Collectors Gene Radio

Today’s guest is none other than the racing legend Mario Andretti, widely regarded as the greatest race car driver in the history of the sport. Mario Andretti was born in Italy and didn't emigrate to the United States until age fifteen. At 19, he began racing stock cars in Pennsylvania and that was the start of an illustrious career that saw him compete and win in every discipline he entered. He w...

Sometimes you can look at a collector and just know that they have the gene. And that couldn’t be more true than with today’s guest, Justin Gruenberg. The last name rings through Beverly Hills as his family has been in the business for years and Justin is no exception as his two brands The Keystone and LoupeThis happen to be some of the most influential in the watch industry. As cofounder of both,...

Today’s guest is Rory Tait, one of the earliest employees at the company Rally. Rally is revolutionizing the way people invest in collectible assets, offering a platform where investors can buy and sell equity shares in items ranging from classic cars, rare books, and even dinosaur skulls. While all of those items seem terribly expensive to collect, that’s where Rally takes the wheel. Everyday inv...

Today’s guest is Susan Feldman, founder of One Kings Lane & In The Groove. She’s a born collector with retail blood and when it comes to collecting, she loves nothing more. After starting One Kings Lane in her early 50’s, she got exposed to working with some of the best designers around who opened her eyes to the beauty of traveling and vintage sourcing. A host and an entertainer, she’s collec...

Michael Chow may not sound familiar to you, but what may sound familiar is Mr. Chow, the name of his highly luxurious and booming restaurant chain. Mr. Chow is a collector of art, art deco furniture and objet, and just about anything that is part of his day to day, all the way down to his thoughts and expressions. Name the first shot of any movie and he can tell you everything. He’s as sharp as it...

Today’s guest is serial entrepreneur and collector Jonathan Sposato. After starting companies like Geekwire, PicMonkey, Joysauce, and selling a few others as well, Jonathan is at a stage in his career where collecting has truly never been more important. Of course this ties into his multifaceted collections like old fighter pilot jackets, Saville Row Suits, cars, watches, back to apparel from bran...

It’s not often that a collector starts a company within the hobby they love the most. Although it seems commonplace, for many of us, collecting is what we love to do when we have some free time. But that hobby turned business couldn’t be more true than with my guest today, Chase Pion, co-founder of Bezel, the online watch marketplace that secured investment from the likes of John Legend, Kevin Har...

Today’s guest is Lori Hirshleifer, and if the name sounds familiar, that’s because her and her family run Hirshleifers, which has been in business for over 100 years. Hirshleifers has been described as the “last great department store” and that’s because it is. There’s something different about Hirshleifers when you walk through the front doors, and maybe it’s the Kith Treats outpost, or the fact...

Tristan Walker may be new to the collecting scene, but if the name sounds familiar, well, that’s because he sold company Walker & Company (makers of the grooming brand Bevel) to Procter & Gamble and sits on the board of companies like Shake Shack and Footlocker. Tristan’s approach to collecting is very similar to the way he runs his companies, and consistency is the name of the game. His p...

Perched right on Christopher Street in the West Village, you’ll find J. Mueser, the namesake bespoke tailor that’s been featured in GQ, Vogue, and WM Brown Magazine, just to name a few. We chat a lot about the usual suspects, like his vinyl and watch collection, but we also talk about the nuance behind collecting and how it relates to bespoke tailoring, and J. Mueser specifically. Jake touches on...

Jeff Stein is my guest today and I think we all owe this guy a big thank you for his scholarship and efforts he’s put forth for the watch community. An attorney by day and collector at heart, Jeff is attributed with starting and running the vintage Heuer compendium known as Onthedash. After discovering a Heuer dash clock back in the day, Jeff went down the same rabbit hole a lot of us do and start...

Today's guest is Charlie Dunne, someone we all got to know under the moniker Books On Time. Passionate about watches, Charlie's that type of collection who took his affection a step further by not only collecting books, but mainly collecting research on the brands and watches that he loves the most. Needless to say, the word got out pretty darn quick about Books On Time and Charlie began writing a...

Today’s guest is none other than Ben Clymer, Chairman & Founder of Hodinkee. As someone whose background and company need no introduction, I figured we could dive right into all things collecting, both watches and cars. See, Ben’s been around the block a few times and it’s easy to not get jaded. So what’s keeping Ben interested these days is what I really wanted to know. We talk about the grai...

