H. Moser Trolls the High End Watch World (Again)

Probably for the best!

Thanks so much, I had missed the video and I was not aware of the Tag-Heuer reference ("the Artist"). Very funny indeed, but a bit OTT and gaudy perhaps for a brand that produces such elegant watches?

Although they raise good points, H.Moser can be accused easily of being the biggest marketers of all. I mean what is truly visionary about the Swiss Cheese watch, the Swiss Icons, the AW clone? Compare the Swiss Icons to the new Ressence e-crown watch, both launched on the same day...which company really put in the effort to innovate?

On a more general note I think we all hate lazy marketing and boring product development, but marketing is clearly fundamental to sell a completely superfluous and expensive product to a big enough audience, something mainstream luxury companies need to do to survive.

No one "needs" a luxury watch, we all need to be motivated to desire one. Many here on the OF love the NASA association with the Speedmaster, which is completely irrelevant as to how we use the watch on a daily basis, but many love the story, the symbolism, the engineering accomplishment. This message needs to be communicated by Omega and bumped for continued relevance, hence the yearly LE cycle to bring in a new group of collectors.

I think many on the OF agree that brand ambassadors are démodé, but the younger generation feed on twitter/instagram and certain "celebrities" do seem to function as the lifestyle reference for the "herd". There is clearly a wider and more sinister problem here in terms of a general addiction to social media, but if that is effectively the best channel to get your product communicated globally to a new generation, do mainstream luxury watch companies have any choice in not using that channel?

I think in this day and age if you want the "pure watch purchasing experience" with no marketing gloss...you either go for Vintage, or focus on microbrands where you can engage directly with the watchmaker or upcoming brands still small enough that they can "afford" to be "cool" and "anti-establishment" (eg Nomos). Even the Japanese (e.g. Seiko) have found that they need to communicate their pursuit of excellence...the "Japanese master craftsman using his samurai sword polishing skills" is also a marketing message.

Many here on the OF clearly have much more watch knowledge than the majority of sales people we find in ADs and boutiques, and we hate being told what we should buy. We are discerning customers, but we are a tiny minority of potential luxury watch customers.

So although I applaud H.Moser for taking a tongue-in-cheek dig at the "big boys", in our overall critique of marketing and luxury watch product development, are we perhaps being a bit too Don Quixote (WIS nerd) vs the windmills of inevitable 21st century luxury product business practice?

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I forgot

ALSO A PANERAI!!!
4 watches in one...

the video is gone, so was wondering if it was a limited edition jab

Even fat ugly people need to get laid...so...😉

For me their criticism is justified. I have never seen such an uninspired lineup as i do at sihh 2018. Not a single watch I am remotely tempted by. And I'd buy an interesting new variant of a g shock for God's sake. Truly awful watches across the board.

SIHH for me tends to be mainly a collection of overly gaudy Haute Horlogerie watches so I agree with you for probably 95% of the watches there. But on the affordable end of the spectrum, I think JLC and Montblanc got it right this year. Some might argue that the Polaris line is somewhat derivative (which is probably what H. Moser would say), and it’s also still too expensive, but it’s still gorgeous and the vintage version is far too rare to be a viable alternative anyway.

I like it too, but I’ve seen it in person this past weekend and it’s way too big; much larger than the Apple Watch it imitates, I expected it to be the same size.

it doesn't take much to stuff up square/rectangular watches. a few mm too much and they look stupidly large.

For a one-off model being sold for charity, I loved it - if you can’t laugh at yourself, than f*** you!

Sadly, the state of political correctness in 2018 dictates that this level of satire will not fly.

Thought it was hilarious and would have loved to see it actually sold, but not surprise they retracted.