Huge caveat here in that I am not a designer so this is a very amateur take, and I personally like the headlights so I'm quite biased, but I think it's a brilliant design for a couple of reasons:
1. Without having a traditional front grill or badge that is associated with the brand unlike those of legacy makers, Rivian's headlights are a design element which is instantly recognizable as being a Rivian. Even if you post a minimalist silhouette of the front facia, you would know it's a Rivian.
2. The design lends itself well to future evolution, even if the exact dimensions of the vertical oval lights and the bisecting horizontal light bar are changed/tweaked over time, so long as that general design is kept, they will still be identifiable as a Rivian.
Just my two cents as someone with no design expertise and who happens to like the way the headlights and front facia look.
I wasn't sure how this article would fair on HN but some seem to be enjoying it, and since crdb brought up Seiko elsewhere in the comments, here is a similar tour of some of Seiko's facilities[1]. It might be worth taking a particularly close look at the part about the Micro Artist Studio.
Not to be facetious, but fake Rolexes are so widespread now that I actually wonder what the chances are that a random robbery will yield a real versus fake Rolex.
I've read that there was a big dip in Swiss watch exports when China started ramping up it's anti-corruption campaign.
I have a Kazakh-American friend who did some contract work as a pipeline welder in Kazakhstan who told me all of the watch shop windows in Astana would empty out every time large oil/gas deals were being signed.
This segment of the luxury goods market is indeed very interesting.
While I agree in general, I think that there are some people who just genuinely enjoy mechanical watches beyond the status signaling. I myself don't own a Rolex or other high end watch, I can't afford one, I work in machining and welding so I couldn't wear one to work anyway, and I'm pretty sure my OCD would preclude me from enjoying wearing a wristwatch since I would always be worried about scratches. I just happen to like small mechanical things. Also, repairing and restoring watches is a nice hobby to have if you're really short on space, I live in a tiny apartment.
I do think there is something very cool about the engineering that goes into watches, and they are somewhat unique in the way they combine both engineering and more traditional artistry like hand finishing or enamel/lacquered dial work.
I should probably point out in case there is some confusion that I most certainly don't work for Rolex or the Swiss watch industry even though I sound somewhat like a shill in these comments.
I'm not sure if I really qualify as being well versed in high end watches, my only current wristwatches are a Timex and a Casio G-Shock, but I did submit the article and I do have an interest in watches and clocks so I'll try and answer as best I can.
In terms of engineering, Rolex watches tend to be on the simpler side, relative to some of the the complications you find in even higher end watches. They don't employ tourbillons, or minute repeaters, or offer watches with a laundry list of different complications, so in that sense they are not on the cutting edge. On the other hand, the things that Rolex does, they seem to do very well. They spend quite a bit of R&D on research into things like special alloys for watch cases as as well as balance wheels, escapements and mainsprings.
In terms of quality, they seem to have a very well earned reputation. It's also important to note that Rolex produces somewhere around 600k-1 million watches a year. They seem to be very good at producing high quality at very large scale.
Regarding maintenance costs, I don't think Rolex is know as a particularly expensive brand, although again, I don't actually own a Rolex so this is second hand info from watch forums. I think one of the problems in this area is that I doubt most watch buyers, Rolex or otherwise, have any clue about the long term maintenance of watches. And I doubt the salespeople selling Rolexes spend much time educating potential customers on these costs so you probably end up with a bit of sticker shock when people realize they have to send a mechanical watch in for service. I do know that Rolex has received some criticism for making spare parts increasingly hard to get for independent repair shops, requiring customers go through authorized channels.
A complaint levied against the Swiss watch industry recently it that they are very happy to allocate labor & capital to producing and selling watches, but they don't like making the same investments in labor to ensure quick servicing, which has a habit of pissing off customers when they have to send a watch back to Switzerland for months at a time every few years. One of the things Rolex has been working on with regards to mainsprings and other alloys is developing movements that require less frequent lubrication and servicing.
I'll also add that Rolex movements, both the newer ones as well as older ones from the 1960s-70s, have a reputation for being rock solid and relatively straight forward to service, assuming parts availability. I've never worked on Rolex movements myself but I have done minor servicing on several ETA 2824s, a lower end workhorse of the Swiss watch industry, and I've been told that Rolex movements are significantly more robust.
Do you have a source on that 3% figure? I believe that only approximately 3% of Swiss watches are COSC[1] certified but I was also under the impression that all Rolex watches are COSC certified.
I know Rolex by itself makes up over 50% of annual COSC watches and since Rolex themselves never reveal sales figures I've heard that people use the official annual COSC certification numbers as a barometer to how Rolex is doing.
[1]Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres - This is Switzerland's official chronometer testing agency.
This is just a guess on my part since I always deny these permission requests but I would think maybe accepting the request would allow the website to notify a reader when new articles are posted? Maybe it's something like notifications on an app only this is done via the browser?
I feel like I started seeing these requests more frequently about 12-18 months ago. I agree it's very off putting.
1. Without having a traditional front grill or badge that is associated with the brand unlike those of legacy makers, Rivian's headlights are a design element which is instantly recognizable as being a Rivian. Even if you post a minimalist silhouette of the front facia, you would know it's a Rivian.
2. The design lends itself well to future evolution, even if the exact dimensions of the vertical oval lights and the bisecting horizontal light bar are changed/tweaked over time, so long as that general design is kept, they will still be identifiable as a Rivian.
Just my two cents as someone with no design expertise and who happens to like the way the headlights and front facia look.