The Power of Community: Expanding My Watch Family at the Brew Summer Popup

Whether you’re a collector or working in the watch industry, the experience is never just about the watches themselves – it’s about the people you meet along the way and finding a sense of community. Not to sound dramatic, but when you do, it changes everything. There are so many subsets of the watch world, and discovering the people that align with you to nerd out, swap stories, and take wrist shots is what makes this hobby and this work fulfilling and, above all, fun. 

First off, let’s get a little personal: a lot of people both within the industry and the community may not know I’ve been working in the watch sphere for 13 years. In that time, I’ve experienced firsthand that exclusivity is an inherent and at times more problematic part of horology and that there can be barriers to feeling a part of this incredible watch world, particularly as a woman. 

For me, getting here – having opportunities for my voice to be heard on influential platforms like Worn & Wound that are vital to this industry and collector community – has been a slow burn. It took time for me to carve out my place in watches as a woman, as a millennial, and as a freelancer. 

Early on, there were a few people who became the foundation of my watch community – people who didn’t care to measure my value by the number of outlets where you could find my byline or the number of watches in my personal collection. They saw my genuine curiosity and infatuation with timepieces and my abilities as a writer and storyteller. Jonathan Ferrer, the designer and founder of Brew Watch Co. is one of those people, and this summer, I had the opportunity to expand my community by connecting more deeply with his. In case you missed it, Brew hosted a summer-long popup store in Soho, and working there as a part-time side hustle allowed me the chance to expand my watch community and my heart tenfold. 

I first met Jonathan in 2018, three years after he’d launched Brew Watch Co. on Kickstarter with his first model, the Special Blend. By then, the brand had started to gain some momentum and introduced a model that continues to be a part of the core catalog today: the Retrograph. A year later, I was lucky enough to get a week on the wrist with the model and after experiencing it in the metal, I deemed it one of the best affordable chronographs on the market (a statement I stand by six years later).

In case you don’t know the story behind Brew, its chronos aren’t quite your average: they’re coffee timers. Rather than timing a regatta or lap around the racetrack, Jonathan saw something different in the popular complication. He saw a way for baristas to time the perfect espresso shot, hence the offset color delineation you’ll find between five and seven o’clock (the aforementioned perfect espresso extraction window) on most Brew chronos. 

After my hands-on with the Retrograph, Jonathan and I continued to keep in touch through the pandemic and the release of the model that arguably put Brew on the map: the Metric, which debuted in 2021. The Metric (specifically the retro dial) has gone on to become the brand’s flagship, appearing on the wrist of celebrities like Idris Elba and garnering collabs like our own with Brew. The collection gave Brew another boost of momentum, propelling the expansion of its catalog and presence over the next four years. 

Actor Idris Elba wearing a Brew Metric

Brew has long been a pillar of the Windup Watch Fair, but otherwise, the brand has largely operated online through direct-to-consumer sales on its own website. After growing success at Windup and other events, Brew decided to try out its own popup in Soho in February 2025. The store was such a hit, the brand doubled down a few months later, committing to a retail space for the summer a few blocks from its winter outpost. 

Rewind to this spring as Brew’s preparations for the summer popup were underway: I was cracking my second tallboy and scrolling LinkedIn on a Friday night (lame, nerdy, workaholic that I am) and saw a job post from Brew hiring sales associates for the upcoming retail space. I texted my industry bestie and said, “Have you seen Brew is doing a popup for the whole summer? I think I’m gonna text Jon about working there part time.” Thankfully, in the sober light of day the next morning, this still seemed like a good idea. I worked retail all through high school and college (and admittedly for a year after college as I was still figuring my career out), and it’s an environment I love, particularly for the people – and if there’s any undeniable fact about Brew, it’s a brand that attracts good people. 

Photo by Jason Weinpel

In my line of work, I have the opportunity to get a lot of exposure to a lot of different aspects of the watch community, but spending the summer working at the Brew popup in the heart of one of the most heavily trafficked shopping districts in all of New York City opened my eyes, mind, and heart to this subset of the watch community in an entirely new way. 

Brew’s combination of high craftsmanship and low price point is nearly unmatched. I probably asked Jonathan a dozen times, “Who are Brew’s competitors?” Of course he has a list, but I would combat each one. Apart from the brand’s first manually wound watch, launched earlier this year, the entire collection isn’t just sub-$1000 – it’s sub-$500 (okay $525 plus tax if we’re getting really specific, but you get the idea). It’s safe to say I’ve seen a fair number of watches in my 13-year career, and I really can’t name another brand in this price category and with this level of quality. 

Thus, Brew has tapped into one of the most unique intersections of the industry: its watches have developed a cult following among diehard collectors like Alton Brown and Fred Savage, and its watches are accessible enough for people just buying their first watch. I cannot tell you how many first watches I sold this summer working at the Brew popup – I lost count. The most memorable was to a 14-year-old boy who had been saving his money for his first watch, and he wanted it to be a Brew. However, the most prominent category of first-time buyers was the young professionals who had just touched down in New York City for a prestigious summer internship or first job fresh out of college, looking for something appropriate enough for the office but cool enough for the weekend and at a price that wouldn’t cut into their rent money. 

Photo by Jason Weinpel

The stories behind first watches weren’t the only ones I heard after a summer of working at Brew. I had a couple who came in to buy his and hers models after getting married at City Hall. I had a father come in with his five-year-old daughter and let her choose which watch he would buy – he told me, “She picks all my watches, because they’ll be hers one day.” I sat on the other side of numerous FaceTime calls with folks buying models for friends and family members in other countries. I sold “friendship watches” to a pair of childhood buddies who were reuniting in NYC and egging each other on after a few beers – they said, “If you buy one, I’ll buy one!” (and they both did). I sold watches to a pilot on a layover, countless out of towners vacationing in NYC, and employees from neighboring Soho outposts on their lunch break, all coming to Brew as a destination. 

I could write a novella on the stories from the community I encountered during my time as a temporary sales associate this summer, and at the end of the day, for me, these stories are really what this whole wild and crazy world of watches is all about – it’s why I feel so privileged to be a writer in this world, where I can have a space to pen a mere fraction of them. 

Next up, you can find Brew at Windup NYC this October, and I think we’re all crossing our fingers for another Brew popup in the future – at least I am. 

Header image by Jason Weinpel

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