The Swiss Watch industry is always a bit of a cyclical one. It is also one that is often very difficult to get real data on. Trying to figure out which sells more watches, Rolex vs Omega, for instance, can be especially tricky.

So I was especially pleased when someone popped something into my inbox. It is a piece of research from analysts at Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, on trends in the Swiss Watch Industry.

The basically went around for a couple of months doing a survey of luxury retailers, asking them a bunch of questions around which watches are selling well. The results are pretty impressive for the biggest names in Swiss watches. Rolex is doing incredibly well, Omega is also on a roll. So are Cartier and Tissot.

Here’s the result of one of their surveys on which brands are selling well:

The chart clearly shows how brands such as Dior and Ebel are not performing at all well in the market.

They also looked at which price segment of watches is performing best and found that without any doubt, the best performing segment is for high end watches, which it categorises as costing more than $5000 each.

The results would seem to be good news for the biggest groups. They say that the investment implications are that these trends favour Swatch Group and Richemont. They say:

Swatch Group remains our preferred idea in the hard luxury space thanks to best-in-class supply chain capabilities, diversification across price points and strong momentum for Omega, Longines and Tissot. Richemont’s main brands are also performing well – we will hear from the company (i.e. interim results) on November 11.

Please bear in mind that this report is a few months old (so don’t go and start buying shares just because this blog had a post on how great the industry is). Also note that I’m here to provide news and interesting facts on the industry, not investment advice. With that little disclaimer out the way, I thought I’d also share another piece of outdated stockbroker research that someone has given me. This time it is from Nomura, a Japanese bank. In a report titled: Watches: why we like telling the time (August 31, 2011), they say:

We continue to be bullish on the watch industry long term due to: 1) regulatory changes: that should help alleviate longer term bottlenecks and increase capacity utilisation rates; 2) China potential: still just scratching the surface; 3) US: premiumise the category and increase distribution control, which should help increase transparency of stock levels in the channels and elevate pricing power.

Luxury Swiss Watch Brands Are Performing Best: Credit Suisse Says

As with Ford and Chevy, Canon and Nikon, BMW and Mercedes, or Coke and Pepsi, in the world of luxury watches, the debate between Rolex vs Omega is a heated one. These two titan companies (both Swiss in origin) have been battling each other to win the hearts, minds (and pocketbooks) of high-end consumers for decades- and are showing no signs of slowing down. As in other competitions such as these, the source of the debate is not the fact that one is actually better than the other- it’s the fact that they are both generally very good, and the decisive factors in choosing one or the other is more or less a matter of personal choice, and/or in some cases professional need.

The Rolex Submariner - a classic Swiss diving watch

History

As aforementioned, both watch makers have a long history. Before the time of Quartz watches, Omega was the top-selling brand of Swiss watches, and was consistently selling more units per year than Rolex. At that time, although Rolex was selling fewer units, they were doing so at a higher price point.

Omega also made history but providing the first watches used in the NASA space program yet in the 1970s it lost its way in terms of marketing. The battle of Rolex vs Omega really tilted in the direction of Rolex, which did some brilliant marketing by providing its watches to world famous explorers and placing them in popular movies.

With the advent of Quartz-battery powered watches however, many Swiss watch producers (including Omega) unsuccessfully tried to compete with the Japanese in producing cheap quartz watches, while Rolex (which was owned by a private trust, and as such, didn’t have to cave in to market pressure) stayed the course, and continued to focus on producing high quality mechanical watches (although they did experiment a bit with quartz movements).

Under the worldwide economic crisis in the 1970s and a restructuring as part of the swatch group in 1983, Omega had become weakened, and Rolex increased market share until it became the undisputed ruler of the Swiss watch world.

Rolex advertisement from 1969

It was only in the past two decades that Omega managed to really make a comeback under the leadership of the Swatch Group. Part of this was due to new marketing strategies that focussed on product placements. James Bond started wearing an Omega (traditionally it had been a Rolex Submariner but in in the 1980s he switched to wearing an Omega Seamaster) and the popularity of Omega vs Rolex watches started to shift. You can read a fascinating history of James Bond’s watches here.

