In Watch Website – Why They’re So Boring, we revealed the not-entirely-hidden truth: watch websites are closerthanthis with watchmakers. So every watch they “review” is awesome. They either ignore Coronageddon or treat it like a sick Aunt’s unspeakable illness (that will surely get better on its own). The smartwatch is a “stepping stone” to “real” watches.” Etc. It was not always thus, but it’s getting worse, not better. As Deep Throat advised (link safe for work), follow the money . . .
“Why do people pay the enormous price premiums for luxury brands?” consultant Daniel Langer asks at scmp.com. “Most people perceive luxury as mainly bought to signal power. But what if this answer is too simple? What if there are other hidden reasons?” Like an appreciation for luxury watches’ design, construction and heritage? Mr. Langer has other ideas . . .
Watch website Hodinkee’s announcement that they’re going to carry the Apple Watch in their store was met with befuddlement here at TTAW Global HQ. The brand calling itself “the preeminent resource for modern and vintage wristwatch enthusiasts” should be embarrassed for carrying the thing that every single yutz at the local Pinkberry is wearing. Which raises an important question: why is the watch press so bad?
Once upon a time, HoDinkee was a watch review site. Nowadays it’s a retailer masquerading as watch review site, an authorized dealer for no less than 26 brands. Watch news! HoDinkee now sells Apple Watches – a betrayal of their unspoken loyalty to the traditional watch. Hence a home page announcement designed to calm restless natives . . .
Porsche Design’s launched an online configurator for their Chronotimer Series 1 watch. Choose the case, bezel, hands, rotor and stitching from dozens of options, and then go “Wait. It costs that much?” In that sense, building a watch with the Porsche Design watch configurator is exactly like speccing-up a 911. Is this the future of watch retail? . . .