Well - is like "decimation" and "underrated" - do not really mean what many people think they mean - Even in my own post before re the Melco thing, I fully know that is not snake oil in the strict sense. It is the ridiculous price for the kind of function performed that makes it snake oil IN SPIRIT if not in the letter... IMHO
v
Let's understand: Patek Philippe does not sell that complicated watch at all these days, but if they did, it would not be $31M. This particular watch was one of eight that used that movement and the only one in a steel case. But the price that was paid for it was not set by Patek, it was the price multiple bidders ran it up to in a public auction, because they knew there would never be another one. It was expensive for precisely the same reason a Picasso is expensive (and people don't spend millions on a Picasso just because the art "moves" them). The other seven examples sold originally for far less, under different market conditions.
I would have a hard time believing the bidders in those auctions thought they were getting anything even slightly different than what they got, and their reason for buying it had little to do with function. It has to do what their appreciation for what it takes to make a mechanical watch that complicated, and also that beautifully made, and their desire to own a watch of that uniqueness and complexity from one of the foremost watch companies in the world. I am certain that the bidders were highly qualified on the topic in addition to being wealthy.
Snake oil is not about being expensive at all, let alone ridiculously expensive. It's about worthless crap being sold to the unwary on the basis of false claims. Actually "snake oil," as hawked by traveling con artists in the 19th Century, sold for relatively small sums so that people of little means could afford it. Wealthier people were more wary of such scams and were also more able to enforce their revenge when the placebo effect wore off and buyers realized they'd been conned.
A $28,000 power cord is snake oil--it provides absolutely nothing of value. It is not a complex product, it does not require a craftsperson with decades of experience to make, it is not made in any way that would limit its availability, and the company making it has no heritage for consistently producing products of high quality. This Patek is no more accurate than any other good watch of whatever technology, but keeping time simply is not it's reason for existence.
Rick "snake oil is not about high prices, but rather about false claims of efficacy" Denney
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