The Upper tier companies did the only thing they could do. They changed the rules. Patek Philippe, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre and others all dabbled in quartz watches but they realised that their name and reputation were more valuable than the watches they were selling. They began pricing their watches higher and higher until they positioned themselves to a place where the price tag didn't solely represent the quality of a product, it represented the quality of the brand. When the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was released it cost approximately 3200 CHF or $830 and today that watch would cost (adjusted for inflation) $4800. A modern Royal Oak will set you back around $24,000.

Branding is the lasting legacy of the quartz crisis.

Other companies soon followed suit but it was the blue chip companies that pioneered the idea of elevating mechanical watchmaking above necessity to luxury. "Quartz was technically superior in every way but we have tradition, art, craftsmanship and status all wrapped up in a wrist sized package". With that elevation in status came an elevation in price ; this is not to say that Patek Philippes were ever cheap but soon they became unreachable to the vast majority of people. I'm sure there were dark times for these companies, as there are for all, but survival through luxurious obsolesce was a stroke of genius.

Prestige watch companies did not invent the idea of luxury branding but they adopted it as their defacto business model. Everything made and said is to be in service of the brandy and it's identity. Patek Philippe is about tradition and conservative design, Longines is about heritage and elegance, TAG Heuer is whatever Jean-Claude Biver wants them to be this week. This branding is a double-edged sword, it secured the existence of the brands we see today when they were most vulnerable but also means that it's unlikely that we'll see any designs that don't fit in the with existing portfolio.

There were many companies that deserved to continue but couldn't despite their best efforts. Doxa made probably the best dive watch ever yet the encroachment of technology onto professional services and tools meant that their days were numbered until their miraculous recovery. Universal Geneve, creators of countless legendary watches ended up in the no man's land of the Chinese stock market. Enicar had their name taken from them and were reanimated in a mockery of their history and reputation. Wittnauer adorns the shelves of Macy's and drug stores. These companies were never as big as Rolex or Omega but the fact they produced high quality watches for decades didn't stop them from going under. For whatever reason they weren't able to create that brand identity that allowed others to survive.

Their demise was unfortunate but perhaps necessary to the survival of the industry as the forced winnowing of dozens of brands focused consumer attention on those that remained. It would be easy to think that the brands that adorn jeweler's windows are here because they were simply better but that's not true. The remaining few survived because they were lucky enough to stand on the shoulders of fallen giants and they branded themselves as survivors.