Horological Meandering

My 2014 in behalf of watches – some watches, personal thoughts and impressions

 

A very busy year (with ups and downs; also in my regular business and with family) is almost over and I wanted to share something with you, if you don´t mind. After more than thirty days in behalf of watches and fifty appointments with brands, collectors … I have to say it was close to be too much, even for me. Not that I didn´t appreciate it, but I still didn´t manage to share everything here – pictures and or text. If I would start to count the time spent for preparing pictures and posts, I probably would call myself “stupid”. Fellow moderators know very well what I am talking about and not to forget some PuristS which also deliver some great posts, without being a moderator. A BIG thanks to all PuristS who love to share real content and passion here, because it is not self-evident in a time when it is much more convenient (for quite a few) to share on social media sites or in chat´s only. Still they lack real content and knowledge, quite often …

 

Even after years of being addicted to watches, I learned a lot this year – good and bad. The best thing was that there are still brands that for example have the goal to finish one screw in about 45 minutes (finishing only!). They still struggle to reach that goal. One of the worst things was that a very famous luxury brand is proud of it that they are (finally) able to produce cases that almost don´t need any manual finishing anymore, because of the high-tech machines used. The same brand showed us some (tricky) production steps executed by a master´s hand - during a factory visit. When the group left, I asked the person in charge one simple question and learned: “This was just show for the tour; in real-life we do it by machine.” (You won´t see a dedicated post about this factory visit, because I lost 99% percent of my interest for them.)

Quite a lot of the watches I have seen have been “mass produced” luxury goods with sometimes (almost) crazy price tags, more or less. It is not my interest to judge, but from time to time I think about what we pay for – if we still do so. The product itself, the marketing, the impressive booth at all those shows all over the world, the entertainment for customers and prospects … or just for the margin? More than ever before, one has to do his homework before buying – if he cares about quality and values important to him. I strongly recommend too look carefully and closely. Some kind of knowledge and experience helps to differentiate – plus a very good loupe J. Don´t get “fooled“ with slogans like “in-house” and keep in mind it is not all about the movement, only. There is more to detect – hands, dials, and cases and so on. But to avoid the “big brands” and to go for independents or small brands only is not the solution from my point of view. The latter would be just too easy and I still trust almost any brand has at least one good offer, even when it might not be for everyone. Hunting for (personal) value, that´s what it is all about and don´t forget to appreciate what you already have.

 

For further thoughts I also recommend to have a look here (if you didn´t already read it) at Mo´s post: home.watchprosite.com

 

Be warned, there is food for thoughts

 

There is more than one (serious) place dedicated to watches, but there is only one with a spirit I always appreciated.

 

“The PuristS philosophy of life - Pursuing integrity and perfection in an imperfect world. ”

Passion. Opinion. Information – it´s all about the people and their spirit. We all need each other here and I am looking forward to it.

 

Thanks to all PuristS who have been active here this year and I wish you all the best for 2015!

 

If you still care, you can browse through a lot of impressions taken (by me) in 2014.

Part I: Let´s start with impressions from meeting a fellow watch nut .... a highly appreciated dinner with long-term watch friends (dinner paid by us; no brands involved) ... SIHH & Co. and a follow-up meeting to shoot some more novelties.

This message has been edited by small-luxury-world on 2014-12-29 20:05:31