November 26, 2024 • 82 mins
Mitch Katz takes us on a heartfelt journey into the nuanced world of watch collecting. Inspired by his late father's passion, Mitch shares how this hobby has become a cherished legacy passed down to his sons. Listen as Mitch recounts the emotional decision to purchase his first major watch, a Maurice Lacroix, and how this sparked his desire to immortalize his collection in his book, "Time on My Hand: A Collector's Journey in the World of Watches."
Explore the fascinating intricacies of watch classification through the lens of Ulysse Nardin timepieces. You'll be captivated by stories of the "goofy watch" and its role as a travel companion, and the cutting-edge innovations, like silicium technology, that continue to propel the brand forward. As we share insights on the evolution of personal style and the impact of independent brands on traditional norms, a rich tapestry of anecdotes and experiences reveals the emotional depth of curating a watch collection.
Mitch also opens up about the joy of blending his love for horology with his creative pursuits, crafting murder mystery novels that weave intriguing watch-related plots. Hear about his unique storytelling journey and the excitement of developing characters and narratives around timeless timepieces. Whether you're a seasoned collector or a newcomer, Mitch's tales of regrets, reflections, and artistic admiration will leave you with a renewed appreciation for the art and passion of watch collecting.
Grab a copy of Mitch's Book: https://amzn.to/3BbjLQJ
Support the show: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2237102/support
Visit our Blog: https://lonelywrist.com
Watch our Youtube: http://youtube.lonelywrist.com
100% Viewer Funded: Donate Here
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Blake Rea (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of
Lonely Wrist.
Sitting in front of me is myfriend Mitch Katz, the author of
Time on my Hand, a Collector'sJourney in the World of Watches.
Welcome to the episode, mitch.
How you doing, blake?
I'm surviving, I'm surviving.
(00:21):
I think that's what mostcollectors will say these days.
First of all, congratulationson the release of the book.
I look forward to reading it.
Tell us how you started watchcollecting and tell us how you
(00:43):
got to where you are here torelease a book.
Mitch Katz (00:48):
Watch collecting started with my dad, in the
sense that he was an ultimatecollector.
He collected stamps, so hedeveloped the collector gene and
passed it on to me and I havein turn passed it on to my son,
(01:11):
my sons and, sadly, when he died, passed a little bit of money
to me and I wanted something,something to memorialize him by.
And you know I'm not a car guy.
My kid's college education wascovered.
I have a house and we weredriving around one day and I
(01:36):
said to my wife I want somethingmore permanent to memorialize
my dad and I just said I want tobuy a watch.
So went to this watch store Ihad purchased some watches in
the past from and I was rootingaround and came to a Maurice
(01:57):
Lacroix masterpiece Annuaire andlooked at it and it was at the
time spoke to me and I said yeah, I'd like this watch, but geez,
it's a lot of money.
Got the nervous shakes and thesweaty upper lip and I walked
(02:19):
outside of the store, called afriend of mine who I knew knew
something about watches and wetalked about it.
He said yeah, it's a good watch, it's worth the money.
It's a lot of money, man.
And I said yeah.
He said you know, do it.
And so I brought it home andthere was the hook.
(02:42):
And then a couple weeks laterwe went away.
My wife and I went away to SantaBarbara to celebrate our
anniversary and we were walkingdown State Street and came upon
a magazine stand and there wasthis magazine called Watch Time.
Terry Staubach was on the coverand I got it.
(03:04):
I bought it and brought it backto the hotel and I read it from
cover the cover.
And I got it.
I bought it and brought it backto the hotel and I read it from
cover to cover, and somewherein there there was a reference
to the fact that watches have anoil reservoir.
It's like, say what?
And I can remember coming homeafter the weekend and dashing
(03:25):
into one of my son's bedroomsand I said guess this, get this.
Watches have oil reservoirs.
Can you believe this?
And he looked at me like I hadlost my mind, which I probably
already had.
The hook was now implanted anda gentle tug came and the rest,
(03:47):
as they say, is history.
Blake Rea (03:55):
And I went down that rabbit hole hard and fast and
haven't looked up since theirony, considering the listeners
are listening to this podcastright now and they just probably
got done listening to the ceoof maurice lacroix uh, that just
came on, so there is some ironythere.
Uh, and I'm curious, and that'san interesting story on on how
(04:18):
you got into watches, butobviously with the release on
your book, tell us what inspiredyou to write a book about watch
collecting, because it doesn'tseem like the most common thing
for a watch collector to do, butit is, I think, interesting how
(04:38):
you got here.
Mitch Katz (04:41):
Again, it all lands on my sons.
I have been extraordinarilyfortunate.
Again it all lands on my sons.
I have been extraordinarilyfortunate and I say that with
all due modesty and appreciationfor what I have been given
during my collecting journey.
But I was talking to my sonsindividually and I said you know
(05:04):
, this is a watch collection nowand you need to know something
about it.
And they both said, well, yeah,we know some of your watches,
we know some names, but we don'treally know what you have.
I said, okay that.
So I sat down one night and Iwrote a spreadsheet and with all
(05:28):
clarity, I put in the name ofthe watches and some valuation
and some resources that theycould always check into if they
need be.
And I realized I sent it tothem and I realized this is not
what it's about.
The watches are not about namesand numbers and value.
(05:53):
It's about what each watchrepresented to me, the stories
behind them, why I obtained them, how I obtained them, why they
still sit in the bank or sit onmy wrist.
It's more the story and the joythat they represent.
(06:16):
And I said, yeah, this isnothing.
I've got to tell them the storyof these watches so they have
better appreciation of what thewatches are and what they mean
to me and we are fortunate tohave an art collection.
It's the same thing when I lookat a painting or when I look at
(06:39):
a watch.
It's the stories they evoke,the history, the adventures that
we had in obtaining them.
Having obtained them, therelationships that developed
subsequently with the watchmaker, the artist, what have you.
And that's what made something,made it important to me to put
(06:59):
that down in some sort ofliterary form.
Uh, in some sort of literaryform.
And as I approached retirement,uh, I knew it was coming and I
said, okay, it's a good time towrite this book.
And I started making notes andit just flowed.
I had the once I retired.
(07:19):
I wrote the first version inthree months.
Wow, and it's because I justregurgitated into the computer.
It was that easy, Of course.
Then it came to the editing andfleshing stories out.
But between my memory, thepictures my wife showed me, the
(07:50):
memories she reminded me of, itwas an easy work of love, quite
frankly, and it was just sowonderful to revisit those times
as if they were just yesterday.
Blake Rea (07:59):
Yeah, that's.
You know something thatwhenever you talked about how it
regurgitated if I were to dothe same thing I don't even know
if I could do it, because everytime I look at one of the
watches in my collection um, Ihave just over 150 watches
myself um, just a storm ofemotions comes over me, like, oh
(08:21):
, I remember when I was inturkey and I was wearing this
watch and I got lost in thegrand bazaar and I was looking
for my wife and she was lost.
We were trying to find eachother.
You know, like, um, and alsosubsequently, um, the bad
moments.
I know this sounds weird, but,um, somebody asked me recently,
like what I think, like why Iwatch, collect.
(08:43):
And I think it's becausewatches are time capsules,
literally and non-literally,where they tell you the future
but they also store the past.
And um, and to me, I thinkabout all the weird ups and
downs of life that have beenthrough every single watch.
And, uh, and I just don't even,I don't even know how you could
(09:06):
simplify that.
You know, I don't know how youcould spill that out, you know,
because I could talk for yearsabout one watch if my wife was
like, oh, what's important aboutthis watch to you.
Mitch Katz (09:17):
You know, I would just go on forever well, it gets
a little easier when you knowthat you can't write 500,000
words.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally, andnobody wants to hear those
500,000 words or read them.
But you know how you do it,blake, you just sit down and you
(09:39):
write the first page.
Blake Rea (09:42):
I'm assuming the first page leads to the second
page.
Mitch Katz (09:46):
Exactly, and that's what I found.
I found that when I started thefirst page the day after I
retired, the day after I droppedthe mic, I sat down and I wrote
three pages and then it justcame.
And then I try to connect thewatches in some sort of
(10:07):
illogical, logical fashion thatone watch led to another, even
though they may be totallydistinctly different.
And it was fun.
It was a lot of fun.
Oh, that's why I got this watch, because it connected to the
one previous to that, or onethree down the line.
It was fun and really I'm not aself-promoter.
(10:33):
I did this because A I wantpeople to understand that it's
more than a commodity.
I want people to feel like theyhave their own story.
And when I was thinking abouteven doing this, I realized
there are plenty of books thathave stories about watches,
(10:54):
pictures about watches, storiesabout watchmakers, about watch
companies, but there's very few,very few books that approach it
from the collector.
And, if anything, I want peopleto feel free to make the
choices they want to make andenjoy their choices, rather than
(11:16):
having somebody tell them whatthey should have or what
A-lister is wearing this.
So I've got to have it Now, ifthat's how you want to approach
this.
That's fine, it's absolutelyfine, and you know.
All power to them.
That's not what I want to doand it's not how I've grown into
this passion and it's workedfor me for 25 years.
Blake Rea (11:41):
We, our listeners, are kind of very broad spectrum
in their collecting journey.
We have a lot of people that arejust enthusiasts I don't even
know if I'd use the wordcollectors anymore Like we have
a watch club here in Vegas andit's a citizen and you're
passionate about horology likeyou're welcome.
(12:06):
Also, if you have, you know, 150Rolexes and Pateks, like you're
also welcome, you know.
But people do get lost in thehype, you know, and every
collector I've met has like andyou may or may not, but as a
(12:27):
collector I evolve every time Iacquire a new watch, like what I
consider to be collectible andhow I bring new watches into my
collection changes every singlewatch I bring into the
collection, um, but also I learna little bit more about myself
every time I bring a new watchin, you know, because I'm like,
(12:48):
oh, you know, I'm outexperiencing the world and I'm
like, you know, I need a watchthat I can wear in the middle of
uzbekistan, uh, where I have noidea where I am and nobody
knows what I'm wearing, and Ifeel comfortable wearing a watch
like that, you know, versushere in Vegas where I'm walking
down the strip with the Rolex,you know, and everybody else has
(13:10):
a Rolex.
You know, I try and look forsituations that I can bring a
watch into.
Mitch Katz (13:18):
I know exactly what you talk about.
What you're talking about.
In fact, in the book I writeabout just that when I was
working, I had certain classesof watches watches that I would
go do when I was being veryactive at work, other watches
(13:39):
where I was just going to besitting at my desk evening
watches, weekend watches,weekend warrior watches, that
kind of category.
I did categorize them and if Iwas looking at another watch I'd
say, okay, what category doesthat fit into?
Then, when I retired, what Idid not expect is that I had to
(14:02):
reclassify all my watches,because the tool watches that I
would wear at work when I wasactive and I didn't want to have
to worry about if I dinged thema little whatever, I didn't
have to think about that anymore.
So how do I classify the watch?
So I'm sure to be wearing thewatch on some degree of
(14:25):
regularity.
Now, fortunately, watches donot have personalities, they do
not have feelings and they willnot be hurt or bothered if you
were wearing the watch on a moreregular basis when working and
now less often.
Luckily, I have not had to givetherapy to the watches, but
(14:46):
still I like to wear it.
When I wear a watch, it's.
I haven't worn this watch in awhile.
I want to wear it.
It's fun.
Every watch I have, I wear, someto a greater extent than others
, because of specialness of thewatch or what have you.
I have my reasons, but, and toyour point, if I'm traveling,
(15:11):
I'm going to take certainwatches, whereas I'm not going
to take others for reasons Idon't want to A lose them or, b
I don't want anything to happento them.
Exactly, in fact, the cover ofthe um has a bunch of my watches
photographed.
Uh, we did that to mimicanother picture that had been
(15:33):
taken in the past and it just sohappened, and not by plan or
anything.
That almost dead center is thisyellow dialed Ulysse Nardin GMT
plus minus that my family callsthe goofy watch.
Why is it called the goofywatch?
Because it's yellow.
(15:55):
And of all the watches I own, myolder son has told me that's
the watch I want.
I said why?
I mean, you have so many otherchoices?
He said that's the watch youwear whenever you travel, which
is true.
That is my traveling watchbecause it's robust, it takes a
(16:15):
beating and keeps on ticking,but he is associated with that
and that's important to him, andthat's what this is all about.
What do those watches mean inthe more global sense than just
telling time?
Blake Rea (16:33):
And it seems like from our previous discussion,
like Ulysse, Nardin is a brandthat holds a very special place
in your heart.
I think you told me you have somany.
I don't want to put numbers outunless you're willing to do so,
but what is it about youleasing art on and it could be
(16:57):
another brand you know like?
Would you say that yougravitate towards you in more
than other brands?
Mitch Katz (17:02):
or gravitate towards you in more than other brands,
or uh, my journey has beenvaried.
Um, interests are wax and theywane.
Uh, in the 2000s and earlyteens, I think Ulysse Nardin was
(17:27):
, and can still be, at theforefront of technological
advancement.
I mean, rolf empowered his teamto develop the first watch that
used silicium, to develop thefirst watch that used silicium,
the very first watch.
And now how many brands includesilicium in their watches?
(17:51):
Most, I mean, there is stilldebate amongst watchmakers.
Is that a good thing or a badthing?
What about 100 years from now?
(18:18):
Regardless, he was brave enough,entrepreneurial enough,
interested enough and just crazyenough to say let's take this
new substance and we can use itin a way that makes sense in a
watch.
The simple GMT plus minus thegoofy watch is probably the most
user-friendly travel watch inthe market.
It's underappreciated,no-transcript, just such an easy
(18:44):
watch to use and easy watch totravel watch with, because it
tells you everything you need toknow.
And I could go on about thedifferent models and why I think
they're the best of class.
Even now, even though it's 10,12 years later, they're still
best in class.
What I'm wearing today is oneof the trilogy that, to me are
(19:10):
just insane.
They're probably the one watchthe set of watches that scare me
the most, because trying to setthem is just a challenge.
A long and song.
Blake Rea (19:22):
Is that what you're wearing?
Mitch Katz (19:24):
no, no, no.
The trilogy of ulysse nardin oh, oh, oh, okay.
