A Tale of Two Wristies
The podcast where watch talk feels like late-night café conversation. Join Chris—a U.S.-based watch writer, poet, and comic book creator—and Iman, a playwright from London, as they navigate time zones, trade horological hanky-panky, and share stories about everything from writing to dog ownership.
A Tale of Two Wristies
Episode 27: Our First Wristiversary - Therapy Session, Royal Pop Fiasco, and Audience Questions
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Join Chris and Iman as they celebrate one year of podcasting in the only way they know how…a therapy session!
The Wristies Catch Up:
Chris’s CAMP Glacier Yellowstone Sunnies
Chris’s AP x Swatch ‘Royal Pop’ Release Essay
Some Cool Pakistani Bridal Mehndi Designs
The Tradition of the Joota Chupai
20:30 - Wrist Checks
Chris’s Nomos Club Campus
Iman’s BB58 Bronze (she hasn't posted hers yet, but it looks exactly LIKE THIS)
22:42 - First Annual Wristy Therapy Session
Can Chris Stop Impulse Buying Hype Pieces?
Chris’s Tissot PRX (sold)
Chris’s Studio Underdog Series 02 (sold)
Chris’s Zelos (sold)
Chris’s Dennison Dual Time (hanging on by a damn thread)
Chris’s Clemence Munro (not going anywhere)
Has Iman Become a Watch Snob?
Iman’s Vintage Movado
Iman’s Timex New Yorker
Iman’s SKX
Is Chris’s Dislike for Integrated Bracelets Bullshit?
Chris’s Möels 369
Chris’s Direnzo Mondial
Why Does Iman Think That Size Matters?
59:15 - Audience Questions
@watch_zaddy - Now that the bronze desire is filled, which watches would you like to swap for a month?
@overtime_the_podcast - If you could start your collection again, what watch would be an instant rebuy and why?
@marks.watches - When will you both be adding a Cartier to your collections?
@daytona.grrl - Have you noticed your watch preferences change over time?
@seanaggie - What watch is boring at first glance, but ultimately brilliant?
Follow us on the 'gram:
You'll find us @ataleoftwowristies
Chris is @poppingcrowns
Iman is @ticktick_taptap
And most importantly, our mascot Phantom is @phantom_of_the_pupra
Just starting the hobby? Start with Ep. 11
Two writers, two dogs, two time zones and too many watches. I'm Chris and I'm Imam and this is the tale of Two Rispes, the podcast where Watch Talk meets late night cafe conversation.
SPEAKER_00So pop the kettle on or order your black coffee.
SPEAKER_03And let's get started.
SPEAKER_00Hi Imon.
SPEAKER_03Hi Chris. What's going on? Not much hold on, it's kind of bright.
SPEAKER_00Very cool. I just put on my sunglasses that Iman sent to me for my birthday.
SPEAKER_03I can't get over how you they are.
SPEAKER_00I can't get over it either. I s like I saw, first of all, uh you're one of the only people who can who could get me a gift that I didn't specifically say I like that thing, and I liked it. I know. What what even made you think of these? This is so nice.
SPEAKER_03I didn't want to get you a watch. And I didn't want to get you a watch accessory either, because you know, but you also have told me that you love sunglasses and you have a sunglass collection. I could have gotten you a cap because I know you like caps. I thought actually you have a lot of those, but you probably have fewer sunglasses, but you really like them, and you always have like photos of yourself wearing them. And I thought I'd get you a fun colour to match all your other colours in the wardrobe. And um, so I was just looking for something that felt very crisp, and this felt very crisp.
SPEAKER_00They do, they're so cool. What the brand is Camp? Yeah. They're really cool. They're like big yellow. I'm gonna, I will put a link in the show notes to them because they're cool. Um, but yeah, they're big yellow, and they just fit my face just right. And they have like the these little wood wooden carving designs on the side.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's like a Yellowstone Park kind of collab or something like that. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, they're cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my my my favorite part about them though. I mean, other than the fact that they're cool glasses, they come in a little sleeping bag. Like that's very cute. It's legitimately like a little camping sleeping bag. It's so cute. I am actually going to wear these for a little while. So thank you. It was such a nice surprise to come home to him.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you're so welcome. Well, I wanted it on your birthday, but then I was worried that you were because you were going away. So then I was like, okay, I'll order it to arrive when he gets back. And then what I didn't factor in was like how big America is. And like in in the UK, pretty much everything you can order for next day delivery. Everything. Yeah. America's like five days, six days, two weeks. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00These came from California or Wa Washington State. Yeah. They came from the West Coast, so it's like three and a half thousand miles away. Yes. But they did get here the day you texted me that. Um, like, oh, I got you something, they'll get there eventually. Um I I forgot how huge America is. The day you sent that to me, they came the next day. So great. Perfect.
SPEAKER_03That was quick.
SPEAKER_00So yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um well, I'm glad you like them. Did you have a fun birthday?
SPEAKER_00I did. It was a birthday of solitude. My perfect friend's birthday. Yeah. I go uh so there's the there's mountains on the the western side of Virginia. And I I go there like twice a year for an extended weekend. So I just Airbnb, the same cabin over and over again. And it's great. It's this amazing couple that just built a cabin on their huge property, and it's a tiny cabin, so it's like one room. Um, and I go with Phantom, so it's a it's a vacation for Phantom. And yeah, they have like all they have woods and a uh stream that goes through their property and like acres and acres of trails and stuff through the woods, and I just walk around and explore things with Phantom, come back and do some writing, so it's like a writing getaway for me. And it is a uh Phantom for our listeners is a very anxious dog. Uh so it is hard to find things that she's like cool with and I know won't stress her out. And uh so it is just the perfect spot, and we've been there like four times now since I got Phantom. So um yeah. It was really great. And I tried not to do any work while I'm on this trip. I d I do only writing that is like writing that I want to do for myself. Uh but I did end up writing one watch article while I was gone or essay because I was pissed. What about? Uh no. The so while I was gone, the a the AP swatch royal pop came out. And Iman, I don't know about you, because you were busy and stuff too. So did you see all the craziness?
SPEAKER_03I did. It was like the zombie apocalypse.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it felt like end times. You and I had feelings about the royal pop last week or two weeks ago, before it was an like the actual thing. And I think you and I shared a few messages like I actually liked it, what they came out with. I think it's cool. I think they kept the price down. It's like the same price as the Blanc Pond thing. And I'm like, okay, this is a cool little thing. Um but uh yeah, then they were released while I was gone, and I just saw so many people posting, like cops like pepper spraying, the the people in line, um, stores closing. I forgot how many people like went to the hospital. No one ended up being seriously injured, but people had gone to the hospital for this thing, and uh police were called, and like that's taxpayer money, like going to get police at listen, if people are getting pepper sprayed for the release of a watch, you fucked up as a company.
