How Dealer Chris Daaboul Found a Passion (and Business) in Independent Watchmaking

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In the early 2010s, the world of independent watchmaking did not inspire the collecting mania it does today. Most makers who identified with the independent label toiled in the shadows, far from the klieg lights that shone on their name-brand competitors. That was when Chris Daaboul, a relative newcomer to the watch industry who’d emigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 1997 at age 10, discovered the indie watch scene. Based in the Boston area, he stumbled onto a handful of inspiring makers during a visit to the now-defunct Baselworld fair, and, over time, realized this was the segment of the industry he belonged in.

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In 2019, Daaboul founded EsperLuxe , a Boston-area retailer specializing in independent watchmakers. The first iteration of the business was strictly online, as Daaboul built a digital platform and social media presence designed to share the stories behind the watches. “I had zero brands on board, zero dollars in the bank, and hoped that people would let me wax poetic about all these incredible people and the watches they were making,” Daaboul tells Robb Report . “Little by little, we gained traction. Then 2020 happens. I’m working out of my studio apartment. My wife’s pregnant. There are clearly bigger issues. But what was weird was my phone wasn’t stopping. We were still getting inquiries from people. And our traffic spiked because we were strong digitally.”

In 2019, Daaboul founded EsperLuxe , a Boston-area retailer specializing in independent watchmakers. The first iteration of the business was strictly online, as Daaboul built a digital platform and social media presence designed to share the stories behind the watches. “I had zero brands on board, zero dollars in the bank, and hoped that people would let me wax poetic about all these incredible people and the watches they were making,” Daaboul tells Robb Report . “Little by little, we gained traction. Then 2020 happens. I’m working out of my studio apartment. My wife’s pregnant. There are clearly bigger issues. But what was weird was my phone wasn’t stopping. We were still getting inquiries from people. And our traffic spiked because we were strong digitally.”

By the end of that year, Daaboul brought De Bethune, Urwerk, and Arnold & Son into the EsperLuxe fold. Another turning point came two years ago, when Daaboul and his friend Antoine Abeddy, a managing partner at Date & Time , a Rolex authorized dealer founded in 2019 in Sudbury, Mass., began to explore the possibility of working together. Today, EsperLuxe maintains a shop-in-shop stocked with nearly 20 independent brands inside the Date & Time showroom. The company also sponsors the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, or A.H.C.I., a coalition of watch- and clockmakers bound by a fierce commitment to artisanal watchmaking and freedom from corporate rule.

On a recent video call, Daaboul, who wore a De Bethune DB28 on his wrist, told us about the moment he discovered independent watchmaking, why he’s so enthralled with indie labels, and which ones he considers underrated.

How did you get into the watch business?

I got into watches in 2011 with my dad. He’d been in the industry on and off for about 30 years. He started overseas in Lebanon. And then unfortunately, with everything that happened with the civil war, my parents had to restart from zero in Boston. It’s your typical American dream story of rebuilding. Then after a few years, they opened a little Lebanese restaurant. But my dad had the itch to get back into the business. By then, I was out of college and working in luxury hospitality. He asked me if I wanted to come on board with him. And I said, “You know what? Yeah, sure.”

What kind of business was it?

It was wholesale distribution. But it was a really difficult few years because it was a new market geographically and there had been so many changes in the industry over all the years that my dad had been out of the business. Plus, I was new. It was a baptism by fire. I didn’t enjoy the transactional part of the business. I found myself a little lost. It was 2012 or 2013, and we were in a really boring meeting at Baselworld. We finished the meeting, and I’m just thinking to myself, “Is this something that I want to keep doing?”

I walk out of Hall 1 and there’s this big white standalone circus-like structure called The Palace. And I walk into it. And that’s when the light just went on. That’s where I discovered MB&F. At the time, there was De Bethune and MCT and HYT. Philippe Dufour at one point had a display there. And then there were all these other incredible brands. And I dug a little deeper. Across the way, on the rooftop of the Ramada Hotel, there was Swiss Creative Lab, and the Urwerk guys were there.

Is that where you first met the watchmaking wunderkind Rexhep Rexhepi?

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I met him the year before he launched his first watch. I think it was 2012, at a bar in Basel, through a mutual friend. He barely spoke English at the time. I spoke French, so we were able to chat. And my buddy says to me, “You’re going to want to keep an eye on him.” And I’m like, “Okay, cool story.” Everybody says that about someone they introduce, right?

What was it about this niche that enchanted you?

Even within such a small niche, the diversity of products with innovation and technical watchmaking is remarkable. And there is just so much identity that isn’t really as prominent in mainstream watchmaking. And then the other thing is the ability to directly engage with the people. You don’t get that anywhere else. And I think those things made a huge difference for me.

What’s the newest brand you’ve brought on?

In the last year or so, we brought in two brands that I think are tremendously underrated. And a couple of watchmakers because I think we have to distinguish between the two. One brand is Armin Strom. Claude Greisler is a brilliant technical watchmaker. And [they came] out with some really cool stuff at Geneva Watch Days. An entirely new caliber dual-time GMT that is tremendous. From a finishing standpoint, I think they’re on par with some of the best that Swiss watchmaking can offer.

Another brand that we brought on is German: Moritz Grossmann. German watchmaking, I think, overall, still has growth potential. You want to talk about execution and finishing and design and technical watchmaking, they’re doing it all. And it’s woman-owned and operated—Christine Hutter, she’s fantastic. [She’s a] former A. Lange & Söhne executive who discovered Moritz Grossmann in the archives and then resurrected the brand and raised the money to build a factory right near Lange, actually.

Who are the two watchmakers you referred to?

Remy Cools we started with earlier this year. He makes between 10 and 15 watches a year. He won the F. P. Journe Young Talent Competition a few years ago, then did a subscription run. He’s in his late 20s, so he’s fairly young. He’s so talented, but also extremely professional. He’s got strong retail partners already, three or four that he’s working with in the world, like Hour Glass [in Singapore] and Seddiqi [in Dubai].

Anyone else on your radar?

Kudoke is another highly underrated entry-level watchmaker, part of the academy. Stefan Kudoke and his wife, Ev, are based in Weifa, a small village in Germany, about two hours from Prague. And they’re doing some fantastic work at entry-level price points, around $12,000 to $21,000. It’s a great combination of traditional German aesthetics with artisanal elements built into it, like hand-engraved movements. There’s so much diversity, so much great stuff. And it’s a joy for me to be able to tell the stories of all these people.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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