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Watch brands read wrongly.

7K views 122 replies 56 participants last post by  dbostedo 
#1 · (Edited)
Today a guy happened to look at the watch I was wearing and he exclaimed "oh look it says Homos."
LOL FML
Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap

What other funny stories do the rest of you have?
 
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#3 · (Edited)
#11 ·
. And the rather confusing correct French pronunciation, jaay-jerrr vs the incorrect German yaygrr for Jaeger LeCoultre.
Jaeger is a tricky one. The French silkiness is correct but I'm guessing people assume the more forceful pronunciation on the 2nd syllable just sounds more masculine so it must be right. At an AD for JLC this year, the rep corrected me when I asked him what lines from "jay-jair" (my approximation of the Swiss/French accent) they had, he looked at my quizzically first and then replied, "you mean jay-gerr.". I grinned and said "uh-huh." Also that guy from Hodinkee, Ben says "jay-gerr" in one of his talking watches videos. When I was wet behind the ears about all the big brands, I thought you could just call it a "jag" like people call their Jaguar cars. Don't really care as long as someone understands the greatness of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
 
#6 ·
On WUS we see many close up wrist and sample pics. Some stranger glancing at your wrist does not have the luxury of a clear image or brand knowledge. I can see how a capital N can be seen as H at a glance.

That being said, I had heard a few people saying Longines as "Long'eens" and more commonly "Long - Ines" LOL, must be a Murica thing
 
#23 ·
How about Archie Luxury's take on Omega. Omeeega. Good thing nobody takes that guy seriously.

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I always thought the Omeeega pronunciation was just a British (or Aussie) thing.

In Maurice LaCroix...LaCroix is pronounced La Qua right?

How is Maurice pronounced? Mau-Ree?
 
#27 · (Edited)
I slight variation on the theme, but I think this generally fits the thread:

I recently ran into an acquaintance, who "collects" Invictas (well, he has about 15, the very big ones). I looked at his latest watch, and commented kindly..... (I'm not a fan, but I'm not an *ss either).

Then he said to me, "I see you're wearing your Timex." I replied "Um, no, it's a Seiko" (it happened to be my 007). He said, "Oh yeah, right."

I'm not a Timex fan either, to put it mildly, admittedly biased because of having more than one too many children's Timex's during grade school.......

So I was none too pleased by his comment. But I considered the source, and got past it. Eventually.
 
#28 ·
I had such a hard time saying Jaquet Droz (yakè drō) at an AD I just gave up and went somewhere else and burned my stack on a Panerai. The dealer was somewhat incised that I could not nail the pronunciation, even worse, I had to explain to the war department how my PAM 372 was a 'dress' watch. Silly how mispronouncing a name can make even the seasoned watch collector feel like an idiot (not to mention how bad it can rub sales folks wrong too).

Oh, lest I forget, a women I sat next to on a Southwest flight a few years back asked me if I purchased my late 70's model NOS Rolex sub at Costco because she got her son 'a watch just like it for Christmas.' Unconvinced that our watches were different, I let her handle it, to which her reply was 'the one she bought was better-built and did not require a battery.'

Perhaps it'll never end. Maybe the only safe action is to keep buying Panerai, lol.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Try this (?):



Quote from Watchtime:

