Your thoughts on private label (catalog) watches?

Interesting piece by Roger Ruegger about how the recent trend of microbrand/boutique dive watch companies isn't such a new idea after all. At Basel 1966, Jaquet Droz alone had 14 different catalog divers that companies could rebrand as their own. Ebay is rife with curiously named old divers that closely resemble our favorites of past generations. Of course the big difference is the shift from Europe to Asia for manufacturing, but other than that, there really were no 'good old days' when everybody made their own custom designed divers. For at least half a century, there have been 'microbrands' operating underneath the big players in the industry. Quick and interesting read.

http://www.watchtime.com/blog/dive-w...-as-you-think/

I've tried to point this out to people before, especially when they go on about homages etc. but the 60's was filled with catalog type watches but without the inter webs people outside of the industry had little idea and few consumers cared. I don't like all of the false history some recent resurrected makers claim, maybe because I was around in those days and liked watches to pay some attention to them, the purity of dive watches comes from the design not the name on the dial.

There certainly are more exceptions these days. If a micro is going to care enough to provide something unique is a different story. Zixen 500m DSR series and the Stuckx Rock come to mind. I don't fully blame the micros, rather I blame the consumer. Seems the micros generally play it safe because consumers want to buy safe. As soon as a micro thinks outside the box, sales tend to go south. I personally would rather seek out unique. For those that don't, you lose your right to complain about just another homage and the production value of a watch.

To me that is part of the fun when shopping for boutiques.