The Rise of a Baltimore Watch Visionary with Alan of Tsao Baltimore

What if your childhood passion could transform into a global brand? Join us as we explore the captivating journey of Alan from Tsao Baltimore, a dedicated watch enthusiast who turned his fascination with timepieces into a thriving business. From receiving his first watch at the age of ten to overcoming financial challenges and a costly manufacturing mishap, Alan's story is one of resilience and unwavering determination. This episode offers a deep dive into his creative process and the remarkable strides he's made, including significant pre-order sales and unique collaborations, such as the limited edition watch with the Baltimore Ravens.

Alan's brand isn't just about watches; it's a heartfelt tribute to his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. With designs that honor the area's rich maritime history and local pride, Alan's creations, like the Torsk Diver watch inspired by the USS Torsk submarine, reflect a deep connection to the community. His innovative approach extends to using steel from the Francis Scott Key Bridge for limited edition watches, supporting families affected by the bridge's history. We delve into these creative endeavors and explore how Alan has preserved and celebrated Maryland's heritage through watch design, illustrating the power of storytelling and personal connection in establishing a brand identity.

From entrepreneurial passion to future aspirations, this episode uncovers Alan's dreams of expanding his brand's reach both locally and globally. We examine the challenges of scaling a niche business, the role of festival circuits for brand exposure, and the innovative use of technology like NFTs to authenticate watches. Alan's journey is one of continuous growth, fueled by a desire to prove skeptics wrong and build a legacy for his children. Tune in to discover the essence of resilience, the support of the watch community, and the meaningful connections that drive success in the competitive world of watchmaking.

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Episode Transcript

Blake Rea (00:00):
Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of
Lonely Wrist.
Today, sitting in front of us,we have Alan from Sal Baltimore,
sal.

Alan Tsao (00:09):
Yep, sal Baltimore, you got it.

Blake Rea (00:11):
I just wanted to make sure I didn't botch that I
botch so many people's names andbrands and I botch it all.

Alan Tsao (00:18):
I take it.

Justin Summers (00:19):
We're here to botch it, you've got a passion
for doing that, Blake.

Blake Rea (00:25):
I know, yeah, it's just my my thing.
It's just my thing at thispoint.
Um, let's kick off with thefoundation of your brand, you
know like what?
What inspired you to start awatch brand in the first place?
Um, you know what inspired youto, to to start this journey?

Alan Tsao (00:41):
yeah, so I started the brand in 2017, uh,
ultimately from an obsession ofwatches.
Uh, you know, once, yeah, I gotmy first watch when I was 10
years old.
Um, it was an orange fossilwatch.
Love that thing, um, and alwayswas intrigued of how it worked.
You know, I always like to playwith my hands in terms of like

(01:04):
figuring out, take it apart, tryto put it back together and
hope it works again, right, butI mean, I was 10 years old so I
obviously broke the first watch,but over time I fixed it.
But that obsession of watcheskept growing and growing and
growing.
And then, you know, life went on.
You know, I, you know, aftercollege, got the day job, got

(01:26):
some money, I was like, oh shit,now I got some money to buy
some watches, right, some reallyhigh-end pieces.
So, yeah, I bought some Omegas,breitlings, xanaths, and then,
yeah, it just kept going andgoing.
And then life continued goingon.
And then my wife was like you,alan, you gotta stop buying so

(01:46):
many watches, you could juststart your own company.
So started designing 50, 60different watches until I
finally finished one that Iabsolutely loved.
And then, you know, figured out, try to, you know trial and
error and try to find out how tomanufacture or how, to, you
know, actually start a brand.
Um, you know, going fromsomeone that had no idea what
was happening and how tomanufacture or how to, you know,

(02:07):
actually start a brand.
You know, going from someonethat had no idea what was
happening and how to do anything.
You know, obviously, the firstthing I would like Google.
You know, manufacturer watch,right, and then you know, first
thing that pops up, it's like,oh, cool, so I would send out my
designs to the first person onGoogle.
That was the worst idea ever.
Um, and then, uh, waited.

(02:27):
You know, I paid like five, sixthousand dollars to get the
prototypes and then waited threemonths for it to be finished
and then got the box opened up.
The box I was like, the momentI looked at it was just
heartbreaking.
Just because it was a such ashitty watch, right, it was a
watch that you would find atlike a craft store vending

(02:50):
machine.
So it was terrible, right?
So I had to go back to squareone.
You know that was one of thebarriers.
You know, my my first steppingstone.
Just do I continue Like I justspent all this money and this is
what I got.
It's terrible.
So after that I started actuallytalking to, you know, other
independent brands, micro brands, um, trying to get contact with

(03:13):
bigger brands, figure out whatI'm doing and how to do it.
Maybe they can help point me inthe right direction.
Um, so I got ahold of somepeople, uh, one person in
particular.
He has a brand called McDowelltime.
He's based in Rockville,maryland.
Um, I he just had a Kickstarter, like a year before I launched,

(03:35):
and I reached out and say, hey,let me know if you have any
time.
I'm thinking about starting awatch brand.
Uh, maybe you can help.
You know, give me somedirection, and then you know.
Next thing you hear help, youknow, give me some direction,
and then you know.
Next thing you hear like hegives me an email and we talk on
the phone for almost two hoursjust figuring out what to do,
how to do it.
Maybe he's giving me feedbackon my new design and maybe find

(03:57):
some new manufacturing and, youknow, point me in the right
direction.
That so that was a lot of trialand error.
And then eventually uh foundsome new manufacturers, uh, and
then had a whole new design made.
Uh got prototypes, spendanother $5,000 on prototypes and
then, uh, waited three monthsfor the products to be finished

(04:18):
and then it was like night andday.
When I opened those boxes, itwas awesome.
Uh, it was, the quality was somuch better than the, than the
first version, um, and thenthat's when I started, uh,
creating a Kickstarter campaignfor it.
Um, and then did, you know,$115,000 in pre-orders during

(04:39):
the first campaign and then did,well, but the thing is not many
people realize like I priced itso low, like so low that I
didn't realize like all theother costs that were involved
and I actually lost like fifteenthousand dollars in it.
So that sucked, um, but, andthat was another stepping stone
just to figure out if I want tocontinue or not, um, and then,

(05:02):
next thing, you know, I I startredesigning a new watch,
designing.
I launched that one onkickstart again like a year and
a half later and then thatgenerated like two hundred
thousand dollars in pre-ordersales.
It was priced a little higher,you know.
Just you know because I know now, but um, yeah and then now we
just launched everything on ourown website um, doing some
really cool collaborations,really cool projects.

(05:23):
But it was definitely a journeygetting to this point and it's
fun that's good that you didn'tlet it like deter you.

Justin Summers (05:30):
I feel like a lot of people get stuck on that
first.
You know those entry phases ofgetting into something and then
you know you get your heartbroken and then you end up
leaving.

Blake Rea (05:39):
So glad to still have you here, man it does.

Alan Tsao (05:42):
It's great.
It was not many people, this.
But when I had the day job andI talked to like the COO and the
chief marketing officer at thatcompany it was a property
management company and then Iwas like, hey, I'm thinking
about starting a watch companyand they were like, wow, that
sounds cool.
Like the COO, their family usedto have this watch repair shop

(06:04):
repair shop in Maryland.
Like they're like, can we be apart of this?
I'm like sure, I mean you havethe funds.
Sure, I mean uh, so they wereactually partners in this in the
very beginning, up until we gotthe first you know prototypes
and that was so crappy thatthey're just.

(06:24):
They're like you know, we don'twant to be a part of this
anymore.
Uh, good luck.

Blake Rea (06:32):
I bet now they want in huh I mean probably, but it
was just.

Alan Tsao (06:36):
you know, I was like I get it, so I gave all the
money back and then that's whenyeah, it was.
It's just wild to how thingsyou know happened, but it was
cool.

Blake Rea (06:44):
Was your first watch, the Founders Edition.

Alan Tsao (06:47):
Was that yeah?
That was it the FoundersEdition?
Nice it's a sweet watch man.

Blake Rea (06:54):
It is Very classy.

