Gary Shteyngart & Danny's Talking Watches Highlights¶
Published on Mon, 13 Apr 2020 10:00:31 +0000
A few favorite moments, a couple of new watches, and some inspiration for adventure.
Synopsis¶
This episode of Hodinkee Radio features a series of conversations centered around watches during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main segment is a reunion conversation between host Stephen Pulvirent and author Gary Shteyngart, who previously appeared on the podcast in 2018. They discuss how they're coping with quarantine life, with Gary calling in from upstate New York where he's observing nature with the same intensity he applies to watches. The conversation covers Gary's recent watch acquisitions including a Patek Philippe Aquanaut on bracelet and a Tudor Black Bay 58, both chosen for their swimming capabilities. They discuss the philosophical question of when to stop collecting, with Gary settling on around thirteen watches that he rotates systematically throughout each month.
The episode also features Danny Milton, a newer Hodinkee editor, discussing his favorite Talking Watches moments and two recent articles he wrote: one about finding his grandfather's forgotten Rolex Submariner 5513, and another about rare titanium and ruby-set Patek Philippe watches coming to auction. Danny shares clips from various Talking Watches episodes including Alton Brown's emotional story of recovering his father's stolen Omega Chronostop on eBay, Gary Shteyngart discussing his Lange watch with characteristic humor, and Roger Smith defending his daily wear Rolex Explorer. The episode concludes with Jason Heaton's reflection on his "work from home watches" and how different timepieces in his collection serve as portals to memories of past adventures during a time when travel isn't possible.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| Unknown | You know, there's a almost a cliche these days that tutor is what Rolex used to be back in the day. But it makes perfect sense because people can actually buy tutors, you know, as opposed to Rolex. I mean to me, Rolex is a great company. I have I I still have more Rolexes than any other watch in my collection. But to me, Rolex is not so much a watch company now, it's more like a performance art collective where you can't really buy their watches. It's like something you see and then you talk about, but they're not really available for sale. I love this idea. You know, they're more like yeah, they're like a hip performance art thing coming out of uh Switzerland |
| Unknown | . Hey everybody, I'm your host Steven Pulverant and this is Hodinky Radio. We're gonna go back to the beginning this week, uh all the way back to that first drop of Hodinky Radio episodes from 2018. If you'll remember, we dropped three episodes that day, and episode two was a conversation with author and super watch fanatic Gary Steingart. Since then, he's also been featured on Talking Watches, but we thought it was about time to bring Gary back. We're all self-isolating during this pandemic, and it seemed like a pretty good excuse for two neurotic guys to hop on the microphones and talk about what we're doing to distract ourselves. Uh, that's watches, that's loads of other things. We also talk about a story Gary wrote for the New Yorker this past week, and some watches that he's added to his collection since the last time we had him on Hodinky. Gary's a unique personality, there's nobody quite like him, and this is a super fun conversation. Before that though, you're gonna hear from our newest editor, Danny Milton, who's quickly becoming a Hodinky regular mainstay. We're gonna talk about some great stories he wrote this week, including one about his very first watch, which was an heirloom from his grandfather, and an auction report he did about some totally crazy paddock Philips coming up for sale later this summer. We also go deep into talking watches. If you'll remember, it's watch madness right now, we're in the sweet 16 round as of recording this, and Danny picked some favorite moments from those episodes of Talking Watches. Since he's new to the team, he still brings a kind of fresh, unique perspective to this, and we wanted to hear about the highlights that make the top of his list. And then finally we've got another story about work from home watches, this time coming from our own Jason Heaton. Jason's used to being out in the world and his watches are a poignant reminder of what's out there. We've got three great segments for you this week. Let's get into it. Hey dude, good to see ya. Good to see you too. Thanks for having me on, SJP. For sure. This is our new our new normal uh hanging out on Zoom calls all day. I know. And my new normal hanging out in my parents' house all day. So |
| Unknown | it's alright. It's uh it's it's it's gotta be nice. You got you got people to take care of you right? It is nice. It's uh it's definitely a full house. We've now celebrated two anniversaries in this house. So Okay. Ye |
| Unknown | ah. Well, uh we we got a lot to talk about here, so I'm gonna I'm gonna jump right in. Um you've been cranking out some some killer stories lately. You came in pretty pretty hot here. U |
| Unknown | Thank you. You know, it's uh I don't have a choice, you know, and I and I'm I'm loving it. So I'm you know, it's been it's been great. That's awesome. Uh I wan |
| Unknown | na talk about two stories from this past week. Um, and then we're we're mainly here to talk about talking watches, but there's two stories I I couldn't have you on and not talk about. So uh first up is can we talk a little bit about your first watch story? Sure. Yeah. What's the uh what's the TLDR version of that for people who who may or may or may not have read it? We'll we'll link it up for sure. People should go read |
| Unknown | it. So the whole concept was to write a story about what my first watch was, uh, but really in a lot of ways my first watch was more um an heirloom that belonged to my grandfather. It was a submariner that was forgotten and lost in a drawer uh in his bedroom for years that nobody knew about. It's a story that I know a lot of hodinky readers and watch enthusiasts know in their own lives, sort of these forgotten gems and you sort of uncover them, uh, whether it be in a drawer or a box or a garage or a storage unit. Um in my case, I found the watch uh shortly after my grandfather passed away when I was about 13 years old. Um and uh my father actually sent the watch to Rolex to be basically overhauled. The watch that I have, I'm actually wearing it on the on the podcast today. It's nice to 5513 Submariner from about 1967. And I've worn it probably the most out of any watch over the last seventeen years. So it's a watch that was sort of made anew um for me. Um as as I like to say. Um I s I wrote in the piece that growing up I sort of thought of it as sort of a piece unique, uh, in the sense that sort of it was sort of it was completely when I found it the watch was sort of the crystal was so fogged you couldn't read it. Um I couldn't even tell that it was a Rolex at the time because the bezel was missing and it was so scratched, it was there was a few indicators on the watch that let me know what it was, and it was just looking so closely at it, you could just make out the the indices, and that's how I could tell what it was. Nice. And was that that was kind of your your first like real deep love affair with a watch, right? Absolutely. It stemmed from a recognition. I knew what it was because my father actually and part of the story is sort of comparing this watch to my father's watch, which is also a fifty five thirteen submariner, a later reference, and he had bought it uh not knowing the fact that his father had owned the exact same watch at some period of time. And so I was able to recognize the watch because I grew up just staring at my father, you know, wearing that watch my whole life. And so it's funny that the watch that sort of started my whole interest and love of watches, it was that same watch that I found. And so it it was such an interesting parallel and I wanted to introduce that into the story um and sort of give people sort of an idea of you know how crazy that that actually is. And it was definitely a a personal story to say the least, um, but something that I I'm glad to have been able to share with with the whole community and the response that I got from people was just tremendo |
| Unknown | us. That's awesome. It's kind of crazy to think that like now three generations of guys in your family have all worn 5513s just like one after the next. It's uh I think that's a pretty pretty rare thing I would |
| Unknown | say. I I totally agree. And the fact that we through some research were able to track the fact that the watch was from nineteen sixty seven and if you read the piece I did a little bit of, you know, background research, try to figure out and place where my grandfather would have been at that time. Yeah. And was able to sort of figure out where we think he may have bought it. Um and there's a little uh a sort of funny uh outside aspect of that story that's not included is we think he bought it at the same time that he bought a uh 1601 date just two-tone for my father for his college graduation. The funniest thing is that twenty years later, my father then bought my grandfather a 1601 two-tone date just. So they both had a sixteen oh one two-tone date just and a fifty five thir thirteen submariner. So there's two sets of almost identical watches. That's |
| Unknown | so wild. Yeah. It's funny how these things kind of work their work their ways out. Like they work themselves out. Sure. Absolutely. Well, I I don't want to spoil any more about the piece. People should go read it. It's linked up in the show notes. Um it's awesome. To me, it's like it's like a quintessential hodinky kind of story. Um thanks, Stephen. So then the other thing you wrote is a very different kind of quintessential hodinky story, which is the like crazy auction report. Um which you know I remember when when I first got into doing this and I know Ben feels feels the same way, like auctions are one of the easiest ways to experience the stuff at the fringes, like the crazy, unique, one-off, like wild stuff that comes out of nowhere. Um, because that's where it tends to surface. Um, and you wrote about these really strange Patek Philippe watches that are coming up uh at auction in Hong Kong um in the next month. Uh can you can you talk a little bit about these watches? |
| Unknown | Yeah, sure. And uh I was actually talking to Jack about this a couple days ago and he referred to this as sort of being thrown into the ocean without a life preserver, uh sort of writing some of these pieces. Uh it was definitely an experience, but it was this was a a serious, serious uh collection of watches. Um specifically, basically what's going on is Christie's in Hong Kong is doing um what appears to be two separate auctions um this summer in July and then again um in the fall in November and it's being called the titanium and the Ruby collection. And both collections are being sort of highlighted by on the one side on the titanium collection a very, very seriously rare, unique titanium Patek Philippe 5033. Which actually I believe you wrote about years ago when it originally came up. And it's just an incredible, incredible watch. And on the other side, the Ruby collection is highlighted by two Patek Philippe watches that feature um Ruby set um hour markers. And one of my favorite pieces uh in the collection is actually a uh reference 3448 in yellow gold, where all of the hour markers are set with rubies. But the coolest part is it has that sort of funky integrated bracelet, that Patek Philippe bracelet. I mentioned in the piece, it's the one that in the talking watches with Matt Jacobson, it's on those Patek Philippe Quartz watches that are featured and it's that kind of I've never felt one seen one in the metal or sort of felt one in my hand, but looking at it and and see it in the video it just seems like an incredible, incredible thing to handle live. Yeah. Um but these watches, I think um, you know, the estimates are probably you can't tell in today's market what things will be, but probably are pretty low to what actually, you know, these watches will sell for and especially when when titanium or Ruby is brought up in in and any unique pieces in Patek Philippe the prices will probably be pretty exorbitant |
