Watchuseek’s change in ownership happened in 2014, when founder Ernie Romers announced his retirement and sale of the forum. In a 2015 interview, he recalled building the site from a page of watch links into a forum, beginning in 1998 after encounters with two vintage watches and a watch book. The interview offers a founder’s account of the community’s beginnings—not an update on who manages Watchuseek today.
How Ernie Romers started Watchuseek
Romers said he had been interested in watches from a young age. He traced the idea for a watch-focused website to a visit with his brother-in-law, who showed him two watches bought in Eastern Europe: a Raketa and a Universal Genève. His brother-in-law also gave him a book about watches.
At the time, Romers already had a webpage linking to several of his interests. In the interview, he said he reshaped it around watches in 1998, when online information about them was less plentiful, and later added forums:
“Back in 1998 there was not as much information to be found, so I redesigned my webpage to a linkspage to watch news, information and brand websites. I added forums along the way. The rest is history.”
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This is Romers’s recollection as quoted in the indexed text of Crown & Caliber’s interview. The 1998 date is his account of the project’s start, not an independently audited launch date.
What Romers said about the forum and its members
Asked to name the greatest post he had seen on Watchuseek, Romers declined to choose one. The exchange points to a difficulty in reducing a forum’s history to a single celebrated thread: the site had developed through many discussions and contributions rather than one defining post.
The interview also ranged beyond the forum’s origin. Romers discussed his work, collecting, and views on the watch industry. These are personal reflections recorded in 2015, not current buying advice or forecasts.
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His work after the sale
Romers said that after selling Watchuseek he continued working as a team leader at a school for children with special needs. He also said he enjoyed having more free time. The interview presents this as his experience at that point, rather than a later account of his work or activities.
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Romers mentioned Stowa, DOXA, Oris, IWC, Bremont, and Jaeger-LeCoultre when discussing his collection. He said he had sold watches he no longer wore and kept his Jaeger-LeCoultre. Asked about a grail watch, he named the Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon, joking about its cost. These references describe his collection and taste; the interview does not recommend the watches for readers to buy.
His 2015 view of smartwatches
Romers characterized smartwatches as gadgets that needed frequent charging and predicted they would not displace quartz and mechanical watches. That is his opinion in a 2015 interview, not a present-day assessment of smartwatch technology or evidence about the market now.
When Watchuseek changed ownership
Worn & Wound reported on October 14, 2014, that Romers had announced his retirement and the sale of Watchuseek the previous week, citing health reasons and a desire to spend more time with family. The report identified VerticalScope as the acquirer.
The same article said VerticalScope had described continuity as a priority and reported that existing staff and administrators were unlikely to change. Those statements describe expectations around the 2014 acquisition; they do not establish what happened to staffing over time.
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Crown & Caliber published its interview with Romers on March 5, 2015, describing him as Watchuseek’s founder and former owner. A September 2020 Ace List event page likewise identified him as the founder and former owner and said he was no longer affiliated with the forum.
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In July 2020, Worn & Wound identified VerticalScope as Watchuseek’s parent company while covering a major redesign. It also described a paid membership available at that time. These are dated details, not evidence of the forum’s current ownership, design, membership options, or pricing.
The sources cited here do not verify who owns or manages Watchuseek in October 2026. The reliable historical point is narrower: Romers announced a sale in 2014, and contemporary reporting named VerticalScope as the acquirer. The founder interview is most useful as a firsthand account of how he says the site began and as a snapshot of his perspective shortly after leaving it.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Crown & Caliber, “Watchuseek.com Under New Management: Interview With Founder,” March 5, 2015. The interview’s indexed text supplies the quoted recollection and biographical details.
- Worn & Wound, report on Watchuseek’s sale, October 14, 2014.
- Worn & Wound, report on Watchuseek’s redesign, July 2020.
- The Ace List, event page about Ernie Romers, September 24, 2020.
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