Jumping the Shark with Zenith

~ “Stupid, yes. Also dumb. But it is something I’ve gotta do.”
…after Richie tells The Fonz that trying to jump over a shark is stupid

Jumping the Shark - essentially doing something that essentially calls into question your sanity or at least your ability to make rational decisions.

Courtesy of Zenith

Not since the later, gin-fueled, hazy days of the reign of Thierry Nataf have I had to question whether 
the person at the helm of Zenith Watches needed to put down the crack pipe.  Well… ZENITH - PUT DOWN THE CRACK PIPE!  

Because when I'm looking for precision time keeping, I ABSOLUTELY need to know the count-down from the left side of Mick Jagger's tongue to the right!

Really?

Jumping the shark is something that every watch brand seems compelled to do.  Those of us in the press often feel that it can be attributed to too much hard drinking at the holiday party - maybe a wild evening fueled by absinthe… that sounds a bit harsh.  But truth be told, folly is folly.  The watch industry LOVES celebrities.  Loves to be "courted" by them.  But call it what it is.  Maybe not a masterstroke of marking brio - but it is a stroke of sorts.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Jumping the Shark with Vulcain

From the Uban Dictionary:

jump the shark

a term to describe a moment when somethin that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline in quality and popularity.

Origin of this phrase comes from a Happy Days episode where the Fonz jumped a shark on waterskis. Thus was labeled the lowest point of the show.

Vulcain, the brand currently found in exclusive retail outlets like Ebay selling for pennies on the dollar for BRAND NEW WATCHES has decided that as the brand is dropping in perceived value like a stone, the thing to save it is - you guessed it - a tourbillon!

Here's the thing, I would be THRILLED if Vulcain can "right" the boat.  But when your product is being dumped en masse by your previous "trusted distribution partners", is your salvation really awaiting in an even higher priced watch that will inevitably be deeply discounted?

Vulcain is suffering a major identity crisis, and its latest stewards don't seem to see the disparities between belief and perception.  And yes, these are very, very different things.  The belief seems to be that they feel that they are a luxury brand, capable of demanding the highest prices.  Unfortunately the perception is that they put out a product, take a reasonable price and multiply it until it bleeds, and put it on the market.  And then watch while the actual retail price drops and drops - due to the perception of their distribution partners and the retail partners.

So let's hope that the powers that be at Vulcain will be able to figure this out, but I suspect that there might be a future bargain to be had at the next grey market's store "blue light special".