Horological Meandering

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 watch market, Geneva Seals and Qualité Fleurier designations notwithstanding. 

Funny, meanwhile, that I almost mentioned Glashütte Original and Blancpain in the original post. You make a great point that Swatch Group would have been better off using the more storied Union Glashütte name for the brand. All else aside, "Glashütte Original" sounds somewhat generic by comparison, and certainly fails to call up any heritage. I do think that GO has at least partially emerged from the stigma of being an A. Lange & Sohne wannabee, but the collection is uneven. The Vintage collection feels distinctive, the SeaQ seems to have caught on, and the Senator line includes some nicely-executed complications, I suspect that the Pano offerings still suffer by comparison, due to design cues all-too-similar to the Lange 1.

I've never really understood Blancpain's niche in the Swatch Group lineup. I assume they stay afloat (bad pun!) on the strength of the Fifty Fathoms collection, though that line is up against Rolex and Omega as bigger players in the dive watch market, outside and inside Swatch Group, respectively. They've backed off of the Léman and Le Brassus collections, most likely to their benefit. However, the remaining Villeret collection faces one heck of an obstacle: Breguet. (Itself still underrated.) The two brands seem to overlap quite a bit in the market Venn diagram and still appear to share quite a few calibers between them. Yet to my tastes, Breguet will treat the same caliber/complication more distinctively than Blancpain just about every time (q.v. the Réveil du Tsar vs. the Villeret Réveil GMT). Breguet has maintained a more easily identified design language than Blancpain, and I believe Breguet also capitalizes on its brand heritage more effectively in its marketing than does Blancpain. 

Of course Swatch Group has long reminded me of GM in the 1980s - just too may brands. Swatch Group appears even more redundant in the lower price ranges than at its higher end. Blancpain/Breguet is one thing, but how and why they sustain Tissot/Longines/Hamilton/Ball/Rado/Mido, etc. is beyond me. Richemont certainly seems more streamlined by comparison, and also seems to do a better job of distinguishing Jaeger-LeCoultre, Cartier, Piaget, ALS, IWC, Panerai, and what's left of poor Roger Dubuis from one another, even with considerable collaboration/parts sharing between the brands.

Girard-Perregaux does indeed seem underrated, but also rather rudderless these days. The 1966 line looks bland to me, while the Cat's Eye and the Laureato read like AP Millenary and Royal Oak also-rans, respectively. That said, I love the Vintage 1945 case, though that's up against Cartier and the Reverso in the realm of Art-Deco shaped watches, without the benefit of shaped movements and with rather aspirational pricing, considering what you get.

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