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| Joined: | Mon Feb 25th, 2008 |
| Location: | Singapore, Singapore |
| Posts: | 235 |
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Saying that oversized watches are a trend is certainly not inaccurate. In this case, it would be a direct result of Stallone and the "Slytech" Panerai. Here I must make the distinction between trend and design.
Panerais have never been made small, in fact, they were downsized to the 40mm models as a result of their growing trend status, just so smaller people could wear them practically. Did they start an oversized trend? Yes they did. Did they change because of trends? No they didn't (loosely speaking).
Panerai also started the military timepiece trend, and since they'd (technically) covered the sea-end of the business, someone had to cover the air-end right? Enter the Flieger-style. Equally big(er?) with a slightly different story to tell. Interestingly enough, pilot watches have always been on the larger side for practical reasons but the Flieger trend was certainly a departure from the pilot watches of the 1970s - 1990s (Breitling).
So, it didn't take long for marketing boffins to realise "Hey military + big = MAN" right? And that's where I feel the plot's gotten a little lost. I won't name any brands, but you will know your fair share of well-known models that have been "upsized to meet the demands of today's enthusiast". IMO, some of these classic designs should never have been tempered with, merely bumping up the case size hardly constitutes an evolution, but is an excellent excuse for a 20% MSRP increment.
So, to summarize, are big watches a trend? Definitely. Any watch magazine will yield good examples of "big for the sake of big". I give these guys 3-5 years tops before falling demand is reflected in poor re-sale value. However, I do think that the guys that started big will always sell well. Don't see a Radiomir or Big Pilot ever doing badly. As someone who doesn't own a single piece over 42mm, I'd be very interested to see how the return to smaller, classically styled watches (including "sport utility watches" unfurls.
I hope I haven't offended any with this, just my opinion.
Jonathan