The China rep is put together better than the citizen. The rep even holds more value lol. You picked a bad example lol
It’s not about just Citizen as example, i could name dozens of brands.
But everybody is free how to spend their money.
I someone think 700-800usd for a rep is justified then they should pay it.
In my opinion it’s too much money for some reps. They are not complicated and had a price raise of +200/300 usd in a couple of months.
For the same price you can buy also decent watches made of nice materials like titanium. If you buy a watch in a store then maybe 10 persons make money of it; suppliers, manufacturers, marketing, transport, sellers, retailers etc etc.
Beside all that you get decent guarantee, which also have to be paid in the price of the watch.
But again, if you think the exploded prices are justified by themselves and just don’t like watches in a store around the corner… please pay for the rep. Keeps the rep-industry alive and fill the pockets of the factory’s extra quick.
I only have rep watches, I don’t like watches like Seiko etc.
But I think 400-500 for a nice ss Rolex is expensive enough.