So I got to thinking today after speaking to my friend Richard. We've lost our way, and in many ways, watches have (tragically) lost their magic. I want you all to to think about this - when was the last time that you read a watch review and the first thing you didn't go to was "who made the movement?"
Try to imagine a time when it would not have been possible for you to have absolutely any idea as to who made what part of your watch - can you do that? Ask your dad, or if you can - ask your grandfather - assuming that they do not work in the trade. My dad would have said - it's a Mido and that would have been the end of it -
And had you asked me in 2000, I would have said - it's an Omega and that would have been the end of it -
But usher in knowledge - which in and of itself is a good thing, but suddenly we're all experts - and frankly we're not. We hear Soprod or Selita instead of ETA and the "forum-ocracy" will say that it's garbage, that the movement is junk, couldn't possibly be any good, must be ...
And we use language like - "unproven" to consign a new product or idea to the dustbin.
I'm calling BULLSHIT!
Honestly - we DO NOT KNOW how well a Soprod movement will or will not work in 50 years time - and there's a damn good reason we don't know... we are still on the south side of 50 years! Because we haven't had time to prove that something won't last 50 years doesn't mean that it won't! What if George Daniels, or Ludwig Oechslin subscribed to the same narrow thinking?
So I ask you, dear readers, to do what I have tried to do in the past few years - ask yourself do you like the watch? Ultimately we are not lining up to buy movements - we want watches - and honestly... they are more than the sum of their parts.
Try to imagine a time when it would not have been possible for you to have absolutely any idea as to who made what part of your watch - can you do that? Ask your dad, or if you can - ask your grandfather - assuming that they do not work in the trade. My dad would have said - it's a Mido and that would have been the end of it -
And had you asked me in 2000, I would have said - it's an Omega and that would have been the end of it -
But usher in knowledge - which in and of itself is a good thing, but suddenly we're all experts - and frankly we're not. We hear Soprod or Selita instead of ETA and the "forum-ocracy" will say that it's garbage, that the movement is junk, couldn't possibly be any good, must be ...
And we use language like - "unproven" to consign a new product or idea to the dustbin.
I'm calling BULLSHIT!
Honestly - we DO NOT KNOW how well a Soprod movement will or will not work in 50 years time - and there's a damn good reason we don't know... we are still on the south side of 50 years! Because we haven't had time to prove that something won't last 50 years doesn't mean that it won't! What if George Daniels, or Ludwig Oechslin subscribed to the same narrow thinking?
So I ask you, dear readers, to do what I have tried to do in the past few years - ask yourself do you like the watch? Ultimately we are not lining up to buy movements - we want watches - and honestly... they are more than the sum of their parts.
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