Zach’s personal journey from watch enthusiast to watch journalist, and where watchspotting fits in

Zach Blass

After many of our posts on social media, and the feedback that we received in the comments, I wanted to take a moment to explore part of my horological journey as I transitioned from watch enthusiast to watch journalist, and where watchspotting fits into the equation.

Before I joined the Time+Tide team I worked pre-pandemic as a watch specialist for Piaget selling their creations in store. But before that I actually worked as a payoff attorney for a law firm here in New York City, where I live, and the job, well let’s just say, it wasn’t particularly the most labour-intensive. The gig pretty much involved me travelling to various law offices throughout the city with legal documents and it was my job to bring those documents and effectively look at a cheque to make sure the amount matched the amount that was laid out on the document I brought over. Yep, I know: real rocket science.

This meant that most of my day was spent doing one or two things. One: riding the train, spending anywhere between a half hour to an hour, maybe even more, depending on how far the next office was, hopefully sitting and on my phone digging into the watch news of the week via the Watchville app that many of us use today. Two: when I wasn’t riding the train, and I finally arrived in the office to close what I needed to attend, these appointments would effectively last for at least an hour and a half and believe it or not my shining moment where, again, I just looked at a cheque and made sure it was the right amount, typically didn’t happen until the end of the meeting. So what did I do while waiting for this glorious moment where I gave my seal of approval? Well, I’d continue to read watch news, scouring every source, every review, every specification and reference number and take it all in , because ultimately this is not just my passion, or my hobby, but my obsession. I live for watches. As a 27 year old, my primary friend group isn’t particularly a group of watch enthusiasts – at least not the way we are in the watch community – and so I have to curb my temptation to spend every breath talking about watches when I’m around them.

Which leads me to my next point. Waking up each morning and watching two or three Tim Mosso reviews on WatchBox, then spending more hours upon hours every day listening to watch podcasts, reading watch news, and, when I got back home, returning to YouTube videos again revolving around our horological hobby, it’s fair to say that I became fluent in all of the niche nuances of our hobby. But if I take a step back and reflect, ultimately what I remember is that once upon a time I did not know what “lug to lug” referred to. I didn’t know what “in house” meant, and I certainly didn’t know what the hell the “holy trinity” was.

So, what was the spark that ignited my passion for watches? Well, it’s a combination of two things really. Probably the first factor is very close to home – my Grandfather spent decades of his life selling watches as his career, and so I’d like to say that my passion for wristwatches was inherited from him. I remember as a young boy looking at his Rolex Datejust two-tone and being amazed by the cyclops magnifier on the crystal and just thinking it was so weird and so cool.

But as the years went on watches, for me, were never an analysis of specifications but representative of a tool, or a form of expression my heroes and people I aspired to be indulged in. Like many many others, I attribute my passion for wearing a wristwatch to characters like James Bond utilizing his timepiece as a necessary gadget to accomplish his mission, as well as aid in his aura of the suave spy – that let’s just face it is so darn cool. As cringe-worthy as it may sound, I totally acknowledge the fact that I bought Ray-Ban aviators in my teen years purely because of the film Top Gun, which also strangely enough was the reason why I discovered IWC watches (even though an IWC watch is not worn in the film).

I mentioned all of this because when I first joined the Time+Tide team, and was given the remit of watchspotting and to search for watches within popular culture, I confess I was not particularly enthused. In fact I was a bit skeptical. Being so far down my horological obsession, I just wanted to know the specifications, the finishes, the calibers, everything that revolves strictly around the timepiece itself – no context just the watch. But after a month or so passed, and I took a step back, I remembered that my writing was not just for me, or enthusiasts like me, but for all watch lovers of all levels of enthusiasm. I climbed out of the rabbit hole for a moment and remembered how I dived in in the first place, and this is why I feel, and my team feels, that something as potentially superficial as a celebrity watchspot truly does have value in our editorial line-up.

Each week we host at least three/four stories a day, and so we feel a little bit of editorial diversity is necessary to spice up all the reviews and provide a palate cleanser and a change of pace.  My mission from the outset of was not just to speak to the existing watch community but to help it grow. I can’t tell you how frustrated I get when each time I tell my friends, family, and acquaintances what I do for my full time job, and that it’s usually met with “Uh-huh, oh wow? Really that’s a thing?”. I find it odd, especially when we often compare watches, and enthusiasm for watches, to car enthusiasm, and I don’t think people shrug or scoff at the idea of motoring journalism. So why should it be different for watches? Well, the only way to change that is to continue to grow the community, which not only benefits watchfam, but also the watch industry and yes, to be frank, watch media.

As I said to a colleague in the industry not too long ago I don’t want the watch community to necessarily evolve the way house and trance music turned into “EDM”. It is not my or our goal to water down watch enthusiasm, to a point that we lose everything we love as watch nerds. But if we can create moments or content where perhaps it is more palatable for all to enjoy, contextualized in a way where both the newcomer and die-hard watch enthusiast can feel heard, is that such a horrible thing? This is where we believe editorial diversity has its merits, because we can speak to a variety of audiences, through a variety of stories, of different difficulties and create content engaging for everyone. I mean, c’mon. Do you really like a music album where every song sounds exactly the same?

So, to be perfectly candid, are celebrity watchspots my favourite stories to write? No, not even to this day. But I can’t deny that I do pause my TV screen every time a watch comes into view, not just from professional curiosity but really personal curiosity. I do have enthusiasm when putting them together, because I acknowledge the potential these stories have in bringing more and more people into the fold of our watch family – the same way it initially brought me in years and years ago. I get that this content can be at times polarizing for the most diehard fans of watches, and I’m not here to particularly start a debate or even necessarily persuade you to change your mind. But I do want to be candid about why we do what we do and I can only hope that you after reading this understand where we’re coming from and why it might be of value to others, our community, and our industry. If celebrity watchspots aren’t for you, feel free to scroll up or down because I am confident that the other two stories that sandwich that watchspot will be totally up your alley and brighten up your day – horologically speaking at least.