Dear Srajan, I loved your HoroFi article. The only real jewelry men wear are watches. Women amass rings and necklaces and shoes, men collect watches. Like in hifi, it's the men folk who spend those bucks. But boy are space requirements far easier than they are for hifi. Watches are public, hifis are homebodies. For ego strokes, watches pull much harder and everyone has heard of Rolex or Breitling but who of the public knows Burmester? I think watches have a very big advantage with trophy shoppers. If AP can sell 40'000 watches at €1.1 billion a year (€27'500 average per watch!), which high-end audio brand can equal that? Devialet? I also found it interesting that AP want to control pricing and profitability with their own stores. McIntosh tried in the US but I don't think they've been terribly successful. Audio Research separating from the group is certainly suggestive. Anyways, thanks for a thoughtful article. You seem to know a fair bit about that market. Could conflict with your hifi habit if you ever get serious… Roger
I know a bit from reading up on the subject. Also, our local jeweler, back in the day, used to sell very expensive watches. Today his focus is on €200 watches. He's been in the industry for decades and has lots of stories. Each time we visit to get a new watch battery installed, he regales me with another one. Over time, that's painted quite a picture. But for personal consumption, I'm purely on the Aragon level – cheap 'n' cheerful and Chinese. I lived in Switzerland for 8 years and saw how the very posh part of that business is done there. Crazy money. I stay well clear of it. Watching a YouTube video on how such watches are made… now that I can afford. So why not pass that bit around? Tyre kicking in style. Srajan
