Recent Omega Negativity

Dan S

I never watch this stuff, and I don't expect to start. Is it a YouTuber thing to put your finger on your mouth?

I can hardly imagine anything more embarrassing than being called an influencer, a YouTuber, or a Podcaster. Do people still feel it's acceptable to describe that as a career path?

Only "watch dealer" would be lower.

ErichPryde

Drama is the coin of the influencer and the newspaperman (or woman) alike; and nothing drives clicks and glances quite like it.

The complaints around price hikes that I'm seeing (primarily on reddit) Notably aren't criticizing build quality, finishing, or product. It's maybe related to material choice, but most of it amounts to "it's too expensive and I feel priced out." When I do see criticism it's typically "they're trying to price like Rolex and Rolex is better quality," but that's hardly a new statement. And other than the standard "I like the bezel action better" or "I like my Rolex better" there's no real substance to the statements and both of these statements are pretty common from anyone who prefers Rolex.

And meanwhile the newest Speedmaster is praised, and people laud their 42mm ceramic seamasters as incredible.

The human appetite for unrealized future disaster is quite incredible.

Annapolis

It’s a weird logic, but I think that for a lot of people, there’s no judging Omega irrespective of Rolex—meaning their negative assessment of the former only makes sense in relation to their assessment of the latter, even if they don’t explain that, or even fully comprehend it themselves.

I’d imagine it goes something like this: Rolex is overpriced and overhyped, and people resent all the waitlisting and game-playing that brand does, but at least their watches walk the walk on the resale market, holding value and liquidating easily. Omega is the brand that’s supposed to be comparable in quality but more approachable and sensibly priced—and since they pretty much suck on the secondary market, one can even get a discount from the AD. It’s a refuge from Rolex without having to make too many compromises.

Once you start seeing Omega, then, hiking their prices to the point where it just starts to make more sense to wait for a Rolex—and once they too start making customers wait forever for desirable new releases—that distinction goes away and not to Omega’s advantage.

I could be wrong, but I’m guessing that’s the reasoning behind much of the negativity. (To be clear, I’m not endorsing this. I do think Omega’s pricing is ludicrous now, but I’m quite happy to let other people take that hit and then buy their heavily discounted remorse-purchases on the resale market.)

Gubbo

Does Cartier get compared to Rolex in the same way that Omega does?

Or does the jewelry brand more than watch brand just dismiss all that.

pdxleaf

Seems to me more of the same, but the vibe is sticking more because watch sales overall have slowed and the Omega prices are up there with their competitors. [EDIT:Annapolis said this better]. Second hand sales prices are mostly quite a bit cheaper on new references.

What surprises me is that the concern about the Rolex 32XX amplitude issues has disappeared but there doesn't appear to be a resolution. The entire lineup had a time bomb that imploded after a couple years but suddenly it's as if there's no more problem. They might be saying, 'Yeah, new Rolex watches will quit keeping time in 2 years but look how expensive Omegas are now."

I'm not taking a piss on Rolex. I genuinely am curious about whether it's still an issue with their 32XX movements or not.