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When Your Watch Becomes A Deserted Island Dilemma

Published on Tue, 23 Nov 2021 12:45:00 +0000

Going full Florida Man and the latest high-flying chronographs from Breitling.

Synopsis

In this episode of Hodinkee Radio, host James Stacy welcomes back field correspondent Cole Pennington to discuss two recent adventures, each with its own watch story. The conversation begins with Cole's expedition to the Dry Tortugas, the most remote national park in America, located seventy miles west of Key West. For this "deserted island" scenario, Cole decided to test an unconventional choice: an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver borrowed from Crown & Caliber. Rather than selecting a practical tool watch, he wanted to explore what it would mean to wear a luxury timepiece in true survival conditions.

Cole's experience on the island proved illuminating in unexpected ways. While camping, fishing for snapper, encountering a massive Goliath grouper, and setting up camp with fish guts and tent stakes, he realized the Royal Oak Offshore didn't align with his personal identity or the practical demands of the environment. The watch felt disconnected from both the survival scenario and his own aesthetic preferences. He contrasts this with what he and James agree would be better choices: a vintage GMT-Master with faded bezel, or simply a reliable Seiko diver. The adventure highlighted how watches carry cultural associations and personal meaning that transcend their technical capabilities.

The second half of the episode shifts to Cole's trip to Dallas for the launch of Breitling's new Super AVI collection—five watches inspired by four iconic warbirds: the P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, De Havilland Mosquito, and F4U Corsair. These 46mm chronographs with GMT functions represent Breitling's modernization of their vintage AVI 765 design. Cole and James discuss how these watches successfully tap into romantic connections with aviation history, especially when Cole flew in formation aboard a DC-3 flanked by the actual aircraft that inspired the collection. They conclude that while connecting watches to planes or cars might seem predictable, these emotional bonds are precisely what elevates a timepiece beyond mere tool status—and why people invest in luxury watches at all.

Transcript

Speaker
James Stacy This episode of Hodenky Radio is proudly brought to you by the new Seiko Prospects built for the Ice Diver US Special Edition. Three eye-catching and colorful iteration of Seiko's 1970s divers watch recreation with a vintage silhouette and modern fit and finish. Stay tuned for more later in the show or visit Secolux.com for all the details. Hey everyone, it's me, James Stacy, and we're back with another episode featuring the latest reports from our man in the field, Cole Pennington. Cole is fresh back from a pair of literally far-flung trips that had him fending for his own survival on a remote desert island and flying in formation with some iconic warbirds, each with a watch story of its own. It's fishing, flying, and flights of pure fancy, and if like me, you're a little short on adventure these days, this one should hit home. Alright, Cole. It's a pleasure to have you back on the show. As always, uh it's and it's always just kind of a treat to catch up with you because I feel like a lot of my kind of adventuring lifestyle that I had before the pandemic has faded in many ways. Borders are starting to open. I'm seeing the I'm seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. But you're actually out and and kicking around. Where where are you currently and where have you been recently?
Cole Pennington Oh man. Well, well, thank you. Um I know what you mean, and I think that you just gotta make lemonade when when the old life lemonade I'm still getting around. It just
James Stacy isn't the same. I'm I'm gonna lose my flight status, that sort of thing. Uh that that's actually soul crushing, but honestly. It hurts. It hurts quite a bit. They were rig Air Canada was nice and they extended it. And I don't think they're gonna extend it next year. I think it was on me to fly a bit more this year. Yeah, well, I'm sure plenty of people are in the same boat
Cole Pennington . So I'm gonna miss that lounge. I did just get off a plane a few hours ago. Uh came back from Dallas where uh the new Brightling Super AV or Avi, it was was pronounced a few different ways this past uh yesterday was released and then before that I was in Florida. It was a personal trip, but also kinda, you know, folded in with work. Uh did something kinda neat, which was uh going out to the uh dry Tortugas, which is uh seventy miles west of Key West. It's the most remote national park in America. I was actually not necessarily simulating, but I was actually testing out my and people call it the desert island watch. And I would say that this is a mis
James Stacy nomer. It's a deserted island to watch. Yeah, I think the the desert island thing is from that the long standing BBC show, Desert Island Discs. Oh. And I think that's where most people get that. But I think the idea is that it's it's a c kind of like a palm tree desert. You're not like what songs usually listen to if you weren't actively worried about your own survival, but also you didn't have access to uh, you know, Spotify or title or whatever. I think that's where that comes from, or at least that's where I know it from. But deserted island makes more sense. And this is an interesting one because we've talked about the dry tortugas in the past. I found out about it from you on a TGN episode some time ago. And this is something you've been wanting to do for quite a while. Is it a hard place to get to?
