I saw him (Simon Peters) last night selling yet another brand of watch I've never heard of. The pizza delivery/horologist lady was with him, I think.
The usual monotonous, repetitive spiel once again. If he does that "You must insure them. YOU MUST INSURE THEM" iambic pentameter like mantra again, I will watch crown him, literally. Does he know how annoying he and it is? Probably. Part of the job satisfaction, I imagine.
In fairness, the watches looked quite good. But like most people, I am no expert on watches, or what's inside them, so I have no idea whether they really are quite good or not. But for me the quoted recommended retail prices thang has no credibility whatsoever. How could it? I'm not aware of any restriction that prevents a company from putting any price they like on what should be the recommended one for a product they manufacture. It means nothing. Yet companies like Ideal World use it as a major selling and enticement trap, time and timex again.
Too many watch makes on this channel. We are literally saturated by them. I would prefer it if they focused on maybe up to around five different brands. A present it feels like a focus on 500. And if any particular brand they do sell DOES have good qualities; that is just lost in the numbers of the competition they also promote.
Yes I agree too many brands and too many mediocre quality watches being hailed as high quality luxury timepieces being sold at bargain prices. I think IW and many mediocre brands have realised that many of IW’s customers are not that knowledgeable on watches and are taking advantage of that fact while it lasts. But like you, feel this vast quantity of mediocre brands coupled with the nonsense from the presenters and guest only devalues and inhibits the sales of the actual quality watches that do appear, and lot of watch collectors are put off by their antics. I feel sorry for those customers who seem to be under the impression that they’ve been building a collection of quality watches with a decent value when in fact they’ve just be building a collection of mediocre affordable watches worth nowhere near what they may have been led to believe by the presenters.
There are 74 different brands on their web site, a few never appear on TV.
These are the only brands that make their own watches and have watches anywhere near the quality that is often claimed by the presenters and guests. They will also have better quality control than the non-watchmaking brands. The only problem I have with these is the Guests, who do exaggerate/mislead a bit, but nothing like the guests for the mediocre brands, and the RRP’s are a bit overinflated, but otherwise most of the technical info given, which is usually more detailed, is correct, and if you like them, would say your safe enough to buy watches from these brands. These are all well-established watchmakers.
Aviator
Buran
Eterna
Gevril
Mathey-Tissot
Sturmanskie
Swiss Military by Chrono
Swiss Military by Hanowa
Traser
Vostok Europe
The Rest are nowhere near the quality or value that is being claimed on IW, NONE of them come anywhere near being worth or are of a quality that would warrant the RRP’s being quoted . And EVERY ONE of their so called guest “experts”, aided by the presenters is guilty of over the top exaggeration, spouting misinformation and outright lying. Scummy con artists the lot of them. There is nothing wrong with their watches for what you are paying, although chances are quality control is poorer and more likely to have problems over time, and one or two of the brands, ie Spinnaker have some decent watches and at the IW selling price are ok if you are only after an everyday watch, but most of the watches from these brands are similar in quality & price to hundreds of cheap/affordable watches on Aliexpress, nothing wrong with tem but nothing special.
If folks like the watches fine, buy them (although there are many better options available at this price point), but they are only worth, at best, the IW selling price when on a show, but are worth nothing like the RRP’s or any fictitious prices the presenters or guest think they are worth, you know when they say should have extra zeros etc on the price.
If I was buying, which I won’t be, not from IW anyway, I would feel safe buying a watch from the watchmaking brands, the rest I would look elsewhere for better quality alternatives at similar prices, as well as established watchmakers like Seiko, Orient, Casio etc, there is a host of Chinese brands like Parnis, Sea-Gull, Corgeut, Starking, Reef Tiger, Phoibos, San Martin etc, which all offer more or similar quality for less or similar money.