Here are my impressions of some of the brands. My choices were subjective, and based on what interested me. I made no attempt to make a marathon of the show and include every maker, as I am simply not built for it, physically or mentally. I tried to focus on second- and even third tier brands. I deliberately avoided "jewelry" watch brands, high end brands, and brands connected with the conglomerates, such as Swatch Group, LVMH, and Richemont Group, as they get plenty of press, and gotten too crazy anyway.
OK, in no particular order:
1. Eberhard. Excellent. They let the product speak for itself. Zero celebrity ambassadors. They had a wonderful display of vintage watches. They granted me a private interview, and their general manager, Mario Peserico, had some interesting insights into the concept of "luxury," which I will share later. Their PR contact promises to work very hard in the next 30 days to get me some nice archival material for an article.
2. Glycine. Very good. Celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. They also had a nice display of vintage watches. No time for an interview, but they did refer me to their web-based heritage project on Facebook, which they are doing in conjunction with a private collector.
3. Doxa. Poor. Very sad what has happened to this former great watch brand. Despite a very nice display of vintage watches, their booth was staffed by fembots who referred me to the company website for historical information.
4. Edox. Trying hard. Edox has a small but loyal following among sport and dive watch enthusiasts, and I had hoped they could assist me with some historical information. They granted me a private interview, but could shed little light on their history, as most records were discarded in the 1980s.
5. Enicar. They were very nice to me and presented me with a nice hardcover book, but they are basically catering to the Asian market with big gaudy watches. Their vintage "Sherpa" series watches were so nice and are so very collectible.
6. Alpina. A real pity. I had high hopes with this brand going to the show, i.e. that they could provide me with some artifacts for a historical story. But it has been bought by the husband-and-wife company who own Frederique Constante and is being used as the "sport brand" compliment to the FC luxury line. I got the impression they would just as soon forget that Alpina ever made a dress watch. Although they DO mention, by no small coincidence I'm sure, their role in the production of the caliber 877 movement for the Rolex Prince.
7. Shinola. OK, I know. Quartz watches. But I love the back story of this company, and I got a 15 minute private interview with Steve Bock, the CEO. Although I could not pin him down definitively, he hinted that mechanical watches are on the horizon. Their big news at BW2014 was the limited lifetime warranty on all Shinola watches, retroactive to all watches sold previously.
8. Blancpain. Super nice dive and sport watches. They gave me a really nice hardcover book, but no vintage watches on display. Their vintage "50 Fathoms" and "Bathyscaphe" just keep going up, up, up. Hope to do a story on them some day.
9. Eterna. Fantastic brand in their day. Not quite sure what is happening with them. They were sold to the China Haiden Group. China will eventually own everything I suppose.
10. West End. They made some very neat watches in the early days for the British colonies. Now, a total money grab. They claims to be "Swiss," but they are catering to the Asian market. What a pity. The female Asian staffing the booth seemed like she could hardly stand my presence, shoved a catalog in my hand, and told me she had appointments to keep.
11. Mathey-Tissot. Made very nice vintage watches, now with a strong Asian connection. They treated me courteously and showed me several vintage pieces from their private area, and also had several nice vintage pieces on display. They are a different company from Tissot, but they were connected once upon a time, and I'm still not quite sure how all that worked. Will find out.
Next up will be my comments on the current state of the watch industry, comments are not likely to win me any praise from many of the manufacturers, nor from the Baselworld media accreditation committee, but then neither is very likely to give a shit about my tiny blog or the NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin, for that matter. But at least it is my honest opinion and my own original thoughts. I witnessed many so-called journalists here copying their stories verbatim from company and show press releases, and putting their bylines on them. In effect, much of the watch media is merely a "tool" of the industry, which is a sad thing when there is virtually no distinction in watch publications these days between advertising and editorial, but I'm sure that's just the way the industry likes it. Stay tuned for the commentary from this very small (but at least honest) fish in the big pond.
