Scottish Watches Podcast #794 : Awake Watches – The Dial Maestros Uncovered

A

Welcome to the Scottish Watches podcast. We've got a new guest, but it's not a new brand. It's one we've spoken about at length for many, many years. These guys have appeared at pretty much every international show and national show here in the uk, especially in Scotland that I can think of. It doesn't matter if we're meeting them in the uk, doesn't matter if it's maybe across the water in Geneva, over in Switzerland, or if they've seen the guys over in the States at maybe one of the Wind up Fair, Chicago, New York, something like that. But they have been trailblazing. They're designed the way that they create dials mesmerizing out of this world almost. And there was a bit of a NASA tie in at one point in the past that we will get to but new mystery guest. Do you like to introduce yourself to our audience?

B

Yeah, sure. Hi, audience. I'm a Lilia, I'm the founder of the brand awake. I'm 48 years old, father of two kids, two twins, desperately watch enthusiast. I started collective watches like over 20 years ago and I decided to try myself and I created Awake in 2019. So yeah, already seven years ago, that's

A

the year that we created the podcast. So that's another link up that I didn't know existed. But let's wind the clock back a little bit even further and find out your history because there are loads of people that start watch brands, they've all got a different reason to do it. It could be because maybe they worked for a bigger brand to begin with and they wanted to go out on their own. Maybe they always fancied designing their own custom grail watch and nobody else was putting that to market and they wanted to do it themselves. So where did your fascination begin? Let's wind the clock right back. How did you get into watches?

B

I remember it was in 2003 where I'm just having a lunch with a client and was wearing something I've never seen the pan right by the way. And I kept my eyes on his watch and was a client and first time I lunched with him. But I had the question about why do you have on your wrist? Have you seen that? And he told me the story was fascinating and I didn't to do my homework to search about the brand and from, from a brand to another, I start to dig into the watch, the watch world and I really get attracted by this because, you know, I was really fascinated by the way that so many things are handmade in the watch. And it was like I've always been selling IDs in the past to my clients was only about brain. Nothing's physical. And was really excited by the kind of object that people were capable of creating with a lot of passion and passions. So yes. So and then I got the very. The various very, very easily and started to buy a first watch and then another one and then upgrading. Upgrading grading.

A

So which watches did you buy along the way? What started you off?

B

Oh, the first one was your Monaco. So that's. That's very nice. Yeah. Yeah, that was cool because that's where the square. The square form factor. The. The. The story behind the watch. I like stories like many people like stories, especially when. When it comes about watches. So then my second one was a Dennis El Primero. And yes. And then from. You know, at that time 20 years ago, it was. The market was so different. We could access to. To watches much more easily. And yes from growing and selling watches at the beginning because I couldn't afford like just buying. So I had to sell my watches to buy the new one and upgraded grading. My first. I think my first crazy watch was an AP Ohiolog and we're talking about it was more than 15 years ago. So that was not that popular. I got. I got very. I was very attracted by the gentile style. I got a Nautilus like a few months after. At some point I started to go to something more more different and I started to get watches that are not like the Holy Grail. And I think that especially with what happened during COVID Despite that I created my company, I continue to. To be like a watch lover. Not just my watches but other watch watch other brands too. And. And yes no, my. My watches are more something that are really really not just global design, but something that thinks make the difference compared to the other watch. I have a Datograph the duo one because I think that's the most impressive chronograph. I have one of my favorite watches that got me into Meteda which is the. The world timer from Patek with a clause and a enamel which I think is something that just so beautiful. And each watch is unique and I was attracted by this watch quite a long time ago. Some watches which. Which has a Breguet Tourbillon because obviously Breguet despite not popular very popular brand. I mean not hype brand just invented the Tourbillon. They do just crazy watching. I think they should get more attention than what they do.

