Chase Pion says preparation, passion and people define his path from investment banker to entrepreneur. Today, the University of Virginia graduate is leading Bezel, a fast-growing startup connecting buyers and sellers of high-end, pre-owned watches. He credits his mix of financial discipline and team-first leadership to his time at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.
A foundation in finance
A Jefferson Scholar from Los Angeles, Pion came to UVA to study business at the Commerce School and build a strong foundation for success.
“I chose UVA specifically because of the fact that McIntire was there,” he said. “I was going to hopefully be able to get an undergraduate business education versus a more liberal arts education somewhere else.”
That decision paid off quickly. He landed an internship at J.P. Morgan after his third year and found himself well-prepared.
“When I got into training, I quickly realized that those from McIntire were a lot further ahead,” he said. “I definitely felt like I had a leg up based on the curriculum.”
Pion says his lifelong fascination with watches inspired him to co-found Bezel, a startup that authenticates luxury timepieces and connects buyers and sellers in the secondary market. (Contributed photo)
Pion credits two courses – Global Macro Investing with Chris Shumway, and Private Equity with professor Felicia Marston – for shaping his career. Shumway’s hedge fund-style seminar sparked his interest in investing, while Marston’s course sharpened his understanding of private markets. That experience led to an early opportunity at a hedge fund affiliated with Shumway.
“It was relatively unusual to make the jump so early,” Pion said. “But McIntire gave me the building blocks to take that leap.”
The birth of Bezel
Pion’s fascination with watches began at age 10. Later, as he became more financially stable, he began collecting timepieces. As his passion grew, he and his childhood friend Quaid Walker, also a watch aficionado, noticed a glaring problem impacting potential purchases: counterfeits.
“We realized quickly that it was really difficult to collect in the secondary market because of the counterfeit risk,” he said. “We were surprised that a business like Bezel didn’t exist in the secondary watch space already.”
In 2021, Pion and Walker returned to Los Angeles to launch Bezel with a third co-founder, Darryl Johnson. They borrowed inspiration from sneaker resale platforms that had mastered authentication. Their solution? Keep authentication in-house.
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