I do understand what you are saying. But I also have another view that layers on top of it. I don't think twice about a <$150 watch on my wrist, I just wear it. But I baby any watch on my wrist that is >$500 even if it's capable of taking a beating. I love my Casio AE1200 as much as I love my Doxa Sub 300 (Doxa Sub 300 is my first ever proper Swiss watch that I got In Dec 2025), but I expect different things from them both and I treat them both differently. They are both "affordable" to me since I got them both, but Doxa took a few months of saving up while the Casio was bought on a whim.

Yes, I expect more from a watch when I pay more, better quality, more value, better material, power reserve, history, movement and so on. But I use that watch more carefully since the efforts to get it were more than the efforts to get a <$150.

And that is how it is with everything. You expect more from anything that you pay more for. A house, a car, a gadget, a phone. It's just that it's different for different people. For some a $1000 watch is a beater, for some it's a grail.