Issue 153: If I Had A Watch Brand...
Plus: Interviewing Tudor's CEO for the FT, conflicts of interest 101, and how not to have a 250th birthday
Hello and welcome back to The Fourth Wheel, the weekly watch newsletter that’s been around the world this week. Miami, to be precise, for the full sensory overload of a Grand Prix weekend. What a whirlwind that was; I’m still not fully recovered. The perks of this job, sometimes, are truly incredible - and I am extremely lucky. But you didn’t come here just to hear about what a nice time I’ve been having. On with the newsletter, in which I construct my fantasy watch brand, take Breguet to task (again!), and check in on Hodinkee’s editorial integrity. Enjoy!
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Here’s a little taste of what you might have missed recently:
There’s A Podcast Now, You Know
If you missed last week’s newsletter, obviously please go back and read it, but the main takeaway was the launch of my new podcast The Watch Enquiry, co-hosted by my good friend Tim Barber. You can listen to Episode One, “What Became Of The Concept Watch?” and Episode Two, “Was 1941 Patek Philippe’s Most Important Year?” on Apple, Spotify or YouTube as well as hopefully anywhere else you find your podcasts. Please tell me what you think, good or bad, and leave a rating!
A few people have flagged some issues with accessing the podcast from regions outside the UK, or on specific podcast apps. Please do tell me if you’re having such a problem - I am working on it! In the meantime you should be able to listen here if all else fails.
Self-Promotion Corner (contd.)
I largely don’t do this any more, choosing to promote my other work on social media instead, but this is one I’m particularly proud of. I spent last weekend in Miami with Tudor (I know, tough gig) and managed to put down my champagne long enough to secure a very rare interview with CEO Eric Pirson. I can’t say this never happens, because Andy Hoffman got him talking for Bloomberg last year. But outside of some pretty bland remarks at the GPHG, that is the only other instance I’m aware of. So I’m fairly pleased to have been able to bring this one to publication, with the enormous help of the FT and it must be said, Tudor themselves. Now, he didn’t open up and tell me everything but you’ve got to start somewhere. There was a lot of off-the-record chat that I really would love to share, but can’t. Suffice to say…. I have more faith in the brand’s strategy, and am more excited about what might come out in the next few years, than I was before. Go and check out the piece at the Financial Times (but hurry back, we’ve got other fun stuff to talk about!)
If I Had A Watch Brand
Three weeks ago I answered your questions, as usual, but there was one that stood out. It was simply too much of a challenge to rattle off a quick answer.
Spencer Hart asked: If you had your own watch brand, what would it - and your debut watch - be like?
I’ve had a good long think about this. I’ve decided to concoct a brand that’s slightly rooted in reality - there’s no point saying ‘oh, I’d like to make the best-finished watches in the world, and sell them all for five grand’ - but is also conveniently ignoring some practicalities.
First let’s state something really obvious - but something fundamental that I wish more brands embraced - this is a new watch company. In this fantasy, I’m starting a watch brand in 2025: it’s not going to be a revival of a historic name or a brand that tries to look and sound like it’s part of that grand tradition. Granted, we’re talking about mechanical watches, but this is going to be a 21st-century watch company and it’s going to look and act like a 21st-century brand in its personnel and its practices - and its watches are going to have to try and bring something new to the table. Brands I admire for this include Ressence and Ming, so imagine that as the kind of segment I might try to launch into. That doesn’t mean I’d want to be entirely, relentlessly focussed on futuristic design, but that I’d see no value in imitating legendary aesthetics from watchmaking’s past. If I drew on historic design touchpoints, they’d be from outside the watchmaking world.
Let’s set some other benchmarks. This is where things get unrealistic - or at least, wildly ambitious. I’d want the transparency and sustainability ethos of ID Geneve and Pragma; the highest possible standard of supply chain sourcing and a real commitment to transparency. I’d be headquartered in the UK so you’d be able to see what I was doing on a business footing. I’d have a meaningful charitable commitment - no charismatic megafauna campaigns or undisclosed minuscule percentages donated to occasional good causes. I’d give ten per cent of pre-tax profits to a separately managed philanthropic fund that could use the money any way it wanted, as long as it was doing good in the world. I’d be mainly e-commerce, with probably one physical store. With a pool table and a bar.
I wouldn’t be aiming for in-house, high-volume watchmaking. I’d probably envisage a brand that could make 1000-3000 watches a year, working with the best suppliers, but doing business where it made sense; if that’s Asia, no problem. The priority would be quality, not arbitrary notions of geographical origin.
I have no idea what it would be called, by the way. I know there is no version of my own name that would ever sound right on a dial and I’m also terrible at naming things in general. Any ideas?
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