The $300,000 Watch That Doesn’t Tell Time
A $300,000 watch? Luxury. A $300,000 watch that doesn’t tell time — and that sells out? Pure genius.
According to several news reports flagged by my friends at Luxist, Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome just launched the “Day&Night” watch. The watch won’t tell you what time it is. That’s so yesterday. But it does tell you whether it’s day or night — helpful, I guess, for billionaire types who can’t afford windows.
As the company’s Web site boasts: “With no display for the hours, minutes or seconds, the Day&Night offers a new way of measuring time, splitting the universe of time into two fundamentally opposing sections: day versus night.”
What’s most impressive about the Day&Night is its complexity, given its absolute uselessness. The watch features two tourbillons — devices that overcome the ill effects of earth’s gravity on a watch’s accuracy — connected by a differential mechanism. Instead of hands, the watch has a “contemplative tourbillon operation whereby the ‘Day’ tourbillon operates for 12 hours to symbolize working life, while the ‘Night’ tourbillon takes over afterward to represent an individual’s private time.”
Like other Romain Jerome watches, the watch is made in part with steel salvaged from the sunken Titanic, along with material from the shipyard where it was built. That sounds creepy to me, but maybe today’s buyers prefer morbid metals.
The company’s chief executive, Yvan Arpa, cited statistical studies to explain how the watch better reflects the time-philosophy of today’s wealthy.
“When you ask people what is the ultimate luxury, 80 percent answer ‘time’. Then when you look at other studies, 67 percent don’t look at their watch to tell what time it is,” he told Reuters.
He added that anyone can buy a watch that tells time — only a truly discerning customer can buy one that doesn’t.
And here’s the best part: The watch sold out within 48 hours of its launch.
Fascinating. How many were produced? That would help guage the ’sell out’.
Perhaps it sold out simply because of the novelty factor - particularly with the steel that’s used - rather than it being a more appropriate way to ‘tell time’. I don’t know if I buy that argument that upper-Richistani’s don’t look at their watch and are unconcerned about the exact time. They have to keep appointments just like the rest of us, don’t they? Besides, they also have the displays on cell phone, computers, clocks, etc. I had my $1600 Swiss watch recently in the shop for 6 months (had to have replacement parts made in Switzerland). Rather than use an older watch, I just relied on my cell phone to know what time it was…
Give me a hammer and a Timex and I’ll sell you a watch that won’t tell time for only $200,000.
There are much better things to spend your $$$ on. Like a private 200′ luxury submarine.
TO CCR. You’re spot on about cell phones etc. I rarely wear a watch anymore, since there’s always a digital clock somewhere in sight.
I just hope the thing stay accurate. With a lack of avaialable options for determining whether it is day or night — as if you cannot see out the window or be outside — I wouldn’t want anyone to get a false reading.
ok, now this is a joke right??
about 6 years ago i worked at Microsoft n the PR group. we did a media tour with Latin American journos coming to Redmond. besides the tour, etc., we had a round table meeting with Steve Balmer who does not wear a watch. one of the reporters asked him if he had a PDA or a smartphone. his answer was, no.
he said there is always someone to tell him where to go and what time he has to be someplace at work, and that at home, Mrs. Balmer did that.
so i guess a nite/day watch my work for some.
ANOTHER LENGTENING SHADOW OVER WESTERN CIVILIZATION…A DECADENT WATCH FIT FOR THE ROMAN EMPIRE
my wrist actually serves the same function. if i can see my wrist, it is daytime, if not, it is most likely night.
Yeah blake, but your wrist didn’t come fromt he Titanic, did it?! Which brings the question, does it really need to tell you whether it’s day or night at all? I guess that’s like an added bonus.
Apparently a watch not telling time is the new version of the weather rock…
There are a lot watch collectors who never wear anything in their collection. This sounds like a collector watch (let’s hope). Also, there is a new generation for which watches are a thing of the past. Go to a local high school and see how many kids simply flip their phones for the time. I am interested to see how the watch industry will handle this.
Decaffeinated coffee, no alcohol beer, and now this. What’s next - spaghetti without noodles?
