INDUSTRY MATTERS: Alon Ben Joseph shows Dutch courage

Having taken over the reins of his father’s family jeweller in Amsterdam — along with his brother — in 2012, Alon Ben Joseph could have been forgiven for settling for a comfortable life selling very expensive timepieces and high-end handmade jewellery. Instead, Ace Jewelers has opened up a showroom in London and launched a distribution arm to the business — ChronoTime. Ben Joseph spoke to Watch Insider’s Daniel Malins about his passion for both watches and business integrity.

Watch Insider: Can you give me a bit of background on Ace Jewelers and how your new distribution arm — ChronoTime — came about?

Alon Ben Joseph: Ace Jewelers is a family-owned, family-run company. My dad started as a master diamond cutter, polisher, and master goldsmith and in 1975 he started Ace Jewelers in Amsterdam. My brother and I started helping out during the holidays, and since 2012 we’ve had the honour to be full co-owners. Two brothers, 50-50 split, and we’re fully independent — no other shareholders, no investors, no banks, just the two of us with an awesome team.

We kept on evolving because high street retail was being taken over by monobrand boutiques globally and in Amsterdam, so we evolved as a retailer by both losing brands — voluntarily and involuntarily —  and adding in brands voluntarily and pivoting to independents. We wanted to reinvent retail. With the evolution of getting into independent watch brands and just focusing on our own handmade jewellery, we realised we didn’t need those crazy rents on high streets and that footfall, because we weren’t focusing on that. Taking it from push marketing to pull marketing, we pivoted to showrooms.

Today we have a footprint in Amsterdam and London. What pushed us to expand into London was that  my wife is English and I’m often in England. I love England, I love London, I love English people. We have the same sense of humour and, dare I say, drinking habits! We felt that London is an amazing city, the UK is an amazing country, and we have amazing colleagues there, but we noticed some gaps in the retail presence so that gave us a push to expand into London as well.

So today we focus very much in retail on the haute horlogerie with a focus on independence. We have Biver, Renauld Tixier, Dominique Renaud, Alto, Pragma, Christiaan van der Klaauw, Ming, Konstantin Chaykin, and Anton Suhanov. That’s the direction we’re going.

Now, the natural evolution is to help brands open more retail doors. We have friends that are retailers around the world, so it’s actually a logical evolution that we’ve ramped up to [distributor] ChronoTime, which represents five watch brands and one fine jewellery brand in different markets but with a strong focus on Europe.

WI: Do the details of your distribution agreement with a given brand vary case by case?

ABJ: Yes, every brand is case per case. For English brands, we have two: Fears and Bamford London. Fears said they were already good in the UK and Bamford London asked us to do global distribution, including the UK. It’s very fluid. I believe that a retailer needs to be an ambassador of a watch brand and 99.9% of retailers are, but the brands are often disloyal to retailers, especially the groups. They don’t treat retailers like ambassadors as they should. Independent watch brands do see the value of retailers and the need of retailers, and therefore treat their retailers as ambassadors, as they should be treated.

WI: You say that it’s natural to go from retail into distribution, but it’s not a particularly well-trodden path. Does it not represent a conflict of interest at some point? Is there a danger that you’re feeding the competition?

ABJ: Wholesale has been verticalised. All the wholesalers we knew back in the day have been taken over by brands, like brands took over retail with monobrand stores. Smaller brands still see value in distributors, so I dare to pose the question: who is a better distributor than a retailer? Who understands retailers better than retailers? Hence, it’s very natural. When a brand works with a retailer, they already represent the brand, and who knows your brand better than your own retailer?

Now, regarding the conflict of interest — that flies if you work in a small country and it’s a small territory, but in bigger countries, jewellers are often friends with each other and they help each other out. It’s usually not just years or decades but multi-generational relationships, especially in the old world of Europe. 

All the brands we work with are independent, family-owned, with long-term visions. They don’t push you on quarterly results. So, together with the brands, we make a game plan, we work at who we think is a good fit, and we talk to them. We have an open dialogue in a golden triangle — brand, retailer, wholesaler — with one main goal: how do you add value to the end consumer?

We manage expectations of the brands when we become a wholesaler. We manage expectations of retailers. We know what their problems are, we know what worries they have, and we know what tools they need to succeed. We’re a facilitator, so we’re matchmakers, basically. 

Watches of Switzerland today is also a wholesaler in the US with the brand Roberto Coin. Look at the 1916 Company — they own a watch brand, De Bethune.

WI: With Watches of Switzerland, it starts as a ‘church and state’ situation, but over time that can change. But your point still stands.

ABJ: I don’t think we can criticise much about Watches of Switzerland on the level of operations as a retailer — they do a splendid job. But if they believe in a brand and do well with a brand in the market, as a retailer I would say: “Hey, they’re competitors, I need to get on that bandwagon, because obviously there’s something in it.” They know what they’re doing, and they’ll do everything in their power to make it a success. Of course, they can’t cater for the whole of the United States as they don’t have the footprint in retail of points of sale. That being said, neither do I.

