SPECIAL 4/20 EDITION: Unique 420Waldos Watches By Time Concepts Celebrate 4/20 This Year With New Line Benefitting Cannabis Reform Efforts, Illuminating The Dark, and Featuring Cannabis Leaf At 4:20

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AUTHOR: Heather Allman

PUBLISHER: CANNABIS LAW REPORT

 

Time Concepts Introduces 420Waldos Collection

New watch collection features a revolutionary new illumination technology while supporting legalization of cannabis

***USE CODE CLR4CHANGE = 20% OFF***

 

Time Concepts is introducing a new watch brand, 420Waldos™, that was conceived with a specific purpose in mind – a commitment to support organizations that work to reform cannabis laws and support legalization.

The 420Waldos brand strives to advocate for public and political support of cannabis legalization, education, and continuing research. Medicinal cannabis has been shown to help with a wide array of ailments, and 420Waldos believes it should be legalized so it can bring relief to those needing it. 

The belief that EVERY adult from coast to coast should be provided access to safe and legal cannabis has led the brand to support this effort by donating a portion of the proceeds from every watch sale to organizations working to change cannabis laws, such as the Drug Policy Alliance and NORML.  

Currently about 3/4 of the United States have legalized medicinal cannabis but it is 420Waldos goal to help support further change in our federal laws.  

 

About The Waldos

The term “420Waldos” originates from a story dating back to 1971 when five friends from Marin County, California would meet every day after school along a wall by the statue of Louis Pasteur at 4:20pm to smoke cannabis, and decide what mischief they might get into that afternoon.

Their classmates coined them the “420Waldos” and thus the 420 moniker was born. Today 420 is a globally recognized term representing cannabis. The Waldos’ story and the growing cannabis movement in the U.S. inspired the 420Waldos watch collection.

 

 

Documented Founders of 420

There have been many misconceptions, fallacies, falsehoods, and media inaccuracies about the beginnings of ‘420, and even about The Waldos. Rogues and fogged burnouts turn up across the internet claiming they started ‘420’, fictionally making up dates that precede The Waldos creation date with their revisionist history

Unfortunately, as things grow in popularity, sometimes people “crawl out of the woodwork” to claim they were part of it. The Waldos are the only true account, supported by years of mainstream media scrutiny and historical evidence

The Waldos are the only ones with multiple pieces of physical evidence proof of the very earliest usage of the term ‘420’. In fact, The Waldos are the only ones in the world with any proof at all. The Waldos story/proof of 420 origination has been investigated, and verified by numerous credible journalistic news organizations. The Waldos are the real creators of the term 420.

 

Still Friends Today

As teens, The Waldos were a unique group hell-bent on unusual adventures known as Waldo Safaris”- all resulting in a continuous flow of slang, catch phrases, impersonations, and distinct vocal noises. The story of the beginning of ‘420’ was only the tip of the iceberg of Waldo adventures and antics. Sometimes compared to the 1960’s Merry Pranksters,

The Waldos are still together as a group, still friends, living in Marin/Sonoma Counties and carrying on with their adventures and inside Waldo humor.

 

The 420Waldos brand launches with two series, Bud (41mm) and Mary Jane (34mm). Both offer a wide mixture of colored dials housed in stainless steel cases with scratch resistant, hardened mineral glass crystals.

A leaf at 4:20 on each dial adds a fun, casual flavor to the simple design. The various color leather straps are made of soft calfskin and have easy on/off spring pins that allow for quick strap changes in a matter of seconds.

The watches are powered by Japanese Quartz movements to ensure accuracy and dependability.

The 420Waldos™ watch brand features a revolutionary new illumination technology – Visible247 – with miniature light receptive crystals molded into polymer watch di als that results in the highest performing photo luminescent injection molded polymers ever created. When exposed to any light source for 10 minutes, the 420Waldos watch dial will glow in the dark for at least 10 hours, a much more durable glow than has been possible until now.

“Having worked with one superior luminous technology for so long with my former brand, I was particularly enthused to discover and launch another new lume technology to both the watch market and the consumer world” said Barry Cohen, Time Concepts founder. “It seems my career has been centered on bringing superior lume technologies to the watch category and the consumer market, this time with a remarkable breakthrough that takes photo luminescence to a level never achieved before”

On March 31, 2021, I talked with Barry Cohen, Founder and CEO of 420WALDOS about the backstory behind the “4:20” terminology, the 420 Waldos members, the new watch line benefiting cannabis reform, and much more.

