Watch Brand Creation Myths - This One's A True Story!

By now you've no doubt noticed the Oberlin Watch Company advertisement at the right of the main article section -

In the summer of of 2020, as we were all getting "comfy" as lockdown was progressing, I had 2 seemingly unrelated conversations. One from a friend in my hometown saying something along the lines of - "Hey, you should make an Oberlin watch!". I put that one in my back pocket for the time being. The thought had crossed my mind on more than one occasion, but as my childhood friends may or may not have realized, it is not a simple thing to do. It takes time and money. Thanks (just kidding) to COVID, I certainly had some time. And this brought me back to an email exchange that I had recently had with another Northern Youth on the same topic. Courtesy of the OBIE Blog from 2022 -

About 2 years ago I got an email from an old friend:

"I bought an (insert the name of a very popular, very hyped on social media watch) 2 months ago and it died on me! What watch should I get?"

Okay, in fairness there was more to this story. My friend works in marketing. He is fairly senior. He has not owned a watch since the turn of the century (2002 to be exact). His rationale was:

"I don't need a watch. My computer has the time, my cell phone has the time, the time is LITERALLY EVERYWHERE!"

Well, fair enough. Until...

My friend was in the middle of a pitch - yes gentle reader, there was a time before COVID where people were expected to show up to work, in person, FIVE days a week! The pitch meeting was for a fairly large client with very deep pockets. (editors note, that company has since gone out of business). He was sitting towards the rear of the room. His job was to give hand signals to his boss (who was giving the pitch to the potential client) to let him know how much time was left. Not having a watch, my friend was occasionally looking at his phone to check the time. At one moment the potential client looked over and saw this, and came to the reasonable conclusion that my friend was goofing off with instagram, or some other time killing activity. My friend's boss clocked this activity and (once the client had left) exploded:

"What were you doing playing with your f'ing phone?!?"

My friend informed his boss that he was checking the time to signal to him when to wrap up. His boss was not soothed:

"Go get a damn watch! Not tomorrow, not after work, not even after lunch! Go get a damn watch right now!!!"

So needless to say, my friend exited the office and turned left into a boutique that sold (insert the name of an over-hyped, very popular quartz watch here) watches, and put just over $200 (with tax) on his credit card and wore the watch back to the office. His boss was appeased. And everything was fine... for the next 2 months. And then the watch stopped working. Not sure if it was a battery or simply defective, he went back to the boutique, and was given an address to send his watch in for warranty service (they insisted that they could not do this for him). So on Saturday he packed up the watch and shipped it back to the address he was provided. And...

He waited, and waited, and waited....

After several unanswered emails, phone calls and carrier pigeon notes it became clear to him that while he might get the watch repaired and returned, it was not likely to happen prior to his retirement or employment termination, whichever came first.

And this brings us back to my friend's email to me. What watch should he get? I suggested an inexpensive Seiko, a Timex, Casio, or even a Swatch.

"You work in the watch business. Can't you make me one?" 

This led to a 15 day back and forth explaining that, in fact, while I did sales, marketing and other things, making a watch was not something for us to discuss because unlike the salt and pepper, it was not on the table. But he kept pushing.

So I reached out to my friends at Swiss Made  Consulting LLC and asked, crazy as it sounded, if they could make a small run of 100 or so watches. They said yes, and that is what led to the OBIE1.

But it wasn't quite as simple as that. Truth be told? I didn't have a lot of ideas as to what it could/should look like. Fortunately I know a guy who is pretty good at design -

Courtesy of Sartory Billard

Armand Billard kindly stepped up and quickly came up with a design, logo, pretty much everything needed.

Courtesy of Oberlin Watch Company

Courtesy of Oberlin Watch Company

Courtesy of Oberlin Watch Company

So part one was taken care of, now all I needed was a watch ; )

So I reached out to my friends Rod Hess and Stephen Roemer. Rod is known by industry insiders as "The most important person in the watch business that you maybe never heard of". Stephen is his brother-in-law and the primary owner of Swiss Watch Company.

