The Ace List

Live Episode 52: Hakim El Kadiri of ELKA Watch Co.
2023-06-09 10:00 - 11:00 (Europe/Paris) | Facebook / YouTube / LinkedIn / Twitter
After a long & distinguished career designing watches for leading Swiss watch brands, Hakim El Kadiri decided to pursue his long-time dream of creating his own brand. Nicknamed ElKa (short for El Kadiri, of course) since his early childhood, a name was quickly found. As a child of the 1960’s, the products and aesthetics of that era serve as the main source of inspiration for his newly formed brand – the Elka Watch Company.
Whilst researching the name, Hakim discovered that a watch brand named Elka had previously existed. The historical brand of Elka watches was created by Dutchman Louis Eduard Kiek in 1913, ELKA being an abbreviation for Edouard Louis Kiek Amsterdam. The family-owned company operated several Kiek boutiques in Amsterdam where prestigious brands such as Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Vulcain, Breitling, Universal, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Blancpain watches were sold -often proudly co-branded with the ELKA signature, as well as wrist and pocket watches of their own ELKA brand. They were also particularly famous for their stopwatches, timers, and chess clocks. Somewhere in the 1970s, the ELKA brand quietly disappeared. The Kiek boutiques would continue to operate until the year 2000, after which the company was dissolved.
During this session Ace Jewelers’ Alon Ben Joseph will sit down with his long-time friend Hakim amd dp a deep dove into how he designed the watches for his Elka Watch Company, one of the collections – the X-Series- and how he got inspired by an aviation instrument created by Heuer for ELKA, which featured oversized Arabic numerals from 00 to 55.
Join us live and ask all your questions that Hakim will answer in real-time during the show.
Ace Jewelers is the exclusive authorized dealer for ELKA watches in the Netherlands.
Join us live and participate via Ace Jewelers social media channels:
– YouTube: YouTube.com/AceJewelers
– Facebook: Facebook.com/AceJewelers
– LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/Ace-Jewelers
– Twitter: Twitter.com/AceJewelers

Live Episode 53: Christo Hoppe of Bausele Watches
2024-06-25 12:00 - 13:00
Last year Ace Jewelers become the exclusive retailer partner for Australian watch brand BAUSELE. We have the honor to have the founder of the brand to sit down with our CEO Alon Ben Joseph for an hour.
In 2011, Christophe Hoppe established Bausele in Sydney, driven by his passion for Australia, aiming to embody the nation’s spirit in a watch brand. The name Bausele, short for Beyond Australian Elements, captures the essence of Australia’s unique landscapes and wildlife. Hoppe’s expertise in Swiss technology and keen design sense are key to Bausele’s success, offering high-quality, affordable watches.
After the seven The Ace List questions, the gentlemen will discuss what makes Bausele really Australian and so special. As usual the last part will be reserved for the live viewers to ask questions.
Join us live and ask all your questions that Christo will answer in real-time during the show.
Ace Jewelers is the exclusive dealer for Bausele Watches in the Netherlands.
Join us live and participate via Ace Jewelers’ social media channels:
– YouTube: YouTube.com/AceJewelers
– Facebook: Facebook.com/AceJewelers
– LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/Ace-Jewelers
– Twitter/X: Twitter.com/AceJewelers

Live Episode 54: Benoit De Clerck of Zenith Watches
2024-07-02 14:00 - 15:00
Earlier this year Mr. Benoit De Clerck was appointed CEO of ZENITH Watches. We are honored to sit down with him and discuss his long journey of over 25 years all over the world in the luxury watch industry, starting at TAG Heuer to making it as COO of Panerai and now the taking the helm at the manufacture in Le Locle, Switzerland.
During this episode we will not only discuss his personal journey, but also discuss the 2024 ZENITH novelties launched during Watches & Wonders earlier this year. And, where he wants to take the 159 year old beauty. Obviously we will try to find out what special watches they are going to create to celebrate the brand’s 160th anniversary next year.
Benoit’s predecessor, Mr. Julien Tornare, joined Alon Ben Joseph of Ace Jewelers twice before:

September 8, 2020 during season one. You can watch the episode here: S01E05.
January 27, 2021 during season two. You can watch the episode here: S02E01.

Join us live and ask all your questions that Benoit will answer in real-time during the show.
Ace Jewelers is authorized dealer for Zenith Watches.
Join us live and participate via Ace Jewelers’ social media channels:
– YouTube: YouTube.com/AceJewelers
– Facebook: Facebook.com/AceJewelers
– LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/Ace-Jewelers
– Instagram: Instagram.com/AceJewelers
– Twitter/X: Twitter.com/AceJewelers

Live Episode 55: Martin Klocke of Sherpa Watches
2024-07-09 12:00 - 13:00
Last year our own Alon Ben Joseph became friends with Sherpa Watches’ owner Martin Klocke after he was interviewed for the podcast series The Real Time Show. Out of that friendship a collaborative watch project was born: the TRTS x Sherpa OPS. Obviously Ace Jewelers because of that also became the exclusive retailers of the Sherpa watch brand in the Netherlands.
Sherpa Watches is dedicated to bringing back the most legendary watch models. They relaunched designs that have become true treasures among vintage watch collectors and offer something remarkable for anyone who has yet to discover the Sherpa heritage. Sherpa Watches pays tribute to the achievements of the original Enicar S.A. brand that conquered the watch world during the golden age of tool watches.
And at the same time, they honour the humble Sherpa people that inspired the Swiss pioneers in naming their most ambitious model line from 1956 on.
After the seven The Ace List questions, the gentlemen will discuss what makes Sherpa so special. And, we will get a master class why Sherpa watches are real compressor dive watches! As usual the last part will be reserved for the live viewers to ask questions.
Join us live and ask all your questions that Martin will answer in real-time during the show.
Ace Jewelers is the exclusive dealer for Sherpa Watches in the Netherlands.
Join us live and participate via Ace Jewelers’ social media channels:
– YouTube: YouTube.com/AceJewelers
– Facebook: Facebook.com/AceJewelers
– LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/Ace-Jewelers
– Instagram: Instagram.com/AceJewelers
– Twitter/X: Twitter.com/AceJewelers
