Where Time Connects Us All | My Conversation with David Newman on the WatchSmarts Podcast

⁣ I had the pleasure of joining David Newman on the WatchSmarts Podcast for an in-depth conversation about my journey in the watch industry, the story behind ‪@watchdna‬  and why timepieces are so much more than objects—they’re memories, milestones, and connections.

In this episode, we discuss:
• My path from Hamilton Watches to founding WatchDNA & Northern Watch Services
• Why I created WatchDNA and its mission to educate, entertain, and connect the global watch community
• Smartwatches vs. traditional watches
• Advice for new collectors
• Entrepreneurship, storytelling, and the future of the watch industry

A big thank you to David Newman for the invitation and the fantastic conversation.

🎧 Watch the original WatchSmarts podcast here:    • 009: The Platform That Connects the Watch ... 

🌐 Learn more about www.WatchDNA.com

#WatchDNA #WatchSmarts #Watches #WatchCollecting #LuxuryWatches #Microbrands #WatchCommunity #Horology #Timepieces #Podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You are in for a real treat. We have industry insider, industry innovator, industry community builder, and I would say the walking encyclopedia of watch expertise for everyone on the planet. And I'm not kidding about this because he'll talk about it later. Mr. Thomas Sandrine, welcome to the show. Hey, David, how are you doing? So give us a little bit of a backstory because we want to talk about watch DNA. We want to talk about your other ventures. But you started in uh sort of the corporate watch world. Take us back to uh what was your professional journey that brought you to the work that you're doing today? And what were some interesting pit stops along the way?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

So um, so first thing, hi, thank you so much for having me. Hi, everyone. Uh so first thing that people might understand when I start to talk is I'm originally from France, have a strong French accent. You know, hopefully you don't need to put the subtitles, but you know, let's see how it goes. Uh but yeah, no, I've been 21 in 21 years in Canada, and then in my previous uh career, I guess, uh when I started in position in my industry, I was with the Squash Group. Um, I was the brand manager for Hamilton Watches, which is one of the 17 brands that the the group has uh for Canada. And when I started in September 2009, the brand was already somehow developed. Obviously, it's an old brand from the US that was bought by the Squash Group in 1974. And so my mission at the time was to grow the uh the brand within Canada, uh, build a network of retailers, authorized retailers, build uh uh yeah, and uh and that's a little bit how I started within the industry. Um, before that, I was in a liquor business, so nothing to do with it. And before that, I was a new immigrant in Canada doing no uh door-to-door selling home services for people that are willing to open uh uh me uh you know and open the door. And sometimes they open the door just because I was freezing and they offer me a coffee. So that's a different story, but you know you start, and I love to say that you know, being an immigrant here, and obviously I, you know, 21 years, but uh it's uh it's a pretty cool story, and so yeah, so just to come back in the industry, Hamilton watches for 12 years, um and then um COVID hit, and as uh you know a lot of people uh made decisions some you know every time that there's uh something uh happening in your life, you take the left or the right line and you go, you know, and and one of the things that I try to do as much as I can it's it's very hard to make a decision, but when I make it, I try to just go for it. Uh you know, and I love my parents to death, uh, but that's something that my parents always say, Oh, what if I did that? What if I did that? And I try to be, even though they have the you know, I grew up in a bar in uh in in Montmartre in Paris. My parents, I grew up in a restaurant industry with my parents. So I guess from day one, uh just funny story, from day one, I was actually serving alcohol and selling cigarettes when I was like six years old after finished school and going to my to my parents' work. So I guess I have this entrepreneurship mode in my in my blood. Um but yeah, and then uh I may maybe going a little bit quicker than what the question that you asked me. Uh, but when COVID hit, I decided to go back to school. And I was still with my position with Hamilton, but obviously stuck at home, and and I wanted to really study the industry deeply. Um and yeah, so that's where the the journey came. Started.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

