Interesting post Audio. It strikes me that Vinny's the one with the ultimate practical watch here, and that any mechanical watch over, say, £50 is performing a function which has almost nothing to do with timekeeping and lots to do with image. Of my three modest watches, by far the best timekeeper is a £20 Lorus; it's also the most legible and you can use it to read in the dark (that's almost true). What it says about me is 1) if you ask me the time, you'll get an accurate answer, and 2) I shop at Argos. If I'd got that IWC Spitfire, the message would be completely different, about status, money, design and knowledge of watches. The accuracy would be almost irrelevant, not to mention inferior to any quartz watch. The kind of watches we've been talking about are more like jewellery, and if Ollie's content to wear paste, good for him.
The other interesting thing is that high end watches represent superb value if you pay enough for them, because they tend to appreciate. Buy a Rolex, Patek Philippe, Panerai or something of that order and given due care, it's essentially free, or better. Which was my train of thought with the IWC: a Sinn or Glycine would very likely lose value instantly, but the Spitfire most assuredly wouldn't. In a way the worst value is in the middle of the market, but that's where the watches which really appeal to me tend to be.
Enough musing: time for some watch porn. Grovana Coral Reef 2, 300m diver's watch (not my thing usually, but...). About £400.