The importance of being independent
In this day and age, watch brands that plough their own distinct furrow have a vital role to play
By James Buttery
FP Journe changed my perception of the term ?independent? as it applies to watchmaking when I interviewed him at Salon QP in 2016. Asked how independents were faring given the difficult market conditions of the time, he quipped ?you mean independents like Rolex, Patek Philippe and Chopard"?
Journe?s point was well made: the moniker ?independent? doesn?t really communicate anything other than a company?s ownership status, no matter how it?s intended. Rolex and Roger Smith might both be independently owned, but other than that they share very little in common, other than a great deal of respect from their peers of course. Similarly, there are watch companies which, while independently owned, are very much embedded in the horological mainstream. Patek Philippe and Chopard are two such brands; their number has been dropping of late as the likes of Breitling and Frederique Constant have been acquired by venture capitalists and the Citizen group respectively. At a smaller level, Bremont or Nomos Glashutte can boast independent ownership, but for all their strengths, they are never what is meant when we offhandedly refer to “the independent” watch brands.
An independently-owned watch brand, Nomos Glashutte is nevertheless not what comes to mind when we say “independent watch brand”
Perhaps then what we really mean when we refe...
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