- 8 hours ago
Join Okla Jones and Mouse Jones for a conversation on watch collecting and the stories timepieces can tell. From family legacy to fashion and self-expression, we'll explore what draws people to certain watches and how the hobby continues to evolve. This conversation will also discuss getting started as a collector, navigating today's market, and building a collection that reflects your own taste.
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00:00Yo yo yo what's up Essence Fest how y'all doing today?
00:04Welcome back to the Suede Men's Lounge.
00:06I am Oakley Jones, the senior entertainment editor of Essence Magazine.
00:11So we have a great conversation with a great brother today, because a great watch tells
00:15more than time.
00:16It tells a story.
00:18And today, myself and Mouse Jones, we're going to explore the culture of watch collecting
00:22from craftsmanship and investment to personal stories behind every time piece.
00:27Y'all welcome Mouse Jones.
00:42What's up Mouse?
00:43What's up?
00:43What's up?
00:44What's up Essence Fest?
00:45What's up?
00:45How's everybody feeling?
00:47All right.
00:48Y'all better make a little more noise than that, because we could be outside that heat.
00:51But God.
00:53All right.
00:54So yeah, I was talking to Mouse in the back, man.
00:56He's born and raised in New York, but he's always in this city.
01:00He loves this city, man.
01:01He's a staple in this city.
01:02So I wanted to ask you for my first question.
01:04What is the city of New Orleans?
01:05What does it mean to you, man?
01:06Uh, being, listen, I told you backstage, and I tell everybody that listens, New Orleans
01:12means being home.
01:14Like, I've never had that feeling, you know, as a, it's even funny saying this, you know,
01:19on the 4th of July, like, you know, across all these talks, across social media, everybody's
01:24always talking about, you know, foundational black Americans and what feels like home and
01:29who's from where.
01:30But as somebody who's born and raised in America, as far as my lineage goes back, it's in America.
01:41New Orleans is the one place that, since I came here, it felt like home.
01:45It always has that tug.
01:47You know what I mean?
01:48If I'm away from here too long, I'm like, I need to get back to New Orleans.
01:51I need to, even if it's for a crab beignet or if it's just to sit on the porch in
01:55Gentilly
01:56or, you know what I mean?
01:57Just, it feels like home.
02:04But yeah, it just feels like home and I was telling you before, you know, I love being,
02:08I love being from New York, you know, by, you know, Long Island by way of Brooklyn, New
02:12York.
02:12But, you know, there's nothing in the world that feels like experiencing New Orleans.
02:19Nothing.
02:21What's your favorite food from the city, man?
02:22Like, what's your go-to dish?
02:23Oh, you trying to get me started.
02:24Uh, my favorite food in the city, it comes from my homegirl Nina and her mama.
02:32When they be, Nina and their mama be cooking uptown.
02:35Um, but you know, I love, I love the crab beignets from Loretta's.
02:40They got that praline beignet, dangerous.
02:43Somebody, the authorities should look into it.
02:45It's three of them.
02:46They give you, they give you three of them.
02:48They give you two of everything, but they give you three of them dangerous praline.
02:52I ain't gonna, I'm gonna take it out with my doctor.
02:55Uh, but, um, you know, new, them voodoo, them voodoo rolls from, uh, New Orleans Seafood.
03:03Oh, you be everywhere.
03:05And get you a crab, get you, get you, get you one of them boys from Denny's.
03:08Make sure that turkey neck in there.
03:11So you got on a nice watch right now, my brother.
03:14It's a little, it's a little nicer, tell the time.
03:17Hey, hey, man.
03:17So what, I guess, first sparked your interest in watches and watch collecting, man?
03:22Um, when you in New York, man, and I hate to be the person that does it.
03:26When you in New York, certain things, being a black man, certain things are just unfortunately connected to not so
03:34good parts of the world, right?
03:36So I say, to say plainly, um, I grew up around some drug dealers.
03:43And a nice watch was a statement piece.
03:45And I guess that, you know, trickled down from, you know, white people.
03:49You realize in these industries, when you walk into a room, certain things speak before you even speak.
03:55People looking at you when you got a watch on.
03:57They checking what watch you got on.
03:59They checking if you have a watch on.
04:00I remember, I remember being like 16, 17, and my dad being like, why you don't got no watch?
