The Crafting of a LIV Watch
LIV watches unite bold, modern design with the ultimate standard: Swiss-made precision. Every movement is meticulously assembled by hand, honoring centuries of master horology.
The LIV Story
"If everybody could do it, they would have done it already."
- CHAZ
Co-Founder LIV Watches
It Started with a Swatch
I was ten years old when my brother came back from Switzerland and handed me a brand new Swatch watch, one of the originals, still in that beautiful plastic case. I remember it like it was yesterday. The moment I put that watch on my wrist, something snapped inside me. I was hooked.
I didn't come from an affluent background. My father had a small collection of nothing particularly significant, except for one piece. A manual-wind gold watch bearing the Geneva label, a gift from my mother when they married in 1954. I'd play with his watches, tinker with them, take them apart, much to his dismay.
By the time I was fifteen, I'd saved up enough to buy my first real watch: a Tag Heuer Formula One. For a kid without a lot of money, that was a massive purchase. That watch stayed with me until after high school.
From the Packing Room to the Factory Floor
During my gap year, I ran into an old friend whose family had launched a Swiss watch brand called Daniel Mink back in the '80s. They offered me a job. packing watches. To most people, that's entry-level work. To me, it was a dream. I'd be in close contact with something I truly loved.
Then came a decision: stay on with the company, or go to college. I chose watches. I've never left the industry since.
Starting in the packing room, I worked my way up to sales, and eventually into production. I spent time in Switzerland with the manufacturers, an absolute dream come true. To broaden my horizons, I eventually left Daniel Mink and spent the next fifteen years buying, selling, and trading watches across multiple brands.
During those years, I saw a disconnect that I couldn't ignore. Watch lovers wanted to connect with the people who hand-built the passion that sits on their wrists. But the legacy brands weren't listening.
Two Things Changed Everything
First, the smartphone. Once everyone had time in their pockets, it drew a clear line between people who wore watches for utility and those of us who were genuinely obsessed. The smartphone didn't kill watches. it purified the audience.
Second, advertising. For hundreds of years, traditional advertising was controlled by newspapers, trade magazines, and billboards, all of which were extremely expensive. That created a massive barrier to entry for anyone who wanted to create something new. Then digital changed everything. The gatekeepers lost their grip, and suddenly, a bold idea could reach people directly.
Building the Blueprint
In 2012, my wife Esti and I went to work. We spent months defining what the brand identity would be, what type of product we would create, who the ideal owner was, and how we would bring it to market. The guiding principle was simple: do everything completely different from what other brands have ever done.
In 2013, we took an approach that no legacy Swiss brand had ever attempted. We launched the LIV Design Challenge, inviting over two hundred designers to compete. The response was so incredible that we had to expand the winning slots from three to six. Those designers still work with us today.
Why LIV?
People always ask us why we chose the name LIV. I never wanted to name the brand after myself. It felt pompous to put my own name on something that other people would wear on their wrist. More importantly, this was never about me.
So we created a word cloud of everything we believed represented the type of person who would buy, wear, and flaunt a LIV watch. Nonconformist. Does things differently. Dares to LIV. Lives life to the fullest. Lives life on his own terms. Pushes the boundaries. Not a follower.
The word LIV kept appearing, over and over again. It represents exactly the person who is going to wear our watch.
The Kickstarter Moment
In 2014, we launched our first Kickstarter campaign for the GX1, a Swiss-made 1/10th-second chronograph. Almost everyone told me I was crazy. The only person who stood behind me, and still does today, is my wife and co-founder, Esti, along with one industry leader willing to help us get this off the ground.
I kept telling myself: this could be done. And if everybody could do it, they would have done it already.
We raised nearly $200,000 with virtually no advertising spend, from people who had never heard of us. They simply saw what we were building and felt they needed to be part of our movement.
But it wasn't just the funding. It was the connections. The conversations. The proof that there are watch lovers out there who are obsessed with creative Swiss watchmaking, bold colors, bold designs, something different, all at an accessible price point, where you don't have to ask your accountant before making the purchase.
Fans, Not Customers
From day one, we made a decision that shaped everything LIV would become: we would never speak down to the people who buy our watches. We speak to them at their level, recognizing that they're putting their heart and money behind our vision. They're giving us real estate on their wrist, what we call wrist estate.
We knew right then that these were not customers. These were fans. And many of them became ambassadors. And ultimately, advocates.
And that is the power of LIV.
🙏 THANK YOU! I want to take a moment to thank those who have stood by us and backed us from day one in 2014. Those of you who had the foresight to believe in what we were doing, before the world caught on, before the accolades, before the sold-out launches, it's a tribute to you that we are one of the fastest-growing independent Swiss brands on the market today.
We don't take that for granted. Not for a single second.
- Chaz, Co-Founder, LIV Swiss Watches
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