Echoes of Time with Mitch Katz: A Collector's Emotional Journey

Mitch Katz takes us on a heartfelt journey into the nuanced world of watch collecting. Inspired by his late father's passion, Mitch shares how this hobby has become a cherished legacy passed down to his sons. Listen as Mitch recounts the emotional decision to purchase his first major watch, a Maurice Lacroix, and how this sparked his desire to immortalize his collection in his book, "Time on My Hand: A Collector's Journey in the World of Watches."

Explore the fascinating intricacies of watch classification through the lens of Ulysse Nardin timepieces. You'll be captivated by stories of the "goofy watch" and its role as a travel companion, and the cutting-edge innovations, like silicium technology, that continue to propel the brand forward. As we share insights on the evolution of personal style and the impact of independent brands on traditional norms, a rich tapestry of anecdotes and experiences reveals the emotional depth of curating a watch collection.

Mitch also opens up about the joy of blending his love for horology with his creative pursuits, crafting murder mystery novels that weave intriguing watch-related plots. Hear about his unique storytelling journey and the excitement of developing characters and narratives around timeless timepieces. Whether you're a seasoned collector or a newcomer, Mitch's tales of regrets, reflections, and artistic admiration will leave you with a renewed appreciation for the art and passion of watch collecting.

Grab a copy of Mitch's Book: https://amzn.to/3BbjLQJ

Chapters

• 0:00 Watch Collector's Journey
• 13:30 Watch Classification and Brand Loyalty
• 22:50 Personal Connection to Collecting
• 34:41 The Philosophy of Watch Collecting
• 47:05 Watch Collector's Regrets and Reflections
• 1:01:33 Exploring Watch Collecting and Artistry
• 1:09:34 The Watch Collector's Mystery Novels
• 1:20:59 Watch Collector's Book Recommendation

Transcript

Blake Rea: 0:09

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Lonely Wrist. Sitting in front of me is my friend Mitch Katz, the author of Time on my Hand, a Collector's Journey in the World of Watches. Welcome to the episode, mitch. How you doing, blake? I'm surviving, I'm surviving. I think that's what most collectors will say these days. First of all, congratulations on the release of the book. I look forward to reading it. Tell us how you started watch collecting and tell us how you got to where you are here to release a book.

Mitch Katz: 0:57

Watch collecting started with my dad, in the sense that he was an ultimate collector. He collected stamps, so he developed the collector gene and passed it on to me and I have in turn passed it on to my son, my sons and, sadly, when he died, passed a little bit of money to me and I wanted something, something to memorialize him by. And you know I'm not a car guy. My kid's college education was covered. I have a house and we were driving around one day and I said to my wife I want something more permanent to memorialize my dad and I just said I want to buy a watch. So went to this watch store I had purchased some watches in the past from and I was rooting around and came to a Maurice Lacroix masterpiece Annuaire and looked at it and it was at the time spoke to me and I said yeah, I'd like this watch, but geez, it's a lot of money. Got the nervous shakes and the sweaty upper lip and I walked outside of the store, called a friend of mine who I knew knew something about watches and we talked about it. He said yeah, it's a good watch, it's worth the money. It's a lot of money, man. And I said yeah. He said you know, do it. And so I brought it home and there was the hook. And then a couple weeks later we went away.

Mitch Katz: 2:55

My wife and I went away to Santa Barbara to celebrate our anniversary and we were walking down State Street and came upon a magazine stand and there was this magazine called Watch Time. Terry Staubach was on the cover and I got it. I bought it and brought it back to the hotel and I read it from cover the cover. And I got it. I bought it and brought it back to the hotel and I read it from cover to cover, and somewhere in there there was a reference to the fact that watches have an oil reservoir. It's like, say what? And I can remember coming home after the weekend and dashing into one of my son's bedrooms and I said guess this, get this. Watches have oil reservoirs. Can you believe this? And he looked at me like I had lost my mind, which I probably already had. The hook was now implanted and a gentle tug came and the rest, as they say, is history.

Blake Rea: 4:04

And I went down that rabbit hole hard and fast and haven't looked up since the irony, considering the listeners are listening to this podcast right now and they just probably got done listening to the ceo of maurice lacroix uh, that just came on, so there is some irony there. Uh, and I'm curious, and that's an interesting story on on how you got into watches, but obviously with the release on your book, tell us what inspired you to write a book about watch collecting, because it doesn't seem like the most common thing for a watch collector to do, but it is, I think, interesting how you got here.

Mitch Katz: 4:50

Again, it all lands on my sons. I have been extraordinarily fortunate. Again it all lands on my sons. I have been extraordinarily fortunate and I say that with all due modesty and appreciation for what I have been given during my collecting journey. But I was talking to my sons individually and I said you know, this is a watch collection now and you need to know something about it. And they both said, well, yeah, we know some of your watches, we know some names, but we don't really know what you have. I said, okay that.

Mitch Katz: 5:29

So I sat down one night and I wrote a spreadsheet and with all clarity, I put in the name of the watches and some valuation and some resources that they could always check into if they need be. And I realized I sent it to them and I realized this is not what it's about. The watches are not about names and numbers and value. It's about what each watch represented to me, the stories behind them, why I obtained them, how I obtained them, why they still sit in the bank or sit on my wrist. It's more the story and the joy that they represent. And I said, yeah, this is nothing. I've got to tell them the story of these watches so they have better appreciation of what the watches are and what they mean to me and we are fortunate to have an art collection. It's the same thing when I look at a painting or when I look at a watch. It's the stories they evoke, the history, the adventures that we had in obtaining them. Having obtained them, the relationships that developed subsequently with the watchmaker, the artist, what have you. And that's what made something, made it important to me to put that down in some sort of literary form. Uh, in some sort of literary form.

Mitch Katz: 7:19

And as I approached retirement, uh, I knew it was coming and I said, okay, it's a good time to write this book. And I started making notes and it just flowed. I had the once I retired. I wrote the first version in three months. Wow, and it's because I just regurgitated into the computer. It was that easy, Of course. Then it came to the editing and fleshing stories out. But between my memory, the pictures my wife showed me, the memories she reminded me of, it was an easy work of love, quite frankly, and it was just so wonderful to revisit those times as if they were just yesterday.

Blake Rea: 8:07

Yeah, that's. You know something that whenever you talked about how it regurgitated if I were to do the same thing I don't even know if I could do it, because every time I look at one of the watches in my collection um, I have just over 150 watches myself um, just a storm of emotions comes over me, like, oh, I remember when I was in turkey and I was wearing this watch and I got lost in the grand bazaar and I was looking for my wife and she was lost. We were trying to find each other. You know, like, um, and also subsequently, um, the bad moments.

