I received an email today from a British maker I’ve always admired announcing a new model. I won’t name them or show the photos as the mail only went to previous buyers in advance of a press release in a couple of weeks. Nice enough looking watch, and different from their previous offerings. Also a bit cheaper at £2,190. But, the engine powering this watch is a Seiko NH34. I’ve owned watches costing more with modified, or even stock, Swiss movements, and justified it by looking at other areas of the watch and ease of servicing etc, but my jaw dropped at this and I decided it was a no go from the start. I could never justify that amount for a watch with that movement, no matter what else it offered.

What do others think, do movements have a ceiling price and how much would you go to for a NH34 powered watch, assuming you liked everything else about it?