Openwork is a look inside the watch industry. A podcast from Collective Horology. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
After a busy week in Geneva, we recap the most interesting watches we saw that aren't otherwise getting much attention. Visit the Collective blog for show notes with live photos and links: collectivehorology.com/blog. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology , Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email [email protected] ....
Gabe and Asher discuss the current state of Watches and Wonders, highlighting a shift towards more realistic pricing and production strategies within the watch industry. They analyze strategic moves by brands like Rolex and Resonance, and also discuss the growing ecosystem around the main event, including other fairs and the Swatch Group's conspicuous absence. The saturation of watch releases and content creation is also addressed, along with plans for a bonus episode focusing on underappreciated watches from the show.
These days, it seems like independent watchmakers and brands are everywhere – celebrated in watch media, on display at major retailers worldwide, hotly discussed in collector circles, and of course gaining share in an otherwise entrenched industry. But it’s an overnight success decades in the making. And today we have the perfect guest to guide us through the rise of the independents: Tim Jackson. Tim is a passionate advocate for independent watchmaking, with a deep-rooted appreciation for mecha...
We’re joined by Praneeth Rajsingh, CEO of Horologer MING, to discuss the realities of watchmaking in Switzerland. While most watch brands are incredibly secretive about production, MING is remarkably transparent. So we invited Praneeth to discuss how exactly watch production in Switzerland works – warts and all. We discuss how the brand has evolved to be able to produce watches using movements and components from a wide range of partners to create their consistent, unique and thoroughly recogniz...
Auction houses – they loom large in the world of watch collecting. Their lots, eye-popping results and personalities are followed feverishly by watch media and enthusiasts. But how much do we really know about these seemingly august, vaunted and shadowy institutions? How exactly do auction houses work? And what are the implications for the watch community? And today, we have the perfect guest to shine a light on the inner working of the auction houses: Marion Maneker, a longtime art world column...
On February 7, 2025, Swiss media outlet Bilanz reported that Rolex is shutting down the Carl F. Bucherer watch brand, which it acquired in 2023 as part of its purchase of Bucherer – the global watch retailer. The decision to shutter any watch brand, particularly one dating back to 1888 with significant in-house watchmaking is major news. And it’s a story with broader implications for the watch industry at large. So with that in mind, on this special episode of Openwork we’re delving into the det...
Homages, replicas and clones, oh my! Today we’re digging into the business and ethics of what’s a perennial and now growing segment of the watch market. This is a complex topic, with important distinctions to be drawn between homages and replicas, clones or dupes. And more broadly, it’s one that sheds important light on technology and production gains across the industry globally. Fortunately, we have the perfect guest to guide us through that landscape: Marc Frankel, who most of you probably kn...
On this episode of the Openwork podcast, we look at luxury pricing. Of course, we’ve already done a deep dive on how watches are priced. (Check out our episode with Mike Margolis of Czapek and Singer Reimagined for that.) However, in the past, we’ve largely focused on how inputs like cost of labor, materials, inflation and currency exchange impact pricing. But there’s of course more that goes into pricing for watches and luxury goods more broadly. There are considerations like brand value, produ...
It's that time of year: Predictions. On this episode we look at the year ahead, and make three calls each about the future of the watch industry. We discuss brand and retailer consolidation, market performance, business models for watch media, as well as enthusiast sentiment. We also take a look back at our 2024 predictions, and grade ourselves on their accuracy. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology , Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us ...
On this episode we look back on the business of watches in 2024. In particular, we discuss where the watch market is as we close out the year. Is it growing, stalling, or as some would claim in retreat? To help us break it all down, we’re joined by returning guest Hamza Masood of WatchCharts – the world's most comprehensive, transparent and trusted source of watch market data. It’s a service we at Collective subscribe to for its valuable insight not just into the pre-owned watch market but what ...
Today we’re going behind the scenes of watch design with Marco Borraccino the co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Singer Reimagined. In addition to starting one of the most design-driven watch brands, Marco was previously the Head of Design at Panerai. He’s got a deep educational and career background in design, both within the watch industry and beyond. And he’s among the most talented and distinctive watch designers out there. Finally, in full transparency, Collective is a Singer Reimagin...
Today we have a bonus episode of our podcast. It’s a discussion with Romain Marietta, the Chief Product Officer at Zenith. We sat down recently in Geneva to discuss not only our latest collaboration – the Zenith DEFY Skyline C.X – but also how he and Zenith approach product development more broadly. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology , Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestion...
On this episode of Openwork, we explore the business of both MB&F and Max’s most recent horological project: M.A.D.Editions . While both represent wildly creative watches, they have fundamentally different business models, with MB&F producing under 200 pieces a year at prices mostly over $100K USD and M.A.D.Editions producing thousands of watches a year at under $5K USD. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology , Openwork goes inside the watch industry. ...
For years, we’ve followed the GPHG – the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève – with great excitement and interest as it’s essentially the Oscars of Watches. And with this year's award ceremony taking place November 13, we figured it would be helpful to lift the veil on what goes on behind the scenes. Who are the people who nominate these watches, and what does voting look like? Does the GPHG meaningfully drive sales for brands, and what’s involved in participating? We get into all of that and more...
