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The Call-In Show, Volume 2

Published on Mon, 28 Sep 2020 10:00:39 +0000

Ring ring. HODINKEE speaking.

Synopsis

In this call-in episode of Hodinkee Radio, host Stephen Pulvirent is joined by Hodinkee editors John Buse and Danny Milton to answer listener questions about watches and collecting. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, from philosophical questions about the appeal of "ugly watches" to practical advice for young collectors.

The discussion touches on several memorable themes: the three hosts debate their favorite unconventional watch designs, with Stephen defending Gerald Genta's controversial aesthetics and expressing newfound appreciation for Hublot's unapologetic design philosophy. They explore creative collecting concepts, including one listener's idea of assembling a "three-city collection" with specific watches for New York, London, and Hong Kong, which sparks an engaging discussion about travel watches and personal connections to places.

The episode also addresses deeper ethical questions about watch collecting, including feelings of guilt around owning expensive timepieces or inheriting valuable watches. Danny shares personal experiences about inheriting watches from his grandfather, while all three editors acknowledge their privilege and discuss finding balance between enjoying watches as objects of passion and being mindful of their luxury status. They conclude with practical advice for young collectors, emphasizing education over acquisition, the importance of community engagement, and the value of "collecting knowledge" rather than physical objects when starting out. The hosts encourage listeners to read extensively, attend meetups, connect with other collectors online, and take time to truly understand what they want before making purchases.

Transcript

Speaker
Stephen Pulvirent When you're just starting out, collecting knowledge instead of things is the way to go. Think about your collecting as like, okay, this week I'm gonna collect Patek Philippe and I'm gonna like go learn as much as I can about paddock. And then like next week I'm gonna collect vintage Rolex specifically I'm gonna collect vintage subs and like go read reference points go read books out there like go crazy you can have a new adventure every week without having to spend a dollar Hey everybody, I'm your host Stephen Polverant and this is Hodinky Radio. Uh this week, we're gonna go back to the phone banks. We're gonna do another call-in episode. We did our first one back in July. Response was amazing. We got dozens and dozens of phone calls from people, uh, leaving us voicemails with the watch questions that they want me and our team of editors to answer. Uh, we thought we'd bring in two new hodinky editors this go-around. So we've got John Buse and we've got Danny Milton. Uh, and the three of us are just gonna have kind of a free-flowing chat uh inspired by the questions that you called in with. So we're gonna talk about things from specific watches like the watches we like to travel with, the watches that a new collector should buy, uh, and then we're also gonna get a little more philosophical, talk about kind of the ethics of watch collecting, how we think about our own collecting, uh, and how the last couple of months have impacted both the watch industry and watch collectors. I love getting to do this, not just because I get to answer your questions, but also, I get to hear how my friends and colleagues answer your questions. Uh, getting that little additional insight is always amazing for me, uh, and I hope it's it's enlightening and fun for you guys as well. So I don't want to talk too much here up front. I think really we can let the questions and uh the answers speak speak for themselves. So without further ado, let's do this Hey guys, how you doing? Doing well man, how are you? Living the dream. That's what I like to hear, Danny. Living the dream. Cool. Well it's good to see you guys. I feel like it's been a while since through the three of us have had a chat. Uh it's been a while since we've had this this trio on the pod, but uh wanted to bring you guys on for what I think is a particularly fun show. Um we're gonna do our second ever call-in episode. We did the first one back in I guess what like early July. And I had Jack on. I had James on to answer some questions that we got from listeners and readers. We put out another call for voicemails. We got a ton of great responses. So um if your question is featured, great. If it's not, I'm sorry. Hopefully we'll feature it on a future episode. But uh I don't think we're we're definitely not gonna have time to get to all the good questions. But uh I thought it'd be fun this time instead of like dividing it up, uh to just have both of you on and the three of us will kind of tackle all these questions. Does that sound good? I love it. Me too. All right. So uh I'm gonna dive in here. I wanna start with one that's gonna gonna rile people up. So uh a couple months ago, a while back actually, we had uh you know friend of friend of the show, uh Phil Toledano on Hodinky Radio. Uh and one of the things Phil talked about and that Phil and I have talked about a number of times is his love of ugly watches. So uh with that in mind, let's cue up our first question. Hey Hodinky, longtime fan of the website and the podcast, so thanks for taking my
Danny Milton call. My name is Alex and I'm living in Dallas, Texas. My question is about something I heard
John Buse on the show a few months back when you had Phil Toledano He talked about his love of quote unquote ugly watches, and I think I might have a similar thing going on. I definitely have a couple ugly dunklings in my collection, but the real winner is the Wittenauer Futurama with the black Dia. I guess my question is, what is it about ugly watches that draw people
Danny Milton in like Phil and me? Uh and a follow up. What are some of your favor
John Buse ite ugly buffing watches? Thanks guys. Hope I don't get roasted too hard in the comments. B
Stephen Pulvirent ye. Alright. So first off, thanks Alex for the question and for the kind words. Really, really appreciate it. Um Yeah, this is a question I particularly like because I I also love ugly watches, as I think I've I've spoken with Phil and with probably both of you guys about, but before I jump in here and give my uh hot takes, which I think I think one of my takes at least is gonna be reasonably hot. Um I wanna know what what you guys think about this
Danny Milton . I actually don't know if this is a hot take. I happen to think that watches I think look good. Other people tell me are ugly. Like my wife will tell me that a watch is ugly that I think just looks good empirically. Um, but speaking of Phil, you know, and I know Cole likes this watch too, the Tudor P01 sort of springs to mind a little bit. That's most people, you know, the take on that one is it's a pretty ugly watch, and my experience with ugly watches um is I like them when I see them and it's until I actually put it on it's when it kind of clicks that it's ugly and I kind of I kind of lose it at that point. Uh I I've like I if I verify, I self-ifvery that I cannot pull it off and it just doesn't work for me. Um so, you know, that's kind of my my vantage point into the ugly watch universe. John, how about for you
John Buse ? Yeah, I mean for, you know, for the most part I, um I tend to go for uh classically designed steel sport watches, I would say. That's like kind of the the watches that I find myself reaching for. Um but one thing that I that I actually do kind of like uh are huge watches. I don't tend to wear them a lot, but I have some like big ass watches in my collection. Um and so you know, thinking of one that I own and that I haven't worn a lot, but this question makes me want to like get it out of uh you know get it out of the safety deposit box and start wearing it again is uh I have a Giuliano Mazzoli uh Meadow Metro. Do you guys do you guys know this watch? Oh
Stephen Pulvirent yeah. That's the one it's it's like a it's super round. It looks like a um uh like an automotive gauge kind of. Yeah, exactly I think Mano Met
