Open House Recap – Inside LA's First and Only Independent Watch Show – Episode 84

Summary

Podcast Summary: Openwork – Episode 84 – "Open House Recap: Inside LA's First and Only Independent Watch Show"

Host(s): Asher Rapkin & Gabe Reilly, Collective Horology
Release Date: June 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

This energetic, post-event episode offers an insider recap of the third annual Open House, LA’s only independent watch show, hosted by Collective Horology. Asher and Gabe, still buzzing (and a touch exhausted) the morning after the event, reflect on what made this year’s gathering exceptional: the size, the community spirit, the unique brand mix, and the powerful sense of camaraderie among attendees, collectors, and watchmakers alike.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Unprecedented Turnout and Community Energy

• Attendance well exceeded expectations, with over 400 attendees from all across the U.S.—from Boston, Philly, New York, and even locals.
  [01:00–02:13]
• The event’s atmosphere was called out for its genuine curiosity and informed audience:
  • "It demonstrates … the excitement that this corner of the industry provides and to the camaraderie of this community." – Asher [02:13]
• Notable quote:
  • “It's hard to get two people to show up to anything [in LA]. The fact that we had so many people that were jubilant and curious about independent watches … is a testament.” – Asher [02:13]

2. A “Self-Selecting” and Knowledgeable Crowd

• The brands exhibited skew “esoteric and left of center,” so attendees were genuinely interested in independent watchmaking.
• Speak Marin representatives noted that most shows draw less-informed crowds, but here people "really knew what they were looking at." [05:24]
• "You have to be on the wavelength for these brands ... it's not like there's a Breitling or an IWC anchoring the event." – Gabe [06:33]

3. A Level Playing Field for All Brands

• Every brand had identical displays, removing distractions and focusing visitor attention squarely on the watches themselves:
  • "It really strips things away, down to the essentials of the watches, which is fascinating ... these watches stand on their own ..." – Asher [07:06–08:02]
• Uniquely, this “watch speed dating” led collectors to make unexpected choices—sometimes changing their purchase decisions after hands-on experiences.
• "You can reveal some really unusual and special choices." – Asher [09:41]

4. Direct Access: Breaking Down Retailer/Brand Barriers

• Ariel Adams (a blogging heavyweight) highlighted the unusual freedom brands had to engage directly with customers—rare in more traditional retail settings:
  • "It's very refreshing to see a retailer that actually trusts their brands … and allows the customer to have this direct experience with a brand and with the people from the brand. That's very unusual." – Ariel Adams via Gabe [13:01]
• Gabe and Asher credit their trust-based relationships and careful brand selection for making this possible.
  [15:11]
• Lighthearted moment:
  • "Do you trust them? — Gabe
    No. — Asher
    Now I’m wondering—do I even trust these people? — Gabe [15:37]"

5. Camraderie Among Brands and Collectors

• The event (and subsequent dinners) strengthened the sense of friendly competition and support between independent brands, even direct competitors:
  • "Think about that for a minute. Could you imagine a dinner with a Rolex rep, an Omega rep, and a Patek rep? ... They just don't think about camaraderie in the same way." – Asher [16:17]
  • "There's camaraderie among independent watch brands … they want to see each other succeed." – Asher [18:03]
• Collectors also shared the joy, as the event allowed for rare in-person meetings with both new and established pieces.

6. Hands-On Access to Exceptional Watches

• From the "half a million dollar" Armin Strom Minute Repeater Resonance to accessible Ming, Fears, and Sartory-Billard models, attendees and hosts alike could finally handle watches otherwise only seen online:
  • "It's unusual to see, you know, four David Cando’s in one room or the full Holthen Ricks collection." – Gabe [09:07]
  • Asher discusses the tactile joys (and nerves!) of demoing such rare, precious pieces [19:32–21:14].

