I am not sure that some of the other Richemont brands know where they are headed, either…

Not that familiar with RD but see your point.
The one that worries me somewhat is JLC. Hopefully Jerome Lambert can instill a period of positive experimentation again, reinstalling the brand as the watchmaker’s watchmaker.
I am probably only marginally able to judge (admittedly) but I feel that last big bang (in the mid tier range) was the already demised Geophysic line with the quite exciting dead beat movements. The rest appears to me like a riding on past investments without a great story or vision for the way forward. That’s not to say there are no interesting watches just that most of them are updated versions of things done before (reissue of Duometre, Reverso chrono…).

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Underdogs: What are yours?

By: Modernahab : November 25th, 2025-07:44

Underdog: Someone who is hardly noticed (The Urban Dictionary) I’m sure many of us have brands we think of as over-hyped and overrated (names will not be mentioned ;-D), but perhaps likewise some that we admire and feel worthy of more attention and respec...

Some beautiful watches there. I always loved that LUC Twist.

By: Blansky : November 26th, 2025-01:39

Speake Marin is/was a brand that seemed to fly under the radar. Possibly so was Ulysse Nardin. ...

Yup, Speake Marin does seem to suffer some from the Rodney Dangerfield syndrome.

By: Modernahab : November 26th, 2025-17:56

I think they deserve credit for their individual and idiosyncratic design language, though I wonder if that also impedes their popularity. Ulysse Nardin is an interesting case, I think. I felt that they were much more in the public eye a couple of decades...

Very interesting thread and proposition…

By: KMII : November 30th, 2025-07:50

Depending on perspective this could apply to many brands. As you say, Chopard in many ways still lags in perception behind the quality of watches. The LUC line generally sports nice and horologically sound pieces, the AE fully fits the current era / custo...

Very astute!

By: Modernahab : December 2nd, 2025-01:39

Regarding Chopard, I agree that the Mille Miglia line seems like an adipose appendage at this point. I also think that the jewelry watches in the Happy Diamonds mode may continue to damage the perception of Chopard as a serious player in the mechanical wa...

I was also thinking about GM in the 1980s…

By: KMII : December 2nd, 2025-06:30

I guess Blancpain is where Biver’s journey and the resurrection of mechanical watch making started but the creative drive has now long petered out 🤷🏻‍♂️ Another one I could mention is Montblanc. The Villeret pieces remain underrated for what they are and ...

Good point again regarding Montblanc.

By: Modernahab : December 2nd, 2025-17:22

They are one of the few houses in the Richemont portfolio, along with the utterly tragic Roger Dubuis, where I question the conglomerate's brand management. I've been impressed by some of the Minerva-derived higher end pieces they've released, and the Nic...

Horological Meandering