An Italian actor you’ve probably never heard of recently made headlines, in Italy, after branding Adam Driver’s performance in Michael Mann’s Ferrari as ‘cultural appropriation’.
“Why aren’t they casting an Italian actor to play an Italian character?” he asked.
Good question. But also a dumb one. In my opinion. Several people answered his question, including Mads Mikkelsen, a non-American actor you might know. But only one person, a producer, got it right.
Put simply, the producer in question said no Italian actor is famous enough for the role. And he’s absolutely right.
Hollywood producers aren’t running a non-profit. If you invest $90 million in a movie, that’s the official budget for ‘Ferrari’, you at least hope for a return, which you may get if you cast Adam Driver as the star, but you definitely wouldn’t get with an Italian actor.
How does this relate to the Blancpain x Swatch Fifty Fathoms? It does, because whatever else may want to say about the watch, it was designed first and foremost to sell. To make money.
This is important because any discussion that misses the point is a bit of a fruitless one.
So let’s lead with that, the MoonSwatch, whether you love it or hate it, was an amazing money maker for Swatch. So in their book, that’s a good product. End of.
Will the Blancpain x Swatch be a money maker, too?
Probably, but there are a few things I want to say.
First, I don’t find it particularly pretty, and it doesn’t look like a Fifty Fathoms.
The MoonSwatch is a carbon copy of the ‘real’ Speedmaster, meanwhile the Swatch Fifty Fathoms does not look like a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Not really. Not enough.
Also, and this is preaching to the choir really, it is, at the end of the day, a $400 plastic watch that, friendly reminder, cannot be serviced.
If the movement breaks, you need to throw the watch away. Or wear it as an ornament that doesn’t tell time.
But the biggest issue, in my view, is that the resale madness of the MoonSwatch was organic. People bought it, noticed it was quite hard to get, noticed that people were willing to pay premium to get it, so they resold it.
With the Blancpain one, they set out to buy to resell it.
And that’s a bit sad.
Further, it feels like this sort of thing will continue to happen. I’m now looking forward to the Swatch x Breguet collab.
The Wristwatch Dude - TWD 