Cole Pennington It is. But it's not just that. So obviously the pandemic has introduced this new phenomenon where all of a sudden a lot of people who never knew about national parks before discovered A overlanding, B national parks, and C like the joy of it also. All these permits that are issued. I mean the drive strategy is you need a permit to camp there. Do you need a permit to visit? You don't need a permit to visit, but the visit is a is a finite thing. It's f you land at like twelve and you have to leave at two. Like you have a few hours. So every day. So the way it works is this. There are two ways to get there. You can take a seaplane, which you charter, or or uh buy a seat on a scheduled flight, and the seaplane will come and drop folks off and pick 'em up. They only have, you know, they can go have lunch on the island kind of thing. Or you could sail yourself, which I did run into some some just a random guy who I kind of asked like, oh, hey, I I didn't see you. around here before And he's like, Oh, it's my sailboat over there. That's awesome. It was crazy. And then the third lifestyle just sail there. Yeah. The third way is to take a ferry that operates most days called the Yankee Freedom and that rolls in at ten and rolls out at two something. Okay So basically what you do that's at least gives you four hours that way. Yeah, like ten thirty. I mean you pretty much you can walk around the island,
James Stacy explore a little bit, have lunch, and then you're out. So you're saying have lunch. I want to fill in some blanks for people. It's difficult to get there. If you want to stay overnight, you need a permit. Is there like a little town? Is it kinda like one of Catalina? Not at all. It's there's actually not
Cole Pennington hing. So there's no mini putt? No, no. There's there's one little park ranger station with a marine radio that you can use if there's an emergency. Other than that, no infrastructure. There's a little mini visitor center too. But National Park Service. So you're bringing your own lunch. You're bringing it's pack in, pack out, everything. And the reason it's called the dry tortugas is because there's no fresh water. Understood. So but when I say have lunch, the boat will provide you with like a jersey mic sub. Sort of guy. I mean that sounds pretty good. It is, it is. Hard to beat a sandwich in an adventure. Exactly. And so you can do one of two things. You can go for that little stretch in the middle of the day, or when they leave, you stay. And then it becomes your island. So when that boat leaves, that's it. There's no like you and a ranger? Uh yeah, there are two rangers there. And then there are about eight up to eight people that can camp. And if someone like, some wayward wandering soul, shows up, like like in this case, there was just a dude sleeping on the dock, and he just pulled up in his boat, slept in the dock, and in the morning there was some bad weather and he couldn't go anywhere. And uh he was an interesting guy. Like I I kinda chatted with him for a little bit. Sounds like it. And yeah, the whole thing. It's very it's very much what you imagine the Florida Keys lifestyle. It's uh What size are we talking for the island? I would say like two or three football fields worth of real estate. It's tiny. You can see across the whole thing, but there's a fort on the island. So there's a big brick fort called This is what I've seen. Yeah, Fort Jefferson. And it was built during the Civil War, I think eighteen seven or eighteen sixty one. It was used to kind of protect this very important shipping lane down there. In addition, it was a prison for um Confederate soldiers towards the end and then also someone who aided in the murder of uh Lincoln. Wow, so he was held there and yeah, it's uh throughout history it's it's seen a few different uses. But so that. I applied for the permit a long time ago. Finally, you know, sometimes you get lucky, your number comes up. And then came the part where it intersects with with what we do every day. Because this is largely a personal trip, like a personal goal. And the way I found out about it was uh there was that piece I did like scientists with uh Justin, the Ristorian, scientist wearing watches. Of course yeah. One of the scientists who he had written about. Shout out to Justin. Yeah, Justin, the restorian, definitely check it out. Piece he had done where he sent me a picture of one of the scientists in the dry tartugos with a bunch of false killer whales. And I was like, wow, where is that? And then that kind of sent me down the rabbit hole. And then once once you have an idea in your head you're the same way. Like you have to go do it. Like you see something espe
James Stacy cially when it's like it's there and boats go to it or planes and it's like you get out there and it and the first thing that I thought is like one this kind of sounds like uh like the the Florida Keys equivalent of Elba Island where Napoleon was interned or exiled. Yeah, yes. I assume I assume he had more space and you know facilities. And then the other side, I love the idea that there's only two rangers there. Like it's either a great job posting or it's the one you go to when you you messed up real bad at Yellowstone or something like that. I think I I think these gu
Cole Pennington ys really enjoyed it actually, from what I could tell. I think I would. So yeah, then came this this idea like, wait, I am going to a place that more or less isn't uninhabited by humans aside from the park rangers on a regular basis um island. So this is a realistic I'm gonna just switch to Desert Island even though I still have a problem with it, but I'm gonna uh I'll switch to it to make it easy. This is a realistic desert island scenario. So normally I would bring some sort of watch that you know both you and I like, I don't know, a Seiko, Aquastar, this, that, you know, just a good watch for the keys and an aquatic lifestyle and so forth. But I think I got out of my head, like what if that boat didn't come back? You know, like what if something happened? And uh sure and what's funny is Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway, did get stranded on the dry Sartugas for 17 days on a fishing trip because of weather. So must have been livid when he ran out of whiskey. Oh yeah, but I'm sure the boat was stocked. He was probably pretty happy about the whole thing, I would imagine. Yeah, as long as supplies last for sure. Exactly. So I got in my head that yeah, like what if this boat doesn't come back and what if this is the end? What if, you know, you just this is the rest of your life. You're living on an island like Castaway or something like that. Like what do you want to do with the watch? So I I kind of put all the usual suspects to the side and
James Stacy said, you know, I'm not gonna do that. Like, so this watch isn't for survival. This is more of like what would be the most interesting watch I could take to the drive Tortuga? Kind of. Like, what am I gonna
