Looking Back On 2024 – Part 1 With Malaika & TanTan¶
Published on Fri, 6 Dec 2024 20:00:00 +0000
Chatting over the last year in watches, what we liked, the big moments, and more.
Synopsis¶
In this end-of-year retrospective episode of Hodinkee Radio, host and newly appointed Editor-in-Chief James Stacy is joined by Editor Tan Tan Wang and Style Editor Malika Crawford to look back at 2024 in watches. The conversation begins lightheartedly with Thanksgiving food preferences before diving into the year's watch trends and releases.
The group identifies 2024 as "the year of the mini," with numerous brands releasing smaller-sized versions of their iconic models, from AP Royal Oaks to Cartier Tanks. They discuss what Malika calls the "Cartier effect" – how Cartier's current popularity is influencing the broader industry, similar to how vintage Rolex popularity spawned countless microbrands in the 2010s. The panel characterizes 2024 as a "norm core" year, with brands playing it safe amid economic uncertainty and declining sales, focusing on attainable, back-to-basics releases rather than splashy innovations.
The conversation covers their personal purchases and favorites from the year, including the white dial Omega Speedmaster, which several panelists praised for finally being a readily available watch that enthusiasts actually want. They discuss the importance of fun and accessibility at all price points, from Swatch collaborations to high-end pieces from brands like A. Lange & Söhne. The episode concludes with a spirited debate about Audemars Piguet's KAWS collaboration, with differing views on whether AP's cultural collaborations hit the mark in terms of timing and relevance. Throughout, the panelists emphasize that 2024 felt like a cautionary, transitional year for the watch industry, with brands uncertain whether to innovate boldly or play it safe.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| James Stacy | Welcome back to another episode of Hodinki Radio. Today's episode of the show is sponsored by our friends at Brooklotty, the award-winning whiskey from Isla, who we have partnered with here at Hodinki for the last couple of years. Stay tuned for an update later in the show on what we're up to this season. Hey, it's me, James Stacy, back at the helm of another episode of Hodinky Radio. Today we thought it would be fun to look back at 2024. This is actually going to be sort of a two-part series, which we're pretty excited about. The first one, I'm joined by Tantan Wang, our editor, and Malika Crawford, our style editor. And the goal today, like I said, is just basically to look back on the last year, do a little bit of like a retrospective. I'm gonna do the same sort of episode again with uh Mark and Rich, which you will see in part two. But I I really enjoy this time of year because you do get to kind of look back and go like, oh, that did happen in 2024, or oh, I entirely forgot about that, or I was so tired when that happened I ignored it. And sometimes you find some new moments and sometimes you get to discover that people went a lot deeper than you thought. I always enjoy uh the kind of how all of watch media kind of starts to look back at the year um right around November and uh and December and we're recording this just before American Thanksgiving so should be in a pretty good mood. We've almost got a couple days off here and uh it's always fun to do more Hodenky Radio. So welcome Tan tan. Wcomeel Malika. H areow we doing? Doing pretty good. I'm hungry. I'm ready for some Thanksgiving food. Yeah. Oh, cause oh yeah. And then a good nap. It's one of my favorite naps of the year, to be clear. I l I do rank naps and it's it's it's a it's a top player major pla |
| Tan Tan Wang | yer are you a chunky cranberry sauce guy or the smooth one from the can kind of gu |
| James Stacy | y I'm kind of uh indifferent to cranberry sauce I'll I mean I'll dabble, but I don't think I have an opinion on on the the viscosity or texture they're in. Ooh, cool, cool. How about you? Uh I'm chunky cranberry sauce all the way. But I know. So maybe maybe I gotta give it a better run. Think so. Underrated. Cranberry sauce. I didn't really care to be honest. What what's the what's the anchor of your Thanksgiving plate |
| Malika Crawford | ? Well, to to be fair, I'm not really a um an expert on Thanksgiving just given my sort of background and birthplace. But I do I do like a little bit of I'm gonna just say that I prefer an English Sunday raise to Thanksgiving dinner and I think that's fair for me to say. I'll be on the Yorkshire Pudding kind of thing. Anytime I see Yorkshire Pudding, I'm not upset. Like I you can't be a Sunday roast with a giant Yorkshire pudding and layers of gravy and raised potatoes. You you just can't. It's the only thing we can do. It's our national dish |
| James Stacy | . So I've got a question for you. If is this sacrilege? I have a buddy also of uh uh English descent, and he would make for fun, he would he used to I used to live down the street from him, and he would make entire like muffin tins of Yorkshire puddings, each one with gravy, a little bit of roast beef, yeah, a little bit a scoop of mashed potatoes, and like some horseradish. And we used to r really go to town on those. That's absolutely classic. I hope it sounds you could have two. Yeah. Love that. Okay. Really good. Cool. Well, this is what people came here for for sure. Uh, you know, uh an in-depth discussion of roast beef technology and and you know, whether whether or not uh Thanksgiving can hold a candle to the the uh English supper. Uh so yeah, I I like it. That's good. But no, let's let's try and dial it in here a little bit uh as we start sort of our end of year series. Uh we'll have lots of stories like we always do and kind of look backs and think pieces and the rest of it. But I did want to kick it off with a nice little chat about what 2024 was because I think it was a pretty strange year in Watches. |
| Malika Crawford | It was really bizarre. And I was just, I admitted on this call, and I'm just going to say it publicly that post Watches and Wonders are sort of blacked out this year, I feel, with new releases. I can barely remember any of them |