Blake Rea (19:27):
Okay, I thought you meant like the okay, like the
holy trilogy yeah, sorry, yeahno, no go ahead.
Oh, I was just gonna say, um,I'm a huge fan of un and I've
done events with them and I'vehad the chance to to sit down
with leadership and you know,they've I'm drinking the cool,
(19:48):
I'm drinking the un kool-aid,you know totally.
and um, and yeah, you know, I,when they released the freak ass
nomad um from watches andwonders this past year, like I
was insanely surprised.
And before they released it, fxand I were here in Vegas and we
(20:12):
were just kind of like walkingaround boutiques and I said oh,
what are you guys working on forWatches and Wonders?
Give me something.
And he said we're releasing onewatch.
And I was like what you know,because usually people are like
you, look at other brandsthey're releasing like six,
seven, eight different piecesand they're kind of flushing out
(20:35):
their collection.
And he said, no, no, we're doingthe exact opposite.
We're releasing one watch.
And I was like, okay, thatseems a little weird, we're
releasing one watch.
And I was like, okay, thatseems a little weird.
And anyways come, you know,watches and Wonders.
When I saw the watch, I wasjust like mesmerized at how cool
(20:59):
it is and just the wholemarketing behind it and it had
like a little like UAV, likeflying through the clouds and
like, um, you know, we wrote anarticle about it and uh, and
yeah, yeah.
And then they, uh, when ourlast event we did with you and
(21:19):
which was, I mean, last month,maybe a month and a half ago, um
, we got to see the new uhwatches of switzerland edition
of the freak ass nomad, whichhas a I think it's like a
crystallinium dial.
Have you seen that?
Yeah, yeah, insane not inperson insane.
(21:40):
Yeah, I got a chance to see ituh, secretly, you know, they
snuck me in the back room andthey said, hey, like, take a
look at this, like what do youthink?
Mitch Katz (21:48):
and you know, one of the most beautiful like dials I
have ever seen and I'm hopingthat speaks for a rebirth, if
you will, of the company nowthat it's under different
leadership.
Blake Rea (22:06):
Yeah, and I really hope they, they find their way
again bring back independentwatchmakers exactly and people
who get the idea that it's okayto be a little bit nuts and a
little bit experimental in whatthey're willing to do I mean, I
(22:28):
think modern generations respondreally well to that, like, if
you look at somebody who walksthe line between sane and crazy,
those are the people that areinfluential for the next decade,
you know.
And you look at celebritiesthat dress like cross-dressing,
you know like, or whatever youknow you.
You look at celebrities thatdress like cross-dressing, you
know like, or whatever you know.
(22:49):
You just look at people thatare like, like, like
heterosexual people that arelike, wearing nail polish and,
you know, have long hair andjust I mean, um, you know, 20
years ago they would be lookedat very weird in a weird way.
Mitch Katz (23:05):
Well, understood, and that's where the
independents come in yeah I mean, they have the ability to be on
the cutting edge or to be alittle crazy because they don't
have shareholders.
Yeah, yeah, I look to them andhave done a lot of work with
(23:29):
them because they're on the edgeor they can be on the edge.
Some are very, very classical.
Others just push the edge andjust go out into total weirdness
, which is necessary.
Now, some of them may not be tomy liking or something I would
(23:53):
not want to wear on my wrist,but that doesn't mean that
there's not a role for them.
It's a role to push the morestaid companies in a direction
that the collector, the consumer, consumer is interested in
going to yeah, no, I, um, Ialign very perfectly with you in
(24:17):
that regard.
Blake Rea (24:19):
Um, I'm curious to get your take.
So, as a watch collector, doyou have rules that you impose
on yourself before you bring anew watch into your collection?
You know, how do you decide, uh, like, what to bring in.
And I mean, another question issometimes I hear people that
don't ever get rid of a watch.
(24:40):
So do you, uh one?
Do you?
Do you flush out yourcollection?
Um, or you know, if yes, like,how do you one do you flush out
your collection?
Or you know, if yes, like, howdo you decide what to do?
Mitch Katz (24:53):
And then, before you bring a new watch in, what do
you consider?
The second question first, haveI flushed out my collection?
I have gone on two cullingexpeditions.
The first one was easy, becauseI realized there were several
(25:13):
watches I just didn't want Nowwe're not talking huge numbers
here, we're talking about youand I comfortably parted with
them and interestingly, it'sdebatable whether this was a
brilliant idea.
I included in it was my firstwatch.
I called it, not the magazinebut the watch.
(25:35):
I still sometimes think aboutit just because of what it
represented, but it just didn'tmean much to me at that point.
And the second time I called,called, I couldn't do it.
I actually had a friend comefriend who knows about watches
and he looked at the collection.
He knew what I had and wediscussed certain pieces that
(25:58):
just didn't fit and um.
So we put several of them upfor sale and fortunately one
didn't sell because my wifeactually really liked the watch
and she now wears it.
And maybe there's one watchthere that I'm a little bit
(26:23):
sorry I sold, although it didn'tsuit my OCD tendencies.
It was just hard to set andhard to maintain.
But in retrospect I think thefew watches I've parted with I'm
okay with and haven't sought toregain them, which I know some
(26:46):
people do and I enjoy what Ihave, but for the most part I I
buy it a whole.
Now to the first question how doI determine what comes into the
collection?
Well, it's the old saying, youhave to kiss a lot of frogs to
find the Prince, and I've kisseda lot of frogs.
(27:07):
By that I mean I've looked andyou go around.
There's very few watch stores.
I will walk by and not go in tolook at the watches, and it
could be high end, low end, itdoesn't matter.
And then over time you decideon your own eye, your own
(27:32):
interest and really what fits myvision.
Do I have a plan going in?
No, can I vocalize why?
One watch versus another?
Maybe, but really not reallyit's like what appeals to me.
(27:55):
Let me give you a story.
As I said, we have a bit of anart collection and we had a
space right where I'm sitting,where I was looking for a
painting to put up on the wall,where I'm sitting, where I was
looking for a painting to put upon the wall.
Now, we don't buy art to fillspaces, but rather we find
spaces for the art we purchase.
But you know, we had a spaceand there was an artist, a
(28:17):
particular artist, that wereally liked.
We had several small pieces bythis artist and wanted to get a
more substantial piece by thisartist and wanted to get a more
substantial piece, and thegallerist that we work with
often let me know that he had apiece.
So we went down and reallyliked the piece, brought it home
and put it on the floor next tomy desk and so it stood there
(28:47):
for about two weeks, couldn'tput it up on the wall and if you
ask me, why't tell you?
To this day I can't tell you.
And eventually I said to mywife, I said I can't put it up.
And she said I know.
I said I like it, I really likeit, but I just I just can't put
it up there.
So we said, okay, let's bringit.
So we brought it back to thegallery and we're friends with
(29:09):
the owner and he said you know Ican't do it.
And he said that's fine, that'sfine, just bring it back, we're
good.
And he was standing there andthis is how long ago this
occurred.
He was flipping throughtransparencies Because that's
how they showed art at that timeand I I spied something, one of
(29:30):
the transparencies.
I said, hang on a second, whois that?
And he showed me transparency.
I knew the artist and I saidwhere is that painting?
And he said, oh, it's in theback.
I said can I go see it?
He said, yeah, sure go.
And I went in.
I was all alone.
My wife was talking to him.
I walked in and I saw thepainting and I literally had to
(29:55):
sit down.
I was so overwhelmed by it.
Within a minute, two minutes, Iwas committed to that painting.
It sits on my wall now and tothis day I love this thing.
And if you ask me why?
Because it's very minimalist,it's very abstract.
If you ask me why I love thispiece of art, I can't tell you,
(30:17):
but I have an emotionalconnection to that, which I
don't have with that, I didn'thave with that other piece and I
can't explain to you.
It is not a rational thought.
And the same thing has come witha lot of the watches.
Why do I connect with thatwatch versus other watches?
I don't know sometimes.
(30:38):
Sometimes it's obvious thetechnology, the artistry, the
finishing.
Okay, there are some reasons,but why one watch versus another
watch?
It's my eye, and that's what Iwish for other people is to
trust your own eye, trust yourown heart and say this is what
(30:58):
appeals to me.
It doesn't have to appeal toanybody else, but it appeals to
me Because, ultimately, that'sgoing to be on your wrist,
that's going to be with you,that is your child now, and
enjoy it for what it is.
All too many times, people willcome up to me and show me a
watch and I say well, you know,I know it's not anything that
you would ever want or somethinglike that.
(31:20):
And it's like well, well, tellme, tell me, tell me, do you
like that watch?
Yeah, do you really like thatwatch?
Yeah.
Do you really like that watch?
Yeah.
So what's the problem here?
There is no problem.
It's giving you what it isintended to give, and that is
joy.
And it doesn't matter if it's aCasio or a Swatch watch or a
(31:43):
Patek or whatever.
Blake Rea (31:45):
If it gives you joy, that's the right watch for you.
Yeah, if it gives you joy,that's the right watch for you.
Yeah, I mean everybody.
I wish I had an alarm bell tosound off because I mean that is
the most important thing here.
I find myself as a collector,trying to not be a collector,
(32:08):
and I know that sounds reallyweird.
But you know, like for like forme, right, I've tried to map
out my collection, like I, Ihave the chrono 24, like wish
list and this and that, and I, Itell myself and I tell my
friends and I tell somehow willget that watch and I won't be
(32:33):
done.
So I I actively try to stopcollecting, but I can't.
So it poses the question as acollector, do you ever really
feel like you're done collectingum or uh?
Mitch Katz (32:52):
I just um, I cannot.
The reason I I just laughed isbecause I cannot tell you how
often I hear my friends say thisthey couldn't been collecting
for 40 years.
I'm done, I am absolutely done,this is it, I'm done.
And you walk in the next timeyou see them hey, what do you
got?
Oh, yeah, I just picked this up.
Yeah, okay.
(33:14):
So you know, I call crap onpeople who say they're done
because you're never done.
You're really not.
It's rare.
I'm not saying it's neverhappened, but it's rare.
When I got the trilogy, the UNtrilogy, I said that's my grail
and I said I'm done.
(33:34):
Well, that didn't happen.
Then, when I got my carry, Ilooked at it and I said you know
, the finishing is so incredible, the dial is so beautiful.
How did we go from there?
I ain't done.
I mean, why am I kidding myselfand why are we all kidding?
It's just, it's there and itcould be.
(33:56):
Sometimes it's a relativelyinexpensive piece and sometimes
it's a more costly piece.
But it's like you're just notdone, done and you can justify
them all to you.
And if every piece gives joy,how can you deny that?
Face it, it's an addiction.
You get the dopamine surge whenyou get that new watch.
(34:23):
So when people say what's yourfavorite watch, I mean, the true
collector says, well, it'seither the last watch I got or
the next one I'm going to get.
And when I was writing the bookit occurred to me.
You know, I did a little thingabout the grail and I realized
(34:44):
what's the grail for a mountainclimber To climb Everest?
Right, something like that.
Okay, so you climb Everest.
You're never going to climbanother mountain.
Really.
You're going to go up othermountains.
It may not be of the sameheight, same height, but you're
(35:11):
still going to go on hikes,you're still going to go on on
on treks.
You are, it's in your DNA, it'sin your, your guts to go there.
And it's the same thing withcollecting and it doesn't have
to be all watches.
I don't think my son will evernot buy another guitar because
he loves guitars.
It's.
I think it's all part andparcel of the collecting gene do
(35:35):
.
Blake Rea (35:36):
Um, I'm assuming you probably have your eyes on more
pieces that you're probably.
Oh no, I'm.
Mitch Katz (35:43):
I'm done.
Blake Rea (35:44):
Oh are you.
Mitch Katz (35:45):
Yeah, right, okay, yes.
Blake Rea (35:48):
Okay, okay, um, yeah, cause I, when we, when we first
talked, I, I got the sense thatyou are, you have reached
Everest, right, and and you've,you know, summited that and
you're just kind of enjoying inyour you know, in your summits.
(36:12):
You know I got that vibe fromyou.
Mitch Katz (36:16):
Nope, nope.
My wife said.
You know, when you retired, Ithought you were going to cut
back.
I said yeah, no, in fact, yeah,I do have my eye on several
pieces.
There are pieces coming Morefrom various independents and in
(36:39):
fact this weekend I just saw anincredible watch that I am
trying to figure out how this isgoing to work the Chopard Full
Strike.
If you've ever seen that watchand listened to that watch, it's
(37:01):
beautiful, it's amazing, andthe technology behind it is one
of a kind the clarity of thesound, the loudness of the sound
.
They also don't have the ghostquarter.
Do you know what that is, theghost quarter?
No, no, okay.
So in minute repeaters you havethe.
(37:22):
It first chimes the hour, thenit chimes the quarter hour, then
it chimes the quarter and thenit chimes the minute.
In many repeaters, if say, it's12 after the hour, you'll have
the, the chimes of the hour.
Then there'll be a pause wherethe quarters are supposed to
(37:44):
chime, but since it's 12 minutesafter, there is no quarter
chime.
So there's this pause and thenthe minutes chime.
What, uh, chopard is able toengineer in there in this watch
is they took away that pause,wow.
So you have the hour and thenimmediately the minute.
(38:04):
The only other company that Iknow to have done this is JLC
with their HM11.
They had that, but I am toldthe technology is different.
I can't tell you how.
I don't understand it.
Understand it, but uh, that tome is a remarkable achievement,
(38:32):
because the standard uh uhrepeaters have all of that ghost
quarter got it.
Blake Rea (38:35):
Yeah, I find myself kind of in the the middle
segment of collecting, and whenI say middle segment, like um, I
notice I tend to gravitatetowards like sporty tool watches
, practical watches, um.
And as an overviewing uh,bird's eye perspective of my
collection, I look down and Idon't have a lot of dress pieces
(38:59):
, you know, because I just Inever dress up.
You know, I'd say nine out often times I'm wearing, uh, you
know, like shorts and a t-shirt.
You know, I live in Vegas, youknow, I don't, I don't wear
blazers all the time and I can'tpull them off because it's just
so damn hot.
Um, but you know, because II've noticed in my, uh, in my
(39:25):
life, sporty pieces can go bothways, like you can easily take a
sporty watch and dress it upand you can also dress it down.