And based on Armand's design, utilizing some extra kits that he had on hand, he was able to produce the first OBIE -

Courtesy of Oberlin Watch Company

Now at about this time, I also realized that it was not an inexpensive option to make a watch for 2 high school friends who wanted a $100 -$150 quartz watch. So I started posting some renderings on social media groups for Oberlin Ohio and Oberlin High School. The feedback was pretty good and I felt that I could roll the dice on an initial order of up-to 100 pieces (as that was the minimum). Unbeknownst to me, a reporter from the regional newspaper - The Chronicle Telegram, had been following the Facebook group discussions. He reached out, and a day later my email in-box exploded with messages from people wanting to buy my new "OBIE" watch. That article can be read here -

https://chroniclet.com/news/256866/about-time-oberlin-high-school-alumnus-crafts-timepiece-as-tribute-to-his-hometown/

The only problem was that the watches were in production, and I didn't have any packaging. In the beginning of this project I didn't plan to have any, but there were several customers buying watches for their friends, several of them buying 5 or more!

Stephen of Swiss Watch Company said he had some "left-over" packaging that I could buy at a discounted price. So I invested in some read and blue Krylon spray paint and got to work in the backyard.

In May 2021 the watches arrived, and the first 100 OBIE watches were dispatched. Now another funny part of the story - I thought that the majority of watches would be sold to Oberlin residents past and present. Not so! 

Courtesy of Oberlin Watch Company

Of that first 100 OBIE watches, the new owners were located across the US, Canada, Belgium, France, Switzerland (5 customers!), South Africa, Finland, Croatia and beyond!

Courtesy of Oberlin Watch Company

Fast forward to 2023 and the Oberlin Watch Company is alive and well with zero debt, and four retail partners -

Willow Jewelers in Oberlin, Ohio

Maryland Watch Works in Hagerstown, MD

Swiss Watch Maker in Cambridge, MA

Windy City Watch Collector -https://windycitywatchcollector.com

So, no crash landed biplanes in the French countryside, no mysterious British traveller met while backpacking through Asia. As creation stories go, it's pretty tame. The Oberlin Watch Company OBIE is simply a watch that was initially conceived as something fun for my childhood friends. And like everything positive I've experienced in the watch business, it was realized with the help of my Watch Town friends.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it ; )

And if you are so inclined, you can buy an OBIE at one of our retail partners, or direct from yours' truly at the Oberlin Watch Company -

https://oberlinwatch.com/

Henki

Why I Bought (and kept) the Echo/Neutra Cortina 1956

GREEN!

Courtesy of Echo/Neutra

One of the advantages of participating in trade shows is that you get to check out a lot of watches that you would not normally see "in the wild". Insofar as North America goes, this can be a real opportunity to see first hand what you would typically have to pay for first, wait to receive, and then decide if it was really for you. Fortunately, fate had me at the Wind-Up show in New York this past autumn, and I got to see, touch, and try on the Echo/Neutra Cortina 1956 for myself -

Now to be clear, I was in attendance working for another brand. And proudly so. But if you are serious about your work, you will (at a minimum) take a walk around the space and see what else is out there - first hand.

I had been following Echo/Neutra from my previous Tempus Fugit blog, but had yet to see one up-close and personal. I had my eyes laser-focused on what Serica was offering. And while their field watch was (and is) very nice, I had sent multiple emails to them as a potential customer that went unanswered. (and multiple emails regarding availability and pricing since the Wind-Up show have also received no reply). So I would be less-than forthright if I gave the impression that I only had eyes for the Cortina. But the lack of response I had from Serica prior to the show made me reconsider my first impulse - or at least put it on hold for the time being. And so when I happened upon the Echo/Neutra Cortina 1956 I was somewhat blindsided by how cool I thought it was.

There was not a whole lot of discussion about the pros and cons with the two guys from Echo/Neutra. It was a pretty straight-forward pitch:

"This is the watch, this is the price."

I have to say that I truly appreciate and respect that level of clarity. So after checking it out on the final Sunday morning of the show, I walked over at around noon and to paraphrase that other great commentator on the watch business, Boz Scaggs - "I put my money on the table and drove it off the lot". 

So now nearly 3 months later, it is still in fairly heavy rotation. Which begs the question - why?

In and of itself, it is a fairly straightforward field watch, much like many others. It's a nice "Goldilocks" size (not too big, not too small, but just right) at 40 mm in diameter. The strap width is 20 mm, and if you order online, my understanding is that your purchase price includes 2 straps. I opted for the original green and a black tropic strap. While both are well made and comfy, I find that the retaining loops on the tropic strap are slightly too large and tend to slip over the end of the strap and buckle. Not a massive issue, but one to be aware of when you take the watch off at the end of the day.

