October 18, 2024 • 38 mins
Hey Watch Fans,
Today I talk with Rotimi the founder of SOVRYGN Watches. We dive into the company, the watch, and the man behind it all! Please check out his website and instagram to get a better look at these beautiful watches.
www.sovrygnwatches.com
@sovrygn_watches
Let us know what you all think.
Enjoy the show,
Like WatchFanatics.ca on Facebook
Follow David @watchfanaticdavid on Instagram
AND
Please check out Carol at
IG: @spassense
Today I talk with Rotimi the founder of SOVRYGN Watches. We dive into the company, the watch, and the man behind it all! Please check out his website and instagram to get a better look at these beautiful watches.
www.sovrygnwatches.com
@sovrygn_watches
Let us know what you all think.
Enjoy the show,
Like WatchFanatics.ca on Facebook
Follow David @watchfanaticdavid on Instagram
AND
Please check out Carol at
IG: @spassense
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to watch Fanatics podcasts. If you'd like, you
can follow me David at watch Fanatic David or Kevin
at watch Fanatics dot c. Please subscribe and feel free
to leave us a five star review on wherever you
download your podcast. We hope you enjoy the show. Welcome
(00:25):
back everyone. Today I have a chat with rote Timmy
of Sovereign Watches and it's a great interview. We could
talk forever, but you know, I don't want to take
up too much of his time. It's a great chat
and you'll get to know the man behind the brand.
And unfortunately we don't talk too much about the watch,
(00:45):
but we talk about what it is to run a
successful watch company. So saying that, I just want to
talk about the calendar. It's the watch in his collection
and I just want to give a few brief details.
The case size is thirty nine millimeters by thirteen milimeters.
(01:05):
It has an anti reflective sapphire crystal, uses a meal
to ninety one hundred premium automatic movement, which is it's
an automatic and hand round. It has a forty hour
power reserve, water resistance to one hundred meters and has
a mineral crystal exhibition case. Back uses BGW nine loom
(01:29):
and has a beautiful bracelet tapering from twenty millimeters to
sixteen millimeters with a folding clasp and microadjustment. Comes with
a really cool travel case and it's three sixteen stainless steel. Also,
the power reserve is displayed at the top. There are
(01:53):
three subdials. The subdial at three o'clock has displayed a month,
the subdal at nine o'clock displays the day, the subdal
at six o'clock as the twenty four hour function, and
then they're between four o'clock and five o'clock is the
(02:13):
date window. But without further ado, here's the interview.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
My name is Hamzad also called Rossini. I think most
people know me by Rosini and the founder and designer
of Sovereign Watches. Sovereign was inspired by my fascination with
time faces and the machines that represent their irvocable lessons,
and our aim is pretty much to create watches that
elevates the style of our customers and you know, leave
(02:48):
a lasting impression on those around them. I believe watches
serve a lot of purposes in our lives. Sometimes they
can mak stories, they can mak different points in our lives,
and at Sovereign try to make watches that sort of
encompass all these different things, watches that can also be
passed down. So basically we're just looking to create beautiful
watches and put smiles on the faces of our patrons.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
And I gotta say, I have seen your watch and
it's been a year, and it did leave an impression.
I believe it was the wine Rose calendar I saw
and this thing is stunning.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yes, yes, it was the wine Rose Calendar. So that's
one of our best sellers. I remember I was at
a show once, I think it was the time Bomb Show,
and there was a kid that walked up to my
booth and he was like, Oh, that's the Iron Man watch,
and I'm like, I've never thought about it like that,
but it's one of the very popular watches. And I
guess he was able to see that because of the
(03:45):
Iron Man colors and make that sort of a connection
between the two. He was also a very beautiful woman
for me, because my love for watches started at a
very young age, and I could see myself in that kid.
They're just being excited about watches and wanted to try
on and he did try it on and he really
liked it. Yeah, so his dad was like he halving
before your sixteenth birthday, already in birthday, it would catch
(04:07):
you something like that. It was a very beautiful moment
for me.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, so you saw yourself in that child, that kid.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It's part of the reasons why I do this, because
or watches it's something where if you start at a
very young age, it just goes with you up until
however old you get. And it's one of those things
where you can't really explain why you like it. Some
people just gravitate towards it, and for some people it's
not their thing. But for those who gravitate towards it,
(04:37):
there are a lot of things they begin to enjoy it.
For myself, for example, because I have an engineering background
and I like to take complicated things and make them simple.
So in the current Sovereign Calendar collection, you'll see it
has five complications. So the power reserve, the day, the dates,
the month, and the twenty four hour timer. All those
(04:57):
things for me are just the simplification of being able
to to take that many different time telling aspects and
put them into a single watch. And I believe that
taking that and making it easy for someone to see
all those things instead of maybe having a big calendar
in your room or in your living room or whatever
the case is, and putting all that in such a
(05:18):
compactristwatch and you can bring that with you whenever you're going.
I like the idea of that, of being able to
take just very complex things make them simple. I find
that it's also part of the experience. So being able
to set all these different things when you pick up
the watch and just pretty much thinker with it as
you're setting the watch, I feel like that's part of
the watch on experience and I always enjoyed that. So
(05:40):
that's one of the things I put into the considerations
for this current servant calendar.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And you do it so well. There are calendars out there,
like the perpetual calendars or complications that do have months
and date day and it's muddled, but yours is laid
out beautifully elegant. And the power reserve. You were able
(06:07):
to do that with the power reserve that doesn't interfere
with any of the function. And I like how you
have the power reserve at the top of the dial.
You know so much I see at the bottom or
to the side. But when I see at the top,
I look at someone who's designed a watch, who breaks
(06:27):
out the mold, you know, And I totally saw that
with yours and well done. It was well.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Done, Thank you, thank you. One of the inspirations behind
that was basically challenging the status school because when I
started the brand at the time, in the micro brand space,
a lot of the brands that were coming out, we're
coming out with a lot of diver watches. In my
time of collecting watches, I've owned maybe two dive watches,
(06:56):
and I like them. I would bring them when I'm
going swimming, but other than that, I wouldn't really wear
them much because if I'm not going swimming, I don't
really need them. But I always gravitated more towards the complication.
