Underwhelming

Or why it seems more and more that unicorns really don't exist ; )

Courtesy of Weiss

So as those obsessed with a (nearly) full-on made in America wrist watch fitfully tossed and turned, waiting for what the "pitch man" for Weiss described to Monocle magazine as an offering from:

"...the first manufacturer in nearly 60 years to produce mechanical watches wholly made in the US."

they awoke this morning to find this on the Weiss website:

Courtesy of Weiss

A few backpedals happened on the run-up to today.  We were informed that the jewels and the hairspring were sourced from Switzerland.  According to Weiss this meets the FTC standards - and I would say a good move on their part to be sure of this.   Rules are rules, and if you can head-off the self-appointed arbiters of right and wrong disguised as impartial horological society members/journalists dropping a dime on you, then fair play.


Then we layer in the sub-text.  That Weiss would be "tooling up" to provide an alternative to the Unitas / ETA 6497 which would soon no-longer be available with SWATCH group phasing out distribution to non SWATCH Group clients.  It is safe to assume that the 6497 is not exactly the hot seller that the ETA 2824 -2 and other movements are.  There is a reason why Soprod and Sellita focus on movements that could be thought of as "open source", meaning that they are no longer protected and the designs are free to use, but also a reason why they are not too busy creating a 6497 alternative.  You might further note that it does not appear that anyone (apart from certain Chinese companies) is gearing up to make a 6497 clone.  It is not exactly something that the public is clamoring for.  On the other hand, if Weiss is the only other available outlet, and if people suddenly want it, it might pay off for them.  Then again maybe not.  Weiss is not noted for a particularly congenial attitude towards their colleagues in the US, so convincing those same people to now do business with them may be challenging.  But we all have the right to change and grow, so we shall see.  In the meantime Weiss might wish to "pump their brakes" in terms of their perceived status as the saviors of US watch making.  It does not exactly engender good will from their US based colleagues.

Now it is important to be clear here - a clone does not mean fake, because again this movement's design, etc. is now available to one and all if they have the time, energy, equipment and desire to do something with it.  And if you look closely, while it may be easily inferred that Weiss's new movement is based on the 6497, it is not an exact replica.  Fair enough.  Watch brands have been using open sourced inspiration for years.  Now what remains to be proven (and in fairness also disproven) is where exactly all of the plates and ancillary components were milled and finished in the Metro LA area.  A few of the parts look exceedingly well executed and finished and seem somewhat out of place when compared to the level (or lack) of finishing quality of the main plate and other parts of the movement, which frankly look as if they were polished with a hot stick of butter.

Courtesy of Weiss

So what this, at least to me, boils down to is what I often refer to as the "Creation Myth" in the watch industry.  Biver the Great was a master of this.  With Blancpain he painted a portrait of a brand, with a story and a pedigree beyond compare.  But it was just that, a painting.  Blancpain had been dead for some time before he resurrected it.

And to some extent, this is what we see with so many brands today - the creation myth is what gives magic to the brand itself.  And now we have the legend of the first scalable, serially produced movement.... except it isn't exactly.  When we talk about serial production, we are talking about more than 50 pieces.  And 50 pieces is what this limited American Issue Field Watch is going to have.   The rest is in the future.  The rest is "potential".  And at the moment, we are talking about "Imgonnastan" once again.  

So I think in fact, what we are really talking about with the American Issue Field Watch is a limited series with a (nearly completely) American made movement that is going to cost you nearly more than triple what the Standard Issue is going to cost  you.

So taking all of the above out, let's just look at the watch itself -

Courtesy of Weiss

The watch itself is very good looking.  The blue dial with white indices is clear, legible and a welcome alternative from black or white.  The hands are strong; the lume appears to be well applied.  The use of a cordovan strap is a nice one, and we will assume again that this is a Hadley Roma sourced item.  Again - that is an assumption, not a statement of fact.

So when I compare it to the other versions of the Field Watch it is beautiful and well worth the $1,250 - $1,500 that the other limited edition field watches fetch.  

