As a watch manufacturer we make a limited edition watch because
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It sounds cool.
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It increases desirability.
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It increases the urgency to purchase.
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It makes them all the more unique.
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You can mark them up to offset the fact they will run out.
If they don’t sell within 2 years for example you can look like a sad loser brand, so the number you are limited to has to be chosen wisely. When they do sell out, the investment into intellectual property, set up costs and the marketing cease to be compensated from sales. And sadly the mark-up added because of the limited edition status does not make up for the fact that revenue can no longer be generated. Ergo, you lament the day you decided it should be a limited edition. An alternative is to make watches in batches, they are cooler than limited editions and there is not the day you have to announce they are all gone.
As a small business watch parts are procured in low numbers, quantities that differ from one manufacturer to another so invariably you run out, or you stop using one manufacturer in favour of another. For example, the chap that was responsible for polishing enamel dials unexpectedly retires and the company can no longer do the work. These situations force us to reconsider both the maker and the part. So a watch made in batches has the opportunity to much more limited than a limited edition (which is forced to be consistent throughout the production run). The difference between batches, like a change in a dial or a crown, is a clear identification of the batch number, the products history and a tidy, sequential evolution of the watch model. Batches are best. Expect to see more.
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