INDEPENDENT THINKING

We follow up on our own dark predictions from 2022, and suggest some solutions to persistent problems. The story begins with embracing independent watchmakers, who do not only operate at stratospheric price brackets

- ASHOK SOMAN

REALITY BITES

Coming back down to earth, our aim with this section is not to go allin on the very same issues that we dealt with in the Spring edition of last year. That was done loquaciously if not effectively, and brought us the unbeatable joy of being proved right. While we do enjoy patting ourselves on the back, we try to remember that you are the audience listening in on what amounts to open letters to the industry. We really do. The Spring issue of 2022 (#64) was a watershed moment for us, neatly paralleling the trends in the watchmaking business. Though the moment has passed, and market values have plunged, most desirable models are still trading above the retail price. In other words, prices may be falling but they have not hit the ground. We maintain that the state of things will not return to 2019 levels of normalcy; the trends that brought us here started long before that, as EuropaStar, WatchPro and many other industry titles have noted. COVID-19 was just an accelerator.