Episode 183 - WindUp San Fran (2022) Recap
Published on Wed, 27 Apr 2022 21:18:19 -0700
Synopsis
This podcast episode is a special report from Everett's experience at the Windup Watch Fair in San Francisco. He conducted numerous interviews with watch brand representatives, collectors, and other attendees to give listeners a behind-the-scenes look at this popular event. Highlights include discussions with the founders of Worn & Wound, Anordain, Farer, WatchCharts, MK II, Astor & Banks, and Notice Watch Company, covering new watch releases, the growth of the microbrand scene, and the overall atmosphere of the fair. Everett shares his observations and excitement about the growing event while reflecting on the importance of connecting with the watch community in person.
Links
Transcript
| Speaker | |
|---|---|
| Wrong music (Unidentified) | This is the wrong music, Everett. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. You're listening to 40 and 20, the Watch Clicker podcast with your host, Andrew and my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, welcome home. Hey, thank you. |
| Everett (Host) | How the hell are you? Man, I am. I'm really good. Got back from windup. As moments ago. Yeah, it's it's been it feels like moments ago. It's been a couple days at this point. But yeah, no, I'm doing great. I had an absolute killer time and I'm, I'm kind of pumped to tell you all about it. How are you, Andrew? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I'm good. I'm excited to hear about windup. Bummed that I missed it. I just couldn't make this one work because I had an unforeseen prior engagement, um, in that I was already out of town going into windup. So, um, for Disneyland. No. Oh, oh yeah. No, I was at training. I was, I was living in a, in a barracks for a, for a training. That I was at and that was you guys in the starships. Mm-hmm. |
| Everett (Host) | We were so we've got an army base here in Oregon It's not an army base. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | It's a National Guard Training Center that both. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. Yeah. No, that's that's uh, that's a good distinction that both that both Andrew and I have spent more time than I think either one of us would like and they've got barracks called Starships, yeah, which is unique to Camp Rylea. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Yeah, they're all still named after You know, they're all named after people in the way that the military names barracks after, but they, they do refer to the buildings as starships. No one has ever been able to give me a clean or reasonable answer as to why, as far as I know, they don't fly. Nope. And they, they do transport you to a, to a, to a hell hole though. So maybe that's it. It's just a black hole that you live in and you can only get into a black hole. |
| Everett (Host) | by a starship. Maybe it's like Men in Black that actually those are those are spaceships that will. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Time sure does stand still when you're there. It is. It was good training, though. I got to learn a lot and got to spend some time not doing actual work and just playing. So, you know, that's good. But you had way more fun. I did. I did. Wind up San Francisco 2022. Yeah, you know, |
| Everett (Host) | We made the decision collectively to go to wind up in 2020. And, um, it didn't happen. Uh, it didn't it. And I remember feeling pretty bummed about it. Not, not really realizing at the time what we quite the scope. Yeah. Not really realizing, you know, a, not really understanding what was happening with COVID. Right. You know, it's, it's easy to. It's easy to forget the level of naivete that I think maybe collectively we all had. And, and for me, I remember sort of thinking, well, this isn't going to be a big thing, or I don't think this is going to be a big thing. And then wind up was the first indication I had that stuff was going to be different. And here we are, you know, two years later and kind of starting to get you know, back to normal, perhaps the new normal. Um, and so, yeah, it, I was pretty bummed that you weren't able to go. I know, I know you wanted to as well, but, um, met some, you know, met some new people. I spent a lot of time with our good friend, Clay Foster, uh, Southpaw STL 15 for you at home. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | And for those of you Reddit buyers, foster child. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, that's right. That's right. As well as our newest writer, Frank Friendy, AKA Friendy McGee. Uh, and it, you know, just had a great time. I would say if you're going to do this kind of thing, you should go with people because New York, I kind of flew solo. Um, obviously spent a lot of time with a lot of good friends. Mike was there for part of the time. I spent a lot of time with Debbie, but I didn't really have a traveling buddy and going with like a dedicated group of folks to spend time with made all the difference. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I believe it. I mean, it's like going into any other kind of convention or festival and You can always make friends while you're there, but the shared memories I think are more valuable, especially when there's three people in an Airbnb with one twin bed. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, well, there was only two of us. There was only two of us, but the bed was a twin. Only two intended guests. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Yeah, that's right. |
| Everett (Host) | No, it was a ton of fun. So I'm actually excited to tell you all about it. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I'm excited to hear hear about it because we haven't really talked. I mean, you've only been home, it's Tuesday, so you got home Sunday night. We didn't really talk yesterday because you buried your head in the sand to wrap your head around coming back to work. Yeah. And now I'm seeing you for the first time since you've been home. I have seen your car, but not you. So I'm excited to hear about Windup. |
| Everett (Host) | So this episode is going to be a little bit different. I thought instead of just telling you guys about Windup that While we were there, we might try to collect some interviews and I've done just that. So this is my first experience with field interviewing. So technically speaking, I think I did okay. I've just gone through these clips and kind of gotten them ready. Um, I did okay, but you know, you'll have to forgive sort of audio hiccups. I think, I think it's going to be fun. Uh, I think it's going to be fun, but a little different. So this is a bit of an experiment for us. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | And we love experimentation. |
| Everett (Host) | I guess it makes sense. So, you know, wind up put on by worn and wound. And I don't know what iteration of this, uh, of wind up this is, but they've done it now several times, uh, starting in New York and then more. And then after that, uh, San Francisco. So I think the San Francisco show in particular really felt like here we go again. Um, but, uh, but the show was a lot different. Uh, the show's a lot different. My experience is limited, but in the past, Windup has kind of been in a small room, a small exhibit hall and a smaller handful of people. This time around, it was a lot of vendors. I'd say 35 or 40 vendors. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | That's significantly bigger than New York was. |
| Everett (Host) | I think more vendors than New York. Yeah. And, and also just the space and also just the space was huge. So you walk in, it's, I believe it was an art gallery, but it's, but it's huge. And there's a bar in the corner. And I mean, as soon as you walk in, you kind of realize the openness of the place, the scope of the, of the hall. And, uh, pretty early on, I had an opportunity to sit down with Zach Weiss, uh, co-founder of Warner Wound and kind of ask him about it. So I figure, uh, if it's okay with you, Andrew, I'd just play that now. |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | What a great opening interview. Zach Weiss, uh, co-founder of Warner Wound and the wind up watcher. |
