Watches don't need stories - people do. Maybe not everyone needs a story but a lot of people do...probably now more than ever.
2019 was a great year. I left a well paying role in a start up that no longer fueled my passions and struck out into another unknown - this time at the helm of the ship with calm seas on the horizon. I spent the year working on our watch collection and at the same time traveling to produce content for our "collection stories." This brand had a unique trajectory in mind...only limited collections, totally unique stories of culture and adventure that I had bottled up over 25 years of working around the world and making friends in cool places. Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Nicaragua, Mexico, Switzerland, Holland, El Salvador. 2019 added stamp after stamp after stamp on my passport...Epic.
2020 sucked in more ways than anyone could have expected...so much suffering, zero travel, political upheaval, finger pointing, balls dropped and lives lost. As we move steadily out of the shadow of 2020's chaos and into a more stable horizon, the one thing I can say that got me through that hard year was my memories of starting The Sacred Crafts.
Honestly as a watchmaker who also shoots all [most] my own photos, my watch is maybe at the correct time 50% because I always forget to set it back when I'm done shooting...[it does tell the time when it's set properly] It does it's job as a watch but that's not even really why it's so special to me. We make watches that tell stories. Every detail in our collection is there for a reason and has a little story that really happened. Some are mine and some are just things I was luck enough to witness.
When I am fortunate enough to sit with clients who purchase our watch, i get the chance to run them through it all. Within a few minutes I start to feel their energy lift and a feeling of adventure passes through the room. We all start to smell the smells of the places this collection took me, and I can taste those sentiments passing through the room. In the cases where we both have been to the same place, I feel so connected to that stranger by adventures we both shared. In the case where I'm telling a story of a place they have never been to, I can see them fixing on the details of my adventures and becoming slowly entranced by the hope they can have a similar experience.
That's where I say "job done." That's the moment where it becomes clear to me that everyone needs a few good stories to hold on to or to look forward to. Sometimes I'm not sure if they are buying the watch or if they are buying the story. I guess that is actually the whole point. That's why we decided to launch a storytelling brand that makes watches [and other luxurious products].
While we are still in this moment of crisis, isolation and for many, desperation, I am so happy about the stories I have collected and put into products that were designed to tell more than just the time. It is my hope that our stories fuel passion, respect, and love for the trill of adventure to unite this world and get everyone fired up to explore again when the time comes.
If that's something that you like, then welcome aboard, there's room enough for anyone. Come as you are, keep your mind open and don't forget to bring your smile. ✌🏼
Feel free to get a piece of our story with our debut watch, La Grande Mer. Available on our store.