Rolex Innovates, Bremont Re-brands, and AP Gambles; Micro brand success, Marquetry, Sky-Dweller deep dive, Vacheron Manufacture visit, Ferrari deep faked, Cybertruck, Calculator watches and more!
The linked AP article is interesting … and a bit “controversial.”
There is an undertone of condescension from the author about the clientele that AP is attracting - and courting - with their “pop culture / trend”-driven approach - recall Paul Fussell’s term “proletarian drift,” as asserted in his seminal book “Class.”
I am a fan of AP. It is my favorite watchmaker (by far), and I have owned a number of them over the years. The company has changed a lot over time, but some themes endure:
-AP is privately held; evidently the Audemars and Piguet heirs are happy to take the growth in revenue and profile of the brand in hand with the risk of overexposure or potential damage to the brand long-term.
-I believe that the Royal Oak is one of the most significant watches of the past ~50 years. Without the Royal Oak, AP likely would not exist at all today - it and its derivatives (ROO, Concept) have dominated AP’s brand identity for decades. Without the Royal Oak, the Nautilus (which is sort of a karaoke version of the Royal Oak 😉) would never have existed; Patek Philippe would still exist, but it would likely be far more obscure as a brand than it is today. Without the Royal Oak, I believe it would be far less likely for steel Rolex tool / sport watches to command five figure (USD, at least) sums today. The genesis of the hype watches of the Instagram and then COVID-19 era really goes back to the original Royal Oak!
-AP has long made special edition of the ROO - for Arnold, for F1 drivers, etc. I find most of these ugly and lamentable. But it’s nothing new.
-A brand can’t pick its customers. A brand can manipulate pricing, but it can’t select who can buy its (volume) products on the basis of their taste level. As I recall, a Cristal executive made an ill-conceived - and ill-received - remark about this topic, which led directly to Ace of Spades! Now it is true that Hermes doesn’t feature Cardi B or Kim K or Floyd Mayweather in their advertising campaigns (not that the Birkin or Kelly bags even have or need advertising), but those are the type of people often associated with the bags.
-If *I* were put in charge of corporate strategy at one of my favorite brands - Ferrari, AP, Davidoff of Geneva, just as a few examples - I would do things differently, naturally. For all of them, I would quietly cut production output, rationalize product catalogs / SKUs, and focus on elevating my core product offerings to the highest possible level of quality (and charge an appropriate price for it!). Moreover, I would do everything in my power to cut out middlemen - dealers, tobacconists - and own the *relationship* with my customers. N.B. - not necessarily cut the middlemen out economically, but minimize their role in the customer experience, so that I could cultivate long-term relationships with clients who have either climbed the ladder to the “top” brands or started at the top, but could stray to my competitors. But what do I know? I’m just a finance guy!
Thank you for the measured take on AP's strategy. There's a lot of misguided framing of it out there and you can like it or not as a watch enthusiast, but the comparisons to others as evidence of what they should be doing are fruitless. They aren't Patek (the one I most often hear), never will be at this point even if that comparison made any sense in the first place. Next year will be a big one for them, then I think the real test comes in 2026 after the 150th anniversary hype subsides. The strategy they are employing may ultimately fail, it may not, but it is really hard at this point to envision something else that gives them a chance to stay on their current trajectory or even just maintain where they are speaking from a business standpoint. Again, leaving the breathless conversations of horology out of it, businesses are supposed to grow.
Agency has been such an interesting topic for me personally this year. As I read that section I was getting excited, such a cool thought experiment. Almost immediately I began to think about the erosion of my own personal agency in these scenarios and felt a little sad (weird I know). Would that AI success in a 15 year search be as meaningful if I found the watch solely on my own, I would think not. As you run down the multitude of things AI might do for us, I tend to worry about the magic of doing and figuring things out on our own. This is getting a little old man shouting at the clouds, but I think I'm really starting to question more these tradeoffs where as before I was all in, let's go, this is going to be awesome! I'm going to go back and read the alarm bells piece with a critical eye.
Zen and Love to you and yours on your vacation. Happy to hear you may take a break.
I am also a former Miss Tweed subscriber who canceled; I did so because there wasn’t enough content to justify the price, and I have only a passing / curiosity level interest in the fashion industry (i.e., it’s not how I make a living, just a space I keep up with).