Blake Rea: 8:45

I know this sounds weird, but, um, somebody asked me recently, like what I think, like why I watch, collect. And I think it's because watches are time capsules, literally and non-literally, where they tell you the future but they also store the past. And um, and to me, I think about all the weird ups and downs of life that have been through every single watch. And, uh, and I just don't even, I don't even know how you could simplify that. You know, I don't know how you could spill that out, you know, because I could talk for years about one watch if my wife was like, oh, what's important about this watch to you.

Mitch Katz: 9:25

You know, I would just go on forever well, it gets a little easier when you know that you can't write 500,000 words. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally, and nobody wants to hear those 500,000 words or read them. But you know how you do it, blake, you just sit down and you write the first page.

Blake Rea: 9:50

I'm assuming the first page leads to the second page.

Mitch Katz: 9:54

Exactly, and that's what I found. I found that when I started the first page the day after I retired, the day after I dropped the mic, I sat down and I wrote three pages and then it just came. And then I try to connect the watches in some sort of illogical, logical fashion that one watch led to another, even though they may be totally distinctly different. And it was fun. It was a lot of fun. Oh, that's why I got this watch, because it connected to the one previous to that, or one three down the line. It was fun and really I'm not a self-promoter.

Mitch Katz: 10:41

I did this because A I want people to understand that it's more than a commodity. I want people to feel like they have their own story. And when I was thinking about even doing this, I realized there are plenty of books that have stories about watches, pictures about watches, stories about watchmakers, about watch companies, but there's very few, very few books that approach it from the collector. And, if anything, I want people to feel free to make the choices they want to make and enjoy their choices, rather than having somebody tell them what they should have or what A-lister is wearing this. So I've got to have it Now, if that's how you want to approach this. That's fine, it's absolutely fine, and you know. All power to them. That's not what I want to do and it's not how I've grown into this passion and it's worked for me for 25 years.

Blake Rea: 11:49

We, our listeners, are kind of very broad spectrum in their collecting journey.

Blake Rea: 11:56

We have a lot of people that are just enthusiasts I don't even know if I'd use the word collectors anymore Like we have a watch club here in Vegas and it's a citizen and you're passionate about horology like you're welcome.

Blake Rea: 12:15

Also, if you have, you know, 150 Rolexes and Pateks, like you're also welcome, you know. But people do get lost in the hype, you know, and every collector I've met has like and you may or may not, but as a collector I evolve every time I acquire a new watch, like what I consider to be collectible and how I bring new watches into my collection changes every single watch I bring into the collection, um, but also I learn a little bit more about myself every time I bring a new watch in, you know, because I'm like, oh, you know, I'm out experiencing the world and I'm like, you know, I need a watch that I can wear in the middle of uzbekistan, uh, where I have no idea where I am and nobody knows what I'm wearing, and I feel comfortable wearing a watch like that, you know, versus here in Vegas where I'm walking down the strip with the Rolex, you know, and everybody else has a Rolex. You know, I try and look for situations that I can bring a watch into.

Mitch Katz: 13:26

I know exactly what you talk about. What you're talking about. In fact, in the book I write about just that when I was working, I had certain classes of watches watches that I would go do when I was being very active at work, other watches where I was just going to be sitting at my desk evening watches, weekend watches, weekend warrior watches, that kind of category. I did categorize them and if I was looking at another watch I'd say, okay, what category does that fit into? Then, when I retired, what I did not expect is that I had to reclassify all my watches, because the tool watches that I would wear at work when I was active and I didn't want to have to worry about if I dinged them a little whatever, I didn't have to think about that anymore. So how do I classify the watch? So I'm sure to be wearing the watch on some degree of regularity. Now, fortunately, watches do not have personalities, they do not have feelings and they will not be hurt or bothered if you were wearing the watch on a more regular basis when working and now less often. Luckily, I have not had to give therapy to the watches, but still I like to wear it. When I wear a watch, it's. I haven't worn this watch in a while. I want to wear it. It's fun.

Mitch Katz: 15:01

Every watch I have, I wear, some to a greater extent than others, because of specialness of the watch or what have you. I have my reasons, but, and to your point, if I'm traveling, I'm going to take certain watches, whereas I'm not going to take others for reasons I don't want to A lose them or, b I don't want anything to happen to them. Exactly, in fact, the cover of the um has a bunch of my watches photographed. Uh, we did that to mimic another picture that had been taken in the past and it just so happened, and not by plan or anything. That almost dead center is this yellow dialed Ulysse Nardin GMT plus minus that my family calls the goofy watch. Why is it called the goofy watch? Because it's yellow.

Mitch Katz: 16:04

And of all the watches I own, my older son has told me that's the watch I want. I said why? I mean, you have so many other choices? He said that's the watch you wear whenever you travel, which is true. That is my traveling watch because it's robust, it takes a beating and keeps on ticking, but he is associated with that and that's important to him, and that's what this is all about. What do those watches mean in the more global sense than just telling time?

Blake Rea: 16:41

And it seems like from our previous discussion, like Ulysse, Nardin is a brand that holds a very special place in your heart. I think you told me you have so many. I don't want to put numbers out unless you're willing to do so, but what is it about you leasing art on and it could be another brand you know like? Would you say that you gravitate towards you in more than other brands?

Mitch Katz: 17:11

or gravitate towards you in more than other brands, or uh, my journey has been varied. Um, interests are wax and they wane. Uh, in the 2000s and early teens, I think Ulysse Nardin was, and can still be, at the forefront of technological advancement. I mean, rolf empowered his team to develop the first watch that used silicium, to develop the first watch that used silicium, the very first watch. And now how many brands include silicium in their watches? Most, I mean, there is still debate amongst watchmakers. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? What about 100 years from now?

Mitch Katz: 18:27

Regardless, he was brave enough, entrepreneurial enough, interested enough and just crazy enough to say let's take this new substance and we can use it in a way that makes sense in a watch. The simple GMT plus minus the goofy watch is probably the most user-friendly travel watch in the market. It's underappreciated, no-transcript, just such an easy watch to use and easy watch to travel watch with, because it tells you everything you need to know. And I could go on about the different models and why I think they're the best of class. Even now, even though it's 10, 12 years later, they're still best in class. What I'm wearing today is one of the trilogy that, to me are just insane. They're probably the one watch the set of watches that scare me the most, because trying to set them is just a challenge. A long and song.

Blake Rea: 19:31

Is that what you're wearing?