04:06Not, he not saying why you don't got a Rolex.
04:08And I just, why you don't have no watch?
04:10You know, it's the old times they believe why you don't need to tell your time, why you don't believe.
04:14And then as we get older, we start just putting our money and our, uh, our care into things that
04:21appreciate.
04:22But yeah, you know, growing up, I've always watched the watches.
04:26And I knew very early on, I said, oh, my first watch gotta be a, gotta be a Cartier Tank.
04:31Gotta be a Cartier Tank with the baguettes on the side.
04:34That was my first watch.
04:35I said, my second watch, it gotta be, it gotta be a 30, 36 millimeter.
04:40Gotta be a, gotta be a Datejust.
04:41I need a two-tone with the Jubilee band.
04:44That's what it was.
04:44You know, my next watch, I don't want to say it too loud,
04:47because I don't want nobody to knock me over the head before I get my hands on it.
04:51But yeah, man, just always having something, whether it's your work, whether it's the way you're put together,
04:57or whether it's your watch, whether it's your sneakers.
04:59Something always speaks for you when you enter a room before you open your mouth.
05:04And I'm interested in your response to this, brother.
05:06Like, what do you think separates a good watch from a great watch?
05:10You.
05:11Uh, we live in like a hyper consumer, consumer-driven world.
05:17Capitalism has invaded all parts of our life to where, you know, everything's a quiet competition.
05:25You don't really know, there's a lot of guys who don't really know what watch they like,
05:28because they're focused on getting or attaining a watch that someone else has.
05:33Same thing with cars, clothes, sneakers.
05:35We're never really able to, because we live in such a consumer-driven world,
05:38because capitalism pushes us and won't let us rest, you know, everybody's always looking for the next thing.
05:43That you really don't take time to know what you like.
05:47Um, so I, I, to answer your question, you are what decides what's a great watch and what's a good
05:53watch.
05:54So kind of add to that, what advice would you give to someone that may be on a budget,
05:58that might not, can't afford the Cartiers or the Rolex, like,
06:00but they trying to get into the watch collecting game and they want a nice timepiece?
06:04Um, what looks good. What looks good. Don't go for the thing that looks like the thing.
06:09I think, um, I mean, he would have been great to have on his panel, too, but I'm glad I'm
06:13here.
06:14Uh, Kev on stage. That's my homeboy. Kev, he's intentional.
06:18Every watch that I've seen, every watch Kev has is a black-owned watch.
06:24Every single one, he has a, and he has a massive collection, but they're like black-owned, black-made watchers.
06:29That's fire to me. Like, I grew up liking what I like, and I was able to, you know,
06:34I was lucky enough to get my hands on those things and attain those things,
06:37but you gotta know what you like before you even, you start talking about a budget,
06:41because you might be budgeting for something that you might not like.
06:43So now you have this thing, you gotta know what you have it for.
06:47And so, uh, you know, you were actually talking about your dad in the back, too, man.
06:50Yeah.
06:50My father passed when I was nine years old. God bless him.
06:52And I got a lot of, uh, things passed down from him, you know, and one of them was a
06:56couple of his watches.
06:57Yeah. You know, so I wanted to ask you about watches as heirlooms, man.
07:01Yeah.
07:01Because they become more than accessories for black coaches, man.
07:04Like, why do you think they become such powerful symbols for style, success, and legacy?
07:08I think when a watch that, when a watch is passed down as an heirloom,
07:12that's a testament to how that watch was made.
07:14The, the movement, the, the finish, uh, uh, the mechanics, right?
07:19All of that is super integral to it being able to be passed down.
07:23Cause, and I'm not disrespecting anybody, you, you can't really pass down a psycho.
07:27A psycho.
07:28You can't really pass that down.
07:29You just go get you, go ahead in the store and get you one.
07:32You pass down these Rolexes, these Cartier, these, these legacy brands.
07:36It speaks to the testament of, it speaks to the testament of how well the watch was made.
07:41How was that curated?
07:42And you would hope that, you know, that's something you're leaving behind.
07:46Cause, essentially it's an asset.
07:49And then what draws you to a particular watch?
07:51Is it just that you like it?
07:52Or is it something that you might not have in your collection?
07:54That's what draws you to it?
07:55Like, what's your process when you're picking out a watch?
