Horolonomics

I recently had a chance to discuss many things Rolex and Tudor with a man held in high regard by collectors and the industry alike. For the sake of discretion, we'll call this man Elias. As I've told him, the opportunity to visit and converse with him was a bit of a bucket list item which helped me understand much more about two legendary watchmaking brands. Despite the fact that I spent roughly eighteen months researching and writing about Rolex marketing, I remain convinced that so much of the present and past of Rolex and Tudor remain unknown, untold, and often misunderstood. Before my conversation with Elias, which took place in Geneva, I had a chance to preview a large number of watches that were up for sale at Sotheby's. A Tudor Black Bay "RaSP" which sold at Sotheby's in Geneva this month. One of those watches was the Tudor Black Bay "Platinum Jubilee RaSP" (abbeviation PJR henceforth). This watch was specially commissioned for members of

Let's begin with that first word in the title of this post: horoloscopy. As far as I know, I made it up. It is a riff on the term "dactyloscopy," which is not a term I made up. Dactyloscopy is the study of fingerprints in order to establish identity. Most of us are familiar with this practice from crime movies and stories. A detective "lifts a print" off a crime scene, sends it to "the lab" and a "match" in some database of known fingerprints reveals the identity of a person of interest. An AI generated image of a watch with a fingerprint on the dial. So what do I mean by this made up term "horoloscopy"? Well, since I made it up, I guess I get to define it. No, it's not an unpleasant procedure recommended for your watch when it hits 50 years of age (sorry, couldn't resist). Instead, I'd define horoloscopy as the study of minute wrist watch characteristics in order to establish the identity of a wristwatch. Now, I wa

The watch community has attracted a wide range of impressive characters. An AI generated image of a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona on a red rubber strap. Much of this article will discuss a particular collector who is fond of such straps. I'm all on board with the idea that inclusion should be at the center of the watch community. Regrettably, though, there is always this background matter that's become known as the Paradox of Tolerance, which was developed by philosopher Karl Popper. Here's the paradox: does tolerance extend to those who are intolerant? Relatedly, do you need to be inclusive towards those who are not inclusive? A bit of a warning here, in what follows I explore the topic of mysoginy and describe some potentially upsetting material. I also discuss loss of life in an accident. I'm not a philosopher and, admitedly, I haven't read Popper's work beyond a short excerpt I encountered online . But my understanding is that Popper's solution to the

One of the more praiseworthy aspects of the watch community is those moments of self-effacement marked by a comment like "nobody else really cares," or "does anyone else pay attention to this stuff?" These moments of humility when discussing five or six figure watches are important, I think. They keep us grounded (side note: I've previously discussed why I do think people should care ). The Palexpo venue, where Watches and Wonders is held. Source: Google Earth. If there is any moment when the world might spare some of its valuable attention for the watch industry, it's now, when the tradeshow juggernaut Watches and Wonders is underway in Geneva. Of course, readers of this blog have seen that I prefer to employ data whenever possible. So, I turned to Google Trends in order to asses the impact of Watches and Wonders. The TL;DR on this is that the world is, in fact, watching (no pun intended, for real). How do I know? Google top searches in the Unit

I spent some time reviewing the Swatch Group 2022 Annual Report recently. To be more specific, I jumped into the financial statements and, by and large, skipped over the larger narrative in the 244 page document. That narrative is undoubtedly interesting, but sometimes a narrative distracts from the message sent by the numbers in various tables covering asset, liabilities and related financials. And, those numbers are actually audited by outside parties. The wordsmithing in a narrative doesn't necessarily have to follow requisite standards. The box of a MoonSwatch, showing iconography used on the crown. Overall, the financial picture looks good for Swatch Group. The company increased its dividend, which they wouldn't do if there were a crisis. Net sales increased by roughly CHF 140 million and almost all of those net sales benefitted the Swatch Group bottom line. The operating result (one measure of profit) increased by CHF 115 million. In addition, this operating result

Although there are still some who debate the point, much evidence suggests that the first watch to check the requisite boxes for scuba diving (rotating bezel, luminous material, automatic winding and, obviously, significant water resistance) was the Fifty Fathoms introduced by Blancpain in 1953. This year marks the 70th anniversary for the watch and we’ve already seen “Act I” of a commemorative sequence of watches. In early February, a limited series of 210 watches with special dial marks (reading “70th Anniversary” and the series number of the watch) was introduced, 42mm in size. Panelists at the Blancpain preview event earlier this week. Earlier this week, I joined a number of guests at the Blancpain boutique in Manhattan for a preview of the Fifty Fathoms “Act II.” The event was truly global, with participants “tuning in” to a live stream featuring five hosts. Marc Hayek (Blancpain CEO and President) and Marc Junod (VP and Director of Sales) broadcast from Switzerland while Jas