| Unknown | . Yeah I think it it brings up two interesting things. One is that like most people assume that diamonds are like the end all be all of gemstones? Um but funnily enough, for for watches, uh rubies and emeralds uh kind of kind of trump diamonds when it comes to to price at least. I mean, what you like is a totally separate thing, but um yeah rubies and emeralds command big money um also because they're usually made in fewer examples because you have to kind of have have very specific taste to be to be into that. But for me, these titanium pieces are just like on a whole other level. Titanium paddock is its own thing. There's all kinds of records that have been set by unique pieces, whether they're made for OnlyWatch or whether they're vintage pieces that were made on commission. Um yeah, titanium paddock, I feel like somebody could and probably will at some point write write a book about um nothing but pi titanium PP. Um yeah that, that collection uh that sold at Sotheby's a couple years ago, uh Kara actually worked on that auction back when she was at Sotheby's. Um and I actually think that might have been the first time I ever met Kara was when I was reporting on um I can't remember but I think so. Um and yeah, the it's it's just like to see these complicated, unusual watches made in titanium and some of them with like really unusual dials,. Uh you know, there's the one that was the officer style that had a diamond in the case back instead of um a sapphire window to see the movement. Um all kinds of craziness. So yeah, I think it'll be interesting to see what what happens with this sale, especially considering the the climate right now around vintage sales uh and what's going on with prices. They're kinda going all over the place, some are up, some are down. Um it'll be interesting to see how this this sale does. So yeah, I I have a funny feeling you're gonna be writing something else about this come uh the end of the summer when when the results are |
| Unknown | in. I'm sure. And the cool thing about it too is that it's it's one single uh consigner. So at least the collection is coming from a single collector, which I think is also interesting because um they're positioning the entire uh collection as you know, sort of the product of years and years uh of one single person trying to put this put this together and try to make you know as diverse, interesting and unique a collection as possible. And the offering is so interesting in that sense. There's not just titanium and Ruby set watches, there's platinum, you know, a whole host of vintage pot tech in there in a variety of precious metals. So it's just a really great collection in total |
| Unknown | . Yeah, agreed. Alright, we're gonna we're gonna take a turn here. We're gonna go to talking watches time because uh we got we got a lot a lot to get through here. Um for people who may not be paying attention, uh first of all, you should be. Um I think you're you're missing out if you're not. Um we've been running this watch madness tournament. So it's a a March Madness style uh bracket tournament of talking watches episodes. Uh every day people can come to the site, they can vote, and then the next round comes. So uh there's been some crazy matchups and you know as we're recording this we're in the sweet sixteen round. Uh but by the time people hear this uh on on Monday uh we will be in the Elite 8 round. So we're we're getting down to the end here. The matchups are getting really tight. Um, the votes are super close. Uh I checked on one this morning and there was literally one vote separating the two, uh, which means it's gonna be a nail biter. But um, you know, this whole thing has had me thinking about how we all have our own favorite talking watches and our own favorite talking watches moments, not even whole episodes. So, you know, you're you're relatively fresh to the team, but I know you you're a longtime hodinky reader, a longtime fan. So I wanted to sit down and talk about your favorite talking watches moments. Coming coming to this with a little bit of outside perspective. Because I think some of us, like we know all the behind the scenes stuff. We've met a lot of these folks. We've been a part of producing them. So, you know, speaking personally, a lot of my favorite moments are tied to videos that I I was a part of where, you know, even if I wasn't the person on screen, uh I was there, I was talking to the collector, I got to see the watches. Um but I wanted to see with with some some distance and some perspective uh what your favorite moments are and I know you you prepared a couple to chat about today, right? For sure. I put toget |
| Unknown | her a a short list of uh what I think are sort of some not B sides, but some of the lesser known I would say talking watches episodes that I personally as a fan connected to before joining Hodinky. Um and yeah so I I think it's uh it's a great sort of collection of uh you know whether it be funny moments or some pretty deeply personal moments. Sweet. Do you do you uh do you remember the first time you saw Talking Watches? Do you remember the first episode you saw? I do. Uh it was actually the John Mayer episode, and I think it was pretty shortly after it was it came out, if not when it came out. And what's funny about that is after I saw it, I visit was visiting a friend in New York City, and I remember seeing the sign outside the restaurant, the little prints where it was filmed, and we actually went and got lunch uh at the restaurant just because I thought I was like, you know what? We're we're in the neighborhood, so you know you might might as well. And I remember the um the the che |
| Unknown | ck |
| Unknown | So uh first one that I've queued up is uh actually the uh episode with Alton Brown. Um and sort of segging away from my uh first watch story where I was writing about a uh a watch that belonged to my grandfather and my father. Uh when I saw this episode um this is uh him talking about uh a watch that was very important to him that actually belonged to his father. Next to this is a uh e |
| Unknown | arly 70s omega chronostop. My father was wearing this watch when he died in 1973. And my mom waited a couple years and gave me the watch. In college, one day my apartment was broken into and my apartment was looted and the watch was stolen. Then uh about ten years ago I found the exact watch on eBay. The actual watch. The actual watch. All the numbers matched. The movement numbers matched. It was beat to crap. But the feeling when I was online and it was like had my records, I'm reading the numbers and I'm looking at photos and I realized this was actually my dad's watch. It's incredible. I was |
| Unknown | uh kind of overcome Yeah, I just love that moment. That that moment is so special to me. And uh I I think I've talked about this before, but I I wasn't in the office when we recorded with Alton Brown, and I'm I'm and uh when I finally got to see the tape, it was just this like it's almost like a gut punch, but in in a good way, if that makes any sense |
| Unknown | . Yeah, for sure. And I think, you know, I obviously I wasn't there either, but watching the video, I think, you know, I don't know how much you know, story prep goes into into filming the pieces, but it seemed that Ben genuinely was sort of shocked at sort of what Alton really went through um in the fact that you know monitoring eBay notifications and sort of finding out that you found the exact watch. And I think you get lucky, especially with Omega too, that they keep such meticulous records on their references um because you're able to actually figure out, you know, not only is this the same reference, this is the watch. This was the watch. And you know, it meant so much to him to actually, you know, put it back together again |
| Unknown | . Yeah. That's an interesting point. I've I've never thought about that before, but that's that's an interesting use of a company archive, right? Is like the records aren't just for, you know, I go online and buy some watch and I want to know exactly where it's from, but it's like if if you're trying to connect the dots, if you're trying to solve a mystery, solve a puzzle here, or or verify that something is this really critical important thing to you, uh those those archives become really, really important. Yeah, absolutely |
| Unknown | . So up next, a little bit lighter of a uh topic, it's actually um Gary Steingart. It is the uh it's a pretty funny moment uh where he is uh talking about a specific uh longa watch. |
| Unknown | So the next Glasuta watch that I dove into was of course the longa. You know, you kind of get into this world inch by inch and you're like, I would never do this. Right. But then you do it, and then it's on your wrist. I never thought that the word engraved balance cock would mean so much to me those words, but those are three beautiful words. I mean when you look at this case back, it's insane. I think in one of your articles you mentioned that it looks like a pocket watch. If you didn't if you just blew it up a little bit you could have a beautiful pocket watch. And that is an exc |
| Unknown | itinging th to wear in a watch this thin. Yeah, Gary's Gary's amazing. Uh I could listen to Gary talk about watches all day. And uh, you know, quick quick uh you know aside here is the second half of this episode is is going to be a conversation with Gary. So people will get to hear more from him in in a little bit if they keep listening. But uh yeah, his his episode of Talking Watches is so infused with his personality, uh, which I think is one of the things that makes the the series special |
| Unknown | . For sure. And and for me, you know, as someone who, you know, doesn't try to take him myself too seriously, you know, when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm definitely, you know, I'm very passionate about it, but you sort of get the sense that there's some you know phraseology, terminology in this world that if you don't take yourself too seriously, you can have some fun with it. And him sort of playing playing around and sort of at the same time geeking out, which is what we all want to do. We all want to sort of show off that we've learned a new thing or a new phrase, but also the tongue-in-cheek aspect of it is just something that was, you know, com entirely relatable to me |
| Unknown | . Yeah, I agree. I think I think Gary does a great job of balancing that sort of like high and low, that like deep nerdiness with that also like sort of sense of self parity a little bit. Um and I think that's that's an important thing, you know, with with watches, uh, I think we've all been in those watch conversations with somebody where it's like, all right, like pump the brakes a little bit, you know, like I love this stuff. You know, in your case, in my case, like we do this for a living. Right. It is literally how we put food on the table, but at the same time, like they're just watches. Like let' |
| Unknown | s let's not let's not get carried away here. Right. And we and we love them and that's not it takes nothing away from that. It's just sort of, you know, it's it it's it's just have some fun with it. at the same time And and I think that he totally you can tell by his collection that he is doing that. Despite there's a huge variance in the value of the watches that he has and it just shows, you know, how much that he really does sort of love the hobby. Yeah. You have another Gary moment for us though too, right? I do. It's actually a Gary moment that involves involves you. So Oh boy. No good can come with this. You know it's funny because uh I think he says in the in the video, uh something about uh you know buying a watch after the product of having some drinks with the one and only SJP. Yeah, that happens. |
| Unknown | We were out recently with uh Stephen J. Poolverett, yes, man uh managing editor Hudinky and as the night progressed I had a few more gimlets with Steven. Yes and this is where he really uh opened up um and told me that I should look out for a certain watch that was coming down the pike and it really surprised me what it was. It was a Rolex OP with a white dial. It's a zealog watch. It really captures whatever's around it. I had an Instagram photo of myself wearing it in this brightly lit Miami ice cream shop and people wrote and said, Wow, you bought a salmon dial, that's so awesome. And it's obviously not, but it just kind of adjusts to almost any environment at once and it just sucks up the beaut |
