Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful & Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte - Collecting F.P. Journe | Part 1
1k Plays3 days ago
Today I am sitting down with Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful and Pierre Halimi Lacharlotte from F.P. Journe to discuss what it's like to collect within one of the most sought after names in watchmaking.
Stay tuned for Part 2!
Follow Cameron Here:
Cameron Steiner - https://www.instagram.com/cameronrosssteiner
Collectors Gene - https://www.collectorsgene.com
Wonder Care Watch Insurance: https://wondercare.com/
Follow Mr. Wonderful Here:
Twitter:/ kevinolearytv
Instagram: / kevinolearytv
Facebook: / kevinolearytv
LinkedIn: / kevinolearytv
F.P. Journe - https://www.fpjourne.com/en
Shoutouts Made To: The 1916 Company - Teddy Baldassarre - Phillips Auctioneers - Horological Society of New York - Paul Boutros - Jay Sures - Richard Sheiner - Adam Craniotes - Red Bar
YouTube ID For Music License - MFJFGOCRCJDIWKQL
Recommended
Transcript
Unique Value in Art and Collectibles
00:00:00
Speaker
Imagine if you could buy a Picasso from Picasso while Picasso was alive, but he had already established himself as Picasso. Right. So that's what you're getting the jour.
Podcast Introduction: The Collector's Gene
00:00:10
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? And welcome to Collector's Gene Radio.
00:00:14
Speaker
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 and leave a review.
00:00:26
Speaker
It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on Collectors Gene Radio.
Significance of F.P. Journe Boutique with Kevin O'Leary
00:00:34
Speaker
Welcome back to Collector's Gym Radio. We are having a very special episode today. We're in Miami at the F.P. 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.
00:00:46
Speaker
Thank you so much. We're in an iconic boutique for F.P. Journe, the Miami boutique. This is sheer legend in here. The design of this place and the the watches that have come through here, the collectors that gather here.
00:00:58
Speaker
It's a classic situation because There are no watches to buy here. It's true. But it oozes watch. It certainly does. And we have someone to help us out to talk about all this.
Gifting and the Essence of Collecting
00:01:09
Speaker
Pierre, Head of Americas for FP Journe. So let's get into it.
00:01:17
Speaker
Gentlemen, welcome back to Collectors Gym Radio. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different than the typical cook conversations that I had and 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 FB Journe and we're going to talk about all things Journe and collecting really as an overall topic.
00:01:35
Speaker
um Big thing of what I do on this channel is gifting and think maybe it'd be better to start this conversation off by gifting you guys something Oh, I like that idea. To kind of get the day started. always good for a gift. Yeah, since... Who went after? Since Pierre is refusing to gift me any watches and I'm just on loan here today.
00:01:56
Speaker
But anyway, my buddy Blake Simon started this company, Krook, and his motto is take care of your people. And I think it's just the greatest motto because um in the watch world, we don't always get to see a lot of that.
00:02:07
Speaker
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 Kruk. um Kevin, of course, yours is in classic red. Yes, beautiful. I like that. And Pierre, yours.
00:02:18
Speaker
in your you preferred colorway. Exactly. 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 the back of my duffel and be great. Of course. And then you're a Porsche dye now. So this is on the classic Pepita Houndstooth from the upper... Thank you. Of course. Very well made, actually.
00:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, everything's... You got the Citroën or the Peugeot version? Because I'm i'm French, so I don't know Paul Sanu, a Citroën or... Anyway, so I thank you very much. I really appreciate that. course. That's beautiful. 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.
00:02:58
Speaker
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.
00:03:08
Speaker
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?
Defining True Collectors: Passion vs. Ownership
00:03:24
Speaker
Well, you two things. How do we ah differentiate the collector from non-collector is the one thing. why collecting let's start with the basic uh question why collecting what's the difference the thing is it's all to do with the internet 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 the ad here a banana with a little duct tape. So I checked in Walmart, a banana is 27 cents. Can you see the little banana? Okay. It's 27 cents. Add half a cent for the duct tape. Let's call it negligible.
00:03:58
Speaker
What's the difference between this banana at 27 cents and the same banana, same duct tape $120,000, which by the way, now just we sold for six million. What's the difference between the two? It's the same banana, same duct tape.
00:04:11
Speaker
The only difference is here. What you put in this? Collecting is going to start with because. There's a reason. ah Owning is I want to buy this, I buy this, end of story, no problem. It's a consumer.
00:04:25
Speaker
You collect whatever is camo bell box or it could be stamps could be watches. You have to have a reason. This is when the ittellec intellect comes in. And that's why it's important. ah to to understand this.
00:04:37
Speaker
Now, how do we differentiate a collector from a non-collector? And it's not the me that define it. It's Adam Kraliantis, the founder of the Red Bar. We had him for Watchers and Wonder, the last edition that we had before the pandemic in Miami. I wish they would come back.
00:04:50
Speaker
It was a great forum. And we had him on a pilot talk and we asked the Adam, I said, how do we define a collector? That amazing. I was with a friend of mine and went like this. And he drags on quite a lot.
00:05:05
Speaker
And then I reasoned the discussion with my friend. My friend 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.
00:05:18
Speaker
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 i'm going to pull out my telephone. Because the telephone is a function or the iWatch or whatever.
00:05:29
Speaker
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 our world, obviously, it becomes a real asset division.
00:05:40
Speaker
Watches, I think, is still debatable. I think most of the watches are not asset related. Some of them are. We know so this, but that's where the difference is. So that's how we we look at the collecting. yeah And how about you, Kevin? I mean, you're on TV so often and you call out your you collect so many things. And a big part of what your platform is, is, you know, investment and value and all these things. But you've been a collector for a long time. And I think sometimes that gets missed in people who just watch a short clip of you talking about something that's rather expensive.
00:06:10
Speaker
But you're a true collector. And so I'd love for you to 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.
00:06:22
Speaker
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. Yeah, I i actually i have a different view. ah and every collector is different in the way they think. And I enjoy the community of collecting and the debates people have on exactly this topic.
00:06:43
Speaker
and 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. um 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.
00:07:04
Speaker
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.
00:07:15
Speaker
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. know And, you know, to me, you've reached the the that collector status when a watchmaker is willing to make you a piece unique.