Watch Brand Pronunciation

A. Lange & Söhneah LAHN guh und ZO nuh
Alpinaal PEE nuh
Armand Nicoletare MAHND NIK o lay
Audemars PiguetAWE duh mahr PEE gay
Baume & MercierBOWM and MURSE ee ay
BédatBAY dah
BlancpainBLAHNK pan
BovetBO vay
BreguetBREH gay
BremontBREH mon
BreilBRILE
BreitlingBRITE ling
BulgariBUL guh ree
BulovaBULL uh vuh
Carl F. BuchererBucherer: BOO kur ur
CartierKARR tee ay
Chase-DurerCHASE DUR ur
Chopardshow PARD
CorumKOR um
Cuervo y SobrinosKWER vo ee so BREE nohs
CustosCOO stohs
CymaSEE muh
Daniel RothRoth: ROTE
De Bethunedeh bet OON
DeWittdeh VITT
DoxaDOX uh
Dubey & Schaldenbranddue bay and SHALL den brand
Ebelee BELL
Favre-LeubaFAHV LUBE uh
F.P. JourneJourne: ZHURN
Franck MullerFRAHNK MYOU ler
Frédérique ConstantFRED ur eek con STAHNT
Gérald GentaGenta: JEN tuh
Girard-Perregauxzhee RAHRD PAIR uh go
Glashütte Originalglass HOO tuh or ig in AHL
GlycineGLY seen
Greubel ForseyGROIB uhl FORCE ee
HublotU blow
HysekHIGH sek
IWC SchaffhausenSchaffhausen: shaff HOWZ in
Jaeger-LeCoultrezhey ZHER leh KOOLT
Jaquet DrozZHOCK ay DROH
Jean DunandZHAHN due NAHND
JeanRichardzhahn ree SHARD
KoboldKO bald
Limeslee MEZ
LonginesLAWN jeen
Louis Érardloo ees air AHRD
Louis Moinetloo ee mwah NAY
Louis Vuittonlou ee vwee TAHN
Maurice LacroixLacroix: LAH KWAH
MidoMEE doe
Milusmee LOOSE
MontblancMOHNT BLAHNK
MoserMO zer
Movadomuh VAH doe
Mühle GlashütteMEW luh glass HOO tuh
NomosNO mose
Officine Paneraioff ih CHEE nay PAN ur eye
Omegao MAY guh
Parmigiani Fleurierpahrm ih ZHAH nee FLUR ee ay
Patek Philippepah TEK fill EEP
Paul PicotPicot: pih CO
PerreletPAIR eh lay
Piagetpee ah ZHAY
RadoRAH doe
Ralph LaurenLauren: LOR en
Richard MilleREE shard MEEHL
Roger Dubuisroe ZHER do BWEE
SeikoSAY ko
SinnZIN
TAG HeuerTAG HOI ur
TissotTEE so
TutimaTOO tih muh
Ulysse Nardinyou LEESE nahr DAN (The last syllable is spoken with a short, nasal "a" with no real equivalent in English. The "n" is not pronounced fully, but cut off in the back of the mouth as soon as it begins.)
Universal GenèveGenéve: jeh NEV
Vacheron ConstantinVASH er ahn kon stan TAN (For last syllable, see note for "Ulysse Nardin.")
Van Cleef & ArpelsArpels: ahr PELL
Victorinoxvick TOR ih nox
VulcainVULL CAN
WengerWEN ger
WittnauerWIT now ur
Wyler GenèveVEE ler jeh NEV
XemexZEM ex
ZenithZEH nith
 
#74 · (Edited)
Quote from Watchtime:

Wenger = WEN ger
Zenith = ZEH nith
Not to quibble with Watchtime, but wouldn't "Wenger" be pronounced VENG-Ger (hard "g" on the second syllable - or perhaps VENG-er) and "Zenith" be pronounced ZEH-nit? That's if we're sticking to the native language of the watchmaker, of course -- or is my rusty German off by some measure?
 
#31 ·
So I'll admit it... Legit had no idea ETA was correctly pronounced Etta. Almost all my horological knowledge comes from reading, so whatever I come up with in my head is how I spew it. The only people I know into watches are at work and they all say E.T.A. as well, it wasn't until a few months ago I heard a sales person say "Etta" and in my head I was like "hmm... That's an odd way to pronounce it" not knowing we're the ass, haha
 
#37 ·
I've only fairly recently learned that it was "Ettah"not "E T A." I mean...why use all caps unless they're initials?
The ü umlaut is fairly hard for a non German speaker to correctly pronounce.
 
#38 ·
I've been to a few Patek AD's, including the boutique in Beverly Hills. They have all pronounced the word "Patek" incorrectly.

Every dealer I've been to: "PAT" - "EK" They group the letter t with the "pa" to say "pat" first and end with "ek".

The Patek website video says it the way I do which groups the letter t with "tek" to say "pa" - "tek".

[video]https://www.patek.com/movies/communication/Archives_Long_EN.mp4[/video]
 
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