A

So funnily enough in the episode that probably precedes this one. We talk about Tourbillon Day because It was celebrating 225 years since Louis actually got the patent processed for the Tourbillon. Can you believe it's that long ago? And then it was revitalized. You mentioned Breguet. They brought it back in 1988, put it dial side as a bit of decoration instead of the use that it had previously for the pocket watch. And getting rid of that gravitational forces that was causing problems. Nobody really needs it in a wristwatch, but it looks cool. We don't really need wristwatches, but they are cool. And going back in time with what you're telling me there about maybe collecting, getting yourself a Royal oak. One of the kick me moments that I still regret to this day is that I was offered a blue dialed Royal Oak. But it was a slightly smaller size. It wasn't the big 41, 43 mil. It was a slightly smaller one which actually wears big. And I turned it down because I thought I wanted the bigger one. And back then, and we're only talking what, eight, nine years ago, they were only, and I put only in air quotes, only £14,000 now. I can only imagine what the prices of watches were 20 years ago. They must have been a lot more economical back then. But everything's just run away. And to see you your progression with some of these tick off grail list items. Nautilus, the world timer that you mentioned there, the AP Panerai, starting you off on your journey, that is, that's quite an interesting one because people don't really talk about Panerai. But in the last couple of weeks, maybe the last month, I've seen their TV adverts. I've heard one of our guests actually wore one for a wrist check the first time ever on the show. Nearly 100 episodes. And I was watching a YouTube video from one of the guys who ferry coursing previously, or still with Goriella, one of the trance bands from 20 years ago. And he was wearing a black, I don't know if it was DLC or carbon Panerai in his videos. So maybe Panerai are making a bit of a comeback. But then you have decided to create watches that are the complete opposite of the Nautilus of the Royal Oak. We're talking crazy colors, crazy designs, dials that capture the imagination and the mind from across a room. If someone's wearing something with the color schemes that you utilize in a darkened environment, you will spot it, you will see it. Because the watches you showed me, maybe About a year and a half ago at time to watches last year in Geneva, around the corner from PAL Expo. You said, come and see us. We're doing a collaboration with somebody from Scotland. We want you to see these watches. And I walked into this dungeon, it was dark, it was dreary, you couldn't see anything. We had to use sonar to navigate round the halls. But the watches that you had there, they were just glowing. They emanated across the room, drew you in. So you'd actually pick the pieces up, have a look at them and try them on the wrist. So we've covered the basics. Maybe we should actually do that wrist check thing. Have you got something on the wrist tasty today?

B

Yeah. This one?

A

That one there? Yeah. What is that you've got there?

B

That's. That's one of the latest. That's not the latest because we. We. We just released a new one, which is the first. The first wash using the gold leaf, which is called Radite Blue. We just released it yesterday and the prototypes are corn. So I don't have it. I cannot have it on my wrist. But this one was the previous one that we released a month ago, which was the Son My Gyoshima with Hand Gyoshi. Because just like, you know, every single die we make is totally handmade. We don't use machines, we don't use robots. So that's the way we are different. You told me about that. We are doing something very different from what I've loved and what I've collected, for sure, because I think that's very important when you create your own brush brand, to bring something different. I didn't want to be like another random brand trying to copy the Genta style, Genta design, trying to do things that remind you of something else. I just wanted to do something to create my own path, and that was very important. And just like this watch, which is the first watch, using two different techniques, one is the Hand Gyoshi, like I told you, with the Son Mai lacquering on top.

A

What does that mean? Does that have a specific naming convention? What does Sonmai mean?

B

Son Mai means lacquer in Vietnamese. That's the very specific lacquer that we use on every single watch we create. This lacquer is very interesting because this is the purest and the most transparent lacquer available. The most famous one is the Yorushi, the Japanese lacquer. But this one is very dark. The purpose of the Son Mai, the Vietnamese lacquer, is to protect and to reveal what is Underneath, so it's totally transparent. So you mix it with natural pigments, you combine it with other techniques and you can see the techniques underneath. And that was very important because this totally unleash your creativity. Lacquer is not here, it's not the end. Lacquer is just the beginning to elevate. What is it combining with? So, yes, we are very proud because we are bringing new techniques that have never been done in the watch industry. And I mean, this is like a very old industry. And being capable of doing things that have never been done before is something that we are really happy with, but not the goal. It's just to provide emotions. And I think that when you have something which is different and beautiful, then you create your own buzz, just like I said.

A

Well, while you were busy telling us your story there, I was trying to clean the dial of the watch. And we are now pulled this one out of the lockbox because, yes, I was swapping watches in and out down at our safety deposit box because you know what it's like in the uk. Got to be quite careful about keeping watches. Definitely don't keep them at home. And this is the first watch that I kept. This came to the collection in 2017 and it has never left. It's my Tudor Blackshield ceramic fast rider. And this is the black and red Ducati edition, fully ceramic with I believe, a ceramic dial, but it's got a titanium tub inside. And people call this the blacked out Daytona. And I can see why because it's very reminiscent of it, although it's a slightly larger size, but being black, it smalls itself down a little bit like the little black dress. On the side you've got Ducati style piston pushers, and on the other flank you've got a triangular oops covered in something. You've got a triangular date setter. But again, it looks like the system that Ducati use and have trademarked and using all their designs. Little almost hidden date mechanism down at half past four. And this is on an aftermarket rally style perforated strap, which I think the color scheme and the way it's laid out looks far, far better than the original Tudor number. Quite puffy, fills the wrist adequately. The watch looks great. I should wear it more. I never do. This one has been in the collection for so long, I don't think it'll ever go away because what's the point? This? There's no point getting rid of a watch if you truly love it. And this takes me right the way back to 2017, when I first fell in love with the hobby. First got my Rolex, first got my Batman and the journey that it took me on, going across the Basel world and its centenary year and then a couple of years later actually launching the podcast which takes us to this day and what we're talking about today. And we should also tell people, if you've not already done so, check the show notes. The link will be in your podcast player, It'll also be in the YouTube description. The reason being it's okay talking about watches, it's okay showing them in a video, but to see these dials, the way they should be presented, the way they should be presented is in sunlight, on a wrist, in person. The second best way is through our show notes. High resolution images, tech spec, links to websites, video clips. Everything that you want to see about, not just the watches we're talking about today, but everything in the collection from Awake. Two final questions before we jump on to next part of the show. One, what is it you used to do? What was it you were doing when you spoke to these clients? And two, what. Why did you decide on the name Awake?

