Each issue (every two months) is an event for us. When we “wrap” an issue we sit back and wonder how we did it. We love every minute of it but hate it when we are in the middle of a deadline. It’s a love/hate thing.

We are now planning the next three issues and are working very hard on our “Basel 2004” issue as well. As we do these issues, time sort of gets warped for us. We are working on an issue that is 6 months away but it’s only a few issues for us. We have to live in the future. Seasons in the watch industry are much like the world of fashion. Fall season fashions are shown in the summer and the spring fashions are viewed in the winter. This is mostly for the buyers, the retail buyers, so they can plan ahead!

The watch industry has its own seasons. There is the Basel Show season where all of the new designs and concepts are premiered and then there is the JCK season in June and then the “New Watch Launch” season that nowadays could be anywhere between the JCK and NewYear’s. Then there is the “New CEO” or the “New Marketing Manager” season where the new holder of the position will have a “For Press Only” type of meeting. The watch industry is an interesting ballgame.

In the auto industry, the technology has advanced so far in the last ten years that it is not worth it to hold onto a car that is more than five years old. The new car has technology that far surpasses anything in the past.

Watches are like that too. Take a Hamilton watch (or any name brand medium to low priced watch) and look at the movement and the case and crystal. The technology used to put this watch together is far superior to even ten years ago. A simple watch today could be and IS far better than a watch you could buy in the 50s or the 80s. And on the high end, you can rest assured that luxury watches that sport their own movements are far superior to the watches that were made in the 80s or even the early 90s.

The same is true with quartz or electronic watches – especially the mechanical quartz. Technology is way ahead on electronics. “E” watches today are fantastic and what you can do with them is extraordinary. My love is for the mechanical watch industry, but I think the luxury “E” watch business is the future for most common retailers. That’s where the mass-market money is.

NEXT: SWATCH
A number of issues ago we published a not so complimentary article about SWATCH. I did have my concerns regarding Breguet, Omega, Glashütte Original and a few others. However, after visiting the executives at SWATCH, I had my eyes opened and my mind put at ease and my appreciation for Breguet and other brands was again rekindled.

Here is the real story:

SWATCH WATCH is an inexpensive mostly plastic fun watch and that is the market for SWATCH WATCH. Their sales are great and their new stores (like the one in Times Square) are profitable and fun.

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