Latest Review
December 28, 2023 
Here at Worn & Wound, we have gotten a lot out of interfacing with the relatively new online watch enthusiast community called WatchCrunch. It’s a place where we can go to connect with likeminded collectors, chat about the latest drops, and definitely get (and give) our share of hot takes. We had the chance to sit down with one of our favorite YouTubers, Max (aka @watchcrunchofficial) about himself, the community, and recent developments with the platform.
Hey Max, thanks for speaking with us today! As you know, the folks here at Worn & Wound are big fans of the WatchCrunch platform. Can you tell us just a little bit about yourself and WatchCrunch in general?
Sure, thanks for having me. I’m a Neurologist by day, a watch fiend by night. I’d always been fascinated by watches growing up but didn’t know the good from the bad. My watch journey started in earnest about 15 years ago when I was told my Fossil chronograph wasn’t a “real watch”. Being a humble student, I did some research and bought myself a Seiko SARB033 and after wearing that watch for a year, something clicked and I was off to the races. I remember that strange feeling when an object gave me more enjoyment after a year of daily use than when it was brand new, and that’s when I realized there was much more to watches than just being a wrist accessory.
WatchCrunch is a social platform for watch enthusiasts and it’s really a platform that was born out of necessity. We simply weren’t happy with the platforms that we were using for watch discussions. From the outdated forums to the toxicity of Reddit and surface level interactions and noise on some of the big tech platforms. We wanted to create a dedicated social platform for watch enthusiasts, an inviting platform with a friendly community with nothing but watch discussions built from the ground up for watch nerds, so that’s what we did. The response has been amazing, and here we are today!
Most folks who are into watches likely recognize you from all of your well-crafted YouTube videos. How does YouTube play into WatchCrunch’s overarching strategy? What’s been your favorite YouTube video to create to date?
YouTube is first and foremost an outlet for me to talk about my watch journey and share that with the world, especially since my friends have long gotten tired of hearing my watch rants. I find that YouTube challenges all the parts of my brain that don’t get exercised practicing neurology. I enjoy the story telling, the cinematography, interacting with viewers, and even sometimes the video editing. Because I can’t keep all the watches that flow through my hands, YouTube becomes a video diary of sorts for past lovers. Of course given the channel’s reach, it also serves as a great platform to let people know about the WatchCrunch platform and all the things we are working on there.
The first video that really got traction on Youtube was one about the Junghans Max Bill. I had so much fun researching that video that it ended up being a mini-documentary about the Bauhaus movement in post WWI Germany. The best comment in that video was someone saying, “I’m German and I don’t even know that much about Bauhaus.”
WatchCrunch is all about community. How would you describe the WatchCrunch community and what makes it different from the usual forums, message boards, and social channels commonly used by the #watchfam?
The WatchCrunch community really is a phenomenon. Anyone who’s spent a few minutes on various watch forums or reddit groups knows how toxic they can be. That is exactly what we didn’t want for WatchCrunch and was one of the reasons we launched the platform. We wanted a place where community members can talk freely without being ridiculed or shot down for being a “newb” or having a crappy watch or “not knowing anything.”
If I had to pick one thing that really describes the community it’s how tight knit it is and how friendly everyone is to one another. We have members spanning the entire spectrum of watch enthusiasts, members with Pateks to members with Casios, complete beginners to seasoned veterans and everyone gets along. No one’s here to judge anyone, we’re here to enjoy the hobby. One of the things that contribute to this feeling of comradery is the offline meetups that get created on the WatchCrunch platform. So far, members of the community have hosted meetups in London, San Francisco, Stockholm, New York, Manilla, Singapore, Dallas, and more. Meeting up offline really strengthens the bond our members have with one another and creates real friendships and that’s one of the things we’re most proud of. If anyone reading this wants to host a watch meetup we have a great tool just for that, you can check it out here.
So when someone logins into WatchCrunch for the first time, how can they expect it to enhance their experience as a watch enthusiast?
It was important for us to make the platform as welcoming as possible and a big part of that is for new members not to feel like newbies. So whereas on most platforms you need to start gaining followers and have your account age a bit before anyone actually sees anything you post, on WatchCrunch your first post can make it to the top of the feed and receive tons of engagement. We prioritize the quality of the content over anything else so If you created an interesting post that gets engagement it will get plenty of exposure on the platform regardless of you being on the platform for 1 year or 1 day. So I think that’s one of the first things new members feel and I think that’s a very welcoming experience. In terms of enhancing the overall experience as a watch enthusiast, the one thing we hear about most from the community is how much they actively learn from one another and I think that really hits on one of our main objectives starting out which was to create a community where people go to learn from one another and have fun doing it.
What are some of your personal go-to features, functions, and use cases?