00:07:36
Speaker
Because think about what goes into that decision. Are you a flipper? You they'll never make your piece unique if you get around and sell it. Right. Which I've, I've never sold a watch. I never will.
00:07:48
Speaker
Do you respect the brands? Do, do they respect you? And do they understand that you're doing this with other watchmakers, but that respect is there.
00:07:59
Speaker
And do the other collectors consider you a collector of that mark, if
Kevin's Collecting Philosophy: Community over Market
00:08:04
Speaker
that Maison? This takes time. And you only have, you know, what, 90 years? I hope to live to 120. But, you know, it took it took me four decades to become a global collector, sure to be known as a global collector.
00:08:20
Speaker
And I'm very honored to be able to get the pieces I get today yeah and the pieces that are coming for me in two or three years ahead. ah Whether it's a Journe or a Simon Brint or one-of-a-kind Carcher or Chanel,
00:08:35
Speaker
you know, you think about about a company like Cartier. They rarely make a piece of me. Rarely? Rarely. They're go to make one for me.
00:08:46
Speaker
So it's sort of like that's because i've my very first piece was at Cartier. And they they know who I am. Anyways, I'm very impassioned about it.
00:08:57
Speaker
And lastly, it's all about the dial, which took me to Journe. There are no dials on earth like Journe dials. Journe dials are crazy dials. They are crazy, crazy dials. They're conversation starters.
00:09:11
Speaker
Every time I wear a Journe anywhere, somebody says, what is that? Or how can you tell time with that? Or something like that. And you know i my vertical tourbillon drives people crazy. They don't understand.
00:09:23
Speaker
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. And I think, again, it's a testament to Jorn as a brand that you have fallen so in love with them and and the rest of the watch community has fallen so in love with them.
00:09:40
Speaker
Well, they're a controversial brand because Pierre is Mr. No. like That's the problem. and Everybody that I meet says, oh, well, you got to you got to make a call for me so I can get a blue. It's the same story everywhere around the world. You got to make a call to get me a blue. And I said, it's pointless. yeah You're not going to get a blue. right Maybe not in your lifetime. yeah Maybe you will.
00:10:02
Speaker
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 Journe. Absolutely. But to be here, Kevin, you're defining what we call a top collector. In order to have a special piece or rare piece or unique piece from Cartier, whatever, this is the top.
00:10:21
Speaker
Collecting starts with why are you buying something? How many watches do you have? More than one? why would Why would you need more than one? Why would you need a watch? You want time? I'm in the business of sending you things that are really available everywhere.
00:10:35
Speaker
Even pay extra on your iPhone to tell time. It came with it. yeah 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 or the mechanical part or the history. What I like with Jules is really the perspective.
00:10:49
Speaker
If François Pérez tells you it's a new watch, it's not a new dial whatever, it's a new movement in the history of what or watches. I mean, this is the the perspective is ah totally different. So for me, collecting is always going back to the intellect, why do I buy this?
00:11:02
Speaker
And we talked to a little earlier, Omega Speedmaster, one of the iconic watch there is. have mine from 75. Okay. So do you have a rocket? Yeah. You have a rocket. Yeah. Okay. Are you going to go on the moon soon?
00:11:15
Speaker
ah Is that the watch went on the moon? Is that the replica of the watch because they come out with the Snoopy? Exactly. They're not going to. I have the Snoopy too. but But you buy it because it went on the moon.
00:11:25
Speaker
That's the moon watch. Yeah. But you're not going to go on moon. That's why I originally bought it when I was a teenager. I mean but i don't know how old was. the true watch. So it goes back to the internet. Create the story in your head of what's special to you and what it could be to you tomorrow, the next day, the next week, whatever it may be.
00:11:41
Speaker
And that kind of different between only collecting only you don't have to have all the because and the whole shipping angle of all the background collecting you need to do everything 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. Yeah, but I think what happened is you know, it actually started here my One of the most famous watch videos on all time is Teddy Belzidar and I was here. here yeah Here, when we did this Jorn thing.
00:12:15
Speaker
Remember that? yeah i was I was right here. don't know how many million people have seen that. And people stop me all the time, all around the world saying, I saw that video of Jorn. It was in this boutique. yeah you're Outside too. Yeah.
00:12:28
Speaker
Let's talk for a second about Jorn 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?
00:12:43
Speaker
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.
00:12:54
Speaker
And you've said a lot of times, you know, the number one trait that that an entrepreneur should have is being able to pivot. But being a risk taker is also a big factor. And is that is that important to you when when you look at these brands as the risks that they're taking and how outside the box they're willing to go? F.P. Journe founded a new philosophy with watchmakers.
00:13:14
Speaker
He was maybe the first to do the breakout that he did. i mean, there's Roger Smith, too, but it's different. Sure. um Every young watchmaker now wants to be F.K. Journe because he's not really an independent anymore. he's He's in a new class of a combination of art and science and watchmaking and passion and and all and and all at this this whole like this boutique. This is like a piece of art itself.
00:13:45
Speaker
and And the collectors for Journe like to come to the boutiques, have a glass of wine, talk to other collectors or other Journe enthusiasts I don't know, what what would you describe you've created here? Because I think you did it by accident.
00:13:58
Speaker
So that's where it worked, because it's organic. What I call the Joule community. We're 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 be friends.
00:14:11
Speaker
That takes a lot, you know, for two people to argue and seem to be friends. Because it's not personal, shock it's some ideas. So what happened here, we realized, and that's why we're in Pearl Harbor, one of the best malls there is in the whole world, we fell miserably because we had 600 square feet.
00:14:26
Speaker
So you have three people like here, we closed the store. we 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.
00:14:38
Speaker
We could not have imagined that we would be at that stage. this we I knew all the time that François-Paul would make it, make it that high, you know that big, never. And we're very proud of everyone. Obviously, François-Paul first, he made the watches, so that's the first thing.
00:14:53
Speaker
But when I see Kevin becoming friend ah with another ah collector, You can't buy this. I say, Kevin, it's
Trust and Community in Watch Collecting
00:15:00
Speaker
5,000, be friends with Cameron. You can't buy He's buying him seven. His wife and my wife, have that they have lunch now.