| Everett (Host) | And so we're here at wind up San Francisco. So my very first watch event, my very first watch event was set to be wind up San Francisco, 2020. We are just up the highway. And we had plans to come down and do this. And obviously that didn't happen. How does it feel to kind of be back doing this again here in San Francisco? |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | It feels fantastic. You know, yeah, the, unfortunately the pandemic kicked off right before wind up San Francisco, uh, 2020. So that, that was, it was canceled obviously. And then, you know, we did do our show in October in New York, um, a bit of a smaller scale. No, no, no one from Europe was able to make it. So this is our first really proper, return to wind up watch fair and it feels fantastic. It's been a great turnout and it's really good response so far. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. So I was in New York, I was in New York this last fall and it was, that was actually my first, I finally made it. And it was, you know, kind of changed the way I thought about it. I didn't really know what to expect. Um, I think that for me and perhaps a lot of people, the people, that people are the most exciting parts of these. You meet people, a lot of people that I've talked to hundreds of times perhaps online and just meeting people. What do you think it is, what do you think it is besides just an opportunity to get together that makes this kind of event special? |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | Other than that, I mean you know it's, there's a lot of great things about it. I mean there's practical things of just brands that you know, don't really get to interface with people or don't have retail outlets being able to show their watches to people. Two, there's the meetings and randomness of it sort of, but like, yeah, I mean, it's, there's just a buzz to it and an energy to it that reminds you of like, this isn't an isolated hobby, you know, even though these are objects you strap to your wrist and you can kind of hide under your sleeve and be a little thing you look at and enjoy personally, like there is a growing weird and fun community around it and Um, yeah, I mean, it's, I don't know, it's just an immersive experience, sort of. And, you know, on my side, too, like, personally, like, I don't get to see all these brands at once, and it's a great time for me to catch up. And people, you know, love to show you the stuff they won't naturally show you, like, until, like, several months later on their phone. They're like, check out this drawing for the watch coming out. So it gives me some, like, I get to just, I don't know, it's just fun. |
| Everett (Host) | Fun to sort of get a behind the look. Well, I think that's for me, too, right? I get to come here and see things that I don't I don't think about or perhaps I've never even thought about. Also there's this, you said something, I liked it, uh, that this isn't like a, such an insular hobby. I think we feel a lot of times like this is just me interacting with my cell phone and these blind anonymous people. Uh, but yeah, you come here and you're like, Oh, these people are actually my friends. Uh, one of the experiences I had at, in New York was meeting someone who I talked to every day for the first time. And not to say wind up did this for us, but you know, I met him for the first time and we spent a day together and it was like, You're actually, turns out you're one of my best friends without us having ever met in person before, so I think there's that aspect of it. Any surprises about the show? Anything that you've seen or anybody you've talked to that you're like, I did not expect this? |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | Gosh, I mean, there's been a handful of releases that we didn't know about were gonna come. You know, some new case sizes from Ann or Dane, the Stanhope 2 from Ferrer. |
| Everett (Host) | You know, I mean, I hope it's really crazy. |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | Yeah, it's beautiful and a great new case shape from them. And even the you know, the energy and not the energy and the Christopher Aqua teens didn't know they were going to drop those here and it's it's they're beautiful. |
| Everett (Host) | I don't know if you had a chance to look at those the curvature of the sapphire bezel on that like I met with I met with with Mike yesterday morning and seeing those things it you know that is really a watch you have to see to appreciate I think a lot of people are going to see that watch top down. and understand that it's a kind of a lot of money. It's a thousand dollars, uh, which is high even for Christopher Ward and not understand what it is. And you get that watch in your hand and you're like, Oh, I get this thing. |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | No, I mean just try and find another sort of like Sapphire insert that isn't just a flat insert. Like it has a subtle curvature to it and it's very, it's, it's, they did a great job, you know? Well, so next you've got Chicago. Chicago in July. |
| Everett (Host) | And then October you've got New York. October back to New York, yeah. So besides today, this wonderful event that there's still so much to do, what should people look forward to in Chicago and New York? |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | Oh, well, a lot, hopefully. You know, honestly, so every show this year is sort of bigger than the last. And San Francisco, this is our largest San Francisco show by miles, but it's also one of our, I mean, our biggest shows period we've ever done. The most amount of brands, biggest space, food trucks, bar, you know, make it more of a, I mean, we're sitting on couches in the space. We've never been able to do this right in the middle, right in the middle of the show. We want to make it more of an immersive experience. You know, like New York was always really intense and really energetic, but you, there's no place to stand. You kind of had to go and leave kind of a thing. So we want to make it a place you can hang out all weekend and just have, you know, a lot more fun and do stuff like this, but you know, which is awesome. I mean, You couldn't really sit and record a podcast in the middle of the room before, and this is what we want. Certainly not at Chelsea Market, right? There's no space to do this. No. So yeah, each of the shows is just going to be kind of bigger and better. And, you know, later on in the year, there's going to be also more brand involvement. For a lot of brands, honestly, this was still a little too soon because of supply chain stuff. And also, you know, if brands didn't have a new watch to show, sometimes they're just like, it's not quite worth it for us yet. So it's just going to be, the roster is going to continue to get cooler and more exciting. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, I mean, I love to see this development of the sort of small or micro brand scene. Not all of these are micro brands, obviously, but it's really, it's a really neat space for the collectors that we talk to most days. |
| Zach Weiss (Worn & Wound) | Yeah. And I mean, that's part of it too. You know, we want to bring in more and more brands that are, you know, larger, commercially known, well-known brands, as well as, you know, brand new brands that are just getting started because, you know, having the, the, the household name helps bring people in and they'll introduce them to then, you know, a new audience gets to meet everything here, you know, so it's, it kind of all synergizes and come for Aura, stay for Hasili. Yeah, exactly. You know, you know, there'll be some bigger brands that you think you might be surprised to see, but it's gonna be really exciting because, you know, they're just not necessarily brands you saw in the room before. Certainly not in like the Swiss trade show sort of environment. That's right. And that's not what this is. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, thank you so much for taking some time. I know you're busy. I know you're working. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Well, so I first have to ask, um, what control hold were you holding him in to force an interview that long in the midst of like, I mean, his biggest event in two years that you were able to hold him in one place and chat with him. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. You know, uh, those guys are really, those guys are really, uh, very sort of open to talking about what they're doing. You know, they're, they're pros, right? I think in the, in the lead up some of the, the audio that I cut from that interview, It's just me and Zach kind of chatting and getting comfortable with the microphones. And, you know, at some point I'm sort of talking him through like how to hold the microphone. He's like, yeah, no, I done this. Uh, you know, you never know. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | You gotta be careful and safe. |
