jmpTT
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Marketing will make the difference...
Nov 13, 2019,09:45 AM
One key difference between grandfather clocks and mechanical watches would be the amount of money spent on marketing new mechanical watches. I’ve never seen an ad for a new grandfather clock in my life (that I can recall).
Creating social desirability through marketing will keep the mechanical watch afloat, just as the diamond has been kept afloat by great marketing, even as disenchantment mounts.
The Gen Zs travelling the world, choosing experiences, will likely settle down one day, if they can afford to. When raising kids, there is a limit to how much time can be spent experiencing the world. As long as enough millennials and Gen Zs follow in their parents’ sedentary lifestyle footsteps and the post digital age marketing creates social demand, the market for the mechanical watch won’t collapse.
These are all big “ifs”, but the mechanical watch today isn’t the same as the mechanical watch of 1960. It has less responsibility today. I can imagine scenarios in which the mechanical watch market collapses, but most of these scenarios involve more pressing concerns.
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Some Musings on the Future Desirability of Mechanical Timepieces
By: NickO : November 12th, 2019-18:01
My dad collected grandfather clocks. He moved to England in the early 1960s and over the next fifteen years or so amassed a collection of forty-something fully operational and striking grandfather clocks. Had he sold them when he retired to The States in ...
I think a lot of us are innately interested in mechanical things
By: nwk00 : November 12th, 2019-19:31
to see them in operation is very satisfying. I suspect this has to do with the fact we are also analog creatures. I don't believe this will disappear. Clocks are on the decline because it's really difficult to service them, whether in terms of finding qua...
I have been thinking about this a lot the past couple of years..
By: Echi : November 12th, 2019-20:14
I was doing a mental timeline on how long these watches will stay on people's wrists. My daughter isn't into watches. She likes the Reverso but told me that she's not really into it like how I was. The way she said it kind of summed up everything that I w...
Just one metric...
By: pplater : November 12th, 2019-21:58
Hey Nick! Respectfully, your analysis is spot on - but as far as it goes. Here’s an alternate perspective. If there were only one dichotomy at play then the future for mechanical timepieces - as with clocks - might indeed be grim. But is it as simple as ‘...
You make some good points oh mighty nun
By: NickO : November 14th, 2019-14:18
But I do take exception to your wag: while the escalator has not obsolesced the stairs, I do believe digital media has taken a huge chunk out of print media (books, magazines and newspapers). And that’s the point, I’m not sure (to use the great example so...
Are They Really Worth It?
By: bradleg : November 12th, 2019-22:23
I have thought about this subject often, The retainability, the servicing and maintenance cost of mechanical watches - are they really worth it. Watches have no intrinsic value as with any other personal property. They are worth only what someone will pay...
It is a very thought provoking post...
By: KMII : November 13th, 2019-00:17
And I have to say that in many ways I fully follow your reasoning (including having a father into grandfather clocks, of which definitely not all will survive him by much). Some issues have been raised in response that are also relevant. An interest in th...
Great post
By: Mr.Gatsby : November 13th, 2019-08:09
Very well written and definitely thought provoking. Enjoyed reading the numerous responses as well that are well articulated. The one thing fundamentally different between a watch and a grandfather clock is that one would always relate better to the forme...
I think
By: watch-er : November 13th, 2019-08:52
interest will wane over time.
Marketing will make the difference...
By: jmpTT : November 13th, 2019-09:45
One key difference between grandfather clocks and mechanical watches would be the amount of money spent on marketing new mechanical watches. I’ve never seen an ad for a new grandfather clock in my life (that I can recall). Creating social desirability thr...
+1
By: mahesh : November 14th, 2019-10:38
true Tony...actually the first thing i see when i meet a person is what is on his wrist ;-)
Here’s a hat trick for you...
By: pplater : November 17th, 2019-15:33
See what happens when you say something sensible? A welcome throwback to different times. Keep it up! Cheers, pplater.
In So Cal, there are intersections . . .
By: Dr No : November 14th, 2019-15:14
. . . with three gas stations. (Never seen one with four, but wouldn't be surprised by one, either.) I wonder what happens to the value of car collections when stations are fewer and farther between. Eventually, they will disappear altogether. Not in our ...
Sometimes our enthusiam blinds us...
By: onnomon : November 15th, 2019-10:26
This subject matter is worth musing, even if it has been discussed time and time again. Let us all check-in with ourselves about how we spend time and resources. Comparing wristwatches to grandfather clocks is not nearly as appropriate as comparing wristw...
Great conversation Nick, thanks for starting it.
By: Jay (Eire) : November 16th, 2019-20:03
As has already been pointed out the Roger Smiths and Gronefelds of this world are likely somewhat immune. For these special craftspeople and watchmakers there will likely always be a consumer. On the bigger, broader picture, I think much of this outcome w...
Thoughtful post.
By: Horo_Traveler : November 17th, 2019-18:25
I believe that a certain segment of social media driven "must have" pieces will do well like luxury handbags, as well as truly artisanal high horology (like art collection). One can project a brand or their own personality or sense of style from their wri...