its just like my day job versus my night job
I still collect mainstream brands, but the marginal utility of Indies have a gentler slope. and the hype of Rolex, Patek etc is turning off true blue collectors, including past-sell-by date collector like me. mainstream brands wants the youngest of Gen Y and the oldest of Millenials to be their core audience, thinking of longevity and shareholers returns, IMHO a wrong strategy. Indies(or, some Indies) do not curate their customers that way. The small production and more personable approach also makes Indie collecting more insightful and memorable.
best, Horo