Since then, although Omega continues to produce quartz-battery powered watches alongside its traditional mechanical movements, it seems to have also adopted many elements of Rolex’s business model (i.e. higher pricing, tighter controls of dealer pricing, increasing advertising, etc) and has thus increased it’s market share to become more of a direct competitor.

In terms of the watches themselves, being quartz-powered most would agree that Omegas are more accurate (although Omega also makes a huge range of fantastic mechanical watches). As such for those who need a super-accurate timepiece for professional reasons, the Omega would definitely be the better bet. At the same time however, for those who are more interested in the prestige of a luxury watch, and can handle a higher up-front cost, Rolex would be best way to go. What the Rolex watch may lose in its accuracy (which is still extremely good), it makes up in its brand value. As Rolex is the most well known, desired, and copied watch brand in the world, (and most likely will continue to be so in the foreseeable future) it is the safest bed for re-sell. Furthermore, (and most likely as a function of it’s higher price) Rolex is known to have both customer service that is second to none, and a wider dealer network.

Even though Omega watches are both more revolutionary (while Rolex watches are ‘evolutionary’) and accurate, the brand name, resale value and customer service of Rolex make it an equal contender to Omega- if not in sales, then at least in the hearts of consumers. The contest between Omega v Rolex for the title of king of the Swiss watch brands will keep going for some time yet.

Rolex has also determinedly associated itself with adventure and sports and major personalities such as Reinhold Messner, a famous mountaineer who became a prominent brand ambassador for Rolex by saying he never climbs without his Rolex Oysterquartz (see picture).

The Omega Speedmaster and Space

Omega Speedmaster Advertisement from 1975

In his book, Marking Time, Michael Korda, tells the story of how Omega’s Speedmaster was selected by NASA for its astronauts. The selection was not, as you might imagine, an exhaustive process in which watchmakers were asked to supply specifications and to bid for a space watch (which would probably have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, the way procurement projects usually do).

Instead, having not given much thought to the subject, NASA’s engineers suddenly realised quite late in the space programme that they needed a watch. They searched Houston’s watch stores and came up with the Speedmaster, which is lighter and a bit easier to wear than the Rolex Daytona, and also about a third of the price.

They picked it because it was waterproof, seemed quite sturdy and not too expensive.

“To own an Omega is to associate yourself with the astronauts, for the Omega Speedmaster Professional was the first watch worn on the moon and bore on the back of its case an engraved certification of that fact from NASA.”

On the other hand, he writes:

“To own a Rolex is to identify yourself with race car drivers, people who climbed Everest and sports celebreties of all kinds.

 Buzz Aldrin’s missing Omega

In his book, Magnificent Desolation, the astronaut Buzz Aldrin says that all the astronauts were required to hand back their watches after their missions. All of the watches are accounted for (and housed safely in the vaults of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC) except for the one that he wore on the moon.

He said he handed over his Omega Speedmaster to NASA’s Johnson Space Center to be shipped to the Smithsonian. The box with his other stuff got there but not the watch.

“People have told me that the Speedmaster I wore on the moon is the Holy Grail of watches for serious collectors, and I assume that the search for it will go on.”

Aldrin writes that 40 years after he stood ont eh moon he was invited by Omega to Basel where it presented him with a brand new Omega Speedmaster.

The history of Omega watches

Omega dates back to 1880 when it was part of the firm, Louis Brandt and Son. At the time this was one of the world’s leading watchmakers with production of over 100,000 watches a year (Vintage Wristwatches by Reyne Haines).

The name Omega was apparently suggested by as early as 1903, but the first watch to appear under this name was released in 1909 at the Gordon Bennett Cup, an international ballooning contest and fitting place to launch the watch. It was soon adopted widely as a aviators’ watch and in 1917 the Royal Flying Corps, which later become the Royal Air Force, adopted it

A display advertisement for Rolex from 1983 showing the famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner wearing his Rolex on Everest

Rolex Vs Omega: A Brief History of Two Great Watch Brands

The history of some of the more popular Swiss Watch brands dates as far back as 1735. Swiss watch makers today draw on a tradition and craft that has been built up over centuries. So although many Swiss watch manufacturers use the most modern techniques and technology, their craft is one that runs deep in their blood.

Is is for this reason that Swiss watch companies are still so renowned for their high quality and why many of these watches are even more popular today than they were 100 years ago. There are numerous brands to choose from, however, there are a few that stand above the rest and are the most sought after watches and famous Swiss watch brands available.