Bruce
Monday, March 31, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Impressions of a Baselworld Newbie
Basel Switzerland Saturday March 29
The world "show" fails to capture the grandeur, spectacle, and sheer decadence that is Baselworld 2014. But for convenience sake, I will simply refer to this short hand version for my report.
This is my fourth full day at the "show," and I finally feel acclimated enough to give some impressions. First of all there is the sheer scale of this show in terms of physical size. Building 1 (the main exhibit hall) has three stories, with each story requiring ascent by two escalator flights. Each floor is like walking a shopping district in any major city, except each store is a watch or jewelry (or combination) establishment.
Except they aren't really "stores," but rather exhibit pavilions, but unlike any other I've seen. For all practical purposes, they resemble and serve as facilities to house their goods, and keep their staff and visitors comfortable and feeling like they are a brick-and-mortar facility, but they are built in modular fashion in such a way that they can be set up and disassembled in a few days. They are not only functional, but are works of art in themselves designed to dazzle the public and outdo the competition, and attract attention ("Come see what's going on over here."). But at the same time, not be gaudy or garish. Where that line is crossed I am not exactly sure, but as a final test, a pavilion's design must pass final approval by an exhibition committee for being "tasteful" and built to proper scale (they must be two stories tall, for example) and safety code. Take the Hermes pavilion, for example:
A building wrapped in an exoskeleton of wooden slats. An attention grabber for sure, but beyond that I defer to your judgment. One my favorites was the Bulgari pavilion. Not a fan of the brand myself, but was impressed with the Disney Music Hall-inspired design:
Or maybe the sides are a representation of a watchband, who's to say. But these buildings are designed and built in great secrecy, and at a cost that I'm sure is into the millions of dollars. The exhibitor entry fee into the Main Exhibit Hall, street level, I'm told is $5 million, and then the exhibitor must build his pavilion in addition to that. The exterior walls of some pavilions are giant video screens, requiring an entire room inside the pavilion for computers and servers to keep the giant media presentation operational. Other pavilions, meanwhile, have restaurants with professional chefs to feed their staff and VIP guests.
I can't help but be in a certain awe of all this high tech, style, and ingenuity. Yet the average show-goer seems fairly blasé about the whole thing, striding down the walkways of the exhibit hall as though it were an everyday occurrence.
Then there is the whole central plaza, or "Messeplatz," which cuts through the main exhibit hall at street level and serves as the tram stop to deliver showgoers to and from the train stations and various other destinations throughout Basel. Beginning in 2013, it was covered, with a giant "doughnut hole" built into the middle, which serves as a skylight.
Unveiled at the show in 2013, it cost $365 million (comprising the largest chunk of a $500 million makeover of Hall 1). It was prebuilt in modules, and installed in less than 12 months after the closing of the 2012 show. The space above the new ceiling of the Messeplatz, on floors two and three, are now additional exhibition space.
Here are some more numbers and initial impressions of the show:
* An estimated 100,000 people will attend the show;
* There are approximately 4,000 journalists here from all over the world, from well known publications to obscure "I just made it up last week" blogs and Facebook pages. I would go so far as to say that print publications devoted to watches are on their way out. Virtual magazines are where the action is;
* 22 billion Swiss francs of watches were exported from Switzerland in 2013, making watches the backbone of the Swiss economy, even ahead of tourism and chocolate (but not banking, which the industry does not reveal, though I suspect is in excess of 22 billion!);
* Rooms at the Ramada Hotel, immediately adjacent to the fairgrounds, start at 640 Swiss francs (about $755 US) per night, and go up from there, and they are sold out. By comparison, my room at the InterCity Hotel in Freiburg, Germany is $148 per night, plus $58 daily round trip for the train ride to and from Basel.
* The mayor of Basel, attending opening ceremonies, declared Baselworld the city's most important (read $$$-producing) event; and
* the new buzzword this year is "Swissness," both a noun and adjective to designate a singular origin of a watch to Switzerland. The Swiss watch industry successfully petitioned the Swiss parliament to trademark the word, which will give the industry group the right to sue any non-Swiss company that might try to use the word.
