The duration of the wait should be inversely proportional to the % of the deposit. If Omega wants to play games, don’t take deposits. That’s what they’re doing for the fairy dust movement and I’m fine with that...less so where the not a limited edition snoopy is concerned.
Re: “fairy dust” 321. I actually believe the 321 is easier to get than a Snoopy. I believe remains for Snoopy is higher.
Boston Bert, if you are worried about retained value on other Omega’s , it appears to me you want the watch for its retained value or investment potential and not for the watch itself. One of my favorite Omegas is my dark side of the moon black black, a watch that probably has not been great for retaining money.
I do not appreciate your judgmental comment. I am pointing out that omega is badly treating its customers by taking larger than industry average deposits and providing poor transparency.
I do not appreciate your judgmental comment. I am pointing out that omega is badly treating its customers by taking larger than industry average deposits and providing poor transparency.
This was posted above, and I posted something like it elsewhere, but most manufacturers of stuff plan out their product lines well in advance. Omega probably figured that, based on the previous Snoopys, that they'd need 5000 or 6000 to meet demand. I don't know what the actual number is, and it doesn't really matter for this discussion. But there's some number that they planned for. Parts were ordered, tools were set up, watchmakers were trained, etc. It appears that the demand FAR exceeded their initial estimates. 2x? 4x? Who knows? Let's say it's 20,000 units. They probably had some wiggle room in their manufacturing capacity, but it wouldn't be that much. Maybe 10-20%. So there are a few possibilities here. They could keep manufacturing 2000/year for the next 10 years. Or they could do it for five years and stop (and give some sort of apology to the Omega community). Or they could rebalance their manufacturing capacity and increase Snoopy production for the next year (which might be 2022 or 2023) to triple or quadruple the output to satisfy demand in a reasonable timeframe. If they were choosing that last option, I could see them making an announcement at some point that anyone who wants a Snoopy needs to make a deposit (where legally allowed) with an OB, and then making that quantity (plus a few extra) when they've opened up capacity, because at that point they'd be able to tell you that you'll be getting a watch, and this is when. And, of course, Omega could do something completely different.
Sorry, that's not how it works.
Omega produces close to a million watches a year. Do you know how many that is per day? Do you really think they would have a hard time cranking out an extra 25k watches of a particular model if they wanted to? Last year, they reduced their production from around 900k down to 500k. They are dying for more business, not less. They could literally fill all of the worldwide demand for 321 and Snoopy in a month if they wanted to. Remember, they are mass producers of watches with machine-made parts. This is not Patek where they're hand finishing and hand producing parts. It's all automated. They have hand assembly in an assembly line fashion. Rolex, for example, has a machine that cranks out baseplates at 100 a minute (that's 144,000 every 24 hours). It spends most of the day like the Maytag repairman, doing nothing. I find it laughable that people believe the lie that they can't meet demand.
The only reason Omega chooses not to is that they've learned from Rolex that it pays to fool their customers. The more they pretend that there's a shortage, the more people think that they have something valuable. Just look at all the people here pinning for one as if they're missing out on the next great thing.
Not really. There’s still quite a bit of logistics and other suppliers involved. If Omega had all parts readily available then yes they could ramp up production to a certain extent.
Not really. There’s still quite a bit of logistics and other suppliers involved. If Omega had all parts readily available then yes they could ramp up production to a certain extent.
Mechanical watches used to be utilitarian, a long time ago, and accordingly they came at utilitarian prices and through utilitarian channels.
Mechanical watches are now only luxury jewelry, and accordingly they now come with all the trappings of luxury products and marketing.
——————
Just a casual google of “principles of luxury marketing” brings out hundreds of marketing agencies laying out the ground rules of luxury markets - here’s just one, summarizing the 8 P’s of luxury marketing:
(1) PERFORMANCE: the product does its thing very well (e.g., precision, etc.)
