I wonder if the young generation will easily accept the high purchase price & high service costs of a traditional watch vs the cost of a smart watch… Now, the traditional watch remains luxury hence its higher costs but it does much less than the smart watch…
As the younger generation ages, their appreciation and values will evolve along with it. And if they have the means to purchase a higher end traditional watch, I really don’t see what would stop them.
A better question is, will the younger generation have a use case for both a smart watch and a traditional watch? I think they will.
Plenty of interest in luxury watches among younger people. What might be interesting is to see which brands and models they gravitate toward. Steel is king for the moment but when will precious metals make a real come back? Will Omega’s reputation and name recognition increase because of the Rolex scarcity and MoonSwatch launch? Is Cartier going to continue their rise in the ranks? Will brands like Bulgari continue to innovate and produce commercially accessible models? How will younger consumers balance design aesthetics, movement tech, brand history, and other considerations (e.g., sustainability, hype, etc.) in their decisions? Looking forward to seeing how things play out at scale.
As the younger generation ages, their appreciation and values will evolve along with it. And if they have the means to purchase a higher end traditional watch, I really don’t see what would stop them.
A better question is, will the younger generation have a use case for both a smart watch and a traditional watch? I think they will.
I have refrained from buying an Apple Watch but I would definitely have a use for it for monitoring my heart and blood pressure if that’s available.
Heart, yes, BP, no. Though I think I have seen blurbs about them working on BP monitoring in future models.
When Apple can develop an under the skin blood sugar monitor for diabetes which works with the Apple Watch and gets it accepted by Medicare as a medical device, then it’s game over.
gatorcpa
Interesting view point but I believe that some of the younger generation may be drawn into it as luxury mysticism will remain for many. Watches are also seen as men’s jewellery.
They are at the moment.... but fashions and tastes change over time. The mighty Swiss horology houses with their huge budgets wont go down without a fight for sure. I love the data i can get from fitness trackers and currently use a ring for that as i want to wear my mechanical watches.... i also dont want to be that guy who wears 'two watches'. I think if someone of Apples ilk can come up with a smart watch where the battery lasts for 21+ days and the guts can be updated every couple of years rather than throwing the whole thing away then you have the ability to make them a more permanent luxury / jewelry item as well as a very useful device.
Time will tell of course but for sure my teenagers have zero interest in mechanical watches when there is an Apple watch around to be admired.
Unfortunately, Omega will not get to the ‘aspirational desire’ that Rolex has, purely because an Omega is readily available for anyone to go and buy, usually with 0% offerings
Not so long ago you could even get discounts on Rolex and even then the asprirational desire was there
I think people are going to get fed up with what Rolex are doing and start gravitating to Omega en masse. It’s priceless being able to walk in and buy anything… I wonder how long that’ll last
I think people are going to get fed up with what Rolex are doing and start gravitating to Omega en masse. It’s priceless being able to walk in and buy anything… I wonder how long that’ll last
What are Rolex doing? All I can see is a very successful company selling every watch they make, how that will cause people to go en masse to Omega is beyond me, perhaps you could expand on just how this migration from Rolex to Omega would work.
What are Rolex doing? All I can see is a very successful company selling every watch they make, how that will cause people to go en masse to Omega is beyond me, perhaps you could expand on just how this migration from Rolex to Omega would work.
From what I’ve read and understand, and in the defence of Rolex, it seems that they are 1) either purposefully limiting supply or 2) literally cannot make enough watches. I’d wager the real situation is somewhere in the middle, as they can see that this drives up the perceived value of their watches (if they are harder to buy).
I just think that it’ll get to the stage within a few years where people get fed up of paying 2 or even 3x retail for watches which are just not worth that price, when for less than the price of full retail let’s say for a Submariner (RRP ~£7500) you can get a Speedmaster Professional for around £6500, and not wait at all for the privilege.
From what I’ve read and understand, and in the defence of Rolex, it seems that they are 1) either purposefully limiting supply or 2) literally cannot make enough watches. I’d wager the real situation is somewhere in the middle, as they can see that this drives up the perceived value of their watches (if they are harder to buy).
