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Hodinkee. What a damn shame.

mancio
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
Every year like clockwork this thread happens.

Some good guys turned their passion into a business. They worked thier asses off to get where they are today. Obviously they are doing something correctly or the brand would not still be growing.

Ariel gets the same shit over at ABTW. Get over it and stop hating they did nothing to hurt you. You don’t like it? Then you go build a website and content for it and do it better, while building brick and mortar( which they have been doing since the start)
Ohhh!!! Thank you!!!!
 
rkman11
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mz_cle mz_cle
I came late to the site, but my initial interpretation was that it was positioned as a niche lifestyle platform for a particular set of watch collector or enthusiast, specifically someone who also wanted air cooled Porsches, double breasted coats, and every damn watch to be 36 to 38 mm.

I developed a very specific loathing of the tone of one or two of their writers, and the podcast ratchets up the prior mentioned tone to an unbearable level for me.

Their move to a brick and mortar retail space is an interesting choice, but one that is probably the truest indicator of the slide I've heard from many people and above on this thread.

Agreed, the podcast is like nails on a chalkboard.
 
rkman11
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
Every year like clockwork this thread happens.

Some good guys turned their passion into a business. They worked thier asses off to get where they are today. Obviously they are doing something correctly or the brand would not still be growing.

Ariel gets the same shit over at ABTW. Get over it and stop hating they did nothing to hurt you. You don’t like it? Then you go build a website and content for it and do it better, while building brick and mortar( which they have been doing since the start)

I’m sorry, I thought I posted this in the “open discussion” area. As in, open to discuss. As in, open to criticize a company without having to prove my opinion is valid by opening up a better version of it myself. I do quite well at my chosen profession. I’m sorry this thread happens every year. How boring that must be for you.
 
rkman11
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
I just don’t get the hate... there are things to be pissed at hodinkee for ie it really looks like they where involved with market manipulation at least 2 times. But being jealous of thier success bugs me.

No jealousy here. In fact, I’m happy for any successful company in the watch world. Keeps the shared passion alive. But when a company can no longer be objective, yet still tries to appear as such (ie: watch “reviews”) they lose my respect.
 
Foo2rama
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rkman11 rkman11
No jealousy here. In fact, I’m happy for any successful company in the watch world. Keeps the shared passion alive. But when a company can no longer be objective, yet still tries to appear as such (ie: watch “reviews”) they lose my respect.
So you hate all auto magazines?
 
rkman11
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
So you hate all auto magazines?

If they’ve lost their objectivity in the name of profit, then yes.
 
Foo2rama
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rkman11 rkman11
If they’ve lost their objectivity in the name of profit, then yes.
They all did in the 70’s.

They did trash the AP 11:59 though...
 
Vercingetorix
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I am so glad I do not have to value others opinions when it comes down to buying what is essentially jewelry. I like it or I don't. And I have the luxury of being able to afford full boat retail, so I do not have ask "is this a good deal? It is an IWC but it only has an ETA 2892 and hodinkee says its expensive for that movement". Its all bunch of bollocks, buy what you like and ignore the reviews. AND the opinions of others.
 
Waxtactic
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It's the same with a lot of things. Take Cigar Afficionado...great magazine, awesome content at points, but don't tell me advertising dollars aren't playing a minor role in the Top Cigars of the year. Do I have proof? No...but do certain cigars always perform? Yeap.

Similar situation with Hodinkee. I was actually listening to the Grey Nato the other day and I was struggling to remember a recent "bad review". Could be selective memory though.
 
Uniqez
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abrod520 abrod520
lol Hodonkee really hit the nail on the head with this one. Posted last night when we all thought the horrible Tudor was a sick joke.

upload_2019-3-20_13-25-43.png

Well this is not what they said in the short video review :

But it does looks like a joke)
 
superfly
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Uniqez Uniqez
Well this is not what they said in the short video review :

But it does looks like a joke)
They need a bigger sofa.
 
adi4
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Uniqez Uniqez
Well this is not what they said in the short video review :

But it does looks like a joke)

I think you're confusing Hodonkee with Hodinkee... 😉
 
auxpomme
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I just think the 3820.53 is way better than the Hodinkee 10ae. Other than that, nothing useful or otherwise intelligent to contribute to the thread.
 
kingsrider
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Is it a condition of employment that one morphs into a Ben Clymer?. I couldn't tell which guy was Ben for a moment.

Maybe there is something in the KoolAid.
 
Uniqez
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adi4 adi4
I think you're confusing Hodonkee with Hodinkee... 😉
Crap, thanks for pointing out...👍
 
IanS
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Even Nirvana sold out. At least Ben Clymer is older than 27 so he can't join that club.
 
SuperHero
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Still love the ‘dink. I can make up my own mind on what I like/don’t like and they have have helped create/inspired others to get in the watch game.

To each their own; there are other sites and reviews I don’t care that others might so if someone brought those ones up, my comment might be less positive.

Choice; luckily we have lots of it these days.
 
Archer
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
I just don’t get the hate... there are things to be pissed at hodinkee for ie it really looks like they where involved with market manipulation at least 2 times. But being jealous of thier success bugs me.

You are making a lot of assumptions about what people are disliking them for. I am not jealous of anyone's success, but that doesn't mean I like hodinkee and how they do business.

As for the comparison to auto media, well I've never considered any "watch journalism" to be "actual" journalism, and I don't see "automotive journalism" as being any different. I know people who turned their "journalism" jobs into jobs with car companies...just like mods on TZ from back in the day turned their positions on that forum into jobs with watch companies.

It's all very "don't bite the hand that feeds you" and in the end sometimes that's the hand that hires you if you play your cards right...or in the case of hondikee the brand that partners with you so you can make a lot of money.

I still go back to the "glowing" VC review done by JF calling their chronograph the most significant collector piece in long time or some such nonsense. It's a nice watch and all, but him posting that a few months before the hondinkee LE of the same watch came out (which would have already been in the works with VC) tells me that this was a calculated long game to pump that watch up and help sales of their LE. Nothing illegal certainly, but puts virtually anything they say in question for me, and I will be waiting for the other shoe (or LE partnership) to drop. I actually think they overplayed their hand on that one, because their LE's seem to sell well enough without having to do what they did...

I don't like hodinkee, but I'm not prejudiced in this regard - I share my disdain for them all equally. 😀
 
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