Watches: tech vs craft

Why do you want to go spending all that money on a watch? It’s a question that would probably come from the sort of person who can’t understand why you would pass up the fuel economy of an entry-level Honda Civic for a thoroughly irresponsible Type R. But in case you do ever feel the need to justify your choice, let’s have a crack at the question in light of recent developments in the industry.

Watch companies often disagree over what constitutes value. Every new upstart brand talks about inflated prices among “certain watch companies”. But despite the infighting, people are buying watches like never before, just with an accelerated shift online. Strong sales across the board indicate that the public perception of value is still strong.

Current success, however, is no guarantee things will stay that way in the long-term, so the industry is eyeing the future with caution. A few years ago, a head watchmaker with one of the big Swiss firms told me that within a generation we will likely be able to 3D print luxury watches at home. Choose, click, and in a couple of minutes your watch appears like magic in a little box where you used to keep the fax machine.

Developments like this will make the current shift away from going into physical shops seem like a minor blip. If we can make anything we want at home, where is the value of craftsmanship? We shouldn’t be too quick to write it off, though, because even if you can run off a watch at the click of a button, there will always be someone who can tell the difference.

For now, watch companies are keeping their options open. The future is a mystery, but the past remains the moneymaker. That’s why companies continually mine the archives for ways to add value. A fashionable move in recent years has been adding in bits of unique material to give the watch an extra twist. We have seen parts salvaged from old clocks, boats, planes, cars and motorbikes, then moulded into dials, cases and crowns. They don’t make your watch do anything different, but they give the watch something that can’t easily be replicated, no matter where the tech takes us.

A watch is a consistent companion, a tangible, long-lasting object in a world of increasing fleetingness. And if it’s got some cool stuff worked into it, all the better – it’s hard to put a price on little bits of history.