Forget Rolex! These Brands Stole the Show in Geneva!

Geneva watch days, I'm taking you on a journey to check out a ton of hands-on, ton of brands that you may not have even heard of, but should know about. Lots of info, lots of opinions, let's get into it. So, the glass boxes, they call it, where majority of the brands actually have their own little stand. The watch I was looking, physically seeing first, was the Louis Vuitton watch. And the question that came up with a couple of guys that I met in Geneva was, is that watch a bit too gaudy? I will say this, the watch is gaudy, but at the same token, I'll say that I think it's meant to be gaudy. Would I want that watch? Absolutely. Gaudy, yes. For me, also yes. Zenith displayed their Zaytona in blue ceramic, the one that has the actual ceramic buckle, which we showed you guys during Watches and Wonders, but stay tuned. There were surprises from Zenith. We went to see them separately. We ended up missing Bulgari altogether, but I did get to see the Louis Vuitton collaboration. Rock and Mirror was the concept. Each case is hand-finished in titanium, and each finish is supposed to be different. This thing retails around 20 grand, which I felt was reasonable for what you get. I think it's a conversation starter, so definitely A-plus for that one. Of course, the new Octa-Finesse Muskeleton, a white gold version of the interpretation of the Serpentine we saw at Watches and Wonders in rose gold. I still like the rose gold better. I feel the white is a little bit more subdued for a high-end jewelry watch. It's very nice, huh? Oh, it's a great watch. Says the guy who has one on the wrist. I will often take a couple of clients and friends with me along the journey, and it's cool to see my client and friend, Josh, having the same watch that was displayed by Urwerk. They didn't show the new piece yet. It's coming out in a little bit. Can't talk about it quite yet. Different color combination of an existing watch, I think, looks much better. We'll leave it at that. As I'm walking through the glass box, these guys grab and say, Roman, let me show you something cool. Full working models that show off basic inner workings of a watch. To have it displayed and actually working in that fashion blew me away, and I just said, take my money. The Mecca 01 is 2,900 Swiss francs, and the Push from the Winding Collection is 1,200 Swiss francs. So, we're going to regulate a movement, and we're going to try to get it to cross standards. Now, all I had to do was take a Selena movement and adjust it. There was a machine that showed me everything. There are all the readouts of the movement, how it's running, etc. All I had to do is make two adjustments, and I messed up. I'm not a watchmaker. I understand how it works, but I would adjust it. I would see the numbers jump, and I would start adjusting it again without letting the machine actually read the movement. Josh, who came with me, my client and good friend, he got his done in like 60 seconds, and I was there for like 15, 20 minutes, and of course, he's standing over me like, Roman, come on. That I can't be a watchmaker. Josh, look. It took me 60 seconds. It was such a cool experience, and I'm kind of glad that they did that because it sheds light to who they are. You get a whole new appreciation for watchmaking, and all I was doing is adjusting a watch. That was like the simplest task that one can do, and man, I feel like it was a miserable failure, and Josh, till this day, texts me like, hey, 60 seconds. What's up? So, I had to make a stop by Louis Snardon to see my friend, Matthew. So, the Freekex Crystallium is based on our Freekex wrench. Titanium, black version. So, it's a second variation that we are doing with the Crystallium bag. This watch, reminding of anything? Audemars Piguet, John Mayer? Well, there's a key difference here because they literally grow these crystals all together. I was so happy to put it on a black PVD watch because if that dial would be in a lighter material, be titanium, even a gold material, I don't think it would look as good. Put it in a Freekex to make it more affordable because that would have gone into more complicated Freekes. It would have been a lot more expensive. I did get preview of a couple of pieces that are coming down the pike. Again, I can't talk about them, but you guys will see them very soon. All these Embargo pieces I'm talking about, you're going to start seeing them over the next two to three months. So, you don't have to wait long. Oh, wow. I can't tell you what it is. I can't show you what it is. But I can tell you, I can't wait for you to see what it is come October. One of the things you find during Geneva Watch Days is a lot of microbrands. Now, my friend Mayer catches me in the hallway. He's like, listen, we have a little presentation for you, right? And he's like, signed an NDA, gave me some kind of a badge to go upstairs, knock on the door four times. And let me tell you something. I felt like I was going into a room of some sort of a Soviet KGB interrogation. This is interesting. This will serve you good. Talk about a flashback to my KGB days. If you guys are not familiar with the brand Amida, they came out with something new that is super secret. We literally had to put all electronics down. I can't tell you what it is. I can't talk about it, but it's coming. Stay tuned. My suggestions go to their website. Sign up for their waiting list. I