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W&W 2023 – Day 3 – Tag Heuer, Biver, IWC, Ressence, and Zenith

Published on Thu, 30 Mar 2023 00:17:56 +0000

Ben, Danny, and James are joined by Hodinkee's Chief Brand Officer Eneuri Acosta to chat about some of their favorite new releases, watch spottings, and macro impressions from Watches & Wonders 2023.

Synopsis

In this third day of Hodinkee Radio coverage from Watches and Wonders, host James Stacy is joined by Chief Brand Officer Henry, Danny Milton, and Ben Clymer to discuss their experiences at the show. The conversation begins with reflections on standout watches they've encountered, including the new TAG Heuer Carrera with its improved 39mm case, Parmigiani's strong showing with the Tonda collection, and Vacheron Constantin's impressive overseas retrograde pieces.

The group discusses their visits with independent watchmakers, highlighting the personal nature of these interactions compared to the larger brand presentations. They share enthusiasm for meetings with Trilobe, where they learned about innovative technical solutions like using AirPod batteries, and Ressence, where founder Benoit Mintiens personally explained the intricate mechanics of his oil-filled watches. The Laurent Ferrier booth and the independent watchmaker area provide a refreshing contrast to the corporate scale of major brands.

Discussion turns to broader trends at the show, particularly the prevalence of titanium watches across multiple brands, from IWC's new Engineer line to Rolex's GMT-Master II. The team debates whether titanium represents a growing trend or has already peaked. Pricing emerges as a consistent theme, with the consensus that prices feel "punchy" across the board, though this seems to be an industry-wide movement rather than brand-specific. The group observes that most brands are releasing fewer models but in greater depth, focusing on quality over quantity.

The episode concludes with reflections on notable watches seen on collectors' wrists throughout the week, including rare vintage pieces like the Patek Philippe 3970 and the Daniel Roth Tourbillon commissioned by Asprey. The team emphasizes the value of looking beyond the headline releases to discover hidden gems from smaller brands like Trilobe, Ressence, and Chopard, which will be featured in the next episode.

Transcript

Speaker
James Stacy Welcome back to day three Hodinky Radio from Watches and Wonders. I'm your host, James Stacy. I'm joined today with a new cast of characters. Chief Brand Officer Enry, how we doing? Hey. Good to
Ben Clymer be here. We got Danny Moulton back again. Hey, James. For at
James Stacy least part of the show. He's got a heart out. That's how these things go. And finally? Heart out. Oh, okay. He's gotta get out of here. Got it. Ben, how are we doing?
Ben Clymer Good man. You all right. Yeah, yeah, no complaints
James Stacy . Staying in the mix, enjoying the watches. Saw some fun stuff this morning already, and I get to do uh some other brands I like this afternoon. Get go check out my one of my favorite high low combos outside the show, which is Doxa and Dave Toon
Ben Clymer . Yeah. Those are pretty different brands
James Stacy . But I I like both uh for their own reasons. Uh what have you guys seen? I think you know, we've done a couple episodes so far. We've kind of done the kind of done like plenty for Tudor, Rolex, Patek, Langa, that sort of thing. We get Chopar later today, tag later today, so that'll be on tomorrow's episode, I assume. What have you guys seen in the last, you know, twenty four hours that kinda kinda caught your interest?
Henry Yeah, I think for me, um you you know the first couple of days you kind of get overwhelmed by everything from like the Rolex paddock uh tutors of the world and then like when you start to dig dig in a little bit deeper, uh you start to find some interesting things. Um I I spent some time at Zachoyer uh yesterday. Saw some stuff that's not been announced yet, but it's coming out later on this year and it's really interesting. Uh you see the
James Stacy new Carrera though? New Carrer's great.
Henry I think that the the I think that the case for it, thirty nine millimeter. It's really good. That little uh glass box and it's actually thinner. It's I I think it's thirteen point seven millimeters thick. Uh so they've reduced it by about half a millimeter
James Stacy . Okay. Uh over the current uh
Henry uh iteration of that thirty nine millimeter case which I personally love um with the Hoyer O two movement in it. Um so I think they have it
James Stacy 's upgraded Hoyer O two. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think
Henry that the lugs for it are great. Um yeah, uh I think that that new the new Carrera line in 39 is a little bit of a sleeper
James Stacy . Yeah, I I agree. The um the lug
Ben Clymer s are also super compact. Yep. So it's
James Stacy 39, but I I had it in for review. Oh, that's right. You've seen this far. So we get it. I wore it. I I wore
Danny Milton it for like a few days. It wears like a thirty seven millimeter vinta
Henry ge Hoyer chronograph. Par
Ben Clymer migiani's probably the highlight of the day. Well, two things. So beaver. I saw Jean Claude and Pierre this morning. Saw that.
