geneve

A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Watch Wins Top Prize At The Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève 2009

I knew that the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk watch had a lot going for it. When it was announced several months ago in May, I was sure that Lange was doing things right. Oddly enough, its parent company Richemont Group did not. Even though the brand has an almost fanatical following and continues to win award after award (for both the company and their products), there was enough tension over profits between former CEO Fabian Krone and Richemont Group corporate to lead to the former CEO's resignation. Shame that Richemont didn't value the skill and determination of the brand.

Like Zeitwerk... I mean clockwork, A. Lange & Sohne has won yet another award for their watches. The result of this year's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève has the Lange Zeitwerk watch winning the "Golden Hand" award. Roughly making it the top watch of the year. Through the various categories, this is the ideal award that any watch maker can strive to achieve for this highly watched annual horological recognition event.

The Lange Zeitwerk watch is a mechanical masterpiece that combines modern and traditional watch making. The dial shows the time digitally via two windows and has a analog subsidiary seconds dial and power reserve indicator. Prices for the watches average about $55,000 - $76,000 (gold and then platinum).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2009, a lange sohne, ALangeSohne, award, geneva, geneve, grand prix dhorlogerie, GrandPrixDhorlogerie, watch, zeitwerk

Wyler Geneve Watches Laid To Rest, Ever To Wake Up?

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Swiss watch maker Wyler Geneve has just laid off all of its employees save for their CEO. While not officially closing shop, the company says it is going into "hibernation mode" and will attempt to wait out the "crisis" that is going on in the watch industry. This refers to the generally awful economy dissuading consumers from investing in many of the more expensive or less known brands out there. It is unclear what will occur with the existing Wyler watch inventory out there or how existing customers will receive service for the expensive luxury watches.

Wyler attempted to make headlines by producing the first all carbon neutral watches out there. This was done via the purchase of carbon offsets that I discussed as being good-natured but not particularly impressive. Wyler CEO Ryan St. George, is the only remaining employee, and it is unclear what his role will be once the rest of the employees have left. The brand's "deep freeze" will start in the coming months. A question arises as to what Wyler did wrong having reasonably nice watches that are certainly unique. The issue could be market penetration, distribution, or consumer interest. There is also the matter of pricing, which was optimistic to say the least. During the "bull economy" of the watch industry you had new brands popping up all over the place. Many with good ideas, and all with 'impressively' high prices. The market reality has finally caught up with them and they must learn the hard lesson that the market, not the manufacturer, determines what people will actually pay.

Via Perpetuelle via Business Montres (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CEO, closing hibernation, ClosingHibernation, company, geneve, watch, wyler

Wyler Geneve GMT Watch Pays To Be Green Friendly, Literally

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I do like Wyler Geneve watches a lot, and their newest GMT watch brings something new to the table that won't affect how it looks or its accuracy. Wyler Geneve proudly proclaims that their new GMT watch is the first CarbonNeutral® watch. Let's look at this a bit more closely. I'd like to think this means that the watch itself is environmentally friendly. Maybe it will biodegrade, and is made of that corn plastic that those new disposable forks I can tear in half are made out of? No it is something else. Wyler Geneve has bought into something called carbon offsetting. Now you get an idea why the above term is not "carbon neutral," but rather the trademarked name "CarbonNeutral." CarbonNeutral has an interesting business model going for themselves, with an increasing amount of business interest and attention. I'll explain briefly how it works.

If you are interested in being more environmentally friendly, but cannot really change how to you do business, you can buy yourself into the 'green club.' A basic evaluation of your business is done to determine your environmental impact, or at least how much waste your business is emitting. You can then purchase offsets, it's like eco-karma. Does your factory pollute noxious gas into the air? Fund a green campaign else where that does the opposite. The idea is to offset your environmentally unfriendly ways with environmentally friendly programs elsewhere. This is not to say that Wyler Geneve is a big polluter at all, just that they decided to participate in carbon offsetting, and felt that working with CarbonNeutral was a good idea. Thus, they have started with the new GMT, offsetting where necessary to make this product CarbonNeutral. It is a good thing, maybe a PR stunt, but overall you can't complain that it does any harm. Wyler Geneve points out that it is the first watch to participate in a CarbonNeutral program. I think the best part is the humbling experience that it must have gone through when trying to determine its actual emissions and environmental impact of making the watch. The pictured new Wyler Geneve GMT watch is in steel with a rubber strap and rugged good looks.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CarbonNeutral, Geneve, GMT, Wyler