Horological Meandering

Instead of looking from the depreciation angle which we know it's not positive and may cause bias opinions, maybe violating forum rules...How about we turn the table and ask we collectors (not clueless ones, like me) what we like, and can help brands from...  

...but their offerings are too damn big, even for my 7.25" wrist. They are also monstrously expensive, which doesn't bother many here. I would love for GF (or F. Berthoud) to make a reasonably-sized, exquisitely-finished, time-only watch for less than $10... 

Very curious for the descendants of GP, how they feel, seeing their great great ancestors built a name and it's diminishing...I give the benefit of the doubt the watchmakers are proud of their work, and they went through the schools, study and worked hard... 

...is still $170k or so, and the Balancier Contemprain is $200k so no bargains here, even though they are reasonably sized...

No economies of scale but price of exclusivity....and in a wealthy world that we lived in today, many will thrive

First and foremost, people generally want watches that they can wear and look attractive on the wrist. As cool as the GP is, I don't think many people are going to want to wear a 48mm complication behemoth. And 75k is still a ton of money for a pre-owned ... 

Need to see in person re finishing and unwearable but unquestionably uber cool movement.

They (GP) should probably advertised or mentioned it somewhere... Oh dear, I just promoted the Marketing factor

They don't make money from the watches, the watch is a marketing tool itself. GF also designed the VC sonnerie. Not something VC was willing to advertise ... I have to say I have no problem with such "collaborations". It is how both british and swiss watc... 

These brands should capitalize on the win-win strengths and not be wary about it. Ultimately individual master watchmakers can jump ship and bring along their expertise...don’t think watch brands has any special IP or skills that they can protect against.... 

I agree it's still expensive but I will be pissed and depressed if I'm the original owner, assuming paid retail, well...I'm sure he'll get a discount at most 20% but still...lost a house Well, maybe he/she doesn't care with lots of disposable income but..... 

When I asked why "Because I told you not to." Just like a parent! Which he was in a watchmaker sort of way. And when I ignored the advice and bought one, I found out what he was trying to say. Lots of tiny minuses with a few pluses equaled it went to a ne...  

I learnt my lessons too with 3 GPs and at that time, I was happy and thought I got a Great deal, only to find out with a rude awakening when I try to trade them. Like yourself, I've since moved on because I cannot justify to my "boss" I want or need this ... 

Why not just buy pre-owned, wouldn't the loss be minimal in that case?

Give it a try...check it % wise

With the MR, servicing can be an additional issue, I suppose.

It should not be different from eg. 1000hrs on a Master Control Time Only or PC or MR. I also think many of us who buy watches don't give much thought about servicing or it's cost, because I, for one, never send in unless it's broken....maybe I don't own ... 

Rotating is a nice smooth motion, compared to retrograde or jumping motions. Hands that fly back every minute, day, week, month are more troublesome. Energy has to be stored and the released, then absorbed on the other end when the hand stops. Rotating (i...  

Consider and entering Maurice Lacroix 😂

I don't think anyone has paid full, discount is more than a mere 20% IMHO ...  

Don’t get me wrong, GP makes nice watches, quite innovative. You get 20% but in the unfortunate event I need to unload, I am offer 20-30% of the 80% I paid for, not going to work for my financial situations. I said it because I don’t think the love for a ... 

Your list of criteria is very thorough. And very complete. But sometimes a watch just has to have a cool design. And some crazy social media influencers who wear the watch definitely helps it out too! Remember when Chanel J12 watches were a thing?

Cool is subjective too....noticed newer Hublots and RM are similar but huge differences in fate too....I wonder what didn’t go well with Hublot, even though they collaborated with Ferrari, just like RM with racing. And don’t forget, what happened to Jacob... 

It's not something we realize unless you read the financial reports or understand the trends. I dug a little more and I found that a lot of Latin movie stars are big on Hublot, hence why the brand is very popular among Spanish and Portuguese speaking popu... 

Many times I don’t or able to see things from many perspective or the real big picture... Just like the ancient Chinese story of 4 blind person being ask what an elephant looks like....

Most people want watches that are both attractive and sporty/casual. Branding is of course a factor too but it is overplayed a little I think. I'm sure most people would take a Hublot over an AP Millenary or Patek Golden Ellipse despite their higher brand... 

Like a pyramid, target audience is also different. Well, we know it’s a business, dollars and cents but better labeled and interesting.

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I would say keep on buying watches. What is a way to get people in action to spend money buying watches? Lucky that celebreties showing their watches. Maybe manufacturers can try to ask money for watches, instead of giving free watches. AD networks, servi... 

The pandemic has accelerated the online e-commerce platform as can be seen from WOS financial results. Many brands have started their own online boutique sales channel and big watch corporations are buying in pre-owned watch companies to expand their reac... 

You mentioned a lot of potential factors but I think these all roll up into poor brand marketing. Luxury brands for anything, bags, watches, coffee machines, once the base level of product quality is there to play with the big boys, everything else is bra... 

The one factor I listed as a disconnection to the watchmaking is yet one of the most important...how clueless can I not be, lol.... I read a lot of watch blogs online so I kind of know a little here and there of the happenings around this industry. Market... 

Remember that magazine consumer reports? Gone, critical reviews are too long and too boring for how we consume content today. Critical thinking and thoughtful purchasing has been replaced by paid influencers and bought media. Emotional buying rather than ... 

And watches are not a smart investment as you cannot trade them like public shares - either you are by profession a watch dealer or you are a collector who earns his/her money otherwise (which will then be spend in any joyful activity).

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I completley agree and feel the exact same way about other brands like Julien Coudray, I love their work and am so worried that they may falter! I honestly feel that, while some may find it downgrading, they should start a patreon page, especially the sma...  

And honestly I’m not familiar with this brand and that brought up a point by FastWong above that if we don’t have much info about this brand, it really is hard to venture into them. The GFs are not low prices, even at aftermarket, you might be mistaken...... 

JC is def also my kind of watch but no one knows about them and I def think that it has to do with a combination of marketing (as Fastwong said) and spreading the word out. I think that in terms of the later, Mortiz Grossman, while not having the extensiv... 

it is super ironic tho that you posted this just when that happened! do you have a sixth sense?

Maybe I should call Maxwell Lord 😅

. . . David Niven . . . . . . movie?" Obviously, not in the last four decades, but in the four before . . . did anyone see a film because Niven was in it? Probably not. John Wayne? Yes, people certainly said, "Let's go see the new John Wayne movie." Cary ...  

You’re right, Art, many times there are just no explanation for the happenings. We would assume identical twins who almost born at the same time should have similar fate but each has their own destination. The world is so fascinating.

But GP is in a difficult spot. It's not as large or as relatively insulated from financial turbulence as PP or Rolex. PP can take a 20% decline in YoY sales and battle through. At the same time GP is not as niche as GF and other small independents who ope... 

Just the size of 48mm in this case, literally, is hard to pull off. One of the power house PP is know to create ultra thin and wearable watches with grand complications, and I believe if GP have the resources, they can study how other brands become succes... 

It's far more interesting that post after post of wrist shots and the platitudes that follow. I enjoy WPS for the critical engagement that it generates, and the education that comes with it.

Actually if the community can come together, we might be a force to be reckoned with Thank you 🙏🏻