

Why Do We Care About Luxury Brands?  - cwan
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/08/why-do-we-care-about-luxury-brands/

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gaius
The fascinating thing with the luxury watch companies is, once these were
serious tools. I think that's a Rolex Submariner in the article, well once
upon a time, if you were a diver, that was just a part of your gear, like your
depth gauge. The Royal Navy even issued Rolexes to enlisted men. It was never
meant to be a status symbol. If you were an airline pilot, you got a Rolex GMT
Master with your epaulettes.

The radical shift in markets came about because the Swiss traditional
watchmakers couldn't compete with mass-produced Japanese quartz (despite the
quartz movement being invented in Switzerland). But with the exception of
those encrusted with bling, expensive watches all need to have provenance to
be sellable. Rolex with their Submariner, Omega with their Speedmaster (still
NASA's standard-issue watch, BTW), and so on. That's what authenticity is here
- a link to the past - selling traditional values to people who've grown up in
a society where everything is disposable.

But don't ever wear a Panerai.