| Everett (Host) | That's right. These guys are pros and they know the deal and they're as much as anything selling worn and wound. So he, he was gracious obviously to provide me some time, but, uh, there is that, there is that, uh, aspect of the thing where, you know, these guys, everybody at the show is super busy. And so you'll, you'll hear me a few times through the day, sort of, you know, thanking people. I know you're busy, uh, getting out of their way, but Zach was super cool. He talked to me a number of times, not just on microphone. And so, uh, I am, I am super thankful for that. One of the, one of the things he talks about is the space and how they've modified the space and frankly I think they've done a really good job even between New York 2021 and now just a few months later in really making the space a place where you could hang out. He mentions you know we couldn't have done this before and that's true at New York there was no space to have done a thing like this. I think they had a green room for this kind of stuff but it was just much less deliberate Uh, at this show, there was legitimately, uh, couches that people were sitting in and outside there were picnic tables. And at New York, you'd, you'd go to the show and you'd walk through as a kind of a loop you could make, uh, you know, or perhaps a figure eight. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | And then after you put a natural course through the. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, and then after you'd kind of walked through you either needed to sort of awkwardly hang out with someone or or You know just stand in a corner or something And and it didn't really feel that way like you could sit down and hang out here in San Francisco. There was so much free space And so much opportunity to just sit with your friends and talk it was a really different feel I mean he says you could kind of hang out here all day, and that's true, and I didn't ever hang out there all day this weekend. But you certainly could spend a couple of hours extremely comfortable with beers and with food. I really enjoyed that aspect of it, especially if you're going to get in a plane and travel for just this event. There was no need to have other plans. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | But it was it was spaced by design, right? It wasn't caused by a lack of turnout because he said right up front that that New York didn't have most of the European brands that were at San Francisco. So San Francisco is kind of the like welcome back to the world windup. Yeah. 2022 is the is the full windup show. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. In San Francisco this year. That's right. Certainly it wasn't it wasn't lack of people. There were more people there, I would say, at any given moment than New York. And partially it's just because there could be more people but also more brands, the European brands in particular. I'm bumping these new microphones. The European brands in particular showed up here when they hadn't in October. And that was pretty cool. I mean, we got an opportunity to talk to a lot of brands. One of the brands that I think I was perhaps most impressed with, a brand that I didn't really know, I've known of them, but I didn't really know a lot about. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I have to interrupt you one more time. one with one brief thing. I'm really excited to hear him talk about using wind up as a launching platform for new brands that that Coleman or not culmination, but that combination of well established brands. I mean, arguable vert or luxury brands with brand new Introduce your product to market like not quite trade show, but still kind of in that feel of New and cool stuff right alongside really well-established things And I think that's a really exciting thing to look forward to for wind up in the future, but really specifically Chicago and New York of this year as supply chains are getting healthy again and brands are launching and yeah, well and something that I was able to talk to him separately from this interview about was Warner rounds plan to incorporate |
| Everett (Host) | sort of more EDC lifestyle brands in the show in coming years, you know, Vero Engineering being one of the brands that I heard mentioned. So I think that Worn and Wound is thinking that this thing could be bigger in every way. So that's exciting. So one of the brands that I was really excited about talking to, because a brand I had no experience with and perhaps might not have experience with because I think they've got like two year waiting lists is Inordain. Anardane, famous for its enamel dials, really kind of blew me away at how just absolutely charming their watches were. I had a chance to sit down with Lewis Heath, who's the founder of Anardane. |
| Lewis Heath (Anordain) | I'm going to play that now. |
| Everett (Host) | This is Everett from 40 in 20, The Watch Collector Podcast. I am here on day three, wind up San Francisco, standing in front of the Beautiful, beautiful Anardane table. And I'm with Lewis. Lewis, introduce yourself. |
| Lewis Heath (Anordain) | Hello, I'm Lewis. Thank you. Yeah, that's me. And you've said it already. Shall I explain about Anardane? |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, why don't you tell me, tell us who you are, what you do with Anardane. |
| Lewis Heath (Anordain) | Yeah. So we're, we're over from Glasgow. And Erland and myself are here today. And we've we've got, we've got most of our watches here. Some of them are in customs. So we don't have the whole range, unfortunately. and |
| Everett (Host) | And you've got some some models here that we've looked at as well as some demonstrations, the folks at home aren't going to be able to see those. But could you just kind of tell us what enamelling is? Why is enamelling special? What is it? And what is it? How does it show up in a watch? |
| Lewis Heath (Anordain) | Yeah, absolutely. Enamelling in the olden days, enamel used to be the kind of default watch style before paint was reliable. So what enamel is, is it's a very thin layer of metal. And on top of that metal, you put basic colored glass powder, and then you sprinkle it on, put it in essentially an oven, melt it down, and then take it out and polish it down, and then repeat that process. So you're building up layers of molten colored glass until you get a really perfect finish. And the challenges come because the dial has to be perfectly flat. It has to be very, very thin. And when you're dealing with two different materials of metal and enamel, expanding and contracting because the oven, or the kiln as we call it, goes up to about 800 degrees centigrade and you're taking it in and out and it's heating up and cooling down. You know, things like cracking and warping are a really big problem, but it's worthwhile because they look lovely and you get this depth of colour that you just don't get from paint and it never fades. It's like a stained glass window in a church, it'll never discolour. And that's yeah, that's what we like and lovely set of different colors you can use. |
| Everett (Host) | So the main benefits of an enamel dial is it is it looks awesome. It's super durable, and it's really cool. Exactly. Yeah. We are hard hitting here at 40 and 20. No, so these are beautiful. I really appreciate you. You know, I think the thing that surprised me a little bit is that they're not just dials. These are really excellent watches. And especially your newest models, I was just really impressed by the craftsmanship and the machining of the metal itself. |
| Lewis Heath (Anordain) | Yeah, no, that's very nice of you. I mean, we do, obviously enamel is what we're known for, but we have four watchmakers in-house. We have a typographer who does all of our numerals for us. So it is very much a whole process, but it's just that because it's so unusual doing enameling, that's kind of what people think of when they see us. |
| Everett (Host) | But yeah, so thank you very much. You guys have been great. Thanks so much. We'll talk next time. You know, uh, so first, both of the guys at the Anterdain table were incredibly charming. Um, the main sort of, uh, the guy who was really most familiar with the, the enameling process was a little introverted and shy. You could tell him he didn't want to talk to me. Uh, it may predatory. It's very possible. Uh, I was just blown away by those watches, how good they were. They've got a new, uh, line coming out and golly, really, really stunning stuff. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I've always really liked their watches and photographs, but I can imagine, uh, seeing them in person as a whole another level. I mean, I don't, I don't feel like you can fully appreciate that kind of, um, craftsmanship that comes in the difference between a painted dial and enamel dial without seeing it in person. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, no, I think you're right. You know, they had these, uh, like panels, like very sort of children's museum panels, not that they were juvenile. Um, but you know, the kind of demonstration that's like step one, step two, step three, where you can actually touch it and, and see the differences in the steps. Uh, and it was cool, right? Cause the first layer is kind of thick and lumpy and then they, then they sand it down and you, you see the evolution. I gotta say, I am, I was really enamored by the enamel dial. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | And I like the way he just stands by it. He's like, it's painstaking. It has errors and flaws, but it's worth it because it's lovely. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, because it's fucking cool. Right. Uh, and, and yeah, I'm, I'm with him a hundred percent. You know, we did have a chance, uh, to catch up with one of our old friends, Katelyn Schmidt. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Is she not a friend of ours anymore? Like, are you talking like a long time friend? |
| Everett (Host) | A long time friend, an old friend, Katelyn Schmidt. Uh, I'm going to play that right now. Hey, it's Aaron from 40 and 20 WatchCooker podcast. I'm here with Katlin. Katlin, for the folks that don't know you, can you introduce yourself? Hi. Can I just say, by the way, this is not easy. And so you'll see, you know, we're not playing these in order, but some of these, especially towards the end, this is one of my last interviews and my voice has totally gone to crap and it's, you're a little loopy. So just, you know, Hey, forgive us guys. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | It's a, it's a cash bar in the corner. No judgment. |