| Unknown | y of wherever it is. So uh in this clip uh you know, I w I was watching it just because you know that OP 39 you wrote that article on the OP39 in white, and I think it was the OP34 in black, and um that was sort of a a little known release at the time. I think that those two color variants had actually were released and and and people hadn't really there wasn't a lot of uh, you know, press around it. I'm I'm not exactly sure which watches were released that particular year that overshadowed them. But once that article came out, uh I remember thinking to myself that you you pretty much set the uh watch internet aflame. Um and I think it shows uh you know with with Gary sort of talking about it, that it is sort of that one watch, you know, all you need sort of sort of get out of collecting, all you need is this is this one OP thirty nine and white and the way that the video sort of encapsulates the sort of mystique surrounding it. It really sort of shows it as this sort of magical watch. And uh the only reason that I'm sort of mentioning this is because I wanted it when I saw the video. Uh I still want it, uh, and so it it warranted a a reference uh on on H radio. I'll I'll admit like |
| Unknown | I still won that watch, you know? Uh I I know Gary's bought one. A few mutual friends of ours uh have bought them actually like two or three people. Um Davey, who we who we work with, has one. Uh every time I see that watch in the metal, I just I just can't get past how damn good it is. Uh, you know, it's like Rolex makes a good watch and and people can naysay it all they want and people can focus on the stuff that has, you know, years long wait lists, the Daytonas, the GMTs, whatever. Um, but like when Rolex does something basic, they do it right and they do it really, really, really well |
| Unknown | . Yeah, that that white dial, which is sort of an off white and and it's sort of even textured a little bit, uh is just when you see it in the metal and you're holding it in your hand, it just gives you a whole nother aspect of that watch and it it solidifies what makes that watch so great. Should we do like a little a little group buy? A couple of us all get them. Get some engravings on the back. |
| Unknown | Just totally fill the back. Like yearbook signatures. I love that. Let's do it. Good. Perfect. Um next up you've got kind of a a classic like big talking watch is flex, which is something that over the years we've seen happen a number of times where somebody just like pulls out a watch that half half the audience or in some cases all of the audience doesn't even know exists. Uh and and kind of just like drops a bomb on uh on everybody all at once |
| Unknown | . Yeah, this one uh is from the second John Mayer talking watches. So uh this is a moment that John is uh showing Ben and the uh the watch world um something pretty special. |
| Unknown | This is new for me on Talking Watches because I'm showing a piece unique that was made for me by Pat Tech. And this was made 2012. This is a salmon dial 5004 with my name engraved on the back. At the factory. At the factory. Yeah. I decided to go with Mr. J.C. Mayer. I felt that was very much in the Pateg style. It's also again, I am not Mr. J. C. Mayer, but in the fantasy of the man I am, when I wear these watches, I am Mr. JC Mayer. Nowhere else in my life am I Mr. J C Mayer. And the most interesting part about the watch is that I requested luminous hands. And I said, I would like to be able to see the watch on stage in the dark. I'd like to be able to read the time in the dark. And they're completely reasonable. It's completely reasonable. And they agreed to it. And so I believe I have the only 5004 with luminous hands. And how many times have you worn that on stage? Yeah. Zero time |
| Unknown | . Yeah man, that watch blew my mind. Uh I was fortunate enough to get to be at the uh the taping of that uh which Gray our our producer here uh was also a part of that shoot um just the the volume of really special watches present was was crazy um you know you usually get like quantity or quality, and in this case you got a quantity of quality |
| Unknown | . Right. I think too in that video, and this is a totally you know different set of watches he was talking about, but when he was actually on the subject of the uh the gold Daytonas, the more modern Daytonas. Um it's not often that you see uh collectors or celebrities or guests on talking watches sort of go into the what if we can spot what is special now for the future. You know, we're always looking back. You know, of course we recognize now what's collectible. Best case, you know, the best uh example of that would be a Paul Newman Daytona. Um a watch that was not considered to be anything special at the time of its release. In fact that it wouldn't sell at the time of its release. Right. And it's arguably the most collectible watch, you know, for mass uh you know consumption for m for what for lay people who don't really even know any that much about watches, know the Paul Newman Daytona. And for John to be speaking on what if we can identify those watches now and sort of show that is just that that was something that was also really cool to |
| Unknown | see. Yeah, I totally agree. Um I I think that's that was one really fascinating aspect and then you know to not quite let this uh unique salmon dial go. Um the idea of Peace Unique watches is still so special and it's something that I've always found really fascinating. Um, you know, I came to the watch world from the the men's clothing world and in the clothing world, like once you get to a certain level, it it's all custom. Like nothing, nothing is ready made, like whether it's suits, shoes, jeans, like whatever, once you get to a certain level, you're not buying off off the rack. You're getting exactly what you want. And it's like co-designed by you and and a craftsman and whatever. In watches, that's still relatively uncommon even at the highest levels. Um and when you occasionally do get to see that and experience it, I I sort of get these like, you know, chill moments where I'm just like, ooh, like that, that is that's really amazing and really special. And it's uh it's something I wonder if we're gonna see more of kind of over the next, you know, 10, 15 years if that becomes more a part of watch culture |
| Unknown | . I wouldn't be surprised if that happens, you know, in part because of John. I mean, I think he's so influential in in that world. Yeah. And it and I also connected, you know, he's such a mega celebrity in his own right. Um, but the part with that piece unique where he engraved the back of the watch, JC Mayer, and describes doing that, saying, you know, I'm not JC Mayer. That's not who I am, but that's who I envision myself to be in that world. Um, and just sort of having that fantasy, we all fantasize about, you know, different versions of ourselves whether we're wearing different watches to sort of uh exemplify that fantasy. But to see that even someone like John Mayer does the same thing and is doing it through such through something that he's so passionate about was really something that I connected to as well. And not just that, but also the sort of tongue in cheek where he's saying, you know, walking around Hollywood and looking at fellow celebrities and they're saying, What what are you wearing? And he's like, Oh, I'm just I'm just rocking |
| Unknown | Yeah, for sure. I I also like in terms of the sense of humor when he talks about really pushing to get the loomed hands on that watch. Right. And how it's it's so that I can read it on stage. And then Ben's like, Oh, so do you wear it on stage? And he's like, No, absolutely not. Of course. It's again, it's about like these these watches are partially about how we see ourselves. Like, you know, even even on a basic level, I'll talk about myself. Like, you know, I'm wearing our our collaboration IWC pilot today on a you know, beat up NATO strap. Like, I don't need a seritanium watch on a NATO strap that's like, you know, super legible and meant for plant flying an airplane. Like, I mean, right now, like the most travel I'm doing is from one side of my apartment to the other, but like even on a good day like I'm I'm sitting in economy plus drinking a diet coke, like I'm not I'm not out there adventuring, you know. It's not if I could count the times I've said to my wife |
| Unknown | , no, but honey, this this can go you know three thousand three thousand feet under the water. And she looks at me, when have you ever what when have you ever done that? When have you ever gone deeper than six feet underwater? Right. And I think to myself, but it can, it |
| Unknown | can do it. Yeah, and these things help us craft our our visions of who we are. And I I agree with you in in this video with John it's it's really nice to see that you know from the brand new watch collector who's buying a G Shock or a Seiko 5 up to like John who's ordering Peace Unique paddocks like that same dream is still there and that same appeal is still there. It's it's kind of like the universal language of watch collecting. For sure. Uh so let's let's go to another funny moment that you've got cued up for us here. |
| Unknown | So this is uh a little bit of a throwback. I think this is uh a a fairly you know wit ways back on talking watches lore. Early ish. Sure. This is Spike Ferriston, and I just think this is sort of similar to what I was talking about with with Gary, just sort of showing off what you know, but also, you know, keeping it light and keeping it funny. Have the Octavia here in Sephard colors. You know, new old stock condition. Core Fam strap. I love these words, core fam. Yeah. Creamy looms. That's another phrase I really like. And you know, |
| Unknown | one of my my favorite watches, uh my buddies who I drive with, we all have them and we all like to put them on and be i |
| Unknown | diots. Yeah man, Spike is hilarious. Like I he he is such a funny charismatic dude. It is it is abundantly clear when you meet him why he is who he |
| Unknown | is. Oh for sure. And you and and you can see his in his background. I think he wrote for Seinfeld, he wrote for Letterman. I mean these are these are heavy hitting shows in two different segments. You have sitcom, late night, and his sensibility is so on and his timing is so on, but he's at the same time you can tell by his collection that he's very knowledgeable, you know, is a very diverse collection of watches. But, you know, he's also a scholar in a sense. He's learning, he's educating himself, but he's also sort of putting that on display in only a way that a comedian and a writer of his caliber would. And I just I thought that was great. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Totally agree. Let's let's go to the next one too. This this is this is a really fun one. Uh it's not necessarily funny or tongue in cheek, but it's just like it's it's another example of how watches are ultimately about having fun |
| Unknown | . Yeah, this one uh from Keegan Allen, uh the best bad pun I could come up with is this uh this watch is a pretty little lie. Ooh, I like that. So we see a bunch of Rolexes and then something |
| Unknown | that looks like a Rolex but is not a Rolex. Yes. It's a Gebroll try back in. It's an it's an early serial number, it's an 18 out of 500 and it's a panda and it is not a Paul Newman Daytona, but the beauty of it is that I can feel like I'm wearing a quarter of a million dollar watch without worrying about wearing a quarter of a million dollar watch. Now is that in essence paying homage to it? Maybe. Is that in essence completely the opposite of what you should be doing as a watch collector, maybe. But I enjoy it so much because as I believe I've read somewhere in the depths of Hudinky, it is the ultimate curiosity piece. But the the construction of this watch, I mean, all kidding aside, the construction of this watch is beautiful. It's kind of amazing actually. It's it's just incredible. I realized when I bought this, I was like, that's it. I'm deep into it now. I can't even do it. If I'm buying an homage piece to a a Daytona, Paul Newman Daytona. And only people that know what it is know what it is. And I've had people beeline it to me across a grocery store. I was at Whole Foods once wearing this and someone shot across the aisle and they went, is that it? Paul Newman Daytona? And they couldn't even tell from here. And I was like, |
