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In an era of technological advancement, with various devices at our disposal, who still wears a watch? Lots of people, as it turns out. As a multi-billion dollar industry, watches are always on-trend and sales grow every year. To understand the business and its future, Ben joins the conversation to share insights about the watch industry.
Ben Clymer, founder and executive chairman of Hodinkee, joins Suzy founder and CEO, Matt Britton on the latest episode of The Speed of Culture podcast to discuss the current market and future trends of the watch industry. Ben is widely considered a leading voice in the wristwatch industry. He is regularly quoted in major publications, including The New York Times, Reuters, Forbes, Departures, GQ and the Financial Times.
In December 2013, The New York Times named Ben “The High Priest of Horology.” He was also named to Crain’s New York Business’s 40 Under 40 list and Fortune’s 40 under 40 list in the category of Media and Entertainment.
If you want to learn more about the watch industry, check out the key takeaways of this episode below.
Key Takeaways
- 08:42 – 10:51 —Building Hodinkee—Ben founded Hodinkee in 2008 as a blog for watch enthusiasts. In the beginning, he was advertising other brands. But in 2012, Ben launched Hodinkee’s eCommerce platform based on Shopify, selling straps, pouches, travel roles and other accessories. Ultimately, he decided to focus on watches by co-designing them in collaborations with large brands. Now, Hodinkee sells forty different brands as an authorized dealer on the internet, in addition to pre-owned watches, vintage watches and all the other accessories.
- 10:51-13:12—Scaling Hodinkee—In 2014, Ben met Tony Fadell, co-creator of the iPod and the iPhone and founder and former CEO of Nest Labs. Tony convinced Ben to raise capital for Hodinkee and scale it. Along with Tony Conrad and Kevin Rose from True Venture, they raised over $5 million and started developing Hodinkee to where it is today.
- 13:25-14:53—The Future of Hodinkee—Ben is optimistic about Hodinkee and the watch industry. He believes that when stocks and traditional equities investments are struggling, people are looking at alternative investments that are tangible, like watches. For this reason, the company saw the biggest growth during COVID. Besides, the watch industry is a multi-generational business that will last.
- 14:53-17:20—Trends in the Watch Industry—Firstly, the average consumer is younger, around 30 years old. Secondly, most brands and retailers are trying to get online and digital transformation is changing how consumers buy watches and other collectibles.