John Buse ro like literally means pressure gauge in Italian. Uh and that's the idea. Yeah. Um so I mean, you know, and I and I definitely like no shade toward uh Mr. Matsuilly. Like he is a I think a very talented designer and I think it's a beautiful watch, but I don't think it's the kind of uh design necessarily that uh you know most watch guys would go for. Uh and so like you know that's that's one that jumps out at me and then i don't own one but another oh a watch that i definitely would consider uh owning would be like a seiko tuna just like another big you know big kind of robust watch ye
Stephen Pulvirent ah uh I don't disagree with that. Uh I think one of the watches that's on my list, and and maybe this is just Stockholm syndrome, but is uh all all incarnations of the Hupelo Big Bang uh have kind of come around in recent years. Like I I like that Hublow gives precisely zero fucks. Like they do not care if you don't like what they're doing. Uh they're gonna do their thing. There are plenty of people who love it and and buy tons and tons of their watches, so good good for them. Um but I kinda respect that. I I like that while most of the watch industry is kind of inherently conservative and most watch brands make some variation on the same like three to five watches uh to appease you know general consumers hublow's like nope we're gonna make a 45 millimeter kind of expensive pink aluminum chronograph and if you don't want to buy it fine like we don't we do not care. And I'm I'm into that. That that really kind of scratches uh scratches a niche for me right now. But uh the maybe hotter take here is uh I just want to say I think Gerald Genta is the king of the beautiful ugly watch. Um I think if you look at the actual Gerald Genta watches, you know, from the the early 90s, those crazy complicated uh octagonal pieces like those those are pretty or I guess some of them are hexagonal. Um they're pretty objectively ugly things. Like they're not they're not beautiful in a lot of ways. They're counterintuitive. They don't seem ergonomic. Like they're kind of nuts, but uh again, like props to somebody who's willing to just like do their thing. Um, and I think you see it even earlier than that. Like, I love the Nautilus, I really genuinely do. I would love to have one in my collection someday. The Nautilus is kinda ugly. Like it's not it's it's weird. It's kind of blobby. It's got these weird things sticking off the sides that don't do anything. Like by all accounts, they do nothing. Um even the Royal Oak, like I've said this before publicly, you know, on the record, off the record a million times. I hated the Royal Oak for years. Like I thought it was so dumb and like a perfect example of group think and of everybody just kind of being like, oh, this is a cool, you know, rich guy thing. I'm gonna do this thing. This is so stylish. Uh and then I came around. And maybe again that's Stockholm syndrome, but uh I don't know. I'm I'm on board with Genta A to Z, uh, but all with the caveat of like they're they're kind of objectively ugly, but that's part of their charm, I think
John Buse . Steven, was it was it you or someone else I heard say something like they read an article about Prince Michael of Kent and realized that it was his favorite watch uh from reading the article and we're like wow well if he if he's into this then maybe it's something that like deserves a second look
Stephen Pulvirent . Yeah it it wasn't it was me. Uh I saw there was an article in the rake uh early on, like early, early days of the rake, maybe issue like three or four. Uh and I remember that was the first time I really saw the royal oak. And it didn't get me on board because it was Prince Michael of Kent, but like he pulled it off in a way I hadn't seen other people pull it off, and I was like, oh, you can make this look cool. Like this this doesn't always have to look like I had thought. And to be fair, previously a lot of my experience with the Royal Oak was, you know, that uh period of like, you know, every two days there was some new limited edition offshore with like the six was diamonds and the date wheel was a contrasting color and it came of a strap made of some exotic leather you'd never heard of, and they were making twenty of them and they were three X the price and whatever. So to be fair, I didn't start with the the sort of quote unquote like best royal oaks. Um but yeah, I think it was that article in the rake that really kind of convinced me like, okay, maybe, maybe this could be a thing. Uh, but it was probably years, like three, four years until I really was like, oh, I kinda want this. Like maybe may maybe I should start saving those pennies. But uh yeah. But yes, it was me is the short version. All right, let's move on from ugly watches to building very specific watch collections. Uh this is a pretty nuanced question, so let's give it a listen. Hey what's up, Odinky? Uh my name is Ale
Danny Milton x and I'm living in Long Is My question is about watch collections and how they change or grow based on your lifestyle. Uh so for the past few years I've been traveling a lot for work and mostly to the same three cities uh New York So So I was wondering, have you heard of this kind of thing from other collectors? And my second question is, if you can make your own sort of free watch, three city collection, what would it be?
Stephen Pulvirent Alright, thanks. All right. So we got two Alexes back to back. Uh did not plan that, but uh thanks, Alex, for the question. Um before we get into our answers, I would say Alex, if you're listening, which I sincerely hope you are, uh hit us up either on social or in the comments on the site. Uh I want to know what your three watches are for New York, London, and Hong Kong. Um I'm I'd be curious. Uh I'm actually kind of glad you didn't tell us ahead of time so it doesn't color our answers. But uh yeah, let us know if you're if you're comfortable. I think people would be be interested to kinda know more about about the source of this question. But uh let's let's get into have either of you ever heard of this before? This is new to the new Yeah, for me too. I've never actually I've never thought about it before. Yeah, same here. This this like never occurred to me as a thing, but I'm I'm kinda glad it does now, actually. Yeah. Um I would say the closest thing we have is uh there's a contingent of those of us at Hodinky who before travel shutdown were going to LA pretty frequently. Um, you know, we have a lot of a lot of collectors out there. The Hodinky shop has a lot of clients out there. Um, and it's become kind of a second home for Hodinky over the last number of years. Uh, and there's there's often jokes amongst the team about wearing the appropriate LA watch, uh, since LA and New York are so different. But uh that's probably the closest I've come to thinking about this at all. Uh all right, let's go. Uh John, you wanna start by giving us your uh three cities and then the three watches
John Buse ? Sure, yeah. I mean it's a really this is such such an interesting uh concept and it's uh you know it's like we we had said it's something that had not occurred to me, but then looking back at kind of like my travels and uh my watchwearing habits, uh there's definitely a pattern and so the cities that I'll give you are Kyoto, Geneva slash Basel, and um and New York. Um Kyoto, because you know I traveled there. My wife and my wife is actually from there and we tried to go as often as we can. Um we have a goal of trying to get there like once a year or once every other year. And so last time we were there I wore I actually took only one launch with me. It was my Grand Zico uh GMT, the SBGM 221. Another watch that I find that I that I wear only really when I'm when I'm dressing up because it's like a gold dress watch and it's pretty slim is my IWC caliber 89. And so I associate that with I associate that with like you know going to trade shows and it seems like quite often when I'm getting ready to go to SIHH or Basel World that that's the watch that I would bring uh bring in and wear you know with a suit uh for the duration of the show. Um totally.