07:58It's funny.
07:58I was actually having this conversation, uh, earlier this week.
08:02It all stems, everything about me from head to toe, it stems from my fashion sense.
08:08So, everything has, I'm 5'9", right?
08:10Everything gotta be within dimension and proportion.
08:14And if it's not, it's gonna look crazy.
08:15So, even when it comes to watches and bracelets, how does that look against my skin?
08:19How does that look against my wrist?
08:21It's a lot of people, you know, if you know watches, a lot of people believe that men should have,
08:25always have a 40mm to 41.
08:28Well, for me, that's a little big on my wrist and it doesn't look the same.
08:31A 36 is a bit more cleaner of a look.
08:34Also, we're now not just, we're not, you know, not a young black men that's affluent
08:39and, you know, we control our destiny.
08:41We're not always wearing these watches with suits.
08:44So, it's like, alright, well, if I got a watch that's too clunky, now I'm gonna look dumb.
08:47And now the band is kinda, now the links is loose.
08:50You know what I mean?
08:50So, I take all that into account the same way I take my, how long is these shorts?
08:54How long are the socks?
08:55The sneakers, the high top is the low top.
08:57Same thing with my watch.
08:59I wanted to ask you, too, about the Kevin on stage thing that you brought up earlier, man.
09:03Why do you think that these black brands don't, um, I don't want to use the translate
09:08as well as these legacy watch brands, man?
09:10Oh, man.
09:11How much time do we have?
09:12Uh, I think the simple, the simple, uh, the simple non-hopeful answer?
09:20Capitalism.
09:21Uh, and it's a, it's an ugly, ugly machine.
09:24Uh, the more in-depth answer is, you know, some of these watch brands don't have the means
09:29to go head-to-head in the marketplace with these legacy brands.
09:33So, you know, you may not have a, it's just like anything you show, you may not have some
09:37of these time pieces or these companies that have the, the, the capital to go up against
09:43a Rolex, a Cartier, uh, AP, a Richard Mille.
09:47So now you're like, well, I get it to the consumer.
09:51And how important do you think hip hop has been to the evolution of Watches and Watch
09:56Collective, man?
09:56Oh, my goodness.
09:57Oh, my goodness.
09:58Hip hop is, like many things in our community, hip hop is one of the lifelines, especially
10:04now, right?
10:06And from a sense of, we live in an era that everything is, there's a resale market on
10:11everything.
10:12Sneakers, jeans, clothes, you know, if bait, if a bait drops right now, you know, if you didn't
10:18get your hands on it in the first two hours, that thing that's $120 is going to be $300
10:24on StockX.
10:25Same thing with the watch market.
10:27Guys are flipping, you know, flipping things and what can make the money.
10:30They're flipping it.
10:31And, you know, the artists believe that the more money you spend on something, the more
10:36appealing it is.
10:37So, you know, you have these guys like Little Baby going into Icebox, dropping 2.5 on two
10:43Richard Millies in an AP, you know what I mean?
10:45And it's like, okay, now when you see that on the internet, I got to go get that.
10:49How you feel about, like, crushed-out watches as opposed to, like, the classic times?
10:53In New York, we call them bust-downs.
10:55It's terrible.
10:55It's a terrible investment.
10:57It's gaudy.
11:00Bust-downs are for ladies.
11:02That's how I feel.
11:04Because you're not using it to tell the time.
11:06You just got a blinged-out bracelet.
11:09You know what I mean?
11:09Put that on a young lady and get you a grown man watch.
11:12That's how I feel.
11:13Okay.
11:13And with the evolution of social media in the digital age, too, a lot of people don't wear
11:19watches anymore.
11:20You know, where do you think the watch game is gonna go in the future, man, with, you
11:25know, the phones and everything like that?
11:26Where do you think it's gonna go, man?
11:27So, that's a funny thing, because I remember, like I told you earlier, when my dad asked
11:31me where my watch was, I said, I got a phone.
11:34But then the older you get, you realize, oh, you need a watch.
11:37You need a watch.
11:38And it ain't the Apple Watch either.
11:39You're not a Power Ranger.
11:40Put the...
11:41You're not Kim Possible.
11:42Yeah, leave the Apple Watch at home.
11:44That's for your workout.
11:45Count your steps.
