I've been thinking about this for a while. I have a Word file on my computer where I'm collecting thoughts that may someday be part of a longer treatise, but since so many of my core thoughts center around the brand we all know and love, I suppose you can consider this the abridged version.

I think it's probably easy to say that watch collecting feels different ever since the Bel Canto made its debut, but the shift in what it's like to be a watch collector started before that. The name for it has even changed recently. Watch Collector has given way to Watch Enthusiast. The market is certainly different, with prices going up, and in some cases, coming back down. Watch media has changed too. Hodinkee's reputation has taken a pretty big hit. YouTube influencers are everywhere. The proliferation of Watch Instagram and Watch Crunch has led to the further homogenization of tastes. Even the rise of Ed Sheeran as the world's most famous watch collector (sorry, John Mayer) feels like a sign of a changing hobby.

Thankfully, the changes don't all seem superficial. Microbands are gaining more and more of a foothold in the industry. Complications, like GMT, that used to be out of a typical microband's reach are now popping up regularly. And the whole industry seems to be finding room for companies to grow all over the price spectrum. It's not just Rolex's world anymore even if they are still the unquestioned superpower. Sure, some brands are still struggling, but overall, it seems like a healthy industry. There have been some groundbreaking watch releases in the last five years or so that further signified that the hobby and the industry are changing. Think about how the Black Bay 58 became utterly ubiquitous on social media feeds and enthusiasts' wrists the world over - a testament to the "final form" evolution that has brought with it both universal acclaim and a kind of numbing malaise. Or what about the Moonswatch? People, many of them young, actually went to a brick-and-mortar store and stood in a line for a tangible good that was really nothing more than a facsimile of an anachronism. Or perhaps my personal favorite, the late-to-the-party release of the IWC Ingenieur and how the five-digit price tag went over like a fart in church and seemed to signal the end of the integrated bracelet sports watch craze?

But maybe no recent watch release was as impactful to a changing hobby as Christopher Ward's Bel Canto. You could argue that distinction belongs to the BB58, but the methodical, Rolex-like chipping and adjusting takes the shine away and shifts the spotlight to CW's momentous offering. Instead of a butterfly crawling out from a cocoon, the watch world got a supernova, bright and thunderous in its impact on the rest of the watch world. This is suddenly what is possible for the same price as a Black Bay and less than half of a boring, years-overdue Gerald Genta whatever.

It's hard to believe that a little less than two years ago, even though you and I were stalwart supporters of the brand, CW was indistinguishable from a lot of independent brands out there. Despite a long track record of success and a couple of important firsts to its name, it was hard for CW to get much more than a "Sure, they make nice watches..." out of the watch world commentariat. And now, with the Bel Canto followed by the Twelve and a host of other solid follow-ups, there's about a million different ways that CW's name comes up in the mainstream watch media. The Bel Canto's still got people lining up to get one of the five thousand colorways that have come since the Azurro Blue. It probably feels a lot like your favorite band getting their first play on the radio, over and over again. All of those YouTube influencers are coming out of the woodwork nowadays, claiming that they've been a fan of the brand for years (at least Andrew Morgan was honest on this front) even though they can't name a single model that came out before 2022.

If it weren't our favorite brand at the center of this whirlwind, maybe it would feel less tumultuous. What felt like a quiet little hobby feels a bit nutty now. Even the way that my friends engage with me when I try to talk to them about my previously weird little hobby feels different. They don't quite talk as if I've lost my mind. Maybe they're a little more willing to dig in and think of themselves as someone who could buy one of these things that their dad used to wear.

And maybe, it'll all settle down soon anyway. CW's hot streak can't last forever, and another brand is sure to become the pick of the season. I don't even know if I prefer the hobby from back in 2010 compared to the one in 2024. My bank account certainly prefers the price tags from back then. But even with all of these material differences in the world of watches, there's something a bit more ephemeral that feels at the core of it all, something that I still can't quite put my finger on.

Almost makes me pine for the old logo. Almost.

What a great post. I can really feel where you are coming from. I would also say how eloquently you have expressed your thoughts.

Mike at This watch That Watch last week released an interesting video about Popular Watch Brands Rated. CW was first up, and very well rated. The second one was an equally interesting review of resale trends which didn't feature CW.

Sorry. I still can't get it editing a link on my phone
Rated brands



Watch market

Great post, Pete. The times certainly are a'changing.

All these Johnny-Come-Lately CW fans aren't real fans in my book unless they've been members of this forum for at least 5 years!

Thanks for the extremely well thought out & phrased post. There are defining moments from life in which one thinks in terms of before & after. All of us have those milestones in our lives such as our wedding day or retirement. Many in the world today may break events into life before or after Covid. For our favorite watch company, it does seem that the defining moment is the release of the Bel Canto. As some might like to say, “a game changer.”

Delmar

@Peteo

What an excellent and thought provoking post. Thank you.

I agree, the notion of watch collecting no longer seems like some nerd sitting in a darkened room gurgling and hissing about “my preciousss”.

With exceptions.