Cole Pennington if this is the end and I I have to go out with a bang, what do I do? Just because I I thought about this and there was actually you probably saw this too. There was a very interesting story about a guy who used his doxa as a hammer and then later someone welded up the I've I've read that the welts in the case. Yeah, I forget where I saw that, but so yes, you can use a watch as a survival thing, but I thought realistically I'm not gonna be using this watch as a survival tool or a hammer or whatever. So I'm gonna have a little fun with it. And I kind of thought about it like the same thing, you know, like uh when the dark passenger takes the wheel and you get these crazy ideas in your head like stealing a supercar and driving it till the end. Like you know you're gonna go to jail, so you might as well just drive it off a cliff while you're done. Right into a backhoe. Yeah. Exactly. So normally I would buy something uh in a you know, another universe, I'd buy like a brand new nine eleven or something sensible if I'm gonna have something elevated for a long time. But if I know I wanna go out with a bang, I'm gonna do something a little ridiculous. I'm gonna go for the something I normally wouldn't do, like I don't know, uh a ventilator. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Something a little more swimming. Yeah, exactly. So I did something that I just thought, you know, this isn't very me, but I went with a royal oak offshore. That isn't very you, but it is kind of a cool choice. It's it's kind of you, I would say, actually. I yeah, I like those watches quite a bit. I I can't say I do, to be honest. And we'll skip to the conclusion here. I still don't really. I I will say, but I'll explain how I got there. Basically, I chose this watch. I I called up Crown Calibur. They happen to have one. I kinda knew they would. And I asked you, hey, can can I borrow this watch? And I didn't even really mention what I was doing. I didn't And I just figured so so okay, that we'll get to the first experience with the watch, which is in Miami. Obviously, we I flew to Miami to get to that watch's cultural home. It it is, it really is. It's cultural and definitely within the US. Yeah. I thought like honestly, like, you know, going to Goodwood, dressing up and so forth, like playing the part is sometimes fun, right? Shakespeare said we're all actors on a stage or whatever. Like however, even in Miami, like when I strapped that watch on walking around uh it was the Art Deco district and Lincoln Street and so forth, and that was the first like foray into being a Royal Oak offshore wearer. The thing is, I really should have. And that that's maybe why I didn't really feel. I I I actually felt like I'm not this guy. Like I'm actually not going and throwing cash around and going to the like liberace or Versace or something. There's a mansion down there and like all that stuff. I'm not doing it. I don't have a Lamborghini uh at the valet thing or whatever. So I'm just walking around Miami with a royal oak on and then it starts getting my head like, well what if someone, you know, holds me up or whatever. Like and that's okay. Like if that happens, that happens. Like you can't be scared of the world. Like you can't make decisions based on things like that. But how how am I going to explain this to work? What am I going to do, like, just in general? Like if someone steals this watch. So that was the first seed that was planted. Like, do I really want to be walking around with a forty thousand dollar royal oak, like iconic target watch in Miami? And is this me anyway? And no. So I give it a second chance though. I think, okay, alright, that's Miami. It it didn't like click right away. Let's take it to the dry tortugas and see if we can't have some fun with it, you know? So is it a modern uh forty-four, forty-two millimeter? It's uh
James Stacy what's the colorway? It's this this guy right here. I'm showing it to you on the camera, but you you can describe it to the audience. Yeah, that's so that's the 42mm Royal Oak offshore diver. Specifically black dial with the uh internal RIA control at ten. Yeah. That's one of my dream watches. Is it right? I've loved that watch for a long time. It's very expensive now. It's uh like forty grand. Yeah, and I I I remember when I knew someone who had one briefly, we were talking they were worth thirty percent of that. Wow. Uh second hand. I mean maybe not in that condition, but yeah, I I've liked that watch for a long time, but I've never had that one on wrist. I've had the boutique editions they did for SHH H N seventeen, maybe you know there's like the bright green one and a a white one. One was for Geneva, one was for those ones. I just thought they were really fun. It's a crazy dive watch for sure. You oughta take it the next. I'll send it off to Toronto next. I want someone to
Cole Pennington pass that over the border. I would love to deal with that paperwork. So just go to prison. So yeah, that that was the watch. And you know, I don't know royal looks like you do, right? It's kind of untrodden territory to me. And this is really my first foray into the wearing aspect of them aside from you know seeing them at trade shows and everything but I've never had that interest that that put me over the edge to really look at it in on a deeper level. So took it to uh the giant Tortugas thinking like all right, this is the this is the time where I get to enjoy this like all right, I'm on a deserted island or or a desert island and I'm wearing this dream watch. So
James Stacy specificity being the soul of narrative, you took the ferry. I took the ferry. Yeah. We're thrilled to be yet again supported by Seiko in their U.S. Special Edition Prospects Built for the Ice Diver Trio, the SPB 261, 263, and 265. Measuring 42.7mm wide and powered by Seiko 6R35 automatic movement, this special prospects collection is marked by three special dial variations meant to capture the wide range of colors seen in polar ice. The dials feature a subtle fume gradient as well as an ice texture, adding visual interest and depth. From a cool gray to a light blue and a deep radiant green, the Seiko Prospects US Special Editions add an extra appeal to the classic 1970 shape and 200 meters water resistance offered by these vintage-themed Prospects divers. Priced at $1,400 and available via U.S. Seiko Lux locations, visit the show notes for all you need to know about this trio of polar themed dive watches. A big thanks to Seiko for supporting this episode. Now let's get back to the show. So uh like aside from the Royal Oak, you look like a gentleman that's out out for weekends of camping. You've got a big bag on So actually no. I actually
Cole Pennington because I was into it? Yeah. I well I brought two outfits. Uh three three total. The first was my Florida man outfit, but not the like Florida man that's wrestling gators. Florida man more like that might sneak away to the Bahamas and buy cigars or something. So had a little Panama hat on, had a little uh Hawaiian shirt with um war birds and palm trees. It was very cool. Had some custom sunglasses that I picked up in Thailand of made from a water buffalo horn with pink lenses. Oh okay. It's kind of like a little bit of like Hannibal Lecter at the end of uh Science of the Lambs. It is, it is, exactly. And I thought somewhere between ready for the island life. Yeah. Between that and maybe maybe a little Hemingway, because that's kind of the vibe too. Sure. And I figured I would show up and spend most of the day in that and maybe fish in that and everything and wear the watch to help kind of like bring the personality of the watch out and like maybe tie this whole ensemble together and so forth. So yeah, I I'm on this ferry in like the garb I just described, show up to the island, and you know, I I got there, I went with my girlfriend, we are setting up the uh campsite and all this stuff, and I hate setting up tents as uh you know I mean just hate doing it and I also have this watch on my wrist too so like that then came the time where you have to commit like all right this is not my watch it's essentially Crown and Calibur's watch. Um, about to do things like tie a bunch of lures and use knives and start a fire, set up a tent. Sure. I kind of have to commit here. It's either like stay in your uh Panama Jack thing and just like don't don't put in the work and or say like, okay, this this might get scratched, or this might, you know, like you just have to do it. And I thought, well, hey, we just had that wonderful video at Chronicle where it showed how they do the, you know, multi-step process with the polishing and everything and thought, hey, you know, maybe they'll polish it up if they're necessary off as far as I'm concerned. I'm not the company's accountant, of course, but approved. So then in there I thought, all right, well, I'm not gonna not help set up the tent and all this stuff. And I have to watch on, I'm not taking it off. So this is it. I'm doing it. So I start, you know, doing everything, set up the tent, start tying up my rigs, start, you know, taking this half rotting squid and shrimp that I bought the day before out of the bag to cut into strips to go fishing with and get, you know, fish juices all over. And um I was just thinking like this is the the first inkling I had was like this isn't the life of a royal oak offshore wear. It isn't. It just isn't
