Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful & Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte - Collecting F.P. Journe | Part 1

Summary

Collectors Gene Radio: Kevin O'Leary & Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte on Collecting FP Journe Watches | Part 1

Released on August 8, 2025

Podcast Information:

• Title: Collectors Gene Radio
• Host: Cameron Ross Steiner
• Description: Collectors Gene Radio is a deep dive into the nuances of collecting. Hear from collectors and experts from all over the world speak on their passions and hobbies, and ultimately find out whether or not they feel they were born with the "Collectors Gene".

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Introduction

In this special episode of Collectors Gene Radio, host Cameron Ross Steiner welcomes business mogul and TV personality Kevin O'Leary, famously known as "Mr. Wonderful" from Shark Tank, alongside Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte, the head of America's operations for FP Journe. The setting is the iconic FP Journe Boutique in Miami, a hub for watch enthusiasts and collectors.

Defining Collecting vs. Owning

The conversation kicks off with an exploration of the fundamental differences between simply owning an item and truly collecting it. Cameron posits that possession without passion lacks depth, urging guests to delve into the history and intellectual connection behind their collections.

Cameron Ross Steiner (04:19):

"What’s the difference between owning something and really collecting it. And it's easy to have money and go buy something and not really care about the history or have a passion behind it, but to really collect it, to really love something and go deep on it."

Kevin O’Leary’s Collecting Philosophy

Kevin O'Leary shares his perspective on collecting, emphasizing the relationship with the maker and trust established over decades. He distinguishes himself from flippers by stating his commitment to holding onto his pieces permanently.

Kevin O'Leary (07:05):

"My view of what a collector is is someone who forms a relationship with the maker. And it takes a long time to get that established. It’s based on trust."

O'Leary highlights his pride in his FP Journe collection, particularly fascinated by the brand's unique dials that spark conversations and represent his personal style.

Kevin O'Leary (09:29):

"There are no dials on earth like Jordan dials. Journe dials are crazy dials. Journe dials are crazy, crazy dials. They are conversation starters."

FP Journe Insights with Pierre

Brand Philosophy and Production

Pierre delves into FP Journe’s commitment to artisanal craftsmanship and limited production. He explains the meticulous process behind each watch, ensuring quality over quantity.

Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (33:22):

"Francois Paul organizes production... It's really artisanal. We are not about volume; we are about creating meaningful, high-quality pieces."

He addresses misconceptions about production caps, clarifying that FP Journe balances their efforts between high-end, complex watches and slightly more accessible models like the Elegant.

Community and Relationships

The community aspect is pivotal for FP Journe. Pierre emphasizes the importance of genuine relationships with collectors, fostering an environment where passion and knowledge about horology thrive.

Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (14:03):

"We fall miserably because we had 600 square feet... We feed on the collectors and the collectors feed on the other collectors."

Secondary Market and Trust

FP Journe maintains a controlled secondary market to preserve the brand's integrity and discourage flipping. Trust between the brand and its collectors is paramount, ensuring watches remain valued and cherished.

Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (20:35):

"We have to close because of the interview. But let’s say I’m sitting with Kevin, we have three collectors coming... We have a relationship. It’s very human related."

Notable Models Discussed

Tokyo Chrono

The Tokyo Chrono is spotlighted for its unique dial and limited production, making it a coveted piece among collectors. Despite its unconventional design, it has garnered significant attention and acclaim.

Kevin O'Leary (31:07):

"Tokyo dial is pretty special, spectacular. It’s already a legend with this sweep."

Vertical Tourbillon

O'Leary shares his admiration for the Vertical Tourbillon, a design that challenges conventional time-telling but epitomizes FP Journe’s innovative spirit.

Kevin O'Leary (46:00):

"It’s something else. It changes a little bit your habits... It’s a beautiful piece."

Economy Blue & Elegant

Pierre discusses the Economy Blue and Elegant models, highlighting their accessibility and the brand’s strategic approach to balancing production without compromising quality.

Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (37:14):

"So there’s no value, in any company with certain volume we’re not talking about or Smith. This is like, you know, really artisanal."

Watch Insurance Innovation

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around watch insurance, spearheaded by O'Leary’s collaboration with 1916 and Danny Gutberg to create Wondercare. This innovative insurance solution allows collectors to insure their watches based on real-time market values and offers tailored policies that cater specifically to the needs of passionate collectors.

Kevin O'Leary (53:13):

"We created a new product. When I was at Watches and Wonders... It’s called Wondercare. Anybody can go to wondercare.com and look at it."

Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (54:44):

"It’s great. Personalized."

Listener Questions and Fun Insights

Towards the end, Cameron introduces lighter, fun questions from listeners, allowing both O'Leary and Pierre to share personal anecdotes and humorous insights into their collecting journeys.

Listener Question (58:04):

"If it was 1998, 1999, and Francois Paul walks through the shark tank and pitches a subscription, would you have given him the 50% deposit back then?"

O'Leary reflects on the brand’s growth and the pivotal moments that defined his relationship with FP Journe.

Conclusion and Teaser for Part 2

The episode wraps up with Cameron thanking the guests and hinting at a continuation in Part 2, where they will delve deeper into specific watch models and further aspects of FP Journe’s unique position in the watchmaking world.

Cameron Ross Steiner (61:03):

"Thank you guys again for joining me on the show. Today we're gonna look at some watches. Stay tuned for part two of this video."

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Notable Quotes

• Kevin O'Leary (04:19):

  "So how do we defect a collector from a non collector?"

• Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (06:45):

  "Collecting is always going back to the intellect. Why do I buy this."

• Kevin O'Leary (10:24):

  "They're a controversial brand because Pierre is Mr. No."

• Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte (35:22):

  "Imagine that with the community."

• Kevin O'Leary (44:12):

  "They don’t often understand my answer, but it’s always the same. It’s a community."

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Key Takeaways

• Passion Over Possession: True collecting is driven by passion, intellect, and a deep connection to the items, not just ownership.

• Quality and Craftsmanship: FP Journe prioritizes artisanal craftsmanship and limited production to maintain the exclusivity and quality of their watches.

• Community and Relationships: Building genuine relationships within the collector community is essential for both the brand and its patrons.

• Innovative Solutions: The introduction of Wondercare revolutionizes watch insurance, providing tailored solutions for dedicated collectors.

• Unique Models: Watches like the Tokyo Chrono and Vertical Tourbillon embody FP Journe’s innovative spirit, blending art and horology in distinctive ways.

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of this episode, where Cameron, Kevin, and Pierre will continue their in-depth exploration of FP Journe's masterpieces and the intricate world of watch collecting.

Transcript

[Kevin O'Leary]

Imagine if you could buy a Picasso from Picasso while Picasso was alive, but he had already established himself as Picasso.

[Pierre]

Right?

[Kevin O'Leary]

So that's what you're getting with Jour.

[Host]

What's going on, everybody? And welcome to Collector's Gene Radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the Collector's Gene. If you have the time, please subscribe.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And leave a review.

[Host]

It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on Collector's Dream Radio. Welcome back to Collector's Dream Radio. We are having a very special episode today. We're in Miami at the FP Journe Boutique. And if you didn't notice, I have an extremely special guest with me, Kevin O', Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful. Welcome back to the channel.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Thank you so much. We're in an iconic boutique for FP Journe, the Miami Boutique. This is sheer legend in here. The design of this place and the watches that have come through here, the collectors that gather here. It's a classic situation because there are no watches to buy here. It's true. But it oozes watch.