Mitch Katz: 19:32

no, no, no. The trilogy of ulysse nardin oh, oh, oh, okay.

Blake Rea: 19:36

Okay, I thought you meant like the okay, like the holy trilogy yeah, sorry, yeah no, no go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say, um, I'm a huge fan of un and I've done events with them and I've had the chance to to sit down with leadership and you know, they've I'm drinking the cool, I'm drinking the un kool-aid, you know totally.

Blake Rea: 20:00

and um, and yeah, you know, I, when they released the freak ass nomad um from watches and wonders this past year, like I was insanely surprised. And before they released it, fx and I were here in Vegas and we were just kind of like walking around boutiques and I said oh, what are you guys working on for Watches and Wonders? Give me something. And he said we're releasing one watch. And I was like what you know, because usually people are like you, look at other brands they're releasing like six, seven, eight different pieces and they're kind of flushing out their collection.

Blake Rea: 20:46

And he said, no, no, we're doing the exact opposite. We're releasing one watch. And I was like, okay, that seems a little weird, we're releasing one watch. And I was like, okay, that seems a little weird. And anyways come, you know, watches and Wonders. When I saw the watch, I was just like mesmerized at how cool it is and just the whole marketing behind it and it had like a little like UAV, like flying through the clouds and like, um, you know, we wrote an article about it and uh, and yeah, yeah. And then they, uh, when our last event we did with you and which was, I mean, last month, maybe a month and a half ago, um, we got to see the new uh watches of switzerland edition of the freak ass nomad, which has a I think it's like a crystallinium dial. Have you seen that? Yeah, yeah, insane not in person insane.

Blake Rea: 21:48

Yeah, I got a chance to see it uh, secretly, you know, they snuck me in the back room and they said, hey, like, take a look at this, like what do you think?

Mitch Katz: 21:57

and you know, one of the most beautiful like dials I have ever seen and I'm hoping that speaks for a rebirth, if you will, of the company now that it's under different leadership.

Blake Rea: 22:14

Yeah, and I really hope they, they find their way again bring back independent watchmakers exactly and people who get the idea that it's okay to be a little bit nuts and a little bit experimental in what they're willing to do I mean, I think modern generations respond really well to that, like, if you look at somebody who walks the line between sane and crazy, those are the people that are influential for the next decade, you know. And you look at celebrities that dress like cross-dressing, you know like, or whatever you know you. You look at celebrities that dress like cross-dressing, you know like, or whatever you know. You just look at people that are like, like, like heterosexual people that are like, wearing nail polish and, you know, have long hair and just I mean, um, you know, 20 years ago they would be looked at very weird in a weird way.

Mitch Katz: 23:13

Well, understood, and that's where the independents come in yeah I mean, they have the ability to be on the cutting edge or to be a little crazy because they don't have shareholders. Yeah, yeah, I look to them and have done a lot of work with them because they're on the edge or they can be on the edge. Some are very, very classical. Others just push the edge and just go out into total weirdness, which is necessary. Now, some of them may not be to my liking or something I would not want to wear on my wrist, but that doesn't mean that there's not a role for them. It's a role to push the more staid companies in a direction that the collector, the consumer, consumer is interested in going to yeah, no, I, um, I align very perfectly with you in that regard.

Blake Rea: 24:28

Um, I'm curious to get your take. So, as a watch collector, do you have rules that you impose on yourself before you bring a new watch into your collection? You know, how do you decide, uh, like, what to bring in. And I mean, another question is sometimes I hear people that don't ever get rid of a watch. So do you, uh one? Do you? Do you flush out your collection? Um, or you know, if yes, like, how do you one do you flush out your collection? Or you know, if yes, like, how do you decide what to do?

Mitch Katz: 25:01

And then, before you bring a new watch in, what do you consider? The second question first, have I flushed out my collection? I have gone on two culling expeditions. The first one was easy, because I realized there were several watches I just didn't want Now we're not talking huge numbers here, we're talking about you and I comfortably parted with them and interestingly, it's debatable whether this was a brilliant idea. I included in it was my first watch. I called it, not the magazine but the watch. I still sometimes think about it just because of what it represented, but it just didn't mean much to me at that point. And the second time I called, called, I couldn't do it. I actually had a friend come friend who knows about watches and he looked at the collection. He knew what I had and we discussed certain pieces that just didn't fit and um. So we put several of them up for sale and fortunately one didn't sell because my wife actually really liked the watch and she now wears it. And maybe there's one watch there that I'm a little bit sorry I sold, although it didn't suit my OCD tendencies. It was just hard to set and hard to maintain. But in retrospect I think the few watches I've parted with I'm okay with and haven't sought to regain them, which I know some people do and I enjoy what I have, but for the most part I I buy it a whole.

Mitch Katz: 27:01

Now to the first question how do I determine what comes into the collection? Well, it's the old saying, you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the Prince, and I've kissed a lot of frogs. By that I mean I've looked and you go around. There's very few watch stores. I will walk by and not go in to look at the watches, and it could be high end, low end, it doesn't matter. And then over time you decide on your own eye, your own interest and really what fits my vision. Do I have a plan going in? No, can I vocalize why? One watch versus another? Maybe, but really not really it's like what appeals to me.

Mitch Katz: 28:04

Let me give you a story. As I said, we have a bit of an art collection and we had a space right where I'm sitting, where I was looking for a painting to put up on the wall, where I'm sitting, where I was looking for a painting to put up on the wall. Now, we don't buy art to fill spaces, but rather we find spaces for the art we purchase. But you know, we had a space and there was an artist, a particular artist, that we really liked. We had several small pieces by this artist and wanted to get a more substantial piece by this artist and wanted to get a more substantial piece, and the gallerist that we work with often let me know that he had a piece. So we went down and really liked the piece, brought it home and put it on the floor next to my desk and so it stood there for about two weeks, couldn't put it up on the wall and if you ask me, why't tell you? To this day I can't tell you. And eventually I said to my wife, I said I can't put it up. And she said I know. I said I like it, I really like it, but I just I just can't put it up there. So we said, okay, let's bring it.

Mitch Katz: 29:13

So we brought it back to the gallery and we're friends with the owner and he said you know I can't do it. And he said that's fine, that's fine, just bring it back, we're good. And he was standing there and this is how long ago this occurred. He was flipping through transparencies Because that's how they showed art at that time and I I spied something, one of the transparencies. I said, hang on a second, who is that? And he showed me transparency.

