Most famous luxury watch brands?

freddy333 · February 11, 2009

1. Rolex (I guess this isn't even debatable. Rolex is the king here.)
2. Omega
3. Cartier (not mainly a watch maker but very well known brand)
4. TAG Heuer
5. Patek Philippe

I agree with the first 3, but I would swap the positions of Omega & Cartier, move TAG into 5th position & replace it (in 4th position) with Longines (I would remove Patek altogether). Longines used to provide timing for the Olympic games. So, while they may not be a household name for many young people, I think Longines still has more brand recognition than TAG. On the other hand, for young people, Panerai is probably ahead of Cartier in brand recognition.

southcoast68 · February 11, 2009

Most popular "Flea Market" brands;

1. Casio

2. Timex

3. Q & Q

4. Pulsar / Seiko

5. Unbranded Bling Bling watches

Most popular "WIS or only known by the watch savy which has not been repped yet (at least to my knowledge)" brands;

1. Sinn

2. Doxa

3. Hamilton

4. Vostok Europe

5. Poljot

Honorable mention brands;

1. RXW (the original, think "Plasmir Milgraph")

2. Orsa

3. Eterna

4. Zenith

5. Chase Durer

Ok, so I went overboard , I was having some fun with this. Most may disagree with me as the list goes down as my own personal taste was taking over, but the first 3 categories I feel are pretty accurate where I live. Yes, IWC gets mentioned twice as I do think of them as a luxury brand in image and a true WIS interest considering its history.

Cheers

By-Tor · February 11, 2009

Great list southcoast.

One thing that spot my eye though: Breguet. Placing it to "niche luxury brands" is a blasphemy in highest order!

Many WIS consider it the King of Wrist Watches... some even above Patek Philippe. Breguet has amazing history as it made the first known wristwatch to Marie Antoinette. They also designed watches for many historic people like Napoleon, Louis XVI and Russian Tsar I. They also invented things like tourbillon (among many other horological masterpieces).

How can you NOT include Breguet into the WIS brands, and have lowly Panerai (who doesn't even have inhouse movements) on your list? Shame on you!

Yeah... I understand this thread was about how people see the brands, not where they actually belong... so in that sense there are no "right and wrong" replies. Interesting that you put Breguet there... I've always seen Breguet as the most legendary watch brand, with almost mystical "aura" and reputation.

southcoast68 · February 11, 2009

Great list southcoast.

One thing that spot my eye though: Breguet. Placing it to "niche luxury brands" is a blasphemy in highest order!

Many WIS consider it the King of Wrist Watches... some even above Patek Philippe. Breguet has amazing history as it made the first known wristwatch to Marie Antoinette. They also designed watches for many historic people like Napoleon, Louis XVI and Russian Tsar I. They also invented things like tourbillon (among many other horological masterpieces).

How can you NOT include Breguet into the WIS brands, and have lowly Panerai (who doesn't even have inhouse movements) on your list? Shame on you!

Yeah... I understand this thread was about how people see the brands, not where they actually belong... so in that sense there are no "right and wrong" replies. Interesting that you put Breguet there... I've always seen Breguet as the most legendary watch brand, with almost mystical "aura" and reputation.

True that, my humble appologies to the community :tomaatit: . I tended to drift toward my own knowledge / affection to the various brands. I also for got to mantion Swatch in the list, feel free to insert Swatch into the list where you feel appropriate :thumbs: . As I always have said, there is a whole world of great collectible watches out there which would surely take a lifetime to research / enjoy.

By-Tor · February 11, 2009

True that, my humble appologies to the community . I tended to drift toward my own knowledge / affection to the various brands. I also for got to mantion Swatch in the list, feel free to insert Swatch into the list where you feel appropriate . As I always have said, there is a whole world of great collectible watches out there which would surely take a lifetime to research / enjoy.

No... I didn't mean it that way at all man. I didn't know anything about brands like VC and JLC before I joined this community, either. Your reply was interesting, because this was all about how people "see" the brands. This is not a competition in "brand knowledge" in any shape or form. When I re-read my reply now, I can see that it might look like that I ridicule you for your "lack of knowledge". I would never, ever do that to the fellow members... my apologies for my "cocky" tone... I swear it wasn't intentional.

