Affordable Bauhaus with STERNGLAS: Understanding German Design Philosophy with Keyvan Varashk

Discover the meticulous craftsmanship and design philosophy that sets STERNGLAS watches apart as we chat with Keyvan, the brand's product developer, straight from the heart of German precision. Embark on a fascinating journey from the inception of STERNGLAS through founder Dustin's eyes, whose experience at Meistersinger laid the foundation for a brand where elite design is accessible to all. We'll unravel how the timeless Bauhaus philosophy is woven into each timepiece, ensuring that aesthetics, ethics, and functionality are not mutually exclusive, but rather a testament to the brand's high standards and meticulous attention to detail, right down to the domed sapphire crystals and assured water resistance.

Strap in as we navigate the dynamic German watchmaking landscape, inspired by the latest movements showcased at a Munich watch fair. From embracing the cutting-edge mechanisms from La Joux-Perret to the personalization that sets German craftsmanship apart, you'll get an insider's glance at how STERNGLAS is poised to cater to every watch enthusiast's dream. Custom-made straps, case back engravings—it's all part of the dance between innovation and tradition. But the true challenge lies in tailoring each timepiece to individual preferences without compromising on the complexities of product development and customer service. We tackle these hurdles head-on, sharing both the trials and triumphs that come with delivering a bespoke experience.

Close out the episode with us as we celebrate the artistry behind each STERNGLAS watch, from the vibrant hues that reflect one's personality to the design process intricately shaped by customer feedback. We unveil the new Lumatik, diving into the designer's vision and technical prowess that make it more than just a watch—it's an experience. As we contemplate the evolving design landscape and STERNGLAS's growth ambitions, we underscore the importance of fostering a genuine connection with customers, shaping not just the future of watch collecting, but also the very essence of the community that surrounds it. Join us for this heartfelt reflection on how a shared passion for horology can unite enthusiasts across the globe, creating a welcoming space for all.

Check out STERNGLAS:
https://www.sternglas.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sternglas/

Transcript

Blake Rea: 0:01

Welcome everybody to another episode of Lonely Wrist.

Justin Summers: 0:07

Justin is back.

Blake Rea: 0:09

Hey, Justin is back. Duty called man yeah.

Justin Summers: 0:16

Duty called and not the bathroom. One Work later.

Blake Rea: 0:21

Today we have a very, very, very special guest Coming from Germany, hailing from germany stern glass.

Keyvan Varashk: 0:38

Cave on. Welcome brother. Thank you for having me. Guys, it's a pleasure to talk with you today here in the podcast about my work and the company this is.

Blake Rea: 0:43

This has been a long time coming for us because, uh, so ironically, justin and I got into watch collecting together I don't know if we ever told the story um, and I was like really stoked on like big brands, like I was like obsessed with panerai and like you know, like we would buy these like weird little like homage watches that were like not even close to what we really wanted and and uh, and justin kind of went down the bow house like rabbit hole and um, and of course, when you go down that rabbit hole, you guys are at the top of the rabbit hole. You know, like you know most and stern glass and things like that, right. So so very quickly, justin found your brand, um, and then he just started buying up watches and uh, and so for a long time we wanted to have you guys on and uh, you know it's hard to get a hold of you guys in the weirdest way.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:44

Nice that it worked out today.

Blake Rea: 1:46

Yeah, yeah, I mean at the higher level, at the lower level, you know, obviously you know for support and stuff like that, but reaching decision makers that can get this to happen is not as easy. So welcome and thank you for coming on. Thank you. Welcome and thank you for coming on. Thank you, I am curious for you to tell us, of course, about the inception of the brand. You know, obviously I know Dustin kind of. I've read some of the backstory on how he was working at a watchmaker and, you know, decided to kind of do his own thing and fill in some of the gaps for our listeners.

Keyvan Varashk: 2:25

Yeah, sure, yeah. The founder, Dustin, my chef, founded the company in 2016 with a Kickstarter campaign. He ignited his passion for wristwatches back when he was 16 years old and he did an internship at the German brand Meistersinger, who are famous for their one-hand watches, and he made strap change, the packaging and all that kind of stuff. But back then the problem for him was that he, as a young student, could not afford these kind of watches because they were expensive and you need money to buy them. And with 20 years old, he asked himself if there could be a way to produce beautiful watches in a good quality for an accessible price. But back then he did not have the courage to do it and started to work as a freelance web developer. And that was around the time in 2012, where brands like danny wellington and movement took off with the social media marketing and could prove that you can start a brand from scratch and become successful.

Keyvan Varashk: 3:39

So he took all his courage and did a Kickstarter campaign in 2016, where he collected $17,000 to produce the first watch with the first watch badge, which was back then a quartz model. And two years later we found we did another campaign where we released our first automatic model, the Naos, still our best seller today, and yeah, that's how it all got started back then. And what I can also tell is that in 2019 we started also to sell our watches at retail. The former retail director of the Spanish Fesina Group he was the retail director in Germany joined our team because he liked our brand and that we are a young, dynamic team and has the knowledge and the connections for us to place our watches at smaller jewelers and goldsmiths. And we are also available, I think, worldwide in over 400 shops where you can see and try on our watches wow, that's amazing.

Justin Summers: 4:56

I actually didn't know you guys had such a large footprint like in the market, like that. Like I've always kind of thought of you guys as a generally online store, as which a lot of you know startups and micro brands kind of start as, um, that's really impressive for you guys to be in that many locations. So good for you guys. Um, and that's amazing. I didn't know. Dustin was 16 when he started the company. That's super cool, man. I mean he was like still in school, no, no, in school man he.

Keyvan Varashk: 5:22

He did an internship when he was 16, I think.

Justin Summers: 5:25

When he founded a company he was 27 years old oh, gotcha, gotcha yeah it was like some time when he took the courage to child prodigy here yeah, my mistake, everybody. No, I was like dude, that's like crazy. Like how did he do that? I can't even tie my shoes, you know, at 16 years old, but Well, that's amazing. I'll go to the next question for you, man. So what aspects of the Bauhaus design do you find most compelling, and how did they influence the inspiration of Staring Glasses designs?

Keyvan Varashk: 5:58

Yeah, I mean. For us, the Bauhaus design, it's not a certain look, but also a philosophy. Back then, when the Bauhaus was invented, the School of Bauhaus, the goal was to produce functional products at an affordable price, and when you look today at these design classics, they are still beautiful, still functional, but really expensive. They became design objects that people want to show off or something, and that was something that we tried to implement in our brand, dna. That's not only about the looks, but also about the ethics that we want to show with our products, and that means, of course, that you have this I don't want to say minimal approach, but less a small approach to product design and to produce the watches in a good quality.

