1 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,960 Welcome to this Watch live. Hi, I'm Lydia Winters. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,520 And I'm Vu Bui and we are jumping right in today at 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,400 Watchcology asks, What watches are you waiting for from your 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,760 AD? Oh, this is such an awesome 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,120 question and it might surprise people to know what I'm waiting 6 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:30,440 for, which. Is. 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:35,360 Nothing. I am not waiting for anything. 8 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,960 I. Part of your plan was watches 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,440 and wonders, and then I was going to all the new OP. 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,720 Through all the new releases and. 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,840 Then you'd be like, OK, here's what I want for this year, and 12 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,120 then you would wait for them but then didn't find. 13 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,000 Anything. Yeah, but what about you, Boo? 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,160 Why are you asking it in such a leading way? 15 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,800 So, OK, there is I I wasn't waiting for anything, but there 16 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:09,880 was one watch I was anticipating or hoping, but I did not think I 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,560 would get the call. Not so soon, or not probably 18 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:19,760 ever so tomorrow though. Tomorrow I'll do a new watch 19 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,600 announcement episode, all about this new watch and the watch 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,480 that I traded to get it. And that part, that watch that I 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,360 traded in, is the one that has blown what? 22 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,360 I guess I've only told three friends about this watch, this 23 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:37,320 new watch, 'cause I just got it today and. 24 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,360 There are going to be a lot of a lot of guesses. 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,200 Here. Yeah, what watch did I let go? 26 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:46,760 And what watch just came in that I was not expecting to get a 27 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,920 call for? Tomorrow we will have all of 28 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:55,440 that information. OK, next question, czm.jpg asks 29 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,520 Favorite micro brand. Oh, OK. 30 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,120 So I was looking up the micro brand definition because I feel 31 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,960 like it's a bit on the fuzzy side. 32 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:08,840 Oh, it. Definitely. 33 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,120 Is it Seems like so from Wikipedia. 34 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,880 A micro brand is a small scale brand recognized only in certain 35 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:21,600 geographic locations or by consumers in a specific micro 36 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,480 market or niche market. Wait, what? 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,600 It seems like that's kind of also extended in watches to be 38 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,600 basically direct to consumer. So this is a watch sold online 39 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,160 you don't need to go into. OK. 40 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,480 So the microness of the region is the Internet. 41 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,480 Yeah, yeah, it seems like it's kind of loosey goosey. 42 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,680 Yeah, yeah, I I do understand that. 43 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,240 That is more of what it has has become so. 44 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:55,240 This is the definition in watches or just micro brands on 45 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,080 Wikipedia. This is just micro brands on 46 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,360 Wikipedia, there are some about specifically micro brands, but 47 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,080 it kind of keeps the same thing, which is, you know, a small 48 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,320 scale brand that's only recognized in niche communities 49 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,640 and among hobbyists. That kind of makes it broader 50 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,520 for, you know, our. For what we need here, that 51 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:16,640 which makes sense. OK. 52 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:22,040 So with that definition in mind or not, what are your favorite 53 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,200 micro brands? Yes. 54 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,000 So that was the first thing I was like, OK, I need to look up 55 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,040 what a micro brand is. But I actually, I'm going to say 56 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,320 I'm going to go with one that I really love, that I still 57 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,960 haven't seen in person. And I'm going to go with Lorca 58 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,680 because I think it's just a really cool brand. 59 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,360 They only have one bra, one watch right now. 60 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,480 So that's not a micro brand. I don't know what is. 61 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,240 It doesn't get more micro than one watch. 62 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,000 Than one watch for one small, small brand. 63 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,160 But I just think it's beautiful. It's timeless and elegant. 64 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,920 And also like I've mentioned before, I think it just it just 65 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,720 looks really good. So I I really like. 66 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,040 So, Lorca, that makes sense. I have two. 67 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,360 I'm going to because I can never pick one favorite of anything 68 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:12,320 basically. So I have two. 69 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,279 They're both from Japan. The first one I've talked about 70 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,320 a lot recently, Otsuka Low Tech by Jiro Katayama. 