I also didn't want to put myself in a position
where I was doing dive watches because everyone else was
doing it, because I noticed that space was starting to
(07:16):
get saturated, and I felt like I wouldn't be staying
true to one of the brand's ittos, which is basically
challenging the steps of school. And I was like, Okay,
if this is what I'm going for then doing what
everybody else is doing goes against that principle, and I
was like, Okay, let me do something that's true to
me and true to my watch, collecting tastes and the
(07:37):
experience I would like customers to have as well.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You're right, there are way too many diver watches. I
like them, but there are way too many. It's almost
a cliche for a boutique designer or a micro brand
to always start with the Diver and I totally understand
going against this stassk quo. Now you come out with
(08:02):
this calendar, which leads me to a question. Yeah, challenging
the status quo. How important is that to you?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I think it's always been something that has been with
me since I was a kid, that idea have been
able to put my mind to anything I want to
do because I was originally born in Nigeria and when
I moved here. Before moving here, there was this idea
that there were only setting people who were able to
(08:32):
accomplish certain things. In my high school in Nigeria, we
have something called an honor's list, and for me, that
was something I kind of strived for. I would call
it the highest status you could have as a student
in the school in terms of your academic and for me,
I always strive for that excellence. And when I came
here for school as well, the same principle applied for me,
(08:52):
where I was like, Okay, if this is the highest
or one of the highest status you can have as
a students in the school, then let me work towards it,
because if other people are doing it, then I can
do it. Instead of thinking that okay, because they've said
setting people aren't able to do this thing. For me,
that's not something that existed in my world. And I
think also just gravitating towards that excellence and the status
(09:16):
of it. And I think it's the same thing we
watch is where when you buy a nice watch, there
is a setting level of excellence and status associated with
it because you know when you wear it out, it's
going to stand out from what everybody else is wearing,
not in a way to flex, which is not a
bad thing. If you have a watch that's better than
every that person's watch in the role, I don't see
(09:37):
that as a bad thing, just a representation of who
you are and where you are at that point and
your status. And I believe in every room we walk into,
there's always going to be people at different levels. So
when I take that word challenging in the status quit,
it means it means a lot to me, and it's
just basically going a green stagrain and doing all the
(09:57):
things that people have said you can't do. This does
always been a big driving practice for me.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
That's a great perspective. You know. Sometimes when you hear
going against the grain, challenging the status quote, you think
of a rebellious spirit in a negative way. But here
you are, you're going against the status quo by breaking
the ceiling, breaking through the bubble, breaking the mold, and
that's a positive way. You know. This takes me back
(10:27):
to when we first met. We met last year at
the time and Shine Show. Yeah, more specifically, we were
both in the audience of the DEI. I guess it
was a lecture or seminar diversity, equity and inclusion for
those who don't know. And George Sully yeah, George, yeah,
(10:52):
he founded the Black Designers of Canada and he gave
you a shout out from the stage and that's how
I saw you and I had to approached you and
check out your watch because from the stage, he was
talking about your watch and striving towards excellence. It's a
few months later, you're now giving the Award of Excellence
from the Black Designs of Canada. How did that feel?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I would say a full cycle moment for me, because
while I was doing what I was doing, I didn't
have the award in mind. There are times where you
feel like you might not be getting the recognition you deserve,
and for me, I've learned that in those times it's
because you're either probably not there yet and maybe there's
still something you need to learn in that process. So
(11:38):
I'm very big on enjoying the process of doing what
I'm doing and asking for feedback and improving. So when
I got the award, for me at that point, it
was a confirmation and a testament that, Okay, when you
do good work and you do it properly and people
get to see your work, they will recognize you for it.
But until then, put your head down and just keep
(11:58):
doing what you're doing. Don't necessarily do it and keep
focusing on the world, because I feel like that creates
distraction and sort of dilutes the reason why you're actually
doing what you're doing. If I was doing what I
was doing, and I was thinking, oh, I need to
win the Black Designers of Canada Award of Excellence. I
probably would have been so distracted to the point where
(12:21):
I would have lost the direction and the importance of
what I was trying to accomplish because now my focus
is on something else. So yeah, I think it was
a very beautiful moment. And I think just naturally because
I always try for excellence, which is also part of
the reasons for the names Sovereign. It's just something that
represents excellence, great quality and exceptional craftsmanship.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Well, I'm glad you got it, because truly a beautiful watch,
you know. And it's not just the dial. We're talking
the strap and the adjustment, the care that you put
into the to understanding how a microadjustment can be an
incredibly simple and elegant Yeah, you know, krudos for you
(13:06):
because again going to Michael Brands and breaking the cliche
of dive watch, you went beyond the dial, you went
beyond the function to watch, and you took it into
the strap, not only being beautiful but being very practical.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
When designing. One of the things that always comes to
mind is I have when I used to collect watches.
I had a lot of watches that I considered Frankenstein
watches because they were great watches, but there would always
be something missing, like for example, on my dive watches.
I ended up putting a few of them. I think
the two of them I had. I put one of
them on a rubber strap. But when I wanted the
(13:46):
rubber strap, I wanted you it's a deployment class. At
that time, the brand didn't have a deploying class on
a rubber strap, so I had to buy a robberstrap,
attach it to the watch, and still had to do
my own minor changes to make everything fit perfectly and
(14:07):
work perfectly the way I wanted. So when I think
about the watches now, I always think if someone were
to pick this up, say maybe they're running late and
they just want to throw something on their risk, that
they know any position or any situation they find themselves
in throughout the day, that the watch is going to
remain versatile enough for that environment. That was one of
(14:27):
the big things for me is so with this one,
if you're going swimming, it has one hundred because of
water resistance, screw down crown. If you're going swimming, or
you find yourself somehow in the rain, the watch is
able to you know, go through thattality. You're having to
worry about it getting destroyed with the bracelet as well
in the summer because of the heat when the skin
(14:50):
starts to like expand you do have that micro adjustment
class that helps you, you know, make sure that the
watch is comfortable on your wrist. Same thing, if you
decide you wanted to make it more you could always
use the quick release spring bars and change the bracelet
into a leather strap or a rubber strap. And I
think one of the nicest compliments I've gotten on the
watches so far is a lot of people call them
(15:11):
strap monsters, And for those who don't know what that is,
it's basically you could put on different types of straps
that you would not naturally think would fit on the watch,
and they still always always look good on them. Rubber straps,
leather straps, even just the canvas straps as well. I've
(15:32):
seen pictures from like different users of the watches actually
and I was like, oh, I never even thought that
would look good on the watch. So I think it's
it's always a very beautiful moment when I get compliments
like that, and it just shows the testament to how
good of work has been put into the watches.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Now I'm looking at your watch and I'm picturing it
with different straps, which I never thought of because I
thought you designed the strap properly to match this aesthetic
of Yeah. Now that I look at yeah, I could
see there's like endless of combinations.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Absolutely, it's just thinking about those little details that people
would see and go, oh, this person appreciates this level
of detail and they put a lot of thoughts into
what they're doing, and they're not just doing it so
like quickly rush to the market and then sell the watch.
It's like, Okay, a lot of time, thoughts has been
(16:29):
careful been put into presenting this thing, and I can
see all of that stuff. And because of all of that,
it makes it easier for people to understand why the
watches are priced in the way that they are priced.
You don't want a situation where someone picks up a
watch and looks at it and I'm going, Okay, if
it's costing X amount of money, why is that the case?
And I think I've been so grateful that when people
(16:52):
see it, that's not a question they have to ask.
Because people see the watches, they can feel the quality
and the essence of it, that question doesn't generally come up.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I went to your website and I know how you
kind of started this business or got interested in and
it started with you selling a BlackBerry online. Yes, yes, watches.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yes, so there was that was that was quite an
interesting story. So before moving to Canada in twenty eleven,
I'd always like to watches back home, So even when
I was in high school, those who were in my
senior in school at the time would give me money
and tell them, oh, I'd like to buy a watch.