So now we have the two businesses that you started, uh Watch DNA, we'll talk about first, and then I'm also curious, kind of behind the curtain, what's going on with Northern Watch Services, because that's kind of your your B2B, I think, consulting, correct? Yes, correct. So watch DNA, I love this so much. Uh thank you. It's it's where time connects us all. That's what you see when you go to watchdna.com, the big banner across the top. Uh tell us about what is Watch DNA and what are some of the driving principles that made you want to build it.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Yeah, so Watch DNA is a platform. So, first thing first, the name Watch DNA means watch dealer network and all thing watches. So, what we try to do is we try through my as I mentioned, uh when I went to school, I did a master in business, I really wanted to study the industry, and I wanted to see the opportunities and the challenges in the industry, and I realized that there is millions of platforms out there that write about timepieces, and honestly, some of them I follow them and I love them, and I read them every day, and I'm on their blog and the podcast and RSS and all that, and I get educated about that. Um, but a lot of them as well, they have some kind of uh uh purchasing elements, so they or they they have a link with a commission base or they have a they are a store themselves or things like that. And I really wanted to create this this platform that educate people about all the brands available, not just the big ones, even though we talk about the big ones and sometimes we work about the big ones, but we wanted to talk because for the last five to ten years we see this wave of independent brands, micro brands that are coming, uh, and we see all these B2C shows that uh people go and they around the world and they can uh they can actually uh experience the brand. And something that is very important for me is when when COVID ate, obviously, a lot of brands uh went to the e-com road, and you know that's what it is, and that's the that's the the environment that we live in, uh, with you know big companies being online, and uh but our industry um I will say uh close to 83 to 87 percent of watches, and this is fact from Stat Canada, for example, if you look at the data that are publicly available, or even stat from different countries, um 83% of watches are actually purchased in stores. And the reason why, because they are an object, but they're way more than an object. It's a moment in time, it's a it's a way of um establishing yourself, make you feel better, uh remembering a moment in time, uh the watch of your grandpa, the watch when you graduate, the watch that when your son was born, or you know, and and it's the one of the only objects that you can actually keep with you, wear or not wear, depending on how you feel, but also give you this memory. Like, for example, recently I have a watch that I didn't wear for a long time and I wore it. I was like, Oh, I remember this is the watch that my son, you know, when my son was born, I bought it myself, and I actually don't wear it very often because the reason is when he graduates school, I will give it to him, and that's his watch. So I'm lending it from him basically, right? So, so that's a little bit, and so I wanted to create a platform that educates. So, right now we have more than 450 brands, and every week we're adding new brands, and we don't charge anything for the brands, is really wanted to become the encyclopedia, as you mentioned. Um, then we uh entertain by doing articles, press releases, but also our own articles. We we have um we have 21 contributors that that are that uh uh create content for the platform. Um and some of them write for New York Times, for Odin Key, uh for big publications. We have some uh from Canada, of course, but in Paris as well, in the States as well, so really international people. And something that you mentioned earlier about, you know, and I really appreciate your introduction about you know being the expert, something that actually I say all the time for me is I believe I am not an expert of anything. The reason why is I I always love to say that in any topics there will always be somebody that knows more about a topic than somebody else. Yeah, that's my personal belief. So when you introduce me as an expert, great, yes, I've been there for a long time, but that is the reason why I love to talk to you about entrepreneurship, about you know, people that somebody, uh one of the journalists that we write with that will talk to me about specific movements and you know calibers and all that, which yes, I know because I'm familiar somehow with it, and I obviously