The Grey NATO – 261 – Blancpain CEO Marc Hayek On Dive Watches, Swatch x Blancpain, Ocean Commitment, And More
Published on Thu, 09 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0500
Synopsis
The podcast covers a wide range of topics, including an interview with Mark Hayek, the CEO of Blancpain. Mark discusses his passion for diving, his history with watches, and the Blancpain Ocean Commitment. He talks about his favorite dive locations, the future of dive watches, and the brand's collaboration with Swatch. The hosts also discuss recent personal activities like buying a TV, refinishing a coffee table, and upcoming meetups.
Links
Transcript
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| Eric Jennings | Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Graynado. It's a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches this episode 261. And it's proudly brought to you by the always growing TGN supporter crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support. And if you're listening and would like to support the show, please visit thegraynado.com for more details. |
| Jason Heaton | Hey, Jason, how you doing? Oh, I'm doing good. Yeah. It's been, uh, it's been a eventful week on my end. Uh, finally, uh, finally pulled the trigger and got, got the book launched. I know I've been teasing it for quite some time, but Sweetwater is wild. Thank you. I think I mentioned in our last show that my, my strategy was a bit of a scramble. I'm clearly more of an author than a kind of a businessman or publisher, but, uh, yeah, all, all's gone well. Good, good feedback so far. And when people getting the books, it's out there on Amazon, uh, as a paperback and Kindle, and then now it's up on Apple books as an ebook. And yeah, for, for people that are interested in buying signed copies from me, as I've done in the past with depth charge, uh, I'm just waiting on my shipment of books, which I've ordered, um, through Amazon's printer. And I think they're going to be coming sometime next week. So we'll certainly mention that, uh, probably on next week's episode for people that want to hold out for that. But, uh, certainly if you're, Impatient like me, like I can be. It's available out there in e-book and paperback via Amazon and Apple Books. So check it out. Yeah. |
| Eric Jennings | There you go. Sweetwater. Yeah. I bought it immediately for the Kindle. Looking forward to reading it this weekend. I've got a little bit of travel ahead, but I should, once I get where I'm going down in PA, I should be able to snuggle into a book. I don't have a whole lot of responsibilities for the weekend. So that sounds pretty fun. And it's kind of fun because there's, it's not even our only like launch of kind of a long gestating thing this week. We're recording this, of course, on sort of a Tuesday around lunchtime. And earlier this morning, our second ever TGN special presentation went live. So yeah, had just an absolute blast recording it. You know, these special presentations are sort of like ads that form an entire episode, but we try and lean really hard into the entertainment side of it. So many of you will remember about a year ago, we did our first ever one of these TGN specials with the folks from collective with Gabe and Asher talking about an Arm & Strom that they'd created. And this year they followed up with something maybe a little bit more in the TGN wheelhouse being kind of a special limited edition Aorus with a 70s specific sort of coloring and theme. And so we took that watch, we talk about it a little bit in the episode, and then we do a draft of our favorite 70s watches. And I had a really good time recording the episode. That's pretty common. I do love doing this. I always know we've done something that I can be proud of if I have a good time editing the episode. And this one came together really nicely. So if you didn't get a chance to check it out, it is there in the feed. You can swing by thegranado.com or the show notes on Substack for more information. And for those of you who are in the Slack and dug the watch, this is only a couple of days later. So assuming the watch isn't sold out, Uh, there is a special, uh, kind of bundle being offered to those in the Slack. So you can swing by the Slack and get more information for that. Or if you can't find that, drop me a DM in Slack and I'll make sure to connect you, but, uh, pretty straightforward, uh, and, and pretty fun, fun to have that. That's something that's been kind of on the plate for a few months. Not as long, certainly not as long as Sweetwater. Um, but it's exciting to have that done. And, and we just had a really nice time with, uh, with Gabe, you know, Asher did the draft for the Armstrong and then Gabe came on to do that, the draft with the Oris and the seventies watches. And it was a good one. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, they're both, uh, both those guys are, are TGN fans and, and they, I just feel like their personalities are a good fit with, with what we're all about. And, and, uh, you know, now we've, we've heard from both of them in, in two very different, very fun draft episodes. And, and, uh, yeah, Gabe was a champ and he had some, some good picks. He really kind of leaned into kind of our self-imposed requirements for our draft and had some fun choices and you did too. And all of it was very unexpected. I mean, his were, his were some quirky ones. He had some, some deep cuts that, uh, um, that Zenith that he chose. Uh, and if you haven't listened to the episode, apologies for the spoiler, but I won't say any more about it, but that's, that's a big, that's a big market. |
| Eric Jennings | 70 Zenith, I think. Yeah. Right. But yeah, it was a fun one. Please check that out. Uh, it's, it's like a, a really specific way in which we can support the show in a manner that really doesn't put a tax on the audience in any way at all. You just end up with another episode, and I think it was a really, really fun one that came together nicely, better than I could have hoped, really. So check that out if you happen to have skipped it or if you had a busy week worth digging in and kind of enjoying that process. I think it was a good one and a thank you to Collective, of course, for continuing to support TGN. So that'll help us do some kind of exciting stuff in the future, which I'm pumped for. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And, um, you know, speaking of doing stuff, we both have some meetups coming up. I'm, I'm doing something on December 3rd from one till 3 PM at a lake monster brewing. One of my favorite places here in the twin cities, that's over in St. Paul that kind of a book signing and launch event. And I'll have more details coming up here. But, um, sooner than that, you're, you're driving down across the border to infiltrate, uh, the U S once more. Um, and, and you're hosting a bit of an event, kind of an informal thing, aren't you? |
| Eric Jennings | I am. Yeah. Headed down for some family stuff in PA, sort of in the Bucks County area. And some folks on the Slack asked if maybe we'd want to connect. Turns out there was already going to be a bit of a watch hangout going on in the loose sort of area of Philly that weekend. So to be clear, this comes out on November the 9th. I'm talking about November the 11th. So if you might happen to be in the New Hope, Pennsylvania area on the 11th and would like to swing by Triumph Brewing, from two to four, please do. We've got a handful of folks. You can RSVP in the Slack meetups channel. You can see the conversation in the thread to see what kind of the chat's going on. And if you're not in the Slack but might want to swing by and say hi, just drop me an RSVP to thegranadoatgmail.com. I figure if it's more than, you know, we start getting a little bit deeper into double digits, 15 people, you probably want to call ahead. Uh, so right now we're not quite there, but if that happens to be the case, if you'd like to swing by, I'm not saying I'm buying beer, picking up the tab or anything, but if you want to hang out for a couple hours this weekend, um, I've got some time between some family events and I really enjoy the drive out to a new hope. So hoping for good weather for that and a nice drive and a good hangout. But yeah, that's the, that's the meetup there. There's now a whole channel in Slack for meetups. So that can be for ones that Jason and I are involved in or not. Uh, but just try and keep the. know, the sort of threaded conversations there so people can actually find it. But yeah, if you're if you're around New Hope PA on Saturday, November the 11th, Triumph Brewing, two to four, would love to see you there and say hi. |