71 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,800 He has a workshop in Otsuka, Tokyo. 72 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,440 It's a small district in Tokyo. That's where the name comes 73 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,400 from. Otsuka is where the workshop is 74 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,280 and low tech as in like low technology. 75 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:36,880 Super cool. He makes basically everything 76 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,360 but the base movement in the workshop himself. 77 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:40,120 It's. Super cool. 78 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,600 And he's been making these watches for over 10 years. 79 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:48,000 But outside of Japan, people only started really getting to 80 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,360 know about him in the past maybe two years. 81 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:56,760 So currently got the number 7.5 and the number six. 82 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,160 Those are the two models. It is still Japan only. 83 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,320 That makes it a true micro brand. 84 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,440 Oh yeah, it's for an Asian region like there we go like the 85 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:11,000 micro brand definition. Yeah, JDM and the second one 86 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,800 should also be, no surprise, Corono Tokyo, which is Hajime 87 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:21,960 Asayoka's more accessible brand. Like he is this incredible 88 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:27,320 independent watchmaker. He makes really amazing watches, 89 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,200 but they're typically 50,000 plus euro. 90 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,320 You know, francs, dollars, whatever, doesn't matter because 91 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,920 it's 50,000 plus, so it doesn't matter to me. 92 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,880 But he created this brand so that he could make watches for 93 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,840 more people, right? Instead of just a few people a 94 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:53,400 year who get these incredibly executed handmade watches, now 95 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,680 hundreds or maybe even a couple thousand people a year can get 96 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,960 his watches. I think it's still only hundreds 97 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:04,480 per year, and they come out in these limited releases. 98 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,960 There's a couple releases every year for the past three or four 99 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,480 years. I have the Toki, which is one of 100 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,000 the anniversary models. You bought that for me for my 101 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,200 birthday, but I've missed out on some of my favorite releases, 102 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:24,120 mainly the Chronograph 1 Mark 2, which I think is absolutely just 103 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,080 a beautiful watch. I missed out on that one, and 104 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,520 luckily Darrell at the timepiecer when we were in 105 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,440 Geneva, he let me try his on. Wear it for a little bit, take a 106 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,080 few photos. It's as good as I thought it 107 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:40,440 would be. It was so nice. 108 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,480 He was like, I brought this four vu to see and I was like, that 109 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:44,840 is the sweetest thing. Ever. 110 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:49,320 And the the the part. That's not kind about it though, 111 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,040 is that now I just love that watch even more. 112 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,240 I was like, I will probably love this watch like that. 113 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:58,160 I in my. Head and now you're like I 114 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,040 definitely do I. Definitely love that watch. 115 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:06,480 But the problem is with many of these micro brands, they do very 116 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,480 limited production and if you miss it then you have to pay 117 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,880 over retail to get them. Yeah, and that's just a tough 118 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,160 pill to swallow, so. Since some of the intent with 119 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,040 micro brands is also being under like the pricing of the luxury 120 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,840 market because you don't need to go through, you know it when it 121 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:25,520 is. Direct to. 122 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:30,440 Consumer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally agree. 123 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:38,240 I spoke because we got to meet Hajimi Asaoka at HCI and also 124 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,920 one of the people that works in his company. 125 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,080 And I had mentioned like, Oh yeah, I've been looking for the 126 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,440 chronograph 1 mark two and trying to find one for a good 127 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,560 price. He's like, don't do that, just 128 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:57,400 wait, he said. Hajime Son thinks that every new 129 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,720 chronograph he releases is so much better than the last one, 130 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,040 that you should always only buy the new one, and he just thought 131 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,040 that was such a great way to think about it. 132 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,520 It's like continuous improvement is part. 133 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,920 Of Yeah, you didn't miss out. You're actually getting like the 134 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,120 new one he's making because he does feel it's, it's great. 