Friday Watches - June 2022 and half time analysis

[Wimm]

I have strained hard and managed to squeeze June out before the end of the month so that you lucky so-and-sos can have two write ups in one month.

At the end of May's write up I expressed a hope that June would give us more excitement. It certainly started that way, kicking off the month as it did with a record for the year, just not a very good one. The third of June saw the fewest watches in a week this year (and the fewest watches since the first of October last year). Read on to see if June holds any positives. Actually, if you are looking for something to cheer yourself up don't bother. I'd go to either the GPHT or the Dear Wife thread, something in one of those is guaranteed to raise a smile.

So lets get it over and done with. June was another four week month during which we posted 544 watches working out at a weekly average of exactly 136 (those of you familiar with your 136 times-table will have already worked that out). These are new lows for the year. A nickle silver lining to that cloud is that those numbers are still higher than the all time lows of September last year (521 and 130 respectively). Surprisingly, despite there being forty fewer watches than May, only one less brand appeared (118 in all). The curiosity of one who seeks patterns is now wandering what the number of watches per brand can tell us. Must. Resit. Making. More. Work.

This month Rolex and Seiko shared the weekly top spot, each coming first twice. Seiko didn't quite do enough to take the monthly crown, losing out to Rolex by just six. Omega occupied its safe space of third throughout, despite a sterling effort on the 17th of nearly doubling its previous weeks numbers just wasn't enough to take second spot. Tudor and Timefactors were left to slog it out for fourth and fifth with Tudor finally prevailing by just five.

The watches we wore came from 118 different brands, eleven of which were new to the year and seven were new to the Friday Thread. First timers included Franc Vila, Merkur and Zeitmeister (our first one hander I believe). Returners included our first Sekonda for the year, Poljot and Delvina.

Would you like good news or bad news first? Bad it is then. Panerai continued their poor year by recording their second monthly record low this year. Back in March they hit a low of twelve. Three months later they smashed that record but recording five. To give a little context that is lower then Sinn's minimum (nine), Breitling (eight) and even Zenith (six). Conversely (here is the vaguely good news) Zenith had a good month reaching their highest number since December last year with ten watches. CWC also adds to the good news by reaching their highest weekly total of seven on the 10th.

Let me try and lift the mood further by talking about some lovely watches. At the beginning of the month Bazza introduced us to the fascinating world of Pequignet with his Royale Manuelle. Danstone secured his entry into the Bonkers Watch award with his Franc Vila Universal Timezone. Gavster wore his beautiful Kurono Tokyo Grand Mori with urushi dial. On the 24th I was surprised by a Beitling. I tend not to like Aerospaces as they are for too busy for me but on that day Slevin.Kelevra wore his vintage titanium Aerospace. A simple colour palette, minimal text on the dial and discrete, sensibly sized numerals all add up to an elegant, functional design. I do have one last watch to mention, it was nice to see the Take Time watch out and about, even if it was in one of the hotter spots in the world. I am looking forward to finding out the story behind its presence in Ukraine.

Lets give the raw numbers for June before I delve beneath the surface and show some analysis.

1 Rolex 70
2 Seiko 64
3 Omega 47
4 Tudor 34
5 Timefactors 29
6 CWC 19
7 Sinn 18
8 G Shock 13
9 IWC 13
10 Breitling 12
11 Grand Seiko 11
12 Zenith 10
13 Citizen 9
14 Longines 7
15 Blancpain 6
16 Tag Heuer 6
17 Christopher Ward 5
18 Damasko 5
19 Heuer 5
20 Panerai 5
21 Bremont 4
22 Glaschutte Original 4
23 Glycine 4
24 KMK 4
25 Patek Philippe 4
26 Aquadive 3
27 Bulova 3
28 Casio 3
29 Certina 3
30 Eterna 3
31 Hamilton 3
32 HKED 3
33 Steinhart 3
34 Timex 3
35 Tutima 3
36 Universal Geneve 3
37 Alexander Shorokhoff 2
38 Alpina 2
39 Apple 2
40 Audemars Piguet 2
41 Credor 2
42 Doxa (modern) 2
43 Ebel 2
44 Halios 2
45 Jaeger-LeCoultre 2
46 Junghans 2
47 L U Chopard 2
48 Nodus 2
49 Oris 2
50 Pagani Design 2
51 Pequignet 2
52 Smiths 2
53 Squale 2
54 Vacheron Constantin 2
55 Victorinox 2
56 Wolbrook 2
57 Zeno 2
58 Aerowatch 1
59 Ancre 1
60 Anordain 1
61 Baume et Mercier 1
62 Baylor 1
63 Bell & Ross 1
64 Benyar 1
65 Boldr 1
66 Borealis 1
67 Breguet 1
68 Caravelle 1
69 Cartier 1
70 Cathode Corner 1
71 Chronoswiss 1
72 Clemence 1
73 Cyma 1
74 Deep Blue 1
75 Dekla 1
76 Delvina 1
77 Dornbluth & Sohn 1
78 Dreyfuss and Co. 1
79 Farer 1
80 Fortis 1
81 Franc Vila 1
82 Furlan Marri 1
83 Garmin 1
84 Heimdallr 1
85 Helm 1
86 Helson 1
87 Huawei 1
88 Kurono Tokyo 1
89 Le Jour 1
90 Le Monde 1
91 Linde Werdelin 1
92 Mappin and Webb 1
93 Marathon 1
94 Merkur 1
95 Ming 1
96 Mr. Jones 1
97 Newmark (Modern) 1
98 Olma 1
99 Oriosa 1
100 Pancor 1
101 Poljot 1
102 Porsche Design 1
103 Pulsar 1
104 San Martin 1
105 Schofield 1
106 Seestern 1
107 Sekonda 1
108 Sterile 1
109 Stowa 1
110 Swatch 1
111 Synchron 1
112 Titoni 1
113 Traser 1
114 Traska 1
115 Ulysse Nardin 1
116 UW 1
117 Wenger 1
118 Zeitmeister 1