have been in industry for 17 years now, but again, I'm coming back to that. It's just really this aspect of always learning, which I love, and I you know that's something that I'm missing. I have a bookshelf but is closed, and I'm actually looking to see where I can put a wall with all my books that I can actually have them under my eyes to say, Oh, I read this one, but I forgot about it. Let me read again. Um, and then the last part of the watch, the whole watch DNA platform is educate, entertain, and then connect. And so on the connect side, we uh build and we build first a buyer's guide so people can come and select whatever product, and we have filters exactly like unicommer, but we don't sell. And the idea is that really where the idea came from is when a custom there is two types of customer. You have the first customer, you know exactly what he wants, and he will go to the website of the brand, or you will go to the store that sells this brand and buy this brand, and obviously the brands love these individuals, but then there's a big amount of customers out there that they might know they're ready to purchase, they have a budget in mind, but they don't really know which brand to go with. They might go for a brand ABC, which are big brands, but they might be uh wanted to try uh a small brand, a micro brand, so brands that match their own DNA, maybe a little bit more, maybe they're an artist, maybe whatever it is. Uh are you okay? I'm good. Thank you. Sorry, I see you're coughing, so let you take the time of having a drink. Um, so yeah, so we wanted to create this buyer's guide that people can go and be free of any pressure of buying. Uh trying, and and something that we add, we also work with some universities. So the last university that I work with is um Arizona State University, and we work to add a chat bot on the platform, we work on uh integrating a store locator. So when somebody is interested to purchase, then we will put them in contact A with the brand directly, and again, we're not commission-based, so it's very important for us. And I'm keep telling we not we don't sell, we're not commission-based. And then also, um, we have a store locator that will tell an individual, okay, you are in this location, and next to you, those are the store that sells the brand that you are interested in. And then specifically on the second type of customers which don't know yet which brand, it's very time consuming. Because imagine if you're looking for a watch for I don't know, a watch for a thousand dollar, a black dye, automatic watch, there's so many options out there. So then you will go to brand website A, brand website B, C D, and then you will try to find a store locator because you want to experience the brand. And and I always say that having a even I work often with retailers as well, and that's more on my B2B level. Uh, but I always say you have now in our age, you have to have a website, that's for sure. If you want to bring potential new clients, but you and your website has to be as qualitative as the personal experience, but realistically, in our industry, as I was saying, people is all about the relationship that they build. Um, something that I always say is that again, because it's very emotional, maybe the customer that we look for his first watch might look for a discount because, in the end of the day, you know, it's it's money in their pocket or whatever it is. But where the retailers are really uh growing and we see this this wave of coming back of going to the store, especially in our industry, is about this building relationship. You know, when somebody have a have a relationship with a retailer, whatever industry they are, but obviously in my case for a jewelry store, they will go for their first watch, but then they will go for the engagement ring, they will go for the wedding band, they will go for the cross or whatever religion they are for the children when he was born. So that's really this relationship that's that it's very that's what I'm passionate about is connecting people, and so that's really what I what I love to do. And so the idea of wash DNA, because it was a one-minute introduction, but I made it 10 minutes. Um, it's really to educate, entertain, and connect anybody that is somehow related or wants to know about watches.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Amazing, really, really great. Well, let me ask you about just your own personal experience with watches. Okay. I'm curious, what was the first watch that you remember buying with your own money? And uh do you remember what it cost? Do you still have it? Tell us about that first watch.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