Does it self adjust for daylight savings time?
Come on , if salesman can sell something like this He or she might be able to sell anything , even dust in the desert .
Let´s give him some credit .
This is absolutely the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.
It is a $300k bracelet. Reminds of the “weather stones” in tourist traps - if stone is wet it is raining, if stone is dry it is sunny, if you can’t see stone it is snowing, etc. By the way - sold out for watch companies are BS. They buy up all their watches under different names for marketing hype. This definately is what is going on here.
Tom, your comment might be more retarded than the people who bought this watch.
The titanic sank!?!
and there are those people who can’t afford rice to feed their family…
…they should go into the watch business.
Man! I wanna come up with some silly idea like this and get idiots to pay me millions for it.
Why can’t I think up products like this….
If anyone needs a day & night watch without the time, I can surely make one for only $1k (no sales tax).
This is brilliant marketing. The marketing manager that thought this up is definitely under paid. This and bottled water are crowning achievements in marketing brilliance. This reminds me of the saying “a fool and his money will soon part”.
Tippo.. I will buy it only if you made it from metal from the Titanic.
P.T. Barnum would have loved this.
I actually just ordered one of these for my boss from a private seller! He wants to know what it was like to touch the titanic.
Well, I guess we don’t need Communism anymore after all. Keep pumping out devices like this for the “discerning” and we have all the wealth distribution we can handle. How about a “Green” Rolls Royce-no wheels, no engine-for the discerning few. Only $30MM! Get ‘em while they’re hot (that’s before global warming).
What was it P.T. Barnum said?
How do they know it sold out in 48 hours if it doesn’t tell time?
I disagree with some of the sceptical comments here. I think this is a very useful watch. If I was a multi-millionaire with my head up my butt, I wouldn’t know day from night.
for 300k… i would tell time… date… day or night… personally…
i can even point where your ahole is!
how stoned do you have to be to buy a watch that tells you if its day or night?
Being able to keep track of day and night is more useful than one might think. I’m rather certain Osama has one that he uses while he hiding
in his cave. I personally will wait for Timex.
Everyone is missing the point here. It’s NOT a watch! It’s a piece of art… a sculpture. And at $300K on the cheap side compared to other pieces on the market. Last week a ticket from the Titanic sold for almost $66K. I’d say this “piece” is a bargin!!!
I can’t tell time.
Well, this will certainly be easier for the Chinese to rip off.
Hillary would put a stop to this maddness.
For this price it should have a GPS or inertial navigation system so it knows where the sun is - hmm–maybe a solar radiation detector?
Great watch for vampires!
I have one for each wrist.
There is always a market for anything that is positioned well!
If only they allow me to sell metal badges out of the World Trade Center materials for $19.95 as a way to support the families of those people who lost their lives…
Negative value added Conspicuous Consumption
An odious example of conspicuous consumption, shameful.
Does it make a rooster sound in the morning?
does this come in a clock format?
the pic shown is not even real….it is a graphic design rendition, I would guess Solidworks or ProE. On another note, for 150,000 USD I will tell anyone if it is night or day
Let’s see if this watch works in Norway.
What if you travel around the globe most of the time, as those who can afford this luxury usually do. Do you set it to your biological clock, or local time?
The comments are more comical than the article itself.
How soon can I get a fake one in the streets of New York?
If you’re smart enough to become a billionare, you can’t be THAT dumb to buy a watch that can’t even tell you what hour it is. Yvan Arpa has a very talented sales team!
So I’m assuming that it’s water resistant to at least 600m right?
This article shows what Murdoch has turned the WSJ into.
But have I got an even better deal for this people! For just $250,000 I know someone in Africa who will tell you the time *to the second* whenever you want. He will last for at least 30 years, and he will also call you his “white master” (privately/publicly, it’s your choice, make sure to mark off this option.) And he will even sing the theme song from Titanic.
that watch is for peasants. my watch cost $1mill US and is made of the metal from wolverine’s body. its one pure function is to tell me if the planet has been blown up
just want to mention that that’s a savings of *$50,000!* You save more than 15% off the cost of this watch!!
titanic metal is just too creepy
For 300K I’ll follow you arround and tell you if it’s day or night and then I’ll do your laundry.
