[Goodwatch]

Let me begin by saying I’m a sucker for those little ‘extras’. My Caran d’Ache pen came in a beautiful wooden box lined with alcantara. Would it write worse if it came in a little plastic box? No! Does the wooden box add to the price? Yes. But it’s just that little extra attention that makes a fine object even better as a package. Rolex don’t have to do anything to sell their watches. (But they still advertise). Even if the watches came in a brown paper bag they would be sold. So no beautiful wooden boxes, no elaborate warranty schemes (like Cartier used to have), no extras. Why should they? One of the answers could be: respect for your customers and the desire to do a little extra. Not because they have to but because they want to. Is it because in their corner of the market, they have no competition? Without competition and with customers who snatch your products from your hands, why would you bother anyway?

Is the part of the quaint way Rolex always operates? No yearly account of sales figures, no shareholders, a family owned trust, an iron grip on AD’s, an iron grip on pricing, etc., etc. This looks more like a monopolist than a normal business. Do they care about their image? I don’t know, the watches stay the same for decades and real innovations hardly occur. But a large part of the customer base, who only buy the name and the image couldn’t care less. Like most of the people around us. An automatic is a kinetic watch that doesn’t need a battery and was invented by Seiko about 10 years ago. And what do YOU know about it anyway, they say. Nothing, nothing, your absolutely right.