I Confronted The Watch Expert Worth $25.6 Million | Nico Leonard

meet the most famous watch dealer on the planet Nico Leonard he's best known for roasting celeb watches selling multi-million dollar timepieces and being the most subscribed watch expert

ever but it wasn't always this way today I want to understand what makes Nico Tech this means diving into his background his businesses and his

deepest insecurities this is a story you

don't want to miss a second of as you've never seen him open up like this before this is something I haven't um in many years if you know what I mean so let's wind his racks the richest story back to the beginning now as I understand it you were brought up in Amsterdam and you moved to Ireland so what initiated that big move a change in life and either the change in life desperately being unhappy being lost just a change of scenery change of friends I wasn't rolling in the red circles and I wanted to achieve something in my life I just wanted to be happy and I wasn't so what was the dream I had the opportunity to prove myself in Northern Ireland playing football I moved to Northern Ireland packed everything I had but unfortunately I broke my ankle in literally my first month so your dreams came shattering down there so how did that feel mentally I mean that's uh that puts a big void in your life I was devastated achieving becoming a footballer that was my main goal it was all I knew I wasn't doing well at school I don't have any diplomas that's all I wanted to do and that's all I did when I was younger I didn't achieve it I let my parents down and I've lived with that for many years after my parents gave up everything for me to to make the to clear the road so I can play football and I can maybe even make it a job I remember my first surgery and my left knee it was just a simple surgery you called a meniscus surgery drill three holes to do a camera and fix whatever they fix and over with we all thought that was it but all of a sudden listen to First surgery we found the problem and we couldn't fix it and it's like okay talk to me how do we fix it it's like we'll have to reconstruct your entire knee and this and that and it's like but like what does that mean it meant like that I had like five or ten percent chance to play football again that's the first time I've ever seen my father cry that was rough at that time I have never experienced pain in my life like it right if you're ever in a moment of absolute desperation ask yourself this question God if you exist show yourself because now I need you the most don't put that [ __ ] off camera please but I [ __ ] you but the thing is it's 17 you're not equipped to be able to deal with these emotions are you no trouble this is something I haven't um in many years if you know what I mean so wow I don't know if I told myself this fell asleep I don't know whatever it is because I always try to look at things very rational black and white but damn right I had a period where I had no pain how to break me in that way like [ __ ] me you see the ball or what thank you Brian opinion in the watch business as it is today is the first time I actually succeed in life after everything I've done I didn't do well at school in anything I've ever done every job I've ever had I got fired do you have a problem with authority yes significantly yeah and I'm always late as well yeah I mean I have a similar problem with being bossed around at work and I think we resigned in a similar way I mean I literally had enough and I went that's it I'm going there's my notice I'm off and I think you had a similar situation I remember me driving into the office and you need to go into the basement and that's the parking your Park up and I remember opening the door and I stepped out of the car and I knew when I looked around that this was going to be the last time I'm going to be here it's really weird and I resigned there and then within 15 minutes I jumped back in the car here guys look at it it's a safe job wow so what you see here is basically everything from about a thousand pounds upwards to a half a mil to even further than that from extremely rare vintage to really cool quirky watches everything you see is watches that I really love and that's what I want to display watches that I love that's the watches I want to sell that's why I don't sell certain brands I refuse to sell certain brands because I just don't like them it's passion above profit that's how I approach it so you didn't have a job you didn't have any plans what was your first move funnily enough in any of my companies that I have I've never written a business plan I just knew I just wanted to go into the watch world I always I'm obsessed with watches and I fixed and repaired watches as a side hustle making a few quid but how do you make money with watches and that's literally where I looked at I can either go ahead with repairing and fixing watches but I'm not making really good money not good enough to maintain myself let's try sell it then so what was the first watch you bought and sold tutor palagos Breitling navidimer and a Rolex datejust reference number one six two three four black dial so stray in straight in no kissing no plan B if you give yourself the slightest possibility did you have a safety net or there's an exit and you'll never ever push yourself to the Limit never well selling one or two watches is one thing but scale in that how did you bridge the gap I got a lot of help a lot of incredible people um I was a I'm a foreigner in a country that isn't mine selling watches with a bit of my car I mean that's mad isn't it that's [ __ ] mad I don't get why people actually trusted me at the time I wouldn't have like a guy that no one knows who are you I could have easily swapped it for a fake one that's not me in my small way I wanted to make a small impact on the watch industry so how does it feel to have this Vault here with this massive collection of watches it is a really special feeling I'm not very often in the shop anymore but to give you an idea when I started my business and when I got the shop fitted and it cost me about 26 or 25 000 pounds to fit the store up and that was the last money I had at the time I didn't really have any watches because I had to sell everything to build the shop I said here on that chair for two and a half years every single day at eight o'clock sharp till six o'clock every single day including a Sunday so just try to sell some watches and the funny videos I didn't even have a cart machine I've sat on that chair for two and a half years every day no daylight nothing just to build the business to where it is now it's unbelievable like it's great in it so what's the most expensive watch you've ever sold because that's got to put you on such a high as well the most expensive what's up my team and myself I've ever sold was seven million US Dollars seven million dollars so was that one lump sum here's a watch here's seven million dollars no it was different it was here's the money here you have the watch in Reverse so you always mention your team and you're very respectful of those yeah why couldn't you have made it on your own you're only as good as the people you have around you right and I have incredible people around me right and genuinely to scale a business you can no one can ever skill a business alone it's impossible you can have an idea you can have Visionary you're not a superhuman right I am not very good at organizing things I am most probably the most chaotic person on the planet but if I commit to something I do it and I will finish that job why I wouldn't be able to do it with my team is because everyone has his qualities well I think