Ben, I’ll do all that PLUS wear a tutu, yell “DING DONG” on the hour, and sing the master to sleep at night for only $200K.
So I suppose the rich are indeed different. Thank God.
Oh: you can touch a piece of the Titanic at any of the eight or so Titanic shows that circulate throughout the world, typically through science museums. There’s a website at rmstitanic.com or some such.
“The Emperor doesn’t have a watch on.”
Wow, those people blowing 6 figgers on useless trash shore are impressive.
Has this crap even vagueley made anybody give a rat’s fanny since they cancelled the Beverly Hillbillies?
That article was a real scream! I loved the comment, ‘He added that anyone can buy a watch that tells time — only a truly discerning customer can buy one that doesn’t’.
Let’s flip that around shall we? “Only a smart person would buy a watch so it can tell time — It takes a truly, truly stupid person to buy one that doesn’t.” Losers! Hahaha!
Bonus: Heres what they’ll think in 1000 years. “The people of 1980-2236 were fat, lazy, rich, gaudy, and overall the most unplesant personnes of our race. Why, they would eat a whoper in one hand and boast about their night telling devise on the other!”
Tourbillons are an amazing example of the mechanical genius of mankind. It seems like such a waste to use them in this fashion. Like foie gras on a Big Mac, or silk kleenex.
KIrwin: The famous PT Barnum quote is “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
With this fine masterpiece watch you’d have to revise that to: 720 suckers born every 12 hours.
Extravagance is one thing - they who have so shall spend. But this is just downright offensive.
Wait, so they stole steel from the Titanic to make this watch? Isn’t that like grave robbing?
“that watch is for peasants. my watch cost $1mill US and is made of the metal from wolverine’s body. its one pure function is to tell me if the planet has been blown up”
Alex - pure genius man, pure genius
More useless crap for a world already overflowing with it,If you package it right, you can sell dogshit to the public…sad really.
Don’t mistake this as genius. It boils down to these two things:
The company that made this company - CUNNING.
The rich bastards that bought this piece of crap - STUPID.
And there you go.
Ok so the real reason this wristband is so expensive is because it supposedly is made from metal from the titanic, as if any museum would let that go to someone that was going to melt it down and turn it into a coke can. I mean does it come with a certificate of authenticity that it really is metal from the titanic? And for that matter how would you even check that to make sure it really did? We are willing to forget the issue that should you spend $300k on a bit of highway scrap metal that is branded with the official titanic logo i would think you would want it in its original form, that would be a conversation piece, not a melted down bit. The guy that made it probably said, hey kid here’s $5 run down to the recycling center and get me some old iron scraps, then he melted it down, made it into this wristband and said, ok, now how can i get rich on this, i know, i will say the metal is from the titanic, that will get it to sell.
Next week he will be selling watches made from the crashed alien space ship at area 51…..
But this watch will be able to tell you if it is wet or dry. After all the alien metal has to count for something.
“I’m looking for some stupid people with some money who would like to follow me”
The theme song of every cult leader and people who sell made for tv products.
A Simple Tutorial-
How to attain enough wealth so that you can afford such extravagant (some would say, useless) luxury: First, get a billion dollars.
Note to inventor of this thing: Day and Night are rarely exactly equal to 12 hours each. That only happens on the 2 days of the year when the Sun crosses the equator.
Boy howdy, how’s it feel to be TRICK-led down on, All. All of th jobs this watch company produced ought to just about what it takes to restore the economy.
I have a new (3 month old) beautiful, precious granddaughter who when I look at her and she smiles at me… :) well, to be an owner of this watch couldn’t hold a candle to it…I guess I am richer than any of these guys (or girls!)…There are things in life that are truly of value, but you usually can’t buy these with money…that is real wealth!