James Stacy Oh, tell us more about that. Uh so the
Ben Clymer the wash that's that's out now, and they will admit, is it was kind of like put together in the last year, basically. Uh you know, off-the-shelf movements effectively, but kind of combined in new ways. And the quality is super high. Like you can't can't knock that. Uh, you know, it is what it is. It's 520,000 Swiss, etc. It it wears well, but I think the really exciting stuff is what will come next. I didn't see the product, but I saw what it will be. Like I saw schematics of the movements, et cetera. And it's gonna be real good. There's no question about it. When somebody says I'm gonna make a watch in twelve months, like that's not easy to do for anybody, including Jean-Claude Beaver. Uh but you have to know that like he's got some crazy stuff planned and indeed he has some crazy stuff planned
Henry . what I would compare it to that's out in the market right now. And it's it's been really hard to pinpoint. What what are your thoughts on that?
Ben Clymer A Hue Blow, like some grandcom Hue Blow. You know, it's uh it's big and like masculine and it's a re it's a re repeater carrion with turbion, like you know, the the multi-complication, multi-high complication watch feels a little dated to me, to be honest. Uh you know, complications are hot. And we see Daniel Roth doing a turbion and AP and PatTech. Like they're still doing that stuff, but the multi-complication stuff in that kind of case size feels a little dated to me, feels a little 2015 and if not 2008. Um, but that was kind of beaver's calling card with Hugh Blow and and elsewhere at Blanc Pont, even right. Um, but yeah, quality super high, you know, there's a lot of stuff that they do. Like they they finish the rear of the dial, like the back side of the dial, which is like pretty unusual. Like each uh each letter of beaver is applied individually. It's not like one, you know, one kind of unit. It's like little stuff like that. On their on their Pave or their diamond set case, like on the repeater, like there's diamonds under the slide. So when you slide it, there's still diamonds on the case ban. Like, you know, they they they really went above and beyond on that stuff. Um and you know, they've sold they're making I think twelve watches this year and they've sold twenty three.
James Stacy Yeah. So I
Henry everything that he does has just such high expectations uh tied to it and everyone is going to have a really strong opinion. I found it really interesting that he actually went in a more masculine, modern uh direction with this initial design. Because I think that most people were probably expecting him to do something like really classic, really chic, really traditional. Um, and that may have caught people off guard a little bit too. But so
Ben Clymer that that was a fun way to start the day. And then Parmigiani, super strong. I mean, like, like, which is like kind of funny to say, because like Parmigiani historically, like last time I was at the SIHH, like nobody paid attention to Parmigiani.
James Stacy And last year they had a really strong year, yeah. Kind of developing their own design language, that sort of thing. And I I've only gotten a chance to walk by and see the stuff in the glass. What what stood out for you
Ben Clymer ? A I mean just the the Tonda period like the time only on the wrist is like killer. You know, it's like royal oakish, you know, just really drapes over your wrist, the big size and the small size. Uh they're now doing diamond set indices, which is cool. Um chronograph is amazing. Uh there's a real split second. GMT. The GMT
Henry is really good. Oh, the GMT is so good
Danny Milton . Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're they're hav
Ben Clymer ing fun over there. And like, you know, this is, you know, they they've always been well regarded. Like they make movements for other people. Like, like that is a real watchmaking house for sure. Um, but it was just like the design language that just like didn't connect with people, and now they've done that, and all of a sudden you've got like really high quality stuff, mostly micro rotor, all like real in-house, not like bullshit in-house. Um, and they've got winners on their hands. Like no doubt. No doubt about it
James Stacy . That's rad. Yeah. The uh the other one that I saw yesterday that I finally got to see in person were the the trio of the new model, the new retrogrades from Vach
Ben Clymer eron and the overse
James Stacy as especially I mean like I'm I feel like I'm probably predetermined to appreciate an overseas more than a traditional or a patrimony. Just you know the my my love of uh just something kind of sporty and I love that they were a lot of brands that that ha are in that mode with the integrated steel sport watch, you know, it's maybe it's fifty meters, maybe it's not a screwdone crown, they're still doing a hundred and fifty
Ben Clymer . Yeah. And it's a it's a nice thing. And then
James Stacy that dial is absolutely incredible, the mix of the the retrograde with the moon phase and somehow still feels like it fits in the line despite that being a pretty kind of classic sort of dress watch layout.