You know, but I've noticed thedressier watches are harder to
to dress down.
Um, and I, I realized I wore, Imean, what would have been the
(39:46):
epitome of a sports watch in the20s.
The Reverso, I wore it withbasketball pants and a t-shirt
to breakfast with my wife and Iwas like, okay, this is a little
different, but nonetheless Irealized it probably on paper
(40:07):
wasn't a good idea, but somehowI got away with it.
Why?
Mitch Katz (40:11):
Okay, this is what we're talking about.
First of all, the fact that ourtendencies, our eyes, go to
different parts of the showcase.
Who cares Really?
Who cares?
Is yours any less valuable thanmine?
No, not at all.
It may be a little moreaffordable, but the fact is that
(40:36):
you know, do you buy threewatches for the same price?
You can buy one.
That's your choice, but you'reenjoying it.
I have not really figured mybrain out to say dressing for
the watch.
I think that is your set andI'm not being critical at all,
(41:00):
but it is your set of parameters.
Yeah, it's like when I went towork, I would wear certain
watches, not because it fit withwhat I was dressing, but I was
concerned that if I bang a watchthat's very fragile or very
valuable, that's going to be anissue.
(41:21):
So that's why I tended towardscertain work watches.
On the other hand, it took me awhile but I started wearing
more expensive, value, preciouswatches to work, when at least I
knew I wasn't going to beconcerned about what might
happen to the watch.
(41:42):
You know, sitting at my desk,answering phone calls, working
on the computer, whatever happento the watch, you know, sitting
at my desk, answering phonecalls, working on the computer,
whatever.
Uh, going to meetings, ohthat's another category of
watches and that is theconference watch.
One should always have aconference watch because I think
, if I was to advise anybody,you go to these meetings, you're
bored out of your gourd, youknow, know tacky to pull out
(42:04):
your phone because you know it'skind of not polite but to look
at a watch and just play withthe watch subtly, people not
going to really know what you'redoing.
It's kind of fun and I haveseveral of those watches and
I've actually come come up withsome ideas during those boring
meetings.
But be that as it may, but asfar as what dresses to the, you
(42:33):
know how you dress for the watch.
That's your parameter.
I think I would argue that 90%of the people out there,
especially those who don't knowmuch about watches, don't care.
If you want to wear a paddock,whatever and work in the garden,
(42:53):
it's fine.
I remember a long time ago Iwas talking to some guy who's a
landscaper, you know, in thelandscaping business, and he
proudly showed me his Breguet.
It was beaten to, oh, but heloved the watch and he wasn't
afraid to wear the watch.
That's awesome.
(43:14):
Yeah, that's what it's aboutwhere the one thing that watches
are made for is to be worn, andthat was brought home to me
even more so when GeorgeDaniel's watch collection went
up for auction.
It was a couple of years afterhe had died, and you look at the
(43:37):
watches that were being put upfor auction and someone would
just beaten their shreds, butyet he and he had warned them.
That's what this is about, andit's that, to me, shows love the
watch has been.
It's been used because of whatit's supposed to be for not to
(43:59):
sit in a safe, not to sit insome closet, but to be worn and
enjoyed and appreciated.
Blake Rea (44:07):
I find myself like well, I guess maybe I'll echo a
question that I get all the timeand I don't know how to answer.
So maybe you will, but how doyou know what watch you're going
to wear when you have so many?
What watch you're?
Mitch Katz (44:26):
going to wear when you have so many?
When I open my eyes in themorning, the first thing off
times, the first thing I thinkabout is what watch am I going
to wear?
Because then it makes gettingdressed easier.
We just talked about dressingfor the watch, whatever.
So it's easy.
(44:47):
You say, okay, what am I puttingon?
Is it going to be a steel watchor a precious metal watch?
Okay, and then what color isthe strap?
Because your belt should matchyour strap and if you're wearing
a certain color belt, you haveto wear shoes.
Now, if you wear the propershoes, now, if the proper shoes
have to go with the right pantsand shirt, otherwise you look
(45:10):
ridiculous.
So I mean I say it a little bittongue-in-cheek, but not
totally but oftentimes,particularly when I was going to
work, the first thing I wouldthink about is what watch was I
wearing?
And I don't wear the same watchtwo days in a row, except on
(45:30):
very rare occasions.
And so, yeah, that that's thefirst thing I think about, and
usually it's.
It's a little bit of a struggleand sometimes I, I, I find
myself with the same thing.
Blake Rea (45:47):
Sometimes I'm so conflicted I don't even wear a
watch, oh God, that's allowed.
Mitch Katz (45:54):
Are you not naked?
Blake Rea (45:56):
I feel naked but I'm like I want to wear this watch,
but I want to wear that one, andsometimes you know, like for
those days, that I don't wear awatch, I wear like three or four
in one day and I'll be allright, cool, like lunchtime, let
me change up my watch.
You know, um, and I have theseweird, these weird phases.
(46:16):
But I also was talking to oneof my colleagues and um, and,
and he had like, uh like adefault where, um, where, like,
if he gets tired of wearing awatch, he will uh like default
back to a watch.
You know like, like a palatecleanser watch, um, and I have a
(46:43):
few of those where I'm like allright, I'm tired of wearing
this, I'm tired of wearing that,I'm tired of wearing this, like
, let me go back to my palatecleanser.
Do you have one of those?
No, or, is it, you don't Okay.
Mitch Katz (46:55):
No, no.
Actually, the struggle I haveis, well, one of the saddest
days of my watch collectingcareer is when we decided we,
meaning my wife and I that wecan no longer keep the watches
in the house, that we have toput them in in a safe, secure
(47:19):
place and, sure, sure, startedusing uh, uh, safe deposit box.
That's where the stress is,because when I go there I want
to bring them all home because Iwant to play with them, I want
to wear them, I don't want tohave to think about it and here
I go, and you can't go thereevery day.
(47:40):
I mean, there have been timeswhere I go every week to
exchange them.
But that's the stress to me,because which watches am I going
to bring home this week or forthe next couple of weeks?
That to me is stress, because Iwant to wear them all.
I don't like that.
That's where they are.
But one has to be responsible.
Blake Rea (48:03):
Yeah, no, I am very fortunate that I have, uh, all
my watches close by, let me saythat, um, and at a moment's
notice I can grab pretty muchany of them.
Uh, and it is.
It is indeed a blessing, forsure, um, but again, I don't
(48:25):
have, you know, the same amountof, uh, high complication.
You know, I I tend to trendinto that.
That middle segment, um, yeah,yeah, I mean, you know a lot of
my friends look at my collection.
They say, holy shit, you know,like, wow, you know, um, and and
so anyways, uh, I'm veryfortunate for that.
(48:47):
Uh, I'm curious.
My dogs are going crazy herefor whatever reason.
Uh, maybe they, uh, they they,they believe you know they, they
are aligning with what you'resaying, um, but do you ever as
as a collector, there's alsolike that grail watch that got
(49:10):
away right, like maybe you saw awatch at auction and you were
bidding and then you said, ohshit, like it's way too much, or
I just don't want to spend thatmuch on this watch, or maybe
one that came in that you let goof.
Or you said you've only let goof a couple watches, but, um, do
(49:30):
you have the one that got away?
Like has has that?
I'm assuming that's happened toyou the the.
Mitch Katz (49:40):
What comes immediately to mind, uh, is
Roger Smith pocket watch numbertwo, the.
I saw it.
I went up to Philips to see itand, man, that thing was
(50:03):
beautiful, absolutely beautiful,and I was on vacation in europe
when it came up for uh auctionand I said I'm gonna bid on it.
I'm just gonna bid on, say Icould bid on it.
So I was with a friend who wasalso in into watches and we were
sitting at a coffee shop and Iwas able to get the auction and
(50:29):
the watch comes up and my fingerwas poised on the bid button
and the price just shot way upand it's like okay, done, not
even going to bother.
Um, and then I subsequently wastalking to somebody who knew
the ultimate buyer.
He said, yeah, that that personwould have kept going going and
(50:49):
that really I knew would nevercome home because it was just it
wasn't even even at a tenth ofthe price.
I couldn't afford it.
But it was just the fun ofbidding on it.
Um, besides that, has anythinggotten away in very early on?
I'm going to turn the questionaround a little bit.
(51:12):
Very early on I had theopportunity to get a Philippe
Defour Simplicity and I writeabout it in the book actually.
And it was at its commerciallyreleased price and I got to the
point of, well, what case do youwant?
What dial do you want?
(51:33):
Yada, yada, yada.
And at the time it was justdidn't pass the sleep test, the
money was too much and I backedout.
Now you could say 15 yearslater, that was a mistake,
should have done it.
(51:53):
And you know what.
I'm fine For very many reasonsI'm fine At that moment in time.
It was more money that I couldjustify to myself, much less my
family.
It was not that important to me.
I wasn't there yet in mysophistication, I wasn't there
(52:14):
yet in my appreciation for whatit was.
And you know I'd look at it andsaid, yeah, it would have been
nice, but and now, certainly,given the extent of the
collection, it would have been anice compliment too.
But I'm okay Because at thatmoment it wasn't right for me
(52:37):
For any one of a number ofreasons.
So you know, regret to me is auseless emotion Because you
can't do anything about it.
Regret to me is a uselessemotion because you can't do
anything about it.
So are there other watches thathave come and gone that I did
not get that.
Maybe I would have liked it.
Maybe there are a few, but Iwould rather turn it.
(52:57):
But for that, look what I dohave and I love what I have and
I appreciate what I have and Ilook forward.
I don't look back.
It just doesn't help.
And again, I've been veryfortunate and very lucky and
some of the pieces areincredibly rare and that, to me,
(53:18):
is enough.
That's's good doesn't mean it'senough to stop, but it's enough
to assuage any potential I wishI had that I don't.
I don't wish I had anything I.
Blake Rea (53:33):
I'm literally like you're.
You're reading the words rightout of my head that I was going
to ask if you have any regretsas a collector.
Mitch Katz (53:44):
No, not really, I can't think of a one.
The decisions made at the timewere made for whatever reason
and that decision was right atthat time for whatever reason.
One watch that was interestingum, I wanted to get when uh,
(54:06):
zenith was releasing their defyuh, I think it was the defy lab,
whatever with the.
Uh, yeah, yeah, extremewhatever lab whatever.
Yeah, I wanted to be one of the10, I was Stream whatever.
Blake Rea (54:20):
Stream Lab whatever.
Mitch Katz (54:22):
I wanted to be one of the 10.
I was really disappointed thatI didn't get one of those and
the AD I was working with andthe rep was working trying to
convince Geneva, really Beaver,to allocate one to me and I was
disappointed about that.
I really was.
Well, as it turns out, thosewatches didn't work and I just
(54:48):
recently read something thatsaid they were all returned
actually, and it's like okay, somaybe I was fortunate.
I didn't get what I wanted toknow.
So sometimes things, if youwill be magical and say things
happen for a reason.
But you know, did I lose sleepover it?
Blake Rea (55:06):
yeah, I was disappointed at the time, but
you move on zenith is a is a uh,a crazy brand because they are
pushing the envelope withintheir own constraints.
Like you look at a watch brandthat has an umbrella, like a
non-independent that has the bigpuppet masters, kind of you
(55:29):
know, doing their things upthere and uh, and, and then I
mean I'm wearing the chronomaster sport, um, but you know
they they do well for withintheir organization that they
have and I was very fortunateenough, uh, in march, uh, march
(55:51):
or january one, I don't know, Idon't remember it was a big blur
um, to go to their factory andto see how they produce watches,
and we actually have a youtubevideo about it.
Um, and to go to the attic andto see how they produce watches
and we actually have a YouTubevideo about it, and to go to the
attic and you know, it's abrand that I hold close to my
heart and, yeah, anyways, thisis one of my favorite brands, if
(56:14):
they have a very strong historyagain.
Mitch Katz (56:19):
I would put them as strong brand underappreciated
totally totally I same thing.
Blake Rea (56:27):
Um, moving a little forward.
Um, you know we talked abouthaving no regrets as a collector
, but do you have that summitmoment?
You know we talked aboutsummoning everest um as a
collector.
What would you consider thatsummit moment for you as a watch
(56:51):
collector?
Like, okay, I've done it, I'veyou know, I've reached.
You know, I've reached what I,I, I, I've accomplished what I
set out to accomplish as a watchcollector.
Mitch Katz (57:04):
That means I, I have .
Again it comes back to do youhave a goal in mind?
And I really don't.
I I, yeah, you can pick certainwatches.
I would love to have another.
Roger Smith, I would love to.
(57:28):
I would love to have a pocketwatch, but not just a pocket
watch.
I would love to have a specialpocket watch.
(57:54):
I don't know, it was about 20years ago, I was him.
What is the right watchcollection?
And he said, without skipping abeat, two Daniels and a pocket
watch.
And I don't know what pocketwatch he was referring to, One
(58:18):
of my.
Again, I said no regrets, butone of my biggest regrets he had
said two Daniels and a pocketwatch and I can give you the
name of somebody on Bond Streetthat can get you a pocket watch.
And I never got the name fromhim.
That to me, is one of thebiggest regrets of my life
(58:39):
because he died soon thereafterand I never got the name of this
dealer sales, whatever.
And that sticks with me and I'mat least 13 years, 14 years
away from that conversation andI really do want a pocket watch
(59:03):
and I do want a pocket watch.
That is of note and I don'teven know what that means.
But to have a Breguet pocketwatch, that would be pretty darn
close to a Summit.
Yeah, that would be pretty darnclose to a summit.
Blake Rea (59:19):
Yeah, I just recently one of my friends has a jewelry
store here in Vegas and she hadasked me to come kind of help
her clean out the safe.
You know, which was a crazymoment where I got to see like
hundreds and hundreds of vintagewatches and during that process
(59:40):
, you know she she was like Iwant to thank you for coming out
and spinning because she, youknow, she's not a big watch
collector like me, but you knowshe was looking to me to advise
her on, on on what she shouldget rid of and what she should
keep and this and that you knowwhat she should sell, should I
say um?
but during that that experience,I, I, I found a vintage
(01:00:05):
regulator pocket watch with abeautiful porcelain dial.
Wow, and it was still running.
