Wei Koh, founder of Revolution magazine and host of the Man of the Hour documentary series, which follows the lives of independent watchmakers. Photo: Handout
The Revolution magazine founder hosts the documentary series about the inspiring, often enigmatic characters behind independent watch brands
Wei Koh has spent much of his career championing watchmaking through words. Now, he is taking his storytelling to the screen. The founder of Revolution magazine – one of the world’s leading authorities on horology – has created Man of the Hour, an eight-part documentary series produced by Refinery Media for Discovery. The show travels from Los Angeles to Geneva, Paris and Singapore, tracing the human stories behind some of the world’s most extraordinary timepieces.
“For many years, I was just hoping someone would make a TV series on the watch industry,” Koh says. “I never thought it would be me. And then somehow I just ended up stumbling into this role. It’s been quite the journey.”
Man of the Hour premieres next month on the Discovery Channel. Photo: Handout
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In Man of the Hour, Koh steps into the roles of host and executive producer, exploring not just the technical brilliance of watchmaking but the emotional and creative lives of watchmakers. “For me, this isn’t just a documentary about horology,” he says. “It’s about sharing the lives, laughter, struggles and triumphs of people I care deeply about.” The first season is built around the theme of independence – an idea that, for Koh, defines today’s most compelling watchmakers.
“It has to do with the inspiration for the show, which was Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations,” he explains. “That show started as something about food and then rapidly became about human stories. For this TV series, I wanted to start with stories that were very personal, and to really start with the individual creators in the industry rather than the biggest brands.”
Maximilian Büsser, founder of independent Swiss watch brand MB&F. Photo: Handout
True to that vision, the result is a series that features names such as François-Paul Journe, De Bethune, Urban Jürgensen, Rexhep Rexhepi, Greubel Forsey and MB&F. To Koh, these are not just artisans but visionaries. “They are watchmakers, but watchmaking is the medium for their expression as artists, in the same way that jazz was Miles Davis’ or painting was Jackson Pollock’s.”
One of his most memorable encounters was with Robert Greubel of Greubel Forsey, a man who had all but vanished from public view. “He was this crazy recluse – it was impossible to track him down,” says Koh. “Even while we were shooting, until we finally found him, we genuinely had no idea whether he would actually show up, because the last time he’d been seen in public was two decades earlier.” Their eventual meeting was cinematic. “When we were on the top of the Alps, I heard the sound of this Harley-Davidson, and I look over – Robert Greubel’s there in a leather jacket and tennis shorts, with his wife on the back. That was the first time he’d been seen in 20 years.”
Wei Koh’s wrist check with watch collector Wes Lang (left). Photo: Handout
At Greubel’s farmhouse, Koh found a man who preferred the company of nature to the limelight. “He’s raising peacocks, and I didn’t realise that male peacocks are extremely territorial, so that I could actually get attacked by one,” he says, laughing. “Even though their watches cost an astronomical amount of money, they don’t make money with their company. They do it because they love it, and because they’re worried that the savoir faire will die and want to keep it alive.”
It is these moments of insight and intimacy that give Man of the Hour its emotional depth. “I grew up loving long-form journalism,” Koh says. “To reconnect with traditional narrative structure in the medium of today – television and streaming – felt important.”
