Those are great points, Ariel however I'm talking about something else entirely. Make American watchmaking less isolated to Americans if you’re doing business in America. That simple.
You might appreciate some additional context and perspective. The phenomenon of Americans making their own startup watch brands today is not at all isolated to the United States. It is actually happening pretty much everywhere that people like enthusiast watches. As you pointed out, most of these brands rely on parts that are made in China. The recent start-up small brand trend probably started out there in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore - and from there it moved out to the United States and Europe. There is another commonality in those places - watch enthusiasts have witnessed what appeared to be large profits by Swiss watchmakers that did not appear to be shared with many outsiders. People in these locations saw the Swiss selling watches in their market and what they felt were corresponding large margins. The Swiss also don't freely let in anyone to share profits with them, and only do so relatively begrudgingly. Thus, a large number of people who wanted to make money with watches A) where not able to profit with the Swiss (either by having the Swiss make their watches or sell Swiss watches) , B) noticed what appeared to be attractive margin structure, and C) had ready access to manufacturing in China, much of which was the same supplier bass as those who supply to the Swiss. All of this is to say that competing with the Swiss at their own game in the US and many other markets is what this new crop of small brand entrepreneurs is attempting to do. It's a very rapidly evolving space and many of these brands won't last or make it. But it just goes to show how easy many people believe it to compete with the Swiss today, and how Swiss business insularity has probably done them a lot of harm as well as good. Let's also not forget how Switzerland's watch industry feels about America, which is a feeling of mostly discreet distrust and apprehension going back over 100 years to when the American watch industry was beating the Swiss and forced them to shape up their operations. It is easy to be annoyed about all the new brands and folly around them, but it's just an organic bloom in action. I'm interested to see how it all settles down in a few years.
Those are great points, Ariel however I'm talking about something else entirely. Make American watchmaking less isolated to Americans if you’re doing business in America. That simple.
You might appreciate some additional context and perspective. The phenomenon of Americans making their own startup watch brands today is not at all isolated to the United States. It is actually happening pretty much everywhere that people like enthusiast watches. As you pointed out, most of these brands rely on parts that are made in China. The recent start-up small brand trend probably started out there in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore - and from there it moved out to the United States and Europe. There is another commonality in those places - watch enthusiasts have witnessed what appeared to be large profits by Swiss watchmakers that did not appear to be shared with many outsiders. People in these locations saw the Swiss selling watches in their market and what they felt were corresponding large margins. The Swiss also don't freely let in anyone to share profits with them, and only do so relatively begrudgingly. Thus, a large number of people who wanted to make money with watches A) where not able to profit with the Swiss (either by having the Swiss make their watches or sell Swiss watches) , B) noticed what appeared to be attractive margin structure, and C) had ready access to manufacturing in China, much of which was the same supplier bass as those who supply to the Swiss. All of this is to say that competing with the Swiss at their own game in the US and many other markets is what this new crop of small brand entrepreneurs is attempting to do. It's a very rapidly evolving space and many of these brands won't last or make it. But it just goes to show how easy many people believe it to compete with the Swiss today, and how Swiss business insularity has probably done them a lot of harm as well as good. Let's also not forget how Switzerland's watch industry feels about America, which is a feeling of mostly discreet distrust and apprehension going back over 100 years to when the American watch industry was beating the Swiss and forced them to shape up their operations. It is easy to be annoyed about all the new brands and folly around them, but it's just an organic bloom in action. I'm interested to see how it all settles down in a few years.