Wow and um, I mean, uh, I don'teven know what the I think the
case is, uh, I mean still, Ithink it's like sterling silver
(01:00:25):
or something.
You know they were using silvera lot, a lot more back then
than they are now.
Um, and yeah, I, I've beenmeaning to get it restored.
But also, uh, I love, uh, theutility aspect, because the the
back of it is like a hunterstyle case where the the back
(01:00:46):
folds out and you can use as adesk clock and like um, and, and
you know, of course, like backthen, you know when you opened
it you could easily like servicethe movement or regulate it or
whatever.
Um, and, and I need to get itrestored and I have it.
Mitch Katz (01:01:03):
It's beautiful actually I was talking to a
friend of mine, a couple ofpeople I know, I, I think from
the collector side, I thinkpocket watches are
underappreciated, veryunderappreciated and, quite
frankly, except for the andquite frankly, except for the
extreme, like a Breguet, you canget them at a reasonable cost.
(01:01:25):
If you compare apples to apples, you know apples to different
vintage apples.
As far as wristwatches, there'sa certain allure that I don't
know.
I'm afraid of them only becauseI see it as another rabbit hole
.
It is, but I think there's somevery exquisitely beautiful
(01:01:50):
pieces out there.
I'm not talking about the Smithno 2, which is incredible.
It was magnificent, I mean,there's just no words can
describe it.
But I'm just saying that thewatches back from the 1800s and
maybe even a little earlier,they're just exquisite and,
(01:02:12):
quite frankly, if one isfortunate to go to the Paddock
Museum and see their collection,nothing new, there's very
little new in the world ofwatches.
Now that hasn't been done inpocket watches.
It is a different size, ofcourse, and the micro mechanics
are different, but they're thesame, but they have been
(01:02:33):
minimized.
But there's some impressivepieces out there, and that will
be fun.
Blake Rea (01:02:41):
I was at the museum in January.
It was January or Marchwhenever I was in a factory and
I also went to Beauvais and Igot a YouTube video coming out
for Beauvais, the Beauvaisfactory Phenomenal.
But you know, as I went to theP the patek museum, I, I, I was
(01:03:02):
literally coming there for thelast hour and you know they have
like the, the listening tourand all this shit you can buy
and all, and I didn't.
Mitch Katz (01:03:08):
I didn't, I didn't do that, but as I was walking
around and I was looking at, youknow, their I mean some of
their like enamel dial stuff, Imean, is insane, insane it's
crazy and I'm not a paddockcollector, but I have incredible
respect for that museum and Iwill tell you and the people
(01:03:32):
might be watching that my wifehas very little interest in
watches.
She has an appreciation.
Now, after 25 years.
She's got a little bit of it,but we spent three hours there
and she was engaged, as was I.
So you don't have to have adeep appreciation, understanding
(01:03:57):
or knowledge about watches toreally appreciate the artistry
and everything they were able toaccomplish over the years,
particularly on the floor thatgoes through their history.
It is unbelievable and I wasreally impressed.
I thought my wife would bethere.
It's time to go.
Blake Rea (01:04:17):
Let's go depending on when you went because I went
last year they they have uhdifferent stories for different
like eras and um, and yeah, Imean it's crazy just to start
off, like at the early days, andas you go up, you know you see
(01:04:37):
the more modern watches, um, andand as I was going through, uh,
I was, there was one littlenugget because, like I said, I
did not pay, I didn't, I don'tthink I had time or whatever.
I don't know if it was like aguided tour.
I think it was a guided tourwhere they offered the little
headsets or whatever.
Yeah, um, but I was walkingpast like a tour group and I
(01:05:03):
eavesdropped for like half asecond and it was probably the,
the most memorable second of mylife, because the tour guide
said at the time, paddock wasfocused on making the smallest
possible watch movement known toman.
Because if you can make thesmallest of something, then like
(01:05:29):
you're like the, the, the mostuh respected master, right, like
that was their philosophy.
Okay, if we can make thesmallest, most complicated watch
movement, like we will be thebest.
And I was like shit, like neverthought about that.
You know, it was a cool momentand uh, and then, of course they
(01:05:54):
had the movement there you knowwhat?
they made.
I mean it was teeny tiny.
I mean like like and and youwould see it now and and like a
Blancpain, like, like cocktailwatch or something like a lady's
cocktail watch, but just the itwasn't smaller than the
reversal of one-on-one caliberone-on-one from JLC.
(01:06:15):
Uh, I mean it was.
I mean maybe like three or fourtic tacs, so the the 101 is
actually smaller, oh wow.
But I always developed in the20s or something like that yeah,
I think this was on like maybelike the like the late 1800s, um
(01:06:42):
, but I mean it was kind of cool.
I mean they literally had likea little magnifier that you know
, blow it up so you can actuallysee what the hell and the
decoration you know, like, whothought to decorate like a
little tic tac, you know like tome.
I thought about those peoplelike, who like in.
Have you ever seen the littlepeople that engrave rice like
(01:07:02):
they?
Yeah, I, I thought about that.
Like who the hell would thinkto do some shit like that?
Mitch Katz (01:07:09):
well, it ain't me yeah I have proven I cannot do
that kind of micro decoration oreven work on a watch I get a
headache the second I start.
Blake Rea (01:07:21):
I I go to these watchmaking courses and I went
to one for j.
I actually went to one for you,least nard on where I got to
take apart the freak bridge andthen, um, I did one for you, uh,
for jlc, where I got to kind oflike, like completely take
apart the reverso movement andrebuild it, um, and they showed
how it kind of worked, you knowon both sides, um, but you know,
(01:07:42):
very shortly into thoseexperiences I'm like I already
have a headache and I'mfrustrated well, I have the
distinct honor and pleasure ofmaybe being the only one in a
jlc master class to not lose ascrew.
Mitch Katz (01:08:01):
I mean, that's commonplace.
I popped the jewel, really.
Yeah, I sent the jewel flyingand the master watchmaker this
was actually in Le Sentier hewas not pleased with me, but I
still got my certificate.
I mean that just shows you howmeaningful that thing is.
But I am so proud of the factthat I popped the jewel, I sent
(01:08:24):
it flying across the room.
Blake Rea (01:08:28):
Beat that.
I think this brings a good kindof like segue to.
Not only are you writing youryou know, on my hands book, but
you are writing a fiction book,right, and you told me about
that.
(01:08:48):
And I specifically say that forthe end of our discussion
because we are, you know,approaching over an hour now of
just straight nuggets, uh, and Ican't wait to get the feedback
from the collectors.
You know cause we've alwayswanted to get a collector on,
you know.
We've always, we've beenwaiting for a moment like this,
(01:09:08):
because every collector has adifferent perspective, you know,
and and yours is is exceptional.
But tell us about your secondbook, please, and thank you.
Mitch Katz (01:09:26):
The when I was starting to write this first
book, I was communicating with afriend of mine who actually
lives in the UK and we readsimilar books and he he was very
complimentary oh, you know,you're doing something fun, uh.
And he said you should write amystery book, a murder mystery
involving watches.
I said, okay, that's great.
(01:09:47):
Around the same time, awatchmaker who found out I was
writing this book said I shouldwrite a book about my customers,
my collectors, and I said tohim name will not be spoken.
That's a really bad ideabecause you writing about your
(01:10:12):
collectors, knowing this guy, itwould not go well.
So I put that aside.
But this thing about murdermysteries, like yeah, that's
interesting.
And a year ago on Mother's Day,I was going out with my wife
and as we were crossing thestreet I looked at her and I
said I've got a plot.
(01:10:33):
I understand the plot and shesaid what I said, I got it.
So we went and sat down at barand I'm telling her a little bit
about the plot we're kind ofproblem solving a little bit of
it and basically got the nuggetand then mid-dinner I said I've
got an idea for another book.
(01:10:54):
This one's a matching collectorand watchmaker.
That's a project for the future, but the basis of the book was
the following In the early 2000sthere was a watchmaker who came
from Hungary and set up abusiness in upstate New York, I
(01:11:17):
believe, called the BudapestWatch Company and he developed a
watch movement that wasperpetual in the sense of much
like the Atmos clock has powerdue to the expansion and
contraction of a gas in itsbellows.
(01:11:40):
In the Atmos clock he took twopieces of metal and I actually
have his patent.
He took two metals, put themtogether and they had different
heating points and so whenthere's a change in temperature
the metals expand and contractdifferently and by virtue of
(01:12:02):
that movement wound themainspring and he claimed that
he had on his workbench amovement that had been running
for more than a month perfectlywithout being touched for more
than a month perfectly withoutbeing touched, and he was going
to case it and sell it for agazunga amount of money.
(01:12:25):
But then he died, and ofnatural causes, whatever, and
nothing ever came of it.
His estate buried it.
I don't know why.
I don't know what happened, butit never came to fruition.
I suspect I know why.
I have a theory let's put itthat way why it never got
(01:12:49):
marketed, but I'm not going totell you because it's part of
the book.
So I said, okay, what wouldwatch companies do if this watch
movement was real and was beingdeveloped and what would happen
around that?
That's the basis of the book.
(01:13:09):
And I started writing it and Iwas having a blast.
I mean, I could kill people.
I don't get arrested.
I mean I have a body count inthis book of five and it was fun
.
So that book is actually done.
I still have some, I think,work to do on it, but it's out
(01:13:30):
with a couple of friends to readit to make sure the story makes
sense.
I think there's some weakpoints that need to be
strengthened and then, whenwe're done with all the
rigmarole over this first book,then I'm going to start working
with this editor and we're goingto put that out there
ultimately, but in the interim,I've started another book
(01:13:53):
because I'm having so much funand it's again involving watches
, and this one's a little bitmore dealing with the marketing
of watches and the in not somuch the industry, but the uh,
uh, no, let's just leave it atthat.
Um, and I don't want to giveaway too much.
I'm 68 pages into it and I kindof know who the bad guy is, and
(01:14:20):
I already have a body count offive, and so I'm deciding who
else I want to knock off for thesake of the story.
It's fun, it's great.
You do get a little bit caughtup in it.
For the first murder mystery, Icame to a point I needed the
name of somebody and I chose thename of the woman who comes to
(01:14:43):
clean our house.
And I got to a point in thebook where she's such a sweet
lady she's been with us for 20years and I had to decide
whether I was going to kill heror not, and I just couldn't.
I couldn't kill her, I justcouldn't do it.
I couldn't to kill her or not,and I just couldn't.
I couldn't kill her, I justcouldn't do it.
I couldn't look at her faceevery week and say I just killed
(01:15:04):
you she's, and now she's arecurrent minor character.
But she's a recurrent characterbecause what I'm building is a
recurrent series with similar,with same characters.
Blake Rea (01:15:18):
Amazing, yeah, I mean um with similar, with same
characters.
Mitch Katz (01:15:28):
amazing, yeah, I mean um another, another,
another great book for us tolook out for.
Um.
The working title is time forsale, so I'm gonna do the time
series.
Blake Rea (01:15:35):
I have a, a title for the next one, I think the next
murder mystery yeah, I mean, I'massuming, uh you're, we're
going to be able to get allthese books online on amazon.
Mitch Katz (01:15:49):
Barnes and noble, tell us how we can buy these
books the books are available onevery platform on the internet,
okay, um, most common being, ofcourse, amazon, but uh, barnes
and Noble online, everything thebooks available, uh across the
(01:16:11):
board.
It's exciting, it's fun and Ihope my, my biggest audience
appreciates it, that being mysons.
Blake Rea (01:16:24):
Yeah, I know I'll enjoy it for sure and I can't
wait to get hands on andeverybody, if you're listening,
you can go on Amazon right nowand pick up the copy, digital
paper, whatever of Time on myHands the book Mr Mitch here
(01:16:46):
wrote for all of us ascollectors.
And is there anything?
You know we're coming here tothe end here almost a short
feature film here that we'vewe've done with you.
Um, we turn over our platformto our guests.
So, uh, we've went through alot, we've covered a lot.
(01:17:07):
Is there anything you did notfeel like, you did not get a
chance to say or cover?
Because here is your time yourtime, without being repetitive?
Mitch Katz (01:17:25):
I don't think so.
I mean to me if I'm going to bea prophet, kind of over the top
, but if my wish is to fosterthe enjoyment of something that
I love, and whether it is anApple Watch or a Swatch Watch or
(01:17:53):
whatever, I hope that peopleenjoy the sensation, the fun of
putting something on their wristevery day and, in time, maybe
make it to mechanical watchesand appreciate the intensity,
(01:18:15):
the micro mechanics, themicro-mechanics, what these
watchmakers go through toproduce these miraculous devices
that operate in such tinytolerances.
There are a lot of car guys outthere and they are just so
fantastic about it, as it wasexplained to me.
(01:18:37):
When you're talking about awatch, I'm sorry when you're
talking about a car and the carengines, the tolerances that you
are excited about are the widthof a penny.
Okay, the tolerances that awatchmaker is dealing with is
(01:18:58):
less than the width of a hair,and yet they get these devices
to work with such perfection,day in and day out.
A car most cars are built tolast eight years, something like
that.
Watches are built to work forcenturies.
(01:19:21):
Think about that, the artistry,the mechanics.
They are there for way beyondour time on this mortal coil and
that is phenomenal andappreciate them for who they are
and what these pieces represent.
(01:19:42):
If one person could hear thatmessage, I've done my thing.
Blake Rea (01:19:49):
And conveniently, you can wear a watch from the
moment that you wake up to themoment that you go to bed.
Mitch Katz (01:19:56):
You go to sleep with zero effort up till the moment
that you go asleep with zeroeffort.
And where I live there are alot of high-performance cars.
I don't get it.
Okay, they get to the nexttraffic light first, you won.
And how often can you put ahigh-performance car to the test
(01:20:19):
of what they truly are builtfor?
Watches, from the minute youput it on to the minute you take
it off and beyond, arefunctioning at the maximum
capability of what they werebuilt to do.
It's a different world.
Blake Rea (01:20:36):
I can say with certainty like all of us, I get
tired of driving, I us, I gettired of driving, I will, I will
never get tired of wearingwatches likewise thank you so
much for joining us.
Uh, I've enjoyed this very much.
I hope that everybody out therelistening took a lot of value
(01:20:58):
in what mitch said.
