Micro brands exposed: the uncomfortable truth about the watch industry.
Watch industry is undergoing a tremendous revival. Despite smartwatches and cheap quartz telling perfect time, people are yearning for authenticity, prestige, and ingenuity of mechanical watches. While traditional brands are experiencing somewhat of a renaissance, small start-up players ride the wave and capitalize with Kickstarter campaigns, promises of a genuine luxury watch for less, and minimal designs attempting to start new trends.
Some small startups actually produce decent watches and are backed up by experienced watchmakers, but most are opportunists selling outright garbage.
One asks how is it possible for companies selling garbage to thrive? The answer is multilayered but overall simple with two main points.
1. The greed. Money drives everyone and everything. The startups save on cheap Chinese cases, pre-made template dials, and stock standard calibers that are available in millions. It’s never been easier to run a micro watch brand. There are Chinese companies with complete ready-to-go solutions geared for startups. All you have to do is assemble the watch in Switzerland, drop off- the-mill Sellita or ETA, and you are allowed to put a prestigious “Swiss Made" on the dial. To get the product out to people, the micro brands push their watches to popular watch blogs for review. In their turn, these blogs survive by being compensated for favourable watch articles. Everybody rubs each other's back and makes a cut. Consumers are fed lies and are blindsided by significant savings. Everyone is happy. The life cycle works!
2. Lack of education. When the information is hard to get a hold of, most will not dig too deep. Besides the price, there are keywords people are accustomed to when making up their mind about a watch: “automatic, sapphire crystal, superluminova, 316L steel”. If I run a micro brand, I just got the easiest formula to satisfy any potential customer. All the magic words are used. The product must be legit good…. Well, how about the grade and parts of the movement, shape of the crystal, grade of superluminova and treatment of the steel? So much room to save! In fact, the profit margins ( in percent ) of micro brands are comparable with the big players that have been going since a couple of centuries ago. Congratulations, you bought something thinking you saved money. No, you enriched people who have no connection to the art of watchmaking but are mere entrepreneurs. You are nowhere near to owning a masterpiece of engineering that mechanical watch is.
The micro brand players are usually young, tech-savvy, entrepreneurial, adept at social media and digital marketing. You have seen their campaign ads on Facebook or Instagram. One should not be surprised if a website of a startup brand is much more sleek, stylish and has better visuals than a website from an older brand.
The question is: how does one in the market for a new watch walk this minefield? Well, buying a mechanical watch is an important decision as it is something that will hopefully accompany you for years to come and bring the pleasure of ownership. Given the price and financial responsibility of maintaining a mechanical watch, one should read a lot to make an educated decision and possibly save money on buying a good mechanical watch.
First of all, don't trust watch industry people. The best sources of knowledge and information are:
1. Technical and historical books and articles. The more you know about different the mechanics and functions of watches, complications, the better informed decision you can make.
2. Blogs that are independent of the watch industry. This is why I love WatchSnob. Ask Men pays him (or them). The money does not come from the watch industry. His opinions are snobbish but accurate.
3. Join watch enthusiast meetups. Many people already travelled this journey and are altruistic about sharing knowledge.
What watch should you buy? This is very personal to everyone. One has to make an emotional connection with a watch. There is always a safe bet with Rolex. Except it’s expensive and hard to get. If you are after one right now, you are probably frustrated. Yes, you are again being ripped off. While the product is excellent, you make retailers rich, and you further propel the prices up. The prices for Rolex climbed a few thousand on average in several years making it almost a good investment. That’s if you plan to sell it. The truth is, you can get a perfectly fine watch from a smaller brand that will be much more exciting in terms of craftsmanship and horological value for the same money as Rolex. At this point you have to ask yourself: Am I after a great watch that will serve me a lifetime or am I after a status symbol that will serve me a lifetime? If your answer is the latter, it’s simple. Stand in line and prepare to pay a premium. Nothing wrong with that. It’s a different form of excitement, one you and I can’t really share.
Things get much more interesting if you chose the first. The bare minimum of getting deeper is that you will save money while getting something equally nice. You will also appreciate the purchase more because you put effort into the decision. This decision is yours. You nurtured it, you carried it, you doubted it, and you are the one making a final step by pulling the trigger.
There are mass production factories that kept up their standard of quality through the years and never sold out to a corporate world. Also, somewhere, there is a family-owned watch shop that puts love into every detail of their creation, finishing and assembling everything by hand. Just like real artisans. Wait… not “like”... They are artisans. Don’t ever forget it! And you have a chance to own their creations and support their craft.
There is a great choice in every price category. Scientia potentia est….