| Unknown | might could be. But uh but no. Yeah, this is this is a hot topic amongst watch collectors. Uh you know, homage watches are something that if you go into the deep dark recesses of the watch internet, you'll find some pretty uh vitriolic things written about them. But like in this case, this watch is is fun. Like it puts a smile on his face and that that to me is a good thing. |
| Unknown | Yeah, I think he was uh you know talking about you can wear you know a six-figure watch without feeling like you're wearing a six figure watch on your wrist. Yeah. And you can actually see in the video he really enjoys that watch. He really, really likes it. He appreciates it for what it is. It gives him enjoy happiness to wear it. And to me, at the time, you know, going back to being a fan before I worked, you know, at Hodinky, it was sort of a a passive permission, you know, from a known collector, from a celebrity that says you can wear an homage piece. There's nothing that says there's no rule book that says to you, you can't wear this if it makes you happy, wear it. And it comes up all the time. We get asked pretty often, should I buy this or should I buy that? Um, what do you think of this? What versus this? And it really goes comes down to you know, this is a a pure example of you know there's nobody telling him what he can and cannot wear and him sort of having this sort of you know platform of influence in some ways it says to you know the the fan out there like myself at the time. I youf love it it, wear. |
| Unknown | Yeah. I also give Keegan major, major props for putting this watch in his episode. Uh I think he's you know, he's a longtime reader. He's he's really involved in the community. You'll see him in the comments occasionally like you know, he's he's familiar with what's what was gonna happen. Like he didn't go into this blindly. Uh and I I give Keegan major props for kind of inviting this tsunami of uh for lack of a better word, uh shit to be thrown at him. Uh and and being there and saying, like, I'm gonna I'm gonna defend this. Like I'm not ashamed of this at all. Yeah, lean in hard by my decision |
| Unknown | . I and I'd love to I would have loved to have seen someone running at him in a Whole Foods. Just w you know. Is that a is that a Paul Newman Day Tona? What what is that? You never know what happens in West Hollywood, man. |
| Unknown | Yeah, what happens in Soho, but not West Hollywood. Absolutely. Uh all right, we got we got one more for people, and you know I, know we're we're running a little long here, but uh we can't not include this. |
| Unknown | This one for me was great. This is uh the episode that uh Jack interviewed Roger Smith um and for me, uh the watch that he talks about is just it's so it was so wild to see, but also at the end of the day, when I think about it, just so appropriate. And of course your everyday wat |
| Unknown | ch, which uh I think many viewers are gonna be quite pleased to see. Do you feel that Rolex deserves the respect that uh some of us have for it in terms of the quality of manufacturing of the of the engine itself? Yeah, without a doubt. What I see as an asset is that they have never really changed their movements. They've upgraded them. I think you'll know probably more than me that the the mechanism in this is probably about 30 odd years old. And why change a good thing? Why reinvent it? You know, people used to say to me with a series two, oh when are you going to stop it? When are you going to make a new movement? And I always used to say, and still say to this day, well, I designed what I consider to be a good movement. And they've got a great watch, a great product, and I wear this watch every day. If I'm going for dinner, wear it at work, wear it in the garden, fixing the car. Yeah, it's sort of great all around |
| Unknown | . Yeah, I mean before we get into the specifics of this clip, can we just agree that like Roger's the man? Roger's the absolute best. Completely. And and and it was just totally solidified like in in that clip. Perfect. As long as as long as we agree there, the rest of this is easy. Totally. Um Yeah, I mean I I say this is a guy who already owns an explorer, an older one than that one, but uh this made me want to buy the exact one that Roger had, you know |
| Unknown | ? And that that is what, you know, that that watch, not to call any watch a a a basic version of a watch, but it it's your most basic Rolex Explorer, 36mm. Uh you know, I think he said it was from around nineteen ninety or the maybe the year 2000, 1998, 2000 range. Um, and it's just something that he says he wears all the time. He, you know, gives Rolex um credit where credit is due for how well the watches are built, what they can handle, what they can take. And this is somebody who on a daily basis, you know, has a loop in his eye working on the most, you know, intricate watch movements possible. And for him to have such reverence for Rolex, you know, it just gives that particular watch, which I think is sort of the watch that most people think of as the most under the radar version of a Rolex watch. Yeah. It gives it such street cred when it already has street cred in spades, honestly. And it was just so cool. Again, that's so similar to the Keegan Allen um you know, post where it w it could give someone that's sort of a a higher echelon of watch collecting that kind of passive permission of oh, oh that that's that's okay to do too. I don't have to do you know what everyone is saying I should do. It's okay. If I love it I can wear |
| Unknown | it. Yeah. Fir first off, I love the idea that somebody needs like permission to be like okay wearing a Rolex, which is is funny, but you're right. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean Roger is is arguably one of the best, probably two to three watchmakers on the planet. You know, he's he's certainly top five. Um and the fact that he spends all day making watches that that really border on art, you know, like they kind of transcend the idea of craft and and become art. Uh yet the thing he's wearing every day is like a, you know, relatively mass produced, uh kind of industrially produced, sort of austere steel watch, uh, is is brilliant. And I think it says everything you need to know about Roger as well, that like he is the least pretentious human being uh I I think I've ever met, certainly in the watch industry. Um and the fact that he he loves watches so much and in such a diverse way that like while he's making these watches in precious metals completely handmade, not just hand finished, but like everything is handmade, um in in a really artistic way. He can also appreciate a good, solid, you know, technically sound watch that's available at a price where like he he can afford it. Like, you know, he's his watches don't come cheap and just because he's the one making them and his team is making them doesn't mean he can just like pull one out of the production line and throw it on on his wrist and keep it. Like he's got a business to run. So uh yeah, I think it it shows his sort of like his practical approach to completely impractical things, which I think is is one of the things that makes Roger so so unique and so special |
| Unknown | . And it doesn't get any more practical than that watch. I mean that that Rolex Explorer is as practical as it gets. In in in any reference, but specifically, you know, that that which was probably produced in in ex in an exorbitant amount of you know quantity. Um and it's just an an an amazing watch. Ye |
| Unknown | ah. Well cool man. This is this has been awesome. And and before before we wrap up, I just want to ask like what is it ultimately that ties these moments together for you? Like what what to you is the core of talking watches that makes it such such a special thing for you |
| Unknown | ? I think it's seeing um that no matter what anyone does, because all to all talking watches are not just celebrity interviews. For example, r Roger Smith is a s for sure a celebrity in the watch world, but uh in the world at large wouldn't be considered a celebrity. He's he's a master of his craft. Um and it just goes to show you that um we are all passionate about this, um, in different ways. And this also goes back to the story that I wrote uh this week, and I've gotten a ton of amazing feedback from the community. It's that so much of this stuff, it's unique to us, but in the general sense, we all connect to it because we've all had our own version of some of these stories of buying experiences, whether it's you know, someone buying their first Hamilton or somebody buying their first Patek Philippe watch, the emotions that run through an experience uh, we, all feel them. So when I watch these videos, when I watch these interviews, uh whether it be Alton Brown story or Gary, you get an insight into the more human like the more human side of a celebrity that you don't get to see. And they're just nerding out about something that you nerd out about. And you don't necessarily have people around you in your house that work at Hodinky that you can just talk to about watches all day, but at least you can listen to them doing it. Luckily I now get to go to the office and do that. Um but when I'm home here at my parents' house, by the way I'm at my parents' house, um, you know, I don't get to do that so often. So when you when you when you watch these videos you get to sort of you know nerd out through them and I think it's just it's it's an awesome feeling and these these talking watches have just been great to sort of do that for I think the the community at large |
| Unknown | . Yeah, I t I totally agree. So I I'm just gonna remind people if you haven't participated in Watch Madness, please go participate in the final rounds. Uh they'll be going on all of this week, and then we we will crown our winner at the end of the week. Um you can check it out, check out the show notes. We'll have links there for you. And if you have been participating, thank you. And please continue. The matchups are just getting harder and harder. I've found myself, you know, even in the sweet 16 round, some of them I had to visit the site three, four times before I finally felt comfortable uh casting casting a vote there. Um so yeah. Uh thanks for joining us, Danny. Uh this was super fun. Everybody, you're gonna be hearing a lot more from Danny Milton, so you better better get used to it. Uh thanks, SJP. Thank you very much. Awesome, man. Have a good rest of your day and uh get some get some rest this weekend. We're back at it next week. Will do. Thank you very much. Up next, we've got my conversation with author Gary Steingart. Hey, good to see you, Gary. Hey, good to see you, Steven. You're coming to us live from your uh your village somewhere between what, New York City and Montreal? Uh somewhere around there. Um Albany is a kind of a a lodestar where we are. So's uh how's quarantine life? Is it treating treating you all right? Well you know, uh the weird |
| Unknown | thing is being up here and and I'm not one of those like second homeowners, I spend more time up here than I do in the actual city, so I don't feel like I deserve the anger of you know uh uh of of people say, guy, you second homeowners coming up and spreading spreading the disease. But it's it's weird. There's not that much difference because when I walk outside, it still kind of looks exactly as it does. There's like a rural road, there's a lot of sheep. The sheep aren't wearing masks, so there's a kind of continuity. Um one thing I've noticed though, I mean, even though I spend most of my time in the country, I've been s I've been looking at nature a lot closely. Uh and and and sort of looking at nature the way I'm looking at watches, you know how we watch nerds are about you know, four lines, submariners and all that kind of stuff. Now I'm like excited about every new thing that happens nature wise. So I'm like, Oh my god, |
| Unknown | the Forsynthias are blooming, the Forsynthias are. What is what is the four lines of mariner of upstate New York nature? You know what? I think it's the tree fro |
| Unknown | g. Uh I think the yeah, I keep they're very loud. Um they're kind of adorable. Uh and they're everywhere. So they have this like giant concerto every night. Okay. So that's the four lines of Mariner of Nature. Per |
| Unknown | fect. Yeah, I think actually right before all of this started, I think you're one of the last people I went into public with, like who I like had dinner with in a in a restaurant before all of this kicked in |
