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Hodinkee buys Crown&Caliber
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bgrisso
·I'm under the impression they are making efforts more recently to increase their vintage inventory. I was advised to consign a watch there, which I just didn't really feel like doing, and traded instead, but the watch quickly found it's way back to dink and was sold there at 37% over my trade value (with sales tax) in a few hours, so I guess that makes me the stupid one for not taking the advice.
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Dan S
·I'm under the impression they are making efforts more recently to increase their vintage inventory. I was advised to consign a watch there, which I just didn't really feel like doing, and traded instead, but the watch quickly found it's way back to dink and was sold there at 37% over my trade value (with sales tax) in a few hours, so I guess that makes me the stupid one for not taking the advice.
If their commission is what I think it is, I don't think you left too much on the table.
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cvalue13
·They went through a period a year or two ago where the vintage inventory was virtually non-existent.
I honestly couldn’t tell if their inventory went down, or if instead they were simply selling their inventor before hitting the website: I remember in one or two venues hearing blips of this-or-that-watch they sourced that went to an “avid collector,” etc., and having the resulting thought that if a few of those stories trickled to my unimportant ear perhaps there was far more of it going on.
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Dan S
·I honestly couldn’t tell if their inventory went down, or if instead they were simply selling their inventor before hitting the website: I remember in one or two venues hearing blips of this-or-that-watch they sourced that went to an “avid collector,” etc., and having the resulting thought that if a few of those stories trickled to my unimportant ear perhaps there was far more of it going on.
Analog/Shift, Matthew Bain, Mentawatches, Davidoff Brothers, Shuck the Oyster, Tropicalwatch, HMilton, etc. also have large clientele bases to whom they offer watches before they hit the website. But their entire business is vintage watches, and they always have dozens of watches listed. Hodinkee is very different.
As you know, Hodinkee raised $40M in series B funding from investors last year, and when a company is looking to be acquired or do a large round of investment, there is a lead up period with a lot of focus on the balance sheet. I believe that Hodinkee went through a major shift in emphasis and personnel, and lost their interest in vintage as they turned their focus to large revenue streams associated with partnerships with major watch brands, limited editions, and other types of brand building. I observed that the vintage watches they were curating were crap and weren't always selling. The number of vintage watches listed declined precipitously. We heard stories about consignors taking their watches back. At the same time, Bring a Loupe was de-emphasized (and now discontinued).
My subjective take on this is that they naturally became less interested in the vintage side, given that it was small potatoes compared to their other revenue streams, and they were focused on making the company look good to investors or a potential buyer. Selling collectible vintage watches can be a great small business for someone, but it's not scalable for a business with big investors. The acquisition of C&C also suggests they are focused on the commodity side of things.
Ben's comments are interesting, since they suggest that Hodinkee wants to re-establish themselves as real players in vintage watch sales. Perhaps they realize that it gives them a type of credibility amongst collectors that they don't get through their other activities.
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cvalue13
·^^^ Im sold
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Foo2rama
··Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...My feeling is that the purchase was for the infrastructure and user base.
Smart move
Smart move
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rcs914
·@rcs914 I have the Czech foreign minister on line one for you
Got my half Czech dander up dude. My PA German half is just looking coldly at you.
No offense meant, and truly was unaware of this. I guess I could have researched it first, but honestly it doesn't really change my opinion on the name that much when I read how Clymer came up with the name in the first place:
"During the financial crisis of 2008, a banker by the name of Benjamin Clymer took a severance package from his employer and went to study at the Columbia School of Journalism.
While there, he started a watch blog.
Looking to take the piss out of the pretentious watch industry, Clymer ran the word “wristwatch” through Google Translate in an effort to find a whimsical name.
It spat out the Czech/Slovak word “hodinky” and Clymer named his nascent media venture HODINKEE."
Talk about becoming what you hate - because if there is ANY site today that is at the apex of the "pretentious watch industry" it is Hodinkee.
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Orinoco111
·Anyone watch the c&c vids on YouTube? The chap on there (Nathan?) talks too much and rarely has anything constructive to share. All very bland IMHO.
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imfagent449
·Wow. I didn't realize that they had raised so much.
I am still curious about the value of vintage watches in the coming years.
I am still curious about the value of vintage watches in the coming years.
Edited:
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dsio
··Ash @ ΩFWow. I didn't realize that they had raised so much.
I am still curious about the value of vintage watches in the coming years.
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rob#1
·I’m patiently waiting for the Crown & Caliber 8 Day alarm clock 😉
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Syrte
·My subjective take on this is that they naturally became less interested in the vintage side, given that it was small potatoes compared to their other revenue streams, and they were focused on making the company look good to investors or a potential buyer. Selling collectible vintage watches can be a great small business for someone, but it's not scalable for a business with big investors.
And the sale of vintage watches has a very questionable future. As the supply dries out, it’s all going to be about schmoozing and belly dancing to get the best stuff from collectors so you can resell to other collectors.
if you’re 50/something years old with an already established clientele you can sort of sail slowly to retirement but someone young, smart and forward thinking like Ben Clymer and his crowd has to think about evolving.
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Braindrain
·...it’s all going to be about schmoozing and belly dancing to get the best stuff from collectors so you can resell to other collectors.
Man, I've been taking zumba classes....
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kingsrider
·This is fascinating. I'm not sure what it changes in an immediate way, but this feels really significant.
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Gopher
·Analog/Shift, Matthew Bain, Mentawatches, Davidoff Brothers, Shuck the Oyster, Tropicalwatch, HMilton, etc. also have large clientele bases to whom they offer watches before they hit the website. But their entire business is vintage watches, and they always have dozens of watches listed. Hodinkee is very different.
As you know, Hodinkee raised $40M in series B funding from investors last year, and when a company is looking to be acquired or do a large round of investment, there is a lead up period with a lot of focus on the balance sheet. I believe that Hodinkee went through a major shift in emphasis and personnel, and lost their interest in vintage as they turned their focus to large revenue streams associated with partnerships with major watch brands, limited editions, and other types of brand building. I observed that the vintage watches they were curating were crap and weren't always selling. The number of vintage watches listed declined precipitously. We heard stories about consignors taking their watches back. At the same time, Bring a Loupe was de-emphasized (and now discontinued).
My subjective take on this is that they naturally became less interested in the vintage side, given that it was small potatoes compared to their other revenue streams, and they were focused on making the company look good to investors or a potential buyer. Selling collectible vintage watches can be a great small business for someone, but it's not scalable for a business with big investors. The acquisition of C&C also suggests they are focused on the commodity side of things.
Ben's comments are interesting, since they suggest that Hodinkee wants to re-establish themselves as real players in vintage watch sales. Perhaps they realize that it gives them a type of credibility amongst collectors that they don't get through their other activities.
Fascinating insight, Dan S. That amount of capital-raise is impressive. I had no idea. He has his eyes on much bigger prizes obviously. Will be interesting to see where he goes relative to the vintage market.
I must also say that anyone trying to predict the dynamics of the vintage market is just guessing. How does any of us have a clue, given what has happened to date? There were a few clairvoyants out there who saw it coming (or got lucky), but for most of us we have been playing catch-up trying to respond best we can.
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Tony C.
··Ωf Jury memberYear-old threads should never be allowed to be resurrected in perfect chronology. It's very confusing! 😁
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Gopher
·Sorry about that! I missed the 2021! 
