Horological Homecomings, The Habrings, And The Work From Home Watch¶
Published on Mon, 23 Mar 2020 10:00:05 +0000
This week we've got a trio of interesting tales to tell.
Synopsis¶
This episode of Hodinky Radio features three segments exploring different facets of watchmaking and collecting. The first segment is a conversation between host Stephen Pulvirent and Cole Pennington about Cole's talk at the Horological Society of New York titled 'Horological Homecoming: The Hidden History of World War II Watches.' Cole discusses his project of tracing the stories behind World War II-era watches by investigating inscriptions on case backs. He shares two detailed stories: one about an Elgin Army Ordnance watch belonging to Lieutenant Waldo Croner, who served on the USS Marblehead during Pearl Harbor and later participated in Operation Crossroads nuclear tests, and another about a Hamilton watch given to Lieutenant George Fullencamp by his colleagues at Federal Machine and Welder Company. Cole's work demonstrates how individual timepieces can preserve personal histories that might otherwise be lost, particularly for servicemembers who died without descendants. The segment emphasizes the intersection of horology, history, and remembrance.
The second segment features editor-in-chief Jack Forster speaking with independent watchmakers Richard and Maria Habring about their brand Habring². The couple discusses their decision to establish the first modern Austrian watch brand after Richard's extensive experience working in the Swiss industry, including time at IWC and A. Lange & Söhne. They explain their philosophy of creating modular, customizable watches in limited quantities (around 200 pieces per year) while maintaining direct relationships with customers. Richard shares stories about developing complications like the deadbeat seconds and split-seconds chronograph, and the couple emphasizes their commitment to remaining a small family business focused on quality and client satisfaction rather than growth.
The final segment introduces new Hodinky editor Danny Milton, who reflects on his 'quarantine watch'—a Hamilton Khaki Pilot Day-Date. Danny explains how he purchased the watch in 2014 after being inspired by the film Interstellar, and how during the COVID-19 lockdown, he gravitates toward this practical, highly legible timepiece over more sentimental pieces in his collection. He values the watch for its functionality in helping him maintain his sense of time and sanity during quarantine, while also appreciating the personal memories it holds.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| Unknown | In general we forget a lot of the sacrifices that have been made as a amorphous idea, sacrifice, this and that, right? When you have a person that you know existed that wore the very watch that you can hold in your hand and you understand what they went through and what they saw. It all comes to life in a very real way. It's it's much different than reading about it in a textbook or even going to a museum. It's like, wow, this this was on the wrist of someone who has done things that I can't even fathom or I can't even imagine. And it's a weird intersection between horology, history, and trying to understand an idea that I don't think we really have a concept of |
| Unknown | Hey everybody, I'm your host Stephen Polverant and this is Hodinky Radio. We've got a great show for you this week. It's a three-parter, and to kick things off is a conversation between myself and our own Cole Pennington that I've been wanting to have for a while. In February, Cole gave a talk at the Horological Society of New York called Horological Homecoming: The Hidden History of World War II Watches. Cole's advice is to always read the case back. You never know where it's gonna lead you. I'll let you listen for the rest of the story. After that, we've got a conversation between our editor-in-chief, Mr. Jack Forrester, and independent watchmakers Richard and Maria Haybring. You probably know them from their brand Haybring 2, and they're two of the nicest, most interesting people in independent watchmaking. And finally, making his Hodinki Radio debut is our newest editor, Danny Milton. Danny joined us at an interesting time to say the least, but he's using this as an opportunity to reflect on the watch that he's been wearing while working from home and what that tells him about his love of watches in general. We've got a lot packed in this week, so without further ado, let's do this. I am recording and my levels my levels look |
| Unknown | good. I am also recording and my levels are at, yep, hovering around 12. Hey Cole. How's it going man? |
| Unknown | Hey, SJP. Good to see you virtually. Yeah, good to see you too. Uh we're doing this via a zoom call, not to buzzmarket zoom too much. They're probably getting enough of that. But uh yeah, this is the first first Todinky radio segment that we are recording in our our remote studio I guess. Yeah, the virtual studio, something like that. Yeah. You've got a mic, I've got a mic. We got a video call set up. Gray's there in a little little box at the top of my scre |
| Unknown | Yeah, I noticed that you uh you didn't put that like beauty filter on zoom. You know you could do that, right |
| Unknown | ? No, I'm not I'm not face tuning here. You get the r you get the real SJP here.. Yeah None of this funny business. Yeah, you look good. Thanks, Matt. Um yeah, I wanted I wanted to make sure we finally got a chance to have this conversation. We've been chatting about it for I guess, I don't know, like a month, month and a half now. Um, you gave a talk at the Horological Society of New York back the first week in February um that I went to, a whole bunch of Hodinki team members went to, and a ton of people from all over New York and the surrounding area. Uh it was standing room only. Um it was pretty, pretty wild. Um and I thought it'd be fun to bring you on the show to kind of share some of that with our audience here um since not everybody could obviously make it to the talk |
| Unknown | yeah i if i had known about the fantasy draft back then i would have started and launched my campaign in that room but because i had a nice uh captive audience. But yeah, live in front of a uh uh front of a live audience there. Yeah. The talk was great. Yeah, I really, really enjoyed doing that and um I'm happy that we can finally kinda deliver what was said there and so forth to a larger audience as well. |
| Unknown | So roughly speaking, the the talk was called Horlogical Homecoming: The Hidden History of World War II Watches. Uh, can you sketch out for us what that what that means, like in your in your own words? What was this talk about? What was kind of your thesis heading into this |
| Unknown | ? Alright, sure. So the thesis was I'll I'll get into how it came about later, but the thesis of the talk was this. On the case back, there are clues to a story that normally just wouldn't come to light. You just really have to pay attention to those clues and listen to the watch. So on the case back there are sometimes inscriptions, right? And in in the case of World War Two that was a common practice. So if we really we don't just take these inscriptions at surface level, we dig into them, there's a whole world of stories and and it offers us insight. One little watch can offer us a world of ins |
| Unknown | ight. Yeah. I loved at the talk you mentioned uh you you referenced one of my favorite podcasts, uh 99% invisible. Uh if you're listening to this and you don't listen to 99 PI, like go do that right now. Um but uh Roman Mars, who's the the host and the f creator of uh 99 PI, uh has this this mantra which is always read the plaque. Anytime you see a plaque, always read the plaque. And I love that that's kind of how you like introed intro people in ninety nine PI fan from like who like smiled and snickered when you said it, but yeah, people loved it. And and the the |
| Unknown | open was that everyone walked by the plaque on the way into the building, right? There is actually a plaque on the building that HSNY is in. That tells you the whole history and that's a storied building. Incredible spot. I'll all you guys should look it up. But yeah, it turns out very, very f |
