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PODCAST

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry

Collective Horology

Openwork is a weekly podcast about how the watch industry actually works. An unfiltered look behind the scenes — no press releases, no hype, and no sponsored takes. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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All Episodes

58:24

The Sleepers of Watches and Wonders 2026 – Our...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/04/21

Gabe and Asher are back from Geneva, lightly jet-lagged after roughly 30 meetings across three days at Watches and Wonders. Rather than rehash the releases everyone already covered, this episode is dedicated to the watches they think didn't get the attention they deserved. The rule: hands-on only. Four picks each, plus a few honorable mentions.The list spans a revived historical brand delivering a striking jump hour in a Geneva-sealed movement, a sophomore release whose gearing is literally re-cut

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45:28

Is Watches and Wonders Dead? – Long Live Geneva Watch...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/04/16

Gabe and Asher bring a firsthand report from Watches and Wonders 2026 in Geneva, jet‑lagged but watch‑fueled. They walk listeners through the week’s key impressions: a general sense of underwhelming novelties from the big brands, alongside impressive investments in booth design and production value. The episode zeroes in on Audemars Piguet’s controversial, fully walled booth and strict queuing system, a move the hosts find off‑putting in a community event. In contrast, they highlight the energy

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61:21

Watch Brand Draft – Picking  Our Fantasy  Watch ...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/04/06

Gabe and Asher conduct the first-ever Openwork Watch Brand Draft — a snake-style, six-pick fantasy exercise where each host selects watch brands they'd want to own and operate across three categories: independent, micro/challenger (under $5,000), and mainstream luxury. Ground rules exclude AP, Patek, Rolex, Richard Mille, and any brand Collective Horology carries, keeping the conversation free of commercial conflicts and full of candid business analysis.The independent and micro picks reveal what

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60:02

The Rise of F.P.Journe – Hype, Substance, or Both? –...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/03/30

Gabe and Asher explore the rise of F.P. Journe — how a fiercely opinionated French watchmaker who was expelled from horological school at 16 built one of the most coveted brands in the world. They trace Journe's journey from launching at Baselworld in 1999 through two decades as a respected but niche independent, into the COVID-era explosion that turned $25,000 Chronomètre Bleus into $100,000 commodities. Asher shares his own experience as a former Journe collector, including walking into the LA

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41:05

Rolex Pre-owned Values Slide – Certified Pre-owned to...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/03/23

Gabe and Asher kick off with the Dominique Renaud Pulse60 launch, which became the most talked-about watch of the week — not through traditional media, but through private collector communities and group chats. It's a perfect case study in how watch media has gone full circle, and why independents continue to thrive even in a cooling market.The main discussion unpacks a counterintuitive dynamic in the Rolex pre-owned market: prices are up modestly year over year, but value retention relative

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62:36

Unexpected Winners in a Down Market – Independents,...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/03/16

The Swiss watch industry is in one of its most difficult periods in decades, with ten established brands down 15% or more in revenue — but that doesn't mean everything is struggling. In this episode, Gabe and Asher explore three segments of the market that are thriving against the tide: independent watchmakers, microbrands brands, and neo-vintage. Along the way, they examine why brands like Breguet, Roger Dubuis, and Girard-Perregaux may have upside despite their current numbers, while others like

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51:08

Speculation Season – Rolex GMT Master, Swiss Watch...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/03/09

Rumours about the Rolex GMT Master II Pepsi have reached a boiling point. Authorised dealer websites — controlled by Rolex, not the retailers — have quietly dropped the reference, and WatchPro is reporting that dealers have been told to expect no further deliveries. Asher finds it a dull story; Gabe is more interested in what comes next from Rolex in dress watches, the 1908 collection, and whether the long-dormant Milgauss finally returns.The centrepiece of the episode is the fallout from the

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43:50

The Rise & Retreat of Jaeger‑LeCoultre – Can Going...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/03/02

Jaeger-LeCoultre was once the top-selling watch brand in the Richemont Group, a top-10 brand globally, and a GPHG darling under the legendary Gunter Blumlein. Today, it's slipped to number 16 in the industry and lost much of its cultural relevance. What happened? Gabe and Asher unpack JLC's rise, decline, and possible rebirth in light of reports that a consortium led by CEO Jerome Lambert may acquire the brand from Richemont. They argue that JLC has been boxed in on all sides — unable to compete

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57:02

Tariffs Overturned: Relief or False Hope? – Plus...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/02/23

Update: As of February 21, 2026, the Trump administration now says they will set the new "Global Tariff" rate at 15% (not 10%), maintaining the same effective rate on Switzerland, at least for 150 days. On this episode, we unpack breaking news that sent shockwaves through the watch world: the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Trump-era emergency tariffs, instantly voiding the recent 15% levy on Swiss watches. We explain what this actually means for collectors and retailers, why refunds remain a

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47:39

Some Brands Break Away. Others Break Down – Watch...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/02/16