| Unknown | . That is true. And we went to some outrageously delicious meal. Uh it was a kaiseki meal, right? Which was like 10 courses. Oh my god, it was so incredible. But I remember the fun part for me was that you were wearing that 56 GS that you got in Tokyo. Yeah. Yeah. And I kept even though I was enjoying the meal, I kept like sneaking a glance. And it it it kind of reminded me like um I got my wife uh her first real watch, a a gnomos rose 33. Oh god, what a watch. And now whenever whenever we used to go out before COVID, she'd be like, Hey, my face is up here. You know, 'cause I kept staring down at her watch, like, oh god, it's so beautiful. And she's |
| Unknown | like, uh, I'm up here, you know. That's amazing. Yeah, it's funny, that watch has I I''mm not wearing it today, but that that watch has been my main work from home watch mostly because it's the only one of the only watches actually me yeah, it's one of the only watches I own with a date. Yeah. And I'm finding that I need some way to keep track of of time, like of longer passages of time. Because otherwise I wake up and I've I have no idea. It could be March, it could be April, it could be June. I have no idea. |
| Unknown | Exactly. No, I a hundred percent. And I think, you know, uh I'm wearing a lot of date watches as well. Uh and now I almost wish like I had a day date because many times I I don't know what day it is. You know, it's true. |
| Unknown | Same, I I am in the same boat. Yeah. I think maybe we'll see we'll see a run on day dates. It'll become the the official the official watch nerd watch of the quarantine. Yeah, this will |
| Unknown | be like a great Jack Forrester surprise that the yellow gold day date makes this huge comeback and everyone's just wearing one now |
| Unknown | because they don't know what what date it is. Any idea. Yeah. Then the people with perpetual calendars. It's like it's an arms race at this point for uh for complications. Oh my god. You and I are both not complications people, but if anything makes us complications people,, it's uh it's COVID. Yeah, when the when the apocalypse comes, those people with chronographs and calendars are gonna have a distinct advantage over the uh three three hand guys like us. That's right. That |
| Unknown | 's right. Yeah. Especially those you know, obviously not quartz on oneses but that don't have to be replaced. They may become the rule |
| Unknown | they may become the rulers of a future society. Yeah. There's some there's some like weird watch nerd Mad Max crossover uh like uh what is it? Old old Joe of uh the future is is whoever has the like a fifteen eighteen. They get to rule us all. The fifteen eighteen. Whoever has that should rule us all anyway. Yeah. That's all right. Yeah. Actually I I right before |
| Unknown | this happened I was at a get together and somebody had a fifteen eighteen and that was the first fifteen eighteen I'd ever handled. And uh and even though like we said, you know, we're both not huge complications people, I have to say that was that might be the most beautiful watch I've ever seen. It was uh it was in yellow gold. Yeah. Uh it had just the right amount of patina. It was absolut |
| Unknown | ely stunning. Those old paddock complications are just they're so elegant and they're so well designed in a way that like I don't think any modern complication is. It's it's so restrained and kind of smart. Uh yeah, it's great. I'm I'm a big fan of those watches. |
| Unknown | Yeah, I would say and even among my favorite uh you know uh independent brands, I would say that I often look toward the toward things without as many complications. Uh I I think right now we're really in the era of great time only watches. But in terms of complications I always look back at you know even AP had some insane perpetual calendars back in the day. Yeah. Really ins |
| Unknown | ane ones. So yeah, definitely. So you say we're in the era of great uh great time only watches. Are there any that that are highlights for you? Well, so recently so in the watch I'm wearing now, if you want to do a quick wrist check and yeah I was that was going to be the question I asked and then you mentioned great time only watches and I was like all right we gotta talk about this but let's let's include what's on your wrist. All right. So this is and I'm a |
| Unknown | little bit ashamed of this and I caught a lot of flack for this but so this is something I got last year. It's an aquanaut, which already has a kind of douchey qua you know quotient at this point. You know, uh you and Ben really wailed on it and I understand you're wailing. Uh I I I always hated it too. And to make things a little different though, it's an aquanut on a bracelet. Um |
| Unknown | you're a fan. Thank you. And I remember talking to you about this. Yeah. Yeah, I've come around. On the aquanut in general, but specifically on the aquanut Exactly, exactly. And and |
| Unknown | um I know the rubber strap mafia will still not leave me alone about this. When I put this on Instagram, I got all this f you know, all this flaming about, you know, get some rubber boys, stuff like that. And I'm like, uh it looks great. It actually fits me better than any watch I've ever owned on a bracelet. Uh and I was I I met this guy at a party and he was wearing it and he was a really cool guy. He had me sign his iPhone with my finger, which I didn't know was a thing. Okay. Uh yeah, he had this app that you could he went he collects autographs from authors via finger on iPhone. Uh I'm such a Luddite, I have no idea. And then I looked at his wrist and I was like, huh? Because I'm not a I was never an aqua nut kind of guy. But this gentleman is blessed with the same tiny wrists that I am. And he said, you know, he I think he noticed I was staring at it and he said, yeah, try it on. And I tried it on. I was like, oh my God. And you know, I love to swim. So I swim two hours a day. And one of the categories of watches I love the most are watches that look great underwater. And when I put that on, I called my I called my AD the next day and he said, oh yeah, we happen to have an aqua nut on a bracelet in our safe. And so I came in and I I got it the next day and I went to the pool immediately and I just jumped into the pool. Because when you're swimming with a watch, you want a watch that really clings to your wrist just in the right way so you don't even notice it as you're swimming. Uh you don't have to uh you don't have to adjust it as you do laps if it's sort of wobbly on your on your um on your wrist. And most of the watches I have that I swim with have a little bit of wobble. This is insane. And the way it looks, you know, I took it to a pool in uh LA and I was swimming and it just the way the light hits it underwater, this it just makes you want to eat chocolate bar after chocolate bar. It's it's heaven. And I know there's a lot of people who s who are anti aquanaut at first start, even good friends of mine who are wonderful, you know, old time collectors say, Well, it's a poor man's Nautilus, etc. But I've really come aro |
| Unknown | und, especially in a bracelet. Yeah, I've come around on it too. I think there's something, especially with the popularity of the Nautilus over the last couple years, which I I love the Nautilus, but there's something so ubiquitous about it now and so kind of like I paid double retail for it or like I know a guy and it's just like I I'm kinda sick of it. And the aqua naught is the like, yeah, I you know, I'm I'm doing it, but I'm doing it differently. I'm I'm not I'm not trying to impress anybody. I'm I'm doing this thing for me.. Yeah Yeah, no, I agree completely. And and I agree with you guys |
| Unknown | . You know, uh and even at this point, even Goldberger is dissing on the naut, you know, throwing shade on the Nautilus. Yeah. Um, so I I I I think things have gotten really out of hand and and I agree that there's a quote there's a kind of boredom quotient now where it's all about stainless steel Rolex AP and paddock and my God I don't wanna go that I never thought I would I would go that way. Uh most of my collection, such as it is, is is about much weirder pieces, but this just feels so damn good. I can't |
| Unknown | stop. Yeah. No, I'm with you. Un underwater, that watch has a really flat crystal. I would imagine that that means underwater the dial is just like super sharp and legible, right? It's the most legible watch |
| Unknown | I've ever owned. In fact, I think I may die with this watch on my wrist because it's the perfect old man's watch or old person's watch. Because I mean it's insane, right? The loom is uh there's like enough loom to, you know, light up the moon on this thing and then there's and then the Arabic numerals are ginormous. You know, even I love my tri compacts, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna be able to tell the date when I'm like 70. Uh but on this thing everything is just just old man ready. |
| Unknown | Old man ready. That that should be paddock's new uh slogan for the aquanut. The protect with the aquanaut. Old man ready. You know, I think it's better than uh you never really own a paddock, you just leave it for your next generation or something. Right. Which they've had for like I guess almost thirty years now, I think that campaign, twenty five years. I think old man ready is easier on the easier off the ton. Yeah, I would I would agree. Um have you added anything else? So we we did your episode of Talking Watch as it aired in I guess yeah, a little over a year ago now in uh February of twenty nineteen. Has anything else other than that Aquanaut kind of made its made its way into your collection since then? Well I have to say I've been slow |
| Unknown | ing down a lot. So last year I got the Aquanaut and this year I got the Black Bay 58, which is a wonderful, wonderful watch. Um one of those watches, like I said, I got it because I'm I'm not a sub guy at all. And in fact, I never thought I would own a sub uh uh but I love the way certain things look underwater and the moment I saw that watch I thought wow that faux Tina and faux guilt that drives some people mad uh is gonna look so good under three feet of water with the sun shining on it. And it has not disappointed. Also, I know some people are dissing the bracelet. For me, and even with my tiny wrist, it's worked out really well. So I guess the two watches I've got are all in that kind of swimming category. But a kind of bigger quasi-philosophical question has been presenting itself and that is when does one stop? Yeah. You know, uh watching the March Madness, which all of us are glued to on Hodinky, and thank you guys for doing that. You really have taken our minds off some dismal, dismal events. Um and me and some other uh talking watchers along. I'm not gonna say who, but we're all like emailing each other like, Oh my god, I' |
| Unknown | m so worried. I love it. We'll we'll talk about your campaigning in the comments in a minute. We'll talk about that for sure. |
| Unknown | Well the the watching that stuff I'd realize, you know, that Jason Singer comes to mind, obviously Goldberger, um uh Roni Madvani, who's probably my favorite of all the collectors that have been on talking watches? Like on Instagram, he's the first person. The algorithm always thinks that I'm gonna wanna see him first. So whenever I wake up in the morning, turn on Instagram. Every time one of his watches pops up, i you know, it's not gonna be a Nautilus or an RO or whatever. It's gonna be something crazy. And I can't wait to see it. It's not like, oh look, I'm wearing a Pepsi with a Pepsi. Look at me. Um not that there's anything wrong with Pepsi's they're amazing. Uh I own one. But um at the same time uh you know, there are real collectors like that and then there's people like me and others who I think think of their collections as having a kind of finite amount of watches. And I wear all my watches so, I kind of parse them out by 31 days a month, well, certain months, and I'll assign a number of days to each watch. So I love my sixteen seventy-five Pepsi, so I'll wear that um I'll wear that four days a w uh out of the month. Uh my Jung Hans Max built still love it, but there's not that much of a need for it, so I'll wear it one day out of the month. But I'll still wear it because I want that Bauhausie connection to go on. So for me, the question then becomes if I'm gonna parse things out, if I'm gonna you know wear things once a month or several times a month, how many watches can I honestly own and still put all of them into rotation. Yeah. So for me it feels like that number is reaching its peak. I'm at about thirteen watches. I don't have much room for too many more. I think for my finale I, may head toward um toward Grand Seiko, which I feel is a real hole in my collection right now. Um see, playing around with your Grand Seiko in that last wonderful meal we had was I was like, my God, why am I not living this dream? You know? Um and I keep going. It's a good dream, I promise. It's a great dream. And and you know, and then I can say that I'm not like just some kind of Europhile just hanging out with watches from two contiguous European nations, you know. Um and the watch, I keep going back and forth on which Grand Seiko to get. Um thanks to you, I've been reading up on the uh the grammar of design and all that stuff. Um I think I may get and there's this guy on Instagram whom I love, this kind of friend who always bullies me into getting a Grand Seiko called uh uh Mr. Grand Seiko. Um he's a lovely guy from Australia, and the watch that he thinks I would that would look good on my tiny wrist is the SBGW O three three, which is I believe the second recreation of the Grand Seiko first. So that was around twenty fourteen. And it's thirty six millimeters. Beautiful watch. Weirdly enough, there was a two-watch collection that Jack did that had belongs Hexonia Thin, which I already own and that particular Grand Saco model. Yep. And so I could totally see myself getting that to sort of complete that two watch collection |