Rolex

One of the most well-known and most  popular Swiss watch brands is Rolex. This is partly because Rolex watches are a well recognized status-symbol. The Rolex brand has a rich history that has developed since 1908 when the name was submitted for trademark. Rolex watches are distinctive and breathtaking. Today it is still one of the most counterfeited watches around the world. An authentic Rolex will cost at least $4800.00 with many styles that will cost over $45,000.00. You can find pre-owned watches for as low as $2500.00 depending on the age and style of the watch.

Some of the most popular lines include the Submariner, Oyster Perpetual, the Yachtmaster-II, Day-Date, Datejust, Daytona and the GMT Master II. It is a wide enough range that there is one for every taste, from the stylish dress watch to a rugged outdoor one. The most popular Rolex is probably the Rolex Submariner although the Rolex Daytona has a huge following too.

Omega

The original Nasa-issue Omega Speedmaster watch

Omega is probably the second-most famous Swiss Watches. In popular culture it is renowned for having been adopted by James Bond (who traditionally used to wear a Rolex). More important is the fact that Omega was the first wristwatch that was sent to space. In the past these watches were seen as something of a poor man’s Rolex, but in recent years Omega Swiss watches have managed to re-establish their reputation in their own right.

The leading Omega is the Speedmaster. In times past this was thought of as a cheap version of the Rolex Daytona. But since it was selected by Nasa it is now widely known as the first watch on the moon. Nasa notes that although it was never specifically designed to be used in space, it performed admirably. In space-walks it was worn on the outside of the space suit. It as, Nasa says, still worn on many current missions too.

In more recent years the Omega has also gained fame as being the watch worn by James Bond (or 007). In 1995 Bond dumped his Rolex for an Omega Seamaster Ocean with a blue dial.

Hublot

Hublot Watches are a real newcomer to the market. This is a brand that has only really emerged over the past decade or so under the leadership of Jean-Claude Biver, an inspirational marketer with a real passion for watches. These watches are unimaginably modern, using materials that include Kevlar and rubber. The Hublot Big Bang deliberately sets out to differentiate itself from all other Swiss watch brands. Unless you are young, modern and rich you probably won’t get a Hublot as your first watch but you may well choose to get it as a second watch to add to a collection.

Tag Heuer

Tag Heuer watches have quickly become popular and some styles are as expensive as Rolex watches. Known for creating a watch with a high level of accuracy it has become a favorite watch of sports enthusiasts. Tag Heuer has become the official watch for many sporting events. You can find some of there styles that sell for $775 and many of their high-end styles will range up to several thousand dollars or more. The watches are beautiful and have quickly become a very popular watch among men and women alike.

Breitling

Breitling watches are a favorite and unofficial watch choice of pilots. These watches are exceptional quality timepieces that were originally marketed to professionals such as pilots. You can find some styles for approximately $1895.00.with a few styles such as the Breitling Bentley that sell for $99,000.00. Designed with the best technology, the watches will last a lifetime. Breitling watches are distinctive and have unique features that set them apart from many of the high-end watches on the market.

Affordable Swiss Watch brands

Wenger: One of the most popular Swiss Watch Brands

Most of the luxury Swiss watches mentioned above are the finest in the world. But they also happen to cost thousands of dollars each (if you are lucky).  That doesn’t mean that people of more modest wealth can’t also enjoy Swiss quality and style. For there is also a large range of affordable Swiss watches that start much more cheaply. Generally these will have quartz movements, rather than mechanical ones, but they will still be made to exacting standards. The cheaper Swiss watch brands won’t cost more than a month’s salary, but they still give satisfaction and can be worn with pride.

Wenger

If you are looking for affordable Swiss watches you would do well to look at the high quality Wenger brand. Wenger Swiss watches are popular and very affordable as many styles start at a $210.00. The company was established in 1886 and was a well-known manufacturer of the Swiss Army Knife. Wenger started making watches in 1997 and the company was committed to making an attractive line of quality watches. Since then, they have developed a line of ladies watches and sport watches. The watches are very attractive and made with Swiss accuracy and precision. They may not carry the exorbitant price tag of the many other popular watches; however, they are a beautiful line of stylish watches.

