Anyone else feeling kinda gross about Watches and Wonders?

Well that's the Wonders part. If you can't do high horology or some other feat, at least make good jewelry.

IMHO, now that AP just decided to be Richard Mille, Rolex is trying to cover the old AP’s space, and Tudor is covering the old Rolex’s space. All in all, bad news for watch nerds and for collectors focused in value.

No matter how you slice it, there’s a general move towards the ultra-premium end of the market where 99.9% of us is priced out of. I guess we’ll just stay in our lane and will end up just ignoring these brands as we tend to do with other ultra high end brands.

I concur that Nomos is such a welcome and positive exception. Their new offering is a limited edition, yes, but it’s 175 x 31 = 5425 pieces. And they’re selling for less than the original Nomos Tangente 38?? Amazing.

Like a couture fashion show, W&W encourages showing off grails. What they show at W&W are runway models. Haute couture.

We common folk want ready-to-wear products. But media doesn't highlight Target or Walmart ads.

It may just be good business right now. People in the $30-100K a year income aren't making luxury purchases right now. Targeting higher earners in a down market is smart.

I don't mean to single out Rolex but I think what they do almost every year is to release the same models in new colours while still manage to impress most (except for the release of the new 1908 collection last year).

I don't necessarily expect them to introduce a new collection each year and I know they focus more on minor upgrades to improves their existing products but for me is not the most exciting move. That's almost the same as how I see the new iPhones released each year.

We look at it as watch enthusiast. They look at it as a corporation. They know the fake life style/ Social influencer is trending. They know most enthusiast are not going to spend 10k+ on a watch(we know the alternatives: Smiths or Explorer, Zenith or Daytona?). People with fake lifestyles will not only imitate fake money and will even buy the replicas. I see more kids online being ok buying fake trending Nikes, Yezzys shoes because I can't afford it vs living in reality and buying what you can afford. Imagine being excited for a 39mm Tudor GMT? when the market is flooded with GMTs of all sizes. Sorry bit of a rant.

An overwhelming premise of W&W is for watchmakers to show up their creations and in many cases works of art to their dealers and subsequent clients. It has big money products for big money clients. Sure there are more approachable brands, but this is about getting dealers excited for their whales as much as many getting excited for more down market products.

We have many other shows and avenues for other brands, many of which are happening along side W&W.

This year of W&W has been thoroughly disappointing. Like you, I am not into this 80s and gaudy gold pieces revival in the slightest. 🤢🤮

But an 18mm thick, $55k, 18 ct yellow gold dive watch rated at 3900m that weighs a brick and no one in their right mind will ever take swimming is the pinnacle of futility.

Kudos to Nomos for keeping it real. I'm not a fan of their design language and the long lugs don't do it for me (tiny wrist), but at least they aren't trying to take us for a ride like the other big players. Thank you for showing some decency and respect for your customers, which is so rare in the luxury space. 👏

I think that the list (and preowned) prices of steel watches from certain ‘not to be named here’ brands have now climbed so high, that they’d better be made of solid gold or I’m not interested :)

This is not untrue.

Wait for the Swatch X Target Collab

They wouldn't make them if people didn't buy them.

In my opinion many luxury brands are trying to up their game by both increasing the bling and the price. They are trying to move up to the next level of luxury. Rolex to Patek, which they'll never obtain. I agree with the comment back to the 80's. I was there in the 80's and didn't like the being then either.

It’s a unique point of view to be angry at brands showing off their fanciest pieces at a fancy watch event.

That's Luxury watches for you, that's why I collect vintage

Not gross, just underwhelmed and disappointed. Same old watches, just in fancy clothes with a bigger price tag.

This is the first W&W I was looking towards after getting much more into watches this year (last year I was still in my first steps as a buyer). From this new perspective, it was really disappointing. Except for GS which is just levels above and beyond all the rest in terms of their intention and commitment. I really enjoyed the GS portion of W&W but nothing else.

Totally agree! Feels more like "Watches and Meh" this year😅

Seems like a fallow year for most brands.

Apart from white gold or platinum, an all gold model with gold bracelet is a lot of bling. I have one watch that fits that description and it’s simply a special occasions watch for me. I have several other precious metal pieces and for those I chose leather straps to tone it down. Those offer far more flexibility. I also have several bi metal pieces and those strike a happy medium. The all steel models are more relaxed and don’t draw the same level of attention as the others.

All that said,there’s no denying the beauty of this deep sea or the RG SkyDweller on Jubilee. As wrist jewelry they are gorgeous. But I think for 99% of us they represent too much bling and the “hey look at me” factor to be comfortable wearing them daily.

Who said they were angry? I said I'm kinda grossed out by the direction the entire industry is heading, which seems to be towards ultra luxury and jewellery-adjacent gaudy designs. Setting aside price, the big names could also have changed their posture towards more tool type watches, but again, that is not the current trend.

Luxury watches being luxurious, at a luxury watch convention?

As I wrote twice now (check your prescription maybe?), the trend towards gaudy design and jewellery adjacent pieces is not for me. Panerai is still luxurious, but it is not jewellery adjacent. This is not the only way to release new designs.