But then we get to the movement itself -

Courtesy of Weiss 

And this is where I have to say that the unicorn clearly got lost on the way to Los Angeles.  I'm sorry, but it is actually pretty unpleasant to look at.  As I said in yesterday's post, I received a lot of feedback from others relating to this, and frankly I can and will only speak for myself.   I will sum it up this way - for a movement that the customer is paying more than $1,500 for (when we compare the total price of the Standard Issue Field Watch), it could look much better than it does.  This is not only about the choice to gold plate, but the level of finishing as well, which is phenomenally poor given the reputation of Mr. Weiss as a watch maker and the price being asked for this watch.

I would have been very, very happy to eat my words and say that Weiss hit this one out of the park.  But they didn't.  I would also say that many of us who write about watches are not necessarily in their demographic. It is  probably not an accident that they are in specialized "heritage" boutiques and now also in Barney's and Nordstrom.  My colleagues and I go there for clothing, not so much for watches.    And it just might be that for that market space, the level of finish and attention to detail is acceptable at the proposed price point.  But if Weiss truly intends to tool up and make movements for the industry, they will need to offer something better.

Made in America

With the latest toughening up of the FTC's view of what made in America really means, we are now at an interesting juncture for the industry and in particular those smaller brands clamoring for our attention.

One recent development that may (and then again, may not) warrant true attention is the announcement that Weiss  has pipped everyone else to the post and will be premiering their new movement tomorrow (July 4th).  They further assert that theirs will be the first American made movement that will have "scalable" production.  Which opens up a truly indigestible can of worms in the form of a semantic debate not since seen since President Clinton challenged us to clearly define what the meaning of "is" is... I suspect that the word scalable might suffer a similar fate.

Let's start with some basics - Cameron Weiss by all accounts is an extremely gifted watch maker who, with the help of local artisans has managed to design, fabricate and finish cases, dials and other watch necessities save the movement from US (and oftentimes California based) suppliers.  Not only that, he had managed to do this while taking Unitas movements and disassembling them, and reassembling them in his "studio".  We later found out thanks to the Los Angeles Times that the studio may have been his apartment -

http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-fi-c1-weiss-watches-20141014-story.html

And he's doing it from his modest one-bedroom Beverly Hills apartment, where the dining room table has given way to a workbench and the espresso machine shares kitchen countertop space with the tools of Weiss' decidedly anachronistic trade.

And in fairness, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the fact that at least as of October 2014, that was the state of affairs for Weiss.  A watch that was (save for the movement) an American made timekeeper.  And most of us were quite okay with that because with the exception of old stock (often re-purposed pocket watch) movements, this was as close as you were going to get.  It was, however, a bit of a challenge for people like me writing about the brand after going down to visit the set-up in LA, being instead taken to a restaurant (an admittedly very good one), shown several watches, shown boutiques where the watches were sold, then never hearing much further.  In other words, no way to see where the watches were made, where the cases were made, etc.  And it was only a few weeks later when the above referenced article in the LA Times appeared that my story for a magazine got spiked because there were now far too many questions that hadn't been answered and that I was made to understand by the PR / Marketing company representing Weiss - would not be answered in any depth.  So I moved on.  Clearly Tempus Fugit and watch specific magazines are not the LA Times, but as we sort of specialize in watch coverage, we can't take everything at face value based on what we've been told over a Cobb salad in a trendy restaurant with heavily tattooed serving staff.

Now by all accounts, Weiss is doing quite well, and available in a fairly impressive number of retail outlets.  The price points are extremely aggressive and they offer a great opportunity for someone wanting a truly good looking (and by all accounts) high quality watch for a fair price.  But then we get back into the question of believing, and knowing.   And to this end some of us have been struggling with the basic economics of what a Weiss watch costs in retail as it relates to how much a Weiss watch would cost to make, and therefore be able to be sold at a price point above "break even" to retailers.

Let's take some basic presumptions - and I want to stress that word presumption.  This cannot and should not be confused with fact.  But with very little to go on beyond that, this is all we have to work with.