Alan Tsao (06:55):
It was a classy everyday piece.
Yeah, it's because that waskind of like the watch design
that I liked at the time.
Like every new design or everydesign after the founders was
always a design based on, likeyou know, I wanted to buy a new
watch.
So instead of buying that newwatch, I would design a whole
new watch.

Justin Summers (07:16):
That's right.
It's kind of cool Now thatyou're a watchmaker, make it for
yourself, right.

Alan Tsao (07:20):
Yeah, exactly, and that's the problem with a brand,
though when you own your ownbrand, it sucks at the same time

(07:41):
that it's awesome.
Because I love watches so much,I would window shop, I would go
to these watch stores, I woulddrool over the watches.
I just can't buy them, I can'twear them.
You know, it's like everyopportunity is opportunity to
sell.
At least that's how I.
I live my motto like I'm alwayswearing my watches because you
never know when you're gonnacome across a customer or
someone that that's heard of you, and it'll be just so awkward
when you're just like walkingpast like, oh, you're alan, oh
yeah, the watch company, oh,you're not wearing your watch
you know, that's just weirdright?
so every opportunity isopportunity to sell, so it's

(08:03):
just unfortunate that I can'twear anyone else's watch.
I was going to say you probablycould, but I agree with you the
only way I can get away with itis a vintage watch, just
because there's a whole newlevel of respect when it comes
to a vintage watch.

Blake Rea (08:22):
I can already see it like alright, honey, let's go to
dinner.
Alright, shit, let me designthe watch for you know, for date
night in six months from nowyou know, there you go so uh,
alan, how does uh baltimore'sculture and history uh influence
the design and the philosophyof your watches?

Alan Tsao (08:41):
I mean it's in every aspect of the design from you
know the movement that we useour Maryland movement to the
different, like inspiration fromyou know the submarine right in
Baltimore in a harbor.
It's called the USS Torsksubmarine, what happens to be
the last warship or submarine tobomb an enemy submarine.

(09:03):
So it was really cool, wow, andthat's, you know, a museum
piece in Maryland and there's alot of history in that.
So that's why we designed adiver around the USS Torch
submarine, which we call theTorch Diver.
So it had a whole bunch ofcopper, bronze.
You know, pipes around theinside of the submarine.
You know steel inside outside.

(09:24):
So that's why we opted to dostainless steel and, uh, bronze
as two different case options.
Then we have, like our um, youknow, the uss consolationship.
We designed a watch after that.
There's a lot of history inbaltimore, uh, and there's a lot
of pride and and just you know,being a part of maryland, the
community around baltimore, it'sjust insane.

(09:45):
You know we love our part ofMaryland, the community around
Baltimore, it's just insane.
You know we love our state flagand we love the people in it
and like we put that shit oneverything Right, there's like
T-shirts, there's hats, there'sthis crazy mass of things on
Maryland flags, everything.
So it's it's a part of the DNAof South Baltimore.
I mean, I'm born and raised inMaryland, so I'm heavily rooted

(10:08):
here and then.
So everything is inspiredaround Maryland.
We have a Key Bridge watch thatwe're in production or designing
right now, and it's literallysteel from the fallen Francis
Scott Key Bridge and we'll bemaking 500 pieces from that

(10:28):
steel.
All the dials are going to bemade from that steel itself, and
the cases, the cases areactually going to be CNC
machined right in Maryland.
So this is going to be a veryMaryland watch, from the
manufacturing to the actual self.
And, of course, like evencooler part, you know a hundred
percent of those profits areactually going straight to the
families of the victims.

(10:48):
So at the end of the day, ifeverything goes well and you
know we're able to to um lowerour cost for manufacturing, we'd
be able to donate like threehundred thousand dollars to the
families.
Wow, so that's that's kind ofsomething of Maryland, something
very Baltimore.
We're a very community oriented.

(11:10):
You know, city state that we,you know we, we want to have
each other's backs.
Similar to a lot of other youknow major cities, but Baltimore
is, you know, it's very closeto my heart and something that,
something so tragic thathappened with the Francis Scott
Key key bridge.
You know we, we got a lot ofemails prior to us, you know,
announcing that we're going tomake a watch.

(11:31):
We got, you know, 50, 60different emails every single
week from customers saying, hey,alan, you should get some steel
from the bridge and make awatch out of.
I was like that's a great idea.
I have no idea how to do that.

Blake Rea (11:44):
Um how did that happen?

Alan Tsao (11:47):
so, like one of my, one of my customers um, one of
my customers was actually, uh,contracted out to help with the
demolition of the bridge.
So right before they wereputting all the diner, the
explosives around the, the steelto bring it down, he was doing
helping doing the, the, thetorch cutting and everything.
So he's like I got, I gotpermission from my supervisor.

(12:10):
Um, let me know if you wantsomething.
I was like absolutely.
I'd rather happen out and figureout what to do with it, and you
know, then it'd be too late.
So he gave me a 200 pounds ofkey bridge steel, which is
pretty wild.

Justin Summers (12:24):
It's nice to nice to know that.
Uh, the news didn't report onyou.

Alan Tsao (12:26):
You know, like local man alan found on bridge in the
water trying to cut up thereason why it fell um, but yeah,
I could just see the headlines.

Blake Rea (12:35):
Yeah, yeah, it it has a has a lot of history too.
I mean I pulled it up here andI mean obviously it was one of
the more traveled bridges inBaltimore and I mean it's from
the seven.
It was open in 77, um, and thenit's super iconic to Baltimore.

Alan Tsao (12:56):
I mean any like skyline.
Like you know, the famous cityskylines, usually Francis Scott
Key Bridge is in that skyline.
You know I would.
I would have customers.
They would send me their theirwedding photos with a backdrop
of the key bridge right behindthem.
It's not there anymore.

Blake Rea (13:11):
It's crazy, it's just wild yeah, that, yeah, I mean,
I remember hearing about that onthe news and I was just like
shit, like how did this happen?

Alan Tsao (13:22):
yeah, I mean that's kind of like like, how did this
happen?
Yeah, I mean, that's kind oflike how I found about it.
Uh, out about it was my oneyear old at that time.
He woke up in the middle of thenight crying, so I went to his
room, you know, put him back tosleep, check my phone real quick
.
I get this email from one of mycustomers in poland.
He's like oh my god, alan, Ihope you and your family are

(13:42):
okay.
I heard about this bridge.
I was like what are you talkingabout?
What bridge?
Like wipe an ibook?
He's like what?
Oh my God, alan, I hope you andyour family are okay.

Justin Summers (13:47):
I heard about this bridge.
I was like what are you talkingabout?
What bridge?
You're like wiping an iBook.

Alan Tsao (13:49):
He's like what's going on?
What are you talking about?
So all I did was GoogleBaltimore Bridge.
There you go and I was like, ohmy God, this is crazy, this is
wild, this is wild.
But being able to createsomething super special for
maryland, um, from something sotragic is kind of really cool,

(14:09):
because you know, people are areable to really literally have a
piece of baltimore on theirwrist, a piece of history on
their wrist, which is justincredible yeah, yeah, I, um I
mean it looks like they're alsorebuilding, yeah, and you'll
have something quickly, yeahyeah, so 2028, you know, maybe
you'll be able to have a pieceof sow and that new bridge right

(14:31):
, you know exactly um, but no,that that that, yeah, it's
unfortunate, it's also crazy, um, but I mean, it sounds like you
have a lot of support frombaltimore, but I'm assuming
beyond that, you know.

Blake Rea (14:45):
I mean, obviously when you think about watchmaking
, like baltimore does not comeanywhere close to being, and you
know, at the top, at the top ofyour mind, so would you say,
it's been challenging.
You know, building a baltimorebased brand, um, especially
considering, you know you wantto do everything in baltimore,
you want to keep it local and Imean I can't even imagine there

(15:09):
being.
I mean, I live in vegas and I,I have, you know, a hand access
to a handful of watchmakers,like good watchmakers here, you
know, but I'm sure you have alot of challenges, kind of
staying oh yeah, those, thoseroots I mean 100, I mean even
just watchmakers in general, oryou know a dime, a dozen.

