- 15/11/20
- 3
- 1
- 0
Dear Watch Industry
(i know you are reading)
I am not a supporter of piracy, it's illegal but more importantly I think it's morally wrong. So why am I here?
I am a business man and I love to treat myself with nice things, cars, boats, art and of course watches. In the past 20 years, after each good deal I bought myself a new "toy", I own all the fancy cars, several boats, some fancy art and - of course - some beautiful watches. A few months ago my Rolex dealership (of which I've been a customer for decades) told me that Rolex no longer allows them to sell two similar models, e.g. GMT Pepsi vs Batman, to the same client. WTF ?!
"A crown for every achievement", yeah right.
The shortage of watches is obviously intended by the industry, I understand the scarcity element, BUT here is where you watchmakers are getting it wrong:
The watch industry's strategy fuels the grey market and punishes watch enthusiasts.
Every single model from R, PP and AP is available in unworn condition on Chrono24 (e.g. 61 unworn 5711/1A) while watch enthusiasts need to wait years to get one. That strategy hurts your end clients and is counterproductive, don't you watchmakers realize that? Encouraging speculation isn't good for any industry, never has been, never will be.
5711/1A is listed at 26k but "worth" 80k. It's steel for god's sake, if this is not a bubble then what is?
There is no shame in increasing production numbers. Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, none have taken a hit in brand value by the increased production numbers, nor will you.
Increase your production numbers, cut out the shady middlemen / grey market.
There is no win win for the industry, other than to increase production numbers and meet the real demand.
Dear Watchmakers, you need to change your strategy before it's too late and your customers end up buying replicas instead; PPF's 5711 (0.5k) is so damn close to GEN (80k), it's ridiculous.
from Geneva with love
MrD
(i know you are reading)
I am not a supporter of piracy, it's illegal but more importantly I think it's morally wrong. So why am I here?
I am a business man and I love to treat myself with nice things, cars, boats, art and of course watches. In the past 20 years, after each good deal I bought myself a new "toy", I own all the fancy cars, several boats, some fancy art and - of course - some beautiful watches. A few months ago my Rolex dealership (of which I've been a customer for decades) told me that Rolex no longer allows them to sell two similar models, e.g. GMT Pepsi vs Batman, to the same client. WTF ?!
"A crown for every achievement", yeah right.
The shortage of watches is obviously intended by the industry, I understand the scarcity element, BUT here is where you watchmakers are getting it wrong:
The watch industry's strategy fuels the grey market and punishes watch enthusiasts.
Every single model from R, PP and AP is available in unworn condition on Chrono24 (e.g. 61 unworn 5711/1A) while watch enthusiasts need to wait years to get one. That strategy hurts your end clients and is counterproductive, don't you watchmakers realize that? Encouraging speculation isn't good for any industry, never has been, never will be.
5711/1A is listed at 26k but "worth" 80k. It's steel for god's sake, if this is not a bubble then what is?
There is no shame in increasing production numbers. Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, none have taken a hit in brand value by the increased production numbers, nor will you.
Increase your production numbers, cut out the shady middlemen / grey market.
There is no win win for the industry, other than to increase production numbers and meet the real demand.
Dear Watchmakers, you need to change your strategy before it's too late and your customers end up buying replicas instead; PPF's 5711 (0.5k) is so damn close to GEN (80k), it's ridiculous.
from Geneva with love
MrD