Food for thought...

[JJ Irani]

Hi guys,

Ever wondered where all the millions and millions of watches that are produced each year go?

The other day I was on a website which showed up a list of all the watch manufacturers...from A ~ Z...and I was quite shocked and amazed at the number of names I hadn't even heard of.

Now for some food for thought....let's say the world's population is around 6 billion people...most of which constitute third world countries which are generally over-populated and quite a few genuinely poverty stricken. Even five dollars (which is around 250 Rupees to a poor Indian) is like a week's wages to some...that's right, you heard me correct the first time!

Out of these 6 billion people on earth, I would hazard a wild guess and say around 3 billion would be actually wearing watches. Of these 3 billion people, let's say at least 90% were "cheapos" and just bought a watch to tell time and bugger all else...so any POS would do for them. Which means around 2.7 billion people don't give a rat's ass about what's on their wrist as long as it tells time.

Which now leaves us with the remaining 300 million people. Of these, at least 90% would be looking at "all that glitters IS gold"...so they'd be looking for watches that are gold-plated with zircon for diamonds and some bling and even fakes which show-off reputed brand names. Of course, these guys would also be into the cheaper brands which are still reputable but very affordable (e.g. Seikos, Citizens, Nike, and other similarly priced barnds).

That leaves us with around 10% of 300 million, i.e. 30 million watch enthusisasts like us all over the world. Of these 30 million, I'd hazard yet another guess and say that around 40~50% would be into serious watches while the rest would be looking for good brand names like Tag, Oris, Omega, Tissot, Rado, etc....popular names yet affordable.

Finally, we are down to around 15 million or so crazy fanatics like us who spend thousands of dollars on something that merely tells time amongst a few other things. Which means that really good, expensive and high-end watch would make up the market share for the 15 million odd watch users.

Rolex supposedly manufactures around a million each year. Not all of them sell instantly...some stick around for years on dealer's shelves. Which means there is still a fair share for other high-end producers.

I'm not trying to make any point with this topic....just thinking out aloud and wanting some feedback from what you guys think.

I also admit it's not my usual kinda serious post and it would have probably fared better elsewhere, but what the heck, even I can get serious sometimes.

JJ

[Seadweller]

I prefer it when you're not serious.

[advocatia]

Not serious? I'll take lucid!

[dman]

That is why there is the Grey market, so the AD can "accidentally" sell the ones that don't move.

Think about all the fakes on top of the real ones that are made. The total number would probably more than double.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by advocatia

Not serious? I'll take lucid!

LOL! Hey Andy, stop being a stranger and post more often, okay?