| Jason Heaton | Fun stuff. What about what about back home? Are you? You haven't been there much. |
| Eric Jennings | It seems the past couple of months, but the last couple of days had kind of a mostly free weekend. And I'd been kind of bouncing back and forth I think I've talked about this on the show in the past, but I don't like TVs in living rooms, where you're supposed to spend time with people. Yeah. But I now have a basement, which had a bunch of spare space and the rest of it. So I'd been starting to watch inexpensive televisions, think mid range models from last year, so under $1,000 Canadian. I have kind of a weird perspective on TVs after owning some very high end ones and some very like simple Chinese ones, you know, vizios and stuff like that. The experience is largely identical for me. I don't care from one television to another, uh, as long as it's the right resolution and a decent panel. And for me, that's almost like, like with my, the two computer monitors I'm looking at right now, that's LG or Samsung. I'm, I'm typically pretty happy with. So it turns out, you know, Best Buy was offering like a pre black Friday discount and then you can if it goes on cheaper, you can get it later, all that kind of stuff. But it was a decent enough deal on a TV. So I ended up buying a TV and, uh, it's, it's a nice feeling. It feels very luxurious and kind of deeply leisurely to like watch a screen that doesn't have notifications about work on it. Yeah, that's true. Like I've watched pretty much every movie, every, all these have either been from watching on my laptop, which I don't really mind, but a TV is a nicer experience. or connecting my laptop or whatever to a projector. We like projectors, they're very handy. And now I've just been looking... I watched the first episode of Invincible Season Two, which I talked about on previous Final Notes. I watched Formula One with the built in smart TV app. Oh yeah. I could switch to different feeds and watch each driver and it was pretty good. I'm really enjoying it and you can just get a ton of TV for not that much money now. Yeah. Man, when I started working... This is take you down memory lane a little bit. But when I first like started working for what was called Future Shop at the time, would later be kind of wrapped into Best Buy or steamrolled by Best Buy. But when I was in university, I worked at Future Shop and I sold computers. And at the time, you know, you had to spend like a lot of money for a decent TV, especially a large, decent TV. And I got this LG, you know, it's a big 4K smart LG 65 inch for just not that much money compared to what I had bought other pieces of gear for. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Eric Jennings | And because they become outdated and, and the rest of it, I don't think that a TV for me is like a cry once buy once scenario, like a camera or speakers or that, like I'd probably spend multiples on the sound system because you can keep a sound system forever. Yeah. Like I'm, I'm using an app that was like, it's mostly as old as I am still fine. Right. And so it's, it's, it's one of those few things where I was just looking for a decent sale. I found it and I've got one and it's huge. It's like laughably large in the room. So yeah, got a TV. And then other than that, I used an excuse, found another... I had a weekend full of great sales. Was at Home Depot because I've been looking at refinishing this coffee table that my wife bought. She got a beautiful mid-century, it's teak veneer, big, long, very low coffee table, very light on its feet, this really, I think, quite a beautiful design. But especially the table top was just trashed. And it was so cheap that we figured it was 20 bucks or something for this table. Wow. And we figured even if it's trashed, it's worth at least trying. Even if we burned through the veneer and consider re-veneering it, still, that's a good deal on a coffee table. So I went at it with the sander I had, and it wasn't quite working. And then I got lucky again. The day after I got this TV on sale, I was strolling through Home Depot for another project, and they had the orbital that I wanted on sale. So a wireless or wireless, a cordless orbital that uses the same batteries as everything else I've got. And so I picked that up and it made absolute short work of this table. And then I spent the rest of the weekend, like learning how to treat it and refinish it and seal it and that kind of thing. And now it's in the living room. It looks great for, I mean, it's not a $20 table anymore. I bought $130 tool and probably $40 worth of supplies. but that's still all things considered, I think a pretty cheap mid-century coffee table. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. You sent me a photo, I think. You sent me before and after, and the transformation is quite remarkable. And I commented to you that, you know, you and Sarah are thrift shop champions. Cause I just, you know, I don't, well, and speaking of thrift shops, the Navitimer that we spoke about last week came from a thrift shop. I, you know, I wish I had the patience to just visit thrift shops. Cause there's a, there's a whole slew of them, not far from our house, kind of, you know, touting mid-century furniture and old knickknacks and kitschy stuff and clothing and that sort of thing. I just, I can't get myself to kind of go from shop to shop and look for these treasures, but I know that when people find this stuff, it really does make a difference. You can really come away with some cool stuff. |
| Eric Jennings | Yeah, I can't take any credit on this. Like, I really like the idea of slowly learning how to refinish this stuff because it's easy to find the stuff that's too beat up for the average person to want to buy it. Yeah. But my wife, Sarah, she's just like it's her superpower is thrifting stuff. Yeah. And it can be clothes, but most of the furniture in our house is thrifted, just a huge portion. Whether it's... In Canada, we have Value Village. I'm not sure. I don't think that's a thing in the States. It's a thrift store. but like a big one, and they have all sorts of stuff, and she'll find crazy things there that you're like, well, how did everybody else miss this? She watches YouTube videos about thrifting, like it's a real hobby, and then on top of that, you add in the layer of like Facebook Marketplace or Habitat for Humanity has these reclaim centers where you can get really lucky, but you just have to go with some frequency to see the new stuff, but we've gotten some insane deals on stuff that you know, it would pop up on Facebook marketplace and we go, oh, we'll buy that, you know, mid century furniture is the easy one. And by the time an hour, two hours later that we go to pick it up or later that evening, the person's like, I guess I had something. I've got a thousand messages offering more money. And you go like, yeah, well, this is a very rare teeth desk. It's mine now. But yeah, that stuff's great. And we had a good time with it. So I'll probably, I think this might become like a little bit of a side side hobby. I'd love to occasionally fix stuff up and flip them, you know, when we run out of space. So that that coffee table worked out really well and meant that we could move a different coffee table, an older, more beat up one down into the, uh, into the now, you know, TV space in the basement, which is nice too, but I'll probably end up refinishing that and, uh, and working on that. |
| Jason Heaton | So, I mean, I don't want to go down too, too far down the rabbit hole here, but I, it does remind me when you mentioned flipping the stuff and fixing it up. I used to share an office, this was many years ago with with a guy who, um, had a thing for mid-century furniture, specifically Danish furniture and specifically a designer, um, probably from the fifties and sixties named, named, uh, Jens Rissem. Okay. And he would seek this stuff out. And this was early days probably of eBay or something. I don't remember, but he used to spend his time. We'd shared this office and I'd see him and he would just be constantly trolling, looking for this stuff. And then, I went to his house once for a dinner party or something and I was like, where do you keep all this stuff? And he led me into the attic of the house and it was just brimming, just piled high with all of these old chairs and tables and everything that he was refinishing. It was, it was a legitimate little side business for him. |
