Friday, December 29, 2023

What's In A Name?

Or why you should never make +$69 million dollar decisions based on romantic inclinations.

"Trouble 
(oh, we got trouble)Right here in Grenchen City 
(right here in Grenchen City)With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with '(U)G' and that stands for Sleeping Beauty... "

The Music Man

By now you've heard the news from virtually every other outlet on the face of the earth lauding Breitling's (and by Breitling, let's be honest, we mean Partners Group) purchase. The theory being that a "Tiger Team" of super-sexy watch town true believers will be charged with running both brands on a parallel basis. 

While it has been a minute, I was immediately returned to those "thrilling days of yesteryear" when the team in Grenchen brought us the "Breitling Select" and "Squad Points" system which enabled you to attempt to buy (or maybe just lease) a used Breitling "Renta-Center" style!

So what does a squibbed rent to own program have to do with this new "magic beans" / white elephant purchase? 

I'm glad you asked!

Apart from the fact that it has day-dreaming watch enthusiasts becoming emotionally engorged, it also opens up a whole slew of other questions about just what +$69 million dollars has bought. Let's be very, very honest - the big innovations that shaped UG are more than a few BaselWorlds past us now. And to the best of this intrepid journalist's knowledge, the purchase price did not include any facilities, significant product stock, or anything else beyond historical documentation, plans (now somewhat dated), and a name and the right to use it. This is obviously a supposition, but one that is based in the reality of shuttered (or semi-shuttered) brands trying to relaunch. 

So we will need to see what shakes out, but given enough time and money (yikes!), perhaps these magic beans will sprout a beanstalk...

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