Mitch Katz: 29:42

I knew the artist and I said where is that painting? And he said, oh, it's in the back. I said can I go see it? He said, yeah, sure go. And I went in. I was all alone. My wife was talking to him. I walked in and I saw the painting and I literally had to sit down. I was so overwhelmed by it. Within a minute, two minutes, I was committed to that painting. It sits on my wall now and to this day I love this thing. And if you ask me why? Because it's very minimalist, it's very abstract. If you ask me why I love this piece of art, I can't tell you, but I have an emotional connection to that, which I don't have with that, I didn't have with that other piece and I can't explain to you. It is not a rational thought.

Mitch Katz: 30:38

And the same thing has come with a lot of the watches. Why do I connect with that watch versus other watches? I don't know sometimes. Sometimes it's obvious the technology, the artistry, the finishing. Okay, there are some reasons, but why one watch versus another watch? It's my eye, and that's what I wish for other people is to trust your own eye, trust your own heart and say this is what appeals to me. It doesn't have to appeal to anybody else, but it appeals to me Because, ultimately, that's going to be on your wrist, that's going to be with you, that is your child now, and enjoy it for what it is. All too many times, people will come up to me and show me a watch and I say well, you know, I know it's not anything that you would ever want or something like that. And it's like well, well, tell me, tell me, tell me, do you like that watch? Yeah, do you really like that watch?

Mitch Katz: 31:32

Yeah. Do you really like that watch? Yeah. So what's the problem here? There is no problem. It's giving you what it is intended to give, and that is joy. And it doesn't matter if it's a Casio or a Swatch watch or a Patek or whatever.

Blake Rea: 31:54

If it gives you joy, that's the right watch for you. Yeah, if it gives you joy, that's the right watch for you. Yeah, I mean everybody. I wish I had an alarm bell to sound off because I mean that is the most important thing here. I find myself as a collector, trying to not be a collector, and I know that sounds really weird. But you know, like for like for me, right, I've tried to map out my collection, like I, I have the chrono 24, like wish list and this and that, and I, I tell myself and I tell my friends and I tell somehow will get that watch and I won't be done.

Blake Rea: 32:42

So I I actively try to stop collecting, but I can't. So it poses the question as a collector, do you ever really feel like you're done collecting um or uh?

Mitch Katz: 33:01

I just um, I cannot. The reason I I just laughed is because I cannot tell you how often I hear my friends say this they couldn't been collecting for 40 years. I'm done, I am absolutely done, this is it, I'm done. And you walk in the next time you see them hey, what do you got? Oh, yeah, I just picked this up. Yeah, okay. So you know, I call crap on people who say they're done because you're never done. You're really not. It's rare. I'm not saying it's never happened, but it's rare.

Mitch Katz: 33:33

When I got the trilogy, the UN trilogy, I said that's my grail and I said I'm done. Well, that didn't happen. Then, when I got my carry, I looked at it and I said you know, the finishing is so incredible, the dial is so beautiful. How did we go from there? I ain't done. I mean, why am I kidding myself and why are we all kidding? It's just, it's there and it could be. Sometimes it's a relatively inexpensive piece and sometimes it's a more costly piece. But it's like you're just not done, done and you can justify them all to you. And if every piece gives joy, how can you deny that? Face it, it's an addiction. You get the dopamine surge when you get that new watch.

Mitch Katz: 34:31

So when people say what's your favorite watch, I mean, the true collector says, well, it's either the last watch I got or the next one I'm going to get. And when I was writing the book it occurred to me. You know, I did a little thing about the grail and I realized what's the grail for a mountain climber To climb Everest? Right, something like that. Okay, so you climb Everest. You're never going to climb another mountain. Really. You're going to go up other mountains. It may not be of the same height, same height, but you're still going to go on hikes, you're still going to go on on on treks. You are, it's in your DNA, it's in your, your guts to go there. And it's the same thing with collecting and it doesn't have to be all watches. I don't think my son will ever not buy another guitar because he loves guitars. It's. I think it's all part and parcel of the collecting gene do.

Blake Rea: 35:44

Um, I'm assuming you probably have your eyes on more pieces that you're probably. Oh no, I'm.

Mitch Katz: 35:51

I'm done.

Blake Rea: 35:52

Oh are you.

Mitch Katz: 35:53

Yeah, right, okay, yes.

Blake Rea: 35:56

Okay, okay, um, yeah, cause I, when we, when we first talked, I, I got the sense that you are, you have reached Everest, right, and and you've, you know, summited that and you're just kind of enjoying in your you know, in your summits. You know I got that vibe from you.

Mitch Katz: 36:24

Nope, nope. My wife said. You know, when you retired, I thought you were going to cut back. I said yeah, no, in fact, yeah, I do have my eye on several pieces. There are pieces coming More from various independents and in fact this weekend I just saw an incredible watch that I am trying to figure out how this is going to work the Chopard Full Strike. If you've ever seen that watch and listened to that watch, it's beautiful, it's amazing, and the technology behind it is one of a kind the clarity of the sound, the loudness of the sound.

Mitch Katz: 37:22

They also don't have the ghost quarter. Do you know what that is, the ghost quarter? No, no, okay. So in minute repeaters you have the. It first chimes the hour, then it chimes the quarter hour, then it chimes the quarter and then it chimes the minute. In many repeaters, if say, it's 12 after the hour, you'll have the, the chimes of the hour. Then there'll be a pause where the quarters are supposed to chime, but since it's 12 minutes after, there is no quarter chime. So there's this pause and then the minutes chime. What, uh, chopard is able to engineer in there in this watch is they took away that pause, wow. So you have the hour and then immediately the minute. The only other company that I know to have done this is JLC with their HM11. They had that, but I am told the technology is different. I can't tell you how. I don't understand it. Understand it, but uh, that to me is a remarkable achievement, because the standard uh uh repeaters have all of that ghost quarter got it.

Blake Rea: 38:44

Yeah, I find myself kind of in the the middle segment of collecting, and when I say middle segment, like um, I notice I tend to gravitate towards like sporty tool watches, practical watches, um. And as an overviewing uh, bird's eye perspective of my collection, I look down and I don't have a lot of dress pieces, you know, because I just I never dress up.

Blake Rea: 39:11

You know, I'd say nine out of ten times I'm wearing, uh, you know, like shorts and a t-shirt. You know, I live in Vegas, you know, I don't, I don't wear blazers all the time and I can't pull them off because it's just so damn hot. Um, but you know, because I I've noticed in my, uh, in my life, sporty pieces can go both ways, like you can easily take a sporty watch and dress it up and you can also dress it down. You know, but I've noticed the dressier watches are harder to to dress down. Um, and I, I realized I wore, I mean, what would have been the epitome of a sports watch in the 20s. The Reverso, I wore it with basketball pants and a t-shirt to breakfast with my wife and I was like, okay, this is a little different, but nonetheless I realized it probably on paper wasn't a good idea, but somehow I got away with it. Why?