| Unknown | ew people actually read that plaque. So before before we get into the watches and their specifics because that's that's going to be the bulk of what I want to talk to you about today. I want you to kind of tell us tell us some stories that that were discovered via case backs. But um world war two watches fall into roughly two camps and I think it's worth talking about that, and then talking about how you got into this story. So the the two kinds of watches here, right, are roughly issued watches and private purchase watches, right? That's right. Yeah. Okay. So sweet. So I paid, I paid attention. I understood what what what was going on here. Um what's what's kind of the difference between the two types of watches |
| Unknown | ? Well of the watches that that we have and we talked about the on the issued side, issued meaning that they were given to soldiers, or in this case airmen, or sailors as well. Um those were built to a spec. The spec was put up by the government, a number of companies, Hamilton, Waltham, Bolova, Elgin, all built watches to that spec. So one of the specs, the most popular one, is A11, which is uh the watch that won the war, they call. And that that's kind of the highest level um of the watches that were issued. And that you know, that watch it's has 15 joule movement with a plus or minus 30 second accuracy and a 30 hour power reserve, which is actually that's pretty impressive considering that this is seventy something years ago and really things haven't changed much except the accuracy, right? I mean 30 hour power reserve is crazy. Um and then the lesser of the two that we're dealing with is the Army Ordnance Department watch, which is a seven joule, they have a seven joule, they have a 25 joule model, and it has a sub-second style, as opposed to a sweeping seconds, which the A11 has. They were also built by the same the same uh companies, Hamilton Wealth and Bullet Elgin, but they were given to folks with with technical duties, not necessarily officers, pilots, so forth. So, you know, infantry, da da da da |
| Unknown | . So one of the things, Colt, that I think is super interesting about these watches is just how varied they are aesthetically. Um I mean, you know, the the issued watches obviously had to conform to one of two specs. So there's there's less variation there. But when you start getting into uh watches that were were personal purchases, uh, there's tremendous variation. And they're they're not always what you would think of as like quote unquote, I'm doing like scare quotes, uh, like quote unquote um military watches, right? They're much more diverse than that. Often they're really ornate. These engravings are really beautiful, despite the fact that ultimately these these were functional objects, right? Yeah, |
| Unknown | totally. I mean the crazy thing to think is nowadays the the tactical look is very defined. It's either brushed or bead blasted or PVD coded, it's monochromatic. When we think of a military watch we immediately jump to like Marathon Navigator or the Hamilton khaki field. And I think even now like the the military watches have entered kind of a cool thing in the fashion world. That just didn't exist before. So these watches, the issued ones do share some of the design language of modern military watches, but the private purchase ones literally like the closest thing I could think of would be if someone bought like a uh SBGW two thirty one from Grand Seiko or like uh even a Patek Calatrava if they wore that to war that's almost like what what it's like. These are really, really beautiful dress watches. They're they're not sport watches, they're not tool watches, even though they did hold up in the same fashion that that tool watches did, right? They look like dress watches. Beautiful blued hands, Roman numerals, uh very few had Arabic numerals, um and different you know, the way that copper and gilt were used, along with brass. They don't look like your typical watch that would be able to withstand wartime duties |
| Unknown | . Yeah. And and the engravings on them are also usually pretty pretty ornate, right? Like these aren't just like simple like numbers stamped into the back |
| Unknown | . No. I'm well, so like the the army ordinance watches and and the A eleven, yes, those are. Those are machine stamped, whatever. But the private Yeah. But private purchase watches. Maybe it's an overromanticized idea, but I think people just paid attention to what they were doing with their hands back then. So all the private purchase watches are hand engraved and really they look like I don't even know what to compare it to, like like uh the same level of attention that would be paid to on a fine piece of jewelry like I'm talking high end, something you would buy from Tiffany's at the in the same era. That's the kind of engraving that you would find on these watches |
| Unknown | . And so so I gotta ask how did you get into this kind of like corner of watchmaking? I mean, I know you're you're a history buff, you're a military buff, but like how and obviously you're a watch guy, but like how did how did these things all kind of coalesce? Like what was the moment where you were like, huh, I I need need to dig into this. Like I I need to really go deep |
| Unknown | . Uh well, uh the the truth of the matter is I found them and I still do find them like just too small to wear and like from the way we talk about product now at Hodinky is not how I would talk about these things at all. These are just pieces of history rather than watches. So that's kind of the approach that I took initially. I'm probably I do wear them for fun, but like I got into it because of the stories, not not because of the horological value of them. Uh which isn't much. I mean these are let's face it, they're pretty inexpensive watches, to be honest. Uh you know, they were always on my radar, loved reading about them, but never bought any until one day I was at this this thing in Reading, Pennsylvania. Uh a World War II it's the largest World War II reenactment in the world. So they fly in war birds from all over. I mean this is like when you go there, you feel like you're actually well, I don't know. Who knows? I don't know what it was like. It was probably much more grim. You're a little a little young for that, yeah. A little young, yeah. But but uh yeah, so this a bunch of reenactors from all over the country and international, they come in and they do reenactments, but with everything period correct and so forth. So there is even like it's honestly pretty egregious in some regards. You will see uh like Schwatztikas on old Mercedes Benz just puttering by you. You will see uh, you know, people speaking in the translenti accents and so forth, like trying and using the words like uh, oh well that's swell, that kind of stuff. So it's it it's pretty real. They take this thing very seriously. Um but the thing is, all these folks, there's no yes, there's a slight glorification, but really all these people are students of history and really kind of know what they're talking about and so forth. It's a it's a crazy thing. It's it's unlike anything else. If anyone has a chance, Google World War II Day, Reading, Pennsylvania, and you should go this year. It's it's unreal. But I went. I went mainly to go see the uh airplane Warbirds, I mean, a lot of them are privately owned, some are owned by organizations that keep them flying, but any time you can see something like a P fifty one Mustang or a B twenty nine, you have to. It' itll send chills down your spine when those things go overhead. They use radial engines, so they sound different. It's just a very visceral experience. So I went to go see that. And obviously, this is well before Hodinky, but watches are always on the radar, so I kinda passed by this guy's stand who was selling a bunch of World War II watches. And uh let's go take a gander, you know, see what he's got. And started looking through them and found that some of them had, you know, names and inscriptions and so forth on the back. And I was like, ah, that's super, super interesting. How much are they? Uh they,'re not that expensive. All right, I'll buy them. And then I went home that day and kind of started Googling around and looking for the people whose names are on the back of the watches, and I got a little traction. So then I went back to that guy and I bought more. I said, Give me everyone you got. And uh he's still literally to this day, any time he gets one or comes across one he uh shoots me an email. Doesn't doesn't really use text or anything like that, but uh shoots me an email and um that's how I came into having this small collection which now is is it's not growing. It's the idea is that it's getting smaller because we're getting these watches back to the people or the next of kin or an organization, which we can get into in a second. But I came yeah, I came across these watches at World War II Day in Reading, Pennsylvania, and then later bought a bunch more. So that's where this project started. I got once I Googled and got a little bit of success. You know, life is all about those small victories. Yeah, yeah, totally. On to the ne |
