Lets face it, the whole thing is just a mess. If I read the demographic correctly amongst most of the more vociferous members here (and I don't mean to exclude anyone lucky enough to still be under 40..or even luckier 30!) we are of a similar age if not a little younger than the head honchos at CW. And we are all confused / bemused at what has occurred.
No surprise then that the old boys at CW have been completely bamboozled by a group of individuals two generations younger than themselves, who were presumably advocated by the young blood they have recently brought into the company.
None of us want to feel we are getting old and 'past it', and it must have been pretty easy for a group of hip and happening young guns to play to these insecurities and sell 'the dream'.
They have clearly been sold an image of what they need to be and where they need to go if they are to avoid watching their market die off ( literally ) as they fail to engage with the 'younger' market.
We can all bemoan the move ( and I certainly have ) through this medium, but ultimately it is the entitlement of those that run the company to make whatever decisions they think are in the best interests of the company and themselves. They will reap the benefits, or pay the ultimate price while we just move on if we don't like it.
It would seem that CW perceived they had reached a watershed whereby they keep on pitching to the same 'traditional' market or make a transformational change and go after a completely different market.
They do, however, seem to have gone the whole hog with a complete rebranding and I am surprised that we haven't had a 'Mission Statement' from them - or am I showing my age with that?
For me, this has proved to be an interesting diversion and injected some much needed fervour into the forum, which had been getting a touch slow of late. But it is clearly a done deal and that's that.
One further thought.....of late that has been a growing trend among many of 'the establishment' on here towards deliberately seeking their one / two / three 'grail' watches and off loading the CWs to help fund these - I am among this number ( although I haven't been around long enough to class myself as part of the establishment!).
Maybe CW have been amazingly astute in spotting this trend and responding accordingly? Just a thought, and one for which I am prepared to be shot down in flames for