From WeWork to the World: The Story of HODINKEE
Since 2008, HODINKEE has grown from a one-man operation running out of a university café into the undisputed world leaders in watch journalism. How have they grown from such humble beginnings into the groundbreaking company adored by both watchmakers and enthusiasts alike?
JOHN NICHOLS
OCTOBER 3, 2020
If you’re into watches, you’ll know who HODINKEE are. They’ve become one of the leading voices in the industry, and have been able to bridge the gap between watchmakers and enthusiasts in a way no other independent platform, digital or otherwise, has been able to do before.
When a then 25-year-old Benjamin Clymer started a blog to discuss his passion for watches, he likely never expected HODINKEE to grow into the giant it has become today. For all of their supporters and detractors, the influence of HODINKEE today cannot be ignored, so this week, I wanted to document their story so far at breakneck speed, and take a look at how they’ve curated seismic change in a centuries-old industry.
The Early Years
Ben had been a lifelong watch enthusiast, crediting this to the Omega Speedmaster worn by his grandfather, and happened upon blogging as a way to express his passion to the world. What should his blog be called though?
Mr. Clymer saw watchmaking as a pretentious, grandiloquent industry, and wanted to discover a name that cut through the arrogance and got to the heart of his passion.
On May 13th 2008, during his lunch break whilst studying a master’s degree at the Columbia School of Journalism, Ben uploaded the very first post to HODINKEE.com – the name derived from the Czech word for “watch”.
The aim of HODINKEE was, and continues to be, to produce best-in-class content, sharing the knowledge and expertise of the watch industry with the community, and shining a light on what is often an environment shrouded in mystery, elitism and snobbishness.
The early years of HODINKEE set the standard for the quality of work to come. Whether a timepiece was brand-new or vintage didn’t matter, the modus operandi was to cover quality wherever it existed.
Celebrity watch-spotting, trade show coverage and new releases – they covered the industry with comprehensive integrity, promoting opinionated but friendly discussion.
If they thought a watch was worth talking about, whether mechanical, quartz, or later, smartwatches, they weren’t afraid to dive into the discussion, offering level-headed praise and critique without hesitation.
It wasn’t long before the website started to garner attention, not just from the collecting public, but also from household names. John Mayer was an avid reader from the very early days, turning his hand to contributing articles on occasion, and eventually becoming an investor in the business.
In the space of four years, HODINKEE had quickly risen to become one of the major sites for any enthusiast to get their fix. Ben brought on Stephen Pulvirent as HODINKEE’s first employee, and this blog that started in a university café was starting to look like a proper business.
With Ben and Stephen working together, a tiny, crammed WeWork office and a lot of potential, now was the time to expand.
Expansion
In 2012, they embarked on their first non-editorial venture – the HODINKEE Shop.
Trustworthy watch e-commerce was virtually unheard of prior to this. Sure, you had forums, eBay and the grey-market resale sites, but these came with a long list of associated risks. For the most part, brands themselves simply didn’t sell their watches directly to the consumer online.
The HODINKEE Shop came in and plugged this gap, offering a service users could trust, and a platform whereby brands could promote their pieces directly to a tailored audience.
Initially selling a range of high-quality straps, the shop exploded in popularity, requiring an entirely separate team of people to run, and allowing for an expansion into a wide range of luxury goods, from cameras and sunglasses to books, stationary, and of course, watches.
November 2012 also marked their first product collaboration, working with esteemed British neckwear brand Drake’s on two initial runs of handmade knit ties, totalling 100 pieces in total. The boxes that piled up in their tiny office quickly disappeared, so successful was this partnership.
This stratospheric rise in recognition, not just by the public but by traditional luxury brands, started a snowball that continues to pick up speed and grow ever larger to this day.
Drake’s were the first in a long line of non-watch collaborations, with the likes of Montblanc (2016), S.T. Dupont (2019) and Leica (2019) to name a select few. This has included working with some of the world’s most renowned creatives, such as Al Satterwhite (2016) and Marc Newson (2017).
The Drake’s collaboration also kick-started the idea of limited edition exclusives with many watch brands, including Ochs und Junior (2013), MB&F (2015) and Hermes (2018), as well as mainstream watch brands such as TAG Heuer (2017), Omega (2018) and IWC (2019), which have proven to be hit after hit as their readership grows.
As of writing, the HODINKEE Shop is also an Authorised Dealer for over 25 different manufacturers, from budget brands like Timex and Swatch (including four limited editions), to haute horologie pieces from Vacheron Constantin, radical designs from URWERK, and even smartwatches from Apple.
