James Henderson - What was your first watch, was it a gift? Is there a story behind it?
Michael Kobold - My very first watch was a Swatch. I was seven years old, my family was aboard a Lufthansa flight en-route to San Francisco, which was the starting point for a summer-long tour of the Pacific Northwest. My parents surprised me with this very simple black Swatch with a white dial. I loved that watch and it lasted several years until one day our family dog chewed it to bits and pieces.
JH - When you were a boy, what did you want to be "when you grew up"?
MK - My childhood ambitions were simple. I wished to day be a race car driver. To this end, my uncle Hans-Peter presented me with a super-fast go-cart on my tenth birthday. This gift, too, ended up in bits and pieces after a few years, owing to my mechanical curiosity and unsupervised use of my dad's tool box.
JH - Where did you go to school, what did you study?
MK - After graduating from the Frankfurt International School (FIS) in Oberursel, Germany, my family sent me to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where I studied economics. At first, Pittsburgh wasn't my favorite place in the world, because for young people there really isn't a lot to do. But in time I grew to love it and decided to maintain a base there after graduating from university.
JH - How did you get started in the watch industry?
MK - During my time at FIS I had befriended Gerd-R. Lang of Chronoswiss, the Munich-based watch company. We just got a long and I always admired him for his style, both design-wise and in business. He was the perfect mentor and with a lot of patience endured many endless question-and-answer sessions, during which I learned more than I ever learned at university. If I had to pick a time in my young life that I enjoyed the most, I would have to say it was the time I spent with Gerd-R. Lang.
JH - Although Carnegie Melon is a world-class university, Pittsburgh is not at the top of most people's list of destinations, and now with more than a few years of success under your belt, why stay there?
MK - Relationships. When I started the Kobold Watch Company, it was only a class project in Professor Jack Roseman's entrepreneurship class. When I submitted my business plan, Professor Roseman shook his head and said it would never work because it was "just a hobby." To this day, Professor Roseman serves as an advisor to me and to the company, and like him I have several other Pittsburgh-based friends who are instrumental in the success of Kobold watches. Thus, I have decided to keep the company in this region.
JH - So now a few years on, ever wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweats?
MK - Yes, when I think I forgot to turn on the alarm system at home. Before I had a daughter, I never had an alarm and I often didn't even lock the front door. Now we have an alarm system, two dogs, and two Sherpas from Nepal to keep Victoria safe.
JH - Did you ever consider doing something else?
MK - Before I started the watch company, I used to be an assistant instructor for tactical driving courses. That was my platform to entering the motorsports field. But Mr. Lang's suggestion to start a watch company as part of my university studies put a stop to that pretty quickly. There is also something to be said for chocolate-making. I have often toyed with the idea of manufacturing really good chocolate. But since eating chocolate is something I love, that would be counter-productive from a health standpoint!
JH - What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced with Kobold?
MK - The hardest thing has been to convince people abroad that American-made does not equal shoddy quality and poor craftsmanship. We make better watches than a lot of our foreign competitors and we use mostly U.S.-made parts. We control that quality very carefully and I certainly would not put my name on the dial of an inferior product.
JH - Realizing that it is difficult, but do you have a favorite "child" when it comes to what you have designed?
MK - There are times when I prefer one watch over another, but that changes and a few months later I might prefer the other one again.
JH - Who else out there is making watches that interest you?
MK - Chronoswiss makes amazing watches, Omega is reinventing itself and has come out with some incredible pieces, and I admire Vacheron Constantin a lot for what they've done. In the States, the only company other than Kobold that has done a good job is RGM... I am proud of Roland Murphy for his tourbillon, even though I had nothing to do with it. He is to be commended for sticking with his guns.
JH - If you weren't doing this, what do you think you might be doing?
MK - For the last few years I have been trying to finish writing a book and I hope soon I'll be able to take some time off again and concentrate on bringing that long process to an end. I enjoy writing, but life often gets in the way.
JH - What is a typical "day in the life" of Michael Kobold?
MK - Customer service still takes up a lot of time, luckily. There was a period when I was more removed from the customer service end and I detested it. It felt alienating. Then there is all the legwork involved in creating a new timepiece, which is fun and very rewarding. Expedition planning also takes up a fair chunk of my day and at the moment Ran Fiennes is working on a new endeavor that is both exciting and unique, but I can't give out details yet. The Kobold motto is Embrace Adventure and I try to live by that mantra as much as possible.
 |
| Courtesy of Kobold |
Michael Kobold - My very first watch was a Swatch. I was seven years old, my family was aboard a Lufthansa flight en-route to San Francisco, which was the starting point for a summer-long tour of the Pacific Northwest. My parents surprised me with this very simple black Swatch with a white dial. I loved that watch and it lasted several years until one day our family dog chewed it to bits and pieces.