7. Brand Diversity (and Harmony)

• Unlike events where high-end brands might angle for exclusivity and distancing from more affordable names, here even six-figure independents “held their own” beside more accessibly-priced innovators:
  • "Some of the more affordable pieces … hold their own. … The purity of the idea is so well executed… it's perfect for what it is. It's perfect." – Asher [24:00–25:09]
• Gabe emphasizes the absence of snobbery or politics—just “good behavior on all sides.” [28:00]

8. Behind-the-Scenes Thanks

• Explicit shoutout to Ellie, Collective’s operations lead, for event management and execution:
  • "For anyone who was at that show, anyone who had a good time and was able to enjoy and not even think about a thing, that was because of Ellie's fantastic work." – Asher [28:24]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I only want to still be in bed because yesterday was one of the most fun days that we've ever had in this business, bar none." – Asher [01:00]
• "You have a very unusual energy in this show... you just let the brands talk directly to customers. That's very unusual." – Ariel Adams via Gabe [13:01]
• "It's like watch speed dating … all that there is to do is look at the watch and discuss it." – Asher [08:02]
• "The pool deck proved to be a great location to hang out for the disinterested. Partners, spouses, lots of kids..." – Gabe [18:42]
• "There's camaraderie among independent watch brands and ... they want to see each other succeed." – Asher [18:03]
• "We are deeply grateful to everyone who came." – Asher [28:24]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 0:00–01:20 – Introduction, context for exhaustion
• 01:00–03:44 – Attendance, community turnout, gratitude
• 03:44–05:24 – Self-selecting, knowledgeable audience
• 06:53–08:02 – Equal-brand displays, “watch speed dating”
• 09:07–10:36 – Seeing rare pieces, surprising purchases
• 10:36–12:22 – Community highlights: Steven Pulverant, media presence
• 12:22–15:37 – Retailer/brand dynamics (Ariel Adams’ insight)
• 16:17–18:09 – Brand camaraderie, post-show dinners
• 18:42–21:14 – Hands-on experiences, memorable watches
• 24:00–27:23 – Affordability vs. prestige, brand harmony
• 28:24–29:00 – Shoutout to Ellie, operations lead

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Tone & Final Thoughts

Warm, occasionally irreverent, and deeply grateful, Gabe and Asher share Open House’s distinct atmosphere—marked by curiosity, shared learning, and a lack of pretension. The event’s success, measured not just in numbers but in authentic, meaningful encounters, sets the stage for even bigger gatherings to come. Both hosts close the episode unscripted, full of thanks for the brands, attendees, and their own dedicated team.

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Transcript

[A]

It's the morning after at the Aster with Ascher.

[B]

This is openwork, a look inside the watch industry, a podcast from Collective Horology. I'm Gabe Riley, co founder of Collective.

[A]

And I'm Asher Rapkin. I'm half awake.

[B]

Okay, well, maybe that's because Collective Horology is an independent watch retailer based in Ventera, California. Although today we're in Los Angeles in the Hollywood neighborhood slash pool. And look. We carry a wide range of independent brands, including David, Kando, Holthen, Ricks, Ming, and many more. Many more who were with us yesterday in Los Angeles at our open house event. To learn more about us and to check out our available inventory, just visit collectiveherology.com it's the morning Asher. It's the morning Asher. It's the morning after. And Asher just declared he doesn't want to be here. He's tired. Why are you tired?

[A]

It's the morning after at the Aster with Asher.

[B]

Sure, it sure is.

[A]

That tells you exactly how exhausted I am. No, I. Look, I'm. I only want to still be in bed because yesterday was one of the most fun days that we've ever had in this business, bar none. And I, you know, look, I. For those who are listening who weren't there, for those who were there, just all in all, like, both Gabe and I are filled with incredible gratitude. The thing about independent watches is, as I'm sure everyone who listens to this podcast is well aware, is that we are a dedicated but relatively dispersed and small bunch relative to the larger watch market. Yesterday, I don't know if we have the final head count, but it was well over 400 people who came through Open House. And that's, you know, we had people flying in from. From different parts of the country.

[B]

I met a father and a son, listen to this podcast, and came together from Boston.

[A]

No way. Really?

[B]

Yeah. Pretty cool.