11:46Get you a real watch.
11:47But to be honest, you ain't never seen a Rolex commercial.
11:53You never seen a Cartier commercial.
11:55You never seen a Richard Milley commercial.
11:57You never seen an AP commercial.
11:59And these watches are only appreciating.
12:02Every year, they're coming out with new drops.
12:05It's not going anywhere.
12:06It's just about where the attention is going.
12:08But the...
12:09Once again, it's a testament to the weight, to anything, right?
12:12We don't even have to just leave it at watches.
12:14It's a testament to anything that you put your hand to.
12:17What's going to last is the thing that you put the time and effort into crafting.
12:23So, the same way that watch costs all that money because of the movement.
12:26The mechanics.
12:27The finish.
12:28The series.
12:29Same thing with your career.
12:30Your career is going to last because of the mechanics.
12:34The movement.
12:34You get what I'm saying?
12:36So, do you have a budget for like, what's too much to spend on the watch, man?
12:40If I'm being honest, if I want it, I don't got no budget.
12:43If I want it, I'm going to go get that watch.
12:46You know, the budget is whatever it's going to cost me to get it.
12:50But, you know, there's so many avenues.
12:53That goes back to what I was saying earlier.
12:55You don't have to be beholden to what everyone else is doing.
13:00There's a bunch.
13:00I tell everybody that asks me about a watch, go down to your local jewelry district.
13:09Find you the watch, man.
13:11They're going to have some Rolexes in there and they're going to be a few 1936 series and they might
13:15be from 1986.
13:17It's a good date just.
13:18It's going to cost you about 3,500.
13:20Put that on.
13:22Wear that.
13:23It'll let you know if you want to keep investing in it.
13:25And if not, flip it.
13:27If not, let that be a watch.
13:28Keep it.
13:29There's a lot more things.
13:30There's a lot more important things going on in our world that we should be focusing on than what's on
13:34our wrist.
13:35So, you know, if you want a watch, if that's what you care about, go ahead.
13:41Put that little 2,500, 3,500 into getting you a date just getting started.
13:46And would you rather strap the watches or metal?
13:48You need the metal, man.
13:49We're grownups.
13:50We're grownups, man.
13:51And the only time I want to strap watches if I'm working out or something.
13:56A leather strap.
13:58Yes.
13:58No, no.
13:58It's like my Cartier tank.
13:59That was a leather strap.
14:00I thought you were talking about the Velcro ones.
14:02No, no.
14:03So, when it comes to that, it depends on the outfit.
14:06So, like, I'll wear a strap if I'm trying to dress something up.
14:10And then metal if I'm trying to dress it down.
14:13And do you think watches are good gifts for people?
14:16And if so, what's your process when you're picking out a watch for someone other than yourself, man?
14:19My process with picking out a watch for someone other than myself is what is the most cheapest?
14:27What will I not mind spending this money on?
14:31No, I think watches, like anything that somebody has to wear, whether it's a hat, sneakers, you got to know
14:39the person you're buying this watch for.
14:41You got to know what they like, know what they, because you don't want to be the person that buys
14:45the watch, gives the gift, and they're like, thanks.
14:49You know what I mean?
14:50It's just, some of this stuff isn't just, you know, malignant to watches.
14:57It's just, you know, put more care and effort in the way you think about who you're giving a gift
15:02for in general.
15:04Will they even like a watch?
15:06Or could you have gotten them something else that they would have liked better?
15:09You know what I mean?
15:09It's just knowing the person you're buying that watch for, because nothing is like bar all.
15:15Nothing is one all.
15:17And why do you think it's important to have a variety of watches in your collection as opposed to just
15:21a select few?
15:23That's a good question, because I don't know if there is.
15:26I think there's some people whose personality allows them to have just one of the thing.
15:32And then there's certain people who get caught up in consumerism.
15:36Some people are just natural collectors and just find themselves collecting things.
15:40I think it really, it really boils down to that person.
15:43Um, yeah.
15:45What's the first watch you bought?
15:46The first watch that you've ever bought?
15:47The first watch I bought was that Cardia.
15:49Yeah, that was my first watch I ever bought, yeah.
15:53I jumped on the watch.
15:56Because it was, you know, I bought an Apple watch.
15:59And then I was like, I can't wear this with no outfit.