JH - When you were a boy, what did you want to be "when you grew up"?
MK - My childhood ambitions were simple. I wished to day be a race car driver. To this end, my uncle Hans-Peter presented me with a super-fast go-cart on my tenth birthday. This gift, too, ended up in bits and pieces after a few years, owing to my mechanical curiosity and unsupervised use of my dad's tool box.
JH - Where did you go to school, what did you study?
MK - After graduating from the Frankfurt International School (FIS) in Oberursel, Germany, my family sent me to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where I studied economics. At first, Pittsburgh wasn't my favorite place in the world, because for young people there really isn't a lot to do. But in time I grew to love it and decided to maintain a base there after graduating from university.
JH - How did you get started in the watch industry?
MK - During my time at FIS I had befriended Gerd-R. Lang of Chronoswiss, the Munich-based watch company. We just got a long and I always admired him for his style, both design-wise and in business. He was the perfect mentor and with a lot of patience endured many endless question-and-answer sessions, during which I learned more than I ever learned at university. If I had to pick a time in my young life that I enjoyed the most, I would have to say it was the time I spent with Gerd-R. Lang.
JH - Although Carnegie Melon is a world-class university, Pittsburgh is not at the top of most people's list of destinations, and now with more than a few years of success under your belt, why stay there?
MK - Relationships. When I started the Kobold Watch Company, it was only a class project in Professor Jack Roseman's entrepreneurship class. When I submitted my business plan, Professor Roseman shook his head and said it would never work because it was "just a hobby." To this day, Professor Roseman serves as an advisor to me and to the company, and like him I have several other Pittsburgh-based friends who are instrumental in the success of Kobold watches. Thus, I have decided to keep the company in this region.
JH - So now a few years on, ever wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweats?
MK - Yes, when I think I forgot to turn on the alarm system at home. Before I had a daughter, I never had an alarm and I often didn't even lock the front door. Now we have an alarm system, two dogs, and two Sherpas from Nepal to keep Victoria safe.
JH - Did you ever consider doing something else?
MK - Before I started the watch company, I used to be an assistant instructor for tactical driving courses. That was my platform to entering the motorsports field. But Mr. Lang's suggestion to start a watch company as part of my university studies put a stop to that pretty quickly. There is also something to be said for chocolate-making. I have often toyed with the idea of manufacturing really good chocolate. But since eating chocolate is something I love, that would be counter-productive from a health standpoint!
JH - What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced with Kobold?
MK - The hardest thing has been to convince people abroad that American-made does not equal shoddy quality and poor craftsmanship. We make better watches than a lot of our foreign competitors and we use mostly U.S.-made parts. We control that quality very carefully and I certainly would not put my name on the dial of an inferior product.
JH - Realizing that it is difficult, but do you have a favorite "child" when it comes to what you have designed?
MK - There are times when I prefer one watch over another, but that changes and a few months later I might prefer the other one again.
JH - Who else out there is making watches that interest you?
MK - Chronoswiss makes amazing watches, Omega is reinventing itself and has come out with some incredible pieces, and I admire Vacheron Constantin a lot for what they've done. In the States, the only company other than Kobold that has done a good job is RGM... I am proud of Roland Murphy for his tourbillon, even though I had nothing to do with it. He is to be commended for sticking with his guns.
 |
| Courtesy of Kobold |
JH - If you weren't doing this, what do you think you might be doing?
MK - For the last few years I have been trying to finish writing a book and I hope soon I'll be able to take some time off again and concentrate on bringing that long process to an end. I enjoy writing, but life often gets in the way.
JH - What is a typical "day in the life" of Michael Kobold?
MK - Customer service still takes up a lot of time, luckily. There was a period when I was more removed from the customer service end and I detested it. It felt alienating. Then there is all the legwork involved in creating a new timepiece, which is fun and very rewarding. Expedition planning also takes up a fair chunk of my day and at the moment Ran Fiennes is working on a new endeavor that is both exciting and unique, but I can't give out details yet. The Kobold motto is Embrace Adventure and I try to live by that mantra as much as possible.
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