How important is the story behind the watch brand ?

I think of it as the "cherry on top" of all those other things.  Nice but not essential, not as sweet but not sour without.

Not at all. I just need it functional and durable.

As long as the story is not: "We are just a group of young entrepreneurs. We noticed that luxury products are often luxury priced. We set out to design and bring luxury to you at an affordable price. We are getting rid of the middle man and selling direct to consumer to put money back into your pocket. "

Jokes aside, as @SurferJohn said, brand stories are usually the cherry on top for me and it usually ties to the heritage. Stories to individual watches on the other hand are more important to me, such as the Omega Speedmaster, Cartier Tanks, etc.

I think of this stuff the same as I do about an attractive woman. The less I hear, the better, as chances are it will only detract from something in which I was interested. I like what I see, don't mess it up.

There are two massive genres. There is the company in decline story, where all glories occurred decades ago. Womp womp. What have you done lately? And then there is the new kid on the block story. Great, come back in a few years and we'll see if you kept it up. 

I'm better off not knowing. It will only make me dislike the company. The story is free, and if I don't buy it, I'm not buying the watch. 

For me it depends, each case is a case kind of approach.

If the narrative hits me then I will add it to the mix, just like with all the other “tangibles” like design, price, etc.

But usually, there’s no second chance to make a good first impression, and storytelling in their marketing counts.

Wether that resonates or not with my highly evolved b.s. immunity, well... Let them take a shot, I’m open minded and that’s why I keep around 😉

Your jokes are not far off the mark. Many micro brands exist today because some dudes with money hired a private label and called it their own. In this case the story matters to me.

Then there is the “What is that, you’re cutting out the middle man and being an industry disruptor?” No thanks.

Story definitely helps me. I am on the record several times over saying I dislike Seagull movements. Perhaps more than dislike. Then I met the folks at Baltic or Studio Underd0g and by the end of the discussion, I want to give them money to support them so they can succeed. There is a passion there that just doesn’t exist in many brands and there is something to be said for that. Similar experiences with AnOrdain and Monta over the years.

@AndrewMorgan recently dropped a video on a similar topic. We look at these massive brands we like to throw stones at from a far, but there is a pride in the product from the folks designing and making it. Seeing the pride they have when they win awards is humbling. That makes this hobby fun.

I think even the stories of the Speedmaster and the Tank still ultimately boil down to human stories. Apollo 11 wasnt unmanned. The development and operation of that watch is ultimately built around the fallible passion of humans. The Tank was inspired by Louis’ wartime experiences. Without that, the watch would just be a component In a larger machine. 

The stories are all fake cuz the truth is all boring. The story of every watch company is just "some guy was already rich, he started selling watches, got richer, and eventually paid celebrities to wear them." There are all kinds of interesting stories about the deviousness of these actions in their minutiae, and there are always notable exceptions like external contracts won through testing, but by and large, Hans Wilsdorf has more in common with Louis Cartier than not. If good storytelling was at all related to good products, Koenigsegg would be more famous than Bugatti. But Bugatti owns the only racetrack in the world long enough to set speed records, and Christian Von Koenigsegg has the charisma of a brick. Products can speak for themselves, "brand stories" just talk over them.

I prefer a cool story, it doesn’t kill the deal for me though. However, a sketchy history does deter me as with some micro brands. 

Brand stories are just marketing fluff. Some people are good writers(or hire one), but in the end the real story is "I saw a way to make money, so I gave it a try."

Brand name I care about slightly, though mostly whether or not it's offensive or too silly sounding. Steel Dive, Tactical Frog, etc., are just too silly sounding for me. 

To me, it's everything. The history and impact on culture. Let's be honest, nowadays nobody needs watches. Especially not mechanical watches. So why bother? 

I was recently reading about the Ball watch company. How railroads resulted in the current time zones. How the founder of the company instituted strict rules about watch accuracy to prevent railroad accidents. 

Then there is the history of Longines. They produced the first stop watch measuring 1/100th of a second. How their watches were used for racing and other sporting events. 

And then of course, the omega moon watch. It all connects me to history of human achievement. And I'm reminded of it when I look down and see my watch. 

Of course Ball went defunct for decades and was brought back and is financed by a Chinese investment conglomerate. 
 

If the current iteration is looking to the past to build their future, it’s still all good to me!

You know how you tune into the Olympics or something and all you want to see is some ski jumping or whatever, but they waste your time with some personal "Queen for a Day" story about how some competitor broke his toe and his house burnt down and he almost missed the plane to get there and they play sad plinky piano music and it's a whole godawful melodrama totally irrelevant to anything? Just total filler and fluff aimed at emotionally malleable nudniks?

That's how I feel about brand stories and most of their histories. It's nonsense and a waste of time. It's offensive that they think so little of me to attempt this foolish manipulation. I tune out of the Commander McBragg tall tales. When I hear "our history" I think "you're history!"

Legacy brands have their stories.  That's a given. 

However,  microbrands that manage to tell a good story gain a marginal advantage over the competition. 

Case in point: the husband and wife team that had up Lorier watches.  The guy was a teacher,  so they were aiming to make watches that they would want to buy on said salary. 

Marketing gold + solid product = success

I like a good story and it plays a part in the decision making process. Santos, Tank, Navitimer, Airman, Speedy Pro, so many more. Im not impressed with any of the microbrands and their stories, though. Go check YouTube for microbrand watch videos from 5 years ago. Most had a story. Most are gone.

I'm going with the camp of 'story adds to the watch's intangibles but unless it's a Spaghetti Scametti situation not a big deal. Like the other Crunchers said, it's the cherry on a damn nice sundae.

I'm going with the camp of 'story adds to the watch's intangibles but unless it's a Spaghetti Scametti situation not a big deal'. Like the other Crunchers said, it's the cherry on top of a damn nice sundae.

I agree that history is a marketing tool that  most often has little to do with the actual watch you may be buying (especially with microbrands). However a few comments have alluded to discovering the passion of the people behind the watches…now that works for me. Case in point, Scurfa watches. If you haven’t already listened to the Paul Scurfield interview on The Grey NATO podcast then do yourself a favour and have a listen.