James Stacy I don't know. I I'm maybe maybe not the most common one. I think you're you're an outlier, but I don't think you're an impossibility. I think there's folks that would buy a really high-end Swiss sports watch and then treat it like that for sure. I just think they're maybe not the people that we meet in the world that's more concerned with the collector side of it, the the
Cole Pennington rest of the so that it was it's totally a preconceived notion in my head. And unfortunately, that's just the way I saw it, right? I kind of had this idea like if this ever turned into a Lord of the Flies situation on the island, like I would look for the guy wearing the throyoak and I would try and eat him first. And I was thinking, do I want to be that guy? And here I am, sitting duck with this thing and and there are gonna be a lot more people than than me, right? And is this a signifier that I'm like more money than brains or is
James Stacy this you know the average person out there in a campsite scenario has any clue what a royal oak looks like? Nope. I don't think so at all. In fact I know I got to know the other people and they certainly did not have any like like I could see maybe thinking if I was Lord of the Flies kind of scenario, um you see the solid gold Rolex or whatever, and you're like, well not only am I going to be the one wearing that watch, but I'm gonna be doing it with a full belly for sure. But you know, they are this niche is the wrong word, but I I don't think they're like a mass market thing. They don't there aren't that many of them out there. And especially it it's it might be one thing to say a standard Royal a fifteen two oh two or or anything from the the Royal Oak line versus the offshore. But I don't think they I don't think a ton of these offshores are out there. I've never seen one in the wild outside of oh trade fair in Geneva. I haven'
Cole Pennington t either actually and and I will admit like and this is maybe a shortcoming on my part and and I would say a learning opportunity. The watch in what I think is not reality, right? This is totally a preconceived notion based on a very narrow scope of folks that we interact with and kind of the vibe that we see through this very narrow lens. But that's why I needed to try it out. Like you had the only way to know is to try it out. Like so yeah, I did. And and I guess that over the course of staying on this island, we you know, we caught a few snapper, ate them for dinner, went free diving, snorkeling. What's the water like there? Oh my god. Like typical keys snorkeling? Typical keys, but even better because uh dry chatuga is it's super shallow. So it's really one side is is enough to dock a boat, and that's why strategically this works. It's deep enough to dock a boat. But the other, it's very much the flats, the your your Caribbean flats. So full of snook, tarpon, amberjack. Any bonefish out that way or no? There I didn't see any. This is that habitat. This is very much like, you know, yeah, the flats, exactly. And didn't pull up anything. We we hooked we had a tarpon on, but it split the hook. Oh oh my god, I'm I'm leaving out the craziest detail. First spotting ever, Goliath Gruber. Oh wow. And this one was maybe four times my weight at least.
James Stacy It's like being in the water with a sofa that has eyes. Exactly. That's exactly they're so big. Even bigger. Yeah. I saw one at the aquarium in Atlanta, the Georgia aquarium. They used to have a big one. I have a great photo of 'em. There's a big bubble window that you could sit next to, and he came up close and you're like, this has to be distorted by the bubble. And then he swam past a normal, the normal, like giant, huge window there. And you're like, oh my goodness, that thing is it's just a yeah, it's a it's a couch with eyes and gills, beautiful spots and I yeah, they can be kind of aggressive towards uh uh uh spear fishermen, but otherwise I think they're they're known to be pretty I've been in the water with other groupers, nothing that big, but other groupers which in my world are still very big fish. Oh, for sure. In uh Mexico off of Casamel and um Puntamita, but they were never to that size. But I found them to be kind of creepy in that they're very aware that you're there, but they're very standoffish. All right. I could have gotten in
Cole Pennington the water with it. I was on the dock. I didn't actually get in the water. It really, I mean, I'm 6'1. Yeah. And it was definitely longer than me and girthier. Oh, yeah. It was a big old girthy boy. Like huge. Like I would say 800 pounds, and I'm not even kidding. Like the kind of Goliath grouper that could easily eat a juvenile shark. And would do so. And probably does. Yeah. It probably does. Yeah. So cool animal. Saw one of those. And yeah, that was the interesting thing about the dry tartugas is that since it is you know it's out there and so forth the ecosystem is incredibly rich like everywhere you turn there's something fishing is productive like you don't you're not waiting there, like something's biting it it's either going to be like a mangrove snapper or or maybe something even more interesting. But you'll always have something on everywhere you walk, you'll see something interesting in the water. And yeah, it's just an incredible place. And I would say, like, my my initial mission to find, you know, the is this the desert island watch for me or whatever, ended with the notion that since there was nobody there, to kind of like not not show off, I'm not gonna say that's the right word, but I'm not wearing this watch for myself normally anyway, per se. Like I'm wearing it 'cause I know it's a little bit of a show. It's royal look off sure, you know? Yeah, for sure. And then when no one knows what it is and no one's there and it's just you and the watch, I I guess I found like, okay, well what now? And then it almost became like I forgot that this was even part of the mission to begin with. And just yeah took in the beauty of the place and it just became a normal
James Stacy watch. So I mean in in your mind, do you wish you'd pick something else for the deserted island? Or do you think this was the the purpose of the story was to learn the way that you personally are going to interface with with what on paper and even in my opinion is a really great watch. I I think it's a beautifully made watch. I think they're really fun and special. But nothing is going to hit everybody the same way. You don't have to love everything. That there's no purpose to that, right? Everyone's personal taste has a meter, and then to put it in this sort of magnifying glass of the deserted island, you didn't have a different watch with you, and it it just never kind of felt right for the space. But I can understand that. I just I when you were there, were you wishing it was just a Seiko or a Marathon or would a Ploprof have been a better option? I don't know.
