Nico Leonard

Nico Leonard
Born	Nico Leonard van der Horst (1987-08-21) August 21, 1987 (age 38) [1] Alphen aan de Rijn, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch [2]
Occupations	YouTuber businessman
Children	2
YouTube information
Channel	Nico Leonard
Genres	Horology Humor vlog
Subscribers	1.93 million
Views	653 million
Last updated: 25 October 2025[ needs update ]

Nico Leonard van der Horst better known as Nico Leonard (born August 21, 1987) is a Dutch YouTuber, a watch expert or an enthusiast, and an entrepreneur^{[ citation needed ]} credited with a genre of YouTube videos that centers on high-end watches, being the biggest watch-related YouTube channel and largest cross-platform creator regarding horology. Amongst other businesses, Leonard founded and owns luxury watch boutique Pride and Pinion, headquartered in Belfast.

Early life

Van der Horst was born on August 21, 1987 in Alphen aan de Rijn and lived in Leiden. He was mainly raised in a middle-class household. He moved to Northern Ireland in 2013 ^[3] to start working in a watch company. Leonard founded "Pride and Pinion" in 2019 and has been the director since. ^[4] Leonard also founded, owns and directs clothing company GodTier, The Vault Competitions ^[1] and The Watch Repair Centre ^[1]

YouTube career

Channel (2019–present)

Leonard's channel started as Pride and Pinion as an extension of his watch boutique in 2019 and later rebranded to Nico Leonard to depict his personal life in vlogs in a less formal manner. The channel surpassed 1 million subscribers in early 2023. ^{[5] [6]}

Outspokenness

Leonard became known for his informal tone, something that earned him a sizeable following yet some distance within members of the watch community. Leonard has been a vocal and avid critic of Swiss brand Hublot. ^[7]

Personal life

Leonard is married and the couple has two children. ^[8]

References

1. "Companies owned by Nico Leonard van der Horst; UK Gov". August 27, 2023.
2. "Expert Reveals Cost of YouTuber Watches". August 27, 2023.
3. "Techie Gamers: Interview with Nico Leonard". August 27, 2023.
4. "Pride and Pinion". August 27, 2023.
5. Kessler, Sam (June 21, 2023). "A Conversation with YouTube's Watch Expert Nico Leonard".
6. "Feature: Top 25 Channels Watch Enthusiasts Should Follow". www.watchfinder.co.uk.
7. Lazazzera, Milena (May 30, 2023). "How 'rude' YouTube reviews are driving watch sales". Vogue Business.
8. "'The most expensive watch I ever sold cost $7 million – I can't tell you who bought it, but I can tell you how to spot a fake'". www.independent.ie. December 20, 2022.