At Christmas watches are selling all over the streets of District of Columbia. Huge deals - a package for a man and woman is only $20.00. At a huge flea market in Queens NY - at least two stands are devoted to watches.
Watches are no longer the square or round face - there are so many variations to attract the younger folks...
...however I think the use of watches are on the decline...many people including myself use the cell phone as a time keeper...my watch is only for show. Ask the time and the cell phone comes out...I even use my cell phone as my alarm clock
Guess that why there are so many deals - you can buy a watch and throw it out when you don't want it - it is so inexpensive now
I think to answer your question JB would be to say I can get from Japan a 20.00 watch that is a rolex watch on the inside but different label on the out side. By doing so it saves me a few hundred dollars or if it is a knock off off a big brand it could mean thousands.
I have a friend who is really into watches and he went on a trip to Austria and return with a genuine article for a mere 5,000. The Watch is retailed here at 50,000 cdn if you can even find it which mean find the person who has and try to get it from them result the cost may double. I am sorry I can not recall the brand name right now but if not a Rolex or such it is a top end brand he bought.
He recently bought for his son a knock off from the states of the same watch for 15 but the casing is far inferior to the one he bought but the inside is the same! So a great reliable watch with a great price.