135 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,560 Yes, like. Some way he's in some way 136 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,560 improving it, doing something better, whether it's part of the 137 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,800 design or it's part of the technology or it's the movement 138 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,480 or the case design, because he has iterated on these 139 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,360 chronograph cases to make them thinner and to make them appear 140 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:36,720 even more thin. And so I I liked that that 141 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,720 advice of just like, hey, let the past be the past, man, look 142 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,919 to the future and jump on the next release. 143 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,120 And so that's. Awesome, I do like that advice. 144 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:52,080 I'm going to do that, OK. Acoustic Reds asks, OK, micro 145 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,120 independent brands are getting so much better. 146 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,560 How do you decide between them? So we're continuing on this. 147 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,240 Micro and independent brands, how do you? 148 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,680 Decide. I mean, I think that for me it's 149 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:08,640 all about just like the individual watch. 150 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,640 I also think about the brand, but I kind of start with the 151 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:15,160 watch and then usually do a deep dive into the brand, especially 152 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:16,720 if it's something that I don't know about. 153 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:22,360 So I can kind of get the vibe of like, does this feel like my 154 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,760 values? Does this, You know, like is are 155 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:30,520 they trying to appeal to me as a a female collector in a way that 156 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,840 I also support? So I really like to look at all 157 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,920 of it, but I usually start with the watch itself. 158 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:38,960 OK. Yeah. 159 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,160 I mean, one of the things about micro brands that I think is 160 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:47,280 wonderful is that the brand is often the maker. 161 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:51,040 Right, that is true. It does make it different in a 162 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,680 good and bad way. You're like, OK, it's not where 163 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:55,640 you can be like, Oh well, it's the whole brand. 164 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,520 So like, it's a whole team. It's like this is the brand, 165 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,000 that person. It's, it's one maybe a few 166 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:07,480 people and so there's more for you to identify with, but that 167 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,560 also means there's more for you to identify against too. 168 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,600 So, but I I think one of the great things about micro brands 169 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,560 and smaller independent brands is that they're typically not 170 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,160 trying to make like the most commercially acceptable product 171 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,000 possible, right. The big brands, they want to 172 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,160 sell hundreds of thousands of watches to hundreds of thousands 173 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,280 of people. And so they need to each watch 174 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,160 or at least each product offering you want it to appeal 175 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:41,120 to a large number of people. And so when we're talking about 176 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,120 these micro brands and small independent brands, like they're 177 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:49,480 able to make much more niche designs that appeal to much more 178 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,600 niche sets of people. That's very true. 179 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,200 And so that means, because there's so many of these smaller 180 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,440 brands that there there's just so much choice. 181 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:04,280 But there's likely something each person as an individual, 182 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,320 with all their individual quirks and things that they like like, 183 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,760 that allows you to then find one of these niche watches that 184 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,680 really speaks to you. That's really true. 185 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,120 I think it's actually not as hard to choose between them. 186 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,880 I think it's much harder to choose between the big 187 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:27,000 commercial offerings because they're all so palatable, right? 188 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:28,440 Like, yeah. That's true. 189 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,440 A dive watch from Rolex or Omega. 190 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:36,320 You know, they're both like great watches and they, you 191 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,320 know, there are differences, but they're. 192 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:39,200 Not. There's a lot of. 193 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,800 Extreme right? You can almost say, like, sure, 194 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,840 I'll just take one right, like. Yeah. 195 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,080 But then if you think about like brew watches and what Jonathan, 196 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:54,200 who made them, who designs them like, he has such a clear vision 197 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,480 of this idea of like this, you know, like espresso machine and 198 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,720 timing and then adding that into a watch you do, you're right. 199 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,320 You get this like clarity. That's really fun. 200 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,600 Yeah. It's much more narrow. 