I wouldn't be surprised if these are made by Timex. They make OEM watches for a few different labels.

bbp1 wrote:I've never been impressed by ANY thing by Kenneth Cole, including these. I'll stick with my Citizen.

Actually, odds are the movements are made by Miyota - a subsidiary of Citizen.

They make about 95% of Japanese OEM quartz watch movements (including for Citizen).

Virtually all of the fashion brands have Citizen/Miyota movements.

The Chinese are growing in the OEM segment as well, but much of their stuff remains in Asia.

This might be the ugliest group of watches I've ever seen. See you tomorrow, woot.

gdinero wrote:KC watches are complete junk. I bought one once from K&G men's super store in texas. Within the first week, I had a large scratch on the face of the watch.

For comparison, I now wear either a $500 diamond Calvin Klein watch or a cheapo $12 pulsar watch that i bought at walmart. Have had both for well over a year... not a scratch on either one... and i'm not particularly careful with either.

Kenneth Cole watches = complete hernia

I have one pair of their pants... better quality then the watch.

So because you scratched it the watch is hernia?

I've had one for over 10 years and love it. It's been thrown around quite a bit and still looks sharp.

yeawuteva wrote:is water resistant the same as water proof? i mean can I go swimming with these?

For swimming, a "water resistant" watch is fine, as long as you don't push any buttons or pull the bezel while under water. The depth rating tells you how far below the surface of the water you can expect to go before it leaks. Most water-resistant watches go way more than 10 feet, which covers the average recreational swimmer. A (scuba) dive watch is designed to go to deeper water and won't leak when you push buttons. Swimming and showers are fine for a water resistant watch in good repair. Most watch manufacturers do not warranty water resistance, so YMMV.

Keep in mind that each time you remove the back from a water resistant watch, you are prone to leaking the next time it gets wet. There are o-rings that keep the inside of the watch dry, and they are usually fragile and sometimes prone to failure after a battery change.

Watches have been, and are, an excellent accessory for the well-dressed person. Sure, the time can be had anywhere, but that's not necessarily the point. These are nice for the price, but I'm saving up my pennies for a Patek Phillipe Supercomplication. It's gorgeous!

Digey wrote:Kenneth Cole KC3797 Features:

Kinetic powered, makes use of the motion of the wearer’s arm turning a rotating weight, which turns a generator to supply power to charge a rechargeable battery that runs the watch.


See this is ideal because Automatic/Self winding Watches are never precise so the battery maintains that, however it appears this watch still isn't precise.

I had a seiko kinetic powered watch several years ago and It was a good watch except for the fact that when the rechargable battery dies it costs much more than the watch to replace it. >100$

I'll stick with my sundial, thank you very much.

uberporsche wrote:Q1 Does anyone even wear watches anymore ?

You can pry my Casio Waveceptor watch from my cold dead hands.

Seriously though, atomic time keeping, solar panels? <3 my Casio, I've never had to set it.

If you want an inexpensive but decent quality watch, get something by Invicta. If you want some cheap throwaway shoes or pants, get something by Kenneth Cole.

md1207 wrote:I had a seiko kinetic powered watch several years ago and It was a good watch except for the fact that when the rechargable battery dies it costs much more than the watch to replace it. >100$

It is true that some older capacitors were hard to change (and expensive). Most manufacturers have addressed this by making replacement more like what you do for a battery. For a "kinetic" watch, you now replace a capacitor once every 3-5 years for $15, instead of a battery every year or two for $5. IMO, the "kinetic" feature of a watch is dubious, but not detrimental. My advice is to buy a watch that you like how it feels and looks. The only consideration for the power source should be if you have to wind it or not.

Quartz movement = no thanks

A watch should be a great mechanical device or a great electronic device. Not a little of both.

eneal10 wrote:For swimming, a "water resistant" watch is fine, as long as you don't push any buttons or pull the bezel while under water. The depth rating tells you how far below the surface of the water you can expect to go before it leaks. Most water-resistant watches go way more than 10 feet, which covers the average recreational swimmer. A (scuba) dive watch is designed to go to deeper water and won't leak when you push buttons. Swimming and showers are fine for a water resistant watch in good repair. Most watch manufacturers do not warranty water resistance, so YMMV.

Keep in mind that each time you remove the back from a water resistant watch, you are prone to leaking the next time it gets wet. There are o-rings that keep the inside of the watch dry, and they are usually fragile and sometimes prone to failure after a battery change.

Forgot to mention that 1 ATM equates to 10 meters of depth. A 3 ATM watch is good to about 100 ft deep in water. Probably enough to cover the deep end of your pool.

elronlael wrote:No calculator = No sale.

I'm with you there. Casio databank 150. And my dress watch is a Solsuno.

What I need to know is if they are ALL stainless steel. If even just the crown is plated brass (or whatever they make the cheap watches out of), my skin will eat right through the plating and start turning green.

