John Mayer, Ben Clymer Talk (New) Daytona

[descartes]

The Hodinkee piece was totally obsequious and seems like a placement/puff piece. It's good to be in good graces with Rolex corporate.

[Roll the Lex]

Originally Posted by RUK

They valued it at 30k?! Ha! Jokers!

Well, that makes me feel even better for buying the WG pepsi, makes me feel like I got the deal of the century!

To throw out an argument in their assessment, a 5711 is hitting near that price range. The Rolex has a ceramic bezel, is a chronograph, and is tough and reliable. Servicing doesn't take 6 months either. Maybe they have a point...

[jrs146]

Originally Posted by el1125

These guys were GIVEN the watches to write this exact article. It is so blaringly clear , that it's amateur. This is THE hottest watch of the year or in 20 years?? Really? Come on! I love the Daytona, own 2 of them. This is the same base SS Daytona with a new bezel added. It's a hype machine without any substance. $30K value?? Such B/S....

Agree here. I'm not so sure I'm on the Daytona Gravy train. Don't get me wrong, it's a super cool watch. But I'd never pay a cent over retail for one. 30K... Please!

[BenClymer]

Hey Guys,

Ben here. As always, thank you for your - ahem - candid(?) feedback

Apologies on sounding self righteous - certainly not the goal. I kinda knew there might be a response like this, but between us doing the story and providing content that actually has gotten a lot of positive comments on the site and to, it seems like we made the right decision. It was just two people genuinely excited about a watch they’d been waiting for for YEARS. Seriously. Hope you’ll forgive us for maybe being a little too excited to share and just know that we value your opinion on this forum a lot - because you love Rolex like we do.

To answer a few quick and seemingly unnecessarily salacious comments below – no, Rolex didn’t pay us for that, and in fact they didn’t even know we were going to do it. Honestly, it probably created more headaches for them than anything. Also, I truly did just put my name down on the list for this watch like everyone else. I never, never, ask for favors from brands when I buy a watch – it’s just not a game I play. Now, did I know about the watch maybe before most people? Sure. I was standing in Baselworld as it was unveiled. So what did I do? I emailed the people at Wempe right away, that’s all. I asked for two, they said “how about one?” and that’s how I got the watch this early. No special treatment. I’ve even copied the email with the Wempe manager below – check the time and date stamp. Finally - to address the one commenter who said we are re-branding Bulang products? Um, no. We use one of the same suppliers, who is a close friend of both myself and Bernard from Bulang (also a friend) and I would kindly suggest you take a look at when who launched what. Also, we use up to six different suppliers for straps and accessories, not just one, and offer lots of stuff not found on Bulang, just like he offers stuff we don't. It's a small world and we are all good friends.

Anyway, thanks for always keeping us in check and hope to see you on the ‘Dink soon!

Ben

[dexvd]

Pretty disappointed in that article, have always found Ben to come off as a pretty humble down to earth guy in the past, that if I met him on the street, would be cool to talk watches... Feel like the success is going to his head as of late... Hopefully this doesn't become the future tone of Hodinkee...

[BenClymer]

Originally Posted by dexvd

Pretty disappointed in that article, have always found Ben to come off as a pretty humble down to earth guy in the past, that if I met him on the street, would be cool to talk watches... Feel like the success is going to his head as of late... Hopefully this doesn't become the future tone of Hodinkee...

I'm down to talk any time :)

[jfmiii]

$30k lol. the entire swiss watch industry is struggling. these are not going to be hard to get in 6 months, imo. they will be sure to satisfy demand before another recession hits. and boy, i like reading hodinkee most of the time but i cringed about 10% of the way through this. that being said, i really really want a black one!

[Toony]

No special treatment? I'm sure if I emailed the Wempe president before you I would have been first on list. The watch looks great. Wear it in good health.

[Hollister]

The article came across as two extremely smug guys debating which one was more smug. Yes it's a nice watch, but so was the preceding Daytona. The difference is...a ceramic bezel. A massive step forward for horology and smugness.

Will I be buying one? Meh, no.