SPEAKER_01Like Yeah, big time.
SPEAKER_00And I think that was that was what triggered me when I was gone was not that all of this happened, it was all the influencer remarks. I saw just a bunch of people whose response to that was saying, like, oh, people are animals and um people are uncivilized or people are this, and I'm like, no. AP and Swatch knew this was gonna happen. Like, this is a marketing tactic. Like they wanted to be in the news.
SPEAKER_03They wanted this to happen. I think that's what's so egregious to me is like they knew it, they wanted it, and it and it worked. The hype broke through into circles of people who do not care about watches.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, and and and and it's just that like even if 99% of the people are on their best behavior, all it takes is a couple. And that's it. And when you have when you announce a watch and you've hyped it so much that people are sitting in line for two days, three days, you're not functioning on the same brain power as you normally are. You know, you're you're tired, you're hungry, you're waiting for a stupid watch that you don't know if you're gonna get or not. And I don't know. I think the last straw for me was the day, on the day when all of this started happening and they closed stores down, Swatch released a statement saying these are not limited. And I was like, this is information that you could have said before the opening day. So that I yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03It just Well, it was even more opaque than that, wasn't it? The message was like, these are not limited, they'll be available for several months.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Which is like, they are limited. You're just not telling us the limit. I found that to be even more like fueling the fire. Right. Because you're like, oh, months is not actually that long. I can't wait two years until people don't care anymore. It was a great product, but the release was so badly handled that it just leaves such a bitter aftertaste. If I wasn't embarrassed to be a watch collector or watch enthusiast before, now I'm highly embarrassed, especially because this is what normal people see. That's this is what normal people think we are.
SPEAKER_00Right. And well, and that was it too. I had two friends who don't care about watches at all send me text messages with like links to TikTok or Instagram.
SPEAKER_03I had multiple people ask me about this.
SPEAKER_00And literally my friend from work, she was like, What the shit is this? And I'm like, Do you have time for me to do like a dissertation on what this is? Um because I feel like I'll say it and you still won't get it. No, I mean this is a I think every industry that is selling stuff is an industry built on hype because that is what sells products. I think I just think you cross a line when you put people in harm's way. And I think that's exactly what happened. And I'm not saying that SWAT or AP wanted people to get hurt, but I'm saying that if they did and it made the news, they were just sitting back laughing, rolling in the dough, because it made the regular news, not hodinky, not time and tide, not Fratello. It made real news, which is what they wanted, and the only way to do that with a product. And it went viral.
SPEAKER_03Those clips of zombie apocalypse people, like those went viral. So imagine the reach of that on social media of people going, oh, what is this thing? People are like gouging each other's eyes out to get maybe I want it too, just fed on the worst of humanity for profit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And and that's it. Like I did have a couple of people watch people send me a message after they read that essay. Um, and uh one person in particular just said, like, I think you're being maybe a little too critical of of the the companies. And I'm like, I don't think we collectively are being critical enough.
SPEAKER_03I think they absolutely knew this would happen. And that's exactly why they managed the release in the way they did, is because they wanted this to happen.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell Yeah. And and I and I think it is on on us as enthusiasts, but on watch media too, and uh to not entertain this moving forward. Like uh like watch media should not be like, oh, this is a cultural moment. This is a like, no, this is something that should be condemned. Like Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I also I just I can't make sense of the maths of this. Even if you flip it for three times the price, for four times the price, what are you getting? 900 pounds, 1200 pounds profit? That's not worth it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And and you know, it in the the la the last thing I I do I agree. Uh the last thing I do want to say on this is, oh man, I forgot who said it. Uh somebody left a comment on my post for that article. And it was actually really good. It was a comment about flippers, and that how a lot of people in line were flippers just trying to turn the profit, and how we uh as a community always ridicule the flippers. But he brought up a good point and said, Well, you know, do you ever think about the world that we live in and why flippers need to exist? Like why people see that as like a legitimate way to try and make money. You know, is it really on them? Or it just got me thinking. I'm like, oh, you know, there are tons of people who do not get paid a living wage or who have a job where they get a salary and they can't afford to live in the city that they live in. And, you know, they see this, they see this thing come out and they know that they'll be able to flip it for more. Why not try? And I'm like, oh yeah, maybe we are too harsh on the flippers and not looking at the real problem. Um and I don't know. I feel like you could get into like a whole societal examination based around this. But yeah from the perspective of watches, when it it it is not worth it. A company should never ever be putting someone in any sort of danger or potential danger. And yeah, that's that's my that's my piece.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go on a rant on that, but still bugging me clearly.
SPEAKER_03Great. So you had fun in the mountains, wrote one article.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, and you just got back from seeing family.
SPEAKER_03I did. My brother got married in Pakistan, so I flew over on Wednesday, was flying all day Wednesday, landed on Thursday morning early. We had a sort of hangout, get-together thing with the inner circle Thursday night, which was really fun. Um, and there's you sort of play music and hang out, do a dance practice because you we have these kind of very loosely choreographed dances at a Pakistani wedding. Um, so we learnt a couple of dances. Hannah taught everyone to dance too, which was very cool, and then uh yeah, just hung out and sort of ate and stuff. And then the next day was what's called the Mendy, um, which is like the kind of night before the wedding party, and it's usually a lot more fun, a lot more young people, all the dancing is then people wear like brightly coloured clothes, you have henna, so we had henna put on um that's beautiful, and Mendy, in fact, translates as henna, so um it's the kind of Mendy night. Um, and yeah, so we did our dances, and that was super fun, and my brother was just so happy. Um, I gave a very last minute speech because his now wife's um best man, she had a best man, get was giving a speech, and he was like, You have to give a speech because I can't be the only one to give a speech. And I was like, Zahid hasn't asked me to give a speech, and he was like, Zahed, can your sister give a speech? And Zaid said, uh maybe.
SPEAKER_00I don't know, she might be too honest.
