TS more than hinted at the London Cubitus event last night, that there will be more Cubitii (?) dropping at W&W … other complications and size variants it seems… which would suggest no shaped movements, just reusing Nautilus calibres I’m sure.
I suspect Thierry Stern is sitting in his countinghouse having a good chuckle. He took a tidal waves of crap for publicly commenting, shortly after the Cubitus launched, that most of the online crowd slagging the watch had never owned a Patek and never would--in other words, to cop a Chevy Chase line from years ago, "I'm Thierry Stern and you're not." And sure enough, as you note in your delightful article, the Cubitus is now "highly desirable and essentially unobtainable." What a surprise.
I like this watch. I like it more than the Nautilus. Then again, I tend to like Seiko more than most Swiss watch brands, and I tend to wear a lot of quartz watches. I am fine with mechanical watches, but the ridiculous Swiss hype can be unbearable. I still have no idea they managed to pull it off. That said, I will take a Seiko Astron over almost any Swiss world time equivalent. Seiko' modern designs just look better to me.
Swiss timeless design is something I do appreciate. I think FP Journe somehow nailed in a way I cannot describe. So many of the new Patek models seem more like Hublot than classic Patek (the trendy "textured" dials will age like polyester bell-bottomed pants), but the Cubitus is actually nice. I suspect that if Cartier or Tudor sold the exact same watch it would have been universally adored.
My biggest problem with the big Swiss watch companies is their anti-customer behavior. If a model is selling well, jack up the price and staff-up to give customers what they want. I think AP is the worst in this regard, but Patek has done the same with the Nautilus. With AP, it would be easy enough to make higher volumes of quartz Royal Oak and Offshore models, although it does seem like the offshore models are not that bad anymore. People complain about Rolex, but at least they built another factory. AP should be massively building out. Their refusal to do so screams of the kind of slimy, night-club-style of marketing that has a good whiff of "Whites only" signs in 1950's Alabama.
In general, I am more excited about new brands. Formex is wonderful. Ming is another great brand. Zelos gets me excited. I would love to see Norqain really hit its stride. The Japanese microbrands are another source of excitement, although many of the Chinese-American startup watch brands are what I hope will bring about a new American watch champion. Nodus and Tsao Baltimore come to mind. It would be amazing to see them grow into firms with sufficient capital to buy or build out American watch manufacturing. That is a remote dream, but exciting nonetheless. I would add Straum in there as well.
I would love if Jack did a new watch brand article or four. My greatest interests are in: Formex, Ming, Zelos, Straum and Kurono Tokyo. I have a Formex Essence and I adore it. If I were a wealthier man I might be more interested in Czapek or FP Journe, but I cannot see myself selling almost every watch I have for an Antarctique, but who knows. At some point that might make sense.
I'm with you in terms of your enjoyment of quartz watches. I've never understood the fork in the road that demands a watch enthusiast pick one and only one direction: quartz or mechanical, never both. Good quartz watches--the Astron you admire, Citizen Attesa GPS, certain G-Shock models--offer a terrific blend of style, reliability, accuracy, and convenience. It's a bit like the "digital vs. vinyl" battle in recorded music--it's very easy to see that each approach offers something meaningful, and social media expectations aside, there's no reason to choose one approach exclusively.
I seem to recall a similar response from just about everyone who could be heard in the online watch world when AP released the Code 11:59. AP had to do something then to break the stranglehold the Royal Oak held on the brand, and it worked. People may not have liked it at the time, and thought it was a bit plain/boring/crap, but it got attention and is still in the catalogue.
The worst thing about the Triple S (big list) was Demna saying something along the lines of “I wasn’t trying to make an ugly shoe, I was playing with proportion”. Absolute contempt for the consumer (or even fan).
But the numbers don’t lie. It did/does well. And as a result, New Balance are incredibly focused on their worst output ever and somehow Salomon are in the conversation.
TS more than hinted at the London Cubitus event last night, that there will be more Cubitii (?) dropping at W&W … other complications and size variants it seems… which would suggest no shaped movements, just reusing Nautilus calibres I’m sure.
Well they've barely scratched the surface of regular polygons maybe there's an Enneagonnitus in the future 😀
Wait till they find out how many sides a circle has.
For whatever it's worth, I still think the biggest issue is that the Cubitus seems lazily executed. And worse yet, it will still sell well enough.
