Hodinkee


Hodinkee, stylized as HODINKEE, is a New York City-based watch website, known as an influential editorial and e-commerce site for new and vintage wristwatches. Founded in 2008, the name comes from the Czech and Slovak word for wristwatch, “hodinky”.

History

started the watch website HODINKEE in 2008. He credited his lifelong passion for watches to his grandfather's Omega Speedmaster that he loved and his grandfather let him wear. Clymer used Google Translate to find the most whimsical translation of "wristwatch" to deal with perceived pretension in the watch industry, and settled on a variation of the Czech/Slovak word for watch, "hodinky".
In July 2015, a news aggregation app focused on wristwatches called Watchville merged with HODINKEE, and its internet entrepreneur founder Kevin Rose became the chief executive of HODINKEE. In April 2017, Rose stepped down from his role as the CEO of HODINKEE to become a partner in a start-up venture firm, True Ventures.
By 2018, the site had expanded beyond a thriving ecommerce business to include pop-up stores, and a total staff of 25.
In 2019, technology business magazine Fast Company named HODINKEE as one of its most innovative companies in the media sector.
In November 2019, HODINKEE Japan was launched in partnership with Hearst Fujin Gahō, as a Japanese language version of the website.

Business model

HODINKEE operates the HODINKEE.com website to provide editorial content and as an ecommerce platform for watch enthusiasts and collectors interested in new and used luxury watches. The company sells HODINKEE-branded accessories, and also hosts pop-up events, with the goal of being a one stop online and offline shop for anyone with an interest in watches. The company sells advertising on its site, and also collaborates with luxury Swiss watchmakers to design collectible versions of their watches which are offered for sale on the HODINKEE website. Because HODINKEE partners with brands that it both reviews and advertises for sale, some industry writers have suggested that the company's editorial integrity could be compromised.
HODINKEE has a large social media presence to both showcase watches and sell them. Its Instagram page has more 670,000 followers and its Youtube Page is viewed by over 80,000 people a day. On its Youtube page, Hodinkee not only examines individual watches, but also highlights the collections of prominent watch collectors.

Collaborations

HODINKEE collaborates with many luxury brands to create collectible watches and related accessories.
The company partnered with Swiss watchmaker MB%26F in 2015 to build a ten piece variant of the watchmaker's Legacy Machine 101.
Hermès partnered with HODINKEE to create two limited edition Slim d'Hermès watches in a special shade of “Hodinkee blue.”
HODINKEE partnered with Swiss luxury watchmaker ochs und junior to produce two Junior Moonphase watches to celebrate their fifth birthday.
Fashion designer Todd Snyder partners with HODINKEE for its vintage watches collection.
The company collaborated with Swiss luxury watchmaker Omega SA for the Omega Speedmaster HODINKEE 10th Anniversary limited edition.
The Swatch Sistem51 Blue Edition for HODINKEE is a Swiss Made mechanical watch, powered by Swatch's Sistem51 automatic movement, the first mechanical movement assembled entirely by machine.
The company partnered with Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer on the Autavia Calibre Heuer 02 and Carrera Skipper.
The company is a sponsor of the Horological Society of New York.
In 2019, HODINKEE partnered with IWC on a ceramic/titanium pilot watch limited to a production of 500 units.
Also in 2019, the company partnered with German camera company Leica on the Leica M10-P "Ghost Edition". For this limited edition, the top and bottom plates were coated in a matte gray paint, the engravings were filled in white, the traditional black leather was replaced with gray cowhide leather and it was missing Leica's red dot logo. The camera's design and choice of materials was inspired by a vintage Rolex Submariner belonging to HODINKEE CEO Benjamin Clymer.