Watch Dandy

Coronavirus has surpassed all previous crisis’ in terms of its negative impact on the Swiss watchmaking industry, with a 25 per cent downturn anticipated for 2020, according to a report by Bank Vontobel. This is worse than the Quartz Crisis, which saw a 15 per cent decline, and the 22 per cent downturn in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, notes this article in Watchpro.  “In terms of volumes, we’re going to fall back to levels seen in 1945, with probably fewer than 16 million watches sold,” said Oliver Müller, the founder of watch industry consulting firm LuxeConsult, in an interview with swissinfo.ch.  He went further, saying there would be businesses within the industry that would not survive the crisis. “Between 30 and 60 ‘Swiss Made’ watch brands – of a total 350 – will not survive,” said Müller. “A dozen watchmaking companies have already filed for bankruptcy since the beginning of the crisis.”  This paints a grim picture as the Rolex factories and offices remain closed, with Patek Philippe returning to work only recently, and other groups operating in a severely limited capacity. While most, if not all, of the larger brands will survive with their cash reserves, the…

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Editor’s note: For a tiny bit of context … NOT ON MY WATCH is about the things we don’t like on a watch. It’s pretty self-explanatory as a column, but the reason we’re indulging our gripes on Time+Tide is that this is a safe place to do so. In the wider world, explaining that asymmetrical sub-dials, or bund straps cause you great distress can sometimes come off as trivial or trite. Of all the issues in the world to complain about, you’re choosing cabochon crowns? Especially during a pandemic! But not here. We understand. And, regardless of what else is happening in the world, Nick will still loathe date windows on dress watches. So, over to you Nick…  Mechanical watches today are largely pointless. Anyone who tells you different simply isn’t telling the whole Babe Ruth. We no longer need them for telling the time, thanks to the omnipresent digital displays of our smartphones and laptops. We hardly use our chronograph functions or that second time zone (let’s face it: most of us only leave the country once or twice a year, at most). Yet once we accept this reality that our watches are of limited functional use, we begin to…

The post NOT ON MY WATCH: Sorry, but date windows on dress watches are ugly and pointless (and Nietzsche agrees) appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.