the mark of a good businessman is to recognize someone that can do something better than yourself and as soon as you get to that stage you keep recognizing parts of your business that can be done better by someone else yeah exactly hello oh yeah all right Stephanie leave mark Ashley did you say yeah all right so this is where the magic happens admin offers my personal life and all sorts of things are being arranged here I mean that's a job I like the mural on the wall so this is the Amsterdam Arena this is a surprise this was Stephen's surprise uh whenever we moved in a bit of home it's and a pitch I was supposed to play more magic James is all those photos did you see on Instagram these beautiful [ __ ] photos that's James exactly so everything was going well so was it plain sailing from there on not really no tell me about it covered head covert changed my life the coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades clothes all shops you must stay at home our business stopped me no one was buying nothing I didn't know what to do I was panicking I took off my stock and sold as a big losses I gave up on my company on the first week of lockdown I gave up I just gave up it was done I failed the game I'm disa I'm a disappointment again I slept with you for a long time this disappointment thing yes yeah not being good enough no that's my entire life I always had the feeling I had to fight and prove myself after a week of feeling sorry for myself I just mind up and the first thing I did is I called Stephen the manager at Goldsmith Stephen I know we've talked about this from for a very long time and I always joked about but I'm dead serious are you joining my business and I don't know if I can afford you but are you joining my business because we because I can't do this alone I can't save this ship the sailing ship that is now floating somewhere without any direction I can't save this myself I need your help there's a quarter of a million here on this bank account with all the [ __ ] I've sold right it's going to be a risk and I'm not going to promise anything but it's gonna it's basically do or die from that moment we started thinking how can we how can we do this we need to fix the website this so what started the YouTube Journey the fact that we needed an alternative way of marketing we needed a different to save the business because that bank account that quarter of a mill was going down very fast and starting YouTube for an older chap isn't the easiest thing in the world to do is it I know are you calling the experience are you calling me older well I'll call myself a young 55 so that's about 45 I'll call you an older 35 so that made you 45 so I reckon we're on a level here all right fair enough but it's quite a daunting thing isn't it starting a YouTube channel it saved my life it saved the business and it gave everyone a job today oh my God this is so official nothing against China oh we got 100 caffeine is good for me film as much as you want it's my baby I will get a tattoo a very good morning from California subscribe you found a niche where you roast celebrities about their watches and watch collections have you ever had any Kickback from that recently I did for the first time yes funny enough I got my first lawsuit wow brilliant did you enjoy opening that I'm actually laughing my balls I was just gonna say did you laugh at it or did you cry because it's one or the other normally no I laugh at it for the simple reason that the person that sues me it's not even in the title of the video or it's not even about this person that just that just was really funny but you know what whenever you have a bit of success in life people will try and grab it three people other get some of that success from you the only thing is this guy is gonna get absolutely nothing the more money you have the more people are trying to grab a bit of it yeah this is me being an absolute [ __ ] amateur right you forgot the keys No I lost the remote to that garage that door and I can't find it for the life of me yeah absolute legendary car you know this car has seen some tarmac I drove this to the south of Spain from Belfast I drove this to Monaco from Belfast this car has been through most of Europe This is a true Grand Tour and a true Ferrari as it should be a V12 it's a lovely machine you also got a G wagon is what I understand aye the G-Wagon G63 unbelievable card a piece just like noise so you're currently the most famous watch expert on the planet what's life like now you know what Fame is the biggest drug in the world by a mile now I have no experience with cocaine I was going to ask that have explained this is natural you all right that's not this is natural to me but it is the biggest drug that I know of it's given me so much confidence I've lagged 99 of my life it given me a purpose it given me it's given me a voice something I always felt I never had so that's how it feels incredible and uh yes I'm incredibly grateful for that so I guess the follow-up question is where'd you spend your money I had a period where when I first started making some real good money I had a period where I was bought all sorts of designer clothes and private jets and all sorts of things I was really living that lifestyle but you know what I had to do that to get it out your system of my system right and my and this is how important your surroundings are my surroundings literally pulled me out of it uh the people that I have around me and and Johnny and Steven and Mrs everyone so wise up Nico right spending 20 grand to go to the Netherlands on a private jet when you can get an EasyJet wise up now I'm spending money on wiser things such as Stephen really got me back involved in football right Stephen had this idea the sponsor of football club a northern Irish Premiership football club called Lauren FC life goes in mysterious ways well I always think you can't leave a passion in the past because when you've been so passionate about something it's going to crop up later on yeah which it has with you that fear that I always have in me was slowly going away all of a sudden I started to meet the players as a sponsor and I felt the dressing room again something I missed for so many years like being in a dressing room with your boys even if you play Sunday League all the painter that is oh that's just special just felt like I was part of something they're pretty cool isn't it it's unreal I want to have fun and and bring passion bring my passion into football and make try to make a small impact and add value to the community and value to Northern Ireland is a country Northern Ireland there's a league and value is the key where all the sacrifices you made along the way worth it every bit of misery every tier every sacrifice every pain everything has brought me to where I am now this is maybe a really stupid question but have you ever stood in front of a mirror butt naked and looked at yourself like you're a [ __ ] piece of [ __ ] that moment when you stand in that mirror when you feel so unhappy there is not a moment in life where someone feels worse than that 100 because the only person that you should love is yourself first if you don't even love yourself how can you expect to love someone else Well you certainly made an impact [ __ ] right I uh yeah I think so yeah I just wanted to sell watches in Belfast just out of the small first out of my card and out of a small shop never in my life did I think that I would even be remotely close to where I am today I think that there's not a single person in the watch world that doesn't know my name it's a bit uh a bit humbling it's special I'm living further than my dream has ever reached it's crazy