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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:06]
B
Watch fans and welcome back to the Realtime Show. For the first episode of 2026, I am joined in the virtual studio by our friendly neighborhood jeweler, Alon Ben Joseph, back in his hometown of Amsterdam. And now today, we will finally have our chance to dissect 2025 together and to look ahead very briefly to 2026. But this is a bite sized episode because we're short on time but not short on things to talk about, that's for sure. We back very soon with longer formats and of course, the always promised video era of the Real Time show. Alon, welcome back to the airwaves.
- [00:40]
A
Thank you. Thank you, man. Good to see you. All the best for 2026. I am not there yet. I feel it's 25. It's been a roller coaster, a positive year. So I'm very curious, Rob, what's your assessment of the year behind us and maybe you want to share a bit of the forecast for this year?
- [01:06]
B
I think what we'll do is we'll. We'll go through this as structuredly as we can and we'll talk about last year first and then we will, at the end of the show point ahead to 2026. A brief reflection on my side as to how 2025 has been has been extremely difficult. I was recently featured in an article in Der Spiegel in which I said my. My feelings about 2025 were hope admits the chaos and no, hope admits despair is what I said. I had to translate it into German to make sure it was still under five words, which is what they asked for. There is hope, you know, but it's been a difficult year. It certainly hasn't been the return to form that we would have dreamed of, but none of us expected it to be. It's an uphill battle. Everything's harder than it needs to be. But we are still ticking. How about you? What's it like for a retailer?
- [01:57]
A
Retail is tough. You said not as expected. Although I expected things to come down, especially after this crazy peak in the COVID era. Now the world was in turmoil, so it doesn't surprise me that hard luxury was hit as well. For me as a retailer, it's been a crazy year. 50th anniversary for ACE. We moved our AMSAM location. We opened in London showroom, second location. We pivoted hardcore in the offerings that we have. We went upmarket, strongly focused on indies, so independent watch brands. We added Ming exclusive in Europe, Jay and Shapiro watches exclusive in Europe. We brought back our friends Oris and Belarus into the roster. We've added Awake, we've added Sartre Biar, and actually this week we didn't laid back, but the first news of the year was that we represent Beware Watches exclusive in the Netherlands. And we're having another one to announce this month, which is going to be a banger as well. And already one in the schedule for watches and wonders, so we're really moving that direction. So on the one hand that makes it more volatile because the price points are going up so you'll have less frequent sales. But then again, I think that it makes you weatherproof because those that can afford those watches might always be in the market. On the collab side of things with Ace, we've launched because it was an anniversary year, way more than I anticipated and wanted, all 50 pieces. Econotra finally, with our beloved Nomos again, our love journey, yours and mine together, started with Nomos. Our first collab ever was with Nomos. So we did a very cool set with Mark Brown for the Metro series in orange. We did again with Elka, another with Frederic Constant. I'm most probably forgetting one Nevada Grinch in one. And we ended the year with one that makes it full circle the style again, which you and I did, I believe, nine years ago with Fears. So that was cool. Fun. Talking of collabs, I'll maybe build a segue for you. We did two with the Real Time show, which I loved and enjoyed, which makes the total now 4. So handing the mic to you, talk us through maybe how our collabs did and how you've experienced it.
- [04:58]
B
Well, yeah, we're thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with two more brands this year. Straum and Alpina, of course, both come in right at the 11th hour, especially in Alpena's case, just before Christmas, which is always a difficult time to launch a watch. So we're hopeful that those sales will continue and pick up as we go into the new year. The Stroud was a runaway success. Brilliant to see that colorway so well received. And happily that Colorway and probably that model as well, will return in the future again with a limited window of availability. We just need to keep a handle on production limits for that piece overall because it's obviously hard to gauge when you are doing your product plan for the year, when you've got a special edition like that that is only available for a short period of time. But we couldn't be happier with how that one went and happier. Couldn't be happier to have four brands now. In the roster, including Sherpa, of course, with the TRTS OPS model and the circular Pro Trail se. So we will continue to work with those brands going forward and 2026 looks to be a potentially very, very vibrant year. On the collab front, we have a possibility of working with nine different brands. We will not release nine watches in 2026. Don't worry, your bank balances are safe. Ish. My dream was always to have one every quarter. We might try and step up to three this year so that we don't overdo it ourselves because we're still learning about the best way to promote pieces like this when a podcast is your primary communication channel. From our perspective, of course our friends in the media have been very supportive and have featured both the Straume and the Alpina on their pages and on their airwaves and we are very grate for that and we look forward to returning the favor should they wish to pursue similar collaborations in the future.
