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The Open Caseback

@theopencaseback

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For watch collectors and fanatics to discuss unconventional (and maybe heretical) topics in the watch industry.
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During an interview with Wei Koh in 2020, Jean Claude Biver said that “The new century has not started [for the watch industry] ... we are not yet in the 21st century.” I completely agree. Here, I’m trying to flesh out what that means more concretely and most importantly, what needs to change for the development of distinctly 21st century complications. Full article in the link in bio. by @theopencaseback

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Lately, I’ve seen a lot of posts and stories on the coming buyer’s market. Prices have fallen and collectors are celebrating. While it’s a fair and reasonable reaction after years of price insanity, I’m more interested in how the industry will react to a market downturn after directly and indirectly pushing the narrative that luxury watches are a sound financial investment. Link in bio for my thoughts on what the industry should focus on in a market downturn. by @theopencaseback

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It’s been a hot minute – reviving this page with some articles again. Tell your friends.

For my first article back, we’re going to dive into the rise of the avant-garde Indies of the late 1990s and early 2000s as an art movement. They follow a development curve for art movements in other disciplines, and it’s clear that we’re ready for whatever comes next. Generally, I feel uneasy by how casually the term art is thrown around in the watch industry — across journalism, brands, and auctions. I’m going to do my part to talk about art in fine watchmaking in more concrete and substantial ways.

