We’ve had many conversations, sitting around the firepit on this my back porch, listening to the screams of socialists as they turn on the spit… where was I?
Oh yeah, that’s right: conversations about quality, technology and so on. I, of course, am a neo-Luddite when it comes to climbing up the quality / cost curve because as much as I may enjoy the quality or immense technology behind some geegaw (Purdey shotguns, Patek Philippe watches and Bentleys, to name but some), I just can’t justify to myself the horrendous costs involved in scaling the peak or reaching the very end of the curve, so to speak.
To give but one example, when I see the intricacy of a watch like this IWC Portuguese Tourblllon:
…I can appreciate the engineering precision and sheer brilliance of its design; but I just can’t see myself dropping around $150k on it.
But a lousy $150k is nothing compared to the other Tourbillon, that of the new Bugatti which will arrive sometime in 2026.
I did not know that Mate Rimac (yes, the guy who brought us the all-electric Rimac supercar) was now the CEO of Bugatti. But anything this guy touches turns to magic, so spend the next half-hour with him as he explains the design and engineering behind the new EB Tourbillon, which is to the current generation of supercars as the 2024 Rolls-Royce Corniche is to the 1924 Silver Ghost.
Never mind that none of us will ever own one of these, and never mind that it’s hopelessly impractical and horribly overpowered.
It is to my mind, however, the perfect marriage of design and technology, and an example of what happens when a man absolutely refuses to compromise, on anything.
He’s climbed the curve past the point where anyone else might have stopped, and frankly, there’s no telling where it will lead.
Brilliant.
If you had 150K loose to drop on a wristwatch, why would you bother wearing a watch?
.
I would guess that in 95% of the cases, it’s to impress/intimidate other people with your wealth. In maybe 5% of the cases, it’s someone autistically touched who must possess the very best of something, regardless of cost. Which, in this case, any name brand watch in the $200 range will tell time just as accurately. My Citizens is going on ten years now with zero issues.
Hey Kim, have you ever looked at Grand Seiko watches?