Ben Clymer Yeah and it's a little the retrograde is a little like Don Pancho, if you remember the watch that that Phillips sold. recently I think that some inspiration there. I mean retrogrades are historic bashron complications, obviously. What else did we see today
Henry ? I haven't seen it yet, but I've spoken to a couple of collectors and everyone's like really raving about the new IWC engineer. Uh ye
James Stacy ah, we checked those out of the titanium especially. Yeah. We chatted a little bit about it on yesterday's episode, but we had a meeting with them and and most of the line, most of what they're showing this year is the the steel stuff they had what what do they call the bright dial?
Danny Milton It the blue dial, the like the blue, blue, green, if it's like uh aqua blue or something, something in the in
James Stacy that in that. Yeah, they had a tone, they had a name for it. But they're they're it's weird because all I want every time and this is not this is not IWC's problem. It's like all of them is the all those watches will make the most sense when they fit.
Ben Clymer Like when the bracelet fits. Yeah. It's like wearing a royal look that's too big is like not a nice experience. Yeah. Yeah.
Danny Milton And you try to you try to hold it to your wrist and it doesn't it doesn't work.
Ben Clymer It's like trying to drive a car and you can't set up the
James Stacy the seat or the steering wheel or the any of the things
Ben Clymer the pedals or right. Exactly. You're just kinda like imag
James Stacy ining what it would be like if it fit you. Um and and so that that would be the only delta between what I experienced yesterday and what I think an owner would experience.
Danny Milton We got those in advance too, and they sent, along with the two of the newer models, some vintage engineer pieces. Um, the jumbo SL and comparing, because it's not a reissue. People keep saying it's re-issue, but it's not. It's like a modern variation, a modern riff on the sort of Gerald Genta design engineer. Uh and I think it's cool that IWC kind of went for it. The dial is pretty modern with the pattern on there, the sort of checkerboard pattern. Um and it balances out with the bracelet and the case design. Uh it wears really well. It's the kind of release where it's not super splashy. It just sort of wor
James Stacy ks and you know, I think people are g
Danny Milton onna be really into it. Yeah. Um so it might not necessarily like get my blood going at the show, but I feel like six months from now I might still be thinking about the engineer a little bit. Yeah. And I would not knock someone for buying one. Yeah. Yeah,
Henry I I thought the price for it. I think it's eleven seven is quite interesting for a steel sports watch, you know, relative to the compensation.
Ben Clymer Bit punchy. So that that's funny. So somebody from our team said the opposite. Yeah. I thought I thought
James Stacy that that price was kind of surprising just because it's over the Alpine Eagle.
Ben Clymer I also felt it was high. Which is I really
James Stacy like. Alpine Eagle is a higher quality
Ben Clymer watch, in my opinion. I agree. It's different I mean it's it's far more elegant than the Engineur for sure
Danny Milton . I just uh I don't know enough about the mov
Ben Clymer ement on that DBC to really comment with certainty, but it it felt punchy for me for sure. 'Cause like okay, you're coming into a royal look, but it's nowhere near the quality of a royal look. And then to be clear, but not trying to be.
Henry Right. Um but you know, I think I think
Ben Clymer they might be thinking exactly what you're thinking, which is most people are copying this to a Royal Oak or a Nautilus, which is four times the price or whatever.
Henry That's exactly where I went with it. Yeah.
James Stacy Yeah. I mean I think I think the other thing that I appreciated about the one that we checked out when in the meeting was the I the titanium to win is my one of my favorite eras of IWC was the one that kind of ended right as I got into watches, the GST stuff.
Ben Clymer We quit before you got into it. We saw you coming, we're like, W
James Stacy hat I mean the the GST kind of script on the
Ben Clymer Yeah. That that could that could go in a new version
James Stacy . But I I like it when they're one of these brands that I think titanium like kind of fits
Ben Clymer their their concept. Yeah. I mean more so than almost any brand here.