Furthermore, I find that Lauren Sherman at Puck does an excellent job covering many of the same topics; IIRC Puck is $150 / year, and it includes access to a dozen or so outstanding writers. I find Puck indispensable - their reporting is excellent, scoopy, and early.
2. The morality discussion reminded me of Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker but I don’t think he explicitly addressed the question you raised. I went back and checked the chapter titles to be sure. Indirectly though, the progress covered in some of those areas would be impossible without static or even improving morals: peace, safety and security, equal rights, economic prosperity, vastly improved health outcomes and so much more.
I have little to opine on this weeks SDC. AP content was on point, I read both articles and would agree with your assessment. In the end AP has a strong presence in the luxury market and it is an aspirational grail watch for many collectors and younger enthusiasts that I interact with. It’s their main spring goal driving their gear train to use terminology of smart collector friend. That said, hype, like fashion comes and goes, but the primary canvas for the more vogue dials of the current cultural landscape remains classic and forever etched in horological halls of fame in the Royal Oak. It is a, a canvas and case that lends itself to metamorphosis into potentially more variations than an Invicta (okay perhaps that’s a bit much) without loosing its core identity as an AP RO. It sells, it is desired, and it’s a bloody iconic watch. I don’t foresee them going anywhere or changing their strategy too much, or soon.
AI - while it will have benefits, I’m troubled at the cost it will inflict. All things are trade offs and there is no free lunch. More on this another time.
Enjoy your holiday with family, far more important.
Love to start my day with such great read! Thanks :)
I am very excited about AI and believe it’s gonna be great tool if it’s used correctly, also I hope it will maintain children’s curiosity and help them to become very curious adults :D
But not the biggest fan of VR. Most people are already socially awkward, and with popularization of VR it will create even bigger distance imo. It’s a nice thing for people who physically can’t do certain things, so this can entertain them to some level.
Glad you’re taking a break, I’ll have time to catch up with 57 and 58 :) have fun and enjoy your vacation the fullest :D
After recently reading about singularity arriving much sooner than anyone imagined, and the possibilities around ‘longevity escape velocity,’ it appears we may have a lot more time to enjoy our mechanical timepieces! Enjoy your holiday! ✈️
The linked AP article is interesting … and a bit “controversial.”
There is an undertone of condescension from the author about the clientele that AP is attracting - and courting - with their “pop culture / trend”-driven approach - recall Paul Fussell’s term “proletarian drift,” as asserted in his seminal book “Class.”
I am a fan of AP. It is my favorite watchmaker (by far), and I have owned a number of them over the years. The company has changed a lot over time, but some themes endure:
-AP is privately held; evidently the Audemars and Piguet heirs are happy to take the growth in revenue and profile of the brand in hand with the risk of overexposure or potential damage to the brand long-term.
-I believe that the Royal Oak is one of the most significant watches of the past ~50 years. Without the Royal Oak, AP likely would not exist at all today - it and its derivatives (ROO, Concept) have dominated AP’s brand identity for decades. Without the Royal Oak, the Nautilus (which is sort of a karaoke version of the Royal Oak 😉) would never have existed; Patek Philippe would still exist, but it would likely be far more obscure as a brand than it is today. Without the Royal Oak, I believe it would be far less likely for steel Rolex tool / sport watches to command five figure (USD, at least) sums today. The genesis of the hype watches of the Instagram and then COVID-19 era really goes back to the original Royal Oak!
-AP has long made special edition of the ROO - for Arnold, for F1 drivers, etc. I find most of these ugly and lamentable. But it’s nothing new.
-A brand can’t pick its customers. A brand can manipulate pricing, but it can’t select who can buy its (volume) products on the basis of their taste level. As I recall, a Cristal executive made an ill-conceived - and ill-received - remark about this topic, which led directly to Ace of Spades! Now it is true that Hermes doesn’t feature Cardi B or Kim K or Floyd Mayweather in their advertising campaigns (not that the Birkin or Kelly bags even have or need advertising), but those are the type of people often associated with the bags.
-If *I* were put in charge of corporate strategy at one of my favorite brands - Ferrari, AP, Davidoff of Geneva, just as a few examples - I would do things differently, naturally. For all of them, I would quietly cut production output, rationalize product catalogs / SKUs, and focus on elevating my core product offerings to the highest possible level of quality (and charge an appropriate price for it!). Moreover, I would do everything in my power to cut out middlemen - dealers, tobacconists - and own the *relationship* with my customers. N.B. - not necessarily cut the middlemen out economically, but minimize their role in the customer experience, so that I could cultivate long-term relationships with clients who have either climbed the ladder to the “top” brands or started at the top, but could stray to my competitors. But what do I know? I’m just a finance guy!