Enjoy the 420 tale below and think about making a purchase for yourself using our CLR4CHANGE promo code for 20% off. It will help fund organizations such as NORML and the Drug Policy Alliance, plus it’s a phenomenal watch, in the author’s opinion.

 

 

CLR: Tell me about 420WALDOS. What is the mission and vision behind 420WALDOS? How does it align with your personal mission?

Barry: We launched the 420Waldos watch brand for one purpose – to donate to organizations that are working to achieve legalization of medicinal cannabis at the federal level since the fed are far behind the states that now have approximately 40 states that have legalized medical cannabis.  

 

CLR: What do you do in your line of work that you feel makes the most impact overall and why? 

Barry: Interestingly nothing in my career historically ever helped others until now when I decided it was time in my life to give back, and this is exactly what this brand is all about – giving back to support a worthy cause.  

To date, we have donated to both the Drug Policy Alliance and NORML every quarter and will continue to do so for every watch sold.  

CLR: Anything particularly challenging about running a premium brand in today’s market?

Barry: Not sure I’d refer to our brand as premium in that it carries a retail of only $150 (and is often offered with special promotional discounts below this), but we do pay strict attention to the quality of the materials and the build of our watches, so while it might not be what is termed as premium in the watch world they are very well made.  

 

CLR: How did you get started in making Cannabis-related products?

Barry: This is the only cannabis related product I’ve been involved with.  I’m from the watch industry but believe in the medicinal values of cannabis and thought perhaps I could do something to support the cause toward legalization, so we decided to add this to our stable of watch brand for his purpose.    

 

 

CLR: When and how did you personally first discover the public potential of cannabis and Cannabis-related goods and services?

Barry: Well, I discovered cannabis way back in the 1970s so that is not new to me at all, but over the past several years I’ve come to discover its medicinal properties by reading about this, and this is what prompted the thought to try to help with the push for legalization.   

 

CLR: Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Barry: Depends which of my companies.  I founded and owned a watch brand called Luminox back in 1989 that I was fortunate enough to guide that to become an international brand, but 420Walodos is in a separate watch company called Time Concepts, and within this company we have four brands, one of which is 420Waldos.  I can’t think of any particular tale that would be of special interest to others, but for me the most interesting aspect of my business is conceiving of watch brands and the products within them and especially working on the design of each model.     

 

CLR:  What is it about your position or job in general that most attracted you to it?

Barry:  I guess it was being my own boss, if you will – to be able to do what I want and when I want, and not need to answer to others telling me what to do.  My career began in a corporate entity working for one of the divisions of General Mills and I knew fairly quickly this was not what I wanted to do.  

 

CLR:  What do you enjoy most about your job? The upsides?

Barry: The conceiving of brands and the individual models within each brand, and especially designing each model, paying strict attention to the nuances of each design.  

 

 

CLR:  What are the downsides?

Barry:  I suppose one is watching the world of retail change over the past decades with conglomeration of retailers, and buyers no longer able to truly express their individuality by creating unique departments.  Today it is all cookie-cutter in the major stores with them all carrying the same goods for the most part.  I hate this and think that for the most part the loser in all this is the consumer.   

 

CLR: How did you earn your current reputation for quality and trustworthiness?

Barry:  Well, I live my life ethically and can’t imagine doing it any other way, so that I suppose comes from within and was probably a function of how I was brought up.  As for quality, I just can’t understand not wanting to focus on it.  I mean why bother to make junk?  Where is the pride in that?  For us, quality is job one, and always will be.  We want to be proud of the goods we make and usually are …. very much so.  

 

CLR: Usually, there can be two distinct kinds of cannabis industry players and brands, direct or ancillary: (1) compassionate or people-centric, and (2) capitalistic or profit-centric. How do you reconcile the two in order to maintain a balance at 420WALDOS?

Barry:  We don’t.  This brand was not created for profit.  We don’t want to go out of business but we did this for only one reason – to donate to support a cause we believe in, and we donate up to 20% of the proceeds of all sales for every watch sold.  

 

 

 

 

 

CLR:  In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by cannabis executives — that are possibly not faced by their business peer counterparts?

Barry:  I really don’t know that cannabis, per se. is not my industry.  Watches that support cannabis legalization is our industry.  But I would imagine the biggest issue for those in the actual cannabis space is how to deal with the banking issues since cannabis is not legal federally and this is what we are trying to support that would help those in the purely cannabis space to help with this issue they deal with.  

