There seems to be a new watch brand born every minute — or at least every week. A lot are boring, some are overpriced — but sometimes, despite these things, one stands out.
A new watch company called Brick sees Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy branch out from his role as controversial celebrity into the world of upstart watchmakers. Depending on your opinion, the association alone might make the watches either worth avoiding or worth buying — but everything you might've heard about Portnoy aside, what about the actual products?
Well, the Brick watches stand out from the many bland watch designs on the likes of Kickstarter for two main reasons: of course, their creator, but also that they seem rather expensive for what they are. We're talking about very familiar looks and specs: steel cases, sapphire crystal, off-the-shelf Swiss movements and...well, kind of off-the-shelf, fashion-watch-looking designs, too.
The brand launches with two collections, one a three-hand automatic and the other a quartz chronograph. The automatic Classic 22 collection uses the Sellita SW200 movement and makes it visible through a display caseback. The chronograph uses a battery-powered quartz movement from Ronda. Both collections feature a range of color variants, come on steel bracelets, are rated to 100m of water resistance and are available in 42mm and — in accordance with current trends — 38mm size options.
There's more to watches than specs, and we haven't seen these in person (the images on the brand's website appear to be computer renders). But there's little indication as to what makes Brick watches more expensive than those with similar descriptions — aside from simply targeting a price bracket where they think they can sell.
It's worth pointing out options with similar specs are available for well under $1,000 — not to mention the options available for Brick's asking price of $2,400. For that kind of dough, you have options with history, original design, proven quality and in-house movements from Swiss and German brands. Try something like the Nomos Club Campus for $900 less than a Brick or even (Rolex sister brand) Tudor's Ranger field watch for just a little more. You truly have many, many better options. You can get excellent automatic chronographs for these prices and less. Just sayin'.
Brick claims its watches will be "built in the United States," possibly meaning they're assembled in the United States. Granted, American labor is more expensive than, say, a lot of Chinese assembly, but the brand comes across as merely trying to price itself into a $2,000+ category. As Portnoy puts it in his Twitter video introducing the brand, "It ain't cheap, but it ain't ten grand. If it said 'Rolex' on it, it would be at least ten grand," revealing him to presumably have no idea what makes Rolexes expensive.
The way Portnoy ends his Twitter video seems to sum up the brand's approach (and his own personality) well: "Hopefully people buy the watches and like them...and if not, well, fuck you."
What do you think of Brick's watches? Let us know in the comments.
