The future of watch making
#1
Just like to give my 5 cents on the future of watch making as i see it.
I do not think we will see any great changes in the years to come,i
cannot see another Quartz revolution like the one that nearly wiped out
the mechanical watch industry some years ago. The industry is much more
controlled today,and it is much harder for new brands to break into the 
areas controlled by the established and well known brands.If there could
be a threat,then it could come from smart watches that have the ability
to update forever.
I think micro brands will continue to thrive,and take a market share from
the established brands.But i do not think they will have any lasting value,
or be worth collecting for the future.
I think that the servicing of many new watches will involve just replacing
the calibers and polishing the case.This is cost efficient,and i think vital
to the future of mechanical watches.Lets face it who wants to wait 6 months
to get your watch back from a service.And with the millions of new watch buyers
coming in the future,it will be impossible to get the amount of watchmakers
to service them that will be needed.
Of course high end watches,will continue as usual to use specialist watchmakers,
and make people pay for the privilege of owning them Icon_smil
I can see a bright future for brands making watches to order for people
who want something that is individual for them.
I hope for the future that brands will begin to use their efforts to make
watches more scratch resistant,with longer power reserves and longer service
intervals.I think many brands are standing still in this respect.
I would like to see brands like JLC who once were at the forefront of mechanical
watch making,start to remember their heritage.And get back to what they once
did best.Innovate and make progress.
What do you think will come in the future of watches?
- Jeg er engelsk - bor i Danmark, forstår dansk - men foretrækker at skrive på engelsk Icon_smil
[-]
  • Larsb
Svar
#2
Kan du ikke lave nogle afsnit?

Det er næsten ikke til at læse, når det bare et laaaaaaaangt indlæg..

Blot et godt råd

İmage
Mvh Kim 
[-]
  • En_Nissen
Svar
#3
Jeg tror på at det bliver mere almindeligt, som du skriver, at bare sætte nye værker i mekaniske ure ved service eller hvis uret går i stykker under garanti. Vostok-Europe giver en valget med service eller nyt værk og Tudor skifter bare værket på de nye modeller hvis det går i stykker inden for garanti perioden. Og flere mærker vil nok lave special ure inden for kunders ønsker.

Længere service intervaller og øget garanti på urerne ses jeg også og længere gangreserve.

Men designmæssigt tror jeg ikke der sker meget nyt. Men lad os se hvad 2020´erne byder på i dette årti :)
[-]
  • willy
Svar
#4
Cheers Willy - I agree with a lot of what you write. But I must admit I had to read your post 2-3 times to get a proper feel for what you were saying......... this, not in a small amount, due to your usual style of writing. 

I actually imported the text into my usual text program on my computer and sorted it - and this is how it came out........ quite a bit more legibile !  Icon_blink

(03-01-2021, 01:50 PM)willy Skrev: Just like to give my 5 cents on the future of watch making as i see it.

I do not think we will see any great changes in the years to come. I cannot see another Quartz revolution like the one that nearly wiped out the mechanical watch industry some years ago. 

The industry is much more controlled today, and it is much harder for new brands to break into the areas controlled by the established and well known brands.

If there could be a threat, then it could come from smart watches that have the ability to update forever.

I think micro brands will continue to thrive, and take a market share from the established brands. But i do not think they will have any lasting value, or be worth collecting for the future.

I think that the servicing of many new watches will involve just replacing the calibers and polishing the case. This is cost efficient, and i think vital to the future of mechanical watches.

Lets face it who wants to wait 6 months to get your watch back from a service. And with the millions of new watch buyers coming in the future, it will be impossible to get the amount of watchmakers to service them that will be needed.

Of course high end watches, will continue as usual to use specialist watchmakers, and make people pay for the privilege of owning them Icon_smil  

I can see a bright future for brands making watches to order for people who want something that is individual for them.

I hope for the future that brands will begin to use their efforts to make watches more scratch resistant, with longer power reserves and longer service intervals. I think many brands are standing still in this respect.

I would like to see brands like JLC who once were at the forefront of mechanical watch making, start to remember their heritage and get back to what they once did best. Innovate and make progress.

What do you think will come in the future of watches?