Agreed too, that the Bel Canto and to some extent the Twelve have provided transfigurative moments for the brand. I want to discuss something that leads on from there, but I’ll start a new thread so as to preserve yours.

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2024 10:35 am @Peteo

What an excellent and thought provoking post. Thank you.

I agree, the notion of watch collecting no longer seems like some nerd sitting in a darkened room gurgling and hissing about “my preciousss”.

With exceptions.

Agreed. This is definitely what I'm sensing beyond the shockwaves caused by the Bel Canto. The hobby has been swept up by a lot of the same macro trends that have transformed hobbies of all kinds. Not least of these is that it's a little more acceptable to be a nerd with nerdy interests. At the risk of taking the navel-gazing of my post up to 11, this is really the argument that John Mayer has been making ever since that first Talking Watches video.

Congrats to all the nerds out there. We're cool now.

Forgive me, I must be out of the loop. You mentioned that hodinkee has taken a big hit to their reputation. Why is that? I'm not in the loop with horological news.

@Peteo I opened your post several hours ago and just before my wonderful but watch-disinterested wife declared that it being father's day I could have some little say in how we might spend the daylight hours and I resolved to reply to your post later in the day: here I am now.

Did you use a chrono to time how long creating that post took you? Did you have access to running seconds on the centre sweep hand or on a subdial? Did you feel pleased with what you typed - as pleased as I am that you gave generously of your time? Thank you sir and thank you again.

Were watches cheaper/more affordable back then or is there a bit of old man logic at play? I know what my house cost back in 1983 and though in comparison to todays prices the "good old day prices" are now laughably low the fact remains that the money still took a lot of finding.

I quietly yearn for the good old days of C6 and C60 with proper shapely hands and circular indices but I accept that the word has to move along. That said I am so glad not to know whether CW even cares about carbon neutrality or gender confusion: us baby boomers missed that one just like we missed WWII but went to bed in fear of the spectre of a nuclear weapons war and life ending quietly with a blinding flash. (Can anyone confirm whether you see the binding flash by the way? )

I live in Suffolk but I cling to the belief that I have no idea what the phenomenon called Ed Sheeran involves beyond apparently having more money than sense and a propensity to irritate his neighbours. If he spends his excess wealth on overpriced tat then so be it: we occupy different spaces in the same galaxy.

I keep going toward the precipice signposted as "Bel Canto lovers' leap" but thus far I retain the self control required to take a step away from the edge: for now at least.

The Twelve XII or first team plus reserve or whatever it's called? I'm in just because I'm a fairly long-term slave to CW and I'm on autopilot. I bought the steel Twelve sky blue (I know it has a trendy upmarket name but look, it's sky blue or ice blue) on launch but I just don't regard it as "close to my heart" and was wavering over flipping it when the good Mr France sprung on us that the ultra-special brand 20th anniversary watch would be (my words) a rehash of the C60 Concept, IMHO a seriously good watch the 200th example of which is gracing my Father's Day wrist right now. So with nary a moment's doubt I was signed up, deposit lodged and waiting with what I'd call "old man's patience" in the hope that (1) delivery might be achieved in the timescale promised at launch, (2) at a mere seventy years young I shall be blessed with time enough on God's green earth to learn to enjoy the Twelve XII experience and (3) simple brand loyalty will get the better of my lightly negative feelings about the twinkly twelve and its integrated bracelet.

Gawith4life wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2024 6:13 pm Forgive me, I must be out of the loop. You mentioned that hodinkee has taken a big hit to their reputation. Why is that? I'm not in the loop with horological news.

This Wall Street Journal Article is a good summary of what has happened to Hodinkee on the business end lately: https://www.wsj.com/style/fashion/hodin ... r-b4078322

Either as a result of or leading up to this situation, Hodinkee has shed a lot of staff and in some cases replaced them with people whose knowledge of watches seems shallow by comparison.

On the one hand, it's probably not a stretch to say that the company simply expanded at a bad time and without sufficient understanding of what it would take to succeed. But on the other hand, they seem to have done so in a way that burned through a lot of the good credibility that they built with the community in the early days of the site.

A fabulous, almost whimsical, post @Peteo with some wonderful notions about watch collecting and watch enthusiasts. Thank you.

Ed Sheeran being #1 collector, well there's a turn up for the books.

I wholeheartedly agree, as a Bel Canto owner, that it has turned the watch world on it's head and it's success has exceeded CW's expectations a hundred fold (maybe not quite that much but you get my drift). Following on from this has been the C12 The Twelve and others.

All this has led to CW being named T3.com's Brand of the Year ahead of the likes of Dyson, Nvidia, Ninja and others. Kudos to CW.

Guy

PS> As a Watch Enthusiast you have though got me worried as to what I'm missing out on as I rarely, if ever, watch a YouTube Review / Influencer.

Thanks for taking the time Peteo. I enjoyed reading this and it was definitely thought provoking.

As far as the conclusions go, all I can say is, I don't know.