They have seen that I had like much much better
(17:42):
choices and much better quality watches than they've had in
the past, so they would say, Okay, help me, I'd
like to buy a watch. What do you think I
can get with X amount of money? And I also
enjoyed that process because it allowed me to explore like
watches in different price ranges and just explore people's like,
different tastes, all these different things. So when I moved here,
(18:04):
I think within the first few weeks I had bought
us watch Chronograph that I had to take a cab
from Hamilton to Brampton, I think to pick it up,
and at the time I didn't realize how far that
was because UPS dropped the watch off in Brampton and
I sat at the backseat of the cab and I
was just watching the meter read and I think by
the end of that trip, I had spent maybe half
the amounts I spent buying the watch on just cab
(18:28):
as well as import duties. Fast forward, I had a
BlackBerry Torch at the time. It was a slider BlackBerry
with the keep ad and the touchscreen, and the iPhone
was becoming more popular than BlackBerry at the time, so
I was like, Okay, let me get an iPhone. I
believe it was the iPhone for s. But I had
the iPhone fors and my BlackBerry, and I needed to
(18:49):
get rid of the BlackBerry because I didn't want two
phones for students, and I definitely didn't have the money
to before bill for two phones. So I put the
I think I discovered KG at the time I put
the BlackBerry on there. I remember it was towards the
end of one of my classes and I had to
run away from the class to go sell the phone. Luckily,
my teacher was kind enough to let me do that,
(19:11):
And as soon as I did that, I was like, Okay,
if I buy watches that a limited edition from the US,
I can sell them in Canada for a premium because
I know none of the stores would hear I would
have them, and people would definitely want something exclusive. So
I did that quite a few times, and I think
by the time I was done university, I had probably
(19:31):
bought and sold maybe one hundred watches at the very
list from a bunch of different brands. And after university,
I also had a website where I was selling for
Ted party brands, so like I guess for Sale, micro Coors,
Orient and all these different brands. My only issue at
the time was the logistics. So because my website was
connected to their supply websites, sometimes they might be delay
(19:54):
in updating the inventory. So that was a problem for me.
And there are times where people would reach out to
me and something and I couldn't deliver it. I knew
what that felt like, so a lot of the time
I would basically go online, scarring through the Internet to
help them find it, even if they could invite for me.
But at least I know if I help them find it,
in the future they can EADI come back and say
help me find this watch, I'll pay you X amount
(20:15):
of money, which was something I started doing on the
side as well. But yeah, shortly after that, I think
by January of twenty eighteen, I shot down that website
and that was when process for developing Sovereign started. And yeah,
it's just been one day and one step at a
time after that.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I'm glad you shared that because I think there's a
lot of people who have aspirations of putting watches into
a side hustle, and you went beyond that. You create
Sovereign Watches. This beautiful piece one on an award. I
know Ottawa TV the piece on you last year as well. Yeah,
(20:59):
so you're getting a lot of traction, growing popularity. You're
now inspiring children with your iron Man watch. I think
people need to hear the story. And in a time
where there I guess we can say a gig economy
and side hustles are huge. I think your story can
(21:22):
empower other people to move forward, inspire as I may say. Yeah,
and that brings me back to your your web page.
I know you have a quote with Sovereign something about
dreaming with your at night versus dreaming in the day. Right, Yeah,
where's that quote come from? Is that your quote? Or
(21:43):
so it was?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
It was adapted from somewhere else. I think it was
from the Lawrence of Arabia, where he said all men dream,
but not equally. Those who dream by night in the
dusty recesses of their minds wake up to find it
was vanity. But the dreamers of they had dangerous men,
but they may act on their dreams with open eyes
to make it possible. My version of that says, in
(22:08):
the end, we all dream and set goals, but the
dreamers of they are sovereign because they act on their
dream with open eyes to make them a reality. And
one of the reasons why I chose that was I've
always been a big advocate for like visualizing things and
setting my mind and making goals. And I remember once
(22:29):
when I was in Union, I believe I was in
one of my engineering classes, and I would almost be
sketching either the watch I'm wearing, or maybe just like
a vision or a picture of watch that has come
to mind, and I'll sit there and sketch and sketch
and sketch. And I remember once one of my very
close friends asked me and she was like, if you're
not doing engineering, what would you be doing? And the
(22:50):
first thing that came to my mind was selling watches.
And in that moment, looking back now, it was almost
a very intuitive whether. There was no second talk, there
was no contemplation about it. It was just like, this
is the next thing that I'll be doing if I
wasn't actually doing engineering at this time. I feel like
it's something all human beings do on its can relate to.
(23:12):
I don't know that there's anybody that doesn't have a
dream that they would like to accomplish or that it
would like to chase. So for me, it was like,
this is something everybody can relate to, and it's something
I've lived in my life, so I'm not just saying
it just because it sounds cool or because it sounds catchy.
It's something I leave by and I feel like there
are other people who live by this. And there's something
(23:34):
I always see, which is it watches just to watch.
And there are times when people ask you what mix
to watch unique, and I'm like, other than the fact
that the design itself is unique and the exca our
craftsmanship and all those things. Those are things that you
can also get from other brands as well. But in
the grand scheme of things, when you look at it,
(23:56):
the foundation of the brand is usually the story behind
the brand. How did that's come to be? What was
what was the thought process behind this? And I think
that's one of the things that mixed the brand truly unique.
Is how I've got in the journey that it took
for me to get here, and how this actually came to.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Be beautiful, very inspirational. You hear are growing sovereign, but
I have a feeling you're doing so much more. You're
helping people dream with your eyes open, for sure. And
you said it, the story behind the brand, the foundation
behind the brand you are. There's tremendous value.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Tremendous value.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
No thank you, this is I mean, you did this
like you must have been spending a lot of time, money, sweat,
you must have lost a lot of sleep. Bring this
brand and no thank you. It's no easy taking, you.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Know, definitely not easy. But I think anything that you loved.
There was something I wrote on my Instagram page. I
think it was sometime last week. Someone in the past
said the best things in life are free, but I
added to that and said, the best things in life
are free, but you have to work for them. And
(25:17):
for me, when I think about this brand, that's something
that comes to mind all the time, is because I
love it so much and it's feeling for me when
I'm doing that work, it's enjoyable for me that I
want to keep doing it as long as possible. And also,
like in just the helping people part, like helping people dream,
(25:39):
for example, I think the brand also offers the opportunity
for customers to give back. So one of the things
we've done in the past is partner with foundations to
help people in need and just in helping people in
under privileged areas. And I think while some people may
not necessarily think about that too much, I think at
(26:02):
some point in their life it's important for them to
also realize that, oh, I spent X amounts of money
and part of that now has gone into helping people
in these areas that don't have that aren't as privileged
as I am. So basically being able to give back
in all these different ways and connect with human beings
all over the world just because you're one of the
(26:24):
people who like watches. For some people it may be
going to maybe a Cara event and they do an
option and donate the proceeds or just different things. But
for those who are, you know, patrons of sovereign, I
think it's also important for them to know that while
they're getting a nice watch, the money is also going
to beyond just buying a watch, like it's also going
(26:47):
to like help people in different areas and make an
impact in people's lives. And that's a very big thing
for me because when I was growing up it's one
of the things I sort of got fund my dad
has giving back and when you do that, almost naturally,
by the laws of nature, you'll surely get back what
you gave in return in different ways. It's making dreams
(27:10):
come true for me. For those who saw the watch
and liked it, I feel like that's a dream that
it made the reality, and I was like seeing it
on your computer or like on the website, it's like, oh,
I would like to own that. And then in the
process of purchasing the watch, you've taken that thing which
is or was once a dream, and now you have meditariality.