So the guy who will buy the watch (if anyone does…) will wear it as badge that says:
-I have money
-I do whatever I want with it
-I buy useless things
-I don’t know day from night
-I don’t understand geography, science, and don’t travel much
-I have other watches
-I love the movie Titanic
-No one knows whether I give money to charities, feed the poor, or tried to save Africa already
-I can stir people’s emotions
-Ruppert? PT Barnum? Emperor?
-I am late, I am late, I am late…
If it came from the Titanic, I wouldn’t wear it for diving?
Excuse me, everyone. MOVE away from your computers. Disconnect your internet connections. Go outside. Talk to your neighbors. Get some exercise. Your postings are futile and infantile. Contribute instead of commenting. The world does not need another opinion.
A favorite quote:
“REAL RICHES ARE THOSE THAT MONEY CANNOT BUY AND DEATH CANNOT TAKE AWAY”…to me this helps keep a balanced perspective on not envying the ‘rich’.
Money could not/DID NOT buy anything I have that I love/value, a loving husband (of 28 years), family, friends and life. And death will not erase it…A wise man, King Solomon of Israel, once said, ‘don’t be envious of the rich’ (he should know, he was/is considered the one of the wisest/richest men who ever lived).
Most of us would/will be happier if we don’t envy the rich, but if we take the time to see how rich we really are ourselves and take/make the time to tell those in our life how much we do love/value them.
The ‘old proverb’, if you want something, ‘give it away’. If you want a smile, give one away; if you want love/appreciation from your famiily (wife/husband… :) give it first..it usually will come right back to you!
Fred - I really like your idea, contribution is better than commenting. But isn’t it what the WSJ is requesting, that you Post a Comment?
I’m reminded of the story I was told as a little kid…the one about the emperor. Two men convinced him that the clothes they were commissioned to make for him could only be seen by the divine/wise…or something like that. Anybody remember the moral to that story?
Sure my phone can tell me what time it is, but whenever someone asks me, I always pull out the serling silver pocketwatch.
Google it and you will find there were 9 made (”Series of 9″). For that small amount, it would be easy to use a microscopic piece of the titantic.
Anyway, what an idea - they went on a limb and it worked.
On the other hand, Marketing must have had a contingency -(Marketing to Engineering) “If this doesnt sell, its easy to put the handa back on, right?”
Heck, you could sell the hands as an upgrade!
The primary function of this watch is to say “I am an elitist rich idiot.”
I hope I don’t ruin the anti-utilitarian attaction of the watch, but I know of another function it fulfills:
Allowing other cocktail party attendees to discern that the wearer has an IQ that is as underwater as the metal of his watch.
Forget the watch….Buy thoroughbreds!
M: I see the word “offensive” thrown around quite a bit in strange ways these days. How on earth does this offend you? Because someone may have bought this instead of giving the money to you?
To Jick j: The reason this is offensive is that many people have no home or food to eat in yet some wealthy elitist would buy this to boost his own ego, when he could be making a difference in someones life instead, that is not only offensive but morally criminal.
Would never spent that on an ugly watch. May they follow EveryMan tech: Make it pink and raise the price.
Wow - finally somebody who took the word “wrist watch” into the right direction.
I watch at my wrist and think - oh man, I am such an idiot, $300K to know who I am!
Actually pretty nifty tool. And for those who get it, the price cannot be high enough. I would have put it into the $1m price range. Idiots with money should bleed! Hahaha…
“The watch sold out within 48 hours of its launch.”
Don’t you mean: “The watch sold out within 2 day segments and 2 night segments of its launch”? It appears that you don’t yet appreciate the time-philosophy of today’s wealthy
“…that is not only offensive but morally criminal.” No, it’s neither. You can buy a watch at Target for $6. Does it offend you that anyone buys one for more than that? Obviously the difference would magically go to the homeless.
Anyone who can shell out $300,000 for a bracelet surely gives more of his or her money to the poor than most whether (s)he wants to or not (assuming adherence to tax laws).
I agree this “watch” is a poor investment, but there is nothing offensive or morally criminal about buying one. Is purchasing anything expensive offensive to you?
