Once you fall into the deep end of the watch world you begin to discover the similarities between it and more mainstream industries. As enthusiasts, most of us would prefer our fun little hobby to remain niche and special, but the truth is that as the industry grows and gains popularity like it has done in the last 5 years, profits begin to erode authenticity.
One such offshoot, or side effect of this surge in popularity, happens to be the increased introduction of famous ambassadors, who are essentially assigned to various brands with massive financial incentive to attempt to make the brand look “cooler” and ultimately attract more potential customers. This is not a new technique, and it’s used in nearly all types of industries, from sports, to cars, to watches. The big question is, does this marketing trick actually work or can it have the opposite effect?
As someone who’s been working in the watch industry as a journalist for many years, I can say that the most superfluous press emails that land in my inbox are ambassador announcements. Omega has to be the worst with this, as not only do they announce new official ambassadors like Daniel Craig – but they also announce when someone notable simply wears an Omega watch to an event. Just like when Barry Keoghan, one of my favorite actors, wore the Speedmaster ’57 Co-Axial Master Chronometer to the 76th British Academy Film Awards. Was he provided the watch to wear? Probably. Was he paid to wear it? Probably as well. Does this make the watch more enticing to me even knowing that I really enjoy his acting style, absolutely not. To be honest with our readers here, it has the opposite effect for me. I know that when he goes home after, he probably takes that watch off and pops on a Rolex or something that he actually enjoys wearing, that speaks to him personally.
Just a couple days ago Longines announced the signing of Henry Cavill to become their new ambassador, I saw it on instagram. It made me cringe a little bit inside. Here we have one of the most prestigious and storied watch brands, that feels the need to influence new customers by hiring an ambassador. Just knowing that Henry Cavill is only going to be wearing Longines because he’s paid to wear it is a massive let down – it would be so much more authentic if he just owned one single Longines watch that he purchased from his own funds because he was genuinely intrigued by it. Again, here we have a multi-millionaire, with a net worth of around 50 million, wearing a brand that’s positioned themselves as somewhat affordable. You know very well that this bloke is rushing to his hotel room to take the watch off and gaze at his personal collection that probably consists of vintage Rolex, modern Patek, and a splash of Audemars Piguet.
With all that jargon out of the way, I will say that not all watch ambassadors are created equal. While we touched on some very high profile names above, I do believe there can be some authenticity found with smaller more “microbrand” focused watch companies. These smaller brands, like Norqain for example, seem to have more authenticity infused into their ambassador choices, and the ambassadors themselves seem more enthusiastic and down to earth with their reasonings to represent these smaller brands. At the end of the day though, it is indeed all about money and sales targets – so as a watch collector just like you, my word of warning is to take these partnerships with a grain of salt.
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