Cole Pennington So I was gonna turn around and ask you what you would have done in in this scenario. And to first answer your question, did I wish I had something different? No. Like I think this is an interesting exercise as a watch guy. Like you know we we both run into this problem. There's only so much you can conceptualize and think about and talk about.
James Stacy Like also only so much you can own. One of the great perks of this weird lifestyle is that you just get to experience things without the price tag, without the burden of ever dealing with a service or any of that, you get a couple weeks with it. And the same thing when I had with cars. I have a great opinion of cars, but it they would really change if I was an owner. Buying them, servicing them, storing them somewhere. Like I have one car and it's a very modest vehicle. I'm lucky to have a couple watches that I that I really like and and and enjoy it. Ye
Cole Pennington ah what are you going to bring? So you you are in my position do you A go a bit like flat out and do something crazy or do you go conservative like what is what is your desert deserted island wat
James Stacy ch right so the the way that I see it is I would want I would be thinking about when I get rescued and I've got the long beard, I'm all kind of cruddy I. smell like fish guts. I look pretty good because of the tan and because I've lost a few LBs because I'm only I'm not eating that much, right? You know, it's not c it's not c Colonel Kurtz out here. I'm not I'm not packing them on in the jungle. I want to think like what what would look kind of right on my wrist in the photos. Okay. So this is about the glamour too. So we're kind of thinking along the same lines. Glamour, yes. I think and I think glamour's a better word than it being a flex or a showy sort of thing. But like I like a I like thinking of watches as the way they look on me. I love when I see a watch that I have or even one of my watches on somebody else and you go like, oh, that looks this way on their wrist. And it's like a different perspective. And I for me, I guess the way I I interface with so many of these sorts of stories, the the adventure, the rescue, the deserted island, are in the you know black and white photos that from when they were rescued or the the end of the story, the part when you actually get to appreciate it because you the person didn't pass or whatever. And I I would say my Explorer too, but I own that watch. A dive watch on like a brightly colored rubber strap always looks great in a deserty sort of bright scenario. Yeah, like an orange rubber strap or something. Yeah, like so maybe maybe like that the gray Ploprof from a few years back that had the orange rubber. Ooh, good choice. The titanium one, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I love that watch. And that kind of that follows the lead of the AP uh in that it's kind of this large boisterous statement about what it is to be both a dive watch, which is was never really meant to be a luxury item in its original design brief, but now has become this thing that suggests a certain experience, suggests a certain thing. And then the other one that I think will always look perfect on anyone, especially in a rugged rescue, whatever sort of scenario, is like get me a get me a nicely faded sixteen, seven, ten GMT Master. Oh man, so
Cole Pennington that's so funny you say that. When you asked like would you rather have brought one of your own watches or something? Yeah. The GMT Master
James Stacy came to Because you've got a six digit It never will, but I I'm a sucker for the aluminum. Give me the aluminum with the with the the blue red like the Pepsi. Yeah. But give me one that's seen some sun. Maybe I've been on the island for a while. Yeah, th this is Heaton's one watch guy watch you're describing. Yeah, exactly. And you know, like I said, I've lost a few pounds to the bracelet's a little loose, which is gonna look uh Yeah, but I think that's the way I would
Cole Pennington go. All right, that's hard to top. I mean, to be honest, I would have said the same thing. I did think about throwing the six-digit GMT on a trapic. I think that could be a modern version of what we're describing here, but the last didn
James Stacy 't do that. I think the the other one that comes to mind would be uh and you can you can fill the blank for your wrist if you're listening a Seiko diver of any type. Robust. You're not gonna you know the likelihood of really doing some damage you know a tuna would work really well in case you thought you might bang it off a rock or whatever. Monster is a great pick. I like you
Cole Pennington said any sake of time watch. Monster, yeah, for sure. Pick the one you like. That's gonna work on an island. And that'll be your your Bezzard Island watch. The thing is, everything can always lead down that path. Like you can almost justify like, oh, we could just do that for for any scenario. But looking back, like I will go back again, I'm sure. And I I suggest that you go too. And anyone listening, I'd love it. It's it is worth it, I will say Unfortunately, it's just time because it's not a lottery, it's not that hard. Uh no, it's not a lottery. Just get your name in and go. Right now you can reserve spots for July. Right now. Uh okay. But uh you know maybe this will all change when like folks have other options or or you know I don't know. But when I started the process it was like I had you had to book it way out in advance if you wanted to camp, which I think anyone can go for the day. Which the it's not as fun. I think you have to camp. Like we woke up like middle of the night, it's storming, it's crazy, you know. It's
James Stacy uh is it uh is it kind of barren or can you you are kind of um protected by trees and and the rest? You
Cole Pennington 're protected by trees. So you can set up your campsite in the middle of this little grove of trees, but there are rats on the island. So that's something to worry about. So we went uh under a a palm tree. So just had kind of in the shade of a palm tree, a little tent. And uh ever there are grills there, like stationary grills, because they don't want you gathering up bramble from around the park and Yeah, I was just an ask are you w what what are the fire conditions there? Pack in your charcoal. That makes sense though. And no combustible. It's also not that big of an ask. It's not. It's not at all. And and you're gonna use it for breakfast. You you might use it for fun too. You're gonna use it for dinner. And also folks stay multiple days, right? You can stay up to for a few days too. So you really gotta pack in and think about how you ration things out and so forth. It's it's there are real factors here. Like there are anywhere. Like folks die in Joshua Tree from not bringing a
James Stacy goddamn water bottle, you know? Yeah. Or uh, you know, the I I remember reading that thing in Outside from uh one of these volunteers that would stay in the parking lot at the rim-to-rim trail for the Grand Canyon and be like, wrong shoes, not enough water, get back in your car, go home. And you'll die, we're not gonna be able to save you. That's the thing. And it's just people in Nike running shoes with like one bottle of aquafina or whatever. Maybe Fiji. They sound like Fiji people. heat and and lots of weird conditions and this crazy it's crazy the way that some of that works. So none of that surprises