[A]

Wow. Well, to those people, thanks.

[B]

Yeah. But even this year we had someone from Philly. I think that was the farthest traveled in the U.S. maybe New York. And of course, the brands come from Switzerland, from Austria, from all over.

[A]

But. But, you know, look, first of all, I mean, kudos to those guys. But also, even if you came from

[B]

across the street, a couple people did.

[A]

Yeah. I am incredibly grateful and in awe and excited because it demonstrates, you know, look, in la, it's hard to get two people to show up to anything, let alone on time. And the fact that we had so many people that were jubilant and curious about independent watches in one room here in in Hollywood is a testament to the excitement that this corner of the industry provides and to the camaraderie of this community. So I was really, really excited about that. What I found interesting too was the real curiosity that people brought to the space. I mean, look, I watch shows. Gabe and I participated in all manner of watch shows, you know, and some are more community oriented, some are put on by private groups, some are public like Watch time or Windup. And then of course we've, we've produced different types of events over the last 10 years, give or take, but this one really had an incredible energy to it. The group that was there was kind and curious and I think the curiosity is what really struck me. You know, lots of people were walking around looking at watches and not just, you know, looping it and passing judgment on it or what have you, but being genuinely curious to talk to the representatives who had flown in to understand the why behind the watch. And that is incredibly inspiring for the entire collective team because of course that's what drives us. And I mean, look, I know I'm just sort of like waxing poetic here. It's just because I'm really happy to see how this played out and the energy in that room.

[B]

Yeah, well, it's a self selecting group. I think that's one of the things that became really clear. I mean, look, we've done this for two years, but this was the biggest show by far and the demand was overwhelming. We had a line down the street, we had to close our rsvp.

[A]

Yeah, thank you. By the way, for folks who did wait in line to get in, both, you know, from me, from Gabe, from Jeff, Jeff and Jimmy and Ellie and everyone at the collective team, thank you so much for your patience and for being so well mannered and positive about having to wait for a few minutes. I, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

[B]

Everyone got their royal pop in the end. Everyone who was in line, I don't think anyone ended up having to wait more than 20 minutes or so in line and we had water for everyone and all that stuff. I went out there to, to do that and we had, we had folks out there, it was, it was well organized. We hoped there wouldn't be a line because we don't want people to have to wait to get into something like this. But there was, and people were good, good sport about it. But I think, you know, you were saying like when you do these events, particularly in la, you have to, you, you could like plan an event for 500 people and no one will show up. It's very, you know, it's a, if, if like the sun isn't out, the sun is out.

[A]

We had a cloudy day so it

[B]

played in our favor or there was like you know, an accident on one of the freeways or what, whatever. But the attendance rate was extremely high. More than we thought was, was than we planned for. And I think it's because it's a self selecting group and the smaller in the past and you know, obviously it was a more. Most of the people who came the last couple years were people we know. This was a bigger event. But I realized when you look at the brands on the roster. Armin Strom, check out Chapek Dominic Renault Fleming Jay and Shapiro Renault Tixier Singer Carl Suki, David Kando, Fierce Holton, Ricks Mings, Sartori Biard, Speak Marin. The people who are going to turn out for an event with those brands are very self selecting. I was talking to one of the brands yesterday, to the guys from Speak Marin and they were like shocked. They're like like I've never been to a watch show with like this much energy and one with an audience who's like just so both curious to your point but also informed, like they really knew what they were looking at. And I was like, well that's interesting. I'm sure you do a lot of these. Like I find that really hard to believe. And he was explaining, well, you know, a lot of our retailers aren't independent, only focused retailers. So when they do an event like this, we may be doing like a showcase at a dealer along with like 10 other brands who are, you know, more mainstream or not necessarily independent. And so the audience who shows up for those other brands is a much more casual audience. And when it's interesting it's good in the sense that when they come to speak they're learning about something genuinely new and maybe a brand they haven't heard of but they're not approaching it with the same level of like familiarity and you know, information and education. So I think that that dynamic made it really unique which is you have a very self selecting audience. You have to be on the wavelength for these brands which are all kind of esoteric and left of center to want to show up for an event like this. It's not like there's a Breitling or an IWC or someone like that, you know who's, who's anchoring the event. It's inherently going to draw a crowd that's into this kind of Oddball stuff.