(27:30):
And for those kids who are in those organizations and
foundations that we partner with It's like at some points
they might have dreamed or I would like to be
happy at some point and being able to make that
happen for them. I think that's one of the beauty
of this endeavor, is like knowing that, Okay, outside of watches,
(27:50):
we can still have an impact in society at large.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
And those collaborations you're referring to the money foundation and
never settle right exactly. Yeah, Yeah, you're definitely making an impact.
You're definitely going to make more Watch fans, for sure.
But also when I saw that that you're giving back
and just hearing you now that this is something your
father taught you kind of brings me back to something
(28:17):
you said earlier, these watches is something that you can
hand down.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Two.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I am assuming you're meaning your own children or your grandfather.
But how important was that a part of leaving a
legacy behind when you're creating this watch? How much of
that entered your mind? Was it from the beginning or
is this something you saw towards the end?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
I would say, even before the creation of the brand.
So I'll go back to the whole story of selling
the BlackBerry again. In those kind of transactions they are
solely and highly based on trust. So me giving the
BlackBerry to the guy, there was no way for him
to know that it was functioning properly or completely like
(29:11):
fully functioning. There might have been something he didn't know
about in a different transaction, and the person could have
sold him, you know, a device that wasn't working perfectly.
But for me, one of the things that always kept
at the back of mind is I want to collect
conscience and I want to be able to sleep properly
at night. So I don't want to sell a person
or watch for six hundred and fifty USD which is
(29:33):
about eight fifty Canadian right now, and not be able
to go to sleep at night because I feel like
I've cheated them out of their money. One of the
biggest things for me was I'm going to make watches,
and I'm going to make very high quality watches. So
even in the design process, I was going through YouTube.
I think Teddy Balzer made very very good video on
(29:54):
some of the things that you look for in high
quality watches. And for someone who sells premium watches and
luxury watches, I'm sure he has good enough experience there
for me to say if this is a good reference point.
I was looking at all these things and going, Okay,
if I wanted to watch, I don't want to buy
something that I would have to replace next week. I
(30:17):
don't want something that my customers would have to be
calling me every other day. Because now, instead of focusing
on how to create new watches and make the brand
better and responding to customer complaints on the bad quality
watches I've created, making sure that the quality, the craftsmanship,
everything was done to a very high level of excellence
(30:37):
was very important. And in doing that just naturally immens
those watches and now things that can last a very
very very very long time, and they can naturally be
passed down either to friends, to family, to kids and
all these different things. That was a very big part
of it for me is making sure that the quality
(31:00):
is premium and I know that when I sell a
watch the word person, I'm confident in what I'm selling
to them, because only takes sometimes is one customer to
leave a bad review that now your business is struggling
to fix, you know, a bad image. I'm here for
a long time and not just a short time. It's
not just a cash grab for me where I'm thinking
makes X amount of money from this, I just leave.
(31:23):
It's something I intend to do for a long time.
It's a way for me to express my creativity, and
that's only getting better as time passes by. So I
just make sure that whatever I'm doing and putting my
best foot forward in the same way that I was
in the past, challenging the staff at school, making sure
I got on the honors list, making sure I got
a scholarship, and I was going into university, and all
those things required hard work. If I can't do this properly,
(31:45):
there's no point doing it at all. All those things
eventually tie down and tie back to that idea of
being able to give back nice.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Do you have future designs coming up and expand the line.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
The next watch I'm gonna make, I'm just gonna give
a few hints. Part of it is going to be
an integrate leg bracelet, so, which was one of the
things I was going to do for this one as well.
But again, I didn't want to just be following the pack.
While that may be good for a bunch of other reasons,
I think now being able to do this by myself
(32:24):
now is a testament that Okay, I can do something different,
and I'm not just doing it because a real person
is doing it. I can create unique designs. But the
next time piece I'm creating is going to be one
with an integrated bracelet. It's also going to be paying
how much to my time in Canada and just the
opportunities that have been presented to me here, So it's
(32:47):
gonna have some elements of Canada in there. When you
see it, you'll understand what that means. What else. Probably
have some other materials than just three sixteens still, which
is currently used on this watch. But the'be more details
on that when when the designs get ready. But I
currently have quite a few things that I'm working on
(33:09):
now and I'm very excited for people to see them
as soon as they're ready. In the meantime, it's feel
fit to shop around the website. We have travel watch
cases and we still have some of the calendar collection left,
which is actually all the different colors are all limited
to five hundred bass, so each one you buy would
have the specific number on the back, letting you know
(33:32):
this is x amount of five hundred that you've purchased.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
So I'm a sucker for numbered cases. So that's yeah,
five each color. Yeah, I don't want to take up
too much of your time. I think we talk more
about you than your watches. But I think that's where
the story is the watch. You know, people can see online,
(33:56):
but like all web pages, there'sn't about you. But until
we talk to you, have other people get a chance
to listen to this conversation and know more about you
and who you are and the nuances the details behind it.
I think they're going to fall in love with Sovereign
even more as well as rote me. No doubt do
(34:18):
I believe when people meet you and hold this watch,
people are going to talk more and more about Sovereign.
No doubt that it's going to inspire probably new watch.
It might inspire some competition. That is always good, it
is health. I'm pretty sure we're going to see people
(34:43):
who will now look at a brand and a watch
and see the difference between quality with intention, deliberate intention,
a certain quality for legacy, the intention that you play
into the design, material, the price point. I think people
(35:04):
are clearly going to see that, and I hope people
can get a sense of that from just this interview
that we're having. Because two minutes we spent with the
watch last year. It definitely left that impression for sure.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Thank you very much. I'm grateful that that was the case.
Watches are always so interesting because there's so much online
now and you can see a lot of things online,
But until you get to see and experience it in person,
then you appreciate it more because you can feel the essence,
you can feel the quality, you can see the craftsmanship
(35:40):
and all these different things and all the effort that
has been taken to make that thing what it is.
And there are other times where you see other watches
and you can see that not so much has been
put into them for whatever reason, because different price points.
You know, you can only accomplish so much at setting
price points. But if you're someone who that quality and
(36:02):
you want to buy something that's going to leave a
lasting impression, something that's when you wear it somewhere, people
see it and go, oh, what's that? You're wearing something
that makes you feel confident when you put it on
your wrist, because you can tell that you've gotten the
value for the money you've spent. I think until people
get to wear the watching person, it's hard to sort
(36:23):
of experience that a lot of people when they get
it in person, they go, oh, it looks much better
than the pictures. Feels much better. It feels like watches
that cost X four or five figures amounts of money,
and it's less than thanndred thousand dollars. So I think
being able to accomplish that just does to show that Okay,
(36:47):
like you said earlier, being intentional about those little things
and just bringing my own experiences and my own story
into creating those watches, I think it's something that people
would truly love when they eventually get the watches and
when they have them in person.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Or trust me, they will, they will. I've experienced it.
