On this episode of the Openwork podcast, we look at luxury pricing. Of course, we’ve already done a deep dive on how watches are priced. (Check out our episode with Mike Margolis of Czapek and Singer Reimagined for that.) However, in the past, we’ve largely focused on how inputs like cost of labor, materials, inflation and currency exchange impact pricing. But there’s of course more that goes into pricing for watches and luxury goods more broadly. There are considerations like brand value, product positioning as well as consumer psychology that also impact pricing. And that’s what we explore today – those other more nebulous, but equally significant, inputs into pricing.

To help us with that we have the perfect guest: Katharine K. Zarrella is a writer, editor, and the Fashion Critic-at-Large at Document Journal. With a background as Fashion Director at the Wall Street Journal's Off Duty section and as a lecturer at Parsons School of Design and Central Saint Martins, she has contributed to numerous renowned publications, including Harper's Bazaar, The Business of Fashion, and most recently The New York Times, where she recently published the guest essay: Obscene Prices, Declining Quality: Luxury Is in a Death Spiral.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

It's that time of year: Predictions. On this episode we look at the year ahead, and make three calls each about the future of the watch industry. We discuss brand and retailer consolidation, market performance, business models for watch media, as well as enthusiast sentiment. We also take a look back at our 2024 predictions, and grade ourselves on their accuracy.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

On this episode we look back on the business of watches in 2024. In particular, we discuss where the watch market is as we close out the year. Is it growing, stalling, or as some would claim in retreat? To help us break it all down, we’re joined by returning guest Hamza Masood of WatchCharts – the world's most comprehensive, transparent and trusted source of watch market data. It’s a service we at Collective subscribe to for its valuable insight not just into the pre-owned watch market but what that data can tell us about the watch industry at large.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

Today we’re going behind the scenes of watch design with Marco Borraccino the co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Singer Reimagined. In addition to starting one of the most design-driven watch brands, Marco was previously the Head of Design at Panerai. He’s got a deep educational and career background in design, both within the watch industry and beyond. And he’s among the most talented and distinctive watch designers out there. Finally, in full transparency, Collective is a Singer Reimagined authorized retailer.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

Today we have a bonus episode of our podcast. It’s a discussion with Romain Marietta, the Chief Product Officer at Zenith. We sat down recently in Geneva to discuss not only our latest collaboration – the Zenith DEFY Skyline C.X – but also how he and Zenith approach product development more broadly.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

On this episode of Openwork, we explore the business of both MB&F and Max’s most recent horological project: M.A.D.Editions. While both represent wildly creative watches, they have fundamentally different business models, with MB&F producing under 200 pieces a year at prices mostly over $100K USD and M.A.D.Editions producing thousands of watches a year at under $5K USD.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

For years, we’ve followed the GPHG – the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève – with great excitement and interest as it’s essentially the Oscars of Watches. And with this year's award ceremony taking place November 13, we figured it would be helpful to lift the veil on what goes on behind the scenes. Who are the people who nominate these watches, and what does voting look like? Does the GPHG meaningfully drive sales for brands, and what’s involved in participating? We get into all of that and more, as we share our own experience as voting GPHG academy members.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.

On this episode, we share an industry perspective on what’s quickly becoming something of a New York Watch Week – comprising the Windup Watch Fair, WatchTime and more. Additionally, we’re going to share a special live podcast recording from the Windup Watch Fair – a joint episode between us and the Worn & Wound Podcast. It’s a conversation with Martin Frei of URWERK and Jonathan Ferrer of Brew about how they built their brands.

Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology, Openwork goes inside the watch industry.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.