Danny Milton Pretty good set. How about you, Danny? Yeah, this is the same with John. It's like something that when I think about some of the places that I'm gonna list, I'm almost thinking about what what did I wear? Because it sounds like with the with Alex, I d it sounded almost like this was subconscious to begin with, until he finally realized he was wearing each of these watches, each of these places, and then it became a conscious thing. Um so my cities are probably gonna be New York, uh it's gonna be uh Krakow, Poland where my wife is from, and we, you know, e likewise try to get there at a minimum once a year and uh my home city of DC so for Poland when my wife and I celebrated our wedding there I wore my Batman GMT and it just is kind of a fitting uh watch for A for travel uh with the six hour time difference. But also I remember making the conscious effort when we knew we were going and thinking about what I wanted to tie to that memory. It was just I I knew I wanted to wear it and you know, every time I go from from now on, it just sort of will you know rekindle those memories, bring them back, and it's it's pretty special. New York, I I think I have to pick my my sub, uh, my fifty-five thirteen. It just is um it's a watch that you know, I've written about on the site. It's a watch that's important to me. It's a watch that sort of the big first article I wrote for Hodinki. And so ho New York being the home base for Hodinki, it kind of feels like there's sort of a kindred kind of spirit of the watch and my work there. And then you know, Washington was the hardest because you know trying to pick a third watch is actually pretty difficult. But if I had to, um, I actually might think I pick something pretty simple. Um, I have the the Hamilton khaki pilot daydate um which is kind of like a a really casual watch that I got um and I wear not necessarily as a tool watch but just as a watch that I throw on and it's comfortable and I can kind of bring anywhere and do anything I want with it and it makes me happy and it's a fun watch to wear. And so thinking about going home and just relaxing, it's kind of like a great relaxation watch for me
Stephen Pulvirent . That's great. Yeah, I love I love love those choices. Uh I gotta say, both of you interpreted the question slightly differently than I thought about it. Um in that you picked watches you own. Um mine, I kinda had a couple different answers. I was I was waiting to see which cities you guys would pick so we wouldn't overlap entirely. Um so some of them are watches I own, some are not like you know in Japan I thought about the Grand Seiko that I bought on my first trip to Tokyo. Um that that makes total sense, but I'll I'll skip that since since John already has that covered. But uh yeah, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go New York, I'm gonna go LA, which we already talked about, uh, and I'm gonna go with Paris. Uh my wife is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Uh shout out to Minneapolis. Love Minneapolis. My parents actually live there now. It's uh become kind of a second home. Uh horologically speaking, not the most interesting place in the world. Uh an any watch that'll work in New York works just as well in Minneapolis. So uh I'm I'm gonna skip uh Minneapolis on this one. But uh Paris has has become, you know, another kind of of maybe second home. Um, you know, my wife has a PhD in French, uh, lived there on and off, so I've spent quite a bit of time there. And uh so we'll start there and we'll make make our way west. Uh I would wear a tank American, uh Cartier Tank American, uh in Paris. Uh it's as quintessentially French as you can get in a watch design, uh, but at the same time it's the like goofy idiot American version, you know? Um like I'm per it's it's it's it's exactly how I feel when I'm in Paris. Like I'm trying to be cool, I'm trying to be chic, uh but ultimately like I'm the dummy who can like barely order a croissant in French, like really barely. Um, constantly like blowing up my wife's spot, like everybody speaking to her in French, and then I open my mouth and I'm the big dumb idiot. Uh so I think I think the Cartier kind of like embodies both like who I am and who I wish I was when I'm in in France. Um so I'd go with that. I also think that that watch in steel in its current incarnation uh is actually a great travel watch. Uh you can dress it up, you can dress it down, it's automatic. Um basic three-hander, easy to reset when you move time zones, you don't have to worry about a date, whatever. Um so I would I would go with that. New York, I'm gonna go with with a vintage explorer, uh, which is the one watch I'm gonna talk about that I I do own. Um just a really great 1016 or even a later, you know, five digit uh explorer, which Danny is the the expert on there. But uh I don't know. There's something about it. Like it's got that kind of like mid-century vibe that so much of the architecture here has. Uh it feels bulletproof. It can go anywhere and do anything, uh, which is one of my absolute favorite things about living in New York is that you never know what's going to happen. Like you could get a phone call at any moment and somebody says like, hey, you want to go do X? And that thing could be like a thing that you need like a backpack and hiking boots for. It could also be like a black tie dinner, uh, or anything in between. And I love that the explorer is is ready for anything and it's it's a superlative example. Uh it's great for people in the know, but if you don't know watches like, nobody's nobody's gonna you know be giving you a hard time on the subway over it. So uh that's my New York pick, and my LA pick is like kind of the opposite vintage Rolex, uh, which would be a yellow gold uh daydate on a bracelet. Um preferably with an onyx or maybe a lapis dial. Uh maybe even a stella dial. We go really ham. Oh. Um but yeah I think like a borderline obnoxious gold vintage Rolex, you know. It's not a gold Nautilus, it's not a gold royal oak, which it's not a modern daytona, which are probably the three hottest watches in LA. Um but it's like kind of in that vein, you know, it's kind of like I'm I'm okay with people looking at me uh in in that context. Um, you know, I don't know, maybe where it's like nobu for for dinner in Malibu. I don't know. I'm just sh I'm at this point I'm just fantasizing sitting in my tiny New York apartment. I'm I'm fantasizing about being by the beach with a gold Rolex on my wrist, but I think that's I think that's allowed, right? Totally allowed. It's my show, I can do whatever the hell I want. But yeah. What's your question, John?