Um, we are certainly going tolink his book again, time on my
hands a collector's journey inthe world of watches, by mr
mitch katz sitting in front ofus.
Make sure you go out and buythis book, because I think this
is going to be a uniqueperspective on what it's like to
(01:21:20):
collect watches from a very,very, very seasoned collector.
Um, thank you so much, mitch.
Uh, you're gonna have to to getus a signed copy you have to get
us a signed copy for, for, uh,for my collection, my collection
, and next time I'm your way, Iwill certainly make a plan to
(01:21:46):
come see you, which is not goingto be too long from now.
Mitch Katz (01:21:50):
I look forward to it and I wish everybody just keep
watching keep watching.
Blake Rea (01:21:57):
Thank you so much, mitch, and we will see you,
listeners, on the next episode.
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of
Lonely Wrist.
Sitting in front of me is myfriend Mitch Katz, the author of
Time on my Hand, a Collector'sJourney in the World of Watches.
Welcome to the episode, mitch.
How you doing, blake?
I'm surviving, I'm surviving.
(00:21):
I think that's what mostcollectors will say these days.
First of all, congratulationson the release of the book.
I look forward to reading it.
Tell us how you started watchcollecting and tell us how you
(00:43):
got to where you are here torelease a book.
Mitch Katz (00:48):
Watch collecting started with my dad, in the
sense that he was an ultimatecollector.
He collected stamps, so hedeveloped the collector gene and
passed it on to me and I havein turn passed it on to my son,
(01:11):
my sons and, sadly, when he died, passed a little bit of money
to me and I wanted something,something to memorialize him by.
And you know I'm not a car guy.
My kid's college education wascovered.
I have a house and we weredriving around one day and I
(01:36):
said to my wife I want somethingmore permanent to memorialize
my dad and I just said I want tobuy a watch.
So went to this watch store Ihad purchased some watches in
the past from and I was rootingaround and came to a Maurice
(01:57):
Lacroix masterpiece Annuaire andlooked at it and it was at the
time spoke to me and I said yeah, I'd like this watch, but geez,
it's a lot of money.
Got the nervous shakes and thesweaty upper lip and I walked
(02:19):
outside of the store, called afriend of mine who I knew knew
something about watches and wetalked about it.
He said yeah, it's a good watch, it's worth the money.
It's a lot of money, man.
And I said yeah.
He said you know, do it.
And so I brought it home andthere was the hook.
(02:42):
And then a couple weeks laterwe went away.
My wife and I went away to SantaBarbara to celebrate our
anniversary and we were walkingdown State Street and came upon
a magazine stand and there wasthis magazine called Watch Time.
Terry Staubach was on the coverand I got it.
(03:04):
I bought it and brought it backto the hotel and I read it from
cover the cover.
And I got it.
I bought it and brought it backto the hotel and I read it from
cover to cover, and somewherein there there was a reference
to the fact that watches have anoil reservoir.
It's like, say what?
And I can remember coming homeafter the weekend and dashing
(03:25):
into one of my son's bedroomsand I said guess this, get this.
Watches have oil reservoirs.
Can you believe this?
And he looked at me like I hadlost my mind, which I probably
already had.
The hook was now implanted anda gentle tug came and the rest,
(03:47):
as they say, is history.
Blake Rea (03:55):
And I went down that rabbit hole hard and fast and
haven't looked up since theirony, considering the listeners
are listening to this podcastright now and they just probably
got done listening to the ceoof maurice lacroix uh, that just
came on, so there is some ironythere.
Uh, and I'm curious, and that'san interesting story on on how
(04:18):
you got into watches, butobviously with the release on
your book, tell us what inspiredyou to write a book about watch
collecting, because it doesn'tseem like the most common thing
for a watch collector to do, butit is, I think, interesting how
(04:38):
you got here.
Mitch Katz (04:41):
Again, it all lands on my sons.
I have been extraordinarilyfortunate.
Again it all lands on my sons.
I have been extraordinarilyfortunate and I say that with
all due modesty and appreciationfor what I have been given
during my collecting journey.
But I was talking to my sonsindividually and I said you know
(05:04):
, this is a watch collection nowand you need to know something
about it.
And they both said, well, yeah,we know some of your watches,
we know some names, but we don'treally know what you have.
I said, okay that.
So I sat down one night and Iwrote a spreadsheet and with all
(05:28):
clarity, I put in the name ofthe watches and some valuation
and some resources that theycould always check into if they
need be.
And I realized I sent it tothem and I realized this is not
what it's about.
The watches are not about namesand numbers and value.
(05:53):
It's about what each watchrepresented to me, the stories
behind them, why I obtained them, how I obtained them, why they
still sit in the bank or sit onmy wrist.
It's more the story and the joythat they represent.
(06:16):
And I said, yeah, this isnothing.
I've got to tell them the storyof these watches so they have
better appreciation of what thewatches are and what they mean
to me and we are fortunate tohave an art collection.
It's the same thing when I lookat a painting or when I look at
(06:39):
a watch.
It's the stories they evoke,the history, the adventures that
we had in obtaining them.
Having obtained them, therelationships that developed
subsequently with the watchmaker, the artist, what have you.
And that's what made something,made it important to me to put
(06:59):
that down in some sort ofliterary form.
Uh, in some sort of literaryform.
And as I approached retirement,uh, I knew it was coming and I
said, okay, it's a good time towrite this book.
And I started making notes andit just flowed.
I had the once I retired.
(07:19):
I wrote the first version inthree months.
Wow, and it's because I justregurgitated into the computer.
It was that easy, Of course.
Then it came to the editing andfleshing stories out.
But between my memory, thepictures my wife showed me, the
(07:50):
memories she reminded me of, itwas an easy work of love, quite
frankly, and it was just sowonderful to revisit those times
as if they were just yesterday.
Blake Rea (07:59):
Yeah, that's.
You know something thatwhenever you talked about how it
regurgitated if I were to dothe same thing I don't even know
if I could do it, because everytime I look at one of the
watches in my collection um, Ihave just over 150 watches
myself um, just a storm ofemotions comes over me, like, oh
(08:21):
, I remember when I was inturkey and I was wearing this
watch and I got lost in thegrand bazaar and I was looking
for my wife and she was lost.
We were trying to find eachother.
You know, like, um, and alsosubsequently, um, the bad
moments.
I know this sounds weird, but,um, somebody asked me recently,
like what I think, like why Iwatch, collect.
(08:43):
And I think it's becausewatches are time capsules,
literally and non-literally,where they tell you the future
but they also store the past.
And um, and to me, I thinkabout all the weird ups and
downs of life that have beenthrough every single watch.
And, uh, and I just don't even,I don't even know how you could
(09:06):
simplify that.
You know, I don't know how youcould spill that out, you know,
because I could talk for yearsabout one watch if my wife was
like, oh, what's important aboutthis watch to you.
Mitch Katz (09:17):
You know, I would just go on forever well, it gets
a little easier when you knowthat you can't write 500,000
words.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally, andnobody wants to hear those
500,000 words or read them.
But you know how you do it,blake, you just sit down and you
(09:39):
write the first page.
Blake Rea (09:42):
I'm assuming the first page leads to the second
page.
Mitch Katz (09:46):
Exactly, and that's what I found.
I found that when I started thefirst page the day after I
retired, the day after I droppedthe mic, I sat down and I wrote
three pages and then it justcame.
And then I try to connect thewatches in some sort of
(10:07):
illogical, logical fashion thatone watch led to another, even
though they may be totallydistinctly different.
And it was fun.
It was a lot of fun.
Oh, that's why I got this watch, because it connected to the
one previous to that, or onethree down the line.
It was fun and really I'm not aself-promoter.
(10:33):
I did this because A I wantpeople to understand that it's
more than a commodity.
I want people to feel like theyhave their own story.
And when I was thinking abouteven doing this, I realized
there are plenty of books thathave stories about watches,
(10:54):
pictures about watches, storiesabout watchmakers, about watch
companies, but there's very few,very few books that approach it
from the collector.
And, if anything, I want peopleto feel free to make the
choices they want to make andenjoy their choices, rather than
(11:16):
having somebody tell them whatthey should have or what
A-lister is wearing this.
So I've got to have it Now, ifthat's how you want to approach
this.
That's fine, it's absolutelyfine, and you know.
All power to them.
That's not what I want to doand it's not how I've grown into
this passion and it's workedfor me for 25 years.
Blake Rea (11:41):
We, our listeners, are kind of very broad spectrum
in their collecting journey.
We have a lot of people that arejust enthusiasts I don't even
know if I'd use the wordcollectors anymore Like we have
a watch club here in Vegas andit's a citizen and you're
passionate about horology likeyou're welcome.
(12:06):
Also, if you have, you know, 150Rolexes and Pateks, like you're
also welcome, you know.
But people do get lost in thehype, you know, and every
collector I've met has like andyou may or may not, but as a
(12:27):
collector I evolve every time Iacquire a new watch, like what I
consider to be collectible andhow I bring new watches into my
collection changes every singlewatch I bring into the
collection, um, but also I learna little bit more about myself
every time I bring a new watchin, you know, because I'm like,
(12:48):
oh, you know, I'm outexperiencing the world and I'm
like, you know, I need a watchthat I can wear in the middle of
uzbekistan, uh, where I have noidea where I am and nobody
knows what I'm wearing, and Ifeel comfortable wearing a watch
like that, you know, versushere in Vegas where I'm walking
down the strip with the Rolex,you know, and everybody else has
(13:10):
a Rolex.
You know, I try and look forsituations that I can bring a
watch into.
Mitch Katz (13:18):
I know exactly what you talk about.
What you're talking about.
In fact, in the book I writeabout just that when I was
working, I had certain classesof watches watches that I would
go do when I was being veryactive at work, other watches
(13:39):
where I was just going to besitting at my desk evening
watches, weekend watches,weekend warrior watches, that
kind of category.
I did categorize them and if Iwas looking at another watch I'd
say, okay, what category doesthat fit into?
Then, when I retired, what Idid not expect is that I had to
(14:02):
reclassify all my watches,because the tool watches that I
would wear at work when I wasactive and I didn't want to have
to worry about if I dinged thema little whatever, I didn't
have to think about that anymore.
So how do I classify the watch?
So I'm sure to be wearing thewatch on some degree of
(14:25):
regularity.
Now, fortunately, watches donot have personalities, they do
not have feelings and they willnot be hurt or bothered if you
were wearing the watch on a moreregular basis when working and
now less often.
Luckily, I have not had to givetherapy to the watches, but
(14:46):
still I like to wear it.
When I wear a watch, it's.
I haven't worn this watch in awhile.
I want to wear it.
It's fun.
Every watch I have, I wear, someto a greater extent than others
, because of specialness of thewatch or what have you.
I have my reasons, but, and toyour point, if I'm traveling,
(15:11):
I'm going to take certainwatches, whereas I'm not going
to take others for reasons Idon't want to A lose them or, b
I don't want anything to happento them.
Exactly, in fact, the cover ofthe um has a bunch of my watches
photographed.
Uh, we did that to mimicanother picture that had been
(15:33):
taken in the past and it just sohappened, and not by plan or
anything.
That almost dead center is thisyellow dialed Ulysse Nardin GMT
plus minus that my family callsthe goofy watch.
Why is it called the goofywatch?
Because it's yellow.
(15:55):
And of all the watches I own, myolder son has told me that's
the watch I want.
I said why?
I mean, you have so many otherchoices?
He said that's the watch youwear whenever you travel, which
is true.
That is my traveling watchbecause it's robust, it takes a
(16:15):
beating and keeps on ticking,but he is associated with that
and that's important to him, andthat's what this is all about.
What do those watches mean inthe more global sense than just
telling time?
Blake Rea (16:33):
And it seems like from our previous discussion,
like Ulysse, Nardin is a brandthat holds a very special place
in your heart.
I think you told me you have somany.
I don't want to put numbers outunless you're willing to do so,
but what is it about youleasing art on and it could be
(16:57):
another brand you know like?
Would you say that yougravitate towards you in more
than other brands?
Mitch Katz (17:02):
or gravitate towards you in more than other brands,
or uh, my journey has beenvaried.
Um, interests are wax and theywane.
Uh, in the 2000s and earlyteens, I think Ulysse Nardin was
(17:27):
, and can still be, at theforefront of technological
advancement.
I mean, rolf empowered his teamto develop the first watch that
used silicium, to develop thefirst watch that used silicium,
the very first watch.
And now how many brands includesilicium in their watches?
(17:51):
Most, I mean, there is stilldebate amongst watchmakers.
Is that a good thing or a badthing?
What about 100 years from now?
(18:18):
Regardless, he was brave enough,entrepreneurial enough,
interested enough and just crazyenough to say let's take this
new substance and we can use itin a way that makes sense in a
watch.
The simple GMT plus minus thegoofy watch is probably the most
user-friendly travel watch inthe market.
It's underappreciated,no-transcript, just such an easy
(18:44):
watch to use and easy watch totravel watch with, because it
tells you everything you need toknow.
And I could go on about thedifferent models and why I think
they're the best of class.
Even now, even though it's 10,12 years later, they're still
best in class.
What I'm wearing today is oneof the trilogy that, to me are
(19:10):
just insane.
They're probably the one watchthe set of watches that scare me
the most, because trying to setthem is just a challenge.
A long and song.
Blake Rea (19:22):
Is that what you're wearing?
Mitch Katz (19:24):
no, no, no.
The trilogy of ulysse nardin oh, oh, oh, okay.
Blake Rea (19:27):
Okay, I thought you meant like the okay, like the
holy trilogy yeah, sorry, yeahno, no go ahead.
Oh, I was just gonna say, um,I'm a huge fan of un and I've
done events with them and I'vehad the chance to to sit down
with leadership and you know,they've I'm drinking the cool,
(19:48):
I'm drinking the un kool-aid,you know totally.
and um, and yeah, you know, I,when they released the freak ass
nomad um from watches andwonders this past year, like I
was insanely surprised.
And before they released it, fxand I were here in Vegas and we
(20:12):
were just kind of like walkingaround boutiques and I said oh,
what are you guys working on forWatches and Wonders?
Give me something.
And he said we're releasing onewatch.
