Episode 186 - Micro Trends with Eric of Rico’s Watches Podcast
Published on Wed, 18 May 2022 21:24:21 -0700
Synopsis
This episode features an interview with Eric from Rico's Watches podcast. Eric discusses how he got into watch collecting, starting his podcast, and the process of securing interesting guests from the watch industry. They delve into trends in the microbrand space, such as the rise of integrated bracelets, dress watches, and the use of new materials like titanium. The conversation also covers topics like the TV shows Peaky Blinders and Starship Troopers, as well as Andrew's recommendation for an affordable tripod accessory.
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Transcript
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| Andrew | 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, how are you? |
| Everett | Just great. I can tell. Just great. You know, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just here. I'm going to have a few bubbly beverages. I'm going to talk about watches? I mean, really, what could be better? |
| Andrew | I don't know. Andrew, how are you? Good. I'm on the tail end of my weekend. I mowed my lawn. Finally, you say that like I was like three weeks late to the party. My lawn needed mowing. |
| Everett | You were literally three weeks late to the party. |
| Andrew | No, I was just the first person in the neighborhood to fertilize my lawn. So mine was the first one to need mowing. Everyone else mows on Saturday and Sunday. I don't get with that noise. So I mowed on Monday. Eat the dicks. My lawn is mowed and it looks just as nice as everyone else's. I didn't clean up the grass, though. I think mine looks nicer. It does. Because you cleaned up the grass. Yes. Also, you weren't mowing like eight inch grass. I was mowing forest. But good. Other than that, like it finally feels like spring. I've been talking about this like for the last couple of days with folks. It hasn't felt like spring here yet. Yeah. It's been cold and rainy, which I know is what people think of when they think of the Pacific Northwest. But usually by May, Mid-May, we've had maybe an 80 degree day, a full week of 70 degree days, and we just had our first 70 degree day this weekend. |
| Everett | And it was beautiful. It was lovely. God bless it. It was so good. |
| Andrew | Yeah. And now, so now it's here. Now spring is finally here. The lawns are getting mowed. Spring is sprung. It means I'm going to be able to go fishing and be comfortable. |
| Everett | At one point on the lawn, there was like four people all kind of mowing their lawns at once. |
| Andrew | What's weird is that we have our neighbors, at least my neighbors, have landscapers that come once a week, every week, all the way through the winter. I'm not sure what they're doing in like January and February, but they're out there running power tools, uh, Wednesday and Friday. |
| Everett | All right. Enough of that. |
| Andrew | Yeah, exactly. |
| Everett | Enough of that because, because we're talking about watches today, Andrew, as usual. And, and to that end, we've got our friend Eric from Rico's watches podcast, who's decided to join us. He's decided to grace us with his handsome mug. Eric, welcome to the show. Thanks so much for being here. What do you have to say for yourself? |
| Eric | Oh, wow. That's a really kind intro and thanks so much. I think you were saying earlier, you know, kind of like me and Andrew are like the 2.0 versions of each other, right? It's kind of a mirror. Bald white guys. Yeah. Sweet. Bald white guy party. Yeah. No, thank you so much. |
| Everett | I'm not bald. I just want everybody to know for the record, I've got really nice hair and a wonderful, wonderful mustache. |
| Eric | Yes. Perfect. Thank you. If I didn't have the facial hair of a PPS and boy, I would hope I can have a mustache half as cool as that. |
| Everett | So that's the greatest compliment my mustache has ever gotten. |
| Eric | I'm all about man. It's a nice, nice Canadian compliment. But, uh, Yeah, I'm great. Thank you so much for having me on the show. I mean, it's a pleasure to come and do this with a couple of other big names that are, you know, in the watch podcasting biz as big as you can be in this biz, right? So it's sweet to chat with you guys. I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you so much for inviting me on. And yeah, that's it. I mean, people who aren't really familiar with the show or aren't familiar with who I am, I'm the host of Rico's Watches podcast, a very similar kind of format I guess to kind of what you guys do. So just, I have guests on from the watch industry, from sort of all walks and aspects of the watch industry, whether it's CEOs, it's other brands, it's brand owners, collectors, designers. I've, you know, I've kind of had everybody from collectors off Instagram to product designers from Tudor and Rolex on my show. I've been very, very blessed with the, guests that have come on and given their time and their feedback to the show. |
| Everett | And well, so let's, let's talk about that a little bit. So you've been doing this now for a year and a half ish, not quite a year and a half, I think. Um, in this, in this context, in the interview context, uh, I think every week you do interviews, right? So you never do a solo dialogue show or monologue as it would be. Um, you, you were always interviewing somebody for the community, right? |
| Eric | Yeah, I did it. I did a Christmas special. I did like the Star Wars Christmas special and wasn't Star Wars related, but it was just kind of that kind of style where I just did like a short eight and a half minute kind of thing and just wishing people a Merry Christmas. And other than that, yeah, I think every week I had someone on right when I started and I kind of was starting to put content out. I really wanted to do that big push. So I was putting out three, four episodes a week until I got to about 30 or 40 episodes and just going as hard as I could. And then now I've settled into a schedule of every Friday, I release an episode with a new guest and I've had a few returning guests come on as well too. But generally it's always someone new from the watch community. |
| Everett | And so give us a little bit about your background. How did you get to watches? How did you get to the point where you're sitting at your computer and you're like, you know what, I should, I should have someone join me via a Zoom call and then record it for the world to listen to us. |
| Eric | You know, it's interesting. I ask my guests that every single episode. That's like my first question out the gate is just, you know, how'd you get into this and how did it end up to this point for you? I've never been on the other side of that question. |
| Everett | I know. And in fact, in fact, I will say, uh, Eric, we always research our guests. Oh, okay. Uh, and very stocky. It is very stocky. Yeah. So, you know, between the two of us, we have access to lots of personal records. However, you're in Canada, uh, which makes that harder. And also you don't talk about yourself a lot. You know, I've listened to your show for going on a year at this point, and it is not the type of show where you talk a lot about yourself. So I'm really excited to hear a little bit more about you, uh, because there is nothing out there about you except for your show. |
| Eric | Yeah, I mean, that's, uh, it's by design. I did that on purpose. |
| Everett | Um, and we're going to ruin that. |
| Eric | Sure. I mean, Hey, I knew coming on the show, you guys are going to ask questions. So I'm here to answer them as honestly and open as I can. And I hope that the people who listen to this and are familiar with me in my format, I'd appreciate it. But to answer your, uh, your original question, um, like I I've been in, I've been in watch collecting now for geez, probably a good, I'd say at least 10 years, maybe closer to 12 years. Um, I wish I was one of these guys that had like, Oh, you know, my great grandfather gave me his, you know, 1969 Speedmaster or something like that. Or, you know, I wish I had a cool story like that, but honestly I was just like, I just came across them one day. My dad, uh, my father, um, had always been kind of a watch guy but never had watches if that makes sense. He always appreciated them for what they were and you know he uh in the 90s or he picked up like an old uh boulevard marine star that was kind of his first nice watch and you know for the 90s it was a very 90s watch and i always remembered that i always remembered that watch growing up and being fascinated with it as a kid but not really, you know, caring that it was a watch. I just thought it was this cool object, right? |
| Everett | Is that the one made by Orient? Is that the, the Orient, uh, Mako case and bezel marine scar? |
| Eric | Well, no. So this one was from like the, this one was from the, this one was from the 1990s. It was, um, it was like a two-tone, had like a blue kind of deep metallic dial with like a two-tone bracelet. |
| Andrew | It was the 90s. So yeah. Yeah. |
| Everett | You know, my daughter has a nineties Marine star and it's a case that's clearly made by Orient. In fact, if you saw it from a distance, you might think it was a Mako. |
| Eric | You know, I never, I never opened up the back of it, but no, it's not, it's a Marine star, but it's not a dive watch. So it was, uh, yeah, it was kind of, it was just in name more than, than in function and design. But, um, yeah. So when I was, geez, I don't know. When I was younger, my dad decided to give me kind of like my first cool watch. Right. And he, he just. It wasn't something we discussed. It wasn't something I really was, I had expressed a lot of interest in. But he just kind of was like, hey, I got this for you. And I thought you might like it. And this is why it's cool. And maybe you would appreciate it. And he actually gave me this one, I still have it. It's a Seiko 5. It's a 7S26 movement. And it still runs to this day, never been serviced, still keeps time, love this thing. And that was really just the catalyst that set it all off. And I had a very, typical experience. Like got that, got another Seiko, got another Seiko, bought a Sea Urchin, bought an SKX, started moving in or moving into like, you know, getting monsters and things like that. And it was like, ah, it's a little, you know, not really for me, but I can appreciate the appeal. Um, and then I, my first real kind of springboard, uh, piece was when I graduated high school, I had a little bit of money saved up. Um, from some scholarships that we get up here in Canada when you graduate high school with a certain level of achievement. Um, so instead of, you know, doing something like completely responsible, like you said, for university tuition, I went and bought myself an Omega Seamaster because I wanted the one that James Bond had at Casino Royale. |