[Host]

It certainly does. And we have someone to help us out to talk about all this. Pierre, head of America's for FP Journe. So let's get into it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

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[Pierre]

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[Kevin O'Leary]

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[Pierre]

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[Kevin O'Leary]

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[Kevin O'Leary]

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[Pierre]

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[Kevin O'Leary]

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[Host]

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[Pierre]

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[Host]

Gentlemen, welcome back to Collector's Dream Radio. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different than the typical conversations that I had and much different than the conversation you and I had in New York last time, Kevin. Because today we're in Miami, we're at FP Jorn, and we're going to talk about all things Jorn and collecting really, as an overall topic. Big thing of what I do on this channel is gifting and I think maybe it'd be better to start this conversation off by gifting you guys something to kind of get the day started.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Good for a gift.

[Host]

Yeah. Since. Since Pierre is refusing to gift me any watches and I'm just on loan here today. But anyway, my buddy Blake Simon started this company, Krug, and his motto is, take care of your people. And I think it's just the greatest motto because in the watch world, we don't always get to see a lot of that. And I think it always doesn't resonate with people when it comes to this stuff. So these gifts are from Blake and his company, Kruke. Kevin, of course. Yours is in classic red.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yes. Beautiful. I like that.

[Host]

And Pierre, yours in your preferred colorway.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know, this is such a functional gift because I travel so much and I'm always trying to figure out the best configuration on how to pack the watches. This will sit right at the back of my duffel and be great.

[Host]

Of course. And then you're a Porsche guy now. So this is the classic Pepita houndstooth, of course.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Very well made, actually.

[Pierre]

Yeah, everything. Because I'm French, so I don't. I don't do.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Anyways, I thank you very much. I really appreciate that.

[Host]

Of course. So I think the idea today is to maybe start off the conversation by talking about the difference between owning something and really collecting it. And it's easy to have money and go buy something and not really care about the history or have a passion behind it, but to really collect it, to really love something and go deep on it. That's kind of what I want to talk about today. And I'd love to know, maybe from you, Pierre, you deal with a lot of collectors, Kevin included, and you guys make that decision of who gets a watch or not. How do you find someone who's a true collector and someone who's going to really take care of these pieces?

[Pierre]

Well, two things. How do we differentiate a collector from a non collector? Is one thing. Why collecting? Let's start with the basic question. Why collecting? What's the difference? The thing is, it's all to do with the intellect. So as I told you before, I have a little prop that I use now all the time because it really summarizes everything, which is right here. So we have here a banana with a little dust tip. So I checked in Walmart, a banana is 27 cents. Can you see the banana? Okay, it's 27 cents. Add half a cent for the duct tape. Let's call it negligible. What's the difference between this banana at $0.27 and the same banana, same duct tape at $120,000, which by the way, now just resold for 6 million. What's the difference between the two? It's the same banana, same duct tape. The only differences here, what you put in this collecting has got to start with because there's a reason owning is I want to buy this. I buy this kind of story, no problem. It's a consumer. You collect whatever is Camel box or it could be stamps, it could be watches. You have to have a reason. This is when the intellect comes in. And that's why it's important to understand this now. How do we defect a collector from a non collector? And it's not me that define it. It's Adam Kralientes, the, the founder of Red Bar. We had him for Watches and Wonder. The last edition that we had before the pandemic in Miami. I wish it would come back. It was a great form. And we had it on a pilot chalk. And we asked Adam, I said, how do we define a collector? That's amazing. I was with a friend of mine and I went like this. And he drags on, drags on quite a lot. And then I resumed the discussion with my friend. I said, what time is it? I have no idea. Why did you look at your watch? Because I wanted to. And many times I'm like this, looking at my watch, looking at the watch, not looking at the time. If you want the time, I'm going to pull out my telephone. If you want the exact time as a function, then yes, I'm going to pull out my telephone. Because the telephone is a function or the iwatch or whatever. This is not. And this is where we're talking about art and finances. Yeah, this is where the difference is. Sometimes it merges in the art world. Obviously it became a real asset division. Watches, I think, is still debatable. I think most of the watches are not asset related. Some of them are. We know this, but that's what the difference is. So that's how we, we look at collecting. Yeah.

[Host]

And how about you, Kevin? I mean, you're on TV so often and you collect, you collect so many things. And a big part of what your platform is is, you know, investment and value in all these things. But you've been a collector for a long time and I think sometimes that gets missed. And people who just watch a short clip of you talking about something that's rather expensive, but you're a true collector.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And so I'd Love for you to.

[Host]

Maybe debunk that myth a little bit of. Yeah, you talk about value of things. It's part of your platform. You deal with finance all the time. It'd be silly for you not to. I totally get it. But at the end of the day, you're a collector and I think it'd be great for people to just know and hear from you that you're a collector first. And yeah, sometimes it's exciting to see a stock portfolio go up.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, I actually. I have a different view and every collector is different the way they think. And I enjoy the community of collecting and the debates people have on exactly this topic. And I have my way of looking at it. And here's. Here's how I look at it. I don't participate in very often in the secondary market. You don't see me. Occasionally. I go to charity auctions and I do pick up some pieces that are unique, but it's not the core of what I'm doing in horology. My view of what a collector is is someone who forms a relationship with the maker. And it takes a long time to get that established. It's based on trust. They get to know you, what your styles are. I'm a red band guy. Every watch brand in the world knows I'm a red band guy now. And you know, to me, you've reached the. The collector status when a watchmaker is willing to make you a piece unique. Sure. Because think about what goes into that decision. Are you a flipper?

[Pierre]

You.

[Kevin O'Leary]

They'll never make your piece unique if you're going to turn around and sell it right. Which. I've never sold a watch, I never will. Do you respect the brands? Do they respect you and do they understand that you're doing this with other watchmakers, but that respect is there? And do the other collectors consider you a collector of that mark? If that. Maisel, this takes time and you only have, you know, what, 90 years. I hope to live to 120.

[Pierre]

But, you know, it took.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It took me four decades to become a global collector, to be known as a global collector. And I'm very honored to be able to get the pieces I get today and the pieces that are coming for me in two to three years ahead, whether it's a Journe or Simon Brit or a one of a kind Cartier or Chanel.

[Pierre]

You know, you think about a company.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Like Cartier, they rarely make a piece for me. Rarely. Rarely. They're gonna make one for me. So it's sort of like that's because I've. My very first piece was a Cartier, and they know who I am anyways, I'm very impassioned about it. And lastly, it's all about the dial. And which is. Which took me to Journe. There are no dials on earth like Jordan dials. Journe dials are crazy dials. They are crazy, crazy dials. They're conversation starters. Every time I wear a Journey anywhere, somebody says, what is that? Or, how can you tell time with that? Or something like that. And, you know, my vertical tourbillon drives people crazy. They don't understand what that dial's about or why the watch is even like that. Right. That's why it's such a beautiful piece. Yeah, for sure.

[Host]

And I think, again, it's a testament to Jorn as a brand that you have fallen so in love with them and the rest of the watch community has fallen so in love with them.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Well, they're a controversial brand because Pierre is Mr. No. Like, that's the problem. Any. Everybody that I meet says, oh, well, you gotta. You gotta make a call for me so I can get a blue. It's the same story everywhere around the world. You gotta make a call to get me a blue. And I said, it's pointless. Yeah, you're not going to get a blue.

[Pierre]

Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Maybe not in your lifetime. Yeah, maybe you will, but I don't know. Unless you want to go into the secondary market and for me, you want to become part of the Journe family, you've got to buy from Jordan.