And I was like what you know,because usually people are like
you, look at other brandsthey're releasing like six,
seven, eight different piecesand they're kind of flushing out
(20:35):
their collection.
And he said, no, no, we're doingthe exact opposite.
We're releasing one watch.
And I was like, okay, thatseems a little weird, we're
releasing one watch.
And I was like, okay, thatseems a little weird.
And anyways come, you know,watches and Wonders.
When I saw the watch, I wasjust like mesmerized at how cool
(20:59):
it is and just the wholemarketing behind it and it had
like a little like UAV, likeflying through the clouds and
like, um, you know, we wrote anarticle about it and uh, and
yeah, yeah.
And then they, uh, when ourlast event we did with you and
(21:19):
which was, I mean, last month,maybe a month and a half ago, um
, we got to see the new uhwatches of switzerland edition
of the freak ass nomad, whichhas a I think it's like a
crystallinium dial.
Have you seen that?
Yeah, yeah, insane not inperson insane.
(21:40):
Yeah, I got a chance to see ituh, secretly, you know, they
snuck me in the back room andthey said, hey, like, take a
look at this, like what do youthink?
Mitch Katz (21:48):
and you know, one of the most beautiful like dials I
have ever seen and I'm hopingthat speaks for a rebirth, if
you will, of the company nowthat it's under different
leadership.
Blake Rea (22:06):
Yeah, and I really hope they, they find their way
again bring back independentwatchmakers exactly and people
who get the idea that it's okayto be a little bit nuts and a
little bit experimental in whatthey're willing to do I mean, I
(22:28):
think modern generations respondreally well to that, like, if
you look at somebody who walksthe line between sane and crazy,
those are the people that areinfluential for the next decade,
you know.
And you look at celebritiesthat dress like cross-dressing,
you know like, or whatever youknow you.
You look at celebrities thatdress like cross-dressing, you
know like, or whatever you know.
(22:49):
You just look at people thatare like, like, like
heterosexual people that arelike, wearing nail polish and,
you know, have long hair andjust I mean, um, you know, 20
years ago they would be lookedat very weird in a weird way.
Mitch Katz (23:05):
Well, understood, and that's where the
independents come in yeah I mean, they have the ability to be on
the cutting edge or to be alittle crazy because they don't
have shareholders.
Yeah, yeah, I look to them andhave done a lot of work with
(23:29):
them because they're on the edgeor they can be on the edge.
Some are very, very classical.
Others just push the edge andjust go out into total weirdness
, which is necessary.
Now, some of them may not be tomy liking or something I would
(23:53):
not want to wear on my wrist,but that doesn't mean that
there's not a role for them.
It's a role to push the morestaid companies in a direction
that the collector, the consumer, consumer is interested in
going to yeah, no, I, um, Ialign very perfectly with you in
(24:17):
that regard.
Blake Rea (24:19):
Um, I'm curious to get your take.
So, as a watch collector, doyou have rules that you impose
on yourself before you bring anew watch into your collection?
You know, how do you decide, uh, like, what to bring in.
And I mean, another question issometimes I hear people that
don't ever get rid of a watch.
(24:40):
So do you, uh one?
Do you?
Do you flush out yourcollection?
Um, or you know, if yes, like,how do you one do you flush out
your collection?
Or you know, if yes, like, howdo you decide what to do?
Mitch Katz (24:53):
And then, before you bring a new watch in, what do
you consider?
The second question first, haveI flushed out my collection?
I have gone on two cullingexpeditions.
The first one was easy, becauseI realized there were several
(25:13):
watches I just didn't want Nowwe're not talking huge numbers
here, we're talking about youand I comfortably parted with
them and interestingly, it'sdebatable whether this was a
brilliant idea.
I included in it was my firstwatch.
I called it, not the magazinebut the watch.
(25:35):
I still sometimes think aboutit just because of what it
represented, but it just didn'tmean much to me at that point.
And the second time I called,called, I couldn't do it.
I actually had a friend comefriend who knows about watches
and he looked at the collection.
He knew what I had and wediscussed certain pieces that
(25:58):
just didn't fit and um.
So we put several of them upfor sale and fortunately one
didn't sell because my wifeactually really liked the watch
and she now wears it.
And maybe there's one watchthere that I'm a little bit
(26:23):
sorry I sold, although it didn'tsuit my OCD tendencies.
It was just hard to set andhard to maintain.
But in retrospect I think thefew watches I've parted with I'm
okay with and haven't sought toregain them, which I know some
(26:46):
people do and I enjoy what Ihave, but for the most part I I
buy it a whole.
Now to the first question how doI determine what comes into the
collection?
Well, it's the old saying, youhave to kiss a lot of frogs to
find the Prince, and I've kisseda lot of frogs.
(27:07):
By that I mean I've looked andyou go around.
There's very few watch stores.
I will walk by and not go in tolook at the watches, and it
could be high end, low end, itdoesn't matter.
And then over time you decideon your own eye, your own
(27:32):
interest and really what fits myvision.
Do I have a plan going in?
No, can I vocalize why?
One watch versus another?
Maybe, but really not reallyit's like what appeals to me.
(27:55):
Let me give you a story.
As I said, we have a bit of anart collection and we had a
space right where I'm sitting,where I was looking for a
painting to put up on the wall,where I'm sitting, where I was
looking for a painting to put upon the wall.
Now, we don't buy art to fillspaces, but rather we find
spaces for the art we purchase.
But you know, we had a spaceand there was an artist, a
(28:17):
particular artist, that wereally liked.
We had several small pieces bythis artist and wanted to get a
more substantial piece by thisartist and wanted to get a more
substantial piece, and thegallerist that we work with
often let me know that he had apiece.
So we went down and reallyliked the piece, brought it home
and put it on the floor next tomy desk and so it stood there
(28:47):
for about two weeks, couldn'tput it up on the wall and if you
ask me, why't tell you?
To this day I can't tell you.
And eventually I said to mywife, I said I can't put it up.
And she said I know.
I said I like it, I really likeit, but I just I just can't put
it up there.
So we said, okay, let's bringit.
So we brought it back to thegallery and we're friends with
(29:09):
the owner and he said you know Ican't do it.
And he said that's fine, that'sfine, just bring it back, we're
good.
And he was standing there andthis is how long ago this
occurred.
He was flipping throughtransparencies Because that's
how they showed art at that timeand I I spied something, one of
(29:30):
the transparencies.
I said, hang on a second, whois that?
And he showed me transparency.
I knew the artist and I saidwhere is that painting?
And he said, oh, it's in theback.
I said can I go see it?
He said, yeah, sure go.
And I went in.
I was all alone.
My wife was talking to him.
I walked in and I saw thepainting and I literally had to
(29:55):
sit down.
I was so overwhelmed by it.
Within a minute, two minutes, Iwas committed to that painting.
It sits on my wall now and tothis day I love this thing.
And if you ask me why?
Because it's very minimalist,it's very abstract.
If you ask me why I love thispiece of art, I can't tell you,
(30:17):
but I have an emotionalconnection to that, which I
don't have with that, I didn'thave with that other piece and I
can't explain to you.
It is not a rational thought.
And the same thing has come witha lot of the watches.
Why do I connect with thatwatch versus other watches?
I don't know sometimes.
(30:38):
Sometimes it's obvious thetechnology, the artistry, the
finishing.
Okay, there are some reasons,but why one watch versus another
watch?
It's my eye, and that's what Iwish for other people is to
trust your own eye, trust yourown heart and say this is what
(30:58):
appeals to me.
It doesn't have to appeal toanybody else, but it appeals to
me Because, ultimately, that'sgoing to be on your wrist,
that's going to be with you,that is your child now, and
enjoy it for what it is.
All too many times, people willcome up to me and show me a
watch and I say well, you know,I know it's not anything that
you would ever want or somethinglike that.
(31:20):
And it's like well, well, tellme, tell me, tell me, do you
like that watch?
Yeah, do you really like thatwatch?
Yeah.
Do you really like that watch?
Yeah.
So what's the problem here?
There is no problem.
It's giving you what it isintended to give, and that is
joy.
And it doesn't matter if it's aCasio or a Swatch watch or a
(31:43):
Patek or whatever.
Blake Rea (31:45):
If it gives you joy, that's the right watch for you.
Yeah, if it gives you joy,that's the right watch for you.
Yeah, I mean everybody.
I wish I had an alarm bell tosound off because I mean that is
the most important thing here.
I find myself as a collector,trying to not be a collector,
(32:08):
and I know that sounds reallyweird.
But you know, like for like forme, right, I've tried to map
out my collection, like I, Ihave the chrono 24, like wish
list and this and that, and I, Itell myself and I tell my
friends and I tell somehow willget that watch and I won't be
(32:33):
done.
So I I actively try to stopcollecting, but I can't.
So it poses the question as acollector, do you ever really
feel like you're done collectingum or uh?
Mitch Katz (32:52):
I just um, I cannot.
The reason I I just laughed isbecause I cannot tell you how
often I hear my friends say thisthey couldn't been collecting
for 40 years.
I'm done, I am absolutely done,this is it, I'm done.
And you walk in the next timeyou see them hey, what do you
got?
Oh, yeah, I just picked this up.
Yeah, okay.
(33:14):
So you know, I call crap onpeople who say they're done
because you're never done.
You're really not.
It's rare.
I'm not saying it's neverhappened, but it's rare.
When I got the trilogy, the UNtrilogy, I said that's my grail
and I said I'm done.
(33:34):
Well, that didn't happen.
Then, when I got my carry, Ilooked at it and I said you know
, the finishing is so incredible, the dial is so beautiful.
How did we go from there?
I ain't done.
I mean, why am I kidding myselfand why are we all kidding?
It's just, it's there and itcould be.
(33:56):
Sometimes it's a relativelyinexpensive piece and sometimes
it's a more costly piece.
But it's like you're just notdone, done and you can justify
them all to you.
And if every piece gives joy,how can you deny that?
Face it, it's an addiction.
You get the dopamine surge whenyou get that new watch.
(34:23):
So when people say what's yourfavorite watch, I mean, the true
collector says, well, it'seither the last watch I got or
the next one I'm going to get.
And when I was writing the bookit occurred to me.
You know, I did a little thingabout the grail and I realized
(34:44):
what's the grail for a mountainclimber To climb Everest?
Right, something like that.
Okay, so you climb Everest.
You're never going to climbanother mountain.
Really.
You're going to go up othermountains.
It may not be of the sameheight, same height, but you're
(35:11):
still going to go on hikes,you're still going to go on on
on treks.
You are, it's in your DNA, it'sin your, your guts to go there.
And it's the same thing withcollecting and it doesn't have
to be all watches.
I don't think my son will evernot buy another guitar because
he loves guitars.
It's.
I think it's all part andparcel of the collecting gene do
(35:35):
.
Blake Rea (35:36):
Um, I'm assuming you probably have your eyes on more
pieces that you're probably.
Oh no, I'm.
Mitch Katz (35:43):
I'm done.
Blake Rea (35:44):
Oh are you.
Mitch Katz (35:45):
Yeah, right, okay, yes.
Blake Rea (35:48):
Okay, okay, um, yeah, cause I, when we, when we first
talked, I, I got the sense thatyou are, you have reached
Everest, right, and and you've,you know, summited that and
you're just kind of enjoying inyour you know, in your summits.
(36:12):
You know I got that vibe fromyou.
Mitch Katz (36:16):
Nope, nope.
My wife said.
You know, when you retired, Ithought you were going to cut
back.
I said yeah, no, in fact, yeah,I do have my eye on several
pieces.
There are pieces coming Morefrom various independents and in
(36:39):
fact this weekend I just saw anincredible watch that I am
trying to figure out how this isgoing to work the Chopard Full
Strike.
If you've ever seen that watchand listened to that watch, it's
(37:01):
beautiful, it's amazing, andthe technology behind it is one
of a kind the clarity of thesound, the loudness of the sound
.
They also don't have the ghostquarter.
Do you know what that is, theghost quarter?
No, no, okay.
So in minute repeaters you havethe.
(37:22):
It first chimes the hour, thenit chimes the quarter hour, then
it chimes the quarter and thenit chimes the minute.
In many repeaters, if say, it's12 after the hour, you'll have
the, the chimes of the hour.
Then there'll be a pause wherethe quarters are supposed to
(37:44):
chime, but since it's 12 minutesafter, there is no quarter
chime.
So there's this pause and thenthe minutes chime.
What, uh, chopard is able toengineer in there in this watch
is they took away that pause,wow.
So you have the hour and thenimmediately the minute.
(38:04):
The only other company that Iknow to have done this is JLC
with their HM11.
They had that, but I am toldthe technology is different.
I can't tell you how.
I don't understand it.
Understand it, but uh, that tome is a remarkable achievement,
(38:32):
because the standard uh uhrepeaters have all of that ghost
quarter got it.
Blake Rea (38:35):
Yeah, I find myself kind of in the the middle
segment of collecting, and whenI say middle segment, like um, I
notice I tend to gravitatetowards like sporty tool watches
, practical watches, um.
And as an overviewing uh,bird's eye perspective of my
collection, I look down and Idon't have a lot of dress pieces
(38:59):
, you know, because I just Inever dress up.
You know, I'd say nine out often times I'm wearing, uh, you
know, like shorts and a t-shirt.
You know, I live in Vegas, youknow, I don't, I don't wear
blazers all the time and I can'tpull them off because it's just
so damn hot.
Um, but you know, because II've noticed in my, uh, in my
(39:25):
life, sporty pieces can go bothways, like you can easily take a
sporty watch and dress it upand you can also dress it down.
You know, but I've noticed thedressier watches are harder to
to dress down.
Um, and I, I realized I wore, Imean, what would have been the
(39:46):
epitome of a sports watch in the20s.
The Reverso, I wore it withbasketball pants and a t-shirt
to breakfast with my wife and Iwas like, okay, this is a little
different, but nonetheless Irealized it probably on paper
(40:07):
wasn't a good idea, but somehowI got away with it.
Why?
Mitch Katz (40:11):
Okay, this is what we're talking about.
First of all, the fact that ourtendencies, our eyes, go to
different parts of the showcase.
Who cares Really?
Who cares?
Is yours any less valuable thanmine?
No, not at all.
It may be a little moreaffordable, but the fact is that
(40:36):
you know, do you buy threewatches for the same price?
