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marcn
·I won’t be butt-hurt if I can’t get a Mission to Uranus.
What’s happening on March 26th then?
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eelpie
·Aren’t a lot of things hard to get right now? Certain vegetables, cat food, computer chips, gas etc. i was thinking yesterday when my heat and hot water were out, mind you the temp in the house only got as low as 48f so it was not the cold that was the issue it was trying to find the damn cause of the problem that drove me nutz. So I found it was a five dollar part for the furnace and a separate issue for the water heater. By odd coincidence two different things went at once. I was convinced it was one issue leading to both. So it was really the annoyance factor.
The reason I bring this up, I was reading about Russias intentional attack on electricity and water upon the civilian population. Damn Ukraine much colder than 48f.
I guess however one feels is fine and can be justified in one way or another I am going to throw out my cats so I don’t need to worry about the cat food shortage.
It does not appear to be a supply problem, but rather a conscious effort to exclude those who are too lazy to make a thousand mile drive with no guarantee of availability if they do indeed make the drive.
If the watches were something other than a novelty I could understand this approach but since they’re little more than trinkets, making them inaccessible to a wider audience seems self-defeating.
I am hoping I was told the sales were to be in-store only in order to ramp up the event atmosphere at the boutiques; not making them available to the general public after the hoopla has died down would be moronic. I do not like to deal with entities that have proven themselves moronic, and I cannot imagine deriving any amusement or pleasure in continuing to use their products.
If there was a local estate sale which featured an Omega I’d probably get there early to get the first crack at it. I’ve done this with some success in the past.
But to drive 1000 miles round trip with no guarantee there’d even be a watch available would be foolish.
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cwillis0001
·Swatch Group, according to the young lady with whom I spoke, have chosen to sell the watches exclusively through their stores, which excludes everyone for whom these stores are inconveniently located.
It does not appear to be a supply problem, but rather a conscious effort to exclude those who are too lazy to make a thousand mile drive with no guarantee of availability if they do indeed make the drive.
If the watches were something other than a novelty I could understand this approach but since they’re little more than trinkets, making them inaccessible to a wider audience seems self-defeating.
I am hoping I was told the sales were to be in-store only in order to ramp up the event atmosphere at the boutiques; not making them available to the general public after the hoopla has died down would be moronic. I do not like to deal with entities that have proven themselves moronic, and I cannot imagine deriving any amusement or pleasure in continuing to use their products.
If there was a local estate sale which featured an Omega I’d probably get there early to get the first crack at it. I’ve done this with some success in the past.
But to drive 1000 miles round trip with no guarantee there’d even be a watch available would be foolish.
Holy crap, you were serious. I thought your previous post was a piss take.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerSwatch Group, according to the young lady with whom I spoke, have chosen to sell the watches exclusively through their stores, which excludes everyone for whom these stores are inconveniently located.
It does not appear to be a supply problem, but rather a conscious effort to exclude those who are too lazy to make a thousand mile drive with no guarantee of availability if they do indeed make the drive.
If the watches were something other than a novelty I could understand this approach but since they’re little more than trinkets, making them inaccessible to a wider audience seems self-defeating.
I am hoping I was told the sales were to be in-store only in order to ramp up the event atmosphere at the boutiques; not making them available to the general public after the hoopla has died down would be moronic. I do not like to deal with entities that have proven themselves moronic, and I cannot imagine deriving any amusement or pleasure in continuing to use their products.
If there was a local estate sale which featured an Omega I’d probably get there early to get the first crack at it. I’ve done this with some success in the past.
But to drive 1000 miles round trip with no guarantee there’d even be a watch available would be foolish.
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Omega D
·LOL. The Smart car was announced in 1994 and started production in 1997, as collaboration between SMH (Swatch/Hayek!) and Mercedes Benz. One can argue how successful that was, but it definitely didn't do any long-term damage to MB.
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Omega D
·
Ha ha, great post.
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alexxs
·1. Let me get this straight. Since the “Swatch Group” owns both Swatch and Omega, you think Swatch Group was motivated by a zero-sum game where for every win to Swatch there’s a loss to Omega?
2. This conglomerate multi-billion dollar corporation have more than a few folks who model this stuff professionally, as a career.
This is not your uncle Bill deciding that he has a brand new method of holding a garage (boot) sale.
(...)
3. The longer this thread goes on, the more I’m glad Omega’s “alienating” the purist luxury gate-keeping sorts that - when it comes down to it - seem to really just aspire to be Rolex. There’s a brand for that - Rolex!
