Has the Swatch Group devalued the Longines heritage? I would tend to argue yes in some respects, but then, Longines sales within the Swatch Group are pretty decent, second behind Omega.

In good quality jewellers and dedicated watch retailers, you will always see Tissot and Longines along competitor TAG Heuer. Throw Rado into that group, this makes up the majority of their high-end products. It is much harder to find Hamilton and Mido in general retailers in Western Australia. As expected, Calvin Klein is found in lower-end retailers along with Pulsar, Citizen, Seiko and Lorus.

The Swatch Group has a number of brands within their brand group so there is competition for relevance. I am sure competition is fierce for advertising funding and Longines does well in this respect. Longines brands sit within the high-range group along with Union Glashütte and Rado. This group is well defined, as Glashütte based watchmaker Glashütte Original is a class above Union Glashütte.

This is a proper comparison, I feel more should be done to promote these two other brands with the high-range group. To be fair, Longines is by far the best promoted and recognised brand within the high-range grouping. The mid-range group is the domain of Tissot, Hamilton and Certina. I find it somewhat unusual that Calvin Klein, a fashion brand, sits alongside Mido with Balmain a relative unknown. Based on searches on the Balmain webpage, there are no retailers in Perth or Australia in general.

Longines heritage dates back to 1840, Tissot is not long after that at 1853, TAG Heuer is 1860 so they all fall within a fairly defined period. They all have created mechanical innovations so they are decent brands with well documented heritages. Omega [1848] is the brand of choice to take on the dominance of Rolex [1905] with Blancpain [1735] and Breguet [1775] positioned at a much higher level. Yes, whilst Longines has been devalued somewhat, they are positioned about right.

Japanese engineering is pretty decent these days; this wasn’t always the case, but with Japanese embracing the principles of total quality management, the outcome was pretty much inevitable.

Citizen is a well represented watchmaker with a strong coverage in multiple markets in a number of market segments manufacturing a quality product at a excellent price. I reckon they produce a decent product and just need a little better marketing. I purchased my Promaster in Changi Airport in 2001 when I was off on a contract to Ghana and wanted a fairly robust timepiece. Initially this wasn’t a dive watch for me as I was working in an engineering workshop, I just didn’t want to wreck my high quality timepiece. So this became a knock about watch, a daily beater as it is called in the watch community. It was my first automatic movement and I really liked  it. For a while, it was worn not only to work in an engineering workshop, it was my dive watch too and I still have it more than 20 years later.

I had been interested in pursuing an MBA for a while now when I came across an online course from the Madrid based IE Business School, so I duly gave their online course a go, it was more than just pretty good, it was excellent.

In 2016 I was in Madrid so I decided to drop in and view the school first hand and speak directly to an admissions officer. I firstly explored their full-time International MBA before heading to a different office to discuss the merits of the online MBA. Ok, so starting with the price for the part-time course, it was a whopping €55,000 for the 15 month duration course. The course required the first two weeks attendance on-campus for face-to-face classes before returning home to complete the remainder of the course online.

The online section via the Blackboard learning management system combined with weekly mandatory Adobe Connect video link sessions on Saturdays. The units are delivered on a sequential basis with only one unit delivered at a time, you place your sole concentration on that one unit – I liked that concept.

The full-time course is Monday to Friday on-campus in Madrid and priced exactly the same, the choice now is, work full-time and study part-time or no work for the next year and a quarter while managing a large student loan, living expenses combined with the cost of running my household in Australia.

I was interested in the part-time course right up to the point where I would be given no advanced standing credits for already completed units undertaken at university, their attitude is, you sign up to do our course, you do the whole of the course in its entirety. Unfortunately, despite clutching a hand full of brochures, I had already made up my mind before leaving the building.

During a covid lock-down, we used Microsoft Teams as collaboration software. However, there wasn’t much collaboration going on, but I kept the program open anyway. Interestingly, I was one of the first posts on the platform with actual work related discussion instead of timewasting chit chat.

Then the drop kicks got involved and it became a gossip platform. So I only posted one more work related comment where I notified one of the members I had uploaded the documents they were discussing.

Then one of the comments was “sarcasm is the lowest form of humour” and I have heard this often misquoted line by people who have absolutely no idea of its meaning – he wasn’t the brightest staff member.