Breguet has invented:

Perpetual Calendar

Repeater

Thermometer

Chronograph

Pare-Chute

Tourbillon

among many other horological things... actually Breguet invented the whole automatic wristwatch and power reserve as we know it. I didn't know all this, either... before I looked at Wikipedia.

I knew Breguet and their reputation though... but I'm not sure how. I always saw Breguet as "Rolls Royce of wrist watches"... and Patek as some sort of "wannabe Jaguar". And if we look at these pure facts, Breguet is the WIS of WIS brands, without any doubt whatsoever.

It's interesting that even watch fans don't give this brand the respect it deserves. Again we come to the marketing and brand recognition... and how important it is in luxury watch business. And that's exactly what this thread is supposed to be about.

hilts · February 11, 2009

Interesting that Movado is big in the States - all but unheard of in UK I would say.

hilts · February 11, 2009

Noob question from a non-noob.

What does WIS mean??!! :blush:

By-Tor · February 11, 2009

Interesting that Movado is big in the States - all but unheard of in UK I would say.

Unheard everywhere in Europe I would say. I had never heard of Movado before I joined some US-based watch forums back in early 2000's.

RobbieG · February 11, 2009

Noob question from a non-noob.

What does WIS mean??!!

Watch Idiot Savant

guinea · February 11, 2009

Also living in Scandinavia, but I would like to change this a bit (only my opinion)

1. Rolex
2. Omega
3. Breitling
3. TAG Heuer
5. Longiness

When I talk watches to my family and friends , most of them are well aware of the Breitlings. (therefore TAG & Bretilings share nr.3 )
Longiness is on 5th place just becuase It seems like every two watch stores sell these where I live.. but maybe I

southcoast68 · February 11, 2009

No... I didn't mean it that way at all man. I didn't know anything about brands like VC and JLC before I joined this community, either. Your reply was interesting, because this was all about how people "see" the brands. This is not a competition in "brand knowledge" in any shape or form. When I re-read my reply now, I can see that it might look like that I ridicule you for your "lack of knowledge". I would never, ever do that to the fellow members... my apologies for my "cocky" tone... I swear it wasn't intentional.

Breguet has invented:

Perpetual Calendar
Repeater
Thermometer
Chronograph
Pare-Chute
Tourbillon

among many other horological things... actually Breguet invented the whole automatic wristwatch and power reserve as we know it. I didn't know all this, either... before I looked at Wikipedia.

I knew Breguet and their reputation though... but I'm not sure how. I always saw Breguet as "Rolls Royce of wrist watches"... and Patek as some sort of "wannabe Jaguar". And if we look at these pure facts, Breguet is the WIS of WIS brands, without any doubt whatsoever.

It's interesting that even watch fans don't give this brand the respect it deserves. Again we come to the marketing and brand recognition... and how important it is in luxury watch business. And that's exactly what this thread is supposed to be about.

No appologies necessary, its all good

Interesting that Movado is big in the States - all but unheard of in UK I would say.

Movado has been American owned for some time now, and is probably not marketed much in other parts of the world. The Movado Group currently markets many different brands such as Movado, ESQ, Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. The legendary El Primero chronograph movement was a joint venture between Movado and Zenith. I have a picture of a Movado Datron HS360 chronograph on my desktop, its one of my grail watches :drool:

relox · February 11, 2009

There is a discussion about TAG in RWI... with the usual clich

Edited February 11, 2009 by relox

iceberg1459 · February 11, 2009

I would generally agree with Bytor and his list looks right to me. I also agree about TAG owners thinking it is a luxury brand, while WIS sometimes think the opposite and think of it as a sort of pricey mall watch - except the higher end Caliber 36 stuff of course.

my first gen was a tag link, cal 36. from experience i must say the finish and quality is far superior than what you would expect from tag.

but the retail price of 5200

Toadtorrent · February 11, 2009

Most popular "Mall" brands;
...
Most popular "Luxury " brands;
...
Most popular "WIS" brands;
...
Most popular "Niche / Luxury" brands;
...
Most popular "Department store" brands;
...
Most popular "Flea Market" brands;
...
Most popular "WIS or only known by the watch savy which has not been repped yet (at least to my knowledge)" brands;
...
Honorable mention brands;
...
Ok, so I went overboard , I was having some fun with this. Most may disagree with me as the list goes down as my own personal taste was taking over, but the first 3 categories I feel are pretty accurate where I live.

