The most important date on our calendar: Australian Manufacturing Week, Sydney Exhibition

 

AMW is the premier advanced manufacturing and machine tool exhibition in Australia. With more than 170 organisations exhibiting state-of-the-art manufacturing hardware, software and support services, it is attended by industry professionals from across Australia - and beyond! As the day is nearing, our preparation for our first-ever participation at AMW is almost complete. We are ready to go! Yes, we are small and ambitious, but our message is loud and clear: we are 'the clean cut people'. With a background in watchmaking, we are very comfortable not just with tight tolerances and precision, but also making beautiful 'high end' products. Our business card: the back of the NH2 Timascus guilloche finished wrist watch. Having the mechanism exposed to this level of magnification is something that only the most confident Swiss watch brands would offer. We have nothing to hide; our watches will be on public display - as well as under the microscope! We are more than happy to be scrutinized by fellow makers and engineers, Government officials as well as all other sophisticated visitors. The 'clean cut people' means that we take our job extremely seriously. Operating high end machinery requires almost a military level of discipline. Making high end products requires highly skilled, laser focused machine operators. This is the underlying message of our new one minute video to be played at the event:  https://youtu.be/KexHcXn9hl0 Most importantly, after watching this one minute video, as a 'rebelde' watch owner, you would have every right to proclaim: "THIS was only possible thanks to MY support." We know, we acknowledge, we appreciate. Exciting times ahead!

Rebelde Day - May 17

"No Rebelde Day mentioned in the newsletter? I'm wearing my V Pilot in celebration anyway!" Matthew Spokes   We have failed you Matt. Miserably. Or, more precisely: it is all my fault. Don't know about you, but it feels that we are completely losing 'control' of time. The time is simply spinning, and a five day working week feels nowadays more like a 3 day blur. This is what happens when demand for your products and services has exceeded your manpower capabilities.   The Rebelde Day was always celebrated actively - we pause for a moment to thank Rolex for that infamous ban on the supply of spare parts to independent watchmakers; which in turn, was a massive wake-up call to rebel and reclaim watchmaking. As they say, the rest is history. Today, we run a multi-million dollar manufacturing facility which not only makes parts for watches but for medical and space technologies, and also for scientific applications.   Again: thank you Rolex, and thank you Swiss brands. Thanks to that mighty kick in the bum, there are now over 1000 Rebelde and NH watches out there, keeping perfect time and proudly worn by 1000 ambassadors.   The very basic concept of a reliable, robust and repairable watch - the very DNA of what we stand for - has proven itself in a way that would be hard to imagine 10 years ago. And we are barely scratching the surface: our time is yet to come. I am sure many of you vividly remember our humble beginning, and for you too, it must feel like it was yesterday.   We celebrate, we continue to rebel, thanking YOU for your wonderful and unselfish support.

The Fact

Over the past ten years, we have bought and sold more Omega Moonwatches than any other Australian dealer. Hundreds and hundreds, including many rare and limited edition pieces. Not because we are a large dealer, but because we have recognised the value and investment potential of a watch with history like no other. And without any doubt, in years to come, the Moonwatch will continue to intrigue and excite a new generation of watch enthusiasts. In year 2000, the internet was barely a thing, and watch dealing was still conducted the old fashioned way: by placing large 'canvasing' ads for wrist and pocket watches, scrap gold, war medals, and pens. Fredman, or Fred The Man, was by far the most successful operator. He was an aggressive advertiser, a businessman of sharp judgement, slow to compliment, yet generally perceived by both colleagues and customers as fair to deal with.

And here is what Fredman would pay for a Moonwatch in the year 2000: $500. Over the years, the price went steadily up; from $500 to $750, $1200, $2000. Today, dealers are bending backward paying $10-$20K or more for early Speedmasters from the 1960s, in any condition. Even the most basic, plain vanilla Moonwatch goes for well over $5K. Twenty years may sound like a long time, but if you are a mature person, then twenty years feels like yesterday. When the whole world was screaming about the Y2K bug, Fredman was buying Speedmasters for $500 a pop. How many would you have bought?  And if you are twenty-something today, can you really afford not to buy at least one?