Keyvan Varashk: 6:57

But what does good quality mean for us? We have some standards for our watches. For example, that almost every watch that we have in our portfolio has a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, 5 ATM water resistance, so you don't have to worry when it's raining or when you're washing your hands. Screw-down case backs it depends on the watch type, but either it's screwed down or has four screws in it and, of course, quick release straps, so the customers can change the look of the watch in less than 20 seconds. That's what's important for us.

Blake Rea: 7:37

Beyond that, when it comes to the design approach, what do you guys prioritize when it comes to the design approach? What do you guys prioritize when it comes to design, like, is it obviously Bauhaus? I mean, I put together an article about it. We're getting ready to drop it, but it really talks about form following function. You know, minimalism, simplicity, functionality, simplicity, functionality, practicality, um, you know how. Is that something that you guys incorporate and consider when designing watches? I know that sounds like a really loaded question, um, but there's got to be a philosophy that you guys have that you consider whenever you're assembling and designing a watch, right? So, yeah, definitely definitely.

Keyvan Varashk: 8:24

I mean, in the end, a good watch design is all about details and we usually start off with the dial design, because that's the most important part of the watch. And it's all about proportion, of course, that you look at which kind of hands and dial works for the look that we want to achieve and then you put that in a case, of course, with the strap. But what we like to do, for example, for our additions, we think in the design process that's not only about the dial but about whole other details as well. Our most recent model is, for example, the Now's Edition Barhouse 3. That's not only about the dial but about whole other details as well. Our most recent model is, for example, the Now's Edition Barhouse 3 with a black PVD case, and for us it was important to show strong contrasts, like with the black case, the white dial and, of course, to implement customer feedback that we collected over the years. For example, we implemented the Bauhaus stylistic forms the triangle, circle and rectangular and put Luminova dots on the dial for better readability, to underline the functionality of the watch, but also for storytelling. We took some details of the barhouse building in Dessau it has this famous red door, for example, and we framed the date window in red to have this connection with it. And also, when you look at the case back, we put the school plan on it.

Keyvan Varashk: 10:02

So we tried to push with each release new technologies. So it's the first time that we engraved and painted the case back in these fine lines, for example. And last but not least, also the strap. It's an integral part of the watch. I mean, we always look at the case, at the dial, but we thought what could we do to underline this Bauhaus concept? And we embossed the strap with a geometrical pattern on it. It was also a first time for us. So, to answer the question, I think we try to innovate in the design details in our watches with every new release that we make, both from an aesthetical and from a technical perspective.

Justin Summers: 10:56

That was one of the first things that I noticed with that new watch. The Nails Bios 3 was the strap, and I'm happy that you mentioned that too, because I felt like that was the first time that you guys had done that, uh, and I think that it was really tastefully done. It's a a very like refreshing take on a leather strap, uh.

Blake Rea: 11:15

So kudos to you guys for that I'm curious and, um, and so obviously, your one of your core principles for the brand is obtainability. You know you guys want to make a watch that everybody can afford Hopefully everybody, right? And it seems like that's wrong, true, you know, because you see a lot of micro brands that start off with that approach or they're like, hey, we want to make a. You know, affordability is huge for us, right, um, but then you slowly see them roll into, you know, creating uh, higher, uh priced watches, um, and it seems like you guys haven't done that for as long as you guys have been around. Um, is that something that your fans can expect? Um, for maybe somebody who's who's looking for a little more? Or is it just going to be a hundred percent, uh, affordability? Um, you know, moving forward, you know yeah, this is an interesting question.

Keyvan Varashk: 12:30

I mean the, our now foundation. We said that we want to make watch it that uh, accessible for for our customers. For example, our base bestseller now squads starts at 269 dollars and we want to stay definitely at this price level to introduce new customers to the, to the brand. But also we try to implement better technologies, more details, into watches that maybe are priced a little bit higher, between 500, 700 euros, because we realized over the years that people are asking for it.

Keyvan Varashk: 13:13

Every time a customer buys a watch from us, we send them a post-purchase survey when they can give us the feedback, and we received a lot of feedback. The customer wishes better movement options, more straps and luminova, bigger numerals, and for me it's really I'm really lucky that we have this kind of feedback, because every two weeks I read this and realize we should invest in this direction to even create a better watch for our customers. So I think you can expect that we will go upwards with the price for certain models, but we always will release limited editions or also new watches under 300, for example, and our approach is also not to exclude anyone, because we try to release watches also in quartz and automatic. This is, I think, something that's different from other brands that our best sellers are available both in quartz and automatic. So someone who has a tighter budget can choose the quartz and have all the advantages of it, and the enthusiast, who is maybe more into the mechanical stuff, can choose to go the automatic way.

Justin Summers: 14:41

I'm happy. Go ahead, blake, sorry.

Blake Rea: 14:44

Oh, I just said sorry a little, another nerdy follow-up, but um, I, I obviously, when we talked, I told you I focus more on on the, the bigger box brands, and mr, mr summers, here is the, the specialist when it comes to the, the micro stuff, um, but I haven't seen anything from you guys and I could be wrong. That is housing a Swiss movement, the.

Justin Summers: 15:12

Canton.

Keyvan Varashk: 15:13

Oh, the Canton.

Blake Rea: 15:15

Oh wait, is it STP? Is that what it is?

Keyvan Varashk: 15:18

Yeah, the Canton was an interesting watch for us because it was our first Swiss-made watch with a STP movement. Um, I think the first version was released in 2020. Um, but we have some. We had some problems with the movement. The failure rate was pretty high, so we took it off and re-released the watch with an Zilliter SW200 movement and I think it was around $900, I think.

Justin Summers: 15:52

I think that's right.

Keyvan Varashk: 15:53

Yeah, I don't know exactly the price, but currently it's sold out. Because we want to rethink this concept of a watch with a Swiss movement, or to put it in other words, watches with better movements, what you can expect from us is that we will release more watches with the Miota 99000 series, especially the movement with the GMT. It's really interesting also for us, but also a new watch with a Swiss movement, but I think that's something for 2025. When I was at a watch fair, yes, no, sorry Go ahead?

Keyvan Varashk: 16:39

Yes, for example, I was one week ago at a watch fair in Munich, the Inneganter Jewelry and Watches Fair example. I was one week one one for go at a watch fair in munich, the in a grand jewelry and um watches fair, and there were also different um movement companies there, for example, la jupere, miota, soprod and I saw really interesting options for movements that I think our customers would appreciate that we put them in our watches.