That's a very interesting list...and a good way to categorize things. Like you said...it's a tricky question as there are a number of ways to look at how to identify "famous" for one, and "luxury brand" for another.

I would probably add Swatch in there for Department store brands!!

In Toronto...I would say most famous might be the most easily available brands...and for luxury...possibly anything above $500 (I know it seems low in price...but I think for "most" of the general populace, this is probably the price point where they think a watch becomes a luxury item vs. a tool that everyone has).

Rolex
Omega
Breitling
Tag Heur
Movado

I would even go so far as to say, there are brands that probably most people "think" are luxury brands but aren't really:

Tissot
Armani
ESQ

We can pretty much get anything here...but other "big" brands like IWC, Hamilton, Longines, Panerai, AP, Hublot, Harry Winston, Graham's, etc are usually only sold in one particular store.

arrowax · February 11, 2009

gotta be rolex and tag.

Patek is also very well known, albeit in different crowds.

By-Tor · February 11, 2009

For me it's almost impossible to swallow that Breitling could be above TAG in name recognition. No way in hell... how could that be possible? TAG is absolutely everywhere with those (admittedly very cheesy) celebrity ads. Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Uma Thurman, etc. etc. Even when I open my fianc

rogerthat · February 11, 2009

Recently: Breitling and Tag are equal in the amount of advertising they seem to do in the US.

I see ads in most every magazine for Breiting and for Tag (Breitling ads are in almost every issue of Time, which I believe is the best selling magazine in the US)

Breitling billboards are in all major cities. Every mall around me has a high end jewerly store that sells Breitling and Tag. There are advertisements for both brands throughout the mall interior. In the US they have made there Bentley line more exclusive by selling only in certain stores and only about 25% of Breitling dealers carry Bentley.

This advertising is relatively new for Breitling.

Both advertise more than Omega, I think most non-watch people I know do not think Omega is very expesnive believe it or not, I know worldwide this opinion is much different.

10 Years Ago, Movado was way above Breitling and probably on par with Tag in the US it was thought of as a luxury brand.

Now I believe the perception is that they are dated.

Also, Swiss Army you might be shocked but here in the US they are thought to be excellent watches by people that don't know watch brands.

If you asked a non-watch person in the US for a top 10, I am confident Swiss Army would appear.

Of course so would Seiko, Timex and others.

To the non-watch crowd Rolex is and alwys will be king.

Cheers,

M

southcoast68 · February 11, 2009

Interesting discussion we have going here. It just goes to show, even if it is an "important" enough brand to rep, that does not mean that that brand can be considered "popular". This is true in many cases, both Kodak and Leica both manufacture cameras. If you say Kodak to someone, it is internationally understood that you are talking of a camera or some other type of photographic equipment. If you say Leica to someone, they may or may not know that you are reffering to a camera or photographic equipment even though the Leica is a much more robust and professional grade of camera.

An example of brand recognition. The morning radio show I sometimes listen to has a contest to where folks who call in are given certain words to describe something and the caller must identify what they are talking about. To folks in the US, you may remember a game show called "The $25,000 Pyramid", well this as a lot like that. One day, the clues to a category were "Rolex Timex Seiko", and the caller immediately guessed "brands of watches" and of course were correct. If the clues given were "Patek Phillipe IWC Glashutte", I doubt the answer given would have been correct.

An example of folks recognising a luxury brand name. A fellow I work with overheard me and another talking of watches one day and stated that years ago, his grandmother had given him an Omega for Christmas (model unknown), and he asked us if this was a good brand. He knows Rolex as a high end brand because of his fathers Submariner, but had no idea of Omega. He always figured he got a "cheaper" watch since it was not a Seiko or a Fossil. Just a pure case of someone not being familiar with a brand name. Of course, I told him that if he ever wants to unload that "cheap Omega", I'll be glad to take it off his hands .

As far as Breitling being more popular than Tag Heuer, well, I think they are getting pretty even at this point. Tag Heuer is very popular in the US, and probably due to its sponsorship of major sporting events as well as their celebrity "ambassadors" that advertise for them. Breitling, as been mentioned, has been using more magazine and billboard advertising as of late. I also beleive that Simon guy from American Idol wears a Breitling and that helps their visibility as well.

offshore · February 12, 2009

In the interests of this discussion having a broad input, can I throw in a few very recognisable names, (not saying they should be included here), however in my neck of the woods, these would rank in the "mall" recognised arena.