[tom2517]

Originally Posted by BenClymer

Hey Guys,

Ben here. As always, thank you for your - ahem - candid(?) feedback

Apologies on sounding self righteous - certainly not the goal. I kinda knew there might be a response like this, but between us doing the story and providing content that actually has gotten a lot of positive comments on the site and to, it seems like we made the right decision. It was just two people genuinely excited about a watch they’d been waiting for for YEARS. Seriously. Hope you’ll forgive us for maybe being a little too excited to share and just know that we value your opinion on this forum a lot - because you love Rolex like we do.

To answer a few quick and seemingly unnecessarily salacious comments below – no, Rolex didn’t pay us for that, and in fact they didn’t even know we

Ben you are waging a war in which you can't win. People will think what they want to think, you are just wasting your time.

[Hamish]

Good article...too be honest not sure what all the fuss is about.
Just two guys talking sh&t about their new toys!
The same conversation will be taking place in bars and backyards for years to come.

[BNA/LION]

All about MARKETING. Famous people have followers and influence over products people like and buy. This article is one example. Take professional athletes, they get a lot of comp products to wear or they are endorsed by companies to wear them. Good for them! They should have gotten watches for FREE.

John/Ben: Glad you LOVE the Daytona Ceramic and I can't wait to get mine too! Keep on being WI and it would be nice to see you guys participate more here on TRF!

[the_general_trader]

I am not sure that the tone of Hodinkee resonates with me anymore.

Events like the untouchable "Collectors Summit" followed by articles like this one about the DaytonaC just lead me to believe that Ben and company can't relate anymore to the regular collectors that don't happen to be friends with the likes of John Mayer...or don't have a couple Paul Newman daytonas sitting around collecting dust.

I started following Hodinkee when Ben started writing from his apartment. I bought many of his straps and stuff over the years. I shared his common-man views and preferences on many watches.

Ironic how guys that started off by appreciating the timeless, understated, character of vintage tool watches are now all about the new shiny corporate bling now. Hodinkee should just start redirecting readers to Wempe or Rolex Corporate and get money for clicks.

Well, I just deleted his site from my favorites.

[Dman51]

Who cares how they got the watches, they did and genuinely love them and shared. I think their thoughts on receiving them first was how any of us would react if we were to be so lucky. Nice of Ben to post here shows he cares and if he got his first because of who he is then he's done something right!

[Subjeff]

Originally Posted by Dman51

Who cares how they got the watches, they did and genuinely love them and shared. I think their thoughts on receiving them first was how any of us would react if we were to be so lucky. Nice of Ben to post here shows he cares and if he got his first because of who he is then he's done something right!

^this

I think most of us would have responded similar...just read some of the incoming posts.

[DeeTee]

Whole bunch of D-Riding in that article. If they didn't get those watches for free and wrote all that bs, joke is on them.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by BenClymer

Hey Guys,



Ben here. As always, thank you for your - ahem - candid(?) feedback



Apologies on sounding self righteous - certainly not the goal. I kinda knew there might be a response like this, but between us doing the story and providing content that actually has gotten a lot of positive comments on the site and to, it seems like we made the right decision. It was just two people genuinely excited about a watch they’d been waiting for for YEARS. Seriously. Hope you’ll forgive us for maybe being a little too excited to share and just know that we value your opinion on this forum a lot - because you love Rolex like we do.



To answer a few quick and seemingly unnecessarily salacious comments below – no, Rolex didn’t pay us for that, and in fact they didn’t even know we were going to do it. Honestly, it probably created more headaches for them than anything. Also, I truly did just put my name down on the list for this watch like everyone else. I never, never, ask for favors from brands when I buy a watch – it’s just not a game I play. Now, did I know about the watch maybe before most people? Sure. I was standing in Baselworld as it was unveiled. So what did I do? I emailed the people at Wempe right away, that’s all. I asked for two, they said “how about one?” and that’s how I got the watch this early. No special treatment. I’ve even copied the email with the Wempe manager below – check the time and date stamp. Finally - to address the one commenter who said we are re-branding Bulang products? Um, no. We use one of the same suppliers, who is a close friend of both myself and Bernard from Bulang (also a friend) and I would kindly suggest you take a look at when who launched what. Also, we use up to six different suppliers for straps and accessories, not just one, and offer lots of stuff not found on Bulang, just like he offers stuff we don't. It's a small world and we are all good friends.



