The Return of Schauer?

[Seriously]

I dare you to go back and count the numerals on the Schaumberg...

.

They missed one!

[FuzzyB]

I dare you to go back and count the numerals on the Schaumberg...

Attachment 40632

I do like that Meistersinger.

When I saw that on my phone, it looked like a series of dots. I'm not sure if it would look much different to me in real life. Although my wife has a Ball 60 Seconds, which is around 30-32mm diameter and has a Montgomery type dial with all 60 numbers present, it is tiny by almost legible.

[Henry Krinkle]

When I saw that on my phone, it looked like a series of dots. I'm not sure if it would look much different to me in real life. Although my wife has a Ball 60 Seconds, which is around 30-32mm diameter and has a Montgomery type dial with all 60 numbers present, it is tiny by almost legible.

One of the reasons, maybe the main reason, why I like the Schaumberg as much as I do is the obvious German humour in it. I think the watch is hilarious, in a pretty goood way. It has a COSC movement and more than 150 individual numerals on the dial and...one hand.

[Der Amf]

With apologies for wrenching this drift back to its original subject, what do we think the return of the Schauer brandname means for the future?

What JS was producing under the Schauer label was very different from the models that he inherited when he bought Stowa - modernist vs retro, roughly speaking. I wonder if he disliked the grumblings whenever he did anything which wasn't purely Heritage Management under the Stowa label, and is just using the Schauer label as a way of sidestepping that. Or I wonder if he thinks he has done as much as *he* can do with Stowa, and would be interested in selling up? I imagine as a business Stowa is worth a lot more now; it certainly appears to be successful and stable, with a good business model that seems well set for the future. Having said that, I bet he can sell a lot more Schauers through Stowa than he did on his own. The change in the Stowa logo seems expressive of the conflict between Stowa's heritage-based public image and JS's general vision for watch design.

[Henry Krinkle]

With apologies for wrenching this drift back to its original subject, what do we think the return of the Schauer brandname means for the future?

What JS was producing under the Schauer label was very different from the models that he inherited when he bought Stowa - modernist vs retro, roughly speaking. I wonder if he disliked the grumblings whenever he did anything which wasn't purely Heritage Management under the Stowa label, and is just using the Schauer label as a way of sidestepping that. Or I wonder if he thinks he has done as much as *he* can do with Stowa, and would be interested in selling up? I imagine as a business Stowa is worth a lot more now; it certainly appears to be successful and stable, with a good business model that seems well set for the future. Having said that, I bet he can sell a lot more Schauers through Stowa than he did on his own. The change in the Stowa logo seems expressive of the conflict between Stowa's heritage-based public image and JS's general vision for watch design.

Tha Rana is very Schauer, in my opinion. Moreso than it is Stowa. Over at EoT I posted a thread when the Rana was first announced and even suggested it could lead to the availablity of Schauers again. I think he'll stick with both., maybe release Schauers if and when he has the time. If I were him I would not want to dispose of the steady income and coverage I would get from Stowa.

[Der Amf]

Thanks for reminding of the name of the Rana. I was wondering if that would be happier as a Schauer. Its price is also up there with the Schauers in the OP

Stowa Rana

[Henry Krinkle]

I wonder if it isn't moving because of those two things?

[FuzzyB]

This is my personal impression based on observations in the Stowa forum over the past few years, so please take the following with a grain of salt.

A few years ago, Jörg essentially chose to devote his time to Stowa rather than grow his Schauer brand. Around that same time, there were many complaints on the Stowa forum regarding the length of time from order to delivery for Stowa watches and I think he took those complaints to heart. Rather than risk the brand that brought the most money, he abandoned his personal pursuit to right the Stowa ship.

Those efforts seem to have paid off for the Stowa brand. At one point, the Stowa brand image seemed to be getting tarnished by a few loud complaints, which led to other complaints and repeated hearsay regarding the quality of the brand. Delivery times and quality were both improved and Jörg took a very vocal position on the forums to make sure the brand's identity was firmly intact. The last time I checked, the number of complaints was diminished and the general attitude about the Stowa value proposition was very positive.

I get the feeling that the lack of the Schauer brand was difficult for Jörg. The brand exemplified his vision for watchmaking and was wholly an expression of himself rather than being tied to historic Stowa designs.

Once the Stowa brand was stabilized, Jörg decided to take steps to "modernize" the Stowa brand. These efforts were met with an extremely vocal opposition. The thread regarding the change in the Stowa logo was incendiary. Naysayers said it was going to ruin the company and the new logo would stop people from buying those watches. (That has certainly not happened as the company seems to be as strong as ever.)

I believe that was the first step for Jörg to exercise his creative muscles again. Shortly after that, Stowa released both the Back to Bauhaus and Rana models, neither of which truly fit into the Stowa school of design. The B2B model was closer, but the Rana was not even in the same world as the Stowas we were used to seeing.

Henry said it well that the Rana makes for a better Schauer than a Stowa. It has the industrial look of Schauer and none of the historical pretense of the Stowa models.

Marketing the new Schauers as Schauer for Stowa is an interesting move. I see it performing a few functions.

First, it allows Jörg to follow his own design passions and gives him the creative outlet that I sense he needs.

Second, by linking the Schauer name to Stowa, I see it as a step towards modernizing Stowa rather than as a way to simply add extra profits to Stowa or profit from the Stowa name.

Further to the second point, imagine if Schauer for Stowa models were already available before the Rana had been introduced. Someone looking at the Stowa website would already be familiar with seeing these modern/industrial designs associated with Stowa. The Rana, whether badged a Stowa or a Schauer, would not have seemed so out of place next to those models.

In that's context, I think the return of Schauer watches is being used as a way to expand the Stowa lineup. Eventually, I would not be surprised to see the Schauer name dropped on those models, or at the very least some form of co-branding on the Schauer watches. In other words, I see the Schauer brand merging with Stowa as Jörg's vision of the future of the company.

[tribe125]

With apologies for wrenching this drift back to its original subject, what do we think the return of the Schauer brandname means for the future?

Stowa will always be the core business for Jorg Schauer. He is a curator for the brand, as was evident when he was showing us around the museum area of the workshop. The expansion of Stowa meant he didn't have time for Schauer, other than limited production for Japanese clients.

I spoke to him about this and he clearly regretted not having the time for more creative work. On the other hand, he didn't want Stowa to be entirely locked in the past. He spoke of the project that became the Rana.

Schauer watches have always sold in quite small quantities and require a fair amount of hands-on work from Jorg. The brand was set aside until expansion works and recruitment allowed him to return to it. Jorg previously produced both brands at the same time and now he is able to do that again.

To the best of my knowledge, Jorg also has some investment partners to think about. The newish workshop will have cost a considerable amount of money, and that may have been a factor in keeping him concentrated on the higher production of Stowa. That's purely my speculation, though.

[tribe125]

It's also important to remember that the Rana was a collaboration with Hartmut Esslinger, rather than a pure Schauer design. For that reason it probably sits better under the Stowa brand.

My conversation with Jorg started with me saying that had the Walter Storz Stowa remained competitive, it would presumably now be making contemporary watches with some reissues of historical models. With the company stabilised and successful, perhaps it could now resume its life as a regular watch company, combining heritage with contemporary models.

We were standing amongst the 'archive' watches suspended on wires in the museum area, but Jorg seemed pleased with my observation, saying that it was his intention to produce contemporary Stowa watches, and that the first would soon be announced.

It makes perfect sense to me. There's no future in just making things from the past.