Horological Meandering

Watch collaborations are almost always a bad idea. How many brands has Ferrari partnered with? GP (who's now with Aston Martin), Panerai, Hublot, and now Richard Mille? Not only are collaborations fleeting and "in-the-moment" but they're rarely done well....  

It's such a hodgepodge of stuff overall, there's few that truly make sense in my opinion. Obviously, one of my all time favorite is the AMVOX line, another good example from the same time and people is the MC Navy SEALs.... Vacheron has that exceedingly c... 

Interesting. I never really understood the VC Everest Dual Time Overseas watch - as I didn't see it as a good fit as a watch to go mountaineering in - at least their marketing didn't convince me that it was an especially good fit. Frankly, I find the Vach... 

it genuinely is my favorite (luxury) sports watch line - collaborations or not. The only thing you state that I don't get is the 'pseudo-sports' label, I've always found the line to be authentically sporty, it unequivocally possesses both the robustness a... 

There's nothing to suggest that the Overseas line is less sporty than say a Rolex Oyster model line - which is a very sporty watch. I just don't see myself bringing a "Vacheron Constantin" to a mountain expedition. But then again, in the old days, people ... 

I get what you're trying to say. It's a brand less colloquially associated with such end uses in recent times.... Also, just like you pointed out, there's no objective criteria to prevent one from speaking of that line of products in the same context as c... 

I like her art!

The water resistance of the VC Overseas is greater than the Royal Oak! Although I would actually think that the Royal Oak is also a "pseudo sports" watch and more of a luxury watch. But then again, who's to say that a Royal Oak isn't robust to go up a mou... 

It's just a game of perception, not actual, quantifiable or substantiated reasoning. Price-wise, entirely subjective. You might just as well shell out a quarter million or more for a Mille, and go find out how well it holds up in all kinds of remote terra... 

Rolex and Omega have a reputation for robust watch movements that are depended upon by explorers and professionals. I suppose Richard Mille has that too - but it's so not "government tested" and so not "military grade." That it feels more like a luxury pr... 

Two people have mentioned Amvox so far!

I'll do my little rain dance for you my friend!

I suspect these are in a different category, more thought out, and ultimately better executed with each brand contributing a signature feature. As far as other collaborations, the first one that popped to mind is the Hublot-Orlinski pieces. Not at the sam... 

The Orlinski pieces are my favorite from Hublot! Yes! Any collaboration with a watch brand counts! Even one between watch brands.

A modern Casanova in the watch world! And I say that in a nice way!

Something like Patek + Tiffany is attractive, but not that many like that.

Tiffany & Co New York has had a relationship with Patek for about 170 years. Back when the company was actually named Tiffany & Young! Shreve & Co. San Francisco has also been in business with Patek Philippe for a similar length of time as well. Gondolo i... 

I almost feel it’s more important to have collaborations like the music industry; bring two popular artists together with different audiences and then creating new fans/viewers growing your addressable market. I do think from a marketing perspective, it i... 

I can already see it. Head of Strategic Partnerships and Marketing of Brand-X! Tiffany and Patek customers actually have very little overlap. For the longest time, the Patek customers did not buy a lot of Tiffany products at all - until more recently.

Anyways, I don’t think anything I said in my previous was profound but increasing addressable market is a common goal for a marketing department 😂… and if Bentley or Breitling customers do not overlap in anyway .. it’s a bad partnership. I also have a ver... 

And yes, I find the car and watch partnerships to be very fleeting. They never seem to last very long. Ferrari has been with multiple brands - GP, Panerai, Hublot, RM and that's just what I can think of. Aston Martin was with JLC and now GP. Cars are gene... 

I do find it odd that Ferrari has been paired up with so many watch companies. I did appreciate the JLC/AM AMVOX series with the innovative chrono design; but I would have been more inclined if I owned the car as well.

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Voutilainen, Mojon, Busser, et. al. What an amazing collaboration!

Some people are already surprised that I didn't choose an MB&F as my primary winner. Sorry Max! Somehow the Bulgari X Tadao Ando came to mind first!

here is the "silver bullet" ...  

with the GP Tourbillon Three Bridges Bucherer Blue? Your Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando in Titanium is also a great example. I'm usually put off by collaborations between watch brands and car brands, military units etc. For me, it doesn't add any value...  

I just remembered that the blue looked so good! Such a good looking piece! I don't blame you, most of the collaborations are quite bad. And I don't like logos too! Like you, I find them to be a visual nuisance! The watch is the only thing I wear with a lo... 

When I think of collaborations in the watch industry I think of components from different brands coming together to make a great watch. For example, I distinctly remember my father (whom I got the bug from) always saying “Rolex saved them” whenever we saw... 

This watch world used to be filled with collaborations. And now since the 1990s when the in-house movement trend started, that's when things started to change.