- [06:45]
A
So talking of which, we've always set out a model to have watches either in the core range or for prolonged time for sale so people don't get a feeling of fomo. Fear of missing out. That's something we don't like. We've experimented, as you said, with different models. Sherpa still available. Circula still available. Straum was the first time we did an order window pre ordering. They hopefully will hit our wrists and also mine next month, so hopefully Feb. March somewhere.
- [07:25]
B
Q1 Alpina actually, I hate to break it to you, but yours won't hit your wrist till April because we sold so many more than we expected. Although the order itself for the customers can be fulfilled in February. We really had to scrape the barrel of available cases right now, so I told the boys to just kick ours down the road a couple of months. We've put the order in for the cases so they'll be here, but you have to wait. Sorry.
- [07:49]
A
For the record, I am a consumer, but I hear what you're saying and I forgive you. I'll be more patient, although that's not my virtue. But in the time being, I'm enjoying my Alpina. We received our personal pieces. Vuk is rocking his, David is rocking his. You are rocking yours, I'm rocking mine. Enjoying it, loving it. Mine is going around press wrists right now as we speak. Correct me if I'm wrong. Available online exclusively@la pinowatch.com till the end of January. Right? And we've incentivized our dear listeners to and thanking them by offering A complimentary orange rubber strap. Besides the black strap it comes with, there is a direct link. So if you're in Europe and you go to Alpina watches.com you'll find the watch in the homepage. Just for the UK and us, you need a direct link. So if you want, if you can't find the watch, hit us up, send us a dm. I will send you that direct link to buy it off the international website of Alpina watches.com so the HQ for our US listeners. These watches are shipped from Switzerland DDP, so don't worry about a lot of hassle and paperwork while the watch is in transit to you.
- [09:12]
B
Very good, Very good. I have a question for you, actually. I wanted to ask you this for a while, but this is the first time we've actually sat down together in a couple of months because of all the busyness around the end of a year, projects that we were pursuing. You've now been a journalist as well as a retailer, but you've been a journalist now for three years more than either. And I'm curious as to how you feel the media landscape is shifting around in 2025 and the two years prior. What do you see as someone that's come into this a very tumultuous time for the industry? Do you feel that brands are behaving the same way as they were when you first sat down in front of a microphone? Or do you think things have changed a little bit?
- [09:51]
A
Interesting question. So since we've started the podcast, I've become a multimedia content creator, journalist, writer, call it whatever. I've written many columns, but only this last year I've been asked to write articles as an independent journalist. So for two titles I've written now, Gentleman's Watch, it's a Dutch publication, and on purpose, I've written about all the brands I don't represent as a retailer and I just wear my journalistic hat. So the Real Time show is being promoted and nothing else. And Boysdale Life magazine now, I enjoy that the most. I love what we do. We keep on emphasizing that we are independent so we can say and do whatever we want. And that's a sheer joy. The biggest compliment I've gotten this year from a colleague, a fellow journalist, a friend of you and I, and actually an ex colleague of yours. And I won't mention names, but he came up to me in Geneva, hugged me, saluted me, and he said, I love what you do. I want to tell you in person, Alon. It's amazing how you guys became the official media partner of both Time to Watches in Geneva in April simultaneously with Watches and Wonders. And he came up to me in September during Geneva watch days when he saw us sitting in our glass igloo on the pavilion next to Lake Le Mans Lake Geneva recording non stop. And he says, you know, I love Rob and your energy. I love what you guys do. You think out of the box you bring the energy us, the big boys are sleeping he said. So when he said that I was he triggered me and only a week after I started thinking about because we simply didn't have time in Geneva and it's the word that comes to mind is complacency. It seems like the underdogs so the big bloggers that when I met them and I was visiting trade fairs, retailers they wouldn't get into the booths a Basel world over a decade ago. Today they're the big shots. And the second thing that triggered me during Geneva Watch this is you. And I popped out very quickly from our igloo to visit our dear friends at U. They kindly invited us for casual high tea in one of the hotels I think was Hotel d'. Angleter. Very relaxed, laid back, casual. But and I won't mention names again, an old friend of mine, also big name right now in the industry. The comments he made and the way he talked shocked me. I dare to use the word which you might translate to arrogance. And yeah. And then I'm like wow, that's a shift. I think biggest seismic shift we've seen. I guess the biggest was Hodinkee. If you talk about online publications got bought by a retailer that was interesting. Everybody was looking at that what happens with their independence as a media outlet. Although they weren't that independent anymore because one of the biggest investors was lvmh which wasn't communicate that much. On the positive side of things, I want to salute Waco. He launched man of the Hour. So way has always had a way of pushing the envelope, no pun intended. Away away. He created a documentary that was launched I believe first in Asia. And I think I got a press Release today from 289 that Discovery Channel is going to air it. And that's a salute to him because he's pushing education of horology and he's pushing the independence and that's making art.