In this episode, we dive into the growing wave of consolidation—and potential deconsolidation—sweeping through the watch industry, from confirmed brand sales to mounting rumors around major maisons. Rather than speculate, we focus on what actually happens after a brand leaves a luxury group, and why leadership, distribution, and product strategy matter far more than deal headlines.First, we unpack a cautionary case study: Ebel’s spin-off from LVMH to Movado. Despite meaningful product upgrades and

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68:15

V-shaped Recovery? – The Watch Industry Shows Early...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/02/09

On this episode, we zoom out to the state of the watch business, using Watches of Switzerland as a real-time bellwether. We unpack strong holiday performance alongside shrinking margins, then dig into accelerating U.S. retail consolidation: why large groups are acquiring family-owned authorized dealers, how Rolex factors into approvals and allocations, and what this growing concentration could mean for collectors and regional markets.We then connect the dots on Swiss export data, tariffs, currency

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52:11

Watch Groups Are Slimming Down – Brand Exits,...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/02/02

On this episode, we zoom out and examine a broader shift underway in the watch industry as major groups begin to prioritize focus over expansion. Using the sale of Baume & Mercier as a starting point, we break down why brand exits and portfolio pruning have returned as strategic tools, and what this move reveals about consolidation, integration costs, and the realities of owning watch brands at scale.We then turn to the other side of the equation, unpacking rumors around Zenith and why selling

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49:32

Pre-owned Prices Rise. Sort of. – Plus, Patek...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/01/26

On this episode, we dig into reports that Patek Philippe may roll back U.S. retail prices—by as much as 8%—after last year’s sharp tariff- and currency-driven increases. We break down why the math isn’t as simple as tariffs going down and prices following, how import costs actually work at the wholesale level, and why this move raises uncomfortable questions for collectors who bought during the peak pricing window. We then zoom out to the broader issue of volatility. From shifting tariff policy to

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48:34

How Global Wealth Drives The Watch Industry –...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/01/19

On this episode, we dig into how global wealth trends—rather than hype cycles or short-term market noise—are reshaping the luxury watch industry. Drawing on reporting originally published by ScrewDownCrown (Substack), we use the UBS Global Wealth Report to examine the rapid rise of the “EMILLI” cohort: individuals with $1–5 million in net worth. This group has quadrupled since 2000 and now represents the core audience for sub-$10,000 to $50,000 watches, helping explain why mechanical timepieces

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35:45

Yes, More Price Increases – Rolex, AP, Tudor, and Why...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/01/12

We kick off the first Openwork episode of 2026 by breaking down the latest watch price increases from Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Tudor, with a sharp focus on why U.S. buyers are seeing significantly higher jumps than Europe and the UK. We unpack how tariffs, currency swings, commodity prices, and inflation are converging—and why, once prices move up, they almost never come back down. We also contrast how mega-brands and independents respond very differently to these pressures.From there, we dig

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22:02

The Dive Watches of Ming – The Watches of Podcast

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2026/01/05

On this episode, we share something a little different by sharing an installment from The Watches of Podcast, a new series where we step away from industry-wide analysis and focus deeply on individual brands—their history, philosophy, people, and, importantly, their watches.Each episode is designed as a focused, evergreen exploration of a single brand, and here we use that format to zero in on Ming’s dive watches, a category that has quietly become one of the most revealing expressions of the

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41:51

2026 Watch Industry Predictions – A Year of Recovery,...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2025/12/29

On this episode, we step back to assess where the watch industry actually landed in 2025, revisiting our prior predictions with a focus on the bigger forces at work rather than scorekeeping. We talk candidly about the pressure points that defined the year—pricing fatigue, currency and tariff shocks, and the uneven mood among collectors—while also acknowledging the resilience of independent watchmaking and the ways enthusiasm managed to persist despite real headwinds. From there, the conversation

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39:05

The Watch Industry Ends the Year Down – As Pressures...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2025/12/22

On this episode of Openwork, we dig into the long-awaited reduction of U.S. tariffs on Swiss watches, which finally dropped from 39% to 15% after weeks of confusion and delay. We explain what actually changed, why the rollout took more than a month after the initial agreement, and how the U.S. customs system ultimately flipped the switch. While the lower rate is meaningful relief for the industry, we also talk through the real-world complications around retroactivity, post-summary corrections, and

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47:36

Ditching the Luxury Script for Independent Watches –...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2025/12/15

In this episode of Openwork, we talk with our sales director, Geoff Souder, about what fundamentally changes when you move from selling traditional luxury watches to selling independent brands. Drawing on decades of experience with mainstream names like Rolex and Patek Philippe, Geoff explains how scale and standardization create a polished but often homogenous retail experience, then contrasts that with the realities of independence—where there is no built-in foot traffic and every relationship

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49:30

Signs of Hope for an Industry Under Pressure –...

Openwork: Inside the Watch Industry ·

2025/12/08

Openwork is going weekly. In addition to our classic shows which focus on a specific topic or guest, we’re introducing a new format: a discussion of current events in the watch industry. So this week, we take a look at some tariff news (or lack thereof), supplier challenges, the significant growth of India, along with a few new releases.Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry. You can find us online at

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78 results

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