John Buse If you were gonna do the Stella, uh, I think I mean which by the way, I think is the way to go, which color Stella would it be
Stephen Pulvirent ? Interesting. So I'm gonna I'm gonna zag on you here. I said Stella, but what I actually meant is I would go with a coral dial. Oh, okay. There you go. Um if I was gonna go Stella to actually answer your question, um hmm. I don't know, the yellow is pretty amazing. The yellow stell is pretty pretty awesome. But I think I would actually, if I could pick a uh if I if I wasn't gonna go onyx, I think I would go coral. Um and if you can find them, they're basically impossible to find, but a smooth bezel uh day date uh with a coral dial in pink gold. Uh I've seen a handful of them almost always from uh our friends over in Italy. Uh they've somehow all made their way there, which kind of makes perfect sense. Um but yeah, a smooth bezel day date in pink with a coral dial is like it's I've I've seen one in the metal once and it's one of the most beautiful watches I've ever seen. I actually might be like kind of afraid to wear it if I if I had one just because you know one one dumb move and like it's not easy to find a new one. Um yeah. I don't know. I I would say like people listening, hit us up in the comments. I I find this question immensely fascinating. I feel like the the sort of intersection between travel and watches is like right in my sweet spot and the sweet spot for a lot of us. So uh yeah, hit us up and and let us know. Uh I'd I'd be really curious to see where people go with this. Let's let's go with a slightly more pragmatic question here. Uh I want to make sure we get some like actual practical advice in for folks. So uh with that in mind, let's give this one a go. Hey hodinky, my name is John from Carmel, Indiana. I'm a twenty-year-old college student, and my question to you regards
Danny Milton how you base your own collections in accordance with your respective lifestyles. Personally, I adore vintage and modern dress watches in the 34 to 39mm range. However, my current positions are not pertinent to that particular variety. As a result, I've noticed my collection consists mostly of sport, fleeger, and dive pieces. My question is, should a consumer let their lifestyle influence their collection choices or should you let your heart choose over your mind? I love tuning in for every episode of Hodan D Radio and I look forward to hearing your response. Thank you
Stephen Pulvirent . That is a deep multifaceted question. Yeah, I love it. I love it. This is a this is a really interesting question. This this has a lot of layers to it, but I think let's let's start on the most surface level. Uh if you had to give John advice uh on whether or not to buy the watches, these dressier, slightly smaller watches that that he loves versus you know the more pragmatic watches for for a college student. What would what would you guys say
Danny Milton ? I I I always, you know, if anyone ever asks me a question in this vein, I always lean toward go with what you what you want and what you love. I mean at the end of the day it's you're wearing it. And I don't even know what makes one watch more pragmatic for the college lifestyle than another one. Um I don't know what it is that he's doing on a daily basis, obviously, but in terms of what he sounds to be into, I mean I'm an owner of a 34mm watch, the Omega Seamaster, that, you know, I consider to be a little small, and maybe I don't wear it all the time, but when I wear it, I get as much enjoyment out of it as any watch that I own, and it feels like um like a watch for me. Like it's and there's something to be said about really connecting with one on a personal level and not worrying about outside noise. And there's so much of the hive mind attitude or you know being influenced on social media or Instagram. Um but and and in college I think that that noise is louder than it would be maybe later in life. Um That's a really
Stephen Pulvirent good point. That's a really, really good point. That like if you're in college, that that noise is much louder than than it would be elsewhere. Like it's much harder to get to the signal
Danny Milton . Definitely. And I think that's affecting maybe his decision making a little bit. And I don't know if this is sort of tacit permission telling somebody they're allowed to follow their heart, but I mean go for it. I mean if you love those kind of watches, get w get one. Whatever it is, whatever between thirty-four and thirty-nine millimeter watch you're after, and whether it's a vintage C Master or you know, or anything, a thirty-four millimeter uh Rolex or if if you're trying to get on the more affordable side, there's tons of vintage pieces that are in that size range at you know very attainable price points sub one thousand dollars, do it. That that's my that's my advice, at least to that part of the multi-layered question. Yeah, I I think that's very
John Buse good advice, Danny. And I think um you know uh similar to you, I whenever anybody asks me a question like this, you follow your heart is always I think kind of like the right answer, or at least the answer that I think is right. Um you know, having said that, uh it would be interesting to know what if there were like some activities, is he like participating in a sport or something that would really preclude wearing uh wearing a smaller dress watch that isn't water resistant or something like that? Um and if that's the case, then yeah, I mean maybe you you reserve the um uh the smaller dress watches for those few appe uh those few uh situations where they feel appropriate to you, but but still go ahead and have them and uh have other watches that are lined up for like more day-to-day stuff. Uh again, we like we don't know what these activities are, but um
Stephen Pulvirent you know have watches lined up that can you know are ready to handle anything. Yeah, I think that's a good point. And I think you know there's there's balance in everything but you've both said it and like follow your heart here like watches are meant to be fun you don't need these things like your phone presumably presumably you have a smartphone and presumably it tells you the time, so like you should have fun with these things. And if if putting on a a dress watch makes you feel good, like you might catch some crap from people, but like for lack of a better way to put this, and it may get us an explicit tag here, like fuck them right like you don't you don't need to listen to anybody else's bullshit about what watch you wear like you're in college if the people around you are like really worried about the watches you're wearing like they they have a much bigger problem than you do. Like they should have other other fish to fry and like better things to focus on. So where would where would you want? I mean, you know, I I doubt this will come as a surprise to anyone who listens regularly or knows me at all. But like I was that jackass who showed up to class in blazers half the time because I liked it. Like I enjoyed putting on like an Oxford shirt and throwing on a jacket in the morning. And so like I showed up to my, you know, junior Roman literature seminar looking like a total asshole, but like it made me happy and I liked it and I have no regrets, you know? Um it's a good thing. It makes it makes you happy. It gives you something something fun to focus on. And yeah, I would say I'm I'm right with these guys like do do what you like. You know, there's there's no reason to wear a watch because you think somebody else wants you to wear the watch. Uh that I would say is like the worst reason to to buy or wear a watch. Both of you laughed a little too hard by the way when I when I said that I was that guy in college.
John Buse Yeah, I alre I I feel like I already knew that somehow and I can almost I I can easily imagine it when when you you said it
Danny Milton . Yeah. But I'm on board with it. I'll tell I'm I'm I'm totally on board with that. That's why we keep bringing you back on this show, Danny. I'm so I'm such a yes man, you know? Just what what whatever it takes to stay on H radio
Stephen Pulvirent , I'll say it. Love it. Perfect Hey Donegie, this is Sam from Florida. Really love your show. Really love the site
John Buse . curious though what well for you guys addressed on the podcast what is your favorite deep cut um scene that you've seen of watches and movies? Uh something I know you guys posted on James Bond, but I really want to know what are your favorites of the deep c
Stephen Pulvirent uts. Um th James Bond stuff, let's skip the Steve McQueen stuff. You guys have any favorite call-outs