Blake Rea: 17:07

We see a lot of micro brands using Le Jouer de Paris because of that extended power reserve. I mean you have a lot of options there, a lot of great kind of pop-in options. You know they fit the same cases as uh, an edda or salida sw200 I mean, it's really yeah, um, it makes it easy for you guys just to be like okay, here's the design, here's the movement holder.

Justin Summers: 17:32

Boom, let's just pop in whatever movement and then people see like a 68 power reserve compared to like a 44 and they're like, wow, like I can get a full another day out of this, so yeah um yeah, the new movements are amazing.

Keyvan Varashk: 17:45

So I saw the la jupe in in person and the different finishing options you also have. Or, for example, I don't know if you know the sobrot movement brand. It's part of the festina group and they have a movement called the newton with the double bridge balance and I was like wow, totally blown away by it and what we can imagine to do if we release a new watch with a smith's movement, that you have an upgrade option, for example the base version where we use the sw200 from Sellita and we pay a little bit more, that you have maybe the Lajou Perret or the Soprod Newton inside it, so that we can offer both customers maybe the one who just wants the basic Sellita movement or the Infusos who are like I want to go all in with the extended power reserve more finishing, that we offer both options to the customer so something, something that I've noticed and this wasn't on our list, but I'm just getting so excited as I talk to you more, so these ideas keep you know, like, like forming in my brain.

Blake Rea: 18:59

But I'm a huge fan of german watches, justin is a huge fan of German watches and something like a trending pattern that I've noticed around German watches. But I haven't noticed from you not to call you out publicly, but it's all in good fun is you get a lot of custom? You know customization. So, for example, I don't want to name other watch brand names unless you you give me permission to, but because this is your podcast, um, but you know you can go in there and be like, hey, I want the movement decorated like this, I want, uh, you know, an exhibition case back and I want, uh, you know, these configurations of the dial and like I mean, I'm sure you know you know exactly what I'm talking about, but that's something that you really only see from the german watchmakers.

Blake Rea: 19:53

Right, like, no, american watchmakers, no swiss watchmakers are like, hey, look, here's what you get. You buy it, this is what you pay for. You. Don't ask me for anything else. You know, get out of my face and don't ever buy a watch again. But you guys, I haven't seen that from you and it seems like the German market is a very mature watch market for those reasons that they want something special, something unique, and they want to feel like they have a sense of influence in the product.

Keyvan Varashk: 20:26

Yeah, absolutely, you're totally right. We have, I think, a different approach to it because we release limited editions of our best sellers and try to give our customers a piece that is limited, usually to 1,000 to 2,000 pieces, and also individual the case of certain color types and K-spec engravings. But when I started at the company, I was also in charge of the web design and one thing that I noticed was that back then we offered our watches just with one strap and I was like can we change that, or is there a possibility that the customers can choose? Maybe he doesn't like the Milanese strap on the blue watch dial, or he wants a brown strap on the black dial, for example, and it was not possible. So I redesigned the whole product page and the process behind it so that we have the technology to offer this kind of process internally in our company.

Keyvan Varashk: 21:41

Because at that moment when you try to offer more option, it may, it makes it more complex and you have to operate with different teams in the company and that everything works correctly, that someone doesn't get the wrong strap or wrong customization options. What we do is that we offer at least here in Germany at some retailers that we send them a blank case back and the jeweler can engrave it at the store for them. But right now for us it's a bit complicated in our development process to offer this kind of individuality. But today you can choose different strap options, which was really important for me Because it could be possible that someone doesn't like his breath on his arm and prefers um nylon straps, metal straps, whatever, and this is something we changed in the last months that was gonna um kind of bring me into the sorry blake.

Justin Summers: 22:56

If you want to go ahead no, I was just gonna say that that's important and I'm glad that you pushed for that yeah, love our strap, and I was, and I was going to tell you as well, kvon, um, and to kind of go back on what you were saying, blake is, yeah, I mean, I feel like it's this thing where, like the german industry, has, you know, all these options for customization but, like kvon had said, they do release a lot of these different models in different customization styles different case back, different straps. You know, all these things can help change the identity of a watch. You know, drastically. You know, for instance, you know the watch I'm wearing, the Costa this has, you know this, really beautiful, like seagull on it, like a bird or whatever it is I don't know what type of bird it is and it's got these little wind bangs and everything. But for me, I'm a big beach person, I love the ocean, I love anything that's nautical. So as soon as I saw that, that was like a click in my brain, I'm like that's exactly what I want, like that, that was the customization that I needed to push me into purchasing that watch. Cause, you know, yeah, sure, can I come in and be like, oh, can you do this and that whatever doesn't matter, but it shows that they are still, you know kind of listening and doing these small customizations to different models to kind of fill the market.

Justin Summers: 24:15

Yeah, I also. I also love that you guys do you know you'll, you'll use the same model, for instance the Naus, and you'll put it in an automatic as well as a quartz. Because, like you said, kayvon, you know somebody who is, you know, maybe scared of an automatic movement or maybe they're a little bit more, you know, budget oriented. They would want a quartz movement compared to a watch aficionado who's going to instantly go for the automatic. So you still get that personality, the styling of the watch and the quality. But you're just kind of able to choose between that. And that'll kind of segue me into the next question for you, and we kind of touched on this a little bit. But what has been, you know, some of the biggest challenges in a market that's filled with such diverse watch styles?

Keyvan Varashk: 25:06

Yes, I mean.

Keyvan Varashk: 25:08

We live in tough economic times, for example, with inflation and war, and I also noticed in the industry, especially at this price point, that you have a lot of threats People don't have that much income that they can spend on watches, for example or the threat of the smartwatch, especially the price range under 500 dollars.

Keyvan Varashk: 25:36

The funny thing is that back then some jurors said to us that the price range around 500 to 1000 dollar is dead, because above is the is the luxury segment and under is the cheap watches. But what I noticed is that so many brands got up market that there's room left for us that we fill in. And when you come there with something unique for example, you mentioned our editions there's also something that surprised us, because the first editions we made were really basic, black and white, strong contrast of what you would expect from Bach's, from this minimalism. But what we did is to combine this style and put a color touch into it and so created this unique identity for us, and we realized that our customers really appreciate that and see our sales growing, and this is what makes us happy, of course, and our customers as well.

Blake Rea: 26:44

I have to come out on the record and say that, um, you know, when we were going back and forth through email and I was like let me look at, you know, the stern glass portfolio, and uh, I, yeah, I just love the nous and um, in that yellow, like I saw some pictures of it online and uh, and I was just like this is so good, like and this is a perfect time it.