| Unknown | . I could see you with that watch. That's a great watch. Um I know there's a there's a collector in San Francisco who comes to a lot of our events, um, helps us out with some uh Hodinky dot JP stuff. Uh this guy Sug, uh he's amazing. Uh owns that watch. And he uh he's he's a great collector. He has that and an explorer, I would say are the the two pieces he posts about the most. He's garactical on uh shout out to G. I love Garactical. Shout out to Garactical. Yeah, he's he's amazing. And uh I message him about that watch probably like twice a month, three times a month. Uh 'cause I just every time he posts a good photo of it, I just uh it's so perfect.. |
| Unknown | That's right And he posts his a lot with the ten sixteen, which which is also one of my favorite watches. Um I think in the end I've decided that there's sort of like four categories of watches that I love and I just want to complete what I want in all of those four categories. Okay. So one, the first one is, and then people kind of ask me like what watches should I get? Uh before COVID, people would stop me on the streets of New York and be, you know, and and touch my elbow and say, hey, I was just starting collecting. What should I get? And and I always say, think about what your favorite golden era of watches was. And mine is fairly predictable. It's the late 50s, sort of through the late 60s. And and that encompasses a lot of the watches I love the 1675, the 1016. And by the way, kudos to the uh GMT stuff you guys did. Oof. Oh yeah. That was very good. John John and Eric did an unbelievable job there. John and Eric just killed it. Um probably one of my favorite uh reference points just because I love the GMT so much. Yeah, I I agree. Same. Um so I I would say the 1675 for me, 1016, uh some paddock reference, like the 3445 for me, which is kind of a bit of a sleeper hit. But if somebody doesn't want to spend that much money, there's definitely you know, you can um Gallet has some great stuff, Wtenitauer, uh the old pole router that everyone loves from that from that era. So something from that era, if that's your golden era, or if not, some other era. Uh for me uh uh swimming watches as I've mentioned. I would say dress watches are important. I I some people say that they're about to head in in the same direction as pocket watches, but I sincerely hope that's not the case because I think nothing is more elegant than a very thin dress watch. Um and the final category for me are what I think of as the new holy trinity of watches, which is uh Nomos Tudor and Grand Seiko. Uh because a lot of people who ask me what watch should I get, they're not gazillionaires and they're not gonna uh they're not gonna save up for for a a a a longa or or or a paddock and and maybe even, you know a sub these days maybe maybe out of their range but for many of them I recommend the gnomos for the design a tutor if they need a a great um you know um a great sports watch uh or a Grand Seiko just for value for the money. Uh those are the three most interesting brands I think for me these days. |
| Unknown | So having having a few watches from that is very important for me. Yeah I I I totally agree with you. I think you know those those brands are doing things that are really interesting and while a lot of other brands are doing kind of sameness or competing with each other in a handful of categories, each each of those brands is doing its own thing. Like they have their own personality, their own value proposition, their own design sensibility. And you know, even Tudor where it's it's heavily drawn on the kind of like shared history between them and Rolex, it's it's a real shared history and it's it's authentic and it doesn't it doesn't feel put on to me at all. Um no I'm amazed with tutor and there |
| Unknown | 's a kind of you know there's uh almost a cliche these days that tutor is what Rolex used to be back in the day. But it makes perfect sense because people can actually buy tutors, you know, as opposed to Rolex. I mean to me Rolex is a great company. I uh I I still have more Rolexes than any other watch in my collection. But to me Rolex is not so much a watch company now it's more like the performance art collective where you know you can't really buy their watches. It's like something you see and then you talk about, but they're not really available for sale. I love this idea. You know, they're more like yeah, they're like a h |
| Unknown | ip performance art thing coming out of uh Switzerland. I love the idea that like Rolex would continue to advertise and like seed watches with certain people and put up storefronts, but the the storefronts would just be empty like the doors are locked. They're just there's nothing, you know. That's kind of the case already in some ways, unless you're desperately looking for a you know a date just. Um yeah. We we we at uh Hodinky HQ play a game when we're traveling. Anytime we're we're traveling in a group uh in in a city outside of New York. If we pass by a Rolex boutique it',s the walk-in and and figure out who gets to ask if they have any Daytonas. Uh and see what the responses are. And typically, I mean, like we don't most people don't know that we work in the industry, whatever. You know, there's a handful of the bigger boutiques who who we have relationships with and we know so we can't get away with it. But you know, I can walk in off off the street in Tokyo or in you know LA or in wherever and just ask an A D and uh typically I get laughed at. Um They really laugh? They actually I mean they're they're polite about it, but like it's the most polite way of of laughing. It's like the oh sir, um may I may I show you something else? You know, it's it's uh it's a classic thing, but uh have you not read the news? Right, exactly. Uh yeah, it's a it's a wild wild thing. But yeah, I think you know, you're you're collecting it's it's interesting that you think of it in these these four categories. Because you know, looking over your talking watches episode and then knowing what you know what else is in your collection, it is interesting how it all just does kind of fit into those categories, but also how those categories sort of relate to one another, like you know, the way that a white dial oyster perpetual 39 sits next to an explorer, sits next to a Black Bay 36, sits next to a 3445, you know, like these things all have these sort of through lines and relationships to one another, which I th I think is a really interesting part of your collection. Like it feels like a collection, not like a bunch of random pieces. Absolutely. And and and I remember when I was |
| Unknown | um the day after I'd met that gentleman at the party and I thought, wow, can I actually own an Aquanaut? I remember quickly writing to usually I write to you and Eric Wynns, you know, you're like like uh touchstones on stuff stuff like this. And I remember you writing back and saying, well, if you look at it in a certain way, the aquanaut on a bracelet has some relationship possibly with a 1016 kind of bracelet. And I never thought of it that way because they're so different. Obviously, you know, one is robust, the other is incredibly thin, actually robust in its own way, uh, but one has a date, obviously the other doesn't. One is a junta knockoff, the other preceded it by decades. But weirdly enough, there is something that I see now in terms of also in terms of pure functionality. You know, the 369 of the explorer was so helpful uh if you're in the middle of a of a blizzard climbing a mountain. Uh and likewise uh you know the the insanely large Arabic numerals on a on um on a um aquanut are incredibly helpful too. So you these little connections are really incredi |
| Unknown | ble. Yeah. Well I mean I I really also love your idea of wanting to to use all of your watches to wear them. Uh it's a thing that it's one one of the many, many things that gives me great anxiety in life is uh is the idea of of having watches and and things in general, but specifically watches that sit unused. Like the idea of a great watch sitting in a box in my closet, not getting worn. Like actually like, I can feel myself getting anxious now. Uh yeah. I hate that idea. I'm getting anxious too. Yeah. It just I hate that idea. Something about it feels so so wasteful and it seems almost like disrespectful to the object to let it like languish there Y |
| Unknown | es, the object and the maker of the object. And you know, and the fact that other people may want this object who will actually use it and will treasure it. And you know, people in this hobby always talk about how, well, you're not a real vintage watch collector until you've bought and sold 10 watches, etc. But for me, I buy the watches, but I haven't sold any yet, and I've only been doing this for four years or so. But each one has become each one, as you've said, in fits into my ideas of what a collection should look like, but also each one now has an incredible memory with, you know, oh this is the watch I took um you know to Jerusalem. This is the watch that I took uh on a tour of Germany and Austria. This is you know all, all these different things uh keep popping up and and now it's hard for me to to let them go. Um so and not to mention the fact that I wouldn't mind my kid uh owning all of them and he already has a favorite even at age six he already knows which one he wants. And it's the sixteen seventy-five GMT. So he has a kid has good taste. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's the one he likes. Um but yeah, absolutely. And and if I did reached this if I did feel like I I I stopped wanting to wear a watch I would get I would sell it immediately. But so far that hasn't happened. Um and now that I'm in quarantine um and and everyone's going crazy. You know, it's um the watches I mean I started look I I wrote that piece in the New Yorker uh of twenty sixteen, wasn't it? Something like that. A couple of years ago something like that, yeah. Something like that. And I started collecting I started getting into watches because I was so freaked out about where I thought the world was headed. You know, and that was twenty sixteen. So by now I am ten times more freaked out as I'm sure we all are. I mean, this has become uh as dystopian as as any dystopian writer could could imagine. Uh so for me now the presence of that ticking hand has become even more important as a source of calm. And you know and as a source of diversion uh yeah things like march madness really do help keep me sane because it's just I don't care what I mean you know it could be a it could be uh a a mongoose on a unicycle playing with a tuba uh anything. |