Swatch

Many more popular Swiss Watch Brands available are affordable. Swiss quality is not limited to watches that carry a high price tag. Swatch makes a great line of cheap Swiss watches that are still pretty well made. Many of the most popular watchmakers have developed more affordable lines of watches. You do not have to spend thousands of dollars to have a quality Swiss made timepiece. Although, if you are looking for a status symbol that advertises your individual success, a high-end Swiss watch may be a solution. You will want to shop at a reputable dealer to avoid purchasing a counterfeit.

People looking for an affordable watch can do a lot worse than try a Swatch. These generally don’t cost much more than $50, yet because they are still pretty well made and look good they are among the world’s most popular watches. They also come in enough designs and colours to make almost anyone happy. I own a couple for times when I’m running at night or going into a bad neighbourhood and don’t want to risk having an expensive watch stolen.

The Most Popular Swiss Watch Brands

The Rolex Submariner comes from a line of Swiss watches known to be among the most luxurious in the world.  Say the words Swiss Watch and the odds are that people will think of Rolex first. The submariner has a long and illustrious past. It was first introduced in 1953 and since then it has gained widespread popularity as a water-resistant watch and soon after its introduction it was already seen as an instant favourite among the pioneers of deep-sea diving. Part of its mystique clearly relates to the fact that this is a superbly engineered product. But it also owes its fame to clever marketing helped by, among other things, its placement on the wrist of Sean Connery when he played the role of 007 in in the early James Bond series. Having “Commander Bond” wearing your watch on his adventures would have been a great help in establishing its reputation for style and toughness. Yet it was not just in its looks. In many ways Rolex helped to popularize the dive watch, with many claiming that this was in fact the original diving watch with its resistance to 100 meters (since increased).

Since then, Rolex has managed to keep the watch alive with constant innovation. By the mid-1960s  some significant change in its design were introduced.  Rounded shoulders were added as opposed to the pyramid-shaped shoulders  of the earlier models These surround the crown (winder) to provide it with protection from bangs and knocks. The other significant change was the use of Tritium-infused paint instead of radium.  Rolex also used white printing instead of silver gilt.
Over the years Rolex has continued to refine the watch, improving it steadily by adding to its features. New models are now more water-resistant than older ones, for instance, while a whole range of sibling watches has grown out of the original stable. These include the Rolex Daytona, the Rolex Sea Dweller and the Yach-Master.
Apart from the sheer joy of owning one of the masterpieces is the knowledge that, in general, these watches retain their value over time. They are not just pure luxuries, but if well cared for can be real investments and family heirlooms

The Rolex Submariner: A guest post

The name “Rolex” immediately creates an image of a company that produces quality and luxurious watches. It is no coincidence. This is one of the world’s most reputed brands of Swiss Watch. This watch manufacturer makes approximately 200 watches each day. It also generates revenues of almost 3 billion dollars a year. Rolex stores are present in big cities around the world, like London, Paris, New York, Sydney, Santiago, etc. Immaculate technical craftsmanship along with a high degree of magnificence is responsible for the worldwide popularity of this watch.

Among this fantastic assortment of watches there is one watch, Rolex Daytona, which is bound to catch the attention of watch connoisseurs. According to its history, this amazing collection began its journey in the year of 1961. At that time Rolex started manufacturing the Rolex cosmograph-watches. Along with other sponsors, the company sponsored the 24-hr Daytona race. In honor of this famed race, Rolex ascribed the name ‘Daytona’ to its range of chronograph watches.

The rich vein of tradition still persists with these models. The initial versions of Rolex Daytona watches were 6239, 6238, 6240, etc. Newer models were also manufactured and this trend continued till 1987. After that Rolex stopped producing those versions, and instead launched models post-1988, which were slightly different from the former models. The size of the new models was bigger and the watches had self-winding motion. The new Daytona looked like an upgraded version of the El-Primero caliber from Zenith. In the year 2000, this Zenith movement got replaced by the 3-register Rolex-designed chronograph-movement.

The Daytona range of watches is bound to satisfy even the most fastidious of customers. These superior-quality expensive chronograph models are available in a limited manner. Hence, the Rolex Daytona is considered to be an extremely rare model to possess. The Paul Newman dial is the major attraction of the most exclusive Daytona watches that are available only in limited editions. This dial comprises of sub-dials having colors that contrast with the principal dial.  The sub-dials instead of lines have block-markers and various other attractive features.

