Breitling watch subscription
I thought this might have flown under the radar of my watch family, so sharing this here.
Interesting........... 🤔
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I thought this might have flown under the radar of my watch family, so sharing this here.
Interesting........... 🤔
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Why does everything need a subscription service these days? How about I give you £3000, you give me the watch, and its mine forever, and when I want another ill repeat step one
Thank you, OP for sharing this!!!
Very cool. I do wonder if it'll take off. I suppose it's an empirical question, but "fashion rental" is projected to grow at like ~10% CAGR over the coming years - though, these sorts of industry projections are more "let me put my finger in the air" exercises than anything with any real predictive ability.
Nonetheless, I suspect Breitling is the only big player to have dipped their toes in the water on this front. I suppose it's not that different from leasing arrangements with cars... only the typical new car is so much more expensive than the typical Breitling that it can be worthwhile to have "car subscriptions," while the labor cost involved may make it cost prohibitive for watches. The only way that Breitling will be able to make this profitable is if it's all done online and automated.
I also notice the following:
Very smart way for them to offer product that they otherwise would have to sell at very steep discount to wholesalers - effectively, they're leasing out stock that somebody else has turned in due to defects, they've refurbished those previously defective watches, and then putting them into the subscription program! Genius!
Finally, I would say that one last potential downside for Breitling is "selection effects." Because "fashion rental" is so new, the first movers tend to be folks who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to buy the articles, and need a service where they can stretch out the cost over time, in monthly installments. The danger there is two-fold:
Should be interesting to watch from the peanut gallery!!!
As a person who has stabilized his finances (shout out to the wife!), a program like this does make some sense.
Sadly, these types of programs are not aimed at people like me.
I hope anyone that does this doesn't get into trouble financially for a luxe watch they otherwise couldn't afford.
Thank you, OP for sharing this!!!
Very cool. I do wonder if it'll take off. I suppose it's an empirical question, but "fashion rental" is projected to grow at like ~10% CAGR over the coming years - though, these sorts of industry projections are more "let me put my finger in the air" exercises than anything with any real predictive ability.
Nonetheless, I suspect Breitling is the only big player to have dipped their toes in the water on this front. I suppose it's not that different from leasing arrangements with cars... only the typical new car is so much more expensive than the typical Breitling that it can be worthwhile to have "car subscriptions," while the labor cost involved may make it cost prohibitive for watches. The only way that Breitling will be able to make this profitable is if it's all done online and automated.
I also notice the following:
Very smart way for them to offer product that they otherwise would have to sell at very steep discount to wholesalers - effectively, they're leasing out stock that somebody else has turned in due to defects, they've refurbished those previously defective watches, and then putting them into the subscription program! Genius!
Finally, I would say that one last potential downside for Breitling is "selection effects." Because "fashion rental" is so new, the first movers tend to be folks who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to buy the articles, and need a service where they can stretch out the cost over time, in monthly installments. The danger there is two-fold:
Should be interesting to watch from the peanut gallery!!!
Of all the luxury brands, Breitling has the least to lose doing something like this. The products sell at very deep discounts to MSRP, their distributors flood grey market aggressively, and their ethos, despite their hoped for prices, is not luxury. For a watch brand with actual, real watch making prowess (the B01 is like an actual marvel), they are the Rodney Dangerfield of watch brands. Like people invent stories about how Tudor co-invented the B01 with Breitling to justify paying more for a Black Bay Chrono than the premier B01 on the grey market despite being what I believe to be an inferior watch in fit/finish and styling.
Georges Kern knows he can't compete in brand equity, so he has to compete on access and hopefully capture a demographic before they get caught by Tudor/Omega. Its a strategy of relative weakness and a novel one.
Of course, I could be speaking out of my backside because there's a much easier explanation. They're owned by private equity. Subscription revenue streams get higher market multiples than simple product sales. This is a way to plump the asset value before inevitable sale.
Of all the luxury brands, Breitling has the least to lose doing something like this. The products sell at very deep discounts to MSRP, their distributors flood grey market aggressively, and their ethos, despite their hoped for prices, is not luxury. For a watch brand with actual, real watch making prowess (the B01 is like an actual marvel), they are the Rodney Dangerfield of watch brands. Like people invent stories about how Tudor co-invented the B01 with Breitling to justify paying more for a Black Bay Chrono than the premier B01 on the grey market despite being what I believe to be an inferior watch in fit/finish and styling.
Georges Kern knows he can't compete in brand equity, so he has to compete on access and hopefully capture a demographic before they get caught by Tudor/Omega. Its a strategy of relative weakness and a novel one.
Of course, I could be speaking out of my backside because there's a much easier explanation. They're owned by private equity. Subscription revenue streams get higher market multiples than simple product sales. This is a way to plump the asset value before inevitable sale.
OMG... Genius!!!
Can you imagine? "Oh, we're a tech company now. See? We're like Salesforce.com - we have subscription revenue... therefore, we should be valued at a P/E ratio of 180, just like Salesforce."
