What to Make of Hodinkee's Boot Sale

Courtesy of Wikipedia

For those of you who might be interested in a bargain priced Oris, Mido, Rado, or Certina, the Hodinkee shop has some shockingly low prices on more than a few desirable models. Some approaching the magic level of "Key Stone". Keystone in Watch Town parlance means "dealer's cost" and is typically set at 50%.

Now also curious to relate? Zenith, Tag Heuer, Hermes and a few others are still "full-pop" (full price). What we can determine from that are two possibilities:

These brands have a "buy-back" policy (meaning that the brand allows you to replace unsold merchandise with "new" merchandise). This is unlikely as Hodinkee will not be buying any "new" merchandise.

Hodinkee was given memo terms - meaning that the retail partner didn't pay for the merchandise up front, and would only need to pay if they sold the watch. 

At any rate, as the old going out of business sale commercials used to say in the 70s and 80s: "Our loss is your gain!"

Happy bargain hunting!

When Reality Renders Unto Caesar What Is Caesar's...

More official word reached the North Shore offices of Henki Time recently that there was what could be referred to as a "downsizing" of staff at what is reputed to be the biggest, and best media outlet in Watch Town - Hodinkee. You can read a bit more about it here through Watch Pro's coverage -

https://usa.watchpro.com/rolex-price-slump-prompts-hodinkee-to-cut-headcount-across-media-and-pre-owned-watch-operations/

I say "more official", because in truth? People have either been departing to pursue other professional opportunities, or (to use the more sterile HR terminology) been informed that their position was no longer available for the past year and a half. Obviously some big name departures, and some lesser noticed. And while that had been happening in a slow drip, drip, drip manner, the intensity increased to the point where a fairly major round of redundancies (that's lay-offs to those of you reading in the lower 48) took place this past week. 

And as it is Hodinkee, and as this is (unfortunately) a bellwether for not only watch media, but watch and watch related retail as well, I have to ask an awkward question -

How is it that $40,000,000. US was not sufficient to sustain the pre-existing (reportedly fiscally successful) infrastructure?

One theory mooted via the reporting from Watch Pro is that the downturn in the pre-owned watch market not only created the hole in the bucket, in effect ripped the bottom off it. 

With respect? I call bullshit. 

Hodinkee started life as a media outlet, and in theory still operates as one. It has been the 800 pound gorilla that everyone in Watch Town has had to defer to pretty much since jump street. A glitzy event wouldn't pass by without at least three to four bearded fellows, festooned in heritage brand "bro" togs holding forth on the virtues of God knows what. 

But even prior to the purchase of Crown and Caliber, there were (at least for some of us) always questions as to just how profitable it could be given the sheer head count and fixed operating costs. Or put more plainly? You'd have to sell a lot of MIDOs and Certinas to cover that nut.

The insurance business was another anomaly in the portfolio. I do not have any experience in the ins and outs of insuring watches, but I would have to assume that it would require a fairly robust cash reserve to indemnify all potential claims. Again, just a theory.

So we shall wait, and we shall see. But I will leave George C. Scott as General Patton to provide the closing -

The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.

The DS PH200M Powermatic 80

From Certina -

Courtesy of Certina

You can't buy it (at least not directly) in the US.  But for intrepid watch shoppers out there, you can purchase a Certina at Helen Kirchhofer (a Swiss retail partner that ships to the US and has a New Jersey based service center.

The case is of stainless steel and measures 42.8 mm in diameter, and 11.9 mm thick with a 20 mm lug width. Water resistance is rated to 200 meters.

The movement is of course from ETA, but designated by Certina as the POWERMATIC 80.111 which boasts an impressive 80 hours of power reserve.  

Watch Assemblers - Some Inside Baseball

This is a topic that has been touched on here before, but it seemed worth airing out again in light of an article I just read on a popular retail-cum media outlet regarding the ongoing ETA saga. The article pointed to statements that Hayek the Elder made prior to the launch of ETA's one-way express trip to crazy town. His statement was, essentially, that any asshole could go to a white label company and create their own watch, and by golly, that was WRONG! He referenced a conversation he had with a fashion house who approached him to make a watch for them, and he pulled an Enzo Ferrari on him, essentially telling him to stick to making tractors (or, in this case, suits). Now history will note that the Zegna watch was realized with the assistance of Girard-Perregaux/Sowind, and it fared about as well as could be expected - not very. But I would also remind you, gentle reader, that this bluster came from the fellow who brought us the SWATCH phone, sunglasses, and...

Who could forget that unforgettable fragrance -


                                                                     Courtesy of Omega

Yes, you too can smell just like a Co-Axial escapement! So it would seem that a call is overdue from the kettle to the pot regarding its hue.

While it's easy to look down your nose at someone and tell them to "stick to their lane", it is a bit ironic coming from the man who had his finger in so many pies ; )

It bears mentioning that A LOT of the brands you see out there are using white label companies to assemble their watches. Some quite old and literally dripping in hyperbolic watchmaking lore. So, does this mean that those are no longer real brands?

Now for me looking back? Hayek the senior's hyperbolic characterization about the gall that some brands had in calling themselves, well, brands was a little disingenuous. When we talk about the world of modern (meaning in the last 20 years) watch production, marketing and sales, private label assemblers are responsible for a much larger percentage of the Swiss watch industry than you might think. And I will pick my childhood favorite (and red-headed stepchild of the SWATCH group) Mido as a case in point.

A little over four years ago I found myself in Switzerland on other business and I managed to arrange a visit to Mido HQ in Le Locle. Now curious to relate, the HQ occupied less than a full floor of an administration building that was (at least at that time) shared with Tissot. I had asked if it was possible to visit the factory to see Mido assembly in action, and I received a fairly evasive response that essentially made it clear that for whatever reason, this would not be possible. When I asked where the assembly took place, this again was not anything that anyone was anxious or willing to share with me. Ever wonder why the factory pictures you see for some of the SWATCH brands are all "old timey"? Ever wonder why you don't see other heroic journalists visiting brand production sites other than Omega, Blancpain, and Breguet? Ever see leading horological luminaries of the Fourth and Fifth Estate visiting and reporting on the production facilities of some of the smaller, more affordable, less sexy brands in the SWATCH stable?

Yeah, not so much.

A reasonable assumption would be that the SWATCH group relies on a large internal facility or facilities to assemble these more mass market watches for several of the group's brands. In essence, a private label - private label.  We would all agree that these are real brands, would we not? And for the record, if I am way off base and there is a shiny (or even not-so-shiny) Mido or Certina factory churning out watches in the Alpine hinterlands? Well, I will sit in the corner and wear a funny hat.

But taken with Hayek Senior's hardline stance on what made a brand legitimate?

Well...

DS Podium Valgranges

 Here's one from Certina -

Courtesy of Certina

Certina's DS Limited Edition

Courtesy of Certina

Sometimes something just catches your eye and winks at you!

SWATCH Warm Rebel

So Wendy has been away on business all week, and brought this back for me from the SWATCH boutique at SFO -

This is the SWATCH Warm Rebel - essentially greay/silver with orange accents.  Again, I LOVE the new approach that SWATCH has taken - a slightly larger size, and a much, MUCH more comfortable rubber strap!  THANK YOU Wendy!