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| Me wearing my new watch from Modify Watches |
While at the BlogHer conference in San Diego, I attended the Clever Girls Collective "I'm With the Brand" Rock Star Party where bloggers were introduced to some cool and hip brands and their products. Since I really don't consider myself to be cool nor hip, I really was not expecting to find any products that would catch my eye. Laura (from LauraInTheMotorCity.com) and I were mainly just walking around the rooftop party trying not to accidentally fall in to the pool.
I guess I have a cool gene after all...
And then we happened upon a table hosted by Juice in the City of very cool watches manufactured by a young start up company called Modify Watches. I am naturally drawn to designs that are very minimum and clean and that is how modify designs are designed. And the cool factor for the watches is that the watch faces and bands are interchangeable so that you can mix and match colors and styles to design your watch anyway that you desire.
The man behind Modify Watches is Aaron Schwartz who is the embodiment of young, hip and cool. When I met Aaron at the Clever Girls Party, I kind of put my foot in my mouth by saying out loud that I did not care for the color of the watch that we were being given - I don't do pink and I didn't know that Aaron was listening to my conversation. Aaron graciously introduced himself and told me that with Modify Watches, I could have a watch in any band and face combination that I wanted - and that he would ship me a replacement face and band in a non pink color. He had me at Hello :)
When my new watch face and bands arrived at my home, I fell in love with the clean style and the color combination of melon and white and have been wearing it ever since. I also took the watch that I was given at the Clever Girls party and changed out the band from pink to yellow and gave it my son. He also loves his watch because it is so cool. And these watches are not made from some cheap plastic and rubber that will fall apart in no time flat. These are very well made comfortable watches that will last. Aaron must be doing something right with Modify Watches because it is hard for me to believe that both my son and I have found watches from the same company that we both love.
Aaron agreed to the following interview so that I could find out more about the man and his watch company:
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| Aaron Schwartz |
My friend, Gary Coover, and I have always appreciated watches – there's a nod to tradition when you wear a watch, even if it's only for style. So after Gary and I finished business school in May 2010 we started Modify. We loved having the ability to mix-and-match styles, and it was important to us to build a highly "personal" company, both from the standpoint of the product itself and our philosophy around good service.
I love the fact that the watches can be modified with a simple click of the watchband. How did you perfect the design in order for the band to be changed out so easily?
Thanks for the compliment! Being able to swap out styles and colors has always been our focus. The design came through good old fashioned trial and error, making sure everything was easy to use and gave people all kinds of options and inspiration. We're always working on enhancing the product; most recently we changed the buckles to make them a bit sturdier.
I am getting lots of compliments on my "Sunshine & Lollipops" watch and my son thinks his "Knitty Gritty" watch is very cool. How do you come up with these cool names and design choices?
I'm not embarrassed to tell you that we spend a ton of time on the names. It's like a pitch meeting at The Onion: the entire team comes to the table with ideas to present- some are fresh and tasty, others need to bake a little longer. Modify is home to some mad creative minds, but we're not afraid to bring down the hammer when the good juices stop flowing. I mean, "Harold and Mod"? That's not something you want coming up at your employee review.
According to the ModifyWatches.com website, you have an interesting role in the company. So what are your duties as "Director of Player Personnel" ?
I have always been a little obsessed with that job title, but was never actually driven to work in the sports industry. The reality is that all of us at any given time have our hands in 1,000 different projects, so a proper job title wouldn't do justice to anyone at Modify.
You donate a portion of your sales to charity. Why is giving back important to Modify Watches?
I think giving back is important to everyone. When you feel grateful, you want to share with others, so we work with charities that have personal meaning to each of us. Ashil, our designer, is on the Board at Wonderroot in Atlanta, which helps local artists teach and serve their communities. The rest of the team lives in Berkeley and San Francisco, so we feel passionate about SVdP and Larkin Street Youth Services, both of which help teens and adults who are down on their luck find stability and hope.
What's next on the horizon for the company?
Something big. You'll find out in about 6 weeks. But we're hinting about it on our website (http://www.modifywatches.com), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/modifywatches) and on our Twitter feed (http://www.twitter.com/modifywatches)
One FREEISMYLIFE reader will WIN a 3 strap / 2-face combination of the winner's choice from Modify Watches. This giveaway has a value of $85. HOLLA to the FREE!
TO ENTER:
- Fill out the information in the form below.
- One entry per person please. Duplicate entries will be removed.
- USA addresses only.
- The contest ends on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 11:59am EST.
- The winner will be selected by random number generation.
- Prize will be fulfilled by Modify Watches.
(4) EXTRA GIVEAWAY ENTRIES
- You can get 1 extra giveaway entry for following FREEISMYLIFE on Facebook.
- You can get 1 extra giveaway entry for following Modify Watches on Facebook.
- You can get 1 extra giveaway entry for following Modify Watches on Twitter.
Enjoy!
Disclosure: I received two complementary watches from Modify Watches. All opinions are my own.
Random.org has spoken. Out of 234 entries, Random.org has picked #121. Congratulations to the winner of the $85 in modular watch faces and bands from Modify Watches: Andrea of Sterling Heights, MI.
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