Independents

DaveB
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The watchmaker teaches the Client...

Bernard,

Watchmaking and collecting has to be fun.

If I commission a unique piece by an artist, is it any less their creation? If I ask for a solid back on a Roger Smith watch, have I created a mortal sin? Outside of our little madding community of collectors, very few know who Roger Smith is. This is not a watch that we buy to impress our friends. We buy it for ourselves.

So let's talk about image. If Roger Smith used a slightly modified Omega Co-Axial movement in his watch would it be any less his brand? If this had a solid back but the case and the dial and hands were a Series 2, would we now scoff at it as not being a Roger Smith? If I ask for a black dial, is the purity gone? Often we are too quick to pull out a loop and never see the watch. If I want to add engraving or customize a watch, that's why I would go to an independant. I think it is the watchmaker that teaches the client in this process. I can image reading some of the custom requets and wondering if they were smoking something funny when they came up with the idea. By working with a watchmaker you can come to understand what will enhance the timepiece. I cannot see any case where someone like Roger Smith would accept a custom order with a client's idea without making it their own.

I think your saying we shouldn't mess with the intentional lines and curves created in this watch. But the custom watch is still made by Smith and guided by his interpretation of what the client wants, so how is it diluted?

With that said, we will probably find someone has asked Roger if he can make a custom dial on the Series 2 be modular with screws so it can be more like their F. P. Journe. If that happens I'll stand down on my opinion.

Just my 2 cents...

DaveB