[A]

Yeah. You know, one thing that was interesting too, and admittedly I'd like to say this was strategic, but I think it's more of just. It was like a practical reality for the space. Every brand had the same display. You know, everyone had the same table, the same sign.

[B]

Except for the few brands who lined our pockets and got the premium. Everyone got the same thing.

[A]

Exactly. The super ultra package. No, but everyone had the same thing. And what I really like about that is that that actually I think strips away everything but the watch. And you know, when you have in one room, David Kando's DC1, DC6, DC12, a Josh Shapiro resurgence and a. Can I make you bleep me?

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And a. What's that? As well as a, you know, as well as a gaggle of watches from Armin Strom, a half a million dollar resonance minute repeater, all in the same room, all the same table. It really strips things away, down to the essentials of the watches, which is fascinating because I think it also makes

[B]

people to compete on with one another. Not competing then the watchmaking and their creative. And they're.

[A]

Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. It's like you, it's like you, it's. It's like watch speed dating because you're basically sitting there and all that there is to do is look at the watch and discuss it. There's no, there's nothing else that's like circling it, you know, in that, you know, sort of like luxury vibe. It's just the work. And in that sense it really reveals, at least to me, you know, what, what we've always believed but is absolutely true when laid bare, which is that these watches stand on their own, whether they're, you know, showc in a, you know, marble clad golden showroom or on a tabletop because they're that strong and they're that good. What's also evident to me when, you know, because we, you know, we retail all of these brands but we don't have every one of their watches in our store at any time. And when, when I got to walk around the floor and see, you know, right before we opened and see largely everyone, not everyone had everything but like had a good representation of their brand and got to see all, all of that. Yeah, you know, it was really kind of mind blowing. You know, when you walk from.

[B]

It's unusual to see, you know, four David Cando is in one room or the full Health and Ricks collection. Yeah, any, I mean really anything from any of These brands.

[A]

Yeah. And there were some watches that I saw that, like, I had never seen in person. We had one brand, for example, that we don't retail, which is Fleming. And I had never seen both of their modern pieces in the metal before, too. Yeah, and that was interesting, you know, because I just. It's not a thing that you can. That you can generally do. And sometimes, like, you know, we're very lucky. We get to see this stuff at Watches and Wonders. Or, you know, Time to Watches.

[B]

Time to Watches.

[A]

Exactly. Or, you know, any number of the professional shows we go to. But it's so rare that we're able to bring that. So that was really, I think, fascinating to me. And to that point, I think it was also revealing because I think a lot of clients came thinking that they would be interested in one watch or another or curious about one or another. And then I can think of a few clients who decided to. To make purchases at the show that, honestly, I was sort of shocked by. Like, I didn't realize that was something you were into, which was equally eye opening for me. And I think it's also just, like, good advice for collecting in general, which is this whole idea of, you know, let's. If you. If you remove all external stimuli and you just look at pieces and decide what do you. What do you. Gabe, or do you, you know, client A, B or C, really, like, you can reveal some really unusual and special choices. Right, Mr. Breguet, chronograph.

[B]

Yes, that. That's true. So I was. I was walking around the event there. There's some media there as well. Our friend Stephen Pulverent was there. He's been a supporter of. Of Collective from the very beginning. And so it was sweet to see.

[A]

I mean, literally, I mean, look, I'm gonna. I'm gonna make Steven's ears burn here for a little bit. So I'm sorry about that, bud. But, like, you know, aside from Steven being like a colleague of ours and a personal friend and people that we really, you know, like a genuinely good guy, I mean, truly, like the best guy. I was reading Steven's work and watching his stuff when we were, you know, on Hodinkee for a decade, you know, for a long time before we became friends. And it really means a lot to us when we see, you know, that continue on. And I was really touched that he was there and was, you know, shooting and supporting the crowd the.

