OT: The Podcast

Bremont CEO Davide Cerrato has been in the role for a little over a year at this point, and it's safe to say that 2024 has been a rollercoaster. The brand, rooted in British identity and aviation, unveiled a brand new collection, logo and strategy at its Watches & Wonders debut and has, in the months since, been experiencing the ups and downs of public opinion. We caught up with Davide a few weeks...

In the second instalment of the Hong Kong Horology Forum files, Felix chats with Atelier Wen co-founder  Robin Tallendier about the rich history of Chinese watchmaking and what the future of the industry in China looks like. From the sheer number of watchmaking students attending Chinese schools and the depth of artisanal crafts in the country, Tallendier hopes that within a generation, Chinese wa...

When Felix was in Hong Kong for Dubai Watch Week's HF.10 he caught up with one OT:'s OG guests, Carson Chan. Carson is a legend in the watch community, a passionate collector and advocate who educates watch lovers around the world through the Watch Professor Academy. Felix chatted to Carson about some significant Asian watchmakers you may not have heard of and where the region is at. Before that,...

This week, we sit down with the man at the helm of one of the most interesting and exciting Swiss watch brands: Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni . Terrini stepped into the leadership role in 2020, a turbulent time for any brand, and since then has rapidly injected energy and excitement into one of the most credible brands born in the 1990s. We chat about Terreni's strategy and the opportuniti...

Today, we sit down with Mike France, co-founder and CEO of Christopher Ward , the UK-based direct-to-consumer brand that has (you may be shocked to learn) been around since 2004.   We chat to Mike about the early days of the brand and how they evolved from a design-led microbrand into the fully-fledged brand they are today, with in-house watchmaking expertise that rivals that of the Swiss.    Of c...

We thought we knew what we were getting into when we asked Marc Montagne , author of 'Invest in Watches: The Art of Watch Collecting' onto the pod. We prepared questions around market motility, hot models and the ethics of flipping, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to be that kind of interview. Marc, a watch industry professional, wasn't interested in buying and selling to make...

This week's guest is James Kennedy , the Managing Director and CEO of Kennedy Watches & Jewellery, one of Australia's leading luxury retailers. We chat with James about what it's like to be an Authorised Dealer for some of the world's most prestigious and desirable watch brands/ James shares (in detail) about how he turned a small family business into an Australia-wide business and the lessons he'...

One of OT:'s very favourite people is Chris Hall, the guy behind The Fourth Wheel Substack — which bills itself as an honest, opinionated and informative insight into watches and the business around them. Given that every week or so we're Chris' newsletter on the pod, we thought it was high time to get him back on and talk about his approach to reporting on watches and what his plans are for the S...

  In this episode, we chat with the man behind one of 2024's most-discussed watch brands, Anoma . Matteo Violet-Vianello developed his love of free-form vintage watch aesthetics while working at A Collected Man, and decided he wanted to create his own watch. Despite having no formal design training, Anoma's debut watch, the A1, is an assured and sophisticated design that tackles the seldom-seen tr...

Today's guest is Arthur Touchot, an incredibly knowledgable (and unfailingly charming) individual who's worked at watch titles like Hodinkee and others before ending up in Phillips Watch Department as Head of Digital Strategy and Watch Specialist. Arthur takes the time to educate Felix and Andy on what goes on behind the scenes of an auction, from sourcing watches to marketing and the importance o...

  This week, Andy continues his chat with IWC's MVPs, and this time, he chats with Markus Bühler , Associate Director of Watch and Movement Assembly. From job satisfaction to having a tourbillon  (or two) with bearing his name, Bühler provides insights into IWC's meticulous approach to watchmaking. Before this chat, however, Felix goes wildly off-topic with an impassioned defence of one of the gre...

Andy is still time travelling back to Watches & Wonders with IWC , and this week, he's chatting to the charming Lorenz Brunner , who talks about the brand's most important innovations, as well as the importance of 'silent' innovation. Before that, Felix and Andy chatted about IWC's involvement in an exciting new F1 film, the 2024 edition of the Richemont shuffle, and why Nickelback deserves rehabi...

This week, we get to see Andy in his natural environment of Watches & Wonders as he chats to IWC CEO Chris Grainger in the middle of the packed IWC booth to discuss everything that makes the Schaffhausen-based manufacturer such a force to be reckoned with. From the ongoing evolution of the Portugieser to the future of the brand's partnership with Mercedes and even the very nature of time itself. B...