| Unknown | xt. You started building this originally as a story for Hodinki. Like we we published a story July of last year, um bringing World War II watches back home. Um we'll link that up in the show notes too. And that was kind of the first pass that you took at trying to find where these watches came from, who they belonged to, who their next of kin was, kind of the stories behind where these people were, what they did, where these watches went along with them. Um and you you kind of sketched out for a few of these watches brief histories in this story. But one of the points of of your talk at HSMY was that you've actually been able to keep this investigation going, right? Like it's it's not it seemed like it dead ended, but then it kind of opened up and kept Ye |
| Unknown | ah, actually due to the power of our readership, believe it or not. I can't get into too much detail, but uh some folks got in touch with a few uh bread crumb trail that I needed to follow. So once that initial story was published, uh it kinda got got picked up. It took on a life of its own. And then next thing you know, I was pointing in the right direction. So it it's important to understand that this is an ongoing mission. That's not quite the the article and the talk and so forth, they just mark certain points in an overall mission as opposed to a start and an end. It's still going on. So the issued watch, we'll start there. We'll start with that one. In the piece, we we introduced the watch in the July piece, but and it's the Elgin Army Ordnance Watch. So it has a white face with radium numerals painted on that are totally, you know, by now they they're dry and they kind of look uh they look old and crusty to be honest, but in a beautiful way. Um it has cathedral hands subseconds at six and the the cathedral hands and subseconds still retain their blue nature, which is kind of cool to see how blue ages. So that's that's that watch. Um and on the back of it is a inscription. W. H. Kroner LT, Lieutenant, USN, US Navy, and then in number three oh nine six five seven. And uh that's engraved it's really beautiful that the serifs are really uh exaggerated. You can tell it's done by hand. It's stunning. You can see that in the article. But where that whole thing left off uh was unless so I went to Navy records and so forth and had trouble getting anywhere because I wasn't the next of kin or an active duty uh service member. Hit a little roadblock and made some guesses using the number at the bottom as to when it might have been from and so forth, but turns out I wasn't totally right. Um like like a lot of stuff, but so that's where the article ended. In the talk, I went over the progress that had made been made from there. So what's super interesting about this watch it forced me to start looking in places that I normally wouldn't. So like I said, I got a few few clues. I found out his name was Waldo. Um Waldo Croner. So with that, so it's no longer, you know, just initials and a last name and so forth. It's it's a real guy now. So it's Waldo. So I start doing kind of a little search around media and a nineteen twenty-six issue of Boy's Life uh has a note written in by our uh Yeah, Boys Boys Life is the Boy Scouts magazine, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, okay. It it's awesome. So a guy named Waldo Croner wrote in, so that's the first instance of Waldo Croner appearing, um in any sort of, you know, document or whatever. And he asked about a a wireless radio or something. It think about that, in nineteen twenty-six, you know, wireless radio. But that was a thing. Radio was a huge thing and if you're a teenage boy, that's probably what you're into. And it also i that kind of person is exactly the kind of person who might end up later in life in uh, you know, working on communication systems on ships and so forth, which is exactly what Mr. Croner ended up doing. So found that little bit. The next thing I searched through all the muster roles of the crew. So what's a uh what's a muster role? Can you explain that? Yeah, yeah. So it's uh almost like you know an airplanes they have the uh what do they call those passenger manifest, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So it's like that. It's it's a person what they've been assigned to and so forth. What what date the ship left and so forth. So cool. Now that I knew his name and so forth, I went through the muster rolls. In the musterals he appears on the crew of the USS Marblehead. Uh which yeah it was a a naval ship, of course, but what it was tasked with doing was doing patrols in the South Pacific. Uh it was anchored in Borneo and it happened to be, I would say, at the wrong place at the wrong time. Because during it's just a routine mission, keep in mind, he's out there in the South Pacific doing patrols, and Pearl Harbor happens. So that is yeah, it it's an inopportune place to be because war breaks out specifically in that part of the world, that theater. The Japanese are already in the South Pacific. And using that knowledge, I went and I looked through the records of the Office of Naval Intelligence to find out what what happened to the Marblehead. So the Marblehead was part of the Java C campaign and it actually got into some trouble. It was part of the raid in Makassar Strait. So it uh it was badly damaged. It got in a firefight. It was badly damaged. So we know that Waldo, mister Croner, was on this ship and he was in this fire fight. Ship took on damage, but and some folks died. But the the ship was able to make it from Borneo to what was then Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka, over to Durban in South Africa, and then across to Brooklyn. So they nursed that ship all the way uh from you know Southeast Asia, South Pacific all the way back to New York. So we know. Yeah, basic basically uh like two thirds of the way around the globe. Yeah, which is like crazy to think that we can piece this all together and and know what uh what happened. The records show that he gets back to Brooklyn sometime he gets an education to become a lieutenant. We we don't really know. I can't figure out when this happened. Couldn't find any graduation records. But we know that he somehow becomes a lieutenant. Maybe he was upgraded to officer during wartime. They had different ramifications, but he gets assigned to the USS Telemon, which that's where things get super, super interesting. Um the Telemann took part in something called Operation Crossroads, which are also known as like the the bikini atoll nuclear tests, which that served as inspiration for the movie the original Godzilla. Do you remember that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean not not originally. I wasn't around, but yeah, I've seen Godzilla. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So that they're they're doing shot baker and so forth, and that that nuclear energy is somehow imbued into Godzilla da da da da da. Right. But long story short, the Talamon steams off is not directly, directly involved in uh witnessing the atomic explosion but it's involved in the operation. So that's that's crazy. This guy has seen you know he's seen the thick of it, he's been in the thick of it, seen war, comes back home, goes back out, is involved in the second nuclear test. I I think this I have to go back and check, but the atomic bomb was dropped, and then this is the second instance of a nuclear bomb being detonated. This was obviously a test, not in wartime though. So after he came home, uh I looked up the records and he didn't have a wife, didn't have a kid or kids, and he uh he actually died alone at fifty one years old at a VA hospital and uh is buried in a national cemetery. And interesting. You can use uh tools online to look up headstones. And on his headstone it actually says World War II, Korea, and PH. So PH stands for Purple Heart. Um which is significant too. So there was no records on of him being in Korea, but he must have come home from that operation and be been redeployed to Korea and then came home and passed away. So without any next of kin or anything, to me, the why this matters and so forth is cause that story dies with him. It it goes nowhere. Uh but through this watch, it kind of it was told. I mean, everyone in the room at the HSNY talk heard it. We're talking about right now. So that to me is kind of when this whole thing's like, ah, alright, this this is significant. I felt that it was significant all the time, but then when you run into something like this and you build an entire picture of someone's service industry and so forth and realize that if this watch hadn't have been discovered, whatever, that story would literally never have been told again. So that uh that was the the revelation I reached at the end of the uh kind of the end of the tra |
| Unknown | il of crumbs on with that watch. That's super fascinating. I mean you you I I don't want to, you know, break this up too much, but what you you have another watch here, right? You have you have another watch you wanted to talk about and I wanna kinda get right into that and then I I think we can do some some more general conversation at the end 'cause I I do wanna make sure we we discuss kind of the meaning of all of this. But let's let's talk about the other watch first. Uh can you give us kind of the brief the brief s version of that watch's story? |
| Unknown | Yeah. The brief version is this a beautiful Hamilton, uh Roman numerals, blue hands, pitting on the dial, really, really nice though. It looks it presents well as they would say. This this is a watch that in its heyday would have been really stunning. Yeah, oh yeah. I mean it still is stunning. In in today. I mean right now it's stunning. So back in the day, oof. If you're wearing this thing, good things, good things. So on the back it says uh Lieutenant G C Fullen Camp, best wishes from your Fed Mach and Welder Co. friends. So that's Federal Machine and Welder Company friend |
| Unknown | s. So they crammed quite quite a bit of engraving on this on this tiny case back. They really did. This one and this one is also beautiful. I mean the font. I love the little sort of like floral motif around best witches wishes. There's these kind of like uh these two parallel lines and then these sort of like floromotifs coming off of them. It's it's really really artfully d |
| Unknown | one. It is. I mean everything I mean this is again, so like even watches today that come from the factory and so forth, they're all engraved with computers and and not by hand. So when you do things by hand they just look different and I I think better, but it it really shows with this watch. So yeah. Initially I traced that the Fullen camp clan would have been in Ohio or Iowa, Pennsylvania, so forth. I actually called a few Fullen camps, and they were all like totally willing to help and so forth, but didn't really go anywhere. So that's where the piece ended. But once I kind of uh like I said, once I got his name, that's when things changed. Uh we know that his his name's George now. So G C Fullen Camp is George Fullen Camp. Okay. And and using that you can go through the census data and the census data places him in uh Warren, Ohio, actually in Trumbull, Warren County, um which is also where federal machine and Welder Company existed. So we know, yep, this is our guy. We have him. So he he appears in the census data under George C. Fullen Camp working for this welder. Um and then somehow we know because of the message on the engraving that he must have left this welder, welding company, uh probably to go off to war. So how do we confirm that? Well, we take take another look at the records. And what was interesting too, we noted that it was lieutenant, so that means that he must have had a college education. So we can go back and look through yearbooks. So he does actually appear in a uh like a a South Dakota university or University of South Dakota yearbook under a graduating ROTC roster um so that we know that he was in some sort of ROTC program in college, went to go work for a welder, and then either was called to kind of finish or with ROTC typically you have to go on active duty for X amount of years to pa pay back rate. So he must have gotten the call and went to war. Um records from th there were no records from wartime, unfortunately. The next time he appears is in a yearbook of a private school up in uh Maine called the Heartland Academy. Okay. Yeah, and it's uh I think it's in uh he lived in Bangor, Maine. And long story short, in that yearbook, it says that he got a a degree from the University of South Dakota and he taught math and driver's education at this high school. Um and then basically you can use that to look around and I found out that he did pass away in nineteen seventy two. Okay. Um and he's he's buried in Maine, actually. And uh you can see his his headstone and so forth Was there any uh next of kin there? That's what so actually funny, uh a few members of the audience there happen to be some folks from Maine and we're working on that now. So we're literally working on that now. Uh there it there was someone, but I think they may have even passed on as well. So it's like next, next, next of kin and so forth. So we're we're looking at that now and uh that's in progress. |
| Unknown | So the story isn't really not over. That's super interesting. So if anybody listening to this knows a full in camp in the banger main area, uh shoot us a note. Well maybe maybe it'll be somebody listening to this who uh helps helps you get to the bottom of this one. Uh that would really be incredible. Before we before we go, I I do just want to make sure, you know, with these two watches in mind and kind of the bigger picture uh uh in front of us, we talk a little bit about what this what this means right like it's it's interesting it's you know as as reporters I think you and I both like really enjoy stuff like this like it's kind of why you do a job like like the job we do. Um but I I wonder you you have some thoughts about kind of what this means in in a bigger sense, like the sort of capital WY as opposed to the lowercase y. Can you share |
| Unknown | that Maybe it's not a national emergency. Exactly. So that I you know, it's it's funny that that's floating around now because I think in general we forget a lot of the sacrifices that have been made um in order to A, just you know, enjoy the freedoms that we do and live in the society that we do as a amorphous idea, sacrifice this and that, right? We that's largely like whatever now. People just don't really think about that. But what this watch well these watches have done, they zoom in on specific characters in a massive story. And that massive story itself is it's around but we don't think about it. Now when you have a person that you know existed that wore the very watch that you can hold in your hand and you understand what they went through and what they saw. Yeah. It all comes to life in a very real way. And uh it's it's much different than reading about it in a textbook or even going to a museum. It's like, wow, this this was on the wrists of someone who has done things that are that I can't even fast And it's a weird intersection between horology, history, and trying to understand an idea that I don't think we really have a concept of |