Purposely limiting supply - A lot of people cite this as a theory for Rolex’s supply issue but there is no reason for Rolex to do this because their brand value is already astronomical. They sell their watches at retail and increase prices to accommodate inflation. There is no correlation between brand value and their retail pricing so for them to purposely do this served no purpose. Also, perceived brand value doesn’t pay salaries. Cash is always king. If they can make more, they will. But I’m sure they carefully balance the production numbers to prevent and over saturation of goods (note that I'm not saying limiting supply, but balancing supply)
Can’t make enough watches - I have heard that Rolex is going to start having an issue with watchmakers retiring. But I also have seen their production numbers increase the last year (I can’t find the document that I read this. When I find it, I’ll link it). Whatever it is, the production numbers have not been impacted yet.
I think a big issue we're seeing with supply is that ADs have been selling their inventory to special customers. Hence why it's always hard until you "build a relationship" with a Rolex AD. I've heard that some ADs are selling their inventory to grey market resellers for a premium. There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes of a Rolex AD that is further constraining the supply.
I just think that it’ll get to the stage within a few years where people get fed up of paying 2 or even 3x retail for watches which are just not worth that price, when for less than the price of full retail let’s say for a Submariner (RRP ~£7500) you can get a Speedmaster Professional for around £6500, and not wait at all for the privilege.
The limited supply is pissing off a lot of the customers but I don't believe that Rolex customers cross shop Omega for value. They'll just keep waiting if they don't want to pay grey market prices.
I'm not sure there's much point in comparing brands.
Rolex, through masterful marketing over decades, has managed to carve itself a unique position on the market and in the minds of would-be buyers. Given that they were never part of the holy trinity of "Haute Horlogerie" (as in PP, AP and VC), that's no small achievement. As much as I like some Rolex models, I personally see a disconnect between what people are ready to pay and what they actually get in return, but that's all down to the name, or more precisely the prestige and status it now carries. For some, wearing a Rolex is some kind of rite of passage, the sign that you have attained a certain level of success in life. Even outside the realm of horology, I can't think of any other brand with such symbolic power.
In my mind, only one watch brand can pull off this kind of Jedi mind trick, so it is pretty useless to aim for something similar. Omega, for all its efforts over the last two decades, has not managed to raise itself to Rolex's level of brand recognition, let alone dethrone it from its perch. On the other hand, these efforts have managed to keep the brand alive as a its own thing. Omega has enough history to keep existing as the somewhat more creative luxury sport watch maker. It has at least a couple of iconic models whose place is safe among the world's desirable watches. With the recent addition of co-axial technology, the Moonwatch which for a long time looked like a bargain in Omega's range, is now marketed at a price that is more in line with other models. And like it or not, the brief craze over the MoonSwatch gave it added visibility to a buying public whose interest in luxury watches is fickle at best.
One last thing. I'm convinced that, as watch aficionados, we're possibly among the least qualified people to assess the pros and cons of the brands respective marketing strategies. Why? Because we see a lot more in a watch that the average buyer does, and it muddles our judgment. What we may see as interesting may very well fall flat for the average joe. Similarly, something we may discard as a trivial detail might actually resonate a bit more with people for whom a watch is just an expensive piece of jewelry.
Omega vs. Rolex? I'll just keep watching both brands an appreciate their respective products on their own merits.
I think a big issue we're seeing with supply is that ADs have been selling their inventory to special customers. Hence why it's always hard until you "build a relationship" with a Rolex AD. I've heard that some ADs are selling their inventory to grey market resellers for a premium. There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes of a Rolex AD that is further constraining the supply.
The limited supply is pissing off a lot of the customers but I don't believe that Rolex customers cross shop Omega for value. They'll just keep waiting if they don't want to pay grey market prices.
I think the people jumping from Rolex to Omega might be those that aren’t really into watches but want to buy something special to commemorate a milestone or occasion. Can’t get a nice Rolex watch in time for a graduation? There’s Omega (or some other brand) in the next display case or store front.
Here is an interesting statistic of Rolex owners. There are several ways to interpret the numbers, although I think the sample size makes the statistic less reliable.