Blake Rea: 27:11

Is it? There's a balance, right, and we've talked about this just in the night before. But, like, you can go so far away from your values, like while having fun. You know, like, oh, let me put, like a light blue dial, let me put a pink sub dial, let me put, you know, a green bezel, right? I mean, obviously I'm not a designer, so that would be the worst watch ever, but, um, but you know, people can stray away from that while they're having fun making watches, but at the core foundation of it, there has to be a balance, because you can go down that rabbit hole and then you make a watch that's not very wearable, right, like, or you can stick close to those, those values, and I always think a watch should be, should be wearable, and you see a lot of watch brands making watches that aren't wearable, which is the exact opposite of what you would expect from the industry.

Blake Rea: 28:05

So definitely another, another clap for you guys on that one thank thank you, thank you very much.

Keyvan Varashk: 28:11

I mean, in the end it depends what your approach is. I mean, if you're a watch brand that is more jewelry driven, where the watch is more more kind of a sculpture, and time telling is not the most important thing. What comes to my mind is, for example, mb and f. These are really sculptured watches, um. So for us it's uh, of course, important that we stay at some base and a base design core, but maybe to put a bit fun twist to it.

Keyvan Varashk: 28:45

And I tell always my close friends when I show them our newest watches that these type of watches are too colorful for them. But they're always driven to the white and the black dial. And of course the white and silver dials are best sellers. And for someone who starts getting into watches, it's totally normal to get a watch that is suitable for every occasion. But when you get your third, your fourth, your fifth watch, you want to see some color to express your personality or your mood that you are in. And then, when the funds, then is that when the fun starts, yeah, that yellow is insane.

Justin Summers: 29:29

Sorry, just uh, just to touch on that man, I was looking at that one in particular and I'm, I'm specifically, I'm a, I'm a very colorful watch guy. I like to show my personality on my wrist, um, as if I don't already have enough. You know if you, if you talk to me, but but yeah, I saw the yellow and I was just thinking, man, like I would never buy a yellow life or a yellow watch in my life. And then I looked at that one and I was like bro, it's like that one is fire, like it's so accessible, like I feel like I could, I'd be able to wear that with anything and, like you said, like a very, very good, like summertime watch as well.

Blake Rea: 30:03

Um, but anyway, I just wanted to say that I, I've, I've unloaded a lot of watches, um, not a lot, but I've unloaded certain watches for that reason, like I had an orange dial watch and, um, and you know you can't. You know you talked about straps and and, uh, you know, versatility. You know, like orange doesn't have a lot of versatility. You know, and I get, why orange watches exist for the most part, you know, mostly in the diving community, because they're the last color that can visibly be seen by the naked eye. But once you get a watch like that, an orange watch, you know, you, you'll, you'll realize how hard it is to wear in my, in my opinion, right, but this is a perfect segue and to fun, right, and you had sent us, by the time people listen to this, this will be past march 25th, but you have chosen to share with us in advance the new Lumatic, the Sternglass Lumatic, with this beautiful blue dial and, surprisingly very interesting contrast.

Blake Rea: 31:17

Tell us about, and you're the designer, so we're lucky enough to have you sitting here, yeah sure I can tell you about the lumatic.

Keyvan Varashk: 31:27

Yes, it's my first automatic watch design for the brand that I made for it and basically this watch was created because of our customer feedback. People ask for bigger numerals, people ask for Luminova, for better movement options and for unique straps, and that's what we did with this watch. The name comes from the word combination of Lume and Automatic. That's why it's called Automatic, and it's the first stainless watch that has a miota a315 movement. In it, there's the advantage of an increased power power reserve of 60 hours in comparison to 38 of our standard movements, and it has a lot of movement decoration, for example, the gene Geneva stripes on the automatic bridge, the skeletonized rotor and the heat-blued screws. Furthermore, what we did when we designed this dial is that we made the numerals a little bit bigger, but also add a shadow to create this 3D effect.

Keyvan Varashk: 32:40

I saw it on watches from the 80s and 90s and were like man, we should bring that back.

Justin Summers: 32:48

As soon as I saw that photo I was like it has shadows on the numerals. I was like I love that.

Blake Rea: 32:57

That's a first for you guys right.

Keyvan Varashk: 32:59

Yeah, it's definitely the first for us, and it creates death on, and this is something that I really appreciate as a designer and enthusiast of watches when light hits the dial or the case that every time when you look at your watch, you see a new detail. And that's what we tried to achieve with it and, of course, to put two different luminova colors on it, one for the numerals, the beige one, but also the strong orange one for the triangle circle and for the hands is something to enhance the contrast of it. There's also another small design detail. For example, at 12 to 60 is marked in red, and that's because the movement has a power reserve of 60 hours. Could have written it down at automatic, but we wanted to have it clear and to emphasize it in this small detail.

Keyvan Varashk: 34:00

It clear and to emphasize it in this small detail. And another uh, also a first time for me we developed specifically for this watch a new nylon strap which is made out of sequel material, which is 100 recycled, and dark blue leather with contrast blue stitching. This will be a variant for the watch and we will sell it also separately online, so you can put it on your NARS or your Hamburg case, and I think it will suit us well. Something that you didn't include in your email is the case diameter. Yes, it's 38 millimeters, the same size as the mouse.

Blake Rea: 34:50

Oh yeah, I figured it would be 38, 40, 42.

Justin Summers: 34:52

That's where you guys kind of float around and so just a quick question while we're on that subject of the new watch Is it based off of an existing model or is it a completely refreshed design, like on the case and everything?

Keyvan Varashk: 35:27

It uses the same dimensions, so it was easy for us to swap out the movement. This is something that our customers appreciate. There will be Niles and Hamburg models that will also future this movement type. That's awesome.

Blake Rea: 35:50

And I guess, since this is the first time you're using Miota after your release, I mean, a lot of brands use Miota, so this is maybe something you guys are going to kind of roll into future collections because of how easy they are to service, how easy they are to replace. I mean, they're actually really reliable. Miota, the 8 series, gets a lot of hate on the internet for some odd reason because of the 9 series existing, and that is the sole reason why it gets hate.

Blake Rea: 36:23

Um, but these are, these are decently hardy little movements, um and they're reliable and they run accurately like um easy to service, yeah yeah, I mean I can swap the movement for 90 bucks. You know, I don't even have to service it. Um, and and yeah, I mean we've seen some of our friends who also use that movement and some of the other micro brands.