SPEAKER_03Anyway, I ended up having to do a very last-minute bullet pointed speech, but that was fun. And my butt I don't know how much you follow football, but my brother is a huge, huge, huge Arsenal fan. So Arsenal won this thing called the Premier League, um, which is a huge football league, uh, which they haven't won in 22 years. So it was a momentous occasion for Arsenal. So my brother was like over the moon. It was like an Arsenal win and a wedding all in one week. It was like the best week of his life. So he was so happy. Um, and then that was Friday, and then Saturday was the actual wedding wedding, which was a really, really moving, sort of very intimate ceremony where they do the kind of formal legal bits, um, which was just kind of family and very close friends. And then we had a bigger party dinner, the kind of a sit-down dinner. It's a more formal occasion, there's no dancing, it's just kind of sit-down dinner with where everyone comes. And yeah, and then and then you do lots of like fun Pakistani traditions. Um, so one of them is called Judiciapai, where um the bride's friends and family steal the groom's shoes, and the groom has to pay money to get his shoes back. And the idea is that with that money, the kind of family and friends of the bride go off for like a dinner or whatever. But you there's a bargaining process that happens. So they steal the shoes and they're like, Okay, let's start this negotiation, and they'll come in at like 500,000 rupees, and we're like, no, no, no, 500 rupees, and then we slowly, slowly get to a figure we agreed on. Um, they really got shortchanged, I think. Poor things. We I so my mother gave me the budget of like the highest we could go in from the groom's fam side in terms of uh what we'd pay for the shoe, the stupid shoes, the worthless shoes. And they didn't even come close, bless them. Um so we negotiated quite a good deal on behalf of my brother. Um, so yeah, there were fun things like that, which uh that does sound fun. Yeah. And then that was Saturday night, and then Sunday morning early. We flew back to London, missed our connection in Istanbul. Um, and when we were landing, we thought we've just had enough time to make the flight, and we were like, if we run across the airport, we'll get there. Um, but as we were landing, I got a text message from the airline being like, You've been on put on a flight for the next day. And I was like, absolutely not, absolutely not. Could also because Banner, Banner only had, I'd only booked dog care up until Sunday evening. And I was like, I can't, he can't be alone for that long. So I we went to the transfer desk and I knew this because actually the brother that got married lived in Turkey. He went to university in Turkey for a few years, and I know the Turks are massive animal lovers, and in fact, Turkish Airlines is one of the few airlines that lets you take your pets on board in the passenger cabin with you. Um, so I was like, look, we have to be there tonight. You have you have to get us there tonight. And they were like, sorry, we're fully booked, we're fully booked. I was like, I have a dog. The dog will die if you don't get us there tonight. So you have to get us there tonight. And they were like, Absolutely, oh, okay, okay, okay, we'll see what we can do. So anyway, they were like, okay, come back after a while, come back after a while, we'll see what we can do. Um, and then we were like put on standby for that evening. Um, and eventually they managed to actually get us on the flight last night. Um, so we got in very late. Banner was fine. Um but it's been a heat wave in London, so we've come back to a very, very hot city. Um, so yeah, that was my trip. I took two watches with me. I took my Black Bay bronze, which I wore, um, on the journey, and in my hand carry I took my Piaget Polo, which I thought would look nice with all my wedding jewellery. Um, and those were the perfect two watches to accompany me. Um, turns out my brother's wife, her brother, is a watch guy because he bought my brother a watch for their wedding. And I was like, Oh, I love the watch you got him, he got him a Hamilton. And he was like, Oh yeah, I actually really love watches. And I was like, Do you? He was like, actually, it's more than love, it's it's an illness.
SPEAKER_00I was like, Really? Do we have a new podcast podcast listener?
SPEAKER_03I was like, I do a podcast about watches. I'm so he was wearing that evening an IWC Spitfire bronze, and then the next day I saw him wearing a Rolex sub. So he's a watch guy.
SPEAKER_00I feel like anyone that has a bronze watch definitely likes watching. Definitely.
SPEAKER_03Cool. Yeah. So that was my trip. What is on your wrist today?
SPEAKER_00Uh I have my gnomos club campus. Oh, so today. Yes. I I put this uh NATO strap that has like flowers and everything all over it on there so it could go with the flower on my on my shirt.
SPEAKER_03Um your wrist is on a tropical holiday.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Whereas I'm still just in Virginia. So uh so yes, I look like I'm on a holiday, but uh that's the fun thing about watches. You could dress them up. So yes, no must club campus. What do you what do you got?
SPEAKER_03I have got my black bay bronze. Chris, I should just sell all my other watches. I'm not wearing anything else.
SPEAKER_00I mean, you'll you'll make some good money and be able to save up for the next one.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I should just quit now while I'm ahead. I love it so much. It's so gorgeous and just so where I I'm obsessed with it. I'm absolutely obsessed with it. I'm so happy I bought it.
SPEAKER_00And I I still I get a kick over like that is just like the weirdest crossover of we both love that particular watch.
SPEAKER_03Um I think that thing you said about it being really warm, the brat the brown dial and the bezel, uh like that is what I feel when I look at it. I feel warm inside and it looks really warm and yeah, I love it.
SPEAKER_00No, you're saying yeah, that uh it's like A comforting warmth, that watch. So oh, I'm glad you feel that too. Um, so uh we haven't mentioned it yet, but this is our 27th episode, and this is our one year, Mar. This is our one-year watch podcast anniversary.
SPEAKER_03Happy anniversary!
SPEAKER_00Happy anniversary. Um yeah, I forgot what day exactly our first episode released, but it was the 20-something of May, I think. And uh, so this is the closest we're getting to a year. Um and yeah, we thought it would be really fun to to do something to mark the year. And I I came up with the uh this is the main segment today, but it's we're doing a risty therapy session. So not necessarily therapy of things that happened over the year, but watch therapy. So Amon and I are gonna take, gonna bounce back and forth being certified watch therapists for for one another. There is no schooling that goes along with this. Just want to say we we don't have official degrees. But uh, but no, I thought it would be nice to examine, examine issues that we have with watches and and and try and talk each other.
SPEAKER_03See if we can help each other.
SPEAKER_00See if we can help. Yeah. Yeah. So uh I guess as this is my idea, maybe, maybe I should go first.
SPEAKER_02Yes, go for it.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So, oh, and this goes along with what we were talking about earlier, a little bit with the AP and uh swatch release. Uh but I have here that uh a thing about hype watches. So this is something I really need to talk to you about. Um that every time I've bought into hype, I've been disappointed. So for me, uh that has been the Tissot PRX, which is and and I don't mean hype as in hard to get, but just hype as in really popular. Um, so the Tissot PRX, the Studio Underdog Pink Lemonade. So when there when Studio Underdog first came out with their series two, um, it was sort of it was like a hot people were just waiting for what the next one would be. I was at a wind up and I just bought it. Um and then I would put every every Zealos I've ever purchased.