So I will I will come back to your question, but telling you of the story, and I guess maybe it was written. And there's you know, there's there's a lot of things that you make your own choice, but sometimes you might be written in you uh whatever, you know, journey. Uh, my first watch was a flick flack. Uh so when I was a kid, I remember my mom brought it to me. I don't remember when and the experience, obviously, because that was a long time ago, but then I moved to the States and I was an au pair, a living nanny, and I took care of three boys. And then at the time, uh, the family that I used to live in Seattle, uh, which I say hi by the way, they might look at this. Uh, the Walker family, uh, they actually offered me for my 19th birthday a swatch. And then after my wife, when we get uh not engaged, but when we got together, after I I think I believe it was for our second year anniversary, bought me a TSO. So let's just say that I was already swatch group oriented, you know, because it was three brands from swatch group, but uh but anyway, um, and then obviously multiple Hamilton and things like that. To come back to your questions. Um the first watch that I ever bought myself was in Hamilton, uh, in my Hamilton time. Uh, I had a few watches as I mentioned before, but I never really was collecting them. Um, and as I mentioned, for me it's not about the objects, for me, it's about the moment in time, and then does object represent the moment in time? That's why the idea of where time connects us all is really this idea of this experience of people sharing knowledge and talking to each other, and and you know, in the end of the day, I'm in the watch industry and I love what I do, and honestly, I love the people that I work with and the people that I connect. But what I always love to say is as long that you have a roof and you have people sharing the same passion, it can be knives, it can be cheese, it can be glasses, whatever it is. It's just amazing to have a group of people that are passionate about the same and talking about it. And so that's that's that's what I try to do with Watch DNA is to have to welcome people that don't know about watches and that want to learn. Uh, there's a very simple element working with watchmakers to describe how watch work and what's the difference between a quartz movement and an automatic movement. And we obviously go a little bit more deep uh in in the knowledge as well. But the idea is to invite everybody.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

