Of Products and Provenance

The importance of the “Made in Wherever” label is nothing new to the world of luxury goods and high-end clothing. We’re literally talking about a concept with a history dating back to antiquity. But lately there has been a lot of talk about what exactly constitutes a Swiss watch that brings up a lot of interesting points about provenance more generally.

The kerfuffle I’m talking about has been well-documented as of late, particularly in these articles by the New York Times and the International Business Times. It seems that for obviously financial reasons a consensus cannot be reached on what “Made in Switzerland” means in the watch industry. It shouldn’t really be that hard, should it?

Common sense would suggest that if all but a negligible part of the watch is manufactured in Switzerland, then it should be called Made in Switzerland. If not, then no label. Certainly less than 50% of the process seems like it should immediately disqualify a timepiece, no? No.

What is happening here is a confusion of values. Companies know that the phrase Swiss Watch carries an immense amount of cultural capital, and with it financial capital. If you label your products Swiss Made, you can price them higher and sell more of them. It’s that simple, and everyone wants in.

But, this causes all kinds of problems. First, there is the worry that the Swiss brand could become devalued. If in fact these watches are lower quality, eventually the connotation of quality will disappear and the provenance worthless. This is a threat, but not one that I think the high end watch market really has to worry about.

Otherwise, it simply allows mass-production companies to trade off the investment of the artisan companies. Think a cheap made-to-measure shop setting up on Savile Row and selling “bespoke” suits. Even if it doesn’t hurt the reputation of the Row it still works out to the MTM company making bigger margins off a brand they have no real association with. It’s a sort of dishonest economics.

So what do we do about problems like this? Honestly, there isn’t much we can do. There will always be loopholes and problems in branding. It’s sort of the nature of the beast. The internet is a powerful weapon for consumers keeping one another informed and alert, but changing the supply-side is nearly impossible.

Try to understand what you’re buying, and let provenance be a guide not a dictator. The best offense, as they say, is a good defense.

 

Photos via New York Times