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| Joined: | Sun Apr 15th, 2007 |
| Location: | Perth, Australia |
| Posts: | 1268 |
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I have been a 3T "watcher" for a while now, and found myself reading your post like a bona fide 3T'er! Since introducing myself, the forum has made me very welcome - and I am enormously grateful. I have found that I can easily trust the forum members! Hey - I am Australian - I was suspicious... but I am certainly not suspicious any longer now that I can have a chat and get to know you all. 3T is the bomb as far as I am concerned - friendly, informative and populated by people young and a little older who just love their watches. Yes, Steve, 3T is a bit like a "home", but as for the other fora - to each his own.
IMO the business of making specific watches available to forum members is generally a good practice. As just one example, when designed with input from 3Ters, Berg has created some very special Orsas, and I am on the list (I hope...) for a blue Monstrum (still want that steel bacelet!). It is true that if you can give the consumer what they want, you will sell your product. If 3T and Berg are going to do another special Orsa run - then I am in on it without hesitation.
I have committed to getting the LM-7 (O7 Ploprof) on the O7 forum because I think it would bring back the memory of my old Ploprof (I sold it a couple of months back) without the excessive cost. To me it is a "look" thing - and also the way I feel when I wear something unusual, unique, special or rare. Honestly - it doesn't matter to me that only a few people know the trouble I go to to locate and buy my horological toys, or that some of these things I buy mean nothing to anybody but me - it is a passion with me, and not a way of showing off.
I like the idea that I can purchase something special because I am a "member". If the 3T guys decide to restrict the way in which their special designs go into the market, then I see no problem with making them available (to members only) at a fixed price - regardless of whether the members have been active or inactive. Discounts to members like the one on the O7 site for the LM-7 only make me believe that the production run might not be as limited as members might think, and that normal retail buyers will have access to a high number of watches NOT sold to the O7 membership. At least with Berg it is clear - you get 20, 25, 50 or 100, and then they are gone. Surely Berg's idea is the more believable, and the better long term outcome for collectors and committed members? A fixed run is a fixed run, and I have read here that O7 stick to their word about how many units they produce - I might be out of line, then.
As for the dilemma about inactive members getting the same deal as active members - here is an idea. Let's say that if Berg makes 100 of each model, and his special pricing is only available to 3T members (active or inactive), then why not restrict the purchasers from being able to sell their special watches for about 12 months after they get them, to get rid of the speculators? If the buyer does sell (and some might have to - I understand...) - then they are off the list for other special Orsa watches. It isn't impossible - Ferrari and many other companies do it by making a list of persons who want the product and aren't speculators, and target marketing them only "by invitation". But it does kinda create a class of "elite" charcters that makes other people jealous. Just throwing the cat amongst the pidgeons...
And it is only an opinion! Don't shoot me! I am a lawyer and I talk a lot....:?
IanM