It is a fact that the first necessity for luxury consumption is motivation, not money. Can we motivate ourselves to buy watches under the current conditions? I seem to hear your answer, but let's look at the details together.
Let's say that you are waiting for good news from the boutiques regarding the Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711 that you want for three years. On the other hand, you keep asking yourself "Should I get one from the gray market instead of waiting?" and follow the market regularly. The current resale value, which was around $ 30,000 three years ago, is $ 65,000 now.
If you had paid the premium on the first day your name was written on the list instead of waiting, the price of your watch that you had used for three years would double today. Nowadays, it is possible to add the same watch to your collection for $ 50,000, due to the current conditions. Prices will inevitably rise again when we get through the #stayathome days. So, what do you say? Isn't this a motivation for you?
2020 hasn't gone off to a good start and doesn’t seem to change soon. Unfortunately, we are experiencing unexpected events. I wonder if I asked the management of SIHH (now called Watches & Wonders), would they take the exhibition days back to January. Alternatively, if we asked the same question to LVMH bosses, would they prefer not to do that awesome event they organized in January? Almost all major brands have stopped production. All fairs and organizations were either canceled or paused. Even we (Horobox) had to postpone the launch of our new limited edition timepiece. Under these circumstances, it's a little early for the answers to the questions I asked above, of course. Developments will decide everything, but let's take a brief look at the possibilities.
To be honest, I could not understand the idea of postponing SIHH and Baselworld fairs and organizing them in different cities one after another. However, LVMH's move was rational and the result was a successful event. Of course, it was not possible to expect the Coronavirus chaos when making these critical decisions. Considering the current conditions, it seems as if LVMH's efforts have been wasted, but is it so.
During the LVMH Watch Week, we were about 350 people from different media. We had the chance to see the introduced watches live in special sessions arranged for all participants. In addition to taking photos and videos, we had the chance to have one-on-one interviews with brand managers like Julien Tornare and Ricardo Guadalupe as well. Especially digital media published those contents in a short time and even today, watch lovers can easily access all of them. I guess that when we got through this mess, these contents will motivate watch enthusiasts more than other brands’. Considering the current positioning of digital channels, it is easier for any brand to announce its new models to the world than before. However, we should not forget the different effects of seeing and interpreting the watches live.
Of course, what we mentioned above is temporary motivation. While the luxury watch industry continued to revolve around the prominent models of several brands for a long time, even major brands were seriously damaged. In these days, where the world stopped spinning, it seems that we now need a higher, more effective motivation.
I have an idea at this point, but I am also curious about what you think. You can share your ideas in the comments section below the article.
In my opinion, the watchmaking industry needs a new icon to be on the agenda. We cannot create another Gerald Genta. However, someone like Mr. Richard Mille, whom we admire his marketing genius, Georges Kern, who made brands shine with his strategies or Fabrizio Buonamassa with great design skills, may need to inject the energy required by the industry through an exciting development. I don't know how they are going to do it, but now is the time for them to use their skills.
Gerald Genta
Richard Mille
Georges Kern
Fabrizio Buonamassa