Danny Milton ? So yeah, definitely. Um I feel like the 70s, like 70s cinema is like the sweet spot for deep cut watch spotting in movies. Um because it also feels like a time when it wasn't uh a corporate endeavor. Uh that in many ways it was an actor who just liked the watch they had and they could just wear that on screen. And and for the most part, that ended up being Rolex. Um and Rolex, obviously at that time, while still an expensive watch, comparatively speaking, was roughly $150 for a submariner, something in that in that range. So speaking of that, um my favorite deep cut, and I've learned that it's a deep cut, um, just because when I mention it, people don't normally they say they haven't noticed it is all the president's men by far. Um Robert Redford wears his own personal red submariner in the movie, and it's not just that he's wearing it, it's one of those movies where the watch gets its own screen time. I mean it's really heavily featured throughout the film. There are close-ups, which by the way, all the President's Men, probably the best movie about journalism ever made. Um and the way that it's filmed is there are scenes where the the camera literally just sits tight amidshot of Robert Redford making phone calls. And hand on phone, submariner on wrist, you literally get about as clear a picture of the watch as you possibly can. You know, it's got its original bracelet, and it's just one of those things where he's pulling it off in such a cool way. Um, I sometimes rewatch the movie just to see it. Um, it's such a weird thing, but it just looks so cool. Um Robert Rever's also like a damn cool dude. He's so cool that in in another movie, uh, Three Days of the Condor, he rocks a Doxa Shark Hunter on a bun strap, which is such like a thing. I don't want to steal somebody's deep cut. I don't know if I just did, but that is just he's just
Stephen Pulvirent the best. James is all about that pick. Like I can tell you as James is listening to this, he's like sitting there like shaking, waiting for that to come up
Danny Milton . But yeah, no, but I don't I don't I don't want to step on your picks, John. But yeah, that the submariner and all the president's men is just it's by far my favorite. I don't know if it would be considered a deep cut or not, but it's definitely decidedly not James Bond. Um although you can make the argument that, you know, uh Woodward and Bernstein were the James Bond of journalism at that time. Um but it's very cool. You know, it's probably my favorite. Alright, John, what are your uh what are your favorit
John Buse es here? Well I so my favorite watch from any movie actually is uh and it's a joke it's the uh it's that Rochefou Cold from Trading Places. Like whenever I think of a watch in a movie, that is that is my that is like the first one that comes to mind. And in fact when I when I when I looked at this list of of questions, I had to like pull it up on my phone, the YouTube video, and like make my watch my make my uh w wife watch it. I probably had already made her do that at some point in the past, but uh I was like this is just too funny. Uh so for sure that watch. Uh and then also um another Doxa actually. Um do you guys remember it's not not a good movie, but I think it was a uh the watch figured pretty you could see it a lot in the movie was um the Doxa that Matthew McConaughey wore in uh Sahara. You guys remember that movie? It was it was not like a great movie. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's the Clive Cussler movie, right? Precisely, yeah. And I guess that you know the ki the character Dirk Pitt, like throughout throughout uh you know, the the series of novels where in which he featured more uh wore a doxo with a uh with a you know, you can't miss it orange uh dial. So I would I would point to that one as well
Stephen Pulvirent . Okay. That's nice. Yeah. Uh I'm gonna pick one that neither of you are ever going to this is a very deep cut. Uh it's not that great a watch, but it was one I thought it was funny that the watch stood out to me so much. Uh so I guess maybe what would it be like two, three years ago, um I had some friends over for Thanksgiving for like a long weekend. They were staying with us. And uh one night, I think it was the Friday night, had a couple too many cocktails and decided to watch some bad uh like teen movies uh from the early 2000s. And I realized about halfway through uh John Tucker Must Die, uh, that one Jesse Metcalf is rocking a taghoyer chronograph prominently through the movie. And there are all of these tight shots of him in which like you can clearly see the watch and it it's very strange. It's like clearly not intentional. Uh but you know me plus a couple Negronies uh just like fixated on this and and just like could just thought it was hilarious. Uh later found out that Jesse Metcalf is actually a watch guy. Um so it might be his watch, might not. Jesse Metcalf, if you're listening to this, somehow uh hit us up for sure. You're coming on the show. Um but yeah, so John Tucker must die. Um in addition to loving uh reality television, I also love these like bad teen movies uh from that era. I don't know why. I just find them extremely funny, uh and charming. But uh yeah, that one stood out to me uh and and more than any particular watch, I have to say something that has become a borderline of sickness is uh looking in movies and TV shows for people who wear their watches on the insides of their wrists. Um, which you know, for anyone who's who's a hodinky magazine reader, uh, you'll remember from volume five, uh Closing Thoughts was written by uh my friend photographer Michael Turek, uh really amazing photographer based based here in New York. So shout out to Michael, uh we'll link link up uh the digital version of this story he did for us. But he's been working on this project for years uh photographing sort of environmental portraits of people wearing watches on the insides of their wrists. Uh that it's like almost this weird secret little club. Uh and he he will literally like stop a construction worker on the street or he'll go into a butcher shop and notice it and ask the guy to like come out from behind the counter, so he can make a picture. Um, he's he's pretty obsessed, and that's uh I've gotten infected, I would say. Um so now anytime I'm watching something and I notice it, I have to like frantically text Michael a a screenshot or a like iPhone picture of my TV. Um, poor Michael just has this like I'm sure a folder on his phone of just like tons of photos of my like messy apartment with the TV pulled up and like, oh my god, look the guy from Lovecraft country is wearing his watch on the inside. Um so yeah, that I've I've started watching for that uh
Danny Milton Steven. Do you watch the show Fixer Upper? I'm sure I'm sure most people have seen that show on H TV. So the the um Chip Gaines wears a sea dweller on the inside of his wrist while while doing all of the home improvement. All of it. You know, everyone I didn't know that. That's very co
Stephen Pulvirent ol. Yeah. I never picked up on that one. Yeah. Nicely done, Danny. There we go. Now I know what I'm doing tonight. Watching old episodes of Fixer Rubber. Great use of a Thursday, everybody. Um so getting away from particular watches, let's go to a question that's more about the watch world in general. I think will be the biggest changes or shifts in the watch world as a result of this pandemic. I'm thinking as an industry, you know, how will the making, buying and selling of watches change? But also from the collector standpoint, will tastes or approaches to collecting change at all. I have my own thoughts, but I'm curious to hear yours. Thanks guys. Keep up the great content. All right. So first thing you get bonus points for calling me out on my repetitive speech patterns. Uh I do say inside baseball, too much. Well done. Uh I I appreciate that you're listening closely enough that you can roast me. Uh since sincerely appreciate that. Um so yeah, this is this is an interesting one. Uh I think we've all talked about this behind the scenes. So I'm I'm just gonna open this up. Anybody wants to jump in here, let's let's just start throwing throwing some thoughts out there
Danny Milton . I mean there has to be some aspect of it. I mean this is totally predictive, but in terms of you know the e-commerce structure, uh it's one of those things where the Swiss watch industry is historically resistant to any high-level change. Um and that you know is mostly tied to the ability for people to purchase watches online directly. There is the AD structure of purchasing that has sort of been a long-standing way to buy watches where you know you you go to an authorized dealer and pick them up. You have the you know the peace of mind that you're getting them from somewhere that the particular brand is entrusted to sell it to you. But you know there are brands that have you know jumped to the other side and are doing a direct-to-consumer model, but I think that not quite yet, but depending on how long, you know, this change in our life goes on, it might be something that becomes more and more uh you know possible for more brands to uh accept and adapt to. Yeah, I mean it's it'
Stephen Pulvirent s interesting because some have tried and some are doing it better than others. I mean, like, you know, supposedly uh I haven't checked lately to see where it's at, but like in the early days, Patek was allowing retailers to each list one watch at a time online. Like if you're a retailer and you have fifty pieces in stock, you can list one on the web and you can't list a different one until that one sells. Like that to me is a a bad model. Like that that is hopefully not what the future looks like. Um but I I agree with you. I think, you know, the Swiss w Swiss watch industry in particular has has adapted mostly when it's forced to adapt. It's rarely like out ahead of the curve. It's usually uh some sort of reactive adaptation. Uh so I think, you know, e-commerce and and generally being more receptive to technology, which is it's ridiculous that we're having this conversation in two thousand twenty. But like I think that that is a thing that that is definitely gonna have to change. Yeah, I would agree with that