Keyvan Varashk: 36:46

I mean they're getting them into into cost rated, you know, like into cost accuracy, which that, and I think that also and I mean at that price point you get these technical features with the extended power reserve and the finishing you would normally pay double or triple the price to get something similar in a swiss movement watch, and totally, these are really reliable movements for us.

Blake Rea: 37:27

Yeah, let's transition here to so obviously you're newer to stern glass, but I'm sure you've seen the ups and downs of the watch industry, which, uh, happened in almost seconds, right nanoseconds of ups and downs. Um, tell us for you what has been the most rewarding part of being with the brand, like stern glass, for me personally when I joined the company two years ago.

Keyvan Varashk: 38:05

I just finished design school, got into watches six years ago and it was my goal to work in this industry and I had the opportunity and the luck that I found.

Keyvan Varashk: 38:22

The job at Stangas was really something that I appreciate, and I mean a dream came true for me that a watch enthusiast can work at a young startup company and do his first design as a working student there, because I cannot think of any watch company in germany where I could do that in that short amount of time. So this is something that I really like, and to bring my knowledge to the products and to the product development is something that the team really appreciates. So if they have any question about the history of watches, what kind of designs and complications there is, they can always ask me that, and I noticed that in our company that the people are more enthusiastic about the upcoming releases because we want to try not only to be more colorful but also be more technical and better watches with more complications to come. So customers can, or enthusiasts can, expect this year definitely some interesting watches from us, completely new cases, new uh watch types and, um, yeah, it will be very interesting what, um, what trends do you guys foresee uh within the watch making industry?

Justin Summers: 39:54

um, and you know how do you think that stern glass uh is going to adapt to these changes?

Keyvan Varashk: 40:02

What I realize is the innovation at movements, Like when you look, 10 years ago you were really limited what kind of movements you want to use in your watches and now, because ATA stopped supplying the watch brands with their movements, a lot of other companies started to develop, to develop their own and to offer the opportunity to do certain dial layouts and this is something I noticed and the trend to color. I mean, this is something that you can when you compare watches 10, 20 years ago and you compare today. Watches became colorful because life out there is really how you say it serious and we need something fun on our wrist that brings joy to us when we look at it.

Blake Rea: 41:00

Let's step back, because you talked about joy, and so I know for you, joy is design. So let's talk about, like, the process that you go through and we've touched very briefly on this, but walk us on the same journey that you guys take when you're designing a watch. Like what are things that you look for? Like, how do you get inspiration? Like, what's the process? Like, how do you capture that inspiration, how do you evolve that inspiration? And then how does it eventually become something that somebody can purchase and wear?

Keyvan Varashk: 41:42

Yeah, a really good question. I mean, when you start collecting watches privately, you get to see a lot of watches, handle them in your hands and get inspired by them. Of course, when you look back at the watch history, there are so many great designs and it's logical that the vintage trend is so strong, because back then they made these timeless designs and companies start to re-release them over and over again. But what I think to myself is what will be what when we look back in 20, 30, 30 years? We're like, okay, back in 2010, 2020, we wore watches that looked like watches in the 50s, but what are watches for the 21st century, for example? So for me, it's important to look, of course, back, get inspiration from the past, but also to put a modern twist to it, to combine these elements.

Keyvan Varashk: 42:43

For example, my first watch design I made is the sidious sector dial design, and this is something I really liked privately and I showed it to our design team over. Like. This is something that I could imagine for a brand, because it reminds of a scientific dial and, although it's more art deco based, it shares some similarities with our design philosophy, with the Bauhaus. And how can we put that two design philosophies together to create a watch at an affordable price point, because this kind of design was really popular in the 20s and 30s and now there are not so many brands or usually really at the high end that kind of offer, this style, and my goal was to bring this style for an affordable price.

Keyvan Varashk: 43:41

And not only that it looks good, that it has the right details. For example, it has a dial with circular brushing at the hour sector and a satinized dial, but because the minutes and the seconds are divided into sectors, I wanted to use a movement that runs smoothly and, of course, we had to use a quartz movement by proposing the Seiko Mecca Quartz, because it was the movement that would fit the design. I think a ticking quartz movement wouldn't work with this kind of design, and this is um was my first uh design process for completing your watch, and what I try to do is to implement the aesthetic components with the technical ones. This this is really important to me that we're not only making beautiful watches, but also what drives them suits the design.

Justin Summers: 44:48

I love, personally, the new watch that you guys are going to be releasing here shortly. I like that. It has, like you mentioned, the shadow numerals and things. It's all these little quirks that almost bring a retro feel to it, but still keeping that Bauhaus life inside of it, the soul to it and for everybody watching. Bauhaus is to the watch industry what feng shui is to Holmes, feng shui is to homes. It's just kind of like a sense of everything having a purpose and a place, um, you know, but still being a refreshed and refined look, um, but yeah, I really enjoy that. Um, how do you see the role of, you know, bow house design, uh, evolving within the watch industry in the next, you know, let's say, five to 10 years or so?

Keyvan Varashk: 45:43

This is an interesting question, because when you look at the prices of certain models, then it would not match the Bauhaus philosophy, because when you look from a certain perspective, we don't need any wristwatch, so these are essential luxury items. So what I really love about us, but also about other micro brands, is that they try to offer unique designs at affordable prices and for me, barhouse design.

Keyvan Varashk: 46:16

It's not only the look but also the philosophy behind it, and I think this is also something that drives the enthusiast community. Of course, it's good to have inspiring brands that are really with a strong heritage and to save up the money to acquire the the great piece, but it's also important that we have some watches that you can buy when you save up some money after six months or so, or a funny watch with a yellow dial, for example, where it doesn't hurt when you pay 300 euros for it, in comparison to pay 3 000 4 000 euro for a yellow dial watch that would hurt more.

Blake Rea: 46:57

I think yeah yeah, I, yeah, I mean it really. I think that's what a lot of brands are losing. It's like as they go upmarket, they like forget about the customers. That kind of helped bring them upmarket. You know, it seems to be like a cat-and-mouse game. You know, we talked briefly about this yesterday on the phone for about an hour.

Blake Rea: 47:24

But it seems to be like a cat and mouse game because everybody wants to go up market. You know, everybody wants to because you it's a double-edged sword, because by staying true to your, your, your ground, your entry door, your entry consumer um also turns off a lot of the, the bigger collectors, you know, like the huge, like collectors that have the. You know the pateks and the vach, and I know I'm not comparing them to you, but you don't see a lot of guys who will put their Patek on one day and then put their Sternglass on the next day. Yeah, and it's weird because we're in a small industry already, we're already in a niche industry. It's like, out of 100 hundred people that you meet, maybe two of them are watch collectors, realistically. So we're already in the small industry and then it's already narrowing itself by how, how much money you have to spend on watches and as you go more up market, the weirdest thing is people don't enjoy the watches as much.