Let's skip to the end, shall we. 😀 I don't agree how you grossly over simplified some of the colabs, just to prove your point, but I think that's not a productive conversation to continue as it strays too much from the main topic.
1. +++ for Swatch and -- for Omega still counts as an overall win for the group. That's my point and I believe was the point of many others. I'm not a shareholder of the Swatch group, but was a big fan of Omega until a few days ago. I do want them to make more money, so they can invest it in R&D and produce better watches.
2. This multi-B dollar corporation has managed to grow the revenue by 0 (zero) % in the last 10 years and drop its profits in half. It's not my uncle Bill (especially as I don't live in an English speaking country and would be weird if any of my uncles would be named Bill), but their track record doesn't put them too high above him.
3. As I said, that's fine. I'm a grown man, I don't expect the watch industry to stop because I won't be spending money with a company. But I do believe that, for whatever future Omega fans this is grooming, they're going to lose some present customers. And we all know that 1$ now is much more valuable than a "maybe" in 10-15 years.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified Watchmaker
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lillatroll
·
I just received this reply from Swatch. I wrote the email on the 24th and got a response today.
According to the person who responded to my enquiry, they won't be available on line. I guess only time will tell who is correct.
Here is the reply I received
Thank you very much for your message and for your interest in our exceptional “BIOCERAMIC MoonSwatch Collection”.
This collection is exclusively available in certain selected Swatch stores and will not be available online. You can find the nearest store by clicking on this link: BIOCERAMIC MOONSWATCH - List of Swatch stores
Please note that the whole collection is neither numbered nor limited and will be come back in the future. Our current stock is limited, but we are doing our best to offer the opportunity to each of our Swatch and Omega fans to buy their favorite piece very soon.
We are looking forward to welcoming you at our Swatch stores and discovering a new Galaxy together.
Thank you for your understanding and best regards,
Your Swatch Team
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Omega D
·Let's skip to the end, shall we. 😀 I don't agree how you grossly over simplified some of the colabs, just to prove your point, but I think that's not a productive conversation to continue as it strays too much from the main topic.
1. +++ for Swatch and -- for Omega still counts as an overall win for the group. That's my point and I believe was the point of many others. I'm not a shareholder of the Swatch group, but was a big fan of Omega until a few days ago. I do want them to make more money, so they can invest it in R&D and produce better watches.
2. This multi-B dollar corporation has managed to grow the revenue by 0 (zero) % in the last 10 years and drop its profits in half. It's not my uncle Bill (especially as I don't live in an English speaking country and would be weird if any of my uncles would be named Bill), but their track record doesn't put them too high above him.
3. As I said, that's fine. I'm a grown man, I don't expect the watch industry to stop because I won't be spending money with a company. But I do believe that, for whatever future Omega fans this is grooming, they're going to lose some present customers. And we all know that 1$ now is much more valuable than a "maybe" in 10-15 years.
Why don’t Swatch make a killer smart watch for android that can rival Apple? We would see growth like in the 80s, Swatch need to think about what customers spending £100 to £300 really want.
Let’s all remember Omega make some great mechanical watches for a moment. Swatch make great fun and functional watches.
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Scooterino36
·@alexxs so you went from being a big fan of Omega to cutting ties with them, all over this release? Am I getting that right?
It just seems like such an aggressive stance to take over a collaboration.
It just seems like such an aggressive stance to take over a collaboration.
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alexxs
·Omega is in a position where they need to keep new customers coming in. Focusing on the $1 they have now, and not the "maybe" later would be a huge mistake long term - and these companies think long term.
Of course. Especially if it's 20$ in the future replacing 1$ lost today. I do hope that happens, but I don't think it will. 😀 As I explained a couple of times already, I don't see young people researching all the stuff about the Speedmaster simply because they bought the moonswatch. I think Swatch Group's bet is all the Speedy collectors getting them as a bit of fun. This certainly seems to be the case if you check out the #moonswatch on Instagram (90% are watch influencers). This is a big thing only in our very small world.
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tyrantlizardrex
·I just received this reply from Swatch. I wrote the email on the 24th and got a response today.
According to the person who responded to my enquiry, they won't be available on line. I guess only time will tell who is correct.
Here is the reply I received
Thank you very much for your message and for your interest in our exceptional “BIOCERAMIC MoonSwatch Collection”.
This collection is exclusively available in certain selected Swatch stores and will not be available online. You can find the nearest store by clicking on this link: BIOCERAMIC MOONSWATCH - List of Swatch stores
Please note that the whole collection is neither numbered nor limited and will be come back in the future. Our current stock is limited, but we are doing our best to offer the opportunity to each of our Swatch and Omega fans to buy their favorite piece very soon.