| Andrew | That's the right choice. That's the right choice to make. Well, I mean, you can go always go to college later. You can't always get James Bond watch. |
| Eric | That is true. And, uh, I was lucky enough. I was able to do both, but I, uh, I, just really got into it. And, um, that was it from there. It was, you know, Omega after Omega. I've had, I don't even know how many, five, six, seven Omegas. Um, it was kind of an Omega guy for a while, decided to start expanding my horizons when I started to get more seriously into collecting, probably after I met my wife, um, which would have been a while ago. |
| Andrew | Usually that like really puts it, puts the brakes on watch acquisitions. |
| Eric | So, I mean, I mean, I don't know if this isn't the dating advice, show but i mean what i'll just say is no no we're good with this yeah dating advice please you gotta set the precedent early boys no that's you got it you need to set it early because yeah she's already made her mind up and you're letting her push you around then it's too late she's already wants game over man you might as well you might as well give up fold but no she uh She didn't get it at first, right? I mean, most people don't get it at first until they get it. But she's always recognized that it's my thing. And I think, you know, especially with the show now, she's really seen that there's a community and that it's something I'm really passionate about. And it's sort of like the thing that I really care about. So she gets it now. She's pretty good with it. You know, as much as someone can be, right? I mean, it's It's hard every time, like the equivalent of a vacation to Hawaii arrives on the front doorstep. And she's like, Oh, another watch. It's going to sit in your case or whatever. Right? Like I'll wear it. Yeah. I'll wear it sometimes, you know, wear it for the whole week. So she sees it everywhere and then she never sees it again. But yeah, we, she knows how it is. So, I mean, it's good. So anyways, I, as I kind of moved out of, um, you know, Omega's into other pieces, um, I picked up the Pelagos, which has always been my go-to piece. I love that watch, the Tudor Pelagos. It's a fantastic piece. really good everyday piece. And from there I just like, I was like, wow, like this is something that I really, really enjoy this watch. I'm enjoying having a more modern piece. And I kind of just started getting really, really into it. So then of course the pandemic rolls around, um, sitting around. I mean, I was lucky enough to be in a, in a job where I wasn't necessarily impacted by the pandemic in the sense that I had to worry about not having a job and not having, not having money. So, Um, I was able to kind of enjoy the hobby a little bit more, but just have more money in my pockets. Cause I'm not going out and doing anything else. So picked up a couple more pieces. Um, kind of started to be like, Hey, I've never been a social media guy. Um, but I figured why not give it a go? I'll figure it out. Let's see what this Instagram thing is all about. |
| Everett | No time like the present, right? |
| Eric | Right, so I gave it a try. I set up an Instagram and I started taking some pictures. Actually, my Instagram was actually something else. It was like I was just kind of messing around with trying to make some money on Instagram like a lot of people I think kind of do. And I started doing the whole like, oh, I'll make like an inspirational quote page or whatever. So I did that kind of whole thing just to kind of play with it and see what happened. Uh, it got quite a bit of followers, like right at the beginning, like kind of how the algorithm works. And then I was like, man, I hate this. This is not fun. I'm not an inspirational person. So I'm like, why am I doing this to myself? So I changed it to a, to a watch account, started taking pictures. People, you know, I'm, I'm not a photographer. I don't take particularly good photos. I know nothing about photography, but I'm like, yeah, let's give it a try. people started liking some of the photos people started reaching out and just like introducing themselves right like not to be like oh wow your photos are so great but just to say hey i'm so and so you know nice to meet you and we just start chatting and i'm like wow like this is really nice i mean i've been a member of the watch you seek forum for ever since basically i started getting into watches and it's like a place is full of like surly old men and you know it's not exactly my idea of a bump of a bump in place right but uh the Instagram community so kind. And I had an opportunity to go on a couple, I was invited on as a collector to a couple of shows. I had, uh, I went on a SoCal watch review. Um, I think they kind of did like a bit of a restructure of a lot of their episodes and the way they were kind of running the channel. So I think a lot of their interviews they did with people they don't have up anymore, but I did one, I did one with them. I did one with the land jam podcast. Those guys are really good too. |
| Everett | Those guys are awesome. |
| Eric | They're running a really cool show over there and a really, really good podcast. Um, And, um, I had this idea for a style of a show that I wanted to do. And I pitched it, uh, to a few different people kind of in the space. And they were all kind of like, yeah, like that sounds okay, but not really, you know, I, we already kind of have our own thing going on and I'm like, well, fair enough. And then I thought, you know what? Like, why don't I just, why don't I give it a try? Right. I'm like, I'm pitching this idea to people. It's I think, I think it's a good idea. Why not give it a go? So. Um, and my idea for the show is essentially this one-on-one interview format that is focused on the guests. There is some conversation, but it's primarily focused on the guests. And, um, it's sort of each episode features a different guest from the watch community, from all walks of the watch community. And it's sort of an opportunity, like I looked at it as essentially like I'm the curator that is, you know, collecting people's stories, right? I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm creating. an opportunity to kind of chronicle the people of the watch community, almost like a, like a, was it faces of New York or people of New York, but it's, it's in a conversation format and it's targeted at the watch community. And it's just, it's this one stop place where you can kind of learn about different people from all different walks. They're doing all sorts of different things and learn about watches, learn about maybe their brand, learn about collections, all kinds of stuff. And, I thought that was a super cool idea. Cause it's what's, what's, what's kind of cool about my show is I really have to do very little. I just, I'm like, I just show up and I'm like, Hey, tell me about this. And then I just listened to my guest talk and I'm like, cool. Tell me about this. You know, it's awesome. Right. It's very, it's very easy on me. Right. So, um, and, and I genuinely enjoy listening to people share their stories and I genuinely enjoy how much I've learned and the connections I've made over, over time. And that's really the point of the show. It's bringing people together. It's making connections with people. It's interviewing interesting people. And people have been so generous with their time coming on the show. And that's been the biggest thing. I mean, some of the names I've had on the show. |
| Everett | Well, so let's talk about that because, you know, your very first interview, from what I can find, is sort of Instagram celebrity, but also a really good watch dealer. Alex said, uh, at your authorized dealer, sort of a classic OG, one of these OG Instagram heads. Um, but then pretty quickly, you know, you're interviewing Angus from All-Star Watches, someone who we've had on the show, Vishal Telani, who's a little bit of an odd character, but also like a big character. |
| Andrew | I mean, this is, you're pulling some, like some big game really early on. |
| Everett | And then, you know, by like half a year in you're getting, you know, James Lambden, who is watch sort of superstar at this point. Kathleen McGivney. You've interviewed Matt Farah. You've interviewed James Stacy. Tons and tons of watch journalists, Fratello folks. Pretty quickly, you're interviewing pretty big names in watches. Two questions to stem from that. One, How do you make these introductions? You know, we've got some experience with this type of thing, but how, how are you at this point, you know, less than a year into your project, how are you making these contacts? And of those people, I'm going to make you choose a couple that say, this was maybe the most surprising or the most, uh, exciting interview for you. |
| Eric | That's a big question. |
| Everett | Um, it's actually two questions, probably three compound. |
| Eric | Wow. |
| Everett | you know, objection compound. Yeah, right. |
| Eric | Let me, let me, let me, let me, let me try take that in pieces. So what, let's, let's start at the first part. So, um, I mean, essentially how I made the introductions. Yeah. Yeah. |
| Everett | You know, you, you've got this show, you know, uh, I've got this young podcast, James Lambden, uh, Why don't you tell mom, my baby, watch podcasts and, and do this killer interview and, and both, both of the shows you've done with James Landon, by the way, really good. You know, that guy's a great interview. |
| Eric | Uh, he's, yeah, he's, he's a pro, right? I mean, he, he's awesome. But I mean, I've, um, so Alex actually, it actually starts like right at the very, um, right at the beginning. So, uh, your authorized dealer that came on the show, right. Um, he, Is that he like he actually taught me like basically how to like use like Adobe Premiere Pro. Like he taught me about editing. He kind of helped me really figure out a lot of the equipment. Like he, he was a really big support at the very, he still is a big support. But I mean, he was there at the beginning of really helping me establish everything I had to do. And he, he has, he's buddies with James. So I was introduced to James pretty much right off the hop. Um, and James is a really, really good guy. And he's a really, really nice guy. And he, you know, even though he came on the show a little bit later, he was one of these guys who's like right off the hot, um, you need somebody on the show, you need someone to give me a name, I'll get them on your show. Um, and I can't ask for a better like mystery benefactor. It's like having Bruce Wayne work for you, right? I mean, it's amazing, right? He knows everybody. And if he doesn't know somebody, he knows somebody who knows somebody, right? |