Mitch Katz: 40:20

Okay, this is what we're talking about. First of all, the fact that our tendencies, our eyes, go to different parts of the showcase. Who cares Really? Who cares? Is yours any less valuable than mine? No, not at all. It may be a little more affordable, but the fact is that you know, do you buy three watches for the same price? You can buy one. That's your choice, but you're enjoying it.

Mitch Katz: 41:00

I have not really figured my brain out to say dressing for the watch. I think that is your set and I'm not being critical at all, but it is your set of parameters. Yeah, it's like when I went to work, I would wear certain watches, not because it fit with what I was dressing, but I was concerned that if I bang a watch that's very fragile or very valuable, that's going to be an issue. So that's why I tended towards certain work watches. On the other hand, it took me a while but I started wearing more expensive, value, precious watches to work, when at least I knew I wasn't going to be concerned about what might happen to the watch. You know, sitting at my desk, answering phone calls, working on the computer, whatever happen to the watch, you know, sitting at my desk, answering phone calls, working on the computer, whatever. Uh, going to meetings, oh that's another category of watches and that is the conference watch. One should always have a conference watch because I think, if I was to advise anybody, you go to these meetings, you're bored out of your gourd, you know, know tacky to pull out your phone because you know it's kind of not polite but to look at a watch and just play with the watch subtly, people not going to really know what you're doing. It's kind of fun and I have several of those watches and I've actually come come up with some ideas during those boring meetings. But be that as it may, but as far as what dresses to the, you know how you dress for the watch. That's your parameter.

Mitch Katz: 42:44

I think I would argue that 90% of the people out there, especially those who don't know much about watches, don't care. If you want to wear a paddock, whatever and work in the garden, it's fine. I remember a long time ago I was talking to some guy who's a landscaper, you know, in the landscaping business, and he proudly showed me his Breguet. It was beaten to, oh, but he loved the watch and he wasn't afraid to wear the watch. That's awesome.

Mitch Katz: 43:22

Yeah, that's what it's about where the one thing that watches are made for is to be worn, and that was brought home to me even more so when George Daniel's watch collection went up for auction. It was a couple of years after he had died, and you look at the watches that were being put up for auction and someone would just beaten their shreds, but yet he and he had warned them. That's what this is about, and it's that, to me, shows love the watch has been. It's been used because of what it's supposed to be for not to sit in a safe, not to sit in some closet, but to be worn and enjoyed and appreciated.

Blake Rea: 44:16

I find myself like well, I guess maybe I'll echo a question that I get all the time and I don't know how to answer. So maybe you will, but how do you know what watch you're going to wear when you have so many? What watch you're?

Mitch Katz: 44:34

going to wear when you have so many? When I open my eyes in the morning, the first thing off times, the first thing I think about is what watch am I going to wear? Because then it makes getting dressed easier. We just talked about dressing for the watch, whatever. So it's easy.

Mitch Katz: 44:56

You say, okay, what am I putting on? Is it going to be a steel watch or a precious metal watch? Okay, and then what color is the strap? Because your belt should match your strap and if you're wearing a certain color belt, you have to wear shoes. Now, if you wear the proper shoes, now, if the proper shoes have to go with the right pants and shirt, otherwise you look ridiculous. So I mean I say it a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but not totally but oftentimes, particularly when I was going to work, the first thing I would think about is what watch was I wearing? And I don't wear the same watch two days in a row, except on very rare occasions. And so, yeah, that that's the first thing I think about, and usually it's. It's a little bit of a struggle and sometimes I, I, I find myself with the same thing.

Blake Rea: 45:55

Sometimes I'm so conflicted I don't even wear a watch, oh God, that's allowed.

Mitch Katz: 46:03

Are you not naked?

Blake Rea: 46:05

I feel naked but I'm like I want to wear this watch, but I want to wear that one, and sometimes you know, like for those days, that I don't wear a watch, I wear like three or four in one day and I'll be all right, cool, like lunchtime, let me change up my watch.

Blake Rea: 46:20

You know, um, and I have these weird, these weird phases. But I also was talking to one of my colleagues and um, and, and he had like, uh like a default where, um, where, like, if he gets tired of wearing a watch, he will uh like default back to a watch. You know like, like a palate cleanser watch, um, and I have a few of those where I'm like all right, I'm tired of wearing this, I'm tired of wearing that, I'm tired of wearing this, like, let me go back to my palate cleanser. Do you have one of those?

Blake Rea: 47:02

No, or, is it, you don't Okay.

Mitch Katz: 47:04

No, no. Actually, the struggle I have is, well, one of the saddest days of my watch collecting career is when we decided we, meaning my wife and I that we can no longer keep the watches in the house, that we have to put them in in a safe, secure place and, sure, sure, started using uh, uh, safe deposit box. That's where the stress is, because when I go there I want to bring them all home because I want to play with them, I want to wear them, I don't want to have to think about it and here I go, and you can't go there every day. I mean, there have been times where I go every week to exchange them. But that's the stress to me, because which watches am I going to bring home this week or for the next couple of weeks? That to me is stress, because I want to wear them all. I don't like that. That's where they are. But one has to be responsible.

Blake Rea: 48:11

Yeah, no, I am very fortunate that I have, uh, all my watches close by, let me say that, um, and at a moment's notice I can grab pretty much any of them. Uh, and it is. It is indeed a blessing, for sure, um, but again, I don't have, you know, the same amount of, uh, high complication. You know, I I tend to trend into that. That middle segment, um, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know a lot of my friends look at my collection. They say, holy shit, you know, like, wow, you know, um, and and so anyways, uh, I'm very fortunate for that. Uh, I'm curious. My dogs are going crazy here for whatever reason.

Blake Rea: 49:03

Uh, maybe they, uh, they they, they believe you know they, they are aligning with what you're saying, um, but do you ever as as a collector, there's also like that grail watch that got away right, like maybe you saw a watch at auction and you were bidding and then you said, oh shit, like it's way too much, or I just don't want to spend that much on this watch, or maybe one that came in that you let go of. Or you said you've only let go of a couple watches, but, um, do you have the one that got away? Like has has that? I'm assuming that's happened to you the the.

