Iconic Watch Brands and Hero Cases

Watches tell time, looks good on wrist, compliment your cultivated taste and is reminiscence from past, reminding that even with all developments and fast pace of life, a minute still consists of sixty seconds.

We keep in mind that among the objects of curiosities, wristwatches are new, it was during the First world war, when wrist watches took off, and now it’s one of most ubiquitous objects after a pair of jeans, so I would suppose.

Interestingly, hundreds of books have been penned on watch brands, its history, collections. The subject is so vast that few researchers have devoted their time and effort into examining a single brand, or a reference point of single watch, best example is Rolex Submariner, the reference point of all tool watches, Rolex was using Blue Ocean Strategy, long before the term was published in academia. High Horology is Scholarship and patience. “And she waited a million years for the flower to bloom, sitting and admiring the inexplicable beauty of the blossoming bud, and it took a million years.”

After spending Quarter of a century in the curious world of horology, I have come to realize that it boils down to two things:

?A. Iconic brands.

?B. Hero Cases.

Taking few comparisons, Pink Floyd is an iconic band and ‘another brick in the wall’ is Hero lyrics, Sony is an Iconic brand and ‘Walkman’ is a Hero product, Land Rover is an Iconic brand and ‘Defender’ is a Hero vehicle, the list can run till perpetuity.

If you spend sizable time with watches, you will realize that almost all Iconic brands have at least one Hero case. Rolex stands out in this list and has managed to produce the highest number of Hero cases, be it Explorer, Date just, Submariner, Daytona, GMT, Cellini, and the list goes on, not every brand achieves this Greatness.

There are two school of thoughts among horology aficionados, one who favor movement/ machine ?and functions, there are purists and for them precision of timekeeping objects are almost sacred and second are the admirer of shape and design, and they prefer to wear a watch which reflects their individuality, lately I have met few people who don’t set time on their watches, as they have a different stand on timing/ time telling and how its perceived.

Functions, legendary movements, complications of a watch are a different breed, and would require lengthy write up, but here we focus more on Icons and Heroes.

The history of horology sits on vast annals of vanquished brands and unsuccessful models. For every Iconic brand and Hero case, the chronological archives are sealed with hundreds of failed attempts. Each brand which exists today has one major aspiration, to be Iconic and to have at least one Hero case within the collection, if not, then it’s a constant struggle where a brand keeps on churning novelty or new collection, year after year, hoping they will strike gold.

?Apart from millions of other reasons as to why watch brands go bankrupt, is “Cost of Production,” if a new/existing brand keeps on churning new case year after year, they lose the value proposition and cost benefit, it bleeds their coffers dry. It is exceptionally expensive to keep running a non-profitable watch brand. When you see a watch brand with as many watches reference collection as there are stars in milky way, then you are in presence of a brand which is still trying to make it and working hard to create a Hero case.

The wise old saying “less is more” is as effective today as when it was coined, we have complicated the simplicity of life, or we have evolved. When first clocks were produced few centuries ago, there were equipped only with the hour hand and had no minute or seconds hand, the timing was bad, but with advancement of technology, more functions/ features were added, and by 1920’s, overall knowledge of brands, new machines, calculations and watchmakers’ technical prowess had progressed so much that a small clock with 20 plus complications could be commissioned by a wealthy patron.

Once ?the fact of wearing wrist watches was absorbed by men post WW1, the watchmakers faced abundant challenges like, shortening the size of caliber and built watches which were sweat proof, dust proof, shock proof and much later water proof, if you look at old watches from early 1900 till perhaps middle of century, they were very few Hero cases, it took time for brands to start looking for differentiation from the ocean of other brands, each competing for the basic need of telling time.

?Look at your wristwatch, an Iconic brand and a Hero case, showstopper, highly admired by Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Your watch took a long journey to reach your wrist, so enjoy it, read about its history, its mechanical marvel, its audacity of defying gravity, savor it, “less is more.”

?Below are very few examples of Iconic brands and Hero Cases as per the authors perspective, you will be able to recognize most of these watches even from a distance.

?

Rolex Submariner

Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso

Patek Philippe Nautilus

Panerai Radiomer

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Omega Speed Master

Tag Heuer Monaco

Vacheron Constantin Overseas

Lange & Sohne Lange 1

IWC Big Pilot

Cartier Santos

?

Hopefully in the not-so-distant future, I will have an opportunity to write a series on few Iconic brands and their Hero cases.