Finally, here is a photo of yours truly, a rare moment in a business suit, and holding my all-important media badge which gives access to the "media center," an oasis that affords me wi-fi access (where I am composing this entry now), bathrooms, snacks, and a multitude of caffeine-infused beverages.
That's it for this installment. More to come, including brand impressions.
Bruce
The world "show" fails to capture the grandeur, spectacle, and sheer decadence that is Baselworld 2014. But for convenience sake, I will simply refer to this short hand version for my report.
This is my fourth full day at the "show," and I finally feel acclimated enough to give some impressions. First of all there is the sheer scale of this show in terms of physical size. Building 1 (the main exhibit hall) has three stories, with each story requiring ascent by two escalator flights. Each floor is like walking a shopping district in any major city, except each store is a watch or jewelry (or combination) establishment.
Except they aren't really "stores," but rather exhibit pavilions, but unlike any other I've seen. For all practical purposes, they resemble and serve as facilities to house their goods, and keep their staff and visitors comfortable and feeling like they are a brick-and-mortar facility, but they are built in modular fashion in such a way that they can be set up and disassembled in a few days. They are not only functional, but are works of art in themselves designed to dazzle the public and outdo the competition, and attract attention ("Come see what's going on over here."). But at the same time, not be gaudy or garish. Where that line is crossed I am not exactly sure, but as a final test, a pavilion's design must pass final approval by an exhibition committee for being "tasteful" and built to proper scale (they must be two stories tall, for example) and safety code. Take the Hermes pavilion, for example:
 |
| Hermes pavilion (Courtesy Baselworld) |
A building wrapped in an exoskeleton of wooden slats. An attention grabber for sure, but beyond that I defer to your judgment. One my favorites was the Bulgari pavilion. Not a fan of the brand myself, but was impressed with the Disney Music Hall-inspired design:
Bulgari pavilion (Photo courtesy Baselworld)
Or maybe the sides are a representation of a watchband, who's to say. But these buildings are designed and built in great secrecy, and at a cost that I'm sure is into the millions of dollars. The exhibitor entry fee into the Main Exhibit Hall, street level, I'm told is $5 million, and then the exhibitor must build his pavilion in addition to that. The exterior walls of some pavilions are giant video screens, requiring an entire room inside the pavilion for computers and servers to keep the giant media presentation operational. Other pavilions, meanwhile, have restaurants with professional chefs to feed their staff and VIP guests.
I can't help but be in a certain awe of all this high tech, style, and ingenuity. Yet the average show-goer seems fairly blasé about the whole thing, striding down the walkways of the exhibit hall as though it were an everyday occurrence.
Then there is the whole central plaza, or "Messeplatz," which cuts through the main exhibit hall at street level and serves as the tram stop to deliver showgoers to and from the train stations and various other destinations throughout Basel. Beginning in 2013, it was covered, with a giant "doughnut hole" built into the middle, which serves as a skylight.
Messeplatz (Courtesy Baselworld)
Unveiled at the show in 2013, it cost $365 million (comprising the largest chunk of a $500 million makeover of Hall 1). It was prebuilt in modules, and installed in less than 12 months after the closing of the 2012 show. The space above the new ceiling of the Messeplatz, on floors two and three, are now additional exhibition space.
Here are some more numbers and initial impressions of the show:
* An estimated 100,000 people will attend the show;
* There are approximately 4,000 journalists here from all over the world, from well known publications to obscure "I just made it up last week" blogs and Facebook pages. I would go so far as to say that print publications devoted to watches are on their way out. Virtual magazines are where the action is;
* 22 billion Swiss francs of watches were exported from Switzerland in 2013, making watches the backbone of the Swiss economy, even ahead of tourism and chocolate (but not banking, which the industry does not reveal, though I suspect is in excess of 22 billion!);
* Rooms at the Ramada Hotel, immediately adjacent to the fairgrounds, start at 640 Swiss francs (about $755 US) per night, and go up from there, and they are sold out. By comparison, my room at the InterCity Hotel in Freiburg, Germany is $148 per night, plus $58 daily round trip for the train ride to and from Basel.
