Interesting article - the economics of indy watch production

[Itsguy]

I found this enlightening: http://www.scottishwatches.co.uk/202...atch-industry/

Interesting, if your didn’t already turn off at the word ‘economics’. My one question mark, it’s easy to say major brand Swiss watches are overpriced and the mark-up is too high, but unilaterally cutting the price of a particular model in half doesn’t automatically mean you sell twice as many, due to the strangeness of the luxury market. Potentially it just means you make the watch half as desirable when compared to competitors and devalue your brand. Though at the same time, we probably wish all watches hadn’t doubled in price due to the Swiss Franc going up after the last financial crisis. But they allowed it to happen and now we are where we are.

[Dougal]

Thanks, that’s an interesting read. Hats off to Eddie and the other micro brands who are managing these challenges.

[abraxas]

I was reading this very article yesterday and I considered posting it in order to point out the "defects" of the "alternatives" (to the ETA) Swiss movements. Interesting or what?

[Dave E]

An interesting read, for sure. Those inventory figures for the Swatch group are eye-opening.

[misterzero]

A great article , it brings up some very interesting points and explains why the watch industry is having problems ,things need to change and soon

Sent from my moto g(7) play using TZ-UK mobile app

[aldfort]

A good read and well explained.
Slightly off beam in my view in talking about the big guys like ETA being able to knock out movements for pence. Even ETA will still need a programme of ongoing investment in new tech.
The only other thing to note is that slow moving goods spawn big inventories. Currently I doubt there is much Crystal (insert brand of choice) being drunk in bars around the city and I doubt many traders are rewarding themselves with a casually acquired high end watch. Hoarding will be the first instinct of high end brands and this will be followed for a long period. All these brands know the potential impact of dumping. The more usual route is to refresh a model and then "dump" the "old model" at a (slightly) beneficial price.

Unless of course you are Rolex, master marketeers who can create demand out of thin air at will.