00:15:07
Speaker
Separately from us, which is perfect. We can have dinner together. We talk about washroom, 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 a little crazy. I didn't create anything. They did, and I was part of the community, and it evolved like this.
00:15:21
Speaker
But this is the key thing. And this is where you have collectors. A collector talking to another collector could be Cameron Verbox. We can be passionate about We can talk for two hours about this. or Who gives a shit about camera robux except the two guys that want to talk about camera robux boxes.
00:15:35
Speaker
And you have collectors in front of camera robux boxes. And you have associations and clubs about this. Now you're talking about collectors dealing with a much higher in price item than the camera robux and much more mechanical.
00:15:47
Speaker
And the history of watchmaking, without watchmaking, there's no British Empire, for ex example. sure Without John Harrison and the chronometer, marine chronometer, there's no British Empire. Watchmaking was extremely important, was very important in the history of humankind.
00:16:02
Speaker
It is less now because of all of this, atomic clock and everything. So the watchmaking per se, this is waning function. We know that.
00:16:13
Speaker
It is only becoming now, and that's 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.
00:16:27
Speaker
Sure. So we still have good hopes. Yeah. You know, I think a big thing in the community is trust, right? 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.
00:16:46
Speaker
But there is a secondary market and these watches do pop up often on those markets. How does Zorin as a brand put their trust into a collector, right? Because you can only control maybe one, two or three things, right?
00:17:00
Speaker
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? but let Let me ask something before you answer, because part of the Journe success story is also the story of Danny Goldberg.
00:17:24
Speaker
Absolutely. Danny, for collectors and, and you know, George Mayer, like they are really respected people. For sure.
00:17:35
Speaker
And they said to everybody years ago, Journe is happening. That's basically what
Challenges and Misconceptions in Collecting
00:17:44
Speaker
happened. Yeah, and they put the money behind it.
00:17:46
Speaker
so really with Millions of dollars. i really have So that created the second market. Obviously, the second market was already pretty good to start with, but then it exploded. And then we had this auction house, Philips, at June 20, 2020. And all of a sudden, we have now seven figures watches, and also everything is quoted.
00:18:03
Speaker
So for me, the success was obviously for Swapol to start with that also point and what has been ah able to a accomplish. You've got to make the problem. There'd be no 1916 to talk about, nor this auction house.
00:18:14
Speaker
And then you have obviously the 19, at that time, Watchbox that was an influence, with no denying it. And then then auction house. yeah The thing is also, we didn't go crazy after that and went berserk on prices or whatever. We still try to stay who we are. Yeah.
00:18:28
Speaker
Well, think the interesting thing that they've done mention 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. um They believed in it, but the same way collectors believe it. looked at it and I saw Danny putting his own money to work. Right, and I think that that's the difference between... Not some, millions of dollars. Yeah. And that was a risk.
00:18:52
Speaker
It was a risk. risk. That created one, but that was a risk. Yeah. The difference between, let's say, 1916 and any brand, not Jordan, is one is in sales, nothing wrong with this, and one is building a relationship.
00:19:05
Speaker
That's why, let's say, if I receive a phone call ah and say, I would like to buy this watch, here's the money, and we ship it, we never did this. Best example, Mr. Francis Ford Coppola. He wanted the residents back in 2009, they said, we don't cheap watches, we deliver so we can explain them.
00:19:22
Speaker
It was a Christmas present, so he's now ex-white, and we know he said, this is a Christmas present, so let me make the surprise, come in January, couple of weeks after. And I did. With this, we created a whole relationship, and I was with Mr. Foucault last Saturday day with some friends and collectors, and we greeted each other.
00:19:37
Speaker
There's the relationship. We are very human related. We're not transactional. to To the question, ah 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 regards you You must have blackballed some guys from flipping, right?
00:19:56
Speaker
We do that all the time and we don't hesitate. But we did this since 2009 when we had the but the first boutique in America. It's not like yesterday did we did this because Francois Paul always, always respected the collector. So if I make sure that this guy here has something that's very rare, don't flip it.
00:20:14
Speaker
Now, it is possible, we're not stupid about this. Could be buyer's remorse. Could be, Keline has an opportunity to buy this business, he needs to this. Talk to us. yeah Do not surprise us. Yeah, that makes sense. i if If I ever...
00:20:26
Speaker
who's going to sell a watch from the maker. the I would definitely do that for you. 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 until about a year ago.
00:20:39
Speaker
When Journe 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.
00:20:51
Speaker
that other makers, other brands say, oh, oh, this guy. i've I've seen it happen. now All of a sudden, Kitek won't sell it.
00:21:02
Speaker
Rolex won't sell with 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.
00:21:15
Speaker
to to When we have these discussions and fortune discussions, that well it's my watch, I can do whatever I want with it. Absolutely. But i I can do whatever I want. I don't have to deliver a watch to you. You have your freedom. I have my freedom. Sure.
00:21:27
Speaker
But the circumstance is different if someone comes to you and they're in a tough spot in life. Absolutely. That's a different situation. i mean, Francois Paul accepted ah of just for New America last year, four times, I said, we have this case, this case, this case, this case.
00:21:39
Speaker
said, why are you even asking me? Of course, no problem. I said, course I have to ask. because Francois Poin is micromanaging, he wants to know everything, so no problem. I said, yes, no problem. One guy got divorced, okay, it happens.
00:21:51
Speaker
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 from Latin America, said, I would like to buy Economy Blue and Elegant from you so I can sell them and make money.
00:22:08
Speaker
I figured I'd say, that's so good, you should tell them what. You should frame that in here. We told you, I said, we're 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. And we feel sorry for you, but ah but but thank you for for being honest. But the guy figured out, nobody thought about this.
00:22:26
Speaker
I figured it out. I'll just ask. I mean, the worst thing I can say is no. Of course. that's ah That's the thing. We have too many people that are circling around ah on this. do You have another kind of of the people that we are...
00:22:38
Speaker
let's say concerned about. ah The one that think that, the and i don't know if it's the right marketing term, is the, how do I call that? The pride or the pride that the honor of wearing jaune, because he's the best watchmaker at that. Do you know he's the best watchmaker that? We just heard it was the best. right How does it relate to you?
