TGN Chats - Chase Fancher :: Oak & Oscar

Published on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 09:02:08 -0400

Synopsis

This podcast segment features an interview with Chase Fancher, the founder of the watch brand OkanOskar. Chase talks about the inspiration behind the brand name, the positive reception of their latest watch release the Sandford, his design process and influences, sourcing components like movements, and his aspirations for potentially creating an American-made movement in the future. He also discusses the challenges of starting a watch company and provides insights into the day-to-day operations of running the business.

Transcript

Speaker
Unknown Okay, okay. I know what you're thinking. It's the wrong Tuesday and the wrong music, but be cool. We're trying something new. This is TGN Chats, a place for us to separate our interview segments from the main show. Jason and I want to give these chats their due, so listen up. And if there's someone you want us to chat with in the future, let us know at thegraynadoatgmail.com. For the first TGN chat, Jason caught up with OkanOskar founder Chase Fancher while he was on tour for OkanOskar's latest watch, the Sandford. It's a great chat with a legit watch nerd at the helm of a very promising young brand. We hope you like it.
Jason Heaton Here's Jason. Starting a watch brand is a dream of many watch enthusiasts, but few take that leap of faith and actually do it. One who did is Chicago-based Chase Fancher, whose company is called OkanOskar, and who just released his second creation, the Sandford. Chase is wrapping up a tour of some U.S. cities to introduce the Sanford, and I'm sitting down with him here in Minneapolis before he heads home later today. Chase, welcome to the Graynado.
Chase Fancher Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here in your home city as well.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it's great. Great to see you in Minneapolis. I got to ask, tell me about the name Okanosker. I actually don't know the backstory.
Chase Fancher The name is actually really personal to me, and it's kind of the whole point of this company is the fact that I was looking to get out of corporate world. I wanted to do something where I loved it, I was passionate about it, and I could spend more time with my family, my dog, and doing something that was just absolutely something I loved. And so it really came down to what are the things that I love? As simple as that is I love whiskey and bourbon, aged in oak barrels, and I've always loved dogs. I've always had a thing for dogs, and Oscar's actually my dog's name, which is great because part of my profits actually go to a local dog shelter. And it's the idea of combining watches, dogs, business, and being able to get my own freedom and take control of all that. So it's a very personal thing to me.
Jason Heaton Yeah.
Chase Fancher Cool.
Jason Heaton And how's the Sanford being received on your tour this past week?
Chase Fancher Good feedback? Remarkable feedback, actually. It's been an absolute honor the way people have received it. The Burnham was received very well. The Burnham was received with super positive comments, notes, people wanting it, people buying it. The Sanford has been received with the exact same excitement, but people see it's a bit more refined. People see that it's now another step in the direction of Oak and Oscar. 40 millimeter, that size, people just absolutely love. It's got the GMT, darker dial, extra details, and people have really, really connected with it, which is an amazing thing because it's such a personal piece that it's always amazing to see somebody else wearing it and enjoying it.
Jason Heaton Yeah, a follow-up watch, a follow-up anything, you know, I say the sophomore curse kind of thing. I think you really got the details right. I mean, if anything, I'm sure you learned a lot from the Burnham, and this is probably yet a step beyond, I would probably say.
Chase Fancher Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that. The sophomore watch is exceedingly nerve wracking because you're right. You build something up and it does really well. Yeah. I mean, the Burnham sold out in 11 months. Yeah. It got over a lot of hurdles with, you know, first time brand, new guy, no reputation, price point, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. And it's got this amazing community that, that Oaken Oscar has. And the sophomore watch, I knew I didn't want to let people down. Most importantly, I didn't want to let guys down who have bought into the brand.
Unknown Yeah.
Chase Fancher Because it's so personal to me, again, that that to me is then a failure by chase, not just Oak and Oscar. Right. So the second watch was super important to get right.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, moving beyond even the new watch and watches in general, I mean, tell me about kind of the journey, I mean you mentioned a little bit about why you kind of left, I don't know if it was corporate life or whatever your other job to kind of start this up, but what lessons have you learned? Would you do it again? I mean are there pitfalls and have there been issues, problems?