201 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,840 And so if you're attracted to brew watches, you're attracted 202 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,080 to brew watches, right? Or maybe you go for studio 203 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,600 underdog and that design language and that thought behind 204 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,760 those designs. And so I think it's easier to 205 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:25,480 choose between micro brands because they are more specific. 206 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,720 That is true. The niching down is actually the 207 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,000 positive of being able to really identify with it. 208 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,800 At least that's what I think. OK, Mechanical. 209 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:40,360 Tom asks, do you feel like the escalating prices are pricing a 210 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,080 lot of people out of their hobby? 211 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,160 Oh, that's such a sad question because my answer is yes. 212 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:48,280 But first I want to say what's up, Tom? 213 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,200 Tom's part of our Swedish group. So before I go into this, the 214 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:54,520 sadness. Yes. 215 00:12:55,440 --> 00:13:00,360 Hi Tom. But OK, I do agree with this, 216 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:06,400 but I will say there is always new things like coming in to 217 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,680 fill that space which I think is really good. 218 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:11,240 So I mean today we've been talking a lot about micro 219 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,560 brands. The more expensive the luxury 220 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:19,640 brands get, the more space there is for micro brands to fill 221 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,400 which then is you know good and can really help like smaller 222 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,600 businesses. So I think in that way it's 223 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,120 good. I think in the way that models 224 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,840 that used to be entry level, I mean even when we talk about 225 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:38,000 like a Rolex OP, like how much the price has raised, it's not 226 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,000 like it is Rolex's entry model, but that is not an entry model 227 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,000 watch. And I know it used to be still, 228 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:49,600 you know, pretty high compared to other brands, but it wasn't 229 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,720 what it is now. No, I mean. 230 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,360 And Rolex isn't alone in that, right? 231 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,080 Like. No, it's kind of every. 232 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:57,600 When I think about. Your brand. 233 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:03,640 Five years ago watches where like the range was kind of 5 to 234 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,280 8000. And you can really get. 235 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,160 Five years later, it feels like it's double that. 236 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:12,600 Yeah. And that is not inflation, at 237 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,600 least not only inflation, right? Inflation is a part of it, but 238 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:20,960 it it really is a big increase. So those brands, I do think 239 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:22,920 people can get price out of those brands. 240 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,800 But like you said, there's other brands that come in and kind of 241 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,760 fill that space. So as Omega moves up, you've got 242 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,160 Tudor, right? And as Tudor moves up, you've 243 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,640 got laundry. And as laundry moves up, there's 244 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,840 TSO and then there's Hamilton and there's Seiko and there's 245 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,200 all of these things and they just keep moving. 246 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,000 They, you know, everyone kind of moves up over time. 247 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,000 Not everyone. There are brands that kind of 248 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,160 stay in their price range, but many brands move up. 249 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,640 But then there's other brands that fill that space. 250 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,920 And I think what can be difficult is not getting priced 251 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,840 out of the hobby altogether, but being priced out of perhaps 252 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,840 brands that you aspire. You really wished? 253 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,480 Yeah. And that's. 254 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:10,080 I think that is the harder part. I hope that on the hobby side, 255 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,440 because there are, there is such a wide breadth of watches and 256 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,480 then I could imagine there being even more micro brands that 257 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,600 actually start popping up as they're like, hey, I would love 258 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:26,360 to have X watch, but like I'm never going to be able to afford 259 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,800 it or feel like I can justify it because of how much the prices 260 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,080 have raised. So I think there can be a lot of 261 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,680 cool you know designs and more people who are coming in like 262 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:39,920 some of the micro brands we mentioned that are like, hey, I 263 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,320 want to fulfill this really specific space that I wish 264 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,800 existed that doesn't and that the price increases make it not 265 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:49,400 exist even more. Yeah. 266 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,920 Non, non existing. So that's our downer of a last 267 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:57,920 question. No, we hope you have a great day 268 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,480 and everyone can join the hobby because you can go online and 269 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:02,880 you can find watches and all prices.