It seems a lot of people separate "luxury" and "high-end" watches as two separate categories. IMHO anything priced over what your average consumer would deem acceptable for a watch is a "luxury" purchase, and "high-end" is simply the uppermost tier. And while some of the upper mid-range players overlap into the high-end market with certain offerings, I think in most cases the overall brand identity is relatively easy to categorize based on a company's "typical" watch. But then again, I don't actually own any high-end pieces myself, so who am I to say. In any case, I got bored and made a modified version of the infamous Chronocentric
(http://www.chronocentric.com/watches/brands.shtml) chart. This is how I see it. Your mileage may vary. Feel free to bash to your heart's content. =)
· High-end Luxury - approximate starting price of $6,000
o
Details: Watches in this range are primarily produced in small numbers with either fully in-house or a mix of in-house and highly modified mechanical movements. Timepieces are at least partially handcrafted and feature highly decorated movements and superbly finished cases/bracelets, which are often made from precious metals, but also may come in steel.
o
Brands: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, A Lange & Sohne, Vacheron Constantin, JLC, Blancpain, Breguet, Glashutte Original
· Upper Mid-range Luxury - approximate starting price of $3,500
o
Details: Watches in this range are generally mass-produced, but not in all cases. Timepieces at the lower end of the range are usually machine-made, while higher-end models may be partially or completely handcrafted. Movements are mechanical, well-decorated and are made in-house or are highly modified from sourced movements. Cases and bracelets are made of high-quality steel or precious metals and are well-finished.
o
Brands: IWC, Zenith, Rolex, Cartier, Grand Seiko, Panerai
· Lower Mid-range Luxury - approximate starting price of $1,500
o
Details: Watches in this range are generally mass-produced using modified movements, but some offerings feature in-house movements. Timepieces throughout the range are machine-made-with few exceptions-and feature well-finished cases/bracelets manufactured using high-quality steel or precious metals. Movements are mostly mechanical and decorated, but some brands also offer quartz models.
o
Brands: Omega, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Bell & Ross, Tudor, Sinn, Ball, Baume & Mercier, Frederique Constant
· Entry Level Luxury - approximate starting price of $1,000
o
Details: Watches in this range are mass-produced using both modified and unmodified sourced movements. Timepieces throughout the range are machine-made and feature adequately finished cases/bracelets, which are primarily of steel construction. Some models are PVD gold-coated, but few are actually made from precious metals. Movements are most often mechanical-some decorated and some not-but several brands also offer quartz models.
o
Brands: Oris, Longines, Ebel, Raymond Weil, Rado, Fortis
· Pseudo Luxury - approximate starting price of $500
o
Details: Watches in this range are mass-produced "mall watches" using unmodified sourced movements. Timepieces throughout the range are machine-made and feature adequately finished cases/bracelets, which are primarily of steel construction. Some models are PVD gold-coated, but few are actually made from precious metals. Watch crystals may include sapphire or synthetic glass. Movements are a mix of undecorated mechanical and quartz offerings.
o
Brands: Hamilton, Tissot, Mido, Movado, Bulova Accutron, Bulova Precisionist, Citizen Signature