top of page

FOUNDERS TALK: An interview with SIXOFOURLIFE Founder


During the past month, while in London for our G2G (Get Together) I had the chance to meet the person behind the most famous Tudor Black Bay Rose (Burgundy red bezel)!

I bet you already know about who I’m talking about!

You’re right it’s @adutchwrist! Apart from being a watch enthusiast he’s also a fellow marketer from the Netherlands.

But we’re not here to talk about him. He introduced me to a person which I now have the honour to call friend, and a fellow watch enthusiast.

The Pros of attending Get Togethers

Back at the Get Together we were talking about how to convert communities into buyers without forcing them into buying anything, it’s called Inbound Marketing.

And something we came across, was the fact that sometimes it can be hard to drive sales thru social media. It can be done but if you’re not sure about it please don’t do it.

He (adutchwrist) finally realized that he knew a guy that would most likely, like my way of thinking and that was an extremely humble and kind person with lots and lots of experience on this industry.

Sharing contacts. Making friends. Creating opportunities.

The most amazing thing was the will to arrange this meet up, by adutchwrist, who he’s a great friend of mine.

After just two days after our Get Together I was already having a chat with Caleb, one of the brand founders, that spent several months visiting influencers, brands and industry names to better strengthen his brand. So, a truly driven person!

I immediately understood that I was talking with a person that had a big and vast experience on the industry, with an immense portfolio, experience and technic. And this gave me an idea.

A different kind of article

This article isn’t going to be a review or brand introduction, but since Caleb is such a driven person I thought “What could be better than actually having the most driven CEO I know, talking about his brand and goals in an interview?”

The answer is that simple, nothing can beat that! So here we go!

After more than 10 years in the watch industry, what led you to create your own brand and why now?

After living in Switzerland for 16 years, my life led me back home to Vancouver and so I decided to take this opportunity and do something that I hoped people would love as much as I do. I really wanted to take the knowledge and experience I gained in the Swiss luxury watch industry and create a brand that combined their design aesthetic with Vancouver’s lifestyle, while using high quality materials and offering it to the world at an affordable price.

What are the main problems in the watch industry in your opinion?

Besides no one buying luxury items like watches due to the state of the economy? Haha...

But seriously, the watch industry is often thought of as a luxury purchase. When the economy is in a downturn, the first thing that decreases are sales in luxury items.

Many people, especially the younger generation, have been turning away from purchasing a watch because they have their smart phones on them all the time – essentially, the need for telling time has gone and so has the need for a watch. The industry needs to adapt to that change by creating new designs and showing people why they WANT to buy a new time piece.

In your opinion, what type of general characteristics are people looking for in

independent brands? Do they care about the brand or about the product they

produce?

We think that they are looking for a combination of both whenever possible. They are looking at things like: individual design, personalization, in-house movement and quality for the value. Brand is an image that needs to be created and known, but the main thing is the product the brand produces: is it loved or not? It comes down to being able to identify with the company and really love the products that they produce. This is what we are trying to focus on.

We are currently seeing a big investment in independent brands and crowdfunded brands, what do you think about this?

We are not sure if the crowdfunded brands are saying all there is to say. We see a lot of them reach their goals of $25,000 or $100,000 and from what I know of watch

manufacturing, you don’t need that much to start a new brand. We see some make it and others not but does it depend on marketing? Does it depend on quality? Or possibly design? It’s probably a combination of all of these things along with some luck.

New designs are always great to see and when done with a strong belief behind it then it’s a welcome addition. Competition is healthy for everyone involved and with there being so many independent brands out there you really have to make your brand stand out from the others. We believe that we are doing that with SIXOFOUR LIFE.

What type of problems does this type of brand face nowadays?

Quite a few problems actually. There are too many micro brands that are all selling the same thing. You find the same type of designs all made with similar level of quality, which results in a lot of unnecessary competition. You are not only facing branding challenges to set yourself apart, you are also needing to navigate through the social media world to get your brand known. As the world is doing most of their shopping online, if they don’t find you there they will not have the opportunity to get to see your brand anywhere.

We believe that SIXOFOUR LIFE is creating its time pieces with something very special: unique pieces that people will WANT to wear and enjoy everyday.

Making the public aware of our brand is the hardest thing.

What inspired you to create diversified models with those characteristics?

We believe that taking a beautiful Swiss time piece that can sometimes cost $30,000 and is not normally known to the public and modifying it so that it becomes affordable without losing any of the quality, artistic flare and design sensibilities of those watches is what we’ve achieved with SIXOFOUR LIFE.

By bringing it to the rest of the world we want to show the artistic side of the watch industry.

I’m not talking about the big brands that everyone knows about, but the creative, specialised, artistic micro brands that aren’t really well known outside of Switzerland.

Essential question now, if you had to nominate 3 aspects of your brand and product to differentiate them from the competition and other brands what would those be?

1. Design. We believe we’ve made something that feels both modern and vintage

simultaneously.

2. Affordable Luxury. Our watches reflect the qualities that previously only people with

deep pockets could afford like customized, hand-made design elements.

3. Deep insider experience in the Swiss luxury watch industry. We know how to

navigate a world that very few people outside of it have rarely seen.

Regarding the engagement with the community, do you think a formal approach and connection is needed, or a more informal and personal is the best when having an independent brand?

It’s a combination of both. We need to establish ourselves as a professional brand that is going to be taken seriously and has something great to offer. But for a new brand that is starting out with no one knowing about us, we wanted to make it more personal. We have been chatting and making friends with other watch enthusiasts and getting their feedback on our brand. By asking for help from watch influencers, we have made some good friends in the social media world.

How important is a regular social media presence nowadays, in your opinion?

As we have mentioned before, it is essential to have a strong presence in the social media world. Breaking into it so that you can reach the online community is difficult and requires quite a bit of effort and time, but not only do you get to reach the public, you get to meet some great people.

To end this article in greatness, I invited a fellow watch enthusiast and personal friend to do some shots and to show us his perspective on this brands.

Here are his shots:

Did you like this interview?

I'm really liking how great for enthusiasts this articles can be, by creating a closer relationship between the brands and the community.

You can expect more interviews like this in the future.

Hope you enjoyed reading the article!

Accurately yours,

Diogo


OUR FAVORITES
Posts Recentes
bottom of page