| Unknown | It's an incredible the the production on that is insanity. It's amazing. It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. They're doing a lot of things. Something we've talked about, and I I wonder how this fits into to what you're saying now about you know the watches as stability is is the idea of precision. You know, I I for a long time was not somebody who cared. Um I would never time my watches. It was just not something I did. And I think maybe a year ago that changed. You know, now I'm I'm using the Hodinky app, every watch gets set to the second. It gets checked if I'm wearing it multiple days in a row. Is is is that something you're thinking about more? Because I know that's something that's important to you. I did that from the very first watch I got from |
| Unknown | the max bill that I bought. I've been I I'm obsessive. I mean, if this was my sort of obsessive uh personality to begin with, um it's but you know, we're trying to regulate ourselves. I was just reading this New Yorker article about uh you know people's the fear of toilet paper shortage and how you know and all there's all these psychoanalysts talking about how toilet paper give us a sense of control. It's almost a kind of Freudian thing. We'll never be the dirty child running around if we only we have toilet paper. But for me, having watches, be precise, is also very important. And weirdly enough, now that I'm in the country and there's nothing to do, as I check my watches, it's like the watches it's like they know that the whole world has gone nuts and they become more precise uh over the last year. Oh interesting. It's so weird. You know, I was wearing my paddock three four four five, which is uh God, what, nineteen sixty seven, I think was its birth year. So um it's been around for you know fifty years. It keeps time to about one second or two seconds per Wow. That's a good thing. It's a paddock. Yeah, but almost all the watches have started as of sensing the fear, as if sensing you know my own increased um pulse. They've started calming down and becoming more almost all of them are Cosk certified at this point, even though most of them are quite old. My um Tutor Black Bay 36, which is um, you know, it's not an in-house movement at all, it's an EDA, I I imagine a heavily modified EDA, but it's down to like plus one second. Wow. Crazy stuff. Crazy stuff. So I think everyone's pitching in these days, including time |
| Unknown | pieces. They're doing their part. They're doing their part. Is is there a watch in your collection? I mean, you said you you kind of figure out uh how many days a month you're gonna wear each piece. Is is there one or two watches in your collection that you wish you could wear more? That just like you find yourself when you run out of those days, you're like, uh, this this kind of hurts. Yeah. I mean I would say that |
| Unknown | the one that I really well it's complicated these days. The watch that I really want to wear most right now is that GMT and I think the reason for that is because I'm desperate to travel. Um I usually spend at least two months out of the year on the road and while I miss my family and miss my kid quite a bit, I still live for that stuff.m Alost all the books I've written kind of involve going somewhere else. Um, so for me, uh, you know, like success, my last book was all about this gigantic uh bus trip across the country. So for me, not being able to leave has been and not being able to change time zones obviously has been a little sad. Um I use it, you know, to check out the time in LA but you subtract three hours, even a a a mathematic mathematical idiot like me can figure out, you know, that if it's three o'clock here, it's probably noon over there, right? Um So that's the watch that I wish I could wear most. Um the other stuff is so once around May 15th we open up the pool up here, and that's when I really want to hit all the swimming watches a lot more and probably will. They're so imperative to if I swim two hours a day I need to know when to get out |
| Unknown | . Yeah, yeah, right. So so if you're wearing a watch like let's say the thirty four forty five on a on a given day, but it's time to go swimming, will you you'll swap it for something pool appropriate? Well I'll swap it to whatever |
| Unknown | the last watch I was wearing that was pool appropriate. Okay. It's it's a very yeah, so so in addition to getting three or four days on my wrist, some of the other watches won't be worn all the time, but will continue their duty as swim watches until the next swim watch takes over. It's such a cra |
| Unknown | I love that you have a system. That's great. I find I think so many people just like so many collectors do the thing where especially when you start getting between like eight to twelve watches, it just becomes chaos and it's like, oh, today I'm gonna wear this. Oh, I realized I didn't wear this watch for the last six weeks, you know? Um and it's just all over the place. I I love that you like you're thinking about this and you think about it as a as a set and a collection and you know making sure they're all kind of getting their their due. Yeah and I'm also you know and |
| Unknown | and they're divided in a way that there's a sense of excitement. So it's not going to be all the Rolexes bunched together or you know uh the gnomos is hanging out together. It's always oh wow, now I'm gonna go from Switzerland to Germany. Uh a which is one reason I think why the the Grand Seca would be such a nice way to break things up, even though it shares a lot with some of the other pieces. It's a it's a dress watch, it's a time only watch, but having a blued sec uh blued uh second stand, um seeing those markers in that case, seeing that Zaratsu polishing, I think will really brighten up |
| Unknown | . Uh will really make me feel like I'm in a whole different world. Yeah, I I I think so. I mean I've I a've always been fan of Grand Seiko, you know, for years and years now, but uh I only acquired my first one in I guess it was uh October. Wearing that watch is unlike wearing anything else. You know, the the experience of it, the way you interact with it, the way the light hits it. I always thought I got it, and I think I maybe got it intellectually, but I get it emotionally now in a way that I didn't and I I really do feel it's a substantively different experience than wearing a Swiss watch or a German watch. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. No, it' |
| Unknown | s it's it's a real eye-opener. And I mean I I remember just looking at the facets of that watch when I was bumming your watch during that Kaseki meal. Um you know and and yours has been around since the set early 70s I believe, right? Uh yeah. So it's it's almost a 50 year old watch and and obviously it's seen somewhere, but it still really lights up under a certain light. Just I mean the case of it, you know. Right. I think they're the most interesting cases that were ever m |
| Unknown | ade. Definitely up there. Agreed. Uh so we we've talked a little bit about Wchat madness and I want to uh I wanna dig into that a little bit more. I have to say uh you and maybe Fred Savage have been the two most active uh players, let's say, per participants um you know campaigning in the comments on social media uh it's been really I I just as as somebody kind of watching from from the outside, I guess from the inside outside, I don't know what you'd call it. Uh I have found it really fun just watching you kind of interact with with readers and with other folks |
| Unknown | . Well, by the way, I just looked up uh I just looked at my iPhone and found out I won the second round I was up in. Oh, perfect. So now I'm up against Ooh, boy, I'm up against uh Keegan Keegan Allen. Oh, that's gonna be a tough one. That's like a good matchup. That's a good matchup, yeah. But oh my god, I can't believe I I've I've triumphed against such great collectors, you know, a a wonderful basketball star and uh adventurer. Oof. I don't know. Thank you. Thank you, Holodinky um voters. Wow, I'm almost about to cry, but I can't, you know. But in a different world I would. Um, no, we are yes, I've been doing uh what I think one one reader called uh retail politics. Uh I love it. Which is usually a Cole Pennington kind of thing, right? He's he's usually he's usually very good at this, but I've I've taken a page from Cole. Um yes, absolutely. I've been uh I've I've been on the on the site uh sort of trying to be funny about it, but you know, hopefully, hopefully my desperation doesn't show that much right it's not like dripping like please this is all I have in |
| Unknown | quarantine this is all I have some healthy competition is always a good thing I'm always gonna sign up for that |
| Unknown | . Well, I'm so happy to be in the Sweet 16. Uh yes, but um I I will say that uh that some of the other participants and I have been emailing, and it's like we're all really watching this stuff and totally in death. It's so funny. Uh I love Fred. Oh my god. If it was me versus Fred, I I think I would I think I would die because I love him so much. He he probably would. But he's he's the other guy that I've been supporting a lot uh on this him and um yeah, there's a couple of guys. Him I would say and and this is by the way, everyone's great. I have not seen a talking watches where I've sort of tuned out or not been you know not dropped everything to spend the next 12 minutes watching them. So everyone's incredible. But I would say I love uh Fred's collection. It's just so Fred. He's you know, he's like the nicest guy in in an industry that's maybe not the nicest industry on the planet. Um I love Morgan King's collection. I love Daniel Day Kim. I I had lunch with him and sort of exchanged watches. He's a really great guy and so glad he survived COVID. Um which yeah that's that made me so happy. One of the greatest moments of this whole thing for me was just the fact that such a good guy and he just came out of it so well. Um and I hope others will as well. But yeah, his collection is really great. His collection is great because he you know he has that Seiko in there that just kind of counterbalances all the other stuff. Um I was very sad, you know, and sometimes you're sad, I've noticed in the comments people talk about how celebrities are sort of vanquishing some of the collectors. Yeah, sometimes I feel like I wish that was wasn't the case. Uh Roni, obviously, Roni Madvani was the one that I felt the most sort of sad about because that that is a world class collection. A world class collection that has really no one I mean maybe some other people are doing something like that, but I'm sure no one is doing that as well in this |
| Unknown | road. Yeah, agreed. Yeah, there were a handful of people who drew really tough matchups early on, like uh Rony drew drew against Moki Martin, who was just this incredible story. You know, that that was that was a tough matchup. Tony Fidel going against John Mayer in the first round. There's there's some some people who drew uh drew drew unlucky and again it was it was all done uh numerically based on the order in which they ran. Um it's just how the math the math worked out. But uh yeah |
| Unknown | . But I I I also understand I understand the instinct to sort of vote for uh you know, what in comments are called the everyman. I I I mean Moki and and um that wonderful Canadian astronaut. I mean I get it. To be able to see a watch that's actually used for something, you know, other than other than me in a pool, that's that's exciting, right? That's uh that's really incredible. Um and it's part of my sort of you know tutor Grand Seco Nomos argument that that there's watches that people who aren't you know simply in tech or finance, not there's anything wrong with that, but who use their watches for some daily purpose, um and and and they will and those people will usually be buying affordable watches. So those two segments are wonderful. I hope they they survive as well. So there's so many ways to skin this cat. You know, there's like so many, there's collectors, there's celebrities, there's uh interesting stories. Um Um it it it it's a very I you know we're all hooked on this thing, I have to say. And during my um one of my watch get togethers is now getting together on Zoom, which is very weird. Uh all Zoom stuff is very weird. Um but we've been having a lot of fun just talking about that. And there's a couple of people who |
| Unknown | are uh talking watch alum who are in that in that Zoom. That's great. Yeah, it's fun it's fun for us to see that the folks in it are are getting involved in it. I mean, that wasn't originally part of the plan. Like we did we didn't we didn't think it would happen, but we didn't anticipate it, I think, to the degree it's happening. And it's uh it's nice to see how engaged everybody is and that everybody's still happy to have to have done it you know to have been a part of this thing. Oh yeah yeah yeah no it's uh it' |
