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Originally Posted by whiteibex
Really enjoyed your message, Wrist party 
Exactly. Similarly, based on some pictures I have seen around on OF, the same 8 out of 10 would probably reply "What if you already have one of those?" to people complaining that for that steep price you could get a *real* vintage Ed White.
Some complain that Omega is going backwards with the release of the 321 ... I believe they are just acknowledging that in 2020, watch enthusiasts don't buy a watch because it's precise or more precise than its predecessor, they buy it because it has heritage, it means something to them and make their heart tick. |
I myself is a big fan of the Ed White, but not from the perspective of the discussion above, maybe because I was not a fan of the concept of “vintage watches”, which I did have a few troublesome experiences on that, long story......
To me the Ed White is like the story of David vs. Goliath, undoubtedly the Daytona has been and still is the best of Chronograph in the “Datograph or below” category, it’s hard to explain but watch dorks, meaning the majority of this forum, would understand. In terms of historic significance, cultural influences, General favourability, etc. The Daytona is always the best, followed by Speedmaster, then it comes to the likes of the Zenith El Primero, Heuer Monaco or Breitling as well as everyone else, but in my humble opinion the Speedmaster is really the only one who stands a chance in this war but even so, they were never in the landscape of the Daytona, with the help of the Rolex brand, I think that’s why Omega is giving us the Ed White.
We all know that Rolex doesn’t brag about their heritage as much as Omega, not everyone can tell the story of moon landing after all, nor can print Buzz’s ass on their dials [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23], but that did retain the huge fan base that Speedy has and their biggest assets going against the Daytona. So what they did was to maximize their advantage and created the proper “David” for the first time in history, no brands had ever done that in the category of “daily used stainless steel chronograph” base on my recollection, the rules were set by Rolex, plain and simple.
What Omega did was creating their own “Daytona”, in their own way, no more dislocation competition or competitive pricing strategies, they wanted their Cal.321 lineup to be the proper competition against the Daytona, they wanted to create a imbalance between supply and demand with their “nuclear option”. Powerful manufacturers like Omega can pretty much do anything they like, with their sophisticated equipments and techniques, they could’ve just replaced the entire Speedy line up with a mass produced Cal.321 within a few years, which would be meaningless and suicidal. They did the right thing.
This is like watching Mercedes and BMW competing, one would be utterly boring staying on the top of the game without the other.
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