Come abbiamo pubblicato ieri, le nostre interviste ai due gruppi che si occupano di Micro Brands sono state – secondo il linguaggio della rete – “virali”, tanto che per agevolarne ancor più la diffusione fra gli appassionati che ci seguono da tutto il mondo, abbiamo deciso si pubblicarle anche in lingua originale. Ecco, le risposte ricevute da Adam Sofineti (che sta realizzando un’idea interessante, la pubblicheremo non appena possibile) mentre il nostro direttore lo ringrazia per la gentile frase che ha scritto: Thank you very much for your interest and your support for the Microbrand Watches group; it is an honor to have you as a member.

Due to the interest shown by all countries that follow “solopolso.it”, we decided to publish even in english the entire answers we received. Here what Adam Sofineti wrote (you can find the photos on solopolso.it and even on fb). He began the letter with these nice words to our director (and Mrs. Introna appreciated it very much): Thank you very much for your interest and your support for the Microbrand Watches group; it is an honor to have you as a member.

 1- Which is the main argument/thought of your fb-group? I wanted to create an online community where fans of microbrands can exchange ideas, share pictures, ask questions and interact directly with brand owners. I was quite surprised to see that there were no dedicated groups for microbrands at that time. This was quite strange, since thanks to crowdfunding websites, such as Kickstarter or Indigogo, there are more and more brands appearing every day, and for them having an online community is essential. I felt that there is a void that needs to be filled and this is why I’ve created the group. From the very beginning, I kept it free for brand owners to promote their projects, and bloggers could post their microbrand-related articles because I wanted to give an equal chance to everyone, regardless of their size.

2- How do you get your information/news? As the administrator of the group, I let the members: microbrand founders, collectors and bloggers share their pictures, their stories and links. My role is mainly to keep the focus of the group and not let it derail into all kind of directions. I’m very lucky to have the help of two excellent moderators who keep a close eye on conversations. We do our best to make sure it stays a friendly place. While running the group, I developed a close relationship with many brand owners and they keep me in the loop about their current and upcoming projects.

3 When have you launched/founded the fb-group? It all started in November 2014.

4- Where have you gathered your experience in the watch world? I was always fascinated by everything that combines technology and design, and watchmaking is a prime field where these two disciplines join forces. When I started WatchPaper, my watch blog, I have to admit, I knew very little about watches. I’m a graphic designer by trade, so I had to learn everything on my own. It is a scary field, to more I learn, to more I realise how little I know. In the past few years, I can also count on the help of TimeCaptain and Michael Vinovich, two regular contributors who each bring their original view on horology. While we have visitors from all over the world, we see ourself as a Canadian blog.

5  if you have a dream… which one? I hope, one day I will have the opportunity to participate in the design process of a watch made a major brand.

6 Do you have other passions (car, jewelry,…) in your life? To keep my body and my mind fit, I’m a regular practitioner of a martial art.

7 With how many Countries are you in contact? Most of the major brands come from the same places: Switzerland, Germany, maybe France and Japan, but when it comes to microbrands, there is a lot more diversity as they are spread out all over the world. Most of them are based in Asia, North America, Europe, and there are a few excellent microbrands in Australia and New Zeeland too. It is quite exciting to see watches designed in countries with no watchmaking tradition, especially when they manage to add local flavours to their watches.

8 You are present in Géneve, Basel, Canada and…? I prefer JCK over Baselworld and SIHH, for several reasons. It is a lot smaller, but the advantage to me as a blogger is that I can actually have a normal conversation with executives about their brand and the industry in general. The atmosphere is a lot more laid back and if a brand is present at JCK, it means that they take the North American market seriously, and for a Canadian blogger this is important.

9 Do you organize something (eventa) personally? We do organise once, or twice a year a get together for watch collectors here in Montreal. It’s a little bit like a Red Bar meeting, but we call it the WatchPaper Happy Hour.

 10 Last not least: do you have a constructive critic for the big brands? I know these are not easy times for the big brands, the world is changing very fast and they have a hard time catching up with unexpected political, economic, or social developments. While I understand the role of homage editions, reviving iconic models from the past, giving them an updated mechanism and packaging them cases with more modern proportions, but as a designer, I find it sad when a big brand comes to Basel with a bunch of re-editions and they have nothing new to show. Instead of reviving old models from the past, they should look into finding again the creative energy that gave birth to those iconic models they keep copying. Fifty years from now, if we will look back at watch design in 2016 or 2017, there will be several brands that will stand out with their creativity, most of them independent brands. The really big ones, I’m afraid, will be overlooked because they lacked the courage to embrace the spirit of our days.