Is this horology of today?

[Limestone]

I saw this video and thought to myself.. WTF

What I was reacting on is that it feels more like and assembly line/industry then fine watch horology.

When you pay top $$ for a watch, say about $15.000-$20.000, you would think there was some heart and soul put in to it.

I

[gran]

Am I overreacting here??

You never ever overreact Henrik you have just proven that HUBLOT has no soul...so lets forget that brand once and for all and move on to AP, PP, VC and the other horological dreams

Simma langsamt

Gunnar

[mactower]

This is why I don't feel there's a huge difference with a modded, serviced rep that's tooled somewhere in Asia. Soul is what you believe it to be and it need not be expensive.

[baglc1]

Hubrep factory, thats why the reps we buy are good.

[fakemaster]

I can understand how you feel. The companies make it seem like there is some mystique involved. But most of it is automated now.

[mactower]

I just don't get why anyone would believe that the majority of parts are hand crafted when tooling and stamping is so much more efficient and cost effective. This is 2010 and not 1910 after all.

[Limestone]

I can understand how you feel. The companies make it seem like there is some mystique involved. But most of it is automated now.

Yes exactly..

Why is the watches so expensive if they

[krpster]

R&D, Marketing, image, sponsorship but mostly they will charge what the market will bear based on the perception of the product, it's manufacture and the company history.

I understand your use of the auto market as a comparison but it is not truely acurate. No car is assembled by robots. The shell body is welded by robot lines but final assembly is primarily done by hand or with manual assisted equipment. The main difference is that a Bentley is assembled by one or two people over the course of several days where as a mass produced vehicle (insert manufacturer of your choice) is assembled by one hundred people at a pace of a few hundred a day. Also, the tollerance requirements for parts and components and their reject rate come into play as well when determining quality vs cost. Which I am sure is true in time pieces as well as cars.

In the end I am with you....hard to justify the cost....so I don't spend it

[southcoast68]

This is why I don't feel there's a huge difference with a modded, serviced rep that's tooled somewhere in Asia. Soul is what you believe it to be and it need not be expensive.

I agree totally on this point

Hublot has a short history in the watch world, beginning in 1980 as part of MDM Geneva, and becoming the Hublot we know of today in about 2004. Royalty and celebrities had taken quite well to the designs Hublot was producing, that along with the increasing amount of upscale marketing have made the Hublot name well known today in high end watch manufacture.

In today's world, high tech often replaces old world craftsmanship in many well made high end products. While many high end watch houses do stay with the old world tradition of high end watch making, others like Hublot and AP have embraced the use of space aged materials and processes in watch making much like companies like Citizen and Seiko do. We often get dismayed at finding out that these watches are more mass produced and that somehow diminishes its image in our eyes.

I don't hate Hublot, I actually toy with the idea of trying a HBB one day, but I often wonder why they are so acclaimed today. Then I remember that a brands image, exclusivity, as well as its manufacture all determine its popularity and how much folks are willing to pay. My .02.

Cheers

[Ronin]

At the end of the day, robots and automation make less mistakes then humans. Soul aside, there is a reason why this works...

I am sure the initial investment in this equipment is not cheap, nor the labor in "programming", etc. Does it justify the price? Maybe-- Seiko/Citizen get their ROI from quantity/mass production of less expensive products. HB and others balance lower production numbers against higher cost.

[Limestone]

No car is assembled by robots. The shell body is welded by robot lines but final assembly is primarily done by hand or with manual assisted equipment. The main difference is that a Bentley is assembled by one or two people over the course of several days where as a mass produced vehicle (insert manufacturer of your choice) is assembled by one hundred people at a pace of a few hundred a day. Also, the tollerance requirements for parts and components and their reject rate come into play as well when determining quality vs cost.

Yes.. you

[TeeJay]

I noticed a few of the workers wearing HBBs, I guess Hublot pays its employees well

[gran]

I noticed a few of the workers wearing HBBs, I guess Hublot pays its employees well

silly you TJ they wear asian HBB replicas

[Limestone]

silly you TJ they wear asian HBB replicas

Haha.. that would be funny...