[B]

The very beginning. I mean, we recorded a Hodinkee radio with him back in 2019 when that was the first, you Know that, that.

[A]

Oh my God. Did he host that episode?

[B]

Yeah, we recorded that with him. Went to, we flew to New York because we had the. I remember that.

[A]

I didn't remember. God, that I'm embarrassed to listen to that podcast.

[B]

Yeah, I've, I've re. Listened to it.

[A]

It's actually not so bad. Really?

[B]

Yeah, I had a crazy like flub in the middle. Like I just lost my train of thought in, in the middle of, of something, of some question or whatever. And graciously they edited that out. So I'm forever grateful for that. But he's seen us, you know, from the moment we started this to the moment we started here in la. I mean, he moved to LA at least just a few months after I moved down to Southern California. So he's seen Collective down here from the very beginning.

[A]

Yeah, he came to the Collective garage. Like he's one of the first guests

[B]

watch Yards, Collective Studios, whatever. So he, he's seen everything. And he was like, and this is, this has really turned into like a destination watch event. Like that's, that's really, that's really cool. The other person I bumped into was Ariel Adams. Oh yeah. And he had something very interesting to say that never occurred to me. He's like, you know, you have a very unusual energy in this show. And I was like, oh, is it because like the brands are just so unusual. Like it's rare to see these. Like we were just saying, is it

[A]

the secondhand smoke from the weed shop across the street?

[B]

No. And he was like, the thing that is shocking to me is that you just let the brands talk directly to customers. And I was like, why wouldn't. Wait, like what? Like, like why wouldn't we. He's like, a lot of retailers, you know, more traditional retailers, when they do these sorts of things, they're very leery of the brands chatting directly with customers because from the perspective of, of the retailer and this. And I mentioned, I went to JCK to speak on a panel about kind of the future of watch retail. One of the things I was talking about is like retailers are really mainstream retailers are really under threat from the established brands because they're being commoditized. Right? You know, it's like if they have a multi brand boutique that's successful, they'll get pressured to, you know, open a mono brand boutique and take their name off the store or, you know, the brand will just open their own mono brand boutique in their region or the brand will start selling online. And so there are all these pressures that conspire against traditional retailers to sort of commoditize their, their brand and disrupt their relationship with their client. Which is the biggest leverage they have with brands is like, I have clients for your watches.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And he was like, so for that reason a lot of the, the, a lot of retailers really don't want the brands talking directly with clients. Like they're, they're afraid, you know, that might, that brand might turn around and open their own boutique in the, in the market or something like that and try to poach the client. And we've heard from sales folks who work at these multi brand boutiques that a lot of times the brands will use registration, so they'll offer extended warranty if you register because they want the customer CRM and then they start reaching out to the customers directly to sell to them. So he was like, it's, it's like very refreshing to see like a retailer that actually trusts their brands and like doesn't need to get in the, in the middle of it and then therefore allows the customer to have this direct experience with a brand and with the people from the brand. That's very unusual for retailers to provide access to. And it of course never occurred to me that that was a thing. And I think it speaks to the benefit one another benefit of being an independent watch retail, which is what I told Ariel. I was like, well of course we trust them. We get to pick who we work with.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, it's not like we carry six swatch brands and like we have no say over the people we're working with because this brand was forced on us or we've been carrying them for decades. And like we need the business. Like we choose, we pick and choose who we work with. So we trust everyone. We do. And so it was interesting to me. It never occurred to me that that could, that that was part of what maybe created that unique energy in the room was the dynamic to go directly to the brand unfettered.

[A]

Yeah, that's interesting.

[B]

Do you trust them?

[A]

No.

[B]

Now I'm wondering, do I even trust these people?

[A]

I do, I do. And I think, you know, look, I think that's exam, that's exemplified by the evening after, you know, after the event, there were a bunch of dinners and one of the dinners that happened that you hosted, which was with all of the representatives and watchmakers from all of the brands and collective staff all together and you know, think about that for a minute. Could you imagine a dinner with like the, a Rolex rep, an Omega rep and a Patek rep. And like, you know, it's like, it's like the start of a joke.

