51: Justin Kraudel – Monta Watches
On this week’s episode presented by Busey Bank, Josh sits down with Justin Kraudel of Monta Watches, a luxury swiss-built brand based in St. Louis. In 2016, Justin walked away from a 12-year career in the wealth management industry to follow his passion for horology (watches). Monta designs and manufactures luxury sport watches with impeccable finishing and attention to detail. In a short period of time – relative to some of the decades old legacy brands – Monta has created a brand with a solid reputation for beautiful timepieces and terrific customer service. Most of their business has been built direct to consumer online, but they’re beginning to grow their business through local and regional jewelry stores. Josh and Justin talk about the state of the American watch market, the challenges of establishing a brand in an industry with so many legacy players and the supply chain obstacles of convincing Swiss craftsmen to come on board with a new start up brand. Super fun to chat with a self-admitted watch nerd. Let’s go…