| Everett (Host) | Hey, it's Everett from 40 & 20 WatchCooker podcast. I'm here with Katlyn. Katlyn, for the folks that don't know you, can you introduce yourself? |
| Unknown | Hi, I'm Katlyn Schmidt. I am from the 10 & 2 podcast, but then I'm also here with Norcain. |
| Everett (Host) | So you've been on our show before, but you've been on our show by way of 10 & 2, and now you are formally and officially with Norcain. When we were in New York, you were either just about to start with Norcain or you either just had informally, something like that. You've now been with the company for several months. How is that going? What's it like being with a small company like Norkane doing this stuff full-time? |
| Unknown | It's amazing. I'm the most obnoxiously happy person about my job. It's disgusting. When people talk to me, I feel terrible because I just love my job so much. It's phenomenal. Obviously coming to events like Windup is absolutely amazing just because these are the people, right? I mean, it's the community that's around Windup. I think it's fantastic. The interactions that I get to have, the people that I get to see, plus the whole benefit of Windup is yes, we're an independent brand where we do have points of sales throughout the US, but we're still not everywhere. We only have 28 points of sales. So people being able to see the brand, touch the brand, feel it, that's the whole purpose of Windup anyways, which is just phenomenal. Yeah, like working for it. It's amazing working for an independent brand where I mean, your your input is wanted. It's not just like you send up an idea and never hear anything back. Like it's really awesome. I've gotten to work on some incredibly cool projects. I think the brand is going in a phenomenal direction. And I'm excited to see what we all do together in the future. |
| Everett (Host) | Okay, so quick speed round here. What first what is your favorite watch on this table? And I'm referring to the Norcane table. What's your favorite watch? the Norkane is selling right now today. Maybe not today, but right now. |
| Unknown | This is a tough one. So I'm obsessed with the Norkane Night Sight. I've been obsessed with the idea of like an all-black watch for a while. So I love the Night Sight because it has the black DLC case and then we're watch nerds. Like, let's be honest. It has a fully luminescent dial, which is just like the coolest thing ever because for whatever reason, I need to see like every bit of lume humanly possible, even though I don't actually use it. |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | right now |
| Unknown | I have a love-hate relationship with blue dials, but I really do like this color, and I think 40 millimeters is such a great size. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, and it's like a real inky midnight. I love that. It's sort of like almost gradient within, you know, depending on what angle it's at. So, great. Okay, so the second part of the speed round, what's your favorite watch you've seen that's not at this table here? I think 30-some vendors or 35 vendors. |
| Unknown | This is a tough one. There's like, because everybody's doing some amazing things. I love that I finally got hands on with the Formex Mother Pearl Reef Diver. Like I, I think it's such a cool, or not the Reef Diver, sorry, the 39 millimeter Mother Pearl Formex. Uh, I've been looking at it online for a while and I'm so glad I got to see it. But then I'm also glad that you get the UK brands here that I've been obsessing over forever. I'm obsessed with Anordain. I think that what they're doing is some of the coolest things ever. So, and I've only seen one or two in person. So to actually see like a variety of them and speak with Lewis has been, it's been really cool. Uh, same with, uh, with brands like Christopher ward and, um, and fair, like these brands that like, you really don't get to see, I didn't get to see them last year at wind up because of COVID they weren't allowed to come over. So yeah, it's been awesome to get hands on with those brands. |
| Everett (Host) | And, uh, and, and it's totally that brand for me where I've seen them online and like, okay, it's interesting. They're pretty, but yeah, seeing them in person, it's been really great. |
| Unknown | Incredible. They're so beautiful. Yeah. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, great, Catlin. Thank you so much. I'll let you get to work. Thanks for joining us for a couple of minutes. Thank you. Yeah. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | You know, one of the things... Was she running away when she said that? |
| Everett (Host) | It sounded like she was sprinting. She was sprinting. You know, it's the mustache. I make people feel uncomfortable. Yeah. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | It's also the weird below the waist touching. That did not happen. |
| Everett (Host) | Absolutely did not happen. Uh, you know, we, we, we talk to these people constantly, right? Uh, and, and it's, it's just really a pleasure to get to meet people in person, right? For, for, for me, uh, and, and that's going to be the theme of today's show is spending time with Katlin who we've talked to a hundred times and I've even met in person. Uh, it was, it was really cool. You know, we're doing these little mini interviews and, you know, you sort of set yourself up, but, uh, even just, you know, having a beer or a cocktail in a, in, in the hotel lobby or whatever, uh, really cool. Catlin's working for Norkane now, which Norkane is an interesting brand for me. Uh, she, she talks about, uh, some, some of their watches right now. And, you know, if you look these watches up, you're going to find that these watches are extremely expensive. I think that, uh, Norkane. just barely fits at wind-up based on their prices. They're certainly not out of the running, but these are very, very, very nice watches. You know, you can tell when you pick up a Norkane watch that it's something a little bit different. I picked up a Monta watch this weekend. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | It's like you purchased it. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. Yeah, I purchased finally after years and years and years. We posted this on the Instagram this week. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Which is how, by the way, the rest of the WatchClicker crew found out that Everett had actually made the purchase via Instagram from somebody else. |
| Everett (Host) | From Justin, I think, you know. But there's a handful of brands at Windup that sort of stand out. Oris being one, Manta being another. And then you've got a couple of brands, I'd say, Norkane and Formex in particular. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I think even Anordain fits into that weird tween zone between affordables and luxury. They don't perfectly fit in either, and there's not really a true category for that $2,000 to $4,000 catalog. Yeah, and I think for guys like us, Andrew, |
| Everett (Host) | where I think, you know, I obviously own an Omega and who knows what I'll buy in the future, but I'm really not looking at watches in that range. And so it's, it's an interesting, you know, it's an interesting proposition looking at these things. I do, I will say this, I do love Norcain's watches and I do, you know, it's, it's really, really apparent when you see these things in person, why they're more money. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I mean, you look at the night site, just pictures of it on their website and you're like, Oh, I get this. |
| Everett (Host) | So, uh, super fun to talk to Katelyn obviously. Uh, and I think Narcane's a really compelling brand for a lot of reasons, even if it's maybe outside of the range that I, that I, uh, that I normally get. Uh, another brand on that note, another brand that I don't have a ton of experience with is Farer. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I've, I always love Farrah's color schemes. |
| Everett (Host) | So we've talked about Farrah on the show quite a bit because I think that they're so perfectly stunning watches. Yeah. They look really good, right? That's what Farrah does. And Farrah, I think more than most brands is, is, is made for Instagram. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Yeah. The color, the shape, the, yeah, everything they do is just really photogenic. They're a, they're a bucket list watch for me. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, do you have a watch you particularly like? The Lander GMT. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Yeah, you know that's the one. |
| Everett (Host) | I had an opportunity to talk to Paul Sweetenham, founder of Ferrer. I'm going to play that now. Hi, I'm Everett from the 40 in 20 Watch Clicker podcast. I am here, wind up, day three, Sunday. Everybody's exhausted. So exhausted. Can I just interject here again for a second? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | You don't need to justify or rationalize your interviewing tactics and behaviors. We trust you. We believe in you and you're doing a good job. |