[Pierre]

Absolutely. But here, Kevin, you're defining what we call the top collector. In order to have a special piece or rare piece or unique piece from a cartoon, whatever, this is the top. Collecting starts with, why are you buying something? How many watches do you have? More than one? Why would you need more than one? Why would you need a watch? You want time? I'm in the business of selling you things that are readily available everywhere. You didn't pay extra on your iPhone to tell time. It came with it. It's everywhere at the time. So here, if you only look at the time, obviously the function you lost. We have to look at the art part of the mechanical part or the history. What I like with you is really the perspective. If there's you, it's a new watch, it's not a new dial, whatever. It's a new movement in the history of watches. I mean, this is. The perspective is totally different. So for me, collecting is always going back to the intellect. Why do I buy this and we talked a little earlier. Omega Speedmaster. One of the iconic watch there is mine from 75. Okay. So do you have a rocket?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

Have a rocket? Yeah. Okay. Are you going to go on the moon soon? Is that the watch that went on the moon? Is that the replica of the watch on the moon? Because they come up with the Snoopy. You're not going.

[Kevin O'Leary]

So I have the Snoopy too.

[Pierre]

But. But you buy it because it went on the moon. That's the moon watch. Yeah, but you're not going to go on the moon.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's why I originally bought it when I was a teenager. I mean, right. I don't know where the hell is.

[Pierre]

So you go back to the Internet.

[Host]

Create the story in your head of. Of what's special to you and. And what it could be to you tomorrow, the next day, the next week, whatever it may be.

[Pierre]

And that kind of difference between only collecting. You don't have to have all the. Because and the whole shedding angle of all the background connecting. You need to know everything.

[Host]

Well, and I think that that's the difference here is, you know, social media is a fairly new thing. You, you doing YouTube and all these videos is a fairly new thing. But again, you've been collecting well before this existed.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, but I think what happened is, you know, it actually started here.

[Pierre]

My.

[Kevin O'Leary]

One of the most famous watch videos on all time is Teddy Belsanar and I here when we did this Journe thing. Remember that?

[Pierre]

Yeah. I was right here.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And then you said, people have seen that. And people stop me all the time all around the world saying, I saw that video.

[Pierre]

You've enjoyed it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It was in this boutique outside too.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Host]

Let's talk for a second about Journe as a brand. And Francois Paul, 1998, 1999, around this time, he introduces the subscription. It's a huge risk, Right. Comes to the market. He's asking for 50 deposits from people. People are like, who are you? But he took a risk. And I'd love to know from you how important risk taking is in watches, because you deal with risk takers all the time in entrepreneurship and your businesses and Shark Tank. And you've said a lot of times the number one trait that an entrepreneur should have is being able to pivot. But being a risk taker is also a big factor. And is that important to you when you look at these brands is the risks that they're taking and how outside the box they're willing to go.

[Kevin O'Leary]

FP Jordan founded a new philosophy with watchmakers. He was maybe the first to do the breakout that he did. I mean there's Roger Smith too, but it's different.

[Pierre]

Sure it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Every young watchmaker now wants to be FP Jordan because he's not really an independent anymore. He's in a new class of a combination of art and science and watchmaking and passion and all this boutique, this is like a piece of art itself. And the collectors for Journe like to come to the bout boutiques, have a glass of wine, talk to other collectors or other Jordan enthusiasts. I don't know what would you describe you've created here? Because I think you did it by accident.

[Pierre]

So that's why it worked because it's organic. What I call the jewel community. We extremely lucky because we have collectors like Kevin. People that I can go on vacation with, people that we can have a blast with, people that can argue with and see be friends. That takes a lot for two people to argue and see the difference because it's not personal, it's the ideas. So what happened here we realized and that's why we're wearing Bar harbor, one of the best mall there is in the whole world. We fell miserably because we had 600 square feet. So you have three people like we closed the store. We. We feed on the collectors and the collectors feed on the other collectors. Because look, let's be honest. We are on top of our world. We should not have imagined that we would be at that stage. This we would. I knew all the time that would make it. Make it that high, you know, that big. Never. And we very proud of everyone. Obviously Francois first he made the watches. So that's the first thing. But when I see Kevin becoming friend with another collector. You can't buy this. I say Kevin is 5,000 befriend with Cameron.

[Host]

You can't buy like he's buying him 7.

[Pierre]

His wife and my wife have that. They have lunch now separately from us. We. We can have dinner together. We talk about Washu, they talk about whatever. Everybody's happy. But that. That's not easy to create. And then people say oh that's a genius you created. You don't create. I didn't create anything. They did. And I was part of the community and it evolved like this. But this is the key thing and this is where you have collectors. A collector talking to another collector could be came over box. We can be passionate about. You can talk for two hours about this. Who gives a shit about Cameroon box except the two guys that want to talk about camel bare boxes. And you have collectors in front of Camelbert boxes. Yeah. And you have associations and clubs about this. Now you're talking about collectors dealing with a much higher in price item than the common gearbox and much more mechanical. And the history of watchmaking. Without watchmaking, there's no. There's no British Empire. For example, without John Harrison and the chronometer marine chromato, there's no British Empire. Watchmaking was extremely important, was the biggest spoiler in the history of humankind. It is less now because of all of these, the atomic clock and everything. So what's making me per. This is a waning function. We know that it is only becoming now and that's the only chance to survive. Also, by the way, is art and mechanical. That's it. If we don't succeed in this, the watch industry is dead. But so would be the art. The same thing. Because art is also not functional. Sure. So we still have good hopes. Yeah.

[Host]

You know, I think a big thing in the community is trust.

[Pierre]

Right.

[Host]

You've never sold a watch. And any brand, whether it's Jorn or someone else that you get a watch from puts that trust into you and you put that trust into them. That you guys have this mutual agreement that they know Kevin o' Leary is never going to sell a watch. But there is a secondary market and these watches do pop up often on those markets. How does Joran as a brand put their trust into a collector?

[Pierre]

Right.

[Host]

Because you can only control maybe one, two or three things.

[Pierre]

Right?

[Host]

You can control who gets the phone call to buy a watch. You can control if you let them in the front door to put their credit card down and then you let them back out. And only if they call you and say, I'd like another watch or I need to sell this watch for a circumstance. Can you control that situation?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Let me ask you before you answer, because part of the Journe success story is also the story of Danny Gutberg.

[Pierre]

Absolutely, Danny.

[Kevin O'Leary]

For collectors and you know, George Mayer, like they are really respected people for sure. And they said to everybody years ago, journe is happening.

[Pierre]

Yep.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's basically what happened.

[Pierre]

Yeah. And they put the money behind it. So millions of dollars really have. So that created the second market. Obviously, second market was already pretty good to start with, but then they made. It exploded. And then we had this auction house, you know, Philips, at June 20, 2020 and all of a sudden we have now seven figures watches and also everything is quoted. So for me the success was obviously for swap to start with that. And what he's been able to accomplish.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You've got to make the profit.

[Pierre]

There'd be no 1916 to talk about, nor this auction house. And then you have obviously the 19th at that time, Watchbox. That was an influence. There's no denying it. And then the auction house. The thing is, also, we didn't go crazy after that and went berserk on prices or whatever. We still tried to stay who we are.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Host]

Well, I think the interesting thing that they've done, you know, to mention is I don't think that they. They may have created the secondary market against Jordan, but they saw a vision. They saw what was happening. They believed in it the same way collectors believe.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I looked at it and I saw Danny putting his own money to work.

[Host]

Right. And I think that that's the difference.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Between not some millions of dollars.

[Pierre]

Yeah. And that was a risk. It was a circulated one, but that was a risk. Yeah. The difference between let's say 1916 and any brand not June is one is in sales. Nothing wrong with this. And one is building a relationship. That's why, let's say if I receive a phone call and say, I would like to buy this watch, here's the money, and we ship it. We never did this. Right. Best example, Mr. Francis Ford Coppola. He wanted the residents back in 2009. They said, we don't ship watches, we deliver. So we can explain them. It was a Christmas present. So it's not ex wife. And Leonard said, this is a Christmas present. So let me make the surprise come in January, a couple of weeks after. And I did with this, we created a whole relationship. And I was with Mr. Foucault last Saturday with some friends and collectors, and we greeted each other. There's a relationship. We are very human related.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Sure.