$837.00 and I don't know how much they will discount the watch after the year is up. Not for me. Maybe I would pay Vacheron Constantin that much to lend me a three watch collection for a year.
Hard pass for me. I don’t want to throw my money down the rabbit hole for a short term lease of watches that I may not care for, given the limited selection on offer. I’d rather save the $1200-ish dollars that they’re asking for and pick up a grey market watch which I’ll get to keep forever, or take that same money over two years and get myself a nice Longines.
I'll take this opportunity to play the Pollyanna and list the positives! Rather neutrally, this gets something in the hands of those with $XXX per month but not $X,XXX on hand. But they are smart in getting the item in the hands of prospective customers. Back when cars were less scarce, I think Hyundai was literally loaning out new cars to college students. The classic one was to let a car shopper take a model home overnight. People don't like giving things back, and tend to quickly get used to "the step up."
Not only should this get a Breitling on the wrist of <some dude> but probably in the sights of many people in his circle. It's not like I've given Breitling any thought recently. Is it fair to suspect that most of these renters will not be shy about it, and many will become unpaid brand ambassadors or influencers or whatnot?
But lastly, there is an ounce of truth to the stated intent. One gets to test ride a watch they are interested in outside the artificial confines of a dealer. And do the same with some other model lest it not be a love connection. This serves to knock many people over a tipping point.
I'd be curious to what scale this program ever took off, but I doubt we'll ever know.
Only very few watches available and rather expensive. Also you cannot keep one watch over the year you’re paying for, you have to select a second one, even if you‘d like to keep the first. Not for me!
Just think.. a credit check on you for a watch. I'll stick with Casio and Timex.
Thanks for the heads up. It's an interesting concept and at first, I reacted as many have to being annoyed at everything turning into a subscription (can't we own anything anymore).
However, I have wanted to try a Navitimer for a while so after getting confused reading a bit about the program, I went to YouTube and watched RandomRob's video on the program (which is great if you have questions since he signed up and explains a lot). I think the program sounds good because it provides an additional option for those who want to:
(1) try out 3 Breitlings over a year at a relatively steep or not so steep price depending on whether you have interest in 3 different Breitlings (as opposed to the alternative costs involved in buying 3 watches to try them and then resell them with the risk of fakes and service costs); and
(2) try out 3 Breitlings and use your rental points as credits toward purchase of the one of them you really want which according to the YouTube video noted above nets you a total cost a little over the discounted grey market price but also gives you the chance to try out 2 other watches and a factory warranty.
As long as Digital here means actual watches (and not some NFT crap), I like it because it doesn't hurt to have more options for watch lovers (especially if they don't end up costing you materially more than the alternatives).
Cool to see a company testing an “innovative” program in an industry adverse to change. I don’t see this taking off because 90% of buyers purchase watches as a status symbol, and showing off your wealth only makes sense if you have some equity in the collectible. I think financing watches like we do cars makes a lot of sense - speaking of which, has anyone seen that as a payment option at ADs? Or do people who can’t afford to pay cash take out bank loans? Or are watches no longer the overt status symbol they used to be and people just don’t pay for watches they can’t afford?
Only very few watches available and rather expensive. Also you cannot keep one watch over the year you’re paying for, you have to select a second one, even if you‘d like to keep the first. Not for me!
If I understood correctly the program let's you pay the remaining value of the first watch and keep it.
Like you would a car lease. I don't think your compelled to return the first one.....I may be wrong!
Spectacular!!
Cool to see a company testing an “innovative” program in an industry adverse to change. I don’t see this taking off because 90% of buyers purchase watches as a status symbol, and showing off your wealth only makes sense if you have some equity in the collectible. I think financing watches like we do cars makes a lot of sense - speaking of which, has anyone seen that as a payment option at ADs? Or do people who can’t afford to pay cash take out bank loans? Or are watches no longer the overt status symbol they used to be and people just don’t pay for watches they can’t afford?
Yes my rolex AD does financing for them, although somewhat looked down upon by themselves lol
I had heard about this. As an owner of two flying B's I find that this could be good if you are growing a breitling collection, or you are new to the brand. It needs to be said, ( I love breitling), but I haven't met anyone in person yet, who's purchased a Breitling at full retail. So...I see it as way to try a piece before you buy it on the secondary. Maybe that will change.
Cool idea and I wish more companies would do it.
Curious if any forum members are participating and what the #BreitlingSelect Collection includes. It's a new concept for sure but new isn't always wrong or bad. Too many unknowns at this point so I won't do it, but I'll be interested to know if it takes off with other brands.
Curious if any forum members are participating and what the #BreitlingSelect Collection includes. It's a new concept for sure but new isn't always wrong or bad. Too many unknowns at this point so I won't do it, but I'll be interested to know if it takes off with other brands.
When I checked the selection at the time of posting this,
There were a bunch of superoceans...both heritage and new, as well as an avi-8 model but unfortunately none of the new navitimers or top time that I was actually interested in.
Seems like the not so popular models and ones that drop value the most ended up in the selection. Hopefully they will change it around
Digital marketing is not for me. I still prefer the human touch...