Blake Rea: 48:47

It seems to be a different reason why people purchase watches at that point. You know, and again you know, going back to Sternglass and affordability, sustainability. You know, going back to stern glass and affordability, sustainability. You know, and um, you know, creating that customer uh journey. Um, you know, it's really cool that you guys are just still staying where you. You know where you started at affordability and and I've, I've noticed every time, you know, I was going on your website and you guys, you guys love that approach to watchmaking.

Keyvan Varashk: 49:25

Yeah, thank you.

Blake Rea: 49:26

A lot of the other watchmakers are like let me get out of this segment as quickly as I can.

Keyvan Varashk: 49:31

It's a shame for us to make affordable watches I mean, you mentioned going up market, For example, this watch, the Lumatic. It's, of course, a little bit more expensive than our normal automatic movement, but that's because we have to offer our customers a better watch if we demand for a bigger price. So we are really value-driven. And this is for me also because I'm an enthusiast myself. When I design a watch, I'm asking myself would I buy this piece?

Blake Rea: 50:08

and if no, that would be problematic, I think I'm not gonna make it, just throw it away, throw it in the bin.

Blake Rea: 50:31

I could not support it myself.

Blake Rea: 50:33

I had but you have difficulties to do it data, um, but you're paying more now, in 2024, for the same product that was made in 2020, 2019, and you see brands that have went through three or four or five price increases, but they haven't improved the quality of the product, and so that is a very dangerous place to be.

Blake Rea: 51:04

And you see a lot of buyers and I mean, obviously, I have a community here where I live and a watch club and I talk to collectors every day and a lot of collectors are in the same exact place right now, where they're sitting on their hands, they're sitting on their wallet, they're. They're not pulling out their wallet right now, where they're sitting on their hands. They're sitting on their wallet, they're they're not pulling out their wallet right now for that exact reason that you're spending more. And and when you you know, when you get into the luxury segment, you know two percent price increase, three to four or five percent price increase doesn't sound like much, but it becomes hundreds of dollars. You know hundreds of dollars, and with those hundreds of dollars, you have a stern glass, you know.

Keyvan Varashk: 51:48

Yeah.

Keyvan Varashk: 51:51

I mean there's this famous chronograph that went to the moon. Back then, 10 years ago, you could afford one, and now they target a completely different customer with it. I mean, it's also okay to do it because it's a strong design and a really important watch, because it's a strong design and a really important watch. But I think we have to keep in mind that not everybody can spend or is willing to spend that much money on something that he doesn't need. But what we want to try to do is to offer our design philosophy at an accessible price and, of course, maybe when the watch has better features, to have a little bit bigger price, but to not exclude someone.

Blake Rea: 52:45

Yeah, and that's the way it should be. As you command more money from your consumer, you should be delivering a higher quality product. Um, but I just had to bring attention to that because we're in this danger zone for the watch industry and nobody talks about it. You know, nobody talks about it because we're independent. I justin lonely wrist and you, you know we can, we can say this, you know, we can talk about this, you know, and um, and yeah, so thank you for for actually, as you go up market, delivering more value and uh, and letting us pay get more watch for what we for our money.

Keyvan Varashk: 53:28

So yeah, absolutely, that's the way it should be.

Blake Rea: 53:33

I couldn't agree more. But, how does?

Justin Summers: 53:37

Staring Glass engage with its customers and its community, such as watch enthusiasts and collectors and things like that.

Keyvan Varashk: 54:04

How do you guys have engagement with those people? As I already mentioned, we have this, for example, post-purchase survey, where customers can give us feedback to our watches, what we can improve, not only about our products, but also the buying process, the website that they can choose different straps and kind of stuff, stuff. But also we have a facebook group with I think 3 000 people in it where they share the their favorite wrist shots of our watches, and this is something that we use also in our product development, where we put design variations and community can vote which design they prefer. And what we want to do is also to go more to the fairs this this year, especially here in germany, to get in touch with the enthusiast community, because for me it's really important because I'm an enthusiast myself to talk to to the people, ask them do you like the watches? What could we do better? What do do you wish, for example?

Blake Rea: 55:21

And this is something that I would definitely need to bring more to us, to the company. Yeah, I mean as a micro brand, and this is something that I've said a million times over and over. But if, if these upmarket brands gave the consumers what they wanted, then there might not be stern glass or there might not be xyz micro brands. So you know them, dropping the ball has created a huge opportunity for brands like stern glass and you know, obviously, the consumer, right, this is also something I'm sounding super pessimist, pessimistic, um, but you see a lot of the watch industry controlling the consumer, you know, um, and not the other way around, where you know your consumer approach is what powers the brand, right, and, and yeah, so you know, without the community, there is no, there is no watch industry, there is no, and that's why it's important for us, you know, for our mission and what we do, and obviously for we, we stress the importance to other watch brands.

Blake Rea: 56:33

You know, I don't think we have to do it for you, but you know, I, I think we've talked we've talked to watch brands before and they're like well, what do you think we could do to get the community involved? And I'm like it's a shame that you have to ask the question. Yeah, just listen but by giving giving them the opportunity to, to be heard, you know, and to and to have a free, open communication, open dialogue.

Blake Rea: 56:56

Um, a lot of these watch brands will build these walls between them and their consumer and um, yeah, and yeah so, um, I think, if we were to to have like like a success, a success playbook for what the watch industry, I think stern glass would be there at the top of the strategy the value, the focus, the, uh, the direction, the leadership.

Blake Rea: 57:24

I mean, you know what?

Blake Rea: 57:24

I mean, there's just a lot of cool things and that, you know.

Blake Rea: 57:27

That was one reason why we were very adamant, and you know, I'm like the terminator, you know I'm not gonna stop reaching out to you guys until you come on or say no, and so, uh, same for justin, but, um, but yeah, that was one reason why we felt like it was very important, because we have a lot of a lot of similarities and and what we take pride on, um, but you know, with that being said, we we have, you know, two more questions.

Blake Rea: 57:55

I don't want to keep you away from the obligations that you have from personal and from work, and so we appreciate the hour you spent with us so far. And then my I guess this is a question we always ask, because this is probably one of the most important questions we will ask but, um, where do you see the brand heading and the next 10 years? You know, if you and this doesn't have to be, uh like, from the corporate perspective, you know, from the, the team's perspective, you can, you can come from that perspective, but, um, in your eyes, uh, from the team's perspective, you can come from that perspective, but in your eyes, with your vision.