[B]

That's true on all sides of me. I had reps from all of these different brands of whom had worked for each other's brands in the past, which was interesting. And like. Or worked with each other at other brands or. It was, it was.

[A]

But my, my point of that is, My point of that isn't. Isn't like a. Isn't personally malign any rep from like a big company. Like, there's tons of really nice people, but they just don't think about camaraderie in the same way.

[B]

That's true. There's camaraderie among independent watch brands and,

[A]

and like, sure, of course there's competition. Right. If client A buys this watch and not that watch, then one brand got revenue that day and another brand didn't. But the thing is, and this is how I feel about independent ret retailers in general, is that if there is a really good independent retailer who delivers an exceptional experience and independent watches. Right. Let's say somebody has a great experience buying from Jeremy Oster. Great experience. Jonathan Seidel or from Martin Pulley or Brandon Skinner or Leon Adams or like, anymore.

[B]

Come on, man.

[A]

Yeah, I'm ranking. I'm really spitting them out.

[B]

But let's say Tim Jackson.

[A]

Yeah, there we go. But my point is, like, if you, if you had a good experience buying from any of those guys, that I think means that you had a good experience buying an independent watch.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And that's just good. Yeah, that's good for us. And I think that was really clear from, from that dinner, you know, where everybody was. I mean, there was. At the far end of the table, we saw a deep conversation between Armand Biard and Michel Holthenrex.

[B]

Yeah, I ran into Armand's just before we recorded here in the lobby. He's like, yeah, I'm going to. I'm gonna go have some breakfast with Michael Holtzenreichs now.

[A]

Yeah, there you go. So.

[B]

And they're essentially direct competitors in a sense. I mean, they're not really. But like, if you were to look at it from, like the, you know, market segmentation sort of perspective they are. And it's not like, to your point, the, you know, the rep from IWC and Omega are going to go out to breakfast the next morning.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So there's this camaraderie in indie watchmaking that I think also contributes to that vibe.

[A]

Totally.

[B]

They want to see each other succeed.

[A]

Totally. And I think that that was Interesting to say the least. I'm glad we changed the format of the show this year. We moved to a different space within the venue that we've used for years, which is the aster here in Hollywood. And that I think this space not only allowed for more brands to participate, which is great, but it also felt more airy, better lighting, et cetera. And we saw people spilling out to hang out too, which I thought was equally awesome. People getting to meet one another and spend time with one another.

[B]

The pool deck proved to be a great location to hang out for the disinterested. Partners, spouses, lots of kids, there are

[A]

kids on the pool deck. But, but yeah, I think that that was, that was really fascinating to me and you know, it also allowed me to, to, to be able to go hands on with some watches where I, I sell regularly but I don't get to like physically hold often like a Dominique Renault Pulse 60, you know, or a Mirrored force Resonance and Gold. You know, like these watches are not easy to get. They take a long time to make and you know, carnet pieces are few and far between. So you know, being able to go over there, Lord knows, my God, we, we had the, the Arminstrom minute repeater, the resonance minute repeater in the office for about a day before the show. I must have chimed that thing like at least 20 times because how do you not.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, if you have, I mean let's, let's be honest. You have a, you have a half a million dollar minute repeater in your office. I feel like it's inappropriate to simply not.

[B]

To be honest. I was too afraid to touch that thing. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not messing with any of the.

[A]

Well actually, you know what's cool about, I mean there's a lot of things that are cool about that watch. But you want to know what's really cool about that watch to me is it's, it's really kind of foolproof. Like the way they designed the, the way they designed the, the ability to switch functions, you know, because that watch can either chime the actual time or you can put it into essentially demo MO 1259. You can essentially put it into you know like demo mode basically. And the way you do it is you, you basically just take the minute repeater slider and you just click it downwards and changes the mode. Yeah. And it has like a detent that feels kind of similar to like when you depress like a really nice chronograph. It's just like click and, and Then there's a little indicator on the dial that, that changes from red to white or white to red to show you what mode it's in. And red being essentially demo Mode and the 1259 mode and demo mode and white being the, the, the actual time. But it's once you, you know, sit there and you read the manual. Read the manual for a minute repeater. It actually is very easy to execute and really beautiful in action because not only do you get to see the gongs which are exposed on the dial, as is the resonance complication, but you also get to see the governor, which is incredibly cool, which is spinning right beneath the gongs.