* The mayor of Basel, attending opening ceremonies, declared Baselworld the city's most important (read $$$-producing) event; and
* the new buzzword this year is "Swissness," both a noun and adjective to designate a singular origin of a watch to Switzerland. The Swiss watch industry successfully petitioned the Swiss parliament to trademark the word, which will give the industry group the right to sue any non-Swiss company that might try to use the word.
Finally, here is a photo of yours truly, a rare moment in a business suit, and holding my all-important media badge which gives access to the "media center," an oasis that affords me wi-fi access (where I am composing this entry now), bathrooms, snacks, and a multitude of caffeine-infused beverages.
That's it for this installment. More to come, including brand impressions.
Bruce
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Baselworld 2014 Preflight Check
Dear friends,
I am off to Germany/Switzerland Monday March 24 to attend Baselworld 2014, the fulfillment of an aspiration long on my bucket list. For those who don't know, Baselworld is the granddady of all watch shows. Hosted in Basel, Switzerland, and dominated heavily by Swiss watch manufacturers, the exposition has evolved from an obscure show attended by a small cadre of well monied Euro-aristocrats, to an extravaganza with well in excess of 100,000 attendees, ranging from the superwealthy to anyone who can come up with $50 to get in the door. (That's for a day pass; attending all seven days of the show will set you back $165.)
For wristwatch aficionados, it is akin to visiting Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Even for those of us who prefer vintage watches over new, it's still a pilgrimage that must be made at least once in one's lifetime, if for no other reason than the sheer excess of it. If there is a downside to it all, it's that it's strictly a "look but don't touch" kind of show, with everything locked securely under glass display cases. And no buying, not that I could afford anything there anyway. But if I were rich (which I am not) and the impulsive type (which I am) it would drive me crazy to be awash in an ocean of watches and not be able to buy one or two or a dozen!
Which brings up an obvious question: What's a report on an expo showcasing expensive watches doing in a blog devoted to budget watch collecting?
The answer: Having some fun.
At the very least I will not be reporting on the super-expensive watches, the Patek Philippe minute repeaters and the Jaeger LeCoultre tourbillion Reversos with the "are you fu**ing kidding me" prices. I will be focusing instead on the second- and third-tier companies that are putting out fine quality watches that, while still beyond my modest means, are earth-based priced and one day might even be affordable to me once they have entered the secondary market.
So bear with me while I indulge in a flight of fancy. And speaking of flights, let me tell you about a few of my preparations and expenses for the trip:
* Round trip airfare on Lufthansa from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany and back: $974
* Eight night's accommodation at the InterCity Hotel in Freiburg: $1,000
* Train fares (to and from airport, and daily commute to show): $475 (estimate)
* Clothes: $400
Total so far: $2,799
A few comments: 1. I managed to wrangle a press pass, so I get comp admission to the show. 2. I don't count food because I have to eat no matter where I am. At least my hotel includes breakfast with the room charge. 3. Why Freiburg, you may ask? Because if I stayed in Basel, my hotel expense would at least double.
Now, about the clothes. I'm basically a slob when it comes to clothes. I buy off the clearance racks at Eddie Bauer, and haven't worn a suit in 20 years or more. Baselworld is a dress up affair. Seriously. The stereotypes of the Swiss being a fastidious and persnickety people are all true from what I've heard. And everyone I spoke with who's attended Baselworld told me the Swiss reps won't give you the time of day (I can't believe I just wrote that) if you approach their booth looking like a bum, media badge or no.
So as much as I hated to do it, I had to go out and buy some duds. Luckily I have a friend who is ample of waistline like me and sold me one of his no longer fitting suits for $20. Picked up another suit at a discount retailer for another hundred bucks. Five dress shirts at various places, including Goodwill, and add another $50. Throw in some socks, used neckties, pair of dress shoes, a fresh batch of T-shirts (essential as the first line of defense against sweat and armpit odor), and about $65 worth of alterations, and we're up to $400. So I definitely won't be winning any awards for best dressed reporter at Baselworld, but I think I'll pass muster.