B

I was, I was in media and advertising. That was. So I was building media plans for brands. I was doing in the tech because I was kind of. I've been an entrepreneur for quite a long time, so I've always worked in what was. Was really fascinating me, the tech in the past. I'm not a tech guy anymore and I've owned. I had my own media agency for Watch for Watches too. So I was representing like a few French media and tried to build media plans for brands. I've been working with Rolex, Patek, etc. So I wanted to work in this industry. Just the difference is that being in the communication media, et cetera, and actually building your own watch is totally different. Is really, really different in all ways. Just the watch is the common point, but all the rest are different. And that was my first experience as creating something physical and creating a brand. I've always, like I said, I was selling Heidi's to companies. No, I'm selling watches to collectors, which is totally different things. But it's kind of challenge and I love challenges.

A

And where did the name Awake come from?

B

When I created the brand, it was not about, like I said, doing something that was looking like something else. I wanted to bring some philosophy into the brand. Like Awake is about raising attention of what I think should be preserved, should be transmitted. I think that's very important. You know, metadata. We are totally Dedicated to Metada. And I think that's something which is part of humanity's legacy. That's very important to keep it. I mean, you've seen people like, for millenaries, like the first men were drawing animals into the caves. And I think that was part of creating something artistic and also creating your legacy. What the next generation will look and what they will discover from you. So I think that's very important because the techniques that we are working with are very ancient. And I think that it's very important to keep them alive. And I think that it's about awaking Metedar. Like we said, we said it's artisanship awakened. That's our claim. So we try to shake this Metada, we try to awake them, to make them more modern. Because if you want them to be transmitted, if you want to enter the next generation, you have to make them more contemporary. And that's what, that's where the name away comes from.

A

And it works. And it's the perfect name for the brand because you seem to awaken and star people in different ways. Because we see the reaction from people at shows and even in Dubai, I forgot, we met up in Dubai, that's another place that you've traveled to. And we were there at the same time watching, not just the local collectors coming up, picking up the watch, seeing it for the first time in real life, but there was a lot of English, Scottish, American people, people from all over the world came to that show and they were all mesmerized. And it wasn't just the look. It's when you balance the look and the price point. Because these watches aren't 20,000, they're not 100. When you talk about Metadar, you talk about Vacheron Constantin, you talk about price points that are zero, if not two zeros on the end of the price that you guys charge for your timepieces. And everything is just it's exacting standards. It's when we speak to people like Ulysse Nardan and what they put behind the dial in the movement with their technology. And again, they don't charge Greubel Forsey prices, they don't charge Patek prices, but you're getting such quality for such bang for buck as well. That's what you are known for. The only thing we've really not discussed yet is who's the other guy that you work with?

B

Yummy. That must be Thibaut. Thibaut is my partner. I mean, he joined the company two years after I created it. And there's funny things that I used to work with him in the past. I mean, I tried to work with him in the past because he's a tough guy. And the fact is when I started to. To recruit people and I was looking for someone who will be capable of helping me in developing business and I asked two friends which are really deeply involved in the industry. What guy do you have in mind? They gave me the same name they gave me Tibble. So we start to work together like five years ago now. And I mean it became really part of the company as an associates because I think we are very, very complimentary. I think that's the way things. He has a much better, much stronger experience. He's been working for many brands, many groups, whether it's swash group. He used to work for a lot of independents like Jacob Co. And so he understand a lot about the industry. He have a really good sense of what's going to work. I mean that's. I have the passion and it brings something more pragmatic. I think that the combination of our two personalities really works. And I'm really happy that you joined me into this journey.

