Streetboss wrote:
I wonder if Breitling's tight hold on parts and the inability to change watches with different colored dials is simply their way of controlling the market so no modified versions of their watches will be out there? Maybe it is their concern that their cache will be lessened if they don't hold control? Or is it just about making more money by tightly controlling service and parts costs? I really wonder what the rest of the group thinks?
Kevin
Kevin
I think it's a bit of both.
By preventing people from making their own potentially hideous creations by mixing and matching genuine parts, Breitling are protecting their brand image. (Breitling prefer to occasionally make their own hideous creations from the parts bin now and then!
) It's the same kind of thing when you buy a new house from a developer here in the UK whereby they often don't allow you to change the front aspect of the house in any way for the first 10 years as it would potentially affect the brand image / corporate standard if people did something weird to their house while it was still a newish development. After all, a brand's existing products are one of the most effective means of marketing to potential new customers.And yes, preventing supplier of parts direct to customers means that people have to send their watches in to Breitling for repairs, which means that once you factor in the "always necessary" service cost, it becomes quite a nice little cash cow for the company.