Today I’m chatting with the founder of Collectors Corner NY, Wes Wynne. Wes and I have been buddies for a few years now and while his business has grown significantly, his collecting and dealing philosophies have remained unchanged. What I love about CCNY is that you always get an eclectic offering, from LL Bean signed Hamilton’s to rare white gold Rolex day-dates. Wes’ background actually is in m...

Alex Steven’s is a watch dealer and collector who, while just recently started his business a few years ago, has a collecting history that predates this. Alex and I got to know each other over the last several years, aside from our love of watches, but more specifically by sharing similar tastes. As young as he is, there’s a lot to learn from Alex as the London watch market is a completely differe...

Today’s guest is my friend Rob Staky, a watch collector most of you know by the moniker Bazamu. We took this one from my kitchen table as Rob was in town for business and decided to come by so we could record in person. A long time collector, Rob’s passion for watches is evident in the condition driven, heavy hitters he brought along with him. In the company of a true connoisseur, Rob’s collection...

Eric Wind is joining me for his second episode of Collectors Gene Radio today and as you could imagine, we’re chatting all things watches and Wind Vintage. Since our last chat, Eric’s had a countless list of exciting things going on for him and his brand, such as his partnership with Kith, the several Rowing Blazers collaborations, a Volume 2 of his HSNY talk, his podcast Significant Watches, and...

Today’s episode is one that came together a tad last minute. My guest had to reschedule and so my lovely wife, Madelaine, so badly wanted me to put an episode out this week that she decided to interview me. So, she locked herself in our bedroom and decided to write down some questions to blindside me with. We poured some wine, cozied up in our new home and she hit me with some tough ones. Needless...

Today’s episode is a recap of some of my favorite responses from the Collectors Gene Rundown. As you can imagine, it was more than difficult to choose my picks from each question so I figured I would give you all a heavy poured cocktail of a few gems. You’ll hear from writer and director Paul Feig on what he’s got his eye on next, Auro Montanari aka John Goldberger’s perfect one watch collection,...

Today’s guest is the proprietor of J. Earl & Sons, a company that celebrates vintage barware, collecting, and the home bar. As for it’s founder, Jeff Parrott has been collecting vintage barware for quite some time. So when 2020 rolled around, Jeff decided to take a tangent where he’s Brand Cultivator at Blade and Bow and started J. Earl & Sons doing exactly the aforementioned. Jeff travels...

Yolanda Edwards should come as no surprise to all of you as my guest today. She, like her husband Matt Hranek, is the epitome of a collector. She cut her cloth working for Martha Stewart and eventually became the creative director for Conde Nast Traveler, but it’s safe to say her magazine, Yolo Journal, is exactly where she’s supposed to be. Yolanda and Matt have become the go to for a lot of thin...

Known as the last great rattan dealer, Harvey Schwartz is getting ready to relaunch his infamous rattan company, Tropical Sun. So why is Harvey the last great rattan dealer? Well, at 80 years old he’s still running the show and grabbing up all the great rattan known, even if it means going to a swap meet at 5am. To say he loves this stuff is an understatement. His collection spans over 2500pcs, an...

Today I’m chatting with Malaika Crawford, style editor at Hodinkee. Our chat is a bit different than the usual you’re used to here, as I really wanted to get Malaika’s thoughts on styling, diversification, and what all of this means for us collectors. After moving to New York in 2014, Malaika started working for Mel Ottenberg, you know, Rhianna’s stylist. Getting an early exposure to all things lu...

Aaron Sigmond, or as a lot of you may know him, Sig, is one of the more well known authors in the luxury space. You know that $1200 book from Assouline, The Impossible Collection of Cigars, well that’s Sig. Or the Drive, Sea, and Air Time series, also Sig. Nonetheless, you’ve seen his books and if you know him, his love for cigars doesn’t stop at writing about them. But as an author and collector,...

Today’s guest is one I’ve been excited about for quite some time now. Mary Randolph Carter, or Carter as she prefers, is the author of many books on collecting what she likes to call, “junk” and finds some time to be the creative director at Ralph Lauren. But this isn’t a new hobby for Carter as she has been collecting for as long as she can remember and has mastered the art of clutter, or the per...