[Pierre]

We're not transactional to. To the question, how do we figure it out? We make a lot of mistakes. Some people are very good or some people have some issues. That's a different way we look at it for. We got.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You must have black Bolson guys from flipping rigs.

[Pierre]

We do that all the time and we don't hesitate. But we did this since 2009 when we had the first boutique in America. So like yesterday, we did this because Francois always, always respected the collector. So if I make sure that this guy here has something that's very rare, don't flip it right now. It is possible. We're not stupid about this. Could be buyer's remorse. Could be. Kelly has an opportunity to buy this business. He needs to please talk to us. Yeah. Do not surprise us.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That makes sense. If I ever was going to sell a watch from a maker, I would definitely do that. The thing I was going to say that I've learned, and this is for everybody to hear that wants to be a collector. I didn't realize this till about a year ago when Jordan or any brand blackballs somebody, they think, oh, I've only lost my relationship with that one maker. No, that's not what happens. That's not what happens. It's such a small community that other makers, other brands say, oh, oh, this guy. Yeah, I've seen it happen.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

All of a sudden Patek won't sell them. Rolex won't sell it. They don't say anything about it. They don't say, oh, no, I'm sorry, you're officially banned, but you are banned 100% and you're going to spend the rest of your life in the secondary market to.

[Pierre]

When we have these discussions and unfortunate discussions, well, it's my watch. I can do whatever I want with it. Absolutely. But I can do whatever I want. I don't have to deliver watch to you. You have your freedom, I have my freedom.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Sure.

[Host]

But the circumstance is different. If someone comes to you and they're in a tough spot in life and that's a different situation.

[Pierre]

I mean, accepted just for, for New America last, last year, four times. I said, we have this case, this case, this case, case, this case. Why you been asking me? Of course, not a problem. I said, of course I have to ask because he's micromanaging. He wants to know everything. So, so no problem. They said, yes, no problem. When G got divorced. Okay, it happens. What can we do? He was cash poor. Okay, I understand. So we had one guy. Just imagine. Also when one guy from Panama, I think that wrote to us from Latin America. We have a team for Latin America. I said, I would like to buy economy blue and elegant from you so I can sell them and make money. The guy figured, I, that's.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That, that's so good.

[Pierre]

You should sell them one.

[Host]

You should frame that in here.

[Pierre]

We told you. I said, we so happy that you're telling us the truth. It's so transparent. We really like this, but obviously we can't do it. Yeah, we feel sorry for you, but. But thank you for, for being honest. But the guy figured out. Nobody thought about this. I figured it out. I'll just ask. I mean, the worst thing I can say is no, of course. That's a, that's the thing. We have too many people that are circling around on this, you have another kind of people that we are, let's say, concerned about, the one that think that. And I don't know if the white marketing term is the. How they call that, the pride or the fact that the honor of wearing jean because he's the best watchmaker. But do you know he's the best watchmaker now? We just heard him was the best. Right. How does it relate to you? And we have this wave of collectors, extremely wealthy sometimes, to say, I can't wear this. I have to wear something that represents who I am. So now we're going back to this collector kind of things. Like, I'm showing you what I have versus this, which is what we're looking at.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right.

[Pierre]

So we are very careful with these people. And we have a role in the system, at least in the boutiques, you know, some retail stores that we have around the world might not apply. This is. We are not allowed to sell a watch to a person that doesn't. Does not understand. It should make sense.

[Kevin O'Leary]

No.

[Pierre]

Makes sense, believe me. I'm sure you buy. And it's beautiful watch. Daytona. Do you know the whole story about the Daytona? No. You buy Daytona because most of them. Because it's a Daytona. Yeah. So it's what I call a. A vanity purchase almost.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

For lack of a better term.

[Host]

Now, Kevin, you always say how the watches are coming to the grave with you.

[Pierre]

Maybe.

[Host]

Maybe you'll have a mausoleum where people can rent them from you.

[Kevin O'Leary]

The pier knows Paul Boutroux. His joke is always, I only come to visit you so I could talk to your wife about auctioning off your collection. After your dad, I said, thank you, Paul. That's. That's our friend. Yeah, it's. But, you know, it's something I do think about a little bit. But I'm very, very proud of my collection. You know, the pieces that I have, I mean, they're really, really spectacular. And just, it's. It's also very soothing for the mind to get up in the morning and decide, where am I going today?

[Pierre]

Sure.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Because I wear six different pieces a day. Two. I wear two watches every. In every hour of the day. And I switch at noon, and then at night, I do a lot of television. And I want to make sure for if I'm doing something on cnn, I have two different pieces the same night I'm on Fox, it's two different pieces. And now these networks are saying, let's do a wrist twist. Let's see what you have on today. And what I'm learning to do now, which I'm very proud of. I'll tell you a story that you might find interesting in Shark Tank. For the last, I don't know, six, seven years, I've been wearing two watches on each show. And one of the producers came to me and said, you know, Kevin, we're having a problem with this. You keep wearing these pieces that nobody can afford or ever get because they're a piece unique. And our show is about inspiration of young people wanting to become entrepreneurs. Don't you think you should wear one crazy piece on one wrist and an entry level piece on the other so that when you do all this risk stuff, you encourage young people? And that's what I'm doing now. I'm very proud of that. I don't know.

[Host]

I think the scrub daddy guy's doing okay.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Because unfortunately there's not a lot of entry level Jordan anything in anymore.

[Pierre]

They're used to impossible to get anyway.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, I mean, the, the elegant was the, you know, at a. There was a time. Yeah. So I can't. Can't get it.

[Pierre]

I know. And we sold that on everything.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. I mean it's so. It's sort of. There was a time when you could come in and say, look, you know, I'll start at the bottom with an elegant. That's not a bottom watch anymore. It's a highly coveted. Very difficult to get even in the secondary market. It's crazy with some happened with Jordan. It really, really is.

[Pierre]

I always say as a joke, obviously, like, if I could hire a shrink on stuff, I would make so much money with all of us. Is I including myself in crazy collectors? Lay down on the couch. Let's analyze you. Here's the beat at the end. I would make a fortune because we are, I think, crazy. Yeah. Like I collect number 100. That's my number. Now I would pick up a watch that's not exactly the one or the configuration I want, but that's the number 100. How stupid is this? It's a piece. How stupid is it to wear a red band every time if it doesn't have a red man, I can't do this. But that's his DNA. That's his DNA. That's. That's his thing. My thing is number 100. So he's crazy. I'm crazy. And that's why we, we get along because we can share this craziness and for something that nobody needs on top of it. Yeah.

[Host]

Well, I think the market in general around watches, whether it's jorn or another brand. They get sour when they can't get what they want, right? So they come up with these theories and misconceptions.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Worse for Jor. I'll tell you why Jor is a curse to me, because I've known as a Jor collector, and every guy I do business with, any, even women, very important CEOs or heads of television networks or whatever, they make the assumption that I can get them a Jorn, right? We've been through this a few times, and. And it's brutal to, you know, I have to say them, look, you're not a collector. You say, what does that have to do with anything? I want a Jord. This is the one I want. Just tell them I want this one. I want to pick it up in Miami next Tuesday. I mean, I want you to give the bad news, not me.

[Host]

Just start putting each other in groups.

[Kevin O'Leary]

No, but it's not. It's brutal because a lot of people takes. You know, I have a very good friend now, good friend of Pierre Jay Service, very important guy in Los Angeles.

[Pierre]

So, for example, the guy said, you know, I'm not the creative. I won one and I won the colonists the cheapest one possible, and you never see me again.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's not what happened.

