Horological Meandering

justpen
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You have asked the question of the Century. Answer..Compare Martin Braun & Breguet

Hi WMc,

You, my cyber friend, have hit the nail on the head.

You have touched the trigger point which differs between ... Marketing Hype ... and Horological Heritage.

You have also asked the question... why do some companies take so long to fix their mistakes.... the answer should be seen by all as.... "Because they have so many mistakes".... or .... They market Watches that do not cut it.

This is the catalyst which will see the difference between the Heritage ..... and Hype garbage..... A balance against true horology and good old fashioned service.

But let us look not at hypotheticals... let us look at real cases.

Also take one of the biggest names... and one of the youngest names and make a comparison.

But before we do.... let us reinforce to the reader, or better described as, the up and coming horological enthusiast..... let us tell them of the reality of life as a watch lover.

That is, you can have the best watch in the world.... but if it spends it's life in the makers warranty department for many months of the year.... you have to ask yourself the question. " Hello, I bought this watch... I paid the big money... it came from the factory to the Ad, and to me... How come it is now back living in the Makers factory for so many months?"

Answer .... simple.... you bought a DUD.

We have seen so many companies in recent boom times resurrect previously bankrupt horological names, almost always within the Swiss borders, to pump out some CNC unproven garbage, often with an outsourced movement, lodged in an outsourced case, and they think that by sticking a " SWISS MADE" print on the dial they have emulated the buyers interest to buy some heritage of some long lost watch maker.

Guess what... many times they succeeded.

We have seen so many take overs of watch names by multinationals.... to result in absolute corporate globleglockle P.R....... and no real service to after market problems.

We have seen so many new watches using universal semi adjusted movements, offering unproven reliability and fail within short periods.

We now see as almost a daily excuse and acceptance... by the statement that " This is a dress watch... and you should not wear this while golfing or playing sport..... or maybe walking???"

I always thought a good watch was a watch that performed as the wearer did. Today many watches are show ponies..... and are now accepted as "Dress Watches"... whatever that means.

Yet.... we have seen some real stayers..... who have continuously produced great products.... of timeless perfection to uphold the tradition that Swiss watch making has established.

Every now and then...... all these makers send out a watch which fails to meet the expectation of the maker.... and the end user.

And this is where your question comes into play.

Bottom line is.... what is the use of a watch if it is back in the makers factory?

What is the use of a watch if it does not work?

What is the strength of a watch maker, who can not fix their mistakes in a timely manner?

Heaps of hype and absolutely no back up service is about as useful as a Politicians Promise.

But let us not talk about generalizations.... let us stick to facts.

How about respondents of this post write about the makers who stand by their Marketing Hype... and those that don't.

Tell us about your experience... save other enthusists from making the mistake of getting sucked in by Hype that does not deliver back service.

Talk about the good and the bad of our passion, because the only way to get the Hype makers performing.... is to expose their inadequacies.

Let me get the ball rolling by a couple of examples.

BREGUET.... bought three Gold Breguets in the last two years.... sold one.... the other two are in warranty service ... one has been in twice this year (away for about 7 months in real time)

Just imagine buying a new car.... ( you could for the price of this Breguet) ..... and it breaks down and the maker takes 7 months to try and fix it... and does not offer a replacment car... HELLO.... How many people would buy a car from that maker in the future?????

Wakeeee... Wakeeeee ... Wake up Breguet..... get your act together or buyers will not wast their time..... buying your time..!!! .....because you have no idea of repair time.... Wakeeee Wakeeee.

Breguet have lost the plot and I would think that any Breguet buyer who reads these posts / reviews should certainly not buy a Breguet... if they consider your question about follow up service.

But, not to be totally negative about watch makers.... I love watches.... I just hate Carpetbaggers.

I bought a Martin Braun EOS a couple of months ago.

Great watch, but a problem with a heap of lint or cotton under the dial.... I complained... I was very disappointed... very.... they responded... gave me their Fed-ex Account number... asked me to send the watch back.... offered pick up service, insurance and return Fed-ex ....etc .

They promised a 48 hour turn around in their factory to fix the problem..... and guess what?

Martin Braun excelled and turned it out of their factory in less at 24 hours... that watch travelled from Australia to Switzerland and Back to Australia in 10 days.

How good was that? Hello Mr Breguet... are you reading? Probably not.... probably all of your staff are in a staff meeting... discussing ways to sell more watches. Such is the life in big business!

And this is what it is all about. We buy mechanical watches.... some have a few problems.... the pain can be very disappointing..... but it can be fixed very quickly with good after sales service.... or it can be seriously prolonged by prima-donnas who talk the talk...... but do nothing.

So to all the prima-donnas who state that they are carrying on the heritage and tradition of their long dead masters.... I say, get with the times... we do not travel by ship any more... we have aircraft.... forget the 1800's heritage stuff... and just use Fed-ex and fix our watches and do it in a timely manner.

Unless of course your particular brand has so many returns.... that it takes many months to maintain your problem products.

AH.... but fellow Forum readers.... don't you just love the internet.... and all the makers thought that this was going to be their door to world exposure.... well it is.

Exposure to the genuine makers who do the right thing... and Exposure to the slackers who pull down the ethical standards of horology.

Your post hit on a very important part of our Passion .... many thanks.

Kindest regards to all,

Jack