| Eric Jennings | Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And like, you know, Sarah follows people on Instagram that essentially thrift at a professional level. Wow. Yeah. Sarah's got a list on her phone of like specific things that she wants to find at like thrift stores. And in my mind, that's like, counterintuitive, like don't you just go and see what they have? But apparently there's like a literacy to knowing the stuff that's like worth something versus the stuff that's in every thrift store or value village everywhere. Yeah. And it's like a, it's a low key like profession. And it's amazing. She'll come, she comes back with some of the most amazing stuff or I don't remember where I was. I was on a work trip and yeah, she towed a car and went in to a big thing. And then on the way back, stopped at every thrift store on the way home from, you know, two cities over. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Eric Jennings | And found this table for 20 bucks. And now it's a gorgeous table that we've got in the living room. I don't even know like what a modern, nice, brand new coffee table costs a lot, I assume. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, if you go to like room and board or something, I mean, what you're doing is actually reviving something that should be revived and given another 50 years of life, you know, that's very responsible citizenship. That's great. |
| Eric Jennings | And she enjoys that whole process. And then I, on the other hand, really enjoyed refinishing the table. Yeah. So it's a good match that way, but a nice little hobby developing there. And yeah, so that's arguably kind of an exciting, fun weekend. I had quite a lovely weekend. The weather was okay. It was like proper fall stuff and then just, you know, watching stuff on the big screen and sanding a coffee table. |
| Unknown | It's so bad. |
| Eric Jennings | But yeah, trying to spend as much time at home because there's, you know, with, with Dubai watch week on the horizon and this trip down to PA, it's just, it's a lot of moving around. So, yeah, right. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, we have a pretty cool episode this week. It was kind of a long time in the making and really, really happy to, to have been able to welcome Mark Hayek. But before we jump into that, let's do a quick wrist check. What are you, what are you wearing? |
| Eric Jennings | Yeah, sadly, as is my current scenario, don't worry, you don't have to feel bad for me, but I don't have a Blancpain just yet. So I'm wearing my Pelagos 39. This chat really does evolve a lot around the idea of dive watches and the fascination they're in with diving. And I thought at least the Pelagos fit that vibe, even if it doesn't fit at a corporate level. So my apologies to Mr. Hayek, of course, for not yet having a Blancpain, but someday they remain deeply aspirational for me. And I hope people will start to understand why when you listen to this man, because he is in charge of Blancpain, straight up, and has been for a long time. And I think it's really... It starts to become very easy to see why there's so much corporate interest from that brand in diving and dive watches and in the oceans. And I think within that vibe, I think that really speaks... We've talked about this in the past, that speaks to us in terms of how you interface with the brand, And but yeah, for me, I don't have a Blancpain just yet, but we'll get there eventually for today. I wore what is currently my favorite dive watch, which I thought was in the spirit of the episode. |
| Jason Heaton | I think he could appreciate that. You know, he's an avid diver and certainly a lover of dive watches. And in my case, I was wearing a Blancpain for our interview with Mr. Hayek, my Houdinki special edition bathyscaphe, which Gashani tends to wear more than me. And every time I put that thing on, I just think, Oh, I got to wear this more often. So just an A plus watch. It really is. It truly is. That was a very special one. Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, uh, you know, Mark Hayek himself, when he jumped on our, our little video chat was wearing the act three of the 70th anniversary, 50 fathoms. Uh, we'll talk a little bit more about that. Um, when we jump into the chat with him, Um, but yeah, he was, he was really gracious and, and well-humored and full of enthusiasm. And it was a real pleasure to have Mark Hayek finally on the GrayNado. So let's, uh, let's jump into that. Well, Mark Hayek, it's a real pleasure to welcome you to the GrayNado. Uh, thanks so much for joining us. It feels like a long time, long time coming to have you on the show. |
| Mark Hayek | Yeah, it's really a pleasure. |
| Jason Heaton | Thank you that I can be with you guys. I was going to ask you which watch you're wearing today, but I think I caught a glimpse of it on our video here. |
| Mark Hayek | Yes. In the moment, it's still hard to take off since the event. I'm wearing this, the 70s, the last, the last piece, Dr. Rieh. Yeah. Amazing. That was such a... I didn't have enough chance to go diving with it. Oh, yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, maybe this winter you can get away. |
| Mark Hayek | No, we're just planning to go to the lake this weekend. So at least that. |
| Jason Heaton | Okay. Okay. It's been a busy year for you and for Blancpain, obviously a huge year for 50 Fathoms. Looking back, what were the highlights of this year? |
| Mark Hayek | Yeah, it was, as you said, busy year, kicking off and starting very early with Act One, something I think expected. And we will see the future. midsize with the 42 millimeter and for me emotional because my first baby as it is a re-edition of the 2003 piece and the first try on Ecom. A lot to learn, a good experience. So it started busy on many things and then emotional with the act too because for me that's my piece because it's really the spirit and the future and I'm with Laurent very much in this in this complication and the Vatican. So unfortunately, and that's really what is kind of the black spot in this year for me personally, that I couldn't be there physically in Rangioa. And diving in with you guys. And naturally, preparation was quite big and stressed and hectic because we had quite a lot of changes and internal as well. with the team. And so that went parallel in preparing the event for the product tree. So now it's, yeah, it was an interesting and busy year. |
| Jason Heaton | You know, I'm curious. It was such a big year for Blancpain and for the 50 Fathoms, of course. And I think when most of our listeners of the Greynado, and I think a lot of people, when they think of Blancpain, think of the 50 Fathoms and of diving watches. Blancpain obviously is a brand that makes other kinds of watches. Um, and I'm curious with your own intense interest in diving and we'll talk about diving more in a bit here. How do you budget your time and what is your level of interest in other types of watches, um, beyond the diving, diving watches? |
| Mark Hayek | A lot, because my second big passion, uh, actually also from very child on, uh, was, uh, mechanics. So the watch side on having the functions in this tiny space. And at the beginning it was, you know, bicycles, bikes, motorcycles. That's my side of, yes, the sport side as well of riding them, but working on them, you know, on the mechanical side. So I have a big love and interest for also, and we're developing for many, as you will see, Non-diving watches. And another passion that will come out in the next two, three years, projects we're working on for the last seven, eight years parallel, that has nothing to do with the diving. For me, it's the mechanics in the movement. It's the functionality, the technology. It's the mechanical side that I have a big passion for as well. So that's the other side. And it was a bit calm on this side at Blancpain for the last few years. not because we didn't put attention or the love was not there, because it's just to, you know, to do something consequent and that makes sense. And for me, that is something that is worthwhile spending this much time. It's not just first say, oh, commercial, we need something that's cool, that's in, we do it the easy way. You know, it's really to do something we have not done, we missing, we are want to achieve something. And, you know, the first eyes that have to lights up and be passionate around here. Myself, it takes time. So again, we are full power working on this already for over seven years. And the second one for about five. So in the next 25, 26, 27, there are none diving watches. Very highly complicated. The other side of blowpattern will come out. They were not forgotten or slowed down. It was just the rhythm of developing. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. Now, going back a number of years, you are the grandson of the late, great Nicholas Hayek. And I'm guessing that your first watch was probably a Swatch, but do you remember your first watch? |
