Is seiko the cause on the surge of prices of Swiss watches?

If you're talking about modern price hikes (like the last couple decades), then no. That's just inflation, higher costs of living worldwide, and greed.

If you're talking about prices back in the 70s and 80s mid quartz crisis, then ... Also no. Quartz was introduced by Seiko at nearly 10000 USD in today's money (a submariner at the time was about 2000 USD in today's money), and has gone down as it got cheaper to produce. Mechanical watches also got cheaper over time, Seiko 5s for example. But a lot of well known brands' prices mostly stayed at the prices they were at because of the "artisanship" involved.

tldr, quartz was expensive and got cheaper, mechanical watches were expensive and got cheaper -- but some stayed expensive as luxury items.

My perspective sheds light on the post-quartz crisis transformation within the Swiss watch industry. The initial impact of the crisis indeed led to the perception of quartz watches as more affordable and accessible timepieces. However, in response to the changing market dynamics, Swiss brands strategically shifted their focus toward marketing mechanical watches as symbols of exclusivity and luxury. While inflation and costs play a role in pricing, the deliberate marketing tactics employed by Swiss watchmakers after the quartz crisis cannot be overlooked. The narrative presented by me aligns with the industry's strategic decision to position mechanical watches as coveted items for the affluent, contributing significantly to the observed increase in Swiss watch prices over time. This perspective highlights the multifaceted factors influencing the evolution of the Swiss watch market post-quartz crisis.

Shall one may also say that. The impact of the quartz crisis is evident in the evolution of Swiss watch prices. Initially, quartz watches, introduced at high costs, became more affordable over time as production expenses decreased. Simultaneously, mechanical watches, influenced by the crisis, generally saw a decline in prices. However, specific renowned brands resisted this trend, emphasizing craftsmanship and positioning their watches as luxury items. Thus, the quartz crisis played a significant role in reshaping the pricing landscape of Swiss watches, contributing to the sustained high prices of certain mechanical timepieces.

I think it's fair to say quartz dominates the very cheap watch market leaving the cheapest mechanical watches with nowhere to go. But you can buy a perfectly serviceable mechanical movement for for well under $100 so I don't see it being a deliberate ploy to make mechanical watches premium of particularly special.

Completely misread this question in my first response - my apologies.

I am not a historian but I think there is some validity to what you’re saying. I don’t necessarily think mechanical watchmakers were directly raising prices in attempt to punch down on quartz watches, but perhaps it was about supply and demand? I mean, once the quartz crisis decimated the affordable mechanical watch brands, those that were left standing could simply raise prices for those who still wanted a mechanical watch. Shifting the perception of a mechanical watch as a luxury definitely was also happening, but at the same time, I think quartz watchmakers seem to be racing to the bottom to undercut their competition as the technology became cheaper to produce. Maybe I am wrong, I am sure it’s a whole bunch of things happening 😂

I was already second guessing to respond to your first comment on this 😅 but mistakes happen. I also think you have some rights in this, I'm also not a pro at this(I am just good at making sentences) so I'm also in a position of misunderstanding or misinformation

I am referring to Swiss watch makers not anyone else here

When this was made , 1976, it was Omega's most expensive watch (their first mass produced Quartz) !

The majority of the Swiss industry went under as we know, but the clever ones saw the opportunity to sell their products as "Luxury" .

Many years later this Luxury market has become established and opened the door for all mechanical watch manufacturers to jump on this cash cow and sell at higher prices, with the Swiss raising prices to appear more premium. Obviously there's inflation too.

But I'm not an economist, just my guess 🤔

I totally see where you coming from, acceptable 🥰🥰

This is what I do think how it started with the pricing, I've spent to much today here so I'm to lazy to create a whole novel as a respond. 7/10

I generally agree with everything you're saying, and most of it is very historically sound. Which begs the question of why the question was asked in the first place, but I will say that most of these watch brands didn't reposition as a luxury item -- they already were. They simply doubled-down and became more exclusive, more opulent, and more of a wealthy person's commodity instead of a wealthy person's necessity in response to the development of quartz.

When quartz was introduced, there were already watch brands like AP and Patek consulting with Genta over their soon-to-be integrated sports watches, there were already solid gold submariners, and there were already minute repeater tourbillons for sale.

