[VIDEO] Watch Stories: Adam Craniotes, Founder of Redbar Crew

The watch community at large is a truly massive network. Around the world, collectors and enthusiasts gather to online forums, social media, and comment sections. And thanks to Adam Craniotes, they also congregate in-person at Redbar events all over.

Craniotes founded the Redbar Crew in 2007 with Dr. Jeffrey Jacques. The two met at a lunch held by Michael Kobold of Kobold Watches, hit it off, and started meeting once a month to get a drink and talk watches. They kept adding people to their monthly meet-ups, and the Redbar Group grew into a global organization, with chapters around the United States and several internationally. Their members come from all walks of life. Collectors, yes, but it’s a group of people with a passion for all watches, not just the rare and expensive ones. You won’t find any snobs among their ranks.

With Redbar, I joke about how our first rule is ‘No Assholes.’ It’s a rule we don’t have to invoke, because almost uniformly, everyone who wants to be involved in this hobby are great people from all walks of life and all ages. There is no demographic here.

And to think, it all started because two watch lovers wanted to take the conversation offline.

Adam’s been wearing watches since he was seven years old, and he says he feels naked without one. For him, “there’s something about the permanence of a mechanical watch, of knowing that it was made by people. We lose that in almost every other aspect of our lives.” Watches are how he expresses who he is to the world. Let’s dig into his collection then, shall we?

Adam’s Watches

“Imposing hunk of surgical-grade stainless steel, big-domed 5mm sapphire crystal, double as a weapon in a zombie apocalypse.”

Regarding Adam’s Kobold Seal, we really couldn’t have stated it better. If the name immediately makes you think of the Navy, you’d be wrong. Michael Kobold designed this watch with the late James Gandolfini, and the story of how they came up with the name is pretty funny. Adam loves its no-frills design and sense of absolute purpose.

 

Reasons to love the IWC Perpetual Calendar Top Gun? Ceramic case, highly complex movement, pilot watch size and style. But, there’s also a sentimental meaning behind this particular watch. Meaning being, every time he looks at this watch, Adam thinks of his mother. The story behind how he acquired this watch is an interesting one that includes shaving off a mohawk, trading in a couple of timepieces, and one very generous but calculating mom.

 

Maurice Lacroix made ten of this version of its Pontos Diver specifically for members of the Redbar Crew, and Mr. Craniotes has the first. No surprise that he has soft spot for this one.

 

Interested in seeing more of Adam Craniotes’s watch collection? Watch our video on Youtube, or check it out above. Also, you can learn more about the Redbar Group here.