Batches of limited editions based around similar designs seem a good way of doing business to me. Not every design will be right for everyone, and there will be another one along soon. The 36mm Sealanders were too small for me. Now there is a 39mm variant. No doubt other colours will follow. Maybe some will have other differences, such as different dial textures, or graduated colours, or something else. I don't really see a problem with not repeating a particular design.

There are dozens of CW designs that have really appealed to me, but I can't buy every single one unfortunately.

^^This, Breitling have a different term for it but are doing the same sort of thing with their 'capsule' collections, limited production for a fixed period, unspecified numbers. It doesn't stop their ADs telling purchasers, when they're gone thats it, only to find 12 months later a few are mysteriously back in stock or variations on the theme added. Well they weren't an LE!

albionphoto wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:15 am Maybe CW should follow Omega's lead and not make any more LEs. Just decide to make a small batch and don't tell anyone. Omega call this limited production. Then if it proves to be unexpectedly popular make a few more. Rinse and repeat until they don't sell out as quickly. Voila, no one is upset about having an LE reprised and CW sell more watches.

I am being a bit cynical but making "limited production" runs rather than limited editions gives a brand a lot of options. And yes, it is true that Omega haven't made a limited edition watch for nearly three years. They seem to be making the popular watches very slowly instead. This even extends to the green Seamaster launched in March which is still not regularly available. Keeps them out of Jomashop I suppose.

This also makes true LEs carry more weight. Having just been invited behind the curtain a little I have a better appreciation of how/why things are being done the way they are. Suppliers play a larger role than you would think in the numbers produced, at what rate they are produced and whether or not the product will be ongoing. This is stuff the buyer generally never sees. For all we know the green ceramic on the Seamaster might take 3x as long to make. They would have to either upscale the manufacturing facility or settle for a slower product roll out. I am not saying this is true, I have 0 inside knowledge inside Omega but it is possible. I think that the black curtain between the maker and consumer has been so thick and dark that people tend to go to the nefarious rather than look at any other possibility.

In the past CW has also used the LEs to do a little experimentation before a feature hits the normal lineup. I think this is okay too. It gives the designers a chance to play with different materials/techniques.

rkovars wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:05 pm

albionphoto wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:15 am Maybe CW should follow Omega's lead and not make any more LEs. Just decide to make a small batch and don't tell anyone. Omega call this limited production. Then if it proves to be unexpectedly popular make a few more. Rinse and repeat until they don't sell out as quickly. Voila, no one is upset about having an LE reprised and CW sell more watches.

I am being a bit cynical but making "limited production" runs rather than limited editions gives a brand a lot of options. And yes, it is true that Omega haven't made a limited edition watch for nearly three years. They seem to be making the popular watches very slowly instead. This even extends to the green Seamaster launched in March which is still not regularly available. Keeps them out of Jomashop I suppose.

This also makes true LEs carry more weight. Having just been invited behind the curtain a little I have a better appreciation of how/why things are being done the way they are. Suppliers play a larger role than you would think in the numbers produced, at what rate they are produced and whether or not the product will be ongoing. This is stuff the buyer generally never sees. For all we know the green ceramic on the Seamaster might take 3x as long to make. They would have to either upscale the manufacturing facility or settle for a slower product roll out. I am not saying this is true, I have 0 inside knowledge inside Omega but it is possible. I think that the black curtain between the maker and consumer has been so thick and dark that people tend to go to the nefarious rather than look at any other possibility.

In the past CW has also used the LEs to do a little experimentation before a feature hits the normal lineup. I think this is okay too. It gives the designers a chance to play with different materials/techniques.

That must be especially true for small orders. I imagine there's also going to be a minimum batch quantity to justify the production set up.
It must help therefore if CW (ie the manufacturer's customer) can use a small number of standard dial templates, so that some watches can share some components. They may plan for a minimum of 30 of these but wouldn't mind if they could increase it to satisfy 50 applicants.

In passing, you could see that with Tribus. (Sorry for cursing) All of their watches used the same 41mm case, same crystal, and all used the same dial blank, with the 6 o'clock recess acting as small seconds, GMT subdial and graphic shield. It gave them some variety but having just one basic watch design was also quite limiting.

I draw a distinction between Limited Edition and Limited Run/production. If I buy a limited edition (which I have) and then a short while later CW comes out with another run of what is a nearly identical watch (which they have), I’ll get mad (which I did). I feel cheated because my LE isn’t so LE.

Labeling something a limited run or limited production is not an absolute and leaves the door open for more production. If I bought a limited run, then they did an additional run because of demand, that’s perfectly fair in my book. It was never advertised as an LE.

Now another run of an LE, but in a different color? That’s a grey area. I totally understand someone being annoyed by that. It’s maybe not a violation of the letter of the law, so to speak, but it does skirt up against the spirit of the law, if you ask me.

There have been cases where CW introduced a limited edition model (perhaps testing the waters on a design element?) then relatively quickly followed it up with a production model that was darn near identical. I think that’s terrible. I can’t remember the models involved, but I think it involved titanium C60 diver a few years ago. Had I bought that LE only to then see a regular release that was a borderline clone I’d have been furious.

That’s just my 2 cents.