Fun to dream: If you suddenly inherited 12 billion dollars which Watch brands would you acquire?

Would you buy those brands because you like the watches or because you feel that you have something to bring to the brand? Wouldn't you be scared to screw something that is already working very well, just to cultivate your ego?

On my side I guess that it would be more historical house such as Eterna that is now own by chinese shareholders, and try to put it back where it belongs for it contribution to watches history.

A Seiko SKX007.

I already have two, though. Three; if you include the one in bits.

I would buy Hublot and then immediately shut the company down as a betterment for humanity.

I’d rather invest in a rising brand or two and solidify them in the industry, help them level up. Christopher Ward on the more mainstream end and maybe a brand like Trilobe for higher horology.

Why bother with headaches… I would chill and buy an island to myself …

Spaghetti Scametti and make $12 Billion More!

For Reals: Vacheron Constantine

Would buy Habring2.

First, I'd pay off every single debt I had.

Second, buy a new house.

Third, send my kids to school.

Fourth, demolish current house & build new one, turning it into a charitable affair to help those people struggling paycheck to paycheck with free housing for a bit so they could learn & apply sound financial strategies to get themselves out of debt.

Fifth, spend time traveling to every Disney property in existence. (Wife is a huge Disnerd)

Sixth, build & equip a woodshop.

Seventh, buy a new car, a Lexus 5xx series

Eighth, buy watches

Omega Moonshine Speedy

Omega Aqua Terra

Omega Seamaster Heritage

Omega Constellation (vintage)

Oh, brands....

Longines

Get it out of Swatch ownership to allow it to REALLY shine. I think there is quite a bit of untapped potential there.

I'd be pretty much hands off and allow them to try to compete with Omega.

I would put you on my fulltime payroll and keep you busy constantly modding and re-modding my watches.

Don’t worry, I’d grant you full access to all island amenities!

Darn sounds like a high class slavery to me?!! But ok I will do it 🥳😂

As someone in the finance business, I'd go with your choice! I would not buy a watch brand either, but these are fun to dream about.

Movado, and turn it back into what it once was. It would be cool to try and take a once respected brand, that is now basically garbage, and try and bring it back.

Estimates for Rolex’s acquisition of Bucherer are 3-5 billion CHF, and yes they are a retailer, but it would give you an idea as to the magnitude of moneys required.

This is quite an interesting article btw, if anyone was interested in doing some background reading regarding acquisitions, it’s only a 2-3 minute read:

https://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/M-a-deals-in-watches-seen-less-likely,103930.html

12 billion? I wouldn't buy any, I would disappear never to be seen again

I would acquire Invicta and turn them into the true watch legend they were destined to be.

I'm still waiting on money from Nigeria...Apparently some prince needs help and i could buy a watch brand soon with it.

For $12 billion I’m starting my own company. Also why $12 billion? Did you inherit that much lol? I’ll be glad to give you my address I have some watches on my wish list ha ha ha 😂

This would be incredible.

Or what they used to be. Wow, could you imagine? Turning that around would be like Captain of the Titanic trying to turn away from that iceberg.

I would bring Universal Geneve to life again.

And reissue a modern Polarouter micro-rotor no date in 37mm.

Seiko, Zenith & Hanhart... Plus Luxottica...

Breguet. To get them back where they deserve to be. Shambolic currently, sad to look at

This was a fun exercise, I don’t have the pretence of leading a watch company.

And yes, my comments were purely based on my wishes as a watch enthusiast. Having said that, I don’t think Omega needs to alter their target audience by consolidating their lineup. Just look at Rolex. One could argue both brands are after overlapping market segments, yet Rolex sells three times the anount of watches with a tenth of the catalog. Every watch Rolex releases is thought through. They offer variation, but they do not overdo it.

I doubt many of Omega‘s SKUs are even profitable. What I‘m trying to say is that Omega lacks focus.

Allow me to also briefly elaborate on their designs, particularly in terms of thickness and size. I do thnk that the size of Omegas watches is determined by their technology and movements. The Omega AquaTerra has a 8800 calibre on its 38mm variant and a 8900 double barrelled calibre on its 41mm variant. The smallest case size housinf the 8900 calibre is the Globemaster 39mm, which leads me to think a Seamaster 300 in 39mm is doable (by keeping the same calibre). My point is that Omegas designs are at odds with the current trend and what audiences are asking for, i.e. mid to small sized watches.

I‘m aware that this might entail an overhaul of their current Co-Axial calibres to make them slimmer, but this is an investment worth looking into, as their tech is limiting their designs, hence, in my opinion, also their ability to keep up woth competition.

One final point. The Co-Axial escapement is marketed as a substantial improvement over standard escapement calibres. My Seamaster 300, however, stopped working 5 years and 3 months after it was first bought. Which means I had to fully pay for service, as the watch wasn’t covered by the warranty anymore. Needless to say I felt a bit cheated.

For me, it'd be Christopher Ward. I'd leave all the current team in place, and just give them a big cash injection to continue their rise and to be the best british watch brand.

I'd also ask nicely if they could make the C63 GMT in a 41mm case.

I'd buy the Richemont group. I'd leave everything alone. I don't know shit about running a watch group. All I would request is that each brand give me 2 watches of my choice each year, one off's preferably. Could you imagine getting 2 watches from ALS, JLC, IWC, VC, Panerai, Roger Dubois, Cartier and the list continues each year?

Lot's of "pedestran" brands mentioned above. "Pedestrian" as in walking down the street in Monte Carlo (or Dubai). Come on, let's have some immagination.

For me, let's start with a Richard Mille, a PF Tonda or two, followed by a Patek and an AP, have to through in an MB&F, an Urwek (what the hell? I'm now rich enough to afford "losing" and couple hundred thousand on an Urwerk😉), and I'm sure there are others to waste a couple million on.

R W Smith v4

And of course a PP perpetual calendar

Heuer. It has a lot of potential to fix simply by returning it to what it once was. Then I’d buy Hodinkee for the exact same reason. 😂