Oh, yes, and then there's some investment in electronic gear. I bought:
* a new Microsoft Surface RT tablet with detachable keyboard: $400;
* a quad-band unlocked cell phone with reloadable SIM card that can be used most anywhere in Europe, $100 plus whatever I spend on calls. (Purchased mostly for emergency and peace of mind.);
* digital voice recorder for interviews and notes to self, $30;
* universal voltage adapter to recharge all my electronic crap, $30.
I already have a perfectly adequate digital camera, and a perfectly good courier bag in which to put all this crap into, so no money spent there.
So I figure I'm into this trip $3,560 so far, give or take. So not exactly cheap, but some items on a bucket list require busting loose a few bucks, and this is one of those times. Guess that ride aboard Richard Branson's spaceship will have to wait a few years.
Until Basel,
Bruce
I am off to Germany/Switzerland Monday March 24 to attend Baselworld 2014, the fulfillment of an aspiration long on my bucket list. For those who don't know, Baselworld is the granddady of all watch shows. Hosted in Basel, Switzerland, and dominated heavily by Swiss watch manufacturers, the exposition has evolved from an obscure show attended by a small cadre of well monied Euro-aristocrats, to an extravaganza with well in excess of 100,000 attendees, ranging from the superwealthy to anyone who can come up with $50 to get in the door. (That's for a day pass; attending all seven days of the show will set you back $165.)
For wristwatch aficionados, it is akin to visiting Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Even for those of us who prefer vintage watches over new, it's still a pilgrimage that must be made at least once in one's lifetime, if for no other reason than the sheer excess of it. If there is a downside to it all, it's that it's strictly a "look but don't touch" kind of show, with everything locked securely under glass display cases. And no buying, not that I could afford anything there anyway. But if I were rich (which I am not) and the impulsive type (which I am) it would drive me crazy to be awash in an ocean of watches and not be able to buy one or two or a dozen!
 |
| The outside of Exhibit Hall 1, which underwent a $500 million renovation, completed in 2013. |
Which brings up an obvious question: What's a report on an expo showcasing expensive watches doing in a blog devoted to budget watch collecting?
The answer: Having some fun.
At the very least I will not be reporting on the super-expensive watches, the Patek Philippe minute repeaters and the Jaeger LeCoultre tourbillion Reversos with the "are you fu**ing kidding me" prices. I will be focusing instead on the second- and third-tier companies that are putting out fine quality watches that, while still beyond my modest means, are earth-based priced and one day might even be affordable to me once they have entered the secondary market.
So bear with me while I indulge in a flight of fancy. And speaking of flights, let me tell you about a few of my preparations and expenses for the trip:
* Round trip airfare on Lufthansa from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany and back: $974
* Eight night's accommodation at the InterCity Hotel in Freiburg: $1,000
* Train fares (to and from airport, and daily commute to show): $475 (estimate)
* Clothes: $400
Total so far: $2,799
A few comments: 1. I managed to wrangle a press pass, so I get comp admission to the show. 2. I don't count food because I have to eat no matter where I am. At least my hotel includes breakfast with the room charge. 3. Why Freiburg, you may ask? Because if I stayed in Basel, my hotel expense would at least double.
 |
| An interior exhibit by Blancpain ... a 2-story television screen |
Now, about the clothes. I'm basically a slob when it comes to clothes. I buy off the clearance racks at Eddie Bauer, and haven't worn a suit in 20 years or more. Baselworld is a dress up affair. Seriously. The stereotypes of the Swiss being a fastidious and persnickety people are all true from what I've heard. And everyone I spoke with who's attended Baselworld told me the Swiss reps won't give you the time of day (I can't believe I just wrote that) if you approach their booth looking like a bum, media badge or no.