(2) PEDIGREE: history = mystique
(3) PAUCITY: natural paucity (e.g., precious metals), or tactical paucity (e.g., induced scarcity)
(4) PERSONA: what the brand is known for (e.g., manly endeavors vs lovers gifts), and how it’s communicated to buyers
(5) PUBLIC FIGURES: endorsements from people who reflect the above-noted Persona
(6) PLACEMENT: from store locations, to salesperson dress, and sports endorsement decisions (e.g., tennis not ping pong)
(7) PUBLIC RELATIONS: used to generate buzz and convey brand identity/news
(8) PRICING: make the price high to meet image expectation, but don’t jump the shark
——————
The Swiss watch industry appears particularly subject to this dynamic. Having read through the last few years of financial analysts reports about the luxury Swiss watch industry, the repeated view is that Swiss mechanical watch companies are subject to certain market forces that mean they MUST succeed in selling every unit, and for secondary prices to not fall below MSRP. Otherwise, say the analysts, these companies are circling the drain, financially.
Selling every unit and keeping secondary prices above MSRP fits nicely with many of the 8 P’s, but especially tactical scarcity: ensuring a long waitlist simultaneously achieves luxury image/hype, and financial strength.
——————
If a casual google of luxury marketing principles can so quickly summarize what luxury brands like Omega are (and must be) about, it’s puzzling to me that so many here seem to take continuous offense to it.
At some point, the fault for such outrage has to lay in the person still not picking up the signals here. We’re buying luxury jewelry, from luxury companies, with luxury marketing - and it’s not because they’re evil, but instead because they want to stay in business.
Apple watches are cheap, and you can buy one on Amazon for delivery by the end of the week.
Hmm, I'm not sure what part of mass-produced machine-made parts that you don't understand? Couple that with huge over-capacity last year where they had to drastically reduce production due to a lack of demand. I'm not sure what else I can say to make it any clearer?
Hmm, I'm not sure what part of mass-produced machine-made parts that you don't understand? Couple that with huge over-capacity last year where they had to drastically reduce production due to a lack of demand. I'm not sure what else I can say to make it any clearer?
Mechanical watches used to be utilitarian, a long time ago, and accordingly they came at utilitarian prices and through utilitarian channels.
Mechanical watches are now only luxury jewelry, and accordingly they now come with all the trappings of luxury products and marketing.
——————
Just a casual google of “principles of luxury marketing” brings out hundreds of marketing agencies laying out the ground rules of luxury markets - here’s just one, summarizing the 8 P’s of luxury marketing:
(1) PERFORMANCE: the product does its thing very well (e.g., precision, etc.)
(2) PEDIGREE: history = mystique
(3) PAUCITY: natural paucity (e.g., precious metals), or tactical paucity (e.g., induced scarcity)
(4) PERSONA: what the brand is known for (e.g., manly endeavors vs lovers gifts), and how it’s communicated to buyers
(5) PUBLIC FIGURES: endorsements from people who reflect the above-noted Persona
(6) PLACEMENT: from store locations, to salesperson dress, and sports endorsement decisions (e.g., tennis not ping pong)
(7) PUBLIC RELATIONS: used to generate buzz and convey brand identity/news
(8) PRICING: make the price high to meet image expectation, but don’t jump the shark
——————
The Swiss watch industry appears particularly subject to this dynamic. Having read through the last few years of financial analysts reports about the luxury Swiss watch industry, the repeated view is that Swiss mechanical watch companies are subject to certain market forces that mean they MUST succeed in selling every unit, and for secondary prices to not fall below MSRP. Otherwise, say the analysts, these companies are circling the drain, financially.
Selling every unit and keeping secondary prices above MSRP fits nicely with many of the 8 P’s, but especially tactical scarcity: ensuring a long waitlist simultaneously achieves luxury image/hype, and financial strength.
——————
If a casual google of luxury marketing principles can so quickly summarize what luxury brands like Omega are (and must be) about, it’s puzzling to me that so many here seem to take continuous offense to it.
At some point, the fault for such outrage has to lay in the person still not picking up the signals here. We’re buying luxury jewelry, from luxury companies, with luxury marketing - and it’s not because they’re evil, but instead because they want to stay in business.
Apple watches are cheap, and you can buy one on Amazon for delivery by the end of the week.