On this episode, we share an industry perspective on what’s quickly becoming something of a New York Watch Week – comprising the Windup Watch Fair, WatchTime and more. Additionally, we’re going to share a special live podcast recording from the Windup Watch Fair – a joint episode between us and the Worn & Wound Podcast . It’s a conversation with Martin Frei of URWERK and Jonathan Ferrer of Brew about how they built their brands. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collecti...
On this episode, we take a look at a topic that we’ve been curious about for a long time. We have discussed, both with members of the industry and amongst ourselves, the realities of production here in the United States, Japan, Switzerland and to a lesser degree Germany. But to date, we haven’t discussed one of the largest centers of watch manufacturing in the world: China. From full watches to components of every imaginable variety, China is a formidable force in the world of watchmaking and wa...
Today (October 4, 2024) marks a major shift in the watch industry. Hodinkee, the leading voice in modern watch media, has been fully acquired by Watches of Switzerland, a massive UK based retailer with operations around the world including in the US. Only a few months ago, Ben Clymer, founder of Hodinkee – and as of today, a President at Watches of Switzerland – announced that the publication was shuttering their retail business and going to back to focus on “the basics” (i.e., their editorial p...
We discuss the current landscape of movement suppliers and how it came to be. We cover how movements are selected by watchmakers, along with the drama that often surrounds the ever-popular “in house” vs “mass produced” discussion. We offer some thoughts on how, why or if movement design, finishing and construction should figure into a purchasing decision. Correction: On this podcast, we claimed that Czapek's SXH5 movement is designed by Czapek and produced by Chronode. That is incorrect. The mov...
Earlier this summer, we asked you – our listeners – to participate in a short survey in order to hear your perspective on the current state and future of the watch industry. The responses poured in, and on today's episode, we delve into what you shared. A massive thanks to those who responded. Your responses were incredibly thoughtful, helpful, and surprising. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology , Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us onl...
Live from Geneva Watch Days, we discuss how the show has evolved from a collector focus to a major industry event, along with the consequences of those changes. And we cover some of the week's high drama, including how and why we were kicked out of the Beau Rivage hotel. Things are getting real here in Geneva – stakes are high. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology , Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To...
We take a deep dive into the current state of the secondary (pre-owned) watch market with our friend Hamza Masood of WatchCharts – the world's most comprehensive, transparent and trusted source of watch market data. It’s a service we at Collective subscribe to for its valuable insight not just into the pre-owned watch market but what that data can tell us about the watch industry at large. And that’s exactly what we discuss with Hamza – what exactly is going on in the pre-owned watch market and ...
We look at the shifting landscape of watch retail – specifically the rise of single-brand boutiques, the trade-offs of those changes, and what the future looks like. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email [email protected] ....
On this special episode of Openwork, we discuss Hodinkee’s recent announcement that they’re shutting down their retail business – with the exception of limited editions – to refocus on editorial. This is big news that touched off an immediate and widespread response within the watch community. It also has significant implications for the watch industry at large, reshaping Hodinkee’s role within it and more broadly putting magnifying glass on the turbulent landscape of both watch media and retail...
Our conversation with Tony Traina of Hodinkee takes a look at the current health of and sentiment toward the watch industry. We look at how brands, retailers and watch media contribute to the current state of the industry, and what they can do to improve things. Links: Rescapement Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry – monthly export data Watches of Switzerland – quarterly earnings and annual report (FY ending April 2024) Morgan Stanley 2023 Swiss Watch Industry Report – Revolution Magazine an...
This episode is a very frank and unfiltered conversation with Aren Bazerkanian, founder of Havid Nagan – the upstart independent brand that took the watch world by storm in 2022 with its debut watch the HN00. We recorded this conversation in January of this year at a time when Aren was navigating challenges with Swiss watch production. In particular, one of his key suppliers experienced a leadership change and increased costs, rendering the economics of his second project the HN01 Lucine unsusta...
Probably the question we’re asked most is how we design and develop our collaborative watches – how we identify brands, how the creative process works, and how we make decisions along the way on everything from design to finishing. So on this episode, we’re going behind the scenes on the making of our latest collaboration: The Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force P.03 Night Ops. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You ca...
We share our biggest lessons from going inside the watch industry. We both made the transition from watch enthusiasts to industry insiders. We’ve had the opportunity to retail watches, design them, meet many industry luminaries, and even serve as GPHG academy members – and we’ve learned a ton along the way. We often get asked what that journey has been like, and what advice we’d give others who are looking to do the same or are just curious. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of...
We discuss what happens when a founder leaves their brand. From Daniel Roth to Speake-Marin, there are examples of this all over the industry, with some interesting – if varied – results. We're joined by one of our oldest friends and an authority on independent watchmaking Roman (@timesromanau), host of the Independent Thinking podcast on Fifth Wrist Radio . Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online...
We're joined by Thomas Fleming (Fleming Watches) to talk about the realities of starting an independent watch brand. Everything from what it means to build the strategy, raise the funding and develop the branding for a company to how it feels to finally put something that you care about so much into the world. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with ...
We’re lifting the veil on selling and trading your watches. We cover the options available when you’re ready to move on from a watch, the trade-offs of those options, as well as why there are different cost structures depending on how you sell or trade your watch. In particular, we share how we as dealers look at buying and trading for watches, which will hopefully demystify things and more importantly help the next time you approach a dealer about selling or trading your watch. Hosted by Asher ...