The case back is solid (mille grazie Echo/Neutra) because display case backs are very annoying from an aesthetic point of view, particularly when discussing field / tool watches. They just look cheap.

The crown bears the Echo/Neutra logo (which I love for its subtlety), and is screw-down, helping ensure the advertised water resistance of 100 meters/330 feet.

The dial is what you would want and expect for a field / tool watch - large numbers and indices, highly legible. This is enhanced by the second hand with its red and white striped tip.

The domed sapphire crystal is the perfect "capper" to the watch as a whole. The bezel is fixed, with a standard 60 minute scale, green with yellow markers and numbers.  While some others have commented that this is a "vintage" vibe, I think that is a bit too simple an answer. It is clearly a field watch with its own sensibility. In a world filled with black dialed watches, it is something special.

And finally the movement. The Cortina 1956 utilizes the STP1-11 automatic. This is (to the best of my knowledge) the first STP equipped watch that I have owned (or worn, for that matter), but I have only positives to report. The timekeeping is solid, well within the advertised specs, and the power reserve is slightly above those same claims. Always nice to under promise and over deliver ; )

And finally - pricing. The Echo/Neutra Cortina 1956 is not the least expensive micro / small brand field watch out there. The Serica that I had my eye on will set you back about $622 (Euro 575) at todays exchange rate. And the Swiss Watch Company Bunker is $450. And these are certainly fair prices. But I also think that, at least for me, the Cortina was an emotional purchase. Trying to drill down to what a visceral choice should be priced at is like trying to make a cat bark like a dog - it's a pointless exercise. In the end, you like what you like - what speaks to you. And the Echo/Neutra Cortina 1956 speaks to me. 

After everything is said and done, you have to be honest with yourself. Most of us, in this day and age, do not need a watch. We can get the time from our phones, our computers, pretty much any other gadget that we come into regular contact with. A watch is something we want. It connects us to something emotional, something that can't really be quantified like the infamous "Pritchard Scale" in Dead Poet's Society:

"I like Byron, I give him a 42, but I can't dance to it" -

And because I know you want them, here are the pertinents, straight from Echo/Neutra:

Cortina 1956 | 3H Green

FROM: $750.00

→ DIAMETER: 40mm
→ THICKNESS: 11.9mm
→ LUG2LUG: 46mm
→ CROWN: Screw-down type
→ CRYSTAL: Box-shaped Sapphire glass
→ MOVEMENT: STP1-11 Swiss automatic
→ BEZEL: Ceramic fixed bezel
→ STRAPS: 2 X Straps included
→ WR: 100m
→ SWISS MADE

The Hyper-G Burgundy

From Swiss Watch Company -

Courtesy of Swiss Watch Company

This is, without a doubt, my favorite upcoming release. The team at Swiss Watch Company has been slowly, but steadily building a rather devoted following. They've done this by making very attractive, exceptionally high quality watches, and selling them at a very reasonable price.

The Hyper - G is a good looking modern take on the pilot's watch. And although it is available in five different colors, my favorite is the burgundy.

The case measures 40.5 mm in diameter and is crafted of grade 5 titanium.  The movement is Sellita's SW 200 (automatic/self-winding). The case features a soft iron core to help ensure anti magnetism.

And best of all the price - $550 US, direct.

This is scheduled to start shipping in the spring time. Until then, here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

• Swiss Made
• SW 200 Swiss Made Automatic Movement with 28800 A/h (4Hz)
• Soft Iron Core
• 26 jewels
• Titanium #5 case *with hardened coating
• Diamond Cut Hands With Rhodium Plating
• Screw down crown
• Drilled Lugs
• Date Window at 6
• Screw on caseback
• Sapphire crystal
• 16x Anti reflective coating *with applied sapphire coating
• 10 ATM / 100m water resistant
• 22 layers of X1 grade Swiss Made Super-LumiNova 
• Leather strap
• Titanium buckle

SWC Hyper-G Specification

• Case: 40.5mm
• Lug Width: 22mm
• Band Width: 22mm/20mm
• Case Thickness: 10.8mm
• Case Lug to Lug: 47.8mm
• Weight: 56g

Seeing Old Friends, and Meeting Some New Ones

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I really like Hager Watches. I am biased, and as such I cannot really provide impartial reviews on them any longer.