| James Stacy | . I think that's fair. Look, I I think let's start as broadly as we possibly can. In your mind, does does did 2024 have a theme? Like 2024 was the year of the |
| Malika Crawford | Mini. Mini. So really smaller stuff? Um for me, it was the year of the mini because that's what I paid attention to. And then I also made a list of everything that was mini, and it was quite long. Um I got AP Royal Mini, Cartier Tank LC Mini, American Mini, Langine Mini, BB, Bulgary Bulgry Mini. Um, there were just a lot of minis. Um, so that's where I'm at. But obviously you guys might be at a different headspace to the U. I |
| James Stacy | did I did have a note in prep for this that it seemed like the the mini trend might actually be an interesting piece of like Cartier is so popular right now that they're actually propping up other brands lines that haven't been that popular. Like I think you look at the the Langines Dolce Vida, which I think is quite a a really good watch, but a quiet watch. It's not a watch that like garnered a lot of |
| Malika Crawford | This okay, this is quite a hot take, and I'm not I'm not here to diss anybody, but like nobody is calling out the elephant in the room here if the burner on the success of that watch is like obviously a trickle down from like Cartier crash mania. I'm not saying it's a derivative. I'm just saying I think you're right in that Cartier's influence is just so widespread. L |
| James Stacy | ike I I don't think we're at the the apex of this concept, but think about it like sixties Rolex suddenly got crazy po like it was always popular and there were always people who liked it, like Cartier, but it got insanely popular like what 2010? And then it just nobody could see the top of where it was going, and it spawned so many vintage submariner similar watches, like an entire industry of micro brand watches that were, you know, may maybe maybe they looked a little bit just enough like uh like a ComX or just enough like a mill sub or just enough like like some other reference. And and I think we might be on the starting wave of seeing that from the world of cardiac and like with the with the uh burner on being an example. For sure. I'm maybe maybe maybe we're not there yet. I feel like we're on our way there. Tin Tan, what do you figure with these watches? These sort of the the we'll call it the Cartier effect, if you will |
| Tan Tan Wang | . Yeah, I mean it's one of those things where I feel like this year, I think this ties into my answer about just 2024 in general. Like I it feels like sort of like a cautionary year. I think brands are sort of stuck in this middle space where they're not sure whether or not I mean we've seen sales like drop pretty dramatically from a lot of the sort of publicly um you know traded groups out there and I think brands aren't sure whether or not to kind of take this moment to introduce bonker stuff to try to you know revitalize um the assortment or sort of play it safe and kind of keep drilling down on the stuff that works right and so for me this kind of mini thing is cool because it it kind of feels like a little bit in between a lot of the the sort of smaller stuff are riffs on kind of mainstays and icons, but then you have the twist is the sort of smaller size, which then appeals to a whole new sort of clientele. So I think for me, that's a way that I feel like brands are responding this year in trying to kind of play it safe. Um, yet sort of, you know, have some really cool story to say. Um yeah, I think for me it's it's uncertainty. Yeah. |
| Malika Crawford | Um do we think small is playing it safe? Mini. Do we think mini is playing it safe |
| Tan Tan Wang | ? I don't think so, but I think at the same time it's one of those things where because Cartier has done it already, because I think we already like we already saw the trend start in previous years that definitely not the most innovative thing |
| Malika Crawford | this year, right? It's not the thing that's like no, I've decided where I stand on men in school watches. Um because why not just let everybody know how I feel? Um I mean it's a podcast. It's a podcast and you know I can't keep my mouth shut. So uh I think the men in small watches thing kind of gets on my nerves to be honest. But I think it Is it too effect too much of an affect? Oh, it's just like okay, we get it. And how small, how small are we talking? Honestly, like I think it would be below 33. I think for I think 33 and above, like I think you could do a 33 to 36 dress watch and it's not really a big deal. Yeah. |
| James Stacy | Um I'm wearing a 36 mil watch now. I have a 335 from Seiko, a line that they make in Japan, which is awesome. The uh the dolce. They make a little tiny, it looks a little bit like a Grand Seiko, has this gorgeous dial, and I picked one up uh from Japan a little while ago, and they're really they're just really fun to wear. It's like six millimeters thick. |
| Malika Crawford | That's so cool. Yeah. Um yeah, like a dr like a Don Draper nineteen fifties dress watch slip under |
| James Stacy | the Yeah, I just need two bracelets, I think. But like we just |
| Malika Crawford | like I just can't. I just unless you're like the kind of guy that really has the stees, you know? But I was talking to my friend about this, and we were just like, it's cool when you're kind of wearing an elegant outfit. So if you're wearing a suit or like something she can put together, sure, wear a teeny tiny. But if you're just like wearing some full-on like fit and you're trying to be like a fit god, ple like the small watch thing just gets on my nerves. So d in contrast, what um if you are a fit god, what should be on your wrist? Wear like a sub. I think that's kind of cool. Just like Melica Crawford recommending a sub. That's like that's not like where like I don't know, where like uh lean into the kind of sportiness because I like the contrast. Does that make sense? Yeah, of course. If you're I don't know, it's just like if you're uh if you're a big guy and you got a big wrist, wear a big watch. I don't know. Yeah. I like that. Hot takes. Hot takes, not so |
