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Hilary Jay joins David Newman to discuss her wild journey from wearing heirloom diamond watches in college to cofounding Maximal Art, a brand that pioneered the "watch bracelet" and reached 2,000 stores worldwide. Hilary shares how a chance connection with the Thompson Twins in 1980s London turned a hobby of making collages into a global business that adorned stars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. She pulls back the curtain on the "Watch Bracelet" phenomenon, revealing how her designs ended up in prestigious museums like the Louvre and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The conversation takes a dramatic turn as Hilary recounts the "Great Radium Recall," where OSHA with Geiger counters discovered her vintage dead stock dials were radioactive. From celebrity parties in Paris to navigating high stakes product recalls, Hilary illustrates how a career in design is like a game of "Barrel of Monkeys," where every unique pivot leads to the next adventure.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 : Early Connections
- Hilary remembers wearing Victorian diamond watches from her grandmother as bracelets in college.
- She explains why it never mattered if those early watches actually worked as long as they were beautiful jewelry.
02:26 : Meeting John Wind
- How a college friendship built on date nights making collages turned into a global business partnership.
- The journey from art school in England to finding unique pieces at the Bricklane Flea Market.
03:51 : The Thompson Twins
- The unexpected phone call from Alana of the Thompson Twins that launched a jewelry company.
- Delivering handmade pieces to Paris and partying all night with 1980s rock stars.
06:06 : The Jewelry Collage
- Discovering watch dials in bags of junk and embedding them in resin with pearls and chains.
- How Maximal Art became known for jewelry collage and produced thousands of unique pieces.
08:45 : The Watch Bracelet
- Finding a box of non-functional watches from a lawyer with a side gig in watch repair.
- The birth of the watch bracelet which eventually landed in the collection of the Louvre.
10:25 : Influencer Marketing
- Using old fashioned PR to get jewelry onto album covers and into the hands of Michael Jackson.
- Why giving away pieces to celebrities like Janet Jackson and Patti LaBelle was the ultimate growth strategy.
12:51 : The Functionality Shift
- Transitioning from purely cosmetic pieces to watches that actually served a horological purpose.
- The challenge of finding manufacturers and the risk of being knocked off by your own factory.
20:28 : The Radium Crisis
- The terrifying moment OSHA showed up at a retail store with Geiger counters to test her jewelry.
- Executing a massive recall across Neiman Marcus and Saks after discovering dead stock dials were radioactive.
25:55 : Advice for Makers
- Hilary shares the reality of the trade show market and the challenge of building a business today.
- Why finding your bliss is more important than chasing big financial returns in a small enterprise.
30:44 : The Barrel of Monkeys
- Viewing a multifaceted career as a series of iterations that hook into one another.
- Why the ability to iterate and use design thinking is the secret to a long and interesting career.
A watch does not have to work to be a masterpiece, but it probably should not be radioactive.
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Oct 27 202646 mins