| Andrew | Or they know him. |
| Eric | They're just not on the list to be in his DM. Exactly. So, I mean, he's been so generous and kind in sort of helping me get some of the names on the show that I've gotten on the show. and has never asked for anything in return. He's an incredibly kind man who's done a lot to help me out, especially at the beginning. Once you start getting names like James, Kathleen, Adam Craniotis, I mean, Davide Serato from Tudor and Rolex, I mean, that was a huge one for me. That was, I mean, not a lot of people get Davide on their show, right? When that happened, then you start to kind of build the resume a little bit and it gets easier. Right. When you start, when you start saying, Hey, like, you know, I've had this person, this person, this person, this person, it's like, well, hold on now. |
| Everett | This guy's legit. |
| Eric | Well, I hang out with these guys, right? I mean, like I, they're good enough to be on the show. I'm good enough to be on the show. I'm cool. I'm cool. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, I, I don't, I wouldn't pretend to get into the psychology of these people that these titans of the industry. Right. But, and, and I'm, and I'm, again, very lucky that they even gave me the time of day. But once you've started to establish yourself, I think you said it right, you know, as being legit. That's when it sort of just everything the gates just open up and people are insanely approachable in this space, right? I mean, every we're here because you sent me a DM. Yeah, right. And it's like, it's funny, because we were chatting about something else. And then finally, you just said, like, because you were using a different account. And you're like, I'm the host of 40 in 20. I'm like, dude, why wouldn't you just tell me that lead with that man? Like, come on. I'm like, I told you stocky, man. We told you that right up front. Hey, it's okay. |
| Everett | It's just in the, I mean that I don't really attach my only fans to my, my 40 and 20 account very often. So I usually wait until a little late. |
| Eric | You should, man. You could be, you could be, I mean, you got a lot of followers on that only fans account, man. But uh, Anyways, so, I mean, people are so approachable and it's such a great space for this kind of stuff. Like, people may not always have the time to come on the show because they're busy, like, keeping the gears of industry turning or whatever they're doing. But if they had the time, I legitimately believe a lot of them would want to be on the show. People are just happy to talk about watches with anybody. And that is one thing I think is super unique. It's one of these industries that's really built on trust. And if you're kind of able to establish yourself as a trustworthy person, a trustworthy source, a person who can, you know, respect the rules of like things like, you know, pieces that are under embargo and stuff like that. It's a really easy club to get into, right? The issue is when you're one of these people that's causing problems, then you'll basically be blacklisted for life, right? Or at least as long until the current guard that are in charge of you know, the world that be that's watches move on and then there's new people and now they don't know who you are anymore. Right? |
| Everett | That's why we haven't had Davide on the show actually. That's why. Yeah. |
| Andrew | We've, we've done some things. Well, with that though, you have these, these big names, titans of the industry. I mean, I think that's really appropriate. You also have people like Debbie, come on, just like, and which is not to, not to belittle Debbie in any way. |
| Everett | No, she is tiny. Physically tiny. |
| Andrew | But you have these perfectly normal people who just love watch collecting on. And I think the spectrum of people that you're bringing in is super, super cool. |
| Eric | You had a real question. No, you're right. I mean, just on the point with Debbie, who is amazing, by the way. One of my favorite people. Literally one of like the sweetest people I've ever spoken to and hilarious. Yes. I like the industry isn't the industry without the everyday people, the normal people, right? I mean, we are, I mean, I'd really like the personalities like Debbie, people like you and me having these conversations, even the guy over on whatever God watchers account or watch tasters account bitching that he can't get his fucking Rolex or whatever, or, you know, whatever, right. These, you know, without those people there, This is nothing like this, like this community didn't exist 40 years ago, right? I mean, there was no watch community. A watch is just something that you wore because you needed one, right? And we are the people that are making this a community and making this something special that is worth giving a shit about. |
| Everett | We're the reason that you can do better than a brass plated fossil. |
| Eric | Yeah, not literally the three of us in this conversation. Mostly, mostly us three. We're just some jabronis. But I mean, honestly, like, but it's, it's, you know, the people are the ones that are making this a special space. And I think that it's incredibly important to capture those stories and personalities of those people. Because, I mean, I interview CEOs and brand execs all the time. And I think they're awesome people. I think their brands are awesome, but it's tough for them because they have PR departments. They have HR departments, HR departments, PR department. Yes. There you go. Especially in this world, HR, you know, you know, HR is scarier than the PR people now, but I mean, you got HR, PR, you got, you know, uh, shareholder meetings and shareholders. They have to, you know, they can only say so much, they can only be so expressive, they can only go so much off sort of the beaten path. And after a certain amount of time, I can see how that would sort of become repetitive to a certain degree to the listener. So I think it's important to really perforate all that with people who can be authentic 100% can share their true stories and can 100% be out there showing people who they are and really highlighting the unique personalities in the space. |
| Everett | So, you know, we've talked a little bit about some of the folks you've interviewed. I'd like to ask you sort of follow up on my question from earlier, um, of the, you know, at this point, uh, you know, 85 or so interviews you have, uh, can you give us some, maybe not, it doesn't have to be your favorite. We don't have to make pick favorites here, but perhaps some of the most surprising or the most interesting interviews you've done, you know, I've got sort of, from my list, the ones that I kind of highlight, but I'd like to hear from you. Which are those interviews for you? |
| Eric | Oh man. I feel like a mom being asked to choose which one's her favorite. |
| Everett | I know you got to choose. You got to choose. |
| Eric | Um, I loved my interview with Davide. I thought it was like, I, and it's just so cool to be able to talk to somebody from, you know, the shield and crown. It just doesn't, it just It's so hard to get anybody, period. Period. To talk to anybody. Even ADs. I mean, let's be real. Well, I mean, right? I mean, so let me see your bi history first. That's what the first thing they'll say, right? But I mean, the, that was so cool. And to have him as early on as I did, I absolutely was just blew me away. Um, Vijay Geronimo from Oris. That was a really cool one as well too. I mean, Oris was a brand that I never had the, um, you know, I've had a couple, but I don't have any in the collection. I've, you know, I've, I've, I've, I've tasted change a little bit as I've gotten older and there's not really my, my thing. Um, but I love them as a brand. Um, John from Brew Watches, literally the nicest guy. in the watch world. He's the nicest human being, period. And he's come on and hijacked my Instagram lives before and things like that, just to pop in and say hi. He's such a cool cat. |
| Everett | One of my favorite people. |
| Eric | I love chatting with him. I mean, James, obviously, we've already talked about him. His interviews are just phenomenal. That guy's just, he's just one of those guys who just can always say the right thing, you know? And it just comes out perfectly every time and I really respect him. Kathleen, I've had Kathleen a couple times on now from Red Bar. She's an incredibly important influence on the show and giving her time to kind of build a relationship with the show. She's phenomenal. Matt Farah. |
| Everett | I was going to say, tell us about Matt Farah because I think that's one of the most compelling interviews. |
| Eric | I knew that's who you wanted to hear about. |
| Everett | Give me some smoking tire. |
| Eric | I guess, like, what do you want to know? Like, Matt's a cool guy. |
| Everett | I mean, he... How did you make that connection? You know, Matt Farah obviously has connections to the watch world. Yeah, I mean, he's... Him and Cameron Weiss for, you know, I think a year and a half or maybe just a year, did a very, very fun, very good podcast where they record a video. So he's sort of in the community, but I feel like he was always one foot out. And then, you know, we found out sort of towards the end of his run that he was on contract and... And he was like, I'm out. I'm done. Uh, and that's fine. I, I suspect exactly how you made that, that, that contact based on the things you've already said today. But tell us a little bit about, uh, you know, how you get Matt Farah on the show, what that looks like. |
| Eric | So Matt was, um, actually I literally just sent him a DM. I was like, Hey man, this is who I am. This is what I do. Obviously you're Matt Farah. Do you want to be on the show? And he said, yeah, man, let's record next week. And I'm like, All right. Cool. |
| Andrew | And then did it actually happen next week or was it like phone tag back and forth trying to lock down? It was really that. |