John Buse . And I would also say um uh you know we've if you look at you know the calendar year so far, we've had like two big in-person watch uh events. We had the the LBMH wa uh Dubai watch uh thing, right? And that was like early in the year. And then uh the Geneva Watch days, which happened like relatively recently. Um so really just two in-person things relatively, you know, smaller than certainly SIHH or Basel World would have been if they had happened. Uh and yet we've still seen like probably as many watches uh come out uh over the last year as in a normal year. Um and I think uh we've seen a lot of you know watches from smaller brands been able to kind of like wedge their way in and get significant coverage because they weren't um competing for uh you know people's attention uh during a during a massive trade show. And so I could see uh even in a in a time when um people are comfortable getting you know going to a convention center and um like you know handling uh small objects and passing them off to another person um in appointments in like tight booths with uh uh with poorly circulated air, even in a day when you when people can do things like that. Uh I could see brands choosing to just launch things on their own, uh, with the knowledge that they will be they you know they will they will have the spotlight or the expectation that they could have the spotlight and wouldn't have to compete with with with big brands. So that's more of like Yeah, I think
Stephen Pulvirent yeah I think that's a really good point, John. I think like you know be beyond the the other good point, which is that you know, Basel World is basically like the worst possible COVID situation. I hadn't really thought about it, but like I'm kind of nauseated just thinking about it right now. Um but like yeah I mean at at Basel World like every little brand is trying to compete with Rolex and Paddock for their their news drop and they're paying in many cases millions of dollars for that opportunity. Whereas if if they do things on their own schedule, like, you know, as long as they pay attention, keep their ear to the ground, and try not to drop their stuff literally the same day that Rolex announces it, they have 364 other days uh that they they could
Danny Milton try to drop watches, you know? It's it's literally the same structure not to bring movies back into it, but that's how movies are released. You know, there's there's a general idea on a movie calendar of when like the top A-level blockbuster either holiday movies or summer movies are gonna come out. And if you're not one of those, you know, you're the August movie or you're the January movie. You know, and there's those that's when it's spaces carved out where you can do well at the box office. But if you were to release your film against an Avengers movie, that would be a terrible idea. Um and you wouldn't and you wouldn't make anything. So it's it it makes sense. I mean if there's more freedom to to release things on a schedule that's not tied to any in-person event, that that probably would do better for a lot of brands. Yeah, and then one thing I would add too that's kind of like a corollary to
John Buse that is uh you know just because of the way that so many of these launches have been virtual and spaced out, um, you know, collectors, people who are just following the industry and like, you know, trying to keep up to date with what the brands do, uh have, you know, pretty similar access to the news that the journalists do, you know, in many cases. So it's uh it's it's been an interesting opportunity for or that retailers do. So it's been an interesting uh opportunity for people who are into watches to tr to try to kind of find out from the source itself, I guess. You know. It it lacks the um uh the analysis that you know like uh a journalistic uh entity like Hodinki would bring to the table, but um it's probably been neat from a from a collector's standpoint, you know
Stephen Pulvirent . Yeah, I I I think it probably has. And I I I think, you know, before we move too much into the collector stuff, I think one of the other industry things, and and we've talked about this on the show before, is the quartz crisis caused a massive contraction in the industry, right? Like tens of thousands of jobs were lost, companies shuttered, and that's that's painful and it's difficult. And like I don't want to make light of that. That is not uh that is not short term a a good thing in a lot of ways, and specifically not for those people in those communities. Um however, for the overall health of the industry, um, you know, we've seen an explosion over the last number of years of new watch brands, uh, some small and independent, uh, and like, you know, what we would call like micro brands that are really kind of enthusiast-driven. We've also just seen an explosion of watch brands in general. Like there's a whole bunch of companies making middle of the road products that are like not really that different from the products being made by the big players. They just have a different name on them and are you know components are sourced from different places, but they don't really have anything to add to the conversation. Uh and I think some of those brands are gonna go away. I I don't think they'll be able to survive. I think people are gonna want to buy like slightly more blue chip things um from reliable sources. I also think just the infrastructure being more limited, like if you're a major watch brand owned by one of the big groups and you're ordering sub like parts from a supplier who's you know previously was also supplying parts to one of these small upstart brands, like that supplier is probably strapped and is definitely going to supply the big guy before the little guy. Um and again, in some ways that's that's a bummer, but I I do think it'll help uh get rid of some of the bloat in the industry. And I think that will ultimately be good for watches. Um I think there's a certain point at which like the saturation in watches is so low that we need to hope that more people become interested over time. And when there are too many options and when things aren't clearly differentiated and when it's really unclear to a consumer like why buy this versus that? What is this thing? It looks almost just like that thing, but is a thousand dollars less. Like that's the kind of stuff that makes people go buy a car or a bespoke suit or a piece of art or a piece of furniture instead of or go on a trip instead of buying a watch. Yeah. And and like I think that's a thing that that this might be good for. It might help kind of get rid of some of the some of the fat, uh trim some of that fat and make the industry a little leaner, a little uh more efficient, I guess is maybe the right word. Um but yeah, I mean John, as as far as collectors go, I think you you hit hit on one of the big things, which is like I think brands are now getting much more comfortable with communicating directly to to end consumers in a way that maybe they weren't before. I I don't know. Danny, do you have do you have any thoughts
Danny Milton there? Yeah, I can see that a little bit in the sense that um there's definitely more of a a one-to-one connection, whereas it seemed before, at least from an outside perspective, that the brands were sort of behind like closed gates up on the top of a mountain, sort of sitting up there in a way that you felt like it was the only way to get to them was through intermediaries or third parties or like I was mentioning before authorized dealers, whereas now I think that, you know this, is such a ridiculous thing to say that the internet, you know, contributes to something. But in a lot of ways, you know, the advent and and the proliferation of social media such as we use it today, um, you almost have to do that no matter what you are, whether you're a watch brand, a celebrity, you need to be able to connect to the end consumer directly. Otherwise, the way people are interacting, they're not going to be interested in you. They're not going to want to be associated. You have to have a human element or a way to connect to people on a one-to-one basis. And I I'm seeing that, you know, more and more. I think that even was it was it Rolex joining Twitter a year ago or something? It was something like that that very v recently it was like they weren't there. Yeah. And and and even though they're that's not an indication that they're connecting necessarily to the collectors directly more so than before, but that is a sign that that is an important avenue uh to reach people um where it wasn't being done before. Yeah
Stephen Pulvirent . That's a really good point. Um I think this next one, uh this this is something we've talked about a little bit before and I know it's a little bit controversial, but I I I think it's I think it's worth us chatting about.
Italy (caller from Belgium) Hey you guys, I'm Italy. I live in Belgium and my question for you is I am I'm in a very fortunate position that I have a lot of watches, like quite expensive on actually to my family and years of fortune collecting. And was wondering, do anybody else sometimes feel quote unquote guilt towards having nicer pieces 'cause of unfortunate or fortunate events. Thank you.
