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06/22/2018
FvSpee
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FvSpee
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Luxury watch with bracelet from the department store, or: questions about questions
Omega Aqua Terra has come under my roof as a 10-ml bag nebulizer bottling gift from a very much appreciated and generous fellow perfume. I tried it yesterday and today (and with my nose on my side) without ever hearing of the fragrance or looking at the ratings and other information here. As a result, I wanted to write a (probably too long) statement here, which would have been like this:
"Synthetic Aquate. Simple and unpretentious. Not particularly original or valuable, but harmonious and somehow sympathetic despite everything. Discreet fruity flavour and a certain dryness (perhaps wood). Shelf life moderate".
I liked him a lot, and so did Mrs. von Spee. I would have awarded 7,5, maybe 8 points in a good mood.
Now that I have researched what this elixir is all about, I have to start my review quite differently. Maybe so:
The other day we were buying a carpet for our living room. The carpet salesman in a renowned local wholesaler, who sells carpets of all price categories, was a mischievous older man (already retired, but reactivated part-time), with whom we had a chat, topic among others: His experiences in a long professional life. So he also told us about the customer who had bought a Persian carpet for several thousand euros (or even Deutschmarks) and then asked to cut it into a certain irregular shape. He acknowledged the confused face of the salesman with the explanation that the carpet was for the trunk of his new Ferrari, after all, such a car should not contain any carpeting from the DIY store.
The position of the Ferrari driver may be very snobbish, but it's not my position because I don't drive a Ferrari and probably couldn't afford one. But consistent, harmonious and therefore for me in the end rather sympathetic than outrageous, she is: luxury to luxury!
For reasons I can't understand, the owners of expensive consumer goods brands practically always do the opposite when they launch fragrances on the market as an accompanying program. The passenger car may cost at least 100,000 euros, the wristwatch at least 10,000 euros and the microscopically small ladies' bag at least 1,000 euros - the fragrances, which are supposed to delight the consumer under the same label, are usually anything but exclusive in their design: a high average and often not even that. Now one could argue that the only exclusive thing about some expensive men's or women's accessories is the price; but funnily enough, the Nobel brand fragrances are often not overpriced either, they are middle class quality at middle class prices.
And the situation is similar with Omega Aqua Terra: the classic Aqua Terra from the Omega watch brand is not an absolute high-end product on the chronometer market in terms of price (as far as quality is concerned, I lack expertise), but at least the different versions are available in the range from 2,000 to 10,000 euros. The fragrance, on the other hand, is absolutely suitable for the masses and decidedly unoriginal, as can be seen from my draft statement above. And the handcrafted quality of a Swiss watch does not match the synthetic-aquatic notes, which in my opinion are quite dominant, although they do not appear in the fragrance pyramid.
Since for me the enjoyment of a fragrance always includes the overall composition, which includes the name, the bottle, yes, under certain circumstances even the circumstances of the purchase (although I'm so free, since at will also exceptions to decree), and since all this here just as little as an automatic chronograph for 5,000 euros to a (quite pretty) no-name wristband from the department store for 29.99 euros fits together, I also deduct a point in the overall score.
The remaining questions are:
1. Why do expensive fashion, car and similar brands ever have the ambition to launch fragrances under their name? Is the margin in your core business model really so low that you need this additional profit?
2. If they're already throwing perfumes onto the market, why not some really outstanding, courageous, special, exquisite compositions that people talk about like the new X-sled or the new Y-chronometer? Why olfactory only mass suitability?
3. If the fragrances have to be conventional in the way they are made, why not sell them for at least 500 euros in a bottle to generate the illusion of a noble product at least for the price (and at the same time generate a sizable additional profit), instead of spilling the nobelimage with price tags like on a simple (not exclusive) Dior or Guerlain product?
4. What the hell does this fragrance have to do with the watch of the same name, perhaps apart from the design of the bottle?
"Synthetic Aquate. Simple and unpretentious. Not particularly original or valuable, but harmonious and somehow sympathetic despite everything. Discreet fruity flavour and a certain dryness (perhaps wood). Shelf life moderate".
I liked him a lot, and so did Mrs. von Spee. I would have awarded 7,5, maybe 8 points in a good mood.
Now that I have researched what this elixir is all about, I have to start my review quite differently. Maybe so:
The other day we were buying a carpet for our living room. The carpet salesman in a renowned local wholesaler, who sells carpets of all price categories, was a mischievous older man (already retired, but reactivated part-time), with whom we had a chat, topic among others: His experiences in a long professional life. So he also told us about the customer who had bought a Persian carpet for several thousand euros (or even Deutschmarks) and then asked to cut it into a certain irregular shape. He acknowledged the confused face of the salesman with the explanation that the carpet was for the trunk of his new Ferrari, after all, such a car should not contain any carpeting from the DIY store.
The position of the Ferrari driver may be very snobbish, but it's not my position because I don't drive a Ferrari and probably couldn't afford one. But consistent, harmonious and therefore for me in the end rather sympathetic than outrageous, she is: luxury to luxury!
For reasons I can't understand, the owners of expensive consumer goods brands practically always do the opposite when they launch fragrances on the market as an accompanying program. The passenger car may cost at least 100,000 euros, the wristwatch at least 10,000 euros and the microscopically small ladies' bag at least 1,000 euros - the fragrances, which are supposed to delight the consumer under the same label, are usually anything but exclusive in their design: a high average and often not even that. Now one could argue that the only exclusive thing about some expensive men's or women's accessories is the price; but funnily enough, the Nobel brand fragrances are often not overpriced either, they are middle class quality at middle class prices.
And the situation is similar with Omega Aqua Terra: the classic Aqua Terra from the Omega watch brand is not an absolute high-end product on the chronometer market in terms of price (as far as quality is concerned, I lack expertise), but at least the different versions are available in the range from 2,000 to 10,000 euros. The fragrance, on the other hand, is absolutely suitable for the masses and decidedly unoriginal, as can be seen from my draft statement above. And the handcrafted quality of a Swiss watch does not match the synthetic-aquatic notes, which in my opinion are quite dominant, although they do not appear in the fragrance pyramid.
Since for me the enjoyment of a fragrance always includes the overall composition, which includes the name, the bottle, yes, under certain circumstances even the circumstances of the purchase (although I'm so free, since at will also exceptions to decree), and since all this here just as little as an automatic chronograph for 5,000 euros to a (quite pretty) no-name wristband from the department store for 29.99 euros fits together, I also deduct a point in the overall score.
The remaining questions are:
1. Why do expensive fashion, car and similar brands ever have the ambition to launch fragrances under their name? Is the margin in your core business model really so low that you need this additional profit?
2. If they're already throwing perfumes onto the market, why not some really outstanding, courageous, special, exquisite compositions that people talk about like the new X-sled or the new Y-chronometer? Why olfactory only mass suitability?
3. If the fragrances have to be conventional in the way they are made, why not sell them for at least 500 euros in a bottle to generate the illusion of a noble product at least for the price (and at the same time generate a sizable additional profit), instead of spilling the nobelimage with price tags like on a simple (not exclusive) Dior or Guerlain product?
4. What the hell does this fragrance have to do with the watch of the same name, perhaps apart from the design of the bottle?
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