So as much as I hated to do it, I had to go out and buy some duds. Luckily I have a friend who is ample of waistline like me and sold me one of his no longer fitting suits for $20. Picked up another suit at a discount retailer for another hundred bucks. Five dress shirts at various places, including Goodwill, and add another $50. Throw in some socks, used neckties, pair of dress shoes, a fresh batch of T-shirts (essential as the first line of defense against sweat and armpit odor), and about $65 worth of alterations, and we're up to $400. So I definitely won't be winning any awards for best dressed reporter at Baselworld, but I think I'll pass muster.
Oh, yes, and then there's some investment in electronic gear. I bought:
* a new Microsoft Surface RT tablet with detachable keyboard: $400;
* a quad-band unlocked cell phone with reloadable SIM card that can be used most anywhere in Europe, $100 plus whatever I spend on calls. (Purchased mostly for emergency and peace of mind.);
* digital voice recorder for interviews and notes to self, $30;
* universal voltage adapter to recharge all my electronic crap, $30.
I already have a perfectly adequate digital camera, and a perfectly good courier bag in which to put all this crap into, so no money spent there.
So I figure I'm into this trip $3,560 so far, give or take. So not exactly cheap, but some items on a bucket list require busting loose a few bucks, and this is one of those times. Guess that ride aboard Richard Branson's spaceship will have to wait a few years.
Until Basel,
Bruce
Friday, March 14, 2014
Rolex Absent from Consumer Reports List of Best Watches
OK, the catch here is that the article is from November 1949 in which the magazine ranked 46 watch brands in order of their quality and reliability. Consumers Union, the parent organization of the magazine which conducts the actual product testing, did not actually test the watches, but rather surveyed a single "competent watch expert" to rank various watch brands, from best to worst, based on his experience.
The results are anything but scientific (CU would not even publish such an article today), but it sure makes for interesting reading. Not surprisingly, Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, and Audemars Piguet, were ranked first, second, and third, respectively. But the next 43 brands present an interesting snapshot of one "expert's" opinion that could easily have been debated at the time, and certainly would be debatable today, given which brands are most desired by collectors, versus those brands that have disappeared into obscurity.
For example, C.H. Meylan, and Touchon ranked fourth and fifth, and today are virtually unknown except for a select group of collectors who are into obscure high-end brands. The first American brand that made the list was Hamilton, at number nine. Elgin was next, at number 18, and Waltham didn't even make the list. Lonville, which distributed watches with inexpensive 7-jewel Swiss movements, came in last. Benrus and Helbros, generally considered the bottom of the heap by most contemporary collectors, ranked above such brands as Buren, Mido, and Croton.
Automatic, or self-winding, watches, by the way, were deemed "unreliable" by Consumers Union.
Conspicuously absent from the list was Rolex which today is without a doubt the most recognized watch brand in America. But what many people do not realize is that, prior to about 1960, the brand was not very familiar to the American market, and prior to probably the middle '50s was virtually unknown. The company's primary markets were Great Britain and its colonies at the time. (Rolex was founded in London in 1905, and founder Hans Wilsdorf, though born in Germany, was by this time a British citizen himself.)
I think more than anything, this 1949 article in Consumer Reports is a testament to the power of advertising. It has been said of Rolex that they are a company which produces a fairly good watch, but has the best marketing department in the world. Ask most any American to name a quality watch, and they will say Rolex.
I make no secret of the fact that I don't hold modern Rolexes watches (those made after 1960) in very high regard. I have nothing against them; I just find them boring. But I will concede one undeniable fact: If you find yourself down and out in most any city in the world, Rolex is the watch you want strapped to your wrist, because there isn't a pawnbroker in the world who would deny you a loan on that watch if you needed food in your belly or a plane ticket home. If "watch-as-commodity" is your goal, then Rolex is your brand!
Interestingly, a primary distributor of Patek Phlippe watches in America in 1949 was Montgomery Ward, the giant catalog retailer. The Consumer Reports article told readers they could buy a Patek Philippe watch starting at $350 from Wards. I could scarcely believe it, but a friend of mine owns a 1943 Wards catalog, and there on page 475 are six Patek Phillipe men's wristwatches in 18kt gold, starting at $250!
