I just came back from a 2 week trip to China and Hong Kong. Thanks to TC, I met a representative from the company that bought out wm9. According to the rep, wm9 was owned by the Ku's family and another partner. The Ku's family is mainly the father and the son. Some other family members also worked there. Roger Ku was the father who's also the designer and master watchmaker. Wm9 George told me on Jan 1, 2010 Roger Ku passed away on Dec 20th. The last email I got from George was June 9, 2010. The rep I met told me the young Ku, the son, died in a car crash around June 2010. The rep remembered the young Ku was a stylish man, loved to drive fast, crashed his Lamborghini and died around June 2010. Was George the son? I have no way to confirm it because I never asked George's last name and the rep doesn't know the young Ku's English name. I can't help but feel a sense of loss. It's one thing George stopped emailing me since June 2010. It's another thing to think of him dead. I seriously hope George is not the son. He's just somewhere on a beach, sipping a Mai Tai. I anyhow feel bad the Ku's were gone.
When the Ku's were alive, they split the market with their partner like this: the partner took Asia and the Ku's took the rest of the world. So wm9 was a brand that belonged to the Ku's. All in all, it's one company that made all the watches. When I was reselling for wm9, George told me not to sell to Asia. I now understand why.
With the Ku's gone, the remaining partner bought out the whole company. I tried to call the current company the new wm9. That's not quite appropriate because the owner was never part of wm9 even it's the same company/factory that made the wm9 watches and makes the current TC subs
Added 5/17/2012: I forgot about this. On April 25, 2010, on explaining why so much delay in shipping my components, George wrote "My cousin Allan was poisoned by carbon monoxide on Mar 27. He hasn't wake up since the accident and is like a vegetable since. We're the only two family members in this business. So, I have to take care of his part as well". Allan was the one who took care of shipping things. When I talked to the rep of the current company, I asked if the young Ku had a cousin that was poisoned by carbon monoxide, he said yes immediately. Said he's still in a vegetative state. I hate so much to accept George was the young Ku. But all the data seems to point to one conclusion.
-bk
When the Ku's were alive, they split the market with their partner like this: the partner took Asia and the Ku's took the rest of the world. So wm9 was a brand that belonged to the Ku's. All in all, it's one company that made all the watches. When I was reselling for wm9, George told me not to sell to Asia. I now understand why.
With the Ku's gone, the remaining partner bought out the whole company. I tried to call the current company the new wm9. That's not quite appropriate because the owner was never part of wm9 even it's the same company/factory that made the wm9 watches and makes the current TC subs
Added 5/17/2012: I forgot about this. On April 25, 2010, on explaining why so much delay in shipping my components, George wrote "My cousin Allan was poisoned by carbon monoxide on Mar 27. He hasn't wake up since the accident and is like a vegetable since. We're the only two family members in this business. So, I have to take care of his part as well". Allan was the one who took care of shipping things. When I talked to the rep of the current company, I asked if the young Ku had a cousin that was poisoned by carbon monoxide, he said yes immediately. Said he's still in a vegetative state. I hate so much to accept George was the young Ku. But all the data seems to point to one conclusion.
-bk