left my credit card in that room just FYI. I do believe you'll be able to get the same experience at watch time in New York in October. I think I said it earlier. I did make it to where all the LVMH brands were displaying. And my first stop was at Tag Heuer. One of the things that stood out to me the most is the fact that they made a carbon spring. How the hell did they do it? I still don't know. I still have some more reading to do. I actually seen that watch in person. It was pretty amazing. However, they also doubled up on their old Heuer Moon pieces. I love the mechanics. I love everything about it. Aesthetics, the jury is still out. Race World meets Moonphase. Space Exploration. I guess what took me back is it wasn't like when I looked at it instantaneously, like I didn't say, oh my God, that's a Tag Heuer. When I looked at the carbon pieces right away, I said it's a Tag Heuer. We moved on to Zenith and what caught my eye. So I knew that they made something cool and colorful. So the Geneva Watch Days for us is all about the collaboration we have done with USM. If you don't know the name, most probably you know the aesthetic of the furniture USM because it's everywhere since quite a while. And you guys know me and my packaging. I wanted the whole set just because it came in that piece of furniture, literally with these drawers that come out. Strictly aesthetics. I think it's a fun take on watches comparable to Rolex AP, but a little bit more rock and roll. I like them. I like them in every color. Collab that at first did not make sense to me, started to make sense as soon as the guy explained it. They are doing everything in ice. It's Swiss made. It represents also Swiss excellencies. Even our founder, they look the same. They have a moustache, big hats. They really look the same. Both of them, the founder, built their house very close by to the manufacturer just to have a look at the manufacturer. You always see me visit L'Epée. L'Epée was all about art this time around. This has been made by an artist who has emphasized somehow the cartoon. It's a pop art but with a cartoon aspect. Here we have another piece with Chris Alexander, known as a dye artist, that is right here, by the way. Why don't you tell me about your own creation since you're here? Well, we wanted to create something that reflected a personality in a car. We wanted to have this crazy mash-up of everything that was fun, exciting, street art. The other car that I saw that was painted was going back to the principle of L'Epée. Some of the painted cars really depicted the fact that this car went through hell with oil spilling everywhere because that was Formula 1 in the 50s and the 60s. He really depicted a car that went through a race, a car that went through a tough race. Of course, then there was the Phoenix. You guys know me and enamel. I love enamel. That Phoenix was absolutely gorgeous. It wasn't just a beautiful cloth with the depiction of the Phoenix, right? It was also a double tourbillon, just mind you that. I think my favorite pick from there had to be the black skull. That skull with the diamond grill, sort of a different culture versus horology versus just, I don't know. It's one of those things where I picked it up. I'm like, I really, really, really like this. And the pricing couldn't be more and more different. I think the skull was somewhere around $13,000 or $14,000 where the double tourbillon Phoenix was a lot more expensive, but there are levels to the stuff, right? J.N. Shapiro, one of the nominees, one of the finalists, I guess, I should say, for the LVMH Prize. An American, right? An American-made watch. Watches and house movement watch goes for around $80,000. And of course, they're sold out because they're, at best, they're able to produce, you know, maybe 15 watches per year, maybe. And trust me when I tell you the watch is well-made. Would I want one? Yeah. Would I kind of call in and say like, hey, Josh, you know, maybe you can put me in front of the line and get me one? No, I would not do that because it wouldn't be fair to other true collectors that want this stuff. And you know me, I resell watches, right? Wonderful watch. I could see why the watch was nominated. Both are done incredibly well. One is half price of the other. And neither one is readily available. Next up was Masenna Lab. I know William sent him a DM when they announced the Vianney Holter collab. I'm a big Vianney Holter fan. It was recently priced at $37,000, so I felt. I sent the deposit for that watch before I got to Geneva Watch Days. You know, this is William. I'm standing here on camera talking about your watch, and you're not even here. I'm with Alex now, and Alex did a beautiful presentation of the watch that I'm getting. And I'm not disappointed that I ordered it blind. Because now that I see it in person, I'm even more happy. Oh, I'm so happy you like it, William. Yeah, it's beautiful. I think you guys did a wonderful job. Alex did a wonderful presentation. And I'm gonna... And you said mine is coming when? January? Yeah, you'll be one of the first ones. I promise you that. And I appreciate it. Thank you. Sorry, I miss you, William, but I'll catch up with you later. Try the watch on. It's a large size, 42 millimeters. Unlike some of the other independents now, smaller production that is sticking to that 38, 39 millimeter sweet spot. And I like the fact that they used an old pocket watch movement. Didn't