The Time+Tide team picks their favourite vintage watch ads
Time+TideEditor’s note: Advertising is pretty crazy when you think about it. Just because it’s honest about wanting to sell you something, does that exclude it from being an art form? Even when it’s bad, the fact that you’re annoyed can have the brand name rattling around your head for weeks. However, we’re only here to talk about the best. There are plenty of iconic watch ads, as well as some infamous ones, but what are the ads which resonated most with our team? Find out below…
Zach’s pick: Patek Philippe “Trust Fund”
View this post on Instagram
For those unable to read the fine print, this Patek Philippe magazine advertisement writes, “$1700 TRUST FUND. A Patek Philippe doesn’t just tell you the time. It tells you something about yourself. And it will tell your great-grandson something about you.”
This is an absolute chef’s kiss, mic drop, and perfectly executed advertisement. I do not know the exact year this ad was run, but considering the dollar amount it must be more than a few decades old. It also appears to be a predecessor to the 1996-born signature tagline “you never actually own a Patek Philippe watch, you merely look after it for the next generation.” The angle of its message is also rather ahead of its time, working the angle of watches as investments. If they only knew then just how much Patek Philippe would become associated with holding or appreciating in value.
Jamie’s pick: Baume & Mercier “Is it Swiss?”
These days, watch TV spots are pretty sober affairs: flashy renders of timepieces emerging from pools of water; supercuts of athletes screaming and lifting trophies; and breathy, cryptic platitudes that would make the average cologne ad look sensical… Back in the day, watch brands used to have more fun with their ads. True, some were completely inappropriate and haven’t stood the test of time, but others remain cracking decades on.
Case in point: this commercial Baume & Mercier aired in the 2000s, which is absolutely genius. It’s provocative, funny and has a killer tagline – “is it Swiss?” It’s the opposite of what you’d expect from a conservative, little-known European luxury brand, and that’s why it’s so effective.
Buffy’s pick: HMT “Waiting for someone”
It’s absolutely no secret that the watch industry as a whole has had a flagrantly misogynistic streak. Advertising in particular has been full of it, and even when it’s not explicit, it’s implied. Ads for women’s watches are often pandering, demeaning, or even flat-out aimed at men rather than the people who’d be wearing the watch. Well, this HMT ad most likely from the ‘70s is nothing like that. Here we see a woman at a table, clearly pissed off because she’s having to wait for someone. We don’t know who she’s waiting for, but it’s pretty obvious they’re supposed to be with her.
Truthfully, it doesn’t matter if she’s been stood up or if she has a neglectful partner. Even if she’s just waiting for someone to come back from the bathroom, the point is that she’s independent, and she’s the one who chooses her watch. It’s incredibly refreshing to see marketing aimed towards adult women without any infantilisation, promise of glitz and glamour, or the wink of getting a man’s attention. When her time is her own, she’s got a watch that she likes to look at. At the end of the day, that’s all anyone wants from a watch.