Guess.

Piere Cardin.

Swatch.

Seiko.

Pulsar.

Citizen.

Tissot.

Longines.

My guess is that the top few recognised brands for luxury would be

Rolex

Omega

Tag

Brietling

IWC.

I talk with watch people every week, and without doubt Rolex is the 1st name mentioned.

This is in a lower income area, although I do have a few collectors around each week.

Interestingly, even the collectors I speak with, wouldn't recognise ( maybe be able to identify) the likes of Brequet, VC, Patek,even GP!

More fuel for the fire.

Offshore

Toadtorrent · February 12, 2009

For me it's almost impossible to swallow that Breitling could be above TAG in name recognition.

It was a tough one for me to place. I would agree with others here that Breit and Tag are pretty close. Tag probably has more recognition because of the celebrity sponsors. I actually see Citizen adds more than anything these days (as far as billboards go...not magazines).

A friend's friend is the regional rep for the Swiss Army brand and apparently, he says those watches move quite well. I see them around a lot too...but don't think people equate them with luxury branding.

As to Patek's not making the list...I think like Vacheron, UN, A. Lange & Sohne, Breguet, etc...these are niche, boutique brands and things that very few folks would ever come across or be interested in. It's like cars...people know Mercedes, BMW, etc...not as many know Saleen, Bugatti, etc...

By-Tor · February 12, 2009

HERE is an interesting article/statistics I found.

Rolex seems to be the only watch brand that gets into top 100, in the overall brand ranking. Cartier, Hermes, Bvlgari and Tiffany are there as well. I think they all make watches too. No TAG or Omega.

I don't know how can you actually measure "brand value"... and this definitely isn't "brand prestige" ranking.

For people who don't want to go through the whole article, here's the top 100:

Rank, Brand $million

1 Coca-Cola 67,000

2 Microsoft 56,926

3 IBM 56,201

4 GE 48,907

5 Intel 32,319

6 Nokia 30,131

7 Toyota 27,941

8 Disney 27,848

9 McDonald’s 27,501

10 Mercedes 21,795

11 Citi 21,458

12 Marlboro 21,350

13 Hewlett-Packard 20,458

14 American Express 19,641

15 BMW 19,617

16 Gillette 19,579

17 Louis Vuitton 17,606

18 Cisco 17,532

19 Honda 17,049

20 Samsung 16,169

21 Merrill Lynch 13,001

22 Pepsi 12,690

23 Nescaf

raptor · February 12, 2009

Most youths knows about Breitling today in Sweden.

I think its getting the hottest brand among the youths. However, which is considered to be the most luxurious brand is rolex ofcours.

Raptor

Toadtorrent · February 12, 2009

HERE is an interesting article/statistics I found.

Rolex seems to be the only watch brand that gets into top 100, in the overall brand ranking. Cartier, Hermes, Bvlgari and Tiffany are there as well. I think they all make watches too. No TAG or Omega.

That's an interesting piece. Not surprising that not many watch companies are in there. All the other companies besides Rolex (for the most part) including Cartier, Hermes, Bvlgari and Tiffany, have diversified product portfolios (e.g. jewellery, clothing, shoes, accessories, etc) which places them in more spots in fashion mags or store shelves...so their market penetration is greater as their brand is seen by more sections of the buying public...vs. just those looking for high end watches.

That's why Patek and Lange, etc will not be known by the public as they only do watches...and super high end watches at that.

Jkay · August 28, 2009

I would certainly strike Patek right off your list of "well known brands" and replace it with Breitling here in the US. Also Omega is **very** iffy as far as recognizability as a luxury brand here. Omega has sold far too many quartz throw-away watches in the US in the past. I'd place Omega equal to Timex here .. LOL.

BROM · August 28, 2009

For me it's almost impossible to swallow that Breitling could be above TAG in name recognition. No way in hell... how could that be possible? TAG is absolutely everywhere with those (admittedly very cheesy) celebrity ads. Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Uma Thurman, etc. etc. Even when I open my fianc

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