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The MVMT watch company was founded in 2013 by two college dropouts and friends Jake Kassan and Kramer LaPlante. Not much information is known about how the company began prior to this, but due to the age of the pair at the time, it is clear that they disrupted the way that the watch industry previously worked.
Whilst MVMT is certainly not a luxury brand and will never take away market share from the likes of Rolex, it certainly has been successful in building a brand from the ground up – something which would have taken millions of dollars, if it were not for the duos clever strategies.
In short, Kassan and LaPlante were some of the first successful entrepreneurs to create a brand through the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. This, coupled with online marketing through unconventional channels, bought MVMT to the forefront and got them ahead of several other fashion brands. Similar successful marketing campaigns have since been used by the likes of other watch brands, Nordgreen and Daniel Wellington.
In 2018, Swiss watchmaking giant Movado agreed to pay at least $100 million for full control of MVMT in a deal that could see the price rise to $200 million over several years.
Main Criticisms Of MVMT
MVMT are a watch brand that attracts frequent criticism. This criticism is not for their lack of quality, since you will find out that this is relatively similar to other fashion brands.
There are however, a couple of major sticking points when it comes to criticizing the MVMT watch brand.
On their own website, they claim to disrupt the overpriced and outdated models of the fashion industry, which is a nice statement, except it’s simply not true.
A 2-minute browse through Amazon will show you that MVMT watches are in exactly the same price bracket as every other fashion brand and built to a similar specification. Not only this, but they have a very similar overall style and design philosophy to brands such as Skagen and Calvin Klein.
Secondly MVMT claim “Our goal is to radically change the way you think about fashion by delivering premium designs at radically fair prices”.
Once again, this claim is dubious at best. MVMT watches are certainly not premium by any measure.
- MVMT uses Japanese quartz movements – the same as almost every other fashion brand
- MVMT use mineral glass – the same or worse quality than other fashion brands
- MVMT are priced exactly the same as other fashion brands
- The theme, layout and overall design of MVMT watches is not radically different to any other brand on the market.
Are MVMT Watches Good?
From a design perspective, there is no doubt that MVMT watches are good. If these watches were not appealing to consumers, people would simply not buy them. As the brand is less than 10 years old, the average person who buys fashion watches is clearly happy with both the style of an MVMT and what they pay for it.
However, in terms of specification and value for money – MVMT watches are very average. Direct comparisons have already been made above.
But if you were to simply put the materials and movements of MVMT watches alongside other brands such as Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Skagen, and Diesel to name a few, you really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
This is because MVMT as well as the above brands all use very similar movements and materials and are all assembled in China. Other than marketing, there is no real difference in the quality of any of these brands.
Is It Worth Buying A MVMT Watch?
If you’re a fan of the MVMT brand and have been for some time, then the chances are that you’re happy to pay the price for one of their watches.
However, if you’re new to the world of watches, you should understand that MVMT are not good value when compared to other rival brands.
Quite simply, you’re able to buy very similar brands for half the price of MVMT, or even less if you want to purchase a Chinese branded watch made to the exact same specification.
Overall, there are far better value watches for sale from other brands.
Bering watches are a similar price and style to MVMT yet are superior in almost every way. This Scandinavian brand uses solar movements which don’t need batteries, superior case materials such as titanium and sapphire crystal instead of mineral glass.
When you compare the two side by side, you can see that Bering is simply a much better watch. This is why it is important to understand more about watches before you make a purchase based on advertising alone.
MVMT Marketing
Now that MVMT is an established watch brand with a core identity, things are somewhat different from what they were back in 2013.
Eight years ago, things like Facebook advertising and crowdfunding campaigns were simply not normal ways to showcase your product. MVMT was able to get a giant leap ahead of its competition by using sales tactics that traditional watch brands were not yet using.
All in all, this is truly what led to the huge success of the MVMT watch brand. In all honesty, it is really nothing special, but its founders deserve a great deal of credit for navigating a changing online marketplace and catching the older brands off guard.