James Stacy I think so, yeah. So I I was glad to see that because I don't you know I I had seen the steel ones in the in the kind of press releases and that kind of thing and then to see the titanium and it has a sort of a grayer dial with black with kind of darker accents And
Danny Milton kind of a bead blasted titanium case.
James Stacy My guess is like with uh say my peligos, like the first couple scratches will be the most obvious and then after a while
Ben Clymer There's nothing worse than the first scratch on a royal oak. That's
Henry I've been there. It sucks. It's painful.
James Stacy Is it because the scratch becomes like mirrored?
Henry You can't unsee it the ones. Yeah, you can't understand. It
Danny Milton 's the only thing you see when you look down at your espe
James Stacy cially across the bezel, right? Oh god.
Ben Clymer That's a tough one. And then
James Stacy w we saw uh Laurent Ferrier this morning. We sa
Danny Milton w Laurent Ferrier, we saw uh Trelobe, which honestly, for people that think they know what this show looks like, big booths and sort of extravagance, when you come into one section of this place where most of the independents are, you end up just sitting down having a conversation with the guy or the person behind the brand, the person who makes the watch, who came up with the watch. And that's what we had today with Trilobe. Um, we just literally were like sitting down and he was showing us, you know, what he created this year. And it's a really interesting thing That's a
Henry really interesting point. Uh this area of the show uh where kind of like the independents are you you just woke up and have a conversation with Laurent Ferrier
Danny Milton . Yeah.
Ben Clymer He's like behind the wall behind you. Yeah. Or
Henry or you go have a conversation with Benoit over essence. Yeah. And you see how much effort and how much love, you know, and how much time he's putting into kind of like the development of everything, you just can't can't help but fall in love, you know, with what they're doing.
Ben Clymer Yeah. It it's it's tough to see some of the
James Stacy big brands as more than their CEO, as more than B Vair on the dial, or like these kind of big personalities, or the kind of like if you think of some of the other brands like these kind of quiet personalities that hang out in the background and it's hard to judge the personality. But then you come to this spot where all the indies are and the the product is that person's personality. Like there's uh like there's a uh you know, there may be two people away from it's them and a watchmaker and then a watch that comes out the other side.
Ben Clymer Yeah. And some of it's really cool and that that
James Stacy uh trilobe Yeah, the U
Danny Milton ne Foyer Journey with diamonds.
James Stacy But it's it's uh it's a tall watch.
Danny Milton If you think sort of like MB and F a little bit, sort of the domed crystal, you but smaller forty millimeter much smaller, like a 40 millimeter. Their whole thing is um telling time differently. So you're not really reading time the same way you would on a wall. There are no hands. So what they have are three rings and they're three-ensdionimally stacked for hours, minutes, seconds down the dial. Um but
James Stacy what was very cool to see was one
Danny Milton where each ring was set with baguette diamonds. Um and apparently they told us that they needed to create a platform that was a mix of titanium and a few other really light metals. Otherwise, with each setting, diamonds could fly, just pop right off of the ring. Because they're not
James Stacy sitting between little mounts of metal. They're against each other, apparently
Ben Clymer . Okay. Yeah. Be
James Stacy cause the watch is read off a single point and the three kind of I mean, you wouldn't read the seconds on a watch like this, but the minutes and the hours adjust themselves to that central point. On the diamonds, they've actually hand painted the numerals around. And it had I thought it was really cool, but the standard one which is titanium and if you look at it you'd go, This has to be MB and F prices, this has to be you know, it it's a not an inexpensive watch, that's not what I'm about to say, but I I was surprised in titanium with this sort of nice um kind of off off tone brown coppery sort of coloring in in the low twenties.
Ben Clymer Yeah. It's like twenty one thousand. Yeah
James Stacy . Yeah. They're really charming watches.
Henry Is titanium still a trend? Are we seeing a lot of brands still doing titanium? I
James Stacy think we're seeing more than last year than ever. I mean titani like not to go back over the Rolex thing, but we've got a you know, like a a non fifty millimillimeter, you know, uh kind of market Rolex. Does that mean by the time R
Ben Clymer olex does it that means it's over? I don'
James Stacy t know if it's over. I mean I guess beginning. But like if more people do emoji watches and bubble watches then yes, I think like we like do they start a trend or do they kind of get in when they're ready? Yeah.