| Unknown | . That's super, super awesome. Um I would I would encourage people if you're if you're listening to this and you you're enjoying it, um you can go see the full talk um if you go to the HSNY's website. Um we'll link that up. Uh you do have to be a member to watch videos of the lectures. Um there are lots of great ones. There's obviously Cole's talk, but like you know, Francois Paul Jorn was there last month. There's ye thereah',s a lot of uh there's a lot of good stuff to watch. So not to shill too hard for them, but um yeah, it's it's a worthwhile thing. If you're if you're into horology, uh become a member, you can watch the talks. It's it's a fun thing. Um especially if you're not in the New York area and you can't go to these things yourself uh it's a nice way to get to get to participate. So um yeah I guess you can imagine uh really qu |
| Unknown | ick the uh like whoa I better do a good job when I found out that FP Jorn is presented next in line. I'm like, oh boy. That's |
| Unknown | a definite like don't fuck it up moment, you know? Yeah. Uh you you don't want to be the one to let everybody down. Um cool. Well thanks for doing this, man. This is this is a super interesting story and you know I'm I'm uh I'm excited to see how it develops and hopefully we'll have more to publish on the site soon. Um if if we can keep digging here |
| Unknown | . It's an ongoing thing. So uh you know, I'm looking to uh get these watches back to where they go, where they belong and uh hopefully some of the listeners can help out in that mission as well. So thank you, Steven, for the time and uh I'll be signing off from my isolation here and uh hope hopefully see you soon my friend. Yes sir. Awes |
| Unknown | ome. Up next we have Jack's conversation with independent watchmakers Richard and Maria Habring |
| Unknown | . Well, uh here we are with uh Richard and Maria Habering. Um and uh I want to thank you both for uh being on the podcast today. I think uh a lot of our readers know who you are already, but uh maybe a brief introduction is in order. So can you tell us a little bit about um yourselves and your company and uh the uh watchmaking that you do? |
| Unknown | Thanks, Jack. Uh first of all, for giving us the opportunity to be here. It's it's a great pleasure. Um well, uh it's about exactly 15 years ago when we when we started with Habering 2 uh we presented our very first watch in 2004 which took us about yeah one and a half two years uh uh preparation for and uh at that time since uh we've been located at that time in in uh Dresden, Saxony, a well-known capital of uh watchmaking uh nearby Glasshutte. So we've been thinking at that time uh uh what do we want to uh do in the future and uh since we figured out that it's not really attractive to become the twelve swatch brand in glass at that time uh we decided uh uh to say, okay, uh let's go let's go back to Austria, where uh uh I grew up, and uh let's become the first very first Austrian watch brand of the new era. So uh where in where in Austria specifically are you located? Um we are located at the at the south of Austria, so south of the Alps. Uh the state is called Carinzia. And uh geographically we uh let's say quite in the middle between uh Vienna and Venice. Just right |
| Unknown | in the middle. Interesting. And uh so there really isn't any sort of in the last couple of centuries, in that region of Austria there's not really a history of watchmaking |
| Unknown | ? There is a history of watchmaking and especially clockmaking. Um there have been there have been basically three centers of watch and clock making in Austria in the past. This was Vienna. Everybody knows the Viennese regulate the clocks, for instance. There has been a little center northwest where still the Austrian watchmaking school is located in Karlstein and Attire, it's called. And there has been the Styrian capital of Graz. If you ask, is there one particular name, for instance, which which comes from that area? Yes, there that there is one. So the the uh Swiss AI AIHH uh lists one of uh their watchmakers uh one of their the famous watchmakers uh uh uh which is uh which has been uh Josef Tadeus Windel. Oh yes. Used to be from from that |
| Unknown | that area. Yes. He's uh uh credited with uh inventing the uh split seconds chronograph? Yes, yeah, heartpiece of the split second chronograph. You know, um it it's's it's actually fascinating to hear this from you because I think that uh an awful lot of watch enthusiasts uh if you ask them about watchmaking in Germany, they basically think it stops at Glassuta. They think of Dresden and they think of Glasuta and you know there's lots of wonderful watchmaking that goes on there. But um you know, and I knew in general that um that part of the world has been home to a lot of beautiful watch and clock making. But as far as uh uh the history of watching clock making in Austria, um that is probably uh the information you just gave us is probably a hundred percent more information than most of us had before you started talking. So uh and you're from that part of Austria. We we are from that part of Austria, yes. Uh you might say that uh clocks and watches are in your blood, so to speak |
| Unknown | . More or less, yeah. Uh uh the problem for this for the for the for this part of of of watchmaking history of of European watchmaking and clock making making history is that everything ended uh around 1890 with the industrialization at uh Germany, Switzerland, and England. And uh the very particular thing uh about Austrian watch and clock making was that uh there was never ever a factory. So we always been we always as Austrians we always been on the really trade and manufacturing side. And uh yes, uh that was the problem |
| Unknown | why they didn't survive. Yeah, you know, it's uh it's kind of the same problem that British watchmaking had uh,, where there was also a long, long tradition of really interesting watch and clock making experimentations in horology, but the fact that there was no real industrial base for it meant that when industrialization and watchmaking started to happen very rapidly, uh they you know making things by hand it was just not uh they couldn't keep up. Yes. It was it was was just too expensive at that time as well. So um when did you first begin to study uh watchmaking and clockmaking? Uh I started |
| Unknown | I started with the Austrian watchmaking school in nineteen eighty-four. Which which is still there, you said. Which is still there. It's still existing. It has been founded in 1873. Uh Walter Lange was one of the attendees, for instance, there since uh when he was about to attend watchmaking school. Uh the Glasshutte watchmaking school was closed due to the war, so the Austrians Austrian was still open. And uh yeah, I left I left school in in eighty-eight and |
| Unknown | uh yeah continued. And um when you left uh watchmaking school you went to work in the Swiss watch industry. No first uh |
| Unknown | first I I I I went to Tirol to Western Austria to work uh uh with a specialist on the reparation and restoration of antique watches and clocks. And this led me into the question how to how to redesign, how to rebuild missing parts on clocks and watches. So so slightly step by step I grew into this designing of more complex uh uh mechanisms in the |
| Unknown | end. Now uh your watches, the the Habering 2 watches that you and Maria you know have brought to the world, um these timepieces seem to reflect a very distinct perspective on watchmaking. There seems to be a um a philosophy, so to speak, uh, of watchmaking that's behind them. Would you say that uh this arises partly out of your experience really having to know how to make stuff by hand um and uh you know seeing how watches and clocks are constructed from the ground up. Do you relate it to your work in restoration |