A

Well, I see you as a double act because you're always together. Apart from today when he's away doing the on the road traveling salesman gig. I know that Dave is traveling across, I think it's Chicago he mentioned he's going to. So potentially they might meet up across there in the States. But let's talk about what came out yesterday because perhaps the reason the show has been recorded today is because of what got released yesterday. And there's a slim chance by the time this episode airs that it will still be available. Because the problem that we've had in the past is we talk about your releases on a show and they're sold out by the time the show actually gets online. So tell us about what happened yesterday.

B

Yeah, so I will get back first to what you just said is that of course, as I said, we do only handmade diets. So the problem and the beauty of it is that it can only be limited production. I cannot increase my production overnighting or we get more demand. I think that's really important to understand that it's not like trying to play the game of FOMO or whatever. We just have a limited capacity. Human have to sleep, humans have to eat. So while we are doing low production is because it's human made and we are improving things the way that we are having more people working on the dash. But it's not something that you can learn in a few weeks or months. It's something that takes time. So every good thing takes time. So this is the reason why we slowly increased the production volume. But just like you said, all limited edition almost. And that's like a low, low numbers. So it's. It sells quite quickly. So this is the reason why we don't have that, that that many washes in stock unfortunately. I wish I could have more because you know the problem that we live in a world where everything is like a immediate with Instagram, with everything. But we. We always forget that some people, they will just discover this watch like a. In six months. And we got so many people asking for watches that are in solo for more than one year. Say oh I saw this watch. Do you have it sold out since 12, 12 months. You know, that's it. That's also my frustration because I think that we. I don't want people to have to rush on the watches. That's why we introduced last year a permanent collection. It is limited because if I do watches with the same dial, I cannot do other dials. As you know, it's just. Just the way that it works. And. But we are introducing permanent collection of watches that are limited by numbers in a year. Like, for example 150 pieces. But that will be available also next year. So it's because I don't want people to have to rush. I think that's. That's the game that have been played over the last years was a bit disappointing at the end. Like begging for a watch. Not something that. Which is I think normal. I remember I was there 20 years ago and nobody was begging for any watch. It was easy to get and it was. I mean it was at some point it was more. Could enjoy more. And you, you like what you really want it and you could have it like it was a matter days or weeks maybe, but you had it at the end of the day. There was no like premium price to pay. All that thing that happened like quite recently with COVID during COVID So yes, limited production, but by the technique, not on purpose. So coming back to your initial question. So we released this watch yesterday, the Royal Blue Royale because you. We use gold and I think that cold have some. A deep meaning. It's just not about something which is precious. It's about something that lasts. I think that gold lasts forever, you know. And, and that's. That's the way that it's about trying to refuse the ephemeral. Trying to, to. To. To refuse what's we live in a world where everything is disposable almost. And I think that the. The gold leaf provides something which is beautiful. Gold is beautiful. That's beautiful materials with lots of, I mean, way to shine. And I think that bringing this precious metal but gold leaf on a dial creates something totally different. The Royal technique is something which is totally different from all the other things we have. And something that can be compared to any other technique and any other brand that's very special. And the way that the gold talks to the blue dial is something really elegant. It's not, it's not loud, you know, it's very subtle. And I think that's a really, really nice combination. And I can tell you that we got a lot of success yesterday with this launch. And we are happy because you know everything. When you always try to bring something new, come on the day before the launch, you feel like, is it going to work? Is it going to work? You know, it's not a black dial on a sports watch. You know, it will sell at the end of the day because people will still buy a lot of sports watch with a black dye. But when you try to do something which is really creative, you always feel like you take risks. But at the end of the day, I think that. And maybe it's connected to the fact that we don't have a high volume. I mean, the way we do things really attract people who have a lot of watches, who have all the sport watch with a black dial already and they want something different. I mean, we are in the price point where we should attract like we could be the first watch of someone, but we are not definitely because it's very creative. So the kind of people who buy Awake watches at the moment are really, really strong collectors. I was talking last week with someone who owns like Dufu or this kind of watch and I perfectly remember the first time we launched, when we launched like 18 months ago. The sound, my technique. I like this story because it was first I was really proud of it. And I think that's just a good example of who is today a West client. And this guy was really looking at the watch. Say, this is beautiful. Okay, cool. That's cool. We're introducing this on my collection. And it's like, can you own my watch? Of course. Gave me the watch to Aug. It was a Voutilanen. And the fact that I was, I was. I mean, as a brand that Awake was capable of bringing emotion to someone who's have. When you have a vautulane, this is not your first watch too. And you have a good understanding of what a nice watch is and you have all the great watch that you wanted like years ago and now you are interested in 3,000 your wash. It might be the cost of the leather strap of a Voltile. I'm kidding. But not that far. And you like it. I mean, you stay five minutes in front of the wash. So what can I say? This is really the most. I'm really happy and proud of what the brand is because if you are capable of introducing this kind of collectors, you can, you can attract any kind of people. If the most demanding people like your watch and that's a great achievement.