You can buy one.
That's your choice, but you'reenjoying it.
I have not really figured mybrain out to say dressing for
the watch.
I think that is your set andI'm not being critical at all,
(41:00):
but it is your set of parameters.
Yeah, it's like when I went towork, I would wear certain
watches, not because it fit withwhat I was dressing, but I was
concerned that if I bang a watchthat's very fragile or very
valuable, that's going to be anissue.
(41:21):
So that's why I tended towardscertain work watches.
On the other hand, it took me awhile but I started wearing
more expensive, value, preciouswatches to work, when at least I
knew I wasn't going to beconcerned about what might
happen to the watch.
(41:42):
You know, sitting at my desk,answering phone calls, working
on the computer, whatever happento the watch, you know, sitting
at my desk, answering phonecalls, working on the computer,
whatever.
Uh, going to meetings, ohthat's another category of
watches and that is theconference watch.
One should always have aconference watch because I think
, if I was to advise anybody,you go to these meetings, you're
bored out of your gourd, youknow, know tacky to pull out
(42:04):
your phone because you know it'skind of not polite but to look
at a watch and just play withthe watch subtly, people not
going to really know what you'redoing.
It's kind of fun and I haveseveral of those watches and
I've actually come come up withsome ideas during those boring
meetings.
But be that as it may, but asfar as what dresses to the, you
(42:33):
know how you dress for the watch.
That's your parameter.
I think I would argue that 90%of the people out there,
especially those who don't knowmuch about watches, don't care.
If you want to wear a paddock,whatever and work in the garden,
(42:53):
it's fine.
I remember a long time ago Iwas talking to some guy who's a
landscaper, you know, in thelandscaping business, and he
proudly showed me his Breguet.
It was beaten to, oh, but heloved the watch and he wasn't
afraid to wear the watch.
That's awesome.
(43:14):
Yeah, that's what it's aboutwhere the one thing that watches
are made for is to be worn, andthat was brought home to me
even more so when GeorgeDaniel's watch collection went
up for auction.
It was a couple of years afterhe had died, and you look at the
(43:37):
watches that were being put upfor auction and someone would
just beaten their shreds, butyet he and he had warned them.
That's what this is about, andit's that, to me, shows love the
watch has been.
It's been used because of whatit's supposed to be for not to
(43:59):
sit in a safe, not to sit insome closet, but to be worn and
enjoyed and appreciated.
Blake Rea (44:07):
I find myself like well, I guess maybe I'll echo a
question that I get all the timeand I don't know how to answer.
So maybe you will, but how doyou know what watch you're going
to wear when you have so many?
What watch you're?
Mitch Katz (44:26):
going to wear when you have so many?
When I open my eyes in themorning, the first thing off
times, the first thing I thinkabout is what watch am I going
to wear?
Because then it makes gettingdressed easier.
We just talked about dressingfor the watch, whatever.
So it's easy.
(44:47):
You say, okay, what am I puttingon?
Is it going to be a steel watchor a precious metal watch?
Okay, and then what color isthe strap?
Because your belt should matchyour strap and if you're wearing
a certain color belt, you haveto wear shoes.
Now, if you wear the propershoes, now, if the proper shoes
have to go with the right pantsand shirt, otherwise you look
(45:10):
ridiculous.
So I mean I say it a little bittongue-in-cheek, but not
totally but oftentimes,particularly when I was going to
work, the first thing I wouldthink about is what watch was I
wearing?
And I don't wear the same watchtwo days in a row, except on
(45:30):
very rare occasions.
And so, yeah, that that's thefirst thing I think about, and
usually it's.
It's a little bit of a struggleand sometimes I, I, I find
myself with the same thing.
Blake Rea (45:47):
Sometimes I'm so conflicted I don't even wear a
watch, oh God, that's allowed.
Mitch Katz (45:54):
Are you not naked?
Blake Rea (45:56):
I feel naked but I'm like I want to wear this watch,
but I want to wear that one, andsometimes you know, like for
those days, that I don't wear awatch, I wear like three or four
in one day and I'll be allright, cool, like lunchtime, let
me change up my watch.
You know, um, and I have theseweird, these weird phases.
(46:16):
But I also was talking to oneof my colleagues and um, and,
and he had like, uh like adefault where, um, where, like,
if he gets tired of wearing awatch, he will uh like default
back to a watch.
You know like, like a palatecleanser watch, um, and I have a
(46:43):
few of those where I'm like allright, I'm tired of wearing
this, I'm tired of wearing that,I'm tired of wearing this, like
, let me go back to my palatecleanser.
Do you have one of those?
No, or, is it, you don't Okay.
Mitch Katz (46:55):
No, no.
Actually, the struggle I haveis, well, one of the saddest
days of my watch collectingcareer is when we decided we,
meaning my wife and I that wecan no longer keep the watches
in the house, that we have toput them in in a safe, secure
(47:19):
place and, sure, sure, startedusing uh, uh, safe deposit box.
That's where the stress is,because when I go there I want
to bring them all home because Iwant to play with them, I want
to wear them, I don't want tohave to think about it and here
I go, and you can't go thereevery day.
(47:40):
I mean, there have been timeswhere I go every week to
exchange them.
But that's the stress to me,because which watches am I going
to bring home this week or forthe next couple of weeks?
That to me is stress, because Iwant to wear them all.
I don't like that.
That's where they are.
But one has to be responsible.
Blake Rea (48:03):
Yeah, no, I am very fortunate that I have, uh, all
my watches close by, let me saythat, um, and at a moment's
notice I can grab pretty muchany of them.
Uh, and it is.
It is indeed a blessing, forsure, um, but again, I don't
(48:25):
have, you know, the same amountof, uh, high complication.
You know, I I tend to trendinto that.
That middle segment, um, yeah,yeah, I mean, you know a lot of
my friends look at my collection.
They say, holy shit, you know,like, wow, you know, um, and and
so anyways, uh, I'm veryfortunate for that.
(48:47):
Uh, I'm curious.
My dogs are going crazy herefor whatever reason.
Uh, maybe they, uh, they they,they believe you know they, they
are aligning with what you'resaying, um, but do you ever as
as a collector, there's alsolike that grail watch that got
(49:10):
away right, like maybe you saw awatch at auction and you were
bidding and then you said, ohshit, like it's way too much, or
I just don't want to spend thatmuch on this watch, or maybe
one that came in that you let goof.
Or you said you've only let goof a couple watches, but, um, do
(49:30):
you have the one that got away?
Like has has that?
I'm assuming that's happened toyou the the.
Mitch Katz (49:40):
What comes immediately to mind, uh, is
Roger Smith pocket watch numbertwo, the.
I saw it.
I went up to Philips to see itand, man, that thing was
(50:03):
beautiful, absolutely beautiful,and I was on vacation in europe
when it came up for uh auctionand I said I'm gonna bid on it.
I'm just gonna bid on, say Icould bid on it.
So I was with a friend who wasalso in into watches and we were
sitting at a coffee shop and Iwas able to get the auction and
(50:29):
the watch comes up and my fingerwas poised on the bid button
and the price just shot way upand it's like okay, done, not
even going to bother.
Um, and then I subsequently wastalking to somebody who knew
the ultimate buyer.
He said, yeah, that that personwould have kept going going and
(50:49):
that really I knew would nevercome home because it was just it
wasn't even even at a tenth ofthe price.
I couldn't afford it.
But it was just the fun ofbidding on it.
Um, besides that, has anythinggotten away in very early on?
I'm going to turn the questionaround a little bit.
(51:12):
Very early on I had theopportunity to get a Philippe
Defour Simplicity and I writeabout it in the book actually.
And it was at its commerciallyreleased price and I got to the
point of, well, what case do youwant?
What dial do you want?
(51:33):
Yada, yada, yada.
And at the time it was justdidn't pass the sleep test, the
money was too much and I backedout.
Now you could say 15 yearslater, that was a mistake,
should have done it.
(51:53):
And you know what.
I'm fine For very many reasonsI'm fine At that moment in time.
It was more money that I couldjustify to myself, much less my
family.
It was not that important to me.
I wasn't there yet in mysophistication, I wasn't there
(52:14):
yet in my appreciation for whatit was.
And you know I'd look at it andsaid, yeah, it would have been
nice, but and now, certainly,given the extent of the
collection, it would have been anice compliment too.
But I'm okay Because at thatmoment it wasn't right for me
(52:37):
For any one of a number ofreasons.
So you know, regret to me is auseless emotion Because you
can't do anything about it.
Regret to me is a uselessemotion because you can't do
anything about it.
So are there other watches thathave come and gone that I did
not get that.
Maybe I would have liked it.
Maybe there are a few, but Iwould rather turn it.
(52:57):
But for that, look what I dohave and I love what I have and
I appreciate what I have and Ilook forward.
I don't look back.
It just doesn't help.
And again, I've been veryfortunate and very lucky and
some of the pieces areincredibly rare and that, to me,
(53:18):
is enough.
That's's good doesn't mean it'senough to stop, but it's enough
to assuage any potential I wishI had that I don't.
I don't wish I had anything I.
Blake Rea (53:33):
I'm literally like you're.
You're reading the words rightout of my head that I was going
to ask if you have any regretsas a collector.
Mitch Katz (53:44):
No, not really, I can't think of a one.
The decisions made at the timewere made for whatever reason
and that decision was right atthat time for whatever reason.
One watch that was interestingum, I wanted to get when uh,
(54:06):
zenith was releasing their defyuh, I think it was the defy lab,
whatever with the.
Uh, yeah, yeah, extremewhatever lab whatever.
Yeah, I wanted to be one of the10, I was Stream whatever.
Blake Rea (54:20):
Stream Lab whatever.
Mitch Katz (54:22):
I wanted to be one of the 10.
I was really disappointed thatI didn't get one of those and
the AD I was working with andthe rep was working trying to
convince Geneva, really Beaver,to allocate one to me and I was
disappointed about that.
I really was.
Well, as it turns out, thosewatches didn't work and I just
(54:48):
recently read something thatsaid they were all returned
actually, and it's like okay, somaybe I was fortunate.
I didn't get what I wanted toknow.
So sometimes things, if youwill be magical and say things
happen for a reason.
But you know, did I lose sleepover it?
Blake Rea (55:06):
yeah, I was disappointed at the time, but
you move on zenith is a is a uh,a crazy brand because they are
pushing the envelope withintheir own constraints.
Like you look at a watch brandthat has an umbrella, like a
non-independent that has the bigpuppet masters, kind of you
(55:29):
know, doing their things upthere and uh, and, and then I
mean I'm wearing the chronomaster sport, um, but you know
they they do well for withintheir organization that they
have and I was very fortunateenough, uh, in march, uh, march
(55:51):
or january one, I don't know, Idon't remember it was a big blur
um, to go to their factory andto see how they produce watches,
and we actually have a youtubevideo about it.
Um, and to go to the attic andto see how they produce watches
and we actually have a YouTubevideo about it, and to go to the
attic and you know, it's abrand that I hold close to my
heart and, yeah, anyways, thisis one of my favorite brands, if
(56:14):
they have a very strong historyagain.
Mitch Katz (56:19):
I would put them as strong brand underappreciated
totally totally I same thing.
Blake Rea (56:27):
Um, moving a little forward.
Um, you know we talked abouthaving no regrets as a collector
, but do you have that summitmoment?
You know we talked aboutsummoning everest um as a
collector.
What would you consider thatsummit moment for you as a watch
(56:51):
collector?
Like, okay, I've done it, I'veyou know, I've reached.
You know, I've reached what I,I, I, I've accomplished what I
set out to accomplish as a watchcollector.
Mitch Katz (57:04):
That means I, I have .
Again it comes back to do youhave a goal in mind?
And I really don't.
I I, yeah, you can pick certainwatches.
I would love to have another.
Roger Smith, I would love to.
(57:28):
I would love to have a pocketwatch, but not just a pocket
watch.
I would love to have a specialpocket watch.
(57:54):
I don't know, it was about 20years ago, I was him.
What is the right watchcollection?
And he said, without skipping abeat, two Daniels and a pocket
watch.
And I don't know what pocketwatch he was referring to, One
(58:18):
of my.
Again, I said no regrets, butone of my biggest regrets he had
said two Daniels and a pocketwatch and I can give you the
name of somebody on Bond Streetthat can get you a pocket watch.
And I never got the name fromhim.
That to me, is one of thebiggest regrets of my life
(58:39):
because he died soon thereafterand I never got the name of this
dealer sales, whatever.
And that sticks with me and I'mat least 13 years, 14 years
away from that conversation andI really do want a pocket watch
(59:03):
and I do want a pocket watch.
That is of note and I don'teven know what that means.
But to have a Breguet pocketwatch, that would be pretty darn
close to a Summit.
Yeah, that would be pretty darnclose to a summit.
Blake Rea (59:19):
Yeah, I just recently one of my friends has a jewelry
store here in Vegas and she hadasked me to come kind of help
her clean out the safe.
You know, which was a crazymoment where I got to see like
hundreds and hundreds of vintagewatches and during that process
(59:40):
, you know she she was like Iwant to thank you for coming out
and spinning because she, youknow, she's not a big watch
collector like me, but you knowshe was looking to me to advise
her on, on on what she shouldget rid of and what she should
keep and this and that you knowwhat she should sell, should I
say um?
but during that that experience,I, I, I found a vintage
(01:00:05):
regulator pocket watch with abeautiful porcelain dial.
Wow, and it was still running.
Wow and um, I mean, uh, I don'teven know what the I think the
case is, uh, I mean still, Ithink it's like sterling silver
(01:00:25):
or something.
You know they were using silvera lot, a lot more back then
than they are now.
Um, and yeah, I, I've beenmeaning to get it restored.
But also, uh, I love, uh, theutility aspect, because the the
back of it is like a hunterstyle case where the the back
(01:00:46):
folds out and you can use as adesk clock and like um, and, and
you know, of course, like backthen, you know when you opened
it you could easily like servicethe movement or regulate it or
whatever.
Um, and, and I need to get itrestored and I have it.
Mitch Katz (01:01:03):
It's beautiful actually I was talking to a
friend of mine, a couple ofpeople I know, I, I think from
the collector side, I thinkpocket watches are
underappreciated, veryunderappreciated and, quite
frankly, except for the andquite frankly, except for the
extreme, like a Breguet, you canget them at a reasonable cost.