| Eric | Wow. No, he's like, give me a date. I'm like, this is the date. He's like, cool. Works. It works for me. And we both showed up on time and we did our thing and it was good. He's very, um, like he's got a big personality. He's a cool dude. He's a great interviewer as well. Obviously he's a little bit more professionally trained cause he's, you know, does a lot of like high quality production stuff. This is what he does. Yeah. Um, Very business, very business guy. Like when the mic and the camera is off, very, he's all business and I can totally respect that. And he was, he was really, really cool. Um, he, uh, I did a collaboration piece with, um, PD bay watch company, which is a company based in Detroit. Yeah. I made, I made 50 watches. Uh, we use like a Sarah coat and some, you know, forged carbon on the dial and, and Artem straps for sale, like sailcloth straps and Crazy Lou and made this really cool, like tactical kind of watch. Um, and I'm like, and I know Matt's, uh, Matt is a, um, turtle collector. So he loves Seiko turtles. And I just said, Hey man, um, I'm making one of these. I know you like turtles. I'm only making 50. They're serialized. Do you want one? And he's like, yeah, no questions asked at mail link. He bought one right away. And, and, and, uh, 20% of it goes to, uh, the sale of each one went to, um, the veterans watchmaking initiative to support that program. Um, so he was all about that and incredibly cool and supportive. Um, and yeah, just. Awesome guy. Matt was an awesome, awesome guy to chat with and really generous with his time and gave the show a big bump as well to having him on. That was a really, really cool to do that. James Stacy was awesome as well. Again, that was, that was through, through James. Um, he, uh, obviously they're all kind of in the same circle and, and, uh, James is, or, uh, James Stacy is a, uh, another Canadian. |
| Everett | So, um, we were able to... Very Canadian accent with James Stacy, right? Well, no, there's no secrets about his Canadianism. |
| Eric | No, no. And I mean, we, you know, we, I think when you're on this side of the border, um, you, there's just almost sort of this, it's an unspoken obligation that now I'm speaking about where you sort of need to, you sort of need to, um, if you can try and support other Canadian content creators, whether it's Canadian strap companies, watch companies, other Canadian podcasts, whatever, because it's so hard. It's so different on this side of the border, how it is on the other side of the border. And if you have the opportunity to work with other Canadian, uh, you know, content creators, companies, whatever, it's so great to be able to do that. And we all try and kind of support each other when we can. And that's something that I think is really special. And I think, you know, there's maybe some of that going on when James agreed to be on the show. |
| Andrew | I don't know, you're pulling some big fish, but you, you, We brought you on for, you know, number one and talk about your show and to steal your tricks to bring good guests on. But also we wanted to have a conversation with other micro brand knowledge people. And you talk about this limited edition watch doing these cool things like super good lume. this tactical feeling, which is not the word you use. That's the word I'm going to use because I think that's maybe more appropriate because it's cool and tactical and just tactical. We want to talk a little bit about some trends in the industry. And we talked to Mike France a month ago, maybe? Yeah. Relatively recently. And we kind of talked, we talked to Mike for a period. |
| Everett | We call it, we call it Mike because we get big interviews occasionally too. |
| Andrew | We talked to him. We had Mike. We called him Mike. I'm addressing him. It was super cool. Like I still have wet spots in my pants when I talk about it. |
| Eric | Could have changed your pants for this episode. That would have been okay. |
| Andrew | No, I haven't changed them. They're the same pants. |
| Eric | Special pants now. |
| Andrew | It's raw denim. You don't wash those. No, you don't. It's seasoned now. But one of the things we talked about is trend setting and trend following. And A point he brought up was the nimble capabilities of the micro-brand world. And the small brand, you can call it micro-brand boutique. We had, I don't know, multiple hours of argument on our WatchClicker staff text thread about this. And some people got offended. We were getting shitty with each other about this terminology and why. We want to talk about that. We want to talk about trends in the micro-brand industry, not just what we're seeing, but also the role that micro-brands have in trend setting. |
| Eric | Okay. I will 100% answer that, but just on my last part of my last question, I just want to wrap it up with one thing because I actually figured out the very diplomatic answer after putting all that effort into giving you a very undiplomatic answer. My favorite guest on the show was my dad. |
| Andrew | That's it. That's the answer. |
| Eric | There you go. |
| Andrew | I was kind of waiting for that, but that was the right answer. |
| Eric | I'm a shitty son sometimes, but you know what? It was, it was really cool to have him on the show and how often you get to have your own show and then have your dad as a guest on your show. That's it. I'll leave it at that. We'll launch a new topic here, but yes, trends in micro brands, you know, great, great segue to this. |
| Everett | I noticed you're wearing a watch. I think a very cool watch, a watch made by a guy who we've had on our show. So we don't really do risk checks on our show. |
| Andrew | Yeah, because we don't wear watches while we record. |
| Everett | Sacrilege. We bang them on the table, it makes too much noise. I do know that you're wearing a watch made by Ken Lamb, the Arken Instrumentum, and I love this watch. |
| Andrew | It's one of the most surprising watches of the year for me. |
| Everett | And I think it really, in some ways, embodies the thing we'd like to talk about. You know, we talk on the show a lot about micro brands or small brands have this versatility, this nimbleness, this dynamism that you don't find in the bigger brands. And in some ways, micro brands, like Andrew was saying, are required to trend set, but in other ways, they're required to trend follow. So that's kind of what we want to tap into. What are the trends for better or worse? What are the trends of micro brands? And One of the things you brought up when we were talking about this earlier, Eric, is the idea that materials are up to the maker to determine. We make a joke about the 316L stat line, right? Which is fine. 316L is a great material for any number of reasons. But it's become a bit of a joke, especially you know, or at least for us, which it's this selling point. Well, every watch. |
| Andrew | Is made of 360 now, unless it's not, but it's not made of any other kind of steel, unless it's proprietary. |
| Eric | And, you know, it's like saying a car is tires. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, of course, it is tires. Four of them. It's a fucking car, right? I got it. I get it. Yeah, no. |
| Everett | So this watch, this watch, Kim Lam, I think he's doing a lot of dangerous, hard things with this watch. Yeah, he's making hard decisions. Style but materials too, right? |
| Andrew | He's using what like t2 top to bottom design. |
| Eric | I mean shit Yeah, so I mean i'm probably not the most uh unbiased person because I am the uh, only current, uh arkan ambassador so i'm actually have a I actually have a partnership with them and that's the show was the the ambassador sort of to Arkin, right? So, um very tight relationship with ken we talk almost daily and have since Geez, I don't know basically when the show started. Um, and he's a phenomenal dude. He's got a really interesting history, which I think he gets a little, he's gotten a little bit into, into my other episodes I've done with him on my own show. But, um, the instrumentum is such a, such a wonderful, wonderful watch. And at the second I saw the renders of it and I saw his photos of like the prototype, I was like, yeah, that's, that's something special. Um, and if it wasn't going to be, Um, the trendsetter going forward for watches, it, I think he made a very future-proof design. I think it's a watch that if it's not going to be relevant now, it will still be, it'll be relevant later. And, and he did some really cool things with it. Uh, just making a whole watch out of titanium. I mean, that's, it's not an easy feat. Titanium is a hard material to work with. And, uh, I see it becoming easier to work with, which is how micro brands now are easy or are able to, uh, produce titanium pieces at an attainable price now. Um, but. And I think that that sort of, um, way we're seeing materials have to show up more in the micro brand space. That's something that's sort of demonstrating that a lot of these materials like carbon, for example, titanium. Cerakote, for example, with my watch that I designed, things like that. They're becoming more readily available, but Ken did a phenomenal job on this watch. Did you guys order one or have you had the chance to have one in hand? |
| Andrew | I haven't had one. |
| Everett | Did you have one? No, haven't had one in hand. Ken is one of the few owners that we've had on our show before they have product. Eric, I assume you're the same, but we get a lot of owners contacting us before they have watches really ready to go. And that's a gamble. That's a gamble, especially with these Kickstarter watches. You know, it's sometimes like a question, is this gonna happen? And it's hard to know that looking forward. As soon as we saw the instrumenta, we were like, this is really cool. We need to have Ken on the show. And we weren't the first. He had started to make the rounds at that point. But you know, right? It's one of these things. I will note, Ken is not the only one using titanium right now. We've got some other sort of small brands. Draken comes to mind, RZE, a little bit bigger brand, not a brand I'd call a micro brand, Formex using titanium. We're starting to see, I think that effectively we can call titanium a trend right now. |