[Pierre]

That's not what happened. As I think on the first interview, you quoted one of our common friend Richard, that said, once, you know, Jewel, you fucked, you go to the. I think you mentioned that, that word, you go down the rabbit hole.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Keep sold on five.

[Pierre]

Now, very, very rarely, very rarely do we have a connector. That's only one draw, right? It could be the color blue, because that's a life on its own. Could be the elegant now, but on the other ones, if there's only one, there's a problem. Maybe he was not happy with us, maybe the watch wasn't working. Things happen. But the fact that you have only one doesn't make sense. Collector, by definition is not one. No, it's not possible. Right?

[Host]

Well, and I think there's so many, again, misconceptions about brands and how they operate, and every brand has their neuroses about how they do things. But. But there's so many misconceptions about Jorn and who gets a watch and production numbers and all that stuff. So I'd love for once and for all on camera for you to debunk all these myths and just put it out there, because this will help all the guys that you need to say, hey, just watch this video.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Because I think, you know, I'll start because I'm a guy that's watched this evolution. I'm very happy to see that Journ is bringing new young collectors into the family. Now, there's nothing wrong with interviewing them and making them learn about the brand and coming to events multiple times. That's what they're doing. Many people are asking me, what do I have to do to get part of these invitations. There's many events. This boutique has fantastic events where you can get educated, where people come in and talk about many topics. But these young guys in their 20s and 30s are coming in here. They're going to be the next generation, right?

[Pierre]

Absolutely.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And so they're making watches available for them at the same time. The balance, as I've observed. And I'm very, you know, I'm. I'm one of the beneficiaries of this. They respect their collector base. So when a. A piece like the Tokyo comes out, you got to be a hardcore collector to get that piece. I mean, you must have had hell on earth with Tokyo.

[Pierre]

Thank God was the last limited edition, because it is not a pleasure for. Call me Mr. No, just imagine. I mean, he knows I had to do.

[Kevin O'Leary]

People were calling me about the Tokyo, and I said, why are you calling me? I can't do anything.

[Host]

Yeah, well, the Tokyo is interesting, and I'm kind of fascinated as to why you went there besides the limited edition thing, you know, which is really interesting, you know, from a collector standpoint.

[Pierre]

Right.

[Host]

But the Tokyo is not the most conventional gen there is, and that's what your eye was kind of drawn to when you got started. And I'd love to know what it was about the Tokyo that though the.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Tokyo dial is pretty special, spectacular. I mean, it's, it's there. I. I was recently, you know, on a trip with just someone who doesn't know anything about Jorn, and I was wearing it on my right hand at dinner, and he looked over and said, what is that? So this is a new release from Jorn. It's a Tokyo. He said, I've never asked you for this before. Sell me that watch. I said, that's not going to happen. That's never going to happen. He said, I would really appreciate it if you sold me that watch. That's the only thing I'll ever ask. It's the only watch I ever want from you. I said, not going to happen. Just not going to happen. He said, can you get me one of these watches? I said, also, no, not. Also not going to happen. So I think the dial has Done its job.

[Host]

Yeah, no, it certainly has. It's just, again, it's not what a lot of people think of because it is so limited and most people don't know. It's not what a lot of people think of when it comes to Jorn.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And there's something else about the Tokyo I have to tell you. Everybody that has seen it and looked at it closely has said to me, it's broken. It's not broken.

[Pierre]

I for one, it's because his sweep is.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's a two minute sweep.

[Pierre]

Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's a crazy, crazy thing. And everybody asked me why. Why I said, fbjorn. Is there another answer?

[Pierre]

Oh, because it's easier to read. Because it's like a more. More elapsed time. But yes, but I had the same thing. I said, is it working? Because you look at the chronic, it's not moving because it's so. So it shows how, how we are really creating good habit. When we used to see something like this. Same with the elegant. When, when my habits. My leg, because it kind of like stops, you know, after 30 or 35 minutes in the middle of the night. You pick it up. What time is. No, shoot, it's already, you know, it was 30 minutes, whatever. Yeah. So it's, it's. It changes a little bit your habits.

[Host]

Yeah, for sure.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's only been out a few months. It's already a legend with this sweep.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I mean, it's part of the lore. It's a crazy, crazy piece. Yeah.

[Host]

But let's debunk some of those events because.

[Pierre]

So you had. So you have two main things like production. I really want to talk about this. And then how to get a watch, basically. Sure. So let's start with. With a. Whichever. Which one you want to start with.

[Host]

Let's start with the one that's. Well, let's start with the one that everyone's always wondering is, how do I get one? What's this wait list. Because the truth doesn't exist.

[Pierre]

The term that I wanted you to use, waitlist. We do not have a waitlist. Correct. Well, wait list means in our mind there's a sequence first in first serve. There's never been a first in first serve. A draw. It's a wish list. It's a wish list. It means that if I find a better collector than Kevin tomorrow, I might have a better chance than Kevin. And then you have the relationship after. And then hopefully I can do the two. But I'm always looking, we are always looking for the best collector possible for the brand. Sure. That people say, well, I've been on the waiting list for the economy blue for 10 years. It might be 20 years. I don't know. And so how to get a watch? One thing that is extremely important for us, the word passion. A collector is passionate. I'm going to give you another example. And the guy's going to recognize. No one mentioned his name because it's like to show you how crazy people are. This guy brings his wife in his bedroom every Sunday night, opens her set, lays out all the watches. What are the three watches I'm going to wear this week? Every Sunday night. And if he listens to this, he's going to recognize himself. And we ask his wife. I said, what about? Say I have a glass of wine. Don't worry, I do my emails. But it's part of the ritual. It shows. I mean you, you, you were talking about which watches I'm going to wear. It's a question. Right. It's, it's so. It is important. So because we are, we have, each of us have a collector and the collector has an advisor. When comes July. This is when we do the main frame of the allocation. Not the finished one but the main frame of the allocation for the subsequent year. We go collector by collector. And I'm asking each other, me included. I'm part of the game. Why Kevin? He wants this and this. My Kevin. Tell me more about Kevin. I mean like Kevin. I know, but. Yeah. And they know also. But let's say something we don't know. And my advisor, I don't really know him. Next. Once in a while.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right.

[Pierre]

Knowing for next time.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's why reputation is so important.

[Pierre]

Absolutely.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. Imagine that's going on without you there. You're not, you're not your own advocate that the group is talking about you and they're getting all the information from maybe other watch collectors or other brands or whatever it is. You don't want a single negative mark on your reputation.

[Pierre]

No. Because it's a question mark. Yeah. You know, so we have a lot of people, even people are requesting. I would like to buy an Elegant. Send an email in Elegant. I said no problem. Go and visit one of the stores.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yep.

[Pierre]

Which one? New York, Miami, L.A. or worldwide. I can tell you, and I say go to this. We are not we old fashioned. We are not we never, never, ever since 2003 where the first boutique in, in Tokyo delivered a watch to a person we don't know ever. We don't work this way. We have to go to Tonguku to deliver it. We go to Tongkoku to deliver it. Yeah, absolutely. And that's very important. This is this. But also it creates a little bit of an issue because if you have to ban a person, obviously because you close, it creates more tension.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right.

[Pierre]

It's more complicated to. To basically ban a friend than a non friend. And also, and we realize this here, that's why I created upstairs a private space. Because when we hear today, no, we close because for the interview. But let's say I'm sitting with Kevin, we have three collectors coming. They might sit with us and talk to which one are you wearing? And then I'm in the middle of that discussion and we have no privacy anymore. Right? So that's some of the things. That's why I created a private space. If we need to talk something in a private. And I don't want people to say, oh look, I just got my special request. And then everybody said, can I have a special request? Thank you.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

Not easy. Another no and no and no and no.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, I get it.

