Collective 101 – Openwork Episode 101

For episode 101, Gabe Reilly and Asher Rapkin turn the analysis they usually apply to watch brands on their own business. A listener asked how Collective Horology started, how it was funded and what went wrong along the way, so this episode covers all of it. The story starts in a seventh grade homeroom in Manhattan and goes through a Facebook employee watch club and a Tudor Black Bay 58 that needed Mark Zuckerberg’s sign-off. From there it reaches the first Collective collaboration, a reworked Zenith El Primero Chronomaster, followed by projects with H. Moser & Cie., Urwerk, J.N. Shapiro, IWC, Armin Strom, Czapek, Montblanc and Oris.

Then it gets hard. Gabe and Asher explain why the membership and preorder model for limited edition collaborations stopped working as the watch market corrected in 2023. They cover the layoffs from Meta, the unsold inventory and the hundreds of thousands of dollars they paid out of their own pockets, which meant personal credit lines and a remortgaged house. They also talk about the dinner in Geneva where a watchmaker they admired turned them down with four words: “You don’t have the clients.” That shaped how Collective rebuilt itself as an independent watch retailer, starting with Fears and later J.N. Shapiro and Arkanaut, and how a commission-only pitch from salesperson Jeff Souter became their first hire.

Last, they share what bootstrapping a small business in the watch industry taught them. Collective is profitable with no investors or debt and is still fully owned by its two founders. They explain why they now plan every deal around what happens if everything goes wrong, and why a retailer’s biggest asset is its clients, not the brands it carries.

Openwork is a weekly podcast about how the watch industry actually works. An unfiltered look behind the scenes — no press releases, no hype, and no sponsored takes. Hosted by Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, co-founders of Collective Horology. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can find us online at collectivehorology.com. To get in touch with suggestions, feedback or questions, email podcast@collectivehorology.com.