Ben Clymer They kind of do both, right? Like they started the rainbow thing for sure, right? Clearly the last to Sapphire case packs. Yep. Uh, you know, so you just don't really know. They're they're always at the polls.
James Stacy I think we're seeing more titanium this year. We obviously just talked about the orange and our uh so there's there's Odysse thereus's.
Ben Clymer So not this year, but last year Odysseus in Titanium. That is for sure like the hottest langa that's come out ever, I think. Like I know people that were like are dying to get it and they just can't.
Henry The hottest langa ever. I I'm
Ben Clymer not saying like the hot like for not like my opinion. I just mean like in demand and you can't I don't I don't think any have delivered. Like I think when they do deliver they're gonna go many times retail. Um people are in love with that watch. Yeah you
Danny Milton had Tag Hoyer double down on titanium and the solarar
Ben Clymer graph this ye too. That
Henry 's actually a hot watch. It is. It really is.
Ben Clymer Really hot watch. What's the coolest watch you guys have seen on the wrist of somebody this week?
James Stacy I've got something pretty cool on, but we can't talk about it
Ben Clymer . No, you can't talk about it
James Stacy .
Ben Clymer And I was like, what are you who who are you again? Yeah. Yeah, no. We can't talk about what you're doing. Y'all are gonna like it
Danny Milton . Did I did I see
Henry uh an explorer dial submariner earlier?
Ben Clymer Yeah, so Wolf uh from uh Rare and Fine is runner sixty two hundred, which they call the King sub, like the original one, also seen in John Mayer Talk and Watches Part Two, which is a big boy sub. Goldberger's got two tank normales, like original tanks on it. I saw their own Mark
James Stacy 's Insta, yeah. Yeah, those are really neat. Oh,
Ben Clymer I saw uh Jean Arnaud is wearing one of the the original Asprey commissioned uh Daniel Roth Turbion. I saw
Danny Milton that on your Instagram. Yeah. That's crazy. It's like number two or
Ben Clymer three. I forget what it is, but like that is like that's some real heavy stuff. Uh rare. I mean, like it says Asprey on the dial. Um, that's really cool. Uh Danny Milton's wearing a Tudor Black Bay. I it says something on the dial. It does say something on the
Danny Milton dial. It does. It literally says something. Y
Ben Clymer ep. Um This is a personal commissioned
Danny Milton watch. Yeah. Saw a young collector
Henry that I met at the Beaver event um wearing a 3970, and it was cool to see one of those on the while on a second ser
Ben Clymer ies. The right one. On
Henry the wrist of a of a of a young cool kid
James Stacy . Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Danny Milton Trying to think, but I mean, Ben, you were you were
Ben Clymer kind of uh you were rocking the MBNF
Danny Milton yesterday, two days ago. Monday.
Ben Clymer Yeah. That was pretty killer. That's the kind of wat
Danny Milton ch where you're when your sleeve kinda like goes up and you're resting it on a table, you d nobody can stop no matter what presentation we're in, everyone's like, Wait a minute. It starts looking at your wrist
James Stacy . Yeah. We um James and I were with
Ben Clymer Pat Tech and uh Flipper who's a technical director was like, Oh like let me see that, you know? Yeah. Uh and that that's a that's a I mean I don't wear that watch almost ever really. Not because I don't love it, I really love it. It's steel, but it's like it's just a it's not an everyday watch for me uh where I where I live you know
Danny Milton since we're still uh in the independence hall area of the uh of the Pell Expo it's worth uh mentioning we were in resence yesterday. Uh Ben Wah, who is I guess by definition an industrial designer. Um, those meetings are some of the most fun of the show because you get like a really personal conversation with him. And another, you know, the type eight, I think, is a titanium watch as well. Speaking of titanium for the show, um, he took out a tray of every movement that they make and sort of explained to us
James Stacy how, you know, some of their oil-
Danny Milton filled pieces, for example, how they seal off one end of the watch from the other so that the movement doesn't get any oil spillage, how one of the watches is lined with airpod batteries. You know, like most of what resins does is through
Ben Clymer subcontractors because you
Danny Milton need to be able to get components from a lot of different places.
Ben Clymer I'm sorry, AirPod batteries. AirPod batteries.