| Eric | I think so. I think that it all, um, I mean, there've been titanium watches on the market for probably the last 20 years in some iteration, right? I mean, Casio was offering them at a decent price. I mean, Panerai was doing it as well going a while back. But I mean, you even get into, you know, I think the really the first really big titanium watch that really stirred people up and got attention was the Pelagos from Tudor, right? And that was you know the first iteration with the ETA and then later on when they went in-house I think got even more attention because it was kind of part of the whole in-house shift for Tudor and ever since people have seen that you know titanium watches and particularly dive watches could be a commercial success people want them and they want to try them out and and you know Tudor is starting to go the way of Rolex where it's hard to get your hands on them sometimes um and Microbrands are there to fill that gap and offer people an opportunity to get something on their wrist or experience something on their wrist they might not be able to. Otherwise, I think Ken did a phenomenal job making something that encompasses a lot of interesting design aspects that you wouldn't be able to get anywhere else at its price point. I mean, this is a $500 watch. It's full titanium. It's got the ratcheting extending clasp. It's got this really cool kind of Vacheron-esque. |
| Everett | Yeah, we can call it a Vacheron bracelet. It's okay. We can call it a Vacheron bracelet. Maybe you can't. We can, though. |
| Eric | But where are you going to get a Vacheron-esque bracelet for anywhere? It's 500 bucks, right? |
| Andrew | It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's one of the most surprising releases in the last year for a lot of reasons. Number one is that it's designed top to bottom. And number two, is it like, it just, it, we expected him to be sold out the moment he went live and it didn't happen. I can, I still, to this day, can't figure out why. |
| Eric | Yeah. I don't, I don't, I don't believe they sold out. Um, but I know he sold a lot of them. Ken won't even tell me how many he sold, but he said he sold a lot and, uh, I can appreciate that. Um, I know, I think they said it ended up putting on a site that they're being limited to 300. So, um, once they're gone, they're gone. And then there'll be other iterations using the the instrument of DNA going forward, as well as other models that will be developed going forward. But the instrument is going to be kind of like the core of the collection for the next little bit. And, you know, Ken, again, we'll talk about Arkin in a little bit for a couple more seconds, and then we'll move on to other brands, because I want to, you know, we have a lot of brands you want to discuss, and you brought up quite a few already that I think are really interesting. But, you know, Ken wanted to make this an expression, almost like a love letter to the watch fam, right? He's so incredibly passionate about the watch family in this community. He's one of these guys that's doing things the right way for the right reason. And he wants people to enjoy his watches. And he wanted people to be able to get something special at an accessible price point. And that's why he made the Instrumentum. And it's really one of those watches that needs to be experienced. And if you're able to do so and get your hands on one, I do not see you being disappointed. It's a really, really cool watch regarding some of the other pieces you're talking about, or some of the other brands you're talking about that have started utilizing, um, titanium. I mean, Formex, I mean, Formex is like, talk about an overnight success. That's an awesome brand that just came out of nowhere. And all of a sudden they're making these incredibly well-made Swiss watches and just incredible watches too. |
| Everett | I mean, not just, not just well-made, just incredible, you know, and we talked about this recently, Andrew, uh, Foremex, a brand I've had an opportunity to get hands on a number of times, and it's really hard to understand what Foremex is from an Instagram post, right? These watches are so neat. I don't know how practical it is, but their suspensions, I mean, I have been really blown away. |
| Andrew | A tool watch, I don't think you can truly appreciate the value of a tool watch until it's in your hands. Yeah. |
| Eric | I mean, one thing that I really like about Formax and that I look for in basically any watch that I buy now, and it's one thing that I've really carried going forward into collecting because it makes, it cuts out a lot of fluff from the industry. I don't like derivative designs. I like brands that have established their own design language. Formex came out of nowhere, created a watch, it looks like nothing else. No, they're Formex. Yeah, look at that watch. It's a Formex. Exactly. Right. And anything that looks even remotely like that's like, oh, you're trying to make another Formex. But Formex did it. |
| Andrew | Or it's like a 1996 one off from a brand that decided, nah, we're not gonna stick with this. |
| Eric | Yeah, or they're not even around anymore. Right? Like it's so I mean, there's that's really impressive. And that's hard to do. I mean, it's, if we're talking about a, uh, an industry that's been around for hundreds of years and, you know, tool watches have been around for, you know, we're looking on probably 70, 80 years now. Like it's hard to come up with something that's completely 100% original and, and they did it and they did it well. And I got to give my kudos to Formax. |
| Andrew | Um, you know, I think we use the instrumentum as the next jumping off point in, in kind of themes in the micro brand industry and trends that we're seeing. And I don't think it's trend setting. I think it's trend following. And we're seeing it in the way of integrated bracelets. And these are not proliferating quite yet, but we're getting kind of the germination right now of seeing integrated bracelets popping up here and there where, you know, two years ago, a year ago, we're not seeing it at all. Number one, because people don't like it. But number two is because it's It's hard to do. And I think one of the things that micro brands have always prided themselves on is their versatility. An integrated bracelet destroys versatility. |
| Everett | Yeah. You know, it's interesting you say that, that germination, I think that's a great phrase for, for what's happening because at some point I remember thinking integrated bracelets are something that it, that the micro brand eschews, particularly because It really limits your options. I mean, there's a thing that happens when you get a watch with an integrated bracelet, be it a Seiko, you know, a 1998 Quartz Seiko or whatever, right? You now are limited. You can't put it on a NATO. You cannot put that on your toxic NATO. You can't do it. We know that that's true. Your strap code. Yeah, that's right. That's right. There's this thing that I think existed for a while in microbrands, to the extent the microbrands were a community or followed some sort of CCNR, one of those was, thou shalt not make an integrated bracelet. And I think we're starting to see that, a bit of a germination, as Andrew said, of the integrated bracelet. I've written down a couple examples here. Atelier Winn. I'm probably not pronouncing that exactly right. It's Artillery Winn. Retta. Arken. There's a number of brands that we've seen in the last year. And I actually think this might be something that's catching. |
| Andrew | I think it's brands getting confident with their bracelet manufacturing. That's what I think. Like you can wear this on just my bracelet because I'm confident enough in my bracelet. And I think a brand like Arken doing it is because he is confident enough in his bracelet. That's my thought. Eric? |
| Eric | Yeah. So I think, I think there's a few parts of it. Um, I think it's, it's probably a two or three pronged answer. Um, and I think all of them play a factor. Um, you know, I think you're right. I think part of it is, is massive improvements in, um, manufacturing and, If you're making a watch and the first thing the majority of owners do is rip the bracelet off, throw it in a box and put a NATO or something else on it, that kind of tells you that you're making a shitty bracelet, you know. I'm a bracelet guy. I'm one of those guys that, you know, I've tried to put watches in other straps and it's like if it came with a good bracelet that was intended to be the stock bracelet, I always ended up back on the bracelet because it's just like This is the way the watch is supposed to be. And I'd never really like, I had this, I had a, uh, being an Omega guy and then having like a speedy as well. Like you get those really just like squared off kind of like non tapered bracelets that, you know, Omega was known for particularly in the two thousands. And I never found them comfortable. The first time I put the Pelagos on and it had that nice tapered bracelet that it had on it. That was, you know, Rolexes are kind of synonymous with, I was like, oh yeah, this is the way it's supposed to be. Oh, I get it now. Yeah. Yeah, now I get it now. Exactly. Right. And, and, you know, I've tried putting the Pelagos and other straps and I've always wanted to keep it on the, uh, I've wanted to keep it on the bracelet because the way it's supposed to be the, the biggest, well, I wouldn't say the biggest, but probably another part that I think is very important is realizing you're leaving money on the table when you create a 20 millimeter, 22 millimeter, 18 millimeter, uh, lug width that now anyone can go to a third party for to provide a strap for. Right. Essentially, it's like when Omega went in-house and started creating the 8500 series movements, the biggest thing that happened is that now you can't take your watch anywhere else to get it serviced. It's gotta go to Omega. So the little old man down the street, you'd service your Omega for a hundred bucks, you know, because it had an ETA movement in it. He can't do it anymore because Omega won't give him the tools. Now you've got to go to Omega and pay 800 bucks for them to service your watch, right? So now it's, oh, you know, I think I want another bracelet or another strap, but I can't go get a normal one. I have to go back to the manufacturer and it's like, oh hey, joke's on you, your strap's $250, here you go. |
| Everett | Let me just say, if the old guy down the street services your Etta Movement for $100, bring him a $100 bill and also bring him a bottle of Macallan. That's a fucking deal. He's doing it right. |
| Eric | Yes. I mean, of course I'm using hyperbole. You understand the point I'm making, right? Is that it's generally a lot cheaper to go to a third party. |
| Andrew | Well, it's certainly cheaper than to go back to Omega. I mean, to any of these luxury Swiss retailers, you're going to pay way more going to them for servicing. |
| Eric | And your watch is going to be gone for four months too, right? |
| Andrew | Optimistically. |