| Mark Hayek | That was before. It was before Swatch. I was very happy when Swatch started because I was seen, even before we were really in the watch industry, in the consulting, I was six, seven years old. And they said, he's a weird child. The dial is up. Okay. I loved watches. I wanted weekends to go. I had one watch store that was open on weekends and I killed my grandmother. I grew up with my grandparents mainly. I loved watches. I remember that was a different watch. Then it wasn't only mechanics, it was the functions, to be honest. I remember my first, what it was completely, you know, all the watches, I thought it was fascinating. to bring this in this tiny space. But it was the Formula One time, I think, when Tissot was active. So it was the Tissot, I think you called it F1. Yeah. Multifunction. It was quads. Yeah. But that was end 70s, actually. And I thought it was fascinating. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and then we got into more watches. This watch came in a few years later in A2, so I was very happy. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, yeah, yeah. When it comes to your family name, the Hayek name is obviously a associated so strongly with watches. And, and I remember, um, speaking with, uh, Fabian Cousteau a number of years ago and about if there was any pressure to having the name Cousteau, um, obviously his grandfather was Jacques Cousteau, you know, synonymous with diving. Was there ever any question that you would not go into the watch industry and your career? I w I would looked at your Wikipedia page and it says that you studied Onology or the study of wine |
| Mark Hayek | I think it says it well that my passion is playing tennis. So unfortunately, yeah, but it's very wrong. Unfortunately, I have to admit, I did not study Urnology. So I'm not planting. I'm very interested, but I have never had the idea to actually cultivate and plant and produce wine. I did sommelier. Because at the restaurant I had the, so it's not analogy, it's a, there's a part in sommelier, but I don't have a diploma of analogy, diploma of sommelier. So there's a little, little reference in Wikipedia. Yeah. Yeah. But the passion for wine is, I love the wine production, but it's the passion of, of yeah, the wine and, and, and, and certainly wine. It's the, the, the marriage of, of, drinks from tea to, uh, close to wines, uh, with the explosion you can have with the right, uh, food or right food that it amplifies it. And I thought this is, uh, this is something, uh, that, uh, I was very interested in as I went a little bit out of the watch, uh, industry into the gastronomy as well. Uh, it was this side that, uh, passionate, uh, I was most passionate about, uh, to be honest. And I never had the pressure to go into what you just said. I was, uh, When we got a family with, you know, a bit like Mackenzie, actually a business consultant, and got like this in the crisis in the watch industry, that was in the early 80s, 1980, 81, 80, around. I was nine years old then, 1980, and I remember when I was seven, eight, yeah, that's what I said, a weird child, I loved watches. I was the happy part of the family, so I had no pressure to go into watches at all because I loved them. And I had the chance to always hear, you know, do what you have passion. Yourself, you put yourself a pressure. The second love was marine biology. I put myself pressure to say, Oh no, I want to continue that and keep this as a passion, a hobby. Maybe I would have chosen differently, but that's not pressure from my family. That was something I felt I wanted by being confronted by seeing that, but I had the chance. I never had any pressure from my grandfather to say, hey, you have to continue and you have to study this. I had the chance to not do it. Maybe you felt even more pressure with having this freedom to see it now, but I cannot accuse them to have put any pressure on me. |
| Jason Heaton | Interesting. You know, you mentioned marine biology and an early interest in that and when we were On the panel discussion in Cannes, you had mentioned that from a very young age, you grew up spending a lot of time near the ocean. I'd like to talk a little bit about your diving background. I always get the sense that, and I don't know you very well, but in the few interactions we've had that you'd almost be more happy on a dive boat or underwater than anywhere else. Is that a fair statement? |
| Mark Hayek | A hundred percent. Before I got married, I had my son. I have to say for many years, um, 10 years, probably more. I don't remember. I don't think I spent one single day of holiday or took holiday or traveled anywhere that was different than a lifeboat. So for me, the holiday is liveaboard. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. True. When did you first start start diving and, and, and, and where did, where did you start diving? |
| Mark Hayek | Yeah, I had the chance. I was very, very close to the lake, so I was always in water. I grew up on, you know, my father, my mother was into already into horses. So I was growing up with animals. So this biological side, the animal nature side, was for me something very, very present. And the love was just for the ocean since I can walk or for the water. That's why it's a lake. And as my grandfather was from Lebanon, Mediterranean country, and being in Switzerland, any moment, free time when I was in south of France was You know, he missed that. He was not diving at all. But I think the ocean, so I had the chance from very little to to spend whatever free time we had or school holidays, whatever. I was at, yeah, in south of France. At that time, it was, you know, we tried. That's why you see the plastic bottles. I wanted to scuba dive, but it was snorkeling. You know, it was hunting. He had a spear gun. I never had the heart to shoot anything. So to be honest, I was not a good hunter. But it was snorkeling and seeing and free diving. And then when I waited desperate to be able to stay longer and finally take a bottle and start scuba diving and the limit was 12 years at that time. And that was the only year because of something when I had my 12th birthday, the first holidays, Uh, we went because the house was rebuilt something, uh, to the Atlantic side to, uh, uh, France. Yeah. Uh, so I stopped diving, uh, on this side. What was kind of brutal? Atlantic is, um, yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. |
| Mark Hayek | Not the Mediterranean. So my start was Atlantic. Wow. Uh, when I was 12, then a little bit of Mediterranean and, uh, actually, uh, stayed on free diving and, uh, a bit left and right. I didn't have really close friends that did it until I was like 19, 20. So there were a few dives. I started when I was 12, but then didn't really do a lot of dives on scuba. I stayed more on freediving. And when I was 20, I really picked up with getting friends, making passionate divers. And from then on, from 20 to, yeah, From then on, it was scuba diving. That's it. |
| Jason Heaton | And now you're diving with Laurent Ballester. I mean, what an amazing top of his game. Yeah. You know, you've obviously achieved some high levels of proficiency and certification in diving, including closed circuit rebreather diving, which you took up a few years back in, I believe, in Rangaroa. Is that where you learned that? |
| Mark Hayek | Absolutely. When I was in Fakarava, with the 700 sharks, Mr. Mero, with the expedition and a chance to do a, during that I was, I was still making bubbles. Yeah. I said, ah, you cannot come on the expedition. I do not do that because you disturb the bubbles. So yeah, at shore mark I said, come on. You do a butt in. Yeah. And put the re-breezer on me, we jumped in, I did the butt in and I said, okay, forget it. called my office, changed the plan and stayed three additional weeks and went to Rangiroa and did my certification one, two. And since then, yeah, that was 2014. So it's, yeah, basically no more bubbles. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I'm curious, you know, as a, as a longtime diver myself, I, I often, I, I'm I had a chance to try a closed circuit rebreathers in, in Rangaroa. And I I've often been curious whether that will be the future of recreational diving. If it's the type of technology that will get less expensive and more accessible to more people. And because when you think about wearing a cylinder, it's, it's technology from the 1940s, you know, absolutely. What, what do you think? Do you think rebreathers will catch on with a larger population or will it stay specialized? |