Cornell Watch Company is an old name but a new brand. Chicago native John Warren has long had a fascination with the historic American brand founded in his home city. Most people would be content with collecting old pocket watches and letting history stay in the past, but Warren isn't most people. He's taken the steps to revive the defunct brand and, with the help of American watchmaking legend Ro...

Fresh from the flash sale of his debut watch, we chat with Phil Toledano, one-half of Toledano & Chan, and a man who's gone from watch enthusiast to professional over the last few years. Phil talks about the hope and fears he had developing the B1, and how it feels to be memefied alongside Audemars Piguet (who happened to release the inspired-by-brutalism Remaster02 recently. Andy also gives Phil...

This week we talk about the 10th edition of the Only Watch charity auction, originally shcedule for 2023, but after drama and allegations of fiscal impropriety plagued the auction, it was delayed until the other week. Sadly, problems of a whole other nature marred its return, courtesy of some security issues with Christie's online platform taking online voting off the table. Still, they managed to...

This week, we catch up with Matt Smith Johnson, AKA Teenage Grandpa, and his work in watches and watch design, including brands like Vero, Laco, and others. Beyond the expected chat around dial text and case proportions, our chat with Matt goes in some less expected directions, specifically around metal band t-shirt design and which metal groups need a watch sponsorship deal, stat.  Before all tha...

In this episode, we've got Andy's Watches & Wonders chat with Pierre Rainero , Cartier's Image, Style and Heritage Director. In addition to talking about some of the new releases like the Tortue and the Santos Dumont Rewind, Andy and Pierre chat about how Cartier's design sensibility has evolved over time and the importance of the Maison's jewellery perspective when it comes to creating shapes tha...

This week, we continue our post-game analysis of Watches & Wonders, with a perhaps surprising focus on some of the more fashion-forward brands at the Palexpo. Andy runs us through the offerings of Chanel, Hermès and Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as dress, dive and sports options from IWC, Zenith and Chopard. Beyond that, Andy ventured outside the fair to check out Atelier Wen, and we chat about how...

The OT: team has been re-united in Melbourne, but there are still plenty of Watches & Wonders to discuss! Andy and Felix chat about the latest releases from Rolex, Tudor (Andy thinks the pink chronograph works) and Patek Philippe (Felix has an unconventional favourite). Finally, they dig into the biggest topic of the fair, Bremont's new look and new Terra Nova collection. Plus, they also muse abou...

Andy is on the ground at Watches & Wonders in Geneva, and he's only got one thing on his mind — Cartier. We have a chat about all the latest releases from the Maison, including the Privé Tortue and the Privé Tortue Monopoussoir Chronograph, as well as the newest additions to the Santos de Cartier and Santos-Dumont lines (including the mind-bending Santos-Dumont Rewind ). We even delve into the fin...

This week's episode contains more spice than Dune 1 and 2 combined — welcome to the first hot takes episode of 2024. Fuelled by the hottest takes from the OT: discord, Andy and Felix debate some of the most burning (and a few of the most trivial) issues the watch industry faces in 2024. From thought-provoking claims like 'if Tudor dropped the Snowflake hand they'd be more successful' and 'the swin...

It's been a hot minute, but we're excited to have the one and only Jenni Elle back on the podcast. In case you're not across her work, Jenni Elle is one of the biggest personalities on watch YouTube and a genuinely lovely person. The big news from Jenni Elle's side of the world is that she's had a child, so obviously, we talk about the pros and cons of passing it on to the next generation. In addi...

For the last instalment in the Dubai Files, Felix sits down with Manuel Emch, the creative mind behind the resurgence of Louis Erard, which has evolved over the last few years from a middle-of-the-road value proposition into a powerhouse of collaboration. Enlisting help from people like Alain Silberstein and Konstantin Chaykin has seen Louis Erard become one of the most interesting names in watchm...

The Dubai Files keep on giving, as this week we've got Felix's chat with Ming Thein, the self-described Supreme Overlord of Horologer Ming, one of the most exciting and prolific young watch brands, who have racked up 62 references in only six years. Felix and Ming spend a lot of time chatting about the incredible new Ming LW.01, which Ming believes is the lightest mechanical watch ever made, comin...