A

It's gratifying when it was an equivalent. When we hear from listeners, people that follow us, watch our videos and we find out that they are movie directors, that they are actors, that they are billionaire business owners. And we will get a random message WhatsApp or email from somebody and we'll reply back, back and forward. And then it becomes clear who they are and at what standing they are and the luxuries and the things that they're involved in. And they still listen to a couple of Scottish guys talking crap about watches. I understand what you mean. Because on your side carve out Leining his dials, his designs are at the absolute peak of the crop. You can't really go much higher than it. And as you say, and not diminishing what you do at your price point, but the quality when you put them side by side. No offense, Carry, but I would rather have an awake because they're more colorful, they just bounce out. So hopefully we've not fallen out with Carry because he's a super cool guy, but I would definitely side with yourself. And that's the other thing. We haven't even touched on the price point and how inexpensive and accessible these watches are. They are not 15,000, they're not 20, 30, etc. Etc. Even with the gold leaf, which is not cheap, and you're busy telling me the story about gold has this special ephemeral meaning. It always has. You mentioned cave paintings at the beginning of the show. Gold is the one thing throughout the entirety of human history that has always remained the pinnacle product. That's why people tried to create gold out of lead with alchemy back in the prehistoric times, the medieval times, no one's managed it. Whereas in recent times, perhaps companies got together, conglomerates and cartels got together to create something which was known as the diamond industry, which is now having a really hard time because it turns out using modern technology, you can duplicate diamonds flawlessly cheaper. And that has had a real effect on the marketplace. Whereas gold, gold just keeps rising and rising. A little bit of a falter recently, I think the thing I saw was you can always buy a house with six bars of gold 100 years ago, 20 years ago and today, whereas money, it fluctuates, it goes up and down, inflation kills it off, but gold is always there. Well, that's the current releases. Maybe tell us about things in the recent past because you've also changed your logo.

B

Yeah, yeah. Just one thing that. Because the discussion is very interesting on the price point. That's something you mentioned two times already. I think that it was really important to me because, you know, I told you I had the opportunity. I was lucky enough to be able to have some of the washi I have. But for me, the metadata was something we really, really out of French for, for me in the past and for most people, you know. And I think that my idea was if you want to just like I said, to transmit that, to make you. You have to make them more affordable, much more affordable. I would say Awake is really affordable. It's about €3,000. Watch that. Which is not affordable for so many people, but at some point for the, for. For this kind of quality, for, for the, for all the handmade process, that's something which is. We don't have any real competition on our price segment. I think that I was really happy to be able to bring, to bring this value proposition. And there is no, I mean there is no flow in the. In. I mean, we work with La Joux Perret, so we didn't choose the entry level of swift movements. We work with Jean Rousseau for the strap, which is a very famous strap maker, maybe one of the best in the world. So I mean, even the Lume signature that you mentioned at the beginning, like showing that it's really something different when you see the Luminova effect on the dial is something which is much more complex, so much more expensive to create than random or standard Lume index. And so there is, I mean, we try to, on every single part of the wash, bring the maximum quality and the maximum pleasure. And that's very important because, you know, just like you said, the price of a Royal Oak like a decade ago. And I think that too many brands have left to up a thing without bringing something new, just increasing the prices. And I think there is a real space for brands who are putting a lot of value at a reasonable price point. I Think that's why the rise of micro brands, or young independent brands, depending on how you call them, is due to this kind of more creativity and a reasonable price. And I think that's very important. And I think that in that way, we achieve something really, really good.

A

You're doing something I can't compare to other people. We have lots of friends in the industry. We obviously consider you guys friends because we've been chatting about you for a couple of years, if not longer. There are people like Raj, obviously, Dave on the show. He works there, has done for a number of years that the podcast first, then they stole him. You know what it's like we deal with Raphael at Formex behind the scenes. It's technology, it's case material, it's creating different clasps and all the rest of it. Nobody does design like Awake. That's what we hear, that's what we see, that's what the function of what you guys are known for. The breathtaking esthetics that punch you square in the face every single time. But you have changed this over time. You've not latched on to one particular philosophy and carried it all the way through. I loved our first meeting. Geneva watch day is probably coming up maybe three years now. In a couple of months time, we came across, and on the table in front of us, we had the lineage of the brand, the first watch. And the first watch is usually the one that isn't really that good. It was fantastic. Then you had another watch. Then you had another watch that looked like a cartoon where all the parts were kind of drawn together with lume. Then it was a NASA watch. And I'm focusing on these. And you're saying, yeah, that's the old stuff. This is. Look at this side. This is a new. And I'm just looking, going, holy, look at all this cool stuff. Now we're two, three years down the road, and you've moved the game forward. So how did you manage to take things across this dimension in so little time, but increasing and getting better and better every single release?