SPEAKER_03I didn't know you'd purchased any.
SPEAKER_00I've had three. Um this was all before our podcast ever. Uh so I've had three. And for for folks who don't know, Zealos is a is a independent. I don't know if they're technically micro anymore, but they're independent and they they drop watches a few times a year. And usually they've been better about this recently, but usually they're gone in like minutes. And people like fight over them and try to try to flip them, which is just ridiculous. I didn't know. Um yeah, they're only online, so there's no fighting or pepper spraying that goes along with it. But yeah, they're they're pretty hype. People try to get their hands on them, and yeah, I I end up every time I have bought into a watch like this, I have ended up selling it. I just feel like every time I've been pressured, um, every time something is limited availability, or I feel like I have to be there to to click on buy when something drops, I always end up selling that thing. Um the the one exception I put in my my notes here is that um my my Snoopy is not it's not something I've even had a year yet, but it's not something I can see myself selling. Um so yeah, I wanted to talk about that. Why do I continue to buy uh hyped things? Or um yeah, am I allowing myself to be manipulated by brands? And if so, how do I stop? So that's that's my question.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell Do you see hype as synonymous with quality?
SPEAKER_00Not not always. Because I I don't I I think you can make arguments that like, no, I like I mean, all of these watches I mentioned, the PRX, the Studio Underdog, Pink Lemonade, the Zealous Watch, they're all good quality. And I don't think they're overpriced for what they are. So I don't I don't think I'm paying too much. Um it's just I'm buying something that I don't end up connecting with and I sell it.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Powell So it's not that you see the hype and think, well, it must be really good, therefore I'm gonna get it. And then you're like, oh, actually it isn't as good as I thought it was. It's like it's more a personal, subjective reason of not connecting.
SPEAKER_00Right. Exactly. It it is I don't think that I bought a bad product. I think that I bought something that I just don't personally care about. Like I I think the PRX is a big one. Like I never had like a weird attraction to that one. I understand why a lot of people buy them. Um I'm just like, oh, this is so popular. It must be great. And I've I saw pictures of them, and there was nothing really about it in the pictures and any anything that's like, oh, I gotta have this. But I'm like, I should like I should try one of these because everybody loves these. Yeah. Um I mean, the Tissot was of very low stakes because they're easy to get. But like Studio Underdog, you have to wait for Windows to buy them, or Zealos, you have to, you have to be there to click buy now when they when they drop. And yeah, I I get that feeling of like, well, I should try this because if I don't try this, I'm not gonna be able to try this, and I should I should try it. Every every time I have ever done that, I don't own any of those watches anymore.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Ross Powell Do you not like and I and I think I know the answer to this, but is there something about owning something everyone has that you don't enjoy?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, that that is definitely something for me. I I I don't like owning something that a lot of people have. I I want to get something that feels individual.
SPEAKER_03Um There are exceptions to that rule though, aren't there for you? Sure. Like for example, I would say Denison is quite a hype watch.
SPEAKER_00I'm thinking about selling it. I have I have notes in my I keep uh a note in my phone of um watches for sale, like watches I'm gonna sell, and that one's at the top of the list. Really? Um and and again, it's not because I don't think it's a bad watch. Maybe they're a little overpriced. Um, but they're not not extremely so. Um but yeah, it was it. Like I think it looked nice. I and I was just like, oh, everyone talks about these, like people love these. I think they're cool looking. And then I've I've had it now for since October, and I hardly ever wear it. And it it yeah, it's just oh, it's not me. It's this isn't this doesn't fit me. Um and yeah, it's exactly I it is I should have put it on here, honestly. But I think the only reason I didn't was because I haven't sold it yet.
SPEAKER_03You still have it?
SPEAKER_00I still have it. So so yeah, I I was all about that watch. And I still think they're cool. But when I look at it in the watch box, I'm never like, you know what I want to wear?
SPEAKER_03Um that the other part of your question was like, how do I stop?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So you think what do you think you gain from buying up? Do you do you enjoy owning a hype watch for a small amount of time, or are you kind of like regretting it? And would you just like is there any benefit to buying a hype watch?
SPEAKER_00I know that I have a different view on buying watches than some people do. I I I do like to try things out, but I am never buying something with the thought in mind that I'm going to eventually sell it. I my goal is to always buy something that I think I'm gonna keep. And I have just found that the watches that definitely don't ever get kept are the ones that I buy out of any sort of any sort of hype, any sort of like, oh, everyone says this is great and blah, blah, blah. Every time I buy something like that, I end up selling it. So yeah, I don't, I don't think I'm gaining anything because I do have ways that I can reach out and try these things out for the most part and not buying them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But but um, but yeah, every now and then there's like there is a watch that I I feel like I hear about or or I think or it's limited and I know it's gonna sell out, and I'm like, oh, I should get it. And I can't quiet that thing sometimes. Like I'm good at controlling it most times, but sometimes something gets through. And and I've noticed the pattern where I end up selling that thing. So I'm like, pfft, well, how do I stop now?
SPEAKER_03And have you noticed any patterns in how you buy it? Like PRX accepting the Studio Underdog, the Zealos, the Denison. Are they all well, the Zealos were limited with releases, the Studio Underdog and the Denison were at both bought at Watch Fairs? Is that right?
SPEAKER_00Yes. So the Studio Underdog, I placed the order at the fair. So the people who were at that fair got the first batch of those that came out. So it was right after they announced the release of them. And uh and I ordered it and got it. The Denison, like that's it. The Denison, there was no sort of time or limited cried I knew I'd be able to get it if I didn't buy it at the show. But yeah, I mean, there is that added thing of when you go to a watch show, it always it feel you like you want to buy something. So yeah, that's part of it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And and I guess I wouldn't say that all your purchases at watch fairs are hyped ones. Like I think you really genuinely love your Clements.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah. I genuinely The Clements though wasn't it I thought about that watch for over a year. Like I first saw that watch at um British Watchmaker's Day the year before when I met you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um and you didn't actually buy it at the fair either, did you? You waited.