As these watches are extremely expensive, people with modest means are not able to purchase one of these exclusive hand-pieces. However there is a viable alternative present for them and that is to buy replicas of Rolex Daytona models. These watches also maintain high levels of quality and craftsmanship, and are available at affordable prices. Many people have been able to fulfill their dreams to a certain extent by buying these replica watches.

Rolex has always been involved in innovating constantly to cater to the increasing demands of its customers. These innovations have also influenced the watch industry in a positive manner. The notable innovations of this brand which have opened new vistas are – the water-resistant watch case, automatic date-changing feature on the watch-dial, simultaneous display of 2 different time zones, etc. Rolex was also the pioneer to receive chronometer-certification for its wristwatches.

In the catalogue of this company, one can find men’s as well as women’s watches, sports watches, chic watches, classic watches, etc. Various chronographs are offered by Rolex, addressing unique needs and preferences. If a person plans to gift one of these watches to his close friend or relative on any special occasion, he might be tempted to consider opting for a replica watch. But, no matter what people may say about the quality being the same, it just isn’t. There is no doubt that the copies are of inferior quality.

Superior quality is always maintained and most of the features are present in these replica watches. It is claimed that certain accessories like watches and shoes truly reflect a person’s taste and style. Even if a person does not utter a single word about himself, his accessories would portray the background from which he is hailing.

But it also needs to be kept in mind that the exorbitant price of the original Rolex Daytona watches makes it out of reach for most of the people. The hefty price-tags that are attached due to the brand value and reputation of the product are sometimes impractical. Hence the replica watches are crucial in providing respite to those people who have the requisite class but do not have the excess money to spend.

The Rolex Daytona: A Guest Post by Sharmi

If you are in the market for one or more quality Swiss diving watches, you had better take the time to really get to know your options out there.  Diving watches are a must, it is not like you can dive without one, and if your watch dies in the deep blue, that can really ruin your trip fast so having one you can really count on being right every time is not something you can afford to be without.  Swiss watches are known for their reliability and the watches they offer are no exception to the rule.  Take a peek at the ones offered online, the internet is a great place to buy things like this, and figure out which watch suites your tastes and needs.  This is a big purchase, and likely to cost you a boatload of money (pardon the pun) in the process.

The Rolex Submariner

This is the crème dele crème of Swiss diving watches, and is by far in a way one of the very best products you can buy, period.  If you are looking for a really phenomenal gift for a husband, father, or son who loves to dive this is the gift to boot.  Trust me when I tell you, the Submariner is the watch to beat in the quality department.  The chronometer has COSC certification, it is about forty millimeters, is made of high quality steel, boasts a black, rotatable bezel, has a sapphire crystal, and a black face and dial.  The Submariner is waterproof to three hundred meters or one thousand feet, is self winding and has a flip lock bracelet.  The Submariner has been a big name in diving watches since it came out in nineteen fifty three.  The Rolex website doesn’t say how much this bad boy is going to put you back, but if you are lucky enough to receive one as a gift from say, your lovely wife, know that you are going to be rubbing her shoulders for a pretty long while.

Swiss Army Dive Watches Offered

This company runs the Dive Master 500 line in watches, and there are six in this line to choose from.  Two of the six have a stainless watch band, and the other four have a rubber strap band.  Boasting Swiss analog quartz movement, and there are two with black faces, two with white faces, and one which has a blue face, and one with an orange face.  The models in this line start at about five hundred dollars and end up at around six hundred dollars for the ones with a stainless steel band.   They, like the Citizen, feature luminescent hands for added visibility underwater and have a three year manufacturer’s warrantee, ensuring that you enjoy your watch for a long time.  They all have a screw down case back and are good for diving up to over sixteen hundred feet, or five hundred meters which is very impressive.  Swiss diving watches are a big name in diving safety, and the Swiss Army company delivers this along with so many of its other reliable products offered.

If money is really an issue for you you may also want to consider some watches made in other parts of the world such as the The Citizen Professional Diver.