I love that, and that is very much in alignment with our audience. So people listening to this are gonna love this, and they should immediately pop over to watchdna.com and look at all the amazing things and sign up and get get involved. Yeah. I'm curious, Thomas, what do you feel for that beginner, the beginner watch lover, the beginner watch enthusiast, someone that really doesn't know anything about it other than they're attracted to maybe their first cool watch, and then of course they get to meet people and they see this can be an obsession. What's something that beginners focus on that actually doesn't matter?

SPEAKER_01 16:03

So it's actually interesting that you asked me that because just before I call, I was showing you a a page that we have on a platform. If people want to go, it's watchdna.com slash world of watches. And so there's two categories. The first category is basically, and I'm kind of showing here, but maybe we can put it, is I'm on my phone, and basically it's little little sheet notes that people can swipe, and every time there is a question and an answer. So this this category is the did you know, but something that I didn't show you, we also have a section called beginner versus collector. Nice, and so the idea is okay, what a beginner feel and what a collector feel. So I'm just I didn't prep, I'm just reading the first one. Uh, brand choice, beginner, well-known brands, collector, niche, or independent brands. Uh, knowledge, beginner, learning basics, collector, deep research, and comparison. Uh, you know, and I can go ahead and ahead. Sure. So that's that's something I think that that could be a very good first step for people to go and learn. And and to be honest, even people at the store level that are uh new in the industry and that want to learn something, use this little shit shit to to learn about it and and just get quick knowledge. And and also something I love to say is that when you uh you know when you when you purchase something, sometimes maybe as a guy, or you know, when you go out with your friend, with your wife, whatever it is, you want to feel good, you wear it. And it's always good to have little stories. That's why when it's great the story that we receive at the store, because you know, sometimes they're limited edition, sometimes there's a little, you know, this is that was the Elvis Watch, or whatever it is, right? And so by having this little thing, you can learn little tricks to say to to you to learn, but also to authors to educate them as well. So yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

What is a popular opinion? Because I I love that you just you're so in this, you're so passionate about it. Uh, and I realize that there is a lot of great editorial content, there's a lot of micro content, for example, in the um in that part of the website that you were showing us. But um what is a popular opinion opinion in the watch world that you sort of disagree with? That you're gonna you know bust a myth or set set the world straight on the way things really are, something you quietly disagree with.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