| James Stacy | hot. Again, special thanks to our partners at BrookLaddie for the support of Hodinky Radio. This holiday season, we've partnered with BrookLaddie on a special giveaway that you can learn all about in the link in the article below or in the notes for this episode. You might be surprised at what you see, and you most definitely don't want to miss it. And now back to the show. So I wanna I want us to to imagine back to the the fantastical realm of Watches and Wonders twenty twenty four, which I I think the we all we all said it on various podcasts and and and other pieces of feedback uh that it felt like a slow year, like maybe a building year or a quiet year. And I don't know, like you look back at the year and, there there was definitely some stuff that came out. Um, but I would agree, like if you compare twenty four to twenty-three, definitely a quieter year for especially Rolex. And we're definitely gonna do some episodes that'll come out later in December about twenty twenty five and and what we're kind of hoping, thinking will show up and that sort of thing. But do you think the the sort of s feeling of it being a down year lived out through the whole year or w did we start kind of down and and trend upwards as far as hype? Interest, you know, big releases, that sort of thing |
| Tan Tan Wang | ? Um I don't I honestly don,'t feel I mean, just you know bas,ed on pure gut feeling, like Melica said, it just like it hasn't felt like this year, I can just immediately go to a time and place. And I was like, this is this is where that moment happened, right? I think like aside from aside from maybe controversy, let's say, like with moments like the cubitus, stuff like that, like and and to be clear, right? There have been extremely solid launches this year. But I think in the sort of spirit of where I think this year we're also seeing a phenomenon where really solid launches are actually attainable, right? Like people can actually go into a store and buy them. You're no longer, you no longer have this like artificial scarcity mentality where you're like, oh, these are just like crazy concept ideas that I'm seeing, you know, and I'll never see them again. And if I do, I'll be so lucky that I must buy it. Like, no, we're in a time where, you know, I think one of not to jump the gun, but you know, one of the best releases this year was the White Dial Moon Watch, right? Like I bought one of those. Think it's a fantastic watch. It's the first speedmaster that I've truly like aligned with, and I could just buy it, right? That's such a different feeling. And I think consumers are responding accordingly as well, where they're like, well, if things like this I can start buying, you know, maybe I don't need to snap up everything in a in a frenzy. And I think brands are realizing that now and and they have to kind of take |
| James Stacy | a step back. So I think it's all it's all timed a little bit. Yeah. And uh you know, I uh looking over the notes and trying to prep for this, I did kind of get the feeling that Omega had a quietly killer year. They kept their head down and they came out with a handful of watches that people are actually excited about that you can buy. And I think enthusiasts, when Omega threads the needle, so to speak, enthusiasts get really excited because you can buy it. You might have to wait, look, a white, if you walk into a big retailer now and ask for the the white dial speedy, you might have to wait a little bit, but not years. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And you're not going to pay a bunch of ADM. L |
| Tan Tan Wang | ike, everyone's just like, you will get this watch. Like the response is always you will get it. It's not, oh, maybe we'll consider you maybe no. It's like you |
| James Stacy | just wait, just be patient and you'll you'll get it. Yeah, it was a it was like a kind of a subtle, cool year for Omega. And we get a little bit more into it, but I did want to get Maleka's take on whether or not the year stayed low or kind of sneaky had some of these hits like I feel like this year is giving norm core |
| Malika Crawford | . Like I agree. Back to like a little bit of like a back to basics almost. I agree. Honestly, which I'm here for it ' itcause's like a palate cleanse and it's also a reflection of these quite turbulent times in the economy and politically I think we're just keeping it safe. I would say it's like that in other industries too. Like everything feels a bit norm core, but I reckon when things get norm core and like I need to stop saying that word. When things or maybe define it just so just in case people don't understand like how that would how watches would relate to norm core. Norm core is just like kind of the basic, you know, in terms of let me think like fashion wise, it would be like a pair of blue jeans and a white t shirt. Yeah, it's a like big gap in the late 90s. Yeah, it's like a pair of you know, knee balance sneakers and like there's nothing wrong with that. Jerry Seinfeld's Jerry Seinfeld. And sometimes you can lean into that and it's kind of cool in its own way, right? Just like I'm slowly being won over, don't tell anybody this, but I'm slowly being won over by the speedmaster by the moon Watch. Yeah. Which I think is like the definitive norm core watch. Yeah. Um, because all all men love it. I'm sorry, and I don't really know that many women who love it, but all men love that watch. It's so crazy to me |
| Tan Tan Wang | . Yeah, no, I I kind of agree with that because I always sort of felt on the outskirts because the speedmaster was a thing that was sort of, and you know, to you know, Hodinki had a large part of this, this speed master is shoved down your throat as sort of Oh my god, you 24-7. You must love this. And and here's my qualifying statement. I bought an 1861. I did not jive with it, I sold it after a year. I bought the 3861 because I was like, this is the perfect moon watch, right? This is everything I wanted, the modern one. It is, I mean, on paper, it is. On paper it is. It checks all the boxes. Just didn't drive with it. And then the one white dial. I sold that one. White dial one came out and I was like, this one's a keeper. And so for me, like I went through that whole thing and it kind of I felt almost guilty admitting that just like I didn't get the standard moon watch. So it's it's good to know that there are people out there that I don't get |
