I wanted to share with you a little reflection that I made. Whenever I go to a second -hand merchant, let’s take the example of Antoine de Macedo, I note that the content of the window dedicated to contemporary watches of a decade ago or two seems to me much more attractive than what I can see in the shops marketing the current offer.
In summary, I do the following constant. The watches of about twenty years ago seem to me more harmonious with boxes of boxes that correspond to those of movements, the finishes appear to me either more elaborate or integrate more manual endings, their styles are more refined and elegant, the use of precious metals is more generous and the aesthetic approaches are more successful. In other words, I have the impression of being faced with watches that have been developed with less constraints and desire for optimization than what can be observed today. All this without forgetting that these watches were sold in the early 2000s at much lower prices than today, even by reasoning in constant euros. You will note that I am talking about this contemporary offer and not vintage which is another debate.
Because today, in 2025, I see that watchmaking is a bad cotton in general. By dint of increasing the prices, sometimes several times a year, the generalist and volume marks which constitute the base of the industry, have finished moving away from a large part of their basic customers. Precious metal watches undergo a severe optimization cure to use chosen terms (the gold masses are replaced by gold plated masses, the pitfall rings are made of steel etc …). I regularly see that the movements do not correspond to the boxes (even if the tendency of return to more reasonable sizes attenuate this phenomenon). And above all, I find that the finishes and the quality of execution have not followed the same trend as the price curve. Have prices increased sharply, but has the watchmaking content followed the same trend? Not really and ask the question is to answer them in a way.
A watch from the early 2000s, Breguet 5357:
So, is the situation so dramatic? Not finally because my words above may be exaggerated. There is one point on which brands have worked a lot, for their own interests obviously but also to respond to a desire for customers: that of versatility and reliability. The past few years have seen the emergence of a whole category of movements whose performance is clearly up compared to those of movements of about twenty years ago: walking reserves and frequencies are increasing, the decrease in certain mechanical constraints thanks to the use of new materials has strengthened reliability and in general, watches are easier to live, with higher seals Fine and simpler bracelet. There has been a real effort of engineering on the customer experience, on the feeling to the wearing and on the capacity that the watches have to support their owners in all circumstances.
And then another phenomenon happens. The abandonment on the part of certain brands of their usual customers of customers has led to the emergence of a whole new offer emanating from “small” creative, agile and efficient brands from a tariff point of view. Creativity has become accessible which was not really the case twenty years ago when only a few actors of the independent watchmaking dared aesthetic disruption and the display of time.
The comparison between today’s watchmaking and that of twenty years ago is therefore much more complex than it seems. Surely should not be done in caricature and abuse the reflex of “it was better before”. There are of course things that do not go today and watchmaking must analyze its own turpitudes (and among them … the bait of the gain leading to short-term strategies) before seeking exogenous factors to explain its current setbacks. But everything is not so dark: the offer has never been so large and diversified and ultimately, everyone can find a watch that corresponds to their sensitivity and their budget. The landscape has recomposed, some large actors have erased in the eyes of a large part of the Western customers and others have arrived. What ultimately makes one choose a period compared to another falls within everyone’s tastes and expectations. I am for example much more sensitive to the quality of the finishes and the execution than to the length of the power reserve. I am also more seduced by a refined watch than by a “all terrain” watch. This is what makes me prefer watchmaking at the beginning of our century. But others will prefer the current offer for separate reasons and that is very good.
