Someone asked me on Instagram what I think of the new Greubel Forsey expansion and their perceived focus on sport watches. This was my response:
We’ll see! I don’t particularly care if any new watch ever gets produced. Plenty of good ones exist
I want to flesh this out more fully here.
Mechanical watches are somewhat unique in that they are designed not to really age. With proper maintenance, they should work for several human lifetimes without degradation. The dials and hands are (more or less) hermetically sealed and preserved, and the cases are made of materials that can be refinished to near new. In many cases, they even get better with age, and unlike wine do not cease to exist when used. They are anachronistic by nature so do not particularly benefit from technological advances. And while they can fall victim to fashion trends, they are usually made for wealthy men, the demographic that is perhaps the least pandered to by fashion. This is all to say that unlike the phone or computer you’re likely reading this on, or even your other luxuries like your car, there’s no inherent reason why this year’s watch releases should be any better than those of last year or last decade.
Watch brands, retailers, event planners, and press all have to keep selling new watches to survive. Naturally massive resources are used to promote the latest releases. While we all wish for our favorite brands’ continued prosperity, and are happy for them to work for their own survival, he world of great watches only opens up once you are able to resist this.
Good watches are not dependent on time.
8 years ago I made this video explaining how to tell the best early Journe Tourbillons from the lesser ones. At the time, there was no real taxonomy as far as 1st series, 2nd, etc — no one cared at all. Every version was worth approximately $65,000 and only maybe 20 of us on Earth even knew there were differences. But this was clearly a great watch whether it was recognized as one or not. Whether FP Journe ever makes a better watch, or even if they start making G-Shocks, will not change this fact.
When a watch is good, it is good. If it is new, the only relevant question is, “Is it good?” Very rarely does a new watch reconceptualize any watch of the past, and certainly cannot make a good watch bad. Perhaps at the most, a new watch can inform people as to why an overlooked watch might have been good (the new Vacheron 222 is a good example of this).
The timelessness of good watches has many implications, but two are most important. The obvious is that one need not be swayed by ads or Instagram posts of the latest and greatest for their purchases. The history of watchmaking is available to you with many bargains to be found and interesting pieces to discover. It makes the watch world much more interesting.
The second is that concerns over “the direction of the brand” or any other conjecture as to the future based on a crop of releases is a fool’s errand. In watches, all that matters is what exists. If it is good, it will always be good. If you cannot recognize that watches like the IP1, GMT, or Technique are truly great watches, you need not concern yourself about “Greubel Forsey’s direction.” Just buy great watches.