Zenith Royal Oak?

[Nav01L]

Originally Posted by _speedmaster_

I get it. But not everything can be fresh and unique; Zenith do as good of a job as any in terms of venturing out into the deep end of design every now and then.

People on this forum scrutinize every detail of new sport watches, looking to see if there is any hint of Genta in there. Why? Do we do the same thing when a company releases a new dress watch? Do we say, I can't believe Kari Voutilanen is using essentially the same lugs and case as Urban Jurgensen? No. There are only so many ways to make an integrated sports watch, of course there will be derivatives of the first one ever made. It's not a big deal in the slightest.

Also, there is a very real risk in terms of creating something completely new. You mention the Octo Finissimo, but the Parmigiani Tonda, Urban Jurgensen One, Lang & Heyne Hektor have all been highly criticized on this forum, despite their completely new/fresh take on a sports watch design. For the most part, people say they want unique and fresh designs, but they rarely vote with their wallet. I can get a discount on the Octo and the three other sports watches I mentioned. I would have to sacrifice my first born to get a nautilus or royal oak, despite those watches being relatively untouched for decades. People say they want change, but that's just lip service. They just want to have the ability to see unique things, but at the end of the day stand in line for vanilla offerings.

Most folks don’t vote with their wallet, they vote with their ego (and/or their insecurities as well as their need to belong to and bear status within their tribe). They want to look sophisticated by demanding originality, but what they want even more is to display status among their peers. And if all their peers will recognize has been designed by one Mr Genta, well then the best and dearest of his creations it must be.