Up Close And Personal With Details That Make A Difference
What makes a luxury watch so luxurious? The answer to that can be found in the details. Creating a watch is not that difficult, but making it refined more so. That is why Audemars Piguet advertising slogan, “To Break The Rules, You Must First Master Them”, has so much truth to them. The efforts that go into honing a craft so that you become a master are incredible, and it is not strange that some of them become the hallmark of an entire brand: the guilloche dials of Breguet, the form shaped cases of Cartier, the hand-made gold bracelets of Piaget, the diamond settings if Graff. They define not only the brand but also represent pure luxury as a result of it.
Nobody does it better
The right attitude towards these details is that nobody should do it better than you. Not as an arrogant statement, but more as a mere fact that indeed nobody is as good at something as you are. This requires not only becoming the best but also staying the best. This is why even the smallest detail can have an almost disproportionate amount of effort and resources invested in them.
Care and Craftsmanship
Although tools and machines make to some, extend a difference. The key to creating all these details is care and craftsmanship. This is not entirely true, since many of the craftsmen in the industry are in fact women, but what they all have in common is an incredible dedication to their profession. That is also needed because getting as good as they require an incredible amount training, not to mention a generous dose of talent.
All details matter
In a luxury watch, it is not enough to excel in one detail, all details matter. In fact, it is not even a sum, but more an equation so not one detail must be below par because then the watch as a whole is below part. This also makes the watch even more extraordinairy. Some details are even hidden from the consumer, like a main plate that is completely decorated with an engine turned motive. A degree of refinement only witnessed by your watchmaker when he performs a complete service on your watch. Other details we simply don’t think about, like the different, finished on a watch case. This is highly expert work, and it requires a steady hand, keen eye, and lots and lots of practice!
Perfection and nothing else
All luxury brands only accept perfection in their final products. Often the most experienced watchmakers are employed by the quality control department, which is rigorous in their assessments of the products they access. Even the smallest detail can have the watch send back to be reworked, and some are even scrapped completely because they don’t meet the brand’s standards. This not only pushes the brand and the people that work there to do their utmost to ensure a perfect product, but at the same time, it also leads to happy customers. It only takes one less than perfect watch the make a dent in the reputation you obtained through blood, sweat, and tears.
So next time you handle one of your own watches or visit a brand’s boutique, grab a loupe and get up, close and personal with details that make a difference!
