servicing, then i would get Citizen Eco-Drive or Seiko Kinetic.
G-Shock can go 10+ years...but with a regular glass display, it will look like crap esp if you're active with it.
I’ve never seen this thread before!... I love watches... it’s one of my “other” interests. I’ll have to peruse through the entire thread over the next several days when I have free time. Still have not bit the bullet on a high-end piece (read anything over $2000 IMO).... but I’m at 7 current watches (just got rid of two)... I’m extremely practical when it comes to timepieces; what do you want out of the watch? At work, I’m hard on them, so I own four G Shocks that get the piss beat out of them daily. For casual, I have two metal bands (one SS and one all Black), and one black leather dress watch. Need to round out the collection with a brown leather dress watch. Have you guys ever seen these...
Helgray ?
...I’m tempted. They seem like fairly well-made watches at a decent price.
Never heard of Helgray. BUT, like i told Hikenbike at the beginning of this thread, i would save up your money and get ONE (or two) holy grail watch.
ALWAYS sapphire crystal in all watches that you buy that you want to keep a while.