damianp
2051
Good point
I also met quite a few Independents over the time and fully understand where you‘re coming from. All of them were good watchmakers, but most of them were lacking on the business side. That‘s ok, as long as they recognize and accept, that they have deficiencies in some areas and get help in those. It‘s only a problem, if they don‘t. Sadly, due to the hype around watches and also independents in the past years, I feel like some independent watchmakers have managed to get into the mid-career tier without realising their deficiencies in business matters.
Thoughts on Independent Watchmaker Entrerpreneurship
I saw some cool watches and met some wonderful watchmakers at Geneva Watch Days. I come from the art world, so I'm going to borrow three designators: Emerging, Mid-Career, and Established, which is more of a spectrum than a list. Examples: Obviously brand...
Drives me nuts but whatever
I am a hardcore turnaround guy with a fair bit of jewelry experience. My cofounder was the ceo of a jewelry brand with a 3 letter domain Watches are different, but much of consumer is the same. Drives me nuts how much EASY profit is sitting around for a l...
Good point
I also met quite a few Independents over the time and fully understand where you‘re coming from. All of them were good watchmakers, but most of them were lacking on the business side. That‘s ok, as long as they recognize and accept, that they have deficie...
Most independents started alone
or with a small group of watchmakers. They need a start-up fund for tools. My friend Sylvain Pinaud sold his house to fund his tools and a workshop. Next, they do a souscription series where each one typically retails from CHF 60k. 1 watchmaker is usually...
I get that
The problem is too many of them are too shy about taking real deposits, for instance. I know some guys who have some kind of commitment, but then the buyer changes his mind. In the mean time they need to build up a bit of a team, or communicate, or do hor...
Also dependent on your goals.
Do you want to be a small producer, less than 500 timepieces a year? Or mass produce like Panerai, Patek Philippe, etc at 50,000+ watches a year. Do you want to seek out only the highest-pricing schemes and rarity 100% hand crafts (not just shove an outso...
Yep
Not sure if you're asking me, I'm just a collector, but I do understand the fundamentals of business. As my examples suggest, I am thinking about the brands that will start with 12-24 watches a year, and maybe double that output over the following five ye...
Pick your poison
Obviously it gets (a lot) more complicated than this, but it seems to me that we've got two opposed dangers: the danger that myopic focus on artistic concerns undermines the viability of the business and the danger that purely economic values trample the ...
I'll soon get my prototype.
During the pandemic, I wanted to create a limited edition of five watches for myself and my friends. The idea was that everything could be 3D printed and custom-made, and that I would create something that was a cross between Urwerk and MB&F, but at an af...
There are too many brands already and a thinning of the herd is needed imho
I guess I see the same thing but in reverse, there are so many start-ups, so much much froth, and immature exuberance that of course not all will survive nor should they. This froth hurts consumers paying big bucks for immature product that may or may not...
I think there are 2 kinds of independent watchmakers when they start out....
One is the artist and the other is the engineer type. And in my experience they use a different part of the brain to be what they are. Obviously there is a spectrum of both but the artist is rarely good at number and business. The engineer type is often m...
There's also succession to consider
I posted this article from the NYT a couple months ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/fashion/succession-watch-industry-style.html