At a time when a good quality watch could be purchased for around $40, this was certainly a lot of money. But think what those watches would be worth today!
Anyway, the article in Consumer Reports provides food for thought. Incidentally, the next time the magazine rated men's wristwatches was in 1958, and this time it appears CU actually tested the watches. Again Rolex was missing from the list. The highest recommended watch was a Croton Nivada Grenchen, a brand which had previously ranked 36th among 43 brands as "reliable." The watch was an automatic watch to boot, so CU's opinion of automatic watches had obviously improved since 1949!
Thanks to Tom Jeswald, of the Northern Illinois Watch & Clock Collector's club, for bringing this article to my attention. His more complete story is currently under editorial review at the NAWCC, and hopefully will be published soon!
Bruce Shawkey
The results are anything but scientific (CU would not even publish such an article today), but it sure makes for interesting reading. Not surprisingly, Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, and Audemars Piguet, were ranked first, second, and third, respectively. But the next 43 brands present an interesting snapshot of one "expert's" opinion that could easily have been debated at the time, and certainly would be debatable today, given which brands are most desired by collectors, versus those brands that have disappeared into obscurity.
For example, C.H. Meylan, and Touchon ranked fourth and fifth, and today are virtually unknown except for a select group of collectors who are into obscure high-end brands. The first American brand that made the list was Hamilton, at number nine. Elgin was next, at number 18, and Waltham didn't even make the list. Lonville, which distributed watches with inexpensive 7-jewel Swiss movements, came in last. Benrus and Helbros, generally considered the bottom of the heap by most contemporary collectors, ranked above such brands as Buren, Mido, and Croton.
Automatic, or self-winding, watches, by the way, were deemed "unreliable" by Consumers Union.
Conspicuously absent from the list was Rolex which today is without a doubt the most recognized watch brand in America. But what many people do not realize is that, prior to about 1960, the brand was not very familiar to the American market, and prior to probably the middle '50s was virtually unknown. The company's primary markets were Great Britain and its colonies at the time. (Rolex was founded in London in 1905, and founder Hans Wilsdorf, though born in Germany, was by this time a British citizen himself.)
I think more than anything, this 1949 article in Consumer Reports is a testament to the power of advertising. It has been said of Rolex that they are a company which produces a fairly good watch, but has the best marketing department in the world. Ask most any American to name a quality watch, and they will say Rolex.
I make no secret of the fact that I don't hold modern Rolexes watches (those made after 1960) in very high regard. I have nothing against them; I just find them boring. But I will concede one undeniable fact: If you find yourself down and out in most any city in the world, Rolex is the watch you want strapped to your wrist, because there isn't a pawnbroker in the world who would deny you a loan on that watch if you needed food in your belly or a plane ticket home. If "watch-as-commodity" is your goal, then Rolex is your brand!
Interestingly, a primary distributor of Patek Phlippe watches in America in 1949 was Montgomery Ward, the giant catalog retailer. The Consumer Reports article told readers they could buy a Patek Philippe watch starting at $350 from Wards. I could scarcely believe it, but a friend of mine owns a 1943 Wards catalog, and there on page 475 are six Patek Phillipe men's wristwatches in 18kt gold, starting at $250!
At a time when a good quality watch could be purchased for around $40, this was certainly a lot of money. But think what those watches would be worth today!
Anyway, the article in Consumer Reports provides food for thought. Incidentally, the next time the magazine rated men's wristwatches was in 1958, and this time it appears CU actually tested the watches. Again Rolex was missing from the list. The highest recommended watch was a Croton Nivada Grenchen, a brand which had previously ranked 36th among 43 brands as "reliable." The watch was an automatic watch to boot, so CU's opinion of automatic watches had obviously improved since 1949!
Thanks to Tom Jeswald, of the Northern Illinois Watch & Clock Collector's club, for bringing this article to my attention. His more complete story is currently under editorial review at the NAWCC, and hopefully will be published soon!
Bruce Shawkey
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