* What makes a watch VALUE FOR MONEY ? Why Ennebi is hailed while Kobold crucified ? *

[Nishant]

Dear all,

In the last few weeks, I have been feeling pretty content with my collection for now. In that time, I have thought of a few watches I may wanna have down the road .. after all, WCT1000 is still dispensable ;)

So .. a watch that keeps sparking interest, on and off, is Ennebi Fondale !!!! ... I keep coming back to it .. back and forth .. and back again.
Either ways, I Love It.

However, a thing that stops me short .. way short .. is the movement generic ET2824 and the recent QC issues. and of course, some Value For Money. 3.5K to 5K ....

And a thought keeps me thinking .. WHY IS KOBOLD CRUCIFIED in all these watch forums for being outrageous when a maker like ENNEBI flies right through ???

Why has Ennebi found a bit of a cult following while Kobold is killed off everywhere ????

Just a thought ..

WHAT MAKES A WATCH - VALUE FOR MONEY ?????

Cheers
nishant

[Ames]

I don't own either brand, but just from what I've seen I'd say Kobold has a good following also. Kobold got ripped on because their founder specifically wrote about why his watches have value whereas others didn't. Kind of made himself a target. Some people didn't like it. Personally I could see his point and I could see the counter points. I'll probably own a Kobold at some point.

[Ames]

This is what I was thinking of:

Michael Kobold's Letter To AskMen

[Cybotron]

Great question. I have been looking at Ennebi Fondale lately myself. Not sure about the cult following but maybe because of the Panerai connection.

[PloProf Pimp]

I wouldn't sweat it to be honest. A lot of guys on the forums have ulterior motives. I love everything about the Enebbi's, though I wouldn't spend the money on one new. Hadn't heard of the QC issues, but we all know that can occur in the micro and boutique industry. These are handcrafted watches after all, not made by robots. So I expect some hand crafted attributes, and I know the guys making them aren't perfect. The micro and boutique brands don't have all the resources at their disposal that the cartel brands do. And even the cartel brands make mistakes too.

With the ETA 2824, I don't consider it generic. A competent watchmaker can regulate an Elabore grade ETA to within COSC standards (but without the high COSC prices) no problem. And to keep the movement running spot on, it should be serviced at least every six years or so. I liken the workhorse ETA to the Chevy 350 V8 small block engine. Its not the most powerful or high tech motor out there, but its the legend that paved the way for a lot of other combustion engines. Its been around forever (longer than the ETA 2824) and is reliable, easy to work on, and when tuned and maintained just right, does the job perfectly. I'm sure many of the people knocking the Base or Elabore ETA, don't have Ferrari V12 engines in their domestic daily drivers.

Kobold, like other brands, is crucified because he doesn't sell his watches to certain WIS at the prices they expect and demand. And he stepped on the toes and alienated some people with tender feelings. Now that you can buy many Fricker variants of Kobold watches, why anyone crucifies him or whines about his prices, is beyond me. He does quite well though, if he didn't, the brand would have went under long ago. So I wouldn't say they were killed off at all. I've seen them for sale in dealers all over the US. And Kobold got smart anyway, and abandoned the forums long ago.

I think Enebbi flies right through because most don't even understand or appreciate their designs. So since they don't want their watches as bad, they aren't crying about Enebbi's prices. Alessandro Bettarini & Luciano Nincheri are also a lot more low key than Mike Kobold. So people aren't trying crucify them or the brand. Alessandro Bettarini is a legend in the watch world, having come from Officine Panerai, and being responsible for some of their iconic designs and trends. He and the guys from Anonimo are the real Panerai. Since he actually designs and makes his own watches, and doesn't have another company doing it for him, I think that gains him more respect, whether people like his designs, or not.

In this hobby, VFM really doesn't make much sense at all once you go above a $250 price threshold. Once you cross that, there is no such thing as VFM in my opinion. Seiko makes quite a few great dive watches for less than $250. Me personally, I think the Seiko Frankemonster for about $145 used, is the best VFM or Bang For Buck dive watch in the world. YMMV

[dukerules]

Ennebi is art. Kobold is just another watch company. Both are fine for what they are, but aren't really comparable.

[davec]

Must be nice to be a self proclaimed expert. You apparently know everything except how to spell E N N E B I.

I wouldn't sweat it to be honest. A lot of guys on the forums have ulterior motives. I love everything about the Enebbi's, though I wouldn't spend the money on one new. Hadn't heard of the QC issues, but we all know that can occur in the micro and boutique industry. These are handcrafted watches after all, not made by robots. So I expect some hand crafted attributes, and I know the guys making them aren't perfect. The micro and boutique brands don't have all the resources at their disposal that the cartel brands do. And even the cartel brands make mistakes too.

With the ETA 2824, I don't consider it generic. A competent watchmaker can regulate an Elabore grade ETA to within COSC standards (but without the high COSC prices) no problem. And to keep the movement running spot on, it should be serviced at least every six years or so. I liken the workhorse ETA to the Chevy 350 V8 small block engine. Its not the most powerful or high tech motor out there, but its the legend that paved the way for a lot of other combustion engines. Its been around forever (longer than the ETA 2824) and is reliable, easy to work on, and when tuned and maintained just right, does the job perfectly. I'm sure many of the people knocking the Base or Elabore ETA, don't have Ferrari V12 engines in their domestic daily drivers.

Kobold, like other brands, is crucified because he doesn't sell his watches to certain WIS at the prices they expect and demand. And he stepped on the toes and alienated some people with tender feelings. Now that you can buy many Fricker variants of Kobold watches, why anyone crucifies him or whines about his prices, is beyond me. He does quite well though, if he didn't, the brand would have went under long ago. So I wouldn't say they were killed off at all. I've seen them for sale in dealers all over the US. And Kobold got smart anyway, and abandoned the forums long ago.

I think Enebbi flies right through because most don't even understand or appreciate their designs. So since they don't want their watches as bad, they aren't crying about Enebbi's prices. Alessandro Bettarini & Luciano Nincheri are also a lot more low key than Mike Kobold. So people aren't trying crucify them or the brand. Alessandro Bettarini is a legend in the watch world, having come from Officine Panerai, and being responsible for some of their iconic designs and trends. He and the guys from Anonimo are the real Panerai. Since he actually designs and makes his own watches, and doesn't have another company doing it for him, I think that gains him more respect, whether people like his designs, or not.

In this hobby, VFM really doesn't make much sense at all once you go above a $250 price threshold. Once you cross that, there is no such thing as VFM in my opinion. Seiko makes quite a few great dive watches for less than $250. Me personally, I think the Seiko Frankemonster for about $145 used, is the best VFM or Bang For Buck dive watch in the world. YMMV

[solar g-shocker]

Must be nice to be a self proclaimed expert. You apparently know everything except how to spell E N N E B I.

*threadcrap*

[arutlosjr11]

Must be nice to be a self proclaimed expert. You apparently know everything except how to spell E N N E B I.

Oh Davec... We have many self proclaimed experts here. Some better, some worse. While others are only experts in their own minds.

[PloProf Pimp]

Oh Davec... We have many self proclaimed experts here. Some better, some worse. While others are only experts in their own minds.

We have expert thread crappers too! Say, can you email Ernie and see if he can automatically insert the term 'Thread Crapper' under certain member's names? That would be swell!