Horological Meandering

I read Hod. I appreciate Hod. But it saddens me, as a collector, that Hod. is becoming the arbiter of hype. And it is only hype. I work in an industry driven by hype. I know hype. It seems absurd to me that Blancpain can not come up with a watch that Hodi... 

Almost certainly fifty fathoms. Predictable, yes - sad. Hodinkee are great bunch of passionate watch guys but they have found themselves at the lead of a cult and the $$ are hard to resist. But each one of us can decide whether to play, or not.

My thoughts turn more to Hodinkee than Blancpain on this one. I thought Hodinkee was great several years ago. Nice watches, nice pictures, interesting people, well done overall. Now it seems they've ratcheted up the hype, cross marketing and sales focus, ... 

I was relieved I did not care much when I saw it. Nothing to dislike but nothing w vision either? The fake aged lume?

Or... Or... ...  

Thanks.

Well, John, at least you're candid. Thanks.

LVMH et al, its all hype and sell now.

But we are the population of this very very very small world, my friend.

. . . to the HoMe forum? My sense is that it belongs there rather than here as the subject is really more about the current state of the watch industry and internet exploitation. Your call, of course. Art

I defer to your discretion, Art. Thanks. No prob wherever you prefer to place it.

. . . to Horological Meandering. Art

!!

To me, this is a no brainer for Blancpain. They are guaranteed the sale of the XXX pcs to Hod. The risk is transferred to Hod. BP doesn't have to market or handle the individual sales. Very clean. Just profit. No different than a jewelry store chain havin... 

It is a pure business perspective, the seller, per se, not the collector perspective, w respect.

...from another "special" edition. I amended my text with "XXX". True, we will soon see the minimum transaction number for a BP Special Edition. Wonder the production number for the VC Historiques Cornes De Vache 1955? -John

...the Hondinkee VC edition was 36 pcs at $45,000 each ($1,620,000). We'll see soon enough! -John

...100pcs at $9,900 ($990,000). Available through Hod and BP boutiques in NYC and Las Vegas. High velocity sell though. -John

The brand is so weak that I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case, although I have no evidence one way or another.

This would allow for screening of preferred clients and give both parties control of deliveries. Would help prevent alienating select customers. If BP did consign, then this would be a sweeter deal for Hod. Maybe the first 60% of sales BP pockets to recov... 

Blancpain is a tough resale brand... (except certain vintage models... generally) and this model will also die in resale... (this is blatant, easy to see hype, not immediately, not in a few months, but in a year or two... I will be stunned if it even reta... 

There is a reason they are not producing these watches, I don’t know what that reason is but my feeling is it is not because they can’t imagine it! I agree with you that we, the forums, should be the first point of discussion or the natural collaborator w... 

This is no different than a brand making a version for a large retailer. But I do understand your frustration.

but fake aged lume? Not for seasoned collectors.

We carried on rather well over a dinner conversation. I will not fault a company for making money. That is why companies are in business. And on that note, it is not a fair comparison to our website. We all have regular jobs here outside of the watch indu... 

Of course in terms of pure business, a success.

Big business has one goal $$$$$. Never enough. Soon amazon, Google and Facebook will own it all. They fine Facebook 5 billion and the stock goes up .Comical. on a brighter note I just picked up the above and I like it very much. I spoke to a former Blancp... 

The standard now between manufacturers and retailers.

It's hard to understand why Swiss brands love to make watches with movements that are too small (plus a poorly implemented date window) and extra lines of text on the dial, etc. It's a little funny to see Hodinkee over and over do basically the same treat... 

True, some common sense bits here and there--stunning that the manufactures are so detached.... ignorant... this model is so simple and boringly basic... it is beyond comprehension Blancpain needed anyone to help create it.

Remember that Blancpain had made a collaboration with Revolution watch magazine 3 years ago and they made 30 Bathyscapes back then. I will be upset if Marc Hayek is selling any models to Clymer & co that overlap with the novelties that are being released ... 