Think about it in regard to Eberhard & Co. We do 24 markets, I’m only in two cities, and I don’t even sell it in my own retail. For Fears, we do all of Europe; for Bamford, we operate globally; and for Squale, we cover only six markets and we don’t retail it at Ace and somebody else handles it in the Netherlands.

We have good relationships and we’re now looking to work together because, as a wholesaler, I see it working. So there are blurred lines, but we communicate very openly on both the Ace Jewelers website and the ChronoTime website. I’m an open book so if there is any doubt or questions, I engage.

People are happy with us and so they work with us. If they’re not happy, we part as friends.”

WI: You talk about all these different territories across Europe, but how does that work? You can’t have people on the ground in every country, surely?

ABJ: Good question. Full transparency, I did something hybrid. I work with seven agents, of which one is Stephen Lee [of Remontoire 68, a UK distributor]. Almost all of them are independent agents. All of them are listed transparently on our website per brand, per market, email address, phone number etc. I have nothing to hide. We get flooded by brands that want to work with ChronoTime, and they approach the agents directly.

So there is a matrix going on because I believe in trust and I believe in organic relationships. I don’t like to force anything. People are happy with us and so they work with us. If they’re not happy, we part as friends. That’s what the brands do, that’s what the retailers do, and that’s what the agents do. Sometimes I’m dying to work with a brand but there’s not enough meat on the bone, which means there are no margins. Then I just hand them to one of my agents.

WI: Are there some examples where if both you and another retailer stock a brand it actually stands a better chance of succeeding? Rather than being a substitute good it actually just raises the profile and hype for that brand and those that sell it?

ABJ: 100%, the tide lifts all boats. We are almost, in a positive sense of the word, market makers. We all support the indies and we are all carved from the same wood.

WI: A lot of what you’ve said is against the backdrop that it’s the brands who often dictate terms to the retailers. But you’re largely dealing with lesser-known independent brands. They’re not necessarily going to sell themselves. If they’re not selling after a certain period of time, then ultimately you have to be informed by the data, right? So brands should feel pressure at least as much as you as a retailer should.

ABJ: What I think we lost in the industry, and I’m feeling we’re regaining a bit again, is the sense of tranquility and not being driven by quarterly results, KPIs, etc. As a retailer, if I commit to three years, not one, then I’m more than happy to take a risk and not reassess at 12 months or 18 months, but to give it at least those three years. You fine-tune it though. Some models might not work so we analyse why that’s the case. It’s often said that retailers make the brand grow, and the moment the brand goes out of incubation time, they dump retailers. It happens often. But brands should be more tranquil and not dump a retailer when they become big. It is more often the case that that happens than when retailers get rid of a brand. There needs to be a symbiosis there. The most elegant examples are the loyalty that F.P. Journe and Richard Mille have shown to their distributors and retailers, those that believed in them from the beginning. Those are the ones that give me hope and are the halo examples and case studies for me. 

WI: Looking at the ChronoTime side of things, how much wider autonomy do you have? Is it just about getting into the right doors, or do you work with these retailers, co-host events, spend marketing money with them, etc.?

ABJ: All of that! We are literally the extension of the brand for the retailer, and we’ll defend the retailer till we fall. That is our role as a matchmaker — not only do you need to bring them to dating, engagement, marriage, but make sure they don’t get divorced. So, it’s the full 360 of getting the message across about what a brand stands for and convincing them to become dealers and then, when they are dealers, getting it up and running for their retail, in-store, digital marketing etc. 

What is very important is after-sales: accessories, straps, repairs, problems, quality issues etc. Think of tariffs with the US now. The first retailer we opened in the first week with Bamford London is Collective Horology in California. Goods are on the way, they email us, it’s technically not ChronoTime’s problem on paper, but it is because we think it is. We opened our first account with Fears within a week in Turkey, which is a virgin market for them and very difficult on imports and exports. So we’re shipping from the UK to Europe, and from the EU. We’re doing ATR certificates and we need to make lab reports, which are very complex. We work as a team, and we feel we are an extended team of the brands, and that’s how the brands treat us. And that’s what the retailers feel as well. 

As a retailer, if I commit to three years, not one, then I’m more than happy to take a risk and not reassess at 12 months or 18 months.”

WI: Before hands have been shaken and contracts have been signed between ChronoTime and a brand, what are you looking for, and what are the red flags?

ABJ: I’m very much driven by passion, so I seek brands out. A very nice example is the first Squale dealer we made. We had approached a Rolex dealer with a more high-end brand and they said no. We didn’t even pitch them Squale, they came to us and asked us to present it to them, so we did and they loved it. The boutique manager loved it. We didn’t ask who he was or for his title but we saw the passion and we obliged. Then, after the presentation, we asked what his role was and he said he was the boutique manager and he wanted to pitch it to the board.

