Tribus Watches

A place to discuss other watch-brands
Molan
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by Molan »

albionphoto wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 12:12 pm Tribus seem to be having a 30%off Summer sale. Seems familiar.
I remember Trbus making a big announcement around launch time that they would never have sales and would only ever reward loyal customers through their points accumulation scheme.

Since then we've seen some of the Liverpool watches going out for 75% off and now a decent selection of 'regular' models at 30% off - exactly the same discount as CW nearly new are generally offered at.

There was some discussion at the time about how sales "cheapened the brand" and even that people with regular sales were like the "DFS of the watch industry".

I wonder if it's simply Tribus beginning to realise how things work in the 'real world' for most watch brands rather than some sort of idealised specialist marketplace?
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by JAFO »

30% off is still quite pricey. The basic COSC Small seconds is £1295, so 30% off is still over £900.
I would be looking for half price, I think.

One other point is that all the watches are 41mm.based on an identical case design, which can make it difficult to find truly different examples.

The quality is pretty good though.

On the other hand, the recent points double up for Father's Day was a great offer.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by MarkingTime »

Molan wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 1:07 pm
I wonder if it's simply Tribus beginning to realise how things work in the 'real world' for most watch brands rather than some sort of idealised specialist marketplace?
I'd say that it was realigning the watch prices with more realistic expectations.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by Molan »

MarkingTime wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:02 pm
Molan wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 1:07 pm
I wonder if it's simply Tribus beginning to realise how things work in the 'real world' for most watch brands rather than some sort of idealised specialist marketplace?
I'd say that it was realigning the watch prices with more realistic expectations.
I think that’s effectively the same thing. Just feels like their prices have been too high for an unknown brand with no genuine heritage (excepting some associated interest from CW enthusiasts - who haven’t exactly fallen over with praise for the new brand).

To launch straight into one of the most crammed parts of the market and go head to head with Oris, Tag, Longines, Rado etc etc was always going to be tough - whatever any of us here might think of those brands.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by JAFO »

Here's my view

I think the watch industry must be one of the most difficult, although to be fair all industries are difficult.
I am sure many on this site can point to their own industries being equally competitive.

At the cheap end of the watch industry you are coming into competition with the low cost economy of China, ( which benefits to a ridiculous extent by special distribution cost arrangements) or the big battalions of Seiko, Citizen and Invicta for example. At the expensive end, against established big brands. So that only leaves the middle sector but that's again filled with many well known jeweller type brands, grey market sellers, and alternatively online brands and Kickstarter type operations. Obviously success is possible but not a given. Now CW and Tribus both sell Swiss made watches. Personally I wouldn't want to spend over £200 say on non swiss brands, so I pass on much of the CW competition. The only non swiss new watch I have bought for over £100 was the Orient Kamasu.

I think it's possible to assess the relative quality by looking not at watches but at straps and bracelets. CW straps and bracelets are really good for an OEM. The bracelets are well made, with great functionality, and typically are priced at a substantial discount against major brands. Straps are the same. Luxury straps are reassuringly expensive. Tribus are a bit dearer than CW, but still compare very favourably against established brands. If the bracelets and straps hold up well, then I expect the watches do as well.

Even so, for many people a watch of say £800 up is a considered purchase, rather than an impulse buy. That's why both CW sales, nearly new watches on eBay and similar, and high street sales often represent great buying opportunities, and it's hard to see Tribus not needing to discount from time to time.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by Caller »

JAFO wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:18 pm
So that only leaves the middle sector but that's again filled with many well known jeweller type brands, grey market sellers, and alternatively online brands and Kickstarter type operations. Obviously success is possible but not a given. Now CW and Tribus both sell Swiss made watches. Personally I wouldn't want to spend over £200 say on non swiss brands, so I pass on much of the CW competition. The only non swiss new watch I have bought for over £100 was the Orient Kamasu.
To be more accurate, both CW and Tribus are operating at the lower level of that 'middle sector'. I'm not sure many kickstarters are at that level. And the perennial problem with 'Swiss made' is how much really is, brand by brand, watch by watch? I'm not sure what is counted these days, is it 60% needed to qualify? I'm not sure Buying Swiss at such a price point is any more of a guarantee of quality than buying a similar priced watch from elsewhere.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by thomcat00 »

Molan wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 1:07 pm
albionphoto wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 12:12 pm Tribus seem to be having a 30%off Summer sale. Seems familiar.
I wonder if it's simply Tribus beginning to realise how things work in the 'real world' for most watch brands rather than some sort of idealised specialist marketplace?
It’s clearly quite a challenge to jump in the watch pool at this price point and expect to do well out of the gate. Some of the Tribus designs are interesting. I don’t see how they position the brand to stand out and command attention. I don’t know the earliest days of, say, Bremont and how they might compare with what Tribus is experiencing. Given the timing and the positionng it won’t be a repeat of the Christopher Wars arc, regardless of the parallels.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by Molan »

JAFO wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:18 pm
Even so, for many people a watch of say £800 up is a considered purchase, rather than an impulse buy. That's why both CW sales, nearly new watches on eBay and similar, and high street sales often represent great buying opportunities, and it's hard to see Tribus not needing to discount from time to time.
I think everyone would have this view other than Tribus themselves. They stated very clearly they would not be a brand that ran traditional sales and would only ever offer loyalty discounts (along the line of supermarket-based schemes)
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by alansmithee »

I think they are going to run into the Debenhams problem - with all these points, pop-up sales banners and the like - when I see a sale for 30%, I just think "OK but when is the REAL sale?" and don't buy anything.

There are a couple of watches in there I like the look of - but not at that price.

Also looking at the social media stats - they are not setting the world on fire so I'd expect deeper discounts sooner rather than later and wouldn't want to be the person who paid over the odds.

Finally they do something very naughty and the registration automatically opts you in for the newsletter - which is a no-no under UK law.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by Kansas City Milkman »

Another baffling tweet from Tribus. Their marketing just seems chaotic and amateurish to me

Edit: it’s not so much baffling as I understand what they’re getting at. They’re just trying to be too clever and it comes across amateurish.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by golfjunky »

still 41 unsold out of the 50 from the my dog sighs range.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by angusbon »

golfjunky wrote:still 41 unsold out of the 50 from the my dog sighs range.
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by Richard D »

Next month I’m off to Duxford and the Battle of Britain Airshow, where TRIBUS will be showcasing their collection. I’m hoping to make up my mind as to what to add to my 3 that I already throughly enjoy.


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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by A1soknownas »

Good creative effort in constructing the above image.

I had assumed that the smoke picture posted previously was a promotional shot but now this has me thinking that you created it too :clap:!

Have you received any interest in the MDS model when wearing? People are often reserved in commenting on watches etc but the design may prompt a greater reaction. Granted due to covid etc the chances of wearing out and about were reduced of course!
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Re: Tribus Watches

Post by JAFO »

Richard D wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 10:30 am Next month I’m off to Duxford and the Battle of Britain Airshow, where TRIBUS will be showcasing their collection. I’m hoping to make up my mind as to what to add to my 3 that I already throughly enjoy.
I think it might be a TRI-04 GMT power reserve.
Maybe that or a small seconds.
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