But thank you for your time. I want to respect
your time. I don't want to we'll beyond that and
make you late for anything else but absolute pleasure talking
to you again. Unfortunately it's taking a year for us
(37:24):
to reconnectors and I will eagerly, eagerly wait for your
new release so we can talk again and hopefully I
could see you at another watch show also or another
time and shine or whatever maybe.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
And if not, when I have the new releases, I
can always come down to Toronto and maybe schedule of
visits where I can see multiple people at the same
time and just show them new release. Just it gets
like first impressions. So that's something we can also do
as well.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
I will love that. All right, Rotini, have a great
day and thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Thank you very much for you too, and.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
We'll talk soon. I'll make sure i'll put the your
links below in our show program.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Okay, sounds good.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Yeah, well, with winter coming up, stay warm.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Thank you very much, you too. Thanks that, have a
good day you too
Speaker 1 (38:23):
All right, bye bye, yeah,
You're listening to watch Fanatics podcasts. If you'd like, you
can follow me David at watch Fanatic David or Kevin
at watch Fanatics dot c. Please subscribe and feel free
to leave us a five star review on wherever you
download your podcast. We hope you enjoy the show. Welcome
(00:25):
back everyone. Today I have a chat with rote Timmy
of Sovereign Watches and it's a great interview. We could
talk forever, but you know, I don't want to take
up too much of his time. It's a great chat
and you'll get to know the man behind the brand.
And unfortunately we don't talk too much about the watch,
(00:45):
but we talk about what it is to run a
successful watch company. So saying that, I just want to
talk about the calendar. It's the watch in his collection
and I just want to give a few brief details.
The case size is thirty nine millimeters by thirteen milimeters.
(01:05):
It has an anti reflective sapphire crystal, uses a meal
to ninety one hundred premium automatic movement, which is it's
an automatic and hand round. It has a forty hour
power reserve, water resistance to one hundred meters and has
a mineral crystal exhibition case. Back uses BGW nine loom
(01:29):
and has a beautiful bracelet tapering from twenty millimeters to
sixteen millimeters with a folding clasp and microadjustment. Comes with
a really cool travel case and it's three sixteen stainless steel. Also,
the power reserve is displayed at the top. There are
(01:53):
three subdials. The subdial at three o'clock has displayed a month,
the subdal at nine o'clock displays the day, the subdal
at six o'clock as the twenty four hour function, and
then they're between four o'clock and five o'clock is the
(02:13):
date window. But without further ado, here's the interview.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
My name is Hamzad also called Rossini. I think most
people know me by Rosini and the founder and designer
of Sovereign Watches. Sovereign was inspired by my fascination with
time faces and the machines that represent their irvocable lessons,
and our aim is pretty much to create watches that
elevates the style of our customers and you know, leave
(02:48):
a lasting impression on those around them. I believe watches
serve a lot of purposes in our lives. Sometimes they
can mak stories, they can mak different points in our lives,
and at Sovereign try to make watches that sort of
encompass all these different things, watches that can also be
passed down. So basically we're just looking to create beautiful
watches and put smiles on the faces of our patrons.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
And I gotta say, I have seen your watch and
it's been a year, and it did leave an impression.
I believe it was the wine Rose calendar I saw
and this thing is stunning.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yes, yes, it was the wine Rose Calendar. So that's
one of our best sellers. I remember I was at
a show once, I think it was the time Bomb Show,
and there was a kid that walked up to my
booth and he was like, Oh, that's the Iron Man watch,
and I'm like, I've never thought about it like that,
but it's one of the very popular watches. And I
guess he was able to see that because of the
(03:45):
Iron Man colors and make that sort of a connection
between the two. He was also a very beautiful woman
for me, because my love for watches started at a
very young age, and I could see myself in that kid.
They're just being excited about watches and wanted to try
on and he did try it on and he really
liked it. Yeah, so his dad was like he halving
before your sixteenth birthday, already in birthday, it would catch
(04:07):
you something like that. It was a very beautiful moment
for me.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, so you saw yourself in that child, that kid.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It's part of the reasons why I do this, because
or watches it's something where if you start at a
very young age, it just goes with you up until
however old you get. And it's one of those things
where you can't really explain why you like it. Some
people just gravitate towards it, and for some people it's
not their thing. But for those who gravitate towards it,
(04:37):
there are a lot of things they begin to enjoy it.
For myself, for example, because I have an engineering background
and I like to take complicated things and make them simple.
So in the current Sovereign Calendar collection, you'll see it
has five complications. So the power reserve, the day, the dates,
the month, and the twenty four hour timer. All those
(04:57):
things for me are just the simplification of being able
to to take that many different time telling aspects and
put them into a single watch. And I believe that
taking that and making it easy for someone to see
all those things instead of maybe having a big calendar
in your room or in your living room or whatever
the case is, and putting all that in such a
(05:18):
compactristwatch and you can bring that with you whenever you're going.
I like the idea of that, of being able to
take just very complex things make them simple. I find
that it's also part of the experience. So being able
to set all these different things when you pick up
the watch and just pretty much thinker with it as
you're setting the watch, I feel like that's part of
the watch on experience and I always enjoyed that. So
(05:40):
that's one of the things I put into the considerations
for this current servant calendar.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And you do it so well. There are calendars out there,
like the perpetual calendars or complications that do have months
and date day and it's muddled, but yours is laid
out beautifully elegant. And the power reserve. You were able
(06:07):
to do that with the power reserve that doesn't interfere
with any of the function. And I like how you
have the power reserve at the top of the dial.
You know so much I see at the bottom or
to the side. But when I see at the top,
I look at someone who's designed a watch, who breaks
(06:27):
out the mold, you know, And I totally saw that
with yours and well done. It was well.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Done, Thank you, thank you. One of the inspirations behind
that was basically challenging the status school because when I
started the brand at the time, in the micro brand space,
a lot of the brands that were coming out, we're
coming out with a lot of diver watches. In my
time of collecting watches, I've owned maybe two dive watches,
(06:56):
and I like them. I would bring them when I'm
going swimming, but other than that, I wouldn't really wear
them much because if I'm not going swimming, I don't
really need them. But I always gravitated more towards the complication.
