BEHIND THE LOUPE

Every watch has a story — a narrative sweep that defines the piece and its journey from owner to owner. With Loupe This, co-founders Eric Ku and Justin Gruenberg want to ensure the accuracy of the tale.

Veteran watch dealers and collectors, both were struck by the limited information offered to bidders at most auctions.

With Loupe This, their goal is to host a thorough, real-time discussion of lots. Each item is part of an expandable ‘catalog’ that allows comments and input from watch enthusiasts.

As Justin describes it, the platform is “a place where collector-worthy watches are presented” with as much transparency as possible. The format, he says, is designed to welcome novices as much as connoisseurs.

Friends and collaborators for more than a decade, Eric and Justin had been “talking about auction houses — the pros and cons and weaknesses,” recalls Eric. As owner of one of the top Rolex forums, he knew that collector communities have long been frustrated by the status quo.

“We’re in the beginning of an important and rapidly-expansive market,” says Justin, who like Eric, has an impressive private stash of pieces.

They met on the trade-show circuit, where Eric saw Justin, his junior, as “a skinny kid.”

Self-described watch nerds, the duo are part of a wave of younger dealers in an old-school business.

“The first deal we did together was a large package of watches from Indonesia,” says Eric. “I remember calling Justin, quickly working out the details. He was the one and only call that I made.”

Through their respective companies, each is a leader in the sales of vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier marques. In addition to buying important collections, they preside over quiet deals for six- and seven-figure watches. Auction-house executives revere (and, increasingly, fear) them. Collectors appreciate their instincts and relentless, “forensic” research, as Justin likes to call it.

In trade parlance, the two are known as “Super Dealers.”

Eric, a San Francisco entrepreneur, has made a name on multiple fronts — from retail sales to innovative service concepts. With an eye for trend spotting, coupled with a strong technical background, the 41-year-old is widely recognized as an industry tastemaker.

He founded his company, Ten Past Ten, in 2005. “I find it intellectually stimulating,” he says of the business. “I like the scholarly aspect.” Ku, who sold his first watch while a student at UC Berkeley, has been a guest speaker at Horological Society of New York.

His forte is Rolex, which he romanticized as a kid while poring over ads for the brand featuring celebrities and athletes. The campaigns “tied into the themes of expedition and travel intrigue,” he recalls.

Justin, 35-year-old scion of a Beverly Hills watch and jewelry firm, embraced his collecting legacy early on. “I always liked old things,” he says. His first big vintage score: an Eames lounge chair, won at auction when he was 15.

When the watch bug hit, he didn’t think twice about hopping a flight to Asia to battle for a single, obscure lot. By his mid-twenties, he had cultivated relationships all over the world “As I learned more about what different people collected, I started to understand why those things were worthy of collecting,” he recalls.

After several years of buying and selling out of New York, a degree from The New School in hand, Justin returned to the family business in Los Angeles. He launched The Keystone in 2013. His global meanderings, as well as his eclectic trove of 1970s fashion watches, have been chronicled in The Financial Times and Town and Country.