| James Stacy | it. James Corbin loves it. No, I've been a long long time outlier that it doesn't work on my wrist. I've bored I like the vintage stuff is quite fun because it if it they genuinely feel like like when you get a chance to see an old Eams chair. Like a like a tr a true late sixties speedy with some age on it is a gorgeous thing. It just it is and it is like looking at a piece of mid century perfection as far as design. But I'm one I mean, I'm pretty obviously not a huge chronograph guy to begin with. I like dive watch I like GMTs for the most part, like for the day to day. And that's where Speedy shines. It's as an everyday watch. They're gorgeous, they look really good, they're so well made these days. Great tech and the movement, all that kind of stuff. And I think the white one definitely speaks to me. I'm a sucker for a white dial for sure. And they do a really like Omega makes an incredible dial. They're just really good at it on on even on on a otherwise, you know, maybe run-of-the-mill sports watch, which Omega should be good at making, they can still add some excitement via the dial and I think they do a good job there. And then look, I'm I'm a sucker for the gold ones. Changes the whole thing for me. See I'm not into the gold |
| Malika Crawford | . I'm not into the gold. Nah. Not the green dial? Okay. Hey me out. The moonshine because because I no, because I don't think Omega is a luxury product. Oh yeah, and I like just as I don't think people are gonna hate this, but this is my opinion. I don't think Rolex is a luxury product. |
| James Stacy | Like it's it's a question |
| Malika Crawford | of being m too many are made or uh not just that, but like just the DNA of like it's a sports watch, it's supposed to be a utilitarian. Okay. Um it's like, you know, that was always you know, yes, it's a luxury product, but it comes in like at a middle price point, right? Unless we're talking about Le Monde and all of that. Sure, you know 1908 stuff, which is them doing something different. But like I mean Omega |
| James Stacy | does a ton of stuff up into the forties, fifties, sixties, platinums and we white |
| Malika Crawford | ich gelsold and. But like the core product, like you know, Rolex Professional and then you know C Masters, Speedmasters, like that to me is yes, it's a nice product and it's a little bit expensive, but it's not like quote unquote luxury. It's not Patek Philippe. It's not authorogee. Um and so to me the Speedmaster as the definitive norm core watch, like that is how I see a stainless steel speedmaster and I don't really see anything beyond that. Um, but that's just my take. Like, and I could see how someone would be into that sure uh green dial gold |
| James Stacy | . Yeah. I mean I I like that one with the the champagne dial, the black subdials on the rubber, especially, but I wouldn't that it's that brace on the bracelet is something else. The the modern tapered bracelet, which I know is also done in steel on the white. Uh it's just that that bracelet's excellent. Can I ask you th |
| Malika Crawford | ough if if someone was like here's a gold speed master and here's a gold day turner, I mean what are you picking? Um it would it would depend on which one |
| Tan Tan Wang | . Really? I'm I'm I'm thinking a Daytona. I think for me, the the Speedmaster is one of those things where like that moonshine gold is so beautiful, but it's one of those things where I'm almost like happy to just look at, you know, and happy to wear and try on from someone else, but it's never something that I'm like, that's something I like I need. And that's like a hard balance, I think, to strike in a product. Another defin |
| Malika Crawford | itive norm core watch is the Rolex Explorer one, which I wear almost every day. Great watch. Um yeah, great watch. I feel like I'm really leaning into those kinds of sort of just staples, very kind of easy to wear, classic design, nothing too crazy. I'm into it. So Melica, to you, R |
| Tan Tan Wang | olex is defined by the professional line. That's the sort of I mean that's what you see on on everyone's wrist. So then in in that kind of context would you say like so like the day date that's like a luxury product being made by a brand that's not necessarily like majority luxury or defined by a luxury image. |
| Malika Crawford | Rolex is ubiquitous for sure, but like to me, when you say the word luxury, it I'm in a totally different headspace. Like, yes, the day date is a luxury product for sure. It a gold a full gold watch is like a luxury watch, but like Rolex's brand identity obviously is very linked to the day date, but like in my mind, what you see everywhere is like a sub or, you know, a a GMT. Like that's the ubiquity. Product produc |
| James Stacy | ts that are like downstream of mid century excellence. Yes. Yeah, for sure. Mid-century excellence. Like in each other. Yeah, we we can do it. We can, you know, new new ways of making cities, new ways of making cars, new ways of making and it was this great time. And suddenly 53 pops off, and we got a lot of interesting watches uh kind of kind of hitting the scene. But I we we've definitely derivated, which I love. But yes. Sorry. Let's let's no, no, let's just turn it back to um what were some of either your favorite releases or if everyone's comfortable. I'm I'm genuinely interested, and I think the audience would too. What did you buy this year that you liked? Tan tan mentioned the white speedy. Yeah. I I was lucky enough to get a couple of things this year. Some of them actually like genuinely new. I had I I thought it was a fun year for sport watching. Tell us |
| Malika Crawford | about your um your baby that you just bought there. Because interesting one |
