I don't think it is a tool watch anymore. Like vintage Rolex, they are more luxury accessories rather than a tool watch. I do not know many people with Speedmasters as daily wearers. Certainly I am not one of them.
Definitely luxury watches for me but should be tool watches for other rich people 😉
If I'm doing a site visit I might swap for a CWC diver's watch
It seems that back in the 60's, a moonwatch would cost around US$ 140 (tag price, no discount). Using a dollar inflation calculator, that would be US$ 1120 in 2018.
Given that the price new in an Omega AD will be around 5K or more, that is 5x the corrected price than the 60's.
😀
Tool watch and Luxury watch are not opposing terms, nor mutually exclusive.
Watches can be both, just as you can have a formal dress watch that is not a luxury watch.
A tool watch is any watch designed for a function other then just telling time or meets a specific sety of requirements to make it more effective for a certain activity. Dive watch, easy to read and water proof with a timing function, pilots watches come in a few flavors but are easy to read and have evolved since the first in the 30's to have different adaptations depending on what is needed at the time. Chrono's with tachy scales are not just for timing race cars via mile markers, there are other uses for a tachy scale like production per hour timing.
A luxury watch would be any watch over x value, where x can be debated.
I got and appreciate your point.
Under a tool watch I meant a watch which is stiil used by professionals for the purposes it was designed for, although they can be also considered as a luxury one depending on its value. For example, Daytona was designed for motor racing, Deep Sea and Sub was for professional diving, GMT - for pilots, etc. However, I am not sure that all these watches (possibly except the GMT) are still used for those purposes. Nobody now uses mechanical chronographs for time keeping in auto sport, professional divers use computers instead of mechanical watches, etc. So, all these watches are just luxury ones and have lost their professional purpose. Since the moonwatch is used now by astronauts and cosmonauts, I consider them as the real tool watch despite the fact that for some people they are aslo the luxury one.
Under a tool watch I meant a watch which is stiil used by professionals for the purposes it was designed for
By that definition, maybe it's still a tool; but I'd offer a different definition: namely, that a tool watch is one that is still the best, most efficient, and most practical tool for the job. By that definition, a Speedmaster is now a luxury item with a historic tool origin that now enjoys a cult following some of whose members may still choose to use it as a tool for nostalgic reasons despite the fact that it's no longer the best, most efficient, or most practical choice. IMO, its price and fact that it's less accurate and requires more maintenance than its modern counterparts means that it's no longer the best tool for functional purposes, notwithstanding that it might have been the best tool for its intended purpose 50 or 60 years ago. There are engineers who still use slide rules because they like the "feel" of doing the calculations themselves; but modern scientific calculators are a much more useful tool for everything besides displaying some types of multiple calculation results simultaneously.
I'd argue that unless you're marooned on a relatively dry island for longer than the lifetime of a quartz watch battery, a $100 modern quartz chronograph (or an X-33) would be a much better tool than a Speedmaster. One could choose to use a rotary-dial telephone or drive a hand-cranked Rolls Royce for daily transportation; but if they're extravagantly-priced in relation to modern phones and cars that work better, they're luxury items with cult-collector followings. Nostalgic appreciation isn't lost on me: I'm wearing a Speedmaster as I type this and I choose to play hockey in vintage equipment (and skates) that haven't been made in 40 years and that are heavier and less protective than their modern counterparts; but I definitely wouldn't consider them to have a tool value. It's just a personal preference and there's a hobby/collector element to it; but if they were 10 x the price of lighter, more protective, quicker-drying modern gear, I'd consider them to be luxuries, too.
I don't see the Speedmaster in the same light as other £3000-£5000 watches for some reason. Maybe it's the dated 70's materials or plastic crystal. It just doesn't feel the same as your typical "luxury" diver or such that most people tend to wear in the office and buy with a large work bonus or save up for to mark a special event.
It feels like the Speedmaster is a cult watch bought and worn by enthusiasts and most people who have them don't treat them super carefully because of it's whole reputation of being good enough for anything space travel can throw at it plus being able to buff out any scratches with a cloth.
It's got a luxury watch price but just feels like a beater tool to me. It also completely flies under the radar and looks old/cheap to most people. Kind of weird.
Aaaye?😲..... A diver's watch!😲 how much 'fakkin' water have you got laying around on your site? 😁
I love the fact that it flies under the radar & isn't "in yer face" like some other watches. For the same reason I chose the 2254 over the Submariner (10 years ago) - both were COSC rated, both were 300m WR, the Rolex was £3,500, the 2254 was £1,300. I knew they were both excellent watches & I knew the reputation of the Rolex brand but I just liked the look of the 2254 better. My decision was swayed by the price (in the end I got a 1 year old 2254, box & papers from Watchfinder for £900), but the clincher was I just preferred the looks of the Omega, which is completely objective.
At that time I looked at the Speedy but, being young & foolish, decided against it because of its manual wind & plastic crystal. Ten years on I finally got that Speedy, best looking tool I ever bought...
I used to have 2254, it is a great watch. I had been wearing it for 10 years until 2017 when I gave it to my father. It still goes within COSC although it has never been serviced.
