Horological Meandering

aaargh. I pressed the wrong button and lost 10 minutes of furious typing! I'll try to piece together my thoughts anew...Many points to address here....

...as for stereotypes/political correctness. Stereotypes, or more specifically, generalisations are definitely necessary. Without them, ones writing would be so full of explanations, justifications, clarifications and nuance that it would irreparably dilute the point trying to be made in the first place. My comment re: 20-somethings was based on my personal experience, which comes from being shown or questioned regarding watch purchases by friends and colleagues, a majority of whom are late 30's/early 40's professional types , a majority of whom are asking about/displaying TAG-Heuers (not stretching to a Rolex)....TAGs are easy to criticise but they are often (and I think this description is apt) Gateway watches...which intentional or not, is a good thing.

Re: Jargon. Quick comment only, as it's a subject deserving an essay: I also have no issue with jargon, provided it is tailored to the audience and aids communication. A technical discussion amongst peers? Initialism and Acronym away! When the audience is not taken into consideration, it serves to baffle and exclude...egotistical and probably rude. I don't think it's necessary to tip-toe around terms such as 'beat stability', particularly when we'd miss the excellent technical posts from the likes of Suitbert, ei8ghtohms, etc. When they grace us with their knowledge, I don't expect them to have to explain everything in lay terms. Those that are interested will (should?) research anything that eludes them.

Re: Language. Totally agree with you. I participate in several conference calls per week where we have Spanish, German, Swedish, Korean, Chinese and Portuguese native speakers on the line. The default language is English but even when calling the US, you must be wary of your colloquialisms. In all circumstances, we ensure that participants are able to confer in their native tongues before commenting, it's mere courtesy. Same applies to face-to-face meetings. In any case, I try to make an effort to learn a little of each language (if only Hello, Goodbye, Thanks, How much is a beer? and swear-words )

Re: Vintage.

I was waiting to be called out on that comment!

I think the average age of my watches is probably older than me...I'm a Tiger, so you can guess the actual number . So I wasn't around when they were spruiking their snake oil....

In my defence, since these things were bought way after the ad campaigns, I'm not paying for huge celebrity billboards, 2 page magazine spreads that must be amortised into the price (but this is largely true of any secondhand purchase) and since my vintage watch collecting is rather esoteric (interesting movements, working dive watches, some old Omegas), I can't see how marketing bollocks could influence me to great degree (or so I like to think). In any case, if I saw an vintage advert that was laughably woeful or full of shit, then yes, it would probably influence my attitude to that brand (wilful ignorance!). Hmmm, not much of a defence, after all....

B

Oh and yes, we have corresponded enough to be able to risk impoliteness, but thanks for the PS.