Bites: This micro is doing what Rolex should be!

Good stuff as always.

I’d say that it’s smart of brands to keep costs and profits secret. The truth is, we’re paying for how we feel about a watch, not the parts and labor. So disclosing pricing may work for a micro that operates on a business basis, but that’s not how Rolex or Omega work. They base prices on what they can get away with. If you question that, ask yourself why the Wilsdorf “charity” has so much money. Ask yourself why Omega just boosted prices on watches they haven’t done more work on.

Maybe micros base prices on what went into the watch, but make no mistake. If they ever get to the point of having people lust after their watches, if they ever become status symbols, that pricing model will go right out the window.

Yeah, agreed.

Do you think in our heart of hearts we know damn well there isn't anywhere near £10k of parts and labour in our luxury pieces?

Would it ruin that 'feeling' if we really knew? 🤦

Thank you Kaysia! As always great content especially in your"Rambling" section.

Enjoy your new watches!

Cheers!

Excellent read. Thanks for sharing this example, it would be great if more brands did this, but alas, I doubt many other will follow suit. I am going to have to check them out when I get home.

Really enjoying your excellent Bites! I have to say that I am not so concerned about where a watch is made as long as there is access to information on how the watch is made. Transparency is more important than nation of origin to me. After all, most watches have some components originating in China. 😉

Paying for branding just seems to be part of any business model. Look at current San Martin prices on AliExpress. Their prices were lower prior to a lot of good YouTube reviews.

Really enjoying your excellent Bites! I have to say that I am not so concerned about where a watch is made as long as there is access to information on how the watch is made. Transparency is more important than nation of origin to me. After all, most watches have some components originating in China. 😉

Paying for branding just seems to be part of any business model. Look at current San Martin prices on AliExpress. Their prices were lower prior to a lot of good YouTube reviews.

Great work! With life getting busy and not being able to frequent WatchCrunch as often as I'd like these newsletters are great to stay up to date!

Yes, I think a lot of people, especially those who are new to the hobby, don't grasp what you can get away with under 'Swiss made'.

I did find a good graph about it somewhere.... I'll try to find it.

What's most terrifying about that disclosure is the almost 300% markup between costs of production and the sales price -- in almost every model.

I think it'd be good to see how big their marketing budget is, relative to cost of building the watch.

A customer should not excessively overpay for a product because they need to fund a marketing team. **Mvmt, ahemmmmmm**

At the end of the day, you wear the watch, not the marketing, not the box or papers. Granted, you do also wear their logo and are indirectly market for them 😠.

Found it!

This is the minimum in terms of parts and production for it the be 'Swiss made'

I'm happy you enjoyed the read 🍻

I don't even bother looking at the price of Blancpain. I am never going to be pleasantly surprised that they've decided to release a budget range am I? 😆

P.s. my next choice of watch is even more out there 🤭 but I need to do some saving up for that one.

The Swiss Made branding rules say it all. Obviously, things cost more to make in western countries, we are not the epicenter of cheap manufacturing. So really a "Swiss Made" watch is mostly made elsewhere. But the even bigger question...how does this translate to human labour?

After all, one of the biggest allures of a Swiss Watch is in the craftsmanship is it not? Are we paying mostly for time spent by low/mid-skilled factory workers, robots or actual Swiss watch makers? This might open up another debate about national interests, etc. etc. But Swiss foreign policy / jobs market aside, assuming we only look at quality delivered to the consumer; does this matter more?

I would be ok if every single part came from China (they are technically able to manufacture high quality parts) if it was mostly assembled by a skilled watchmaker vs mostly assembled elsewhere and just finished off by a skilled watch maker. I myself am perfectly capable of putting on a dial and hands on a working movement. So from my very biased POV I would rather pay top dollar for someone's experience, more so than paying for the sum of the parts which can be easily automated these days.

My ongoing assumption is that only very expensive Swiss brands (like the holy trinity) actually have skilled watchmakers doing a lot of work. All the others below the $20k mark are likely relying mostly on outsourcing work and doing the equivalent of just QC locally (i.e. Switzerland).

So what are we paying for? The privilege to buy a design from the original designer. Watches are like stocks, they're worth what people think they are, no intrinsic value to be measured. But why bemoan over it? That's literally how 90% of what we buy works when it comes to consumer products 😀 At least watches are more fun and reliable than a stupid fridge that breaks down every 5 years.

Great summary and I like the link to Code 41. There’s lots of interesting stuff in the watch community, always something new.

The Swiss Made branding rules say it all. Obviously, things cost more to make in western countries, we are not the epicenter of cheap manufacturing. So really a "Swiss Made" watch is mostly made elsewhere. But the even bigger question...how does this translate to human labour?

After all, one of the biggest allures of a Swiss Watch is in the craftsmanship is it not? Are we paying mostly for time spent by low/mid-skilled factory workers, robots or actual Swiss watch makers? This might open up another debate about national interests, etc. etc. But Swiss foreign policy / jobs market aside, assuming we only look at quality delivered to the consumer; does this matter more?

I would be ok if every single part came from China (they are technically able to manufacture high quality parts) if it was mostly assembled by a skilled watchmaker vs mostly assembled elsewhere and just finished off by a skilled watch maker. I myself am perfectly capable of putting on a dial and hands on a working movement. So from my very biased POV I would rather pay top dollar for someone's experience, more so than paying for the sum of the parts which can be easily automated these days.

My ongoing assumption is that only very expensive Swiss brands (like the holy trinity) actually have skilled watchmakers doing a lot of work. All the others below the $20k mark are likely relying mostly on outsourcing work and doing the equivalent of just QC locally (i.e. Switzerland).

So what are we paying for? The privilege to buy a design from the original designer. Watches are like stocks, they're worth what people think they are, no intrinsic value to be measured. But why bemoan over it? That's literally how 90% of what we buy works when it comes to consumer products 😀 At least watches are more fun and reliable than a stupid fridge that breaks down every 5 years.

Loved the “Bites” as always❤

Thank you so much for including my post. I truly am grateful for the opportunity of appearing on the big post’s highlights of this week ;)

Keep the great work and thank you again!

Yet another outstanding installment!

Thanks for the shoutout and as always thanks for another excellent newsletter!

Thank you!🍻

I shall look out for your future collabs 😁