This is, at least in performance capability, comparable to the Submariner.  Watertight to three hundred meters (one thousand feet) this watch will never need a battery, and will be able to gather all the energy it will ever need from light it collects.  Retail price is almost three hundred dollars, but I was able to find the watch online offered on sale for about two hundred twenty dollars or so.  The case is forty four millimeters across and is highly visible while underwater.  The bracelet is a durable black rubber band, ensuring that the diver doesn’t lose the watch while out and about under water and has a five year Citizen United States warrantee.  I also really like how the hands on this watch luminescent as you are underwater, making them easier to see in compromised light situations that you may be diving in (like at home here in the Puget Sound, at least you will be able to see you are wearing a watch).  Citizen is a great watch and has been around for a long time, it is a good name to trust.

Guest Post – Bill S

Swiss Diving Watches: Timepieces you can Trust Your Life With

For many of us, a watch has become an unnecessary luxury. To get us to work on time we can easily turn to our televisions, cellular phones, iPods. In fact it is hard to find a digital device these days that doesn’t tell the time. But for a scuba diver who enters an unforgiving environment and has to time every move down to the last minute, survival quite literally rests on the quality of the dive watch they are wearing. So it is no surprise that many of the most famous Swiss watches built their reputations on the quality of their diving watches. Take Blancpain, an uncompromising producer of mechanical watches that shuns digital electronics. Although its roots date back well over 100 years, its cemented its reputation in the 1950s for specialising in selling dive watches to navies around the world.

The Blancpain Dive Watch

Among the first forces to adopt the Blancpain dive watch was the French navy, which set up a “combat swimming” unit in 1952. Its 50 fathoms waterproof watch went on to become a classic when it was adopted by Jacques Cousteau, the father of modern scuba diving. Towards the end of that decade Blancpain designed a watch to meet an American military specification with special high-visibility hands and a non-magnetic case. It was adopted by the US Navy in 1964. A slightly modified version was later taken into service by the German navy. Unfortunately Blancpain subsequently went bankrupt and was later only saved and resurrected by Jean-Claude Biver, a charismatic and insightful watchmaker who coined the phrase that Blancpain had never made a quartz watch, and never would.

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner

Another storied Swiss watch maker that staked its reputation on making diving watches that could stand up to the toughest abuse was Rolex. The Rolex Oyster perhaps deserves recognition as the worlds first dive watch. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, which went into production in 1953, claimed to be the first watch that was waterproof to 100m. Its popularity soon spread among military and commercial divers because of its reliability and resistance to extreme conditions. Rolex also marketed it cleverly by getting explorers and divers to use it and then featuring them in its advertising campaigns. Among the more gelling publicity stunts the watch was put through was to have one descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, one of the deepest parts of the ocean. Even after being exposed to the crushing pressure of water at a depth of 11km below the sea it emerged unscathed. The Rolex Sea Dweller dive watch has also accompanied divers on the deepest recorded dives by humans swimming freely. This, however, was to a depth of little more than 500 meters. It is clear, under these circumstances, that the weak link in the chain is the human diver.

Omega Seamaster

A relative newcomer to the world of Swiss dive watches is the Omega Seamaster. Omega had another claim to fame in that its watch was the first on the moon, but it didn’t want to be left out in the dive to the bottom of the ocean. The seamaster had been around for decades but was really a statement of style rather than a functional tool for divers until the 1970s. Yet now Omega has raised the bar adding a helium release valve to depressurise the watch. It also claimed to have produced the first chronometer that could be used under water.  Many people who want a titanium watch go for one of these, partly because it was made famous by James Bond in the mid 1990s when Mr Biver (yes, he of Blancpain fame) bought the rights from the producers to get 007 to switch away from Rolex. Ever since the Seamaster has been know by many as the 007 watch.

Dive Watch or Computer?

Classical or mechanical dive watches have,  to some extent, been superseded in diving by sophisticated dive computers that monitor and calculate all the minutia related to avoiding getting the bends by staying deep for too long. Yet there is still something beautiful and simple about a mechanical dive watch with a rotating bezel and luminous hands that tells you at a glance how long you’ve been under the water. There is also something comforting about a technology that is tried and tested with little that can go wrong. And even if you don’t dive, owning a Swiss mechanical dive watch is like owning a piece of history.

Safe in the Hands of a Classic Swiss Dive Watch