LV watches will always be a fashion timepiece in my eyes. A 10 piece collab with God won’t change my view but it likely will for many. Of course they will sell out immediately. Arnault’s inner circle, Jay Z and Pharrell for sure. And so it goes. Good stuff Flum! 👌🏾
Do you think Jean Arnoult is replaying the classic JC Biver playbook e.g blancpain? 1. Have access to watchmaking talents to inject substance into a brand. 2. Control the advertisements and rebuild the brand image. 3. Understand and employ the latest trend. Apparently with fp journe and rw smith the independence is hyping up, which is why he teamed up with independent watchmakers
That’s for sure. I’m using Biver as an example because no.1 he’s great at making those obscure brands stand out as a haute horology maison , which is what Jean trying to do right now. No.2, Biver used to be the head of watch division of lvmh, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jean learned something from him.
Brilliant assessment of the posible/probable strategy and benefits to LVMH of this collaboration BUT for me the best part of this issue is the (badly needed) explanation of the century(íes) long system of établissage which was the basis of and raison d’être of the modern Swiss watchmaking industry and which has been either forgotten or not learned of by todays horophiles, many of whom have come to practically worship the “in house “ marketing hype. It should probably be repeated almost ad nauseum until it’s understood that it is no basis by which to judge the finished product of a good timepiece. I have been harping on this myself in comments on various forums for years.
(Damn, that was a long first sentence which I doubt very much was grammatically correct) 😜
I'm sympathetic to your argument that Akrivia could become LVMH's "Patek." But where does this leave the likes of Laurent Ferrier, as well as the revived Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta brands?
One thought was that Jean Arnault could be attempting to build a _haute horologie_ LMH. Of course, with these brands French Blumlein might attempt to enter the luxury timepiece market at the tip-top.
Second: there has been _so much hype_ on IG and TikTok around the Monterey recently. Then, coincidentally, Akrivia releases a sort of revival? At what point do we need to investigate insider timepiece trading?!
I don’t think AkriviA will become LVMH’s Patek at all. I’m suggesting LVMH wants to create a Patek style “famous watch maison” and the AkriviA deal is a small step in the early stages, to gain credibility. Per your second paragraph.
I think this collaboration will LV will push Akrivia (and any other independent watchmakers that LV works with) to experiment with new designs and themes that they would never before have considered. I’m looking forward to the release.
As I'm certain to be long dead before entertaining an allocation of any Akrivia, this particular watch isn't much interest as its completely unobtainable. Having now seen it, I can't say that it would be near the top of my list regardless.
That said, I think the main factor that interests me is the downstream impact on other independent watch brands. The hype from LVMH and whichever celebrities get an allocation will cause the hype to skyrocket, and there will be an enormous impact to the independent watch industry due to the sheer marketing power of LVMH. First, for those that do end up partnering with LVMH, but even those that don't.
The exclusivity of owning one of these 10 pieces will be astronomical and the hype will follow, driven by LVMH and the few who get the allocations. And the numbers of independent brands and the limited number of watches they create simply aren't there to support a significant amount of hype. And that exclusivity will spread to other independent brands as celebrities who can't get an Akrivia search for that exclusivity. Watches from brands like Laurent Ferrier as someone mentioned above stand to become incredibly more popular, even if they never partner with LVMH.
I'm not a collector of any significance, but hoping to be there in the future and it seems this may make it even more difficult if independent brands become nearly unobtainable. I realize that isn't the focus of the article, but its my semi-selfish takeaway on the potential impact.
I think your observation is totally valid, and in fact we’re already well on our way down that path - if you compare indies today to 5 years ago... the interest is already astronomically higher, and prices have followed. Don’t stands to reason that supply and demand imbalance will only favour the rich, more so in the future than ever before. The market for hype and signalling will never die, so it stands to reason that LVMH marketing power will drive up popular demand, and value will need to be sought elsewhere. That highlights the idea of “value” will no doubt split into signalling value and “other” - where less affluent will need to make trade offs between the two, more than ever before!? It’s early, so maybe I’m just talking nonsense. 😂
I think the sale will still happen. This is an attempt to change the perception ahead of it, not necessarily build their own. This type of ground work supports both paths though and is really rather brilliant either way. Once again, very good analysis/info. I'll even go out on a limb and predict that LV has both Patek and AP in their portfolio at some point.
LV watches will always be a fashion timepiece in my eyes. A 10 piece collab with God won’t change my view but it likely will for many. Of course they will sell out immediately. Arnault’s inner circle, Jay Z and Pharrell for sure. And so it goes. Good stuff Flum! 👌🏾
So it goes! Cheers S 🥂
Do you think Jean Arnoult is replaying the classic JC Biver playbook e.g blancpain? 1. Have access to watchmaking talents to inject substance into a brand. 2. Control the advertisements and rebuild the brand image. 3. Understand and employ the latest trend. Apparently with fp journe and rw smith the independence is hyping up, which is why he teamed up with independent watchmakers
Sure, although I wouldn’t say Biver should be credited with “inventing” that sequence of brand building decisions!
