To celebrate today's re-release of the Don, we sat down with Nixon co-founders Andy Laats and Chad DiNenna to talk about this iconic Nixon watch.
Keep reading to see our interview with Chad and Andy on the Nixon Don.
Nixon Co-Founders Interview on the Don
What was the goal with the Don design? Who was the watch for?
The Don was our highest positioned watch when the brand first launched into retail in the Summer of 1998. [It was] one of seven original models at launch.
Traditionally watches sold in specialty sport stores had nylon or rubber bands whereas the Don had a solid stainless steel linked bracelet, elevating the style of the watch beyond traditional sport watches.
The original Don (and the Gold Don) had some innovative features that continue to exist in today’s Nixons: a raised bezel to protect the crystal, and 10M water resistance on a style piece, because we wanted to have a “nice” watch but didn’t want to have to take off the watch when we surfed.
Where did the name "Don" come from?
The [Nixon] team represents the best of the best and the only way to get onto the team was selection by team vote. At that time, one of the most referenced films by our team was The Godfather and Don Corleone ran the family. He was the boss and the Don was our boss for the introductory line.
Is there one version of the Don that stands out above the rest from Nixon history?
The Blue Don in the first introduction is pretty meaningful because it was also one of our best selling watches at the launch and held that position for the first few years. The next memorable version for me was the Gold Don. We only produced them in 2001 and it was a gift from the team at the inaugural Nixon JibFest. Each participant received a custom engraved version of that classic watch.
Are there any interesting stories from the Don lifecycle that you would want to share?
The very first production sample went straight to the surf team who was traveling through the south of France. We needed our first images of the team wearing the watches and once the photo shoot was done, surfer Jon Rose who didn’t have enough $$ to pay for his hotel room promptly traded his/our very first Don watch for 2 nights stay in his Hossegor hotel room.
Why did we choose the Don for a re-release?
The Don was/is one of the most requested original models to be brought back. We had originally held back 106 Gold Dons in our archive. After a couple of warehouse moves, these watches went unnoticed in a dark corner of the warehouse for over 20 years until the recently resurfaced. [They are] a little dusty and have some small dents on the packaging, but the watches are just as cherry as the first day they arrived at Nixon.