B

The problem is that we constantly improve things. And sometimes my team told me, please stop. I'm all about details. I always, oh, this watch is perfect. No, it's 99% perfect. So why should we do this? Oh, and if we do this. So it's all about always trying to improve things. I mean, that's the story of the brand. Because from where we started to where we are now is such a different story. The vision stayed the same. I was always about awakening people I think is important to transmit and to preserve. So the vision, the mission of the brand never changed, just the execution. And you mentioned some watches like the NASA watch. The NASA watch was to was a very specific watch because that was the first watch which had NFC chip in the sapphire glass that gave you access to the ISS camera. And that's what convinced NASA to do this collaboration is because we sent them the project and we got the approval because it was such innovative and creative. And I think that's also what defines us always trying to do things differently. And you could access the SS cameras and see the Earth from the space like an astronaut. And that was the purpose. The purpose of this watch was not to say oh NASA is cool or space is cool because we saw a lot of space inspired watches in the past and still now. But the idea was really to show the beauty of Earth and having the possibility to access the ISS cameras live stream and to see the Earth from the space and to see how it's beautiful, this blue planet is just beautiful. And that's why we have to make sure we preserve it for the next generation was something that was the purpose of this collaboration. So there is always a meaning behind everything that we do. But at some point I really wanted to align my planets about what I've been always loving on watches and for sure metadata has always been my for me the epitome of watchmaking. I love complications. But for me having this pure craft machine on dial, making every single watch unique was something that truly impressed me. So it's just about having the opportunity to meet the right people at the right moment and to just dare to do things differently. You know, we are not, despite the fact that I can tell you we never got out of Metida because my planet are not aligned. And I know what I have to do, I know what I want to do. I've never been so proud and happy of what I'm doing now. So for sure that there is, there won't be any like u turn like we had in the past. But the idea behind this is always about trying to make things perfect, which you never do, you never do at all like you never do from the first time. So you improve, you improve, improve. And that's the story also behind, behind the logo. We changed the logo two years ago when we moved from the and the alien. The Darren Duinwatch you mentioned is the Luminova and all the characters. It was like a bridge watch between what we've done designed before to what we are doing. So this is why we got these aliens. That was a collaboration with a famous French artist. And he was removing everything from the past. He was stealing the logo. And all the aliens were evading the other things on the dial that were disappearing to announce something totally different, something totally new were coming. It's just about also to always take things too much seriously, bringing a lot of fun. In that example, we have this tribute to 7th Art watches, which are inspired by the movie that we love when we were young.

A

Oh, I was gonna bring this up. That was the stuff you showed us last year. You dragged us. It wasn't just seeing the dial artist and what you were collaborating on. And that was pretty cool in itself. Very iridescent, very fish like. Let's just call it that. But the other watches that were on display, they took themes from our childhood favorite movies. You're the same age as me, so we're very aligned on that front. And it wasn't kitsch. It wasn't a souvenir shop. It wasn't something you'd buy from a catalog. Oh, it's got a Jurassic park logo on it. It's got a dinosaur on the back. It was taking the theme of what would happen if perhaps a watch was in the movie and was attacked. It was destroyed. It was scratched up. So tell us about those ones because they were really popular.

B

Just like I was saying, it's just about how can we bring a little fun and we do things seriously, but it doesn't prevent us from having some inspirations. And I think that what connects us to the past is very interesting because it creates emotions. And taking the colors of the eyes of the dinosaurs, the raptor and the T. Rex, which are the most frightening creators of Jurassic park, was something really interesting. And you had on that one was too close was Tyrex, because Tyrax has only two fingers and three clothes. For the Raptor was just about the way we put details, a lot of details in everything. Everything have the meaning, nothing's for free. And everything has the meaning. And everything is inspired by something. And the way we do it. Or the kill bill with the. We use these very traditional techniques, the lacquering technique from Vietnam. And we do something totally different. Even the artisans, they feel we are crazy when we ask them to put some blood, which is actually some red lacquer, on the yellow dial. But they love it. And you know what is really, really interesting with our artisans is that they never say no. They never say we've never done it in the past. The problem with many people in this Industry is like, they work. They love to work the same way they were working last year, 10 years ago, 50 years ago. And going to this guy and say, let's try something totally crazy. Say, okay, okay, okay. And they don't know what's going to happen. They know what this look like. And we say, put blood on the tile. Say, oh. But at the end of the day, this is how we make this metadata much more modern, because we connect that to the contemporary culture and it creates something really interesting with very traditional savoir faire to something which talks to anyone, you know. Movie 7 art is something that 99.9 of people are fond of, you know, so this is a way to express our creativity and connect people to the past. And even, you know, you know, you as fathers, we look at these movies with our children, you know, so it's something. It's kind of family thing. That's part of what we love to do.

