Samsung and Watches? What is Next?

Indulgence!!!!!! is the word to describe The World of Watches. One is spoilt by the sheer choice available.There were the days of HMT, Allywyn and Richoh; and hence One has to limit himself despite
having the financial means. Counter situation is the Current one; Despite not having the financial means an enthusiast is forced to make means (shell out dough) if he dares to go a respectable watch showroom which necessarily need not to be located in a Prime area.

Being the way I am, I yet again embarked into this dangerous situation of ending up in a showroom though being fully aware of the dare consequences and asked the sales guy to show me some cheap chronograph with a stop watch. Max
Samsung

ima was my idea of cheap chrono as I already bought one for about one grand only which was undoubtedly good but the chrono function was a little subtle. I wanted something more prominent (Read Heavier, Bolder and More Simultaneously moving Needles). So, I asked for the same without diverting my mind to the Swiss and Japanese beauties lying alongside specifying my requirements and more importantly Budget.

The sales guy showed me one Steele brand which I never heard of before. He said that it is a brand extension of Maxima and will cost me around 2k. Good deal I thought. So, I asked him to give a tangible feel of the product which he did. And guess what it completely disappointed me. The steel finish was poor though chrono feature was looking good. Rejected.

Next what? He again showed me some Casio models and then moved to Octane series. Not interested I said. I already have Casio Edifice. Octane is good but not my cup of tea. Then out of a sudden he showed me a Samsung watch. Samsung and Watches What the Hell I thought. The design was good and chrono function was prominent but idea of having a consumer durable company making watches didn’t gel with me. I asked him Do Samsung make watches or just put their logos on some other manufacturer like many other apparel watches in market like Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Armani, Guess, etc. And he didn’t have a clue at all.

I looked many others but either they didn’t appeal me or plain out of budget. I once again had a look on the Samsung watch. It was pretty with a tasteful slight gold finish at the surrounding dial. The finish was excellent and the movement seems nice. But the eye sore was the poor leather strap which in no way doing justice to the watch.

Being the nagging customer I asked him to show some steel bracelets which he showed him by the dozens. Mostly useless stuff. I said something heavy and broad is what I asked for. Then, he showed me some real good ones. I shortlisted one of them. But again it was pure steel and no gold finish which was not in congruity with the watch.Is it possible to have the same bracelet but a little gold finish at the edges was my question. Sure Sir, I will search for it in the godown. And within 5 minutes out of no where he produced me a bracelet of my requirements.

I thought in my mind whether to go for Samsung or not but shed off my inhibitions. I liked the model, I liked the bracelet why shouldn’t I? So, after a little bit of filing the bracelet was adjusted for my watch and I came out happy from the showroom after paying by my card. The good thing about Plastic money is that you don’t feel the pinch at the time of purchase (though you may regret it later).

Finally coming to the subject itself I googled about Samsung making watches and see what I found that SWC (Samsug Watch Corporation) is the biggest watchmaker in Korea. They started exporting watches to overseas market in1986, by the brand name ’HAAS &CIE","SAMSUNG","SWC" to more than 40 countries. Their annual production is 1mil.pcs and is increasing each year.Though they are an independent subsidiary of Samsung Corporation with financial backing from Samsung and technical expertise from Seiko and Longines. And they have their presence in India since 2003. It is completely made in Korea and imported directly from Korea to India. It is good to find at least one thing Not Made in China. Even my Casio Edifice is encased in China.

Samsung What is Next?