BBC's Tanya Beckett interviewed Oscar Waldan for a story about the tradition of watches in today's modern and global society. The segment featured Waldan International as the top-quality watchmaker in the industry, with an unwavering commitment to the finest quality watches on the inside and out.
With 5 decades of experience in the fine watch industry, Mr. Waldan is credited as the inventor of the World Time and as the man who saved the chronograph from extinction. He published "The Watch Industry in the 20th Century" in 2004, and over 50,000 copies are now in circulation. He and his watches have been featured in various watch magazines, including International WristWatch, International Watch, and hr:Watches. Mr. Waldan created his company with a dedication to superb quality and great value. Waldan International is a Swiss watch manufacturer that distributes directly from New York City.
Tanya Beckett : New York, the city that never sleeps. The age of communication has dawned, and the most valuable commodity is time. So the means to tell it is everywhere, whether you're working, talking, or listening to music. It's a world which might have little place for the wristwatch.
Jill Highland works for the Geneva Watch Group. She's been a part of a determined movement to reinvent it as an accessory.
JH: We want them to buy a pink-one and a blue-one, or a purple strap, or whatever the outfit is that they're going to be using. So we want them to buy six or seven watches, and we want them to buy watches every six months or three months.
TB: The strategy is working. Jill says sales have been climbing at an annual rate of ten percent.
And there is another factor at play here. It's call "bling". Singer P. Diddy is one of a string of stars that go for extravagant timepieces. The trend has helped the Swiss watch industry to its best year ever last year.
Oscar Waldan : People want classic watches. They want a watch like this.
TB : But traditionalist Oscar Waldan says the figures don't tell the whole story, that the art of watchmaking is being forgotten and the customer is loosing out.
Oscar Waldan : People do not want to buy all of these crazy multi-colored watches. Maybe some women buy at cheap prices, but not at thousands of dollars for men to wear these watches. So there are a few eccentrics who want to show off, but basically people do not buy these watches. And they are killing the watch business.
TB : The business Oscar is talking about is the one which focuses on what's inside the watch. High price tags are certainly in vogue but the big money goes into the casing. What's inside is often made at low cost in China. So the beauty of the movement, which is the part that makes Oscar tick, risks being lost in the mists of time.