Hating on Hodinkee

There are two of their writers that I enjoyed. Jack Forster has moved on to greener pastures, and Sarah Miller has lost the outside perspective that made her worth reading.

Also, they banned me from commenting a good while back just because I pointed out that most of the comments in some patronizing "holy cow, check out this woman that is a watch expert!!!" article were pathetic simping along the lines of "Jane or whatever is so smart and pretty too. I wish there were more women in watches. In fact if you're ever within a few hours of my area, I'd love to buy you some dinner and drinks and talk watches."

I contacted them several times about this but they were too cowardly to respond. The Time Yeller tells me they are doing ridiculous androgynous fashion shoots "inspired by the (model here) watch" which is quite laughable.

In the past several years, there were a number of retailers who raised hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital to exploit the used watch market. These venture capital funded companies used that money to buy up huge numbers of the most popular models from the watch market and hold them in inventory, thus driving up scarcity and prices across the market. These venture funded businesses are the cause of the insanity of prices and scarcity you see today.

Hodinkee was one of them and LVMH is one of their principal investors. Hodinkee played their role in manipulating the market for benefit of their investors and cannot be considered an objective source of journalism or an innocent bystander in the current situation. If they go bankrupt and we never hear from them again, no great loss. Perhaps even a net benefit to the collector community.

Not a fan of them myself since Jack moved on. For YouTube content I prefer Watchfinder or Swiss Watch Club (for the posh stuff)

I think Hodinkee is fine. Their articles are hit and miss for me, though feels like more misses than hits these days. I still enjoy their videos - especially Ben Clymer’s latest series. But I do miss voices like Jack Forster and Eric Wind.

I also notice a lot of folks enjoy bashing on this company. As far as I can tell, the Dink provides 100% free content that everyone could happily ignore but that’d make too much sense. 😂 If I had to wager a guess, these folks are angry because the content the Dink is now delivering has shifted in focus and no longer primarily caters to them. I think this was bound to happen as they attempt to keep growing/expanding their reach.

I do think it’s okay to hate Hodinkee if that’s your bag. We all are entitled to our own opinions of course and the Dink makes it incredibly easy for folks to share the way we feel in the comment section 😉

I've read an article here & there; never felt like they were talking to me though.

Granted, most I've ever spent on a watch is <$500 and they are talking mostly about the entry luxe & above, so I'm likely not their audience.

I guess I've just never particularly cared for them, and I'll leave it at that.

I do not have the desire to hate on anything, but it is worth acknowledging that Hodinkee is no longer a watch blog for enthusiasts, more so a lifestyle blog and the lifestyle they seem to be selling is not one I want to be part of. As pointed out, they have some good people there and they seem to enjoy what they do, but I do not want to sift through the bad to get the few nuggets of good.

The other aspect is, there are more and more outlets for watch content now, so it was pretty easy for readers to move on to content more aligned with their preferences and Hodinkee is now paying the price.

On top of that there have been so many poor business decisions that have followed. SHOCKING, paying some writer to poorly cosplay as Hunter S. Thompson while taking glorified vacations, most cannot relate with, to tell stories about other expensive hobbies while wearing a watch isn’t the best business decision. When aspirational becomes douchey people tend to leave.

Jack Baruth talked about this type of writing with car reviewers, this charade that one was an erudite bon vivant playboy with a life of luxury. I get that they are writing to their audience, who is a considerably wealthy demographic, but they always seemed to be bordering on parody with the pretension.

Jack was just a good writer who knew his stuff. Sarah was a modest and amusing freelance writer, apparently.

The weird thing is that they are all sockless loafers and cardigans with tweed and you almost expect them to be smoking pipes and wearing monocles, but then a primary backer is John Mayer, the dirty jeans and t-shirt over tattoos guy.

As a huge Jack Forster fan, after his departure I stopped paying attention to Hodinkee entirely. Unfortunately he no longer really has professionally produced technical dive videos anymore unlike when Hey Hodinkee was a regular series. You can still follow Jack’s writings on his personal blog https://jackforster.substack.com/

Hate? No. Does Hodinkee speak to me? Also no. It’s pretentious as a whole and I’m probably not their target audience. I don’t wear high fashion or hang out at certain venues just to be seen.

I’ve enjoyed most of their YouTube content. I’ve watched less since Jack left, but I’ve enjoyed Brandon Menancio’s content.

I lost interest after Jack Forster (who really had an eye on all things watches) and Joe Thompson (who wrote interesting takes on business news) left the company.

These days, Hodinkee see to be mostly in it to sell watches. I don't think they can write critical pieces anymore due to the conflict of interest.

