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Manufactured grievance The term ‘manufacture’ may be prized among watch-snobs, but in reality it’s a label without meaning, says Ken Kessler When it comes to self-flagellation, the watch industry’s cat-o-nine-tails is a phenomenon called ‘manufacture status’. The first word must be pronounced with a cod-French accent, and the translation is roughly the equivalent of a factory. In this horological application, it means ‘made entirely in-house’, and it separates the wheat from the chaff, the class from the dreck. Or that’s what it’s meant to do. If you want your brand to possess absolute credibility, you have to be ‘manufacture’. In practice, it’s supposed to describe watch companies which make everything themselves, though the description has been relaxed to mean only that the movement is produced in-house to qualify. That’s because there isn’t a single watch company on the planet which literally makes everything within its factory walls … unless you know one that mines its own iron, gold and platinum; breeds cattle, sharks, ostriches and crocodiles for its straps; creates sapphire crystals; refines the lubrication oils; and a few hundred other elements best left to outside specialists. Most of the great watch houses do produce their own movements, but it has never been an indicator of quality, credibility or status simply because the watch industry
doesn’t work that way. It’s exactly like the car industry, which leaves various elements to firms that focus only on specific disciplines. So questions are begged: Is a Ferrari any less desirable because it doesn't produce its own tyres or batteries? Would you say, “No, thanks!” to a Pagani Huayra because the engine is made for it by Mercedes-AMG? No, you would not. If a finger has to be pointed, the blame for the burden of acquiring manufacture status belongs not to the watch companies (who in the main find it comical) but to the watch press, abetted by know-it-all collectors who, five years ago, didn’t know Timex from Tampax. It’s said that a little knowledge is dangerous: by championing manufacture status, the bellowing horde has inflicted unnecessary costs and challenges on an entire industry. Indeed, it baffles anyone who knows anything about the history of watchmaking, or more importantly, understands the industry’s realpolitik: behind the scenes, the brands help each other, collaborate, share costs, vote in blocs on matters of watch fairs, and do anything else that’s good for business. Any bitchy competition is only in
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