[Pierre]

So that's all. That's only how to acquire what be close to your advisor, don't call him every day, don't arrest him if he doesn't know you. He's only going to be able to defend you like you attorney if you want. Yeah, that's the guy that's going to defend you. So know your collector. The second one on the production people say, why are you capping production?

[Host]

The answer is simple, right? It's a set number for the most part. I mean a general range.

[Pierre]

And never. Yeah, said we never put a maximum that right now people say, oh, are you still making what, less than a thousand? No, since 2020 we did more than a thousand.

[Host]

But I think, I think in people's minds, Zach, they could do 1500, they could do 3000.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right?

[Host]

But like there's a, There's a range.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Of what really the real question that people ask, and I'll ask it now so we can get an answer from Pierre. Everybody wants to know why the entry level piece, the elegant used to be the entry level piece, couldn't have 10,000 a year being made. It's a court's watch. I asked if we that myself. He just looked at me and said.

[Pierre]

No, we would know how to pronounce it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

But that is a good question because that, that watch could be made in volume.

[Pierre]

No, but depends what volume is. But anyway, go back to the elegant question. So the way Francois Paul organizes production, and I'm not saying it's better than the other company is. It's just different. So there's no value. Sure. In any company with certain volume we're not talking about or Smith. This is like, you know, really artisanal. When Aud, for example, we're going to cap it at 40,000, right. 139,998 and a half. Right. Why? How do you come up with that number? That's a marketing number, Right. We don't know how many they made actually. We don't know how many they made before. I mean they made the year after. Doesn't matter. It's their problem. We try to make as many watches as possible. Sure. But it's one watch, one watchmaker versus the other companies. We all going to do parts and these people are going to do the assembly. You can explore the production. But first of all, as a respect is going to say it's you that is going to be for me to Z It is not good in terms of output. Sure. Worst case scenario, this watch within three years of warranty comes back for repair. It happens. When people tell you we never have a problem with the watches, they're lying to you. We have problems with watches, it's mechanical, it's the nature of the beast. We're going to have some issues, either nature, human problems or conceptual. But we're going to have issues otherwise as possible. Says buy this Watch, pay your $40. When it doesn't work, buy another one and give us a loan. We know that. So don't think it doesn't exist. So it comes back to the actual guy that made it, not the after sale service. Any other company said no, let's do the output. It is bad for the short term, is actually excellent for the midterm. Because if you do the mistakes over and over, first you fight because you don't know how to do it or you learn from mistakes. Remember when we did the Babson? Learn from your mistakes, learn from your failures. That's the only way you can earn. If you give it to the after sales service, you don't know that you made a mistake.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's very interesting actually. So you don't want to be the guy that all your watches come back, right?

[Host]

Well, and I think if. If production was only focused on Elegant and there was no other watches, there would be a ridiculous amount.

[Pierre]

Right? Elegant is in all the department yesterday the comments we want. Sure. One of the easiest, not the easiest for everyone, but easiest fusion to assemble. Anyone in our company can do it. Maybe we if we Only make this, maybe we make 2,000 of it. It's man hours. We have so many, so many hours. And this is so many hours to produce equals output that easy working Kelly. And they don't call Vietnam and say, Give me another 100,000 bags by next week and hang up. It's in house. So it's all we can do. Sure. Not one more.

[Host]

Well, and I think the other thing that people forget is that Jordan is so focused on Francois, Paul Rather is so focused on the really, really high end stuff. You know, the, the one off stuff, the crazy complicated stuff that you know, you can only make so many of. But that's his real passion, is focusing on really high end watchmaking.

[Pierre]

No, he says so because he loves the chromosome. He loves the convent.

[Host]

Well, he loves everything he's made, I'm sure.

[Kevin O'Leary]

But we stopped the condiment blue.

[Pierre]

It's a, it's a pending. But to produce in terms of the.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Dial faction is the problem.

[Pierre]

Even the case is difficult. Yeah, I mean that case is to the level of 600.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I don't need to know.

[Pierre]

In fact, to 100.

[Host]

Right. But I think the production of, of the number of watches that FP Journey could make would be slightly higher if there wasn't also a focus on high end horology for some of these other pieces.

[Pierre]

That's the example. Correct. They said 2,000 kilometers. Correct.

[Host]

And I think that's what people forget.

[Pierre]

If we make the astronomy, if everyone and our watchmakers could make the astronomy, which is not true. Some people can do this, some people cannot do this. We have one guy I'm not going to measure Muslim. He's been doing Colombia superintendent for the past 15 years. He can't go to the next level. He's there, he cannot move. So maybe if we do this in the example and we have talent, maybe we make 50 as well a week. So it's average between 50 and 2000, give or take some numbers. Yeah, that's, that's the reality of things. Now we can hire more watchmakers, but we in the middle of Geneva. So we have to go to me or the industrial zone for some. I said I like to walk to the office. End of story. Remember, Francois is not about money. Money is not the end goal. We need Kevin's money. But this is what we're going to do with it. And Kevin, let me show you what we did with it. Yeah. So it's also as a salesperson, just imagine how powerful it is. It's inclusive. You are part of the history of Zhong you buy Rolex and it's products. It's a fantastic company and the product is amazing. Are you part of the Rolex history? Kevin is part of the Zhong history, sure. On top of this, he promotes it. So he's doubly part of this. Is a true ambassador. I don't like that word, but it is what it is. He is an ambassador. So that's the secret. He's not going to move. So he's going to have more watchmakers.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

So that's it. Yeah.

[Host]

I'm sorry, I'd love to know from both of you. Kevin, start with you. You get questions of people asking you one about Jorn specifically, but two about watches in general. Yeah. And what's something that you would love for every collector? Just. Just one thing that you think every collector should really know about Journ that makes it so special. What's the thing that you tell people when they say tell me about FP Journ?

[Kevin O'Leary]

They don't often understand my answer, but it's always the same.

[Pierre]

Same.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's a community. It's a very, very interesting community of very eclectic people all around the world. And it's like a passport if you own azure and you're able to be part of a collection. A very few number of people that understand, you know a lot about just art. To me, it's almost like collecting contemporary art or modern art. It. It's different than buying a watch. You know what I mean? It's hard on display to a party.

[Pierre]

With your painting, you're not going to go. Yeah, exactly. That's also.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's sort of. It's that and that, you know, that's the appeal. Right. And so the people that I, you know, I brought a few people into the Jordan community, they've been able to buy pieces and now they're crazy passionate. Yeah. They call me all the time. What do you think I should get for my next one? I always say to them, it's not going to be up to you which the next one is. You're going to have to find out what they want to give you.

[Pierre]

Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Just say you want another watch. They know. They already know what you have. See, one of the beautiful things is if you're not buying. I don't buy the secondary market very often. I talked about that earlier. But Jor knows exactly which calibers I own.

[Pierre]

So we can recommend one.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. So I get recommendations all the time. We're going to go in this direction. I have a beautiful piece coming this December. Beautiful red of Course. But, you know, I was part of the design of it, the decisions on it, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to fit beautifully in the collection. Yeah. And that's always exciting. Yeah.

[Host]

Certainly.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's all. And so that piece will become part of the legacy of the thing. And I don't know. I find this brand is unique, as every brand is, but this one's unique for the sense of community. Sure.

[Pierre]

So that was. That's a big question that we have. Because the problem with what Kevin said. Could that be the problem? It's not you buying because of the community, not because of the merit of the watch. That being said, because of the people that already buy this and are the part of the community. If you don't talk about watches for the next 10 hours. Get out. Yeah. I mean, you know, you know, the pictures of the week.