A

Totally. And leads me into one question that's been brewing in the back of my mind. Why and how did you discover things over in Vietnam?

B

I've been traveling to Vietnam a long time now. I'm really fond of this country. I've been doing this country from the north to the south and from the south to the north. So I came back the first time I went to Vietnam, I came back with a solid artwork using the soundmail technique. At that time, I didn't know how they were doing it, et cetera. But when I desperately wanted to bring a new metadata in a watch, something that had never been done before, I had the answer just in front of me. The painting is just right here. So the opportunity to meet a small workshop doing crazy things. But usually they do it for wooden objects, artistic objects. So when I came with the idea to create a wash, there was a bit like a wash. It's like a 3 centimeter things we do lacquering on big things. So this is the reason why it took us two years to be able to bring their technique on such a tiny space. But we succeeded. I mean, at some point, it was turning something that was just crazy in a big object into something which is crazy on a very, very small object. Even the artisans, they learn they could do something that they would have never think of before we came to them and asked them to work on this. And I think that's one of the reasons why they always say, okay, we've never done that, but let's try. That's part of their philosophy. Because they never thought they would do Watch, dials in their career. So that's something which is really interesting. And at some point I feel it's very interesting because just like I say, when you talk to these people, you know how they feel. They feel really worried because at some point we live in a world where everything is machine made and now it's all about a. And they really don't know how they're going to attract people. They're going to preserve their very traditional techniques. They are very proud of their skills, of their cyber fare and. But, but they really feel like they will disappear anyway. So bringing it to a new. A new media at some point, because the watch is a media watch. You know, when, when, when you wear a watch, most people, they kind of start to what you have on your wrist. Just like the first time I asked to, to my clients, what do you wear? Panerai. What's Panerai? And I think that's some point that the wash is that that's an obsolete object. You know, you don't need a wash. So they carry stories, and the way we bring new stories I think helps the techniques to continue. And I think that's what they filter.

A

You're making my job today very easy because every time I'm thinking of a new question, you answer it ahead of time or you give the answer I want to give. And when you're talking about art on the dial and you're talking about these creators, geniuses across the water over in Vietnam, and they don't want their history and their legacy to just fade away, I'm thinking when somebody has an art piece in their home, maybe they're sleeping for eight hours a night, maybe they're in their office for another eight hours. Maybe they're in a different room. They only get to see the art every so often as they walk past it. Whereas when it's on the wrist, you've got it there all the time. You're constantly seeing it and you're seeing it with different light. It's not on a wall having the sun hit it and move. This is always in rotation. It's always picking up different parts of the color spectrum no matter where you are. Indoor light, outdoor light, sunlight, moonlight, doesn't matter. So you're given new bre of fresh air to artistic endeavors that could have gone away hundreds of years ago. And you're going to keep them into the future, which is amazing. But as we come to almost the end of the episode, maybe we should find out about what else you've got happening, what else you've got coming down the line. You've done collaborations in the past, not just with NASA, not with the Dal artists, lots of different people. Is there anything that we should be keeping an eye on maybe over the next few months? Because Geneva watch days is just around the corner.

B

Yeah, I mean that's during the watches in wonders. Someone told me, a journalist told me that that was the best moment in the entire affair. Someone told me that's crazy, lillian, because in 18 months since you launched the Son My Collection, you became recognizable but unpredictable. Which are for me, two compliments in the same sentence. Which is really interesting because it's really hard to be recognizable without a specific form factor. If you do like a 52 millimeter wash case, that's, that's guess So I say they're recognizable at some point, but it's really hard to have a watch where you can say, oh, I think that's an awake and unpredictable. I like the confinement because we always try to surprise people. So of course I like collaborating with other people like I did with Chris, the Dal artist and other artists and artisans because you know that's that we all together would bring fresh ideas that maybe none of them will have think about on our side. And this is exactly what I love to do. I really love to surprise people to and in that way we're going to keep to surprise people for sure. We had a lot of. I mean, the problem and my team still hates me about that because we. I want to push so many things and they say calm down, come down. Just like the design. It's a calm down turner ego, fake time. And of course because I'm so excited about what's coming next, whether it's about the techniques, whether it's about new things that's going to come, new collections, new designs. We will keep to bring a lot of ideas because at the end of this, ideas on the wrist. And I'll take it because like you said, having heart on the wrist, just not just ideas, but heart is something very interesting because you know people when they come to fairs and they look at the washes, the first thing that I like is that they always say, oh, it's much better in metal that in the photos or whatever because you know, you play with the wash, you have so many reflections. And then when I see people saying like trying to change all the angles and to see, oh, it's oh, new colors, et cetera. It's something that I love because you know that you're not here about the time, just here to admire Something which is totally unique. And so we will continue to do this. Complications. We always have the question about complications. That's something that I'm working on. I can't tell when it will arrive because again, we want to do things on our, I mean, our way. But yeah, for sure. We have so many things to explore, so many new stuff to bring. So containers to to continue to be at the same time recognizable but also unpredictable.