| Mark Hayek | I think it stays specialized, uh, because all the reboots that you see, that actually have more electronics, more help, make it easier. You don't really decrease the risk, um, in the country very often. And, uh, so you have a lot of the negative sites and that you don't manage to decrease. And, uh, you just decrease the positive sites with it. And I think it's because it's the dive by itself. Yeah. It could be the future of recreational diving. The preparation before and after dive and the whole risk by the dive, there's less risk than open circuit, but the risk is the preparation and the after dive. And I think this is too consequent, also too time and concentration intense. And there's no way you shorten this, uh, without taking additional, uh, really, uh, really bad risks. that it really can pick up to a very large public. Yes, it develops, but I think it's nice. You have more chances as rebreeder, diver, but really in recreational replacing, I personally don't think so. And I see it now with my son that is still blocked for another few months until he can officially start the rebreezer, you know, the button. Uh, so, uh, I, we got to, uh, to open circuit. And the easiness, the quickness, the, I enjoy it a lot. You know, it's, it's, for me, it's two different things that should live as two different things. I think if you're a passionate diver, it's great to do it and to practice it a little regularly, if you have the chance, because you have dives that are just magic that you. That opens things to you that you don't have on closed, but there's so many normal dives and other dives that you don't actually gain anything. You just have. Instead of, you know, having the beer after and chatting and being passionate with other divers, you are doing your machine. And that for the same dive where you don't win anything doesn't make sense. I think it can get wider. It's developing, but I don't think it will. It's a replacement of OpenCircuit. I think it's a second thing to OpenCircuit. Yeah, that makes sense. |
| Jason Heaton | Let's talk a little bit about diving watches. You know, speaking of rebreathers, The Act II, of course, was the Tech Gombessa, a really amazing piece and simple, but so innovative, I thought. It was a really impressive watch, one of the more impressive watches of any brand this year, I think. And you co-developed this with Laurent Ballester, of course, and it feels like a bit of a step into the future for mechanical dive watches, which was a bit of a relic, right? I mean, the dive watches are sort of nostalgic pieces. Do you think that going forward, diving watches still have a place with divers or are they more of a memento or a symbol these days? |
| Mark Hayek | No, I think they do have a place, to be honest. I mean, on both. Personally, I have to say, with OpenCircuit, my dive watch has a place because I still grew up in a generation, learned diving where you still learn to dive tables. So yes, dive computers started to exist, existed, but you still had to learn them. And so you had a kind of an idea what was happening where you were. And I think that's, that's something important. So it's the second instrument that gives me orientation, even though I'm not like, like Dietmar Vux, that was there, that is still enjoying exclusively diving without computer. So I'm not this extreme. It's kind of a still instrument that I use, but I have to admit with the closed circuit, it started to more and more just being in a, I take it with me because it's beautiful. I did not use it. You know, you don't have the safety stuff the same way that it takes off and the times are anyway a bit longer. So it started of getting less useful, weirdly. I cannot really, you know, I wasn't conscious, but I myself realized it. And at the same time, now with the tech, it's way more that I use it than actually, even though I put circuits in my dive watch. So yes, I think it has, when you're a bit passionate about diving, still a real use, not replacing computer, but it is still more than just nostalgic. a Yes, and I think that's also important, even though it's not the main instrument. If we start losing the idea of what watchmaking and watches were developed for, that's an instrument. I mean, we talk about diving. It's evident, yes, it's a diving instrument. The computers existed way later, in 82, the first ones. So there were destinies where you had, obligatory, you dive watch. Yeah, you can't dive without it. It's your computer. It's your instrument. that got in this use replaced, but all the watches now, if we go back to the tourbillon, hundreds of years, that was not invented because it looked cool and it was expensive and chic. That was purely precision for actually a site that is not so positive for the army, for winning wars, for the precision of coordinating, you know, gaining precision. The complications were instruments were always done for a use. And even if you have alternatives today, or it's not the pure essence of the development. If we lose the spirit, it's just going to be a gadget. Yeah. For me, the essence of why you're starting to develop something, it has to have this functionality and use an idea at the end, you know, a minute repeater was actually because you have many, many blind people in the wars. So if you cannot hear it anymore, it has no use. You know, the same thing, if a tourbillon is less precise in any position than any three hands non-tourbillon that we're producing, I would not bring it out. It will not make a huge difference and the quartz watch will be more precise. But if we lose this idea in the development and say, well, we don't care. What are we creating in 10, 20, 30 years from now on? It's going to be, you know, then you can get a painting, you can get the sculpture from Tingley that is great in mechanics, but doesn't have any function. And that's what the watch will be if we, for me, if we lose this spirit. So not only dive watches, I think that's the base of every start of development, the gold, I say, the base idea of the thing was what? The base idea of the first complication, the date. If the date doesn't jump, if it doesn't work, everybody would scream. So it has to work. It has to indicate the days of the month. If you have a watch with a date and it goes only to 27 days. It's the same thing with the other complication. It has to fulfill the use. And you have to use, even though it's replaced, you know, the watch, the mechanical watch is replaced by iPhones, by mobile phones, by wherever we have the time. Doesn't mean the watch doesn't have to give you time anymore. |
| Jason Heaton | Right. You know, looking back at, uh, Blancpain's history, especially this year, you know, at the event in Cannes, there were a lot of historic Fifty Fathoms watches on display. And back when you joined the company and released the 50th anniversary edition, you were with Robert Maloubier, you know, who was there at present at the very beginning. Blancpain has morphed, has become a different sort of brand in all of these years, in 70 years, and it's distinctly a luxury brand. Do you ever see a time or is it the positioning of the brand that would, say, prevent you from creating something on a more affordable level in terms of a dive watch that would harken back to kind of a, or is Blancpain just such a different company now that you'll kind of stay in this space? No, I think, yeah. And if you're not comfortable with this, we can skip over this. |
