2018-04-25 Hitting the Quality Ceiling:
Posted: April 24th, 2018, 8:07 pm
Hi Everyone…
Progress on the new watch is slow. We are busting the Quality Ceiling and moving head to head with the likes of Hermes, Parmigiani and Jaeger-LeCoultre. This is a challenge especially with some of my component makers.
My firm opinion is that paying far too much does not guarantee quality. With this mantra I have gone back to my suppliers and asked them to make better. The new Dress watch is less complex than the diver and in my (twisted) mind is easier to build, hence they can spend more time and more care to make better.
The current case is good. My cases are far better than many cases in the USD3,000 to 7,000 range. Some say that an OWC case is better than a Rolex – sacrilege…
But asking them to make better: has just led to more money and more volume. “We make very good, but we need more cases”. The struggle begins, and the war continues to change their mentality: that all gweilo (鬼佬) want low price and average quality. Even with my excellent case maker I am hitting the Quality Ceiling. They really do not understand why I want more quality and less volume – this is like asking a French person: Do you want fries with that?
This means the new watch will take longer.
I will not compromise. The new case will be better, this is not negotiable. To this end, I am asking professional case makers in: Germany; Switzerland; China; and Japan. I have confidence that they will make better than the current case – they can, and they will – or I will not use them.
In my twisted mind, I want the Asians to walk all over the Europeans. But it will be an empirical investigation and the best quality/value proposition will be chosen. Aside from my own opinion, I will send the cases to Daz in unmarked packets and he can make an unbiased assessment.
It will take time, so accept my apologies. In the meantime, please consider the current range as is still better than anything at the price point and higher. OWC continues to punch above its weight. Please tell the world as my marketing skills are rubbish.
Just to recap: the new movement will be a VMF with micro rotor; the case will be the OWC modified Super Compressor; it will be a dress watch with fixed bezel, (new) oyster bracelet and leather band; Torx screws; screw bars everywhere; sapphire crystal; screw down crown. I will have to balance engineering, higher than average WR with a sense of elegance. There will be no mistake, it will have an Orange flavour and will be built like a “brick shithouse” (Australian for can’t kill the bitch).
Progress on the new watch is slow. We are busting the Quality Ceiling and moving head to head with the likes of Hermes, Parmigiani and Jaeger-LeCoultre. This is a challenge especially with some of my component makers.
My firm opinion is that paying far too much does not guarantee quality. With this mantra I have gone back to my suppliers and asked them to make better. The new Dress watch is less complex than the diver and in my (twisted) mind is easier to build, hence they can spend more time and more care to make better.
The current case is good. My cases are far better than many cases in the USD3,000 to 7,000 range. Some say that an OWC case is better than a Rolex – sacrilege…
But asking them to make better: has just led to more money and more volume. “We make very good, but we need more cases”. The struggle begins, and the war continues to change their mentality: that all gweilo (鬼佬) want low price and average quality. Even with my excellent case maker I am hitting the Quality Ceiling. They really do not understand why I want more quality and less volume – this is like asking a French person: Do you want fries with that?
This means the new watch will take longer.
I will not compromise. The new case will be better, this is not negotiable. To this end, I am asking professional case makers in: Germany; Switzerland; China; and Japan. I have confidence that they will make better than the current case – they can, and they will – or I will not use them.
In my twisted mind, I want the Asians to walk all over the Europeans. But it will be an empirical investigation and the best quality/value proposition will be chosen. Aside from my own opinion, I will send the cases to Daz in unmarked packets and he can make an unbiased assessment.
It will take time, so accept my apologies. In the meantime, please consider the current range as is still better than anything at the price point and higher. OWC continues to punch above its weight. Please tell the world as my marketing skills are rubbish.
Just to recap: the new movement will be a VMF with micro rotor; the case will be the OWC modified Super Compressor; it will be a dress watch with fixed bezel, (new) oyster bracelet and leather band; Torx screws; screw bars everywhere; sapphire crystal; screw down crown. I will have to balance engineering, higher than average WR with a sense of elegance. There will be no mistake, it will have an Orange flavour and will be built like a “brick shithouse” (Australian for can’t kill the bitch).
