It is almost a right of spring (and summer, Fall + Winter) that Esquire will put out their twice yearly "Big Black Book" which for everything EXCEPT watches is a real treat. New and different fashion, an interesting story on Charvet, and the cover story on Jon Hamm offers an interesting peak into what we all will likely face at one time or another in our lives - moving on and rediscovering who we are either professionally or personally.
When it comes to watches, we get Richemont with Panerai, Cartier, Montblanc and IWC. Rolex and Tudor. TAG Heuer and Richard Mille. I know that this is probably getting boring for you to read - my semi-annual plea that a magazine that has SO MUCH money and so MANY potential resources might actually spend some time and some effort to dig a little deeper into the subject and offer its readers something a bit more well developed and delved into rather than what the pr offices sent over for the photo shoot. But I also suspect that it is somewhat boring for the readers who by now would have no idea that there are, in fact, other watch brands out there besides the big four and one or two independents that advertise. Now in fairness, I realize that if you have advertisers, you have to placate them. Really, I do get it. But there is still room to actually offer some actual coverage and present something new that might inform the readership.
So as I got to the last page of the section on watches as I played Richemont Bingo (which Richemont brand would not get mentioned was easier than guessing which one would), I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see the SAVING TIME piece on vintage watches which I believe was put together by James Lamdin. It was interesting if brief, well presented, and I thought (for a moment) wow! This is great - highly informational at least for the non-watch geek. And then I took a closer look. Analog Shift is, in fact, a vintage watch seller. Prices and descriptions were provided, with a handy link to the site. And again, in fairness, this is fully disclosed in the article. But it was also disappointing, because it was an opportunity to offer something really informative for the sake of information, but became melded (in my perspective) with commerce.
I get, realize and understand that this is a business, but I also think that the lines have now become so blurred between "journalism" and "sales & marketing" that it is getting more and more difficult to determine what is what. But then again, as I get closer to the half-century mark I have to constantly remind myself that the world is constantly changing. And it might be that the need to make money will drive content for a lot of outlets out there. Fair enough. It seems more and more to be the world that we are living in.
When it comes to watches, we get Richemont with Panerai, Cartier, Montblanc and IWC. Rolex and Tudor. TAG Heuer and Richard Mille. I know that this is probably getting boring for you to read - my semi-annual plea that a magazine that has SO MUCH money and so MANY potential resources might actually spend some time and some effort to dig a little deeper into the subject and offer its readers something a bit more well developed and delved into rather than what the pr offices sent over for the photo shoot. But I also suspect that it is somewhat boring for the readers who by now would have no idea that there are, in fact, other watch brands out there besides the big four and one or two independents that advertise. Now in fairness, I realize that if you have advertisers, you have to placate them. Really, I do get it. But there is still room to actually offer some actual coverage and present something new that might inform the readership.
So as I got to the last page of the section on watches as I played Richemont Bingo (which Richemont brand would not get mentioned was easier than guessing which one would), I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see the SAVING TIME piece on vintage watches which I believe was put together by James Lamdin. It was interesting if brief, well presented, and I thought (for a moment) wow! This is great - highly informational at least for the non-watch geek. And then I took a closer look. Analog Shift is, in fact, a vintage watch seller. Prices and descriptions were provided, with a handy link to the site. And again, in fairness, this is fully disclosed in the article. But it was also disappointing, because it was an opportunity to offer something really informative for the sake of information, but became melded (in my perspective) with commerce.
I get, realize and understand that this is a business, but I also think that the lines have now become so blurred between "journalism" and "sales & marketing" that it is getting more and more difficult to determine what is what. But then again, as I get closer to the half-century mark I have to constantly remind myself that the world is constantly changing. And it might be that the need to make money will drive content for a lot of outlets out there. Fair enough. It seems more and more to be the world that we are living in.
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