So um it is an opinion that I have, but I I cannot uh I cannot refer the person that told me because he still worked for the brand, but I'm taking these words from somebody else. Sure. And and the topic is smart watches. Okay, interesting, right? Yeah. So in the industry, obviously, when the first start smartwatches, okay, first thing first, smart was an element of watches from a long time. You know, if you look at you know, uh chronograph, alarms, or tachometer, or whatever feature you have altitude and all that, you know, there's a lot of brands that I will not sit that that did that for a long time. So you know, so let's remove that. But when let's say Apple Watch came, which is one that I will sit because obviously you know everybody knows the brand, um, it was I will call it the vampires, like let's not talk about it. You know, it's like okay, this is what it is, let's see how it goes, you know, and then we saw that more and more people are wearing it. Great, and but recent and and so in the past, when journalists uh or people were asking brands about it, they kind of switched the subject or they kind of didn't talk about it until obviously now people know that you know smart dresses are here to stay, and a lot of people using it, and you have the Fitbit, the Apple, and the Android, and you have all these Garmin and all that. Yeah, but recent, not recently, maybe two years ago, I had an interview with somebody from a brand, and I'm like, okay, let me ask you the question. Now that I'm on the on the dark side, I will call it. Uh, you know, let me ask you the question. What do you think about smartwatches? And then he's like, I love them. I'm like, okay, please tell me more. He's like, listen, I have two kids, two son, both my son, they don't have my brand. It's a prestigious brand, anyway, it is, but they have two smart, they have smartwatches. And I'm like, he's like, listen, for me, a smartwatch is a real estate on the wrists. I'm like, okay, tell me more. He's like, what we don't want in our industry is people that don't wear anything because they're not familiar with wearing something on the wrist. But when somebody wears a smartwatch on your wrist, they will use it and they will do the steps, they wear workouts, you know, some people wear smartwatch and a regular watch, whatever it is. But when they are ready to purchase, when they are in an element of I got my first real job, my baby was born, I got married, or whatever step in their life, they already are familiar with having something on the wrist and they are ready to elevate or purchase something or you know, upgrade, I will call it, uh, and and buy their first real traditional watch. So that's something that you know, in the end of the day, it's very interesting for me. And and just to finish this conversation, the same gentleman was saying, Listen, for me, a smartwatch, it's like a box of Swiss chocolate. When you open it, you buy you eat the first one and then you cannot stop. So that's kind of the element of you know, that that's I guess to answer your questions a little bit of the you know uh what people might think about it. But yeah, overall, in the end of the day, the goal is realistically, an automatic watch might, you know, lose some time, a few seconds per month, and maybe let be a little bit less accurate than others, that quads, that digital, that sync automatically with your phone, and you know, uh and and the the time zone change when you travel or whatever it is. But again, it's all about the emotion. It's all about the the the meaning of the object.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yes, very much so. I wanted to ask you about um generations, because my understanding, and you probably have some data and some firsthand experience with this, is uh when smartphones came out, not not even watches, but when smartphones came out, a lot of people stopped wearing wristwatches. Like, oh, I have the time on my phone. And now, today, 2026 and beyond, the young folks, the people that are in their 20s and 30s, there is a resurgence of interest in wristwatches. And I'm sure you consult with brands about appealing to that new demographic. Uh tell us about the resurgence of the wristwatch and what are you seeing out there? What are the brands thinking? What do you think? Um, what's going on with the young people who now love watches?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Yeah, but listen, it's it is it is um okay. First thing first, anything I will say fashion related is there, there is always wave. That's just what it is, right? And sure, and and we saw a few years ago the vintage, you know, vintage clothes coming back, and and some people are into vintage cars, you know. My my go-to one day when I make it is the old Porsche 9-11, uh, Cabriolet, green bottle green. I don't know if that's the correct translation, but that you know, sure their bouteille in French, anyway, whatever it is. But um, but no, it's it's it's just realistically, as I said, now um, you know, time uh in the end of the day, 24 hours is the only thing that everybody shares. That's just what it is, right? Yeah, so you can be extra rich, you can be poor, we all have 24 hours. Unfortunately, I wish I had more than 24 hours a day, but you know, I wish a lot of a lot of people, especially a lot of entrepreneurs. Um but uh but no, I really um I'm trying to say what what I can what what I can say. Uh sorry, I I I I kind of had an idea, and now I'm I'm going the other way. Um no, but coming back to this generation, the new generation, I will say in the end of the day, I feel that it's it's a it's a piece of okay for gentlemen, for example, we don't have a lot of jewelry. We have a wedding band, uh, we have a watch, maybe uh sometimes a necklace, it's very it's very basic. So, but also uh a timepiece is really something that will give you your own identity that you will choose. Like some often, actually, I I I will almost use the word uh sometimes, but no, often I hear stories of gentlemen receiving a watch, and then they're like, No, no, actually, do you mind changing it for something else that actually matches more the person that I represent or the persona that I have, you know? Actually, I have um I spoke to um a watch collector maybe two, three weeks ago, and I was just having a coffee with the person, and he told me that for his wedding, he received a watch that was very expensive. Obviously, he loved it, but he actually asked his wife if he if she was able to change it because he had another one that he really wanted that reminded him of his grandpa, da-da-da. So everybody was happy because because the watch was cheaper, he actually got the watch, and then the what the one the wife got a necklace for herself, so you know, but uh yeah, no. So coming back to your questions, a lot of people now use as you said, they use their phone, they use their spout watches, but it's really uh uh an object that a will remind you of moment and also will make you feel that you have, you know, uh again when you go out, when you're I don't uh you know, uh you I'm I'm sure, or I don't know if you have children or not, we didn't talk about it, but I have two young children and I don't really go often on a date with my wife, right? But when I have the time to go, I just like to, you know, hopefully dress a little bit nicer and wear uh something that makes me feel good, and you know, so that's kind of the idea is is ready to to have an object that reflects your own DNA of of how the person or the person that you try to build.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