The core watch group that I interact with locally all recognizes the Bel Canto for what it is but no one has one and no one has plans to get one. In fact, an Azure Blue just changed hands in the private swap channel at RRP. Granted this is just one small datapoint but I think an important one.

The second video that JAFO posted above is an important one. The most telling bit is right at the front where he talks about Swiss firms cutting staff and slowing manufacturing because of makers sitting on excess parts ordered from last year. In some respects it is like a house of cards where a couple of the cards at the base got flicked out last year. This could have knock on effects for small manufacturers like CW in procuring the parts they need. It could also be a good thing as CW has the cash and the manufacturers have some open capacity. Time will tell.

I would agree that the Bel Canto certainly changed CWs fortunes in the short term (long term still TBD) but changing the whole hobby and industry? I think that is taking it a little far.

CW has some significant challenges ahead that I sincerely hope they are able to get past. Growth can be a double edged sword to a business if you let it. It will take some luck, discipline and forethought going forward to navigate it all.

rkovars wrote: ↑Mon Jun 17, 2024 4:55 pm
I would agree that the Bel Canto certainly changed CWs fortunes in the short term (long term still TBD) but changing the whole hobby and industry? I think that is taking it a little far.

CW has some significant challenges ahead that I sincerely hope they are able to get past. Growth can be a double edged sword to a business if you let it. It will take some luck, discipline and forethought going forward to navigate it all.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply back,@rkovars. I think the zoomed out, non-CW-centric version of my argument centers more around the idea that there are some specific things that catalyzed the hobby feeling different rather than the industry actually being different. I realize my original post conflates the hobby and the industry a bit when they are two connected but different things. I'm not really trying to claim that the Bel Canto has changed the industry by itself although I do think the seeds for that have potentially been planted, and it'll be interesting to see if any other brands respond overtly to the gauntlet that CW has thrown down (to mix my metaphors).

I do find it very remarkable that the Bel Canto did as much to move the needle as anything else in recent memory released by Rolex/Tudor, the Swatch Group and the like. And the idea that they've sustained that momentum this far out past the original release of the Bel Canto is remarkable in its own right. Whether that needle movement actually means the industry changes, I don't know.

I do feel like the Bel Canto has changed the hobby though, at least for me and for fellow CW enthusiasts if for no other reason than we're no longer just fans of some little British independent. We're fans of the company that made the Bel Canto. That might not be fair to the successes of CW's past, but I think it's where we are.

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: ↑Mon Jun 17, 2024 12:20 am
All this has led to CW being named T3.com's Brand of the Year ahead of the likes of Dyson, Nvidia, Ninja and others. Kudos to CW.

Guy

PS> As a Watch Enthusiast you have though got me worried as to what I'm missing out on as I rarely, if ever, watch a YouTube Review / Influencer.

Thanks for pointing out the T3.com award. Pretty incredible for CW to be rated as brand of the year across a number of industries and notable that the Bel Canto wasn't really part of the consideration or time frame!

You're probably not missing much at all in the YouTube world. There are a few real standouts in my opinion like ID Guy, You're Terrific and I still really like Andrew Morgan (even though his stuff has gotten a little boring recently).

tikkathree wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2024 6:40 pm @Peteo I opened your post several hours ago and just before my wonderful but watch-disinterested wife declared that it being father's day I could have some little say in how we might spend the daylight hours and I resolved to reply to your post later in the day: here I am now.

Did you use a chrono to time how long creating that post took you? Did you have access to running seconds on the centre sweep hand or on a subdial? Did you feel pleased with what you typed - as pleased as I am that you gave generously of your time? Thank you sir and thank you again.

Sorry [mention]tikkathree[/mention], as I also opened your reply a while ago but took a little time to respond not because I had father's day things, but because I wanted to take some time to think about my reply.

Ultimately, the hobby is what one makes of it. Ed Sheeran being the most whatever watch collector doesn't amount for a whole lot if you don't know or care who he is. For me, he hasn't shown much ability to articulate why he's into watches. John Mayer, in my mind, was always pretty good at that and that made for a compelling listen. I don't care for his music really, so I didn't have much reason to pay attention to him before I learned that he really liked IWC Big Pilots and Comex Submariners. I also don't need to know what CW thinks about a whole host of issues just like I don't really care for whom American baseball players voted for President. It all comes back to what one makes of the hobby, and the lanscape has made me think a little bit about what the hobby is for me. I think I want to do less of some of what seems to come with watch collecting in 2024. Watch Crunch for example is fun in some respects but incredibly vapid in others. But then again, 15 years into collecting watches, here I also am scouring Chrono24 for a used Rolex, something I never thought I'd do. I haven't taken a leap on the Bel Canto or Twelve myself, and I'm not really sure why. I suspect that it's the mundane reason that I want to keep a lid on my overall number of watches and CW already occupies a quarter of the slots.

Finally, I'm glad that you brought up the C60 Concept because I sort of expected that a look backwards through the catalog might have drummed up some ink on that watch, but maybe it's not worth getting into a long-gone LE. But hey, it's more evidence that CW was pushing the envelope before the Bel Canto hit the scene.