One of the nice things about the development and growth of the watch industry and horological enlightenment and education is that new avenues have opened up. Besides the technological advances in fields such as materials and production that allow the existence of watches like our cover timepiece, the market conditions are such that it becomes a marketable and financially viable endeavour. This only serves to excite the market more.
Many will of course question the intelligence or usefulness of the type of watch like the Titanic DNA, but there is little doubt that such pieces are being talked about. Romain Jerome’s first watch was a golf-inspired counter that was probably done mainly on a one-off whim, incidentally just as this magazine was. However, they have found, as have we, that there was a demand that hadn’t exactly been forecast and they chose to try and satisfy some of that demand. They also chose to do it in a manner very different from everyone else. They couldn’t have done this twenty or even ten years ago. But now, all the conditions are right. The horological perfect storm continues.
But is there value in the development and creation of such a watch? In the same manner, and as discussed just recently with IWC’s Regional Brand Manaager for the Asia Pacific, Jonathan King, is there value in the breaking of horological barriers? Mr. King has rightly pointed out that many mechanical watches are no more accurate than the Harrison clocks that gave us the safety of longitude, and he has bravely chastised watchmakers over reissues of important wristwatches that are actually less competent than the original of decades previous.
It is true of course that the wristwatch is no longer the life or death tool it used to be. You do not need it to withstand this pressure, or be accurate to that degree, or so on. But his point is that this doesn’t mean technology should stop or slide backwards. The challenge is always to go forward, not just to settle and market better. So he is pushing for increasingly inventive technologies, unusual solutions, upgraded accuracies and consistencies. Science for the sake of science. Climbing the mountain because it is there. He is saying, basically, that there are still battles to be fought.
Which brings us back to our Titanic DNA watch. It isn’t particularly technologically forward in terms of movement, but it does go boldly where others haven’t. It may not be proven a sales success, but this is probably the best time in history to give it a try.
The market and technological and even financial environment is such that people who never considered such an endeavour can make a decent go of it. They will be, and they are, doing it in various ways, from the ultra premium single-piece artisans to artists and enthusiasts and fund managers who just want to see how well they can indulge their passions.
That is, as always seems to be, the neat part of this business. Behind all the plans and forecasts and research and brand development, you don’t have to dig very hard to find the passion. And that passion, more than marketing or much-touted brand DNA, is what really links the timepieces, enthusiasts and watchmakers of today with the names and namesakes of our chosen field of dreams.