Hi,
"...a steel-cased watch to the market."
Young people don't need gold yet, lucky they are.
"The introduction of the Aquanaut was
targeted at that the younger market but seemingly lacked the robust
features that the younger market wanted."
I don't know.
"The difficulty I see
from Patek's perspective is the cost to develop such a piece which would
more than likely demand a new movement which would withstand the rigors
of youthful wear, something they have not seemed to be interested in
pursuing, but rather incorporating existing movements in new case
designs. They have many case designs to draw from, as they have
successfully brought forth since the 150th Anniversary watches, so I
don't believe that issue is as difficult as the development of a new
movement which would be unlike anything currently produced. "
Well I don't think a 324 is in any way less able to withstand a stronger use than all the calibres fitted in Royal Oak Offshore watches for instance, or in JLC Extreme watches.
"But,
if you are suggesting a new case design in steel using existing
movements, then the issue that arises is the allocation of movements to
the steel watch vs. a gold watch and the effects of profitability for
the company. "
Sure that's a question I didn't think about.
"Without a new movement and simply casing an
existing movement in a steel case, the question to answer is if a gold
watch is available at $22,000 or you could buy the same basic piece in
steel (with a different case design as you proposed) at
$18,500-19,000...what would you do? At these price points, I think the
gold versions would outsell the steel models. If you look at Rolex and
compare the submariners, the gold version is somewhere in the $30,000
range while the steel version is around $7500. I feel certain the steel
outsells the gold by wide margins. Those are bracelet versions,
looking at strap models llike the datejust, gold on a strap is $17,700
and steel on a bracelet is around $6500. Again, the steel version
outsells the gold version by a long shot. The price points are crucial,
and Patek's position is even worse because the difference from steel to
gold is not that great because of the movement and their "limited"
capacity to produce those movements maintaining the perceived Patek
level of quality."
A younger designed Calatrava should not be available in gold, just steel for instance.
"Who knows, maybe Patek will develop a new
movement which young folks can "really wear" and will withstand harder
wear than the current lineup and show the world that they can bring the
Patek level of quality to a durable, more-casual watch as you have
described. "
I don't think that's necessary , but that would be interesting.
Cheers
Dje