[B]

That may be the coolest visual element.

[A]

Yeah, the whole thing is just a miraculously designed and engineered watch. But anyway, you know, it just, just fabulous to be able to, to spend time with these pieces. I mean, that, that's a watch that, like, the only time we're ever going to see that again is in Geneva or if a client orders it, that's it. I mean, you know, that's not, that's not a watch that's going to sit in a display.

[B]

Yeah, I had that watch in my possession to deliver it back to, to Claude Greisler. So actually, the day before the event, Claude and I recorded an episode of the Watches of Podcast. So coming soon to. To a podcast player near you and to YouTube. This is 30 minutes or so of me and Claude talking about Armin Strom, his background as a watchmaker, interestingly, like why he chose to kind of take over a brand like Armin Strong was Mr. Armstrong a watchmaker. And a lot of young watchmakers, you know, aspiring to strike out on their own, like do so under their own name or their own brand. And here's someone who did it under the name of another watchmaker I think is really unusual and independent watchmaking. So we chat about that. But in any event, so I had the, the minute repeat Peter on me, and I was like, the second I see Claude, I'm giving that to him because I don't want to be responsible for half a million dollars worth of watches. And he takes it out of the case and he was like, yeah. He's like, this is the best. I told my watchmakers this is going to be the best way to test the watch. They had sent the watch essentially around the world. So it arrived, arrived to us from another retailer who had it wanted to

[A]

make sure it survived basically, and had

[B]

been to media and press, basically, once Watches and Wonders wrapped, they've sent that watch around the world. Yeah. And he was like, this is the best test of the watch.

[A]

And he. What a cool way to think of it.

[B]

Picks it up and he's like, everything still works, which is amazing.

[A]

Well, it is funny because sometimes we get.

[B]

How many times do you think it was demoed?

[A]

No, but that. But that's a really cool thing. Like, it's so.

[B]

Barely knew what they were doing.

[A]

It's so funny that you say that because sometimes we get a Carnet watch and like, you know, or a prototype more specifically, and like, something's funky with it because this is how prototype prototypes are. You know what I mean? You know, the Detente on the, on

[B]

the Crown show watches, like, you know, someone pulled the crown out or, you know, snapped something.

[A]

But, yeah, it happens. And I used to get like, so, like, like precious about that, where I'd be like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. Like, you know, the watch, you know, the watch appears to be overwhelmed or this or the other. And of course, your point, like, about 100 people are handling it like something happened. But to your point, like, that is a really great way to test it. Like, can the watch handle that? And, you know, getting that feedback back to the brands is also really key and critical. So that was pretty interesting on the whole. It was also fabulous to see. And I mean, this is our brand mix for sure, but again, cool to see in the metal. Some of the brands that we carry are very expensive and very high end. Let me rephrase that. Are very expensive. Everything we carry is high end. But what's great is, like, when I look at some of the more affordable pieces, right, like from Sartori Biard, from Fears, from Ming, and from Holthenrichs, these watches hold their own, you know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you're gonna have to bleep me again, you know, but like, the. There's a forthcoming release from Fears, which is a. What was that?

[B]

Huh?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely incredible. And you know, that watch, that watch is. Is fantastic. And it's. It's the high end for freers. You know, it's like 28. It'll be like around $28,000 or so.

[B]

Well, who knows? Don't commit to that, man. Who knows?

[A]

Or so.

[B]

Okay. Yeah.

[A]

Anything could change somewhere in that range, but boy, does it punch above its weight.

[B]

And it's an incredibly.

