Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Lee.
Hi Steven, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ever since I was a child, I’ve had an infatuation with watches. There was something captivating about trying to measure the incredible vastness of time. At that time, I was a huge fan of dinosaurs, and to me, the span of millions of years was so hard to understand. However, it made a little more sense when I learned about telling time on a watch. My dad wore a watch and he was my hero, so that made it even more interesting.
As I got older, I just got into watches more and more. My mom used to tease me that I was becoming one of those guys in a trench coat lined with watches, but she always encouraged me in my pursuit of watches. In fact, I named the brand after her maiden name as an homage to her support. I pursued a couple different careers in my life (initially, I was a corporate pilot and then a successful career in software sales), but I always had a nagging itch to figure out a way to become involved in the watch industry. I taught myself to completely disassemble and reassemble watch movements, and I kept a small notebook where I’d draw rough sketches of various watch designs throughout the years. It wasn’t until a cool day in February of 2016 that I finally connected all the dots. I needed to start a watch brand…
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Gaining an understanding of how to actually manufacture a watch is daunting. It’s a lot of work, especially to an outsider. The supply chain, who to trust, how to manage quality, costs involved, timelines, relationships with factories, how to manage servicing post-sales… so many aspects. Not to mention, what is the design ethos that brings uniqueness to the product line. However, all of these complexities, costs and huge challenges are all far, far easier than the process of building a brand, finding your audience and differentiating from a very crowded marketplace. This was and continues to be the ever-elusive secret sauce that I am constantly tweaking. But it is an absolute blast and I love facing the challenge every day.
We’ve been impressed with DuFrane Watches, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
DuFrane is an independent watch brand specializing in creating high-quality, unique timepieces that are inspired by Austin. The company motto is ‘History remembers those who are a little bit different’ and I believe there’s something very unique and different about Austin. So I wanted to fuse my passion of watches and my desire to share this amazing city I call home.
All of the watches are custom designed and constructed from the ground up, with final assembly done in my workshop in the southwest hills of Austin. We only use genuine Swiss movements to ensure longevity and accuracy, and our overall quality rivals brands that cost thousands more per piece. However, the most powerful product we offer is enthusiastic customer experience. I am a real watch fanatic and take great pride in helping my customers along their watch buying/owning journey. To me, watches are extremely personal and can contribute to a lifetime of memories.
How do you think about luck?
My first career was in aviation. I was a corporate pilot, but before that, I built flight time/experience as a pipeline patrol pilot. I had a small, high-performance aircraft and flew very low to the ground in very desolate places, making sure the integrity of the underground pipelines stayed intact (meaning nobody was digging around or near the underground pipeline).
Statistically speaking in the world of aviation, the average pilot will encounter an incident once every ten years. I ran across two in my first three years of professional flying. I had years of training and experience that got me through those situations, but at the end of the day, luck played an incredible part. It taught me the power of luck and to never deny its existence.
How has luck played in the favor of DuFrane? Well, it certainly hasn’t hurt it! I’m lucky to live in an incredible city and state that favors local businesses and I have customers around the world that also have an affinity for Austin and high-quality work. These are not inexpensive fashion watches, so I am lucky to have customers that understand and appreciate this difference.
Pricing:
- Starting around $500
Contact Info:
- Email: Info@dufranewatches.com
- Website: www.dufranewatches.com
- Instagram: Dufrane_watches
