walidk
118
Makes a lot of sense
Mar 12, 2021,14:58 PM
Dear CR,
As always, your responses are thoughtful and thought-provoking!
I think the strong negative reaction here stems, at least for me, from what I see as a shift in the way the brand has been operating in recent years. Maybe its the current management's approach, Richemont getting more involved, market dynamics, or a mix of all these factors - I cannot pin it down to just one thing. I care about Lange, its beautiful timepieces, and this little madness of ours and when it feels like it is becoming more and more transactional it loses some of its allure - and I sense others feel the same way based on my read of the reactions here.
To tackle one of your earlier comments: I think that any Lange owner contributes to the bottom line whether as a buyer of brand new pieces or from the secondary market in the form of brand equity. For example, my first live interaction with a Lange (long after swooning over Dato pictures) was handling a fellow enthusiast's piece who bought his 2nd hand. He absolutely loved his piece and could not say enough good things about the quality and workmanship. Those conversations (and many subsequent others) got me to overcome the not insignificant price tag of a Dato and I ended up buying an up/down from a boutique some time later. Although minor $ in the grand scheme of things for Lange, pieces need to be serviced and whether a piece is bought brand new or 2nd hand, it has to go back for service and someone is paying for it. So if Lange want to really reward enthusiasts, they need to also take into consideration other Langes a potential buyer owns (or registered with them through their website as I would hope they keep track of this) and not just purchase history.
What I will say is that Lange has been top notch in customer care and after sales service and every single Lange employee I have interacted with has been very professional, passionate, and just great to talk to a (and some I have even come to call friends). I really hope that never changes!
I think it will be interesting how this will all play out and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a similar trend with other brands as well (at least within Richemont). Time will tell.
From my end, I will try to purchase pieces I like (whether from Lange or elsewhere). If I can get what I want, great. If I don't, that is totally fine - as my wife always says, we already have more watches than hands!
All the best,
Walid