Any way to find out?

uberporsche wrote:Q1 Does anyone even wear watches anymore ?

Q2 Does Woot actually sell any of these ugly things ?

Q1: A watch is pretty much required in the medical field. Checking pulse and respirations, etc. Other than that, no. Unless you're a grapefruit juice flaunting a Rolex as a status symbol.

Q2: There's a market for anything...

shindig966 wrote:How hard is it to remove the links on one of these watches in order to adjust it to your wrist size?

it's actually not too difficult, with the right tool. i got a (women's) watch from nordstrom rack last year (incidentally, a kenneth cole one!), and of course it was way too big (i have very small wrists). i debated on whether i should take it into a store to have resized (usually costs about $9, at least from the couple of places i called) or do it myself. i ended up getting this: http://www.amazon.com/AK-Watches-linkremover-extra-pins-Link-Remover/dp/B001F295SA
which made it was really easy to remove the links myself! i think i bent one of the pins, but it came with 5 so i have plenty to spare.

personally i like kenneth cole watches for their looks. i still love mine, but i mainly got it for travelling, because when i'm at home or at work i'm around a lot of clocks (computer, phone, wall clocks, etc) and don't find it all that necessary. but it's essential to have a watch when travelling.

hth!

They are made by the Geneva Watch Group



Edit:

Which is owned by Binda Group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binda_Group

Gabemax wrote:I noticed that too. A 3.3mm watch face would be interesting though...

man a 3.3mm watch face? THATS HUGE!!!!

eneal10 wrote:Forgot to mention that 1 ATM equates to 10 meters of depth. A 3 ATM watch is good to about 100 ft deep in water. Probably enough to cover the deep end of your pool.

Your forgetting the 1 ATM at sea level. So 1 ATM of air @ sea level + 2 ATMs of water @ 66 ft = 3 ATMs.

BUT, that's with no shock or anything. Just like swinging your arms around at surface creates additional G-forces, so does moving around under water.

But as the previous poster stated, probably fine for the deep end of your pool, but I wouldn't take it on a dive.

uberporsche wrote:Q1 Does anyone even wear watches anymore ?

Q2 Does Woot actually sell any of these ugly things ?

A1 Watches are meant to be fashionable nowadays.

A2 Did you notice now that woot sells anything??? they sell scrap wood for crying out loud. and baggies of crapioli. and suppositorys.

a75952 wrote:A1 Watches are meant to be fashionable nowadays.

A2 Did you notice now that woot sells anything??? they sell scrap wood for crying out loud. and baggies of crapioli. and suppositorys.

And the funny thing is those scraps of wood sold out right as I decided I would purchase them. So yes....I think staring at the same thing all day will eventually make me buy just about anything. I have a perfectly good Citizen watch on right now, but give it about 12 more hours of staring at these and I will probably own 3 new watches.

tytiger58 wrote:Are they self winding or battery?

They are all quartz watches which means that they're battery operated. The semi-exception is the KC3797 which uses a rechargeable battery (or capacity). Instead of winding a spring like self-winding watches, your movements turn a weight which generates electricity to charge the battery. Unlike self-winders, good kinetic watches need not be worn semi-daily. Good ones, i.e. Seiko, have circuitry that puts it into sleep mode when not worn so that the battery can lasts up to 6 months. My guess is that Kenneth Cole lacks these sophisticated features since it's not a watch company.

Note that kinetic watches are generally thick and bulky, and unattractive especially if you don't have large wrists. You need room to house the weight and dynamo.

Generally-speaking, quartz watches are more practical than self-winders because:
1) They're much more accurate, often within +/- 15 secs a month. Since self-winders depend on a mechanical balance wheel, they affected by temperature, shaking, etc.
2) Maintenace-free. Some quartz watches need a battery change only once every 10 years. Solar and kinetic watches never need a battery change, unless it no longer holds a charge. My solar aviator watch has been going strong for >10 years. LCD-based watches are the most reliable. Self-winders need cleaning and adjustments every few years. And they need to be worn every other day to wind.
3) There are more features. Alarms, timers and stopwatches are easy to add to quartz watches. And you can make quartz watches receive atomic time for perfect accuracy. Alarms and timers are very expensive in a self-winder and adds a lot of space. In addition, more expenisve analog quartz watches have perpetual calendars which means it knows how many days are in each months. Virtually no self-winder under $700 has that since it adds many more cogs and wheels. Of course, all LCD watches, including the $5 ones, have perpetual calendars.

salockwood wrote:Checked the Kenneth Cole web site, and I didn't find ANY of the watch numbers there at all. Could be they are discontinued items. Good woot! I mean Good Luck.

As a watch collector, I can tell you that discontinuation is a good thing -- as long as it wasn't discontinued because of defects. Watches are considered fashion items, and new lines are introduced regularly. If a watch is discontinued yet remains high in demand, you have an investment on your hands. I bought several Movados 2 years ago for about $300 each. They were shortly discontinued and I recently got them appraised for $1700 each.