Cole Pennington me. Yeah and so folks do. I mean there there are problems there. Folks die. So you do have to think about what you bring and I would say to kind of wrap this up, the watch is the last thing you really should be thinking about. But it's it's the most fun thing to explore. And and I guess what this does is it underscores one fun part of the hobby, which you can do in the industry or outside too. Like you can borrow watches or or just think about what watch you want to buy. But putting watches in different scenarios that makes them more fun and more memorable and kind of adds to your perspective on the watch and so forth. So So yeah, that was that. Taking the Royal Oak offshore to a desert island. And uh Yeah, I learned a lot about myself that da
James Stacy y, a lot about the watch. And that story that story is on Hodenke woulde. It have gone up yesterday by the time this comes out next week. So if you want to see the images, you want the full download, you want to get the get the scope on what Cole's talking about, you can check that out. Cole, from there, did you go directly to Dallas to check out some planes and pilots' watches? Nope. Came back to U
Cole Pennington tah first, then went down to Dallas for Gotta get those flight segments, actually. Yeah, but not on my uh not on Starlance, unfortunately. So Oh no. It is what it is, but sometimes y you gotta choose between like putting the money towards your own people or taking the cheap flight, right? So I took the cheap flight this time. Yeah, sometimes you gotta. Yeah. So went back down to Dallas for the launch of the Brightling Super AVI, Avi. How have you said this traditionally
James Stacy ? Well, you know, when I I went to a previous launch they did before the before the pandemic, they did one in New York when they launched the AVI 8 line. So you say AVI. Interesting. But uh well, only to follow you, I was gonna say I'm pretty sure at the presentation they said avi, like as a short for avi uh aviation, which even that doesn't hold up that well. So I always say avi in my mind, AVI is audio visual interface, but I worked for a very long time in tech support. So so this is a kind uh of an extension of the AVI AVI line. Uh we're talking kind of big chronographs, some GMT stuff with a distinctly vintage plane bent. Yes. Four, four vintage plan
Cole Pennington es. But let's nail down the name first and then we can go from there, just so we we get on the right right thing here. It's got AV. AV. The super AV. I'll try. Okay. I'm never I'm not known for my pronunciation. So this goes to show you that even people who work every day in this industry. Like there, there's more than one way to say whatever. It's me, that's bono. So, anyway, the super AV is a riff off of the AV line, and specifically, I would say the closest visual partner of this watch or the base is the 765. Because you know there are a ton of different AVIS. Yeah, which is a watch I adopted. It's awesome. And I did the week on the wrist. What a good watch. Yep. And I also do too. Yeah, we'll put that in the show notes as well. I think it's one of the best modern reinterpretations, truly. And and you know, folks often say, Oh, well, you only say good things about watches. Well, I have plenty of bad things to say about some in modern interpretations. And the brightling does not fall in that category at all. I think it's so well done. This pushes it a step farther. It kind of, you know, it's unbound from the idea that it has to be so true to the original. There are five watches in the collection, and they are modeled after the P fifty one Mustang, P forty Warhawk, De Havlin Mosquito, which w we can talk about 'cause that's a I know that's close to your heart. And the last one is the uh the Corsair, of course. Fantastic point. F4U Corsair. So they did pick three, you know, American hyper icons. And then one kind of one from up in your neck of the woods. It's it's well known, but like also not that well known. So that's really interesting to me, but we'll get to that in a second. But all that that changes between these is the dial colorway. And then the Mustang one is rendered in red gold and stainless steel. So that's how you get the five watches for the four planes. And and they're really well done. I mean, obviously, watches sell through the stories that they're attached to and so forth. You have to build a world around a watch, right? Strip all the plain stuff away, which I don't want to do because I like it, but let's say you just want to look at this objectively. It's a modernized seven six five. So at three six nine, there are uh triangle indices that point inward. The scale of the subregister is slightly different, but you still get those markers at the three o'clock subregister that you do. And and on some of them, like the mosquito, I think the mosquito and the war hawk, they're red. So you know Breiling used to play around with uh uh uh let's say a pop of color. They they really did in in some of their classic mid-century designs. They had, you know, highlighter yellow or bright orange and and in you know these red tones and so forth. So this is kind of a return to that where the 765 is monochromatic and so forth. This incorporates different colors. I mean you have a corsair navy blue dial, a olive drab green Green and gray livery. Well, they made a night fighter variant of the mosquito, which is where the black dot comes from. Right. Now it has a black bezel, kind of wild red eggs. Exactly. Wild red, yeah, precisely. So we got to see it. And the thing about this is like when a watch has been out for a little while, the community has kind of had their say on social this and that, that all can influence your thinking, right? Like going into something. They kept this whole thing a surprise. Like we didn't really know it was even a aviation watch. I mean you kinda knew because there were some teasers on social and so forth, but I didn't know. I got no press release or any of that stuff and had no idea what this was gonna be about. So went in blind and they slapped something in front of you and what do you think kind of thing. And actually I will say I walked away thinking it's a gre
James Stacy at way to modernize the 765. Right. And so whereas the 765 was a you know 41 millimeter, like very traditional sort of recreation of a past Brightling. They've taken that aesthetic and they've kind of wrapped it around a larger footprint, more in the typical Brightling wheelhouse that we know from the last, say, fifteen years. The old forty. So these are forty-six millimeter watches, about sixteen millimeters thick, hundred meters of water resistance, you know, twenty four millimeter lugs. They all come on sort of a leather, a very like piloty sort of leather strap with a a bit of a contrast coloring. They use a manufacture calendar, so that's the B O four, which gives you uh uh you know it's a four hertz with seventy hours of power reserve and a GMT and it's C O S C certified. So uh w what's the loose price range? What what are you looking at?
