Benjamin "Ben" Clymer (born 1982) is an American businessman known as the executive chairman and founder of
Hodinkee
Hodinkee, stylized as HODINKEE, is a New York City-based watch website, known as an influential editorial and e-commerce site for new and vintage wristwatches. Founded in 2008, the name comes from the Czech and Slovak word for wristwatch, “h ...
, a luxury watch and lifestyle website.
He is an authority and
influencer in the world of watches.
Education and early life
Clymer was born in 1982, and grew up in
Brighton, New York, a suburb of
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
.
[ As a youth, he was an avid collector, and first became interested in mechanical watches when his grandfather gave him an Omega Speedmaster.][
Clymer graduated from Brighton High School in 2001, and attended ]Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
.
Career
After graduating college, Clymer worked as a project manager at Swiss investment bank UBS
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
.[ When the financial crisis hit in 2008, Clymer took a severance package from UBS and enrolled in ]Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City.
Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
to earn a master's degree.Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' named Hodinkee one of the 50 best websites in the world.[
In December 2013, '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' dubbed Clymer "The High Priest of Horology", noting his watch and style consulting work with brands including Club Monaco
Club Monaco is a Canadian-founded low-end luxury casual clothing retailer owned by Regent, L.P. With more than 140 locations worldwide, the retailer has locations in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, South Korea, China, the U ...
and Gilt Groupe
Gilt is an online shopping and lifestyle website based in the United States, launched in 2007. On January 7, 2016, The company was sold to Hudson's Bay Company for approximately $250 million. Prior to the Hudson’s Bay acquisition, sales were ex ...
.[
By 2015, Hodinkee was known as the most respected influential online resource in the traditional watch industry.][
In 2018, at age 35, Clymer was named to '' Crain's New York Business'' 40 Under 40 list.]Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
' creative director Pierre-Alexis Dumas.Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' 40 under 40 list, in the category of Media and Entertainment.
Personal life
Clymer is an avid collector of watches and cars, and his collection has been featured in '' GQ'' and ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
and actor and comedian Aziz Ansari.[ Clymer's vintage Porsche 356 ]Zagato
Zagato is an independent coachbuilding company and total design centre located northwest of Milan in Terrazzano, a small village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. The company's premises occupies an area of 23,000 square metres (250,000 sq ft)- 11,000 of ...
Coupe was featured in ''The Wall Street Journal''[ He is also the proud owner of an un-pristine 1967 Porsche 911S.]
References
External links
*
Clymer on 'Cuse Conversations Podcast in 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clymer, Ben
Living people
1982 births
21st-century American businesspeople
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni
People from New York (state)
Syracuse University alumni