Danny Milton So the company who Apple commissioned for the AirPod, the batteries that power the AirPods
Ben Clymer , they picked, let's say, one subcont
Danny Milton ractor. Yeah, yeah. And whoever lost the bid had a bunch of batteries. And Ben Wad determined that these were the batteries that would work to power the E-Crown on his watch. And so when he when you pop open the case, there's these little tiny, like tic-tac-sized capsules, and they're lining the edges of the case.
Ben Clymer No way. Yeah, it's really cool. Like that's
Danny Milton the kind of thing you just would have no idea. Yeah.
Ben Clymer Unless you meet with somebody like Benmois at the shop. I'm curious if he was involved with that.
Danny Milton I wonder. That would make a lot of
James Stacy I mean, uh it's been said everybody said this before, nobody makes a watch like that. Like what they do.
Ben Clymer It's st I mean, ten years on, it's still totally different.
James Stacy It's so fun to see them and and to see them iterate where you're kinda like, well, is this a one kind of concept? Is a one-trick pony or whatever like, what what else can you do with this? And like they've done several more. I still think that dive watch is unbelievably cool.
Ben Clymer It is cool. Yeah, it's it's amaz
Danny Milton ing. I mean, anybody I think for the rest of my life, I'll try to bring someone new into that meeting with me because it's like you sit down in there and you're mesmerized by what you're seeing and what you're learning
Henry . Yeah. Just such a charming guy. Uh
Ben Clymer uh going back to the big hall,
Henry has anybody been to uh Heather Zenith or Grand Seiko? Any thoughts?
James Stacy Yep. We chatted a bit about Grand Seiko yesterday, but they've got some they've got some heat for sure.
Danny Milton Yeah, I was in that meeting yesterday. I think, you know, while I may not be in love with the form factor, I think the tentagraph is an interesting release for them. You know, their first mechanical chronograph. That's a big deal.
Ben Clymer It's like hard to believe that it's their first, you know. It's like what
James Stacy ? When I saw that, I was like, This are you guys are
Danny Milton you guys sure? Yeah. I don't know.
Ben Clymer You're sure. Yeah. I just think it's a it
Danny Milton 's a cool thing. You know, when we get to be involved with these shows to be in a presentation when a brand is releasing their first something, it's a really cool thing
Ben Clymer . Yeah. Yeah. Um I mean Bulgarie, I so I mentioned Bulgary a little bit yesterday. Um Bulgaria has some super strong stuff. Like the the Roma stuff. The Roma stuff
Danny Milton . The Turbill stuff. The Turbillon stuff for
Ben Clymer sure. But even like the the time only, it's like I think the Octofinissimo is an amazing watch. I have one. We sell 'em, like they're great. But there is criticism and it's fair that it's really thin and really wide. It's like a flat, it's like having a like a book on your hand, like an assaline-style book on your hand
Danny Milton . Yep. And this is not that. It's a little
Ben Clymer bit more three-dimensional, a little bit, you know, kind of more squat in form factor. And it's still a bulgary, you know, great movement. It's really nice. They
James Stacy have chronographs too, yeah? Chronographs
Ben Clymer too. They also have a really neat Bulgari Bulgari, uh, which is a fun little thing. I've seen about it though. I don
Henry 't think we can talk about it yet. There's a limited edition that
Ben Clymer 's super fun for like two thousand bucks or three thousand bucks
James Stacy . Okay. Like we can't talk about it like I should trim it, or that's probably okay.
Ben Clymer No, you could say that, but like we're describing it. But it's funny because it's not like a it's not like oh New York limited edition. It's like it's like it'
Henry s just cool. It's just fun. Every now and then they just like
Ben Clymer have fun ideas. It's interesting.
Henry We spend some time talking to them about kind of like the you know the type of customer that's buying uh a bulgeri watch. You'd be surprised how many are just going for the bulgari bulgury as a da daily,ily watch. Like they'll still buy
Ben Clymer the crazy stuff, but their da
Henry ily watch is a bogey bulgery. Or
Ben Clymer they're a jewelry client and they buy that. It's like, you know, they're like for people that just don't feel the need to spend twelve, fifteen, 20 grand plus on a finissimo. Uh, you know, this is a really nice watch for for a lot less, but still bulgari quality
James Stacy . I also think Zenith kind of
Ben Clymer quietly crushed it this year. The pilot st
Danny Milton uff is really cool, really underrated. I like the look of
James Stacy the pilots. I didn't that's another meeting that I didn't make it to. Um and but I swung by the booth and and the the pilots look great. I uh I that's a brand that I just love to see succeed and continue to make things that that get people excited..