Cole Pennington If we're talking stainless steel, we're we're talking ten across the board. And then the rose gold is obviously more. I don't know how much exactly
James Stacy . So it's a big aviation themed piloty chronograph with a GMT. And then the the idea here is rather than it be something like a uh specifically a chronomat or something from the more modern line or the theoretically more modern line, they are sticking with more of a mid century general aesthetic, polished bezels, twelve hour bezel, things like that. Exactly. That
Cole Pennington 's exactly it. And yeah, cool. And I think like the the one thing I was when I was thinking through this watch is what else does this compete with? The answer is not much, really. And I'm not saying this is a watch that's in a class of its own, but if you had to compare this directly, I mean, sure, some I don't know, maybe sin chronographs or something. But
James Stacy yeah, there's couple of Braymonts are in this format and and a little smaller. Uh and then it the first thing that jumped to me is just this, you know, different format, of course, but I could see this really appealing to the type of guy who was let's be fair, the type of guy or gal who was maybe previously pretty deep into Panorai. So they like a larger watch, they like something with a bit of an more old school feel, but they they want it to still connect to something and and they've built this connection directly to these very kind of high profile planes. You don't even have to know a ton about planes to know these planes, especially when it comes to the Mustang. But if you do know what the mosquito is, perhap
Cole Pennington s. Yeah, I'm interested to have one nerd. It's cool plane. So yeah, you're right. I never I did not make that connection,
James Stacy but I think you're spot on. Especially with the gold one. I always see these brands as sitting right next to each other, Bright Lang and Panorama, because they've had this really high level of success that part of it dipped into the kind of collector enthusiast space, but they had they had a big piece of their company was based on people who just liked Brightling or just like Panorai, a little bit more mainstream, you know, the celebrity connections work really well for these brands, whereas they fall flat for other brands. And it all depends on how general your appeal is. And these feel like a very general appeal, nicely designed luxury sports wat
Cole Pennington ch. So that's exactly what it is. This is a watch that I think you can recommend to your non-watch friends who want like a nice watch, but they're they don't want to be a Rolex guy or whatever, but they want to throw some coin around and have some value for money. I I I see it as almost a big pil
James Stacy ot competitor too, personally. Oh, that's a good call. Yeah, yeah. 'Cause that then then we are actually into the size, the space, the the kind of connection back to vintage aviation. And the vibe. Yeah, exactly. Do they wear like a big pilot? Because a big pilot's a huge wat
Cole Pennington ch for my wrist. They don't too big. They don't. I actually don't get any overhang. I have a seven and a half inch wrist and I don't get lug overhang on this watch. So
James Stacy it' likes forty six millimeters, is that kind of big for your general taste or is it in there? Uh definitely big for my general taste. Yeah, I I I didn't want to speak for you, but I I think you and I are are m you know have become I think maybe ten years ago, I had I had a tolerance for a larger watch. Um, but you know, uh in my mind that the seven six five is is uh sweet sweet is yeah, at forty one mil millimeters is that just kind of makes more sense to me. But this is one of those worlds where like I said, we're we're it'sn't this isn't necessarily a directly enthusiast product. And you know, we're talking about by unit at least probably the fourth biggest watch brand in the world, or at least that that's that's where they would have been a couple years ago at least
Cole Pennington . I think they're still there. And in fact I know because uh I talked to to George Kern. I had a sit down with him and he said he's pushing out a hundred thousand chronograph movements that are going into watches a year. And and they are in the
James Stacy top five for sure. So I I think within that guy is you're looking at something that isn't just being sold to people who are super concerned about following the current kind of trend in watch sizing. No. This is something meant for a wider audience and uh and and big watches are still very much popular um with uh with you know general consum
Cole Pennington ers and and that is brightly i mean they did the uh the ao pa edition and then and i think the one that you wrote up the zorro like these are aimed at at hardcore enthusiasts. However, the majority of their lineup is not that. Brightling is very much a a wider appeal type watch. Yeah. And compared to a Brightling for Bentley or something like that, this is a small watch. So I always think about that. Whenever whenever I think about Brightling, I always it's still ingrained in my memory because I think we grew up at the same time. So that was the thing. I mean, the Brightling for Bentley. And and here's why where I appreciate the whole thing. Yeah, sure, it's expensive. Yes, it's big. La da la la whatever. What is cool is that this is not Brightling for Bentley. This is Kern taking the brand in a direction that moves it closer to its roots that also is is easy to digest for folks who are even into airplanes, into mechanical things. Like you said, that the the guy who wants a watch who or gal too who wants a watch that just is cool enough and it doesn't have to be a wat
James Stacy ch nerd's watch, you know. So yeah. The the big pilot thing is an interesting concept because I could see, especially like the Mustang, if you went in for a big pilot and you already own a couple, you know, time only style watches or you know, watches without a lot of in the way of complication and and then you see this in the case next to it and and it's got a little model of a of a P fifty one next to it or some nice pictures or or whatever, I could see it it absolutely appealing to the same crowd for sure. I I think