| Eric | Well, you know, I'm trying to give people some hope, but I mean, That's how that's how it goes. That's how she goes, boys. So it's just it is what it is, unfortunately. And I think that, you know, even micro brands have now realized that they have this capability to manufacture these high quality straps, bracelets, and they can just make their own and then they can charge you sometimes exorbitant prices to pick up their strap or their or their bracelet. And then you're forced to go back to the dealer back to the supply, right? So that's my big thing. I think, you know, also they are cool and it's an opportunity to create a more artistic expression that continues on into the bracelet without just being like, okay, now it's got a standard lug width. Yeah, just slap an oyster on it and let's get it out the door boys. Like, you know, that it gives you the opportunity to create something that really, you know, flows from the case into the bracelet and wraps around the wrist and do some really cool stuff. I mean, that's, you know, we love Gerald Genta designs for is their integrated bracelets because it, yeah, it's an expression of the watch as a whole, not just as the head of the watch. And then the bracelet or the strap, it's an afterthought, right? |
| Andrew | It's not just the shoes. It's, it's the whole, the whole get up. |
| Eric | It's the whole fit. Right. So I think that that's kind of, you know, to me, those are the big reasons why now we're seeing that shift happen. |
| Andrew | And I guess, I think micro brands are, are really the ones who are, who are blazing the trail on good, affordable bracelets. Cause I have a bucket load of Seiko, bracelets that are just sit in the box. But like Traska, this bracelet is never coming off. Number one, because it doesn't scratch. This thing is absolutely indestructible. But like my Mamata bracelet never comes off. The Christopher Ward bracelet doesn't come off. And these are these small brands that are leading the charge on extremely comfortable bracelets. And I think they're well ahead of their price point competitors in big brands. |
| Eric | Well, I mean, there's, you're right. And I think that there, I mean, regardless of the price that they charge, there's always going to be value in the micro brands. That's kind of the whole point, right? Is they're giving you, they're giving you so much value for what you're getting because you're cutting out so much of the fluff that otherwise inflates the prices of these luxury pieces. But I mean, here's a perfect example of, you know, sort of to, to counter the, the argument for our, for, you know, bracelets that are, I'm sorry, I'm forgetting the word now. Integrated. Thank you. It's been a long day, boys. I'm sorry. I wish I had coffee and not just water in this car. You've really disappointed us. You're doing it wrong. We're drinking beer, man. We're getting tatered right now. I'm a super lightweight, man. I wouldn't be making any fucking sense if that was the case. But no, the integrated bracelets is, you know, Zinn, for example. So Zinn, I mean, not really a micro brand, but they were like a smaller brand for a long time. |
| Everett | Sure. Not a micro brand at all. |
| Eric | But yeah, point taken. The majority of their watches, you know, they come on a bracelet. They come on bracelets that are sort of iconically Zen. |
| Andrew | If you get, if you can get the watch that you want. |
| Eric | Yeah. It didn't used to be a problem nowadays, but I mean, yeah, you can, you can get the watch that you want, but I mean, essentially, you know, they have their own bracelets that I think they do a really good job of integrating that bracelet into the design of the watch while not giving you an integrated bracelet per se. Right. Sure. Um, But I mean, also they give you like the same shitty clasp they've been producing since 1989. Right. So, I mean, that's, that's the biggest, that's the biggest gripe of Zins. Right. But I mean, there's an example of how giving that attention to detail. Now there's not that obsolescence to the design of your bracelet that people are like, ah, this blows the same thing everything else has. I'm going to go buy something else. It's like, oh, like this works with the watch. This was part of the intention in the design. And I think Zin did a really great, good job with that. And that's kind of, you know, if, But for so long micro brands, you're picking from a catalog, right? I mean, we've really seen like the micro brands that we're talking about today and the micro brands of the world today that we get excited about. That wasn't a thing until probably what the last 10 years, optimistically, more like five. Yeah. I think it's more realistic. Yeah. I mean, do you, do you remember the Helsins and Armitas of the day? That's right. |
| Everett | Just fucking catalog oyster. |
| Eric | Well, I ship it and just bricks, just brick, sharp angled bricks. And don't get me wrong. |
| Andrew | They're smaller and victors. That's all they were. |
| Eric | Well, they were big. |
| Everett | No, that's not true. I mean, a shark hunter, that's a fucking dope. |
| Andrew | It's a shark hunter. It stands out against the crowd. The shark is dope. |
| Eric | Listen, I we owe as a community so much to those brands. Those brands were like, we're talking the fucking Model T's of micro brands, right? I mean, those were the trailblazing watches and brands that created the market for micro brands that we have today. We owe so much to them. But you look back at them compared to what we have today. And you're like, Jesus, like, we pay like 600 bucks for these things back then, or 400, right? You know, and well, it |
| Andrew | We'd still pay 600 bucks for them right now. I looked at a Shark Hunter recently. It's still 600 bucks. |
| Everett | It's a really interesting thing, right? I think at some point, probably circa 2014, 2015, microbrand, for all intents and purposes, meant overbuilt. That was a term that was popular in microbrand terminology back then. Overbuilt dive watch, right? What we're talking about is some variation on a Rolex Submariner, probably. Oyster bracelet overbuilt. This thing's going to be heavy. It's going to be chumpy. It's going to be angular, right? I want to talk about another trend in microbrands because something I've noticed here in the last sort of like an integrated bracelet where there's a germination happening, I think we're seeing more microbrand dress watches. So we famously did an episode about a year ago called The Dress Watch Is Dead. |
| Andrew | We called it RIP Dress Watches. |
| Everett | RIP Dress Watches. Yep. And I think that we're seeing a resurgence of the entry level small brand dress watch. And I think this is a good time for us to talk about this just a little bit. So of note, just in the last... And I think we can redefine |
| Andrew | dress watch a little bit because we're not getting a traditional no water resistance, no functionality, no loom dress watch. We're getting dressy sport watches. |
| Eric | Yeah. Well, field watches, right? Effectively. |
| Everett | Well, so let me bring up a couple of examples that I looked at. So Walden, this is a this is a classic or sort of a heritage brand out of New York. And it's totally different than what it was. But Walden is a brand that's making quartz watches. Quartz watches, fairly dressy, really attractive, high quality affairs. Baltic just recently introduced what I think could only be described as a dress watch. |
| Andrew | Cincinnati, WatchCo is doing it. Cincinnati, right? |
| Everett | Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Chronotoky. We've seen a number of watches come out from brands in the last, let's say, 18 months. |
| Andrew | I think we call the Traska commuter a dress watch. It's a dress watch. |
| Everett | That's a sport watch, but I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. So I think we're seeing the ability for these brands. The Helsins are not the only game in town. right? We're starting to see sort of a return to affordable small brand dress watch. What do you guys think is going to happen there? |
| Eric | I'm not a dress watch guy. Okay. So I'll start there. I'm not that guy. Okay. I'm not, I'm not the dress watch guy. I wear a diver every day. Um, I had one dress watch and it's, well, I guess I'm, I have one dress watch and one sort of dress watch. I have an original like 1953 Omega Seamaster dress watch and I have a 34 millimeters and then I have a... A tool watch. |
| Everett | A tool watch in its time. |
| Eric | Well, exactly. In its time. A tool watch. I mean, I wore it to get married and that's why I had it and it was a great dressy I don't know if I'm the most qualified to speak on dress watches. So before I offer an opinion, I don't want anybody to hold it against me. |
| Andrew | Oh, fine. Wildly. That's what we do here. |
| Eric | Well, I just, I don't, I don't need to get canceled by the Twitter mob. Cause I say something about dress watches. |
| Andrew | You're not going to get canceled on our show. |
| Eric | It's just our moms and your dad. There you go. Fair enough. Um, I, uh, I think it's an interesting. It's interesting to see. I think that it's sort of one of those things where it's like the next natural step, because particularly in the micro brand space, it's always been dive watches. Yeah, it's just, it's always been dive. I mean, chronos are too expensive to make as a micro brand company. |
| Andrew | And people just, just fucking hate courts and I don't get it. |
| Eric | It's, it's one of those things where it's like, if you want an automatic, chronograph or a manual wind chronograph. It's a little easier to get my manual wind in the, in the micro grants, in the micro brand space because of like brands like Seagull, for example. Um, but like, if you want an automatic chronograph, just fucking pay the money, go buy an automatic Hamilton, pay your 700 bucks and you got one. |
| Andrew | If you want a super car, you're not going to get it for civic price. You're just not, it just doesn't exist. |