even wait to order it, and I was not disappointed. I made a video where I visited David at his atelier in the midst of a valley filled with cows and barely any roads. Another LVMH finalist for the DC6, which is a watch that I was wearing. But it's cool to walk in with the prototype, and then to see the one that's awarded. Of course, the new model that he came out with, he toned things down. Personal opinion, much cleaner look. Still giving you the inclinatory beyond. Still giving you the clickety-clack, as I like to call it, you know, patented crown. I think without realizing, because of the blue dial, so it gave me a little bit of DB theme vibes. Titanium movements, which are hand-finished, which is impossible to do. And the quality is still there. You guys comment below and let me know which you would choose. Would you go with the 6 or would you go with the 7? So my good friend and brother, Roy from the David Elf Brothers, walks me over. He's like, do you know who that is? I'm like, oh my God, the guy looks super familiar. He's like, that's Emmanuel Guet. I'm like, holy ----. I guess Star struck at these things, right? Emmanuel Guet did what? He designed my favorite watch in the world. He designed the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore for the 20th anniversary of the Royal Oak back in 1992. But the reason I mention it is one of the brands he designed and revived was Denison. When they approached me, I studied the story of the brand. It was created by an American guy who was living in Manchester, and the company stopped in the 60s. So when Toby bought the brand and all the gang started to want to make the brand live again, I thought it would be very interesting to restart when it stopped and restart with the 60s looks like. We have a single time zone and now you introduced a dual time zone. Yes. And basically there are the two shapes, right? So we have, this is more squared off. And if you compare the two. It's a little bit wider. It's like two millimeters wider on the dual time compared to the first one. So we relaunched this one, the dual time this week. So it's just a new presentation. This is amazing. So Malachi, Tiger Eye, Lapis, what else? Marvel. Oh, this is Marvel. Bloodstone. So Bloodstone and then I see an Aventurine. So when I found out that it was Emmanuel Guet behind those pieces, I asked Roy to say, hey, when the show is finished, please pick me up one of each, both the dual time and a single time. And of course you do get value for the money there. You know, maybe not in the movement, but certainly you get a lot of value in the dials because they're using stone dials there. I like the product too, just because it's Emmanuel Guet. If I looked at the watch and I didn't think it was attractive, I probably wouldn't buy it. Post the video with Sedan. We'll talk for a few minutes. It was really nice to speak to a legendary figure in the watch space. I've been getting on some of the panels that Way has put forth for Geneva Watch Days. And this year's panel, oh boy, was a controversial. Is watch journalism dead? And the argument was that, A, living in a world where every written piece of content that's out there by these major publication is paid for by the brands. When you have major publications like Way, like Houdinki, among many, many others, they do get paid by the brands. Well, are you biased because you're getting paid by the brands? Yeah. Every symposium that Way does is on their YouTube channel. So you'll be able to check out the full episode. Things got a bit heated. So definitely going to be a fun episode to watch. A brand you may have not heard of is Hotlands. It's a sister brand to Moser. So here we have the Helix. We launched it in June. Central tourbillon. Much different design. Probably not the first tourbillon you'll reach for. That central tourbillon with a double retrograde is 75,000 Swiss, which is reasonable in comparison to others. And then what are the other pieces that we have on the table? The Sphere. It's an hour indicator which turns one and a half times around itself and changes three times the direction. To me, to date, that's still the coolest Hotlands they've made thus far. Of course, what else did they release? They released the Wandering Hours. I feel like that's a complication that is just, it's as if everything else disappears and all you have in front of you is the Wandering Hours. We were inspired by architecture because that's the core belief as well from Vium when he designed the watches. It really punctuates the Wandering Hours complication in that case because of all that extra space that's left around the dial. So moving on to Moser, you guys already know this handsome face and I've yet to handle the Formula One related watches in hand. Of course, you guys know me and Formula One. I'm a huge fan. So I'm going to be biased anytime there's a Formula One watch that comes out. This is where you sort of tend to lose that appeal of, oh, wait a minute, high-end Swiss watchmaking, digital watch. And what's the retail price on these? I think in US dollar, you're around $75,000 as a package. As a package. However, they did a smart thing. They paired it up with a tourbillon. So now you get a pair of watches. You get a set. You sort of don't feel like, oh, I just bought a watch that sort of cheapens the whole vibe or cheapens the flex, if you will, because digital things tend to do that in a high-end Swiss watch. Just look at Breitling and their combinations of digital watches and mechanical watches. And was this a limited series? It's a limited of 200 pieces. 