The epidemic of watch companies
In the last months and years, myriads of «watch companies » have emerged, mainly based on Kickstarter or other crodwfunding campaigns. Which basically, we think it’s not a bad thing, as it is democratizing the possibility to create watches.
But, if only they would know about watchmaking!
There are guys from all over the world who have apparently close-to-zero real, but lots of wannabee-knowledge. Some of them mix up watchmaking terms they have read somewhere, thinking they can make a quick buck. To us, it’s often a mix between great amusement and real sadness that overcomes us. And sometimes we get upset if we read that crap.
Remember the «bullshit bingo»?
If not, google it. Reading these project descriptions on Kickstarter and other sites often inspires us to launch a watchmaking bullshit bingo with therms like «high-end watchmaking», «revolutionary» and so on.
Just some examples:
- «Revolutionary» – Well guys, you don’t reinvent watchmaking with a three-hands-classical-looking watch in a cheap chinese standard-case.
- «All of them manufactured in high quality 316L stainless steel. Because as you already know, we do NOT use alloys» – Sorry folks, but 316L steel IS an alloy (get the details here)
- «To deliver you the best quality possible, we partnered with one of the world’s best timepiece manufacturers – a family company from Switzerland with a long tradition of making Swiss made watches.» – If they would be one of the best, why would they assemble cheap and ugly watches?
- «Highly controlled conditions of manufacturing and assembling are meeting the highest Swiss standards and proving the extreme quality of the timepieces» – Patek-standard for a watch for 200 USD?
- «Fine finish of a watch case is ensured by special PVD coating process used to increase wear as well as resist scratch and corrosion» – since when is PVD-coating increasing wear and protecting something against scratches?
- «World’s first ….» – Really? Have you ever been to a watch show like Baselworld? Or made just a little bit of web-research? Or visited a watch museum like the MIH in La Chaux-de-Fonds?
And finally, quite some of these campaigns are illustrated with images of guys in a white working dress holding the screwdriver as even a first year apprentice would be fired if he would do so, or wearing the watchmakers magnifying glass the wrong way.
Just leave it to the pros, folks!
Our promise
We promise: we will not use any wannabe-superlative terms.
Of course you will get a good watch from us. Because we already knew about watches before the term crowdfunding was invented.
If you buy a watch from us, you get what we honestly describe, nothing less.
And believe us, we have no intention to fool anyone. The reason for that is very simple: we just stick too much to our good reputation among the insiders in the business. It took a long time and a lot of work to build it. That’s why we stand here with our real names and don’t hide ourselves.
By the way: If you like this kind of bullshit-stuff, check out Baselworld bullshit