Bravo 👏
Thank you for the measured take on AP's strategy. There's a lot of misguided framing of it out there and you can like it or not as a watch enthusiast, but the comparisons to others as evidence of what they should be doing are fruitless. They aren't Patek (the one I most often hear), never will be at this point even if that comparison made any sense in the first place. Next year will be a big one for them, then I think the real test comes in 2026 after the 150th anniversary hype subsides. The strategy they are employing may ultimately fail, it may not, but it is really hard at this point to envision something else that gives them a chance to stay on their current trajectory or even just maintain where they are speaking from a business standpoint. Again, leaving the breathless conversations of horology out of it, businesses are supposed to grow.
Agency has been such an interesting topic for me personally this year. As I read that section I was getting excited, such a cool thought experiment. Almost immediately I began to think about the erosion of my own personal agency in these scenarios and felt a little sad (weird I know). Would that AI success in a 15 year search be as meaningful if I found the watch solely on my own, I would think not. As you run down the multitude of things AI might do for us, I tend to worry about the magic of doing and figuring things out on our own. This is getting a little old man shouting at the clouds, but I think I'm really starting to question more these tradeoffs where as before I was all in, let's go, this is going to be awesome! I'm going to go back and read the alarm bells piece with a critical eye.
Zen and Love to you and yours on your vacation. Happy to hear you may take a break.
I am also a former Miss Tweed subscriber who canceled; I did so because there wasn’t enough content to justify the price, and I have only a passing / curiosity level interest in the fashion industry (i.e., it’s not how I make a living, just a space I keep up with).
Furthermore, I find that Lauren Sherman at Puck does an excellent job covering many of the same topics; IIRC Puck is $150 / year, and it includes access to a dozen or so outstanding writers. I find Puck indispensable - their reporting is excellent, scoopy, and early.
Picking on someone for their actual real name was in poor taste.
1. As always, the callout to us is appreciated!
2. The morality discussion reminded me of Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker but I don’t think he explicitly addressed the question you raised. I went back and checked the chapter titles to be sure. Indirectly though, the progress covered in some of those areas would be impossible without static or even improving morals: peace, safety and security, equal rights, economic prosperity, vastly improved health outcomes and so much more.
I have little to opine on this weeks SDC. AP content was on point, I read both articles and would agree with your assessment. In the end AP has a strong presence in the luxury market and it is an aspirational grail watch for many collectors and younger enthusiasts that I interact with. It’s their main spring goal driving their gear train to use terminology of smart collector friend. That said, hype, like fashion comes and goes, but the primary canvas for the more vogue dials of the current cultural landscape remains classic and forever etched in horological halls of fame in the Royal Oak. It is a, a canvas and case that lends itself to metamorphosis into potentially more variations than an Invicta (okay perhaps that’s a bit much) without loosing its core identity as an AP RO. It sells, it is desired, and it’s a bloody iconic watch. I don’t foresee them going anywhere or changing their strategy too much, or soon.
AI - while it will have benefits, I’m troubled at the cost it will inflict. All things are trade offs and there is no free lunch. More on this another time.
Enjoy your holiday with family, far more important.
Well said N. Thank you for taking the time 👊
Love to start my day with such great read! Thanks :)
I am very excited about AI and believe it’s gonna be great tool if it’s used correctly, also I hope it will maintain children’s curiosity and help them to become very curious adults :D
But not the biggest fan of VR. Most people are already socially awkward, and with popularization of VR it will create even bigger distance imo. It’s a nice thing for people who physically can’t do certain things, so this can entertain them to some level.
Glad you’re taking a break, I’ll have time to catch up with 57 and 58 :) have fun and enjoy your vacation the fullest :D
Curious adults. Indeed! Happy catchup, and thank you! 🙏
After recently reading about singularity arriving much sooner than anyone imagined, and the possibilities around ‘longevity escape velocity,’ it appears we may have a lot more time to enjoy our mechanical timepieces! Enjoy your holiday! ✈️
Here’s hoping 🤞
Thanks hermano 🙏