A

That was a good way of answering the question without answering the question. I appreciate that. Stay tuned is what you're telling people. And when you're saying come to an event, come to. Because obviously these watches, they're not in stores because there just isn't the capacity to make enough to have them in stores. You've got to come to hands on and a feet in the ground event. Try the watch on, have a look at it. And when you say somebody puts the watch on the wrist and they rotate it to get the light to play around. It's like when you see a nice car, you don't just stand and look at the car straight on. You walk around the car so you can see the lines, the sleek lines, the contours and the curves, the way the light works its way around the paint work, the way it reflects everything. That is what you can do with a watch when it's on the wrist. You don't have to walk around. You just rotate your wrist. And as we're recording this, I'm noticing in the background right up at the top that you've got a helmet that looks like an award and you've got a convertible car in the middle. I take it you're a bit of a car guy.

B

Yeah, yeah. I'm a car guy too. So that's, yeah, I'm a very basic guy. I like watches. I like cars. I like one too. You see in behind. So yes. I mean that's everything is mechanical. Got my attention. And just like you say, I'm really fond of design. So I'm not gonna say what you just said because you say it perfectly. That the way that's a good design is something that where the lights are play with the object of the wall and you, you can find so many ways you can discover the object whether it's a car or watch in so many different ways. That's something that no, I, I, I like when some people say, you know what I discovered three months later, the way you do the open work on the buckle is just so great because people, it didn't see it because most of the time people don't pay attention to a buckle. That's why buccal. It's like the lazy job for many brands that say, okay, we've done the. We exhausted. Okay, put a random buckle. People will not notice. But people will notice. At the end of the day, people won't notice that you haven't done e force to create a nice buckle. But people will say, oh, they even put a lot of efforts in the buckle, even in the buckle that make people think that you don't stop until you have something that. Which is really at some point close to. I wouldn't say perfection. I don't like this word. But something which is every single detail I've been felt. And I think that that's the impression I want to give because this is exactly who I am.

A

And that is a perfect way to end the show. This has been awesome. This has been many years in the making. We have tried to get our heads together probably for the last 18 months, catching up here and everywhere. Are you available? Sorry, too many people to see today. Come back and see me tomorrow, and then we're flying back home. So to get this done at this moment in time, literally the day after the latest releases have been released on the public and ahead of Geneva watch days, because it means when we catch up, we've got the intro out the way, we've got the baseline sorted, people now understand the brand, the heritage of the history, where you came from, where it came from, what you've been doing, and where you're going next. With a couple of key teasers to whet the appetite of the watch collectors out there. You say people can spot an Awake watch. I agree. I was thinking of a couple other things there, and I hope you don't mind me doing a little bit of a comparison. People can spot an Anordain. They are known as the enamel. Guys, people can spot a Moser. So much so Moser have taken their name off the dial. With Awake, you can spot it across a room from almost a mile away. So you are in great company there. I hope you don't mind that one. And that is us at the end of this episode. Obviously, there is tons in the back catalog of these guys. So do check out the show notes, go back through, look at the pictures, click across, look at their Instagram. And if people want to check you out online, maybe they're listening and they want to just check it out on their phone or laptop. What's the web address they should go to?

B

Okay, that's awakewatches.com Whatever the hip hops we make to create stunning content, we try to, but all the photographers, they hate us because they always say there is too many ways to that your data is just so hard to catch because from any angle they provide something different. So that's a big frustration for them. So if you have the opportunity, just go and see us on Fez and you will understand what we just said

A

during one hour until we invent color holography where you can actually look at a hologram and see the dial rotated round in many different ways, coming to see them in real life is the only way possible. So I want to thank you for taking a lot of time out of a very busy schedule. You. You launched the watch yesterday. I begged you to come on today and you agreed. So you have to be commended for that. You have taken time out for everybody. So have a great weekend. And if people want to check out what we're up to, we're out twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays, obviously. Catch us online all the time. 24. Seven cottishwatches on Instagram, we've got the YouTube channel, we're on Spotify, we're on Apple podcasts, and everywhere podcasts are played. And that is us. So thank you for joining us and we'll catch you again soon.

B

You too. Bye. Bye. Sam.