200 pieces. 200 sets, technically. 200 sets. Last time I showed Moser, they came out with a pop of color, if you remember. They doubled down and they came out with more colorful pieces. We have the 42.3 millimeter here with the turquoise dial with the globalite orange on the side. So it glows in the dark. We have the tourbillon, which is the opposite. You have the orange in the center or coral in the center and turquoise outside in 40 millimeter. And we have the masterpiece, the cylindrical skeleton tourbillon, also with this color combination. Our entry level is around $15,000, so that would be the steel. DLC is slightly more, so probably around $17,000. Tourbillon with probably around the $70,000 and probably $90,000 to $100,000 in cylindrical tourbillon. Accessible, reasonable for what you get. A very, I would say, affordable entry-level price on an independent brand, but aesthetically, extremely pleasing. And of course, I was not surprised to see a wandering hour complication from Moser as well. Remember, they are different companies, but they are sister companies under one roof. Of course, the perpetual calendar, which is the most minimal perpetual calendar out there. I dare you guys to show me another that's that minimal. And last but not least, they showed me some things off-camera, which are going to be announced soon, which I was very, very pleasantly surprised with. Pretty sure you guys will like what they did. Bida, another nominee for LVMH prize. These guys are from Qatar. I hate to use the term micro brand, right? But smaller brand that is out there trying to make it. I simply like the way it looked. Is this a watch I'm going to order? Probably not. Again, sometimes it's not about the price, not about what's inside. It's about aesthetically, right? I always said, buy what you like, first and foremost. And this is one of those watches. I bump into so many people during Geneva watch days. Gentleman didn't want to be shown on camera. They were literally pinkie, Royal Oak pinkie rings that he made. They were working. They had little quartz movement. And he made a bunch of them just for the sole purpose of giving them to people when he ran into them. Always bumping into people in the hallways. People always showing off their watches. This is what this venue is all about. Literally bumped into a GPHD nominee, the Christopher Ward watch in orange. My buddy Adam bought one and I asked him, what do you think? He also liked it. He's like, dude, I bought it because I like the way it looks, right? Sometimes it just comes down to that. Again, another one of those rooms I walk by and all of a sudden I'm like, Gaga Lab, why does that sound so familiar? And then I remembered an old brand called Gaga Milano. And now they reintroduced themselves as Gaga Lab. The original guy that was the owner of Gaga Milano still is, and they created a watch called the Labaromatic. So same watch, different color dials, beautifully executed. Again, it's really about design. Price point around 4,000 Swiss, I believe. Again, one of those price point watches where horologically not God's gift to earth, but certainly a cool watch to own if you like the design language. Stop by another brand I wasn't too familiar with, Speak Marine, to look at their purple monster, as I like to call it, or it's their tourbillon purple hour. What I did do is I took the watch, I looped the watch. I do like their signature placement of the tourbillon at 1.30, expectations to see the tourbillon obviously at six o'clock. I'm not sure about the purple. I do like the overall design. I like the layout of the dial. I like the way everything is done. Everything about the watch I loved, except for the purple. Every time I look at an old purple watch, it just makes me think, is this going to be watch number one on my collection or watch number 71 on my collection? Because purple is not for everybody. Fears is another company. I may have not been super impressed with the pieces, with the exception of the Tank watch. I really liked the Tank watch, but I certainly was impressed with the story. Apparently, this is a brand that ran, his great-grandfather started this brand and it ran all the way through to 1975, some 150 years, I think. This kid was in Rolex school to learn how to become a watchmaker and his mother finally told him a story about this whole family legacy that they have in watchmaking. He went a completely different route, revived his brand, trying to revive his family legacy. Not the most expensive watches, not God's gift to horology, but some good design language there, specifically with the Tank watch. Really liked that one. Trilobe. It is a French brand, but there was stuff made in Switzerland. Now, they finally are slowly but surely moving all their manufacture back to France so it will be a truly French watch. Newt Fantastique or Fantastic Night was my pick. There was one that she showed me where they actually customize it to you. A special place, special event, whether you get engaged, married, whatever it might be, they will actually custom design the sky to fit the location of what that would look like in that very moment when you were there, which was kind of cool. Quality seemed to be there. On par in terms of their asking prices, which are very affordable. I felt like the