If you folks aren’t exhausted, you should look at the other watches on the Romain Jerome site, including the one made of rusted Titanic steel that comes with the instruction, “Don’t wear it! The T-oxy Concept can only be admired under its glass dome filled with argon. Release it and oxygen will carry on its destructive work where it left off.”
See: http://www.romainjerome.ch/en/les-inatendus/t-oxy-concept-en.aspx
I wish i had so much money that i desperately needed every available worthless twee bauble to prove to myself and everyone else how much money i had. pathological insecurity on that level doesn’t come cheap!
wouldn’t an “I’m a sad fool” sign be cheaper? oh wait, never mind.
And people had trouble understanding Spitzer spending thousands on a woman.
I personally would buy one of those ‘no time’ watches, however they are all sold out..If you have one please contact me at” JCC03@timer.net
Thanks…JW
some of these comments just show why the rich get richer while you poor fools will never be rich. only a few were made and they are sold. they could sell them tomorrow for a handsome profit.
personally I would like a watch that tells me what time is… philosophers have been arguing about this for hundreds of years and still haven’t come up with a definitive answer.
Does it come with a light so you can tell it’s night when you can’t see the watch?
Actually, I remember a time in my life when I only cared if it was daytime or nighttime, but there were lots of drugs involved…
This has to be the most insanely priced useless item I’ve ever seen lol
What can I say? These people that buy the watch could save money. Hire someone to look out the window and say “boss it’s daylight,” or night depending.
This way he or she could give a job to someone who was one up. They at least could tell something to the rich. Day or night. That should be worth something. Right?
It seems like the more hunger and poverty there is in the world, there are richer people who will spend their money unnecessarily.
That is why I came here to promote a site that sells fake watches, so that people won’t spend all their money on the real things and could spare some for charity.
Buy a fake watch, save the world.
zenreplica.com
Finally. A decent metaphor for my ex.
what time is it??? oh wait all my watch can do it tell me day or night, damnit i want my money back!!!
Raj, you are very wrong. Typically $300,000.00 watches are made for billionaires not multi-millionaires. Question is, will the emperor be wearing clothes with his “watch” today?
I’m such a philistine, I am thinking of killing myself by setting my Thomas Kinkade paintings on fire and jumping into the flames.
How about if I sell the idea of a watchless watch for $1 million?
Honestly, if I meet someone who owns one of these watches I will beat him with the nearest blunt object I can get my hands on. There’s better places to put money.
anyone know how much it would cost to get a time piece added to this watch??
usama bin laden needs this kind of watch. living in a cave, he needs to know if it’s night or day.
Tell you guys what, earn enough money to what u want, leave these people and let them do what they want. Its not their fault you guys don’t have cash to by crap.
anyone give me an estimate on how much it’d cost to get one of these shipped to new zealand? im on a bit of a tight budget.
This reminds me of the $10,000 Staunton chess set made of ivory from woolly mammoths.
Check it out at:
http://houseofstaunton.com/Store/product_name=The+Mammoth+Ivory+Collector+Series+Luxury+Chess+Set+-+4.4+inch+King/exact_match=exact
It’s actually a beautiful set. Too bad I don’t have a spare 10k to spend on a chess set.
These comments are so funny.
Please stop because my pacemaker
can’t take it anymore. Hilarious. Thanks
Is there any way I can get a list of the suckers who bought this worthless trinket? I’ve got a fine deed to the Brooklyn Bridge to offer to them.
-jcr
Now if I can just get a ring made from pieces of the Hindenburg that tells me if I’m awake or asleep…
people here are too blinded by their own stupidity to see that the point of these “Watches” is not to tell time so much as to function as a piece of art and as such the price tag is comparable. Plus if everything was only made in batches of nine units then everything would be as expensive. People here need to grow the hell up!
The great timepieces are both amazing works of engineering and works of art. It does look like nice art, and it is probably quite a stunt to implement dual tourbillons, but it still seems like just a clever marketing gimmick.
What would be actually impressive would be to have it not simply switch every 12 hours, but to actually track the true sunrise and sunset. It would need to be set according to latitude as well as the date and time zone. Doing that in a mechanical watch movement could be impressive enough to actually merit the price.