SPEAKER_00I I bought it from Tom when I went to Scotland.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We were we were sitting having dinner, and I said, I really want to buy one of these. Um I I just needed to think about it and know which one. I mean, amazing dude. He likes he didn't have it where he could go get it because we were out to dinner. But he's like, You're leaving tomorrow morning? Like if you if you're serious and you do really and he was so sweet about it too. He's like, I didn't know like you really liked him. Like and I'm like, Yeah, uh, I I'm like, I do, I really love it. The your price is great. The the the watch itself is and that's what I think I I'm getting. The Clements, they're I think they're they are popular, but he doesn't operate under like a hype thing. He does it's not windows, people do wait for him to get them back in. The Clements, when it comes to money, I think is the amount of finishing and everything on the watches over the price that he charges. Um you really are getting good value on those. But so yeah, that was a different story entirely. And yes, I do bel believe I'm gonna keep that watch for a long time.
SPEAKER_03I mean, maybe it's a thing when the watch I guess if it's helpful to define hype as where the excitement or enthusiasm around it ex far exceeds what the thing itself is. And I think hearing you talk about the clemence like that, you're like, actually the enthusiasm and excitement around it doesn't even meet how good the product is. Yeah. So it's therefore not a hype watch. I mean, maybe the hype sort of dupes you into thinking the product is something better than what it is. I mean, it sounds like it's it's a purchase of spontaneity.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's it. That's exactly it. It is the spontaneity, I think, is like if I sat down and really thought about these things, uh, because I I sold both of my studio underdogs. The pink lemonade I don't miss, the watermelon I do. I f I think I would buy the watermelon again. Because that one because I have always loved watermelon, like an actual watermelon, and I have watermelon-colored clothes and stuff. So that was very much me. So I do I legitimately miss that watch.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but yes, the O2 series, while I did think they were nice looking and well built, it wasn't me. And I think if I took the time to really consider it, I would have come to that conclusion.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So it sounds like the key is time.
SPEAKER_00And thought relatively simple answers. Think about shit. Okay. All right. Time and thought. Time and thought. Okay. Or, you know, I'll just implant like a shock collar in my neck. Yeah, I'll have the little controller. Chris is thinking about this. All right. So that's that's my first I I think my first one is going to be the one that takes the longest time for me. But uh, yes, what's what's your first?
SPEAKER_03So my first is also the thing I think that will take the longest time for me. Is this has been something that's concerning me lately. Have I turned into a watch snop cris? Lately, I've been focused on saving up for fewer watches, but more expensive ones from big luxury brands. And all those smaller micro indies, and especially the cheaper Swiss or Japanese brands, or kind of, yeah, I have have all fallen by the wayside in terms of my interest. And does this suggest that I'm turning into a watch snob? Is it still possible for me to enjoy a £400, £300 TISO or Orient or Citizen or Seiko? And especially what I find interesting is all my aspirational brands, the ones I'm like saving up for, all sit just beyond what I can comfortably buy, which I think is interesting. Like I'm not saving up for a gnomos or a longjean or a Frederick Constant or a Mido I'm or an Oris. I'm saving up for the tier just beyond that, which is something which is actually a really big purchase, which requires a lot of saving up and a lot of putting aside. I I'm briefly toyed with the Oris bronze, which would have been a lot cheaper than the Black Bay Bronze, something I could have easily bought. But I'm not sure what the Black Bay Bronze is offering me that the Oris bronze isn't, other than the fact that it's a Tudor and it's obviously a different colour, but quality is different style, quality is slightly well, they're both dive watches, aren't they? Quality is I guess marginally better. Um But yeah, I I I want to know whether I'm what is the reason for my aspiring to these higher-end brands rather than something more mid-range or entry-level.
SPEAKER_00So my first question to you is is there any mid-range or entry-level watch that that you do think about or that you wish you had, like currently?
SPEAKER_03No, there are a few br there are a few watches that are are sort of on my list and they're all higher end. So I'd love a Cartier Santos, I would love um a Grand Seiko Quartz, I would love a Omega Aquaterra, but they're all I would say are higher end, nothing in that mid-sector.
SPEAKER_00All over £2,000. It's like all well over £2,000.
SPEAKER_03I would say all over three, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um IWC, like it's all those those brands.
SPEAKER_00So when when we were at British Watchmaker's Day, was there anything that tempted you there? Did you come close?
SPEAKER_03Yes. I really liked the was it pinion?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay. That's pretty expensive too, though. That's not super cheap.
SPEAKER_03So I like pinion and I do like Bamford as well. But when you're looking at watches like that, you're looking at spending what, a thousand pounds, twelve hundred, sixteen hundred pounds? Yeah, so they still are under the you're halfway to a tutor. Do you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Ross Powell, so that so your mind is doing that thing, like, oh, I'm halfway to this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um okay. So here's my okay, my next question. Is it brand that means something to you? Where whereas like does wearing your tutor give you aside from how it looks?
SPEAKER_03Um I'm ashamed to say I think yes.
SPEAKER_00Okay. I don't think you uh do not think you should be ashamed to say that. Um but I feel like that's it's just like a line of questioning to get to the bottom of this. Like, would you um So yeah, with a with a Cartier, d would because a when you wear a Cartier, that is something that people know instantly, regular people. Does that mean something to you? That recognition from other people?
SPEAKER_03No.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03I don't think I care what other people think, but I like to know. I think if I found like a vintage, I don't know, Waltham that looked like a Cartier Santos, I would be very happy to buy it. But I think vintage is slightly different. I think with newer with vintage, I'm actually more like I love my Mervado. I'd never buy a a modern Navado, but I love my vintage mavado. So that that's kind of slightly different. It's the newer watches I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Uh so I I honestly uh my feeling because this is something I've thought about for myself before, because most of the watches that I personally want are in that realm too. They're watches that are big brands. They are probably in the bracket, the price bracket that I shouldn't be buying, but that I could save up for it, like not so high where it's impossible, but high enough where it I shouldn't be the person buying this. Um and so I don't I do not think you are a snob. I I I know that a people a lot of times say that um just because a watch is more expensive or just because it's a bigger brand doesn't mean it's better. But I do also think that you have now owned a bunch of watches that are in the entry level.