Keyvan Varashk: 58:51

What would you expect from a brand like Sternglass? This is a really good question and sometimes I ask the team and just Dustin also, this kind of question. I think I would answer it in two ways one from a brand and one from a product perspective. I think we, as a brand I wish that in 10 years we will be bigger and more retail stores, more people know the brand and tell our story and our approach to watchmaking but also, from a product perspective, to continue to sell accessible watches with a certain design twist, limited editions.

Keyvan Varashk: 59:34

But for me, as an enthusiast, I would love to see more technical watches, watches with more complications, something that never has been done before. For example, I would love to see a jump hour Stern Ves watch, a mechanical one. A mechanical chronograph is something that's definitely on my bucket list to do, but, of course, to have it accessible at an accessible price point, and this is something that is really difficult. But I mean the best example is, for example, the GMT movements. For example, the GMT movements five years ago it was impossible to get one new for under €1,000 and it was an office GMT, and when you want a true GMT you have to pay €3,000 or more for it, and now, with the two options that we have with the Seiko and the Miota, you can offer GMT watches for under €1,000. And that was not possible five years ago.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:00:38

And this is something that I would like to do to offer complications, tell the story of them, tell them what makes these kinds of extra functions unique to a watch, and also to educate the customer, because most of the customers that are new to watches they don't know about this, about this cool stuff, that what makes watches so special and so interesting. Of course, the design it's important. But the technical aspect how does it work and what was it used back then and when these watches were tools, and now we have these accessories on the wrist. This is something that I would really love to do More watch designs that push the limit.

Blake Rea: 1:01:30

I would like to say and I could probably go back to justin and point back to him, but you know, justin and I, when did we start watch collecting? I mean, it hasn't been very long, I mean it was like 2014 2016, 16 yep 2016 so 2016, we got into the hobby together, um, and very quickly.

Blake Rea: 1:01:57

I think a lot of people like, for example, we have people that are that really don't know how to collect watch. I know that sounds super weird, like I have some people in my watch club that super weird. Like I have some people in my watch club that you know are like I'm scared to be a watch collector and it's like why? And it's like I don't, I don't want to do it wrong. You know, I don't want to be there. I don't want to be the wrong type of watch collector. It's like what does that? What does that even mean? You know, I don't even understand what that means. Um, but the reason why I'm bringing this up is because, um, very, very shortly after I mean, when did you hear about Stardust, justin? I mean, it had to be right around that time, like 2018.

Justin Summers: 1:02:41

It was probably 2018, I think and I remember I don't know, maybe this is a little bit later, but I remember when you guys used to have the topograph, which was probably 2019, 2018, 2019. I think so. Yes, so yeah, somewhere in there.

Blake Rea: 1:02:59

And the only reason why I'm bringing this up is because that creates another challenge and another obstacle, and I don't even think watch brands even know this. But you know, something that I can assume justin felt and I have certainly felt, um, is a sense of, uh, of like comfort. Does that sound so when I say it? But, like, you know, you guys, you guys are, are, are, are not scared to say, hey, here's, here's what, what you could consider as as a watch collector, here's what you could feel like, here's, here's the experiences you could have like. And you know, I, a lot of watch brands are also scared to make that first collectors like that, that newbie collector, newbie enthusiast watch. They're scared to make that watch.

Blake Rea: 1:04:02

Um, but I, I know that sounds so weird to say I'm, I've been sitting here like I'm sounding like an idiot, but I'm like, where are you going with this? I, I, yeah, I don't know, but, um, but no, it's weird because you never get that from a brand like you look at brands like seiko or citizen or boulevard, you know, whatever right, but they don't ever come from that like warm and friendly approach to to buying a watch. You know, like, am I? Am I crazy? Am I like? Am I gonna be tied up with the? You know, my arms behind my back and a loony bin, but it's something that I felt like. It is that you guys do like you know am I right?

Keyvan Varashk: 1:04:52

I'll let you go ahead and speak on that, then I'll I'll come back to that I think what makes us different and other micro brands in comparison to the established brands is that we were born out of the internet era, the e-commerce era, where you can directly sell to the customer and get directly the feedback. When you look at the other established companies, when they were founded 100 years ago or even older, it was a completely different time. Back then to get the watches, for example, they sold the watches to jewelers and jewelers sold the watches to the clients, so the watch companies didn't have any contact with their customers. Today completely crazy to think about it.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:05:45

And of course, when the company is older, you have established certain company culture and structures that makes it difficult to them to break out. And because we are such a young company and I think we have 15 people the communication is really short. For example, if I realized that something is in danger or doesn't work, we can change it really quickly. And this is this, I think, is the advantage of smaller, independent brands that they can get the receive the feedback directly, have a closer relationship to the customer and, as you said, a more friendlier and not this high end approach where you have to go to a jewelry store and ask them can I see the watch please?

Blake Rea: 1:06:44

so we can I touch the watch.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:06:46

Yeah, yeah, exactly I think.

Justin Summers: 1:06:49

Um, yeah, I was gonna say I think the big thing and this is what I've noticed too, bl. Blake, and I know you kind of mentioning this. I think the term that you use was like it's kind of cold feeling, like you know, stirring glass.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:07:02

you purchase a watch, yeah.

Justin Summers: 1:07:04

Yeah, and and you're like, you're like, oh, like there's so much like warmth and like friendliness that comes with this.

Justin Summers: 1:07:15

Um, I personally believe that, especially since it is I don't want to say a smaller company you guys aren't small, of course but it has a more intimate feel because of Dustin leading the company and also pretty much being portrayed in almost everything that they do. Whenever you go to their website, you're seeing Dustin's face, you're seeing the team, you're seeing an about me page, you're getting these little, you know these implications of it's somebody real, who's actually giving you a watch, compared to, uh, you know, going on you know another watches website and just clicking the add to car and not really seeing that, that friendliness and that warmness? Um, that was something, and that warmness, that was something I immediately noticed from them since day one is like Dustin's not afraid to show his face. You know, if you go on Twitch and you watch a streamer nine times out of 10, you're going to have a more positive feedback and more community impact If you're showing your face on a stream compared to just being off camera. So I think it goes a long way kind of having that personal touch.

Blake Rea: 1:08:16

It's like um, it creates that sense that that he's, he's with you on the journey and he's showing you like it's okay, like.

