ABOUT

Mitch Greenblatt bought his first vintage watch in 1998. That lit the fuse to what would end a career as an illustrator and ignite a passion for vintage watch collecting, dealing, blogging, and ultimately, designing and producing unique watches for his watch brand, Xeric.

What began as an early eBay store reselling some of the watches he collected, quickly had to become official when in 1999 Vogue reached out and wanted to write about reselling these rare collectible pieces from the 60s and 70s. In order to write about him, they needed a brand to talk about, and that was the birth of Watchismo. 

A Coolhunting.com video documented Mitch's vintage collection in 2006 (below), which led to the launch of his Watchismo Times blog and the subsequent introduction of new watches at Watchismo. 

In 2007, Mitch was approached by the French watch brand, LIP, who wanted to break into the U.S. market with reissues of their most popular models from the 70s and an area of Mitch's expertise. 

Mitch now shares his growing personal collection on Instagram and other social venues as @horolovox

The book Retro Watches (below) was published by Thames & Hudson in June 2020 and features some of the most unique watches from Greenblatt's personal collection.  Reserve your hand-signed copy now direct from the collector himself or buy one on Amazon.

"From dusty, conservative classics, Retro Watches presents a selection of over 100 watches from the late 1950s, 60s, and 70s - the golden age of avant-garde watchmaking and experimentation. These stylish timepieces sport exuberant cases, bold hues, eccentric displays, and a distinctive retro-futuristic vibe."

 

After years of offering unique timepieces from brands around the world, the Watchismo team created its own brand in 2013: Xeric watches. They've since launched well over a dozen successful Kickstarter campaigns, including the most funded timepieces in Kickstarter history (below).

Xeric deconstructs the traditions of watch designs and push the boundaries of how to display time on a mechanical watch.

"For Mitch, it wasn't about price or provenance, but rather about how interesting the watch was. Mitch was then, as he is now, more or less bored by the "traditional" watches out there, which are so ubiquitous and often uninspired." -Ariel Adams: A Blog To Watch".

Watchismo has since acquired and merged into Watches.com, where a long-standing mission of providing unique and affordable modern timepieces is perfectly captured by their motto, 'Time to be Different.'