00:22:58
Speaker
And we have this wave of collectors, extremely wealthy sometimes. They say, I can wear this, 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. right So we are very careful with these people and we have a rule 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 doest does not understand it.
00:23:27
Speaker
Should make sense, no? Makes sense. Believe me. I'm sure. by You buy, and it's beautiful watch, like a Rizzo Daytona. Do you know the whole story about the Rizzo Daytona? No, you buy Daytona, most of them, because it's a Daytona.
00:23:39
Speaker
So it's what I call a vanity purchase almost, yeah for lack of a better term. Now, Kevin, you always say how the watches are coming to the grave with you. maybe Maybe you'll have a mausoleum where people can rent them from you.
00:23:52
Speaker
The Pierre Knows Paul Boutreau says his joke is always, I only come to visit you so I can talk to your wife about auctioning off your collection. After your dad, I said, thank you, Paul. That's a friend. yeah it's it's ah Yeah. It's something I do think about a little bit. um But I'm very, very proud of my collection.
00:24:10
Speaker
it you know And 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? sure Because I wear six different pieces a day. Two, I wear two watches short every every hour of the day.
00:24:31
Speaker
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. yeah Let's see you know what you have on today and what I'm learning to do now, which I'm very proud of.
00:24:49
Speaker
I'll tell you a story that you might find interesting. and and Shark Tank, for the last, don't know, six, seven years, I've been wearing two 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.
00:25:04
Speaker
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.
00:25:15
Speaker
Don't you think you should wear one crazy piece on one wrist and an entry-level piece on the other? yeah So that when you do all this wrist stuff, you encourage young people. And that's what I'm doing now. I'm very proud of that. I don't know. I think the Scrab Daddy guy's doing okay. Yeah.
00:25:30
Speaker
Because unfortunately, there's not a lot of entry-level jour in anything anymore.
Social Media's Role in New Collecting Generations
00:25:34
Speaker
No. They're used to it. And impossible to get anyway. Yeah, I mean, the the Elegant was the, you know, there was a time.
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah. Sorry, you can't get it, though. I know. We sold that on it with you. 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.
00:25:52
Speaker
That's not a bottom watch anymore. yeah It's a highly coveted, very difficult to get even in the secondary market. It's crazy what's happened with Jordan. It really, really is. 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, as I include myself in the crazy collectors. yeah Lay down on the cash, let's analyze you. Here's the bid at the end. I would make a fortune because we are effing crazy. yeah Like I collect number 100.
00:26:18
Speaker
and That's my number. Now, I would pick up a wax that's not exactly the one or the configuration I want, but that's the number 100. How stupid is this? How stupid is it? How stupid is it to wear a Red Band every time? If it doesn't wear Red Band, I can't do this.
00:26:31
Speaker
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 for something that nobody needs on top of it. Yeah. Well, I think the market in general around watches, whether Zorn or another brand, they get sour when they can't get what they want, right?
00:26:48
Speaker
So they come up with these theories of misconceptions. It's even worse for Zorn, and I'll tell you why. Journe is a curse to me because I'm known as a Journe 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 Journe.
00:27:11
Speaker
We've been through this a few times and and it's brutal. yeah to you know I have to say them, look, you're not a collector. You say, does that have to with anything? I want a short.
00:27:22
Speaker
This is the one I want. Just tell them I want this one. I want to pick it up in Miami next Tuesday. mean, I want you to give the bad news, not me. Just start putting each other in group chat. No, but it's brutal because a lot of people takes...
00:27:36
Speaker
You know, ah I have a very good friend now, the friend of ah Pierre, Jay Suris. Sure. Very important guy in in Los Angeles. So, for example, the guy said, you know, I'm not a watch collector, I want one, and I want the Côte d'Ale Sauvignon, the simplest one possible, and you'll never see him again.
00:27:54
Speaker
That's not what happened. That's not what happened. I think on the first interview, you quoted one of our common friend, Richard, that said, once you know journe, you're fucked. you go to that you I think you mentioned that that word. I think you've sold on five now. Very very rarely, very rarely do we have a collector that's only one journe. It could be the collector because he has to life on his own. It could be the elegant now, but on the other ones,
00:28:19
Speaker
If there's only one, there's a problem. Maybe he wasn't happy with us, maybe the watch wasn't working, things happen. But the fact that you have only one doesn't make sense. Connector, by definition, is not one. No. It's not possible. Right.
00:28:30
Speaker
Well, 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 there's so many misconceptions about Joran 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...
00:28:48
Speaker
This will help all the guys that you need to say, hey, just watch this video because... I think, you know, I'll start because I'm a guy that's watched this ah evolution. I'm very happy to see that Jorn is bringing new, young collectors into the family.
00:29:02
Speaker
Now, there's nothing wrong with interviewing them and 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?
00:29:14
Speaker
There's many events. This boutique has fantastic events with where you can get educated, where people come in and talk about many topics. But these young guys in their 20s 30s are coming in here and they're going to be the next generation, right? absolutely Absolutely. And so they're making watches available for them.
00:29:32
Speaker
At the same time, the balance, as I've observed, and i'm very you know i'm i'm and I'm one of the beneficiaries of this, they respect their collector base. So when
Artistry and Evolution in Watchmaking
00:29:42
Speaker
a piece like the Tokyo comes out, you've got to be a hard core collector to get that piece.
00:29:48
Speaker
mean, you must have had hell on earth with Tokyo. Thank God it was the last limited edition because it is not a pleasure for us. You say, call me Mr. No, just imagine how many knows how to do it. People were calling me about the Tokyo and I said, why are you calling me? I can't do anything. Yeah.
00:30:02
Speaker
Well, the 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, right? But the Tokyo is not the most conventional genre there is, and that's what your eye was kind of drawn to when you got started. And and I'd love to know what it was about the Tokyo that... Although the Tokyo dial is pretty spectacular. I mean, it's... it's there are I was recently ah you know on a trip with just someone who doesn't anything about genre, and I was wearing it on my right hand.
00:30:35
Speaker
at dinner and he looked over and said, what is that? I said, this is a a new release from the Jornis of Tokyo. He said, I've never asked you for this before. Sell me that watch.
