I agree Lee, your points are definitely part of it. Additionally, I found it very interesting that in the pioneering days of the Swiss watch industry, when many of the big name 'makers' were in the process of establishing their reputations, the emphasis was on individual artisans/craftsmen/watchmakers doing their part. Some made cases, some made bracelets, some made hands, some dials, some movements, etc. Then, all the 'chosen' parts went to the 'assemblers' who put the watches together, badged them and marketed them. This approach was viewed as a good thing because an assembler, if so inclined, was literally able to pick and choose from the best of the best in the process of designing the watch they wanted to badge. Everything done in one house was viewed as limiting/confining. Then, bouncing forward a few decades, with industrialization and multi-national companies, the little artisans found themselves less and less able to compete. Consolidations and buyouts began to take place, and in the process, some of these consolidated companies began to pick and choose who they would work with and/or the terms under which they would work with a 'maker/assembler'. Apparently, some very big names, like Patek Philippe as an example, have found themselves embarrassed that they would have to use another 'makers' parts and, as appears to be the case now, perhaps even have to give inscribed credit to the 'part maker', thus diminishing the perception of their own brand.
Rolex looks prescient because, when it wasn't the fashion or desired practice, they brought everything in-house, no outside dependence, no badge diminishment. However, the Rolex model is not the model that made the Swiss watch industry great. In fact, it is the opposite.
Omega looks well positioned because they are really a hybrid of the two extremes (all in-house and just being an assembler). Omega doesn't really have everything 'in-house' so to speak. They must still go out and pick and choose many of the parts they want, but because of their position within the structure of an incredibly large and diverse multi-national watch conglomerate, they do not need to fear being cut off from many choices of excellent parts. Additionally, Omega has the money behind them to take on development and technology implementation efforts of an aggressive nature, i.e. the co-axial escapement. Sure, it will go through iterations and realize improvements, but the point is, Omega did it. Rolex had the opportunity first and they passed. Too expensive. So, Omega makes watch history by bringing technology at one time only available on watches of $150,000 or more, to the high end of mass produced watches. Sorry for length. Geo