| Eric | Right. So, I mean, you can buy an affordable one. If you want a Ferrari engine, you can go buy a Maserati and, you know, I mean, you can do, you can do that, but, and pay a little bit less, but I mean, really like go to the prof- if you want a complex, complicated watch that has a unique complication of some kind or, or an expensive comp- just go to the people that are doing it right. Yeah. But when it comes to micro brands, the focus is for so long, just been exclusively on dive watches. And then we sort of did this weird, field watch thing where everyone was obsessed with field watches and everyone was pumping out a field watch, which was cool. It was interesting. It was something, it was a departure from the norm of, of dive watches all the time. And now I think it's just sort of the next step, the next evolution. It's the next natural step. It's like, what's cost effective. What can I sort of work into my established, uh, catalog now that, you know, we, a lot of these brands have dedicated followers. It's like, Oh, I love Baltic. I love their dive, their dive watches. I love their style. Why not get a Baltic dress watch, right? I think it's just the next affordable, reasonable step for my cool brands to do. And it's really right now, I think it's kind of like the people, the brands are doing it, they're testing the waters, right? I mean, this could either be the next big thing. Or it could just be dead on arrival for a lot of these brands. And it's like, okay, we'll just go back to divers because that's what people want. |
| Andrew | I think we're seeing go ahead. I think we're seeing a return to pre World War Two billions of watch brands who are all viable. Yeah. Well, I think we're in that world. |
| Everett | We're in that. |
| Andrew | We're in that world where there can be a hundred watch brands who are all, maybe they're not doing their own manufacturing, but they're all doing their own design. They're all doing their own marketing. They're all independently viable watch brands that can exist within the space. We're going to have, I mean, we've already had it. We've had flash in the pan watch brands that show up They do a run, they do 3, 5, 700 watches, and they're never to be heard from again. We're seeing this happen. This is this pre-World War II proliferation of watch brands. We're there. We're in the golden age again. |
| Everett | And I think by way of being there, brands have a lot more freedom to do things that they couldn't have done in 2015. And I think much like the integrated bracelet, much like the dress watch, Much like the smaller watch, you know, we've now seen, we've now seen, uh, Traska, Laurier, obviously. |
| Andrew | C36. I don't know if that's what they're calling it, but Christopher Ward has promised a 36 millimeter. |
| Everett | Christopher Ward is going to dip into that field. So we're starting to see just brands able to open their wings a little bit and do a thing that they maybe couldn't have done. So if there is a trend, I would say the trend is. proliferation of idea, right? We no longer have to have the chunky sub homage micro. And that's been the case for many years now. |
| Andrew | But we're in a watch renaissance. |
| Everett | We're in a watch renaissance. And if there is a trend, I think that that is it. I think we should all enjoy it. The next time you hear someone say, oh, do we need more watches? The answer is yes. The answer is yes. We need more watches. |
| Andrew | Even if they suck. |
| Everett | We need more. Give me more. It's an amazing time to be into watches. |
| Andrew | Because it empowers that creative spirit. That's right. Right? No, Laurier doesn't exist without the existence of a creative spirit. Brew doesn't exist without the existence of a creative spirit within this community. And these are some of our favorite watches in this space. |
| Everett | You know, I love John. I love John. The finishing on brew watches is good. but it's nothing to go crazy about. No, the design is great. It's that watch is a hundred percent design. People like John because he's an amazing guy, but people like brew watches because they're fucking crazy and amazing. |
| Andrew | They're fun and they're cool. And that doesn't exist without frankly brands failing. Brands putting out a watch and saying, this is what I have for you. And it just doesn't work. It doesn't scratch the itch. Yeah. They just mistime it. All right. Doesn't happen without that. |
| Everett | All right. All right. All right. Wait, wait, wait. Sorry. Okay. So, so we're going to look, we're getting long in the tooth here. |
| Andrew | That's our thing, but I've got, we produce the only hour and a half long one hour podcast. |
| Everett | All right. I've got a really important question for Eric. All right. Speaking only of their time in Edmonton, only of their time in Edmonton, coffee, Messier, Griffey, Griffey? Not Griffey. Gretzky, go. |
| Eric | I'm a bad Canadian. I don't watch hockey. |
| Everett | Jesus Christ. I've been waiting for an hour and seven minutes. |
| Andrew | You're a Canadian and you don't watch hockey? |
| Everett | Yeah. |
| Andrew | Isn't that like a national pastime? |
| Eric | It is. |
| Andrew | I mean, I don't watch baseball, if I'm being fair here. |
| Everett | I heard him say Gretzky, and I think that's fair. |
| Eric | It's a fair. Yeah, yeah. It's a safe answer. |
| Everett | Look, Gretzky is the goat of goats. |
| Eric | He is. |
| Everett | And he spent his, he spent his, his best years in Edmonton. So I think it's a fair answer. Although I think there's an argument for Messi. |
| Andrew | People who don't even know hockey know Wayne Gretzky. The goat of goats. |
| Eric | And there's a reason for that. So I'm going to go with him. |
| Andrew | Wayne Gretzky and Tony Hawk are the two most transcendent, and Michael Jordan, three most transcendent athletes of all time. No, I don't know. But there's people who don't know Cassius Clay. OK. All right. |
| Everett | There's a problem there. Well, look, Eric, I got to be honest. I'm a little bit disappointed. |
| Eric | But is there is there is there like an option B? Is there a better question I can answer for you? |
| Everett | No, because that's the only thing I know about Edmonton. |
| Andrew | The only sport in Canada. There's the Raptors. |
| Everett | Andrew. Oh, other things. |
| Andrew | What you got? So I didn't take the time to see if I'm circling back to another thing or not. But frankly, I don't care. No, you are for sure. I'm confident that I am. You are. I'm telling you, you didn't look. I know you didn't look. I'm just confused now. So I started rewatching a TV series. I was on Netflix the other day and I was like scrolling. I'm like, I don't want to watch. There's too many things, fucking problems. And the Peaky Blinders tile came up. Mm hmm. And I was like, it's a great show. Okay. Round two, Peaky Blinders is knocking my socks off. Way more than round one. I've watched the whole series. I know what's going to happen. I am more titillated round two. This show is- You're titillated? Yes. Way more than round one. And for those of you who have somehow missed the boat on this 2013 to the last season came out in February, I want to say. |
| Eric | Yeah, I think they're making another season or they're working on one. No, they shut things down. |
| Andrew | It just air. Oh, so it's airing right now if it didn't air. So three April of 22 was when season six dropped. And I know I've watched it. I don't know how I watched it. Doesn't matter. I've watched it. I'm totally caught up. I've seen the whole thing and this series is so much better round two. If you haven't watched it, do yourself a favor. They're hour-ish long episodes. There's only 36 episodes. A lot of the shows we recommend are asking like 80 to 100 hours of your commitment. This doesn't feel like a commitment at all. It's super well acted. It's super well written. It's not like drama for the sake of drama, right? We're not talking about like Yellowstone or for some reason there's like a rival gang showing up in Montana to fuck up your world. This is real like 1920s gangland sopranos kind of feel of expanding your gangland industry. And it's so fucking good. |
| Everett | You know, I've thought about this a little bit. Peaky Blinders. It's a wonderful show. The characters are amazing. The characters are absolutely amazing. What's the name of the guy who plays Bane? |
| Andrew | Oh, God, you're going to ask me that? It's Tom Hardy. |
| Everett | Tom Hardy's character in Peaky Blinders is totally nuts. It's why he got Bane. It is totally nuts. So look, this show, so the era, so this is post World War One, post Great War England. These folks are World War One veterans. And in the world, what you're seeing is this transition from it's the industrial revolution we're seeing the the onset of it but i i think i think maybe more importantly for for us us today it's this transition from quote-unquote modernism to post-modernism and you're you're just you're just right at the edge of seeing these characters show up with these very post-modern ideas. And that might be a little bit deep for our conversation today, but it is a wonderful show. The characters are so well-developed beyond what they have any business being. I love it. |
| Andrew | I love that show. Yeah, and every character you meet is well-developed. There's some peripheral characters, right? Like to just keep the story moving. But even those characters, like you understand who they are and why they matter. Watch Peaky Blinders. I'm really glad I'm going for round two. If you haven't done round two, do round two. |
| Everett | Eric, other things, what you got? |
| Eric | Um, yeah, I mean, just sort of off of what you were bringing up regarding Peaky Blinders, and then I'll kind of bring up my own little topic there. Terrific show. It's a really unique kind of It explores a part of history that isn't usually explored on television, which is that like end of the imperial era of England, end of this colonialism to the extent that they had up to that point, you know, seeing that life of sort of like what the great depression was like across the pond, you know, like you see some of this poverty. I mean, this movie takes, or the show takes place in like the twenties, the thirties, and we're talking like the, you know, the dust bowl era, the dirty thirties, you know, for what's going on in America, you're seeing what's going on across the seas. You know, you having these these guys who yeah, you're right. I mean, they went through World War One. I mean, we're talking like, that's a war. That's crazy bad stuff, right? That went on over there and seeing them come back and adjusting to normal life. And it almost like, it just it makes so much sense. Also, like, it was one of those movies or one of those shows. I keep saying it's a movie. It's one of these shows that, you know, They don't do anything just for the sake of doing it. Everything that happens in the plot line has a reason to it and it matters and it makes sense. And that's what I loved about it. And you're right. It's one of those shows where you can go back and rewatch it. And when you, now that you know, kind of what the general plot is, you're not hanging on to the edge of your seat. You can pick up on so many little things that you maybe didn't notice the first time and it makes it that much more of a cooler show. And I totally dig it. I totally, Sopranos was like that too, Breaking Bad. Shows like that, right? But I mean, again, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, you're talking in hundreds of hours. I mean, they have eight, nine seasons, things like that, right? But yeah, 12 episodes seasons. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Great, great, great show to get into. I'm glad you brought it up and recommended it. Um, I'm a big sci fi nerd. I love, uh, you know, so like one of the things with the show, it's not watch related. It doesn't involve the show is like the name of the show. Um, cause my name is Eric. I go by Rico on the show, um, literally the same number of letters and three out of four of them are the same. So it's kind of a shitty nickname. Um, but, uh, I, I went, uh, I went with, uh, Rico's watches because I'm a really big sci-fi nerd and there's a movie that was made in the 1990s and it is on Netflix. |
