If I asked you what are the World’s Best Luxury Watch Brands? You may have a few brand names in your mind such as: Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars, Cartier, Hublot, Bulgari etc. But do you know that all of these brands are known as swiss watches. These watch brands are globally renowned and very expensive at the same time. In fact, many of us might consider swiss watches a bit overpriced. Let’s take a look deeper into the incredible rags to riches story of the swiss watch and answer the question: are swiss watches really overpriced or worth your money?
Do you know why these watch brands are known as swiss watches? To understand this you need to know what a swiss watch is.
A swiss watch is a timepiece made in Switzerland but this doesn’t mean that it has to be fully made in Switzerland. The watch that meets the high-quality standards observed in Swiss trademark law is considered as Swiss Watch, which was established in 1971.
According to the Swiss trademark law, five main requirements need to be fulfilled for being a Swiss watch.
First of all, the watch movement must be a Swiss movement. To be regarded as a Swiss movement, the movement must have undergone other four requirements in Switzerland.
Technical development
Inspection by the manufacturer
Generate at least 60% manufacturing costs
Cased up of the Watch Movement
We are not telling you that a watch that's manufactured in Switzerland doesn't mean, it gets the right to be expensive. There are few specific reasons that make these brands so expensive. So let’s take a look at for what reasons most of the Swiss watch brands are expensive.
Watch Movements
Most interesting thing about Swiss watches is its movements. Movements of any Swiss watches are controlled by hundreds of moving parts and all of these parts work together to keep track of time.
You can see the Rolex 3255 movement in some Rolex watches with date displays. These movements take years to craft and then perfect after being assembled by hand.
Another unique feature of these watches is that they are, in most cases, totally handmade and impeccable. Every single part has been pieced together by watch engineers and artisans. From the tiny screws to the wafer-thin rubber gasket, there is an experts’ steady hand and a lot of patience to get the case together. These features make Swiss watches different from any other watches in the World made to last for centuries.
Swiss watches are made with high-quality components, like gold, titanium, and other precious metals, that are proven to be durable and can last for years.
One of the reasons why Swiss watches are so expensive is because only the richest of materials are utilized in the making of said watches. These high-quality materials are durable and accurate.
Take, for instance, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak with components made in diamond and gold that make the model. Then, there’s the Patek Philippe costs more than the best-paid executive’s yearly salary.
So, it’s obvious that the price of Swiss watches will be more than it costs.
Manufacturing cost is the sum of the costs of all resources consumed in the process of making a product. It starts from the research and development stages. To develop a model of a Swiss watch, most brands spend months of R&D to refine each step of the process, including specialized dial mounting, finishing techniques, long-power reserves, and in-house movements.
Because of its slow production time and high market demand, luxury watch price rates tend to increase. For example, a Patek Philippe Grand Complications watch may take more than six years to produce.
Economics of scale is the cost advantage that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation. For example, a company spends $5000 on R&D and produces 50 units of product. So, R&D costs $100/unit. But if the company produces 5000 units, it will take $1/unit.
In the case of Swiss watches, companies produce only a few watches which makes the watches so costly but expensive.
Swiss watches are so exclusive that only a few people are going to wear the same wristwatch all over the world out of 7 billion and you are not paying only for its production time and materials. But for the brand image it creates in people's minds.
Though Swiss watches are very expensive, People around the world wish to wear a Swiss watch. Recently, the Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex increased the price of its timepieces sold in Britain in September of the year but customer demand still outstrips supply.
Swiss watches are worth for its unique features, top-quality components, and exclusivity which has accurate time-telling abilities and lasts for centuries. Obviously, these watches aren’t for everyone; they’re tailored only for those who can afford it, and those who desire perfection.