These Watches Are Wonders
How showpiece models benefit the brands
The annual high-end watch extravaganza in Geneva called Watches and Wonders has surprised the world with some new and somewhat unexpected models.
What are these models, why do they exist, and was their creation a bit of marketing brilliance?
To understand what they’re doing, it’s worth looking to the world of haute couture. The design houses of Givenchy, Prada, Chanel and many others are retailers of clothing for the affluent - one might even say the mass-market affluent. But the runway shows in Paris, Milan and sometimes London are celebrations of the brand which while debuting new clothing lines also incorporate over-the-top spectacle.
The idea is to create a buzz and a hype around the label. The worlds rich and famous will take note, and inspired by the collections and the spectacle, some of the celebrities and others will come to get signature custom pieces made for themselves.
Not only does it take money to get a top designer to spend time on one particular custom outfit, they also need a reason. There are, after all, a lot of people with money but only a few will walk the Oscars red carpet in a custom gown by a renowned designer.
There is overlap in this method in the world of luxury watch brands.
For example, Cartier debuted the Cartier Santos-Dumont Rewind.
This watch takes an elegant and whimsical turn by running its movement in reverse. The hands of this clock rotate, well, counterclockwise. And the dial goes backwards too, with the 1:00 marker to the left of the 12:00.
It’s an interesting piece and a beautiful one. But with only 200 numbered watches being made, and priced at $40,795.94 (exchange rate at the time of this writing), it’s definitely a collectors piece.
In case you were wondering, Cartier isn’t selling it to the first 200 people in the door bearing $40,800. They will only be going to ‘suitable’ owners.
Tudor debuted some new models as well, but the signature piece this year is the Black Bay 58 18K.
This 18K gold Tudor is powered by the movement Calibre MT5400 - which is priced at around $4,000. But this watch will set you back a cool $32,100, if you can get it. That’s a fairly pricey Tudor, considering many of their models are in the $4,600 range. Clearly Tudor wants to change its perception.
Who’s going to spend $32,000 on a Tudor? Probably not you, even if you wanted and could afford one.
Not to be outdone, the heavy-lying heads who wear the crown have shown the world what it didn’t know it needed but now definitely wants, the new all gold Rolex Deepsea.
Proofed to 3900 meters underwater - should you slip and fall in the drink from your yacht, and if you for some reason plunge to the bottom of the Mariana Trench - you could still see the time through the blackness, shown in lume from the dial of your Deepsea. And on the way back up the helium escape valve will protect the movement.
This isn’t an instrument of practicality. Divers generally wear electronic diving instruments, not mechanical watches anymore. And you don’t really need all that gold to dazzle the fishes as you swim to the depths.
What all these watches have in common is that they’re unnecessary, exclusive, expensive, and category defining. They are press releases in precious metal. They’re not for everyone who has the money to buy them. Indeed most with the money and inclination won’t be able to get their hands on them.
But the watch brands - especially Rolex - aren’t always in the business of listening to their customers and delivering what the customers say they want. They make works of art, and the customers then want them. And the customers who can’t get them, can at least get the less-rare models Rolex is willing to sell.
"My name is Rolex, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"