00:30:47
Speaker
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. said, not going to happen. now'm Just not going to happen.
00:30:58
Speaker
He said, can you get me one of these watches? I said, also no. Also not going happen. So I think the dial has done its job. 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.
00:31:11
Speaker
It's not what a lot of people think of when it comes to Journe. And... There's something else with the Tokyo, I have to tell you. Everybody that has seen it and looked at it closely has said to me, it's broken.
00:31:23
Speaker
said, it's not broken. I for one. It's because the sweep is it's a two-minute sweep. Right. It's a crazy, crazy thing. And and everybody asks me, why? Why?
00:31:35
Speaker
yeah I said, F.B. Journe. Is there another answer? Oh, because it's easier to read because it's like a more elapsed time, but yes. yeah But I had the same thing. I said, is it working? Because you look at the crowd, it's not moving because it's so, so, it shows how ah but we are really creating good habit. When we used to see something same with the elegant.
00:31:53
Speaker
when I have reached my leg and because it kind of like stops you know after 30 or 35 minutes. In the middle of the night, you pick it or What time is it? Oh, shoot. It's already, know, it was 30 minutes, whatever. yeah So it it's it changes a little bit to ah your habits. Yeah, for sure. Tokyo's only been out a few months. It's already a legend with this week.
00:32:10
Speaker
Yeah. mean, it's part of the lore. It's a crazy, crazy piece. Yeah. But lets let's debunk some of those you know so so you had ah So you have two main things. Production, I really want to talk about this. And then ah how to get a watch, basically. Sure. So let's start with ah with a whichever one. Which one do you want to start with? Let's 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 waitlist? Because ah the truth you doesn't exist. You used the term that I wanted you to use, waitlist. We do not have a waitlist. Waitlist means in our mind, there's a sequence, first in, first serve. There's never been a first in, first serve at Joel. It's a wishlist. It's a wishlist. It means that if I find a better collector than Kevin tomorrow, the game I might have a better chance than Kevin.
00:32:54
Speaker
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. Okay. That people say, well, I've been on the wedding list for the Cronomé Bleu for 10 years. say, well, it might be 20 years, i don't know. yeah and And so how to get a watch?
00:33:13
Speaker
One thing that is extremely important for us, the word passion. A collector is passionate. gonna give another example, and the guy's gonna recognize, I'm not gonna mention his name because it's like to show you how crazy people are.
00:33:25
Speaker
This guy brings his wife in his bedroom every Sunday night, opens the set, lays out all the watches, says, what are the three watches I'm gonna wear this week? every Sunday night.
00:33:35
Speaker
And if he listens ah to this, he's gonna recognize himself. And we ask his wife, I say, what about it? 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 gonna wear. It's a question. right so So it it is ah important. So because we are,
00:33:54
Speaker
We have each of us have ah a collector and the collector has an advisor. When it 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 an advisor, me included, I'm part of the game, why Kevin?
00:34:14
Speaker
He wants this and this. My Kevin, tell me more about Kevin. I mean, Kevin I know, but they know also, they say something we don't know. And it' ah in my passage, I don't really know him. Next question.
00:34:24
Speaker
Right. Know him for next time. That's why reputation is so important. Absolutely. Yeah. Imagine that's going on without you there. You're not you're not your own advocate that 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. of but No, because it's a question mark.
00:34:44
Speaker
So that we have a lot of people, even people that requesting, I'd like to buy an elegant, send an email, an elegant. I said, no problem, go and visit one of the stores. which one, New York, Miami, LA, or worldwide, I can tell you. And I said, go to this.
00:34:59
Speaker
We are not, we old fashioned. We are not, we never, never ever, since 2003, we were the first boutique in in Tokyo, delivered a watch of person we don't know, ever. we don't work this way. We have to go to Tongo Kru to deliver it. We go to Tongo Kru to deliver it. Yeah, absolutely. And that's very important.
00:35:15
Speaker
This is this. But also it creates a little bit of an issue because if you have to ban a person, obviously because you're close, it creates more tension. Right. It's more complicated complicated to basically ban a friend than a non-friend.
00:35:27
Speaker
And also, and we realize this here, that's why created upstairs a private space because when we're here, don't know they' not be close because for the interview, but let's say sitting with Kevin, we have three collectors coming, they might sit with us.
00:35:39
Speaker
and talk to them, which one are you, why? And then I'm in the middle of that discussion and we have no privacy anymore. right So that's some of it. 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 we said, can I have a special request? Thank you. yeah Not easy. Another no, and no, and no, and no.
00:35:58
Speaker
Yeah, I get it. 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 it's longer. But if he doesn't know you, he's only going be able to defend you. It's like your attorney if you want. Yeah.
00:36:10
Speaker
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? The answer is simple, right? It's a set number for the most part. i mean, a general range. We never set.
00:36:22
Speaker
We never put a maximum. that right now people say, or are you still making a what less than a thousand? no since 2020 we did more than a thousand. But I think in people's minds, they could do 1,500, they could do 3,000, right? But there's a range of what can really be done. There's a real question that people ask, and I'll ask it now we can get an answer from Pierre.
00:36:42
Speaker
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 quartz watch.
00:36:53
Speaker
I asked that from that myself. He just looked at me and said, no. We're very good at no. yeah We know how to pronounce it. That is a good question because that that watch could be made in in volume.
00:37:07
Speaker
No, ah but it depends what volume is. But anyway, I'll go back to to the ah Elegant question. So, The way that Francois Paul organizes production, and I'm not saying it's better than the other companies, it's just different.
00:37:21
Speaker
So there's no value at all. ah In any company with certain volume, not talking about the Réche-Pé-H&P or Roger Smith, this is like, you know, really artisanal. When Odemar Piguet said, for example, we're going to cap it at 40,000. Right.
00:37:35
Speaker
139,998 and a half. right but what How do you come up with the number? That's a marketing number. right we We don't know how many they made, actually. We don't know how many they made before. How many they made the year after? Doesn't matter. It's their problem.
00:37:46
Speaker
We try to make as many watches as possible, sure. But it's one watch. One watchmaker versus the other companies. We're all going to do parts and these people are going to do the assembly. You can explode the production.