| Unknown | ? Well, maybe maybe not really restoration. But uh the next step after this uh repair and restoration was uh more or less uh doing prototypes which was my main job in in in in in the Swiss watch industry when i when i uh started there in 1990 and uh prototyping at that time was uh well uh different from today because uh yes the factory had a CNC milling machine at that time, but only one. And this was this was reserved for production. So we had to do our parts with conventional tools, with comp conventional machines. And so it turned out that uh a fascinating adventure to produce almost every single part of a wristwatch movement up to major complications like Tourbillon or or what else, uh to really make everything by heart, uh by hand and and and and complete it and and and it works so likely like the the forefathers of watchmakers did uh of course, with our with our current price point at Harbring 2, we are not able to produce everything by hand. But the roots are there, and every single model at Harbing 2 starts as well with a manual prototype, which is done in our very own workshop and modified and and and uh elevated till the level we say, okay, now now it's it's it's it's time to |
| Unknown | release it. So nineteen ninety, this is um the pi that period nineteen ninety to you know two thousand say uh you were around for a really interesting transitional period uh in the watch industry where uh design went from being you know a pencil and paper process to you know really designing fully on computers. Yes. And what was that uh what w how did you experience that transition? Did you feel empowered as a prototypist? Uh was it a difficult transition |
| Unknown | to make? Uh no, it was not difficult. It was it was really a very interesting adventure. I I I've been I've been privileged at that time to to not only meet but as well to verk with very väly introsting people I mean that was first of all of Kors Günter Blumlein the the CEO and uh uh uh yeah later co-founder of of Lange und Söhne. There was uh I I well remember Kurt Claus for instance, the the inventor of the Da Vinci Split uh sorry, perpetual calendar. Uh who took me like a father to sit down at the at the at the at the at the cut we had, which was which was a huge box. And he sat down with me there and uh uh uh and showed me how it works. I mean they did not send me for a course. Mr. Klaus himself sat down with me four hours, I think, uh, and he showed me how it works. Uh and uh in the end, uh uh he stood up and said, Yes, now you I can leave you on your own. And here is a bunch of old drawings from the nineteen thirties. And uh I'm sure if you if you if you've worked through all of them and digitalized them, then you are able to really work on |
| Unknown | on more complex stuff. Wow. Wow. So he gave you a lot of uh autonomy and a lot of responsibility. Yes, yes.. Yeah Yes. So very dynamic time for the Swiss watch industry. Very dynamic time for the uh you know, for for IWC, for the companies that you were working with and for the people that you were working with. Quite innovative. Yeah. Yeah. Very much |
| Unknown | so. Adventure. It was was it a kind of it's what it was a time of of of uh kind of no no border uh so we we could we could explore everything we could do everything i mean people uh bloomland was was was a was a great leader so far uh uh he had he had a group of young technicians around and uh and just gave them space uh make something interesting uh uh uh later when Bloomlein uh gave up his position as technical director, he had as well as his uh aside his CEO, then it it went more tight because then marketing became m much more uh important uh uh at this factory uh before the basic question was just okay what can we do? Right. |
| Unknown | Right. And was it at that point more or less that you began to entertain the idea of striking out on your own? Uh that was |
| Unknown | later already. That was later and that was highly influenced. Uh with uh yeah as well some experience as i did later uh when when when working with lange and sohne and uh being being uh as well um Not included but but but be uh looking looking what's going on at the at the merge of uh uh uh Richemont and and LMH at that time and uh this this let me and uh uh at that time Maria come came uh uh into the game and uh we we we started to think about uh uh what else do we wanna do uh aside the big brands and uh uh uh uh aside what what we consider as uh uh really the watch industry? So Ha |
| Unknown | y Bring two. Haybring too. You and Maria. Yes. How did you meet? We are a couple, of course. Maria and Richard harping would be a little bit too long on the dial. So we yeah, we ask ourselves we need a name for our kit and so we said Hapring 2. And that |
| Unknown | is And uh the first uh the first watch can you tell us about the sort of the conception process design process um well uh our |
| Unknown | our basic idea at this very first watch was uh to offer a kind of modular thing which which uh uh led to the to the uh opportunity for for the our clients to uh do some configuration on the case side on the movement side. So uh I I wouldn't wouldn't call it really a a a complete uh yeah uh a full modern system where you when you where you can make your configurations of different tiles, different hands, different movements, whatever. But it what it was a very first step into that direction to say, okay, we we don't want to be a brand uh uh in the way that we want to uh produce single products by um excluding our clients in the way of how the product is made. So the basic idea was uh how can we how can we use existing technical solutions to uh invite uh uh our customers to uh uh step in and and and and to to design a part of the watch with us to design the the the look uh uh when it came to colors, dials, hands. So uh a little more customization as it was used at the watch industry at that time. That was the basic idea. And the uh the name of the first watch was uh it actually when it came out, it did not even have a name. It it was nicknamed time only. Right. So there has been a vital watch community worldwide already with the well-known forums. So immediately they called it the time only. Uh and so time only, yeah, it it it it it uh it kept the name till till uh we stopped the production of this particular |
| Unknown | model. And uh what was the first year that it came out? And two thousand and four. Two thousand four. Okay. |
| Unknown | Now we'd celebrate our fifteenth birthday. Yeah, yeah. That's amazing. It's almost exactly 15 years plus one week after the after the presentation of the very first watch. |
| Unknown | And when you cease production on this model, was it had you already introduced another? We |
| Unknown | started with this particular first model and uh we we gave us a self-limitation on 12 pieces per year which was funny somehow but we we find it nice uh uh and uh uh in 2005 we got we got a second model aside and uh further on the next years. And uh 2005 was the very first deadbeat second. Deadbe |
| Unknown | at seconds. Yes. So the deadbeat seconds I think is uh it's a fascinating complication to me because uh, you know, first of all it kind of fools the eye if you don't uh if you know, if you don't know what you're looking at. Um and secondly, it's not uh it's not uh uh a widely made complication in modern watchmaking. So, you know, just f purely from a practical standpoint, it really seems like kind of an insider's complication. It's uh it's something that's going to be appealing to people who know what goes into making one. And there were some unique things about the design of your in pr in particular the mechanical design of this |
| Unknown | watch. Yeah. Uh in two thousand five it started actually with antique movements from the nineteen fifties. We we we've been lucky that a friend from Germany called us once and uh told us he has about 30 old movements uh uh engraved doxa. Uh and uh they never made it into Doxer Watches whatever reason. So if if we would be interested, and we found it appealing. I mean we had this 42mm case and and this this very nice uh dial design we did for the for the very first model. So just elevating it to a to a centoseconds dead beat. That was particularly uh particularly appealing to us. So So uh we liked that idea and and and we went on and and and it became a big success, of course, within those numbers we've been used to produce. So it remained with the twelve pieces per model per year |
