Seiko Two-tone Ladies Watch SWZ056

Clicktempus - 1st November 2011

Quiet, clean, efficient, cheap and accurate: quartz
You'd think it was the dream solution for all watch manufactures the world over, but in the heart of the Jura Valley quartz is not just a word, it's a concept that is not popular at all even though it could solve problems that are about to affect the luxury watch industry.
When an experienced and successful salesman joined an upmarket pen company from a chain store clothing brand, at first he couldn't figure out what motivated a customer to spend $4,500 on a writing instrument signed by David Oscarson. It was incomprehensible to him how a company could pay salaries and open an expensive prime retail store front by selling only pens.
Eventually he saw the light. These pens were not just mere writing instruments — they had somehow transcended their functional use to become works of art desired by pen collectors across the globe. Never mind that a cheap plastic biro could do the job just as effectively, it was all about the perceived value of the instrument.

Quartz crisis
The same masterful tactic has been successfully employed by the Swiss watch industry. In the 1980s, several Swiss watch brands went to the wall, and even the very high-end haute horlogerie houses were beginning to wonder if the Swiss watch industry was doomed.
Expensive machinery was scrapped to make way for the all-enveloping quartz production. Centuries of tradition and expertise were in grave danger of being simply discarded like a cheap ballpoint pen.
The irony is, of course, that this was a nightmare of the Swiss watch industry's own making. Swiss engineers initially developed quartz watch technology but dismissed; there was no artistry or flair to the making of a quartz watch. It was, and remains, merely a chip and a battery. Seiko - and other Japanese companies in its wake - saw this in a completely different light, and before you could say "rattrapante," they were taking over the world with quartz-powered watches.
By 1978, quartz watches had exceeded the sales of mechanical timepieces. But there was something missing: the perception and tradition of skill and craftsmanship.
The mechanical comeback
Nicolas G. Hayek set about rebuilding the Swiss watch industry - ironically, with the quartz-driven Swatch.
As the '80s rolled into the '90s, marketing maestros such as Jean-Claude Biver aided him with the revival of Omega and Blancpain - the latter by declaring there had never been a quartz Blancpain, and there never will be.
Step by step, cog by cog, the Swiss watch industry began to rebuild itself, storming to new heights of sales and desirability.
This was accomplished by convincing watch buyers that an outmoded technology with less accurate timekeeping and far higher cost of production was more pleasing and aesthetic than the cheaper, more efficient technology that had come to replace it.
And then came the masterstroke marketing strategy that has essentially underscored all marketing of Swiss mechanical watches since this mighty comeback.
Watches are not just about the time
A traditional mechanical watch is desirable in itself. It doesn't matter that it's not as accurate as a quartz watch or that anyone can read the time from one's mobile phone. When a connoisseur buys into the idea of the mechanical watch, he or she is also paying dearly for tradition and craftsmanship.
The genius of the Swiss watch industry is that it has managed to convince the well-heeled watch-buying public that if it wants to own a serious timepiece, it must be willing to spend a small fortune on what is principally outdated technology requiring maintenance.
Quartz: too clever for its own good?
Is quartz, like many inventions from the past, simply too clever for its own good? Never mind that quartz movements still power most ladies watches and vast swathes of men's watches under the $600 mark. To those who admire fine watches, quartz remains the red-headed stepchild of watch movements: it should be kept locked in the room at the top of the stairs and never talked about.
As Marvin's social media advisor Jerome Pineau observes, "When I came into the watch industry, I was surprised to see how most people denigrated quartz watches and their owners: 'A real watch lover would never wear quartz.' The mere mention of it raises eyebrows and is often enough to ostracize you from many self-proclaimed aficionado expert groups!"
Steve Miller, a vintage watch salesman, explains his take on mechanical watches, "Collectors, exclusivity, celebrity endorsements, and just plain keeping up with the Joneses are what drives the mechanical watch industry."
Despite its apparent second-class-citizen status, it's interesting to note that several well-respected Swiss brands, including Jaeger-LeCoultre, TAG Heuer, Cartier, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin and, of course, Rolex, all continue to use quartz.
Swatch Group decree
And now there may be even more manufactures turning to quartz - at least for the time being. In another ironic twist, the Swatch Group - savior of the mechanical watch - has recently announced that it is no longer going to supply ETA movements and kits to the rest of the Swiss watch industry in the same vein as it has been doing for the last 30 years. Supplies outside the group are going to be drastically reduced as of 2012.
As from 2012, hundreds of low- to mid-range watch brands may no longer depend on the Swatch Group for their movements, escapements, balances, springs and assorted other components.
As things currently stand, there may not be a viable alternative in place to meet a shortfall of this magnitude.
Cue quartz?
This move on the part of the Swatch Group will affect watch manufacturers of all levels within the Swiss watch industry and outside of it. Could the answer be that they turn to quartz movements to solve their problems in the interim?
It could be a logical step. However, let us remember that logic has never played much of a role in the luxury watch industry. Innovation, yes; craftsmanship, plenty - but logic, very little.
After all, logic would have dictated that a switch to quartz production in the 1970s was the way to go. But tradition, love, passion and obstinacy begat a refusal to give up on mechanical watches - and then, as now, it will be a cold day in hell before a quartz movement is ever placed inside certain Swiss watch cases, even those who will now be affected by the changes coming.
Sorry, quartz, you're a great invention, but you're forever destined to be the unappreciated workhorse of the luxury watch industry.