| James Stacy | to me. Sure. I think this is a this is definitely a move for me. So that where should I start this story? Uh for those of you who aren't aware, just a couple days before we recorded this, or really a day before we recorded this, I took over as EIC editor-in-chief at Hodinky. And obviously, it would be insane to not get a watch to to mark the occasion. And it's Hodinky. So, you know, I I briefly talked to Tantan about Long O ones and then realized I'd like to buy a house here in Toronto, so not a Long One. Um, but I I did it's Hodinky and I thought like a vintage Rolex is almost certainly the move. It's part of like the DNA of why Hodinky started. And I own and love and really I love it so much that it's kind of it pads down my interest in having more Rolexes, but I have an Explorer 2 that I adore, a 16570. I wear it a ton. Um and I wanted something that if you guys understand and when I say the watch it, I think but maybe you two will agree or disagree. I wanted the character of that watch, but something actually almost dressy. And then at UBS, our colleague Rich Fordon asked asked me and our whole panel in front of the a big crowd, like what was the last watch you bought that wasn't a sport watch. And like I was could not remember. I had to go back and it was like a uh late 50s chronograph Swiss uh was probably the last thing that I bought, which the little rose gold chronograph, which I wear and and I enjoy. But yeah, I mostly buy sport watches. So bearing the lead here, but I was able to uh ask my buddy James Lambden at Analog Shift for this rather lovely 1601 linen. So this is from the early 70s. I think they said they told me 73. It's got drilled lugs, it's got a Sigma dial, so you get white gold markers, that sort of thing. And it's not a watch that I talk a ton about, but for my wife and I, it's one that's always been on like the Coby radar because perfect watch to share, I'll buy a second bracelet, so we have bracelets in two sizes. And then uh when it when it hands down, I have two daughters, so a thirty six millimeter watch that could be worn with anything is a much nicer thing to hand down than one of my t two hundred dive watches. You know what I mean? Hang on. That is quite romantic, buying two bracelet.. I never knew Oh, it's I'm I'm just wow that's a good and then you can get the you can get the clasp engraved with an initial and then you know which bracelet's which it's a really nice move, especially with a watch that's got drilled lugs. Like in 20 seconds, like it she can pick the watch up, throw her bracelet on it, and keep going. What a gentleman, Mr. Stacey, you are. And they say Shibori is supposed. But that that's what I got. That's what I got to celebrate the the new role. And and I really like it and I'm I'm excited to get it uh engraved and and right now it it hasn't really left my wrist. Uh but it is just it is just on the actual fancy side of the way I wear my watches with the with the Sigma dial and but I like the deeply monochromatic like as far as the 16 the four digit date just go this is my favorite reference uh I've just been a fan for a long time. So very lucky to have gotten that. But obviously not even remotely a watch close to this uh year or a decade or the you know this century for that matter. Um you know though it just to kick it off. What I what I did buy this year, uh and from the moment I saw it, I knew I was buying one. And I think this is also like Tan Tan goes down this route where you see a watch and go like, nah, that's that's mine. Yeah. Not today, not tomorrow, but soon. Was the my Doxa Sub 200, which for a $1,500 watch, find me one that's more fun. That's all I'm asking. Are there better better what could you get can you get a great dive watch for $600 right now? Absolutely. So you don't have to spend $1,500, but I don't think you can have more fun, or again buy a watch that could be worn by basically any wrist. It's 39. I would say it wears like 37. I brought the diving star, which is bright yellow, which is super fun. In fact, I have a an auto droma, which I also bought this year the group C in bright yellow uh oh I love that oh nice kind of fun yellow's a br if if they hit the color right yellow's a really |
| Malika Crawford | fun dialogue desperate for a yellow OP to be honest. I've always wanted to bubble the yellow ones. Ugh, it's so good. But I I honestly I'm quite conservative about my watch purchases. Like I sorry, but I'm more of a I've been buying clothes and bags |
| James Stacy | , not watches, which is probably if not adding to the collection, then what what did you see that you actually liked this year? You and I did a little photo shoot with a pretty wild Chanel. And then otherwise I've you know, I've I've seen your I've edited photos of your wrists with m just cartiers and cartiers and cartiers. So they they must have had no year too |
| Malika Crawford | . You know what watch I love and that I would 100% wear and that I really vouch for is the AirMes uh cut, like the sports watch they made for women. Because I haven't seen anybody make a sport watch that I truly believe is not a derivative of something else. And I think they are so clever the way that they do their typography and the sort of subtle shapes that they use and it's all very well put together as one would expect MS to be. And I know Tan Tam's a an MS watch guy. You can appreciate. Ye |
| Tan Tan Wang | ah. Everything like everything just feels so deliberate on all of their designs, which is just so hard to honestly say in this industry. I think that's always been my bone to pick with people is that like so many of the most watches honestly get 90% of the way there, and there's always a few things that either let me down personally or just don't seem right. And they consider things from a design perspective to the nth degree. Um and yeah, I love it. I think they're |
| Malika Crawford | just confident in their execution as But and I think it |
