What Have You Done for Me Lately?

In many cases, watch companies seem to be stuck in the past.

In advertisements and stories in magazine, you can read all about which watch company was first to do something.

First watch company.
First wristwatch.
First automatic wristwatch.
First to time a sporting event.
First (you fill in the blank).

But, in the grand scheme of things, does it matter who was first and who was second?

The answer is, it really doesn’t matter very much at all.

We are all aware of companies that trade on hundreds of years of history. Sure, it’s cool if your company has been continuously operated for hundreds of years, but these companies are few and far between. In many case, the companies trumpeting their history simply bought the name of the company and have no real link to that exalted and impressive history.

And accomplishments achieved more than a hundred years ago? They absolutely don’t matter. Would you buy a car from a company that advertised: “We were the fastest car in 1900?” I don’t think so.

There are a few companies who talk about their precision prizes from the 1900s, effectively saying “We were the most precise watch 100 years ago.” Now that there is a new chronometer competition, the Concours International de Chronométrie (Château des Monts), it’s time for companies to stop talking about the past and join this competition and see how they fare today.

I’m not saying that a company’s history and accomplishments don’t matter – in many cases, what the company has gone through has led to innovations, breakthroughs and higher quality, but it has to be REAL history, and not something the marketers have dreamt up.

Next time you are in a watch store and the sales associate begins to tell you about things this company did a long time ago, hold up your hand and say, “Sure, but what has this company done lately?”