Watch Industry SITREP – August 2024 – WED

The Olympic Games, challenges for the Swiss industry and watch-related crime

Generally speaking, the daily watch media news cycle doesn’t interest us. Numerous websites hang up their collective hats to stay up-to-date, covering new releases and other watch industry shenanigans, and do a much better job of it than we ever could. That said, we’re often asked for our opinions on current watch events, and there are certain stories from the world of watch media and beyond Are interesting for our community. In order to keep you up to date on the intriguing trends, military developments or current events that might interest you, we decided to test a “SITREP” or watch industry situation report, a quick snapshot of the previous month’s news, coupled with our commentary. To start, we’ll look at the news from August, when all eyes were on the Olympics.

The Olympic Games in Paris

Daniel Craig wears an unreleased Omega Seamaster No Date in Paris during the Olympic Games. (Photo: Hodinkee)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve been inundated with Olympic content over the past month. The watch industry played its part too, as much for marketing as it does for sport, with Olympic sponsor Omega making the most headlines with a carefully orchestrated campaign. In addition to the obvious celebrity watch spotting and a slew of athletes including pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis competing in the recently released Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M Ultra Light, Daniel Craig “accidentally” unveiled what appears to be an unreleased, undated version of the Seamaster Diver 300 so often associated with James Bond. Astute observers will note that this undated version closely resembles the Seamaster currently only available as a unit watch for SpecOps personnel.

An Omega Seamaster Diver 300 “Unit Watch” in honor of the French elite units tasked with providing security for the Olympic Games.

While the Bond connection is always interesting, even when it’s carefully crafted by Omega’s marketing department, a more intriguing WOE-related development took place during the Olympics with Omega’s unit watch program. Omega is producing a Seamaster “unit watch” for the three elite French units tasked with security at the event: GIGN, RAID, and BRI. The marketing is nice, but a GIGN/RAID/BRI unit Seamaster is what really gets us going. Aside from the insignia on the caseback, this is actually the same watch used by U.S. Secret Service officers during the recent assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump, and a unit-specific model made for the Danish Frogman Corps. Unit watches seem to be somewhat of a fashion statement, an industry trend we can get behind. We’re told this photo is actually a prototype, with final versions expected to ship in fall 2024.

Astronauts stranded in space also wear Omega watches

A planned week-long spaceflight has been extended for a pair of American astronauts amid concerns about a possible return in a troubled Boeing capsule, underscoring what is one of the toughest jobs in the world: working with Boeing PR. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, both retired U.S. Navy captains, are extending their stay until February 2025, when they can be safely returned to Earth in a more tried-and-true SpaceX capsule.

All that remains to be added is that in the photo distributed with the headline, Wilmore is wearing an Omega X-33, a rarely seen ana-digi titanium watch developed specifically for astronauts and introduced in 1998. While the mechanical Speedmaster Professional is still the only watch suitable for spacewalks, the X-33 is issued to astronauts for use on the International Space Station (ISS). The X-33 offers a range of digital timekeeping functions specifically tailored to the needs of astronauts.

Swiss watch market in decline

It may not be good for the industry, but secondary market prices for brands like Rolex will continue to fall through 2024. (Photo credit: WOE/James Rupley)

As has been the case for a few years now, Forbes reported a further decline in Swiss secondary market prices for virtually all major Swiss luxury brands, including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Falling secondary market prices are also impacting perceived value among consumers, leading to wider challenges for the industry as a whole, with conglomerate Swatch Group, which owns Omega, reporting a more than 10% decline in sales in the first six months of 2024, led by Asian markets where the decline was closer to 30%. Au.

Richemont, another of the largest luxury conglomerates and owner of IWC, Cartier, Panerai and others, also reported double-digit sales, again led by Asian markets including China. What does this all mean for you and me? Reported again by ForbesThe wait time for beloved Rolex models, including the Submariner, is getting shorter, now estimated at 68 days, up from 105 days just a year ago.

While we don’t mind as much as some of the trolls on Reddit, Bremont’s latest releases left a lot to be desired for the brand’s biggest fans.

Perhaps even more impactful for our community, Bremont, a brand known for its close collaboration with military organizations, appears to be in serious trouble, having reported a £14 million loss earlier this year. This news comes after American billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman purchased a minority stake in the brand in early 2023 and a pair of unwelcome releases at Watches and Wonders in 2024. We’re big fans of Bremont’s previous efforts and penchant for military collaboration under the aptly named English brothers, and would welcome a return to form that doesn’t include many of the brand’s latest designs. Fingers crossed.

Rolex ends sponsorship of Formula 1

It’s more of a quick hit here, but Rolex is expected to end its 11-year partnership with F1 in 2025, with LVMH contributing an estimated $150 million a year, according to Crown. There are a few ways to look at this, but either way, it’s not a money issue for Rolex, which Morgan Stanley said is forecasting profits of more than $10 billion in 2023, more than its top five competitors combined. Perhaps more likely, LVMH is hoping to align TAG Heuer with F1, cementing the brand’s hopeful position as motorsport’s premier watch brand. Rolex, which reportedly paid closer to $50 million a year, may have simply found the investment too big for the return in consumer clout, especially since the Crown is already raking in the cash hand over fist.

Watches & Crime

London has become a hotbed for watch-related heists in recent years, a trend that has billionaires somewhat uneasy. (Photo: Sky News)

Luxury watches have always been a favourite subject of ours and continue to feature in the news in connection with crime, whether it is street muggings as are so common in London and other European capitals or more elaborate robberies at retail locations. According to FortuneAt least one British billionaire, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, says he will no longer wear his Rolex watches in London for fear of having his watch taken away by scooter-riding thugs (our language). What will happen to the world if billionaires no longer feel safe wearing their luxury watches?

According to police, this man approached the victims from behind, choked them, and took their Orient and Rolex watches. (Photo: NYPD Crimestoppers)

On a more serious note, a man is wanted in New York City after committing three robberies in which he choked his victims until they passed out, then stole their watches. Two of the stolen watches were Rolex, while the other was a $300 Orient, not the kind of thing you’d want to choke over. And finally, even though his DUI arrest occurred on June 18, the eager journalists at the NY Post A few weeks ago, a story broke stating that Justin Timberlake, who single-handedly brought sexy back in 2006, was carrying a “…vape, a Rolex, a gold ring, and a wallet with $306 in cash in it when he was handcuffed in Sag Harbor.” We wish we knew what Rolex model was in question, but Timberlake clearly read our EDC article explaining the value of not just a watch, but also of carrying a few crisp Benjamins with you at all times, even when you’re drunk.

The Tudor Black Bay Chrono is now available in blue

While Tudor’s dive watches, including the Black Bay and Pelagos and especially the unit-specific variants (TOE) of those models, get most of the attention, the Black Bay Chrono is another excellent luxury sports watch from the brand. A few days ago, Tudor unveiled a blue version of the Black Bay Chrono, the aptly named Tudor Black Bay Chrono Blue. We know, this isn’t exactly a breaking news story. We love Tudors and the new variant looks cool, but if you’re looking for in-depth watch reviews of new releases, you won’t find them here.

Is Watch News even news?

To be clear, a post like this is the closest we’ll ever get to “the news,” which will soon become an even more dire cesspool as the election approaches. Still, knowledge is power, and while some months have been tougher than ever, we’ve mostly enjoyed putting together this quick and hopefully easy-to-digest look at events and releases related to or of interest to members of our community. Were there any other watch-related events or news stories from the past month or so that you found worth sharing?

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Read more: Rolex Criminal Gangs and Traveling with Watches