Mitch Katz: 49:49

What comes immediately to mind, uh, is Roger Smith pocket watch number two, the. I saw it. I went up to Philips to see it and, man, that thing was beautiful, absolutely beautiful, and I was on vacation in europe when it came up for uh auction and I said I'm gonna bid on it. I'm just gonna bid on, say I could bid on it. So I was with a friend who was also in into watches and we were sitting at a coffee shop and I was able to get the auction and the watch comes up and my finger was poised on the bid button and the price just shot way up and it's like okay, done, not even going to bother. Um, and then I subsequently was talking to somebody who knew the ultimate buyer. He said, yeah, that that person would have kept going going and that really I knew would never come home because it was just it wasn't even even at a tenth of the price. I couldn't afford it. But it was just the fun of bidding on it.

Mitch Katz: 51:09

Um, besides that, has anything gotten away in very early on? I'm going to turn the question around a little bit. Very early on I had the opportunity to get a Philippe Defour Simplicity and I write about it in the book actually. And it was at its commercially released price and I got to the point of, well, what case do you want? What dial do you want? Yada, yada, yada.

Mitch Katz: 51:44

And at the time it was just didn't pass the sleep test, the money was too much and I backed out. Now you could say 15 years later, that was a mistake, should have done it. And you know what. I'm fine For very many reasons I'm fine At that moment in time. It was more money that I could justify to myself, much less my family. It was not that important to me. I wasn't there yet in my sophistication, I wasn't there yet in my appreciation for what it was. And you know I'd look at it and said, yeah, it would have been nice, but and now, certainly, given the extent of the collection, it would have been a nice compliment too.

Mitch Katz: 52:38

But I'm okay Because at that moment it wasn't right for me For any one of a number of reasons. So you know, regret to me is a useless emotion Because you can't do anything about it. Regret to me is a useless emotion because you can't do anything about it. So are there other watches that have come and gone that I did not get that. Maybe I would have liked it. Maybe there are a few, but I would rather turn it. But for that, look what I do have and I love what I have and I appreciate what I have and I look forward. I don't look back. It just doesn't help. And again, I've been very fortunate and very lucky and some of the pieces are incredibly rare and that, to me, is enough. That's's good doesn't mean it's enough to stop, but it's enough to assuage any potential I wish I had that I don't.

Mitch Katz: 53:39

I don't wish I had anything I.

Blake Rea: 53:41

I'm literally like you're. You're reading the words right out of my head that I was going to ask if you have any regrets as a collector.

Mitch Katz: 53:52

No, not really, I can't think of a one. The decisions made at the time were made for whatever reason and that decision was right at that time for whatever reason. One watch that was interesting um, I wanted to get when uh, zenith was releasing their defy uh, I think it was the defy lab, whatever with the. Uh, yeah, yeah, extreme whatever lab whatever. Yeah, I wanted to be one of the 10, I was Stream whatever.

Blake Rea: 54:29

Stream Lab whatever.

Mitch Katz: 54:31

I wanted to be one of the 10. I was really disappointed that I didn't get one of those and the AD I was working with and the rep was working trying to convince Geneva, really Beaver, to allocate one to me and I was disappointed about that. I really was. Well, as it turns out, those watches didn't work and I just recently read something that said they were all returned actually, and it's like okay, so maybe I was fortunate. I didn't get what I wanted to know. So sometimes things, if you will be magical and say things happen for a reason. But you know, did I lose sleep over it?

Blake Rea: 55:14

yeah, I was disappointed at the time, but you move on zenith is a is a uh, a crazy brand because they are pushing the envelope within their own constraints. Like you look at a watch brand that has an umbrella, like a non-independent that has the big puppet masters, kind of you know, doing their things up there and uh, and, and then I mean I'm wearing the chrono master sport, um, but you know they they do well for within their organization that they have and I was very fortunate enough, uh, in march, uh, march or january one, I don't know, I don't remember it was a big blur um, to go to their factory and to see how they produce watches, and we actually have a youtube video about it.

Blake Rea: 56:07

Um, and to go to the attic and to see how they produce watches and we actually have a YouTube video about it, and to go to the attic and you know, it's a brand that I hold close to my heart and, yeah, anyways, this is one of my favorite brands, if they have a very strong history again.

Mitch Katz: 56:27

I would put them as strong brand underappreciated totally totally I same thing.

Blake Rea: 56:36

Um, moving a little forward. Um, you know we talked about having no regrets as a collector, but do you have that summit moment? You know we talked about summoning everest um as a collector. What would you consider that summit moment for you as a watch collector? Like, okay, I've done it, I've you know, I've reached. You know, I've reached what I, I, I, I've accomplished what I set out to accomplish as a watch collector.

Mitch Katz: 57:13

That means I, I have. Again it comes back to do you have a goal in mind? And I really don't. I I, yeah, you can pick certain watches. I would love to have another. Roger Smith, I would love to. I would love to have a pocket watch, but not just a pocket watch. I would love to have a special pocket watch.

Mitch Katz: 58:03

I don't know, it was about 20 years ago, I was him. What is the right watch collection? And he said, without skipping a beat, two Daniels and a pocket watch. And I don't know what pocket watch he was referring to, One of my. Again, I said no regrets, but one of my biggest regrets he had said two Daniels and a pocket watch and I can give you the name of somebody on Bond Street that can get you a pocket watch. And I never got the name from him. That to me, is one of the biggest regrets of my life because he died soon thereafter and I never got the name of this dealer sales, whatever. And that sticks with me and I'm at least 13 years, 14 years away from that conversation and I really do want a pocket watch and I do want a pocket watch. That is of note and I don't even know what that means. But to have a Breguet pocket watch, that would be pretty darn close to a Summit. Yeah, that would be pretty darn close to a summit.

Blake Rea: 59:28

Yeah, I just recently one of my friends has a jewelry store here in Vegas and she had asked me to come kind of help her clean out the safe. You know, which was a crazy moment where I got to see like hundreds and hundreds of vintage watches and during that process, you know she she was like I want to thank you for coming out and spinning because she, you know, she's not a big watch collector like me, but you know she was looking to me to advise her on, on on what she should get rid of and what she should keep and this and that you know what she should sell, should I say um?

Blake Rea: 1:00:07

but during that that experience, I, I, I found a vintage regulator pocket watch with a beautiful porcelain dial. Wow, and it was still running. Wow and um, I mean, uh, I don't even know what the I think the case is, uh, I mean still, I think it's like sterling silver or something. You know they were using silver a lot, a lot more back then than they are now. Um, and yeah, I, I've been meaning to get it restored. But also, uh, I love, uh, the utility aspect, because the the back of it is like a hunter style case where the the back folds out and you can use as a desk clock and like um, and, and you know, of course, like back then, you know when you opened it you could easily like service the movement or regulate it or whatever. Um, and, and I need to get it restored and I have it.