| Everett (Host) | Wind up day three, Sunday, everybody's exhausted, including the gentlemen at the table that I'm standing in front of. I'm standing in front of the fair table. You introduce yourself. |
| Paul (Farer) | I'm Paul and this is Mike. |
| Everett (Host) | You're showing, I think just about every watch you guys sell or have sold. here today. I know not all of these are available to be sold, but you also introduced a new a new watch this weekend, so tell us about that. |
| Paul (Farer) | Okay, so the Stanhope 2 is a brand new barrel-sided cushion case with back ear lugs. It takes the original Stanhope dial design that we had from 2018, which was super popular, and we brought that back into the new cushion case Just launched that on the first day of the show. Fantastic response. We love it. Mona Lisa case, beautiful thing. And it's great to be back in the cushion case business. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. And I would say it seems like it's a bit more substantial than the last cushion case. It's more of a sporty athletic case. |
| Paul (Farer) | Yeah. So we would say that although the Stan Hot was very successful originally in the Lansdale and the Hudson, all subsequently sold out. We just broadened the appeal for the cushion case by putting a little bit, you know, it's still 10.5 mil in depth, 38 and a half, but previously it was 9 mil in depth and 37. So, you know, it's just grown a little, but it still wears very compact on the wrist. |
| Everett (Host) | And with the finishing, it's still a very dressy watch. It's still a very dressy watch. What have been the most, so besides the new watch, what have been the most popular, the things people have been most interested in today? |
| Paul (Farer) | Well, I'm bound to say everything, but the Aqua Compressor that we just launched in a couple of months ago, one month ago, sorry, I'm losing track of time. The World Timers, because folks haven't been able to touch them because of, you know, we've been absent for a couple of years. All the three handlers where we've sold out of three of them since being at the show. Pilots sold out since we've been at the show. People haven't seen the mono pushes to touch. So that's been very popular. And of course we get a consistent queue of people who want to see the lander for the first time. |
| Everett (Host) | So to summarize, the answer is all of them. |
| Paul (Farer) | Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could have said that. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. |
| Paul (Farer) | Yes. But, but, but mainly the lander. |
| Everett (Host) | Oh, okay. I'll ask you a more specific question. So, you know, you see every, you've seen it. If you've been to a windup, you've seen it a hundred times, but people walk up to a table and say, I've seen these online. And I'm surprised about X. So for you guys, what is that thing? |
| Paul (Farer) | Okay. How much detail is really in the watch and the color and, and then probably the lug to lug because it's our thing. So we're right away across the model range, very compact on lug to lug. And I think people are just surprised size of the dial, but the compactness of the lug to lug. But of course, most folks want to come and see the Lander dial color as well. Sure. |
| Everett (Host) | And you do, you guys do really that do that really well where big, legible dials, but in a really compact case. Well, thank you very much for joining us. I know you guys are busy, so I'll let you get back to it. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. |
| Paul (Farer) | Thanks for stopping by. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | You know, every time I think about, talk about Farrer, I'm always like, oh yeah, I like this watch. And I go back to their website and I'm like, well, it's fucking gone. Farrer is this really unique brand in the way they cycle their catalog. And they're always dropping new stuff, getting rid of the old, And it's almost like get it while it's hot. Yeah. Marketing strategies because everything they drop is hot. And if you don't get it like it it's just gone. |
| Everett (Host) | But you know they don't feel they don't feel like a small brand because they've always got they've always got stock on hand. They've always got something on hand. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | They always have inventory. They're also spendy. Yeah. And they're so well thought out. He talks about that in the details and the color and the thinking that goes behind it. And that was, yeah. |
| Everett (Host) | You know, and he, he talks a little bit about, you know, I asked him about the surprise. I was hoping he would, he would answer the way exactly the way he did. Uh, what are people saying? What are they surprised about? I was absolutely shocked by the detail, the refinement of Ferris dials. I don't know why I was surprised because I think it comes through in photographs, but seeing those things in person, the precision of the printing on the dials is just next level. Yeah, that tracks. So, you know, one of the things that happens at WindUp is you meet people that you didn't expect to meet and perhaps that you wouldn't expect to meet. You're meeting so many people. Very few people are salesy. Obviously at the tables people are willing to talk to you about their watches, You don't get the feeling that anybody's selling things. I've been to other trade shows and other industries and there's this very sort of, it's almost like a sales pitch. You don't really get that at WindUp until you ask someone. Well, I had an opportunity to talk to a fellow named Hamza Massoud. Hamza was not a vendor and he wasn't even really selling, but we started talking and I said, well, what are you doing here? What do you do? And he says, well, I have a website. I have a website and it's sort of an aggregator and it's called WatchCharts. And I thought, well, I know that website. And so I asked Hamza to sit down with me for just a minute and he agreed amazingly. And here's what Hamza had to say. Hi, this is Everett from 40 in 20, the WatchClicker podcast, and I'm here with Hamza. Hamza, go ahead and introduce yourself. |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | Hi, my name is Hamza. I'm the business development manager at WatchCharts. You can find us online at watchcharts.com. Okay, so tell me about WatchArts. So WatchArts is a startup. We're more of a data company really than a watch company or a watch company or a data company that has data about watches. Sure. But if you're looking to figure out what something is worth on the pre-owned market, then for over 27,000 models, we publish pricing analytics that are available for anyone to check out for free. |
| Everett (Host) | So, so what, how do you pick up a watch? So if I have, what if I have like a forum project watch or something, would you guys, if someone had sold that, would you have that in there? |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | We would definitely have the listing, but we may not have that specific model recognized as a watch in our watch models database. So that will include things like standard releases from all of the major brands that everybody's familiar with. |
| Everett (Host) | Okay. Yeah. So, so, uh, you say analytics, uh, meaning you're, you're, So we're collecting data and then and then exploring the data, I think. What's the benefit to using a product like WatchArts? |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | The benefit is that anyone who's looking to buy a watch on the pre-owned market will want to know or have a certain amount of confidence in whether or not they're paying the right amount of money for that watch. |
| Everett (Host) | or vice versa, whether or not they're selling for this. |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | Exactly. And so, um, what our service lets you do is make an informed decision on whether to pay a certain amount of money or to charge a certain amount of money for a watch you are buying or selling respectively. |
| Everett (Host) | Or how confident you can be in your pricing that you've asked for on Reddit. Precisely. When they, when the neckbeard tries to talk you down. |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | Yeah. So if let's say, you know, you have a, let's say a modern Rolex Explorer 36 millimeter one, two, four, two, seven, zero, uh, that retails for, I believe 7,200. The current market price is just north of $10,000. The Watch Heart's computed market average is just north of $10,000. And the way that we compute that is we look at all publicly available data for listings on forums, on other websites. We collect that data. We kind of distill it down to that one number, which gives you a sense of what you should be looking to pay for a brand new, you know, box and papers kind of condition Rolex Explorer if you're buying it on the pre-owned market. |