Alan Tsao (15:25):
You know they're just there's not many, that there's
not many.
There are too many watchmakersout there, you know, that are
willing to.
You know, jump on a new brandor something and start doing
assembly and actual watchmaking.
Uh, they do more liketraditional pieces or, you know,
repairs and so forth.
So finding a watchmaker thatwould be interested in doing

(15:45):
something like this, theseprojects that we do, it's hard,
but next year will be prettyinteresting.
Next year is going to be a biggrowth year.
We're actually working to havea full-on facility in Baltimore.
Wow, we'll have around five tosix, uh well, two watchmakers

(16:10):
and, uh, four techs.
Uh, it's like assembly, repair,warranty stuff, and then
there'll be, like it's just awhole facility, just watchmaking
and, you know, creatingsomething super unique, very
Baltimore, so like, even thoughwe're focused around Maryland.
But we're trying to be likethat.

(16:32):
You know the space or availableservice that you know other
brands can look after, you knowto look into us to help their
servicing or repair work orassembly work, because right now
we work with a company calledMaryland Watch Works.
The ultimate goal is to, youknow, hopefully, you know, bring
them to Baltimore and kind ofcreate our own big watch company

(16:56):
in Baltimore, in Maryland, tobe like the mecca, you know, of
watchmaking, which would bereally cool.
But yeah, working with you know, right now we're working with a
local like of watchmaking,which would be really cool.
Um well, yeah, working with youknow, right now we're working
with a local like machinists,cnc machinists, laser, uh,
engravers and so forth, uh, buteventually bringing those
machines in house, uh, that'sthe ultimate goal.

(17:18):
But again, those machines are,like, you know, 200 to $500,000
pricey.
So in, you know, we'regradually getting to that point
and hopefully next year we'll beat a stage that we actually
have a full on facility wherewe'll have all our fulfillment,
all our assembly, all our, youknow, marketing, design, so
forth, all in one singlebuilding so people can actually

(17:40):
take a tour and see how, youknow, south Baltimore operates,
from all the little things, fromtalking to customers to putting
orders together and boxing out,going to UPS to, you know,
actually seeing the watchesbeing assembled.
That's the ultimate goal andwe're slowly getting to that
point.
But yes, it is very difficultbecause it is one, it's a very

(18:03):
traditional industry being inwatches so it's very difficult
to it is one it's a verytraditional industry being in
watches, so it's very difficultto get there.
And two, you know, just gettingpeople excited about watches.
People don't generally you know, the average person consumer
aren't generally super excitedabout watches Like us.
You know, watch people Unlessyou're in it.
You know it.
But if you're not, you're like,oh, it's just another.
You know, watch right, you knowit.

(18:23):
But if you're not, you're like,oh, it's just another.
Watch right.
But that's what we're trying tocreate in Baltimore.
We're trying to create thatreally fun community of watch
people getting people excited.
One thing to get people excitedis this Key Bridge Watch.
We're doing this Key Bridge butpeople are super excited.
When we first announced that wewere going to do this Key
Bridge Watch, like three, fourmonths ago, people were like can

(18:45):
we just give you money now?
I don't know when it's going tohappen, I don't know how it
looks like, can you just take mymoney?
I was like I don't feelcomfortable taking your money.
But thank you so much.
But it's just wow.
People are getting excitedabout that.
And you know we had thiscollaboration with this beer
company in Baltimore calledNational Bohemian Natty Bow.
It was very Baltimore as aBaltimore icon in terms of

(19:08):
brands.
They were like the firstbrewery in Baltimore in 1885.
And there's still like a bigsign in Baltimore, like an LED
sign, which is really cool.
And then next year we actuallyhave a license agreement.
I don't know if you guys knowwhat McCormick is.
You know, when you think aboutmaryland you think about steam
crabs.
When you're steaming crabs, theseasoning is oh, okay, so we

(19:32):
actually have a collaborationwith old bay.
We're gonna do an old bay watchnext year, which would be pretty
awesome, um, super excitedabout that, um.
But it's very like, these smallthings, you know, get people
excited and ultimately, aspeople get more excited about
watches, that makes my jobeasier to really, you know, you

(19:53):
know, get this facility up andrunning because people are
excited, people want it, peopleknow about it and that's just
kind of.
You know, it's an ongoingconstant strategy is just keep
on getting people excited.

Justin Summers (20:05):
I was going to ask you to go ahead, Blake.

Blake Rea (20:08):
Oh, I was just going to say I think we're going to do
a first here, cause we've neverpulled anything up, but we've
got pictures here of the watch.
Oh yeah, and there it is.

Alan Tsao (20:19):
I mean, that's the key bridge watch.
So the the entire dial is goingto be made from the steel.
What that means is we're notgoing to be applying the indices
, we're not painting, we're notprinting, we're going to laser
etch around the hour markings,the chapter, ring, minute
markings, that bridge, it's allgoing to be laser etched in

(20:39):
there so it looks like it'sraised hour markings and we're
actually lasering the negativespace around it all.
So what we're cutting from thatsteel is going to be about two
millimeters thick and we'regoing to basically just cut
inside until you have about apoint nine millimeter thick dial

(20:59):
in the center.
But everything else is going tobe raised up.

Blake Rea (21:05):
Wow, that is sick, is it?
I?
I uh, chris sent me a pictureof it and I was like I was like
is like what, like this is socool.
Obviously we have, we have somany brands to keep up with.
You know nothing personal, ofcourse.
Like we're having conversationsevery day, yeah, and I think
the biggest challenge for us isbeing excited about every single

(21:27):
one of them.
You know a lot of excitement outthere but but yeah, I saw this
watch and I was like this is asick watch, thanks so we're not.

Alan Tsao (21:36):
Even so it looks like it's a white dial.
It's actually going to be rawsteel, so we're not even going
to add any coating.
So over time it'll eventuallyhave a patina, eventually even
rust, possibly in differentparts, which makes it even more
unique because it's a part ofthe key bridge.
So don't worry, there's goingto be a layer, layer between the
actual steel and the movement.

(21:58):
So even if it rusts, it won'tactually interfere with the
movement.
So it'll last a long time.
So don you don't have to worryabout that.

Blake Rea (22:07):
How many are you guys ?

Justin Summers (22:08):
doing Any bracelets, or is it just coming
on like a rubber?

Alan Tsao (22:11):
We're doing a rubber or a leather strap, so I
designed it, so I actually have.
So here are the like 3D moldsof it.

Blake Rea (22:19):
Hold on.

Alan Tsao (22:21):
So the 3D mold of it.
So it's a downward.
The end link actually followsthe lugs downward, so you can
basically put any straight strapand it'll look like almost
seamless to it.
So that's kind of how I want todesign it, because I want it to
be, you know, because it's somonotone, I want to, you know,

(22:42):
people to make it their own, andto make it their own the
easiest way to switch out thestraps.
Um, you're gonna get an orangepurple, whatever have you, and
it'll just work perfectly withthis piece.
Um, just, it's just theflexibility of it all, uh, which
makes it even cooler.

Blake Rea (22:58):
So you're talking about like orange, purple, yeah,
yeah, I mean like those arecolors that you never see.
Watchmakers use Orange, maybesubtly, but you guys are very
like bold about your color.

Alan Tsao (23:10):
Well, I mean our sports teams.

Blake Rea (23:14):
You got the Ravens, orioles.
Yeah, you got two.

Alan Tsao (23:17):
Yeah, it's fun.
So yeah, it's pretty cool andwe've got some really fun
projects and not many peopleknow we actually.
We actually also did a, anofficial baltimore ravens watch
oh, wow so it was prettyinteresting because last year we
really wanted to be like theofficial watch coming to the
Baltimore Ravens.
Unfortunately, like that is soexpensive.

(23:41):
They wanted like $200,000,$250,000 for a licensing deal.
I did not see a return in thatanywhere soon and that was an
annual thing for a three-yearcontract.
That was rough.
So what we did was one of ourretail partners happens to be
the official jeweler of theBaltimore Ravens.
So because they own thelicensing rights and everything,

(24:03):
I kind of you know, spoke tothem and got their feedback and
say, hey, we can make a Ravenswatch if we want to.
I already had the design madebut I based it off of the Torch
Diver.
Just, we have like the officialBaltimore Ravens shield on
there.
We have Baltimore officialBaltimore Ravens shield on there
.
We have Baltimore Ravens on thedive bezel.
It's really cool.

