QueueCumber
58
Cognitive Dissonance
Absolutely, someone who owns any watch is biased in favor of that watch. The OP was asking why there is so little love for the 5170; I think the prevalence of 5070s and the bias of ownership is a fare assessment. Contrasting this with the newness of the 5170s (a smaller number in circulation), there are not many 5170 owners out there to support the 5170, but there are plenty of 5070 owners out there to disparage the 5170.
Certainly what we find aesthetically pleasing is subjective, but it is also subject to our ownership biases. We tend to even rationalize decisions we know are bad using cognitive dissonance.
Personally, I looked at both the 5070 and 5170 as the jeweler had a few different 5070s in stock in near-mint condition. I personally won't buy a non-in-house movement, but I didn't like how the 5070 looked aesthetically. Cognitive bias because of how I feel about in-house movements? Maybe. Maybe not. I didn't like the 5070 before I knew who made the movement, so...
There is nothing silly about cognitive biases. They are heavily backed by scientific research.
en.m.wikipedia.org
This message has been edited by QueueCumber on 2012-10-13 18:09:14