SPEAKER_03Um and some of them I really love and enjoy. Like I love my Timex New Yorker, I love my SKX. There is there are affordable watches that I love. It's just there's something about that like Long Jean Tissot, Middo, the kind of more watch level. I also like like the new Long Jean Hydro Conquest. Looks great on my wrist, really cool, diver that I like, but there's something lacking in personality or thank you for admitting that. There it there is. I think that's true. I think I think those mid-range watches, those companies function on churn, churning loads of designs, new designs, um, selling them to the person that sort of wanders through a mall and is like, I want to buy a nice watch for my daughter's birthday or whatever. And they they sell quantity off the back of having such a spectrum of variety. But what that means with the designs of those watches is that they are all a little lacking in um really thought-out design. Whereas things like a black bay is much like Rolex designs, much like some of Omega designs, I think Omega is also spreading itself very thin at the moment in terms of trying to just like create as much as possible and seeing what sticks. Um, but like the Black Bay has been perfected and perfected and perfected and perfected and perfected. And ultimately, when you look at it, it's like just the perfect design of a watch.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's the perfect version of that thing. I think it all of these things you're pointing out are normal. I and and with respect to the the Hydro Conquest, you're exactly like you cannot convince me that that watch wasn't created to sell to someone who wants a Rolex submariner, but can't get it or can't afford it. And because it looks it looks just like one. And um and why would you want the thing that's not the thing? And so I I feel like that's it. That is, you have experienced a lot of things on that platform in that range, and now you want to experience a thing that you haven't. And I think that's It's I feel like it is more that than it is snobbery. You know, what because when you buy micro brand watches and stuff, when you buy micro brands within like three to eight hundred dollars pounds, you're getting a lot of the same stuff. The designs might be completely different. Um, but you're getting the same movements over and over again. You're getting um you're getting the same quality of stuff over and over again, which is and it's not me saying it's bad quality, it's good quality for the money. But you're it it is in it is all in the same ballpark. Whereas the things that you're saying, a Cartier, a Santos, it's not just quality when it comes to that anymore. It's it is quality, but it is this is the best at what this is. Like uh I I feel like when you when you talk about things like a Santos or or a tank, like people talk about the tank and put the Reverso and all of these other types of watches like that in a conversation, but the tank is still nothing can beat that. And like this is the icon of what it is. And I and I think that is the point maybe we're both reaching is that, okay, I've tried all of these things. These are all great. Some of them I'm gonna keep, a lot of them I'm not, but I want to experience what what this is. So I th I I don't think it's snobbery. I think it is uh an experience. We're into watches, we know all the stories and the mythology and everything behind these things. And like I want to know what that feels like. I want to know what it feels like to wear this. Um I don't know. Do you think it's that? Do you think it could be that?
SPEAKER_03I think so. I think yes. I think that that is coming close to like what it feels like. And also I think there is a a pleasure I am getting from having fewer watches in my rotation that I kind of connect with rather than that are the watch I want rather than a compromised version of the watch that is cheaper.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I I I get the same feeling. I don't like that I see two completely full watch boxes in my room. Like I want to shrink it. And I do, I do think you will buy more of the 300, 400, 500, but it will now be more considered. Like how when I like when I bought the Clements, I I see a lot of these watches, I write about them, and now it takes something that I really connect with, something that is very special to break through when I'm not succumbing to a hype thing. Um so I feel like that is still that's gonna happen to you at some point. There are gonna be watches like that that break through, but I don't think it's bad that you aspire to things that are more expensive.
SPEAKER_03Cool. I think that is a good note to switch to your second on. I'm not a watch snob.
SPEAKER_00You're not you're not a snob, yay! Um Okay. I think we can get through these these next ones relatively quickly. Um we're going back to my dislike for integrated bracelets. And I feel like this kind of goes along with ev with a lot of what we've been talking about. Um Dr. Iman. Again, no degree. Uh is is my dislike for integrated bracelets genuine, or just me trying to go against the grain? Um as I find that there are actually a lot of integrated bracelet watches I do like, um, two of which I own, the the Malls 369, the Dorenzo Amondale, um, and then I like things that are that I can't afford and are somewhat popular, the Moser Streamliner, the Vacheron 222. Um so when I make those sweeping declarations that I hate integrated bracelet watches, am I just trying to be contrarian or do I actually like them? Do you call bullshit when I ask?
SPEAKER_03I've always been confused. And I think you know I've been confused by what feels like to me a somewhat arbitrary response to various integrated bracelet watches. I wonder whether because you dislike the archetypal integrated bracelet watches, which are the Nautilus and the Royal Oak, that you haven't somehow transferred that to all integrated bracelet watches, but actually there are some that are exceptions to the rule. Um I am surprised that to hear you say you like the 222, I wouldn't have thought you would.
SPEAKER_00I've talked about it on the podcast before that I do because remember we had we had an episode saying like if I were to only have like one watch. No, remember I said if I could only have one watch, like what would it be? And I said the 222 in full gold.
SPEAKER_03Really?
SPEAKER_00I thought you wanted the um American The 19th Yeah, I mean that that is my realistic Vacheron buy, I think, one day. You'll take either. Pre-owned. Yeah, I'll t I'll take either, but that is the one that I might be able to buy one day.
SPEAKER_03I also would say that the 222 is actually very, very, very different from the Nautilus and the Rawlok in that it is actually a very delicate, almost feminine bracelet watch. Whereas the Nautilus and the Rawlok are I mean, I despise the Nautilus. I I can't see why anyone likes it. That I there is nothing redeeming to me about the Nautilus. But the Royal Oak is it's like so like Andrew Tate-ish. Do you know? It's the sort of watch, like the ma it's the manosphere watch.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And and you and you know, like I I like actively go against that type of feeling of I guess with the exception of the Seiko Arnie, I feel like I don't have any watches in my collection that are like oversized or um flashy to the point. Because even I've seen the 222 in gold, and you would think that would be a really flashy watch, but the whole thing is like brushed. There there are very few like polished bits to that watch. Um it doesn't shout out. And so yeah, I think I hate a certain style of integrated bracelet watches. And I feel like it is the Gerald Genta designs that I typically do the Gerald Genta industrial designs, because I don't like the ingenure either. Um, but I do like the Gerald Genta designed Credor, the locomotive. Um and that has a very I know a lot of people dislike that watch.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Powell But do you like it because people dislike it?
SPEAKER_00That could be another therapy session question one day. Just me wanting to be contrarian to stuff. Like, oh, you hate this? I love it very much.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Powell Because if you compare that side by side with the Ingenieur, I don't know why one you like and the other you don't.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell I think I think I like things that people look at and think are weird.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Ross Powell But if people looked at the IWC engineer and thought, that's weird. So is your response based on other people's response?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell Unfortunately, I think part of my personality is enjoying challenging people. Um and I think there is a healthy place for an amount of that. And I I think I bring it to unhealthy levels sometimes. Um this really is their their computer. Listen, this is your idea. I thought this was gonna be a joke. But uh no, I do think there is a part of me that likes things that I know will challenge people. Um I don't I don't think there is anything. I don't think that I am tricking myself into liking something that I don't. I do think I really like those things, but um but I think part of it is I enjoy being being a challenging person. Um, but it but I do now that I'm just thinking about it more, I I do think there is just something about the industrial design of things that I don't typically like. I won't say there are no exceptions. Um but I can see that, especially with the Royal Oak and the Ingenieur, they have very industrial look to them. And I don't like that personally for for myself. Um so yeah. I think we we got to the bottom of this that I do actually a challenging person. That's yeah, that that is the conclusion. I'm a challenging person. Um what is your next one?