- [14:18]
B
So.
- [14:22]
A
Those are my $0.02 on that topic. What, what did you see? What do you think of the industry? The state of the industry from a media perspective?
- [14:31]
B
It's obviously moving around quite a lot and people are having to react to new forms of media. Brands have always been slow on the uptake in that regard. But the funny thing about this current era is what I worry about, about almost is that they might be too quick to uptake for the first time ever, influences and people with enormous followings outside of their normal target audience. Let me just wind this back. So I started my journalistic career 11 years ago now, and in those days, as you said, there was still a little bit of reluctance from brands to roll out the red carpet for bloggers as we were back then. The whole sort of blog idea has kind of disappeared with the professionalization of online magazines, as we now likely to refer to things like a blog to watch or Hidinki or Fratello, for example. You know, at one point we would have said they were blogs, but that has a very sort of personal and now archaic ring to it. So once those formerly outsider channels became mainstream, we enjoyed a period of good treatment that you couldn't believe. You know, we were getting flown around the world to go to luxury destinations to see new watches, eating wonderful food, drinking great wine. It was brilliant, you know, having our journalistic integrity bought by the hour. What happened since is the explosion of social media and the rise of the individual content creator. And they became perhaps the go to resource for many buyers because they were not flown around the world and wined and dined and bought in many ways by brands. And that had its day and now those individuals are starting to professionalize as well. And so we're seeing the same thing happen over and over and over again. We are not, we're on an island, not a totally uninhabited island, but us two and the rest of the Real Time show team in that we are unpaid media channel, of course we have our collabs. Everybody knows that we have to try and generate some kind of income somehow to keep the show on air. But we don't ever sell content or opinions and we hope to be able to stick to that in the future. But it is quite frustrating, to be honest, because we're lucky. I'm not applying this to us directly. I'm applying it more to other content creators that I'm friendly with. But we've been partners with some of the biggest events in the world this year. First with Time to Watches, while Watches of Wonders was on, then with Geneva watch days. Obviously we do British Watchmakers Day. We did micro praha last year as well. We are going to be partnering with more events next year, mixing up the roster so that we can get out in front of different audiences for the first time and creating some space for other media channels to come in and fill the void that we leave behind us. Should we not be able to fulfill all those requests? But I know that there's a lot of really good, hard working, talented individuals that are boxed out of the big brands in favor of fashion influencers, for example, more lifestyle influencers and whatnot. And you can, you can see what's happening here. This is always the problem when you try and work with a major brand in particular because they have so many levels of bureaucracy, so much red tape to carve through, they're just going off for numbers because each decision maker just needs to be able to justify their decision to the person one step up the food chain to them nauseam. So it's, it's a bit, I would say, unrefined at the moment, the selection process that major brands have for who they choose as influencers. Because let's remember this one thing and then we'll move on to something else because we're both taking a while to answer what is anyone's question, to be fair. But the actual size of the watch by an audience in the world is minute. The number of repeat purchasers within that number of people is vast. We are selling to very few people. And so the question is when a new brand first comes onto the market or an old brand finds its sales slacking, they say, where do we find the audience that we haven't already found? Because there must be an audience that wants to buy this product somewhere in the world. And of course that's true to an extent. But the truth of the matter is your audience, probably your audience and your potential audience probably knows you exist already. And so when you go out to these external influences and if they're in tangential fields like aviation or automotive luxury or whatnot, fashion, maybe even you will pick up some new customers, but you won't pick up the huge chunk that you think you will because they're very different fields and they have their buying markets quite well established. So while I'm not saying that brands shouldn't be creative and try new things because I've been hoping that they would all this time, I think that they might find themselves a little disappointed when you go for a tiktoker that's got 1.4 million followers and then it really only results in a couple of hundred sales if that, because converting that new audience is going to be very difficult, you might be better off continuing to talk to the existing very small but very active watch Buying public in a new and creative way rather than trying to, you know, blow the doors off, as it were. Let's move on to the next question. Unless you have a comment.
