Sorry for a long one, but with the release of info having now hit the more general population, I’ve been front row to something interesting today that makes me view this OxS collab a little differently. Interested in other’s takes.
Everyone on this forum would agree that the watch buying/collecting world has changed drastically in the last 10 years especially. What has also changed, concurrently, is the general population’s view of “a watch guy.” Namely, most acutely in the younger generations through to even Gen-X, the notion of being a “watch guy” has become a dirty word/insult.
Before you on this forum take offense to the notion that “watch guy” has become a dirty word, just think of it through the lens of the general population: a “watch guy” in 2022 are the yahoo’s on Instagram only hype-flexing, the resellers with sleeve tattoos and raw denim on YouTube channels, and - in short - the same people we here on this forum are ALSO often giving the stink eye for what’s become of the watch world in the last 10ish years. Now, in 2022, *
that’s* a “watch guy.”
At the core of this increasing disdain for the modern “watch guy” is the fact that modern luxury watches have become unobtainable, in both price and distribution, while simultaneously becoming so self-serious. Gone are the days that a middle-class gent (or lady) who just turned 40 could simply treat his (or her) self with a Speedy, or Sub, or - you name it. For the average person with average priorities in their 30’s? Forget about it. 20’s? May as well fire up the class war.
Which brings me to what I’ve witnessed today (for better or worse, you decide).
Part of my career has me float at the periphery of designers, architects, and other such creatives who are in various fields “taste makers.” Being in design, they more than the average population have an appreciation for product, history, etc., and inevitably know about iconic design pieces such as the Speedmaster. But they can rarely afford one.
And even if they could afford one, these days wearing one makes them dangerously close to appearing to be a “watch guy.” The younger they are, the more repulsed they are by that possibility.
But today, I was by chance roped into three separate group chats by creatives and (let’s again call them) “taste makers” from all around the country who were pepped up by this release.
Participating in those discussions, a real theme seemed to be an attraction to the irreverence Omega and Swatch we’re demonstrating. For once, not being so damn self-serious. In appearing to open the gate and say, hey, for $200 bucks let’s have some fun!
One of these chats were guys my age (early 40’s), who have some cool but affordable watches, and have only just gotten to points in their careers they could afford a Speedmasters if the wanted to, but - I think - are just turned off by what has become the threat of being perceived as “a watch guy” in 2022.
Another of these threads were guys in their 20s, who regularly and aggressively make fun of “watch guys,” and actively avoid any chance of appearance as a “watch guy” - proudly seeking out g-shocks, etc., to *emphasize*
(almost in protest) that theyre not “watch guys.”
Which brings me to seeing comments like this one:
That’s the sort of self-seriousness and gate-keeping that has more and more of the younger generations increasingly turned off by the mechanical watch world.
Maybe Omega’s point is
precisely that Rolex would never do this?
Even if you have the money, you’re now aware that Rolex will seemingly laugh at you for wanting anything with its brand stamped on it.
Today’s the first time I’ve been roped into any watch discussion by these circles of the design and trends world that wasn’t
instead about how stupid the watch world has become. But today, it was:
Maybe it will backfire, maybe it will succeed only by accident, who knows.
But if my tentacles into the world are any indication, today got people in the design and taste-making world talking about Omega in a more positive framing then I’ve seen the trend heading.
