With this kind of post and wording, I have trouble believing you are a joe regular buying a watch that caught his eye on the Net. Call me paranoid...
I do not know what the wording of my post suggests (that is maybe related to my bad English) but I can for sure say that I am in love with this particular watch.
Well, something may have been lost in translation, so allow me to be clear (blunt?): your words and your posts suggest to me that you are a marketing person, working for the brand. Most watch lovers I know show more pictures, and sound less like a press kit. I may just be horribly wrong, and if I am please excuse me. But in this case, you may take the time to introduce yourself in the relevant thread and interact elsewhere in this fine forum 😉.
My true identity has been revealed a few posts before, and I am happy to invite you to check my profile on LinkedIn if you wish. Yes I respond to the name of “Ronald”, not “Nigel” as my nickname suggests. I am not at all involved in any marketing operation, be it on behalf of CODE41 or anybody else. My speciality is actually intellectual property, which I have been practicing for more than 20 years (time flies...). Funnily, I started my professional career in the watch industry with the Swatch Group, which I left back in 2004.
Probably not the « regular joe » your were referring to. And most certainly not a guy spending time on forums like this one for marketing purposes.
Well, that is a thing, but that really wasn't my point.
Bulk of the cost is the outsourced movement. But I am somewhat surprised at the remainder of the costs...in particular the Swiss costs being as low as they are, given the wages in Switzerland.
Assembly costs of $43 per watch? I am assuming this would include mounting of the dial, hands, casing, and final regulation. That is extremely cheap for that work...
Sure, then add in the cost of the facility they work in, tools, etc. and it’s a low number...
Did you pay the full retail price for your watch?
Hourly pay rate for a Swiss worker doing this sort of work is likely +/- CHF 30 per hour... So not that unbelievable.
If, by “full retail price” you mean the price at which the “CREATOR EDITION” can currently be preordered, yes I did. That is in effect my first acquisition of a CODE41 watch.
Why are you parsing your words so carefully, "That is in effect my first acquisition ..."? Are you saying that you don't have a CODE41 watch currently? Have you ever seen one in person? Is all of your shilling based on pure speculation and photos on the internet?
FWIW, when I was an engineer in a big Renault R&D center (15000 people in it at some point) in France, the cost of an empty seat for an engineer desk in my division was around 15000eur per year (meaning it was the cost of using the facilities, except some specific informatic tools). That is 7eur per working hour if I'm not wrong. So, low number? I don't know.
I think the issue here is that you and others may be assuming this is an internal cost. I'm not assuming that - I see no indication that Code41 is a brand with any "in-house" manufacturing or assembly abilities, or a place that has any watchmakers on staff.
I am assuming this is the cost of an outsourced assembly process. Having priced this out before for my own shop (as I've been asked several times to be the assembler of various small brands) all I can say is that with overhead, my labour, and profit (the key component that I think others may not be taking into account) there's no way I would do this for $43 per watch. That price would be a non-starter for me.
Cheers, Al
Indeed. But I would be very surprised that in Switzerland, a facility able to assemble watches for various customers did not exist.
Yes, of course they do - that was my point. What skill level is required depends on what "assembly" really means. Despite the claims of Code41 for ultimate transparency, they provide little actual information.
I would assume (since that's all I can do) that this would include as a minimum:
1 - gathering of components
2 - cleaning of the case interior
3 - mounting of the dial
4 - mounting of the hands
5 - installation of whatever gaskets are involved in the case
6 - trimming the winding stem and mounting of the crown
7 - final timing checks as a minimum
8 - verification that functions work
9 - pressure testing
10 - mounting of whatever strap or bracelet goes with the watch
I would also assume this would include any adjusting or troubleshooting required at this stage, so regulation as needed, troubleshooting of failed pressure tests, etc. As I said, having gone through pricing this out myself, and quoting more than one vendor, there's no way I'd be doing it for $43.
That said, I'm going to guess that the "transparent pricing structure" represents the marginal cost for the watch. That is, it takes an hour to assemble the watch, and the worker gets paid $43/hour. Or some variation of that number. Overhead for the building, marketing, etc comes out of the $2500 difference between the marginal cost and the sales price.
