Another month and once again the stats shine a light in to the darker recesses of our collective watch wearing habits. You should know the routine by now, you are going to have to read on to find out what that may be.
A chilly April has passed us by. Those of us who tend gardens and veg patches may have been concerned by the lack of the showers that are usually associated with this month. The sudden appearance of photographs of watches posed with pints in various beer gardens prove that many members braved the single digit temperatures to take advantage of the latest relaxation of virus related restrictions. Some members, unable to attract anonymous donors, were forced to to put watches on sales corner to drum up funds for home improvements.
Unable to continue the momentum which we built up from the start of the the year the forum collectively bent double with our hands on our knees to get our breath back. Numbers were way down from the highs of March, with only 138 watches being posted on the 2nd, the second lowest weekly count this year and 21% fewer than the week before. Numbers recovered as the month wore on, topping out at 179 on the 16th but a long way off the Himalayan peaks of the previous month. The monthly total eventually reached a healthy 813 (working out at an average of 162 per week), boosted by April's theft of a Friday from May.
It was nip and tuck between the top three with Seiko taking the weekly honours thrice, Rolex once and Omega, took one as well. Omega had a remarkable month. They started the month with only 6 on show, the lowest this year and the second lowest ever, but finished the month with 25, a new weekly record for them. Rolex too had a slow start to the month with only 15 recorded and limped to a high of 24 on the 16th. Seiko started the strongest of the three and managed to maintain a steady showing before storming to a massive 31 on the 23rd (helped by 6 Tuna in one day). They are the first brand to exceed 30 watches in a week this year. Yes, this does mean we have a new monthly Top Brand, Seiko took the honours with 105, narrowly pipping Rolex (101) into second place.
And here we have our next statistical insight. Those of you have been paying attention may remember that Rolex were only denied the monthly top spot once last year. That was back last April and yes it was Seiko who did it. Contain your incredulity for a moment longer because it gets better. Not only did Seiko beat Rolex in April last year but they did it by recording the highest weekly score (37) in Week 17 (the 24th). They have exactly the same this year in the same week. Last month's worms suggested that we are creatures habit, this just adds weight to that suggestion.
Lower down the order there were a number of points of interest. Vacheron recorded their highest weekly count this year, as did Tissot and Zenith (4, 3 and 6 respectively). Zenith translated this to a new monthly high of 17. We saw 3 Ming in a week which is a new high too. Steinhart have had quite the resurgence this month recording a new monthly high of ten. Helped in no small way by Wallasey Runner deciding he likes Steinhart afterall. Conversely the house brand hasn't had such a good month, recording the lowest weekly count this year of 4 on the 2nd, they did break into double figures on the 23rd but only just, this lead to a monthly low for the year of 32 which let Tudor into fourth overall for the month with 38.
Despite the low numbers 135 different brands were represented in April, 12 of which were new to the year (including Armida, Invicta and Cyma). A further 11 brands were new to the Friday thread. We had a bit of sniggering when an Altanus appeared but we also saw such names as 40Nine, Makara and Stanley. More excitingly an MB and F snuck in.
I can't show the numbers without first mentioning my highlights of the month. As well as the MB and F HM10 we saw a lovely Jean Marcel Quadrum II from redmonaco, Alfat33's Depthomatic and PeteS' Offshore Professional. We even managed to squeeze in three Fortis Cosmonautes in one day
Anyway, it is late and I have gone on for far too long. Here are the numbers:
1Seiko105
2Rolex101
3Omega84
4Tudor38
5Timefactors32
6Panerai30
7Sinn22
8Grand Seiko21
9Breitling20
10Zenith17
11IWC17
12Damasko16
13G Shock13
14Oris12
15Blancpain11
16Steinhart10
17Jaeger-LeCoultre7
18Bell & Ross7
19Patek Philippe7
20Ming7
21CWC7
22Vacheron Constantin7
23Hamilton6
24Tissot6
25Citizen6
26Tag Heuer6
27Linde Werdelin6
28Dekla5
29Glaschutte Original5
30Synchron5
31Fortis5
32Pulsar4
33Garmin4
34Bulova4
35Longines4
36KMK4
37Christopher Ward4
38Heuer4
39Apple4
40Yema4
41Oceanx3
42Halios3
43Certina3
44Orient3
45Sterile3
46Casio3
47Eterna3
48Habring3
49Vostok3
50Hanhart2
51Moser2
52Anonimo2
53Helm2
54Alexander Shorokhoff2
55Doxa (modern)2
56Boldr2
57Armida2
58Nomos2
5940Nine2
60Invicta2
61Jean Marcel2
62Maranez2
63Audemars Piguet2
64Newmark (Modern)2
65Corum2
66Glycine2
67Poljot2
68Steeldive2
69Wolbrook2
70Universal Geneve2
71Revue Thommen2
72Stowa2
73A. Lange & Sohne1
74Armand Nicolet1
75Ball1
76Borealis1
77Boschett1
78Bremont1
79Dornbluth & Sohn1
80Frederique Constant1
81Girard Perigeaux1
82Laco1
83Makara1
84Margrette1
85Mido1
86Ollech & Wajs1
87Paul Smith1
88Altanus1
89Aquastar1
90Archimede1
91Breguet1
92Cartier1
93Heimdallr1
94Lemania1
95M B & F1
96Meister Singer1
97Smiths1
98Tauchmeister1
99Bailly & Banks1
100Favre Leuba1
101Franck Muller1
102Helson1
103Helvetia1
104Majex1
105Nodus1
106Squale1
107Stanley1
108Wm Forbes1
109Artya1
110Crepas1
111Cyma1
112Damas1
113Gruppo Gamma1
114Le Monde1
115Marloe1
116Mondaine1
117Rado1
118Rodania1
119Soundbrenner1
120Ulysse Nardin1
121Valimor1
122Zeno1
123Animal1
124Anordain1
125Ebel1
126Helbros1
127Ingersoll1
128Mappin and Webb1
129Obris Morgan1
130Offshore Professional1
131Spinnaker1
132Suunto1
133Tactico1
134Vertex (Modern)1
135Zelos1
As we have yet to see the machinations of the weekly Top Ten this year, the bonus content for this month is just that. Here they are:
on Flickr
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