| James Stacy | 's a thoughtfulness. You meet the people you meet the people from the brand and they like I you know we think about this and we can get into it with some of the other watches that came out this year, but more and more we see as as you get a certain level of enthusiast, they see the whole checkbox of a watch in their mind. And you gotta check every single one to make one that somebody wants to buy. And I feel like AirMaz does a really good job of thinking of how what what the checklist is for their buyer and nailing it. And I think other brands get really close on one thing and then give up on and like miss on a color or somet |
| Malika Crawford | hing like that. Well for sure I think AMS also obviously knows its customer very well. Um and then in addition to that, the reason why I thought the cut was so cool was because it was kind of like their attempt at going beyond maybe their traditional reach when it comes to watch watches for women. It was like, okay, maybe we can like have a play on this like ubiquitous sports design and kind of go a little bit further afield. I think they're trying to bring in people who are like outside of the MS customer zone, which is cool. And I think they just do things with such confidence that like you just sort of believe it. You believe the vis |
| James Stacy | ion. For sure. Tan tan how about you? What uh what kind of hit your radar this year and whether you bought or didn't what what are you excited about? Yeah. I mean obviously we already touched on the |
| Tan Tan Wang | the wide dial moon watch. I think that thing is just still going strong. It's it's unabashedly modern Omega, which is what I think they really need to lean into. Totally. Um I think for me, I mean the most significant, I've bought a few pieces, I've sold a few pieces this year, but the one that you know, you sometimes you get pieces that you're like, this is just never leaving, right? Um for me, it's the the Hobering Irwin piece unique that I did. Uh-huh. I talked about that on the first episode that I was in uh a few weeks ago, but um, I mean ob,viously also pretty significant in terms of timing because I basically just joined the editorial team around that time. So it was a great way to sort of bring that story into my first piece. Um, but you know, I think that sort of the reason why that sticks to me so much is that it sort of ties into that general theme this year, right? Where I think this year I've really enjoyed buying the stuff that doesn't feel like it's from this year. Like it's it's more of that like timeless stuff. It's not like, oh, I need to get it because the only time when this feels special on my wrist is because it just came out. That's why it feels cool. No, like this is the stuff that actually feels more calculated, more deliberate. And like as a consumer, exactly as a consumer I think I almost feel stronger in my choices because you there's no sort of FOMO aspect right to |
| Malika Crawford | to a customer that's like I just need to get this now. I did actually I did buy one watch this year. I forgot. It was um a Vacheron uh cocktail watch. I think I wore it uh not too long ago on the pod. That's sort of it's very small, but the bracelet is very like solid and structured, so it kind of wears like a bangle and then it has like tiny little diamonds around the dial and it's from the 50s. Um so it's amazing and I love it. Um and I like to I I think'm more of a go all in on one as opposed to like buy lots of little which you're a buy lots of little guy, James. Oh, I |
| James Stacy | d I definitely am. Uh yeah. What what else do I get this year that I really enjoyed? Well that uh Group C autodrome was really fun. Super fun. Yeah. Uh if if you like a digital sc uh watch, I I enjoy digital watches to some extent. And then in the same vein, digital, uh that the reissue or redesign of the um Chronosport UDT, which is now done by Momentum. This is like a $350 watch. And I just it's just so much fun if you like 80s action movies and like the the crone the the history of the chronosport and that like this a very nerdy watch to be fair and and I love you know Momentum's a Canadian brand they're run by great people they make a really solid product that just doesn't cost that much money so you can have a lot of fun with it. And I you, know su,re, I think if if you're into quota like actual collecting, it's vintage Vasharon, it's Long of Ones, it's that kind of stuff. But I I gotta be honest, I just chase a buzz through this game all the time. And that I got I got a real good one from that UDT. That's a really fun little watch |
| Tan Tan Wang | . You know, the biggest buzz that I've gotten this year has actually been um so Unimatic did a collaboration recently with the Museum of Modern Art, MOMA. Oh yeah. This is this is their second collaboration. So the first one they did was like their modello Uno diver with like the colors of their like three different ticket color schemes. Um, but this one this year they did three models, and I it's very loosely based off the the steel sort of art movement. It's just, I mean, all they've really taken from it is the use of primary colors. Um, but it's done in a way that's just like primary colors, I feel like in watches are so in Melica, you'll probably agree with me. Like sometimes it's so overdone, like to the point where it just like looks absolutely terrible. Um, you know, I think it's always done with the intention of being whimsical and childlike, but it just like looks looks like sh sometimes, right? And I think the way they did it with restraint is just really, really cool. And they did three different models where there are just like three different combinations of like what hands use like the different primary colors and they kind of rotate through. But like I saw that and I've just like, I guess this is my this is my moonswash moment this year where I like I saw that and I just like ran to to MoMA like the MoMA design store and I was like, Can I see this wash? They didn't even have them out. They had to like dig through the back and like open every single box with all three for me to compare. But like that color did you decide on? So on mine, the minute hand is yellow, the hour hand is red, and then the sort of uh there's like a phantom seconds hand where the tip is actually all white to blend in with the white dial, but that's blue. Um and so for me, when I like looked at all three, the weighting of the color scheme felt felt the best on this one. But that thing is just yeah, you just like when you talked about that momentum, I was like, yeah. Oh ye |
