Bring back significant watch brands
With Breitling acquiring Universal Geneve, it got me thinking about other brands, that were once loved and admired among enthusiasts, that had since fallen out of favour.
Personally, I have a soft spot for mid-century Movado. For me, these were classic watches, well executed and competed on the same stage as more expensive contemporaries (I'm looking at you JLC!). I mean, just look at these:
Since becoming part of the North American Watch Company, Movado has largely become a department store brand and for me at least, has largely departed from watch design aspects that made them much beloved among collectors.
So, in my best Chris Farley voice "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BRING BACK THIS DAMN WATCH BRAND!"
How about you? Any watch brand from the past that you would like to see restored to their former glory?
Adventures of a watch tragic.
What Citizen is doing with Wittnauer is a crime.
What part of that doesn't say "dropship"? Wittnauer had a 20 year run in the post-war years that was pretty impressive. Losing Longines as a partner was its death knell.
Eterna and Wyler could use new ownership as well.
Movado is a great candidate…
Those are beautiful!
What Citizen is doing with Wittnauer is a crime.
What part of that doesn't say "dropship"? Wittnauer had a 20 year run in the post-war years that was pretty impressive. Losing Longines as a partner was its death knell.
Eterna and Wyler could use new ownership as well.
Ugh, that is fug.
I was thinking about Eterna as well.
Bringing Movado back to its glory days I think might take blood magic/Victor Frankenstein level exhumation and corpse reanimation.
Bringing Movado back to its glory days I think might take blood magic/Victor Frankenstein level exhumation and corpse reanimation.
Maybe my faith is misplaced, but given the likes of Doxa, Nivada Grenchen and Excelsior Park (heck, even Ikepod), I'm convinced the two starting necessities (at least) are passion and capital. The biggest catch with Movado is that, even with it's current shopping mall and high street jeweller leanings, the business behind it is no defunct name waiting for a saviour - it's very much profitable! In my opinion, taking over the Movado Group would require some kind of "all or nothing" approach to acquisition. If LVMH or Breitling/Partners Group ever wanted to stack competitor brands against Baume and Mercier, Oris, Tissot, Longines etc, then brands such as Ebel and Movado would be a reasonable place to start.
Maybe my faith is misplaced, but given the likes of Doxa, Nivada Grenchen and Excelsior Park (heck, even Ikepod), I'm convinced the two starting necessities (at least) are passion and capital. The biggest catch with Movado is that, even with it's current shopping mall and high street jeweller leanings, the business behind it is no defunct name waiting for a saviour - it's very much profitable! In my opinion, taking over the Movado Group would require some kind of "all or nothing" approach to acquisition. If LVMH or Breitling/Partners Group ever wanted to stack competitor brands against Baume and Mercier, Oris, Tissot, Longines etc, then brands such as Ebel and Movado would be a reasonable place to start.
Hey, you never know. Universal Geneve is back from the dead.
Beautiful movados!
Pleasantly surprised to learn that Movado made good-looking chronos 👍🏻
Another vote for Movado. The chronos with Zenith movements were lovely but I find vintage fragile enough without doubling down with a Chrono.
Another vote for Movado. The chronos with Zenith movements were lovely but I find vintage fragile enough without doubling down with a Chrono.
Yup would love a modern chrono movement in a revitalised Movado. Maybe rekindle the connection with Zenith.
I don't think Movado needs revitalisation, they are doing quite well, no? As far as making "better" watches is concerned, pretty sure Movado wouldn't be opposed to that either but that's not what they do well and they know it. They are wise not to deviate too much from what they do well.
In fact, Movado Group tried to "bring back" Ebel, they even named the collection BTR (back to roots). The watches were of phenomenal quality... and it failed miserably. Granted the timing wasn't ideal so it isn't a perfect argument but it certainly shows that they aren't opposed to making a good quality product, it just seems that it's too far "off brand" at this point. I am a huge fan of Ebel and I wish they would "come back" but I don't think it can be done at this point. By Movado, who still own, operate and grow them but now more in line with their other "lower tier" brands, or anyone else for that matter.
I think generally bringing back brands that went bad during the 70s or 80s doesn't really work anymore, they are too far gone. Even if done and timed well, like with Nivada Grenchen, it's never going to be the same. You can't make up for 50 years of the brand's technology and design evolution with a few tweaks because, for better or worse, watch enthusiasts seem to value continuity and heritage. Although I wish to be wrong, I doubt Breitling will have much success with Universal Geneve.
For a few years Movado was also co-branded on dials with Zenith (as well as mondia). I love the patina on this 70s oldie!
I don't think Movado needs revitalisation, they are doing quite well, no? As far as making "better" watches is concerned, pretty sure Movado wouldn't be opposed to that either but that's not what they do well and they know it. They are wise not to deviate too much from what they do well.
In fact, Movado Group tried to "bring back" Ebel, they even named the collection BTR (back to roots). The watches were of phenomenal quality... and it failed miserably. Granted the timing wasn't ideal so it isn't a perfect argument but it certainly shows that they aren't opposed to making a good quality product, it just seems that it's too far "off brand" at this point. I am a huge fan of Ebel and I wish they would "come back" but I don't think it can be done at this point. By Movado, who still own, operate and grow them but now more in line with their other "lower tier" brands, or anyone else for that matter.