Mitch Katz: 1:01:12

It's beautiful actually I was talking to a friend of mine, a couple of people I know, I, I think from the collector side, I think pocket watches are underappreciated, very underappreciated and, quite frankly, except for the and quite frankly, except for the extreme, like a Breguet, you can get them at a reasonable cost. If you compare apples to apples, you know apples to different vintage apples. As far as wristwatches, there's a certain allure that I don't know. I'm afraid of them only because I see it as another rabbit hole. It is, but I think there's some very exquisitely beautiful pieces out there.

Mitch Katz: 1:02:00

I'm not talking about the Smith no 2, which is incredible. It was magnificent, I mean, there's just no words can describe it. But I'm just saying that the watches back from the 1800s and maybe even a little earlier, they're just exquisite and, quite frankly, if one is fortunate to go to the Paddock Museum and see their collection, nothing new, there's very little new in the world of watches. Now that hasn't been done in pocket watches. It is a different size, of course, and the micro mechanics are different, but they're the same, but they have been minimized.

Mitch Katz: 1:02:42

But there's some impressive pieces out there, and that will be fun.

Blake Rea: 1:02:49

I was at the museum in January. It was January or March whenever I was in a factory and I also went to Beauvais and I got a YouTube video coming out for Beauvais, the Beauvais factory Phenomenal. But you know, as I went to the P the patek museum, I, I, I was literally coming there for the last hour and you know they have like the, the listening tour and all this shit you can buy and all, and I didn't.

Mitch Katz: 1:03:17

I didn't, I didn't do that, but as I was walking around and I was looking at, you know, their I mean some of their like enamel dial stuff, I mean, is insane, insane it's crazy and I'm not a paddock collector, but I have incredible respect for that museum and I will tell you and the people might be watching that my wife has very little interest in watches. She has an appreciation. Now, after 25 years. She's got a little bit of it, but we spent three hours there and she was engaged, as was I. So you don't have to have a deep appreciation, understanding or knowledge about watches to really appreciate the artistry and everything they were able to accomplish over the years, particularly on the floor that goes through their history. It is unbelievable and I was really impressed. I thought my wife would be there. It's time to go.

Blake Rea: 1:04:25

Let's go depending on when you went because I went last year they they have uh different stories for different like eras and um, and yeah, I mean it's crazy just to start off, like at the early days, and as you go up, you know you see the more modern watches, um, and and as I was going through, uh, I was, there was one little nugget because, like I said, I did not pay, I didn't, I don't think I had time or whatever. I don't know if it was like a guided tour. I think it was a guided tour where they offered the little headsets or whatever. Yeah, um, but I was walking past like a tour group and I eavesdropped for like half a second and it was probably the, the most memorable second of my life, because the tour guide said at the time, paddock was focused on making the smallest possible watch movement known to man.

Blake Rea: 1:05:31

Because if you can make the smallest of something, then like you're like the, the, the most uh respected master, right, like that was their philosophy. Okay, if we can make the smallest, most complicated watch movement, like we will be the best. And I was like shit, like never thought about that. You know, it was a cool moment and uh, and then, of course they had the movement there you know what?

Blake Rea: 1:06:04

they made. I mean it was teeny tiny. I mean like like and and you would see it now and and like a Blancpain, like, like cocktail watch or something like a lady's cocktail watch, but just the it wasn't smaller than the reversal of one-on-one caliber one-on-one from JLC. Uh, I mean it was. I mean maybe like three or four tic tacs, so the the 101 is actually smaller, oh wow.

Blake Rea: 1:06:38

But I always developed in the 20s or something like that yeah, I think this was on like maybe like the like the late 1800s, um, but I mean it was kind of cool. I mean they literally had like a little magnifier that you know, blow it up so you can actually see what the hell and the decoration you know, like, who thought to decorate like a little tic tac, you know like to me.

Blake Rea: 1:07:06

I thought about those people like, who like in. Have you ever seen the little people that engrave rice like they? Yeah, I, I thought about that. Like who the hell would think to do some shit like that?

Mitch Katz: 1:07:18

well, it ain't me yeah I have proven I cannot do that kind of micro decoration or even work on a watch I get a headache the second I start.

Blake Rea: 1:07:29

I I go to these watchmaking courses and I went to one for j. I actually went to one for you, least nard on where I got to take apart the freak bridge and then, um, I did one for you, uh, for jlc, where I got to kind of like, like completely take apart the reverso movement and rebuild it, um, and they showed how it kind of worked, you know on both sides, um, but you know, very shortly into those experiences I'm like I already have a headache and I'm frustrated well, I have the distinct honor and pleasure of maybe being the only one in a jlc master class to not lose a screw.

Mitch Katz: 1:08:10

I mean, that's commonplace. I popped the jewel, really. Yeah, I sent the jewel flying and the master watchmaker this was actually in Le Sentier he was not pleased with me, but I still got my certificate. I mean that just shows you how meaningful that thing is. But I am so proud of the fact that I popped the jewel, I sent it flying across the room.

Blake Rea: 1:08:36

Beat that. I think this brings a good kind of like segue to. Not only are you writing your you know, on my hands book, but you are writing a fiction book, right, and you told me about that. And I specifically say that for the end of our discussion because we are, you know, approaching over an hour now of just straight nuggets, uh, and I can't wait to get the feedback from the collectors. You know cause we've always wanted to get a collector on, you know. We've always, we've been waiting for a moment like this, because every collector has a different perspective, you know, and and yours is is exceptional. But tell us about your second book, please, and thank you.

Mitch Katz: 1:09:35

The when I was starting to write this first book, I was communicating with a friend of mine who actually lives in the UK and we read similar books and he he was very complimentary oh, you know, you're doing something fun, uh. And he said you should write a mystery book, a murder mystery involving watches. I said, okay, that's great. Around the same time, a watchmaker who found out I was writing this book said I should write a book about my customers, my collectors, and I said to him name will not be spoken. That's a really bad idea because you writing about your collectors, knowing this guy, it would not go well. So I put that aside. But this thing about murder mysteries, like yeah, that's interesting. And a year ago on Mother's Day, I was going out with my wife and as we were crossing the street I looked at her and I said I've got a plot.