I also didn't want to put myself in a position
where I was doing dive watches because everyone else was
doing it, because I noticed that space was starting to
(07:16):
get saturated, and I felt like I wouldn't be staying
true to one of the brand's ittos, which is basically
challenging the steps of school. And I was like, Okay,
if this is what I'm going for then doing what
everybody else is doing goes against that principle, and I
was like, Okay, let me do something that's true to
me and true to my watch, collecting tastes and the
(07:37):
experience I would like customers to have as well.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
You're right, there are way too many diver watches. I
like them, but there are way too many. It's almost
a cliche for a boutique designer or a micro brand
to always start with the Diver and I totally understand
going against this stassk quo. Now you come out with
(08:02):
this calendar, which leads me to a question. Yeah, challenging
the status quo. How important is that to you?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I think it's always been something that has been with
me since I was a kid, that idea have been
able to put my mind to anything I want to
do because I was originally born in Nigeria and when
I moved here. Before moving here, there was this idea
that there were only setting people who were able to
(08:32):
accomplish certain things. In my high school in Nigeria, we
have something called an honor's list, and for me, that
was something I kind of strived for. I would call
it the highest status you could have as a student
in the school in terms of your academic and for me,
I always strive for that excellence. And when I came
here for school as well, the same principle applied for me,
(08:52):
where I was like, Okay, if this is the highest
or one of the highest status you can have as
a students in the school, then let me work towards it,
because if other people are doing it, then I can
do it. Instead of thinking that okay, because they've said
setting people aren't able to do this thing. For me,
that's not something that existed in my world. And I
think also just gravitating towards that excellence and the status
(09:16):
of it. And I think it's the same thing we
watch is where when you buy a nice watch, there
is a setting level of excellence and status associated with
it because you know when you wear it out, it's
going to stand out from what everybody else is wearing,
not in a way to flex, which is not a
bad thing. If you have a watch that's better than
every that person's watch in the role, I don't see
(09:37):
that as a bad thing, just a representation of who
you are and where you are at that point and
your status. And I believe in every room we walk into,
there's always going to be people at different levels. So
when I take that word challenging in the status quit,
it means it means a lot to me, and it's
just basically going a green stagrain and doing all the
(09:57):
things that people have said you can't do. This does
always been a big driving practice for me.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
That's a great perspective. You know. Sometimes when you hear
going against the grain, challenging the status quote, you think
of a rebellious spirit in a negative way. But here
you are, you're going against the status quo by breaking
the ceiling, breaking through the bubble, breaking the mold, and
that's a positive way. You know. This takes me back
(10:27):
to when we first met. We met last year at
the time and Shine Show. Yeah, more specifically, we were
both in the audience of the DEI. I guess it
was a lecture or seminar diversity, equity and inclusion for
those who don't know. And George Sully yeah, George, yeah,
(10:52):
he founded the Black Designers of Canada and he gave
you a shout out from the stage and that's how
I saw you and I had to approached you and
check out your watch because from the stage, he was
talking about your watch and striving towards excellence. It's a
few months later, you're now giving the Award of Excellence
from the Black Designs of Canada. How did that feel?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I would say a full cycle moment for me, because
while I was doing what I was doing, I didn't
have the award in mind. There are times where you
feel like you might not be getting the recognition you deserve,
and for me, I've learned that in those times it's
because you're either probably not there yet and maybe there's
still something you need to learn in that process. So
(11:38):
I'm very big on enjoying the process of doing what
I'm doing and asking for feedback and improving. So when
I got the award, for me at that point, it
was a confirmation and a testament that, Okay, when you
do good work and you do it properly and people
get to see your work, they will recognize you for it.
But until then, put your head down and just keep
(11:58):
doing what you're doing. Don't necessarily do it and keep
focusing on the world, because I feel like that creates
distraction and sort of dilutes the reason why you're actually
doing what you're doing. If I was doing what I
was doing, and I was thinking, oh, I need to
win the Black Designers of Canada Award of Excellence. I
probably would have been so distracted to the point where
(12:21):
I would have lost the direction and the importance of
what I was trying to accomplish because now my focus
is on something else. So yeah, I think it was
a very beautiful moment. And I think just naturally because
I always try for excellence, which is also part of
the reasons for the names Sovereign. It's just something that
represents excellence, great quality and exceptional craftsmanship.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Well, I'm glad you got it, because truly a beautiful watch,
you know. And it's not just the dial. We're talking
the strap and the adjustment, the care that you put
into the to understanding how a microadjustment can be an
incredibly simple and elegant Yeah, you know, krudos for you
(13:06):
because again going to Michael Brands and breaking the cliche
of dive watch, you went beyond the dial, you went
beyond the function to watch, and you took it into
the strap, not only being beautiful but being very practical.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
When designing. One of the things that always comes to
mind is I have when I used to collect watches.
I had a lot of watches that I considered Frankenstein
watches because they were great watches, but there would always
be something missing, like for example, on my dive watches.
I ended up putting a few of them. I think
the two of them I had. I put one of
them on a rubber strap. But when I wanted the
(13:46):
rubber strap, I wanted you it's a deployment class. At
that time, the brand didn't have a deploying class on
a rubber strap, so I had to buy a robberstrap,
attach it to the watch, and still had to do
my own minor changes to make everything fit perfectly and
(14:07):
work perfectly the way I wanted. So when I think
about the watches now, I always think if someone were
to pick this up, say maybe they're running late and
they just want to throw something on their risk, that
they know any position or any situation they find themselves
in throughout the day, that the watch is going to
remain versatile enough for that environment. That was one of
(14:27):
the big things for me is so with this one,
if you're going swimming, it has one hundred because of
water resistance, screw down crown. If you're going swimming, or
you find yourself somehow in the rain, the watch is
able to you know, go through thattality. You're having to
worry about it getting destroyed with the bracelet as well
in the summer because of the heat when the skin
(14:50):
starts to like expand you do have that micro adjustment
class that helps you, you know, make sure that the
watch is comfortable on your wrist. Same thing, if you
decide you wanted to make it more you could always
use the quick release spring bars and change the bracelet
into a leather strap or a rubber strap. And I
think one of the nicest compliments I've gotten on the
watches so far is a lot of people call them
(15:11):
strap monsters, And for those who don't know what that is,
it's basically you could put on different types of straps
that you would not naturally think would fit on the watch,
and they still always always look good on them. Rubber straps,
leather straps, even just the canvas straps as well. I've
(15:32):
seen pictures from like different users of the watches actually
and I was like, oh, I never even thought that
would look good on the watch. So I think it's
it's always a very beautiful moment when I get compliments
like that, and it just shows the testament to how
good of work has been put into the watches.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Now I'm looking at your watch and I'm picturing it
with different straps, which I never thought of because I
thought you designed the strap properly to match this aesthetic
of Yeah. Now that I look at yeah, I could
see there's like endless of combinations.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Absolutely, it's just thinking about those little details that people
would see and go, oh, this person appreciates this level
of detail and they put a lot of thoughts into
what they're doing, and they're not just doing it so
like quickly rush to the market and then sell the watch.
It's like, Okay, a lot of time, thoughts has been
(16:29):
careful been put into presenting this thing, and I can
see all of that stuff. And because of all of that,
it makes it easier for people to understand why the
watches are priced in the way that they are priced.
You don't want a situation where someone picks up a
watch and looks at it and I'm going, Okay, if
it's costing X amount of money, why is that the case?
And I think I've been so grateful that when people
(16:52):
see it, that's not a question they have to ask.
Because people see the watches, they can feel the quality
and the essence of it, that question doesn't generally come up.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I went to your website and I know how you
kind of started this business or got interested in and
it started with you selling a BlackBerry online. Yes, yes, watches.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yes, so there was that was that was quite an
interesting story. So before moving to Canada in twenty eleven,
I'd always like to watches back home, So even when
I was in high school, those who were in my
senior in school at the time would give me money
and tell them, oh, I'd like to buy a watch.