 

CLR:  Who taught you about or how did you learn your entrepreneur and business skill set?  Do you have a mentor, concerning the cannabis-related consumer goods industry? 

Barry: I had no mentor in the cannabis world.  I’ve had a few in the business world however that I worked with and witnessed how they dealt with things and learned by being with them.  

 

CLR:  How is your actual job different than the job/role you thought it would be?

Barry:  Well, I’ve been at the same job now for more than 30 years so it is no different that it has been.  It is just different brands today than it was in the past.   

 

CLR:  Tell me about your INITIAL launch 420WALDOS — the idea? the execution? the product offerings? 

Barry:  It is very simple really.  We designed some basic design timepieces in the hope they would have a wide appeal to a wide array of consumers.  We did add a unique illumination system that enables the dials to glow all night which is pretty cool and allowed us to use a brand slogan of Get Lit! —with its dual entendre’ as a sort of pun.   

 

 

 

CLR: Tell me a little about the options 420 WALDOS is offering and why now?

Barry:  Our collection is what it is, and it is great as it is, with 12 larger size models called Bud, and 17 smaller size models called Mary Jane.  Within this, the consumer can find a great mix of available colors and strap choices that ought to satisfy all consumers.  

 

CLR:  Let’s go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility. Talk to me about “positive impact” and what that means for you? For 420WALDOS? 

Barry:  We want to donate as much as we can to help effect change for the better.  

 

CLR: What is 420WALDOS working on currently? What are you most currently passionate about?

Barry:  We are trying to figure out how to get watches to some luminaries in the space in the hope they might give us some love on social media, and with their celebrity status this would go a long way to create greater awareness of our brand and its mission.  

Our world is so different today and influencers make such a huge difference in establishing and building products.  For example,  if we were lucky enough for Seth Rogen or Snoop Dogg to get one of our watches and tout it on their social feeds, this would change everything for us and this brand and create huge awareness — that in the end would result in more and more we can donate. 

The 420Waldos brand is not to accrue personal wealth at all but rather to try to do some good.  If anyone knows these guys, please tell them about our watches and mission.  

 

CLR: What business-related advice that you know NOW would you want to offer yourself when you just started out?

Barry:  Funny.  I recall back in 1983, a guy that was a big success in the costume jewelry business for decades that used to let me use his showroom in the LA Mart told me one thing.  He said, “Do yourself a favor and get the hell out of this business,” as he envisioned exactly what happened with retail stores conglomeration and how this would make it so much more difficult to sell goods into stores than it had been before. 

He was right about that, but I kept at it anyway.  

 

 

CLR: If people only focus on one thing about cannabis and the 50-year old, upcoming 420 holiday right now, what should that focus be on?

Barry: From our perspective, we’d ask them to treat themselves and buy a watch for themselves that they will enjoy for years to come, and war it proudly as it will express their support of cannabis … and in the process help us to help the industry by enabling us to donate more and more to the cause of legalization.   

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Time Concepts provided me with a complimentary 420Waldos watch for the purposes of this article, and I am thoroughly impressed by the sheer craftsmanship —from the beautiful, creative design, to the premium quality components, to the memorable, cultural 4:20 representation.

To buy one and fight for cannabis change, visit 420Waldos and use code CLR4CHANGE in the promo code box for a savings of 20% off regular price. 

The 420Waldos watch is a premiere and classic timepiece with a unique design and noble intentions, donating 20% of all profits from the sale of these watches to drug reform organizations fighting back.

 

About Time Concepts

Time Concepts, LLC was started in 2007 by Barry Cohen, during his 27-year career as founder, former owner and CEO of the Swiss-made Luminox watch company, responsible for making the official watch of the Navy SEALs, which established Luminox as a global brand in the 1990’s. The company was established as a platform to develop Private Label watches after receiving ongoing requests to develop watches for other brands or retailers, and later added their own brands including Szanto vintage inspired watches, Hawaiian Lifeguard Association dive watches, and the recently launched Bia sports watch, that supports the women’s empowerment movement. 

 

Time Concepts develops watches in Switzerland and Asia, and uses only top-quality manufacturers, with most watches manufactured in a dust-free, temperature and humidity controlled clean-room environment to ensure years of dependable service. For a full list of products and additional information, please visit the Time Concepts website online.   

 

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