Some Thoughts on In-House Movements
Video: Let's Talk About In-House Movements - The Deep Track
Relatively recently, we’ve seen a shift in priority toward creating “in-house” movements, and away from using ebauches, or off the shelf movements. Among the
Sharing some of my thoughts on the in-house terminology and how I navigate its use. I realize there are probably lots of different feelings on the matter out there, but where do we see this trend going?
What I'd like to see is more transparency from brands, and more respect toward buyers in the process. I don't want brands to get comfortable throwing an "in-house" label on the movement and thinking they can charge 2x for it.
Does the term mean anything to you? Do you view it as a pro or a con when considering a watch?
Tool watch enthusiast. GPHG Academy member. Watch industry media veteran. Formerly Hodinkee, StockX, Worn & Wound. Founder of The Deep Track.
Not watched video as I'm at work,but for me it depends on whether there's any advantage of the movement being in house - for example, I bought my Omega specifically for the movement accuracy, and at the time there wasn't any other movements that had that performance (& Omega's own proprietary technology)
If there's no timekeeping advantage of the in-house movement then I really don't see any point in paying for some pretty decoration.
99.999% of all watches are run down an assembly line. Some companies have enough money to buy entire factory buildings. Other companies have money to buy a line in a factory and call it their own. Still others use the factory of their ownership group. They get to call it "in house." So what? They own a line that runs parts from who-knows-where into a movement
Only a 1 in 1,000,000 (or less) of watches are assembled by hand by a watch maker. Even less make their own parts. Those watches cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for the labor and skill of the craftsman
We like to dream that a watchmaker made our watch by hand "in house" and that term hits our imagination. It's an advertising word like "all natural." It is still a watch run down a factory line and the quality of the moment is linked more to the price of the watch not necessarily where the movement came from
It's a bit of a con to charge more for repairs and servicing as - in my experience - in-house movements HAVE to go back to the manufacturer.
The term means worse than nothing to me... like 'integrated bracelet.' The way it's used currently means that no only do we want to charge you more for initially, we also want to make sure that you have to come to us for any service, etc.... for which we will also be able to overcharge you.