I think generally bringing back brands that went bad during the 70s or 80s doesn't really work anymore, they are too far gone. Even if done and timed well, like with Nivada Grenchen, it's never going to be the same. You can't make up for 50 years of the brand's technology and design evolution with a few tweaks because, for better or worse, watch enthusiasts seem to value continuity and heritage. Although I wish to be wrong, I doubt Breitling will have much success with Universal Geneve.
This post is from an enthusiast pining for how things once were and what could have been, had Movado maintained their trajectory, after the quartz crisis. Look, a business had to do, what it had to do to keep their maison in existence.
However, while others were able to build themselves back up, tapping into their heritage for inspiration along the way, the owners of Movado seem content with taking the brand the other way - 'Walmart-ifying' it, if you will. Most of their catalogue today look like Daniel Wellingtons knock-offs, with cheap cases and movements, which is sad, considering Movado's history with design and technical achievements.
As I mentioned in my previous comment, Movado the business is doing great (I'd imagine in the same way that DW and MVMT are doing well):
So yes, for the owners of Movado, it's very much "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I do acknowledge that it may be too far gone to shift back in the other direction - to start the path back to becoming a brand that can sit with say Longines, B&M or Frederique Constant, may take generations to do.
Having said this, the Swiss are very good at playing the long game when it comes to watches, hence why, in my hypothetical scenario, I think this can only happen if Movado falls under Swiss ownership again.
This post is from an enthusiast pining for how things once were and what could have been, had Movado maintained their trajectory, after the quartz crisis. Look, a business had to do, what it had to do to keep their maison in existence.
However, while others were able to build themselves back up, tapping into their heritage for inspiration along the way, the owners of Movado seem content with taking the brand the other way - 'Walmart-ifying' it, if you will. Most of their catalogue today look like Daniel Wellingtons knock-offs, with cheap cases and movements, which is sad, considering Movado's history with design and technical achievements.
As I mentioned in my previous comment, Movado the business is doing great (I'd imagine in the same way that DW and MVMT are doing well):
So yes, for the owners of Movado, it's very much "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I do acknowledge that it may be too far gone to shift back in the other direction - to start the path back to becoming a brand that can sit with say Longines, B&M or Frederique Constant, may take generations to do.
Having said this, the Swiss are very good at playing the long game when it comes to watches, hence why, in my hypothetical scenario, I think this can only happen if Movado falls under Swiss ownership again.
It's why I brought up Ebel. I don't think Movado is, or at least was, opposed to going the other way and do stuff other than walmart watches as you call them. I'd wager that was initially the idea behind the Ebel acquisition.
The people at Movado Group did seemingly everything right with Ebel's push and it still didn't work so that they had to sell luxury watches at their discount outlet stores, probably for an actual loss.
Perhaps they are just not capable, not playing thr long game, and the brand needs to go back into Swiss ownership. But in my mind there is probably no brand (maybe, A Lange & Söhne...) that successfully resurrected itself and returned to its former glory. Hell, Blancpain had a head start, was led by JCB, has a legit claim to the first diver watch and still struggles to be really relevant within Swatch group. If Blancpain is the best case scenario then I, personally, would rather let the past be the past and have people focus on new innovations. Not to say that some revovals aren't nice watches, it just doesn't feel like the real thing, to me (but I admit that I could be the problem here). That said, I will be happy for you if I am wrong about Movado or Universal Geneve, genuinely 🍻
Oakley.
It's why I brought up Ebel. I don't think Movado is, or at least was, opposed to going the other way and do stuff other than walmart watches as you call them. I'd wager that was initially the idea behind the Ebel acquisition.
The people at Movado Group did seemingly everything right with Ebel's push and it still didn't work so that they had to sell luxury watches at their discount outlet stores, probably for an actual loss.
Perhaps they are just not capable, not playing thr long game, and the brand needs to go back into Swiss ownership. But in my mind there is probably no brand (maybe, A Lange & Söhne...) that successfully resurrected itself and returned to its former glory. Hell, Blancpain had a head start, was led by JCB, has a legit claim to the first diver watch and still struggles to be really relevant within Swatch group. If Blancpain is the best case scenario then I, personally, would rather let the past be the past and have people focus on new innovations. Not to say that some revovals aren't nice watches, it just doesn't feel like the real thing, to me (but I admit that I could be the problem here). That said, I will be happy for you if I am wrong about Movado or Universal Geneve, genuinely 🍻
Yeah not sure about Ebel. Could be wrong time, wrong markets - not sure if there was a focus on NA initialluy.
Again, I think this depends on the person/people behind the revitalisation, what you define as success and your time horizon. Make no mistake, getting back to mainstream prominence is a hard slog, decades in the making, that may not fit every brand (for me, Blancpain has always been more "IYKYK").
However, I would say, in recent memory there have been a few examples where it has worked. The Meylan family revitalised Moser and it seems to be doing quite well since they took over. Rick Merai has had a massive hand in bringing back to Doxa and then Aquastar to dive watch enthusiasts.
I will keep a close eye on the Breitling/UG situation over the next few years to see where we land.
Gruen.