So now a “curated” (castrated) list of models can be purchased through H. Earlier a limited edition Presage was implied to be available only through them (a sales rush ensued) but then we find that was a misstatement or inadvertent error and the dealers g... 

It's the closest thing that one can get to an uncompromised online community of this nature. Sure there have been changes and fallouts, but the spirit of what this community was all about largely remain unscathed.. From when it was still TP on Network54 (... 

Blancpain deserves some of the blame here. Not just Hodinkee.

Sorry but that made me spit my coffee out and nearly I choked not a good way to start the morning. Hodinkee used to be a great read and resource for information about watches now not so much IMO it's more about the look at me crowd and showing off and of ... 

You've invested $XXX,XXX carrying their line, often are pushed watches you didn't necessarily want to help the brand along... You're limited to very few hot products that will be instant profit, and frankly, would be surprised if many dealers turn profits... 

...could be more traffic from the Hodinkee Bump. -John

It is a stake in the heart of the AD's... and why? What did the AD's do to deserve this? (carry the unsellable 90% of Blancpains???)

. . . both immediately after initial delivery, and even now, two years later? ;-)

Between these two moments, and since then, no other watches were issued. Most probably, there will be something next year, or the year after for our 20th birthday.

. . . was instrumental in forming interest in a PuristSPro limited edition. Community demand created the project and preceded its release. It's the other way around for Hodinkee. Art

... I personally have my question marks about the entry post of the topic for being unnecessarily offensive in tone, but that’s maybe just me. Anyway... Right now none of us knows what this watch will be. I personally have my serious doubts about the assu... 

I was very excited when the Blancpain 2019 novelties were released and like you & others, I put in an order. A few days ago, I was ready to cancel my order with my AD. That’s how disturbed I was when I found out that Blancpain had agreed to this blog watc... 

but I do disagree with you, my friend.

I appreciate your comments & your question are spot on. On the contrary, I believe that the brands use the online blogs to understand how their future distribution channels / customizations are going to evolve. Most brands have no online channel today & i... 

Perhaps Swatch and Richemont ought to give them more autonomy as long as they aren’t losing money and let them focus on the long-term. Stupid pricing + uninspiring product = Cyber Monday sales all year long in the grey market on these brands.

Why do the big brands not use Amazon for distribution of their products? They’d move some metal, that’s for sure ... Cazalea

Worthy of an entire thread on its own.

Having read through all of the reaction—and the many good points made falling on one side or the other—let me see if I might add something of value to the discussion. I’d like to reiterate a short sentence from MichaelC’s reaction that could easily get lo... 

I tend to think of Hodinkee as an Internet influencer, not an independent reviewer. I don’t believe they have ever cloaked their colors as being anything else. Their business model is not that different than watch magazines in years past being beholden to... 

tuned-in to what we, ourselves, hear. And you are probably right that it was my naivete regarding watches in general that lead me to expect any more objectivity from "periodicals" (we'll think of Hodinkee as an online periodical, here) than makes hard-nos... 

Would be great to hear your constructive thoughts and opinions on the watch itself I kind of like it 🙋🏻‍♂️ Cheers

(At least, that is the assertion). In less than an hour. One hundred pieces. Impressive, if accurate. Says something about market forces (not sure what though!). Oh: and it looked like quite a well-sorted design. Cheers, pplater.

Hello! Pplater! Nothing to dislike here, but no edge or anything visionary either... I was actually relieved at how dull the design was and relieved it had fake lume... double bore. There's something bizarre about these 'sell outs' (I do not believe this ... 

I find the watch shockingly boring. Fake aged lume for novices.

And reading so many mixed reactions and opinions Yes, the design especially the dial layout may have been too simple and bare As for the hour markers, some precious metal might do the trick rather than painted on patina.. What if, what if an enamel dial w... 

...it looks like it was designed for the kind of guy who ‘discovered’ mechanical watches last year after stumbling across Hodinkee whilst looking for Apple Watch coverage. It’s just more faux vintage crap.

Not crap, but... agree

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