- [20:02]
A
Uber, uber, uber. Interesting. So, David, if you're listening, I hear an article here and I hear an article analysis and I would love to have Scarlet in this discussion as well, but. Well done, Rob. Food for thought, but indeed, let's keep the speed up. Let's go to the next one.
- [20:17]
B
Okay, so I'm going to ask you some quick fire questions. Basically the best watch of the year in certain categories. And I, I think we should just, just blow through these ones. Try and bear in mind that at the end of this, I'm going to ask you what your or what both of our top five most worn watches of the year were. So let's try and keep all those watches out of these answers so that we don't double up. Let's be creative. So number one, best dive watch of 2025 for you Alon. Go.
- [20:48]
A
Hands down, the Alpina TRTS. It's not in my top five because I got it at the end of the year. So that was an easy pick. I didn't need to think shotgun. That's the best one. I'm subjective. We designed it, we worked on it. I love it. I've only worn in a few weeks and then it went off to other journalists to create content with it. What's yours, Rob?
- [21:10]
B
So for me it's Ulis Nadan diver. We had this on our wrists at Watches and Wonders. It was one of, I think only two or three meetings I bothered taking at Pelexpo. But I got out of the the glass igloo outside times of watches and ran over to Plexpo to see Mathieu Haviland. Because I love Ulise Nadan. I love what they do, I love the whole team and I love this watch. It's an absolute dream on the wrist. And I've always thought, Elise does these things where I sometimes find myself thinking, oh, if it had. If this one had that from that one and this one had that from that one, it would be perfect. This was pretty much perfect for me. So love it. That's my answer. Next question. I'll pose it to you again. Best modern sports watch of the year. And we know sports watches is the category that includes things that we would maybe not wear while performing sports. Things like the Royal oak, things like the 222. They are, I would say, the watchmaking equivalent of a sporting jacket that you would Wear in the clubhouse after you finish your round of golf rather than what you're wearing on the fairways. Alon. Go.
- [22:16]
A
Wow. I'm blacking out here for two reasons. I wanted to say the Ming Bluefin, but I'm thinking it wasn't launched in 25. So the rule, I guess, is it has to be launched in this year, doesn't it, Rob?
- [22:36]
B
Yes, that's the rule. Yep.
- [22:39]
A
And it needs to be modern, so something new, right?
- [22:43]
B
Newish. Yeah. It could be an iteration of something that existed before if you.
- [22:46]
A
I'll cheat. Same case, the 3711 Odyssey. Same watch, Titanium GMT, Fume, Saffrodal. That's my pick.
- [22:57]
B
Okay. Very nice pick. For me, it is the Czapek time jumper, which is probably the dressiest one could go with a sports watch, but because it's built on that sort of sporting platform, I would say for me, that's. That's the one. It's. It's a beautifully designed watch. It looks like very little else. And we need more. What do we call it? Is it half Hunter cover? I guess on the dial. I guess it's a Half Hunter. So we'll go with that. Brilliant stuff. Great work from Thomas, who lives in Zurich, but from Denmark, brilliant, brilliant designer and excellent stuff there. So next category. Also, congratulations to czapek on their 10th anniversary. And, yeah, long may it continue. The trajectory of that brand has been incredible. Next question. Best dress watch of the year. Both choose. Go ahead.
- [23:56]
A
Mine is the Beaver Automatic Quartzite, which is blue with blue sapphires as indexes. That might become my first wristwatch with gemstones on it. And we know how much I like that. Very curious. What's yours?
- [24:23]
B
Yeah, mine is probably gonna catch you off guard, and I believe it came out right at the back end of 2025. I think it was back into 20, not 2026. It's very, very recent, though, and it's one probably close to your heart. It's the de Reiche Capri, and I either missed the episode of Lawrence on the Real Time show, but I listened to it with interest. And we've seen some great feedback coming from listeners about that episode in particular. But this watch, this is brilliant. It is such a great concept with the edge to edge curved sapphire and that beautiful sparkly dial and those incredible. I don't know what you'd call them. Capsul. They're just. It looks like nothing else. It wears like a dream. It is. This is special. You know, a lot of people talk about the ecco Neutra Rivernera as one of the most interesting dress watches of 2025, especially the. The revamped version that came out recently, which I think is far superior to the original launch that came out much earlier. But this one, for me, this. This knocks the socks off it. It's absolutely brilliant. It really has a great sensitivity of materials. No messing about on the dial. Beautiful word mark. No logo, no nothing. Great skeleton hands and ye stuff. €2,195, excluding that. And for me, that's a tank killer. Finally, someone's done it.
