TAG is still firmly in the belief that huge watches are in, unfortunately. While microbrands are eating their lunch from under them... Honestly I think the pricing problems come not from TAG but from LVMH - they're pricing Zenith out of tons of business as well nowadays

 

TAG's loss. Add to that the designs are all just a bit 'meh' at the moment so paying more for 'meh' doesn't make sense.

I guess LVMH will work it out eventually. You an't just increase prices willy nilly without the value proposition. Neither Zenith nor TH are brands where the buyers don't care about the price tag. If they really want to push the brands upmarket, they are going to have make some serious changes to quality, finishing and deisgn.

 

Or... LVMH spends tons of money on market research and stuff and actually knows what the majority of their customers want. They probably also have sales data on what usually sell and not. Don't forget that the nerdy watch enthusiasts are a small minority in the grand scheme of things.

Plus, the increasing price without upping finishing or quality is a proven recipe all throughout the luxury market. As mentioned before in this forum, read the book 'Deluxe: How luxury lost its luster' by Dana Thomas to do a deep dive into understanding why a luxury product in many cases sells more if you change nothing about the product but increase the price.

 

Ya'll be praising Breitling a lot the last couple of years but don't forget what Breitling is doing the last couple of years:

- Increase prices a lot
- Decrease finish and attention to detail (using cheaper to make budget looking case backs, worse QC, changing gold logos to lacquered brass etc)
- Worse build quality on things like clasps

The watch enthusiast community goes crazy with excitement though, because they added some vintage flavour to their designs. Still doesn't change the fact that prices go up while the product gets less luxurious.

 

Not me.

 

You are always the exception to every rule though

 

I like what I like. I don't conform with popular opinion just to fit in.

 

For Zenith they absolutely are increasing quality. Not a top selling brand though.

With TAG on the other hand, we have a much more price-conscious clientele. Raising prices for these people just pushes them away.

 

Could be true and sounds reasonable but I have no idea how many new customers they gain by increasing prices. Either way, none of us have the insights in these things from TAG so time will tell if their strategy is succeeding or not.

 

I understand why TAG Heuer is in a difficult predicament. They sell alot in the entry point category yet also want to compete in the higher ups? Or are they just flexing their capability? It’s the delicate balance in positioning where TAG Heuer needs to strategize IMHO. Obviously, TAG Heuer sells more than Hublot and Zenith which are on the middle to top end market.

Motorsport market is TAG Heuer territory but probaby it’s not too big market in the general population

 

I feel every one of the manufacturers at the under 10k price are taking advantage of the Rolex shortage and pushing their prices up a bit to a pinch point for the end consumer. For a regular guy a sub is now a 10 - 20k watch, retail if you’re lucky. A Seamaster at 4.5 - 9k and available without shenanigans and with heritage starts looking pretty good. Superocean’s, Black Bay’s, Aquaracer’s, GO’s and Blancpain look more and appealing as the shortage continues.
I also think Rolex secondary prices are helping to raise the used market as well.

 

Regular guy watch buyers have to compete against weekend warriors

 

I agree with you all here. As soon as I saw this video, I thought, why didn't this come out 2 months ago, or whenever they first announced the watch. I guess they want to keep it top-of-mind heading into the auction.

 

Hi,

For the past 10 months I have been wearing this model (just sold last week):

https://www.tagheuer.com/fr/fr/mont...ra/42-mm-calibre-heuer-02/CBN2010.BA0642.html

But I missed the (ceramic) tachymeter bezel and the original Carrera design.

The 44 mm "Sport" model is too big for my wrist.

https://www.tagheuer.com/fr/fr/mont...ra/44-mm-calibre-heuer-02/CBN2A1B.BA0643.html

So, I decided to buy the Carrera model which I find the most beautiful at the moment, the best proportioned, even if the movement is not manufactured:

https://www.tagheuer.com/fr/fr/mont...mm-calibre-16-automatique/CBM2110.BA0651.html

I expect it for the beginning of October

 

Great choice!!!! Looking forward to the splendid photos

 

Very nice, I have the blue dial version of this watch on the brown leather strap. The only thing I don't like so much is the case thickness to case diameter ratio does not feel right, it's a little top heavy on the wrist. It's just a small complaint, the watch is very eye catching and (thickness aside) perfect for smaller wrists.