00:37:57
Speaker
But for so part of the respect is going to say, it's you that is going to be for May 2. It is not good in terms of output. Sure. Worst case scenario. This watch within three years of warranty, comes back for repair.
00:38:09
Speaker
It happens. don't 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, ah human problems or conceptual, but going to have issues. Otherwise, as possible, I said, buy this watch, pay you $40. When it doesn't work, buy another one person and leave us alone. We know that. So don't think it doesn't exist.
00:38:34
Speaker
So It comes back to the actual guy that made it, not the after-sales service. Any other company said, no, let's do the output. It is bad for the short term. It's 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 your mistakes.
00:38:49
Speaker
Remember when we did the backstone, learn from your mistakes, learn from your failures. That's only way you can learn. If you give it to the after-sales service, you don't know that you made a mistake. That's very interesting, actually. yeah You don't want to be the guy that all your watches come back.
00:39:02
Speaker
Right. Well, and I think if if production was only focused on Elegant and there was no other watches, there would be a ridiculous amount, right? Elegant is in all the department, but let's see the comments we want. Sure. One of the easiest, not the easiest for everyone, but easiest for example, anyone in our at the company can do a comments.
00:39:19
Speaker
Maybe we if we only make this, then we make 2,000 of them. It's man hours. We have so many man, so many hours. And this is so many hours to to produce equals output. That easy. Birkin, Kelly and Hermes.
00:39:32
Speaker
But they don't call Vietnam and say, give me another hundred thousand bags by next week and hang up. It's in-house. So it's all we can do. Sure. Not one more, not one less. Well, I think the other thing that people forget is that Joran is so focused on, François Paul, rather, is so focused on the really, really high-end stuff, you know, 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. Well, he loves everything he's made, I'm sure, but... It's a pain in the need to produce in terms of the dynamics. Even the case is difficult.
00:40:10
Speaker
I mean, right that in the case is to the level of 600. I don't need to know. In fact, to 100 in growth. Right, but I think the the production of of the number of watches that F.P. Journe could make would be slightly higher if there wasn't also a focus on high-end horology for some of these other pieces. That's the example. Correct. me They said 2,000 grams. Correct. And I think that's... what people forget. If we make the astronomy, if we everyone at our watchmakers could make the astronomy, which is not true. Some people can do this, some people cannot do this. We have one guy, right'm not going to mention his name, he's been doing commerce so far for the past 15 years. He can't go to the next level.
00:40:43
Speaker
It's there. It cannot move. ah So maybe if we do this in that example, and we have a talent, maybe we make 50 astronomic. So it's the average between 50 and 2000, give or take some numbers. Yeah. that's That's the
Production Limits and Collector Influence
00:40:55
Speaker
reality of things.
00:40:56
Speaker
Now we can hire more watchmakers, but we're in the middle of Geneva. So we have to go to Merin or the industrial zone. For some reason, I like to walk to the office. End of story. yeah Remember, Francois Paul is not about money. Money is not the end rule.
00:41:09
Speaker
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 the role. You buy Rolex, Rolex is a fantastic company, the product is amazing.
00:41:24
Speaker
Are you part of the Rolex history? Kevin is part of the journey story. Sure. On top of this, he promotes it. So so he's doubly part of this. He's a true ambassador. I don't like that word, but it is what it is. Sure. He is an ambassador.
00:41:35
Speaker
Yeah. So that's the situation. He's not going to move, so he's going to have more watchmakers. Yeah. So that's it. Yeah. 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.
00:41:49
Speaker
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 Jorn that makes it so special? What's the thing that you tell people when they say, tell me about FP Jorn?
00:42:02
Speaker
They don't often understand my answer, but it's always the same. It's a community. It's a very, very interesting community of very eclectic people all around the world. And it's it's ah it's like a passport.
00:42:13
Speaker
If you own a journe, you're able to be part of a collection. are very few number of people that understand you know a lot about just art.
00:42:26
Speaker
it To me, it's almost like collecting contemporary art or modern art. It's different than buying a watch. You know mean? It's hard to display. You're not going to Google it. Yeah, exactly. That's also sort of. And that's the appeal.
00:42:46
Speaker
right um And so the people that I, ah you know I brought a few people into the Zorin community. they've They've been able to buy so pieces. And now they're crazy passionate. yeah They call me all the time. What do focus you should get for my next one? And I always say to them, it's not going to be up to you which the next one is.
00:43:01
Speaker
You're going to have to find out what they want to give you. Right. 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.
00:43:13
Speaker
But... Jor knows exactly which calibers I own. so So we can recommend recommend one. Yeah. So I get recommendations all the time. We're going to go in this direction. i have a beautiful piece coming this December.
00:43:25
Speaker
Beautiful. Red, of course. But you know I was part of the design of it, the decisions on it. ah And I'm looking forward to it. It's going to fit beautifully in the collection. yeah And that's always exciting. yeah certain limit 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 Senses community. sure So that was a big question that we had, because the problem with with what Kevin said could have been the problem. It's not.
00:43:56
Speaker
You're 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.
00:44:07
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you know, you know the... d of it we but We have parties here. We have parties here. Everybody's crazy. Yeah. You know, what we all know like Richard, I'm not going mention his last name, but but we all know this guy.
00:44:18
Speaker
It's a joke. Every time we say, we're not allowed to talk about anything, but watch us, Richard 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 committee and say, oh, I like Kevin. It's nice or whatever. And he's going to talk about watches for the next 10 hours.
00:44:34
Speaker
boring. So for us, it's good because they don't come back. right so They're not passionate. yeah It's a way for us to also to tell. yeah The good thing is if you know he watches, let's see how this, one of the reasons why you should buy a jewel you tell me about this, he's the best watchmaker of mine. 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 yeah and this one is actually coming, not two or three. He knows, he he knows less than I know about not getting something. Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:02
Speaker
So we we have to work at this. Of course. Yeah. I get it. But imagine, I mean, here's what I tell people when they ask majority. It's very simple. I say, imagine if you could buy a Picasso f from Picasso while Picasso was alive.
00:45:15
Speaker
but he had already established himself as Picasso. So that's what you're getting with Jorin. There's going to be a time when Jorin passes. I don't want that to happen, obviously. But... 120. and twenty You know what that means? It means that there's going to be pre and post Jorin.
