Omega x Swatch Collaboration

[BigBen]

B0bajobbob said:

Swatch do seem determined to annoy genuine buyers in the interest of queues and publicity. How many people can take a day off work to stand in a queue with only a small chance of success when the professional scalper brigade who flip for a living will have a crew to dominate the queues and pick up all available stock. I shouldn't care but it does annoy the hell out of me.

When I bought mine they had stock and there were about 4 people waiting. They made us queue outside which could only have been a hype building policy as the store (Times Square) had loads of space inside.

Recently was passing the Oxford Street store and was accosted by a reseller on my way out offering me a watch.

Ben

[Raccaccoonie]

Swatch could have done a new strap, new face, hell even gold plated, doubled the price and still sold out. It just look like they did the absolute least that would generate most publicity. I think it has now become a way to get Omega brand all over the news.

[g4ry13]

Raccaccoonie said:

Swatch could have done a new strap, new face, hell even gold plated, doubled the price and still sold out. It just look like they did the absolute least that would generate most publicity. I think it has now become a way to get Omega brand all over the news.

That's asking a bit much considering they were all made on the same day

[Filibuster]

g4ry13 said:

RD-1 said:

g4ry13 said:

I saw people sitting on camping chairs since this morning in London queueing for the watch. All of them looked like the reseller types.

Interested to know what a reseller looks like?

Predominantly male. A lot of them were wearing Nike Jordans / Dunks (I own a number of pairs myself so not criticising). Lots of branded clothing and puffer jackets.

The people who were sitting on their camping chairs since 9am all shared the same ethnicity.

From here:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/live-pics-of-the...







The queue in Tokyo and Zürich looked much, well how shall I put it...... dressier/nicer/more watch enthusiasts-y

Edited by Filibuster on Wednesday 8th March 13:32

[g4ry13]

A few more pictures from here

[Bob_Defly]

Boy that looks grim. Wonder what their hourly rate turn outs to be when flipping it.

[troc]

Seems a waste of time really. But then I’ve never understood the waiting in line for the first thing mentality.

I’ve too much ADHD in my head. If I can’t have one now, I won’t get one. Combined with my inherent Dutch inability to overpay for anything in principle means it’s a nope from me

[-crookedtail-]

I just took a look on eBay at some listings featuring the 'new' Mission to the Moon. Listed at £2k so it will have to go through the authentication process if some mug buys it

I have a speedy reduced and I hope that someone would buy one of those instead at that price.

Weird times we live in with flippers trying to make a quick return on all sorts, from plastic watches, graphics cards, and even those Prime energy drinks. I guess I'm out of touch and there is a market because why bother if not?

[Dolf Stoppard]

I posted on another thread that while this collaboration wasn’t for me, it had made me consider a Speedmaster to replace one I sold a good few years ago.

However, this nonsense about a plastic gold watch made when the moon was full could easily persuade me to look elsewhere!

[Bob_Defly]

I just don't understand why they didn't do a plastic gold and magenta dial/case. At least it might have looked cool, better than changing one hand anyway...

[abzmike]

troc said:

Seems a waste of time really. But then I’ve never understood the waiting in line for the first thing mentality.

I’ve too much ADHD in my head. If I can’t have one now, I won’t get one. Combined with my inherent Dutch inability to overpay for anything in principle means it’s a nope from me

I’d say nobody in that crowd will never wear one even if they get one. They’ll be on sale before they get home, unless they already have a buyer.

[Dolf Stoppard]

abzmike said:

troc said:

Seems a waste of time really. But then I’ve never understood the waiting in line for the first thing mentality.

I’ve too much ADHD in my head. If I can’t have one now, I won’t get one. Combined with my inherent Dutch inability to overpay for anything in principle means it’s a nope from me

I’d say nobody in that crowd will never wear one even if they get one. They’ll be on sale before they get home, unless they already have a buyer.

Yeah, they don’t really look like big watch fans. And yet here we are, talking about it, and so the marketing plan continues to work as intended.

[g4ry13]

Dolf Stoppard said:

abzmike said:

troc said:

Seems a waste of time really. But then I’ve never understood the waiting in line for the first thing mentality.

I’ve too much ADHD in my head. If I can’t have one now, I won’t get one. Combined with my inherent Dutch inability to overpay for anything in principle means it’s a nope from me

I’d say nobody in that crowd will never wear one even if they get one. They’ll be on sale before they get home, unless they already have a buyer.

Yeah, they don’t really look like big watch fans. And yet here we are, talking about it, and so the marketing plan continues to work as intended.

I might know about it, but i'm not going out to buy a Swatch or Omega.

[Badda]

Dolf Stoppard said:

Yeah, they don’t really look like big watch fans. And yet here we are, talking about it, and so the marketing plan continues to work as intended.

How can you tell they’re not big watch fans by looking at then out of interest? Is it their colour?

[Filibuster]

Badda said:

How can you tell they’re not big watch fans by looking at then out of interest? Is it their colour?

[Dolf Stoppard]

Badda said:

Dolf Stoppard said:

Yeah, they don’t really look like big watch fans. And yet here we are, talking about it, and so the marketing plan continues to work as intended.

How can you tell they’re not big watch fans by looking at then out of interest? Is it their colour?

Not something I’d noticed. But thanks for what I’ll take as a suggestion I’m racist.

Anyway, why do I think they don’t look like watch fans? Largely age. Young people on the whole aren’t really into watches. They’re also certainly not the sort of crowd I’ve seen at watch meets, exhibitions, auctions etc.

My suspicion is a lot of those queuing are not doing so because they’ve always been a massive fan of the Speedmaster and are really excited by the collaboration with Swatch. They’re doing it because of the hype and the chance to earn a few quid. Which is fair enough. It’s how the world works.

I could of course be wrong and maybe they are all massive WISs / horologists. I don’t really care.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Badda said:

How can you tell they’re not big watch fans by looking at then out of interest? Is it their colour?

Even by PH standards that's a pretty desperate post on a watch thread.

[B0bajobbob]

Dolf Stoppard said:

Not something I’d noticed. But thanks for what I’ll take as a suggestion I’m racist.

Anyway, why do I think they don’t look like watch fans? Largely age. Young people on the whole aren’t really into watches. They’re also certainly not the sort of crowd I’ve seen at watch meets, exhibitions, auctions etc.

My suspicion is a lot of those queuing are not doing so because they’ve always been a massive fan of the Speedmaster and are really excited by the collaboration with Swatch. They’re doing it because of the hype and the chance to earn a few quid. Which is fair enough. It’s how the world works.

I could of course be wrong and maybe they are all massive WISs / horologists. I don’t really care.

Interviews with those in the queue confirm that most are there to flip for a few quid. "We've done it with trainers and can now do it with watches too."

[Raccaccoonie]

When you think about it a watch is their to express yourself, the golden shower edition, no one would be able to the tell the difference to the boggo one.

[Bob_Defly]

Dolf Stoppard said:

Not something I’d noticed. But thanks for what I’ll take as a suggestion I’m racist.

Anyway, why do I think they don’t look like watch fans? Largely age. Young people on the whole aren’t really into watches. They’re also certainly not the sort of crowd I’ve seen at watch meets, exhibitions, auctions etc.

To be fair, that's bks. It's a swatch fashion piece, which young people buy. No one is taking a plastic swatch to a meet/exhibition/auction. I would only expect to see young people queueing, flippers or not.