They have seen that I had like much much better
(17:42):
choices and much better quality watches than they've had in
the past, so they would say, Okay, help me, I'd
like to buy a watch. What do you think I
can get with X amount of money? And I also
enjoyed that process because it allowed me to explore like
watches in different price ranges and just explore people's like,
different tastes, all these different things. So when I moved here,
(18:04):
I think within the first few weeks I had bought
us watch Chronograph that I had to take a cab
from Hamilton to Brampton, I think to pick it up,
and at the time I didn't realize how far that
was because UPS dropped the watch off in Brampton and
I sat at the backseat of the cab and I
was just watching the meter read and I think by
the end of that trip, I had spent maybe half
the amounts I spent buying the watch on just cab
(18:28):
as well as import duties. Fast forward, I had a
BlackBerry Torch at the time. It was a slider BlackBerry
with the keep ad and the touchscreen, and the iPhone
was becoming more popular than BlackBerry at the time, so
I was like, Okay, let me get an iPhone. I
believe it was the iPhone for s. But I had
the iPhone fors and my BlackBerry, and I needed to
(18:49):
get rid of the BlackBerry because I didn't want two
phones for students, and I definitely didn't have the money
to before bill for two phones. So I put the
I think I discovered KG at the time I put
the BlackBerry on there. I remember it was towards the
end of one of my classes and I had to
run away from the class to go sell the phone. Luckily,
my teacher was kind enough to let me do that,
(19:11):
And as soon as I did that, I was like, Okay,
if I buy watches that a limited edition from the US,
I can sell them in Canada for a premium because
I know none of the stores would hear I would
have them, and people would definitely want something exclusive. So
I did that quite a few times, and I think
by the time I was done university, I had probably
(19:31):
bought and sold maybe one hundred watches at the very
list from a bunch of different brands. And after university,
I also had a website where I was selling for
Ted party brands, so like I guess for Sale, micro Coors,
Orient and all these different brands. My only issue at
the time was the logistics. So because my website was
connected to their supply websites, sometimes they might be delay
(19:54):
in updating the inventory. So that was a problem for me.
And there are times where people would reach out to
me and something and I couldn't deliver it. I knew
what that felt like, so a lot of the time
I would basically go online, scarring through the Internet to
help them find it, even if they could invite for me.
But at least I know if I help them find it,
in the future they can EADI come back and say
help me find this watch, I'll pay you X amount
(20:15):
of money, which was something I started doing on the
side as well. But yeah, shortly after that, I think
by January of twenty eighteen, I shot down that website
and that was when process for developing Sovereign started. And yeah,
it's just been one day and one step at a
time after that.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I'm glad you shared that because I think there's a
lot of people who have aspirations of putting watches into
a side hustle, and you went beyond that. You create
Sovereign Watches. This beautiful piece one on an award. I
know Ottawa TV the piece on you last year as well. Yeah,
(20:59):
so you're getting a lot of traction, growing popularity. You're
now inspiring children with your iron Man watch. I think
people need to hear the story. And in a time
where there I guess we can say a gig economy
and side hustles are huge. I think your story can
(21:22):
empower other people to move forward, inspire as I may say. Yeah,
and that brings me back to your your web page.
I know you have a quote with Sovereign something about
dreaming with your at night versus dreaming in the day. Right, Yeah,
where's that quote come from? Is that your quote? Or
(21:43):
so it was?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
It was adapted from somewhere else. I think it was
from the Lawrence of Arabia, where he said all men dream,
but not equally. Those who dream by night in the
dusty recesses of their minds wake up to find it
was vanity. But the dreamers of they had dangerous men,
but they may act on their dreams with open eyes
to make it possible. My version of that says, in
(22:08):
the end, we all dream and set goals, but the
dreamers of they are sovereign because they act on their
dream with open eyes to make them a reality. And
one of the reasons why I chose that was I've
always been a big advocate for like visualizing things and
setting my mind and making goals. And I remember once
(22:29):
when I was in Union, I believe I was in
one of my engineering classes, and I would almost be
sketching either the watch I'm wearing, or maybe just like
a vision or a picture of watch that has come
to mind, and I'll sit there and sketch and sketch
and sketch. And I remember once one of my very
close friends asked me and she was like, if you're
not doing engineering, what would you be doing? And the
(22:50):
first thing that came to my mind was selling watches.
And in that moment, looking back now, it was almost
a very intuitive whether. There was no second talk, there
was no contemplation about it. It was just like, this
is the next thing that I'll be doing if I
wasn't actually doing engineering at this time. I feel like
it's something all human beings do on its can relate to.
(23:12):
I don't know that there's anybody that doesn't have a
dream that they would like to accomplish or that it
would like to chase. So for me, it was like,
this is something everybody can relate to, and it's something
I've lived in my life, so I'm not just saying
it just because it sounds cool or because it sounds catchy.
It's something I leave by and I feel like there
are other people who live by this. And there's something
(23:34):
I always see, which is it watches just to watch.
And there are times when people ask you what mix
to watch unique, and I'm like, other than the fact
that the design itself is unique and the exca our
craftsmanship and all those things. Those are things that you
can also get from other brands as well. But in
the grand scheme of things, when you look at it,
(23:56):
the foundation of the brand is usually the story behind
the brand. How did that's come to be? What was
what was the thought process behind this? And I think
that's one of the things that mixed the brand truly unique.
Is how I've got in the journey that it took
for me to get here, and how this actually came to.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Be beautiful, very inspirational. You hear are growing sovereign, but
I have a feeling you're doing so much more. You're
helping people dream with your eyes open, for sure. And
you said it, the story behind the brand, the foundation
behind the brand you are. There's tremendous value.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Tremendous value.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
No thank you, this is I mean, you did this
like you must have been spending a lot of time, money, sweat,
you must have lost a lot of sleep. Bring this
brand and no thank you. It's no easy taking, you.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Know, definitely not easy. But I think anything that you loved.
There was something I wrote on my Instagram page. I
think it was sometime last week. Someone in the past
said the best things in life are free, but I
added to that and said, the best things in life
are free, but you have to work for them. And
(25:17):
for me, when I think about this brand, that's something
that comes to mind all the time, is because I
love it so much and it's feeling for me when
I'm doing that work, it's enjoyable for me that I
want to keep doing it as long as possible. And also,
like in just the helping people part, like helping people dream,
(25:39):
for example, I think the brand also offers the opportunity
for customers to give back. So one of the things
we've done in the past is partner with foundations to
help people in need and just in helping people in
under privileged areas. And I think while some people may
not necessarily think about that too much, I think at
(26:02):
some point in their life it's important for them to
also realize that, oh, I spent X amounts of money
and part of that now has gone into helping people
in these areas that don't have that aren't as privileged
as I am. So basically being able to give back
in all these different ways and connect with human beings
all over the world just because you're one of the
(26:24):
people who like watches. For some people it may be
going to maybe a Cara event and they do an
option and donate the proceeds or just different things. But
for those who are, you know, patrons of sovereign, I
think it's also important for them to know that while
they're getting a nice watch, the money is also going
to beyond just buying a watch, like it's also going
(26:47):
to like help people in different areas and make an
impact in people's lives. And that's a very big thing
for me because when I was growing up it's one
of the things I sort of got fund my dad
has giving back and when you do that, almost naturally,
by the laws of nature, you'll surely get back what
you gave in return in different ways. It's making dreams
(27:10):
come true for me. For those who saw the watch
and liked it, I feel like that's a dream that
it made the reality, and I was like seeing it
on your computer or like on the website, it's like, oh,
I would like to own that. And then in the
process of purchasing the watch, you've taken that thing which
is or was once a dream, and now you have meditariality.
(27:30):
And for those kids who are in those organizations and
foundations that we partner with It's like at some points
they might have dreamed or I would like to be
happy at some point and being able to make that
happen for them. I think that's one of the beauty
of this endeavor, is like knowing that, Okay, outside of watches,
(27:50):
we can still have an impact in society at large.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
And those collaborations you're referring to the money foundation and
never settle right exactly. Yeah, Yeah, you're definitely making an impact.
You're definitely going to make more Watch fans, for sure.