Chase Fancher Yeah, I mean I think with anything you do, whether it's inside the umbrella of a corporate world trying to get a project finished from A to Z, or opening up a watch company, or opening up a bakery, or a dog grooming store, anything. You have the problems that you know are going to exist, whether it's capital, marketing, production, customer service, all of those issues, you know you can say, how can I attack those when I need to? But then you have all these things you don't know about. You don't know to expect. You don't think to yourself, oh, well, let me predict that. even though I have no clue that even exists, you can't prepare for them. So you have to be really ready to go through and just keep chipping away at things and be flexible. Would I do it again? Absolutely. In a heartbeat. Even if it had failed. Because I would have tried. Because you're right, it was the corporate world that I was trying to get out of. And that to me, I don't work well when it comes to being ingrained in that you know, 40 to 70 hour work week kind of thing, in a desk, in khakis and a button up, because it just looks nice. That drives me batty. There's so many rules that aren't even real rules that make no sense. And I had to get out.
Jason Heaton So what drove you to start a watch company specifically? I mean, you mentioned dog grooming or a bakery. I mean, I'm guessing you're a watch nerd
Chase Fancher I'm a watch guy. I'm a watch guy through and through.
Jason Heaton So, you know, just going back to kind of my intro, it's like so many watch nerds have always wanted to start a watch brand, but it's not, it's not easy. And, um, but you know, how did you get to that point?
Chase Fancher Um, maybe I hate my job more than they do.
Jason Heaton Were you sketching on a napkin?
Chase Fancher So it's actually interesting, um, to go way, way back. I've always loved watches. I've had the little Casio calculator watch. I've had the little, you know, shark freestyle dive watch, Iron Man, stuff like that. And I love the idea that, and you'll appreciate this, I love the idea that you could take them in the water and they still work. It's such an amazing thing. I'd go in the bathtub, I'd go in like the YMCA when I'm visiting my grandmother in Philadelphia and say, you know, 10 feet under the water, it still works, right? I can't hold my breath long enough, but you know, it was such a fascinating thing to me. So yeah, I've always been a watch guy and something that I'm proud of By all means, you know, for example, Oak and Oscar on social media, I post other brands. Yeah. Because other brands are phenomenal. Yeah. They inspire me. Yeah. And I don't think I would be a real watch guy if I didn't do that. Because I wear other brands other than my own. Sure. Hell, I even bought a watch to celebrate the success of the Burnham. It was the Nomos World Timer.
Jason Heaton Oh, that's awesome. And it was to celebrate that. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny you mentioned Nomos, actually. I was going to ask you if and you bring up other brands, what other brands inspire you and if there are... I don't really necessarily see specific cues on either of your watches that remind me of any other brand, which is rare when it comes to small, newer brands. Usually there's some inkling of something or other in the watch, but you mentioned Nomos and I get a sort of a... It doesn't look like a Nomos, but I get kind of a similar vibe. Would you say that you're...
Chase Fancher Well, I'll back up for a quick second and say, first of all, thank you, because that's a huge compliment, because what I wanted to create was a watch that was unique, that was its own. Yeah. Didn't stand out of place. It fit and it can sit next to someone's collection, whether it's, you know, anything from Seiko's to F.P. Journe's. Yeah. Anything of that sort. Yeah. When it comes to Nomos, for example, not necessarily the design cues, except more so their mentality. I really respect the fact that they have their brand image. Yeah. They have the Nomos style. That's what it is. It's going to stay that way for most of the watches, even if the lugs are completely different shapes. And they have their style. They have their ethos. They do things the way they do things. Yeah. I like that. I respect that. And frankly, I do learn from that. I've not done any case studies on them by any means, but more so it's kind of an inspirational thing. I really like what they do. It's great to see them kind of break into the world of Horology as well. Yeah, and they've done it They've kind of paved the way for a lot of things and I like the fact that their watches speak to people both on design But then also quality of like horology. It's not just this is a watch that is Designed and looks really great. But also like there's chops there. Yeah, like to me like that is just as important.
Jason Heaton Yeah, you're right because a Nomos Tangente or an Orion or something you could if it didn't have the horology chops behind it. You could say, I mean, this is a gross overstatement, but this is like a Skagen or this is a, you know, it's a, it's a designy kind of watch.
Chase Fancher Yeah. They back their stuff up with on the inside. Yeah. And that's why I use things like Soprod, right? I use really good high quality movements. Yeah. I don't have the capital backing that they do to be able to start making their own movements. Right. But you know, I, I can, I can get the stuff where I can, you know, I can, I can, put in the high quality materials where I can and make sure that all the quality, all the bits and pieces that go into the watch, besides just the design and the soul of it, translate to the best quality that you can buy.
Jason Heaton Yeah. So tell me about sourcing. I mean, that's, that had to be a challenge. I mean, just starting from scratch, how did you even locate soap rod? How do you, I don't know where you get the cases made or the dials, but like how do you find that stuff?
