Breaking News: The New Steel Speedmaster With Caliber 321 “Ed White”

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I certainly know being motivated purely by profit leads to an awful lot of company failures.

I think this is a gross misunderstanding of what I was saying. There can be other motives involved in a decision certainly, but it is always done with keeping an eye on the bottom line.

But again these are Veblen goods, so there's no issue with the margin here, I can assure you of that. Production costs are again, a small impact on the decisions related to pricing. Pricing of a product like this in particular, has a lot more to do with strategy and what the desired audience is willing to pay, then what it costs to make.
 
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Would you agree in the case of Veblen goods, it be the market itself making the choice for the company?
 
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Would you agree in the case of Veblen goods, it be the market itself making the choice for the company?

Pretty sure the market here would like it for $5-6K less. But we weren’t asked.

This was no doubt priced at what a vintage watch costs. So basically a slice of the $20k vintage market Omega wasn’t getting.

Make no mistake Marketing is the game 😉
 
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Would you agree in the case of Veblen goods, it be the market itself making the choice for the company?

"making the choice for the company" is an odd way of wording it. It is certainly driven by what they feel the market will pay, as I've already said.

Swatch group has a hierarchy to their brands, so each is positioned within the group in a specific place, and within each brand the product line is placed specifically. This isn't just based on the cost of production, it's a well formed strategy of where to position these products to maximize what they get out of the whole.

A number of years ago, the then CEO of Omega sated it was his goal to move Omega up market, to compete more directly with Rolex on pricing. This left a certain "gap" in the Swatch product range, and Longines was elevated slightly to help fill that gap. This is why the first column wheel version of the 7750 went into a Longines, and not an Omega (it eventually became the Cal. 3330). Longines is still miles away from where it once was, but this was the start of a significant step up for that brand.

One of the cheapest men's watches in the Omega line up was the Speedmaster Pro. I see this 321 version and the new 3861 movement as a means of Omega moving this line up in the portfolio. None of this happens as a result of looking at production costs, adding a standard margin, and then you have your price...
 
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@STANDY @Archer
My point being if you watch data on Luxury watch sales in recent years if I was running Omega I’d certainly be aiming to market the watches in higher price brackets.
So it’s the market speaking.
Though the question is is specifically that price bracket or the fact that Rolex and Patek combo have increasingly dominated sales driving that price bracket.

btw I agree with your latest post @Archer
 
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@STANDY @Archer
My point being if you watch data on Luxury watch sales in recent years if I was running Omega I’d certainly be aiming to market the watches in higher price brackets.
So it’s the market speaking.
Though the question is is specifically that price bracket or the fact that Rolex and Patek combo have increasingly dominated sales driving that price bracket.

As stated above...

"A number of years ago, the then CEO of Omega sated it was his goal to move Omega up market, to compete more directly with Rolex on pricing."
 
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Apologies to all if we (and yes mainly me) took the thread off course.
I guess though because of the 321s pricing it’s worth discussing 😀
 
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I like too believe though (and admittedly naively) not everything’s about profit

It’s mostly about profit, but that doesn’t mean the company can’t be excited, or doesn’t care about making for a happy consumer as well. These things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Most people, other than those that are really crass or cold, don’t mind getting paid well for what they do or produce, but are also very gratified if someone on the receiving end is pleased.
 
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The new Ed White on the Forstner re-issue.

Congratulations! Where are you located? I haven't seen any US incomings...

Couple of them already on the secondary market in the EU.
 
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Couple of them already on the secondary market in the EU.

Where did you see some? Would be very surprised if so. The 2 on Chrono are not available.

Ahvera - please correct me if I am wrong - has a re-build from spareparts. One of two that were circulating here since may. Therefore also no original bracelet.
 
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Where did you see some? Would be very surprised if so. The 2 on Chrono are not available.

Ahvera - please correct me if I am wrong - has a re-build from spareparts. One of two that were circulating here since may. Therefore also no original bracelet.

I saw a 2 listings on Chrono24. The cheapest ask is $18k
 
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Had an e-mail from my AD yesterday asking if I was still interested in the 321, I replied that I was which in turn elicited the update that the AD (an Omega Boutique in the UK) has been told that they will not receive a watch until the end of this year or early 2021 and supply going forward will be very limited.

So 2021 at the very earliest if I am going to become the proud owner of the new Ed White replica and thats fine I am happy to wait.
 
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I saw a 2 listings on Chrono24. The cheapest ask is $18k
They both have stock photos as are listed as on request. Maybe they don’t have the watches in hand
 
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That is correct — I have one of the spare parts re-builds.
 
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That is correct — I have one of the spare parts re-builds.

Franken?
 
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That is correct — I have one of the spare parts re-builds.

you sourced all parts from Omega?
 
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you sourced all parts from Omega?

I'm guessing new case, dial, and hands, paired with a vintage movement. There is someone building these for people...
 
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I'm guessing new case, dial, and hands, paired with a vintage movement. There is someone building these for people...

I can’t imagine this is a cheap endeavor. What’s your guess number for a complete and serviced movement, all parts + labor?