- [25:43]
A
Very interesting. So when I've interviewed him in Amsterdam, where I'm at today, while recording. So in the same building, we took a picture together next to the giant Miffy in the garden here, next to our showroom. He spoke about it. He didn't have any prototypes. I didn't see the prototype. He felt the moment. I think that fears with the archival 1930 was ahead of the curve. Rivera, spot on. Lawrence is feeling it. I think we see a hardcore trend to rectangular. What do you think after the shape form cases?
- [26:27]
B
Yeah, this year? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hope so. I think the industry needs it. I think that people are getting much more comfortable wearing watches with a smaller footprint. From a couple of perspectives. One, the whole sort of genderisation of size has died a bit of a death. And also just out of pure comfort, people want something that they can wear easily. And I really love what Econitra did with the titanium of that model because it made it kind of sporty as well as sleek. But this model for me is just beautiful. I love the celebration of materials and this is a celebration of sapphire if ever I've seen one. So, yeah, top marks to Lawrence. And obviously I probably mispronounced the brand name. I did my best, but I think it's absolutely superb and he deserves all the plaudits in the world and I think that it deserves a GPHG nomination. No word of a lie, so I will be throwing my vote for that one into the ring. Right, next up, best Overall release of 2026. 2025. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't know what 2026 is going to be.
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A
Probably. I can pick 10. 20. I'm blacking out. I'm doing shotgun. First thing that pops into my mind is the annual Quantum Annual by Burner.
- [27:46]
B
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding. We have an agreement.
- [27:50]
A
Oh, wow. The funny thing is, I wasn't head over heels like I was with the Mirage and that's not the point the moment he showed us still early prototypes and drawings is again the philosopher. First of all, I love that he broke the mold that he's shown that is a true genius. He's not a one day fly. He doesn't have a single Billboard 100 top one hit, but he can jam out hits for decades and he's proven that with the country. I clicked on that. I love Moonface watches. I love QPs. I love perpetuals. Would I have bought one? Maybe. It's steep price, not too expensive. My mind started lingering already between the silver and the black dial. Strangely, I tend to light colors, but I didn't like the two tone of the silver and blue, so I would have opted for the black one because it makes it more tranquil. I still need to wrap my head around the steel protectors on the platinum case, but the architecture of the caliber, the layout, it's basically a plus almost on dial. I salute Sylvain. I'm not objective. I love him as a person, I love him as an artist. I love him as a designer and a human being. So kudos to him and his team.
- [29:21]
B
Couldn't say any more about it other than I would buy it if I had the disposable income. And weirdly enough, I tend towards dark dials, as you know, but I might even find myself going for the white. So there's something about this watch which turns our expectations and normal behaviors on their head. But it's a stunning piece of Couldn't get through the whole episode without dropping one of my keywords. All right, let's move on to this next question. The most important release of 2025. Now I keep making you go first. Are you comfortable taking this one on? You look like I'm not.
- [29:53]
A
Because you know what? We need to set ground rules here. I want to maybe pause a second and see what you mean by important because I interpret as adding to the horological canon, the canon something new or something impressive or something out of the ordinary. So my brain is racking GPHG awards or Time Only watches. But what do you mean by it?
- [30:22]
B
Well, I mean quite similar really, that it has to add something to the industry or further the story of horology in one way or another. Or maybe to pick up a thread of a story that was somewhat lost in the past decades. And you won't find this watch appearing in any award ceremonies because it only dropped right at the end of the year. But for me, and I'll give you my answer so you know exactly what I'm Talking about the most important release of 2025 was the Breguet experimental one. Because it put Breguet back on the map at the very zenith, no pun intended, of watchmaking. It is where Breguet should be for me. I've said many times that Breguet exists almost as a halo brand within the Swatch Groups portfolio and I believe the products should reflect that. And although we love attainability and accessibility and watchmaking and we preach it and we try and create additions with other brands that people can afford, I'm okay with Breguet being unattainable. I'm okay with Breguet being a leader in this space and making piece uniques for kings and queens and prime ministers or superstars around the world. Because I think that's what this story started by Abraham Louis Breguet all those years ago deserves.