This line by poet, playwright and comedian Oscar Wilde of “sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence” requires further investigation. So, what is humour?

Slapstick: Falling over can be very funny, slamming into a lamp-post or falling into the water is just brilliant. Then there is The Three Stooges, I still never get sick of that.

Self depreciation: Making one’s self the butt of their jokes, self depreciation has been described as inward facing sarcasm not aimed at others.

Sarcasm: In essence, sarcasm uses words to say the opposite of what they actually want to say. This is a scathing insult to belittle a person, show disdain, irritation or just be irritating. Mark Twain was arguably the master of sarcasm.

Wit: A form of intelligent humour with the ability to say or write things that are considered clever.

Improvisation: This is comedy without a plan, the ability to reply with fast comebacks.

Surrealism: Illogical events that are weird and nonsensical situations that are just plain silly – cue Monty Python.

Play on words: The use of words and puns that have a double meaning that could be described as dad jokes.

Observational: The domain of the stand-up comedian, the ability to find humour in mundane activities with Dave Allen and Jerry Seinfield leading practitioners.

Topical: Based on current events, news and pop culture where an unusual spin is put on the situation.

Bodily: We all know toilet humour and fart jokes, as a college lecturer with classes of mostly young men, I have just about had enough of farting.

Dry: Deadpan or dry-wit humour is a deliberate display of emotional neutrality as a means of comedic neutrality. The delivery is blunt, laconic, ironic with subject matter that is not immediately obvious.

Dark: A style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo and described as morbid or gallows humour provoking discomfort or bemusement.

Crass: This form of humour is lacking in refinement or good taste that is smutty, lowbrow and is intellectually inferior.

I have never had a Breitling watch in my collection, whilst the Navitimer is the natural selection, does Breitling offer decent timepieces apart from the Navitimer and the Chronomat? I can’t say I am into smartwatches, I do research various smartwatch designs for interest only. The B55 Yachting reference EB5512221B1S1 is an example of what Breitling offers in the smartwatch range. At $9980, this is an expensive Regatta timer, so how well does it work? I have been unable to get my hands on one to take out on the boat to time our starts, so I don’t know for sure.

Instead, I use a Ronstan digital timer to countdown the start sequence, we use a five minute countdown timer, some races use a 10 minute start sequence and some short race series even require a three minute sequence. So the ability to easily reset the start timer sequence is necessary. Likewise, a synch function is absolutely paramount, you need to set the countdown function to the gun and if you are late, the four minute warning with a second gun and the raising of the blue peter allows the tactician to synch their timer.

This is a big watch, with a case diameter of 46 mm and thickness of 15 mm, even with 8” wrists, this is big. A water resistance of 100 metres, the 131 gram smartwatch is mounted on a blue rubber strap. Two pushers allow the timers to be set, there are two LCD screens on the dial with backlighting activated by the crown. I find this an interesting timepiece, it is well worth looking into and should at least be considered as a primary timepiece.

An interesting new dive for me at Subic Bay is the WWII DC3 military aircraft lost during WWII. When I say new, at the previous dive centre, this aircraft wreck was never dived so I only ever dived this wreck with the guys from Arizona Dive Centre.

The DC3 is inverted in 42 metres of water inside the bay, the boat crew use GPS to locate the aircraft with a shot line dropped to provide a descent and ascent reference. This is not a clear water dive, this adds to the mystery though as I do like a dive with limited visibility. Owing to the depth, I prefer to undertake decompression stop dives with a nitrox mix, the shop usually stipulates EAN26. Whilst I prefer a higher partial pressure of oxygen, I am diving with at least a guide on nitrox so we match gas so maintain our 1.4 partial pressure.

I have searched for the remains of those on board, I have been told there is a leg bone in the fuselage but I have never located it. I have however found the sake bottles in the main cargo area so there is no dispute this is a Japanese tabby. Whilst an aircraft wreck is small, you get the opportunity to concentrate on detail and you slowly move over the wreck and view it in detail. The undercarriage is visible, the tyre is still attached and the cockpit is intact. This is a pretty decent dive, only accessible since 2013 and I really like getting out there.

The Longines Master Collection is apparently the leading line for Longines. I have only just learnt this following Time + Tide Watches online. This is somewhat annoying as I like to follow industry trends so I am a little behind here.