Stephen Pulvirent Yeah. I I like this question a lot actually. Yeah, I I do too. I I really like this question and I think you know, to to tip my hand a little bit, like my my background and the way I got into you know writing about watches and and into journalism really through through the the menswear and fashion world was was from an academic perspective. Like in college, like I was interested in the the history of material culture, our relationships with the objects in our lives. I ended up going and getting a master's degree in that because of course I did. But um uhh I I think like thinking deeply about this is is an important thing and I I think it's it's a question worth asking. So um I've probably tipped my hand a little there about how I feel. I know I've talked about this, you know, on on some of my social media channels as well. But Danny, what what is it about this question you like so much
Danny Milton ? I mean in a in a way I I relate to the question a little bit. Um I have come into possession of watches through circumstances that are obviously not ideal. I mean it's obviously a a death in the family or somebody leaves you something. Um in my case, um, you know, my grandfather uh left me a a two-tone role like State just um and I wrote about uh a submariner in a story that that if you haven't checked it out basically details how I came to find a watch that was in my grandfather's possession.
Stephen Pulvirent It's a great story. We're gonna we'll we'll link that up in the show notes. Everybody listening should definitely go listen uh or go read that story
Danny Milton . Thanks. And and so for you know, there were times, and I I think I've mentioned this before where, you know, I was young when that happened, and I wanted to wear that watch to feel close to my grandfather and I did feel a sense of guilt. You know, someone might think something about me that isn't true, or you know, how did I come to be wearing a Rolex at such a young age? But you know, time is the is sort of the best aid and things like that. And I've come to realize it's just you know, I can't control that. It's like you can't help, you know, things that are out of your control, and in that sense, the something that is a it's a it's a memory piece for me. Um, you know, people can think what they want to think, and if there's somebody that's close to you and, you know, cares to know about the background of the things that you have, then that guilt factor kind of goes away. It's unnecessary. Anybody who would, you know, cast aspersions on me based on you know not really knowing a full story about something, you know, they're probably not really worth my time anyway. Um and I'm gonna enjoy what I have. Um and they are part of my collection. You know, they are things that were heirlooms that were passed down to me and they are quite literally the foundation of my, you know, collecting uh life and what got me into watches, what got me into them from an intellectual perspective, from the emotional aspect, and you know, there's no reason to feel guilt even though you know you can't tell somebody not to feel I felt it. And so you p you kinda have to live through it yourself and get to the other side of it. Um but that's just that's that that's why I really appreciated that question. Yeah, John, how about how about you
John Buse ? Yeah, I mean I I sometimes yeah, I mean I like the question too. I sometimes do feel a little bit a little bit of guilt, you know. Uh because I understand like, you know, this is it's something that uh watches at a certain level are they cost uh cons a considerable amount of money. And um you know, all of us who are fortunate to have like you know really good jobs that we enjoy that that we are able to have um access to these these things you know um are lucky to have it and it's like a and it's luck that not every everyone has. But also, I mean it's uh I I like to think of the fact that you know well for one you know my I consider my collection to be fairly modest. It's not a huge collection. Um, the watches that I do own I tend to wear uh and enjoy. Um it's uh you know it's a hobby that um means something to me beyond beyond work, um, like watch collecting. And so it's uh you know it's something that it that's important to me. And then also like when when you buy like a a watch that's like a you know a handcrafted thing, uh there are people who are laboring to make them. And so, you know, owning watches allows people who are passionate about making watches to have jobs as well. So it's like it's not a very simple thing. It's uh and I mean that's an obvious point, but it's um the guilt of that that may come with owning any expensive thing. Um I think it's useful to step back a little bit and just consider the whole situation um rather than you know, your own your own guilt that you may feel on any given day when you put a n
Stephen Pulvirent ice watch on. So I guess I'll leave it at that. Yeah. No, no, I d I totally agree with that. I think that's that's a pretty savvy way to look at it. And I I think you know, something you mentioned there is is that you wear most of your watches. And that that for me is where I start to feel guilty. Um when when I have watches I'm not wearing, uh and and sometimes they may still have something sentimental about them, so I keep them them, I don't sell, I don't you know, give them to someone as a gift, but like I I don't know, it it it like really stresses me out actually to have watches sitting in my in my watch box that like I'm not wearing and using. Uh it feels um I feel a sense of guilt because it feels at that point like like hoarding, um like having an expensive thing for the sake of owning it, which you know, some some people get pleasure from knowing that in their bank vault or in their safe at home are fifty watches, you know, many of which they'll wear less than once a year. Um I don't get pleasure from that. Like that is not fun for me. That stresses me out. I I get no pleasure from from that kind of collecting. And that's not to say it's objectively bad. It's it's just not it's not for me. Um but but what I I do like is having that connection and building that connection with pieces over time and with the stories of where they come from. And like that is really what keeps me invested in this. And like you said, John, I mean we're because we do this for a living, we know hundreds, if not thousands of people directly whose livelihoods are are based on this and whose creative lives and whose families and whose whole whole existence is is really based around these things and it's it's nice to to support those folks and like I have definitely bought modern watches because I know the people at the company and I like them. And like you know, I I want to support them and I want to, you know, kind of go out there and rep for them um in the same way that, you know, whether it's a piece of clothing or it's a watch or or whatever, but um I do think you're also right, John, about kind of like acknowledging your your privilege there and saying, like I'm I'm lucky I have a job that I love that pays me enough money that every so often I can buy a you know totally frivolous thing that costs a couple thousand bucks and like that' thats's really I'm really lucky to be able to do that and I I try to keep that in mind and I I think it's when I start to maybe take it for granted that that guilt starts to seep in. Um but yeah I'd be curious to know this is another one I'm gonna kinda throw to to listeners. Like for people listening, let us let us know what you think here. Like this is not a simple a simple topic. I think like we could very easily do a whole hour talking about the sort of like ethics and moral obligations or lack thereof of collecting in general, let alone, you know, watches specifically. Um, but I'd I'd love to know what people think here. I think, you know, this is one of those corners of our our community that people don't really like to talk about. Um especially because there's people in this community of of all levels of means and interest and whatever um and backgrounds. So it it's different for everyone, but yeah, I think this is this is one worth making a a real like community discussion here. All right, let's wrap things up here with one more uh let's let's do something a little more a little more pragmatic here uh and maybe a little bit more more optimistic here to finish things off. Hi guys, my name is Evan. I'm a college student living in Baltimore, Maryland,
Danny Milton and my Hodinky username is ESB. I had a quick question if or I was actually really interested in if you guys could talk about how kind of you Stephen or anyone else at Hodinki got into watches around my age and what you were doing as a collector, or if you had