- [31:37]
A
I think we're at a ding ding, ding again because aesthetically it's not my cup of tea again, the roman numerals but. And Breguet. I just like the traditional stuff and the case shapes and I don't like the marine vibe things of Bre. But I'm so happy that Breguet is doing what they're doing again. It's bringing back to where it belongs. And I. I don't think it's only his name is Kislinger, the new CEO. The old protege of Reynolds Ashley man at Omega. Fantastic guy. Had the honor to meet him once because this has been in being developed I over a decade. I must guess. Or maybe they've even mentioned how long it's being developed. And. And I guess that's Mark Hayek together with his uncle Nick Hayek Jr. But I'm very happy that brigade is going where they're going. The tradition or the the subscription won the GPHG award. So let's do a quick bonus one, why don't we while we're at it. What? Since we're unanimous, which one would you add if you couldn't pick the same one? Or which one should I add if I can'? Same one. Actually I'm leaning towards and I forgot the name. The Fen Beau. He. They've dropped a crazy watch that I don't even remember the name and the number. Do you even know what I'm referring at?
- [33:16]
B
Do you mean the chronometer FB3 SPC3 4.
- [33:21]
A
So Rob and I are looking at each other although we're only recording an audio episode only. But it's the horizontal spring, vertical clutch chain fusee, blah blah blah blah blah.
- [33:33]
B
Oh, you mean the 4 BTC one, right? Yeah. Okay. 11. 11,000 hours of work and six years of dedication, according to the website, is what went into the development of that caliber. It's. It's wild. Yeah. I don't think it's quite as impactful because of what Ferdinand Berthel is. I love the brand myself. Always loved their watches. I think they're a wonderful addition to the industry, but, you know, they're not Breguet. We need to move on because we have four minutes to rattle through this last question before our connection will evaporate. And so the last question before we get to the projections for 2026 is your top five most warm watches of the year. Go.
- [34:12]
A
Although my Sherpa TRTS Ops has been on the road at least nine months of the year, but when I had it, it was on my wrist non stop. That got a lot of wrist time. My burner on Mirage got a lot of wrist time this year actually. So that's my second, third. I've worn actually a lot of my Hebrew Elka watch. That was my third, fourth one. I need a pause there, Rob. I need to scroll to my Instagram. I don't even know you. Jump in. I'm sorry.
- [34:57]
B
All right, I'll step in here. So I also had my Sherpa on my wrist for the first three, four months of the year. The only watch that took it off my wrist during that period was my Fortis Nova Nort, which was also in the top five. I have not fallen out of love with that watch since I bought it a couple of, well, 18 months ago maybe. I think it is just one of the greatest items out there on the, on the market. Over summer, I wore my circular Pro Trail a lot, the Trtsse, of course, because it's a great go anywhere, do anything watch. You can beat it around. It's got a scratch resistant coating. It's perfectly water resistant, and I wear it on the fabric strap because I find that very comfortable, especially once they've broken in a bit. In autumn, I wore the prototype of the SRAM xtrts, Stormy Seas, of course. And just like you, I didn't get my Alpina early enough for it to legitimately feature on this list, although I have worn it a lot over the last three weeks since I've had it. So the fifth watch will be the watch I always refer to as like my favorite watch that I've ever bought. And that's the. The vibing orange glass turtle panorama date chronograph. So I still actually have that on my wrist right now as we speak and I never get tired of this one. So that's my top five wares 2025. And what are your last two? Have you found evidence on Instagram?
- [36:20]
A
Well, it's subjective. I didn't have any metrics to count, literally. But now I remember it's Van der Clau. My St. Christian Van der Cla had a lot of risk time this year and actually I didn't think it, but my Jump Hour Coral dial by Fierce got a lot of risk time this year.
- [36:37]
B
Excellent choice. It's almost exactly the same color as my vibing orange actually.
- [36:40]
A
Yeah.
- [36:41]
B
Okay, so very, very quickly because we are up against it time wise. Just give us a snapshot of what you hope to see in 2026.
- [36:49]
A
I hope more innovation, more colors which we've seen and I hope brands just laid back. If they don't have anything new, it's okay. Skip a year, guys. Don't make stuff nobody wants.
- [37:03]
B
For me, it's consumer confidence on the rise. What I hope to see, I think that now the tariffs in the US have come down to 15%. There is more hope, there is more trust and fingers crossed they might even disappear at some point throughout the year because we did see a jump as soon as that announcement was made and now it's actually gone through. The future is bright. Okay, so thanks very much for listening to our first episode of 2026. You know how to get in touch with us. You can contact us on Instagram herealtime.show or via the official website www.therealtime.show. check out all of our collabs on there and figure out how you can support the show so we can continue to grow Watchmaking's most community driven podcast throughout the next year here. We'll be back soon with more high quality watch content and interviews with the industry's finest. Until then, stay safe and keep on ticking.