For the full article, check out the link in bio. by @theopencaseback

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This week’s article comes from a community contributor, a watchmaker in the industry. It’s a reflection on the role language barriers play on the watch industry, and a call to action for the watch community to collectively think through how to make the industry more open. Give the full article a read by clicking the link in bio, and comment your thoughts on this subject matter below. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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This week, I was able to get my hands on an invite to Clubhouse – a new social media platform still in private beta. After four days on the app, I find myself... excited. Giddy, even. I didn’t think it was possible to feel inspired by a social media platform anymore. Yet, here I am. And what excites me the most about Clubhouse is its potential for the watch community.
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With the character-limit in the caption here, you’ll have to read about what Clubhouse is and the exact pain points it addresses in the full article. Using some space here though, I can say that what excites me about Clubhouse relates to a critique of “digital dualism.” Conceptualized by sociologist and technology theorist, Nathan Jurgenson, the digital dualist worldview lends one to believe that life online and “real life” are totally different. As he sees it, this opposition between virtual and actual is a fallacy. Our life as a whole is composed of both online and physical experiences, both acting complementary to one another. Ultimately, the dichotomy between online and real is collapsing. And that’s especially evident In Clubhouse. Clubhouse’s voice-first form of social media no longer forces the watch community experience on social media and watch community experience at meetups to be worlds apart.
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To understand more about how Clubhouse might be a game changer for the watch community online, click link in bio for the full article. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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Following on from last week’s article, the long and short, brands will likely benefit significantly more than dealers. From hobbyist-mindset to investor-mindset, dealers will likely only continue to experience heightened competition. Dealers have already been grappling with some unexpected side effects of increasingly financialized watches. One is that customers, collectors and average consumers alike, commonly step into the dealer-flipper role. That means, in these market conditions, customers can often become competitors. Funds likely will only be yet another player to cut into the dealer market.
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With brands, there are many advantages to this trend though. This is mostly due to the fact that distinguishing between products and maisons is often challenging. Leaning into financial value narrative, high-demand brands (AP, PP, Rolex) have a real, tangible differentiator from competitors. And one that obviously resonates well with audiences as disparate as an unknowledgeable consumer and the most knowledgeable collector.
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With brands, I have many questions though. Will brands normalize selling directly to funds? It seems blasphemous to say yes. But if a single fund came to a small indie, ordered 5 unique pieces with favorable prices and payment terms, I don’t think there are many that will say no. And nor should they necessarily. This is where the value and impact of large investment vehicles becomes more nuanced. Though thinking positively about a surge of investment capital for watches does not come natural to me, this is where higher risk financial speculation might actually benefit the craft, ensuring young, talented watchmakers have the financial support needed to survive and grow.
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To be clear, this is by no means an exhaustive list of implications of fully financialized watches. As far as dealers and brands are concerned, what do you think are implications of this trend? #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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While still relatively obscure, there are financial instruments (mostly private equity funds) that buy, store, and sell portfolios of watches over 5-10 year time horizons. Alfredo Paramico, the well-known collector and one-time owner of a steel Patek Philippe 1518, launched the Precious Time Fund nearly a decade ago to capitalize on the financial appreciation of rare timepieces.
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A quick look around and one realizes that the Precious Time Fund is by no means uncommon in luxury good markets. As a matter of fact, watches still lag significantly behind the financialization of the art and wine markets. Companies like Masterworks and Vinovest are a testament to this fact. Where Paramico and Precious Time Fund likely cater to a relatively small audience of investors (family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals), Masterworks and Vinovest have a much broader, bigger investor base.
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This is the new model for alternative assets. Capitalizing on a huge surge in interest, both businesses effectively operate as crowdfunding platforms for accredited investors. Ultimately, this provides access to high-value goods without the prerequisite of spending big bucks. Masterworks’ pitch to potential investors, “invest like a billionaire,” certainly has its appeal, especially when minimum investment sizes for both art and wine can be as low as $500.
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To return to the initial question, what’s the next frontier in the financialization of watches? It is a rush of higher risk, private equity funds, like Masterworks and Vinovest. These investors will likely not come from within the community, but rather from the general audiences interested and willing to allocate money to high risk investments.
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So, what happens if there were an influx of $100m, buying up timepieces left, right, and center? I’ll dig into the implications of this trend toward full financialization in the next article. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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Some of my recent questions of interest were simply, what are the character traits of watch designers? How do they approach watchmaking and design? What concerns them? Even Google’s omniscience struggles to provide answers to these questions.
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Fortunately, I’ve had the pleasure to speak with a few designers in the watch industry over the last month. Thanks to @thewatchdesigner and @lifeasfunder for our wide-ranging discussions, often bordering on the edge of chaos ... exactly how I enjoy conversation. It’s in that serendipity that the characteristics of watch designers subtly disclose themselves. So what are they?
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(1) Design inspiration comes from outside horology
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(2) Good design is about more than individual products
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(3) Duplication is a big fear
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It’s important to take these generalizations with a grain of salt. Of course, there are some watchmakers that embody these traits, while some designers practice watchmaking. However, these generalizations make good heuristics to begin thinking through the lines that divide the labor of watchmakers and designers, to go a bit deeper to appreciate the complementary skills of both.
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What we see is that stereotypical mentality of the watch designer is different from that of the stereotypical watchmaker. It’s almost like two different religious systems. The aim for both a watchmaker and watch designer is to create the best possible watch, like every religion aims to lead its adherents to the best possible life, yet the worldview, priorities, and practices of the watchmaker and designer differ greatly, as they do across religions.
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More commentary on the differences between watch designers and watchmakers in the article. Link in bio. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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How has it taken me over a year to get to Luddism in the watch community? And why can’t I find any articles elsewhere on this topic ...
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Anyway, this is a difficult one to summarize within the caption character limit. Overall, this article is my attempt to critically engage the Luddite tendencies of today’s watch community. Specifically, I was curious to see how the Luddism of the watch community might differ from the historical Luddite movement of early 19th century England. What I found in my research is that our “Neo-Luddism” and its historical predecessor do not resemble one another at all. In that disparity, we have forgotten the point of Luddism.
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To read the article in full, click link in bio. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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Secondary market premiums have boxed collectors and enthusiasts out of acquiring many desirable timepieces. It’s easy to observe these market dynamics, sit back and say, “that’s supply and demand for you” or “it’s whatever the market can bear.” The infamous billionaire venture capitalist, Peter Thiel, said “if you're a single-digit millionaire ... you have no effective access to the US legal system.” This feels increasingly comparable to the contemporary watch world. Single-digit millionaires are boxed out by double-, triple-digit millionaires, even bonafide billionaires. The truth in all of this is, the market for some timepieces has become grotesque.
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So how do we deal with this unfortunate reality? Here’s my radical suggestion: don’t sell at a premium.
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Here’s how it works for me. If I need or want to change my collection, I’ll only ever sell to a fellow collector/enthusiast. I want to know that my former timepiece will be appreciated. This means, any timepiece I sell from my collection stays in the watch community. I’ve long held that selling at a huge premium to a fellow watch community member is simply a dick move. I really have no interest in profiting off the back of a fellow community member, especially when there’s zero value add from my ownership. I’m simply profiting off of lucky market conditions for me, and the buyer is overpaying for their unlucky position.
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Now I know that selling at a premiums might be necessary in a time of financial despair. In that circumstance, there’s nothing to judge. My sense is though, a lot of collectors sell coveted timepieces at a premium when that profit doesn’t dramatically change their financial standing. This type of collector in our community sells at a premium because the market leads the seller to feel entitled to that profit. But regardless of what the market deems fair, it’s not a good look. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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It seems like the only real conversations that happen publicly in the watch world do so in front of non-watch community audiences. Of course, this speaks to how hush-hush the watch world is. And that’s why I was so excited about finding a podcast where Ben Clymer talks about Hodinkee as a business and challenges in the watch industry.
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I know very few readers will have the time, energy, or interest to listen to the podcast. Here I’ve summarized two key takeaways:
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(1) Clymer confirmed that he was told by a high level watch industry executive that “the internet is for poor people.” That was the starting line for the watch industry’s perception of the internet 10 years ago and substantial change often occurs slower than anyone wants to admit. The truth is, the watch industry now is probably close to where it was when the above executive said that incomprehensibly dumb quote. And I know, apologists for the molasses-slow online evolution of the industry will tout things like Patek Philippe joining Instagram as an example of “progress”. But with posts on Instagram only once per month, Patek Philippe’s presence on social media only further validates that luxury watchmaking doesn’t care about how online communities work.
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(2) For a long time, I’ve always assumed (along with many others in the community) that the absence of critique on Hodinkee has to do with advertisements. I believed, the media outlet would never bite the hand that feeds. But Clymer mentions how difficult it was to historically collect any advertising revenues and how it remains less than 50% annual sales. So here’s my new answer as to why there’s such a glaring lack of critical analysis: Hodinkee is still holding out for a big payday in the future. The lack of critical enquiry has less to do with realized revenues and more to do with hope that the industry finally embraces digital.
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For the full read, link in bio. #theopencaseback by @theopencaseback

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