well, as i said, its just public perception and nothing too scientific about. U see VC boutique in KL plaza closed down quietly several years ago. VC used to be top preference among super rich chinese cos its one of the earliest high end watch maker entering china. Some 5-10 years ago, chinese buyers go to KL will look for either Bo Jie Biao or Jiang Shi Dan Ton. But these days, they prefer PP or piaget more.
It has been suffering similar fate in most parts of asia as far as i know. U can notice that from its resell market value and demand from auction houses such as sotheby, christie or antiquorum. So much so until one VC sale, when i asked her should I choose overseas or offshore, she even told me may be offshore if u prefer sports watch.
From what i see, VC is kind of following the path of Breguet. I mean nothing wrong with these two brands. They were and still are one of the greatest watch makers. But afterall, i said that again and will again, watch companies are more of a marketing companies these days. So marketing and marketing is freaking important and without which it will just get irrelevant. One of the autioneer has been saying that brand like roger dubuis and hublot (i personally just dislike this brand) have been going strong lately due to the great marketing effort and budget.
Also, I see that VC doesnt have much break through and has been relying on its legacy. Also, I participated in several watch blogs globally and seems that most purists will prefer AP over VC these days. be it asian or gwei lou. Of course as i said, this is just preception and nothing scientific about it.
Whether its family held or owned by corporation doesnt really bother me (again personally i think company held notion is just a marketing gimmick from those com held watch maker). By way of analogy, nike is no longer a shoes maker these days but more of a marketing company now. Most of its design and manufacturing has been outsourced and its main task now is just to market the shoes. i think watch makers are pretty much similar. Just that they are still making watches (but we have no ideal how many percent being made by them).
