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From: Arild Jensen (no email)
Date: Wed Sep 03 2003 - 16:31:44 EDT
Hal Wyman wrote:
My comments were based as much upon Chelsea's present-day reputation in the
watch and clock collector community as they were with my experience, Arild.
And if you have any information about Chelsea Clocks having been bought out,
please share it with me.
REPLY
I do not have specific information concerning corporate changes in Chelsea.
I do know that when I examine the polished brass instruments in the chandlery
shops there is a range of products by all makers, including Chelsea.
The low priced Chelsea looks much like the earlier versions but shinier
probably due to electroplating and oxidation protection) and this attracts
the newbie buyers. The low price compared to the top end products clinches
the deal. No doubt the top end product still has real quality built in.
When I examine such low priced offerings, they often show the country of origin
( manufacture) as being Asian; not American or Swiss.
This tells me someone in the company has made a deliberate decision to use the
quality reputation of the company's past products to attract less informed
buyers who will buy the lower priced offerings.
The majority of buyers may not even intend to use these for serious navigation.
The instruments are more likely to adorn dens and living rooms or become mantle
piece decor.
I happen to think this is a sad reflection on our society's collective values
and emphasis on getting the lowest price regardless of the consequences.
For this reason I am more inclined to seek out the older products in flea
markets, antique shops or wherever they can be found.
Quite often I get a genuine quality product which is repairable and can be
restored to full functionality. This restored "vintage" products will often
cost about the same as the cheap "new" but will outlast the new ones by many
years.
That philosophy also explains why I just drove all the way down to S. Cal from
BC to fetch a 20 year old truck with 260,000 miles on it instead of buying a
much newer Asian built replacement. I previously owned two such Asian built
diesel trucks of exactly the same vintage. Both of them have already had to be
scrapped.
The same can be said for marine equipment. Quite often I have been successful
in salvaging stuff from the dumpster and totally restored it to working
condition.
While not as glitzy as a brand new product, it works. Where appearances are
important, parts can be replated, chromed etc.
This is a much more common practice with vintage cars but the same principles
apply.
If you look around, it is possible to find "retired" people with the requisite
skills to service such older equipment and instruments.
Often times these skilled people have been forced out of employment prematurely
and are only too happy to apply their skills to doing these restorations.
Cheers
Arild
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