I think TH is focussing on aesthetics rather than quality. They don't want to be someone's first crush at 15, rather an Asian mistress who gives the girlfriend experience on holiday. It's all about celebrity lined parties, world championship endorsements and Hollywood targeted product placements. I'm actually glad that ever since the Carrera 60th anniversary, TH has taken a slight departure from milking the heritage cow.
I don't blame LVMH for trying to capitalise on the deep pockets of the new rich. The new target audience don't care about the heritage and history or how many man hours went into developing a movement and putting together a watch. The new target demography wants a watch they can wear for a night out or an instagrammed holiday. They don't want a quiet watch, but they don't want a watch that screams "come mug me" either. Hey, you have Style Editors for watch publications writing book reports about their experience with Monacos now. Enter ...... the new age TAG Heuer. A 10,000ish US$ watch is not cheap, but is also not so expensive that you want to keep protected.
Probably the age of the affordable TH is over, or possibly just that the band for affordable "swiss" mechanical watches has got elevated from 5-6000 US$ to 10,000 US$.
