What is the product life cycle of a watch? | FerrariChat

What is the product life cycle of a watch?

Discussion in 'Fine Watches, Jewelry, & Clothes' started by WJC, Jan 1, 2020.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. WJC

    WJC Formula Junior

    Apr 28, 2004
    855
    Austin, TX
    Full Name:
    Joe C.
    I have lurked in this section for a while but this is my first post here.

    I have my eye on a TAG Carrera Calibre 16. Really like the look of this watch, blue face, brown leather band with orange stitching - looks awesome. I know there are some very hefty price tags on watches and some wouldn’t consider this to be an expensive watch, but this would be my first nice watch. Unfortunately, I am not ready to buy just yet.

    My question is, how likely is it that the design will change in the next year? Cars typically follow a three to five year span before a restyle - do watches have a product life cycle like this? Is there a way to find out if TAG is going to change the model or not make that watch?

    Any insights are much appreciated!
     
  2. Roman456

    Roman456 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 14, 2017
    252
    Switzerland
    Full Name:
    Romain
    Difficult to predict, life cycle can be short or very long. In any case you can find plenty of them on Chrono24, pre-owned or unworn. Good looking watch indeed ;)
     
    WJC likes this.
  3. flat_plane_eddie

    flat_plane_eddie F1 Rookie
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Mar 30, 2013
    3,142
    NE FL
    Full Name:
    Eddie
    It depends on the brand, generally speaking the more famous high-end companies are better for long term since that's a lot of their appeal (i.e. Rolex, Omega, Patek, etc.). Tag should also be fine.
     
    WJC likes this.
  4. WJC

    WJC Formula Junior

    Apr 28, 2004
    855
    Austin, TX
    Full Name:
    Joe C.
    Thanks to both of you! Hopefully I will hear some good news this year and this will be on my wrist later!
    With Chron24 - I am guessing the likelihood of a fake is extremely low.
     
  5. 500drvr

    500drvr Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 5, 2014
    267
    So Cal
  6. 500drvr

    500drvr Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 5, 2014
    267
    So Cal
    Oops...
    Meant to post to “what watch are you wearing today” Why are we limited on editing a post to 20 minutes? Never seen this on any other forum.
     
  7. ylshih

    ylshih Shogun Assassin
    Honorary Owner

    Mar 21, 2004
    19,804
    Northern CA
    Full Name:
    Yin
    Popular models can go on for a long time, sometimes many decades. An example of this is the Omega "Moon Watch", actually Omega Speedmaster, which has been in production since 1957.

    What happens regularly is that the manufacturer will update the dial face, colors, straps/bracelets, etc in their catalog for a fresher look to their popular watch models every few years. Pretty much all cosmetic, but if a particular cosmetic combination really strikes your fancy, it might not be available a few years later. Less common is that the manufacturer will update or change out the movement to an existing model, either to bring things all in-house and raise the price or increase profits/lower costs. An example of this is when Rolex changed over to an in-house automatic chronograph movement for the Daytona after 2000, after having outsourced the movement from Zenith from 1988-2000. Finally, manufacturers will introduce new models, which usually means a new or re-engineered movement in a new case, but sometimes not. An example of this is the move to larger diameter watch cases the last couple of decades; some manufacturers designed larger movements to put in a larger case, others just put the same old movement into a larger case (look at the spacing of the smaller indicators/registers around the watch hands and how they're spaced around the case perimeter and you can usually tell these).

    The Calibre 16 movement is based on the ETA 7750 (ETA is a movement manufacturer that supplies the industry), which is a very popular chronograph movement used by many manufacturers and Tag has made watches from that movement since 1977. Even though the Calibre 16 markings are more recent, it's mostly branding. Even more recently, Tag has designed the in-house 1887 movement to replace the Calibre 16, but production is apparently limited, so they're producing different chronographs using both movements

    http://www.horologue.com/tag-heuer-calibre-16-movement

    https://www.tagheuer.com/en-us/calibre-16

    https://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=Heuer_01

    https://www.tagheuer.com/en/calibre-1887
     

Share This Page