Ben Clymer It's so good And it's like I I I'm totally with you. And like I we you know they were one of our they're actually after Max MB and F Zenith was our second limitation ever. Like we've been a fan forever. Like there's real heritage there, the team, Ramon, Julian, like all those great fucking guys. Great. Like actually f like readers wouldn't be surprised to learn or maybe they would be that like making stuff with brands is really hard. Right. It's really hard. And like they've got their priorities. We have ours. Working together is like not always that easy, but like Xenith is truly a delight. Everyone has the same first name, which is really easy. They're all named Roman. Like literally, there's like three or four of them, and they're all in positions of power
James Stacy . So incredibly easy for me.
Ben Clymer Um But they're just like they're like genuinely fun to work with, uh, which is you know un unusual for like a large Swiss company, you know
James Stacy . All right. So we've got some schedules, some tighter schedules today than in the previous episodes. Maybe we'll make tomorrow's a little bit of a long one. I think we'll also do like a big wrap up episode next week from New York over Zoom. See how many people we can get on one show. The audience loves it when we talk over each other, so that'll be excellent. Um this is pardon?
Ben Clymer This is we just talked over each other. Yeah exactly. Hu
James Stacy h? So yeah, I guess before I let you guys go, uh what are your what are your kind of like macro views of the show? We talked a little bit about is there a trend in titanium. How how do you feel about pricing this year versus last, the vibe this year versus last from folks, that sort of thing?
Henry Pricing feels punchy on things.
Ben Clymer Everything. Punchy like a little a little
James Stacy high? Yeah, high.
Henry But that seems to be the trend across all brands. I can't pinpoint one brand and say you guys are being extreme. You know, it it seems like everybody is uh uh going up market. Um that's been a trend. Honestly, it what I enjoy the most about the show is kind of like stepping away from the mass stuff and the things that everyone is going to want to talk about and trying to find the real gems. That's how you find a trilobe. That's how you find a resence. That's how you find a show part. You know, even though Show Part is, you know, uh part of the main hall, but you know, you don't necessarily think of them as kind of like, you know, one of the stars of the show. Um and I'm just trying to allow myself the room to think outside of the big brands that everybody's talking about.
James Stacy Yeah. I mean for for folks that are based in North America, even if you come out here frequently, it takes a long time to become part of this culture and accepted and invited into things and and to see the stuff uh that may not exist in the normal channels of communications. And sometimes you have good enough buddies that that happens while you're here for a few days. But it it is definitely a treat. And we'll have more on Chopar in tomorrow's episode
Ben Clymer . I think it was interesting with the exception of Rolex and Carti
Danny Milton er, all the releases have been sort of like a less
Ben Clymer is more approach in terms of the amount of releases from each brand. Ye
James Stacy ah. I think it's great
Danny Milton to sort of have either one, two, or three standout pieces and focus what you're releasing. It's easier for us to contextualize and get information out but just I just enjoy it.
Ben Clymer Yeah I think I think kind of piggybacking on that like from a commercial standpoint we're seeing less things but deeper kind of quantities and I think like right now, like a prices are going up. want The toy focus on fewer SKUs but deeper quantity. And like that's how the that's watches today. It's like we've heard at least three brands say, like, hey, we wanna we wanna go uh we wanna do less watches, like less different watches, but more s more uh units at higher prices. Like there's a a ten different ways to get to a billion dollars in sales. Like Rolex does it one way, AP does it a very different way, Longine does it a third way,
James Stacy PatTech does it a fourth way. You know, th they'
Ben Clymer re all doing a billion in revenue. It's just like how many units are these guys? I mean swatch probably is pretty close to yeah. Um you know it's just a matter of like what the math looks like. Uh so if you lower the quantity but raise the price you can still still do okay
James Stacy . Well and I think we're gonna call that episode three, day three from the show. Henry, Danny, Ben, thank you so much. Thanks for
Ben Clymer having us. Your hair looks great today. Oh, I appre
James Stacy ciate that. All right. Thanks so much for listening. Like I say, every time, if you enjoyed the episode, please tell a friend, share it around, leave us a comment, let us know if there's a brand you'd love to hear about, something we didn't cover yet, that sort of thing. And otherwise, swing by hodinky.com for more information, and we'll chat to you in something like 24 hours. Take care.