Chase Fancher It's a, it's a, yeah, it's a really major challenge. And soap rod, not to knock them by any means, but didn't take me seriously for the first like year of emailing them. I had to, well, I won't say had to, but they finally took me seriously when I flew out there with my wife who speaks fluent French. And so Rod speaks French and German, not as much English. I think they've changed that a little bit, but I literally flew out there as part of our vacation. We rented a great, like it was a Mercedes diesel station wagon. I loved it. We were driving. in the mountains and met with them. I literally went to their headquarters and sat down with their director of sales and translated, essentially, through my wife. I'm like, look, I'm serious. This is not me just someone emailing you from my armchair saying, I want to start a watch company. Send me your price list. Let's talk about it. It was, let's go. And it was pretty much from then on, they're like, OK, yeah, be serious. So I mean, that's how I essentially sourced Soprod. And I developed that relationship with them.
Jason Heaton What was the movement in the Burnham?
Chase Fancher It was the Soprad A10.
Jason Heaton Oh, that was a Soprad as well. So you've been Soprad all along. Nowadays, I'm sure you read on all the blogs and hear about it, this notion of provenance and sourcing and whatever, especially Made in USA. There have been controversies around it. Kind of what's your stance on it and how important is that to Okinawa? Do you see in the future this sort of a grand goal of bringing it to America or are you happy with what you have? And I mean, you know.
Chase Fancher The complicated answer for that is let's say both, right? If cases, buckles, dials, crowns, tubes, all of that stuff can be made really, really well in the U.S., I'd love the idea of making it local. I say making local specifically though, I don't just say making in the US. I love the idea that I'm in Chicago and there's a manufacturing company two miles down the road who makes my cases. That'd be awesome. I'm working on that. Let's see if they can build something up to my standards. For me, it's most important to get the best quality stuff. Location isn't as important. I like the idea of having an American-made Yeah. Watch movement. Right. That's awesome. Yeah. And if 20 years down the road, my name is part of that. Yeah. That's a crazy honor. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I get kind of goosebumps just thinking about that. Yeah. But it's a long road to get there and it can't be done. It can't be done. I'm trying to think of the right way to say it, but it can't be done without patience. Right. It needs to be done right.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And the quality has to lead the
Chase Fancher Quality has to be just as important as where it's made. I don't think putting an inferior product out there and saying, well, it's superior in fact because it's made in the U.S. is the right way to do it. I think it needs to say, it needs to stand up, the case finishing, et cetera, all needs to stand up and be just as good.
Jason Heaton So tell me a little bit about the, talk briefly about design inspiration, Is there something specifically, I mean, the Burnham and the Sanford have a very distinctive look. I mean, you have a very distinctive font and interplay of color. Where do you draw that from? I mean, is it just from everything in life? Cars, architecture, other watches? Like, where does that come from?
Chase Fancher You know, I think, for example, the sandwich dial. So it's got the cutout dial. And for me, the cutout dial was because of, I absolutely love the depth of a cutout dial. You've got layers on layers. You've got this little cityscape. Yeah. Underneath that crystal. Yeah. I'd love that. I wanted to do that. I also see it in applied indices, not so much in painted dials, but I love that. Yeah. Is sandwich going to be something in all of my watches? Probably not.
Unknown Yeah.
Chase Fancher I will probably do applied indices at some point, but I do it because I love the depth of it.
Unknown Yeah.
Chase Fancher So for me, and then like the gray and the orange. Yeah. It's great color combination. I love gray and orange. Yeah.
Unknown Yeah.
Chase Fancher I mean, it really comes down to like, these are my own Personal yeah things right. I didn't design it because I think gray and orange does well I do it because I really like green orange looks yeah, and it's as simple as It works, and it's an aesthetic that it appeals to me Yeah, and I'm really honored by the fact that it appeals to a lot of other people too Yeah, yeah, but you know for example the GMT hand on the Sanford. Yeah, if you look closely at it It's actually an arrow shape like an arrowhead. Yeah. Yeah, and that was done on purpose because I used to collect arrowheads. I love that shape. I took a class in stone tools when I lived in London, and we would make them. And then I was in school and university here in St. Louis, and I took a class on stone tools again, and I loved them. And so the idea is like, well, I'm not going to do just a regular triangle. I'm going to make it look like an arrowhead.
Jason Heaton Yeah. So what's your design process? I actually don't know your background, but what is your design process? Are you doing anything electronically, or are you like a Pencil and paper kind of guy or how does it work?