other watch was a bit too busy for me. Nevertheless, I was happy to be introduced to that brand and my pick from them was definitely be the Newt Fantastique or the Fantastic Night. Ferdinand Bertrude. It's unobtainium. You can get them. They make wonderful timepieces and I was there to look at the handmade, the chain fusée driven, entirely made by hand. And I will tell you that Ferdinand Bertrude was not too far off of Grubel Forzé's handmade piece. I was extremely impressed with their entire lineup. Now, it's worth saying that this is owned by the Chopard family and Chopard has a lot of money. So, when I tell you no expense was spared to show the world how big their, you know, what is, no expense was spared. Nevertheless, very impressive. Tropic. The one I was looking forward to seeing the most was the skeleton split-second chronograph and they showed me the new model that came out. And at first I was like, I'm not sure about this one. Why? Because I saw a skull at 12 o'clock and that skull, I'm like, what is this, Iron Man? And then I was sold only after they showed me that the skull was actually functional. It's when you stop the chronograph or reset it is when the eyes turn red as if the skull is getting mad that the chrono isn't running. Obviously, it's an existing model and they added that module on. So, it's a mechanical thing, not a decorative thing. It was just a decorative thing. I'd probably say, no guys, I think pass. But the minute he showed me how it actually works and that it was mechanical, that's when I was kind of sold. So, let's talk about the gold models. What is the retail on the gold model? So, it's between $60,000 and $66,000. Those models are a bit special. They all are featuring stone dials. Anytime you have a stone dial or any kind of exotic dial, it's cool. They took it to the next level. They took a meteorite dial and they painted it green. So, it's a green meteorite dial. Obviously, meteorite doesn't naturally come in green. It's going to be a silver color. At first, I was, again, on the fence because I didn't even realize it was a meteorite dial. I thought it was an Amalekite dial because I saw it kind of from afar. When I looked at it closely and I saw how the meteorite plays in the light against the color, once again, I was sold. Way had a wonderful party alongside with Armand Strong because they were releasing his launch. They made a limited edition of five pieces of their Resonance GMT with hand engraved gold dials. The watch itself was amazing. The size is 38 millimeters. Yes, exactly. While I see the decoration, but no matter what, your eyes are still drawn to Resonance. It's like you look at the watch and you get drawn back to the complication. Five pieces made, that's going to be very tough to pick up whoever wants one of these pieces. Why so little? Because the annual production is still very limited in Armand Strong when it comes to Resonance watches. Still a young company. We are still in the growing period, so it takes time to get the team. You're at about 400 pieces per year production? Yes, 460, yes. How many of those are Resonance? It's 110. What Armand Strong did is they patented a thing where they created a bridge that makes them resonate almost instantly, which is why in my opinion, I feel that's a better Resonance than that of F.P. Journe. You guys can comment below on that what your opinion is on that, but nevertheless, wonderful party, wonderful product. I'm a big fan of Armand Strong, just like their watches, both ecstatically and mechanically, especially their latest creations. I ran into my buddy Konstant at the same party for Waco and he showed me the Fah watches, specifically the Mobius 1. This is a very, very complicated watch, but the point I was trying to make earlier is that the line between Chinese made and other countries made is starting to get erased. Well, let's just be real. People look at things that's Chinese made and they think, oh, it's some sort of a replica, it's cheaply made, it's cheap, and so on and so forth. Well, guess what? The watch is indeed very, very well made. First of all, this thing has a dual axis tourbillon which rotates at two different speeds, 150 seconds and 60 seconds per axis. This is actually the first wristwatch in history to combine a jumping hour with dual retrograde hour and minute hands. He did tell me, he can show me that there is a new version that's coming out that's going to be a bit thinner. It sticks up a bit, right? Because it's so thin and awkward this way and it's 42 millimeters this way and it sits at 13 millimeters almost, makes it a bit awkward. Maybe we'll write something about it as well if we get the new version. There were three manufacturer visits and you know me, I like to go with unpopular opinions, so I went to visit Hublot and you saw the shits on that created on social media but stay tuned for that full video. I also went to visit Blancroix, another brand that you don't hear a lot of dealers mention often. And the last highlight was visiting Google Forze in the last day that I was in Geneva. I was geeking out like you wouldn't believe because it was none other than Stephen Forze that gave me the full tour of the manufacturer. So, stay tuned for those three videos. They'll be separately and it should be dropping soon. Other than that guys, I appreciate you getting through this video. As always, like, comment, share, subscribe and I'll see you in the next one.