[A]

Both you and I looked at each other and were like, we both want one.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. And when I saw the rendering of it, like three years ago in a basement in Geneva, I told Nicholas I was, yeah, Me too.

[A]

I want like, I want one too. And I look at that and I'm like that, that watch holds its own against other 50 or $60,000 watches in, you know, in, in the room. Not, you know, because it's like one for one, the same or the finishing is identical or whatever. It's because the purity of the idea is so well executed that it is, it is perfect for what it is. It's perfect.

[B]

And it's this watch you look at and you're like, holy shit. It's a. Holy shit. It's a Fears.

[A]

It's a what?

[B]

But. And not in a way that you're like, like sort of. You're surprised but not like, oh, fears could never do this. You're surprised. Like delightfully. It's like, yeah, this is their take on that form of watch. And oh my God, it does both things and it's really successful and it has its own take on it. Yeah, it's quintessentially its own thing while doing something extremely.

[A]

And a client placed an early order for one. Yeah, because I think he, you know, same thing. It's like, I know this client's collection, he has a wide range of incredible watches and this totally fits in, you know, and he made that choice based on the purity of the execution. And I really, really, really love that. Not only about, about collectors, especially in the independent space, but about these brands that are deciding to make the right watches for them. Not lock themselves in to like, you know, or be locked in by holding company into a certain price class or certain level of, of production.

[B]

I want to give some credit to so absolutely flowers to all those brands, they were as busy as anyone else and people who went to, you know, to the Holthen Ricks table or the Fears table or Sartori Biard or Ming were at all the other tables. But I also want to give credit to the other brands because you're right, there are brands there that operate at the very high end. You know, we had a half million dollar watch as you mentioned, from Armin Strong. We had David Cando watches there which go over $300,000. We had high end watches from so many other brands who just generally operate at a, at a really, at a high price point. And you know, I've heard from other retailers that a lot of what they deal with in their store and with these events is drama from the brands over which other brands are participating, who their brand is next to in the store or whatever it might be and frankly, just a lot of snobbery. From a lot of more kind of like expensive watch brands and sort of looking down their nose on brands who are. Offer things at a lower price than. Than they do. There was none of that from any of.

[A]

See, I don't think that is a snobbery, but I do. I think that it's snobbery, but I think it's insecurity.

[B]

Maybe it's insecurity, but who knows? None of that from any of the brands there. They were all genuinely happy to be there. They were all genuinely curious about one another's work.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which again, I find really refreshing because you and I have heard from, from other retailers how many headaches they need to deal with from a particularly more expensive brand over which other brands they carry, where they're placed in a store or an event and adjacent. And all this stuff is. And like, oh, I don't want to be next to this brand.

[A]

That brand smells, you know, none.

[B]

None of that. So like, you know, like good, good behavior on all sides here. I mean, amazing group of people who came out. Amazing folks from. From the brands who. True. Who truly flew halfway around the world to be here and great attitude, curiosity and enthusiasm. Genuinely on all sides.

[A]

Yeah. So look, obviously we're going to keep doing this. This was our third year. We're going to keep growing this. We're going to keep building it. We are deeply grateful to everyone who came. Before we wrap, I do want to point out one thing. On this podcast, you generally only ever hear from me and Gabe occasionally. Jeff Souder, our sales director, will join us. But there are other people who work at Kollective who you may or may not know there are. And I want to give an explicit shout out to our fantastic operations lead, Ellie, who executed this show and really built it and ran with it this year. So for anyone who was at that show, anyone who had a good time and was able to enjoy and not even think about a thing, that was because of Ellie's fantastic work. So even if she's not on the pod right now, I just want to give a big thank you to her for her just absolutely fantastic execution. Yeah. Hear, hear.

[B]

Well done.

[A]

Shall we leave it there?

[B]

Let's leave it there. This, of course, is Openwork. It's a production of Collective Horology. You can find us [e-mail] and as always, make sure you get in touch with your quest questions, your feedback and suggestions. We love to hear that stuff. And to do that, you can email podcastollectiveherology.com. Holy. It's a.