(24:24):
So we made 120 pieces and theclause was we have to give 20 of
them 20 of the 120, directly tothe Ravens for the suite owners
.
So those are like executivesuite owners.
Those are people with some someyou know, deep pockets.
So it was definitely ano-brainer.
It's like yeah, absolutely,please take it.
It's just brand exposure for me, uh.

(24:45):
And then the the other hundredactually being sold at meritage
jewelers right in timonium inmaryland, um, so it's really
cool.
I mean, we john harbaughalready has his watch, um, I
don't know.
So I've been screenshotting, uh, every time the ravens played
their post game or wheneverthey're on the.
Uh, you know the interviews.

(25:06):
So here, I don't know if youcan see this oh, wow, so yeah,
yeah, that's the one.
That's the one.
The watch is right there nice,that's cool so it's really cool.
Um, I just want him to take apicture of it, because I'm just
screenshotting over here and soit's only 50.

Blake Rea (25:25):
That's what I understand correctly only 100,
okay, yeah, yeah did you seeunrelated, but I'm sure you saw
the new nfl watches yeah, thebrailing, yeah, brailing it's
kind Breitling yeah.
I think mine looks better yeahthey're coming for you, man,
they're gonna release it afteryou, and then somehow they're

(25:46):
gonna send you a cease anddesist yeah, I mean yeah, I'll
give you a better picture of howthe Ravens watch looks like oh
yeah, that's awesome pretty wildand we have the official, like
raven's emblem there.

Alan Tsao (26:02):
Yeah, it's, but it's there is it?

Blake Rea (26:06):
is that bronze?
It's a bronze case so I guessit's cool.
Have you ever worked with gold,is that?
No, not, I mean gold is just soexpensive right now I mean you
got those big ravens playersthat love their gold stuff.

Alan Tsao (26:19):
I'm sure you are right, you are right.

Blake Rea (26:21):
Seems like a logical progression right?

Alan Tsao (26:24):
Yeah, I guess so, but I mean these are 43 millimeters
.
I've made the rubber straps tobasically fit like a 10-inch
wrist.
No one's got a 10-inch wrist,but yeah, it's super long.
Yeah, he's making his way, manhe's.
He's got still dlc francis key,scott bridge.
Uh, we're trying to get theorioles.

(26:44):
Um, you know, we have all theseconversations like they may be
interested.
May be interested.
We're talking to xyz.
Okay, it's all right, we'll getthere, you know we'll eventually
get to the final guy andthey'll be like, yes, so we'll
see yeah, that's awesome bro.

Justin Summers (26:59):
I'm curious, uh, alan, what sets your, uh your
watch designs apart from otherbrands that are in the market or
at?

Alan Tsao (27:05):
least I mean, I mean it's a story.
I mean, half the time, with anymicro brand, independent brand,
it's a story.
Um, that's what makes microbrands so fun and unique.
That's why people kind ofgravitate to micro brands,
because different brands havedifferent stories, different
design aspects, just differentin general.

(27:25):
It's what the consumer kind ofrelates to and what they want to
be a part of.
Some brands are very welcoming.
Other brands are very on theback end of things.
So it all depends on, like,what the end user really wants
to be, you know, and what theywant to support.

(27:46):
So what differentiates us is,you know the story and you know,
ultimately, me, and like how Idesign my watches, how I
approach things, and you know Iam always, you know, I am always
, you know, super welcoming and,you know, always like to talk
watches.
Um, and I'm, you know.
Again, it's just, ultimately,the difference is the brand

(28:06):
owners.
Uh, because we could all have,you know, designs.
We all divers, we all havedress watches, we all have, you
know, uh, field watches or pilotwatches.
But at the end of the day, it'swhat do people, what are people
comfortable with in terms of howthey're supporting others and
that kind of plays witheverything, like any industry.

(28:27):
It's the story behind the brand.
You could have the same.
You could be selling notebooks,you know, you could be selling
the same notebook as Jane Doeback over there.
But because people are buyingyours, because they enjoy you
right, they want to follow you,they want to support you.

(28:48):
So it's just awesome.
Just because there's so manymicro brands, so many
independent brands out therethat people can just easily pick
and choose and figure out whatactually is relevant to them.
What do they actually enjoy,like, do you like to go
snowboarding?
Do you like to do?
Like cars, do you like whatever?
You'll find a micro brand thatloves exactly what you love and
you want to support them becausethey are just like you right or

(29:11):
like you want to just be a partof that, that atmosphere, that
environment.

Blake Rea (29:15):
So it's that that really is what differentiates a
lot of brands, and includingmyself yeah, um, something I
came to mind if you can't getthe orioles, just reach out to
cal ripken and just do like Iwas thinking about doing, like a
ripken watch, which would beawesome that'd be so sick he's
unaffiliated affiliated.

(29:35):
Yeah, there you go I mean thenyou'll get pretty much all the
oreo customer, you know customerbit like this in a weird way.
But um, I I'm curious about youknow like stepping back a
little bit and you know doinglike the licensing deal with
like national bohemian, like howdid that concept kick off and

(29:55):
like how did you finally get tothe end and be like all right
we're doing it, you know thatwas.

Alan Tsao (30:00):
That was surprisingly a lot easier than you thought
we think.
Um, so I already had a designmind.
So if you look at natty bow'shead, his eyes winking eye looks
like a moon.
So I already had the design inmind.
I knew I wanted to do a moonphase design.
It just made so much sense.
You know, instead of a moon,you have nattyty Bow, instead of
stars, you have crabs right,it's very Maryland.

(30:23):
So I had this design already inmy head and all I did was I went
on Instagram and I'm alreadyfollowing Natty Bow and I'm like
hey, I messaged them and sayhey, I have this watch company
in Baltimore.
I have this really cool designthat I think would look really
awesome with Natty Bow and I'dlove to see if you'd be

(30:44):
interested in doing some kind ofcollaboration or licensing.
Fortunately, that's the personthat manages their account is a
big watch person.
She loves watches.
So she was like, like alan, Ilove this project, I'm gonna do
whatever it takes to make surethis goes through.

(31:04):
So, like, done, okay, thatsounds great and that was it.

Blake Rea (31:09):
That was really it wow, that was, that's awesome
yeah, a lot easier.

Alan Tsao (31:13):
So the harder one was probably well, there have been
harder ones that we got.
We've been like ghosted, butlike I want to do this Utz watch
, like I already had mine inmind.
You know, utz snacks all thechips.
You know you got sour cream.
You got original, you gotripples.
It was a perfect watch.

(31:36):
Right, I wanted to design.
I already had to design.
I fell in love with it.
They loved it.
Next thing, you know, theyghosted me.
That was it.
We didn't hear anything.
So I can't even use the design.
I love it so much but I justcan't do it.
So that was unfortunate.
But we have.
You know, mccormick was adifferent story.

(31:56):
To get into McCormick you haveto know someone that knows

(32:22):
someone that's on a high levelposition there.
And funny story is my greatuncle, like he just retired from
McCormick, like a few years ago, and he happened to have a high
level position that was doingthe licensing for brands.
I had no idea, wow, I mean Ihaven't spoken to to him
probably since I was like fiveyears old.
It's been that long and I hadno idea he worked at McCormick.
So, uh, there was an event inMaryland and we had our big, you
know our Airstream trailer out.
It was a 28-foot Airstream thatwe converted to a watch
boutique, kind of like Oris.
And then they were walking atthe event and they noticed you

(32:48):
know my logo, you know SalBaltimore, sal being my last
name, and they're like I thinkwe're family and we're like,
yeah, I think so too.
And then he saw that we weredoing a Natty Bow and he's like
let me know if you're interestedin doing something with
McCormick, because I used towork there.
I just retired from there.
I was like, okay, that soundsamazing.