Yes, yes, yes, yes. You know, it's funny, I want to talk to you about you mentioned about books and about watch podcasts and YouTube and and social media channels. I was in an airport, uh, and there was a not just an airport bookstore, but like an antiquarian bookstore in this airport, which is very, very unusual. And I walk in and I ask the gentleman behind the counter, I said, Where would you have books about watches? The first thing out of his mouth, Thomas, he says to me, huh, watches. You know, there's a very interesting discrepancy between the supply and the demand of books about watches. And I said, Do a lot of people ask? He says, a lot of people ask. And there's not, you know, there's not a lot of books relatively compared to cars or compared to jewelry or furniture or other collectible kinds of things, right? You go to Amazon, you'll find, I don't know, maybe 20 or 30 good books about watches. How many, how many books about cars? Thousands. How many books about fashion? Thousands. How many books about, you know, name it? And so I'm wondering uh, is this an opportunity for content creators and people who are in the watch DNA community? Uh, should they be writing books? Should there be more blogs and newsletters? I mean, we all know about Hodinky, we all know about Watch Time, we all know about these big brands, but the fact that we all know about them means, well, there's a handful. There's not a million blogs and YouTube channels and podcasts and so forth. What's your take on the the media industry around our obsession here?

SPEAKER_01 28:11

So, like every industry, sorry, whatever call from Switzerland coming in. Uh uh uh the yeah, so in in a lot of industry will be similar, but again, I cannot really talk about what I don't know. What I know is that in our industry, there's really the two communication and the two individual, I will say you have the experts and you have the people that are well known in the industry, they establish their reputation and they write books about it. Yeah, and you have the other side, you know, the new generation, the bloggers, the Instagrammers, and things like that. That's two different ways. Um, there is obviously room, as you said, to write articles and to write things like that, but to write a book or to be published or to have, you obviously need to have some kind of a level of uh expertise, yeah, and a recognition within the industry, within your peers. Uh, so that's something that you know. So maybe there is way more expert in the car industry, and maybe there's way more expert in you know pharmacy pharmaceutical. Oh, I cannot pronounce, so I'm not going to pronounce it this word. Anyway, but you know what I mean. So that's kind of what it is. Um, but on the other side, there's a lot of content online from people that are all not experts but passionate, and as you do right now, they just learn with the flow. And actually, it's funny that you said that, and I'm not going to name the person, but I'm very, very happy for him. Um, I know this gentleman that uh I did few collaborations with Watch DNA and just wrote a few articles. And I know he wrote many articles with other platforms, yeah. And he recently just got offered a job within a brand, and so now I I actually text him recently and I say, Welcome, welcome to the backhand of the industry, you know. So that's cool. That's cool. Uh, that's very interesting, actually. And I'm very, very happy for him. Um, but yeah, in the end of the day, as I was saying earlier, you have a lot of people that believe they know a lot and they will express it to the world, yeah. Uh but are they expert in what they say to be able to publish themselves? Yeah, I'm not sure. So, for example, for me, and again, I don't want to give too much information, I am interested in writing a publication, but it will not be by Thomas J. Sandry, it will be in partnership with few names. Sure. That's kind of the idea that I'm that I'm trying to. Yeah, because very interesting. Because again, even though I've been there for a long time and I have a lot a lot of knowledge, I don't feel that I want to put my position myself as the expert because there's a lot of things that a watchmaker we will know way more about movement than me. So I will put a watchmaker in the watchmaker section.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Right, exactly. Well, as we're landing the plane here, I've got two pieces of business to wrap up. Number one is our lightning round, and I'll explain that in a moment. And then number two, after the lightning round, I will ask you if there's any final thoughts or kind of closing words of wisdom that you'd like to leave our listeners with. But the lightning round is just a series of five A or B questions, just real quick, and it's about your personal preference, your personal taste. That's really all it is. Okay. My first lightning round question is strap or bracelet? Uh I'm a strap person. Vintage or modern?

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Uh wow, this is a tough one. I would say vintage, but some modern that look like vintage are very nice.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Very nice, fair enough. One great watch or five good ones? One great one. Buy new or hunt for pre-owned. Hunt for the watch that makes you feel something. And then finally, loud watch or quiet watch?

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Depending on your identity. There's some people that love the flashy, and some people it's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

How about you personally? Um I'm guessing Quiet Watch with you.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Um you know what? It's uh it depends of the for example, the watch that I have for my son is a 45 mil. So it's a pretty big one.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Uh, but you know, uh, and then my favorite watch, which is the only one that I cite, because usually I don't like to give my opinion, but and maybe I will not say, but it's the watch that my dad gave me. Uh, that was his watch when my grandma turned when my my dad turned 18 and he she gave it to my dad, and my dad recently gave it to me. So that's my personal watch. So of course everybody has different different how you make you feel, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Yeah, perfect. Well, Thomas Sandrin, this was so fantastic speaking with you. Do you have any final thoughts or closing words of wisdom to leave with our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 33:15

First thing first, I appreciate them uh watching the whole uh video and not shutting after one minute. You know, hopefully everything is good and and hopefully they thought that I was somehow a social person. Uh thank you for taking the time as well. Uh no, for us it's really uh brand uh watch DNA is all about the brand awareness uh of promoting not only the platform but the community, the knowledge, the the people around. And so I would, you know, I really uh really grateful for anybody that does that. Um and yeah, and then on the other side, on the uh I and I will stay with the watch DNA topic because we didn't talk about the other business, but something that that I also didn't mention, it's being a dad, something that I was missing is being involved with non-profit charity, and so with Watch DNA, we have some element of working with organizations like uh like uh 1% for the planet uh or B1G1, which basically, when somebody subscribes to a newsletter, we don't they can select which organization they want us to donate on their behalf. Uh so that's something that is important as well for me. And uh yeah, no, listen, Indian of the day as an entrepreneur, that's what I'm trying to do is try to be outside my my comfort zone, always try to go forwards. Yeah, in the end of the day, I I I I guess I will finish with that, but I'm very proud of sharing the same birthday as Gandhi, October 2nd. And and and one of the motto that I use all the time on my life is be the be the be the change you want to see in the world. And so that's kind of how I want to finish that and hopefully uh give this uh this uh this aspect to the people to to understand what I'm trying to achieve.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Amazing. Well, Thomas, thank you again for being with us. This was a great, great conversation.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Great, thank you so much.