Horological Meandering

DaMctosh
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Some improvements I'd like to see

I know we wax lyrical about the finish and complications of multiple timepieces from various big brands and independents. But there are some improvements I wish they would make, which are pretty straightforward. Feel free to add to the list:

1. Spring bars are like the Swiss lever escapement, reliable and proven. But I think they've served their purpose. All too often, I end up with a discernible scratch (some fairly deep) on the lugs when changing a strap, many times when this is done at the AD or the service center. For the AP RO/ROOs and Panerais, this is even worse as the screws have to be adjusted ever so carefully and mistakes are not hidden by the strap. Why can't ALL watch manufacturers switch to the innovations that Franck Muller, Cartier (Roadster) and JLC (EWC) use for their straps? I also don't understand why Cartier and JLC restrict the quick release straps to only specific models. Actually it's a protective way of ensuring that we have to buy only their straps instead of after-market brands.

2. More on straps. I can't understand why they (a) made way too thin for a given lug or case size (b) taper ridiculously say from 22 to 16 (c) cost more than my shoes and yet come in limited colors and lengths (d) all of the above.

3. Deployant buckles and bracelets without easy-fix micro adjustments. There are clearly micro changes in wrist size depending on weather and time or day. Has no one working for a watch manufacturer have a same watch that's one day rotating round his wrist and another day making a cookie cutter imprint? A simple mechanism, like the new FPJourne deployant, would fix this (but I'm not suggesting they all charge the same price).

4. This is an old complaint but we need faster service time people. This is particularly so given that the boom years of the last decade for the industry are going to result in very high numbers of watches being due for service in the coming years. To wait 4 months for a major brand and 6 months for an independent (my personal experience) is just unacceptable. At great sacrifice, I'm prepared to forego half the watch parties and dinners for a higher budget allocation to the service department.

5. Gargantuan boxes. Yes we pay a lot for the watches and so many expect a commensurate box. It's really funny when some green cause is being benefited by yet another limited edition but what's so green about a large unnecessary box? Why not make the high end ones multi-functional - like the humidor box Tony got for his Blancpain, or a winder-cum-display like the Langematic? For the teeming masses, I suspect many of us (although we are not in the vast majority) are happy if we receive the watch in a newspaper like the MIH or better yet, get a free strap or say $500 knocked off if we don't take the box. Shipping charges will be lower for the manufacturers and most of us will have more cupboard space for the wife's shoes or other unnecessary things like watch catalogs.