David Sokosh makes watches one at a time by hand in his studio in Brooklyn, New York. The watches are all crafted from from automatic movements of 70s era Swiss pocket watches. It’s a slow process (he’s currently has a 16 week back order) that produces really cool and one of a kind timepieces.
He started Brooklyn Watches after he was forced to shutter his Dumbo-based art gallery after the recession slowed things down. As he explains in yet another intriguing and genuine video from Etsy, Sokosh started making watches to sell at the Brooklyn Flea, just to give him something to do and to make some money. Eventually though, the watches gained a following and the endeavor turned into a full fledged business. It’s a great story and one that is beautifully captured in the video above. If there there were a silver lining to the recession, David Sokosh and Brooklyn Watches are certainly part of that narrative.
This is amazing. I am a big watch fan and would love to see where this business goes in the future. Honestly though, that is my dream job.
Check out urbanadventurer.com!
Damn you, Mr. Williams. Seriously cool. Major want.
super cool. might want to edit your post, though. the movements are manual wind.
Great stuff!
This is inspiring.
I’ve seen his stand at the Brooklyn Flea a few times. Great work!
A great story full of hopeful and positive messages. It is apparent that Mr. Sokosh is a truly genuine, kind and very likable man. I can tell you where my next watch is coming from. Thank you once again Michael.
I like Dustin Cohen’s version better… he did a vid on this guy 6 months ago as part of his “Made In Brooklyn” series:
As has already been pointed out above- a near identical video was already released by Dustin Cohen. The link has already been provided above. Too close to not be a blatant rip off.
Too bad for Mr Sokosh.
I’m totally amazed by this. It’s a total copy. Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence.
Rob needs to know this.
I agree with the above comments, it’s waaaaaaay to similar to not be a copy of what Dustin did. I much prefer Dustin’s version and watching the videos side by side it’s hard to not come to the conclusion that Dustin’s video was the blueprint here..
As artists we must strive to be original to our unique vision and not simply copy others.
Sigh…
This is a great concept for a video, but I have to agree…the video I saw months ago from Dustin Cohen was much better. First times the charm!
I do hope I run into Mr. Sokosh at The Brooklyn Flea though. Looks like great stuff!
I’m actually a little shocked Etsy would commission a video so close the Made in Brooklyn one everyone is talking about above. Seems like it goes against everything they stand for, am I right? Supporting and nurturing independent artists, not encouraging the blatant ripping off of someone else’s product. Shame on you Etsy!
And for the record, I wish David Sokosh all the successes in the world, I even own a BK Watch!
I rarely ever jump in to discuss my work on the internet, due to the less then serious tone usually associated with comments, but I will in this instance when my work is accused of copying other work.
This video was shot and edit this winter (Feb 2012 — several months before Dustin’s piece was on vimeo) and has been in a long cue for “broadcast.” This was finished and sitting on the shelf before Dustin’s was online. This is not meant to take away from Dustin’s piece at all, as their is no way he saw my piece either, but his work did not exist in the public realm when this was created.
Take a look at my past work that ACL has posted (Liberty Cycles *from spring 2011* & Liberty Tools *Fall 2011*) and I think it will be very apparent that Brooklyn Watches falls right in line with my style and approach to story telling.
Sincerely,
Andrew Watson
I too, rarely, if ever- post replies on this – but I appreciate that this guy responded with a certain level of poised rebuttal. You nerds gratuitously jumped all over this guy like a bunch of hipster know it alls. Do all (six) of you hang out in the same pair of skinny jeans and agree on the same leming-like lackluster opinion?
Man..i should just have stuck with my gut and skipped the comments – everything else, content-wise is normally (and predictably) enjoyable and inspirational.
Jackson | Seattle
The watches look amazing and very reasonably priced!
Great find. Will check out his stand next time at Brooklyn Flea.
For what it is worth, I never for a second questioned your integrity Mr. Sokosh and felt a bit embarrassed by the comment thread associated with your feature. It is without question, judging from the work showcased and the very thoughtful care that Mr. Williams puts into who and what he chooses to include in the world of A Continuous Lean that I base my opinion and trust of who and what you and your craft are about. Thank you for your kind and measured response to what can only be a very troubling bunch of crap from 5 or 6 losers.
This though is not watch making, MW, you’ve posted and visited watch makers such as IWC.. There is no talent or real skill in this, it’s cleaver, but not to be confused with craft… To call him a watch maker is to insult real watch makers, who spend decades on an apprenticeship. Below is a link to a watch maker named R.W. Smith, enjoy….
God, Ethan’s even worse than the other dorks above.
Can’t we just enjoy something?
FWIW, I’ve actually held in my hands two of the most exclusive and important pieces that RW Smith made. But why do I need to take away from what this person is doing?
Watchmaking, watch upcycling, who cares what category you impose on it. It appears to be high quality work by a passionate person with a long experience with work in this vein. The fact he revives cast-offs (which either fell out of favor for their style, or because their owner couldn’t be bothered to repair them) is the icing on the cake, as far as I’m concerned.
I’d go as far as to say I’d prefer a reliable, Swiss movement-powered piece with a past life and imbued history ticking away inside than something brand new.
Quibble about it being or not being watchmaking, it’s bringing beautiful, functional, long-lasting and intricately designed objects into the world that weren’t here before. That’s plenty enough to impress me.
Mike V. I am entitled to my opinion and bitching about my comment is about as interesting as your blog.
Bredio, “up-cycling” is more along the lines of what he is doing, but the point is it isn’t watch making. Taking a movement you didn’t make, and dropping it in a case you didn’t design and connecting the crown and hands is not craft.
You both must be enamored with the base and mundane,
I want the “Brighton.”
I would rather not have “Brooklyn” on my watch though…leveraging “Brooklyn-cool” is a bit less novel than it was say 10 years ago.
Concerning Mr. Cohen’s video versus Mr. Watson’s video: There certainly are similarities, but I think much of that comes from the fact that the story being presented is basically the same. Thats not surprising for a new business that has such a narrowly focused product. Add to that the fact that Mr’ Sokosh has a limited working space (I mean how big does it need to be) and inevitably certain things will present themselves creatively – in particular a shallow depth of field for filming.
As to wether he is a watch maker or up-cycler, that bothers me less. He presents an honest product and is open about where and how it’s made. That honesty, to me is worth every penny.
The watches look nice too.
God, the Interwebs are filled with DBs like Ethan who want to debate the definition of everything. I think they really like this blog in particular. He takes some parts and makes a GD watch. It tells time. What is wrong with you folks, is irony that important?
I had no idea Ron Burgundy makes watches. Very cool.
Love David and his watches and have been waiting for someone to notice and give Brooklyn Watches the cred they deserve. Bravo, Michael!
Both films are great. One thing regarding Andrew Watson’s film, it did show a completed watch.