| Everett (Host) | And so you guys have both a free service as well as a paid service. What's the difference between the services? |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | So the difference is in the amount of data that you have access to historically, as well as some additional analytical tools. So if you just want to go check out the website, like I said, everything on the site is available for free in terms of what models you can see. So you can see all 27,000 plus models for free. But if you want to see more than six months of historical pricing data, then we have two different paid membership tiers. One is the enthusiast, which gives you access to a year's worth of history, plus a bunch of other interesting features that you get additional expense. You can create portfolios. So if you want to track, for instance, your personal collection and a wish list, every user can create portfolios for free. But if you want to create more than that many, if you want to create more than that many portfolios, then, uh, it's better if you sign up for a paid membership and you can set up as many as you want. So there's a, there's an enthusiast tier membership, and then there's a professional tier, which is all the data that we have unleashed, unleashed. Uh, and then it also gives you access to some additional analytical tools. So you can filter watches, for instance, by, um, if you want to say, look at the watches that have grown the most in market average over the last six months, Um, there's a filter for that that you can then use, um, if you're signed up for that level of membership. |
| Everett (Host) | So basically you've got the occasional watch seller, the power seller, and then the professional. |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | Precisely. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, great. I'm so that's super excited. So tell us one more time where to find the website. |
| Hamza Massoud (WatchCharts) | The website is watchhearts.com. The final shout out that I will actually made is we just launched a new news aggregator yesterday. So if you go to news.watchhearts.com, You know, so I talked to Hamza for a while and I wanted to give him sort of an opportunity to |
| Andrew (Co-host) | To invite us onto their news aggregator. |
| Everett (Host) | Yes. Yeah, that for sure. But, you know, he he's got this really, I think, cool tool. And I think that this could be useful, maybe not for collectors, but but, you know, certainly anybody who's selling watches, whether that's a handful of watches per year or a lot. I really like the way they've set it up. Right. We've got a tool where you can see You can see the database, but if you're really getting into this, there's tears. I thought it was great. I thought he was really a nice fellow. And so I wanted to give him some time. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Do you think that watch charts could unilaterally act to reduce the gray market price of the Rolex Explorer One? You know, that's a really... Could they just dump it and be like, it's actually worth $2,000 less than MSRP when you sell it used just like everything else? |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, it's a really interesting question. And I think at some point it makes sense for people to be thinking about that kind of thing. Analytics are absolutely powerful. And yeah, I think that it's possible that a company like WatchCharts, given enough community trust, could manipulate sales data. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | So Hamza, I'm going to give you my personal cell phone number via DM. I'll give you Nine months. I'll give you a date. And then in that nine month mark, just dump the Explorer One price. I mean, 50% of MSRP is really what I'm aiming for. |
| Everett (Host) | All right. Well, we'll get you set up. Yeah. You know what? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Is that insider trading? It can't be insider trading. You know, we'd have to ask a lawyer. I did. He doesn't give legal advice on the show, ladies and gentlemen. Who else did you talk to? |
| Everett (Host) | You know, one of the things that that happens at a show like this is you sort of get a feel for you get a bit of a feel for the the social dynamics of the owners. And you got to stop banging on that thing. I know it sort of sticks out in an awkward way. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I mean, it's the hand gestures. |
| Everett (Host) | They have no clue what we're talking about, and that's just fine. Uh, you, you, you get sort of a, uh, an idea there's not to say there's a hierarchy, but there's a certain amount of, uh, reverence for certain brands. And one of those brands is Mark two or MK two. Um, you know, by all accounts, Bill Yao of Mark two is probably, I feel comfortable saying he is the godfather of. the microbrand watch industry that we know and love today. Dave Murphy, many, many, many, many episodes ago, we had Dave Murphy of Murphy Bezels on the show. And Dave is another one of those guys that was involved in the early days of microbrands and pioneering. And on that show, we sort of gave him some credit for that. And he said, look, That's kind, but Bill Yao was the guy, and I've always kind of held onto that. Bill wasn't in New York, and I kind of missed that opportunity. Well, I was able to talk with Bill this weekend, and I'm going to tell you right now, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't ask him more about himself, but in any event, here's Bill. Hi, this is Everett from 40 and 20, the Watch Clicker podcast. I'm here with Bill Yow. Bill, can you introduce yourself? |
| Bill Yao (MK II) | Hi, I'm Bill Yow. I'm owner of Mark II watches, and we also do Tourniquet Gravels. |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | Right, so Tourniquet Gravels is your newest brand. |
| Bill Yao (MK II) | Yes, that is correct. It's new and old at the same time, but yes. |
| Everett (Host) | I don't think it's, it's not uncommon for people when they talk about Bill Yow to talk about you as one of the OGs of the microbrand. How do you feel about that? |
| Bill Yao (MK II) | Yeah, I started off in 2002 modding Seikos. And yeah, as much as I don't want to think about it, I guess I was probably one of the earlier ones, as far as modding and or, you know, going my own way into my own brand. So. |
| Everett (Host) | So you were at the, you know, early, early windup events. How has windup changed since you've been coming to these things? |
| Bill Yao (MK II) | It's just getting better every single year. Like you just see, this is much more like the Basel world that I wished was always happening, right? So you get to handle the watches, you get to talk to the makers as like customers, not as retailers necessarily or press. And then you get to hang out and you get to, you know, drink, have a coffee. It's everything that you wished something like Basler World would be as a collector and just wasn't so. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah, that's right. Well, and here we've got, we got chicken sliders, you can get the beer over at the bar. It does feel very much like, uh, there's couches where you can sit down. It does feel very much like an event. Yeah. |
| Bill Yao (MK II) | No, it's amazing. Like they did, they really knocked out of the park. So like, I'm really excited for New York as well. So this, you know, this should be the start of something great. |
| Everett (Host) | I think that's right. So you've been here now about a day and a half, anything from the show that's really surprised you or any pieces that you've seen that have just blown your socks off? |
| Bill Yao (MK II) | No, it's, it's usually like, you know, For me, like as I've evolved as like either a manufacturer or collector, I'm always surprised about how, you know, the amazing things that these these small companies are doing, you know, like notice and Aster and banks and even brew watches, like even as big as they are now, you know, they're still relatively small. |
| Everett (Host) | So, yeah, that's right. Well, I know you're busy. And so I'll let you go. But thank you so much for taking some time to talk to us. Yeah, thanks for stopping by. |
| Lewis Heath (Anordain) | All right. Thank you. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Man, Bill Yow calling out Notice, Astor and Banks, and Brew. |
| Everett (Host) | You know, Saturday night, I went out to dinner with Andrew Perez of Astor and Banks. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I'm jelly of that. |
| Everett (Host) | Wes and Colin of Notice and Bill Yow, and sat next to Bill Yow, I'll tell you, walking to- Is he left or right handed? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I think he's right handed. Well, you'd know if he was left handed, so he's right handed. I would, yeah, because he was on my right side. |
| Everett (Host) | walking over to, I'm going to fanboy a little bit here, walking over, we went to a Laotian restaurant, Laotian, and it was fantastic. But I had actually had a Tom Yum flavored beer that came complete with like pepper, anyway. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I'm intrigued. We'll talk more. |