Anyway, thanks for always keeping us in check and hope to see you on the ‘Dink soon!



Ben

Classy response under fire. I suppose it's not fair to flame you for hodinkees success and resulting influence.

Point was that most ADs will tell you that it's not a first come first served process. Best customers and VIPs first. Otherwise everyone on TRF will have one by next week because apparently everyone is first in line here

[sco]

Big fan of both of these guys. Their excitement shows in the article. I say cheers!

[speedolex]

Originally Posted by Hollister

The article came across as two extremely smug guys debating which one was more smug. Yes it's a nice watch, but so was the preceding Daytona. The difference is...a ceramic bezel. A massive step forward for horology and smugness.

As a fan of Hodinkee, John Mayer (the musician), and the Daytona C, two things:

1. The difference is not in the material the bezel is made out of. The difference is the color. Black bezel blows away the prior Daytona, hundreds of thousands of us have been waiting for a black bezel since forever, we just couldn't warm to the watch otherwise, the Daytona is a Sport model again, it's like Christmas for us right now.

2. As for 'smugness', you're kidding right? The 1% of the 1% who can throw down the $50,000 to $150,000 most of our wristwatch collections are worth are going to judge each other now? Like a Porsche driver calling a BMW driver out for pretentiousness? In the big picture of the world's population, very narrow degree of separation between Clymer and Mayer and you and I.

I took the article for what it was- two rich guys talking about their toys, no different than the rest of us rich guys talking about our toys.

[TheRolexKingofLV]

If nothing else Ben, I gota give ya credit for addressing the "issue" here on TRF.

BTW...I agree, It would be nice to see you contribute more here on TRF...it's not like we bite!?

[hons]

If I was one of the first I would surely be on here gloating! Just because Ben has a national vehicle to do so doesn't make him a DB. If you owned a company and could get your product on John you would. It's called business, let's not forget Rolex is a company that's goal is to make money!

[JPizzzle]

I found the article at the very least to be an entertaining read, but must admit that it read a little "watch drunk" at times, haha.

In regards to the 30k street price estimate, I think that may be doable on the white "panda" dial considering the recent selling price of the black dial on DSW.

[axjimenez]

While the article did not resonate with me, I do feel some of the pointed opinions in this chain are little off. There are multiple posts a day in this forum that border on bragging and showing off. This was two fans of a piece talking about the piece. It is of zero concern of mine how they acquire their pieces. Based on Ben's response I feel like some people may have been misguided. I would bet a shiny nickel that others here have the same or better access. Just my opinion but just because people have a level of fame should not make them targets of others.

[Speed]

Originally Posted by BenClymer

Finally - to address the one commenter who said we are re-branding Bulang products? Um, no. We use one of the same suppliers, who is a close friend of both myself and Bernard from Bulang (also a friend) and I would kindly suggest you take a look at when who launched what. Also, we use up to six different suppliers for straps and accessories, not just one, and offer lots of stuff not found on Bulang, just like he offers stuff we don't. It's a small world and we are all good friends.


Ben

Hey Ben,

Nice of you to join TRF.

If this is actually you, I stand corrected re: Hodinkee rebranding Bulang & Sons product. Still, as a paying Hodinkee customer, it is a little disappointing to find that you and Bulang both source product from the same supplier and then both rebrand. I thought perhaps these were original Hodinkee designs, created by watch geeks like many of us here on TRF. That was part of the appeal to me anyway.

Now to be fair, you may have actually designed them and had them made to order, I really don't know.

At any rate, you have a tough job as the company tries to morph from a content site to a larger business. Independence between advertising and editorial and the aforementioned challenges now that you are actually selling watches directly.

[perryj]

I thought the article was good, I really like what Ben has done with the dink.
I say welcome Ben and John. It would be great to see you guys around more. I love the classiness yet down to earthness of most of the content, keep it casual! That's what I liked about this article was the casualness of it. Welcome to TRF.

Hey maybe one day we'll see a "Talking Watches" episode with our very our Dr. Tom haha

[AzHadEnuf]

Originally Posted by TheRolexKingofLV

If nothing else Ben, I gota give ya credit for addressing the "issue" here on TRF.