But also when I saw that that you're giving back
and just hearing you now that this is something your
father taught you kind of brings me back to something
(28:17):
you said earlier, these watches is something that you can
hand down.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Two.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I am assuming you're meaning your own children or your grandfather.
But how important was that a part of leaving a
legacy behind when you're creating this watch? How much of
that entered your mind? Was it from the beginning or
is this something you saw towards the end?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
I would say, even before the creation of the brand.
So I'll go back to the whole story of selling
the BlackBerry again. In those kind of transactions they are
solely and highly based on trust. So me giving the
BlackBerry to the guy, there was no way for him
to know that it was functioning properly or completely like
(29:11):
fully functioning. There might have been something he didn't know
about in a different transaction, and the person could have
sold him, you know, a device that wasn't working perfectly.
But for me, one of the things that always kept
at the back of mind is I want to collect
conscience and I want to be able to sleep properly
at night. So I don't want to sell a person
or watch for six hundred and fifty USD which is
(29:33):
about eight fifty Canadian right now, and not be able
to go to sleep at night because I feel like
I've cheated them out of their money. One of the
biggest things for me was I'm going to make watches,
and I'm going to make very high quality watches. So
even in the design process, I was going through YouTube.
I think Teddy Balzer made very very good video on
(29:54):
some of the things that you look for in high
quality watches. And for someone who sells premium watches and
luxury watches, I'm sure he has good enough experience there
for me to say if this is a good reference point.
I was looking at all these things and going, Okay,
if I wanted to watch, I don't want to buy
something that I would have to replace next week. I
(30:17):
don't want something that my customers would have to be
calling me every other day. Because now, instead of focusing
on how to create new watches and make the brand
better and responding to customer complaints on the bad quality
watches I've created, making sure that the quality, the craftsmanship,
everything was done to a very high level of excellence
(30:37):
was very important. And in doing that just naturally immens
those watches and now things that can last a very
very very very long time, and they can naturally be
passed down either to friends, to family, to kids and
all these different things. That was a very big part
of it for me is making sure that the quality
(31:00):
is premium and I know that when I sell a
watch the word person, I'm confident in what I'm selling
to them, because only takes sometimes is one customer to
leave a bad review that now your business is struggling
to fix, you know, a bad image. I'm here for
a long time and not just a short time. It's
not just a cash grab for me where I'm thinking
makes X amount of money from this, I just leave.
(31:23):
It's something I intend to do for a long time.
It's a way for me to express my creativity, and
that's only getting better as time passes by. So I
just make sure that whatever I'm doing and putting my
best foot forward in the same way that I was
in the past, challenging the staff at school, making sure
I got on the honors list, making sure I got
a scholarship, and I was going into university, and all
those things required hard work. If I can't do this properly,
(31:45):
there's no point doing it at all. All those things
eventually tie down and tie back to that idea of
being able to give back nice.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Do you have future designs coming up and expand the line.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
The next watch I'm gonna make, I'm just gonna give
a few hints. Part of it is going to be
an integrate leg bracelet, so, which was one of the
things I was going to do for this one as well.
But again, I didn't want to just be following the pack.
While that may be good for a bunch of other reasons,
I think now being able to do this by myself
(32:24):
now is a testament that Okay, I can do something different,
and I'm not just doing it because a real person
is doing it. I can create unique designs. But the
next time piece I'm creating is going to be one
with an integrated bracelet. It's also going to be paying
how much to my time in Canada and just the
opportunities that have been presented to me here, So it's
(32:47):
gonna have some elements of Canada in there. When you
see it, you'll understand what that means. What else. Probably
have some other materials than just three sixteens still, which
is currently used on this watch. But the'be more details
on that when when the designs get ready. But I
currently have quite a few things that I'm working on
(33:09):
now and I'm very excited for people to see them
as soon as they're ready. In the meantime, it's feel
fit to shop around the website. We have travel watch
cases and we still have some of the calendar collection left,
which is actually all the different colors are all limited
to five hundred bass, so each one you buy would
have the specific number on the back, letting you know
(33:32):
this is x amount of five hundred that you've purchased.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
So I'm a sucker for numbered cases. So that's yeah,
five each color. Yeah, I don't want to take up
too much of your time. I think we talk more
about you than your watches. But I think that's where
the story is the watch. You know, people can see online,
(33:56):
but like all web pages, there'sn't about you. But until
we talk to you, have other people get a chance
to listen to this conversation and know more about you
and who you are and the nuances the details behind it.
I think they're going to fall in love with Sovereign
even more as well as rote me. No doubt do
(34:18):
I believe when people meet you and hold this watch,
people are going to talk more and more about Sovereign.
No doubt that it's going to inspire probably new watch.
It might inspire some competition. That is always good, it
is health. I'm pretty sure we're going to see people
(34:43):
who will now look at a brand and a watch
and see the difference between quality with intention, deliberate intention,
a certain quality for legacy, the intention that you play
into the design, material, the price point. I think people
(35:04):
are clearly going to see that, and I hope people
can get a sense of that from just this interview
that we're having. Because two minutes we spent with the
watch last year. It definitely left that impression for sure.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Thank you very much. I'm grateful that that was the case.
Watches are always so interesting because there's so much online
now and you can see a lot of things online,
But until you get to see and experience it in person,
then you appreciate it more because you can feel the essence,
you can feel the quality, you can see the craftsmanship
(35:40):
and all these different things and all the effort that
has been taken to make that thing what it is.
And there are other times where you see other watches
and you can see that not so much has been
put into them for whatever reason, because different price points.
You know, you can only accomplish so much at setting
price points. But if you're someone who that quality and
(36:02):
you want to buy something that's going to leave a
lasting impression, something that's when you wear it somewhere, people
see it and go, oh, what's that? You're wearing something
that makes you feel confident when you put it on
your wrist, because you can tell that you've gotten the
value for the money you've spent. I think until people
get to wear the watching person, it's hard to sort
(36:23):
of experience that a lot of people when they get
it in person, they go, oh, it looks much better
than the pictures. Feels much better. It feels like watches
that cost X four or five figures amounts of money,
and it's less than thanndred thousand dollars. So I think
being able to accomplish that just does to show that Okay,
(36:47):
like you said earlier, being intentional about those little things
and just bringing my own experiences and my own story
into creating those watches, I think it's something that people
would truly love when they eventually get the watches and
when they have them in person.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Or trust me, they will, they will. I've experienced it.
But thank you for your time. I want to respect
your time. I don't want to we'll beyond that and
make you late for anything else but absolute pleasure talking
to you again. Unfortunately it's taking a year for us
(37:24):
to reconnectors and I will eagerly, eagerly wait for your
new release so we can talk again and hopefully I
could see you at another watch show also or another
time and shine or whatever maybe.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
And if not, when I have the new releases, I
can always come down to Toronto and maybe schedule of
visits where I can see multiple people at the same
time and just show them new release. Just it gets
like first impressions. So that's something we can also do
as well.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
I will love that. All right, Rotini, have a great
day and thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Thank you very much for you too, and.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
We'll talk soon. I'll make sure i'll put the your
links below in our show program.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Okay, sounds good.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Yeah, well, with winter coming up, stay warm.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Thank you very much, you too. Thanks that, have a
good day you too
Speaker 1 (38:23):
All right, bye bye, yeah,
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