What Directly Affects Custom Watch Cost?

Why can two watches with similar appearances have such a big difference in price? Also using mechanical movement, why quotation of different factories have different?

In fact, custom watch cost is never determined by a single part. Movement is only an important part of the cost, but what really affects the final price is the design of the structure, the materials, the degree of customization, the testing requirements, the number of orders and the difficulty of production.

I.The movement is important, but not the entire cost

Different types of movement and the movement of different brand, different regions, the purchasing price there is obvious difference.

Even if two watches use exactly the same movement, their final production costs can still be different.

Different case size, dial thickness, pointer height, crown position and internal structure, need to re-confirm whether the movement can be stable matching.

Especially for mechanical watches, continuous time adjustment, power storage tests, chain-up tests, and functional checks after assembly are also required.

After the movement is put into this watch, engineering adjustments and testing are needed before it can be produced in steady mass production.

II.Different styles have different requirements for movement debugging

The same mechanical movement, when installed in an ordinary round three-hand watch, may already have a very mature structure; But if you switch to a special case, a complex dial or a special hand, the factory needs to reconfirm the internal space and assembly relationships.

For example:

•      The case is made thinner, which may reduce the space for the movement and the hands;

•      The dial is given a multi-layer structure, requiring an adjustment of the overall height;

•      The hands become longer or heavier, necessitating a re-evaluation of the operational stability;

•      The crown position changes, requiring a re-matching of the stem shaft;

•      After adding special functions, more tests are needed.

These changes will increase the engineering time and affect the final cost.

And engineering time, number of calibration and testing links, eventually will be reflected in the custom watch cost, still need through the watch factory whether design is suitable for mass production, and to identify potential problems in advance.

III.Modifying the existing style is the easiest way to control the cost.

For customers who are just starting to establish a brand or preparing to test the market, it is not necessarily necessary to develop a new watch from scratch.

If you choose a model that is already mature in the factory and only make some brand modifications, the development cost will usually be much lower.

For example:

•      Change the dial logo;

•      Modify the logo color;

•      Adjust the dial color;

•      Replace different hands;

•      Replace the strap;

•      Modify the bottom cover design;

•      Customize the packaging box.

The plant does not need to redesign the entire structure, nor does it need to redevelop a large number of molds, so the development time is shorter and the cost of trial and error is lower.

For the first batch of products, this is often the most direct way to control the custom watch cost.

IV.Why is full customization much more expensive?

If the customer wants to make a completely different product, the cost structure will change significantly.

For example, redesigning:

•      Dial shape;

•      Dial lug structure;

•      Dial crown;

•      Dial size;

•      Pointer shape;

•      Steel strap structure;

•      Special functions;

•      Overall thickness.

Such projects usually require 3D design, structural analysis, mold development, sample production, and multiple rounds of modifications.

Sometimes a design is visually beautiful, but when it comes to production, it may be found that there is insufficient movement space, pointer interference, the crown is not smooth, or the waterproof structure is not reasonable.

These problems need to be readjust and start the complete engineering development process. As the development difficulty increases, the custom watch cost usually increases.

V.Upgrading materials will directly increase the price

Another very obvious cost factor is the material. Compared with the simultaneous use of brushing, polishing, sandblasting and PVD coloring, ordinary polishing requires more production steps, which also means higher processing costs and quality control requirements.

When materials and processes are upgraded simultaneously, the final price will naturally increase.

VI.Watch testing is also an invisible cost

Many customers in the comparison offer, only see the movement, case and watchband, but pay little attention to the cost of testing.

However, a truly deliverable watch must undergo corresponding quality checks.

Mechanical watches need to pay attention to:

•      Timekeeping stability;

•      Power reserve;

•      Automatic winding;

•      Pointer operation;

•      Dial crown operation;

•      Waterproof performance;

•      Appearance condition.

Especially with newly developed models, testing is even more important, because the factory needs to confirm not only that the first sample will work, but that the design will be stable enough to produce 100, 500 or more.

Therefore, testing is not an additional step, but a part of the cost of high-quality products.

VII.Finally: Find the most suitable watch brand solution for you

The essence of custom watch cost is the balance between design, movement, materials, engineering, testing, and quantity.

For brand buyers, what they should really focus on is not the lowest price, but what manufacturing processes and material costs are included behind the price, and whether the factory can stably turn the design into the final product.

FOKSY watches service global customers more than 100 countries, service online watch brands more than 1000+, watch style covers the industry popular style for you to choose and design watches.

For customers want to control the cost of development, can be directly from the existing mature design is selected, then whose hands, strap and Logo, dial, custom packaging.

Choosing the appropriate custom watch solution is a more practical way to control custom watch cost.