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Business is not booming for Hodinkee

Togri v. 2.0
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No matter what happens, we will always have the Talking Watches episode with that custom watch guy creating “unique pieces” by painting dials brown or green and pushing the boundaries technically and stylistically. FFS… what a debacle ::facepalm1::
 
RevZMan123
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Jones in LA Jones in LA
I had no idea LVMH was involved until you mentioned it, so thank you. But it looks like there are numerous individual and institutional investors/owners (including John Mayer and Tom Brady) so LVMH's stake may or may not be all that significant. At the end of 2020 it appears that the whole Hodinkee enterprise was valued at about $100 million. And today....? Probably a big Ouch.

That was a big reason that every comment section devolved into "this sounds like an ad" ... because they pretty much ended up being "sponsored" articles, in feeling if not practice.
 
Syrte
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Hodinkee in their phase 2 were at their best when they reinvented some great watches, like the Carrera Dato or the Heuer Skipper or the grey Zenith Chrono. Even the Hermes collab was interesting.

It’s really sad for the staff that’s getting laid off.
Also a pity for them because Hodinkee arguably created a market which did not exist, pure and simple.
If they all had reaped the benefits of all of those crazy inflated sale at Phillips and other auction houses, or for all of the Ebay auctions they pushed to the top, I’m sure there was enough money for all of them to become millionaires -not just Ben Clymer.

However and indeed as discussed here for years, you can’t purport to tell the truth if your primary goal is to make money selling stuff.

You read it here first.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/hodinkee-gets-it-wrong-again.60477/
 
Syrte
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PS An interesting side note is that I can’t even remember hearing previously about an LVMH investment turning sour.
40 million dollars or euros is pocket change for that company, but again quite sad for the people being sacked.
 
GadgetGuy88
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Thanks for sharing this. Zero trust in Hodinkee for a long time. Fratello is much better. More open about its challenges and more open with the comments.
 
TheGreekPhysique
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I consumed a lot of their content early on. I found it both informative and entertaining. It was a lot more interesting for me personally in their earlier years as they focused more on vintage. As the years went the content shifted focus to modern watches as that side of the buying/selling segment is more lucrative. The videos/articles became less about disseminating information and more about pushing investor driven sales ads. As a result, I found them to no longer be genuine and lost interest but as @Syrte stated above you can not deny the influence they have had on the watch world overall.
 
JPE.88305
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I only got into the hobby around 2012, and it seemed from my vantage point that Fratello and Hodinkee were roughly in the same stage of development. Fratello seemed to stick more with content, with an emphasis on Omega ( #SpeedyTuesday), while Hodinkee--despite having some interesting publications & coffee-table books--seemed more concerned with building their brand.

Clymer has always just rubbed me the wrong way and appealing to people I have a general disdain for: smug millennials and faux haute elitists. Maybe it's his perpetually raised eyebrows and beard.
Edited:
 
Evitzee
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Syrte Syrte
PS An interesting side note is that I can’t even remember hearing previously about an LVMH investment turning sour.
40 million dollars or euros is pocket change for that company, but again quite sad for the people being sacked.
LVMH badly wanted Hermes a few years ago and it slipped away. The Tiffany deal was very rocky and there is no guarantee Arnault can make it work, and there have been other LVMH misfires over the years. I doubt they have more than a few million dollars invested in the Hodinkee gig, lunch money hardly worth worrying about.
 
Dsloan
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I've seen some writeups by former employees that a lot of the people involved were very nice, genuine people to work with.

They said that everything got really weird when all the VC money came in - everyone got pushed to scale things quickly and implement new products, and ended up burning money developing new things that would later get cancelled.

From the outside, just looks to me like a very niche business that has failed its attempt to scale up to a broader, international business. And, in doing so, they lost the vibe that made the interesting in the first place.
 
Braindrain
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Dsloan Dsloan
They said that everything got really weird when all the VC money came in - everyone got pushed to scale things quickly and implement new products, and ended up burning money developing new things that would later get cancelled.

"Scale" is the big emphasis VC/investor money pushes. You can't scale "vintage" watches, as you can't create new ones out of thin air. Rather, the focus predictably shifted to modern, as you can create those out of thin air (and "scale" the production).

I never really read/watched the Dink, but understood their focus on vintage was their core. Once that core was lost, it was bound to flounder.
 
JPE.88305
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Just got this email today. Fwiw their "new" watches consist of most brands one can find elsewhere discounted (no Rolex or Omega); 0% financing on a >100% markup is still a lot , whether it's that quintessential [used] Rolex or sought-after [used] Patek Philippe.
IMG_4273.png IMG_4274.jpeg
 
Syrte
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Has anyone used their insurance?
That seemed like a very good idea and a much needed product.
 
JPE.88305
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Yes I've used it for several years now--don't think the prices are astronomical, it's all through Chubb, the convenience of using their app is very nice. Agree it's a good product and was much needed--it's quite seamless to add and remove watches from your policy as well.
 
Syrte
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JPE.88305 JPE.88305
Yes I've used it for several years now--don't think the prices are astronomical, it's all through Chubb, the convenience of using their app is very nice. Agree it's a good product and was much needed--it's quite seamless to add and remove watches from your policy as well.
Is it restricted to certain countries, and does it also apply to shipments ?
 
Scarecrow Boat
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Syrte Syrte
Is it restricted to certain countries, and does it also apply to shipments ?
I use it too and do find it to be a good product and exactly as @JPE.88305 describes above. If I recall correctly, I have seen forum members from other countries saying it is not available to them, so I do believe it is restricted. It does apply shipments as well.
 
JwRosenthal
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redpcar redpcar
I forget. Do we have to wait for page 3 before the kitten pics?
upload_2024-4-16_15-13-52.png
4 for kittens, 3 is snorkel…but since we are talking about Dinky….

Snorkel!

IMG_3327.jpeg
 
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