(33:09):
So he gave me some names, someintroductions, and then, next
thing, you know, we got thegreen light.
So it was pretty cool.
That's awesome, bro.
We've been incredibly luckywith those collabs, um, and
we're hoping the luck, you know,continues, but it's just been
very fortunate can.

Justin Summers (33:26):
Can we get a w in the chat for loomed crabs?
I don't think I've ever seenthat on a watch yeah, I'm
looking at the natty bow and I'mlike bro, that's wild to have a
balloon on the crabs we evenput the mustache on the
counterbalance of the secondhand.

Alan Tsao (33:43):
It's amazing.
You saw the packaging of it.

Justin Summers (33:48):
I don't think so .
No, I haven't.

Alan Tsao (33:51):
It looks like this I just happened to have it.
It's a beer company, so itcomes in this beer can it has
like, instead of a, nutritionalfacts, you have actually like
watch facts.

Justin Summers (34:05):
Oh, that's amazing.

Alan Tsao (34:07):
And then you just pop it open and you got watch.

Blake Rea (34:14):
Dude so sick.
I know Chris loves that watchbecause he's got one this is
awesome.

Alan Tsao (34:18):
Explain to me, too, so sick.
I know I know chris loves thatwatch because he's got one and
he was super.

Blake Rea (34:19):
This is awesome though explain to me, to the so
you have, yes, you have yourbaltimore watch company and then
you also have so, so like thinkof it like um.

Alan Tsao (34:31):
So with baltimore watch company we're doing a lot
more local collaborations wherethose are mainly focusing on the
Miura 9015s, any Seikomovements or like Swiss quartz
movements you know the SouthBaltimore is going to be more
focused on our Maryland movementor high end Swiss automatic

(34:52):
movements.
So, like I say, go Grand Seikokind of thing, but quality
remains the same.
It's just the movement thatchanges.
Got it Cool?

Blake Rea (35:04):
Yeah, so like.

Alan Tsao (35:04):
What's the Go ahead?
So, like you know, natty Bo,it's a very Baltimore watch.
You know, yeah, we could putSouth Baltimore in there, but I
think people enjoy, especiallylocally, like Baltimore watch
company because it has some moresignificance to it.
Um versus south baltimore ismore higher end pieces, so it's
a little different fair enough.

Justin Summers (35:25):
Yeah, and the people will pick and choose and
you know you'll have different,different demographics and
things like that.
Yeah, exactly, um, what's youruh, what's your design process?
Like alan, if you don't mind measking um and can you walk us
through?
You know, kind of like how anew watch concept, um, comes
alive so it takes a while.

Alan Tsao (35:46):
Um, you know it starts.
I start with figuring out whatkind of movement I want to use.
You know, I, I build the, Idesign the based on the, the
movement in particular.
So, um, so, for example, ifyou're using, like Miura 9015,
I'll use, you know, three-hander, standard three-hander, but we
have variations of that.
And then the style of watchfield watch, pilot watch, dive

(36:10):
watch, dress watch, whatever.
So I would start designingindices and then texturing of
the dial, the different markings, hour markings, disease and
then texturing of the dial, thedifferent markings, hour
markings and then, uh, then I'llstart on the, then I'll start
working on the case, uh, designand figure out how that's going
to look in correlation with thedial itself.
Um, and then you know, I wouldfinish that process and then I

(36:34):
would put it on the side forlike two days and never see it
and then come back to it and ifI like it, I'll slowly, you know
, improve upon it, uh, put somemore enhancements, redesign more
parts to make it better.
If I don't like, I would justscratch it and restart the whole
process again.
Uh, the pro that processusually, I mean I usually go
through like two or threeiterations during each design Um

(36:58):
, you, um, you know, scratchingit, starting all over.
Scratching it, starting allover.
And uh, it before it was basedon, like, if I wanted a watch,
instead of buying the new watch,I would design my perfect
variation of that watch.
Uh, and fortunately, um, I've alot of people also like the
same designs that I like, whichis great.

(37:19):
So we're not going crazy interms of the designs or really
out there.
So that's good.
But it's just a process thatkeeps on.
It's a repetitive process interms of the design, figuring
out what I like and making itmore perfect, uh, making it my,

(37:41):
my version of perfect right, andthen then you keep on going and
then you know you.
Then, once you have the design,then you start nitpicking and
I'll, you know, I'll ask my wife, you know, what do you think
you know?
Then I'll ask some other watchbrands get their idea of like,
what are your thoughts on this?
Um, and then keep going and gofrom there and then that process

(38:03):
from like design to a prototypeor design to actual production,
probably like nine, six to ninemonths generally.
So a lot of times we have tolike start right now for the
process for next year.
You know, design like three orfour watches this year for to

(38:25):
get ready for next year.
So it's yeah, it's a time game.

Justin Summers (38:29):
Do you ever feel like you get like writer's
block, like all the time findingwatches?

Alan Tsao (38:33):
yeah, I I did, especially with the key bridge
watch, only because because Iwasn't basing it on a watch that
I wanted, I was basing it onjust being the Keybridge, like
it was more than another watch,it's a piece of Baltimore.
So I felt like there was a lotof pressure involved to make

(38:56):
this watch unique on its own butperfect for baltimore.
And that was tough because Inever designed a watch like that
.
Um, so it took about like eightiterations of the key bridge
watch.
That's why it took me like fourmonths to just finish the
design process, because I justkept going back into it,

(39:20):
throwing away, going back to anew design, starting a whole new
one, starting a new one, andthen it just kept going back and
forth and then, after that, wasfiguring out to make sure that
the CNC machines in Maryland canhandle a specific design that
I'm trying to do so we're doinga lot of testing and retesting
and then to make sure that we'reable to recalibrate their CNC

(39:42):
machines to go so fine into awatch case, because generally
the companies around here havethese large government contracts
with DC being right down thestreet, so they're working on,
you know, aircrafts, satellites,spaceships, right, so there's
some crazy stuff, and of coursethere's, you know, medical

(40:03):
equipment.
But figuring out how they can,you know, fine tune their
machines to work on a moreprecise level, like watches,
it's a challenge on its own.
So, yeah, so we had to keep ongoing back and forth with design
to make sure, like, okay, canyour machines do this, can your

(40:25):
machine do that?
And it's like, no, okay, let mego back to the drawing board,
let me change up the cad andalter, like you know, go with a
whole bunch of numbers andshifting out the designs a
little bit here and there tomake sure it works.
And it was a lot of back andforth, but we're in a good place
.

Justin Summers (40:41):
That's cool, man , I mean ultimately, you know
you, you have to rely on yourmanufacturing process to also
implement the design of yourwatch.
So you're working with allthese different variables to
ultimately make that finishedproduct.
Yeah, I think it's cool, man.
I mean, you know it's.

(41:04):
It's a respectable craft, um,especially for you to be, you
know, so good at designingsomething and then having it, uh
, you know, be a full blownproduct that's successful.
Um, I think it's a.
It's a cool Testament, man.
Uh, cause not everybody, youknow, has the ability to do that
.
Um, like we were talking aboutearlier, a of people will, you
know, get to those beginningphases and make a product or two
that doesn't do well and end upquitting.
So it's cool to see you, youknow, taking that process and

(41:25):
making it your own man yeah,it's a journey, man, it's a.

Blake Rea (41:27):
It's definitely a journey and it's awesome, but it
is crazy stressful, but it isfun well, most consumers don't
understand that a watch brand isonly as good as their suppliers
are 100 like.
You cannot be better than yoursuppliers at producing a product
.

Alan Tsao (41:46):
You can have a killer design, but absolute shit
quality.

Blake Rea (41:49):
I'll just you're failing yeah, something I
noticed too on the key bridgewatch.
Um is the case like somethingthat, like uh and peter, like
peter from jack mason came onand uh, we also had him on like
a live stream, where we did likea live stream with him and got
people in the chat to askquestions and stuff, which was

(42:11):
yeah really fun but um you know,hearing peter obsess about like
case design and something thatwhen I first saw the Key Bridge
watch I was just like dude, thiscase is sick.
Thank you.
So, like I don't even know,like I guess maybe I just don't

(42:32):
have that genetic, like DNA,where I can understand how a
case is designed.
But it looked like you had funor it was, and also an insane
challenge because it looks.
It looks sharp but also feelsrounded.