00:45:32
Speaker
And every piece is going to go up by 40% when it's passing. It's crazy to even talk about that. But that's what collectors are thinking. You may not be aware of it, I'm telling you. Yeah. the The conversations are always relevant is what happens when or what happens if right? Especially when you're in the situation of someone like the guy he is the Picasso of watchman course now, but not just for the mechanical genius The dials are fucking crazy. I mean that's that's what is so you can tell from 20 feet away It says your yeah, you can't you can't miss it because of you know the dial and it just is what it is it's like
00:46:09
Speaker
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. Maybe Moser and Jordan are the only ones. get Rolex, but... You have Carcadine. Yeah, you have to say...
00:46:24
Speaker
People are knocking off the Karchi tank looking crazy. You can't be sure until you get close. that's that's yeah you know because's yeah But I'm saying when you see a Journe, it's a Journe. And I don't know, has anybody knocked off a Journe? I don't think so. So we had, ah I offered it to Francois Paul a long time ago.
Innovative Watch Insurance by Kevin O'Leary
00:46:40
Speaker
I was seeing in Charlotte 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 Canada to demolish watches. At that time, was Techno Marine, so was totally different than the thing.
00:46:53
Speaker
But I found a beautiful, beautiful resonance. Sure. But the guy was so smart. He loved the design of the resonance. we said, FP, who is this? Tal Goyer. What?
00:47:04
Speaker
e put tago you you're is He Is that who's still around? But it's a fake one, obviously. Oh, but it's a fake one. Do you guys have it? I paid the 50 bucks or whatever. I gave it to Francois. I said,
00:47:16
Speaker
I was in the end of this question. I said, you should have kept it because it was cool. wish I could buy that. It would have seen it. Yeah, know. 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, F.P. Joe, we still do that. That's right. It's nice if nobody knows F.P. Joe, man. We like it this way. Yeah. So he's better this way for us. That's funny. i love very funny.
00:47:33
Speaker
Well, we're going 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 both of you a little bit more relaxed. So, ah Kevin, we'll start with you. Someone wants to know,
00:47:47
Speaker
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? No. See, now you're saying no. no 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.
00:48:21
Speaker
Right. There's that moment. Maturity. Yeah. It's like an artist. It's like an artist. A hundred people want to be artists, one of them makes it. Sure, it's graduation day. Yeah, it's a very interesting thing, but that...
00:48:37
Speaker
I remember for me, my introduction to Joran was one of the royal family of UAE that called me up and I was in New York. and I think you remember this it's when I met you. um He said, you must go to the Joran Society dinner. I said, what is Joran Society?
00:48:55
Speaker
Who's FP? And he said, no, no, no, no. He's a good friend of mine. He's a master collector. He said, I'm going to make a phone call for you to show up at the boutique. And that was the beginning of the journey. know. At that dinner, I went out of my mind. I mean i met all these journey guys.
00:49:12
Speaker
But let's also be realistic about this. You're talking about transparency. when you have a connector telling other collector you stupid me you should buy this watch ah eat me as a salesperson i can't say that right but once you collect to another connector just imagine the points remember that for the purchase of something you don't need luxury item sure obviously not aspen because you're all food not the commodity what decides the purchase of a new thing
00:49:40
Speaker
57% of the time, if I go back to my research, I did the but it was i think a mit two where harvard that did a survey, 57% of the time was, okay, the next time you go to Milan, you have this guy who's doing shoes, ah the you go and see it.
00:49:53
Speaker
Chance of that he's going to and see it, and chance that, because I know him, he's going to buy it. sure So friend. The second one was reviews, like 36%, if I recall. That's the time also at Amazon, they started putting but certified ah reviews and also they start putting bad reviews on top.
00:50:09
Speaker
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 ones. If everybody says, we're the best, we're the best, we're the best, yeah one we using we excellent you excellent, you've got to be getting careful.
00:50:22
Speaker
The third one was the code of sale, 19%. nineteen percent Fourth, the brand at 13%. Interesting. We're the best. but What can I say? We're not the best.
00:50:33
Speaker
But when a collector says that, just imagine importance. So now we have this compounding effect now with the community and the fact that we have collectors that are super fun. They love to drink. They love to laugh. they They love to travel. I mean, we went to Tokyo. Like 50 of us went to Tokyo.
00:50:48
Speaker
We didn't pay for it. We didn't pay for it. We each paid for this for the chance to travel together. where Where does this happen? But also you remember the... That's my argument about community. No, no, I agree. The community is a lot and that's going to be in trouble. Otherwise you buy your watch and you go at home and just enjoy it.
00:51:07
Speaker
What is better you share Sometimes also when you're passionate, you want to share your passion. yeah That's the beauty of it. If they were not passionate, we would be dead. yeah I buy a Rado tomorrow and nothing wrong with Rado, but it's not my stuff.
00:51:19
Speaker
I'm not going to be excited. Am I going to say, you should buy a Rado tomorrow? and 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. It brings, the again, the banana on the table and the internet.
00:51:33
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I want to touch on a topic I want to make sure we cover because it started with Jor, watch insurance. Yep. And you have your own platform. Yes, but the reason it happened, and Pierre's part of this, years ago, maybe three years ago, I don't remember.
00:51:48
Speaker
um When I went to get my watch insured and they said, Jor, I said, yeah, I want it insured for replacement value. And they said, can you replace this?
00:52:00
Speaker
It's not easy, right? It's a tough decision. They said, how can we get, how do we mark to market the value of this piece? We started this discussion um because most watch insurance policies, including mine, attach the home policy.
00:52:16
Speaker
They give you the depreciated value of the watch when it gets stolen or lost or broken. They also try and get involved to try and replace it themselves and they don't know what they're doing. so yeah So i I actually went to Chubb, the underwriter Chubb, and said,
00:52:28
Speaker
I'm a collector. I've got a problem. I also develop a lot of companies. Sure. I'd like to establish a new watch insurance company. BT was my partner that solves for people that are passionate about watches.
00:52:41
Speaker
It took me three years. And Danny Gutberg in 1916, when I met with him, he said, this solves a huge problem. Yeah. We want to go with you exclusively. Let's start. We'll be the founding. Explain the principle, because right now it's just insurance. Your principle is brilliant.
