Quality Does Not Mean Expensive

Determine Your Needs, Then Do it Right

I’d bet that if you asked a sizeable sampling of people to name what they thought was a high-quality watch, you’d hear Rolex, Movado, Piaget, TAG Heuer or Breitling mentioned a high percentage of the time. All are well known and highly coveted precision timepieces with excellent reputations, which meet the requirements of the thousands of people who have chosen to purchase them.

In addition to the precision, functionality and status of some of these products, many have an additional characteristic – they’re drop-dead gorgeous. From a design and fashion standpoint, it’s easy to see why they’re so desirable, and expensive.

I have a watch “collection” that’s indicative of someone whose object obsessions are focused somewhere else. There are two or three Swiss Army models, a Bulova dress watch that my wife gave me several years ago, the backup band for a diving watch that my brother-in-law once borrowed and “misplaced,” and the one I wear more than all of them put together – a Timex Indiglo.

The Timex is nearly 20 years old, and, I think, cost me $40. I don’t remember where I bought it. According to my wife’s friend who owns a jewelry store, she’s sure it must have been purchased at one of her high-end competitors – Walgreens, Ace Hardware or Sports Authority. Both she and my wife have shared numerous laughs over this.

I like the way the watch looks – not too clunky, not too flashy, and pretty much goes with anything. It fits my lifestyle perfectly, as I’m notoriously hard on jewelry. Most importantly, it’s never lost a minute of time. Ever.

Now, nobody would put a watch like my $40 Timex on the list of high-quality timepieces. Yet, from a performance perspective – meeting my requirements – it surpasses every one of them: appropriate for a variety of uses, clean looks, rugged, reliable and durable.

That’s what quality is: meeting requirements. In this case, my requirements are different that those of the guy who bought the Rolex. Vive la différence.

This can apply to all sorts of things we come in contact with. First we determine what our requirements are: how much are we willing to spend, what are the features that we need, when is the item or service needed? Then we set out to find what we’re looking for.

It’s there somewhere, if you’re willing to look hard enough and be creative. The perfect dress, car, architect, house, dentist, vacation spot…even the “one” of your dreams! But here’s the deal…

Don’t settle for half-assed. Do it right, or do something else. Just because the requirements change, sometimes more modestly, doesn’t mean your insistence on quality should. Remember that somewhere out there there’s a high-quality Civic driving around, and a Bentley in a nearby repair shop for the umpteenth time.