Alan Tsao (42:50):
Yeah, in a weird way I mean, yeah, it's pretty wild.
I mean this looks rough,obviously because it's 3d
printed, but yeah, yeah, well,yeah, I mean it was.
It was tough just to keep goingback and forth with this actual
case design.
But yeah, I mean, we roundedall the edges and we'll see how
the finishing turns out at theend.

(43:11):
Especially, finishing herelocally is going to be a little
different, but we're trying todo like polished edges and then,
yeah, it should be a very cleancase.

Justin Summers (43:24):
Um, I noticed that some of the like the
vertical brushing, and then Ifigured like some of the around
the dial would be, uh, you know,polished and stuff it was a
little dimension.
Oh yeah, you'd be surprised athow many people overlook that
aspect of designing watches is,like you know, every everything
is just like the same palette,or they don't think about, you

(43:46):
know, rounding these edges, sowhenever it's in the hand, it
feels completely different.
Exactly, it's cool you guys aredoing all that, man.
Yeah, we're trying.

Blake Rea (43:55):
Are you guys gonna do a bracelet for that?

Alan Tsao (43:57):
watch too now we're doing, um, either a leather or a
rubber strap with it, onlybecause 80% of this piece is
going to be manufactured inMaryland.
Having to manufacture thebracelet is a whole new
challenge, just because you, yes, they can machine it, but we

(44:19):
don't have the manpower to putthe bracelets together, put each
links together.
It's me behind it all, and thenwe have a watchmaker and that's
it.
It's really just two or threeof us.
We don't have the manpower toactually put the bracelets
together, which is unfortunate.

Blake Rea (44:40):
But that's why we're kind of doing just the leather
and rubber strap, because peoplecan just, you know, mix and
match and do whatever they wantwith it yeah I mean it's a cool
work around though ton of sense,um, and then you know,
obviously I was weird and I'venoticed every single watch you,

(45:04):
you have that baltimore likeswagger, or you have some type
of element that you define asbeing proud to be from baltimore
.
Um, so in terms of design andapproaching that, um, like, like
, it seems like you just have agrab bag of little baltimore

(45:26):
ideas you can throw into everywatch.

Alan Tsao (45:28):
Yeah I mean I mean that's a cool thing about
baltimore.
There's a lot of history.
I mean we have like we have thebno railroad, you know, museum.
We have a baltimore museum ofindustry, you know like there's
a.
Basically canning oysters rightin Baltimore was a big thing in
Baltimore.
So eventually there'll besomething around there.
You know we have a whole bunchof historic warships around here

(45:50):
.
But, yeah, there's a lot ofinspiration around here and it
seems endless, but it's just,you know, figuring out the time
to design something based onthat or utilizing that as
inspiration, getting time to,you know, just design in general
yeah, mother, mother or pearldial from baltimore oysters is

(46:11):
that which would be that couldbe something dude, that's
actually a great idea, man, youneed to write that one down,
alan.

Blake Rea (46:19):
Yeah no, just don't don't listen to me, I don't know
no, it's definitely.

Alan Tsao (46:24):
We definitely considered it, don't worry.
Uh, it's definitely somethingthat's like down the road we, we
, um, I have a pretty coolrelationship.

Blake Rea (46:33):
I don't I don't really want to say them on the
podcast, but I have a reallycool relationship with a
high-end watch brand and they.
They took pieces of sugar andcreated a dial from pieces of
sugar and then they it's allhand placed, so I mean, this
watch is like 150 000, like 200000, but literally it's just a
dial and they just like gluedlittle pieces of sugar onto the

(46:56):
dial and there's there's amarket for just weird shit like
that so that's an ant magnetdude, yeah I, I was just going
to say that I was like roaches.

Alan Tsao (47:05):
I don't know.

Blake Rea (47:05):
I mean, I will say, if you want me to say the name,
I will, but it's Bavay.
And yeah, obviously they'recrazy, but no, I mean, I mean
we're doing something prettycrazy with the old Baywatch.

Alan Tsao (47:20):
We're literally going to have Old Bay on the dial and
then, uh, basically put a uhsapphire glass on top of it,
doing hour markings on top ofthat, so it's all floating on
top of old bay uh, old bay, isthat?

Blake Rea (47:34):
that's the seasoning?

Alan Tsao (47:36):
is that seasoning okay I?

Blake Rea (47:37):
was like okay, okay it's gonna be spicy I I can't
wait to see how that looks toolike it's just, it seems like
you're having fun with it and alot of like.

Alan Tsao (47:48):
These collab projects are super fun just because I
could, like you know, I can gopretty wild in terms of like how
to design it and just doing allthe different things.
So that cuts because with thatold bay watch we actually got
approval to use their originalold tin cans that Old Bay came
in and those are going to bewhat the watches are going to be
in.
So it's going to be awesome.
But yeah, just fun having agood time with it.

(48:12):
That's awesome bro.

Justin Summers (48:15):
What opportunities do you guys see
for the growth in the future,both locally and globally?

Alan Tsao (48:22):
I mean we've been growing year over year over year
.
I mean it's good because we'vebeen like, recently we've been
really focusing on, you know,maryland, pennsylvania, virginia
, just being that local brand.
Like I want you to go toBaltimore, go to Maryland, and
when you think about watches,you think about my company,
right, kind of what, likeShinola did in Detroit, like why

(48:45):
can't we do something here inBaltimore?
And that's kind of the thing,like you know, shinola sells all
around the world, so but theirDNA is in Detroit.
So that's kind of like what wewant to do with South Baltimore.
Our DNA stays in Baltimore, butwe are everywhere.

(49:05):
You know.
That's why all the designs areyeah, they're very like
hyper-focused with the collabs,but they're also the design is
more so universally accepted.
They just love the designbecause it looks great.
It's not like it's a Natty Bow,it's not like the Natty Bow's,
it's not like the natty bows.
You know, head is on the dialitself and that's it Right.

(49:27):
So it's subtle design marks,little details, that kind of uh,
make it more accepted byeveryone from you know, maryland
, or you know California, texasand so forth, so everywhere, and
it's cool.
But we are working on somereally unique projects, even

(49:48):
beyond just watches.
So I don't know if I told youguys about this in Atlanta, but
like NFTs.
So think about like NFTs.
We're not selling JPEGs,because that just seems weird,
but we're actually utilizing thetechnology behind NFTs, and how

(50:08):
NFTs basically started wasauthenticating original work and
basically providing acertificate of authenticity.
So what we're doing is creatinga platform that eventually, a
series of code will be on ourwatches and you'll be able to
use our app to scan your watchand, as long as that code

(50:29):
matches the NFT on blockchain,it's authentic.
So we could utilize that codein specific areas of the watch
to make sure each component isreal, from the movement, the
straps, the glass, the dials andso forth.
So, in a broader scale, if youthink about it, think of like
eBay.
Ebay has a very manual processto authenticate their watches.

(50:52):
So if there's a way to formthat into more utilizing
blockchain and to utilize thetechnology that can't be
duplicated and to make sure thatwhatever you're buying is
actually what you're buying,because I'm also hearing from
retailers that they get acustomer.
I just bought this Breitling oneBay.