As described by Stephen on HODINKEE Radio, the HODINKEE Shop is what 21st century luxury is all about, which couldn’t be a more apt description for this ground-breaking online storefront.
Embarking on Video
In 2013, HODINKEE began publishing their first video segments. As brilliant as their imagery was, it’s difficult to capture how the light shines off polished cases and how the gears turn in the movement quite like video can.
These early examples consisted of watch reviews, factory tours and explanations of various movements. Kept short and to-the-point, HODINKEE were finding their feet with video, but still putting quality knowledge and insights front and centre.
A hastily-organised meet-up with John Mayer in 2013 resulted in the inaugural episode of Talking Watches. This flagship video series consists of interviews with celebrities and luxury industry stalwarts, looking at the watches they own and the stories they have to tell.
Guests have included Mario Andretti, Jack Nicklaus and Aziz Ansari amongst many others, and the series quickly became a beloved aspect of HODINKEE’s output. It’s not every day that you can connect with a famous figure through a shared hobby, which is why I, alongside many others, crave each episode as it comes.
John Mayer’s fondness for HODINKEE, and the fans fondness for him, was so great that did a second Talking Watches episode in 2019. The initial episode was recently voted by readers as their favourite ever episode, and with John’s enthusiasm, verbal intelligence, his watch collection and his infectious personality, it’s easy to see why.
Other video features include; Three on Three – a roundtable discussion on three comparable watches, A Week On The Wrist – a video review segment, and Reference Points – a look at the history of the world’s most iconic watches.
HODINKEE readers themselves have recently been brought into the fold through My Watch Story, a self-shot segment starring readers and their most prized timepieces.
Their pinnacle video feature is titled The Long Return, a two-part story about war, separation, and friendship. It’s 20-minutes of beautifully shot, moving journalism many years in the making, and no matter if you’re a watch enthusiast or not, I can guarantee you’ll enjoy watching it.
HODINKEE’s video features are capturing prospectives, opinions and stories at a standard that few others, if any, can match, and long may they continue to do so.
From Your Desk to Your Pocket
With an estimated 50% of their readership coming from a phone or tablet, HODINKEE curated their mobile experience by launching a dedicated iOS app in October 2015, with the Android equivalent (finally!) launching in March 2020.
Not wanting to do things by halves, these apps didn’t just serve up the high-quality website experience but expanded on it, offering up bookmarking, notifications and an atomic clock for setting your timepieces.
An innovate solution in using digital technology to forward mechanical knowledge, the HODINKEE app is something I use every day. It’s the base from where all of HODINKEE’s content is easiest to access, and it simply blows all its competitors clean out of the water.
From Digital to Print
Who said print media is dead? Working in the industry myself, the tabloids and weekly fluff magazines certainly are going the way of the dodo, but top-quality content printed on a high-quality paper is in somewhat of a revival.
The first edition of the bi-annual HODINKEE Magazine published in September 2017. Focusing not just on watches, but collectable cars, style, travel, architecture and a whole lot more, it’s an enthusiasts dream, bringing the context of the watch world into a refined print product.
Across 6 editions at the time of writing, the magazine has been a treasure trove of exclusive interviews, stellar editorial and world-class journalism. One highlight from Volume 5 is The Watch That Came In From The Cold – a touching tale of covert operations, conflict and a journey home 50 years in the making.
Every other day it seems like I have a chat with a colleague about the future of print media, and whether magazines have outlasted their stay. HODINKEE are proving that, with the right approach, this is far from the truth.
From Visual to Audio
Completing the quartet of online, print, video and audio, HODINKEE Radio was launched in July 2018. Hosted by Stephen Pulvirent, this podcast isn’t just about watches – it’s about people.
Podcasts have been on a steep growth curve over the past few years, and with that has come a lot of sub-par attempts to attract this growing audience. This is not the case with HODINKEE Radio, which is truly the cream of the crop, not just in the watch industry but within the wider podcasting world.
Featuring interviews with collectors, enthusiasts and a whole host of interesting people, as well as banter and industry discussion between the HODINKEE team, if you’re after thought-provoking discussion, industry news, or simply want to expand your watch knowledge, it’s a must listen.
Past guests have included Rory McIlroy, Jeff Garlin and Howie Kendrick, all well-known and highly-talented figures from multiple walks of life, and as with the Talking Watches video series, it’s fascinating to discover what watches mean to them, and the similarities with our own thoughts and feelings.
