patrick_y
[PuristSPro Moderator]
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It's Not Easy Being Green: Capitalizing Heritage, Capitalizing on Trends, or a Marketing Exercise?
Green dials... It's no secret, green dials have become popular. Nearly every brand from A to Z has done a green dial. Even Patek Philippe has dressed up one of its iconic references in green.
But who started this trend? It was Rolex. Rolex did it because its signature color happens to be green. Rolex here is capitalizing on its heritage. The Green Submariner (aka Kermit) was initially launched in 2003 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Submariner. At first, the green bezeled "monstrosity" didn't sell well, but about a year or two later it started to sell.
Today, you notice multiple watch brands coming out with green dials. Many are intended for the Middle Eastern market, one of the fastest growing markets in the world for luxury watches. And consumers - sometimes the smartest in the room (and sometimes not) have been relatively quick to gobble these green dialed watches up. This new plethora of green dialed watches on the market brings the question...
1. How many watch companies are doing green dials due to a nod to that company's heritage or organic design? I would say the Rolex models with green dials are heritage. I would say the IWC Pilots Spitfire watches with a bronze case and green dial is an organic design choice. In other words which ones are "naturally" green?
2. Which watch companies are doing green dials to capitalize specifically on a trend and not necessarily targeting organic design? In other words, what models are "somewhat forced" to be green?
3. Which watch companies are doing green dials specifically as a marketing exercise? Be it to incur the favor of the Middle Eastern market or some other marketing reason... Which watches are specifically utilizing green colors to gain penetration? In other words, which companies are the greedy sell-outs?
And what are your overall thoughts about green dialed watches? Do you own any that are "natural" or "forced" green watches? Maybe some that were pure marketing plays? No problem that you do - if you like your watches immensely... But sometimes I find that I get carried away, and I have to take a step back and look at the big picture.
It's Not Easy Being Green: Capitalizing Heritage, Capitalizing on Trends, or a Marketing Exercise?
Green dials... It's no secret, green dials have become popular. Nearly every brand from A to Z has done a green dial. Even Patek Philippe has dressed up one of its iconic references in green. But who started this trend? It was Rolex. Rolex did it because ...
I think its with every dial color thats popular at some point. We had blue a while back and Salmon last few years (my fav😜) and ofcourse green .
I do like these colorful dials a lot . Here a few of my green dials ...
And a beautiful sweater!
You are a tasteful man! Thank you for sharing your green watches. None of which I consider to be "sell outs" neither.
My opinion....
who cares! I love green, we are all the better off for such a large selection of various shades of green.... Cheers, Filip
Very fair!
I like green too! But all of a sudden, I felt there was an overdose of green watches! But true, a lot of a good thing is not a bad thing!
Thanks for a typically thought-provoking post Patrick! Given the front picture, I was almost tempted to move your thread to the Patek forum and, as a likely byproduct, get a chance to clean the latter up after over 6 months....but I will refrain! -)))
On a (slightly) more serious note, deciding which watches are "created green" looks like a challenging job. For sure, once something is popular (be it a color or anything else), many brands want to capitalize on it. It's just the nature of any business. W...
Now that's definitely an "organic" green watch!
And I'm not referring to the fish as organic! That's a super cool watch. What a beautiful piece of horology and art combined in one tidy little package.
I don't even remember that watch!
I remember the Swiss Made watch that was even made with Swiss Cheese. I remember the Apple Watch look-alike. But not this one! Thank you for the introduction to this very much alive, living, green watch! This watch was definitely out there to make a state...
It was announced roughly three years ago, and I still cannot forget it! ;-))
Here's for instance the Monochrome article about it, but it obviously reached the goal of attracting quite a bit of attention from the media: As you correctly point out, however, it never made it into regular production; in fact --- which by far my favor...
Now I remember it. I saw it at SIHH and forgot!
Weird that I didn't recognize it from the first photo but after seeing this one, I did. I'm getting old! (joking)
Beautiful pieces! I'd say those are mostly organic...
Those are mostly organic design choices. They were created in blues, reds, and greens. It's not like a watch that was made with a green dial just so it'd sell better in the "Gulf Nations" market. Beautiful and fun pieces. Kudos!
I agree! Black, white, greys, and blue will likely be the defaults.
In the watch world, I feel the green is more often done to appeal to the Middle East and Gulf Region rather than for its sustainability profile. The luxury industry as a whole might be trying to be more "sustainable" as we see wool and cashmere fighting t...
love green dials....(or the idea of one day owning one that is...)
or at least the idea of a green dial. But I have not yet owned a wristwatch with a green dial funnily enough. Getting the green right is incredibly difficult it seems, at least for my aesthetic tastes. Makes me think of what green dials I am a big fan of ...
In agreement with this impressive lineup, Keks (even though my honest personal preference might be on the earlier limited edition 5167A-010 vs. the green 5168G :-) Also, speaking of amazingly beautiful 5270 iterations....
....let's not forget this unique 5270T (with a T as in Titanium!) to be auctioned by Phillips on November 7 for charity! For Everyone interested, I'm reposting here Patek's announcement, also available on the official site: Patek Philippe | News | Childre...
ok yes
in agreement on your 2 special pieces... to give you a little bit of personal history I was one of the underbidders of this green 5167 when it went under the hammer at Sothebys many years ago. This was well before the sports watch hype and if I recall cor...
Cool backstory! I hope you find your titanium Patek Philippe someday...
It's good that you stuck to your guns! I know that you don't necessarily feel that way right now. But whenever I've stuck to my guns, I've never regretted not getting something. I wanted the 6000T myself - but how do I put it - I wasn't even close to the ...
