Admittedly, I have been a long term Hodinkee fan and have had a chance to meet many of their staff members and they were always super passionate about watches and great people to interact with.
Like most, and especially as highlighted in this thread, I also agree that their financial need to support their growing organization has come at a price when it comes to quality of the content. I am also not happy with it.

But what are people’s suggestions then on how to compensate the writers and journalists who generate the content?? These things are not free... but everybody in this day and age expects everything for free. Yes, OF is such a place, and I am very grateful for people who support OF on the back end by paying for the servers, software, etc (I recently posted a question on how the community could chip in…) and I am also very grateful for all the knowledge and experience shared by the members for free.

But how should the Hodinkees of the world survive if not for advertisement and shops?? Are you guys going to pay for a yearly subscription??
I am sure that most would balk at that idea as well....

In any case, yes, this clock is a disgrace and an insult, but let’s brainstorm more productive solutions for our hobby and passion rather than piling up.

 

Actually it would be referred to as a “rusticated” concrete wall. The intention is to show the inherent “flaws” or beauty (eye of the beholder) in the casting process and then finish the wall with a polish or sealant. It was very popular during the Brutalist period mid century. The look is very intentional, unlike the inherent flaws in the leatherwork of the Dinky clock....although they could potentially spin that as “hand hewn” and “singularly individual”.

 

It's there! Right on that glass work desk!

 

ROFL!!

 

Perfectly done.

 

Describe watches honestly, trade fairly, and perhaps charge something for "premium" content. If the only way for them to survive is to portray watches for sale dishonestly (which they have done many times), or charge 5-10x what something is reasonably worth, then it should wither away, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Hodinkee respond..

A Quick Note To Our Readers: Travel Clock Edition
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-quick-note-to-our-readers-travel-clock-edition

 

They always sold advertising.... with their monthly readership along with strap & accessory sales and the odd LE with another watch company, I'm sure they were doing just fine. Go take a look at the lifestyles Clymer & co were leading when they started Hodinkee vs just before they became an AD.

 

They’ve responded:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-quick-note-to-our-readers-travel-clock-edition

 

Exactly this. I doubt anyone has a problem with Hodinkee being a sales outlet but don’t pretend to be something else and try and bulls*&t your way to making a profit by trying to influence the odds heavily in your favour. They act like lawyers or stockbrokers, or other such bullsh#t merchants.

 

I would be hard-pressed to state that Hodinkee benefits our hobby and passion in any meaningful way. Rather I think they've been one of the primary sources driving up prices as more people looked towards "investment pieces" etc. There have been some great articles over the years, but the overall conflict of interest is impossible to ignore. If they had published an article calling the Code 11:59 what it was, instead of YAPP (Yet Another Puff Piece) it would have shown some integrity. I get not biting the hand that feeds you, but maybe try it out sometime - seems to work for John Oliver, who skewers AT&T at every opportunity, despite them owning HBO.

 

Or, y'know, bankers. Which they are.

 

"puff piece", I think it is a good description. For me they are now 90% outsourced PR or pump-and-dump, 10% content, I don't remember reading an actual watch review for a long time, with some backboned opinion and a pinch of critical salt. The most interesting thing I read this year is this : https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/four-what-ifs-that-could-have-changed-watchmaking-history-forever . Learned nothing, but it was a genuinely fun read.

 

Hmmm, okay, I get it now. Hand assembled by a single watchmaker and the font was designed by the World's most expensive font designer. Voila -- $5,900!

 

Agree with you in general. A few comments:
- as soon as they start selling watches, etc. the potential for a conflict of interest is present, and there will always be a suspicion, this is why I preferred the Hodinkee prior to their vintage shop;
- same for advertisement revenues, as someone highlighted below based on the CODE 11:59 example… so yet another potential for suspicion;
- it seems to me that the concept of charging for premium content and other subscription-based revenues have not all been successful for the print media lately, or?

All in all, they indeed seemed to do just fine a few years ago, and profit and money-generation have taken a toll.

 

I agree that they seemed to do just fine and I truly enjoyed the Hodinkee of then. I also agree that, lately, their growth-driven strategy (and $$$-generating one), has taken a big toll on quality of the content and their reputation.
On the other hand, I am not against successful people and will not hold that against anybody. Good for them... as long as it is generated honestly. Indeed.

 

Well, how do you define what “benefits our hobby and passion?”
Nobody can deny that they have vastly expanded the exposure of this hobby. And yes, this has come with many undesired (by long time enthusiasts) side effects such as the fact that speculators have entered this hobby more than they probably used to, and prices being pushed up across the board.
Concerning their objectivity and integrity, I can only agree with you, as stated in some of my previous posts.

 

this was all worth it just to see the blowback. . even better that there are now multiple IG accounts solely dedicated to making fun of the travel clock in addition to perezscope absolutely destroying the idea that there was anything special about the movements

 

That's not so much the point here; what we're all disappointed in was that early on it was an outlet for us, sort of a gathering point for many in this hobby who more or less go it alone off the internet. And they also have not been that honest about the evolution of their business model - if you ask them even now, they'll tell you they are a watch enthusiast site that happens to sell watches.

 

Yes but who’s house is it ?