[Kevin O'Leary]

But we have parties here. We have parties here. Everybody's crazy. Yeah.

[Pierre]

You know what we all know, like, which. I'm not gonna mention his last name, but. But we all know this guy. It's a joke every time. Say we're not allowed to talk about anything. But watch it. Wicked is here. So we're not allowed. Yeah. And we're not allowed. Yeah. So it's intense. So if you're not really passionate. Sure. You're going to come to committees. Oh, I like Kevin. It's nice. Whatever. And he's going to talk about watches for the next 10 hours. Boring. So for us, it's good because they don't come back. Right. They're not passionate. Yeah. It's a way for us to also to tell.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

The good thing is if you know it watches. Listening like this one of the reason why you should buy a jour. You tell me about this. He's the best watchmaker, like, period. And I know so much more than you do. And I'm not trying to sell your watch. I don't have anything to sell, as you know and as you know. So you have one coming this year, and it's one. It's becoming two or three.

[Host]

He knows.

[Pierre]

He.

[Host]

He knows less than I know about not getting something.

[Pierre]

Yeah. Yeah. So we have to work there. This.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Of course. Yeah.

[Pierre]

I get it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

But imagine. I mean, here's what I tell people when they ask me to jurorn. It's very simple. I say, imagine if you could buy a Picasso from Picasso while Picasso was alive, but he had already established himself as Picasso.

[Host]

Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

So that's what you're getting with Jordan. There's going to be a time when Juran passes. I don't want that to happen, obviously.

[Pierre]

But 120.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know what that means? It means that there's going to be pre and post jurun. Sure. And every piece is going to go up by 40% on his passing. It's crazy to even talk about that. But that's what collectors are thinking. You may not be aware, but I'm telling you.

[Host]

Yeah, well, the conversations are always relevant. Is what happens when. Or what happens if.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right.

[Host]

Especially when you're in the situation of someone like.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Well, the guy. He is the Picasso of watchmen. Of course.

[Pierre]

Now.

[Kevin O'Leary]

But not just for the mechanical genius. The dials are crazy. And like, that's. That's what is. So you can tell from 20ft away it's a Jordan.

[Pierre]

Yeah. You can't.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You can't miss it because of, you know, the dial. And it just is what it is. It's like. There's very few brands that have that. There's another brand like that Moser. You can see it and say, that's a Moser.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Maybe Moser and Jordan are the only ones. I get Rolex.

[Pierre]

But.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, you have it on. People are knocking off the Cartier tank.

[Pierre]

Look.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Crazy. You can't be short till you get close.

[Pierre]

That's. That's.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know. But I'm saying when you see a journey, it's used as Jordan.

[Pierre]

Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And I don't know. Has anybody knocked off a journe? I don't think so.

[Pierre]

So we had. I offered it to Francois, pal. A long time ago. I was still in charge of Techno Marine. So we're talking about early. Early 2000. We had a deal with Chanel and Rolex and we had had a chef and we used to go to Cadillac to demolish watches. At that time was Techno Marine. So it was totally different thing. But I found a beautiful, beautiful. A resonance. Sure. But the guy was so smart. He loved the design of the resonance. He said. El P. Who is this? Tag Heer. What he put Tag.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You're. Is that pre Telegram.

[Pierre]

But it's a fake one, obviously. And it's.

[Host]

Do you guys have it at the.

[Pierre]

I paid the 50 bucks. Whatever. I gave it to Francois. Okay. That was the end of discussion. I said, you should have kept it because it was cool.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I wish I could buy that.

[Pierre]

It would have.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, I know.

[Pierre]

Because I love the idea of the. Let me put a name that I know. But with the design that I like. Yeah. At that time we still do that. Massive. Nobody knows that we like it. This way. Yeah. So it's better this way. It was.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's funny. I love it. Very funny.

[Host]

Well, we're going to look at some watches in a second here, but I asked some of the viewers to field a couple questions that would be a little bit more on the fun side for the, to you a little bit more relaxed. So, Kevin, we'll start with you. Someone wants to know, if it was 1998, 1999, and Francois Paul walks through the shark tank and pitches a subscription, would you have given him the 50% deposit back then?

[Pierre]

No.

[Host]

See, now you're saying no, no, it's.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It'S a great question because there's, I love that question because at what point does the watchmaker all of a sudden have the transition where the demand exceeds supply?

[Pierre]

Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

There's that moment maturity. Yeah.

[Pierre]

It's like an artist.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's, it's, it's like an artist. Very 100 people want to be artists. One of them makes it.

[Host]

You know, it's graduation day.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Is, yeah, it's, it's, it's a very interesting thing. But that I remember for me, my introduction to Jordan was one of the royal family, the UAE that called me up and I was in New York. And I think you remember this day. It's when I met you. He said, you must go to the Jorn Society dinner. I said, what is Jorn Society? Who's fp? And he said, no, no, no, no, no. I, I, he's a good friend of mine. He's a massive collector. He said, I'm going to make a phone call for you. Just show up at the boutique. And that was the beginning of the journey. I know that night at that dinner I went out of my mind. I mean I met all these joint.

[Pierre]

Guys, but that's also. Let's look, let's be realistic about this. You know, talking about transparency, when you have a collector telling all the collector, you stupid, you should buy this. Watch me as a salesperson, I can't say that.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right.

[Pierre]

But when supreme collector to another collector, just imagine importance. Remember that for the purchase of something you don't need luxury item. Sure. Obviously not aspirin, because or fruit, not the commodity. What decides the purchase of a new thing 57% of the time if I go back to my research I did with it was I think MIT or Harvard that did a survey, 57% of the time was get the next time you go to Milan, have this guy with doing shoes, they make you go and see it. Chances are he's going to Go and see it. And chances are, because I know him, he's going to buy it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Sure.

[Pierre]

So friend, the second one was reviews at like 36% if I recall. That's the time also at Amazon they started putting certified reviews and also they start putting bad reviews on top. Why on earth would you put a bad review on top? Because if the bad review is there, means everything else is true. It validates all. The one. If everybody says with the best. With the best. With the best you have one review said we excellent. You've got to be careful. The third one was the point of sale. 19%, fourth the brand, 13% interesting. With the best. What can I say? We're not the best. But when a collector says that, just imagine important. So now we have this compounding effect now with the community and the fact that we have big collectors that are super fun. They love to, to drink, they love to laugh, they, they love to travel. I mean, we went to Tokyo, like 50 of us went to Tokyo. We didn't pay for the last trip. We didn't pay for it. We each paid for. For this. For have the chance to travel together. Where does this happen? But also you remember the argument about community? No, no, I agree. The committee is, is. Is a lot and that's what we enjoy also. Otherwise you buy your watch and you, you're at home and just enjoy it. What is better to share it Sometimes also when you're passionate, you want to share your passion.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

That's the beauty of it. If they were not passionate, we would be dead.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

I buy a Rado tomorrow and nothing wrong with Rado, but it's not my stuff. I'm not going to be excited. Am I going to say, you should buy a radio tomorrow. It's not my world. Nothing wrong with it. I'm not saying anything, but it's not my world. I want to do something that excites me again. The banana on the table and the intellect.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. Well, I want to touch on a topic. I want to make sure we cover because it started with Jordan watch insurance. Yep.

[Host]

So then you have your own.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yes, but the reason it happened and Pierre's part of this years ago, maybe three years ago, I don't remember when I went to get my watch insured and they said, Jordan, I said, yeah, I want it insured for replacement value. And they said, can you replace this? That's not easy. Right. It's a tough, tough decision. They said, how can we get. How do we Mark to market the value of this piece? We started this discussion, because most watch insurance policies, including mine, attached to the home policy, they give you the depreciated value of the watch when it gets stolen or lost or broken.