That’s for sure. I’m using Biver as an example because no.1 he’s great at making those obscure brands stand out as a haute horology maison , which is what Jean trying to do right now. No.2, Biver used to be the head of watch division of lvmh, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jean learned something from him.
Very good points! Fair enough 🙌
Brilliant assessment of the posible/probable strategy and benefits to LVMH of this collaboration BUT for me the best part of this issue is the (badly needed) explanation of the century(íes) long system of établissage which was the basis of and raison d’être of the modern Swiss watchmaking industry and which has been either forgotten or not learned of by todays horophiles, many of whom have come to practically worship the “in house “ marketing hype. It should probably be repeated almost ad nauseum until it’s understood that it is no basis by which to judge the finished product of a good timepiece. I have been harping on this myself in comments on various forums for years.
(Damn, that was a long first sentence which I doubt very much was grammatically correct) 😜
Technically it’s two sentences, wbut they read perfectly 😁
Cheers B 🙏
(Typo intentional)
🤣😂🎯
Fantastic writeup. Looking forward to seeing how the future pans out!
Thanks homie
I'm sympathetic to your argument that Akrivia could become LVMH's "Patek." But where does this leave the likes of Laurent Ferrier, as well as the revived Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta brands?
One thought was that Jean Arnault could be attempting to build a _haute horologie_ LMH. Of course, with these brands French Blumlein might attempt to enter the luxury timepiece market at the tip-top.
Second: there has been _so much hype_ on IG and TikTok around the Monterey recently. Then, coincidentally, Akrivia releases a sort of revival? At what point do we need to investigate insider timepiece trading?!
I don’t think AkriviA will become LVMH’s Patek at all. I’m suggesting LVMH wants to create a Patek style “famous watch maison” and the AkriviA deal is a small step in the early stages, to gain credibility. Per your second paragraph.
😂 on insider trading!
I think this collaboration will LV will push Akrivia (and any other independent watchmakers that LV works with) to experiment with new designs and themes that they would never before have considered. I’m looking forward to the release.
Exciting indeed, if nothing else, to shake up the incumbents.
As I'm certain to be long dead before entertaining an allocation of any Akrivia, this particular watch isn't much interest as its completely unobtainable. Having now seen it, I can't say that it would be near the top of my list regardless.
That said, I think the main factor that interests me is the downstream impact on other independent watch brands. The hype from LVMH and whichever celebrities get an allocation will cause the hype to skyrocket, and there will be an enormous impact to the independent watch industry due to the sheer marketing power of LVMH. First, for those that do end up partnering with LVMH, but even those that don't.
The exclusivity of owning one of these 10 pieces will be astronomical and the hype will follow, driven by LVMH and the few who get the allocations. And the numbers of independent brands and the limited number of watches they create simply aren't there to support a significant amount of hype. And that exclusivity will spread to other independent brands as celebrities who can't get an Akrivia search for that exclusivity. Watches from brands like Laurent Ferrier as someone mentioned above stand to become incredibly more popular, even if they never partner with LVMH.
I'm not a collector of any significance, but hoping to be there in the future and it seems this may make it even more difficult if independent brands become nearly unobtainable. I realize that isn't the focus of the article, but its my semi-selfish takeaway on the potential impact.
I think your observation is totally valid, and in fact we’re already well on our way down that path - if you compare indies today to 5 years ago... the interest is already astronomically higher, and prices have followed. Don’t stands to reason that supply and demand imbalance will only favour the rich, more so in the future than ever before. The market for hype and signalling will never die, so it stands to reason that LVMH marketing power will drive up popular demand, and value will need to be sought elsewhere. That highlights the idea of “value” will no doubt split into signalling value and “other” - where less affluent will need to make trade offs between the two, more than ever before!? It’s early, so maybe I’m just talking nonsense. 😂
I think the sale will still happen. This is an attempt to change the perception ahead of it, not necessarily build their own. This type of ground work supports both paths though and is really rather brilliant either way. Once again, very good analysis/info. I'll even go out on a limb and predict that LV has both Patek and AP in their portfolio at some point.
For what it’s worth, I have been told the sale will never happen.
As for Patek etc… also doubtful.
However, as you say; rather crafty, and thus far, very well executed 😄
We shall see, so many "nevers" that suddenly are, I look forward to watching down here, from afar.
You have Tiffany Pateks and soon LV Akrivias…same concept imo.
Except LV isn’t Patek - yet?