“A watch is a watch is a watch”

Every year, one of the most revered marketing professors at FMS Delhi, Dr. Harsh Verma starts his Marketing Management course with this line written on the board, and opens the floor for discussion. After an hour of debate, a question still lingers. 

Is every watch ultimately serving the same purpose – is it just “a watch”? Then why do watch prices range from $10 to over $10 Million? Are the high prices stemming out of pure vanity? This single question could encompass the entire subject of Marketing.

Being in India, a price (or value?) sensitive market, most of us would have grown up listening to how large brands are “looting” people as the “same” products could be available at much lower prices. 

There was recent upheaval on the cost price & market value of luxury handbags:

• Dior’s $2600 handbags are actually made for $56 a piece?
• How China-made handbags are labeled ‘Made in Italy’ by exploiting a loophole (last substantial transformation)

Despite these news articles:

• The First Lady of US continues to wear Dior while meeting UK’s royal family
• Celebrities continue to wear Dior at Emmys 2025

Why? Because there are two parts to brand equity – rational (or functional) and emotional (or notional). Dior thrives because emotional equity outweighs rational skepticism.

Since we started with “a watch”, I’ve decoded below how this presents in the world of horology!

Contributors to Rational Brand Equity: 

• Watchmaking Craftsmanship in Mechanical Watches – A mechanical watch is a watch that uses a clockwork mechanism to measure the passage of time, as opposed to quartz / battery operated watches. Each added functionality of a watch makes this mechanism more complex, and is hence called a “complication”. A few popular complications are day, date, perpetual calendar, moonphase, world clock, minute repeater, sun position, chronograph etc . As these increase – there is an extremely high degree of precision & quality of materials required, making watches feats of engineering. Watch this mind blowing video of Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication by Vacheron Constantin made of 1521 components & featuring 41 complications, and you’ll look at watchmaking differently!

• Actual precious metals / jewels – Some watches are literally wearable treasure. The Jacob & Co Billionaire Watch has 656 emerald cut diamonds, a tourbillon movement with a visible skeleton, made with 167 components.

• Superior Functionality – The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M can withstand pressures up to 600m deep while diving! Divers Watches are one example of functional excellence. The Rolex Deepsea? 3900m! No human can survive that dive, but the watch can. Water Pressure is just one example. 

• Investment Class – There is an actual Watch Charts Rolex Index – that tracks price movements across different Rolex Models! If you get your hands on any limited edition popular model of Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet or similar legacy brands, you can be rest assured of it being an appreciating asset. 

Contributors to Emotional Brand Equity:

• Wearing Legacy on your wrist – Patek Philippe, which generally sells upwards of $100k, is one of the oldest running watchmakers (since 1839!) In 1868, they created the 1st Swiss Wristwatch. Their slogan is – “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.” All legacy brands have their own series of firsts: Omega Speedmaster – First watch on the moon, Cartier Santos – First aviator watch taken on a flight, Rolex Oyster – First waterproof watch. Now isn’t there a special meaning in gifting a Rolex Oyster model to a swimmer who just won a major tournament? F1 Fan? – Tag Heuer has been the official F1 timekeeper for over 30 years!

• Exclusivity – Richard Mille is a Billion Dollar company making just 5000 watches an year! They make unique designs that are easily recognizable, and most of them are made in very limited quantities. So as you purchase it, you become an elite member of a club of 50-100 people globally who own it. Most Indian Cricket fans have noticed Hardik Pandya sporting a Richard Mille. Sometimes, there are more articles about the watch than his cricketing performance.

• The symbolism behind “wearing time” – “If you don’t respect time, time will not respect you”. A watch is more than just metals & gears. It symbolises time – one of the most important philosophical concepts of life! Each movement of the second hand reminds that life is finite & is passing by. Hundreds of tiny parts working together in a mechanical watch to “move time forward” is beautifully illustrative of life as well. Ultimately, your life is defined by how well you use your time. Read this well crafted Rolex Ad on this topic 

It’s all these factors and more, which decide whether a watch is sold at $10, $1000, $100,000 or a Million Dollars!

So I cringe out a little, when people say “Why does this matter? A watch just tells time!”. While that may be philosophically true, as Dr. Harsh Verma’s student, I refuse to believe that a Timex Weekender (no offence) and a Patek Philippe Grand Complication are both just watches 🙂