| Everett (Host) | Uh, you know, walking over, I turn around at one point and I kind of looked at Bill Yao and the guy, he's a slight fellow, uh, you know, maybe five, nine, um, 140 pounds. He's, he's a slight fellow, but the guy is like every outfit is fucking fire. So he's wearing these like immaculate charcoal trousers with like an inch and a half cuff at the bottom, some sort of bespoke pebble grain, black leather blooker. Uh, you know, and he's got a tiger stripe blazer on. I had a chance to talk to him about it at dinner and he's like, well, when the Vietnam war, when the American advisor, like camouflage tiger stripe, not like, not like orange and black. No, no, no, no. Like camouflage tiger stripe. And he's, he tells me all about when, when the contractors in Vietnam, they, they weren't wearing military BDUs. Instead, they were all wearing tiger stripe to designate themselves as contractors. But these guys would get bolts of fabric. And in Vietnam, they had access to tailors. And so they would take this bolts of fabric to the tailors and get blazers made for like entertaining. And so he's wearing sort of an homage to that thing. Anyway, it was, it was impeccably done, really cool. And you could just tell this guy sort of thinks about style. And in many ways, Mark two has sort of defined the way the micro brand military watch sits in that space. And, you know, anyway, not to fanboy too much, but really sort of, you get the sense that you're in the proximity of greatness when you talk to them. Really a fun opportunity. And I do wish, as I said, I wish I had gotten a little bit more about, you know, more history. So we did talk a little bit, hopefully, Hopefully, I gain enough rapport that we can convince Bill to come on the show. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Someday. |
| Everett (Host) | Someday. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | We'll just trap him in New York. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. You know, Bill mentioned a couple brands. And one of those brands he mentioned, you know, you can tell these guys are friends. One of those brands he mentioned was Astor & Banks. And I feel very fortunate to call Andrew Perez a friend. Uh, but yeah, and so it doesn't feel uncomfortable to ask Andrew to come on the microphone and he's very willing to do so. Uh, so I got just a couple of minutes and I'll play that right now. This is Everett from 40 and 20, the WatchClicker podcast. I'm here at windup day three, sitting at the Astor & Banks table with Andrew. Andrew, can you just introduce yourself? |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | Hey guys, Andrew here with Astor & Banks enjoying my three day weekend here with Everett. |
| Everett (Host) | Veteran of the show, Andrew. So you've been on twice, I think, or perhaps three times. |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | This will be my third time. Okay, great. Great. |
| Everett (Host) | So you're at a product and you came with products. So you've had a successful show. What do you think of the return to San Francisco, uh, return to San Francisco wind up? How do you think this went? |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | I think it went really, really well. Um, we've been really busy the last couple of days. Uh, people were buying watches, which is great, but it was just great to see people, talk to people about watches about what we've got going on. And everyone just seemed really happy to be at a watch show. So I think it went really well. |
| Everett (Host) | So you you brought format the you brought the fortitude light. That is a basically a second edition of your super popular fortitude watch some changes and we haven't had you on the show to talk about it. So what's the difference between a fortitude and a fortitude light? |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | So the fortitude I kind of I kind of compared to like the professional model. The first one was, it had 20,000 pounds of anti-magnetic. It had a date window on it. So that is the professional version. The light version, we took out the date window. It doesn't have as much anti-magnetism. It's only 4,800, which is the minimum. And then we did some change to the middle case where there's more metal in the middle case on this one, so it sits a little bit flatter on your wrist. So that's the biggest difference. This is kind of like the civilian version of the professional version. |
| Everett (Host) | All right, great. And in some additional colorways. So you had a few more colors to start with and you've just introduced for pre-order a new blue that is as of yet unnamed, right? |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | That's right. Yeah, I added some more colors for this run of the Fortitude Light. Mint is number one like it was last time. But yeah, I just introduced a new color. It's kind of like a baby blue or powder blue. And I have gotten a lot of great feedback for it. We'll be doing a free order here soon for some of these new colors. |
| Everett (Host) | Great. So besides your stuff, because I think your stuff is some of my favorite of the show. But besides your stuff, what's your favorite thing you've seen here at windup? |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | So I actually really liked the new fair watch that manual one that just came out with it's got an awesome case. Dial's fantastic. So that's one of my favorites so far. Can't go wrong with MK2, even though he doesn't have anything for sale, but I did pre-order his watch that he did recently. The other one I really liked was Manta's GMT that they did with that opaline white dial, you know, that sold out. |
| Everett (Host) | The Pan Am's feeling. |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | Totally, Pan Am feeling. Kind of Miami vibe-ish, too, with that little bit of a gold. It was beautiful. So those are a couple watches that I really like. There's a lot more, but Those are some that stood out to me. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, day three. You're almost done. Hang in there. Thanks so much for joining us for a couple of minutes and we'll talk again real soon. |
| Andrew Perez (Astor & Banks) | I really appreciate it. Good to see you. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I can name is Blue right now. Don't do it. Blue. |
| Everett (Host) | Don't do it. Yeah. So, you know, I'd say it's kind of a cornflower, but definitely has a bit of a nod to some lady. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | That lady. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. She's good for breakfast. Uh, yeah, no, look, it, I think it makes a ton of sense to ride the train to rebel in that particular, uh, shade of blue. And, and, and it's not on the nose, but in any event, it is really good. All those fortitude lights are fantastic. That, that watch is surprisingly compact. Um, you know, the, the dimensions don't really. tell the whole story with that one. And it wears really well. Our friend Clay actually purchased one this weekend. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | He's supposed to just wear one watch this year. Yeah. Well, he made it to April. |
| Everett (Host) | Uh, yeah. So obviously great time hanging out with Andrew, uh, in those, in those fortitudes, I think that they may be kind of sold out based on this show. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Just dope. That mother of Pearl is |
| Everett (Host) | something else i think there may be a few mother of pearls left uh that blues on pre-order now so if you're interested i'd highly recommend checking it out one one last interview andrew and this is uh one of our favorites always uh these guys were on as as per the usual that's their jam Hi, this is Everett from 40 and 20 the watch clicker podcast. I'm here at wind up at the notice table and gentlemen, can you introduce yourselves? I don't know. I'm sorry. I forgot your names. I'm Wes. |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | Uh, Everett. No, no, my name's Cullen. And this is so weird. You have an orange mic in our face. This is like, have you been interviewed like this before Wes? |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | No, but, uh, but the way he cleaned it was, uh, very interesting. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. So we're here. This is day three, Sunday of wind up everybody. You look around the room. The doors haven't really opened yet. I snuck in. You look around the room. You can see the exhaustion on everybody's face. I think it's been a super full weekend. But how do you guys feel the show went this time around? First time back in San Francisco for a few years. |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | Amazing. I mean, space is twice as big. Obviously, after three years of not doing anything, it's great to finally see people again and actually talk about watches in real life instead of over email and Instagram. So yeah, super happy with it. |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | Amazing. Is that what he said? |
| Everett (Host) | So you guys did not go to New York this year because it's a bit of a, it's a bit of a trip for you guys. And I think, you know, between orders and everything. Um, so this is your first watch show since COVID started, except for the porch, the, the balcony show you did in Macau right at the beginning of COVID. So, uh, In terms of the growth, so windup is a totally, I think, not a totally different thing, but a significantly different thing. What do you guys think of the the changes bigger, a little bit more diversity of product? What are you guys thinking about how this is going? |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | I mean, it's been growing every year. And they've done a really smart thing this year where they added a bar. So it really captures those drunk, emotional driven purchases, those impulse buys. They were very smart in doing that. But this show is like what, almost twice as big as last SF show. The venue is at least half times bigger. There's seating, there's open air. It's a very beautiful place. It doesn't feel quite as crowded as Chelsea Market, but I'm assuming it's just because it's so much more open. But I feel like the amount of people we've seen has equaled that of past New York shows. |