This must be one great item. Look at all the comments it generated.
Tom, your comment might be more retarded than the people who bought this watch.
Comment by Oh Tom. . . . - April 25, 2008 at 4:42 pm
.
Hmmm. I wonder how many starving kids you could feed, rather than buying that useless bracelet.
Enjoy your speculations and criticisms, everyone. I’ll just be here with my 4 PS3s.
Taxes are obviously not high enough on the upper brackets. Case closed. Enjoy.
Philinvale and fellow travelers:
If feeding the hungry and housing is a moral obligation, then YOU should not be wearing any watch at all. A watch is not a necessary item for most people, and that money can also be given to charity.
Nor should you be spending your time and the electricity needed to run your computer so frivilously in reading the WSJ. Instead, use that time and energy to bake bread to give away. After all, you are “rich” compared to most people in the world.
For those who commented that we should stop talking about this watch, shut off the computers, go outside and get a life, or to whomever said that that this is why we remain poor and don’t have the $300k to buy such a watch… Do we want to? Look at how much fun we are having!!! I actually went to the beach yesterday, saw the family, went to the theater, and the discussion is STILL going on! Which means, commenting on here didn’t mean I don’t have one.
Now, I do believe in capitalism. Yes, the rich can get richer and the poor unfortunately gets poorer, and inflation will take away what the market forces didn’t. But that watch remains a stupid idea, and like a good piece of art, or the emperor’s clothes, it did generated a lot of emotions.
For some, buying a $300,000 object is proportionately the same as most of your lower/middle class selves buying a $20 dollar item. For people who live in poverty, your purchase of a $900 flat screen TV might seem so unbelievably extravagant that you must certainly be an arrogant ass who needs to show off his/her wealth. If you want to live as an example, just become insanely wealthy and share it with people who have little resources. After all, they have the same 24 hours you all do. Use it to generate some wealth and quit complaining about it.
There’s a sucker born every minute… not by that watch.
Buy thoroughbreds instead!
Dear You are pathetic - please check the WSJ target market readers, and you will see that they are in the top 5% wealth category. Doesn’t mean that every reader makes enough to buy that kind of watch, but certainly does not deserve being pointed out as “you” and “lower/middle class”. We are having fun with a stupid item! It is the weekend and this is how we choose to waste our time!
Agree with WSW.
Ridiculous! That money should be given to the poor people or hungry.
Poor people or hungry….I do not think so. Most times these folks are gambling or drinking and taking advantage of he welfare system. This money should be used to buy food.
philistines!!! this is art. much like du champ’s ‘potts’. to look at it as an indulgence for the wealthy is missing the point. hopefully, the buyer (or the patron) will one day donate it to the museum of modern art and the world can enjoy it.
I don’t think that if I was so rich that I could buy a watch for that amount that I would. That being said, I do not think that we/you/me have the right to tell someone else how to spend their money…who hasn’t thought that they would love to be the one that came up with the idea of ’such and such’, (velcro, post it notes..pc’s…etc…)such small items that have netted their inventors millions.
So if the issue is how people spend their money… well if it is theirs …any way they like.
Did you know that the most ‘generous people’ are usually poor? Yes, it is true. And no I don’t think that is how the rich stay rich by ‘holding on to it’. Being generous and giving is an attiutude of the heart. If you don’t give when you don’t have alot, you usually won’t give when you have more… I think there is a secret to true wealth, it doesn’t lie in what you process, in lies in who you are…You cannot buy a good name, a faithful wife/husband, good relationships with your children/grandchildren…they are a return investment in the life you have lived before them. God says it is called, ‘reaping what you sow’. If you want to be rich…give to others, and not just of your money, but also of yourself, your time, wisdom and kindness…it will come back to you…naked we all have come into this world, and we will leave the same way. But if you leave behind you a life/legacy of giving, loving, faithfulness, trust in God…those are the real riches of a happy life…of a life well lived.
I’m still waiting for a watch that tells only the seasons.
That’s ridiculous.
Thanks everyone with a sense of humor. It makes a person who needs a good laugh cure any disease.