Now, I can only speak for myself - but I do see people getting tired and annoyed of the major brands holding back the most popular models from their authorised dealerships and thereby throwing customers into the arms of grey-market dealers paying in some cases twice as much as the RSP !! Rolex is notorious for this.

If they met the demand of their customers, by supplying the nessecary amount of the desired sports models fx. they would sell more watches, earn more money and keep their customers loyal on a long term basis.

For my part, I refuse to pay 2-3 times the RSP for a watch that is costly enough in the first place - and then, when it is time to service them, have to accept arrogantly high service costs, disregard for personal preferences of not having case polished or not replacing original hands and/or dials, and as the icing on the cake, having to accept ridiculous service periods of + 6 months etc.

All this makes me feel, that I as a customer am being taken for a ride, and having to overpay for it at the same time  Icon_head

Hence, my new found love of reasonably priced (read = cheap) watches, that I can wear and love, and eventually will not shed a tear for, when they go in the bin or will be serviced with a movement swap by the local watchmaker.
/Peter


"The darkest places in Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis" - Dante Alighieri, "Divine Comedy"
Svar
#5
Så vidt jeg ved kan man kun forvente 4 - 6 måneders servicetid på PP og AP og nogle andre på det højre niveau. Rolex typisk 4 - 7 uger og Omega typisk på 8 - 12 uger ved AD forhandlere.
Svar
#6
(03-01-2021, 04:48 PM)pbr Skrev: Now, I can only speak for myself - but I do see people getting tired and annoyed of the major brands holding back the most popular models from their authorised dealerships and thereby throwing customers into the arms of grey-market dealers paying in some cases twice as much as the RSP !! Rolex is notorious for this.

If they met the demand of their customers, by supplying the nessecary amount of the desired sports models fx. they would sell more watches, earn more money and keep their customers loyal on a long term basis.

For my part, I refuse to pay 2-3 times the RSP for a watch that is costly enough in the first place - and then, when it is time to service them, have to accept arrogantly high service costs, disregard for personal preferences of not having case polished or not replacing original hands and/or dials, and as the icing on the cake, having to accept ridiculous service periods of + 6 months etc.

All this makes me feel, that I as a customer am being taken for a ride, and having to overpay for it at the same time  Icon_head

Hence, my new found love of reasonably priced (read = cheap) watches, that I can wear and love, and eventually will not shed a tear for, when they go in the bin or will be serviced with a movement swap by the local watchmaker.

Well said Peter Icon_smil Supply and demand is a difficult problem.Take Rolex for example. If they increase production maybe it would affect the quality in their watches, and could drive the used market prices down. Rolex take the brunt of this criticism, but you could say the same about AP-Patek-Lange etc etc. We should remember it is the public that create the demand, and not the brand.
- Jeg er engelsk - bor i Danmark, forstår dansk - men foretrækker at skrive på engelsk Icon_smil
[-]
  • pbr
Svar
#7
Kan man ikke hævde, at producenten har en indflydelse på efterspørgslen?
/
Kristen
[-]
  • willy
Svar
#8
Det synes jeg, at man i høj grad kan - derfor også mine hårde ord, om Rolex (m.fl.)
/Peter


"The darkest places in Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis" - Dante Alighieri, "Divine Comedy"
Svar
#9
Rolex har nærmest et “LE” underforstået tilføjet navnet på alle sine “sportsmodeller”.
/
Kristen

Jeg synes at kunne bemærke, at ure fjerner sig fra at være almindeligt forbrugsgode/hverdagsnødvendighed til udelukkende at være luksusobjekt/statusindikator.
Ure forsvinder fra guld/smykke/urbutikker.
Mit udvalg af Seiko-ure er snart større end forhandlernes her i O’ense.
Jeg kender ingen “normale” mennesker for hvem ure er et emne.
/
Kristen
Svar
#10
Det bliver ofte udtalt, at et ur er "mandens eneste smykke".

For mig (som armiagttager), ser det ud til at "tusser" i høj grad har overtaget denne rolle.

Omkostningsmæssigt kan man vel også få gode ure for hvad det koster at få ydersiden dekoreret (an arm and a leg?).

/
Kristen
[-]
  • MichaelA, pbr, willy
Svar




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