patrick_y[PuristSPro Moderator]
28450
I wished I were getting a kickback! But yes, Swatch Group should pay me a commission for everybody who buys an Omega because of my article!
Mar 27, 2022,18:06 PM
Heck, they don't even need to give me a kickback! They can just gift me one of those darned MoonSwatch timepieces! Hmm... what color do I want? Hmm...
Joking aside. I can't accept a watch anyways, not even a MoonSwatch as WatchProSite moderators promise never to receive big gifts from the watch companies. We're not allowed to receive anything more than promotional material. At one jewelry convention many many years ago, I got headphones from one watch brand, probably worth $200, I had to declare it with one of the chief moderators (who was our general manager at the time), he let me keep them, but he said if I get anything else that nice again, I'd have to put it into our raffle pool (we used to have goodies to raffle to other members). But otherwise, we really can't take anything without declaring it internally among the chief moderators. Those Instagrammers are lucky. They can get whatever they want and they don't have to declare it to Instagram! I've passed up a lot of nice swag!
It's definitely a very big risk that Swatch Group has played with their subsidiary Omega. They've broken so many unspoken rules! Rule number 1 in Luxury Brands For Dummies, ALWAYS protect the brand! No confusion, no dilution, keep your brand special. By offering an Omega branded watch for $260, even though it's more a Swatch than an Omega, is definitely a rule breaker! Who knows if it will pay off in the long run or not!
So hard to say with your prediction. Back in 2008/2009 when the economy crashed, watches actually stayed consistently strong oddly. Nobody knows why. But at that time, there was a large amount of new grey market resellers coming into the watch game. Now, with the latest craze, there are even more. Who knows...