As a blogger, research is imperative so I have a reasonable watch library, I chat with distributors, jewellers and watchmakers as much as I can. I also read industry news and I follow vloggers and content creators online for opinions. So I need to ask myself, how have I overlooked this important line? In the Swatch Group, Longines is positioned with Rado and Union Glashütte in the high end range. I tend to view their sports range as Longines.

As far as dress watches go, the Master Collection is the best option, my preference is the sunray blue dial references with silvered polished hands, applied indices with blue alligator strap. The automatic range has a display case-back to view the movement, the silver barley corn dial with painted Arabic numerals isn’t my personal choice though. Stick with the blue dial references, the sunray dial is pretty good aesthetically.

The Ravenswood Hotel is one of my favourite hotels in Western Australia. Located on the banks of the Murray River between the coastal town of Mandurah and inland town of Pinjarra, the Ravenswood Hotel is certainly popular.

Our choice is to take the boat to the hotel and tie up alongside, this is the preferred option although there is a pretty big car park too. Using your boat to get around Mandurah, the Murray River, the Serpentine River and canals in between.

On the Murray River, people are allowed to have boat sheds on the river and house their boats in their sheds or directly on their property. People are using boats for transport instead of vehicles, the demographics are a little older so people have had time to build wealth – or at least marry into it.

Oris is a universally respected watchmaker, Oris only makes mechanical watches and their motto is always had and always will. Oris is a small independent watchmaker based in Hölstein, this is in the canton of Basel-Landschaft.

Among watch collectors, Oris is held in high esteem, they manufacture timepieces in a specific price range and they do that competently. I own an Oris Aquis Date, it is a large chunky watch that suits my 8” wrist, it is not to everyone’s tastes and I am fine with that. I don’t wear my Aquis Date often, it only comes out in summer and only when I am looking for an oversize watch. The 42 mm stainless steel case just lacks the polish I would expect, the crown guards are fine and the bracelet attachment is first-rate.

The Calibre 733 is a Selita SW 200-1 that is fitted with a red Oris rotor. I have had issues with mine, there is no power reserve from new despite a published 38 hours. I take mine off my wrist at night and if I sleep in, it has stopped. All in all, I have a love hate relationship with the Aquis, I would rate the TAG Heuer Aquaracer and Longines HydroConquest as better ceramic bezel dive watches. It is worn on warm days when long sleeves are not required, apart from that – it spends its time in my safe.

The Ralph Lauren brand is in trouble, after fifty years, is Ralph Lauren going out of fashion? I wonder if they have made a mistake with the size of their logo on polo shirts with the rest of the fashion world moving towards smaller emblems and logos.

Born in the Bronx in New York City, Ralph did a stint in the army before becoming a sales assistant and later salesman for a tie company. Ralph began by selling ties out of a draw under the Empire State Building New York in 1967. Working out of the showroom, Ralph created the Polo range in 1968 expanding the Polo range in 1971 with the now famous Polo logo appearing for the first time. The cotton mesh polo shirt was introduced in 1972 in seventeen different colours with the polo emblem featuring on the left chest.

The flagship Madison Avenue store opened in 1983 is in trouble although plenty of Polo boutiques are still open around the world. The Ralph Lauren brand is well represented in department stores internationally and the United States. Living in Perth I can purchase from in-store boutiques of Myer and David Jones. From what I read, the Lauren range has been the mainstay of Bloomingdale’s department stores in the United States

A transformation plan is in place that revolves around rationalisation involving the closure of unproductive stores, a reduction in the workforce, improved inventory management controls and reduced production cycles. The closure of the flagship stores in the United States, Asia and Europe will allow the brand to concentrate on e-commerce although there are some reservations regarding the competencies of technology integration.

The core brands are Ralph Lauren, Polo and Lauren with 30% of the brands contributing to 70% of the sales. With up to 65% of the brands unproductive much of the advertising has diluted marketing resources and reducing focus on the core brands. Inventory is an issue with no centralised inventory management control impacting the supply chain.

Possibly they are holding onto old inventory and need to get it out the door, discounting at the end of the season hurts the brand. As such, excess inventory has led to discounting as retailers offloading inventory leading to a devaluation of the brand. Will the Ralph Lauren brand survive? I believe Ralph Lauren will survive despite the fall in share price with the new strategy requiring time to implement.