What’s the next big step in the watchmaking world? Maybe it shouldn’t be tourbillons, or jewels, or more exotic materials. Maybe it should be service. Upkeep, repair and bringing the customer to and through that process, a process that most won’t understand and may not even expect. But several market forces are coming together to turn the after-market service portion of watch ownership a battleground, whether between brands, between brand and distribution, or even between buyer and brand.
First, you have the ever-increasing base of consumers that are paying more and more attention to what they want seen on their wrist. More customers are spending more money and want something more special than ever before. So more customers are going upscale, and buying complications with no real idea yet what goes into what they may be purchasing just for bragging rights. They don’t understand the micrometer tolerances needed for some of these movements, with levers and gears smaller and more fragile than they truly understand. Many of these new buyers expect, and not without good reason, that these watches are as robust and battle-tested as the things they’ve had on for years.
But the requirements are often different the further up the ladder you go. You are willing to put up with a few more foibles in a Ferrari than you are in a Toyota, and by the same token the watch enthusiast of years past knew going in that special watches had to be treated specially. You bought a flyback because you needed one, and you understood that this complication was a delicate instrument borne of a very serious need to fly in the right direction and not because it impressed anyone. Besides which, hardly anyone would know the significance anyway.
In the car world, European carmakers got a major wakeup call when Lexus and Infiniti showed up offering premium cars that were faster and quieter and far more reliable and economical than the “classic” luxury brands. In the watch world, that change will be a-coming as well. The world in general is less tolerant of inadequacies in what they purchase, and when their watches begin costing what their cars do there is going to be some scrutiny.
In many ways, this is partly the hard-core enthusiast’s fault and even the watch magazines’ fault; we whip up excitement as our eyes gloss over discussing Calibre this and gear train that, and often shattering many a newbie heart when we explain why what they think is at the top is really just a big, fat, well-marketed rock on which to stand to see the rest of the world.
But passion endures, expands and infects and the happy result is we have, as we have been saying, the greatest depth and breadth of choices we have ever had. Which will only make any service shortcomings painfully obvious as the years go on, as practically each variation or edition will need its own parts and require a particular knowledge to work on. The watch companies are in constant need of more watchmakers, at any and all levels. They have full-time staff and systems just to train new and existing personnel on their particular products after they’ve already had a full education in the field, and the trainers can’t keep up even as the student body isn’t anywhere near adequate levels. There definitely aren’t enough good hands to go around.
For the watch companies, this is a hot topic that they are working quite hard to address as their successes increase their worries. They have even identified occupational areas which provide the best material to work with; dentists in case anyone is wondering. It isn’t the sexiest part of the watchmaking world, but it may soon prove to be one of the most important.
It will become important for the same reason people moved from Euro luxury coaches to Japanese sedans, and the same reason those Europeans suddenly became more reliable. People are increasingly willing to pay more for a product that has more to do with art, heritage, image and identity and less to do with the workaday needs of transportation or time-telling. They are trusting these carmakers and watchmakers with, in many ways, their happiness and peace of mind. So when a product in which they have invested so much of themselves and their net worth causes them any grief or makes them feel the fool, it can be more ego-shattering than you might think.
A state of affairs such as this, a consumer unhappy with after-sales service, is not uncommon in any market; with our car magazines, we have heard heavy-hearted complaints about each and every brand and rightly or wrongly you can’t please everyone. And honestly, some people are more interested in being righteous than in being right. The watch industry has seen this coming, and is moving to answer it on levels from manufacture to retailer. An interesting thing here is that it is often the mega-brands, as opposed to the traditionally Haute Horlogerie manufacturers and houses, that understand this best, and this may be a function of the importance marketing and perception play with their particular products. Look at Rolex; they make sure they have high-profile service centers for every market they can, and it is arguable that this as much to do with, or is as important in, maintaining their image as it does maintaining their watches. Their products are not particularly complicated compared to current ultra mechanicals, and they aren’t often changed drastically, so there is an inherent advantage of uniformity of service, parts and training that other watch brands and companies couldn’t enjoy. Still, with the massive number of watches they sell, they are obviously doing something right.
So maybe that is the key, then. As many new buyers of high complications are finding out, the new and smaller houses may produce unique pieces, but they also may not yet have the experience, breadth and reach to handle service needs in the way the established watchmakers and brands can. Longevity of course is no guarantee; I have a wristwatch whose brand has so much horological DNA it appears on other companies’ brochures and yet the piece has racked up almost as many frequent flyer miles as I have as it visits different regional and international service facilities. The initial problem was admittedly mine; I kept dropping it onto cement parking lots while transferring it from my bag to my wrist after an evening on the courts. But the fact that it was repeatedly released from service and got to me easily recognized as off says something about quality control. In this case, the local distributor/seller has zero fault, as they follow my strict instructions to call me the minute it comes back home. Fingers can be pointed directly at regional and Swiss HQs, and they of course don’t directly face the disappointed owners who quickly become buyers of other brands.
The push for better service is probably best aimed then at the big guys, regional or international headquarters who may be too far removed from the front to realize the effects they are having. They are also of course the same guys who are increasing watch prices and complication which has an effect on the final distributor or seller of having to sell pricier watches in a tougher market, while having to expand service facilities to include more and more unique and complicated movements that will require special parts and service.
Where is this all leading? Better service and support have to come along, and most makers, brands and retailers recognize this. Tougher watches are showing up not just at the sport and tech level but also at the nosebleed price strata. You hear more and more about “usable” complications, so maybe buyers will be looking for less artistic and mechanical fluff and more substance and strength. Or maybe more simplicity? All of these are signs that the industry has to look more closely at the needs, wants and intelligence of their growing market of fans. That’s a good thing, in whatever area you are in.
My own personal next step? I need to remember that the best place for your watch is usually on your wrist.