Mitch Katz: 1:10:41

I understand the plot and she said what I said, I got it. So we went and sat down at bar and I'm telling her a little bit about the plot we're kind of problem solving a little bit of it and basically got the nugget and then mid-dinner I said I've got an idea for another book. This one's a matching collector and watchmaker. That's a project for the future, but the basis of the book was the following In the early 2000s there was a watchmaker who came from Hungary and set up a business in upstate New York, I believe, called the Budapest Watch Company and he developed a watch movement that was perpetual in the sense of much like the Atmos clock has power due to the expansion and contraction of a gas in its bellows.

Mitch Katz: 1:11:48

In the Atmos clock he took two pieces of metal and I actually have his patent. He took two metals, put them together and they had different heating points and so when there's a change in temperature the metals expand and contract differently and by virtue of that movement wound the mainspring and he claimed that he had on his workbench a movement that had been running for more than a month perfectly without being touched for more than a month perfectly without being touched, and he was going to case it and sell it for a gazunga amount of money. But then he died, and of natural causes, whatever, and nothing ever came of it. His estate buried it. I don't know why. I don't know what happened, but it never came to fruition. I suspect I know why. I have a theory let's put it that way why it never got marketed, but I'm not going to tell you because it's part of the book. So I said, okay, what would watch companies do if this watch movement was real and was being developed and what would happen around that? That's the basis of the book.

Mitch Katz: 1:13:18

And I started writing it and I was having a blast. I mean, I could kill people. I don't get arrested. I mean I have a body count in this book of five and it was fun. So that book is actually done. I still have some, I think, work to do on it, but it's out with a couple of friends to read it to make sure the story makes sense. I think there's some weak points that need to be strengthened and then, when we're done with all the rigmarole over this first book, then I'm going to start working with this editor and we're going to put that out there ultimately, but in the interim, I've started another book because I'm having so much fun and it's again involving watches, and this one's a little bit more dealing with the marketing of watches and the in not so much the industry, but the uh, uh, no, let's just leave it at that. Um, and I don't want to give away too much. I'm 68 pages into it and I kind of know who the bad guy is, and I already have a body count of five, and so I'm deciding who else I want to knock off for the sake of the story. It's fun, it's great.

Mitch Katz: 1:14:39

You do get a little bit caught up in it. For the first murder mystery, I came to a point I needed the name of somebody and I chose the name of the woman who comes to clean our house. And I got to a point in the book where she's such a sweet lady she's been with us for 20 years and I had to decide whether I was going to kill her or not, and I just couldn't. I couldn't kill her, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't to kill her or not, and I just couldn't. I couldn't kill her, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't look at her face every week and say I just killed you she's, and now she's a recurrent minor character. But she's a recurrent character because what I'm building is a recurrent series with similar, with same characters.

Blake Rea: 1:15:27

Amazing, yeah, I mean um with similar, with same characters.

Mitch Katz: 1:15:37

amazing, yeah, I mean um another, another, another great book for us to look out for. Um. The working title is time for sale, so I'm gonna do the time series.

Blake Rea: 1:15:44

I have a, a title for the next one, I think the next murder mystery yeah, I mean, I'm assuming, uh you're, we're going to be able to get all these books online on amazon.

Mitch Katz: 1:15:58

Barnes and noble, tell us how we can buy these books the books are available on every platform on the internet, okay, um, most common being, of course, amazon, but uh, barnes and Noble online, everything the books available, uh across the board. It's exciting, it's fun and I hope my, my biggest audience appreciates it, that being my sons.

Blake Rea: 1:16:32

Yeah, I know I'll enjoy it for sure and I can't wait to get hands on and everybody, if you're listening, you can go on Amazon right now and pick up the copy, digital paper, whatever of Time on my Hands the book Mr Mitch here wrote for all of us as collectors. And is there anything? You know we're coming here to the end here almost a short feature film here that we've we've done with you. Um, we turn over our platform to our guests. So, uh, we've went through a lot, we've covered a lot. Is there anything you did not feel like, you did not get a chance to say or cover? Because here is your time your time, without being repetitive?

Mitch Katz: 1:17:34

I don't think so. I mean to me if I'm going to be a prophet, kind of over the top, but if my wish is to foster the enjoyment of something that I love, and whether it is an Apple Watch or a Swatch Watch or whatever, I hope that people enjoy the sensation, the fun of putting something on their wrist every day and, in time, maybe make it to mechanical watches and appreciate the intensity, the micro mechanics, the micro-mechanics, what these watchmakers go through to produce these miraculous devices that operate in such tiny tolerances. There are a lot of car guys out there and they are just so fantastic about it, as it was explained to me. When you're talking about a watch, I'm sorry when you're talking about a car and the car engines, the tolerances that you are excited about are the width of a penny. Okay, the tolerances that a watchmaker is dealing with is less than the width of a hair, and yet they get these devices to work with such perfection, day in and day out.

Mitch Katz: 1:19:20

A car most cars are built to last eight years, something like that. Watches are built to work for centuries. Think about that, the artistry, the mechanics. They are there for way beyond our time on this mortal coil and that is phenomenal and appreciate them for who they are and what these pieces represent. If one person could hear that message, I've done my thing.

Blake Rea: 1:19:58

And conveniently, you can wear a watch from the moment that you wake up to the moment that you go to bed.

Mitch Katz: 1:20:05

You go to sleep with zero effort up till the moment that you go asleep with zero effort. And where I live there are a lot of high-performance cars. I don't get it. Okay, they get to the next traffic light first, you won. And how often can you put a high-performance car to the test of what they truly are built for? Watches, from the minute you put it on to the minute you take it off and beyond, are functioning at the maximum capability of what they were built to do. It's a different world.

Blake Rea: 1:20:45

I can say with certainty like all of us, I get tired of driving, I us, I get tired of driving, I will, I will never get tired of wearing watches likewise thank you so much for joining us.

Blake Rea: 1:21:00

Uh, I've enjoyed this very much. I hope that everybody out there listening took a lot of value in what mitch said. Um, we are certainly going to link his book again, time on my hands a collector's journey in the world of watches, by mr mitch katz sitting in front of us. Make sure you go out and buy this book, because I think this is going to be a unique perspective on what it's like to collect watches from a very, very, very seasoned collector. Um, thank you so much, mitch.

Blake Rea: 1:21:38

Uh, you're gonna have to to get us a signed copy you have to get us a signed copy for, for, uh, for my collection, my collection, and next time I'm your way, I will certainly make a plan to come see you, which is not going to be too long from now.

Mitch Katz: 1:21:59

I look forward to it and I wish everybody just keep watching keep watching.

Blake Rea: 1:22:05

Thank you so much, mitch, and we will see you, listeners, on the next episode.