| Everett (Host) | So, very good. Yeah, I really enjoy it. It feels like you can come and kind of be here and not need to like be in a vendor's face or hanging out. There's places to sort of sit down and put your stuff. So this is great. Okay, so quickly, tell us what you guys brought to the show. Tell us what was popular at the show. What are people feeling from Notice right now? |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | We did debut the Avalon 2 bronze. So it's actually our first bronze piece ever. A lot of fun. And how's the reception to that been? Oh, I mean, people are really excited to see something that's non steel. Bronze is one of those things where you either love it or hate it. We happen to love it. A lot of people here loved it. It's already getting really dark and patina because everyone's handling it all their oils and grummy fingers are like getting a dirty and stuff. So it looks good. It's kind of gross, but whatever. And then we have the Avalon 2 steel. We did, people are mainly looking at the clasp, which is our new adjustable clasp system. And people have been really enjoying that. They like the fact that such a small brand like ours is developing things on our own and developing a product and feature that people really want and need. |
| Everett (Host) | And so besides, so you guys have brought, I think you guys have one of the more beautiful tables just in terms of all the bling. You guys get a little capture of the light so you walk by and the sparkles coming from the table. Besides what you've brought today, what are your favorite things that you've seen at the show that's not Winotus? |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | I mean, I love everything that Mark II does. And I love watching him, you know, develop new, well, old, new models and bringing stuff back that people have been following for so many years. I really like what Ferrer's doing as well. First time seeing Norkane and Formex. I mean, we saw their stuff in L.A. when we did an event a while back, but I'm loving their stuff as well. |
| Everett (Host) | Formex Sleeper, they do, it's like, how is this so good? |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | I mean, Formex is an engineering company first, and it's fun to see their innovations. |
| Everett (Host) | Colin, what about you? |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | Favorite thing at the show? Honestly, I like the Vertex. I've always liked the aesthetic. I've always liked the 3D molded indices. I like the military look. That's why I also like Mark II. But I don't know a single thing about the military. |
| Wes (Notice Watch Company) | You don't need to know anything about the military to like it. |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | I feel a bit pretentious liking this stuff and trying to wear it, but you know, I love it all. Um, anything else? Nope. I don't know. Everything here is really nice. Honestly. |
| Everett (Host) | It's just fun to be able to walk around and handle these watches. Well, I know you guys are, you guys are busy. I know you guys are about to get started, so we'll let you go, but thanks so much for joining us for a few minutes. |
| Colin (Notice Watch Company) | Thank you. Yeah. Thanks guys. Thank you. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | So I'm going to drop a hot take. Uh, that might be a pretty unpopular opinion. No hot take it man. And I fucking love those guys. They're doing some of the coolest shit in the industry. And for a brand that is a tenth the size of their nearest competitors, they're just killing it. |
| Everett (Host) | You know, I'm sure this is deliberate, but when you walked in the show, they're front and center, right? You walk in and there's sort of an entry, an entry desk with some gals that are Yeah, if you sign up for this, you put your email in, you'll get a free watch. And then the very next thing you see is the notice table. And, uh, and it makes a lot of sense, right? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Because that's kind of like the bread and butter of windup is the portables, innovative bro brand and Wesson Colon are bros. They're innovators. They make affordable shit. That's also really cool. Yeah. Yeah. And a bronze drop from them as expected. Maybe even a little late to the game, but exactly what the industry wanted. |
| Everett (Host) | You know, the whole Avatar, Avatar, Avalon 2 line is better than advertised. It's, it's very much the Avalon that you know and love and just better at every angle. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | Iterative. That's the way notice does shit. I mean, One run to the next without even an iterative name is an improved upon watch. |
| Wrong music (Unidentified) | Yeah. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | You get blue in 2022, you get the exact same watch in blue, same model color in 2023. There's going to be small changes that are improvements. Yeah. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, uh, you know, obviously, uh, We love notice here. And so that was, again, really fun to hang out with those guys. Andrew, that's all I've got. I had a few more interviews. I had three interviews that we're not going to play because... Were they that bad? Nah, not everybody's as good as others. You know, I think... It was late in the day. There was an open bar. Give them a break. I think I've told you this, Andrew. That's going to fall. Don't do that, oh my gosh. Oris is probably my favorite watch brand. And it's got, it's the whole thing, right? I think Oris is a fantastic watch brand. I think they make fantastic watches. ProPilot X, probably my favorite watch of the show. The pointer date's so fucking cool though. Pointer date, yeah, I mean, you see a pointer date from across the room, so I guess, sick. I did interview someone from Morris. I didn't play that interview because I didn't like it. You know, some brands are really good at this. Other brands are, it's harder for them. |
| Andrew (Co-host) | It depends on who's at the table. Is it, is it a brand person who's at the table or is it like just someone they hired to be at the table? Yeah. Cause I'm sure there's that happening. These brands are not necessarily sending their, their team. They might be hiring somebody local to be like, Hey, can you, sit at this watch show and protect our things and sell them to people. |
| Everett (Host) | Well, I'll tell you, Vijay, Vijay, who's sort of like the American, the, the chief of the American Auris brand is really awesome. He's fantastic. He's easy to talk to. I didn't get an opportunity to interview him and, and the interview I got, I didn't like. So, so we're not going to play it, but very cool watches, really cool to see their, their wares as per the usual. Um, but yeah, you know, It is what it is. Do you have any questions or thoughts about? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I'm just, I'm jealous you got to be there. I'm excited for future windups. I'm excited that things are returning to normal. I'm excited to see some changes in windup, not changes, growth from windup. I think change, I think growth is a more appropriate term for what I'm excited about. Just hearing from Zach what the plan is moving forward. And I'm, I don't know, I'm just excited. even without having been to wind up. I'm excited by wind up. |
| Everett (Host) | Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's a perfect summary. It's, it's exciting. The whole thing's exciting. I loved it. If you haven't gone, I recommend you go, I recommend you find someone to go with and you see as many people as you can come with us, come with us. Hey, come with us, meet these people, talk to people, drink beers with people or coffee, whatever. You don't have to drink beer. Uh, but, Do it. Just do it because it's worth it. It's amazing. I'd love to see you there. Yeah. Andrew, you got anything you want to talk about before we go for the night? |
| Andrew (Co-host) | I don't. This was exciting. I'm happy that you had the opportunity to catch me up. |
| Everett (Host) | Hey, thanks you guys for joining us for this episode of 40 and 20, the Watch Clicker podcast. You can check us out on our website, watchclicker.com. Look, that's where we post every episode of this podcast, but also weekly interviews, interviews, reviews, articles, not so many interviews. Well, the shows you can also check us out on Instagram at 40 and 20 at watch clicker. If you want to support watch clicker and we really hope you do, you can do that at patrion.com slash 40 and 20. That's where we get all the money for hosting hardware. all the things we need to do to make this operation work. And don't forget to check us out next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. |