As a watch enthusiast, there is so much to do on WatchCrunch that sometimes I find myself having to limit my time on the platform otherwise I just wouldn’t get anything else done. I love the WRUW section (What Are You Wearing) which is basically our community wristcheck. It’s great to see what everyone has on their wrist that day and you start to get a feel of other members’ tastes and collection styles. The content on the main feed is super entertaining, we have members with such a vast variety of interests, experiences and expertise, that you can’t help but get exposed to a wide range of viewpoints which in my opinion is what it’s all about. I feel like our meet up feature is a true asset to the overall watch community, when creating your meetup you see a list of all members in your area for a one click invite as well as notifications for any date or venue changes which makes it super efficient to create, manage and host meetups through the platform.
Another habit of mine is to go to our news feed daily and get a quick update of what’s going on in the industry. Our news feed is basically an aggregator of new articles from leading watch publications that gets automatically updated when new content goes live on those sites, so it’s really a great way to stay up to date with everything from one place. Our reviews section is also growing very rapidly. You can create a first hand owners review with our review generator which gives you the chance to share your thoughts on watches you own with no ulterior motives. We’re not beholden to any brand so our community knows that these reviews are genuine, unbiased reviews from fellow community members and there’s a lot of value in that.
WatchCrunch has been around for some time as an in-browser experience. But you’ve recently launched a native mobile app, congrats! Can you tell us a little bit about how the app magnifies a user’s WatchCrunch experience?
Thank you! Correct, we first launched the web platform and then got into the native mobile app. The reason we decided to develop the mobile app was an overwhelming demand from the community. We have members that are basically on the site all day and check in often so we wanted to provide them with the ultimate mobile app experience and after a lot of blood, sweat and tears we were able to do that and we’re constantly improving and tweaking the experience. If I were to compare the web vs app experience, it’s very similar except for the fact that the native mobile app is faster and sleeker and more convenient for constant check-ins and people who are in the app often throughout the day.
You’ve also just launched a new service called “Verified Accounts.” Other than the obvious benefit of bringing an even higher degree of confidence to the WatchCrunch experience, can you talk us through any other added benefits or features that come with a verified status?
Right, so our verified accounts are basically profiles that we vetted and made sure they are an authentic representation of who they say they are. There is a little green checkmark next to these and that’s how you recognize them. This really wasn’t something we were focusing on but as more microbrand owners, watch YouTubers, watch media personalities, instagram personalities and other recognizable people from the watch industry started to join, it became apparent to us that we’ll need to address this. There is no difference between a standard account and a verified account other than the verification itself. It’s not a vanity thing or anything like that, it’s simply there to remove confusion and add confidence that you’re engaging with the person or brand you think you’re engaging with.
Guess we’ll use this as a nice segue to announce that Worn & Wound has now launched its own verified general account as well! Thanks for helping us do this. Can you talk a bit about how having verified publishers like Worn & Wound fit into your overall strategy and how publications can get the most out of this community?
We’re pumped to have Worn & Wound (@wornandwound) join the platform as a verified publisher. W&W cofounders, Blake Malin (@wwblake) and Zach Weiss (@zachweiss), have had a personal presence on WatchCrunch for quite some time now and I think an official Worn & Wound account is a natural progression and we’re very excited for it. We feel like WatchCrunch is a great platform for brands and publications to engage in authentic discussion with the watch enthusiast community and it’s something that’s already happening organically on the platform, so we have brand owners asking for the communities opinion on their next design, we have watch YouTubers doing research for their next video through discussion with the community, we have writers for various publications creating polls and doing market research preparing for their next article, so it makes sense for publications to have an official presence on the platform and have a place where they can engage in authentic discussions with the community.
What’s next for WatchCrunch in terms of the content, community, and functionality? What can we look forward to in 2024 and, without giving away too much, what sort of big-picture thinking is on the horizon for you and the WatchCrunch team?
Without giving too much away I can say that we’re pushing forward full throttle here. 2024 will be a big year for the WatchCrunch community. The platform will continue to evolve both in terms of performance as well as new features and functionality. We have a list of features we’re working on which came about through community dialogue and we’re constantly improving things behind the scenes. I’d like to invite watch enthusiasts everywhere to join us on WatchCrunch and see what we’re all about. It doesn’t matter if you’re into watches for 1 year or 20 years, we’ll welcome you with open arms and we look forward to geeking out over watches together.
Before we go, can you tell us a bit about this video we ran into on your channel?
Sure! We called it “A Watch Nerd’s Tale” and it was a blast making it. We wanted to convey some of the problems watch enthusiasts face when going on the various platforms out there and wanted to do it in a fun, humorous way. I feel like it hits on these little nuances that only true watch enthusiasts understand and have experienced themselves and I think we were able to do that. No disrespect to any other platform or community of course, this was all done in good fun.
Thanks again for joining us Max! Where can people find you if they want to get in touch?
First make sure to download the WatchCrunch app: iOS / Android or come check us out at WatchCrunch.com and say hi. You can find me here @max. Other ways to stay in touch are: YouTube / Instagram / TikTok. Thanks so much guys, it’s been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing the Worn & Wound crew on WatchCrunch.
