Darn Watch Preannouncements

I emailed Montblanc to find out when the new ceramic and steel Timewalker might start showing up in the US.  The answer was pretty disappointing:  “The Steel / Ceramic TimeWalker collection will not be available until the end of this year/beginning of next year.”  Drat!  It’s a nice looking watch, but I’m not going to postpone my purchase for 8+ months.  I still like the Timewalker line, but none of the existing models have quite the same appeal as the two-tone steel/ceramic model.

I wasn’t entirely surprised when Montblanc told me how long it would be before the new model would be available.  I’ve previously read complaints on watch forums about the ridiculously long delays between when a watch is announced and when it’s actually available.  The post I read claimed that sometimes the prior year’s models aren’t yet available when the next year’s models are announced!  It’s hard to understand why this makes sense.  In my industry, computer graphics processors, new products don’t usually get announced until they’re either available or really close to available.  If we announced something that wouldn’t be shipping for nine months, our customers would mutiny!  Of course, graphics technology and expectations change a whole lot faster than watch designs, so I’m sure that’s a big factor in it.