| James Stacy | ah. Well and uh in in in a similar vein, maybe even something that kind of sits right between the the MoMA unimatics and the UDT. I picked up the an Ocean of Storm uh Blanc Pond scuba fifty and like sure the the s to be fair scuba fifty was a twenty twenty three thing, I think November twenty twenty three, about a year ago. Um and I but I got the Ocean of Storm did come out in twenty twenty four and I picked one up while we were in uh Geneva for watches and wonders and like I wore it a bunch for the summer. That's a really fun watch for four hundred bucks. And I like I think we like at a certain price it's gotta be fun it because you're not making an investment. And you're definitely not making an investment on a uh system fifty one. I I like them, I enjoy them. We have we've done several great collabs with Swatch. Um but I think I think you know there's different classes of these sorts of things and these things have to be fun and I think Swatch still absolutely nails the fun. They did uh Tantan they did more of the herring stuff this year, which you covered for us and and I think was really cool. I think one of the things I like is post pandemic craziness, we still have the ability to have fun at a lot of price points. You don't have to have Rolex money to feel like you're part of it. And and I think that's one of i now that I've had a few years to like absorb the whole moon swatch thing and it started to calm down this year for sure. Not c entirely. It's still crazy. You can buy some of them online now, all of that kind of stuff. But I think looking back on it, there there's something really interesting about the fact that they were able to like light a fire at a price point that just was kind of stalling out because Seiko had taken the Seiko five up to three, four, five hundred dollars and I think it left this sort of vacuum where Swatch, and not just with Moon Swatch or Scuba fifty, but Swatch in general started dropping, you know, cool multicolored sort of eighties chronographs like the Le Mont reissue one. The neon stuff. Yeah. I think that the neon stuff is cool. Yeah. And we gotta have fun at every price point. Because like it doesn't matter if you spend 50 grand, it better be fun. It better be fun at five grand, it better be fun at 500. |
| Malika Crawford | Should be fun at fifty. Actually I wear swatch and weirdly I got a baby G pink and and blue. This like one of the jelly like one of the jelly ones? Like transparent? Yes, they they kind kindlyly sent me all three colors. And um I actually wore them. Like they're great vacation watches. And I really like I really like that colorful kind of plastic vibe when I'm on vacation. Just lean into like, you know, you know the vibe. |
| Tan Tan Wang | John Mayer G Shocks for me, like that baby blue one. Oh yeah perfect vacation one. Yeah. Oh my God. |
| James Stacy | I've been wearing a lot of Timex 8 laps. Oh. I got a whole collection going now. If if you guys haven't caught 'em, Timex Japan does their own like four or five colorways. You can buy it through Japan. They will ship it to you. I as like the Abu Garcia is the one I'm really really hot on, which is the it's an eight lap, but the entire case is made out of loom. So the whole case goes you send that too? Yeah, okay. I'm really into this too. I just feel like that's |
| Malika Crawford | really rabbit. It's like ninety-seven dollars on sale |
| Tan Tan Wang | . It's so much fun. It's kind of like a rule where just like I I can't go into a discussion without mentioning Lunga at least once. I think James can't go into a discussion and not mention that watch, which is an It's just fine. I'm just having a good time with that. And like I |
| James Stacy | said, like I I do I do think like you have to make sure you're having a good time with this 'cause it can this industry and the media, everybody takes it all really seriously. And that's because some of it's so expensive. And you don't want to spend $150,000 on a watch and two years later realize you want to spend $150,000 on something else and your first hundred and fifty is worth 70. Nobody likes that feeling. Doesn't matter if it's watches, art, cars, houses, whatever. But I just I do like I do like highlighting that you can you can spend relatively small amounts of money in this world and still have a real good time. Get yourself some in the glare. Oh yeah. Gl anything that glows in the dark. I'm pumped about. Let's go. And the case. Case and the screen. Let's go. So much fun. But yeah, and then other otherwise like what what else kind of stands out for you guys? Did you have any like favorite really high-end sort of stuff? Um hard this |
| Tan Tan Wang | year. Longa went hard and like I say this knowing that I'm fully well biased and in sort of loving the brand, but I think they just like kicked because they just kept doing what they're good at. They didn't try to do anything insanely out of the box. Um, and you know, that's being a little dismissive of the crazy stuff they released, but like it's still stuff that you're like, okay, that's very long. Exactly. And like they celebrated a few anniversaries this year that I think in, my opinion, they just did extremely well. Like there's there's no better fan service to a group of collectors that's been done better in the past few years, I think. For me, I know the the you know, the price tag-wise the start of the show, obviously, was during watchesers and wond that was the uh the datagraph perpetual tour beyond limit right but like to me that's not even the thing that won i think like the two things that won for me are the data graph handwerkskunst right the yellow gold sort of homage to the the yellow jacket and then the longa one in onyx, right? That's just like a crazy bit of subtlety that explains just like what drives people to that brand. Um so for me, I think they just had such winning moments this year. And I don't, you know, it's they don't do it with that much fanfare right in context of you know when an AP cause collaboration comes out there's a lot more discussion on it when the the platinum longa one with an onic style comes out not as much right it's very fervent within the sort of niche collector groups, but not sort of within the broader discussion. I think uh I wish it got more recognition. It's very qu |
