What the eye doesn't see – what really influences a watch's price?
Many of you are likely familiar with the iceberg graphic, where only a tiny fraction protrudes above the water line. The invisible part, located beneath the surface, is always dozens of times larger than what the human eye can perceive. I would like this vivid example to help you fully grasp the idea behind today's post.
Polish brands versus global giants
Our local watch world is dominated by global players. Their influence on the market is not limited to merely dictating trends. Polish watchmaking companies must compete against giants. The fight might seem doomed from the start. On one side, we have unlimited budgets and global ambassadors, and on the other, small, owner-operated firms that carefully weigh every zloty spent. Yet the battle continues, and our manufacturers have found a way to reach the customer and convince them of their often unique products.
Why is more expected from Polish manufacturers?
If build quality were the only factor in choosing a watch, the matter would seem trivially simple. However, the reality is different. The bar for domestic watchmakers is set much higher. What global brands often get away with, local producers have, at best, held against them as a lack of respect. This carries serious consequences, which is why Polish brands must try harder to convince and satisfy the customer.
The invisible part of the work and real production costs
When evaluating a watch, the conversation sooner or later turns to the price-to-quality ratio. By paying for a watch with their own money, customers rightly expect a reliable movement, excellent materials, and precision that fully justify the expenditure. However, throughout the production process, there are areas that cannot be seen, yet which realistically influence the final price of the timepiece.
How is a Polish design created? Uniqueness comes at a price
Polish brands, such as Balticus, are known for original designs inspired by history or national symbols. Creating a watch from scratch is a months-long process that includes:
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designing a unique case,
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conceiving the dial and selecting the perfect indices,
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designing the hands and selecting the appropriate bracelet,
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research into the ergonomics and durability of the components. This requires specialized knowledge, consultations with many experts, and hundreds of hours of work by the designer.
Prototyping – the most expensive stage
Before a watch is approved for production, at least one—and usually several—prototype versions are created. This is an extremely costly part of the entire operation codenamed "new watch." A single test piece, made to individual order, generates costs significantly higher than those in later serial production. A prototype effectively verifies the dreams, testing which materials and movements can withstand the test of time.
The Polish customer expects more from a Polish watch
To meet customer expectations, domestic watchmakers most often use high-quality movements from recognized suppliers. They frequently customize their elements, although these are still exceptional situations. The standard for building cases or bracelets is 316L stainless steel. Balticus, as the first watch company in Poland, used 904L stainless steel for the construction of the Moonfish, which is significantly more expensive and used primarily by the world's largest watch manufacturers. The bar set by the Polish customer for local watch companies has been placed very high. Sapphire crystals with anti-reflective coatings, excellent quality lume, and bracelets with solid steel links have become the standard in Poland. These offer sophisticated solutions for easy sizing or micro-adjustment. High quality affects the final price of the watch.
Small-scale production is a challenge
Global watch brands often produce their models in quantities exceeding the population of an average Polish city. Several tens of thousands of units of a given watch model is the norm. Polish brands very often order only a few hundred at most. In this area, the math is simple. The unit costs of producing a Polish watch are simply many times higher. This also carries over into other areas, such as marketing. Even though the reach of the promotional activities of domestic manufacturers is much smaller, the costs associated with it, calculated per watch, are disproportionately high.
The prices of Polish watches remain rational and low
As I have tried to show in this post, Polish watch brands cannot compete in many respects with global brands. Increasing competition also comes from companies in the Middle Kingdom, which has ceased to act solely as a reservoir of watch parts and components and is increasingly positioning itself as a manufacturer of timepieces.
Nevertheless, the price-to-quality ratio for watches from Poland remains excellent, especially when we take into account the circumstances in which Polish manufacturers have to operate. Added to this are the limitations of the Polish market. Modest promotional budgets make it very difficult for Polish brands to break into foreign markets, so they must focus all their efforts on the narrow market along the Vistula.
Watches are expensive, and that is a fact. However, their price is not just the sum of the components from which they are built. A significant portion of the costs is hidden from the eyes of customers in areas such as design, prototyping, logistics, marketing, and small-batch production. Despite this, Polish brands create watches that could often successfully compete in every respect with their much more expensive and better-known counterparts from global manufacturers.
It is worth adding that by buying a Polish watch, we are paying not only for the product but also for many years of neglect in this market. The Polish school of watchmaking ceased to exist with the fall of the previous regime. Currently, it is being reborn like a Phoenix from the ashes. Every subsequent Polish watch purchased is a huge step toward improving the situation and a chance that production costs for watches in Poland will fall, which might eventually influence final watch prices.
