Horological Meandering

That hypocrisy is even exacerbated by higher prices in combination with production streamlining...

 

which further contributes to increasing profits. As an example I'd like to sharethe following image of two handwound movements made by the same manufacturer, just being separated by a few decades:


This juxtapostion clearly illustrates the economisation which has been achieved in the meantime:

1. (modern): less but larger surfaces and fewer edges altogether, both of which supports greater application of machine-enabled production
2. (modern): simpler shapes of edges and angles, allowing much broader usage of machine decoration, wit only the final touch added by hand
3. (modern): larger movement plates combine several functional elements and reduce parts number
4. (modern): strikingly, particularly the polishing work has been reduced, e.g. the mirrow polished pallet wheel plate is completely gone, and also the polishing work around the ruby bearings is reduced

All of hte above address several instances of costs savings, but how much of these have been passed on to the customer? None, I guess, on the contrary.If one looks at the prices for watches with the movement to the right, a Voutilainen suddenly appears reasonably prices.

I deliberately chose a simple example. I could go further into construction detail to highlight additional economisation. Hint: compare the automatic movements in an A. Lange & Söhne watch, partocularly the Cal. L086.1 and the Cal. L922.4.

In essence, the preceived reduction in value-for-money has several aspects which make the effect to appear even larger - for those who knwo, at least.

Best,
Magnus