| Malika Crawford | iet. Yeah. It's quiet. But don't you think that is like the epitome of luxury anyway? Like it's so discreet. Like that is to me like the top end of modern wat |
| James Stacy | ch collecting. That's another brand that that knows exactly what their actual buyers want. Not just people who love the brand like me from afar. I'll get have one one day if I'm lucky, if I'm successful, whatever. But just even like you can you can appreciate Longa for what they are, but if you're a collector, it really feels like that brand speaks to people who actually buy their watches. And when you meet the people who run the brand, they're obsessed with their customers. They're really good at it |
| Malika Crawford | . Okay. I cannot finish this podcast without bringing this up. Let's do it. Uh-oh. The AAP cause collab |
| James Stacy | . I just don't know what to think. I I think these these things are meant to be divisive. They're meant to have these conversations about where like think I think this is much less um controversial in my mind than the uh the Marvel ones. Okay. Which like I did not get in people love. Which talk about a lesson learned, |
| Malika Crawford | right? I understand the Marvel. I like kind of I yeah, I don't understand this. Sorry. |
| Tan Tan Wang | So Melika, I feel like I mean we've we've already texted briefly about this, but I mean I think I hold the polar opposite view. Where I mean, and this is the guy that, you know, like I I love everything Marvel, I love everything, you know, pop culture. But like the they like the Tourbillons, they felt a little maybe shoehorned in, as in it was just literally like, okay, do a character and place it in a turbion concept. Like for me, the thing that won me over with the cause is that this watch feels just so much more from the ground up as a singular piece. It doesn't feel like two, like a company and a licensing team came together and sort of was like how do we make this work? No like this call like this expression like it just works so well in the concept form. Like it's that like really like sort of metallic sort of heavy set and like that new peripheral like time display like it all just makes more sense to me and it feels more intentional on the cause. |
| Malika Crawford | For sure. I think that makes sense if we're like analyzing product. I think if we're analyzing concept, uh-huh. I see what this is going. I'm not on board. Sorry. And you know, everybody knows I'm a big AP fan. This one for me left me just dumbstruck because cultural relevance, if you're playing that card, then yes, Marvel again, like is ubiquitous, hands down. Uh Travis Scott, despite what some of our readers may think, also ubiquitous. I get it. It's like you're taking the most popular thing and like, you know, doing that cause I want to say like are we like a little bit late to cause |
| Tan Tan Wang | kinda strange to me. Do you think do you think like do you think the fact that like the public knows cause now mostly because of like the Uniqlo stuff. Do you think that hurts it |
| Malika Crawford | ? I just think cause is a very like like the Ikepod or however you say it, that to me, makes sense. But that was like not this year. That was like when it was a moment. And I think the problem sometimes with the Swiss brands is that they, you know, I guess it takes a long time to develop a watch, but they're a little bit late to the game sometimes. So that's why the ubiquitous stuff works so well, right? Because it will always be in the canon. Whereas the stuff that's super trendy, like it watches aren't fast enough. So like either you're gonna be ahead and take a risk or you're gonna be late |
| Tan Tan Wang | culturally anyway. And I I just and I know on the press release that they basically said the brand said like it took them two years to do this. Yeah. So like |
| Malika Crawford | even two years ago. I mean, cool. This would have been sick in twenty twelve. I understand from a product perspective. I just from a AP sort of doing a really hard play on you know culture, I feel like they missed a little bit with this one |
| James Stacy | . As as far as a watch goes, I I think it's quite cool. Um, but I obviously like I'm not deeply dialed into the world of art or the timing of you know causes peak popularity and that sort of thing. Uh I I think that this strategy of them taking the concept and applying totally non-watch uh impetus and inspiration is a really cool way of making a hundred interesting watches for a hundred people who can you imagine how special it must be if you love Black Panther and you were able to get one, or if you love cause and probably own some of his art otherwise and you're able to get one of these, like that makes sense to me even if I'm not the buyer for it. Can I just argue this then? Because maybe |
| Malika Crawford | I don't have a problem with the watch. Maybe I have a problem with the marketing. If you're gonna be so splashy with the marketing, then it better be like something that is ubiquitous like Marvel or Travis Scott or whatever. That's just my two cents. Sorry. |
| James Stacy | No, I think I think that that's what we're looking for. We're looking to talk about what we thought of the watches and sort of the watch space in 2024. Collabs were a huge part of this. I think this is a topic that's going to come up in part two with Rich and Mark. And then probably I, you know, collabs is something we're already hearing about from brands for next year. Obviously you can't give details, but there'll be lots to talk about in our future looking episodes, which will come out a little later uh this month. So uh for this episode of Haninky Radio, thank you so much for listening. And Tantan and Maleka, thank you so much for joining me. This has been really fun. Looking back at 2024. |