[Host]

They also try and get involved to try and replace it themselves. And they don't know what they're doing.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

So I actually went to Chubb, the underwriter Chubb, and said, I'm a collector. I've got a problem. I also develop a lot of companies. I'd like to establish a new watch insurance company. VT was my partner. That solves for people that are passionate about watches. Took me three years. And Danny Gutberg in 1916, when I met with him, he said, this solves a huge problem. We want to go with you. Exclusive, principally. Let's start. We'll be the founding.

[Pierre]

Explain the principle, because right now it's just insurance. Your principle is brilliant. It's not the insurance. Job is job. I don't need you for job. I can contact them.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

So your principle is much, much, much more interesting.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yes. But the way it works is you can insure the watch when you buy it. Right on the point of sale in 1916, launched. Last Monday, we wrote our first policy. Yeah. So you can describe, decide do I want to sure it for what I bought it for right here, or would I like to have the software scrape the market auction values every 24 hours and determine what it's worth the moment it's lost or stolen. And I get that. In addition, and this was Danny's idea, which I loved. He said, wait a second. Why doesn't it also say where it was purchased? It was purchased from 1916 and it's now been stolen. We'll replace it. Well, if you don't want cash, you want your watch back, we'll send back to the dealer.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

So in a sense, Danny and I designed this with the software guys. We created this product. And when I was at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, every brand's talking about this.

[Pierre]

But what about the fact that you can basically turn it off? Yes. Yeah, that's. That's the main thing, you know, because.

[Host]

You don't need to pay insurance if it's sitting in the safe.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You only tra. I travel with 17 pieces, max. That's it. I only want to insure those. I don't need to insure the hundreds of watches that are sitting in a vault in Zurich. Yeah. So that I love and because the bank insures it so well. It's really interesting how Shub stepped up and said, okay, let's work on the code, the technology we gather, we created a brand new. I'm really proud of most product.

[Pierre]

That's great.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Three years I, I've been working on this and I've spent a lot of money investing in it. But I think it's going to change the industry and I love the fact that Danny backed me on it and we're doing this together. I'm going to show it to you guys in six months. Have a look at it.

[Pierre]

Look.

[Host]

We'll be sure to put a link in here.

[Pierre]

I have 100 watchers, but I'm traveling. Not 17 too many, but like three. Three pictures. That's what I'm doing for this week. And I'm only paying for this. I already have a contract with job. They're already pre registered.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's how it works.

[Pierre]

And then what would I pay for the ones in the safe? Yeah. Does it make sense?

[Host]

So let me ask you a question. So do you get charged then a premium based on the amount of time that you're traveling or is it just a monthly premium that you pay?

[Kevin O'Leary]

No. What's beautiful about AI now in the watch insurance industry, this is really incredible. So the insurance industry is very regulated. So Florida has a different regulator than Illinois has. The software is able to determine the risk based on a lot of input from AI because of millions of contracts that have been already issued. So it's trying to determine what is the probability of a loss or theft based on what you're doing, what your activity is. It's gotten very sophisticated. It's very good. And so you really. All you want is most people and it's amazing when they walk out of the boutique, they want to know if somebody snatches the bag. That's the number one reason they're buying. At the point of sale, it's insured. It's like Applecare. Click here. And so you choose a couple of the way it works is at the moment you get it insured, the store nine seconds later has issued the policy. It also sends it to you at your email and it also provides you with a printed copy if you want. And you have decided do I want replacement value at date of purchase order, I want the auction value two years from there you decide, that's great. I'm insuring mine for whatever they're worth the moment they're lost. Because most of my watches have appreciated.

[Pierre]

Yeah. They haven't depreciated the fact you can manipulate and make it to your needs and not basically what Chubb is offering. This is my policy and Adhere to it.

[Host]

No, it solves a big problem, for sure.

[Pierre]

It's great. Personalized.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, it's great and it's amazing. And anyways, I'm very proud of it. And we're, we're modifying it based on. People say, I. I wish it could do this. I wish you could do this. So I said, it can. Let us. Let us figure that out for you. So we're going to do it. You know, Danny wanted something very specific for 1916, and we have that now. That's great. Then we'll. We'll hear from other makers. But anyways, it's. I want that to be my legacy. Something. It's called Wondercare. Anybody can go to wondercare.com and look at it. That's great.

[Host]

I love it. And it's launched, ready to go. People can sign up right now. Amazing.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Host]

All right, Pierre, I got a listener question for you. Everyone knows that you love number 100, but let's say Francois Paul came to management today and said, you know, Pierre, I want to make you something that you want piece, unique, whatever it is, and it will have the number 100 on it. I'll make sure that there's 99 pieces of it before. But what is it that you would.

[Pierre]

Want, you know, to get the number 100? We're talking about the Tokyo Chrono. Sure. You know that I was not allowed to have one limited edition Pro.

[Kevin O'Leary]

The.

[Pierre]

My whole life. The Pierre is for collectors. I have 32.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You didn't get a Tokyo.

[Pierre]

So for the Tokyo, I went there. I said, look, this is my only chance to have a limited edition 100. I missed all the Zodiac because I was not allowed to do this. And for reason that my father thought he was against him. Well, obviously he wasn't, because they were good friends. The was 99. What the f you doing? According to 100, you stop at 99. My dad told me was like, against him, which obviously was possible to pay attention to this. So ask permission. I said, if you don't want to, I'm not going to ask again, but if you can, that's fine. And if I do, I'll pay the price like everybody paid. And I would pay in Switzerland. So it would not go through this company without obviously make some money on the back end. Because I'm a partner with Francois Paul. I would buy directly with that. But also I didn't want to minimize my quota here. So I ate it on Geneva and I was allowed to have it. Amazing. That was. Did you have 100 to have number one.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That's spectacular.

[Pierre]

So what I would have asked Francois Paul is another column souvenir. The problem that I have with the Coleme souvenir, that's another thing that we have to mention. There's only one number 100. Whether it's in platinum, in bitum, villanue, in fuchsia, dal, whatever you can imagine, there's only number 100. So. Oh my God.

[Kevin O'Leary]

The thing could be 3 or 4 100.

[Pierre]

I know not with full support. It's identical. It's the identity of the watch. If I call them, I said, I have a problem with number 100Cs. They don't have to ask what it is they do. Exactly. So the other comments we don't. I have, they're not number 100 like the blue one or the new one that we have that I ordered for next year is going to be number whatever. I can do it. So if you can make one with number 100 or maybe put the 100 on the dial or change to 12 on top and put 100, that'd be fun. But you know what? I would go. For me, Colorman Souvenir is absolutely the best watch possible. And we're going to see some more watches that have that are much more valuable than this. But if I have to end up with one watch without money involved, 20 years.

[Kevin O'Leary]

There you have for me the piece that I'm so proud of. Joiners, the vertical tourbillon I have with a red k at the 12. Remember we debated that for a year.

[Pierre]

Was complicated. Just that later was complicated.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Pierre]

Provision and yes. Okay.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Let me tell you that that piece is a nice stock, but absolutely. I'm sure others have come to you. Now listen, I'm sure they say to you, do it for me too.

[Pierre]

Who?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Anybody.

[Pierre]

Oh, of course. They win. C again.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, let's this bringing them in.

[Host]

Well, there you have it. Kevin Pierre. Thank you guys again for joining me on the show. Today we're gonna look at some watches. Stay tuned for part two of this video. And thank you to Kruke and Blake for providing these amazing gifts and cases.

[Pierre]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

For these two.

[Host]

And make sure you check out wonder.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Take this to Dubai next week. It's cases.

[Host]

Let's see a photo of that in Dubai.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Host]

There you have it. All right, stay tuned for part two. All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collector's Gene Radio.