Andrew McUtchen tells the New York Times all about microbrands
Russell SheldrakeWe have, and always will, support the very best microbrands in the watch world. There is something about the high level of creativity, paired with the unbridled confidence we see in these brands that makes us fall in love with what they do. And more of often than not, they are doing this at more affordable price points. This is why recently, New York Times journalist Robin Swithinbank, called up our very own Andrew McUtchen, to get his take on the recent upsurge in these millennial-owned brands that have been taking on the big boys.
In the article, Swithinbank speaks with some of our absolute favourites in this space: Richard Benc of Studio Underd0g, Matteo Vianello of Anoma, Etienne Malec of Baltic, Guillaume Laidet of SpaceOne, and Andrea Furlan of Furlan Marri, among others. One of the key points that Swithinbank hits on here is that these young brands are appearing at the perfect time, thanks to the current culture in watches of the waitlist, allowing them to drum up support and funding from customers before the products are even made.
“The Swiss have made waiting a luxurious experience”, as Andrew puts it. “The microbrands can underwrite their projects with pre-orders, taking part of the Rolex scarcity principle and using it to their advantage.” And while these brands are able to take advantage of the new expectations in the watch space, they are also playing off the pricing strategies the big brands are currently using. “The people who buy these brands feel they are gaming the system”, Andrew adds. “Consumers are aware of brand price hikes, and they know they’re getting a far superior watch than they’re getting at retail.”
Another area that Swithinbank touches on in this piece is that these small brands are starting to explore multi-brand retailers, and this is something we have a lot of experience in, given our online store, Melbourne Discovery Studio, and our soon-to-open London Discovery Studio, where many of these hard to find microbrands can be bought right now.
If you want to read the full article you can find it here, although it is behind the New York Times paywall.