| Everett | I know this movie. |
| Eric | You know, this movie, it's I hope you don't like bugs. It's God, I fucking was so hoping you would say this. I got you. Starship Troopers, man, and Starship Troopers. And I didn't know this. And this is it's on my summer reading list now. I've actually already started. It was actually a nineteen fifty nine novel that was written. |
| Andrew | The best book I've ever read. I bought a new copy and I've worn it out. |
| Eric | Oh, it's so cool, man. It's and reading and reading the, you know, the view on this book. It's, it's really interesting book because it's, is, this is a book that was written post-World War II. It was written, uh, kind of, cause we weren't in the Korean war. You guys were though. Korean war years, I was like 51 to 57 or something. |
| Everett | It's in Korea. Yep. |
| Eric | In there. Yeah. Um, the, so we're talking just post-Korean war still, you know, not a super popular war, but a lot more popular than Vietnam was. Um, and now you're, looking at a point of view of the author who actually was a vet of, I believe, both wars and his view on what society would be like going forward into the future and sort of what would be necessary for society to survive in this post-colonial era of going outward into space, right? Now we're going out and expanding outward into the universe. We're doing what humans do best, which is rape, pillage, kill, and take over shit that isn't ours. And we're real good at it. And we're real fucking good at it. So that's what we do is we go in outer space and start doing to everyone else in the galaxy that we've been doing to each other since the dawn of time. And some, you know, organisms take great exception to that. They take great umbrage with that sort of behavior and start to do the same to us. |
| Andrew | In fact, they're actually better at it than we are. Not to spoil anything, but that's their thing is that they're better at it than we are. |
| Eric | there was something like it was something like if all this it was either all the spiders or all the insects in the world somehow started communicating and working together they could literally wipe us out in 28 days oh that'd be easy you know how many people are scared of spiders right but like literally like literally like just just devour us all absorb all of our biomass and just you know be done with us right like it's crazy but it's so cool i think the the book i mean the the movie was written a little bit more or shot a little bit more contemporarily because it was in the 90s. |
| Andrew | It was a huge miss relative to how good the book is. |
| Eric | I will tell you what it was. |
| Everett | I think that movie is underrated. It's I agree. I watched that movie three times a year. It's not the book in the book is a post postmodern masterpiece. However, however, that movie is severely underrated. |
| Eric | It's yes, I agree. It is incredibly under and it's one of those ones as age of a fine wine. The older I get and the more I watch that movie, the more It's cool. And so anyways, that's the namesake for the show is instead of Rico's Roughnecks, it's Rico's Watches Podcast. |
| Andrew | Right as soon as you said that, I was like, he's he's about to talk. He's gonna be Rico's Roughneck. Dizzy to this day is like one of my greatest sustained childhood into adulthood crushes. |
| Eric | There you go. I mean, that's, I think she I think that was a lot of people's crushes, especially at the time that that was that the movie came out. And, and it was a really neat film and the way it was shot. It was, I think it was a famous French director made the movie, if I recall. |
| Andrew | I don't remember who directed it. |
| Eric | It was a name I hadn't heard before and I haven't heard since. But my understanding is he's a big deal, particularly in Europe. And it was really, really interesting. That's all I can say. |
| Andrew | He did Robocop and yeah, Hollow Man. Yeah, Paul Verhoeven. Paul Verhoeven, yeah. |
| Eric | Okay. |
| Everett | Sweet. He's a player. Uh, well, look, you guys, so you've, we've now talked about, I mean, surprisingly intellectual conversations about, uh, about not immediately accessible intellectual things. Uh, I'm going to talk about an accessory for a tripod. You're going to bring it down. Is that okay? Is that okay? If I dumb this down, bring us down a notch. Uh, look, I've got a tripod. It's a nice tripod. It's not an expensive tripod, but in terms of, you have a Manfrotto, it's a nice tripod. It's not a Manfrotto. It's a me photo. I thought you had a Manfrotto. I've got, I think it was like $160 tripod. It's very well built. It, uh, one of these brands that came out sort of circa 2010, 11, um, right at the time where the tripod, I would say there was a bit of a tripod revolution happening. There was. And I got a very good sort of direct to consumer tripod. Uh, but it's, it's starting to get a little older and it's starting to become a little bit limiting. And one of the things that I've been struggling with is overhead shots. So I either need to like pull whatever my shirt shooting surfaces underneath the tripod, which is hard. Yeah. It's, it's a little bit tricky. So someone told me recently, well, you can get one of these aftermarket boom arms. Um, you know, basically a bar that sits on top of your tripod horizontally. And so I found a, I found a boom arm from a company called, I think it's Neewer. Neewer. Neewer. N-E-E-W-E-R. They're a player, right? They're a player in sort of affordable Chinese made, uh, photography accessories. They make umbrellas, any number of things. They're sort of the cream that's rise to the top in terms of these brands that feel like mushroom brands. But I picked up one of their boom arms. And if you go to Amazon and type in your boom arm, you'll be able to find this thing. And Andrew is kindly going to link this in the show notes. But I bought this thing and it's not exceptionally well made. I paid 40, 40 ish, 48 bucks, bucks for this thing. And, um, it came in a little box and, well, you know, this is not nicely packaged was for, you know, 45 bucks. I hooked this thing up to my tripod and it does, it does exactly what I want it to do. I have with a $45 purchase made my tripod instantly. so much more versatile. Uh, it's totally non-destructive installation. Uh, and I love this thing. This has totally changed the way I do watch photography. So two weeks ago, a week ago, even I could not get my camera directly over the top of my watch. And for 45 bucks, I can now, extend my camera over the top of my photo for over it. It's crazy. It's crazy. And you can put this on, I think just about any tripod. It's fantastic. I love it. It is well-made. I wouldn't say it's exceptionally made. There's some plastic pieces that might be better if they weren't plastic. It's not a super high quality product. I don't think it has to be. It is functionally exactly what it needs to be. And I just love it. I like I've been taking more pictures because this thing is so nice to use. |
| Andrew | And as you'd see by our Instagram, because I don't do that anymore. |
| Everett | So that's my other thing for the week. It's not literature, certainly by by any any interpretation of the word. However, it is my other thing for the week. That's a good other thing. |
| Eric | It's not literature, but it's still art. |
| Everett | Exactly. It may enable you to make art. |
| Andrew | I accept that. |
| Everett | Also, Eric, it's been great, man. I really, really, really appreciate you, uh, being willing to come on and just talk, uh, talk about yourself, which I think is something you have not done a lot. I'm glad to have had that opportunity to talk about you a little bit. Anything you want to add before we get out of here today? |
| Eric | No, uh, honestly, just thank you so much for having me on. It was an absolute pleasure. You guys are a blast to, uh, to chat with and, and you are, um, the show is an absolute credit to the space. I'm going to be subscribing and listening to the show. Um, and I can't stand the sound of my own voice. So I, uh, I'll skip my own probably, but, uh, I want to listen to other ones. And, uh, I really think that, you know, uh, people need to be checking out your show. I'll be sharing it with my audience likewise and getting people excited about it. Just thank you. I had a great time and you guys are awesome. And I hope someday soon we can do this again, either on my show or your show again. I think that'd be fantastic. |
| Everett | Really, really good, Eric. Thank you so much, Andrew. I know I can just tell by the fucking stupid smile on your face. You don't have anything good to say. |
| Andrew | Nothing ever. Nothing. Not ever. Not once. Hey, you guys look. |
| Everett | Thanks for joining us for this episode of 40 in 20, the watch clicker podcast. Uh, what I'd like you to do is I'd like you to check out Eric Rico's watches podcast. You, you can find Rico's watches podcast anywhere that you listen to your podcasts, Spotify, Apple. Uh, you can check us out at watch clicker.com. Look, that's our website. Uh, also on Instagram at watch clicker at 40 and 20. We'll post pictures, articles, really good stuff from time to time. If you want to support what we're doing at Watch Clicker, you can do that at patreon.com slash 40 and 20. That's how we pay for things like these fancy microphones, this nice mixing board, all the software, all the hosting. And it's a lot of money, so we appreciate your support. And don't forget to check us out next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. |
| Andrew | Goodbye. |
| Everett | Oh. |