Today on CRAFTED, Blister podcast producer extraordinaire, the Strikingly Handsome Justin Bobb, is talking about watches with Jonathan Ellsworth for our latest edition of Amateur Hour. You’ll hear what caused Jonathan to stop ignoring timepieces and start appreciating the craftsmanship of this category; watches vs outdoor gear; why he thinks watches are particularly important and interesting today; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- “Horology” (2:59)
- ‘Mechanical / Automatic’ vs. ‘Quartz’ (6:43)
- Why Watches? (11:24)
- The Weird World of Watches (25:42)
- Ski World vs. Watch World (32:16)
- Vintage Watches vs. Vintage Skis (35:46)
- Jonathan’s Watch Collection (38:57)
- Brands He’s Intrigued By? (59:10)
- What’s Still to Explore (1:01:49)
- The Future of Watch Making (1:03:03)
RELATED LINKS
A pun!
Enjoyed this, it’s a wide ranging topic.
Whilst there are great brands and watchmaking scenes in other countries, the ecosystem of precision mechanical components for watches has been established in Switzerland for a long time (and only in specific areas of Switzerland). See Michael Porter’s Competitive Advantage of Nations for an insight on why and how that happens. Switzerland has done a great job protecting the Made in Switzerland standard. The Swatch story and Hayek’s contribution to the watch industry is very interesting.
The aspirational aspect of ownership and the fact that you might not be able to walk in off the street and buy a high end watch has some parallels in high end cars, you cannot easily walk in and buy and drive away an Aston, Ferrari, Lambo etc
There are some parallels with skiing too, the rise of micro brands, at both ends of the price scale is definitely a big thing in the watch world. Also some watch customisation offered
And take a look at Richard Mille if you want to see watches way over the $100k mark
Your point on sustainability is interesting, the battery part is true, on the other hand mechanical watches typically have precious metals and gems in them which raises all sorts of other questions.
Never been to Switzerland?? Bit like Matt never having been to Scotland! Sort it out
I’m not into watches but found this really interesting. Question that could be included in a future episode. What’s the background on the massive price range? I can understand how complex building watches is, having so many small pieces that must work together. There’s some obvious craftsmanship to consider. But at which point does the price cross the “fashion statement” line?
You can beat up those Rolex oyster perpetuals – ski with it, ride bikes with it…they are very well made. I know it’s expensive but they are really meant to be worn. I have a 1968 oyster perpetual and ski, surf, bike (just road) and have not had it serviced for 20+ years and its fine!
Love it guys! Nice work. Really enjoyed this one. Thank you.