Justin Summers: 1:08:27

I'm going to be here for you, yeah, stern glass, you know next time I buy a stern glass, I want Dustin there with me. Yeah, here for you at stern glass. You know, tell you what next time I buy a stern glass, I want dustin there with me yeah, hand deliver it, hand deliver it.

Blake Rea: 1:08:37

Dust, dust, and we expect it um.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:08:41

But no, I would like to add is that, um, as you mentioned, that we have this close uh approach to our customers and we have in our team three people that are only for communication and service. If people new customers have questions, they can just text to us a WhatsApp or email. I can phone us to see that they are real people and we can answer your questions and we are open ear for the feedback. And, yeah, we try to show that in our marketing, of course.

Blake Rea: 1:09:17

You guys started where a lot of brands die. And I say that because if you look at the original approach to selling a watch and to be a watch brand, is you know, of course you develop the product. To selling a watch and to be a watch brand is you know, of course you develop the product. Then you go to the jewelers and say, hey, I hope that you'll help me get the product in front of you know, the purchasers, the buyers, the whatever, um, but you've seen that strategy. Now people like brands walking back that strategy right by opening their own boutiques. Because and and I I don't know if I said this to you or whoever I said this to you I say I say I say a lot of stuff to a lot of people, um, but but if I buy, if I buy a stern glass from xyz jewelers, I'm not a stern glass customer, I'm an XYZ Jewelers customer. I have purchased your product by way of XYZ Jewelers and they own that relationship.

Justin Summers: 1:10:20

Just as like an AD works.

Blake Rea: 1:10:22

Exactly, exactly. In-house movements for one, because you know it's not like a watchmaker at your corner, you know, or in your neighborhood or your local watchmaker can service those watches or get parts for those watches, and then it it it creates that that loop of like. Then they are stuck going back to the brands. You know, but from you you started off on the same journey as the customer and you're not having to sit there and walk back like, oh well, let us start opening our own boutiques and let us start making in-house calibers and figuring out these little sneaky ways to take back the customers that they realized were never theirs. You know, um, and so, like I said, it's a weird industry, it's a very weird industry, um, and I mean, I've been in the industry for a while now, um, and it's just these weird little things that I notice.

Blake Rea: 1:11:36

So, more claps for you guys, thank you. But I guess our final thing that we always like to do is you know, we appreciate, of course, you know we've already said that we appreciate you being here, but we would like to turn our platform over to you and this is your opportunity to speak directly to our listeners, and we went through a bunch of stuff here, but is there anything that you would like to say directly to our listeners? Maybe we didn't talk about it, maybe you have something that you feel, maybe you just want to say thank you, I mean, whatever it is.

Justin Summers: 1:12:22

Open mic.

Blake Rea: 1:12:23

Here is your open mic opportunity to speak to our listeners.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:12:28

Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for listening to this great podcast. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for listening to this great podcast. What you can expect from us, from Sternglass, is that we provide good quality watches and an accessible price, and you can expect, this year, more product innovations from us very soon in the upcoming months, soon in the upcoming months, something that we developed in the last two years when I started the company, when I joined the company- and I'm really excited to see the reactions and to receive the feedback, and we will make sure we plug all your socials in our description and obviously we're going to let people know how they can communicate with you.

Blake Rea: 1:13:19

I am not Stern Glass support, justin is not Stern Glass support. Of course, we will be happy to answer questions, but we'll make sure that we can plug you guys. So we know our listeners and this is like I said, this has been one that's been a long time coming for us. I think you know, here we are I don't know 14 or 15 podcasts in. I mean, we're we're, we're not old, but we're not new, um, but this was one that, if I can speak freely, um, you know, this is one that we wanted from a very, very, very early time.

Justin Summers: 1:13:58

I've looked forward to this one for a long time.

Blake Rea: 1:14:00

Yeah, I can say the same safely, and I know that I don't own a Stern glass, but obviously, seeing my best friend, justin, being so passionate about your brand has made his impression on me and it's a brand that I've always had, you know, my eyes on. And, yeah, I just I'm still waiting to figure out Because a lot, you know I'm a very slow burn when it comes to buying a watch. You know like I think obsessively about what I want to buy and and, yeah, you know I, I'm one of those people too where you know I need to get hands on with something like a part, a part of the, the experience and the journey of buying a watch is the sensation that the watch provides to me. You know, which is impossible over the internet, and you know, thankfully, these watch shows are popping up that you guys can. You know you've attending um, where you can create that sensation. Um, cause, I don't even think, I don't even think I've seen your stern glass. I don't even think I've held your stern glass, justin, I don't think so.

Blake Rea: 1:15:23

That's a shame I mean we live on the other side, we live on the other side of the country though, so I mean, it's not like I can just ring his doorbell and borrow a stern glass.

Blake Rea: 1:15:32

You know that's stupid too. Yeah, mail it to me. But yeah, I mean, that's a part of the experience that I'm looking forward to you guys doing, for sure, and you guys know this. I mean, this is not top secret company. You know information, right. This is something that a lot of people expect, you know, and the reason why ADs is their main source and retailers, and you know you guys have considered and known this. So it's something that I'm really looking forward to, you know, to getting hands-on with a timepiece from Sternglass, to getting hands-on with a timepiece from Stern Glass.

Keyvan Varashk: 1:16:16

Yeah, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you and to your audience. I really appreciate it to introduce myself to the World, to Watch community and that people can see that the people behind these companies are also enthusiasts.

Blake Rea: 1:16:33

And yeah, thank you very much we're here with you, yeah yeah, thank you, we're, we're certainly, uh, we're certainly walking this journey, uh, journey with you, you know for sure. So, and you know, in the future, our, our audience can expect, uh, you know, I'm sure you can, you know, loop us in on your press outlets and you know we can start, you know, making sure people know about what you're working on, what you're releasing, beyond this podcast and um, and, yeah, we're certainly going to be walking on the same journey in the future, for sure. All right, guys, we have taken way too much time from kvan and uh and the stern glass brand. So, um, thank you for those of you that made it to the end. Um, obviously, if there's, uh, if there's anybody and this is our open call, we've never done this either If there's anybody out there listening that wants to see a certain brand, come on, um, let me. Or the terminator, justin, no, um, because we will find them and we will bring them onto this podcast.

Blake Rea: 1:17:46

So, so thank you again. Uh, everybody, we will see you on the next episode and until then, never have a lonely wrist.

Justin Summers: 1:17:59

Thanks everybody, thanks, thank you guys.

Blake Rea: 1:18:02

Yeah.