Stephen Pulvirent any tips for a young professional who's interested in watches. Thank you. Yeah I'll I'm I'm happy to start here. Um yeah I I think the key to collecting anything or getting interested in anything is uh education. Like learn as much as you possibly can before you spend a single dollar. Uh and those first dollars should be spent on things like books and experiences uh instead of stuff. Uh you know, I'd say like go get yourself if you're interested in watches, like get yourself a Time X, get yourself a G Shock, get yourself a Seiko 5 or a System 51 uh and then spend the rest of the money learning. It'll make every dollar you spend later pay off more uh and you'll be so much happier for it. Like, you know, I I think YouTube probably can relate, but like I've made so many dumb purchases of watches that like I owned for less than six months and sold and probably lost some money on in most cases, or definitely lost some money on in most cases. Uh, and it's just like not fun. Like that experience is less fun than you know, getting a stack of books, doing a whole bunch of reading, and then buying the thing you love and being like, Yes, I nailed it. Like, I totally got it. Um and you will have some missteps and like luckily we're talking about watches here. So like, you know, I say misstep, but like the stakes are relatively low. But yeah, I would say learn as much as you can and uh talk to people. Like I I have been shocked in the watch world that like people in general are are doing this because they love it and they're in this because they love it and they want other people to love it too. Uh so just like talk to people, you know, hit up John Buse on uh on Instagram, bug bug John, uh bug Danny, bug me, you know, DM hodinky, hit us up on Twitter, you know, like go to meetups and meet collectors and become friends with them and like go get coffee with them when that's you know doable again. But like for now, like just go online and like try to meet people and chat with people. Most people are pretty happy to talk to you, I find. Uh and that that holds true from before I was doing this professionally, you know. Like I I remember being uh in in the clothing world, not the watch world, but like I remember being a 20-year-old kid studying abroad in London and like just walking into Savile Road Taylors, expecting them to be like, uh, excuse me, sir, you can leave right now. Uh we can tell just by looking at you that you cannot afford anything here. Good day. Uh and instead, pee people were so kind to me. And like I I don't think'd be doing this professionally if those people hadn't been nice. I think I would have been turned off to the whole idea of this kind of like world of like elevated, nice, handmade, beautiful things. Uh but no, like I was, you know, college kid in like jeans and a polo shirt walking into Huntsman and they, you know, sat me down and chatted with me for an hour. And people in watches are just like that too in in my experience.
John Buse Yeah, I would agree. I would and uh I would echo Stephen's point uh about educating yourself. You can do that obviously by reading uh reading Hodinky. Um there are plenty of books out there as well. Uh Steven's book is quite good. Uh the launch theory revised. It's on my coff
Stephen Pulvirent ee table right now. I have amusement. Man, we are definitely having you guys back on the show. I love it. You guys doing the log rolling for me, it's perfect
John Buse . But yeah, I mean so yeah, educate yourself and then um your earliest watch purchases I would suggest probably shouldn't um they shouldn't be huge financial outlays. Um certainly they shouldn't be out financial outlays that you're uncomfortable with. So uh when I think of, you know, uh I think Stephen, you mentioned a SICO five, like that's I mean, you can get immense satisfaction from a SACO five. Everyone should have a seco five, right? Um there's no reason not to have one. Uh another kind of cool thing uh if you're looking for something a bit more esoteric would be to look at like Russian watches like boss stocks and stuff like that. So cool. Yeah. I d I don't uh have I one of my first uh mechanical watches was a Vostok actually and I gave it to my brother. I don't even know if I he might he may still have it. Um but that I kind of like missed that watch in in a way because uh I I feel like I learned a lot about um you know owning a mechanical watch just from having having uh having that Vostok be one of my early ones. Um but yeah, keep the stakes low and uh and have fun and learn a lot is what
Danny Milton I would say. Yeah speaking of that, um with with Vostok John, I was actually in Krakow last summer and they have these outdoor flea markets and so many of the watches there are are Vostok because you know you're geographically you're closer to Russia there than you are here. Yeah. Um but it was just I saw so many cool vintage uh Vostok dive dive watches and just they're just awesome. And the price there in terms of like the exchange was you know, I probably should have picked one up and didn't. Um but yeah no something that I did um a lot when I was around the college age is you know there was uh there were watch shops around where I was where I lived and I will tell you um especially stores or ADs that they're not getting commission off of sales, they love just talking. Um, you know, there's no problem walking in and just you know, shooting the shit with somebody in the store, you know, letting them know what you're interested in. You know, you you don't have to be a financially viable customer uh to be worthy of their time, uh kind of like echoing Steven's sentiment. And and I'm, you know, there's someone, you know, in the store near where I lived, and shout out to Maryland, by the way, from the caller. Um, that um you know, I still can go in there and he remembers me and we can still have conversations. You know, it's it's it's a fun way to learn. It's a it's a kind of a judgment-free zone to as an outlet for the sort of watch nerdiness that you're accumulating by reading you know our site and other sites and books and things like that and you kind of feel like you're in a safe place to do that. Um, and so that to me, and plus like Steven's saying, just read and read and read some more and look some more and give yourself time. You know, if you if you don't get burnt out by researching a watch, you know, and then giving yourself some time to think about it and returning to it, then you probably do like it. Um and that's a great like kind of initial test before you know departing with your hard earned money. Um to sort of see if it's something you really like. And a lot of times for me you know if I if if I get burnt out I'm thinking you know what that might happen if I bought it you know I might wear it for three weeks or you know maybe a long seven months and at a certain point, you know, a watch is meant to be a long term purchase and long term is years and hopefully many, many years. And you want to be able to to to make that choice. You will make mistakes along the way, but hopefully you try to, you know, avoid them as best you can, especially if these are, you know, higher price purchases and more special occasions
Stephen Pulvirent . Yeah, those are those are great points. I I I think one of the things kind of the subtext which you're saying hits on something we actually talked about on last week's episode when I was talking to Pedro Mendez, which is is this idea of being able to collect without the physical objects. And like I think when you're just starting out, collecting knowledge instead of things is is the way to go. Like you're you think about your collecting as like, okay, this week I'm gonna collect Patek Philippe and I'm gonna like go learn as much as I can about paddock. And then like next week, I'm gonna collect vintage Rolex, specifically I'm gonna collect vintage subs and like go read reference points, go read some of the the books out there, like go Google, like just like learn as much as you possibly can, dig through VRF, like go crazy. And that's your way of like you can you can have a new adventure every week and like Danny said without having to spend spend a dollar. Cool. Well, uh guys, this has been super fun. Uh just as expected, we didn't get to even, you know, half the questions on the short list, let alone all the questions. Uh so we'll we'll have to do a bunch more of these. I would say anybody listening, uh let us know what you think about these. Let us know what we can do better for you. Uh let us know if there are questions you want us to go deeper on, explore a little more, um, or if you have your own takes. Uh so just go to hodinky.com, you'll find the uh the episode there, and you can you can leave comments there or hit us up on Instagram. Uh those are both great. And uh yeah, I'll have to have you guys back soon. We'll uh we'll open those phone lines back up and uh do this again. Sounds good. Until next time. Awesome. Thanks guys. Thank you.