The show surpassed 100 episodes this year, and continues to be something I eagerly anticipate every Monday morning.
My favourite episodes are the specials that differ from the norm – the 2019 Gift Guide episode stood out in particular, whilst the Watch Fantasy Drafts never fail to be somewhat organised, entertaining chaos.
HODINKEE Radio is not the only podcast produced by the eponymous brand, however.
In October 2018, The Grey NATO, a podcast started in 2016 by James Stacey and Jason Heaton, was brought into the HODINKEE family. Focusing on adventure, travel and watches on the more affordable level, James and Jason both have this “man of the world” vibe which leads to relaxed, but highly detailed, banter between the two.
To me, it’s as if HODINKEE Magazine was in audio form. It’s has a more relaxed nature than the majority of episodes of HODINKEE Radio, which makes it ideal for your commute, or for a relaxed Saturday morning whilst cooking your fry-up.
HODINKEE don’t cut corners on any aspect of their content quartet, and their podcasts are a shining example of how if you apply the same high-quality standards to your written and visual experiences to your audio output, you will craft something truly wonderful to listen to.
H10
2018 also marked HODINKEE’s 10th anniversary, and to celebrate, the team arranged 3 days of talks, lectures, meet-ups and more, all free to the public, on December 7-9 2018 in downtown NYC.
From 17,000 ticket requests came 450 lucky individuals who were able to get up close and personal with the HODINKEE team, a plethora of industry giants such as Aurel Bacs, Max Büsser and Jean-Claude Biver to mention a limited(!) few, and bona-fide celebrities such as Aldis Hodge, Kevin Rose and Alton Brown.
Alongside the event was the announcement of a limited-edition Omega Speedmaster, based on the very MK40 triple calendar chronograph worn by Ben’s grandfather that inspired the creation of HODINKEE in the first place.
By all accounts, H10 and the associated Speedmaster were a triumph, and a marvellous way to cap-off the first 10 years whilst looking ahead to many, many more.
International Expansion
As HODINKEE continued to grow, so did their international audience. to cater towards this growing international fan-base, and to expand beyond the English-speaking world, HODINKEE Japan was launched in November 2019.
Rather than just translating their English articles, they partnered with Hearst Fujingaho, creating an entirely separate office and editorial team in Tokyo to produce original content in native Japanese.
The Japan team doesn’t just produce written content either, with multiple Talking Watches episodes recorded in Japanese. My personal favourite episode of Talking Watches comes from the HODINKEE Japan team – a sit-down with Shuhei Nishiguchi, style icon and Fashion Director at BEAMS. His style, his ethos on collecting and the passion which oozes from every word – it’s a truly fascinating interview.
We’re one month away from the first birthday of HODINKEE Japan, and whilst it’s been quite the unexpected year on all fronts, the output from the team has been top-notch. I’ve often found myself coming back to the HODINKEE Japan website to read translations of their original articles, so they’re certainly doing something right by me!
Protecting Your Wrist Candy
Don’t you hate it when your house insurance thinks you can just replace a Patek Philippe should the worst happen? To help with this, HODINKEE Insurance was launched in September 2020, in partnership with industry leaders Chubb.
Simply open the HODINKEE app, snap your watch, enter the market value and you’ll get a quote. Sign up, and you’re immediately covered. No fuss, no hassle, no worry – a top-level service, as to be expected by HODINKEE.
Should you have some in-depth questions regarding your policy, HODINKEE have a team of licenced insurance agents on hand who know their Philippe Dufour’s from their Daniel Wellington’s, so you can sleep safe at night knowing that in the worst possible scenario, the team will both understand and be able to support you effectively.
This is the kind of service which seems like a no-brainer on the surface, and although it’s early days, I’m sure will be a big hit. Jewellery insurance is quite widespread, but bespoke watch insurance, especially where the agent actually understands what is being insured, is incredibly rare, so it’s brilliant that HODINKEE have made this both easy to obtain and easy to enact on should the unthinkable happen.
Controversy
HODINKEE’s journey hasn’t been without its sensitive moments. As the blog grew from humble watch journalism into luxury pieces, and then into an online shop, Authorised Dealer and plethora of exclusive partnerships, a fringe of the reader base felt increasingly disenfranchised at what they saw as “selling out”.
This unrest has been slowly rising for multiple years. HODINKEE staff have taken to defending themselves and the site from perceived bias in the comments of their articles every so often, which, although it was good to see them defend their work, sometimes bridged into the “the more you say, the guiltier you look” territory.