SPEAKER_03Mine is why am I so obsessed with size and does it really matter? So my hang up is my hard no is a watch where the lugs extend past the edge of my wrist.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think that's reasonable.
SPEAKER_03Um but then I w I look at someone like Sophie, who has a wrist even smaller than my own, and will very comfortably wear massive watches that extend far past her wrist, and they look banging on her.
SPEAKER_00So Which Sophie are we talking about?
SPEAKER_03Fashion Sophie. Yes, you're right, both of them do this, actually.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yes. Uh so for our listeners, S Sophie's Watchworld and Sophie Scott Lewis, the artist, who we both we love them both.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. They both do that.
SPEAKER_00They both have style.
SPEAKER_03It looks really cool. So why am I what what what's my problem? Um doctor is speechless.
SPEAKER_00No, I uh it it is is honestly something I have wanted to challenge you on before, because there have been watches that you've tried on that you think are are too big and I thought looked great on you. I mean the the complicated thing that I'm thinking is is this like an identity thing? Do you is does this play with masculinity and femininity in a way that like is it coming from there?
SPEAKER_03I don't know, but I don't I really don't think so because I'm so comfortable wearing masculine stuff in every other way. Like I'll wear full suits, a tie. It's not like the Black Bay is a particularly girly watch, my SKX isn't girly.
SPEAKER_00You you've had you've owned the Brightling. Which was not a girly watch.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I I'm not sure it's coming from that. It almost feels like a kind of OCD of like this doesn't fit right, therefore I cannot wear it. But it's such a shame because like there are some watches that I love, like the Zenith A384. I cannot get that watch out of my mind, but it just hangs past my wrists in a way that you don't like displeasing to me. When I look at my wrist and I see it just overhanging, it is displeasing to me.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I'll take this to clothes real quick.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00Uh because you do, I I think you are one of the best dressed people I know.
SPEAKER_01Um What a compliment.
SPEAKER_00I for real, I like there have been there have been times that I have seen you in pictures or have seen you in person, and I'm like, I wish I could look as cool as her.
SPEAKER_03That's the best compliment I've ever gotten in my life.
SPEAKER_00I really feel that. But I I do know that like uh because you you definitely rock a suit, and I know oversized suits, like suits from the 80s and stuff, like that style is coming back. Is that something you can see yourself get? Like, would something that looks oversized in clothes be something that you're into?
SPEAKER_03Um only if it was in proportion. So I never like to feel like I'm drowning in anything. So if I wear an oversized shirt, I'll only wear that if it feels like it looks oversized, but not that I've just bought the wrong size. I need it to be a conscious So I don't I don't have any oversized suits, or if I do, they're very only very slightly oversized. Because yeah, you're right. I think I am particular about fit with most things.
SPEAKER_00Like they're tailored when you dress up, like they're you wear things that fit you properly. Or like what what I think people would uh think is like a uh like a proper fit, not oversized or not too small. So yeah, I I'm just trying to tap into like is that seems like the area that seems like where it's coming from with watches.
SPEAKER_03Yes. I think I can't get past this idea of perfect fit in some way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think there's nothing wrong with that. You know, we you were mentioning the Sophies, and yeah, they do wear watches that uh that I have seen in photos like overhang. And I don't think that that looks bad. I just think you have to want that look.
SPEAKER_03Um And I think sometimes it depends what watch it is, so like and how like a speed master looks pretty bad on me.
SPEAKER_00Whereas something like that is a really big watch. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Whereas something like a Doxer Sub 200, actually I have yet to try, but it's another watch I've been tempted by that I know Sophie borrowed for from Doxer for like, I don't know, a month or a couple of weeks or something, and it looks so cool on her wrist. Yeah. Well, it could look like that on me.
SPEAKER_00So Yeah, I d I think I think size does matter in in that when you look down, you should think that that thing looks right on you. And it doesn't matter what right is.
SPEAKER_03This might be an experiment for a cheaper watch to see if I buy an oversized watch that's affordable to kind of test for future.
SPEAKER_00Next time I come, I'll just let you borrow one of mine, too. I'll let you borrow that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Under supervision only.
SPEAKER_00No, I you don't need my supervision. Uh you know I'm not like that. Um So now that we got the the what turned out to be very real therapy, at least for me.
SPEAKER_03We've both had too much therapy in our lives.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think we we know how to mimic it now and get there. Um Yeah. So I yeah yesterday uh put out a story from our Instagram. Um and if you don't follow us on Instagram, please do. Uh I put a lot of prompts for questions and things in there, but I said it's our one-year anniversary. Uh, if you have some questions, send them our way. Uh so I chose a few. I didn't choose all of them. Um, but I have them all written down, so we'll get to them eventually. Uh, we're just gonna get through as many of these as possible. So we had one from at WatchZaddy, who is super nice in person. I met him in Canada. Um said, now that the bronze desire is filled, uh, which watches would you like to swap for a month? So I'm assuming he means from our own collections to each other.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think so. Do you have one that's coming to your mind from I would actually really love to borrow your moles.
SPEAKER_00Which one? I have three.
SPEAKER_03The long, thin one.
SPEAKER_00Oh, the one of the new ones?
SPEAKER_03The newer one that's shaped like this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't have that yet.
SPEAKER_03Well, the other the older one that's shaped like that.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah. I think that would look great on you. Uh of yours, you got rid of the Cartier, which was which I did wear quite a bit. Yeah. Um I I would like to try something smaller and vintage. So I would say maybe maybe that Movado.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, that would look great on you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I I have an aversion to vintage. I'm afraid of vintage. So I feel like just wear wearing something like that for a little while, I I get to see really how I feel about having something vintage and looking because I love that watch on you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um Yeah. So that's okay. That's that one. Cool.
SPEAKER_03Um So over time the podcast, which is Praker, asked, if you could start your collection again, what watch would be an instant rebuy and why?
SPEAKER_00I feel like we might have the same answer to this question. Um for sure the BlackBay 58 bronze would be my instant rebuy.
