Why are some watches unavailable? Why does everyone want them? And why is it considered unfair that more are not produced? There are different answers to these questions, depending on who is giving them. In particular, to the third: why, if there is a lot of demand for a model, does the brand simply not produce more of them? Most people who ask this question - protesting and often giving illogical reasons - are customers and disgruntled enthusiasts. Not collectors, because the latter know the answers to the above questions well.
The desirability of a piece often lies precisely in the fact that it is unavailable. And it becomes untraceable when so many want to buy it 'because it is fashionable'. Driven by the desire to possess what everyone considers a must, to conform, to show off with an object whose value everyone easily recognises, many end up feeling frustrated when they cannot get it. Forgetting that the watch is no longer an ordinary consumer good: it has become a luxury object and as such responds to different market laws.
If that were not enough, the watchmaking offer at the moment has never been so rich and varied. In addition to the 'mainstream' brands, others are emerging with very interesting products, and there are attractive alternatives to the well-known sporty-elegant steel models in various price ranges.
I will list a few from memory and in no particular order, starting with the absolute least expensive: the Tissot PRX Powermaric 80, moving on to the Frederique Constant Highlife (of which the Worldtimer version recently came out), the Laureato by Girard-Perregaux, the Chopard Alpine Eagle and the Streamliner by H. Moser & Cie. But there would be many others to include in this list, from the Bulgari Finissimo S to Czapek & Cie's Antarctic. It would be enough to inform oneself, even to enthuse oneself, to come to understand the quality of watches that are - like others - destined to last.
Dody Giussani