16:02Like, I'm bugging.
16:03And then I was going bare, I was bare wristed.
16:05And then I just saved up my money.
16:08And I was like, the first watch I want is, I want a Cartier with the Gator strap with the
16:14baguettes on the side.
16:15And I was able to get that.
16:16And then, uh, later that year I was able to get my, um, my two-tone, the green face.
16:22Yeah, no.
16:23Yeah, I, I naturally am drawn to collecting these things because I like how they look with these outfits and
16:29with, you know, with my fashion sense.
16:30But like I said, there's some people get one watch and they're good.
16:35So there may be other sneakers, um, that, that, that do this, but I feel like the Jordan 3 Cement
16:40go with any outfit.
16:42The black Jordan 3 Cement.
16:43The black one, yeah.
16:44Absolutely.
16:44They go with any outfit.
16:45Absolutely.
16:46Do you feel as though there's a watch?
16:47Oh, absolutely.
16:48Same thing.
16:49Uh, Datejust, nine, what is that, the 9936.
16:55Uh, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a metal, it's a metal, it's a metal two-tone or one
17:00-tone, single-tone.
17:01Um, solid movement, if you care about that.
17:05It's, it's, it's everyday, it's go-to.
17:06It's, it's, it's, you're not gonna bang it up, you're not gonna destroy it, it's gonna survive.
17:10I think, and I even think the newer ones have the, uh, the, the, the, the crystal, um, watch piece
17:17joint.
17:18So yeah, I think that one goes with everything.
17:21So I wanted to ask you two, we have a lot of beautiful people in the audience, beautiful people walking,
17:25and I love seeing black people doing positive things, learning things, man.
17:28Talk to me about the Essence Festival, your experience, and why it means so much to you, brother.
17:33So this is my 19, we skipped 20, 21, 22, 23.
17:40I don't know, I'm not good with math, but I've been, I've been coming here since, since 2019.
17:45And every year, it, like I said, it just feels like a big homecoming, and I'm meeting new people.
17:50And it, it also, at least for me, it's a, it's a marker in your career, right?
17:56When you have a front-facing career, I spend, from the time you see me to the next year you
18:01see me,
18:01I'm out here, I'm touring, and I'm doing new things, and I'm introducing new ideas to the world, and I'm
18:06on different platforms.
18:07So then when I get here, and I feel the new love, oh, I seen you on this, and I
18:11seen you on that.
18:12Or, okay, I seen you, you know, I seen you at Wally Burger a few, a few, a few weeks
18:17ago.
18:17What you was doing out here? It just is a, it's a marker, like, okay, the family here, the family
18:23love me.
18:24But I mean, just at a bigger, at a bigger tone, this is amazing.
18:28This is community work, like, y'all open the doors at 8 a.m., and all these people flood in,
18:34and there's lines, and there's, it's not just the surface stuff.
18:38Y'all got always over there making sure that the feminine products are being given out.
18:42You got, you got Beauty Con, making sure people are being taken care of.
18:46You got Simply Lemonade, making sure people are engaged.
18:48I love it, man. Like, there's, it's community, and I think I've always lent, I've always lent myself to community.
18:56And probably that's why I love Essence Fest, and no matter when I'm here, why I'm here, I always make
19:00sure that I stop at the, I stop at the convention center.
19:03I got to feel that love.
19:04And if you guys want a tutorial on what to do for Essence Fest weekend, go to at mouse underscore
19:11Jones, and look at his page.
19:13He breaks down where to go for food, what not, so I was about to wear my Jordan 4s today.
19:18Look, I'm a fraud.
19:19Look, all my friends, they about to point at me, I'm a fraud.
19:21And I told everybody don't wear them hard Jordan 1s and Jordan 4s, and wear your unk shoes.
19:27I forgot my unk shoes in the house.
19:30I've been in here with these hard Jordan 1s and these Air Force 1s all week.
19:34But yeah, definitely be smart.
19:36Wear some shoes to get you an insole or something.
19:40We getting up there.
19:41Yeah, man.
19:42Y'all give it up for the amazing Mouse Jones.
19:45Loud, loud, loud.
19:46I appreciate you, brother.
19:47Thank you so much for everything, man.
19:48Thank you so much.
19:49My man.
19:50Love y'all Essence Fest.
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