C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

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strapline
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C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by strapline »

Not the watch, of course, but the retractable crown. What do people think of that feature, does it fall in to one of the two above categories for you. It's not something I ever remember seeing on a watch elsewhere. Is it unnecessarily hiding an integral part of a watch, does it change the whole dynamic of how a watch should look? Perhaps, for you, it's that, "eureka!" moment.

Thoughts??

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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by sproughton »

Feels like an impressive technical achievement for the sake of it. I know Mike France was talking about the benefits of cycling without a crown but that seems very, very niche.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Viognier »

IMO it's kind of cool but would need to see it on my wrist before I committed to purchase it or not
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by jkbarnes »

I think its both. It’s definitely an innovation, as one does not see this feature often. To the extent its addressing a very real problem....maybe a bit of a gimmick? Perhaps it’s one of those problems people don’t realize is a problem until finally presented with a solution?

Personally, the crown digging into the wrist has never been an issue because I’m a lefty who wears his watch on his right hand.

Regardless, the overall package of the watch is pretty stunning. The retractable crown would be neither a reason for me to buy nor a reason to not buy. (The exception to that being if they have a high failure rate.). I’d make a decision on the total package.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by JAFO »

We expect to see a crown, don't we. Watches with crowns on the wrong side look curious. Even a four o'clock crown looks slightly odd. I don't know if the retractable crown adds to the cost, and maybe also creates a possible weakness while solving not too much of a problem.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by jtc »

Sounds like the cost of the crown mechanism is around £50, manufactured by an external supplier. CW have then done their own case/crown development on top of that.

I think it's a cool addition and expect more smaller brands to follow suit.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by exHowfener »

In a way, it's both although as the Harwood automatic watch didn't have a crown at all, perhaps a regression as well.

I think I've covered all the bases there :thumbup:
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by ajax87 »

It solved an actual problem, so I’d say no doubt it’s an innovation.

Crown has never really dug into my wrist, so would be a gimmick for me.

But less gimmicky because I love the look of the more symmetrical case.

It’s an innovative gimmick. Or a gimmicky innovation.

Either way, I love it and will buy it at some point, hopefully soon.

When I looked at the thread title, I thought this was going to be about the dial cutouts...
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Clach77 »

ajax87 wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 4:44 pm When I looked at the thread title, I thought this was going to be about the dial cutouts...
They are great for all the people who generally wear a light source strapped to their wrist below their watch. :) To me, the cutouts just add an interesting look to the dial.

As for the crown, I love the idea, but perhaps not quite enough to buy the watch. I still can’t see past the white GMT.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by biggus_richus »

Feels like a gimmick to me. My kitchen ovens and every single electronic device I've owned that take an SD card have the same feature. Plus it makes the watch itself look odd, and fixes a problem, even as a left wrister, that I've never suffered (which of course is not to say that others haven't).

But on the other hand, it fits perfectly with CW's ethos of doing stuff because they can (see also 600m/1000m water resistance, super compressor).
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Tell you what, guys. If you think it’s cool, buy it. If you think it’s a gimmick, don’t buy it.

Me? They can have my £1.3k for one on a Ti bracelet as soon as they bring out a blue dial. I think it’s great. :D
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by downer »

It's an innovative gimmick. Obviously.

All modern watches are gimmicks. All "complications" are gimmicks, with pretty much all of it not being strictly necessary.

However, hats off to CW for developing features and solutions at attractive price points. Therein lies the innovation.
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by nbg »

To get noticed and build a reputation brands that are seeking to move up the brand hierarchy need to do something different.

Often this results in an innovation, that for some potential customers may be regarded as a gimmick. But none the less it is something that will come to mind when people think of a brand.

For CW the crown arrangement on the Elite, Apex models and the Super Compressor are in this category. They didn’t “need” to produce a genuine super compressor, they could have made do with a bog standard compressor, like many brands. After all most customers probably don’t know the difference. However industry journalists do.

Build a reputation for your clever, innovative stuff and you can, in time, charge more for more standard models, due to the halo effect.

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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by kiter65 »

I think it’s a bit of both, but why does something that is supposed to make it more pleasing to the eye look so odd :problem:
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Re: C63 Elite - innovation or gimmick?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

I wonder, just a little idle speculation and a rhetorical question...

If Bremont had stuck it on one of their watches would everyone now be all over it? Or am I being a little unfair?
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