This all came to a head in July 2020 with the release of the HODINKEE Travel Clock, which received so much backlash that COO Eneuri Acosta wrote an article to address the product, the critique, and their response to said critique.
Disabling the comments on the Instagram post announcing the new product was the cherry on the cake of this own-goal moment. Acosta’s article did little to assuage the dissatisfaction, with even a personal comment from Ben, while coming from the heart, only providing brief respite to the PR storm.
A number of watch blogs piled on HODINKEE for this, and whilst I do think part of this was kicking your competition whilst they’re down, some genuine discussion and critique was made. The $5,900 price tag. The timing of the release. The hype surrounding the “exclusive” font – all these and more were drilled into by more than a few detractors.
My Thoughts
What do I think? I believe HODINKEE’s attempt at an objet d’art was built on solid foundations, however the timing of the release was what brought so much backlash.
The price is comparable to travel clocks with similar movements (although the case size for this is admittedly small) plus a bit of a brand premium, but nothing too outrageous in my opinion – similar to other items in the HODINKEE Shop. For a limited release of 96, each being hand-assembled with exclusive new-old-stock movements, $5,900 seems fair.
I understand that products such as this will have spent many years in the pipeline, and HODINKEE likely needed to make their money back in a timely manner for cash flow reasons, but even if they had delayed the launch by two months to September, I believe the backlash would have been far less. With the majority of first-world citizens stuck at home, this release struck as absurd and short-sighted.
I feel as if the perception was that, with this being HODINKEE’s first solo-branded product, and with the 2020 Swatch collaboration coming out just prior, the price would have been more attainable to a lot of the readership.
Lessons will have been learned, but do I think this will stop HODINKEE launching branded products in future? It may make them double-down on getting every aspect correct next time – quality product, correct timing, sensitive marketing etc. – but I think this is the first foray into what will become a fruitful endeavour in future.
In spite of the negative comments, Ben, Eneuri and the rest of the team have shown a honest, mature manner in dealing with the critique – accusations of Instagram muting notwithstanding. No doubt controversy will arise in future, but if they approach it in the same personable, understanding way, I have no doubt that their fans will be appreciative.
In Conclusion
In the span of 12 years, HODINKEE has established its presence it what is a very critical time for the industry as a whole. Physical AD’s are giving way to online stores, the enthusiast community has rocketed in growth, and movement and material technology continues to both advance and improve.
Across these twelve years, I do think that HODINKEE’s focus has changed. With the site becoming a haven for wealthy individuals looking for their next piece, it isn’t a surprise that they’re focusing their coverage on luxury pieces and stellar print, through HODINKEE Magazine. As their advertisement page states…
Writing this article made me realise just how far HODINKEE have come. From a one-man watch blog to an international website, print magazine, video team, podcast, insurance provider and shop, they provide pretty much everything an enthusiast would want from the industry.
Along the way, HODINKEE has picked up numerous accolades. From being named one of the 50 best websites in the world by TIME in 2013, to Ben being crowned the “High Priest of Horology” by The New York Times, and one of Fortune’s 40 under 40 in Media and Entertainment, these are a few of what is sure to become a lengthy list over time.
2020 has been a year of two halves for HODINKEE. On the one hand, they have skilfully navigated the industry in the face of unprecedented change due to COVID-19, bringing enthusiasts together and being an ever-important outlet for brands to contact potential customers. On the other hand, they were heavily criticised for releasing an almost $6,000 travel clock in the middle of a pandemic, and then for their initial response to the knock-back, and have faced increasing levels of discord from readers, accusing them of being out-of-touch with the average reader.
All in all however, despite the odd setback, HODINKEE has, and continues to be, a stellar business with quality people creating fantastic content, and there’s no signs that this will change anytime soon.
More than anything else, HODINKEE is about quality. Quality writing, quality presentation, quality service – everything is done to the very best of their ability with no stone left unturned. If they stick to this ethos, and all evidence points in the direction that they will, HODINKEE only has success in its future.
Where does HODINKEE go from here? Do they continue to open offices overseas? Do they expand into new content avenues? Will they branch out to make their own watch one day? Who knows exactly – all I know is that should they keep up in their indomitable pursuit of quality, integrity and world-class content, I will continue to be a huge supporter of their work, they will have many years of success to come, and us as enthusiasts will be all the better for it.
Published October 3, 2020. All images from HODINKEE.