(51:14):
They bring it to the store.
It turns out that Breitling isfake, even though it was
authenticated.
So there are still human errorin authenticating products.
So if we can make that humanerror go into more, you know,
technological point of view, itkind of eliminates that error.
So that is a big growthopportunity because this can be

(51:38):
utilized in more than justwatches.
This can be utilized inanything tangible of value,
meaning anything that'scollectible, anything purses,
shoes, sports memorabilia,watches anything that has been
counterfeited can be protectedutilizing the nft platform, this

(52:00):
platform, to authenticate it.
So it's a big project and it'sbeen pretty wild.
When we first announced, likewe did a press release because
we're working with this cryptocompany called Flux and they,
the moment we had this pressrelease, we were getting hit
left and right from, likepotential investors, you know,

(52:21):
wanting to be a part of it, andthis was just the concept at
that time.
So there's one uh, inparticular, they wanted about
like 70% of the company, butthey were willing to give us $5
million.
It's crazy and that was justthe the idea.
So right now we're we'reworking on the concept, we're

(52:41):
working on the platform where heshould hopefully have.
We were going to have a betathis year, but now it's moving
into.
So right now we're working onthe concept.
We're working on the platformwe should hopefully have.
We were going to have a betathis year, but now it's moving
into probably early next year.
But you know, we didn't selljust because we know, like, how
big this could be and a lot oftimes it's going to be just be
educating the consumer andbecause for a while, consumers

(53:03):
of nfts, as like board apes orwhatever, someone would pay
millions of dollars for this,whatever jpeg.
It's not our case it's not yeah, not anymore that, that.
That crashed real quick, butit's the technology behind it.
So it's educating the consumersof the technology of
authenticating original work, tomaking sure what you purchase
is exactly what you wanted.

(53:23):
Um, and that's a big thing.
I mean, counterfeits is like amulti-trillion dollar industry
and that's this platform is whatfights against it.
So, uh, pretty well what,what's?

Blake Rea (53:37):
what's funny is, um, you know, you mentioned, like
breitling, um, and ironically,uh, breitling was actually a
brand that actually does haveNFT warranty cards at the moment
.

Alan Tsao (53:51):
So it's just some irony there, that's the thing,
rolex acquired a whole bunch ofpatents in different crypto
parts because eventually, Ithink they were trying to do
something too, or at leastsomething into to the meta world
.
But it's a lot of those bigcompanies.
The reason why they're not?
You haven't really heard of itbecause they're trying to start

(54:12):
from scratch, right.
Um, they're trying to recreatethe wheel.
You know what we're doing.
We have the, the companies, thecrypto companies that have
already developed the platform,have already created, you know,
something similar to helpauthenticate things.
So what we need to do, we'rejust creating the channel
between the consumer and to theblockchain.

(54:33):
So we're creating thatmarketplace.
We're creating that app thatyou can just scan your watch and
then you, we just have to applythe code into specific watches
and, depending where you go orwhere you want it, that's,
that's all it is yeah, yeah, Ican't wait to to explore and to
see like how you kind of, youknow, bring that to market,

(54:54):
because that that definitelyneeds to happen.

Blake Rea (54:57):
I mean, we all have questions about authenticity.
You know, even with people likeyou meet somebody you're like,
wow, that person's not verygenuine.
I didn't get any genuine vibesfrom that person just even talk
red flags yeah there you go, youknow, um, what's so funny too
is uh, you know, obviouslyyou're talking about brands from
baltimore.
I started doing research, Istarted searching around, I

(55:18):
didn't know, but uh, butCoverGirl is from Baltimore.

Alan Tsao (55:23):
Really.

Blake Rea (55:24):
Yeah, maryland, yeah.

Alan Tsao (55:26):
Oh, can you picture a CoverGirl?
South Baltimore piece.

Blake Rea (55:29):
You can use some foundation Boom Go into the dial
.
Boom, boom, buckets, buckets.
But no, no, I mean it justseems like you have a lot to

(55:50):
kind of pick and choose from.
You know, in terms ofcollaboration, you know bringing
the spirit of Baltimore intowatches, and then that kind of
leads us, I guess, probably intowe have a couple more questions
here.
But you know, obviously, likeyou've had your ups and downs
and everybody sees the ups onthe Internet, like you've had
your ups and downs and everybodysees the ups on the internet,
you know I'm sure you've had alot of challenges.
That you know.
Obviously you talked about someof the, you know getting your
prototypes and things like that.
Um, you know, uh, I think thoseare what define you the downs

(56:15):
more than the ups, you know soI'm sure there's a time where,
uh, you know, give us, give ussome of those downs, man.
I mean there's plenty of them, alot a time where, you know,
give us some of those downs, man.

Alan Tsao (56:24):
I mean there's plenty of them, a lot of failed
projects or you know failed.
You know, one thing was youknow you hope for some cool
collaborations and then you getghosted and you can't do it.
Those are some downs.
I mean you put in $15,000 andyou lose it all.
Right, I mean you put in$15,000 and you lose it all.
Right, for a design, or youknow the prototypes, or you're

(56:46):
trying to, you know, get into aretailer and you can't.
There's plenty of downs outthere.
But the good thing is there's alot more positive ends and ups
that you know counter the downs,bends and ups that you know
counter the down.
So I usually just block thosedowns out and then like, really

(57:09):
build up and motivate me toreally do something about it.
Right, um, cause, like I meanever since I was young, right, I
was like um, you know, school,I didn't really care about
school when I was younger.
Um, you know.
And then you know I have anolder sister and younger brother
.
Both are very smart.
Um, you know, I was the middlechild.
So you know there's there'squestions like oh, you know, my

(57:32):
sister will come home with likean, a minus, and my parents
would be angry with her.
It's like you should have gotan A.
My brother will come with a B.
It's like, oh, you should getan A, I would come home with a C
.
It's like, oh, you tried, right.
So you know, that was kind oflike how I grew up.
Like that was it, like I wouldjust get by and then, but I knew
I could do better.
I just didn't put my mind intoit.

(57:53):
I knew I wanted to do better.
I knew I wanted to.
I wanted to be the guy that,like people will go to my sister
or go to my brother and like,oh, alan's your brother, right,
I want, I wanted to do that, andI didn't know how to do it and
I had to figure out, like, whatto do.
So, like my life was just, youknow, always trying to be better

(58:16):
but not knowing how to be thatperson.
So I was always going againstmyself, you know, trying to
figure it out, trying to dosomething out there, right, the
moment I told my parents I waslike I'm thinking about starting
a watch company.
They're like, no, that's a badidea, there's no money in that.
And then I would tell my sistermy sister went to you know, she

(58:39):
went to an MBA in Columbia, soshe's super smart, and I was
sister went to you know, shewent to nba in columbia, so
super smart, and like I was likeI'm thinking about doing a
watch company.
He's like is there any money inthat?
Like this is very competitive.
I'm like I know, and he's likeshe plays a lot of devil's
advocacy advocate and then she'slike you know, it's gonna be
really tough, you're gonna needa lot of money, or like it's not

(59:00):
gonna work, you're it's justnot gonna do well.
And so that was motivating meto need a lot of money or like
it's not going to work, it'sjust not going to do well, and
so that was motivating me.
You know a lot of people, a lotof times people were like okay,
maybe this is a bad idea, MaybeI shouldn't do it Right, but
that motivated me because I wasso passionate about watches, I
was so passionate about doing myown thing, that that was just
motivation to like all right,you say no, I'm saying yes and

(59:24):
let's do this right, and thatwas it.
And like once I did it and Ikept going and every little
thing that I keep on doing iswant to make sure that I prove
others wrong, that I could keepon doing it right.
So there's a lot of these downs, but they are just motivating
me to keep on going up and upand up, to make sure those

(59:46):
people that say no willeventually say yes.
Right, and it's just tough, butit just motivates me to keep on
going.

Blake Rea (59:54):
I come from a family yeah, passion is very important.
Passion is very important.
I come from a family of serialentrepreneurs.
And something that my dad oncetold me is you can have the best
idea in the world and just haveshitty execution, and then it's
just a shitty project.
Yeah, or flip it around you canhave a terrible idea and

(01:00:14):
execute it well.

Alan Tsao (01:00:16):
Yeah.

Blake Rea (01:00:16):
And then have a great project.
Yeah, exactly, I'm not sayingeither one of those is yours,
but the execution is all thatmatters 100% 100%.

Justin Summers (01:00:27):
Yeah, passion is something I can relate with you
a lot there.
I was kind of the same waygrowing up.
I've never really been a schoolperson.
Whenever people tell me aboutthings that I'm not interested
in, I just have no time for themin my life.
I'm like yeah, whatever.
And it's not to be rude, andI'll still hear people out, but

(01:00:48):
I'm just like it's not for me.
So if somebody is like you know, go, do, do, do, I'm just like
I don't, I don't see the point,um, and so I'm.
I'm a very, like, passiondriven person and I I'm in
agreement with you.
I believe that if, as long asyou have that passion um, dude,
um, dude listen to the naysayers, screw them.