00:52:58
Speaker
It's not the insurance job is this job. but I don't need you for job. I can contact them. yeah so Your principle is miss much much more interesting. Yes. but yeah 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 should go to our first policy. So you can decide, do I want to?
00:53:19
Speaker
Shure 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?
00:53:30
Speaker
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 in 1916 and it's now been stolen.
00:53:44
Speaker
We'll replace it. well If you don't want cash, you want your watch back, we we'll send it back to the dealer. now So, in a sense, Danny and I designed this with the software guys. We created this product.
00:53:57
Speaker
And when I was at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, every brand was talking about this. a But what about the fact that you can basically turn it off? Yes, yeah that's the main thing. Because you don't need to pay insurance if it's sitting in a safe. you only travelut I travel with 17 pieces.
00:54:12
Speaker
Max, that's it. I only want to insure those. I don't need to insure the hundreds of watches that are in sitting in a vault in Zurich. yeah So that I love. and Because the bank insures it, so... Well, it's really interesting how Chubb stepped up and said, OK, let's work on the code, the technology we gather. We created a brand.
00:54:30
Speaker
I'm really proud most probably. That's great. Three years I've been working on this, and I've spen spent a lot of money investing in it. But I think it's going to change the industry. And um I love the fact that Danny backed me on it. And we're doing this together.
00:54:42
Speaker
I'm going to show it to you guys in six months. Have a look at it. look We'll be sure to put a link in there. I have 100 watchers, but I'm not traveling. Not 17, it's too many, but like three. pre-pictures, that's what I'm doing for a long, this week.
00:54:53
Speaker
And I'm only paying for this, already have contract with job, they're already very pre-registered. but That's how it works. And then what what would I pay for the ones in the safe? Yeah. Doesn't make sense. 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 No, what's beautiful about AI now in the watch insurance industry. This is really incredible.
00:55:15
Speaker
So the the the insurance industry is very regulated. So if you 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.
00:55:33
Speaker
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.
00:55:44
Speaker
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.
00:55:56
Speaker
It's like AppleCare. Click here. And so it you choose a couple of, the way it works is at the moment you you you get it insured, The store is, nine seconds later, is issued the policy.
00:56:09
Speaker
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 the date of purchase, or do I want the auction value two years from there?
00:56:22
Speaker
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 yeah they haven't appreciated and i think you can manipulate and make it to your own needs and not basically what job is offering certainly this is my policy and adhere to it no it solves a big problem a twist yeah it's great and it's it's amazing and and anyways i'm very proud of it and we're we're modifying it based on you know people say i i wish i could do this i wish you could do this so i said it can't let us let us figure that out for you so we're going to do it
00:56:53
Speaker
You know, Danny wanted something very specific for 1916 and we have that now. That's great. And then we'll hear from other makers. But anyways, this 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. I love it. And it's launched, ready to go. People can sign up you and now.
00:57:09
Speaker
That's amazing. Yeah. 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 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 want?
00:57:30
Speaker
You to get the number 100, we're talking about the Tokyo Chrono. You know that I was not allowed to have one image edition for my whole life. The pier is for collectors. have 32 years old.
00:57:40
Speaker
i yeah ah you You didn't get a Tokyo? So for the Tokyo, I went there. I said, this is my only chance to have a limited edition 100. missed on the Zodiac because I was not allowed to do this. And for a reason that my father thought he was against it. Well, obviously he wasn't because they were good friends.
00:57:55
Speaker
The weekend was 99. what the F you're doing? I'm calling you 100, you stop at 99. My dad told me he was like against him, which obviously wasn't for Francois, but you pay attention to this.
00:58:07
Speaker
So I asked permission, said, if you don't want to, I'm not ask again, but if you can, that's fine. And if I do, I'll pay the price that everybody paid. And I would pay in Switzerland, so it would not go through this competition without obviously make some money on the back end because I'm a partner with Francois Paul.
00:58:22
Speaker
I would buy that over there, but also I didn't want to ah minimize my quota here. So I ate it on Geneva's called out. And I was allowed to have it. Amazing. hundred That was, did you have the 100 to have the number one? oh That's spectacular.
00:58:35
Speaker
So what what I would have asked Francois Paul is another Cormier Sauvignon. The problem that I have with the Cormier Sauvignon, that's another thing that we have to ah mention, there's only one number 100.
00:58:47
Speaker
Whether it's in platinum, in bitonium, zelonium, in fuchsia, whatever you can imagine, there's only number 100. So, oh my God, the customers... You would think there would be three or four 100. I know, not with four software. It's identical. It's the identity of the watch.
00:59:01
Speaker
If I call them, I said, i have a problem with number 100 CS, they'll have to ask what it is. They do exactly. So, the other customers I have, they're not number 100. Like the blue one or the new one that we have that I ordered for the next year is going to be number whatever.
00:59:15
Speaker
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 and say, well, that'd be fun. But you know what? I would go... For me, Cronombe Sauvignon is absolutely the best watch possible.
00:59:30
Speaker
but 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,
00:59:39
Speaker
20 years. there you have For me, the piece that I'm so proud of whojo is the vertical tourbillon I have with the red K at the 12th. Remember we debated that for a year? It was complicated complicated. Just that letter was complicated. complicated yeah The vision and the S, OK. Let me tell you, that piece is a nice topic.
00:59:55
Speaker
yeah Absolutely. like I'm sure others others have come to you now. I'm sure they ah say to you, do it for me too. Anybody. Of course. Let's bring him in.
01:00:05
Speaker
again yeah let's stop this let's bring them in Well, there you have it. Kevin, Pierre, thank you guys again for joining me on the show today. We're to look at some watches. Stay tuned for part two of this video. And thank you to Kruk and Blake for providing these amazing gifts and cases. Thank you.
01:00:21
Speaker
Yes. these two. And make sure you check out Wondercad. going to take this Dubai next week. It's cases. Let's see a photo of that in Dubai. Yeah. Let's have me quick. You know, that's fine. There you have it. All right. Stay tuned for part two.
01:00:36
Speaker
All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collector's Gene Radio.