Cole Pennington so. And I will say something. You know, usually I never talk about like the press side of things, but I will say something happened this press trip. We went up in a DC3, so C47, actually. So we're we're sitting in the DC3. Once we're you know straight and level, out of nowhere, the Mustang comes up on the wing. And because you said you know see the model in in the the showcase that the reminded me like when I saw it in real life, I melted. Oh I bet. I just absolutely melted. The Corsair, the Mustang, the Warhawk, and the Mosquito. The mosquito is just a joy to see because I've never seen one Well there is one up near where you grew up in that that warplane museum. Oh yeah. That's one of the only places in North America. I think the other two might be in England and one in New Zealand or something. So this is the only one in America though. It's at Virginia Beach. Oh lovely. But so they they took us up and then, you know, these planes showed up and kind of flanked our C-47 and it was just magical. Like I I it's kind of uh like a a cheap thing to like link a watch to a mustang. It's not cheap, uh let's not say that, but it's a a predictable thing. Like, okay, yeah. Of course, an iconic plane, an iconic watch come together, yada yada. But when I saw the Mustang, and I'm a huge Mustang stan, when I saw it, it was just like all right, I don't love that it's a predictable thing, like this is the Mustang. This is it
James Stacy , you know, like Yeah, and I mean connecting that that that does speak to the power of being able to connect, even if it's a somewhat superficial connection, but even to have the power to connect someone's kind of romantic passion for a thing, for me, it would probably be more like cars. For you, it's more planes. I dipped into planes as a kid in a big way, loved the air shows. Like you said, I grew up right next to uh the Royal Canadian Warplane Museum and uh a really fantastic place to see some of this stuff. But I think that it is it it's not so much that it's callous or simple, but it is powerful to make that connection because this is why people buy a luxury watch. Otherwise, you would just buy a perfectly nice Timex and be and be thrilled with it, right? Because that's that's a watch, but as soon as you want it to be more than a watch, you have to pull something else in. And some brands do it with a brand or music or a celebrity or and certainly BrightLink, lots of celebrities. And other brands do it by tying to to other things. You know, I was in, I've I've been on press trips with Tag Hoyer, and uh I, you know, I I I enjoy some of their lineup and and that sort of thing. And and as much as I like a Monaco, I've had it on my wrist, I'm not crazy about it. I can tell you that I liked it more when I was standing next to a 917K that it run at Lamont. Exactly. And like for me, that's the kind of thing where like, oh, I don't I don't want to I don't want to not stand next to this cool car, this amazing race car, right? So I kind of get it. It like I also understand that a certain part of it is playing to like the five-year-old and all of us that attaches to something and starts to see how big the world can be through a product or a plane or a car or a boat or whatever. Yeah. But I think that stays with you. And if you can push those buttons for a buyer, you sell watches. So it's not that difficult to understand why people do it. Whole brands are based on this concept, like like uh Braymont. Yeah, you're right. And
Cole Pennington and you don't want to give into it, but then when it happens and something magical occurs, you do. You say, okay, well, I get it. And like consider the alternative. Like you said, it's a time X, right? So you either have something that has some sort of romance and nostalgia tied to something easy, or you have a Timex, which by the way, the the new Hodenky Timex is nice
James Stacy too. I'm not not not sure I I didn't mean that as a slam against Timex. I see them as like the the unit of a good, reliable watch. I've owned several. They're incredible watches. I think they're great. They don't always push that kind of romantic not at all. They don't hit me for the plus one. No, they don't. Or plus ten or whatever, right? Whereas I'm not even a Daytona fan, but when I meet an ex-race car driver and he's got one that he won at twelve hours of C bring or something, I'm jacked about that. That's awesome. I like that watch. I like it a lot. So I think this stuff works if you're if if if it's all part of the your kind of mental language for your memories and what you care about and the things that you've invested in as far as a passion. And if if watches are your only passion then it's I think it's easy to go like I don't care about the cars or the planes or the celebrities or whatever. But I think a lot of people do. Yeah,
Cole Pennington they do. And and because of that, I actually think this watch to kind of wrap it up with with the Brailing, I think this watch will do very well. They're they're betting big on it. And I have a good feeling about its uh success in this space. I think it'll be uh accepted well. And you've got a story with pitchers and the rest of it going in? Yeah, I think that that by the time this radio episode is out there, it'll be up. And uh you know, it's a little bit about the experience, a little bit about the watch and uh you know, the technical takeaway and then some thoughts about airplan
James Stacy es too.. Well fun All right. Well we'll put that in the show notes, of course if you happen to miss it. This would be yeah, a few the probably the weekend after the the start of the week after that went up. It's always a treat to sit and chit-chat with you, man. I'm glad that we get to record it and call it work. Yeah, me too. That's a plus for me. Uh thank you so much for coming on the show and for being the guy who's willing to go out to uh deserted islands and and you know suffer the perils of of flying in vintage aircraft for uh for Hodinki. I I'm I enjoyed both stories. Well well thank and uh and even more so I enjoyed hearing it kind of from your own mouth. So thanks for coming on the show as always. And as always, it's a pleasure uh having you guide the conversation and hopefully I'll uh see you again there, James. Oh yeah, for sure. Well, if you're listening and enjoyed the show, uh yeah, tell a friend. That's about all I could ask. Otherwise, we'll uh chat to you in the next week or so. Take care. See y'all.