(01:01:25):
If you compare apples to apples, you know apples to different
vintage apples.
As far as wristwatches, there'sa certain allure that I don't
know.
I'm afraid of them only becauseI see it as another rabbit hole
.
It is, but I think there's somevery exquisitely beautiful
(01:01:50):
pieces out there.
I'm not talking about the Smithno 2, which is incredible.
It was magnificent, I mean,there's just no words can
describe it.
But I'm just saying that thewatches back from the 1800s and
maybe even a little earlier,they're just exquisite and,
(01:02:12):
quite frankly, if one isfortunate to go to the Paddock
Museum and see their collection,nothing new, there's very
little new in the world ofwatches.
Now that hasn't been done inpocket watches.
It is a different size, ofcourse, and the micro mechanics
are different, but they're thesame, but they have been
(01:02:33):
minimized.
But there's some impressivepieces out there, and that will
be fun.
Blake Rea (01:02:41):
I was at the museum in January.
It was January or Marchwhenever I was in a factory and
I also went to Beauvais and Igot a YouTube video coming out
for Beauvais, the Beauvaisfactory Phenomenal.
But you know, as I went to theP the patek museum, I, I, I was
(01:03:02):
literally coming there for thelast hour and you know they have
like the, the listening tourand all this shit you can buy
and all, and I didn't.
Mitch Katz (01:03:08):
I didn't, I didn't do that, but as I was walking
around and I was looking at, youknow, their I mean some of
their like enamel dial stuff, Imean, is insane, insane it's
crazy and I'm not a paddockcollector, but I have incredible
respect for that museum and Iwill tell you and the people
(01:03:32):
might be watching that my wifehas very little interest in
watches.
She has an appreciation.
Now, after 25 years.
She's got a little bit of it,but we spent three hours there
and she was engaged, as was I.
So you don't have to have adeep appreciation, understanding
(01:03:57):
or knowledge about watches toreally appreciate the artistry
and everything they were able toaccomplish over the years,
particularly on the floor thatgoes through their history.
It is unbelievable and I wasreally impressed.
I thought my wife would bethere.
It's time to go.
Blake Rea (01:04:17):
Let's go depending on when you went because I went
last year they they have uhdifferent stories for different
like eras and um, and yeah, Imean it's crazy just to start
off, like at the early days, andas you go up, you know you see
(01:04:37):
the more modern watches, um, andand as I was going through, uh,
I was, there was one littlenugget because, like I said, I
did not pay, I didn't, I don'tthink I had time or whatever.
I don't know if it was like aguided tour.
I think it was a guided tourwhere they offered the little
headsets or whatever.
Yeah, um, but I was walkingpast like a tour group and I
(01:05:03):
eavesdropped for like half asecond and it was probably the,
the most memorable second of mylife, because the tour guide
said at the time, paddock wasfocused on making the smallest
possible watch movement known toman.
Because if you can make thesmallest of something, then like
(01:05:29):
you're like the, the, the mostuh respected master, right, like
that was their philosophy.
Okay, if we can make thesmallest, most complicated watch
movement, like we will be thebest.
And I was like shit, like neverthought about that.
You know, it was a cool momentand uh, and then, of course they
(01:05:54):
had the movement there you knowwhat?
they made.
I mean it was teeny tiny.
I mean like like and and youwould see it now and and like a
Blancpain, like, like cocktailwatch or something like a lady's
cocktail watch, but just the itwasn't smaller than the
reversal of one-on-one caliberone-on-one from JLC.
(01:06:15):
Uh, I mean it was.
I mean maybe like three or fourtic tacs, so the the 101 is
actually smaller, oh wow.
But I always developed in the20s or something like that yeah,
I think this was on like maybelike the like the late 1800s, um
(01:06:42):
, but I mean it was kind of cool.
I mean they literally had likea little magnifier that you know
, blow it up so you can actuallysee what the hell and the
decoration you know, like, whothought to decorate like a
little tic tac, you know like tome.
I thought about those peoplelike, who like in.
Have you ever seen the littlepeople that engrave rice like
(01:07:02):
they?
Yeah, I, I thought about that.
Like who the hell would thinkto do some shit like that?
Mitch Katz (01:07:09):
well, it ain't me yeah I have proven I cannot do
that kind of micro decoration oreven work on a watch I get a
headache the second I start.
Blake Rea (01:07:21):
I I go to these watchmaking courses and I went
to one for j.
I actually went to one for you,least nard on where I got to
take apart the freak bridge andthen, um, I did one for you, uh,
for jlc, where I got to kind oflike, like completely take
apart the reverso movement andrebuild it, um, and they showed
how it kind of worked, you knowon both sides, um, but you know,
(01:07:42):
very shortly into thoseexperiences I'm like I already
have a headache and I'mfrustrated well, I have the
distinct honor and pleasure ofmaybe being the only one in a
jlc master class to not lose ascrew.
Mitch Katz (01:08:01):
I mean, that's commonplace.
I popped the jewel, really.
Yeah, I sent the jewel flyingand the master watchmaker this
was actually in Le Sentier hewas not pleased with me, but I
still got my certificate.
I mean that just shows you howmeaningful that thing is.
But I am so proud of the factthat I popped the jewel, I sent
(01:08:24):
it flying across the room.
Blake Rea (01:08:28):
Beat that.
I think this brings a good kindof like segue to.
Not only are you writing youryou know, on my hands book, but
you are writing a fiction book,right, and you told me about
that.
(01:08:48):
And I specifically say that forthe end of our discussion
because we are, you know,approaching over an hour now of
just straight nuggets, uh, and Ican't wait to get the feedback
from the collectors.
You know cause we've alwayswanted to get a collector on,
you know.
We've always, we've beenwaiting for a moment like this,
(01:09:08):
because every collector has adifferent perspective, you know,
and and yours is is exceptional.
But tell us about your secondbook, please, and thank you.
Mitch Katz (01:09:26):
The when I was starting to write this first
book, I was communicating with afriend of mine who actually
lives in the UK and we readsimilar books and he he was very
complimentary oh, you know,you're doing something fun, uh.
And he said you should write amystery book, a murder mystery
involving watches.
I said, okay, that's great.
(01:09:47):
Around the same time, awatchmaker who found out I was
writing this book said I shouldwrite a book about my customers,
my collectors, and I said tohim name will not be spoken.
That's a really bad ideabecause you writing about your
(01:10:12):
collectors, knowing this guy, itwould not go well.
So I put that aside.
But this thing about murdermysteries, like yeah, that's
interesting.
And a year ago on Mother's Day,I was going out with my wife
and as we were crossing thestreet I looked at her and I
said I've got a plot.
(01:10:33):
I understand the plot and shesaid what I said, I got it.
So we went and sat down at barand I'm telling her a little bit
about the plot we're kind ofproblem solving a little bit of
it and basically got the nuggetand then mid-dinner I said I've
got an idea for another book.
(01:10:54):
This one's a matching collectorand watchmaker.
That's a project for the future, but the basis of the book was
the following In the early 2000sthere was a watchmaker who came
from Hungary and set up abusiness in upstate New York, I
(01:11:17):
believe, called the BudapestWatch Company and he developed a
watch movement that wasperpetual in the sense of much
like the Atmos clock has powerdue to the expansion and
contraction of a gas in itsbellows.
(01:11:40):
In the Atmos clock he took twopieces of metal and I actually
have his patent.
He took two metals, put themtogether and they had different
heating points and so whenthere's a change in temperature
the metals expand and contractdifferently and by virtue of
(01:12:02):
that movement wound themainspring and he claimed that
he had on his workbench amovement that had been running
for more than a month perfectlywithout being touched for more
than a month perfectly withoutbeing touched, and he was going
to case it and sell it for agazunga amount of money.
(01:12:25):
But then he died, and ofnatural causes, whatever, and
nothing ever came of it.
His estate buried it.
I don't know why.
I don't know what happened, butit never came to fruition.
I suspect I know why.
I have a theory let's put itthat way why it never got
(01:12:49):
marketed, but I'm not going totell you because it's part of
the book.
So I said, okay, what wouldwatch companies do if this watch
movement was real and was beingdeveloped and what would happen
around that?
That's the basis of the book.
(01:13:09):
And I started writing it and Iwas having a blast.
I mean, I could kill people.
I don't get arrested.
I mean I have a body count inthis book of five and it was fun
.
So that book is actually done.
I still have some, I think,work to do on it, but it's out
(01:13:30):
with a couple of friends to readit to make sure the story makes
sense.
I think there's some weakpoints that need to be
strengthened and then, whenwe're done with all the
rigmarole over this first book,then I'm going to start working
with this editor and we're goingto put that out there
ultimately, but in the interim,I've started another book
(01:13:53):
because I'm having so much funand it's again involving watches
, and this one's a little bitmore dealing with the marketing
of watches and the in not somuch the industry, but the uh,
uh, no, let's just leave it atthat.
Um, and I don't want to giveaway too much.
I'm 68 pages into it and I kindof know who the bad guy is, and
(01:14:20):
I already have a body count offive, and so I'm deciding who
else I want to knock off for thesake of the story.
It's fun, it's great.
You do get a little bit caughtup in it.
For the first murder mystery, Icame to a point I needed the
name of somebody and I chose thename of the woman who comes to
(01:14:43):
clean our house.
And I got to a point in thebook where she's such a sweet
lady she's been with us for 20years and I had to decide
whether I was going to kill heror not, and I just couldn't.
I couldn't kill her, I justcouldn't do it.
I couldn't to kill her or not,and I just couldn't.
I couldn't kill her, I justcouldn't do it.
I couldn't look at her faceevery week and say I just killed
(01:15:04):
you she's, and now she's arecurrent minor character.
But she's a recurrent characterbecause what I'm building is a
recurrent series with similar,with same characters.
Blake Rea (01:15:18):
Amazing, yeah, I mean um with similar, with same
characters.
Mitch Katz (01:15:28):
amazing, yeah, I mean um another, another,
another great book for us tolook out for.
Um.
The working title is time forsale, so I'm gonna do the time
series.
Blake Rea (01:15:35):
I have a, a title for the next one, I think the next
murder mystery yeah, I mean, I'massuming, uh you're, we're
going to be able to get allthese books online on amazon.
Mitch Katz (01:15:49):
Barnes and noble, tell us how we can buy these
books the books are available onevery platform on the internet,
okay, um, most common being, ofcourse, amazon, but uh, barnes
and Noble online, everything thebooks available, uh across the
(01:16:11):
board.
It's exciting, it's fun and Ihope my, my biggest audience
appreciates it, that being mysons.
Blake Rea (01:16:24):
Yeah, I know I'll enjoy it for sure and I can't
wait to get hands on andeverybody, if you're listening,
you can go on Amazon right nowand pick up the copy, digital
paper, whatever of Time on myHands the book Mr Mitch here
(01:16:46):
wrote for all of us ascollectors.
And is there anything?
You know we're coming here tothe end here almost a short
feature film here that we'vewe've done with you.
Um, we turn over our platformto our guests.
So, uh, we've went through alot, we've covered a lot.
(01:17:07):
Is there anything you did notfeel like, you did not get a
chance to say or cover?
Because here is your time yourtime, without being repetitive?
Mitch Katz (01:17:25):
I don't think so.
I mean to me if I'm going to bea prophet, kind of over the top
, but if my wish is to fosterthe enjoyment of something that
I love, and whether it is anApple Watch or a Swatch Watch or
(01:17:53):
whatever, I hope that peopleenjoy the sensation, the fun of
putting something on their wristevery day and, in time, maybe
make it to mechanical watchesand appreciate the intensity,
(01:18:15):
the micro mechanics, themicro-mechanics, what these
watchmakers go through toproduce these miraculous devices
that operate in such tinytolerances.
There are a lot of car guys outthere and they are just so
fantastic about it, as it wasexplained to me.
(01:18:37):
When you're talking about awatch, I'm sorry when you're
talking about a car and the carengines, the tolerances that you
are excited about are the widthof a penny.
Okay, the tolerances that awatchmaker is dealing with is
(01:18:58):
less than the width of a hair,and yet they get these devices
to work with such perfection,day in and day out.
A car most cars are built tolast eight years, something like
that.
Watches are built to work forcenturies.
(01:19:21):
Think about that, the artistry,the mechanics.
They are there for way beyondour time on this mortal coil and
that is phenomenal andappreciate them for who they are
and what these pieces represent.
(01:19:42):
If one person could hear thatmessage, I've done my thing.
Blake Rea (01:19:49):
And conveniently, you can wear a watch from the
moment that you wake up to themoment that you go to bed.
Mitch Katz (01:19:56):
You go to sleep with zero effort up till the moment
that you go asleep with zeroeffort.
And where I live there are alot of high-performance cars.
I don't get it.
Okay, they get to the nexttraffic light first, you won.
And how often can you put ahigh-performance car to the test
(01:20:19):
of what they truly are builtfor?
Watches, from the minute youput it on to the minute you take
it off and beyond, arefunctioning at the maximum
capability of what they werebuilt to do.
It's a different world.
Blake Rea (01:20:36):
I can say with certainty like all of us, I get
tired of driving, I us, I gettired of driving, I will, I will
never get tired of wearingwatches likewise thank you so
much for joining us.
Uh, I've enjoyed this very much.
I hope that everybody out therelistening took a lot of value
(01:20:58):
in what mitch said.
Um, we are certainly going tolink his book again, time on my
hands a collector's journey inthe world of watches, by mr
mitch katz sitting in front ofus.
Make sure you go out and buythis book, because I think this
is going to be a uniqueperspective on what it's like to
(01:21:20):
collect watches from a very,very, very seasoned collector.
Um, thank you so much, mitch.
Uh, you're gonna have to to getus a signed copy you have to get
us a signed copy for, for, uh,for my collection, my collection
, and next time I'm your way, Iwill certainly make a plan to
(01:21:46):
come see you, which is not goingto be too long from now.
Mitch Katz (01:21:50):
I look forward to it and I wish everybody just keep
watching keep watching.
Blake Rea (01:21:57):
Thank you so much, mitch, and we will see you,
listeners, on the next episode.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.