Chase Fancher I am so I Work with designers. Yeah, who are very good at understanding what I'm saying and translating that Because the way I do it and it's probably not a designers favorite Yeah client in the sense that I pretty much know what I want, but I can't translate that to paper Yeah, I can't translate that to the computer. Yeah, but what I can do is provide images provide direction and provide probably very clear detailed notes with lots of bullet points, lots of I want this, I don't want that, this, that, and the other, and then lots of detailed notes and directions and points for follow-up on images that they'll send me of stuff that they've done. And we'll essentially, for me, I kind of consider it like molding it to get there. So that's how that works.
Jason Heaton Yeah, so it's kind of a back and forth process with people that are trained and accomplished in design and then you're giving feedback and kind of it's a back and forth process.
Chase Fancher Well yeah, it's definitely a back and forth process and there's definitely a lot of factors where it's me trying to explain to them what's in my head, if that makes sense. Because I can't draw it. It's not well enough to send to a team to say, hey make this. But they can. So I just, it has to, I've learned to be descriptive enough to say this is what I want.
Jason Heaton And we get there. Tell me a little bit about the mundane part of running your business, the day to day. So when did Burnham launch?
Chase Fancher May of 2015.
Jason Heaton May of 2015. OK. So just a little over a year ago. Yeah. So how soon after you launched that did you start designing the Sanford, or start thinking about the Sanford? It was, I think, July. July. OK. So from July, okay, so a year from conception to the tour.
Chase Fancher The Burnham took about four years, because there's a lot of hunting for that, if you talk about suppliers and teams to work with. And then finally design and making sure all of that font was done correctly. With the Sanford, a lot of that had been done. And I liked the teams that I'd worked with, so I worked with most of those guys again. So it was about updating, I won't say updating the Burnham, but it was essentially about recreating the Burnham, but in a totally new watch. So it became a little bit easier, but the watch itself is a little bit more sophisticated with the internal bezel and all of that. So it took a little time to make that. So yeah, the Burnham launched in May and Sanford started in my head thinking about it in July.
Jason Heaton And so what's happening during that? years time frame. I mean, I'm guessing a lot of phone calls, a lot of back and forth emails.
Chase Fancher Phone calls, wire mails, text messages, all of that such. It's really the first thing that happens is, well, I get the inspiration of what I want. Of course, you also have to balance, well, what movements are available?
Unknown Yeah.
Chase Fancher Because I can't go and make a movement. Yeah, that's true. You know, I can't just say, I'm going to do a minute repeater. Yeah. Because I can't buy that off the shelf. Right. And also, I should quickly say, these aren't off the shelf. These are actually made for me by Soprod because we have a special cannon height because of the sandwich dial. And besides that even, no one else, no other watch company I know of uses this movement right now. It's a fairly new movement. So we did actually have to update that just for me, which is cool. So yeah, so we have to make sure that works. We have to make sure all of that works with the design. And then once we can say, yes, the movement and the design can work, We then have to go through the process of literally creating it, because it doesn't exist. This case doesn't exist, those hands don't exist, the crowns don't exist, they just actually have to be created. So luckily I've got good teams who handle that part, and they just kind of say, like, let's make this, and they do it. Because I can't do it, I know what I'm good at, and it's not that.
Jason Heaton Why a GMT this time around? Just, it's a complication you like? I think it's cool.
Chase Fancher I love travel. GMT is my absolute favorite complication out there. I've always loved the idea that you can just look at that GMT hand and get a quick idea of what's going on in some other country, location, time zone. And I love GMT.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I do too. So have you started penning your next creation? I mean, I'm sure you have, right?
Chase Fancher The next one is in the works right now, actually.
Jason Heaton So we'll see you next summer with something new?
Chase Fancher Yeah, I think so. I mean, assuming it's a little bit more complicated. But I'm assuming that if things go well and stay to plan, we'll hopefully have something out again. Cool. Well, that's exciting. Summer, I don't know. Maybe earlier, maybe later. It all kind of depends. I mean, the Sanford has shocked me with, so far, the acceptance in the market and the success of it. I might need to put something out sooner so I can pay myself salary. Solid gold version. Yeah, right. I mean, isn't that what everyone wants? God, if I ever do that, then I've obviously lost the direction of the brand.
Jason Heaton Yeah, right.
Chase Fancher But that's funny.
Jason Heaton Well, Chase Fancher, I appreciate you joining us on the Graynado, and all the best, and congratulations on the new watch.
Unknown Thank you, I really appreciate it. And that's TGN Chats. You can find out more about Okanosker and the new Sandford at okanosker.com, and you should definitely follow them on Instagram, at Okanosker. Chase wasn't kidding about the popularity of the Sandford either, since we recorded this interview really just a few days ago, the PVD version sold out. The music you're hearing is sometimes by Jazzer via the Free Music Archive, and your regularly scheduled programming will return next week. Chat to you then.