BTW...I agree, It would be nice to see you contribute more here on TRF...it's not like we bite!?

X 2

For the record Ben, your enthusiasm for the 116500 would have been better recieved if you had a swiming pool with a shark in it.

[BJHofkin]

Respect for responding here.

The tone of the piece made me wince a bit but I can look past it and see the passion you have for what you do and your love for this watch, which is what it's all about.

What I still take issue with is your insistence that you were allocated one of the first pieces simply because you got your name on the list early. Now is it possible? Sure. But you're the founder of what, I'm fairly confident, has become BY FAR the most important voice in the watch media today. Rolex bows to no one, of course, but if there's anyone in the watch world that Rolex would want to make sure receives one of the first pieces, you're that person – whether you realize it or not (as is JM, for obvious reasons).

And you know what? THAT'S OKAY. You guys have done great things for the watch community and, frankly, I appreciate your getting a piece sooner because it means we get to see your photos and hear your thoughts sooner. Just don't pretend your stature in the watch industry couldn't be a factor.

Otherwise, keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by BenClymer

Hey Guys,

Ben here. As always, thank you for your - ahem - candid(?) feedback

Apologies on sounding self righteous - certainly not the goal. I kinda knew there might be a response like this, but between us doing the story and providing content that actually has gotten a lot of positive comments on the site and to, it seems like we made the right decision. It was just two people genuinely excited about a watch they’d been waiting for for YEARS. Seriously. Hope you’ll forgive us for maybe being a little too excited to share and just know that we value your opinion on this forum a lot - because you love Rolex like we do.

To answer a few quick and seemingly unnecessarily salacious comments below – no, Rolex didn’t pay us for that, and in fact they didn’t even know we were going to do it. Honestly, it probably created more headaches for them than anything. Also, I truly did just put my name down on the list for this watch like everyone else. I never, never, ask for favors from brands when I buy a watch – it’s just not a game I play. Now, did I know about the watch maybe before most people? Sure. I was standing in Baselworld as it was unveiled. So what did I do? I emailed the people at Wempe right away, that’s all. I asked for two, they said “how about one?” and that’s how I got the watch this early. No special treatment. I’ve even copied the email with the Wempe manager below – check the time and date stamp. Finally - to address the one commenter who said we are re-branding Bulang products? Um, no. We use one of the same suppliers, who is a close friend of both myself and Bernard from Bulang (also a friend) and I would kindly suggest you take a look at when who launched what. Also, we use up to six different suppliers for straps and accessories, not just one, and offer lots of stuff not found on Bulang, just like he offers stuff we don't. It's a small world and we are all good friends.

Anyway, thanks for always keeping us in check and hope to see you on the ‘Dink soon!

Ben

[jfmiii]

Originally Posted by speedolex

As a fan of Hodinkee, John Mayer (the musician), and the Daytona C, two things:

1. The difference is not in the material the bezel is made out of. The difference is the color. Black bezel blows away the prior Daytona, hundreds of thousands of us have been waiting for a black bezel since forever, we just couldn't warm to the watch otherwise, the Daytona is a Sport model again, it's like Christmas for us right now.

2. As for 'smugness', you're kidding right? The 1% of the 1% who can throw down the $50,000 to $150,000 most of our wristwatch collections are worth are going to judge each other now? Like a Porsche driver calling a BMW driver out for pretentiousness? In the big picture of the world's population, very narrow degree of separation between Clymer and Mayer and you and I.

I took the article for what it was- two rich guys talking about their toys, no different than the rest of us rich guys talking about our toys.

i disagree. while most of what you said is true, the difference is humility. the hodinkee article was anything but that.

[speedolex]

Originally Posted by jfmiii

i disagree. while most of what you said is true, the difference is humility. the hodinkee article was anything but that.

Come on, two excited guys drooling over their latest watch, we've all been there, it was cool, relax.

[lig]

No problem with the piece - I'd be excited if I had one on my wrist right now too.

There have been more douchy posts right here on TRF than that.

The only thing I don't like is that mine isn't here yet. :D