We are looking forward to welcoming you at our Swatch stores and discovering a new Galaxy together.
Thank you for your understanding and best regards,
Your Swatch Team
They’re not available online at launch. They will be later on. Swatch have been consistently confirming this online and have told journalists this.
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lillatroll
·They’re not available online at launch. They will be later on. Swatch have been consistently confirming this online and have told journalists this.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerAnd there is the difference. This is really what all the nonsense boils down to - opposing opinions on this thing.
An account from a member on another forum I'm on:
"Swung by the Swatch store and got to check them out in the plastic. I was in there for about 15 mins, and there were 5 different people that came by asking for details. Of the 5, only myself and another guy appeared to be enthusiasts, 3 were not. 1 girl came in and asked about this "Omega collab I heard from my friend". So it's definitely bringing in new customers who wouldn't be looking at a Speedy to begin with."
I'm going to lean towards this having a payoff for Omega in the long run.
Time will tell...
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Jockywilson1
·Really don’t understand the vitriol that this selection of watches has created. How on earth anyone can really believe that this devalues the Omega brand is beyond me. high end fashion brands have a history or collaborating with high street retail chains at a price point considerably less than their norm. This is a method of generating huge hype and free publicity that would cost millions in traditional methods. The fact these will sell fast and appear on eBay for 5x the retail price just further fuels this. Smart move by omega in my eyes even if most of collection don’t appeal to me.
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Jockywilson1
·Also let’s not forget this dropped days before watches and wonders, this was definitely an exercise in stealing clicks from their competitors.
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MRC
·The reduced still irks me to this day with its misaligned pushers and crown.
So you have decided me. Today the Hamilton chrono-matic with misaligned pushers and crown, which is hard to see because the crown is on the "wrong" side, but tomorrow the Reduced.
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Reece Williams
·Does anyone know the current situation regarding people queuing at the London swatch shops? I would like to make the journey in the morning, just rather worried I’ll be to late.
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cvalue13
·This multi-B dollar corporation has managed to grow the revenue by 0 (zero) % in the last 10 years and drop its profits in half. It's not my uncle Bill (especially as I don't live in an English speaking country and would be weird if any of my uncles would be named Bill), but their track record doesn't put them too high above him.
*Compared to it’s actual peers* with similar segment exposure, Swatch Group has actually done pretty well over the past 10 years.
Seems a bit disingenuous to say the least to frame this as though all other hard-luxury majors are doing great but Omega’s Buffoons managed to drop the ball. If you know the stats you cited off-hand, you’d prob also know the broader industry stats off hand, and know then an actual peer-comparison Omega’s “track record” over the past 10 years is pretty damn good.
Also, the framing of “revenues flat over last ten years” is additionally disingenuous if one actually also knows what the y-o-y chart looks like:
From 2010 to 2018, just before Asia/pandemic troubles hit in Q4 2019, Omega’s revenues had doubled (this, despite low end watch sales segment getting killed by smart watch proliferation post 2010). It’s true that if comparing exactly year 2010 to exactly year 2020 revenues are “flat,” because you’ve conveniently ignored both the revenues doubling in-between and then also the global pandemic’s effects on essentially all luxury watch brands in 2019-2021.
As for net profits in past 10 years: again, any genuine peak behind the curtain to where Swatch Group’s net profits have declined internally (low end watches, decimated by the rise of smartwatches) vs where profits have increased internally (highest end luxury watches, especially in precious metals) … just like every other luxury watch conglomerate with similar sector exposure … continues to seem disingenuous framing to flatly say “Swatch Group’s profits have cut in half.”
Worth emphasizing that, in a broader market trend of low-end (especially quartz) watches having both lower unit and lower profit margins due to smart watch competition while luxury segment reflects largely gains, it would seem to mean that “+++ for Swatch and -- for Omega” in fact does not “still count as an overall win for the group.” The higher-end the brand under Swatch Group, the more mission-critical it has become to group recovery and profits.
Look, I’m not trying to stan for Omega as being an overall corporate mastermind. I’m instead only extremely dubious of people who appear to just regurgitate Rolex Forums level quips about revenues and net profits that reek of disingenuous framing.
Even more so when the framing is used to self-congratulate that you could land the plane better than the pilots if only they’d let you out if your straight jacket.
Which is to say: until you show me a pilot’s license instead of your library card, you sound silly when you say in effect “someone at Omega should have thought about whether this collaboration would negatively effect its brand.”