Once I "researched" the fascinating topic of Titanium Pateks for our platform (where "research" should of course be read in a nonacademic sense -- I carefully searched and put together known information on someone else's work...in this case Patek! :-))
Very interestingly, it appears that only 13 (!!) Titanium Patek wristwatches are known to have ever been created, in the entire 183-year history of the Brand! These thirteen watches are all obviously unique pieces, including the gorgeous 6000T you mention...
Titanium Patek Philippe timepieces are rare indeed!
Although they say the Nautilus may one day come in a titanium standard production model in the future. We shall see!
Indeed, Titanium is a metal whose role is so unique and special for Patek…if tossed into the regular catalog, it will be virtually impossible to replace in its current role for the Brand 😉
Combining two of the above topics, this actually reminds when just a few years ago, Lange felt like they ‘had” to join the SS sports hype….egregiously, SS —- which, before the Odysseus, was so rarefied and special in Lange’s tradition —- lost most of its ...
agree
but they too have to look forward... i think it will happen one day but question is how long they will wait
Agreed!
And yes, Lange kind of killed off the specialty of steel fairly quickly indeed.
Oh boy! I'm getting ideas!
You bring up a good point. Rolex doesn't make titanium watches yet. Some titanium casebacks, but not full titanium cases. Hmm. Interesting. I never realized that until now. I'd like a titanium Daytona please. With a ceramic bezel and polished bits. Thus, ...
yes indeed
easy to fantasize about a dream Ti Rolex... I have plenty of ideas but think Rolex in the end will come up with something that makes most sense and will be hugely succesful regardless!
it does sound like a possible path forward however...
but perhaps they will save that release for the next deep recession
i recall this thread
it is an amazing one... only problem is it makes me want a T even more!
Now you two are putting new ideas in my head...
And it reads like this... "New goal in life: procure a titanium Patek Philippe." I know that sounds silly. To buy a watch just because of the material it's encased in... I would've laughed ten years ago. But goodness... Nowadays... I'm super influenced by...
Love your ambition my friend, which means that we have at least one of our life goals in common! ;-)) Seriously, what would make this even more fascinating, if possible, is that it *truly* challenging...
A majority of the 13 T Pateks known to exist happens to belong to the same individual (his initials are C.S.), who I am sure will never sell....and the same I would assume holds true for the few T pieces not in his possession (given that they were purchas...
Go for it next month FabR!
I will patiently wait… my guns are not loaded by next month unfortunately..
The big question here is: for the auction price it will certainly go for, is a 5270T worth 10 (or may 20 or 50?) Rare Handcrafts? :-)))
Sadly, like everyone else, I have to make some choices beyond a certain point....but this is one of those few instances where the temptation is indeed VERY big my friend!!
And... Hopefully none of the usual guys are interested...
Perhaps C.S. might come back for more of these titillating titanium pieces. Goodness. Say that 5 times quickly. Tongue twister! But yes, I'll pass on the 5270T.
Even if mine were loaded... I'd be hesitant to take the shot... Might take an aim though.
By the way, kudos to your analogy. It's so good.
I remember the 6000T
went to the auction preview and looked at it and felt a strong desire... but not strong enough!
There are two types of value...
Intrinsic value - the actual value of the piece. In this case, a 6000T is worth about the same as a 6000G - one could argue the T is worth even less than the G since Gold is more valuable than titanium. One could also assign a "practical" value for the ra...
yes
I would argue all luxury products are mostly something to be measured in terms of extrinsic value... it is just a matter of degrees. Personally I can not compare a 6000T to a 5970P as they are too different. That is however the beauty of it all, value is ...
Very true, they're an apples to oranges comparison...
I will say though... That Bulgari Octo Finissimo that I'm always raving about... I really enjoy that watch. And it's not just the fair and reasonable price, it's also the watch itself and its relative obscurity... But... What happens when Bulgari Octo Fin...
no regrets
but things get clearer in the rearview mirror... but as long as life keeps spinning it will offer new challenges and exciting moments so will have plenty of goodness to look forward to!
I had to look up that Omega Seamaster Malachite dial one!
I do like malachite! And that was a gorgeous malachite dial. Thank you for your very comprehensive list. All great choices. And none of those feel like it was specifically made to target the Middle Eastern market. Personally I'm not a fan of the Patek 593...
yes that Omega looks amazing
even though I have not seen it in the real I would love to one day.... gorgeous combo against the gold
Yes! I've got a fountain pen somewhere that reminds me of that color combination. A Malachite pen from Montblanc.
Pens are a lot of fun! Too bad we're using them less and less nowadays.
Green has always the favorite color of mine since I was a kid, but for the most part, it has never seemed "natural" in wristwatches . . .
Nevertheless, I did find one that had the perfect hue for my tastes: Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin “Série Atelier” and portrait of my 1970 911 ...
I just realized my car's paint looks green in a certain light!
Was walking to the car and for a moment, the car looked quite green. The car is officially a black with blue and green undertones (I call it a "teal" color but Mercedes calls it a "Black Opal Code 189" color). In most lighting conditions, it looks black. ...
Green ! - wonderful topic
Seeing this a bit late , but it’s a very interesting topic so thought to share . I’ve been attracted to green dials ( and straps! ) since before Green became the new Blue , and thus quite happy with the trend while it lasts . Although it has become in som...
Got it! Totally nuts! In California, I'm told by a colorful person, it's spelled "NutZ!"
The Z signifies you're extra crazy about something supposedly.
