“For me a luxury product is, by definition, one that’s emotional”
their focus is more on ‘real’ goods,” Aeschlimann suggests. “Speak to them and it’s not as though they see a quartz or smartwatch as replacing a mechanical watch. Rather, they see them as entirely different things. The mechanical watch is something that expresses them – you see that in the demand for vintage watches.” To meet this younger consumer part way, Omega is moving into the brave new world of e-commerce – brave, at least, for the traditionally tardy Swiss watch industry. It has also cut its ties with motor sport, which, for a company that does its good works through the GoodPlanet Foundation, obviously feels like an environmentally unfriendly mismatch. Omega is a brand of incredible stories. If Rolex, among a select group of Swiss watch brands, has its icons – the Daytona, the GMT-Master, the Submariner – what the brand doesn’t have is a long association with the Olympic Games: Omega has been responsible for the timing of all events at both summer and winter Olympics since 1932. More pertinently to many men, Rolex doesn’t have the Omega Speedmaster, the only watch to be worn on the moon and NASA’s go-to timepiece for its astronauts since the 1960s. Nor does the rival watchmaker have the Omega Seamaster, which since 1995 has been the watch of choice for James Bond (at least in the movies – in Fleming’s novels Bond wears a Rolex). Some will recall the excruciating scene in Casino Royale in which 007’s love interest makes an analysis of his sartorial choices, only to be corrected by him: no, he’s not wearing a Rolex, he explains, but, in fact, an Omega. “Beautiful,” she says. And the tills went ker-ching. “The Olympics is a huge part of our history and integral to what we do. It’s something that makes the brand different – we hear stories of people buying Omega watches just because it reminds them of a certain moment during the Olympics,” says Aeschlimann. “But Bond is a unique property – it has become as much part of Omega, as Omega has become part of Bond. And I don’t really like to think about whether it would be a bad thing if those ties were broken. Thankfully, that is not an issue right now...” Yes, with or without Daniel Craig, James Bond will return. And he’ll be wearing an Omega again. That a brand like Omega is able to play on these moments of myth and magic may prove all the more important in years to come, as Aeschlimann seeks to ratchet up those additional 100,000 sales. By his own admission, nobody – millennial or not – really needs a mechanical watch any more. The watch left the world of utility and entered the world of items desired for their own sake, and that’s a world that thrives on sentiment. “It’s very interesting to see what will happen with similar brands that also sell things nobody really needs but which people buy anyway,” says Aeschlimann. “For me a luxury product is, by definition, one that’s emotional. Luxury shopping is when the emotional overcomes the rational. Of course people want precision in watches. And, yes, the industry still needs to be investing in even better standards. A mechanical watch is a piece of engineering, as well as a piece of art, that you can wear on your wrist. “Clearly there are other ways of getting the time. Yet it’s the same with cars. If you drive a Bentley you still get stuck in the same traffic as everyone else. But at least, you’ll be in a Bentley.” omegawatches.com
FROM TOP: SEAMASTER 1948 CENTRAL SECOND; SEAMASTER 1948 SMALL SECONDS