If you’ve ever wondered where the middle- to low-end of the watch world came from, here you go. Most “brand name” watches like Calvin Klein, Burberry, and the like come from Chinese OEMs who, for the most part, run their companies as well or better than Swiss manufacturers.
For example, I got this email today offering me OEM services from a company in Shenzhen, China, the heart of world manufacturing. Shenzhen is where they make almost all Apple products as well as huge range of precision equipment.
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Some dude, some lady, and some other dude cut some ribbon.
This, sadly, is what amounts to news to most watch companies. Don’t get me wrong: I love Hublot. When/if I’m rich I’ll buy a Big Bang. But look at that: Usain Bolt cutting a ribbon with two other people. That’s not news, that’s some strange sense that Hublot can become as famous as Usain Bolt by associating his ribbon cutting skills with the brand.
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Man, come on. What the heck is this Audemars Piguet abomination? It’s named after the Montauk Highway on Long Island and is apparently aimed at folks who summer at the Hamptons. But wait a minute: shouldn’t those folks be paying for their house shares and not dumping $20K for one of these limited edition preppy-themed monstrosities?
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I have nothing but respect for competent, innovative marketing tactics. But when marketers fail to their homework and are clumsy with an unconventional approach, I will be first in line to call the ugly baby ugly.
Stephen D Time tried a clumsy attempt at guerrilla marketing on Amazon.com. A shill entered into the discussion groups spouting the merits of Stephen D watches in a forum inhabited by a number of watch nerds, including yours truly. Rather than rant and flame, I tried to be open and look at the merits of the watch.
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The Royal Oak from Audemars Piguet line, essentially a water resistant line of yachting watches, is famous for being the first steel luxury watch ever made. It’s a beautiful pieces, looks great on men and women, and is potentially affordable used. However, in order to follow Bell & Ross and Zenith into the depths of Crazytown they’ve decided to offer this “Survivor” model which looks like a robot took a dump on a turtle.
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A pet peeve of mine – using the words accuracy and precision incorrectly, and failing to make a distinction between the two.
Accuracy;
“degree of conformity of a measure to a standard or a true value”
accuracy. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accuracy
Precision;
“the degree of refinement with which an operation is performed or a measurement stated”
precision. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precision
In watches, accuracy is how well the watch keeps time and reflects the time according to an accepted standard. That is to say, how many seconds the watch gains or loses in a given period and how close it is to the Observatory clock. A Movado with no markings may be as accurate as an Omega with a similar movement, if they gain or lose time similarly (so many seconds a week, for example) and are set correctly.
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Why, God? Why?
Ah, the return of the MP3-playing watch. This time, without the ridiculous headphone cord running up your arm. The GoldLantern Bluex Bluetooth MP3 Watch comes with 1GB of storage and a pair of Bluetooth 2.0 headphones.
CrunchGear » Archive » Bluetooth MP3 watch for when you just can’t stand to not have something that plays music strapped to you
I always though Invicta was shady but here’s some confirmation. This poor guy gets his watch back in WORSE condition than when he sent it in.
I sent my Invicta Dune diver back to Invicta in October of last year to have them replace the lume dot on the bezel, which had fallen out, after only wearing the watch about three times. The movement on this watch was also very stiff and something was not right with it from day one. I sent a check for $25 per their warranty instructions.
I received a card back in the mail about three weeks later acknowledging receipt of my watch, with an estimated delivery back to me of mid-November. So far, so good.
Well, I didn’t receive the watch back until December 13th, so this simple repair took 2-1/2 months, which is an incredibly long time to wait, IMHO. All my experiences with Seiko’s COSERV have taken about three weeks at the most. Invicta also did me the favor of scratching the bezel on the watch, with a visible mark running from the ‘50’ to the ‘56’ on the bezel. This scratch was NOT there when the watch was sent in for ‘service.’ They did replace the lume dot and seemingly serviced the movement, but they damaged the watch in the process by scratching the bezel.
I immediately, within 20 minutes of receiving the watch, emailed Invicta’s customer service center describing the problem and requesting that my $25 be refunded to me (I did not receive adequate service from them, only a damaged watch in return) and/or a new replacement bezel be sent to me, as I had no intention of sending my watch back in and risking further damage or another 2-1/2 month wait. I do not think this request was out of line in any way.
After receiving no response, I proceeded over the next two weeks to email Invicta’s service center, customer service personnel and their sales department three more times, with absolutely no response from anyone. We’re talking a total of about 13 emails without response.
Why I’m Through with INVICTA My story of Terrible Customer Service…
Velociphile is not one to mince words, but he really tears my beloved Big Bang (Hublot continues “their dull theme of apeing the Royal Oak albeit without nicely aligned bezel screws”) a new pooper. The most egregious offense? Calling a modified ETA movement an “in-house” piece.
My view is simple. The predominating IP in this design is from outside ETA/Valjoux. All the tricky side of it, the tolerancing, productionisation and so on was hard won by Valjoux a long time ago. Making it to drawing is easy peasy; simply substituting another material and upgrading with a few bushes and bits and bobs no great shakes. I have no evidence but would surmise Hublot still buy in the geartrain and possibly escapement from ETA. And, you can anglage and polish it till you can see your face think Lemania 2310 in Patek 5070 but it doesnt change its genes and the fact that Hublot had NO part in creating the base clever, super cheap and effective tractor. However, admittedly, what theyve done is at least one step – no lets be generous two steps – up from buying in a finished movement.
Velociphiles Journey into Watches
I’d been planning on selling a watch to a fellow in the UK — a watchuseek.com member, actually — and we decided to use DHL to send it. Big mistake. They lost the damn package and now I essentially have no recourse. Either ShipRite, in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, stole it or DHL dropped it in the sewer, but I’m pissed. I’ll never use them again.
Full story
OK. So I’ve been doing this for a little over three years now, on and off. I’ felt like I had a pretty good handle on things, that I was OK not owning a lot of high-end pieces, that everything would be fine. I’ve accepting that updating this blog is my stone of Sisyphus and that I’ll never be rid of it. OK. Feeling good.
So now I see that Watchismo — the best watch blog out there, hands down — won a Rolex Daytona. I’m really happy for him, but I can’t help thinking that I’m suffering for something I did in a past life. God? Are you there? God?
I don’t mean to brag, but it’s just really exciting. I won the grand (and only) prize in the Rolex Daytona Sweepstakes from Revolution Magazine. Part of their celebration and promotion of the US edition. It’s a great magazine documenting the actual revolution that’s occurring in modern horology
Anyway, congrats!
What? I won a Rolex Daytona?? Luckismo! [THE WATCHISMO TIMES]
I always say if you don’t care about legitibity then don’t make clocks, but people never listen. Ever.
Just a Moment clock [Reddish - Design Studio]
Oh no! Raymond Weil, watchmaker to the Sears, is suing Charlize Theron for wearing another watch or something. I’m saying BFD.
In court papers filed late Monday in state Supreme Court, Weil said Theron signed an endorsement deal saying that from October 2005 through December 2006 she would only wear Weils high-end watches.
That deal allowed Weil to use Therons photographs in its advertisements in exchange for “substantial funds,” court papers said.
Meanwhile, Theron had an endorsement deal to promote a Dior perfume, Weils lawsuit said. The 31-year-old actress “was actually photographed wearing a watch from the Christian Dior line” at a March 14, 2006, news conference at a film festival in Austin, Texas, court papers said. A photo of her wearing the watch is included as an exhibit.
Charlize Theron Sued by Swiss Watchmaker [MSN]
When robots make poop, this thing comes out.