| Unknown | . I mean it's a fascinating first choice for a complication, uh you know, just because it is so unusual. |
| Unknown | Yes. Uh it was it was really it was really uh uh based on the on the availability of those movements. Right. And uh we found out with the with the with the further theory in two thousand six and then using the very last movements in two thousand seven beginning of 2007, and we thought ourselves, Jesus. Uh, what are we good? What are we going to do when all those movements are gone? Because uh there have been collectors from Asia, from the US, uh uh asking for more of those watches. So uh what we gonna do? And uh so then luckily uh uh we had the opportunity still to to to uh uh talk to eta and to obtain one of their very new movements at that time the Valkranch and uh uh started to develop our very own that beat second device on top on the of this uh Valgranch uh movement and it became our future standard from 2007 on |
| Unknown | . Uh now if you could just refresh my memory, the Valgrange caliber was Is this this this uh |
| Unknown | based on the train gear of the seven seven five O as a as a thirty six millimeter automatic movement. They had three versions as a as a uh date only, as a date with power reserve and as a date with uh second time zone. And that was again feeling this this direction. We wanted to go with a little kind of modularity to offer to offer simple um uh additional functions |
| Unknown | on those watches. Mm-hmm. There was no was was there ever a time only version of the Valkyrie caliber? Were they all automatics? Sorry, |
| Unknown | a non- non-automatic version, handwind version. In 2008, we had the the manual version of uh of this movement and uh yeah went went further on on on different other uh small komplications in 2008 we we we launched the COS the Crown Operation System Chronograph the, chronograph without the pusher. Uh in 2009, we had the food uh uh as small addition to the deadbeat second. I mean the deadbeat second was some kind of some kind of funny because uh uh that there have been collectors really uh uh uh happy about this, but they have been on the other side people saying uh come on, you can't do that, you cannot leave uh a mechanical uh wristwatch movement move like a quartz movement. That's not fair. I don't we we don't like that. So you you you you have to keep the mechanical move and and this was actually the the the the the basic idea behind the footroom to say okay if the p if they want to have the natural move of the movement so let's add it back on the on the on the on the watch again uh with a one seconds counter, so one hand which turns uh uh three hundred sixty degrees within one second. So it was a foudryon uh cent |
| Unknown | er seconds? Yes, yes. That beat center seconds foudriant. Wow. Well nobody is ever going to mistake that for a quartz watch. So I'm I I'm looking at it right now, and uh you know we'll link up in the show notes, of course. Uh but it is uh there's a uh centered deadbeat seconds with a foudriant or a lightning hand, lightning seconds hand, in a subdial at nine o'clock, uh which um starts and stops what is it six times per second? Uh eight times a second. Eight times eight times per second. And it is a fa absolutely fascinating contrast and an absolutely fascinating watch. Um interesting implementation of the date as well. Um uh variation on the pointer date. Uh but that's super cool. Yeah. And the r the reception to this one was uh was positive. Yeses., |
| Unknown | y And uh uh it's it's uh among our eldest models. Meanwhile renewed with a new tile design and and uh uh moved into our newer Felix line uh which started in 20041 with the in-house movement. But uh so we are climbing step by step since 15 years |
| Unknown | and uh it's fun, it's still fun. And uh the uh Ratrapant chronograph. |
| Unknown | Well the split second chronograph is uh is something which which which which is well connected with with the name hubbering of course yeah from the past and uh this is sometimes this this time uh uh uh feels to me like uh kind of former life or or or or uh uh uh forgive me Maria kind of kind of uh uh uh having having been married first time and then being divorced and and uh uh found a second uh uh found a second love. Uh |
| Unknown | uh |
| Unknown | Uh so this lasts back to nineteen ninety-two and and uh of course at that time it was quite important for the watch uh manufacturers to to patent things so uh there there has been this patent and uh in two thousand and twelve the patent of my original uh design at IWC for the split-second device uh expired. So we had our very first chronographs at that time in 2012. So we we we found it we found it appealing to say okay what about what about doing 20 pieces of split-second chronographs for the 20th anniversary uh of my my my uh past work so that that was uh how it started and uh this led to the to the doppel two uh and uh two point zero actually and uh well of course the twenty pieces we we were about to launch uh have not been enough far not and uh they've been sold out within very short timeime? Sure. Five months? Yeah. Yeah |
| Unknown | . Wow. If if even. And uh because we thought we need one or two years, yeah, for twenty pieces to sell it. |
| Unknown | And uh so so uh if if if I'm not mistaken that the patent went uh ran out in in in March, so in summer all the watch has been gone and oh my goodness. And then and then uh in late autumn, uh uh we've been lucky to had uh to have our very first piece at the at the Geneva Grand Prix, the GPHG. And uh yeah, finally this this watch which was not available anymore did even win the sports category so what can you do? That's fantastic well that's uh you know um uh that's a nice problem to have actually it was a very nice problem, yes. And uh the Doppler 2.0 was was uh coming with three different dial colors and uh with the with a typical three pusher configuration as uh as on the 1992 piece. So uh uh uh catching up with the demand uh which which has been left with that okay we we did this step so let's do the next step let's let's evolve it further, let's uh uh uh sync new. And uh this was how the Dopple Three came up at that time. Still still on uh by using eta components, but uh so in two thousand and thirteen we had we had a stock left uh uh of eta components but uh basically with beginning of twenty twelve this this was cut off so so we had to we had to think about the future anyway. Yeah. Yeah |
| Unknown | . Now the most recent watch that you've produced is a um perpetual calendar with split seconds. Yes. And uh it's it's a quite beautiful watch and the m the the sort of highest complication uh that you've produced under the name Heybring II so far. Yes. Um where do you see Haybring II going from here |
| Unknown | ? It's a good question. Now uh of course we like what we do, yeah, and this is important for us. We like we want to make people happy and this is also our project for the future, of course. Yeah. Important is for us uh to do beautiful watches, no mess. We will still be a small family business, of course. And yeah |
| Unknown | . What we are really happy about is that that within these fifteen years of Hubble um we we we been able to create a kind of ecosystem. Uh we call it an ecosystem. There is there is our little team. We are four uh currently uh uh in Velker Markt and there is a there is a quite quite a group of specialized suppliers in the background. Small family businesses in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland who are participating into the production of the parts into uh as well sometimes design uh questions so there there there is there is a very strong give and take and this this ecosystem is something we we uh uh uh found uh a very appealing point in in this in this entire uh adventure we are currently able to produce about 200 watches a year uh uh we did them in 200017. Last year we had a little less. This year we will maybe make about uh 180, and uh we are fine with that. There is no there is no particular reason uh to grow further uh since uh by growing and and producing more watches we would we would yeah probably lose the direct contact to our clients and customers. Uh if you if you call if you call the company, then there is a fifty percent chance you have one with the name hibring on the on the phone and this this is something we |
