In the Bay Area we are lucky to have a wide array of fine jewelers and authorized dealers. One such example is the family owned Topper Fine Jewelers which has been a fixture in the charming little city of Burlingame for over 75 years.
Bothers Rob and Russ Caplan and their mother
Rob and Russ Caplan and their parents have been running the store in the same location since 1940. They carry various Swatch group brands, e.g., Omega, Longines, Glashutte Original, and Blancpain. However, they also have many other smaller independent brands like Oris and Bremont as well as affordable brands from Japan such as Seiko and Casio and various others.
One of the things Topper has done regularly over the years is to host various regular events. The last one I attended was a Reddit r/Watches subreddit Bay Area meetup focusing on the 2018 Seiko novelties. While Topper carries Seiko’s more luxurious sister brand Grand Seiko, the event this time was focused on the affordable Seiko but widely regarded as some of the best entry-level watches.
Many of the Baselworld novelties that I had seen in March were present and easily accessible for all to spend some hands on time with. Some of my favorites then and now: the new green Seiko marinemaster, the new blue PADI, the constantly slowly evolving tuna, as well as the many of the new Prospex and ladies models.
While it’s becoming easier and easier to buy online, it is also as important to get a feel for the watches in person. And this is exactly what this and similar events are aimed at. Moreover they are also about building community; having many watch geeks come and showing and wearing proudly their own Seikos while contemplating the next models is a win for all.
Building trust and relationships are the centerpiece of what is needed to thrive in a competitive brick and mortar and the internet landscape. While located in the middle of Silicon Valley, the source of the various disruptions to old businesses, it was refreshing to see so many show up on Saturday and geek out about old technology.
And until Silicon Valley invents an operational “replicator” the business of selling expensive tokens that act as proxy to emotional events and the people in our lives will be safe and sound. The good folks at Topper understand this point and their high-touch approach to building relationships will help them thrive for the next 78 years.
Visit the Topper blog for the latest information on up coming events.
The boys from Brooklyn are back with their (now annual) watch fair event in the heart of San Francisco: Wind^Up. Using the same location as last year, Zach, Blake, and the rest of the Worn & Wound crew managed to assemble 30+ plus watch brands to show their novelties and in some cases new watches being introduced for the first time at the fair.