Welcome to the business of watches, where horology meets high finance and each tick tells a story of markets, margins, mishaps, and mechanical mastery.

I'm your host, Andy Hoffman, senior business editor at Haudinkie.

In this series, we dive deep into the global watch industry, a place where centuries-old

craftsmanship intersects with billion-dollar valuations, executive brand strategy, and investor

speculation. From Swiss valleys to Silicon Valley, we trace the movements shaping this uniquely

resilient sector. Just how big is the business of timekeeping?

Well, some estimates place the entire watch industry from ultra-luxury mazons to smart watches and microbrands

and north of $100 billion globally.

But behind that figure is a complex web of legacy, innovation, and ever-shifting consumer

taste and demand. This is the podcast for collectors, analysts, watch buyers, and sellers,

and anyone who's fascinated by the intersection of riskwear and wealth. Because if time is money,

then money is most certainly time.

So let's get down to business.

It's hard to think of a watch brand more international in its origins and ownership history than Federi Constant. The value and volume-focused

Swiss-based mark was started by a couple from the Netherlands while they lived in Hong Kong,

and today it's owned by Japan's Citizen Group. A stalwart among European watch consumers looking for a balance of price,

quality, and classic design, Ferdry Constant is ranked among the 50 largest Swiss brands by

Morgan Stanley and Lux Consult. And now it's looking to boost its presence in North America, especially the U.S.

Running the show is Niels Egerton, a Dutchman who has been with the brand since 2012 and in the

managing director or CEO chair since 2018. There are a lot of moving parts with this brand at the moment, from the

challenge of keeping the price of its perpetual calendar below 10,000 euros to sustaining

demand and production of its low-price models that account for more than 90% of its volumes, and they allow the brand to keep

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