Originally Posted by helidoc
I do not think fashion played a big part in the correction. Richemont got greedy. Ten years ago when I bought my first PAM, getting a 111 wasn't totally straight forward - they got the balance of scarcity and value really well nailed especially with the LEs and SEs. There was a massive increase in pricing and there needed to be a correction for sure, which happened, but Panerai helped in their own downfall.
They pumped out zillions of variations at each SIHH and diluting the Limited Editions by releasing new LEs with minor changes. Collectors got lost in it all. I have zero appetite to add another Panerai to my collection, I'm happy with my pair.
I think many people think that LVMH have done a good job with Zenith, and that Swatch have done a good job with Omega, but that Richemont's touch with their brands has been much less sure - witness the many people who avoid JLC due to all the service nightmare stories.
My limited experience has been that Swatch do a good job, so do lmvh. Richemont...not really. It does put me off their stuff. Even ALS and VC. Do you want them handled by a Richemont ‘service centre’.
After having experienced the Richemont service centers inaptitude followed by their attempt to rip me off, I quite had enough.
Basically:
- no more JLC's
- no VC
- no IWC
- no Piaget
Too bad as I really have a soft spot for some JLC's.
ETA based watches only if Richemont I think. Or a movement an independent can service. Never sending anything to Richemont to get serviced.
It felt like IWC really caught the zeitgeist at one point, particularly with their pilot / pilot chrono, Portuguese, Aquatimers and Ingenieurs. Their marketing was effective too, and they had a steady supply of new models and revisions. People were perhaps less worried about the in house movement issue at that point too.
Oddly though, they seem to have settled down in a place that's just not quite right. The Portuguese remains attractive but is old news and dinner plate sized, the Aquatimers arguably aren't at their best currently, the Ingenieur has completely lost the plot along with Genta's classic design, the Pilot Chrono has landed at an oversized 43mm and the standard Mark VIII isn't necessarily the pick of the bunch for that line either, with its size and the much commented on misplaced date window. I'll ignore the portofino because everyone else does, the very overpriced ones are ok but the others don't quite excite. It's as if they've slightly gone off the boil, or had a change of taste. I note that they've had a new CEO since 2017, who's background isn't so much the product design itself. He's more been working on the marketing and communication strategies, supposedly to make the brand more appealing to a younger audience: https://www.barrons.com/articles/pre...ge-01567107207
He might want to keep an eye on the product itself. It amazes me that they don't have a single watch that I'm genuinely keen to try currently.
“the Pilot Chrono has landed at an oversized 43mm”
For the smaller wrist.....
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