We’re not snooty. I recognise and I love passion. He drove the case so hard that he made the boutique a retailer, and we actually warned them not to do it because if you’re a Rolex/Tudor dealer, you know what behemoth of an operation you have. Squale is a great bang for buck, but it’s a low price point, so it’s a lot of work. So we warned them, but they were excited and they did it for the right reasons.

Long story short, they were fully passionate. He drove a case and became a dealer. We warned them twice not to do it, but they did it. They wanted to buy double the quantity, we said buy half. I’m a retailer, I under-promise and over-deliver. Start slow, grow into a brand, all in parallel with the brand. We’re not playing games, it’s all open communication. We met them digitally, physically in their store, at the fair in Geneva, and now we’re hosting an event with them next week and our agent is flying out. It’s all driven by passion. That’s what I love.

If they sell 10, 50, or 100, I don’t think it moves the needle on their P&L if you’re a Rolex dealer. But they have a long-term vision, they understand that Tudor is moving upmarket, they’re filling the gap that Rolex is leaving behind. Suddenly there are not as many £3,000 or £4,000 watches anymore. How do you fill that gap? How do you cater to collectors? How do you relate to the aspiring consumer that doesn’t want a Tissot or a Hamilton? And with all respect to these brands, but they’re 12-in-a-dozen copy-paste high street boutique brands. You can find them in every airport. It’s not a criticism.

WI: You get a lot of exposure to different stages of the supply chain: brand, wholesale, retail. Have you seen a new way to retail or a new way to have a relationship with brands that’s only become clear to you after dipping your toe into distribution?

ABJ: What’s interesting are the micro brands that are new to the watch industry, and actually have a new business model. I’m from 1979, I’ve literally been taken to Baselworld in the pram and I’ve crawled on the shop floor. I have it running through my veins. I’ve already seen several cycles and the newest cycle is, I call it now, the Chronopolis brands — the cool cats. They all came from direct-to-consumer and they’ve proven that they have the right to exist because consumers want them because they gave a lot of bang for buck.

But now suddenly they encounter the difficulties of wanting more exposure, they want an advertisement in a print magazine, they have the issue of “We need to ship to Turkey, we didn’t factor in insurance or import duties, or to create a lab report that costs thousands,” or “We didn’t think that we need to give margin to our retailers,” or “What happens to shipping? What do you need if you need to re-import and then re-export again?”

These guys are suddenly rediscovering that you need these layers in the supply chain. That is something that’s interesting and there is a discrepancy there because they think they need retailers and wholesalers, but they realise that they have to give up margin. This is something that’s happening and is new in the industry and where I put my foot down is I want a certain quality, which means me and my agents need a certain margin, otherwise I can’t do it. Hence we don’t work with all these new kids on the block. We love them, we support them whatever way we can, but sometimes there’s simply not enough meat on the bone. 

WI: America is the biggest market in the world. Do you have any plans for Ace Jewelers to expand over there? 

ABJ: I lived there, I studied there, I love the US. So if you ask me personally if I would go, hell yes! But my wife simply doesn’t want to live there. Would Ace do well? Yes, we almost signed a lease back in 2013 or 2012 on the corner of Spring Street at West Broadway. We got all the dealerships but my wife said “No,” so we didn’t go.

Would we add to the landscape today? I don’t know. You already have killer retailers — [The] 1916 [Company] did an amazing job, Watches of Switzerland Group, the independents are rocking it. The US is fantastic, and they’re doing a great job, and rightfully so as they’re the biggest market. We as Ace Jewelers ship literally almost every day e-commerce packages to the US, even with the tariffs. It did not slow down sales, it’s bonkers.

WI: What will retailers and distributors need in the future if they are to adapt, survive, and thrive?

ABJ: You and I talked about managing expectations, but what does it mean? What does a consumer today expect from retail? If retailers read this article, go do some soul searching, think about what consumers want and need. Don’t go and see what is in the market, look into the future and start predicting what they will need in the future.

Think of the DNA of a retail business, seek what makes you special — your region, your store, your family, your team, brands you sell, whatever, and amplify that. Thanks to e-commerce, you can do that globally if needed. 

Try to think about what AI will do to your business. AI will take away the need for a lot of advice or comparison before they walk into your store. All retailers know that today a consumer thinks they know it all. They come into your store and you throw them a curveball and that’s something that AI will never ever be able to do. Even with augmented reality and virtual reality and whatever immersive digital experiences, you cannot feel how gold transmits heat, how platinum is heavier than gold, and gold is heavier than steel, steel is heavier than titanium, etc. So that’s how I think retail will survive and a very cardinal element is after-sales. AI won’t take over, people need repairs.

This article first appeared in the June 2026 edition of Watch Insider.