Lets kick off the analysis with the swingometer. We had some movements of the more popular complications with the the share of Chronograph+ (chronographs with another complication, usually date or day-date) dropping by three percentage points. Conversely three handers with no other complications went up by the same amount.

, on Flickr

One of the comments on May's thread asked about the popularity of Citizen. Well here are their monthly worms. They show that Citizen had a good year in 2020, a not so good one last year and have had a better start to this year although not quite as good as 2020. A quick scan of their monthly positions this year show that they have floated between twentieth and eleventh positions.

, on Flickr

[Wimm]

After a quick break for supper here, as promised, is a quick summary of the first half of the year. So, during the first half of the year the Friday Thread has seen 3692 watches. It is a lot, but not as many as previous years (4095 in 2020 and 4240 in 2021). The number of brands has fared better at 291 so up on 2020 (283) but just a little down on 2021 (298). What impresses me is that although we are down 13% on last years numbers we are only 2% down on brands so those of us who are posting, seem to appreciate a wider variety of brands.

The top five remain the same as previous years but with numbers greatly reduced. Well except for Timefactors which has bucked the trend and increased its score from last year by one. Below that there has been some chopping and changing. Sixth place, which had been occupied by Panerai in the previous two years is now taken by Sinn, which has steadly risen from its ninth place in 2020, which is where Panerai now lie. Grand Seiko retain their seventh spot from last year. A meateoroic rise from fifteenth in 2020, fourteenth in 2021 now sees CWC in eighth spot. Tenth is Breitling's slot for this year (previously it was G-Shock's in 2021 and Citizen's in 2020).

So here are the scores at half time:


1Rolex499
2Seiko406
3Omega345
4Timefactors214
5Tudor175
6Sinn121
7Grand Seiko109
8CWC104
9Panerai99
10Breitling72
11IWC64
12G Shock63
13Citizen51
14Damasko48
15Zenith48
16Blancpain36
17Longines35
18Patek Philippe35
19Heuer33
20Jaeger-LeCoultre31
21Christopher Ward29
22Bremont28
23Tag Heuer25
24KMK24
25Bulova19
26Glaschutte Original19
27Hamilton19
28Audemars Piguet18
29Garmin18
30Oris18
31Tutima18
32Doxa (modern)17
33Tissot17
34Timex16
35Casio15
36Orient15
37Nomos14
38Squale14
39Bell & Ross13
40Glycine13
41Ulysse Nardin13
42Vacheron Constantin13
43Smiths12
44Steinhart12
45Certina11
46Eterna11
47Fortis11
48Muhle11
49Vostok11
50Wolbrook11
51Cartier10
52Moser10
53Apple9
54Credor9
55Newmark (Modern)9
56Rado9
57Zeno9
58Helson8
59Ming8
60Stowa8
61Breguet7
62Hanhart7
63Junghans7
64Linde Werdelin7
65San Martin7
66Swatch7
67Aquadive6
68Baylor6
69Clemence6
70Helm6
71L U Chopard6
72Lorier6
73Marathon6
74Movado6
75Nodus6
76Pagani Design6
77Steeldive6
78Unidentifiable6
79Universal Geneve6
80Victorinox6
81Dekla5
82Dornbluth & Sohn5
83Dubey and Schaldenbrand5
84Frederique Constant5
85Halios5
86Precista5
87Seagull5
88Seestern5
89Wempe5
90Zodiac5
91A. Lange & Sohne4
92Aerowatch4
93Alpina4
94Anonimo4
95Anordain4
96Archimede4
97Chronoswiss4
98Corum4
99Cyma4
100Davosa4
101Doxa (Vintage)4
102Ebel4
103Eberhard4
104Evant4
105Heimdallr4
106Kurono Tokyo4
107Ollech & Wajs4
108Pinion4
109Scurfa4
110Spinnaker4
111Sterile4
112Suunto4
113A-13A3
114Alexander Shorokhoff3
115Armida3
116Baltic3
117Baume et Mercier3
118Boldr3
119Borealis3
120Buran3
121Dunhill3
122Elliot Brown3
123Farer3
124Favre Leuba3
125HKED3
126Jean Richard3
127Mr. Jones3
128MWC3
129Nite3
130Olma3
131Porsche Design3
132Pulsar3
133Schofield3
134Serica3
135Sewills3
136Tauchmeister3
137Wenger3
138Yema3
1396B2
140Altair2
141Ancre2
142Briston2
143Cardinal2
144Christ2
145Ciga Design2
146Croton2
147Douglas2
148Fine Watches Berlin2
149Franck Muller2
150Geckota2
151GWS2
152Hublot2
153L L Bean2
154Le Jour2
155Lemania2
156Lucerne2
157Maen2
158Marnaut2
159Moritz Grossmann2
160Oriosa2
161Pancor2
162Pequignet2
163Revue Thommen2
164Roamer2
165Schaffen2
166Synchron2
167TC-92
168Titoni2
169Traser2
170Unimatic2
171UW2
172ZRC2
17340Nine1
174Allenby1
175Apeks1
176Aquastar1
177Armand Nicolet1
178Army Watch Germany1
179Astro1
180Autodromo1
181Avia1
182Ball1
183Batavi1
184Benrus1
185Benyar1
186Benzinger1
187Boschett1
188Breil1
189Brellum1
190Bulgari1
191Bund1
192BWC1
193Calvi Klein1
194Caravelle1
195Carvel1
196Cathode Corner1
197Clebar1
198Cortebert1
199Crepas1
200Cronos1
201Dacor1
202Dan Henry1
203Darwil1
204Deep Blue1
205Delvina1
206Dietrich1
207Dreyfuss and Co.1
208Dufa1
209Dugena1
210Dwiss1
211Echo Neutra1
212Edox1
213Elektronika1
214EMG1
215Enicar1
216Enzo Mechana1
217Eone1
218Franc Vila1
219Furlan Marri1
220Gevril1
221Girard Perigeaux1
222H2O1
223Habring1
224Huawei1
225ILW1
226Incipio1
227J and G1
228Jaques Bianchi1
229Konstantin Chaykin1
230Kronos1
231Laco1
232Le Forban1
233Le Monde1
234Lobinni1
235Lorenz1
236Lucien Rochat1
237Luminox1
238Maghnam1
239Mappin and Webb1
240Marina Militare1
241Mathey-Tissot1
242Maurice La Croix1
243Merkur1
244Mido1
245MkII1
246MOD1
247Molnija1
248Mondaine1
249Newgate1
250Nivada1
251Nomadic1
252Oakley1
253Obris Morgan1
254Oceanx1
255Omologato1
256Oscar1
257Pablo1
258Parmigiani1
259Paul Smith1
260Peerex1
261Pellikaan Timing1
262Perpetual1
263Poljot1
264Pontus1
265Prim1
266Pro-lex1
267Raketa1
268RJ1
269Rodania1
270Samsung1
271SarpanevaUhrenFabrik1
272Seaholm1
273Seizenn1
274Sekonda1
275Shirryu1
276Silvana1
277Skmei1
278Sternglas1
279Tactical Frog1
280Traska1
281Tressa1
282U-Boat1
283Uno1
284Ventura1
285Venturo1
286Vertex (Modern)1
287Vertex (Vintage)1
288Westclox1
289Wm Forbes1
290WMT1
291Xeric1
292Zeitmeister1

Oh and two more tables for the time being - the top ten watches for each month so far this year:

, on Flickr

And here are the same top ten brands but showing their weekly averages for each month to flatten out the differences between the four and five week months. I am showing the results against the weekly average for each month just to see which brands buck the trends.

, on Flickr

[earlofsodbury]

Witty and entertaining as always Wimm. Thank-you.

[ozzyb123]

Thank you for your service


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[Ey-Up]

Amusing and interesting. Sterling work.

[ataripower]

Superb summary, love reading these. Thanks

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[greasemonkey]

great writeup,always enjoy these.

[Rinaldo1711]

I always enjoy this - thanks for all the effort you put into it.

[Sinnlover]

Thanks as always, Citizen is more popular than I thought then.