As Denis Asch explains (see “I wanted to sell watches,not prices”), attitudes towards purchasing a watch have changed considerably in 15 years.

In the early 2000s, Richard Mille (2001) and Greubel Forsey (2004) watches began their steady climb to the top. Back then, Richard Mille offered watches in a totally different style from the norm; in particular, he introduced research into new materials and innovative architecture, while the more neo-classical Greubel Forsey sought to take chronometric research and decorative excellence to new levels.

Rave reviews and successful sales, at often very high prices (which, in their case, were justified by their rarity), gave rise to numerous emulators. Among them were authentic, original approaches to quality watchmaking, but also numerous opportunist launches based essentially on price, the product being of almost secondary importance as long as it conformed to the latest fashion, as if the watch was the packaging for the price.

The large groups did not remain impassive as the fever rose, and they too began offering more and more extravagant products – talking pieces aimed first and foremost at generating buzz and showing how modern they were, like trees hiding the more financially rewarding wood. It was against this backdrop of technical, mechanical and stylistic inflation that prices quite naturally soared. Even the most banal watches muscled up in a testosterone-fuelled market ambience, baring their mechanical entrails more and more, as if trying to physically justify their swelling prices.

This inflation – and success – is corroborated by the Swiss export statistics for timepieces with an export price of CHF 3,000 and over (see graph).