Hodinkee is a store that generates content to promote the store’s product. They also get compensated directly by watch companies to be a semi-independent PR organ for watch brands. Worn & Wound, Time & Tide, and Teddy Baldassarre are no different. Very little in ‘product journalism’ in general is different. Getting legit criticism by anyone with access is impossible, since you’re not getting access if you’re critical (unless you want to burn a company as ‘proof’ of objectivity).

Blogs/vlogs/influencers selling product or getting compensated by the companies they cover to promote their products (whether it’s through direct payment or through free product or free press trips) is rampant across industries, in part because it’s semi-sustainable in a way that relying on ad revenue isn’t and because it’s cheaper for companies than buying and producing ads to get the same reach.

It’s also hard to get worked up about it for me, since I know how the game is played (my industry plays very aggressively in it), and with respect to watches, these are largely luxuries; obsolete baubles that are almost all universally great and any criticism is akin to splitting hairs or is about personal fashion/preference.

“Also, they banned me” LOLOLOL That is the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time! How have I not started following you sooner? 🌈

They jumped the shark with the article that paralleled lending your watch to a friend to be on par with lending your wife/gf to a friend...and sitting in the corner. Cue Crying Game/Ace Ventura shower scene. Just gross.

Same and I kinda wish as a community we didn’t gawk at the fact a woman likes watches or collecting them. I will see high praises about “wow great watch, looks great!” When it’s a 44mm on a 5 inch wrist. I’m always thinking what bullshit if it was me y’all would be saying things like “too big!” Or “those poor lugs”. It’s just a double standard. Don’t lie and say it looks great when in reality you want to make WTF comments.

Don't really care much for their content one way or another except for the John Meyer and Ed Sheeran one, that was a good one.

I literally stop my research on a watch if it’s a collaboration with them.

Hodinkee was where I started when my enthusiasm for watches returned. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in watches it’s that I got the “one” watch I always wanted and for a long time (15 years) I didn’t wear any other watch.

Anyway I really like Hodinkee and still do. I’ll visit the site at least once a day. Yeah it lost something when Jack left and that dude that went to Tudor. But James Stacey is still there and I like Ben Clymer’s videos. They have good articles on many things watches. I can’t fault them for trying to be profitable so I don’t agree with that criticism. Honestly the only thing I don’t like about Hodinkee and the reason I came to watch crunch was some, nah, many of the regulars in the comments section. One word, made up, douchepocalypse. There are some on here too, but they are few and far between.

As someone mentioned, it’s a free site and you can come go as you please, why hate it?

I don't hate it. For sure it has changed from watch enthusiast to lifestyle, but I feel there is still enough for me to enjoy what's there. What's worse is the collective slag-off that happens in the comments section of articles. This is more likely to turn me off the 'dink, than the content itself.

I like Hodinkee. During the pandemic I read lots of their content and it helped me learn more about watches and what I would like to buy. Watchuseek too but the threads and comments have gone very boring recently so I’ve stopped reading it mostly.

Talking Watches is still my favourite watch-based content. I check Hodinkee less now because they publish less I’m interested in and less often. I check Fratello and WatchCrunch the most now.

I think the enthusiast community is much better served by the likes of our own Max, Andrew Morgan, and Teddy Badasarre. All their content is far more informative and entertaining. I feel like I’m reading a high-end fashion mag with Hondinkee. Not really my thing.

I love it.

In the same way I love Fratello and all the other content producers.

Well… except the asshats still trying to talk the market up and spin lies. They can get in the sea.

It’s a classic case of being a victim of one’s own success. What used to be quality journalism has morphed into insurance sales and paid promos. It’s fine, it’s just a shame it’s not grass roots

I don’t read or follow Hodinkee anymore. Probably not their fault but I have probably outgrow their content which is pretty much a commercial these days with no insight I can learn from. Too many collabs which are becoming less and less interesting and lacking in any Hodinkee DnA like their earliest stuff like a SS Corn de vache or MbF etc. After they acquired crown and caliber and also became an AD it’s when I really lost interest.

Yup, you could say loath. Basically I am their anti-fan who cheers each of their failures 😂

I am agnostic on Hodinkee - free content with great pictures of watches I want to learn about is how I view them. I have a curated set of YouTube reviewers who I value for assessments on quality/value - and have much stronger opinions on who I dislike/don't trust in that platform/medium.

Hodinkee is a little bit too effete for me. They made more sense in the #menswear era, the zeitgeist has shifted decisively away from the “elegant” brand they are wedded to. People aren’t glamoured by helvetica and sepia like they were a decade ago. I reckon the Dink is not long for this world

Simply put, they aren't what they used to be and didn't stay true to what they started as. IMO.

But a lot of them might also start secretly looking for their own I. Skull on the internet.

I think that's a typo. It's missing the decimal point - should be $59.00

But I do like to gawk at an actual woman and her watch, 'usually' in that order.