And over they years I have gotten to know the owner, Pierre Brown, pretty well. And I am very proud to call him my friend. So to say I have been looking forward to this weekend's Watches, Whiskey and Wine show in Hagerstown, MD is a wee bit of an understatement ; )

And he has been busy, coming up with some fun new stuff that represents a bit of "out of the watch box" thinking -

Two new pocket watches on leather straps!

These are super new and as such I do not have the benefit of further details as of this AM, but I suspect that the folks visiting the show this weekend will make a point of stopping by to check these out, they are a bit special!

But as with everything that Hager does, it seems that Pierre (or Pete, as some of us know him) always seems to have something particularly special up his sleeve -

This is a prototype of a watch that was not made - the Diplomat.  I apologize for the quality of the photo (operating on very little sleep and very jangly nerves ; )

Once again, it's as if Pete climbed into my skull, had a poke around, and came up with something that would deliver the ultimate visceral sucker-punch. So sorry watch fans, this one is not going to happen (at least in this configuration), but Pete assures me that the Diplomat is the next up for production.

I often get asked - "Why do you write about watches? Nobody's paying you?".

And sometimes, when I am feeling a bit hard done by, it's hard to come up with a good answer. But then, inevitably I think back on some of the places I've gotten to see, and the really great friends I've made along the way, I guess my answer would be this - 

I started Tempus Fugit out of passion for watches. I keep doing it out of the passion of the people that I've met along the way, and now call my friends.

If you are in the neighborhood, please come and see us today (Saturday July 24) and tomorrow (Sunday July 25) in Hagerstown, MD!

https://www.watcheswhiskeyandwine.com

Under The Radar - A Diver You Should Seriously Consider From SWC

Chances are good that if you are a regular Tempus Fugit Reader, you are not necessarily driven by trends or the name on the dial. Yes, Rolex and Omega make some pretty swell diving watches, but the truth is that most (financially honest and realistic) people cannot really afford one of these. More importantly, not everyone is driven by the same, well, sameness that the majority of dive watches have.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I was aware of SWC (Swiss Watch Company) and observed the development of their diver over the span of a few years. I do know the principals of the family owned brand, and am proud to call them friends. But then again, more than a few of my erstwhile, well heeled friends in Watch Town's Fourth and Fifth Estate will tell you that I'm mad, bad, and dangerous to know - so you'll have to take that on balance ; )

Courtesy of Swiss Watch Company

Of the different color ways available in the SWC Diver MKII, the green (pictured above) is my favorite.

The case is of stainless steel and measures 44 mm in diameter. The movement is Sellita's SW200.

And the price? A very realistic $495 on the bracelet, and $445 on the strap.

Here are the pertinents, straight from SWC -

Full Specifications:

• Swiss Made 
• SW 200 Swiss Made Automatic Movement with 28800 A/h (4Hz)
• 26 jewels
• 316 L solid stainless-steel case
• 120 step uni-directional divers bezel
• Ceramic diver bezel ring
• Oil pressed case back
• Sapphire crystal
• 5x Anti reflective coating
• 30 ATM / 1000 ft water resistant
• 20 layers of X1 grade Swiss Made Super-Luminova for the indexes
• Solid 3 link 316 l stainless steel bracelet
• Capsa pins
• Solid integrated divers buckle

Measurements:

• Case: 44mm
• Lug Width: 22mm
• Band Width: 22mm/20mm
• Case Thickness: 13.2mm
• Case Lug to Lug: 48mm

The Bunker

From Swiss Watch Company -

Courtesy of Swiss Watch Company

This is a new release from SWC.  My understanding is that this will ship before the end of the year.

Courtesy of Swiss Watch Company

The case measures 41 mm in diameter, and is of titanium.

Courtesy of Swiss Watch Company

Here are the pertinents -

• Swiss Made

• SW 200 Swiss Made Automatic Movement with 28800 A/h (4Hz)

• 26 jewels

• Titanium #2 case *with hardened coating

• Drilled Lugs

• Date Window at 6

• Screw on caseback

• Sapphire crystal

• 16x Anti reflective coating

• 10 ATM / 100m water resistant

• 20 layers of X1 grade Swiss Made Super-Luminova 

• Leather strap

• Titanium buckle