This week Mike and Kaz are talking about limited edition watches – more specifically, are they actually doing us any good? We see the rush and trample of the horological masses as soon as some sort of LE piece gets released. But are the results actually worth it? What’s the endgame with a brand offering a limited edition watch? Mike and Kaz share their opinions with each other to discover if the new landscape of horology will be all limited editions all the time (LE4lifeeee) 0_o)

Show Notes:

5 thoughts on “Ep 118 Are Limited Edition Watches Hurting The Industry?”

  1. I am not really clear on why you are so irritated about this watch. It is not particularly limited. It is US only and 1900 pieces. It’s not like there were 50 or something. I kind of like it and asked the local Seiko Boutique in Miami to let me know if it becomes available.
    You guys love Helios, and they make like 200. And they are gone in minutes.
    If I do not get the Seiko there are plenty of other watches. I would most prefer a black one anyway, but blue is nice. It seems like you are just sad you missed out. Me too, but if you think about it, they are not that much of a big deal either way.

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    • Yeah, I recalled trying to order a Helios (while they kept delaying the order date because they couldn’t get the website up) while listening to this, too. I have the same “don’t even bother” with several microbrands, too.

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  2. Bring. The. Invicta. Bolt. It’s not sufficient to see mere photos of it. Gotta see it ‘in the metal,’ as they say.

    (Sorry, they closed all the real bowling alleys in SF years ago.)

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  3. The scalping was fast and furious with the Alpinist, and that’s unfortunate. But I think that’s less on the brand and more on collectors. And we should remember that this isn’t the first limited edition Alpinist. I believe the aqua dialed, SSASS SBCJ023 was an early-2000s release, and they only made 500 of them. I believe that’s a quartz GMT similar to the titanium one mentioned in the show. Personally, I think that one is the coolest looking Alpinist.

    But the backlash here leads me to wonder if the association with Hodinkee is partially to blame for leaving a sour note. There seems to be a stigma that they are more for the “collecting elite,” and that doesn’t seem to jive with the normal Seiko folks.

    On the other side of the coin, if Hodinkee is trying to do something unique and really start to work with brands to bring new, interesting watches to the community, then is that so bad—especially if the alternative is that the community is completely beholden to the brands for releases? I generally dislike the idea of forced scarcity, but in some cases, I think it opens the door just enough to have a chance at something special.

    As an example, when Hodinkee sold the Heuer Skipper, they only made 150. However, I believe there were only 25 of the original Skippers created. I think that preserves the spirit of the original, while still allowing many more folks to be able to share in the experience. Say what you want about Tag, but I actually think that’s pretty cool. (Full disclosure: I desperately want a new Skipper. If that happens, I will FOR REAL be a broke watch snob.)

    All that to say, I hope that folks that want a blue Alpinist can get one at a fair price. I think it’s a cool watch that fits very nicely into the rest of the Alpinist family.

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  4. Is it so bad that a brand releases a watch in limited quantities, with good quality, and popular aesthetics but does it in a way that also enhances value preservation for the consumer and good profits for the manufacturer?

    Or would you rather buy a watch based only on pics to realize that you don’t like the matte or sunburst or polish or handset or date wheel or any other of the dozen details we get hung up on then try to sell it facing a 20-30% loss all while the manufacturer has exceeded demand with his production and is now discounting product to move it.

    I’ll take option 1.

    Plus there are still a plethora of non-LE watches on the market to choose from. We are not hurting for choice.

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