The Weiss basic model is what is referred to as the Standard Issue Field Watch.  it is available with either a white or black dial.  It comes with a canvas strap reputed to be made in the US, so we will presume it is Hadley Roma, but clearly it could be another vendor.  Go to either Weiss online or a retail partner like, say STAG Provisions and the price is indicated as $950 US.

Courtesy of Weiss

Consider the cost of components - 

We of course have no real way of knowing, but we have been led to understand that although the design work is Mr. Weiss's own, the actual work of creating the cases is something that is done by a local craftsman.  And fair enough, you can't do everything yourself.  But this is obviously going to cost something.  Now I of course have no idea what that cost really is, and with these types of things it is always a numbers game - the larger the number being made, the lower the cost.  But I am hard-pressed to believe that when you factor in the cost of the steel, the set-up, the CNC operator, the finish work, etc., that in the US and particularly the LA area you will find someone who will produce that case for you for a price lower than $75 per unit.  Again, maybe I am wrong, and will be happy to know that there is someone out there willing to bring in a case at a lower price.  The same for dials, the same for other items.  And if the movement is as advertised, it is the Unitas 6497-1 / ETA 6497-1.

Courtesy of Weiss

So if you go to Star Time Supply in Texas, you would get a movement that looked quite a bit rougher for the low, low price of $199.  Obviously it is safe to assume that Weiss would be able to find movements for a better price, but to presume that they would be finding them for under a buck twenty-five in the quality finish that the Weiss Field Watch displays is pretty doubtful.  But let's play Devil's Advocate and assume that they can and did.  And we'll say the movement was $124.

Let's assume that all of the finishing work was done by Weiss to achieve the look and finish level of the movement that can be seen in this entry level $950 watch.  Let's assume that the cost of the case was ridiculously low - say $50, the cost of the dial (not labor, but materials and printing) maybe came in around $10.  Strap the same.  Crown, crystals, hands and other sundry items when combined with the case and movement somehow snuck in for a combined total of $237.50 US.  Now we haven't gotten in to the cost of the packaging and other things, but let's just lump those in anyway.  Now the reason why I am sticking at that total of $237.50 is again based on a presumption.  And that presumption is that the retail partner is going to want those watches at "Keystone".  Keystone represents 50% of what the total retail price is going to be - i.e. $475 US.  It is possible that the retail partner might actually only get them for a 60/40 split and that would mean more "meat on the bone" for Weiss.  Also, Weiss does of course sell direct, but with the push to be in Barney's as well as numerous other "hipster" boutiques, it seems somewhat safe to assume that they are focusing on retail.

Okay, so $237.50 per watch seems pretty good!  Let's see, if you sell 10 per week, that's $2,375!  Multiply that by four and you've got $9,500!  And map that out over the course of the year and you're looking at $114,000!  Pretty good!  Except...

Although Mr. Weiss is the "Head Watchmaker" there are others working on these watches as well.  They will need to be paid.  It is also likely (I hope) that Weiss is selling more than 10 watches per week as it seems like a great watch for the money and people seem to be responding to it.  

In addition to the others working on the watches, there is also the agency that has been retained not only for publicity, and marketing but also to establish retail footholds and to some extent act as a bit of a management firm.  I am willing to bet that they are expecting a cut of that $237.50 per watch as well.  After all, Cobb salads aren't free ; )

In fairness, if all is as said, then Weiss has done something that nobody else out there has managed to do - bring in a US made watch (withe the exception of the movement and hands) for a price that is far below what anyone else is able to even consider.  And if so, then Weiss have clearly built a better mousetrap and deserve all of the accolades that will follow.

And now we flash forward to tomorrow where the new movement will be revealed.  Because somehow in between everything else that is being done, Mr. Weiss has found the time to create a new movement that is entirely constructed in the US with all components being from here (the US) save the jewels  and hairspring which are reportedly from Switzerland.  I have received A LOT of questions and comments from readers, collectors, watch makers and watch brand owners that are probably best not listed here owing to their nature.  I will say that I hope that what is revealed, the pricing and the actual provenance and performance of the new movement merit the extremely high level of hype, pomp and circumstance that the people speaking on behalf of the Weiss brand have been putting out.  It's been spread a bit thick.  It's important to promote yourself, but just as was said of Shinola, Weiss is not single-handedly establishing or even saving watch making in the US.