| Unknown | s a real you know I have to say I am now more and this may be a s almost a sad statement. I think I'm as recognized on street corners for talking watches as I am for you know the six books I've written or whatever. Which is very sad. It's very sad. No, I was um this is before COVID uh last summer actually I was buying um uh we have a great uh farm murus which has amazing uh meats. And I was buying lamb uh this lamb steak. Oh god, this lamb steak. Just thinking about it makes me want to eat a lamb steak. Uh and And there was a 17-year-old farmhand, and he came up to me, he said, Your Gary Steingart, I I I love your work. And I said, Oh, thank you. Uh which novel? And he's like, novel? No, no, I mean from talking watches. That's that's your work now. I'm so sorry. That's my work now. It's it's it's yeah, and he said you know he said, um I'm going to college next year, but I'm I'm gonna buy my first Seiko and he was talking about his first Seiko and other stuff it was very, very sweet. You know, he he said, What should I get? Should I get a person? Should get this? And I'm like, oh my God, I guess that' |
| Unknown | s who I am now. That's who you are. Man. Well, when when the New Yorker stops calling, if they ever do, let let me know. We've uh we've always got a place for you. I I that may happen. See speaking of the New Yorker, real quick. You you wrote a piece this past week, right? Yeah. Yeah, I have a piece in yeah. I happen to really like it. Can you can you tell |
| Unknown | Uh sure. Um so the New Yorker has and and this is in the current issue. Uh by current I mean um I can't remember the see I don't know any let me see the date on my watch. So it's uh it's April tenth. So the week of April tenth, that's it's current on that. Uh by the time you hear this, there may be another issue coming out. But um so New York put together some of its writers uh to write a very s uh kind of quick vignettes about what it's like to be living under this uh during this pandemic. Uh and so my piece really is about a couple of things. It's about being upstate. Um it's about some of the stuff that we've talked about earlier. It's about trying to look to nature for connections. Um it's about sort of being isolated, but at the same time seeing little snippets of um of what's happening and sort of seeing COVID and everything that happens, even though not much is happening. So for example, as I was walking down the street down my road, there was this cacophony of tree frogs and geese almost fighting with each other. And it seemed so crazy, but it seemed so emblematic of the time that we live in. And then as I was walking, this gigantic flash storm overtook me out of nowhere. And I had to hunker down. I was looking for shelter, literally sheltering in place. And the first place I found was an abandoned, apocalyptic-looking children's summer camp that was all yeah that was that had all the it was like an international children's summer camp camp that had all the flags of the world and all these like exhortations to change the world and save the world. And so I I'm hiding underneath this like um a makeshift stage that they have built for their theater program. Um and I'm stepping on this nerf ball that the local possums have half eaten. And so I'm in this mad max scenario in the middle of this really beautiful looking countryside while COVID is happening. So I guess almost every writer I know, and the New Yorker has gathered some of us, is keeping meticulous notes at this point because this seems like one of these events that is you know, I remember like for example when nine eleven happened and I was in New York, we were too shocked to take notes because it happened so quickly, you know, it happens in a matter of of minutes of hours. But this goes on and on and on. And many of us are like myself isolated. Most of us are isolated. So it's almost like our minds are turning and turning upon themselves. I'm not a writer that concentrates on interiority the way some writers do. Most of my books are very social. They're all about people going out, drinking, having fun, meeting, falling in love, falling out of love, you know. Uh I I I I think my books are some of the more social books out there. But for this, there's there's a feeling of my trying to mine other material just because I'm so I'm surrounded by nothing but geese and and tree frogs, uh and soon the cicadas will come out and join that chorus. But I'm I'm faced with almost my own worst enemy, which is stillness. And try to make something out of that stillness is I think what I tried to do with that essay |
| Unknown | . Yeah, we'll we'll link it up in the show notes. It's it's a relatively short read. I think everybody who's listening to this should should go give it give it a look. I think one one of the things I like about your writing in general and and just about you in general and when w whenever we're chatting is you know your your ability to balance gravity and levity I think is is a a finely honed skill. Thank you. Um and and I think this essay does it really nicely that it it hints at the fact that we're living through something very serious, but it does that in a way that doesn't feel gloomy or sort of doomsaying, but instead kind of gives us an opportunity to maybe think think about ourselves a little bit and think about how we how we fit into things. Oh thank you. I appreciate that. No, humorous |
| Unknown | melancholia is sort of the the way I usually roll. So and this is generally, you know, humorous, definitely a melancholy time. But I do feel up here and and again I'm not a second homeowner, I'm up here more than in New York, but I do feel I miss even though I wouldn't be able to see my friends, I do miss the connection. I miss the city and I know that it's going through one of its darkest hours and and that makes me so sad. And and lately I've been thinking that even though I I do like to turn to the humorous, I think it's okay, even though we're constantly being told to buck up and to think of the you know when this will be over. But I think it's important to feel some of the sadness that's happening. It's important to feel sad for for the vulnerable people, for the heroic people on the front lines, everyone who's going, who's doing more than certainly doing more than I'm doing uh uh to to help out. Um and to think of people who will continue to be vulnerable when this is over. So yeah. Watches are a great distraction. Uh I'm so glad we have them. I'm so glad we have March Madness, but at the same time I think, it's it's important to always acknowledge uh the the world that we live in it in all its beauty, but in all its sadness as |
| Unknown | well. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Um So to finish things off, I I I want to ask you when this is all over, when we get through this, because we will get through it and the the we will get back to the to the old times. Um the new the new old times. What is the first place you're going for a drink and the first place you're going for a meal when this is all over. 'Cause I would imagine that you like me are being hit very hard personally by the lack of ability to dine out. Yes. Oh God. Oh God, that was the best thing |
| Unknown | of my life.. Okay So for drink, there's no question. And and by the way, when I say this, I hope that all these places survive, first of all, because there's no guarantee that they will. And it's almost shocking to think of what New York's landscape and the landscape of other cities will look like. But the first place that I drink is the bar where I've spent pretty much all my life. Like I would if you tallied up my hours, at least 20% of them were spent at this bar. Okay. Um and there's actually a photo of me as a baby behind the bar. Um yeah, that's how that's how close I how tight I am with this bar. It's Clandestino in New York, which is on Canal Street between Essex and Ludlow. Um it's the first place I will run to when I get back to New York when this is over. And I will tip everyone so handsomely. Um in terms of where to east, I think I'm thinking now up here, um in in the town of Kingston, which was a very vibrant town, there's a new restaurant called the Kinsley Inn, K-I-N-S-L-E-Y, and it's also a hotel. And they are incredible. And they have these dishes. There's an Italian dish called the bagna cauda, which is which sounds you've you've seen this, it's it sounds very simple. It's just this kind of anchovy sauce, and you dip vegetables, you dip you dip raw vegetables into it. Sounds so elemental, but it's so freaking good. And they have this drink which is a martini that combines gin and vodka. Holy crap. And then there's this Arctic chart. Oh my god. Anyway, don't get me started. So that's definitely where I'm headed to eat. |
| Unknown | And Clandestino's where I'm headed to drink. Perfect. Well hopefully hopefully it's over soon. Hopefully we're there. I'll come join you at Clandestino for a drink. Please that's and uh requirements and we'll talk watches like excellent yeah like again it's the new the new old times the new old times yay awesome thanks Yary thanks for doing this and uh stay safe up there and look forward to seeing you soon. You too, Steven. Take care. And to bring things home, our own Jason Heaton talking about his work from Home Wat |
| Unknown | ch when all this madness began, someone wrote me to ask what my go-to watch is during the self-isolation period. As if I'm bunkered in with my shotgun and canned goods, waiting for the zombies to come knocking. Surely it must be a single, burly indestructible watch that can survive nearly anything, and be on my wrist should the air raid sirens go off and I have to grab my bug out bag and the cats, jump in the Land Rover, and head north. The truth is, I'm one of the fortunate ones, so far, who isn't sick and whose work life hasn't been disrupted besides a few cancelled trips. And while I do have a well known predilection for rugged dive watches, these days my, main criterion for a timepiece is enough water resistance to survive multiple hand washings. Being at home for an extended time period allows me the rare opportunity to explore more of the watches in my collection. So rather than a single work-from-home watch these past weeks, I've had the luxury of rotating through several. While some like to travel with a quiver of watches tucked safely in the bottom of their carry on bag, I like to go with one on my wrist, preferably something rugged accompanied me on some great adventures, and thus are imbued with the memories of those far flung excursions. My Rolex submariner was on my wrist on a trekking, kayaking and diving trip to New Zealand's South Island. I wore my C W C Royal Navy diver when I explored the wreck of the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes off the east coast of Sri Lanka. Even my dressiest watch, a Grand Seiko GMT, was bought at the brand's boutique in Tokyo, and I still remember fondly the way the saleswoman there carefully wrapped it in a silk scarf while I sipped on green tea. Choosing which watch to wear in the morning becomes a bit like armchair travelling. Do I want to go to sunny bonaire today? I'll grab the docks at tea graph. How about hiking in Wales? Strap on the Bremont MB two. A deep wreck dive in Lake Superior? The Aqua Dive Poseidon gets the call up. What else do you own that has the capacity to carry some A watch is one thing you do not have to take off your person, whether you're having dinner at Le Bernadette, scaling the Matterhorn, or sitting through yet another boring Zoom conference. That way it stores up your energy and releases it back, which is just what we need right now. When all this is over and we climb out of our virtual bunkers, squinting in the bright sunshine, it will be time to go make some more memories on some new adventures. I've got a hiking trip to Scotland on hold, a shipwreck hunt in Mexico and Limbo, and a few mountains I want to climb. And that's when I'll have to make the difficult choice of which watch to wear. But for now, I don't have to decide. And sometimes not having to make a choice is real freedom |
| Unknown | . This week's episode was recorded remotely by our group of editors and was produced and edited by Grayson Korhonen. Please remember to subscribe and rate the show. It really does make a difference for us. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next week. |