SPEAKER_03I actually was gonna give a different answer. I was gonna say the my IWC Portofino Pilot, which is a real surprise, but it's so wearable. So I'd definitely rebuy that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh let's see. We have at MarksWatches, marks.watches, and I'm gonna put all of these in our um show notes, uh link to everybody. Um, when will you both be adding Cartier to your collection? Much love to you both. Um uh well Iman had a Cartier in her collection.
SPEAKER_03Nice old it.
SPEAKER_00And she got rid of it. I loved that watch.
SPEAKER_03It is Mark, it is only a matter of time before I add a vintage Cartier Santos Carey.
SPEAKER_00We both like that watch too. Will we be twinsies again at some point? Because that is the Santos that I like a lot.
SPEAKER_02Would you get an all-steel or two-tone?
SPEAKER_00I I I think for the sake of money, probably all-steel.
SPEAKER_03Well, you'd be surprised because often the all-steel ones in good condition are more expensive than the two-tone because simply because I think they're more desirable. I think two-tone has fallen out of fashion slightly.
SPEAKER_00So I I will say too, I have tried on that watch in full gold.
unknownOof.
SPEAKER_00And it is amazing. But there's no way. There's no way I'm gonna spend that much money on a vintage full gold watch. Yeah. Um I I think Cartier is a brand that we talk about to each other on the podcast and in private often. I've never owned one, but I think it's only a matter of time. The Roadster was my favorite release at Watches and Wonders. I love the new Santosas, I like the old one. Yeah, it's a matter of time. I will get one eventually. Yeah, the next question.
SPEAKER_03Daytona Girl asks, Have you noticed watch preferences change over time? Easy, dress versus diver or smaller. Interesting. I used to be very interested in dress watches, and I think I've changed to slightly sportier watches since. I'm not really sure why, but the I was obsessed, like that Cartier I loved, but I just never ended up wearing it. Now I often only wear dress watches like the Mervado or the Piaget in very dressy circumstances. But for my day-to-day wear, I'm I'm almost always go sporty. Even my Tudor Black Bay two-tone is a very sporty watch. Um, so even when I dress up and I wear that, that feels more right than something dressier. So yeah, I I think I've veered away from dress watches in a way that is surprising. I didn't think I would. How about you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think I I never thought I would be into things that were too tooly looking. I never originally gravitated toward like tool watches and supermanly looking things. Um and I think that is something that has changed slightly in me. Where like I I brought up the Arnie before. Um, I don't know why I love that watch so much. I just do. And that is a very tooly butch-looking watch. Um, but I think I tone it down with the way that I dress and everything. Like uh so I yeah, I I think I'm more open to exceptions than I used to be. If I thought there was a style of watch that I wouldn't like, um, I can usually find an exception to it. Never thought I was a big dive watch guy either. My favorite watch in my collection is a dive watch. I I uh I think there's a problem if you're if if your tastes don't evolve over time. To me, it just means you're not open to to things. Um anyway, and then we have our our final question that I have here from uh Sean, who is just like one of the nicest people, and he always sends us a question. Um What watch is boring at first glance, but ultimately brilliant? And I don't know if he specifically means one we own or just any, so take this however you want.
SPEAKER_03So I'm going first, am I?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_03Okay. You can have some thinking time. I mean so many. My favorite watches are boring watches. Oh gosh, I'm struggling to change. There are so many. Look, I think a Hamilton khaki field is the ultimate boring but incredible watch. As is a Rolex OP, as is a Tudor Black Bay 1. Um, which on the face of it looks so boring. But if you have not tried that watch on, go to a Tudor boutique, try on a Tudor Black Bay one in the size 36. It is so, so good. The colours are really beautiful, and they wear so well, and it goes with everything. It's very boring looking, um, but amazing is yeah, would be my number one answer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um all good answers. My uh knee-jerk answer is and I mean this in the nicest way because it's one of my favorite brands. Anything from Vertex. Uh I think anything from Vertex looks boring until you really look at it and see, like, oh my god, there's so much going on here. Of uh just dimension and quality. That is still my my M100 is still the watch in my collection that I think shocked the most people when I got it, because it there it it looks face value of it is that it is very plain.
SPEAKER_03And I don't think they're boring. I would say they're slightly more exciting versions of a Hamilton kind of No, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I like boring would not be the word that I would use to describe it, but I do think other people might like gloss over a vertex as just like, oh, there's the this is boring. And and I think once you finally hold one in person, you're like, oh, okay, there's I get it. Um so yeah, that that would be my that is just my gut response to that. And and we've been talking about Cartier a lot. I think I think it'd be very easy to look at a Cartier tank and be like, that's boring. Sacrilege. And and then when you when you really examine it, you're like, oh no, this is perfect. This is this is exactly what it's supposed to be.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I think the other would be an IWC pilot. Often field watches, I think, are the things you look at and go, oh, that's a bit boring, but when they're executed well, they're so brilliant.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I actually think the one that people talk about being boring but perfect is a Rolex Explorer, which I actually really dislike, I'm afraid, I have to say.
SPEAKER_00Why? That's one of the few Rolexes I really do like. Explorer. Explorer one. Yeah, Explorer One. Explorer one. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Why do I dislike it? I think because it feels like it sits between two identities. It sits between a field watch and a steel sports watch. And I like a field watch to wear slimmer, smaller, more discreet, and the steel sports watch to be a little more colourful and playful. But I'm I know I'm in the like 0.0001% of people who think that. But that to me is boring and boring.
SPEAKER_00No, I I think I think in the watch community you might be in the minority, but I think in the larger Rolex buying community of like normal people, they would they wouldn't go for the Explorer One either.
SPEAKER_01Interesting.
SPEAKER_00I think, I don't know. I feel like that is not their hottest selling watch to normal people. Uh I think a normal person would rather have any sort of OP or uh yeah, I I or I do think you're right that that watch does sit in the middle of two identities. Interesting. I I didn't know that you had those feelings on that.
SPEAKER_03What a hot take to end on.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um but yeah, one year. Thank you for listening. And tell your friends that they should listen to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00If you want to get someone in to watch it, trick them into the hobby.
SPEAKER_03We have a whole year of episodes to catch up on now.
SPEAKER_00Yes, there's a backlog.
SPEAKER_03Um, like, follow, subscribe, rate, review, share, like, comment, comment. Come on, above.
SPEAKER_00We should come up with like an actual thing that we repeat.
SPEAKER_03A jingle.
SPEAKER_00A jingle. Oh, yeah, we can single. Harmonized. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Bye.
