The Rolex Forums   The Rolex Watch

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX


Go Back   Rolex Forums - Rolex Forum > Other (non-Rolex) Watch Topics > Watches (Non-Rolex) Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 23 November 2005, 11:06 PM   #1
Atomic
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Who died in the 70s and who was resusetated?

Bruce's little tidbit on Breitling got me thinking. Who died, who came back to life during the quartz invasion?

I know that Heuer either died or was on life support when Technique Avant Guard came on the scene and gave them new life. We know now that Breitling was a victim. Any others? Maybe we could pool our resources and knowledge here and have some really good history up here.
  Reply With Quote
Old 23 November 2005, 11:26 PM   #2
BruceS
"TRF" Member
 
BruceS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Real Name: Sir Daft
Location: Cornwall, UK
Watch: Too many
Posts: 2,464
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atomic
Bruce's little tidbit on Breitling got me thinking. Who died, who came back to life during the quartz invasion?

I know that Heuer either died or was on life support when Technique Avant Guard came on the scene and gave them new life. We know now that Breitling was a victim. Any others? Maybe we could pool our resources and knowledge here and have some really good history up here.
I think Breguet was as well. That's a good topic John. Something to research on a slow day
BruceS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 November 2005, 12:03 AM   #3
Atomic
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I just pulled this off forbes.com as a starter...

Once wristwatches did catch on, however, there seemed no stopping them or their technological advances. The first chronographs appeared in 1909, the first date watches in 1912, and waterproof watches surfaced in 1915, encouraged by the military necessities of World War I. Indeed, the Allied armored combat vehicles that defended France during the Great War inspired Louis Cartier's famous Tank Watch, the first examples of which were presented to American Gen. John J. Pershing. Rolex patented its first "Oyster" watch with a waterproof case and screw-in crown in 1926, and garnered exceptional publicity the following year when a long-distance swimmer wore one, without damage, while stroking across the English Channel.

Self-winding watches began relieving the burden of winding in 1932, and the world's first electric watch--a Hamilton Ventura--became an instant hit in 1957. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon in 1969 with an Omega Speedmaster-Chronograph on his wrist, there were some 1,600 watchmakers in Switzerland, the Detroit of the industry. Yet time stopped shortly thereafter with the appearance of cheap quartz technology. In the upheaval that followed throughout the 1970s, many classic old-line watchmakers went bankrupt and shut down, while the Swiss government rushed in to save what it could. In the end, employment in the Swiss watch industry dropped from 90,000 in 1970 to just over 30,000 in 1984. These days there are around 650 watchmakers in Switzerland, with some 40,000 employees between them.

Though close to 90% of all watches manufactured worldwide have quartz movements, a quality mechanical watch is the way to go. That's something that has only recently begun to dawn on many Americans. "In Europe you'll see street sweepers with $5,000 watches, whereas CEOs in the U.S. will be happy with $20 quartzes," says InSync's Strandberg. "We just don't have the same tradition of fine watches here."

Last edited by Atomic; 24 November 2005 at 12:04 AM..
  Reply With Quote
Old 24 November 2005, 12:09 AM   #4
padi56
"TRF" Life Patron
 
padi56's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Real Name: Peter
Location: Llanfairpwllgwyng
Watch: ing you.
Posts: 53,063
Just as VHS video killed off Betamax, the quartz boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s killed most of the Swiss watch making industry, faster than you can say Seiko.By the time the dust had settled,more than half of Geneva's watch manufacturers had gone under.And only about a third
of the Swiss industry was left these were Longines,Hamilton,Tissot,Rado
Blancpain,Omega plus a few other minor brands.Most of these were put into a publicly owned group to avoid bankruptcy.But this fate will not happen to Rolex,old Hans was a very clever bugger,and in the companies
history it had only two managers Wilsdorf and André Heiniger. So they really did not have to worry to much about there quarterly returns etc.
So Rolex made its own Quartz to take on the Japs at there own game.But even then the new quartz models was only about 5% of total sales,and today less than 2%.IMO if Rolex had gone completely quartz at this time,
don't think they would have survived to have the marketing,and brand prestige it enjoys today.
__________________

ICom Pro3

All posts are my own opinion and my opinion only.

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop. Now is the only time you actually own the time, Place no faith in time, for the clock may soon be still for ever."
Good Judgement comes from experience,experience comes from Bad Judgement,.Buy quality, cry once; buy cheap, cry again and again.

www.mc0yad.club

Second in command CEO and left handed watch winder
padi56 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 November 2005, 01:10 AM   #5
BruceS
"TRF" Member
 
BruceS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Real Name: Sir Daft
Location: Cornwall, UK
Watch: Too many
Posts: 2,464
Quote:
Originally Posted by padi56
Just as VHS video killed off Betamax, the quartz boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s killed most of the Swiss watch making industry, faster than you can say Seiko.By the time the dust had settled,more than half of Geneva's
watch manufacturers had gone under.And only about a third of the Swiss
industry was left these were Longines,Hamilton,Tissot,Rado Blancpain,Omega
plus a few other minor brands.Most of these were put into a publicly owned group to avoid bankruptcy.But this fate will not happen to Rolex, old Hans
was a very clever bugger,and in the companies history it had only two managers Wilsdorf and André Heiniger. So they really did not have to worry
to much about there quarterly returns etc.So Rolex made its own Quartz to
take on the Japs at there own game.But even then the new quartz models
was only about 5% of total sales,and today less than 2%.IMO if Rolex had
gone completely quartz at this time, don't think they would have survived to have the marketing,and brand prestige it enjoys today.
I definately agree with you Peter wrt Rolex sticking with mechanical during the tough times. Also the fact that they are family owned gave them an edge.
BruceS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 24 November 2005, 01:37 AM   #6
Uncle-AJ
"TRF" Member
 
Uncle-AJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Real Name: Adrian
Location: Bolton, UK.
Watch: Daytona 116520
Posts: 6,844
Video killed the radio star.
__________________
A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.........Segal's Law

Member #10
Uncle-AJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Wrist Aficionado

My Watch LLC

WatchesOff5th

DavidSW Watches

Takuya Watches

OCWatches


*Banners Of The Month*
This space is provided to horological resources.





Copyright ©2004-2024, The Rolex Forums. All Rights Reserved.

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

Rolex is a registered trademark of ROLEX USA. The Rolex Forums is not affiliated with ROLEX USA in any way.