And many have also expressed bemusement from this myopic "Weissocentric" view.  RGM, Keaton Myrick, Kobold, Towson,  and others blazed the trail - and if Weiss is now truly ready to stand in the tall weeds and pee with the other big dogs, it's been made far more possible by those who came before.

So we watch, and we wait.  And let's hope this movement is nothing less than the watch making unicorn that is being discussed on the forums and chat groups.  A US made, serially produced movement would be a great thing for everyone.

  

The Difference Between Shit and Shinola

Is now a little more clear.

Shinola's earlier advertising was sometimes reminiscent of the type of patter you'd hear from seemingly seasoned sharps.  And I, for one, believe that they got a bit of a well deserved rebuke from the FTC yesterday.  "Where American is Made" was codswallop, and that is putting it gently.   What I found intriguing in the letter issued by the FTC was that not only watches, but bicycles were specifically mentioned, along with other unnamed items.  This again ran counter to the assertions, both stated and implied, that Shinola was where American was made.

Here is a link to the FTC's letter to Shinola -

FTC

Having said that, I would ask you to consider a second perspective.  It cannot be denied that Shinola has done some good - albeit not necessarily for the watch industry.   The majority of their employees are (according to several reports)  making fairly scant wages but when you consider the challenges facing Detroit, Shinola does account for quite a few jobs that would not have existed were it not for them - sketchy marketing, intentionally murky origin story and all.  And in fairness, despite cries of cynical marketing (from me as well as others), it is smart marketing.  The idea of American made is something that we are enamored with at this moment in time.  But given the type of advertising and press releases that were out there before, you would expect that it was earnest, hard working artisans assembling your watch using time honored American watch making know-how.  And given the price points that was a reasonable assumption.  We now know that was not exactly the reality.

Whether you call it hipster or hype there is a market space that is rapidly growing from niche to mainstream.  When we are willing to pay $150 US and upwards for blue jeans owing mostly to their purported provenance, it is not too difficult to pitch the idea of an $800 quartz watch that you are led to believe is made in an economically challenged part of the country.

It is clear that the rigors are more arduous to achieve a justifiable Made in the USA label as opposed to Made in Switzerland, but it also places the watch making entrepreneur into a rather delicate and volatile space where words, believe it or not, matter.  Let's consider the case of Weiss in Los Angeles.  They state:

Weiss Watch Company is currently the only watchmaker in the United States designing, engineering, and manufacturing our own cases and dials, as well as finishing each movement by hand.

I am not entirely sure that is accurate.  While I do not dispute that they source their cases, hands and dials from US partners and that those items are, in fact, made in the US, they are not the only ones doing so.  If they were, this would come as news to Niall who essentially do the same thing in terms of making their own dials, cases and hands in the US.  

And more curious was a brief mention of the Weiss brand in April 2016 issue of Monocle magazine stating:

Los Angeles - based Weiss Watch Company, on the cusp of its third birthday, is becoming the first manufacturer in nearly 60 years to produce watches wholly made in the US.

Well, it seems that the Swiss are not the only denizens of "Imgonnastan".  As far as I am aware, the Vallée de Joux is not under imminent threat from the San Fernando Valley as I have yet to hear of movement manufacturing taking place between there and San Diego.  I am, as always, ready and willing to be proven wrong.

My understanding is that Weiss along with Niall also got called on the carpet with the FTC and had to make some adjustments to their statements, etc.  so we shall see what develops out of all this.

But lastly, I wonder who decided to "drop a dime" on several US based watch companies?  It certainly made for a great story.

Movie Day

A short movie about Weiss just down the road in Los Angeles - your on your own for popcorn ; )

https://vimeo.com/weisswatchcompany/american-watchmaking



Weiss Watch Company- An Introduction from Weiss Watch Company on Vimeo.

A Look at the Future

Today I ventured down to Los Angeles to view what I truly think is the REAL future of American watchmaking.

Tune in tomorrow (AM) for a full report.