Monday, June 28, 2010

Just reading the FT the other day, as one does....

There was an article about the Swiss watch business. Actually there were several articles. Something to do with Hublot  and how they've grabbed all the juicy bits from their failed movement supplier. So now they are doing it all in house. This supplier it seems supplied a wide range of brands. many of which are blitzed all over the FT's own, 'How to spend it' magazine. The interesting thing to me is that many of these brands, including the current incarnation of Hublot, are less than 10 years old. A lot of their strength is built on the heritage  that Switzerland as a country has for making watches. Since most of them use the same engine, admittedly crafted by high calibre Swiss watchmakers, they are basically gifted marketing vehicles taking a ride on the greatest brand bus there is; 'Swiss Made'. I wonder how strong the 'British Made' brand is?