I started Barstool Sports 20 years ago. IΒ poured my entire adult life into my company. I did every job imaginable from cold calling, to delivering newspapers in my Astrovan, toΒ shipping t-shirts from my apartment. I did whatever I could to grow the company and survive. Every penny I earned I put back into the business. It was no overnight success. It took almost a decade before I turned a profit. As I often say, I built the company brick by brick.

In 2016 I sold half the company to the Chernin Group for a valuation of 12.5 million dollars. It was the first time in my life that I actually had money in my bank account. I wanted to buy myself something to celebrate the occasion. I decided a Rolex would be my gift to myself. I spent weeks looking at watches ranging from 10k-100k. I got right up to the point of buying one, and then asked myself, "what amΒ I doing?" I was not a watch guy, and it seemed insane to spend that much money on a status symbol. I didn’t need to prove anything to anybody. So instead, I bought myself a 1972 used yellow Bronco. (The thing is a piece of shit that constantly broke down, but it looked great.) Anyway, I thought that would be the end of my watch odyssey.

Fast forward to 2020. I was walking out of a casino and was handed a watch as a gift by a stranger. I started wearing it all the time. I reached out to the company that made the watch and told them I wanted to represent the brand. They told me I was too controversial and didn’t fit the type of person they wanted representing the company. The second I hung up the phone I decided I was going to start Brick Watch Company.

My goal was simple. I wanted to create a high quality, clean, simple watch that I would be proud of wearing. A watch for people like myselfΒ who can afford a Rolex but don’t need a status symbol on their wrist to do their talking for them. A watch with aΒ price point reflective of itsΒ craftsmanship, not itsΒ marketing budget. A watch you can wear strollingΒ the casual streets of Nantucket or withΒ a suit atΒ Saratoga. A watch for peopleΒ who have earned their status through hard work as opposed to simply buying it. Hence, the phrase β€œalways earned” is printed on every Brick Watch. I believe there is nothing more attractive than quiet confidence, and that is what Brick Watches are meant to convey.

Sincerely,

David Portnoy