| Mark Hayek | No, no, it's just, it's just, no, no, no, no. It's a very good question and interesting. And the yes, we are positioned that that prevents from producing that much more affordable. It's not a full complete answer. If I say yes, it's part of it. That's why I said yes. Yeah, but it's not the whole question. Because first we have to see you had more or less, uh, the, the, the guys you had, uh, at that time, uh, dive watches or, uh, other watches, you had Omega, you had Rolex, uh, we were slightly higher. We're talking, uh, 300, 400, uh, uh, Frank's dollars at that time. So not comparable, but it was this upper segment already for the watches. Uh, so it wasn't this segment. It didn't completely, you know, change now. Today, the way we want to do it, and the way we are doing it with the high-end mechanical watches, 100% undeveloped on this level, puts us in a... That's why the first short answer was, yes, it prevents. Affordable. To a certain way from the point of view and so on. But you get close to this price in a high-end mechanical watch, dive watch, with all these elements that you want, no matter what segment. I think you have tender in between. It's the same thing, you know, on dive equipment, you have a little bit less, but it's how long do you have it? How long does it last? How much does it not scratch this side? It doesn't have a sapphire bezel. So you have an, you know, because you still stay or close, you know, is it 8,000 or is it 4,000 or 5,000? That's still an upper, but then we're talking about a few hundred. And for me, that's. That's why I'm happy with the Swatch. I was happy. I loved the Swatch scuba at that time. And I could not understand why the hell are we not continuing doing the scuba. By the way, it kind of looked like a little 50, a roundish, bubble-ish, it had something. I always loved that dive watch. For me, that was my holiday dive watch. And so I'm very happy that we can bring out something, you know, redo a scuba with more influence of plomper. Uh, because I think that's exactly the other end and you can do it mechanical because then you go to the extreme. Now I'm personally less in the middle. I feel you have the most, you have the most collectors. You have the most passion, uh, in the products on the extremes. On Swatch you have historically collectors, crazy passion, and you have it on the high end. You don't really have the Russian lines and collectors on, on, on the mid range. So I think these two extremes are, for me, what I think feel the most interesting. To either go all the way, invest in the future, that's for my son, that's for everything, you know, that's a blopper. Or, no, I hope it's a blopper. But there's competition, you know, one of the other good guys. That's everything is fine, you know, that's the passion. And thank God people have different tastes. So I'm very happy it's not only a blopper, I would hate it. Yeah, true. Um, you know, in this segment, or you go and have fun, passion, and then it's a segment as well. It's not only what a swatch, but for me, that's more. So that's why I say that's not hindering because I wouldn't want to do something a little bit less, you know, either really go crazy on the low segment where you can have really fun, really creative. Uh, and cool like to swatch or then really go all the way. Um, but that's just me. That's my philosophy. So I don't feel hindered in any way. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, and you got to have some fun with an affordable watch this year. Yeah. I mean, I forgot to even mention that, but the Swatch collaboration, which was such a fun release and everybody was wondering about this. And I got to finally see one in Cannes and they're pretty neat. But I'm glad you mentioned the Swatch Scuba because I remember that from way back when and it had a depth gauge and it was this big chunky watch. Those were fun. Yeah. Exactly. You know, there's been talk, and even when Omega partnered with Swatch for the Moon Swatch, you know, a lot of people online were questioning whether this diminishes the brand name, you know, does this, does this drag down the name Omega or diminish the Speedmaster or the 50 Fathoms in the case of the Blancpain? But how do you feel about that? Obviously, it's not a concern of yours. Yeah. |
| Mark Hayek | No, I don't think because, you know, it could, if it would be a purely commercial idea to say, okay, we want to sell Swatches, So we use an Omega name or a Blomper name to sell it a bit more expensive and create a hype. Then it would be very big potential to be a nocif and negative. Yeah. Now it's really the heart and all the elements are in there to, again, it's bringing the scuba richer and back to, you know, that is swatch and an iconic piece. Again, because that's why my first answer was yes, when he said, Oh, Blomberg is limiting you to make. Yeah, but first that was yes, because that was a yes, because I felt like there's so many elements that will bring and for me, not only that watches, the positive side and beauty why I'm in the luxury segment is not because I've been, you know, the bling bling luxury side of it has to be expensive. I love that in luxury you have the time and the for me the obligation The only difference between a very high-end product and a higher mid-range product is the details. So it's not wealth. What's the 1%? And you pay three times more. Yeah. That's the details. That's the one that after a month, it's even more beautiful. You discover things, you touch it, you, you, you know, it feels different, touches different, but the, the, you know, it's, that's the details, the time you spend and the crazy you go with. No, no, no, no, no. We have to read that. the feeling of the click, we measure every single click of the strength and of the sound the Basel gives. You cannot do that if you go a little bit lower. And that's what I love on luxury. But that's, I am this passion, this, this, this, this, everything that has in a 50. I'm closing this from so many people that I don't want to close it. You know, it's not always expensive because it's elitaire. No, that's the negative side of the luxury business for me, the price. You know, again, then having the chance to bring so many elements, the history, the functionality, this feeling, this click, this precision, this understanding, the bubble glaze, the, you know, the dive watch. Scuba has all this, the Scuba 50 has that. And there I make a jump, there I open to three, four hundred francs, that's opening, going down from eight, nine, 10,000 to 5,000, 4,000, that's still way out of price for most of the people. So for me, that's, that's the jump where I'm interested. That's where I think, and if you do that, right, you know, first of all, it helps to, for Blompad to bring people and say, discover, discover the brand, discover what are they doing? What are they making? What is a dive watch? When did that start? and get this history of BOC. And that's opening because you're not afraid of, I will not go search on the internet thing or something that I could never afford. It's normal. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Mark Hayek | And you're closing all these people of, of, of all this rich story, history, interesting, this passion about, and also about diving and about the watch industry and mechanical watches. Today, when we talk about mechanical watches, very often we say, Oh yeah. And you limit 80% of the people because it's expensive. Right? No. High technology, the System 51, I mean, it's revolutionary on mechanical movement. It's high technology. It's not just a cheap movement with cheaper components and cheaper materials. It's high technology. 51 pieces, that's less than half of any else, any other movement that was produced. And with the power reserve up to our level, that watches for five, six, 7,000 don't get any more. And getting this interest, you know, is opening the door on, on watches on mechanical watches that I felt so often frustrated of eliminating people of having just the interest and, and, and discovering it and, and having fun with it raising because of the price that you would not even start reading about it. Yeah. And that's why I think it helps the industry. It helps. It helps mechanical watch. I don't see what is the negative. There's not one element. I mean, it's a swatch. It's not a Blompa. It is a swatch. Very much inspired and helped by Blompa and the 50 Fatum. But it is a swatch. So what should it take away from Blompa? You know, it's not a copy Blompa that if we would do a Blompa with the collaboration of Swatch and sell it on the Blompa and the Blompa boutiques instead of 10,000 for 3,000. Yeah. That would be the death of it. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I would never do that. You know, you mentioned how it might help generate interest in dive watches and diving. And it makes me think that I'd like to switch gears and talk a little bit about the BOC, the Blancpain Ocean Commitment, because I think for me personally, it was a dive watch that got me interested in diving. And then diving introduces you to the ocean and then you care about the ocean. And for those that weren't fortunate enough to sit in and listen on the panel that we had in Cannes talking about the BOC, maybe you can just give a brief background on the genesis of of the Blancpain Ocean Commitment and what it means to you. |