The Swiss basically said, we can't beat them at affordable, we cant beat them at performance, we have to beat them at artisanship and artistry -- and if we're going to be exclusive and luxurious, let's add another zero the price to prove it.

This is in large part why the Royal Oak and Nautilus were so successful. Being made of steel and priced higher than gold, they were clear, distinguishable symbols of exorbitant wealth presented as artisanry.

It's a long road from the quartz watch to the smartwatch, but yes, Swiss manufacturers really can't compete in the consumer segment anymore, because it has been completed commoditized. It's true that Swiss luxury brands existed before the quartz crisis, but a lot of consumer brands folded. Now the watch itself is largely optional. My kids don't wear any.

A Swiss luxury watch is like owning s horse: Fun, expensive, not easily justifiable, and simply not necessary.

I think the likes of Hamilton & Christopher Ward fit this comment.

Yes

That does seems to be valid. Many brands have done this, and has even been used to sell inferior products at a premium over others. Prime example are Apple products having a massive several hundred percent markup on tech that is several years out of date.

I think any watch brand that can set their watches up as "luxury" will try and do it. Look at brands like MVMT whose watches are white label watches that costs a few dollars, but they sell it at $100ish prices, and the numerous other a la Spaghetti Scameti type brands.

I also think social media allows for mass ad flooding and FOMO. Just throw watches on a few celebrities' wrists, slip a fashion writer a free watch or two to write this up as the watch to have and purposely make it seem like unobanium and you can jack up the price of a watch. The FOMO thing was clear with that #casio Tiffany blue type watch that went for much higher than it was worth.

I'd say inflation plays a factor in brands trying to outdo the ever increasing rates over the past few years. I also think icon status plays a role where you really are paying more for a name than anything else. We can see comparisons to a Seiko that has a good brand history vs something like Invicta, whose brand is seen as lower brow by today's standards. If suddenly Invicta released watches more like their older catalog, upscale the marketing, have stores in upscale locations, and you'd see one of their sub $100 watches go for several hundred.

No, prices are set by willingness to pay and branding. Swiss watches are in market segments several notches above Seiko, therefore it’s unlikely Seiko would affect watch brands 3-4X more expensive.

Greed and shareholder demand propel price increases since they were already profitable.

No

Do we want to ignore COVID, the price of oil and other resources, cost of manufacture, the structure of the watch industry (including movement suppliers and part strangulation), inflation, or do we just want to blame the Japanese? Are we also forgetting Seiko’s increase in pricing and the reduction in quality?

Just like any good question, the answer is nuanced but “Seiko is not the cause of the surge of prices of Swiss watches”. It would be more accurate to say “Quartz is the cause of the surge of Swiss watches.” But even that can be debated. Precisely for the points raised in this thread that it forced swiss watchmakers to go up the luxury spectrum bec despite what we watch enthusiasts think, mechanical movements are strictly inferior to quartz movements. I mean the cheapest quartz movement runs circles around even the most expensive automatics. That’s why we resort to soft and unquantifiable attributes like mechanicals have “souls”.

Off the top of my head, I don’t think there’s another industry where the inferior technology is the dominant one (in terms of dollars not units) outside of watches. Imagine someone saying the Nokia 3310 had soul while the latest iPhone/Samsung Galaxy/Google Pixel was just a cold, soul-less piece of tech. Sounds ridiculous right?

I haven’t been into watches long enough to have firsthand experience but anecdotally I believe there’s been massive inflation in watch prices since the covid pandemic so I don’t think “actual” inflation is the real cause of the price rise.

My guess is, the success of the Apple Watch has created a second “crisis” in swiss watchmaking leading to lower volume sold which means prices would need to rise in order to just stay flat on profits. But this creates a negative spiral where watches increasingly become less accessible, which is a shame for all of us watch enthusiasts 😢.

Not really, the Swiss watch industry pivoted mostly to luxury/semi luxury (barring SWATCH of course) to save themselves from just as good Japanese quartz watches. Now the entire watch industry is trying to save itself from smart watches and especially the Apple watch. To do this toy either gotta go CHEAP or "nice yet inexpensive" think Casio/Citizen/most quartz Seiko and SWATCH or start massively pushing heritage, brand, luxury, or design.

Agreed although a fair few GREAT quartz watches are sold for WAY less than an Apple watch or Garmin equivalent