Which Brands Might Be The Next F.P. Journe? - 2022 Edition

At the end of 2020, I posted on my watch collecting newsletter an article "Which brands might be the next F.P. Journe? - A quantitative attempt to an elusive and subjective question". The article became a guest post at the Rescapement and has been viewed 3000+ times on Watchville. The idea was to look at what factors have made F.P. Journe a runaway success and grade other brands on the same factors.

2021 has turned out to be a fantastic year for the independent watchmakers. The top two brands in the ad-hoc study one year ago, De Bethune and H. Moser, have done particularly well. Both have produced exquisite timepieces recognized by industry peers and experts at the GPHG awards. De Bethune has formed strategic relationship with the WatchBox, the top preowned watch site. The CEO of H. Moser has been very active in promoting the brand including participating on the new platforms like Clubhouse. In the auctions held in 2021, both brands have done extremely well, surpassing previous records.

With the success, new watches from De Bethune and H. Moser are hard to get nowadays. The long waitlists are common for the popular models. Another top brand Gronefeld in our ranking stopped taking new orders due to the overwhelming demands. Some of these models are as difficult to buy as the F.P. Journe pieces now. For watch collectors and lovers, we have to expand our horizon to explore more brands.

So here is the 2022 edition of the "Next F.P. Journe" list, where we will compare and benchmark 21 brands with F.P. Journe. First, let's review the six criteria and the rationales behind them.

#1 "Collection Lineup": A compelling collection including a full spectrum of timepieces. The lineup would ideally encompass the simple 3-hand watches to the most complicated ones, in all price ranges.

#2 "Availability and Volume": managing the production to keep demands high and stable, which is easy said than done.

#3 "GPHG Wins and Nominations": strong indicators of industry recognitions. Patek and Rolex don't need the awards, but for indie brands, this is a shortcut to stardom.

#4 "Boutiques/ADs/Direct": figuring out the best way to connect with watch buyers. The tricky thing is that a brand needs to adjust the channel strategy as it grows.

#5 "Founders and Brand Image": Founders or CEOs who are watchmakers definitely have an edge. If not a watchmaker, works harder to promote products and brands.

#6 "Auctions": the performance is a result of doing all the right things and an indicator of strong collector interest as well.

As a benchmark, F.P. Journe is rated 5 at all these 6 categories with a total score of 30. All the other brands are scored accordingly. The scoring was done by the author alone, based on mostly public information.

I tried to be as objectively as possible. Don't be offended if your favorite brands are ranked lower than you feel. Please leave comments below, so I may take your thoughts into accounts for future research.

Without further ado, here is the new "Be Like Journe" ranking for 2022.

Here are a few comments on how brands may do to improve their ranking.

21 indie brands are included in this ranking, compared to last year’s 8 brands. De Bethune and MB&F tie for the 1st place, followed by H. Moser & Cie and Greubel Forsey.

Most of the 8 brands from last year have increased their scores, reflecting these brands’ great efforts in bridging the gaps with the leader, F.P. Journe.

An affordable, entry-level model may expand the appeal of the brands tremendously. F.P. Journe introduced early on the $20K (original price) Chronometre Bleu which became a great hit. There was hint that MB&F may make a more widely available version of the M.A.D. Edition 1. If a brand only produces high-end, high priced pieces, they may stay a niche brand. It is hard to achieve F.P. Journe's wide recognition without attracting a wider audience.

GPHG is like the Oscar Awards for the watch industry. Just like winning an Oscar makes a movie more popular, so does winning a GPHG award, especially for indie brands. Gronefeld, Habring2 and Kudoke are the non-Swiss brands who made great progress here. Ressence, Moritz Grossmann, and Lang & Heyne need to try harder! Best wishes of good luck to them.

Brands need to tell their stories better and the founders/CEOs must do their part. The CEOs from H. Moser, MB&F, De Bethune, Czapek and Moritz Grossmann have been working hard. They would attend trade-shows, be active on social media, do interviews and live streams. All these efforts are paying off, as we see the exposure of their brands going up.

Akrivia was considered a rising star in last year’s study, and it remains the most promising young brand. The new models were sold out quickly despite the hefty prices. The stunning result at the Only Watch auction was another proof of the brand’s star power.

Land & Heyne is a collectors’ favorite but also very understated. With both founders not at the company, they will need to find a face for the brand. The launch of Hector was a daring move, but the promotion was a bit lukewarm.

Kudoke has produced many dial variations of its Kudoke 2, including collaborations with retail partners. This is a great strategy to make the offering more interesting while building channel support. They do need to produce new and attractive offerings, Kudoke 3 and more, to keep up the buzz.

2021 has been an excellent year for the independent watch brands and the strong momentum should continue into 2022. Brands are working hard to keep up with ever increasing collector appetite. In the meantime, they need to innovate constantly to stay ahead. There will be growing pains especially for some of the smaller brands. Best wishes to them to take advantage of the good time and build up stronger brands.

The booming market is awesome for watch lovers and the collecting community too. There are so many excellent choices out there for the discovery. As the accessibility for the top brands are getting more and more difficult, it is important to cast a wider net. I have learned a lot while doing research for this article, and still a lot more to learn. Please do leave comments if there are errors in my scoring, or if you have any insights to share.

Happy New Year! Happy Collecting!