I was following an interesting post considering if the Railmaster gets enough love

https://omegaforums.net/threads/why-isn’t-the-railmaster-getting-more-love.92907/

It got me thinking about the current Omega website and the family lines. How would a newbie unfamiliar with the brands history understand things and could (or should it) it be improved? Marketing likes an easy clean story. It is more complicated as all the new watches have good water and anti-magnetic resistance so there is limited technical differential these days.

I get that Seamaster / Hippocampus was a general indication of being waterproof which lead onto extreme dive watches. Also, that the Chrono-stop range ended and that the Bullhead had to be rebranded but, looking at the screen shots below I can see how the modern brand might be a bit confusing. How well does the Railmaster and Bullhead work in the Seamaster range? Also, why is the Venice edition kept separate from the city editions and lastly should the Aqua Terra become an independent line?

At a simple level maybe, this would work…. Speedmaster [sport, speed, engineering, business on land] Seamaster [sport, speed, engineering, business on the water], Aqua Terra [Land and water performance for the one watch office guy/girl], Constellation [Dress/elegant/business watch options], Deville [Alternative dress/elegant watch options]…………...Interested in your thoughts.
Photos from Omega website for educational and review purposes

 

the issue with omega...

 

We will be talking 'limited editions' next. The diversity is part of what I love about the brand but I agree too much at times.... but how to pull it all together? There is a very strong story and it all makes sense but most people wont go deep enough to follow the full Omega thread.

 

Have you seen how many versions of the Datejust that exist..?

(but I tend to agree with you anyhow. Aqua terra GMT chronograph, anyone?)

 

thats why the datejust is not expensive on the used market. no one cares about them as they are so common. even vintage two tone turn-o-graphs are cheap as chips. Oyster Perpetual's are just not wanted.

aqua terra, sea master and PO all going the same way. short term gains rather than long term brand-building. so sad for such a great brand (I own one).

 

Historically, this has been Omega has been operating since the 60s... It seems to work even though doesn't build brand solidity to the same extent as Rolex.

 

I'd split the portfolio into the following families:
- Speedmaster
- Seamaster (incl. Aqua Terra and Railmaster)
- dress (incl. Constellation, Globemaster, De Ville, city editions)
- specialities (e.g. pocket watches, museum, Olympics)

 

I almost agree but would still consider promoting the Aqua Terra as a family and moving Railmaster … or maybe they could both live in a new family home but I am not sure what to call it. I thought about Latin for engineer but then thought fectum!

Also maybe Bullhead should move and be welcomed into the Speedmaster camp......a long lost cousin?

 

Or maybe even the red headed stepchild.

 

but now its different Con. omega has just soo many variations with unlimited stock. what are your thoughts moving forwards (for omega)?

 

I don't really think it is very different, sorry. Look at the sixties lineup of Seamaster, Seamaster DeVille, Genève, Seamaster 600, Seamaster 30 and Constellations, all of which are basically waterproof dress watches of roughly the same size... Then add all the models without a model name on top of that or consider how many different iterations of the Speedmaster existed during the seventies. Compare that to how many watches Rolex offered and I'm willing to guess that exponentially the figures haven't moved far apart.

My thoughts are that as long as the Swatch Group is succesful with their sales strategy, nothing will change. And let's face it - only very few are concerned about this, at least when put into the context of the entire Omega customer base. I haven't heard of anyone being deterred from buying a classic Speedmaster because of the White Side of The Moon existed alongside it, to mention one example.

You seem to imply that having many variations and unlimited stock is in someway detrimental to the brand. Why is this? Rolex doesn't make more profit from limiting their stock, grey market dealers do.

 

Probably too long a post but I thought it was worth looking at the last financial reports...…

Slightly edited Swatch Group describe themselves as a diversified multinational holding company active in the manufacture and sale of finished watches, jewellery, watch movements and components. It is the world’s largest watchmaking group. Its production companies supply movements and components to third-party watchmakers in Switzerland and around the world. Swatch Group is a key player in the manufacture and sale of electronic systems used in watchmaking and other industries. It is also a leader in the field of sports event timing.
Nobody can predict the future so it is best to have a few horses running. I tried to look for any clues / possible trends and how it might impact Omega. At the budget end Swatch watches are looking at customisation / personalising watches on an individual basis. Omega ecommerce gets a mention with the successful online sales from the new NATO strap online store plus the fact that the Speedy Tuesday watches sold out online. Also Omega is the first watch Brand to go live on the China WeChat message app. There is more focus on the high-end Swatch Multiband boutiques (Hour passion) for real world luxury experiences. Of course, there are the component production companies and increasing expertise in hard materials (ceramics). EM micro electronics has an interesting development - the EM3028 extreme low power precision clock module (Internet of things). EM electronics have also developed the smallest Bluetooth chip on the market. Then you have Swatch pay. A lot of companies are looking at cash free transaction systems. An NFC radio chip under the dial allows contactless wristwatch payment. The payment terminal supplies the power – no battery required. This might be another reason all mechanical watches will feature antimagnetic properties with either a silicon balance spring or the patented Nivachron balance spring. Swatch claim the fact that all watches will feature antimagnetic properties and come with longer warranty periods will gain them a clear advantage over many well know brands. The report notes that in 2018 the strongest sales growth was in prestige and luxury, particularly by Blancpain, Omega and Longines, but that bottle necks in the production meant they failed to capitalise fully on the opportunity. You then also have Sistem51 and industry 4.0 (see links below)….

https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/swat...se/industry-40/sistem51-mechanical-revolution

https://www.swatchgroup.com/en/swat...owerhouse/industry-40/tomorrows-manufacturing

https://www.swatch.com/en/bellamy/


I have some thoughts but this post is already too long…. What does it all mean for the future of the Omega brand?
Also nice to see that Speedy Tuesday gets a mention in the financial reports :0)

 

That's very debatable. Now even SS DateJusts are getting harder to buy, so although Rolex may not be making the premium being asked by grey dealers for the SS sport models (yet) one could argue they are selling more units of other watches (DJ and PM watches) than they were before based on what I've seen.

In the end I believe when Rolex does start making more of the SS sport models, and stops artificially creating this large demand, it will come with a significant price jump...

 

I find it difficult to believe that the increase in sales of non-SS sports models would make up for the lost profit from the missing sales of the out of stock pieces, but I haven't got the sales figures nor do I know how the profit margins of the substitute purchases stack up. PM models almost certainly carry a larger profit margin, but I suspect that the number of customers looking to purchase a SS sports watch, but instead purchasing a PM Rolex from the authorised dealer is quite low.

Luckily, not my problem - wearing a lovely gold capped Seamaster from 1953 on this beautiful spring day

Agree. They could start by looking at the price gap from AD to grey market and price them accordingly...

 

But many people have reported that you have to buy a PM model in order to be "invited" to also purchase a SS sport model, and many people actually do this. There are a lot of people out there with deep pockets that will jump through the hoops to illustrate their wealth or connections.

I have no hard figures either - no one but Rolex has those since they are not a public company, but generally they don't act stupidly in business in my experience. They are a ruthless company from a business perspective, so I don't put much of anything past them to be frank about it. So you may find it hard top believe they are making more money with this situation, but I find it hard to believe they are not...

Mine either, as I have no interest in anything that Rolex currently makes (feel pretty much the same about Omega too).