| Mark Hayek | Yeah, that's also an element where I'm happy with exactly opening this because I think that's exactly the approach, you know, it's it's for me, it was this important to exactly what you said when one, you know, to start discovering and it's like, whoa, wait a minute. We don't know. And start liking it, start having instead of just fear that was implanted in us and That's understandable because the ocean is hugely strong, hugely mysterious, and part dangerous, so normal. But it's more interesting than actually dangerous. And I think when you start that, it's that step. And that was for me the goal with BOC. Not every Blomberg client and 50 fathom is diving. And you don't have to be a diver or tech diver to discover the underwater world. Put a mask and if you don't know how to swim, swim vest and float and see what's happening. Yeah, that's already you get in and opening the space and giving kind of something back. That's what I want to give back to the ocean. It's not just giving money to a project and saying, oh, we protect, you know, that's what we do that we need to help. It's every single person, you know, putting this little mask on, seeing and saying exactly what he said. Whoa, I started liking it. I started diving and I started getting interest and I come to BFC and I come to try to do something for the, for the world, for the ocean and for our future generations, I get conscious. And for me, that's the way you get, we get a result. I see it with me. You could tell me for decades what I have to do and what is horrible. I'm sorry. I'm human. I will find solutions. arguments and informations that will prevent me from having to look at the ugly things and what I have to do and what I don't want to do. It's the moment where I see things and look and say, Jesus, what's that? Whoa, that's fascinating. Oh, no, we cannot destroy it. That's when I start acting. Yeah. Bringing people to look what is down there and say, Whoa, that's nice. Yeah, that's the biggest thing I can give back to the ocean. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it's it reminds me of the quote that standing on the shore and looking at the ocean is like looking at the outside of a circus tent and it's only when you put your head in the water and you open the flaps and you see the circus inside and that's what diving is right or snorkeling even yeah yeah i will quote you but might reuse that's beautiful that's a very very nice yeah it is nice i i can't like i can't own that or but uh i heard it and i've always loved that that quote yeah speaking of like where where is your favorite place to dive in in the entire world where have you been that you go back to or would love to go back to? |
| Mark Hayek | Probably out of my stomach right away like this, I would say Polynesia. Yeah. But then there's so many other places popping up. |
| Jason Heaton | Have you been to the Maldives? |
| Mark Hayek | Yes. That's probably where I've been a long time. I've been a lot to all the corners of the Maldives. Yeah. That was before I discovered I was the first time in Polynesia. It was clear Maldives because that's the only place I feel And it has an advantage. That's also why I'm a bit hesitating with Polynesia and Rangiroa because it's fascinating as nature is the size of everything and the force and the strength and the brutal side as well. But the Maldives, they have, that's the only place in the world I know that has from the huge guys to the beauty of the corals. Okay, a little bit more difficult now to get. Wow. Yeah. But, um, you know, that was exceptional. Uh, and you have to microcredit crutches. I don't know. Anyway, you can go to, to, to, uh, Indonesia to, uh, to have all the Microsoft, uh, but you have no big guys, you have no visibility. You can go to wrong. You have to be guys, but you have no nice corals and little guys. And right. Right. So Maldives for me, if there will be one place, Probably where if we would have a little bit less bleaching. But I would hesitate one place in the world if I had to choose that I can only dive. Yeah. Maldives because that's the only place I know where you have everything. Yeah. Yeah. And the closest to a liveaboard. |
| Jason Heaton | And how about a place you've never been that you would like to dive? Too many. |
| Mark Hayek | One I was also supposed to be at, we should suppose to dive together, Socorro. Yes. I have not been and I absolutely want to go there. Top of the list. And then there is some parts missing in Micronesia. I have something on my list that is a bit newer. that I want to see that's in actually in Iceland. Oh, yes. Silfra. Chthonic plates. Oh, yeah. So that's newer. Yeah. But it's also came to the list. I have to do that one day. Yeah. I hope I can still do it. Yeah. You see, it's not only losing hair, you get older. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To hurry up to see everything I want to see. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, we're reaching the end of our time here, but I just wanted to really thank you for taking the time for sitting down with me and chatting for The Gray Nade. |
| Mark Hayek | It's a real pleasure. It's really a pleasure. Thank you and thank you for everything you're doing for us and for the whole industry. It's really a pleasure. Thank you so much. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, thank you so much, Mark Hayek. Have a good weekend. |
| Mark Hayek | Pleasure. Bye-bye. |
| Eric Jennings | Okay, and that was a chat. I think a really great chat between Mark Hayek and Jason. Jason, what a treat to have a guy like that on and to learn a little bit more. I feel like most CEOs only carry the message with good reason. They stick to the core message. They say that and like, you don't necessarily get 45 minutes to nerd out on stuff. And certainly he managed the message fine. He's an incredible CEO. But he's also just like kind of the ideal guy to be running a brand that has an incredible history in dive watches. Yeah. You know, you can see why since the early two thousands, they've had this like very clear push to continue and dive watches to do ocean commitment, to support people like ballesta. I think it all kind of wraps up into one. And I think a lot of that comes from the top down. |
| Jason Heaton | I agree. And I, I was really pleased that, that he was willing to kind of talk about kind of anything that I brought up in, in terms of questions and didn't dance around issues and, and really was, um, you know, didn't just kind of tow a corporate line with soundbites. I mean, he was really game to just chat about diving and where he liked to dive and his own history with watches. And, um, yeah, it was a really fun discussion and, uh, so happy to finally have him on the show. We've, I think we've been teasing this for, for quite a while, even since back with, uh, with our couple of chats we've done with Laurent Ballesta over the years. And it was finally a pleasure to. to get Mark Hayek on the show. So yeah, good stuff. |
| Eric Jennings | Totally. That was a great one. Well, with that in mind, we've had a solid episode, a lot of chit chat up top. You want to put a bow on it with some final notes? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, let's do it. Um, I'm actually suggesting another podcast. Uh, you know, I actually don't listen to it. There are other podcasts. There are a few others. Yeah. Just a handful. There's slackers out there like us. Yeah. Yeah. And this is, uh, this is from one of my favorite websites actually. And one we've talked about before, but it's the adventure journal, which was started by Steve Casimiro. And, uh, I've always enjoyed their print magazine and their website. And, um, they've got some great kind of writers and content producers over at a J and they now have a podcast called the adventure journal podcast. And I think what's, what's cool about this is, well, for one thing, you know, for those of you that like, that appreciate good audio quality on a, on a podcast, I think, um, these are, you know, well-recorded and produced certainly. But also I think the topics are kind of core TGN with even a more focused look at, you know, what, what adventure journal is all about, which is, is, you know, outdoor adventure and gear and travel and that sort of stuff. And so currently I'm seeing one, two, three, four, five episodes, uh, currently in their feed dating back to early October. So they're, they're kind of fresh into this. Nice. And they're all about an hour. Some, some are a little longer, some are a little shorter. Uh, but you know, they, they're tackling like some, some very niche topics, which I really like, you know, there's the, the one that kind of turned me on was, was this sort of philosophical argument about, uh, kicking over Cairns, you know, like the stone piles of rocks that people put on hiking trails. And, and there's this whole controversy about whether they're useful or detrimental. Um, some people, you know, these guys are both saying that they, whenever they see them and they aren't an actual aid to navigation, they'll, they'll actually kick them over. And, and, you know, they have this whole discussion about that. They talk about is backpacking, uh, overrated. They talk about, you know, the hardcore lifestyle. Um, they revisit that, that, uh, mysterious case out of Russia from, from back in the 1950s about those, um, Russian campers that mysteriously died in their tents. Um, they talk a little bit about that. Um, so it's, it's just fun. It's a, it's a good alternative podcast. One that I'm really enjoying. These guys have a kind of a pleasant interaction. Um, not, not a lot of, you know, shouting or, or, you know, controversy or whatever. It's just a good spirited discussion about a number of stuff that I think the TGN crowd would be on board with. So, yeah. Uh, always happy to, to send people towards, uh, kind of a complimentary publication or in this case podcast. So yeah, check it out. |
| Eric Jennings | The adventure journal podcast. Nice. Yeah. I mean, that's a good fit for them. I'm, I'm kind of surprised, I guess, to learn that maybe didn't have a podcast before this, but it's, it's also a nice little treat to get to start a podcast from the start. These days, when I hear about a podcast, I go in there's 200 episodes. Yeah. Yeah. And you go like, I'm not going to be up on the jokes on this one. Oh, right. I'm going to be behind on the inside jokes and that kind of thing. But that, that sounds great. And you know, adventure journal, I feel like we've been talking about for years. We probably have, yeah. I have to hit the complete TGN. to check the transcripts, but they do a great product and I think a podcast would be great from them. So that'll be added to pocket cast immediately. That's a good, a good suggestion. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Why don't you finish this out with, with your final note? |
| Eric Jennings | Yeah. Mine is a little doodad that I got for the office. So I'm still kind of working through, you know, various things about the workspace, the office we've talked about it a bunch between speakers and stuff like that. And this is actually I know that I talked about it years ago, when I started to get into some of the more smart light stuff, the whiz platform, which is like the cheaper version of Phillips hue. Yeah. But it's, it's a system that doesn't use a hub basically. So you're just adding bulbs and other stuff where you want, you program it all through your phone. It links up with Google home, if that's what you want to use. And I have these all over the house. I do really like it's my go to like platform, whether it's for led strips or bulbs or otherwise, And the one thing that I found is, of course, like with a normal light switch, which you can install, you can put a light switch in, that's a smart light switch and interacts with your lights. Yeah. But I don't wanna always be interfacing with the lights, and through a YouTube channel, I realized that Wiz actually makes $25 is what they charge for it, but they make a motion sensor that's battery operated, so you just put it in a space. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Eric Jennings | and then program it in the app to decide what it does and what the lag time is and the rest of it. So I have it where if I walk into my office, it turns on all the lights. Oh, wow. Okay. |
| Jason Heaton | That's cool. |
| Eric Jennings | And then if, if I leave the office after three minutes, it shuts them all off. Huh? Huh. And I have the little whiz remote where it's got four buttons and you could program each one and each one could do something else in my house. This is no buttons. Yeah. And I feel like 50% of the time I walk into my office with my hands full of something. It's very dark. You know, there's a little tiny well window. It's in a basement. And this means that I just... I stroll in and it's on. The LED lighting behind my monitor, and then I have a big 100 watt equivalent bulb in the corner that faces up towards the ceiling. Those just come on on their own. Yeah. And then I also don't have... As I get older, I picked up more on my dad's thing or a lot of people's dad's thing about leaving lights on. Yeah, yeah. This, I don't press anything. I just leave. Yeah, yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I'm curious, do you know if they're... I was looking on their website while you're talking and I was curious whether there's any level of water or temperature resistance, if this is something you could put outside a door and have it turn on an outside light. |
| Eric Jennings | I know you can get motion sensing outdoor lights, but... I think the move at that point would be to move to probably to go to either like Blink or Eufy. I don't know how to actually say it. I'll put it in the show notes, I guess. Yeah. And that one you can get where it's lights, motion sensor, and the camera. Oh, sure. Yeah. But I don't believe Wiz does exterior anything. Oh yeah. Yeah. But also everything's much less expensive than Hue. Yeah. So there's that option too. |
| Jason Heaton | Huh. Very cool. I like this. Yeah. |
| Eric Jennings | It's just nice, solid, simple tech that took two minutes to set up. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | And I clipped it into a pegboard and... Well, I had tried, I don't know if it was the Philips system, but it required a hub and that I yet turned me off. I just didn't want to have to have another hub, you know, at a time when, you know, we've got routers and security systems and, and, you know, doorbell cameras and that sort of thing. I just didn't want to have to add another system that I had to program. And we're going to, you know, we've got a smart thermostat, et cetera. So this, this seems like a really good solution. |
| Eric Jennings | Yeah. I guess in my mind, maybe before I had the office and the rest of it, I would've thought like, who cares? Like you just walk in and click a button and your lights are on, but like once they're all really smart and you want them to all work on the same. So you have these scenes. Yeah. Um, and I could have like a scene for when I'm working in a scene for when we're filming or something on the light would change. Yeah. Um, and that way all of that is preserved and you just set a default scene for when you enter or leave the room. Huh? Nice tech. Easy enough. Yeah. So there you go. TVs, coffee tables, motion sensors, an incredible interview with a very interesting CEO, uh, that, that loves so much of the stuff that we love and a brand new bonus episode with collective and, and Sweetwater. Not bad. |
| Jason Heaton | Big week. Yeah. Pretty good week. |
| Eric Jennings | Yeah. Yeah. Big week. Right. So yeah, if you happen to be in PA on the 11th and want to grab a beer, we'll be at Triumph Brewing from 2 to 4. Please RSVP in some fashion, either via email or Slack, but we'd be thrilled to see you there. I think there'll be plenty of room, et cetera, et cetera. We're hoping for good weather, that sort of thing. Keep December 3rd Lake Monster Brewing in St. Paul open as that's the book signing and launch. Sadly, I won't be able to make it, but maybe we can make that up with a different event sometime in the new year might be kind of fun. Yeah. I think that's pretty much all. It's a busy calendar. So I'm repeating a few things in the hopes that we don't miss anybody. But I hope everybody enjoyed the episode. As always, thank you so much for listening. If you'd like to subscribe and get into the show notes, get into the comments for each episode or consider supporting the show directly, maybe even grab yourself a new TGN signed NATO or access to the slack. Just visit TheGreyNATO.com. Music throughout a siesta by Jazzar via the free music archive. |
| Jason Heaton | And we leave you with this quote from Charles Darwin who said, |