That’s ‘true’ innovation 😛
I suspect Thierry Stern is sitting in his countinghouse having a good chuckle. He took a tidal waves of crap for publicly commenting, shortly after the Cubitus launched, that most of the online crowd slagging the watch had never owned a Patek and never would--in other words, to cop a Chevy Chase line from years ago, "I'm Thierry Stern and you're not." And sure enough, as you note in your delightful article, the Cubitus is now "highly desirable and essentially unobtainable." What a surprise.
What were the odds. Not zero, not zero 😂
I like this watch. I like it more than the Nautilus. Then again, I tend to like Seiko more than most Swiss watch brands, and I tend to wear a lot of quartz watches. I am fine with mechanical watches, but the ridiculous Swiss hype can be unbearable. I still have no idea they managed to pull it off. That said, I will take a Seiko Astron over almost any Swiss world time equivalent. Seiko' modern designs just look better to me.
Swiss timeless design is something I do appreciate. I think FP Journe somehow nailed in a way I cannot describe. So many of the new Patek models seem more like Hublot than classic Patek (the trendy "textured" dials will age like polyester bell-bottomed pants), but the Cubitus is actually nice. I suspect that if Cartier or Tudor sold the exact same watch it would have been universally adored.
My biggest problem with the big Swiss watch companies is their anti-customer behavior. If a model is selling well, jack up the price and staff-up to give customers what they want. I think AP is the worst in this regard, but Patek has done the same with the Nautilus. With AP, it would be easy enough to make higher volumes of quartz Royal Oak and Offshore models, although it does seem like the offshore models are not that bad anymore. People complain about Rolex, but at least they built another factory. AP should be massively building out. Their refusal to do so screams of the kind of slimy, night-club-style of marketing that has a good whiff of "Whites only" signs in 1950's Alabama.
In general, I am more excited about new brands. Formex is wonderful. Ming is another great brand. Zelos gets me excited. I would love to see Norqain really hit its stride. The Japanese microbrands are another source of excitement, although many of the Chinese-American startup watch brands are what I hope will bring about a new American watch champion. Nodus and Tsao Baltimore come to mind. It would be amazing to see them grow into firms with sufficient capital to buy or build out American watch manufacturing. That is a remote dream, but exciting nonetheless. I would add Straum in there as well.
I would love if Jack did a new watch brand article or four. My greatest interests are in: Formex, Ming, Zelos, Straum and Kurono Tokyo. I have a Formex Essence and I adore it. If I were a wealthier man I might be more interested in Czapek or FP Journe, but I cannot see myself selling almost every watch I have for an Antarctique, but who knows. At some point that might make sense.
I'm with you in terms of your enjoyment of quartz watches. I've never understood the fork in the road that demands a watch enthusiast pick one and only one direction: quartz or mechanical, never both. Good quartz watches--the Astron you admire, Citizen Attesa GPS, certain G-Shock models--offer a terrific blend of style, reliability, accuracy, and convenience. It's a bit like the "digital vs. vinyl" battle in recorded music--it's very easy to see that each approach offers something meaningful, and social media expectations aside, there's no reason to choose one approach exclusively.
Your “sole exposure to the sneakerhead”.
I don’t want to step on any toes here, but pun intended?
If you they Convince Jeff Goldblum, Kanye West, and some 21 tiktok boy to all wear it then maybe the triple s comparison will solidify.
30% more dial! Just like the toilet paper industry
That wasn’t an outrage or anger, rather the wailing cry acknowledging death of formerly great brand in the hands of TS…
I seem to recall a similar response from just about everyone who could be heard in the online watch world when AP released the Code 11:59. AP had to do something then to break the stranglehold the Royal Oak held on the brand, and it worked. People may not have liked it at the time, and thought it was a bit plain/boring/crap, but it got attention and is still in the catalogue.
I actually tried on the green one. It wasn’t as horrible as I thought but it wasn’t great either!
The worst thing about the Triple S (big list) was Demna saying something along the lines of “I wasn’t trying to make an ugly shoe, I was playing with proportion”. Absolute contempt for the consumer (or even fan).
But the numbers don’t lie. It did/does well. And as a result, New Balance are incredibly focused on their worst output ever and somehow Salomon are in the conversation.