If this were black people, there would be tweets all over this site about how violent black people are, and how they cant be in society, followed by an Elon musk "Yup" retweet.
Audemars Piguet (AP) context for those who don't know.
1972. AP was dying. They hired a designer named Gérald Genta. He drew the Royal Oak in one night.
The move: make a luxury watch out of stainless steel. At the time, luxury meant gold. Steel was the cheap material. They priced it above gold anyway.
People said they were crazy. That watch became the most iconic watch in history.
Today AP makes 53,000 watches a year. Rolex makes 1.2 million. AP pulls in $3 billion from those 53,000 units. That's about $49,000 per watch on average.
You can't just walk in and buy one. AP runs a profile-based allocation. Purchase history. Loyalty. Relationship with your sales associate. Sometimes you have to buy other collections first just to prove you deserve a Royal Oak.
That's the wall I talked about.
Now they put their name on a $400 Swatch pocket watch. Riots in 6 countries.
Same logic as 1972? Take the "cheap" option and stamp AP on it? Maybe.
When Omega did this with Swatch in 2022, MoonSwatch at $260, they sold over a million units. Interest in the real Speedmaster went up 50%. Brand wasn't hurt. It was amplified.
AP is betting the pocket watch isn't competition for the Royal Oak. It's a $400 ad for a $30,000 watch.
The wall is still there. Now more people know it exists.
Florida just solved RANGE ANXIETY for EV drivers.
They’re testing a highway that charges your car WHILE you’re driving — wireless charging lane built right into the road.
Genius move for a tourism-heavy state like ours. More beach time, fewer charging stops.
Who else is ready for this? 🚗⚡