This is his response to my question about whether he would consider himself a businessman that has found his niche, or if he was a WIS that decided to take that next step.

From Christopher Ward:

Your correspondence is quite timely, as…today we (the collective we) have been reflecting on what it is that makes us the brand we are going to be……..and the use of mixed tenses is intentional…because we do have it now….we also have a passion and desire to deliver not to a niche but to a bigger audience a product / service offer that is second to none. To engage in a dialogue with our customers that is generally unheard of, and to show an openness and honesty that is definitely lacking in the business world…….so does that make me/us businessmen or a watchmakers.

Well we do make watches, in fact we make the cheapest most expensive watches in the world….or perhaps that should be the least expensive most expensive watches in the world….the words aside…there is no denying that the little ben you are wearing on your wrist is a watch that stands upto and maybe even betters watches that sell for considerably higher prices elsewhere. And we also know we can improve them and that sometimes we will get it wrong….but the reason we will succeed will not be because we out designed Breguet, or because we were cheaper than Hamilton, it will be because like a watch movement “its what’s on the inside that counts”… which was the slogan we internally used right at our inception but to date haven’t pushed it to the fore….an interesting topic to debate perhaps…and I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t interested in your thoughts on that one.

There is no doubt that breguet, blancpain et al are the real watchmakers in this world, and in truth perhaps one day we will copy their hands if we feel it is right to do so, after all somewhere along the line every inspiration in life is drawn from something that has gone before.

What’s on the inside that counts….. its just about doing the right stuff…..its about being honest….its about putting others first…its about engaging in life, in business. We will never compete in my lifetime against Omega with watches that sell for those sorts of prices….why

A) because we haven’t got the resource built up over decades, and

B) because we don’t believe in charging customers prices that are inflated because of lavish marketing campaigns headed by the likes of Cindy Crawford or Pierce Brosnin.

The business model we have is based on utilising exceptional high quality materials and components from the best sources built up over years.

Our philosophy is that a Swiss movement today is better than a Chinese movement today….it may not always be the case…but it is today…however is a Swiss person any better than a Chinese person when it comes to putting a leather strap on a case…. Not really…but they cost a lot more to do so….

Of course the Swiss brands make their cases in China and assemble them in Switzerland so they can say Swiss Made on the outside….but…its whats on the inside that counts…. Or at least it is for us….

…we will continue to use Swiss movements whilst they are the best, and we will concede that having Swiss Made on your watch will sell more watches at the same price point….but the world is changing…slowly…but changing nonetheless…. The Hong Kong watch industry in the main has moved to China and is continuing to develop and is rapidly becoming the worlds factory floor. Now I’m talking like a businessman rather than watchmaker.

Posted some years ago...but i thought it was worth doing a little thread necromancy. Have a read and see how Chris's comments way back hold up to the present day.

Thankyou village - an interesting read...

and generally still accurate to this day - the only difference seems to be that he has moved to Switzerland to have swiss made on the outside as well as the inside...

perhaps that is a sign that he has moved from watchmaker (doesn't matter where you assemble it - a swiss movement is the sme even if the strap is added in china) to businessman - the market likes to have swiss made on their watches so the identical watch becomes mroe commercial...

Alasdair

It's fun to re-read these old posts and compare and contrast them to what has come to pass.

Hi Joe...good to see you are still about. I thought it was about time for your 6 monthly post

village wrote:Hi Joe...good to see you are still about. I thought it was about time for your 6 monthly post

I'ld like to think I am posting quarterly. So please don't interfere with my delusions!

Kip wrote:Good to hear from you Joe. Just beware... we have rules now about speedposting.

Yes, I saw all that. Just because I am not posting doesn't mean I am not lurking and reading. I'll try to slow it down on the posts though to be a good net citizen. Oops, crap, this makes my third post this weekend, see you in third quarter 2013.