Watches are great collectibles if you know what you're doing. As far as I know, prices continuously go up, unlike gold and other precious metals. And even broken watches can demand high prices. But that;s only true for fine watches like Rado, Rolex, Constatin Vacheron, etc. The weird thing is that these watches, often valued at $2000-$5000, are often made of plain stainless steel. Even great watches like Seikos and Citizens don't count as collectibles unless they're unique. Kenneth Coles almost certainly have no collectible value. Some pop watches, like Swatch, do have a large following and collectors market.

If you do invest, buy only from reputable places (that allows refunds) and have them appraised for authenticity immediately after purchase.

repeat

gdinero wrote:KC watches are complete junk. I bought one once from K&G men's super store in texas. Within the first week, I had a large scratch on the face of the watch.

For comparison, I now wear either a $500 diamond Calvin Klein watch or a cheapo $12 pulsar watch that i bought at walmart. Have had both for well over a year... not a scratch on either one... and i'm not particularly careful with either.

Kenneth Cole watches = complete hernia

I have one pair of their pants... better quality then the watch.

See, I've had the complete opposite experience. I dropped $100 on a Kenneth Cole watch back in '04 or '05 and still wear it today. It's become my every day beater watch since I bought it, pretty much. There's a scratch here or there on the band or on the casing, likely from not taking it off when working on a car or something, but the crystal still remains scratch free.

It may not be a Citizen, but I feel like I've gotten incredible value for my $100.

I purchased a Kenneth Cole watch a few years back to be my daily wearer, and was surprised to find (when I got the battery replaced) that the watch housed a women's movement (smaller, apparently cheaper) with a plastic spacer to fill out the larger case. That said, it works, and if you're happy with how the watches look, you'll be fine. If you're interested in watches and are looking for a particularly nice one, this may not be your best bet - as I share some other posters' concerns about quality. I ended up migrating to an automatic, others may be happy with the quartz.

shindig966 wrote:How hard is it to remove the links on one of these watches in order to adjust it to your wrist size?

If they are like the Seiko watches from Chronoshark, you need a special tool:

http://www.amazon.com/Tech-Swiss-TSLK3-Watch-Remover/dp/B000A7G45I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=watches&qid=1270728088&sr=8-1

Others have done it with a paperclip and a small hammer, but this tool works perfectly as long as you take your time and use some common sense.

personally, at this price point, i would go with an invicta. check out amazon, jomashop, and invictashark.

here's a great invicta pro diver at amazon, $69.95 w/ free shipping.

mesascotty wrote:What happened to simple watches designed to tell you the time only. Who needs multiple dials and added gizmos that only make it harder to read the hands on the watch and tell what time it is. Everyone I know who has a watch like these has to angle it back and forth just to see where the hands are to tell what time it is.

I agree. And when I was you kids' age, I had to WALK to school...uphill...both ways...in the snow! Kids these days with your rock and roll, 8-track tapes and your watches with too much information on them.

Hello Woot ...

1980's calling. It wants its "fashion statement" back.

Deleted post because woot is invading my privacy.

Deleted post because woot is invading my privacy.

tharriss wrote:People still wear watches? I thought everyone just checked their cell phones for the time...

Agreed. I have an 18k gold Patek Philippe Calatrava and a stainless Tag Heuer, and haven't worn either in years. My cell phone is much more accurate and useful to me.

orubin wrote:NO!!!! Water proof can go under water. Water resistant means it will be OK in the rain.

I've had nothing but water "resistant" watches over the years and have worn them into the shower, gone swimming with them, etc. Usually if it says resistant to a specific depth it will be fine for anything but diving.

Not a fan. I remember when KC made attractive looking watches back in the 90s.

However, for those who like these, I would agree with the others that it's a good price!

I have had a Kenneth Cole watch for the last five years and have gotten numerous compliments on the style, while the quality of the build has also been excellent. I might Woot a second one just for a different look.

This would look totally cool with my Member's Only Jacket. Who said watches are only worn by old people?

I've worn the same Kenneth Cole watch for 9 years and it is still in great condition.

Digey wrote:
Movado
Citizen
Omega
Tag Heuer

Err, most of these watches are in the $400 - $3,000 range. Kenneth Cole watches list new for about $150 - $250, but they can always be found at any KC outlets across the country for about the Woot price. Also, Gilt.com and RueLaLa.com regularly (as in, once a month) carry these watches for about the $70 seen here.

I bought my partner one two years ago, and it's been solid. He's had the battery replaced once, but if you get a decent jeweler (read: not a chain mall jeweler) to do it, then you won't have a problem.

If I have one complaint about KC watches, it's that they all look more or less alike, essentially an infinite number of takes on the same basic design.

Also, check on Unlisted watches, which are Kenneth Cole watches sold for a lot less money mainly because they're labeled Unlisted.