The Keepers of Time
The modern watch is the product of thousands of years of research looking for a timekeeper that would work despite the weather. The quest for timekeeping is theorized to have started with Mesopotamia. Fast forward 5000 years, and we’re a world of not one but several timekeepers that keep ticking along whether the sun’s out or not.
Luxury Started with a Pocket Watch
You heard that right: around the sixteenth century, luxury timepieces used to be pocket watches, but not just any pocket watches. The luxury version of these accessories was made of precious metals, adorned with jewels, and afforded only by those in polite society. This meant you had to have a few jolly green giants—or whatever it was in the olden days—to afford this high-end timekeeper.
Luxury Sired by Mass Production
In many ways, luxury watches started out as the black sheep of mass production. In the 1800s, when industrialization was on the rise, these cost-effective timepieces made it possible for everyone to keep time.
However, Switzerland decided to stick to handwork, eschewing quantity for quality, prestige, and elegance. By the 1900s, these swiss watchmakers would be enjoying their newfound luxury status, having found a niche in the upper crust of European society.
Luxury Makes a Comeback
By the late 1900s, the modern wristwatch had gone from manual to mechanical to quartz timepieces, which ran so well, even the highest echelons of genteel society had abandoned luxury watches. It came to a point where the poor swiss watchmakers looked like they were up a very broke gumtree.
And lo and behold, stainless steel swooped in to save the day. Its first recorded use was in the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, which was made entirely with this metal. However, in the beginning, the now unpopular luxury drew criticism for costing a whopping 3300 Swiss Francs, which is about 9700 Francs in this day and age. To give you some perspective, this amount would be around AUD 14,175 in 2021.
The exorbitant price tag wouldn’t be a dealbreaker—far from it. In fact, the stainless-steel design would catch high-society’s fancy yet again, thus cementing, once and for all, that no matter how inexpensive or expensive the road to luxury, the exclusivity of the end result would always do the going rate justice.
Present Day: Buy Luxury Watches Online
From the above overview, we can safely assume that luxury watchmakers have proven their craft time and again, whereas connoisseurs of luxury timepieces would always be attracted to the comparative uniqueness of these watches.
The Tee Tree brand is all about affordable luxury. So, take a look at our Belle collection, for purchasing your very own Belle Blanc watch is no more just a pipe dream.
Buy stylish watches online, for you now have the luxury of selecting luxury.
