Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts

Hi,

I just wanted to take a moment and you all for taking the time to share your thoughts. What I heard was more confirmatory than surprising. I wanted to toss one other thing into the mix.

Just for curiosity, I ran a patent search for patents granted in the US, EP, and WO from 2001 to current and this is what I found:

A. Lange & Sohne - 32 patents
Audemars Piguet - 27 patents
Breguet - 125 patents
Patek Philippe - 30 patents
Vacheron Constantin - 3 patents

Mind you, many of these patents are just design patents protecting aesthetic aspects of designs and only a subset are utility patents dealing with mechanical innovation. This was true for all of these companies.

So the numbers may not necessarily reflect a relative level of innovation but more the intelectual property strategy of the parent companies. I did note that Omega had 69 patents and Blancpain (together with Frederic Piguet SA) had 26 patents, but GO only had 2 granted under (Glashutter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH). So there is definitely some heterogeneity within SG.

Best,

Bob

Why does Breguet get such little respect among WIS (Rodney Dangerfield of Watch Ateliers)?

By: iim7v7im7 : January 18th, 2012-18:21

Hi, This is a somewhat controversial subject, but one worthy of discussion. Recently, I have been looking into purchasing a new “high-end” dress watch. To no surprise, I naturally looked at A. Lange & Sohne, Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Patek Philippe and Va...

I would also be interested

By: Tobi : January 18th, 2012-22:37

to see what drives this perception as I have wondered about it myself. I wonder whether it has to do something with the parent Swatch that creates a negative correlation. Would the brand fair better under Richemont? Then again, Bentley or Bugatti don't su...

I think brands...

By: dxboon : January 18th, 2012-23:01

...go through cycles with the WIS community. Maybe Breguet doesn't seem "hot" now, but there's a significant wellspring of good will toward the brand IMO. They've got some beautiful, classic pieces in their portfolio. For me, the Tradition and Classique l...

Website suggests they're a luxury goods company...

By: nickd : January 19th, 2012-00:16

The thing that's always struck me on their website is that the Collections page has four categories - Timepieces, Jewelry, Cufflinks, Writing Instruments. To me, that says that their marketing doesn't associate Breguet=Watches, but rather Breguet=Luxury G...

very true about the website

By: Tobi : January 19th, 2012-03:48

I commented on that in a previous post, the quality of the images is dismal. Ironic, because the quality of the images in the catalogue is first rate and some of the nicest processed watch photos around

btw, what does WIS stand for?

By: Tobi : January 19th, 2012-03:50

and another thought - this should probably sit under the Breguet tab

I think we might get a broader dialogue here...(nt) [nt]

By: iim7v7im7 : January 19th, 2012-04:46

No message body

WIS=Watch Idiot-Savant

By: nickd : January 19th, 2012-05:00

a phrase coined in the distant days of the first watch forums on the internet.

Let's look into the website.

By: Albert.J : January 19th, 2012-10:18

-collection category the images are poor and never look interesting... maybe it seems a little boring -watch finder again... the images are not exciting at all. -collection the image of this watch have been spoiled since long time ago and the line up.. is...

Perhaps because . . .

By: Dr No : January 19th, 2012-08:44

. . . their æsthetic is relatively archaic? . . .

I agree ...

By: nilomis : January 19th, 2012-10:02

After your post, I took a look on the Breguet line and you are correct. There is nothing there, besides the Type XX/XXI, that can be seen as a modern design. Cheers

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts

By: iim7v7im7 : January 19th, 2012-15:16

Hi, I just wanted to take a moment and you all for taking the time to share your thoughts. What I heard was more confirmatory than surprising. I wanted to toss one other thing into the mix. Just for curiosity, I ran a patent search for patents granted in ...

I believe

By: Mostel : January 19th, 2012-16:09

it is because Abraham Breguet is long dead, and the resurrected Breguet is a conglomerate Brand, no one knows exactly who does what or who IS Breguet anymore; all we know is that whoever it is keeps making Breguet design watches... but no Mr Breguet exist...

Interesting

By: iim7v7im7 : January 19th, 2012-17:50

So help me out here. I understand your reasoning, believe me I do. But how is it any different for the Richemont brands (ALS and VC)? I find all of these to be "brands" vs. companies like AP and PP. Today almost all the great watch "names" are part of lux...

Interesting comments from all

By: AndrewD : January 19th, 2012-18:44

There is much about Breguet that I love and a lot of this has to do with the use of traditional Breguet design cues and inspiration from historical pieces. The fluted, coin cases, Breguet hands, guilloched dials, enamel work, classical sizes, all resonate...

There are fundamental differences...

By: patrick_y : January 19th, 2012-19:13

There are fundamental differences between Richemont Group and Swatch Group. One can be said is more individualistic, allowing each brand to retain much of their identity; while the other is more "grouped" together, sharing technology and information to cr...

Is "respect" the right word?

By: nickd : January 19th, 2012-22:42

Been thinking about this. There was a huge thread and discussion a few years ago when Zeith was taken over by the flambouyant Thierry Nataf. Everyone here seemed to respect Zenith, what it stood for, its history, its famous movements, its classic watches....

Another interesting question to ask

By: iim7v7im7 : January 20th, 2012-02:49

I remember the Zenith Natif days. To me it felt like when you gave a chld something of substance and you had to watch them slowly destroy it. I think the situation with Breguet is a bit different; at least to me. I think there is a little bit of "money ca...