It almost feels like yesterday since last year's SIHH. I will be off tomorrow to visits the years first show and in a week from know you will have my thoughts (for what they are worth) on this blog.There is no doubt in my mind that this year's Fair will be interesting, not from a horological point of view, but rather to see how the sector has reacted to these last years of "complicated" sales. From the first view at the pre-Fair news, the Tourbillon as a means of generating hype and fast cash is indeed dead. Thank god for that. All those years lost in developing ultra complicated and expensive tourbillons while not really doing much on the lower end of the watch spectrum has simply resulted in diminishing the worth of the lower-end and mid-range watches on the price list. Many resources spend and time lost making 200k watches and developments that in most cases will never see the light on regular production models despite claims like; "... we will install this revolutionary escapement in over 80% of our watches regardless of their price range by the end of 2011...." Well, the cited escapement is today only available on a watch in the 200K range. Looks like the intention to upgrade all their movements will not be, at least for now.
The second "cancer" that is slowly eating away at the industry are of course senseless Limited Editions. There is nothing wrong with Limited Edition yet all within measure and quantity. By that I mean that very few should be made and very few editions should see the light. If this is not carefully revised the sales or regular production/collection items will be increasingly harder if not impossible. Incidentally several brands are already taking steps towards ending this nonsense, or at least this is what they have been saying for the last six months. We will know next week if this is so.
Well, I hope that this years SIHH and Time Exhibition shows are not as "grim" as last year. In any case I will keep you posted once I return.
9 comments:
Good point about 'Limited Editions'. I have just been hit by one of these courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre. The very brief story: JLC showed me the prototype of the Navy Seals Alarm. It included the JLC logo etched in the sapphire glass. When I came to pick up my watch, the etching had been replaced by a more normal logo on the alarm disc. Explanation: For technical reasons it was not possible to etch. Two to three months later three different limited editions were introduced - one in Madrid, two in Beverly Hills. ALL of them with the logo etched into the sapphire glass. Apparently, it had become technically possible...
Needless to say, I am disappointed. And I can't help but think that the etching switch was planned all the way as they realised that it could help distinguish the 'Limited Editions' - without worrying that their 'promise' to the JLC fans was thus broken. That is - in my eyes - going too far in order to do 'Limited Editions'.
Well the matter of the etched logo on the glass was never a mater of being feasible or not. It was a matter of choice. The choice between having anti-glare coating on the inside of the glass or not. What never was feasible, and still is not feasible, is to have both.
So the choice was to go with the anti-glare on the inside. Who made the choice? I suspect that it was put on the table and "some" people, not necessarily from the factory might have suggested for the anti-glare coating and swayed the vote in that favor.
As to the Madrid edition, this was not an idea of Jaeger to make them like this. It was a request (that your dealer could have made as well...) to forfeit the anti-glare in order to get the brand on the glass. It was also only made for 10 people that later became 30 and was never meant to become public in the first place. The Beverly Hills is indeed I think a letdown since they should have followed the general piece.
In any case the NAVY SEALS ALARM is a very nice piece regardless of where the brand is located.
Thanks for your extra insights. I guess it shows that there are a number of variations of the story. I am trying to tell it based on my experience in ordering and receiving the NSA.
I still feel disappointed - not about the watch itself, which is indeed great - but about the way JLC moved away from the 'promise' made by the protoype and then subsequently were able/willing to produce something very, very much like the prototype for the the limited editions.
And then back to your original point about limited editions. I sincerely hope that these all together four limited editions (the original was a LE as well) are examples of JLC's future approach to LE's. This is almost like AP and their innumerable variations of the Royal Oak.
...and I can see that I forgot a crucial word in my last paragraph...It should read as follows:
'... I sincerely hope that these all together four limited editions (the original was a LE as well) are _NOT_ examples of JLC's future approach to LE's. This is almost like AP and their innumerable variations of the Royal Oak.'
Yes, Limited Editions have to stop or at least be "really" limited. In the case of AP and looking at their yearly production Limited to me would be 50, tops 100 pieces. Not 1.250!!! Limited Editions would be one or two, even three per year. Not nine!!!
In the case of the NSA I reckon the situations has become a headache for Jaeger and you can be certain that it will not happen again. It is because of things like that that generally they are very reluctant to show prototypes to customers. After this I doubt there will be much of these going around.
Personally I hate to see protos. Why? Because two things might happen. One, things can change. Two, prototypes are generally a rough copy and look REALY poor to make a purchasing decision.
I totally agree with respect to limited editions...and I have learned my own lesson with respect to the prototypes and 'limited editions'...
I have written JLC to vent my disappointment, and I know others have, as well. Let's see what happens.
Hi D, really looking forward to your observations from the coal face. Can all those egos really squeeze in that little biddy hall? Let us know. ;-)
Hi Anonymous, great insight. LEs, yep! And for me meaningless co-branding cross-promo nonsense.....
Good trip D,
V
D, just can't wait to see last SIHH novelties! when will be they posted?
D. just can't wait to see your comments on SIHH novelties!
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