| Unknown | would like to achieve? You know, uh there's a friend of mine who has his own company and he has about 40 employees and he has absolutely no interest in uh making the company any bigger and scaling the company and he is a big fan of the idea that there is a not everything has to be big. There's a right size for a company and if you know what that is, if what you're making is making your clients happy and if it's more importantly making you and the people you work with happy, then why, you know, why would you want to um reach for an arbitrary growth figure that's you know not gonna contribute to the well-being of either yourself or the people who work with you? Correct |
| Unknown | . Some people when when talking about hubbering too and some people coming from the background of marketing, they stay or they claim we are kind of stuck in the middle. Which is which m is maybe right for their kind of thinking or or or what they what they uh uh studied. But for us it's it's it's at the absolutely right point where we wanted to be. I mean uh uh we are we are in in in in in the really lucky situation that uh first of all we are able to do every day what we like. I mean uh for a for a for a technician like myself, uh uh as you know, we are uh uh especially male human beings, they always remain kids, uh women say um I mean uh uh I have a playground in front of me. So so and and and I I'm happy to be able to use this playground every single day. I can I can go out and play with my friends and I can take the brics and make something nug of dem. In addition, of course, Habring II, and we are happy about that, became became a brand within those 15 years. But the brand is not necessarily our target. So what we are doing with Habring 2 is that we are we we make a living basically. We make our living and uh uh we keep the right to have fun and uh share some happiness with our c customers and clients. I mean, that's that's really something wonderful |
| Unknown | . There is uh absolutely nothing wrong with being a little happy in life. Yes. Richard and Maria, thank you so much for coming in and talking with us today. It's been really, really delightful uh hearing from you both, uh the story of how Haybring II developed and a personal pleasure for me to meet you. I've uh ad admired the watches that uh come from Haybring II and I've been reading about them obviously since you know from the very beginning. So fantastic to meet to meet you and uh thanks again for coming in. Thank you very much, Jack, for being here. It's a great pleasure. Thank you very much, Jake |
| Unknown | . And to finish off the show, some thoughts from our newest editor, Danny Milton, on the watch he's been wearing while working from home. |
| Unknown | Hi everyone, I'm Danny Milton, the new editor here at Hodinky. Now I'm just getting started in my first couple of weeks here, and I hope to be able to treat you to some really great watch stories coming soon. But my task today is to talk to you about my quarantine watch. And in typical quarantine fashion, I'm coming to you from inside of a semi-walkable walk-in closet. This is what it takes, this is what I'm gonna do. So I got to thinking about what my quarantine watch should be, and then I realized what it was. Well, really I just looked down at my wrist and saw it there. It was that easy. Now watches for most are not just a way of telling time, but they also function as an extension of yourself and a way to communicate a little bit about who you are to others around you. Now I have a personal connection to Rolex for various sentimental reasons, and that sentimentality has greatly influenced my watch buying and wearing habits over time. But surprisingly, during these strange introspective times, I didn't find myself gravitating towards those watches. In fact, sentimentality barely came into play here, because many times it's just me, whether I'm writing a story or taking a much-needed walk with my family, sitting down to watch a movie, I've really noticed that practicality is the move these days. And not just practicality in the literal sense, but also in the maintain your sanity during trying time sense. I found myself going for one of the more low key pieces in my collection. One just for me. I'm talking about my Hamilton khaki Pilot Daydate. Now, there are a number of reasons behind this choice, some more romantic than others, but ultimately it came down to feel. I bought this watch in 2014. In November of that year, Interstellar was released, and it totally knocked me out in the theater. I had caught the 35mm showing. I remember the theater was packed, and my friends and I all had to sit separately in different seats scattered around the theater. Nowadays going to a movie by myself is comforting, but I hadn't quite warmed up to it back then. I remember the movie starting, the music swelling, and then just getting lost in the enormity of it all. For those who haven't seen it, see it. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will tell you, I will never forget catching this watch on the big screen. And not just this one, but also the now famous Murph watch. I occasionally refer to mine as the Coop, after the character Cooper in the film. And say what you will about the movie itself, but what I consider one of my greatest talents is suspending my disbelief when watching a movie. If a movie calls for it in order for me to enjoy it, I will suspend all possible disbelief for two hours, no problem. If a watch needs to transcend space and time and the very fabric of our understanding of reality, I'll do it. I did. I was working in Washington DC at the time and decided to find the coop watch I discovered it online and found out that a small watch shop just down the street from my office carried brands like Hamilton and Oris. I walked over on my lunch break, and there it was in the window. Now this was a really fast transaction. In and out of the shop. No negotiating, nothing. I found out later I probably overpaid for the watch. But I'll tell you right now, I don't care. It was worth it. Since then, I have worn this watch on many memorable trips with my wife, including when I met her family on my first trip to Poland. It has scratches, dings, and marks, and I love it for that. But seriously, guys, it also tells the time. It has Arabic numerals for the hours and the minutes, it's super legible, has a big 42 millimeter dial. And when I say big, I mean really big. This watch is all dial. Plus, it has the day and the date. In quarantine, only a few things are important. What time is it? What's the date? And above all, what day is it? Now forget all that mushy stuff if you want. This watch keeps me from certifiably going insane. It's easy to lose track of time and this watch simply won't allow it. Also guys, just as an aside, get outside and take a walk. I was outside last night grilling with my family, the stars were out, and I had memories of that time I went on an earth-saving mission into a black hole to another distant galaxy to find habitable worlds. Or at least that time I sat in a darkened movie theater and saw it happen on the big screen. Either way, this is my quarantine watch. It keeps me sane and it keeps my good memories close at hand. Stay safe, everybody |
| Unknown | . This week's episode was recorded at Hodinki HQ and New York City and remotely by our team of editors. Please remember to subscribe and rate this show. It really does make a difference for us. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week. |