Alan Tsao (01:01:06):
Yeah, like, yeah, let it give you the motivation to
push past them.
Yeah, sure, keep going keeppushing on and yeah, and that's
what I'm, uh, I'm as I say, I'mcurious.

Justin Summers (01:01:14):
I'm curious since we've been talking about
some of the negative.
Uh, what's been one of yourfavorite moments in the brand's
journey so far?

Alan Tsao (01:01:22):
let's talk about so this is more recent and it was
more personal.
Um, I'll go back to the brandpart, but this is more personal
because, um, like two weeks ago,you know, dropping off watches
at ups, um, I had my kids in theback and my, my youngest, he's
three years old.
He's like daddy, thank you fordropping off the boxes.

(01:01:44):
I'm like you're right, you'rewelcome, buddy.
And he's like I'm proud of you.
I was like, oh shit.
I was like that moment was Iliterally I was driving, I
literally had tears coming mydown my eyes.
It was just like it was just sopure and just like I want to
create this company to make surethat my, my kids know how much,

(01:02:07):
how hard I'm working and howand what I'm doing is.
Everything I'm doing is forthem right, to build up their
life, you know, to motivate themto do their things Right.
And then just to hear athree-year-old just say I'm
proud of you, daddy.
It's just like it got to me sohard.
And I was just like this is whyI'm doing what I'm doing and

(01:02:29):
this is why I need to do better.
And then so you know some otherthings.
The brand is, you know, beingable to get to a point that we
can say that we're going to havea facility in Baltimore with
our watchmakers, our assemblyfulfillment on one building is
just pretty awesome.

(01:02:50):
To to even say out loud andjust get to this point to know
that we can get there, um, it'spretty awesome, it's pretty
amazing.
Amazing, dude, it's prettyawesome.

Blake Rea (01:03:00):
It's pretty amazing, amazing Dude.
That's just crazy to think thatyour son like recognizes.
You know what I mean Like.

Justin Summers (01:03:10):
He knows I mean Especially for him to be three
years old.
That's pretty cool.

Alan Tsao (01:03:14):
Yeah, he's like Daddy are these your watches, daddy?
Is this work?
So it's like he knows and it'sjust awesome.

Justin Summers (01:03:23):
Dude, that's crazy my man was driving and
like had tears coming down andhis kids are in the back seat
yes, no idea I was like oh mygod, this is crazy.

Blake Rea (01:03:34):
It's the best moment of my life that's crazy to think
about, that, um, and then youknow we like to ask this
question kind of to leave.
To wrap up, you know, um, youknow, looking into the future,
you know I'm sure you havebucket lists that you hope to
accomplish for the brand.

(01:03:54):
Uh, if you share some of thosewith us, you know, so that way
we you know people who arelistening to this podcast.
You know 20 years now,hopefully they'll be able to.
Yeah, there's someaccountability right.

Alan Tsao (01:04:08):
Yeah, what do you mean by bucket list?
Give me an example.

Blake Rea (01:04:13):
I'm sure you have a direction that you want to take,
the brand.
I'm sure you say, hey look, Iwant to collaborate with this
person, I want to sell this manywatches.
You talked about opening upyour shop and bringing you know
manufacturing back to Baltimore.
Yeah, yeah.

Alan Tsao (01:04:28):
I mean, ultimately, if you think of, like we want to
be Baltimore's watch company,we want to go to the bars around
Baltimore, I want to seewatches in everyone's,
everyone's wrist, and whateverthat means in terms of how to
get there, in terms of how manysales to get to that point, it
all falls in that whole realm ofI want to be Baltimore's watch

(01:04:53):
company, I want to do all thesales, I want to get a huge
market share in Maryland and Iwant to expand globally.
Or Maryland and I want toexpand globally.
I want to be the mecca of, youknow, watchmaking Because with
our facility we would expand toeventually have our own CNC
machines, eventually have ourwhole.

(01:05:16):
You know, if you go to likeSwitzerland, go to like the big
manufacturers, you see a roomfull of people, watchmakers,
assemblers, like in rows, justassembling pieces.
Like that's what we like inrows, just assembling pieces.
Like that's what we, that'swhat I strive to become, be that
facility for other independentmicro brands to utilize us to
help their assembly process.
You know, also doing SalBaltimore and Baltimore Watch

(01:05:37):
Company pieces, as well as beingthe main foundation of it all.
But that I mean that'll be abig dream.
You know being the Shinola, butfor Baltimore.

Blake Rea (01:05:47):
Yeah, hopefully making better quality watches
than them too 100%.

Alan Tsao (01:05:53):
Sorry to say that out loud, but I mean we'll have
automatic watches at the sameprice as their quartz watches.

Blake Rea (01:06:00):
Yeah, yeah yeah, well , I think that's a good place to
kind of leave us here.
You know we've spent just overan hour with you talking about
the ins and outs of the brand.
Um, I still you're probablylooking at me like I hate this
kid because I borrowed a watchfrom you and I never.
I have the content.
I have the script.

(01:06:21):
I've already done the youtubevideo.
I just need to deliver it's fineum and, and we've just been so
backed up because it's just meand justin no, right now and
we're we're struggling becauseas we grow like we're having our
own growing pains where everybrand is you know, we're talking
to pretty much every brand.
I get it, um, and, and justtrying to prioritize this, I

(01:06:43):
mean I've got like 10 watches Ineed to shoot right now.

Alan Tsao (01:06:45):
No, I get it like it's.
It's kind of like uh, like ourwatchmaker.
You know we're trying to get uhlike he does all the servicing
for a lot of different brands.
You know jack mason, he doesrze, he does you know a couple
other pieces uh brands out there, but like he's trying to get
more business but at the sametime it's just him and another.
You know watch tech.

(01:07:06):
You need to hire at least twoother people to offload a lot of
that work.
You know, because they arebehind.
You know pretty significantlylike they even do like uh
repairs for vintage watches.
There's probably like a sevenmonth back order of all these
vintage pieces that they need towork on.
So they just, you know, inorder to scale up, you just got

(01:07:28):
to hire internally and just keepon scaling.
But I get it, I totallyunderstand it's really
challenging.

Blake Rea (01:07:36):
Uh, because watches are already a niche hobby and
obviously, like if justin and Ibring somebody in or hire
somebody, like we just be likeokay, they have to be a super
watch nerd like like, and theyhave to be passionate about this
or else it's all kind of in aweird way it falls apart yeah, I
get it, um, but I'm trying tofind, like another, another me

(01:07:58):
to hire, you know, to work on.

Alan Tsao (01:08:00):
You know you know help with the qc and help with,
you know, respond to emails,fulfillment, marketing, you know
, go to events and stuff likethat.
So it's hard to find anotherperson that's equally as
passionate and and like superinvolved into it, and it's hard
to find someone unless they have, you know, you know blood in

(01:08:22):
the game, so it's tough yeah,and if anybody's listening,
email alan and you're.
You're from baltimore too.

Blake Rea (01:08:29):
Yeah, there you go well, thank you for spending
just over an hour with us.
Uh, everybody should definitelycheck out all of alan's watches
.
Pick you you up one.
These things are amazing.
I think when we first met youin Atlanta it's a brand that I
never expected.

(01:08:50):
It's easy You've got a lot ofpeople who are shining so bright
.

Alan Tsao (01:08:56):
Oh yeah, for sure.

Blake Rea (01:08:57):
They're coming to the same festivals as you, the same
events.
To overlook right.
To overlook right yeah, Itotally get it you know, that's
the reason why, uh, you know,these, these, these festival
circuits are so important youknow, because it gives people,
people to feel, the watches yeah, to see like yeah there's a
quality product there, I mean,and you're, you're doing some

(01:09:18):
cool stuff and I reallyappreciate you, uh, not only as
a brand, but as a as a friendand collector and designer and
and uh and yeah, so so thank you.
Thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you for having meEverybody check out, check out
Alan's watches, and we will seeyou very soon, I'm sure.

Alan Tsao (01:09:37):
Yeah, I'm sure we will Thanks everyone.