[TeeJay]

silly you TJ they wear asian HBB replicas

[FxrAndy]

I noticed a few of the workers wearing HBBs, I guess Hublot pays its employees well

Stops them nicking the parts and making them them selfs.

But not the soul that you think about with the big names is it, I say use the smaller manufactures that do put some soul in every watch,

Funny thing in Basel i was questioning a small brand about their movements knowing full well where they came from but when i asked who made it the answer was "Oh we do all in house"

So i walked off muttering lying barstuards

[KB]

Actually most of the workers HBB's were empty.

It's a progressive bonus program; Work 5 years get a case, another 5 years and get a dial etc etc

Usually by 25 years they have something that ticks.

Ken

[plaifender]

not really disappointing at all... I never thought that any of the brands we like were "hand made".. Some of the breguets, piagets, and A. Lange & Sohne... etc.. are definitely hand made.. but hublot, Audemars, omega, rolex etc.. doesn't surprise me one bit. In fact.. this is the way I imagined most factories to be.

[TeeJay]

Stops them nicking the parts and making them them selfs.

But not the soul that you think about with the big names is it, I say use the smaller manufactures that do put some soul in every watch,

Funny thing in Basel i was questioning a small brand about their movements knowing full well where they came from but when i asked who made it the answer was "Oh we do all in house"

So i walked off muttering lying barstuards

Makes the workshop sound like a diamond mine, I wonder how stringent their security is of their staff...

Actually most of the workers HBB's were empty.

It's a progressive bonus program; Work 5 years get a case, another 5 years and get a dial etc etc

Usually by 25 years they have something that ticks.

Ken

Ahhh, now that's worker incentive and job security

[Agrippa]

Horology today, or rather haute horologie, is no longer found in the line-ups offered by the big brands, but springs from small independent companies like Greubel-Forsey, Voutilainen, Speake-Marin, McGonigle and their like. That's primarily (though of course not exclusively) where innovation and real, old-fashioned craftsmanship exists these days.

Obviously mechanised and computerised manufacturing processes actually ensure that the end products are of a more consistent quality than is the case if everything/most things are hand made, but what aficionados of real high-end watches presumably care about is the exclusivity of a timepiece made in its entirety by a skilled artisan. I certainly know that I wouldn't dream of handing over $20-50.000 for a watch unless I knew for sure it hadn't just "come out of a machine".

Contrast the Hublot piece with this short snippet about Greubel-Forsey...

[Agrippa]

Or these two pieces about Maîtres du Temps:

[Limestone]

Horology today, or rather haute horologie, is no longer found in the line-ups offered by the big brands, but springs from small independent companies like Greubel-Forsey, Voutilainen, Speake-Marin, McGonigle and their like. That's primarily (though of course not exclusively) where innovation and real, old-fashioned craftsmanship exists these days.

Obviously mechanised and computerised manufacturing processes actually ensure that the end products are of a more consistent quality than is the case if everything/most things are hand made, but what aficionados of real high-end watches presumably care about is the exclusivity of a timepiece made in its entirety by a skilled artisan. I certainly know that I wouldn't dream of handing over $20-50.000 for a watch unless I knew for sure it hadn't just "come out of a machine".

Contrast the Hublot piece with this short snippet about Greubel-Forsey...

Thanks Agrippa..

Of course the main parts is computerised manufactured to get the best out of the material.

But looking at these videos you presented us gives me back the hope on what I first thougt about when I created this post.

I understand that an Omega for $5.000 is not made the way shown on these videos, but to put out over $20.000 for a watch that´s made this way???? no don´t think so.

Thank you very much for this interesting videos.. I love the work of Christophe Claret

[chronoluvvv]

you guys are absolutely murderous, haha

[Limestone]

you guys are absolutely murderous, haha

Well maybe this post is a bit strange on a REP forum

[gran]

Well maybe this post is a bit strange on a REP forum

Strange? it is not strange. We follow a dream Henrik and this might be among the more sane threads around