Wrapping Up Watch Madness (Plus Watches & Wonders Goes Online)¶
Published on Mon, 20 Apr 2020 10:00:11 +0000
It's been a pretty big week for watches.
Synopsis¶
This episode of Hodinkee Radio covers several major topics in the watch world. Host Stephen Pulvirent begins by discussing the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie's (FHH) decision to move Watches and Wonders Geneva 2020 online due to COVID-19. He interviews FHH Managing Director Fabienne Lupo about the shift to a digital platform and the organization's broader mission to promote fine watchmaking across the industry. The episode also addresses breaking news that major watch brands including LVMH, Rolex, Tudor, Patek Philippe, Chanel, and Chopard are leaving Baselworld, fundamentally reshaping the future of watch trade shows.
The bulk of the episode features a conversation between Stephen, Ben Clymer, and James Stacey analyzing the results of Hodinkee's "Watch Madness" bracket challenge, which pitted 53 Talking Watches episodes against each other in a tournament format. The trio discusses surprising matchups, favorite episodes, and what made certain collectors so memorable. John Mayer's original episode ultimately won the championship, defeating John Goldberger's episode in the finals. They reflect on the cultural impact of Talking Watches, behind-the-scenes production stories, and share insights about memorable guests like Gary Shteyngart, Jean-Claude Biver, and various other collectors. The episode concludes with John Buse discussing his Rolex GMT Master II as his constant companion during work-from-home life.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| Unknown | Nobody has has put better watches in front of more people than John Mayer over the years. Like it's just it's just a fact. There's not anybody. Uh and then you have like a connoisseur, like an actual academic in Goldberg. These are the guys that that laid the foundation, right? I mean, this was episode number one and number three, I believe, with JJ in between. You know, I I hesitate to say to use this word about anything we've ever done, uh but like these are iconic videos, you know, these are things that like you know have shaped the the collecting culture over the last seven |
| Unknown | Hey everybody, I'm your host Steven Pulverin and this is Hodinki Radio. It's been a pretty big week in watch news, from new releases to watch spottings to trade show updates, and there are absolutely no sign of things slowing down anytime soon either. First up this week, we've got, you guessed it. This week's episode is dropping on April 20th, which is the same day that the FHH is announcing that Watches and Wonders Geneva, which used to be known as SIHH, is still gonna happen. It's just gonna happen online instead of in person. Now, last week I spoke with FHH chairwoman and managing director Fabienne Lupo to get the full scoop on what that actually means, why it's important for the watch industry to stick together, and what all this might mean for the future of the industry. Last week also saw the end of Watch Madness, our talking watches bracket challenge. There's so much to discuss there, so I got James and Ben on a video call so that we could just hash it all out. We talk about our favorite matchups, the votes that we found hardest to cast, and dive really deep into the final few rounds. We also share some personal thoughts though on what talking watches means to each of us and where we hope it goes from here. Finally, taking us home this week, we've got our own John Buse sharing how a classic travel watch became his unlikely work from home companion over these past few weeks. There's a ton to fit into this week's episode. It's all fantastic. So without further ado, let's do this Good to talk to you, Fabian. How are you? I'm fine, thank you. Uh contained but I'm fine. It's been uh it's been a pretty big week for you uh this week. We're recording this on Friday. Uh you're you're probably pretty excited for the weekend. |
| Unknown | Yes. At le a a at last we have we have the weekend, but uh I think it will be a a busy weekend also because we have big announcements also next week so a lot of interviews and uh and uh and meetings to uh still have to to be ready on time |
| Unknown | . Yeah, I'm sure. Um yeah, I want so so that big announcement is is why we're here is is to talk about that. But before we get into that, I I think you know you're you're the managing director of the FHH and I think for some of our audience maybe the only thing that they know the FHH from is is Watches and Wonders and SIHH, but you guys do a a whole lot more than than just that. So I was wondering if you could just start by kinda telling people what the FHH is and and what you guys do. Yes, of course. |
| Unknown | So the FHH is a fundación de la autorlogerie. So it's like a foundation high horology in English. And uh the this foundation is a private foundation uh founded uh already 15 years ago uh by three founders, uh Richmond Group, uh Audemar Piguet and Girard Perregaux, now uh now uh from the Kering Group. And um and this foundation uh has been founded to uh promote the culture and know-how about fine watchmaking worldwide. Because at that time it was very difficult to understand really what was the definition of fine watchmaking. So one of the main uh objectives of this foundation it uh was to set a kind of definition and we and we did uh maybe something that you have heard about uh called the the white paper of fine watchmaking uh giving a uh giving a definition of And within this perimeter uh the ambition of the of the FHH is to promote the know-how, the expertise about this uh this uh excellence uh about this um this fine watchmaking uh uh know-how and uh and brands and uh creation and innovation. So we are a kind of ministry of fine watchmaking if I may. Because our mission is really to spread the words and to uh to raise awareness about uh this fantastic industry, the know how there is behind it and and the incredible capacity of innovation and the incredible products uh and novelties that they are presented uh all all year long. And um and and for that we have developed different uh activities. Uh let's say we have two main s activities. The first one is about uh information and education because uh we as a as a as an institute as an institution for promoting uh fine watchmaking uh we have um we have this um this uh the yes this mission to educate and to transmit and to explain so we we we have set uh an academy, the FHH Academy, uh and this is uh one of our main missions, so information and education. And the second one maybe it's uh it's maybe uh more well known. It's about the organization of big uh shows and fairs and like the SIHH during uh thirty years now and now um the the the the the SIHH as you know has become uh has become the has become the the watches and wonders uh event uh and uh and now we are working to extend this uh this this brand uh creating a a |
| Unknown | real So much of of what happens in the watch industry is is so segmented, right? Like LVMH does their thing, Richmond does their thing, uh you know, Kering does their thing. But it's you're you're really working across the big groups and also the independent brands and and even in in my time in the industry, you know, over the last you know seven, eight years, uh SIHH expanded from being only sort of member brands to also including independence. How how do you find working across those groups can sort of like elevate the whole industry as opposed to everybody kind of trying to do their own thing? Yes, I think uh you know uh Fran |
| Unknown | k w we are in a quite small community. Finally, uh, frankly speaking, this this business is not uh is not a huge one. It's a very uh it's a very niche business. And uh and so it's important to be uh to be um to be together to be uh together all the the initiative all the all this maison because we will be stronger together together and uh and I think uh the the mission of the foundation is to have this uh transversal approach and to be a really um yes a kind of uh referent uh a kind of authority a kind of voice of the profession and uh and this is really um important uh because uh yes this is clearly clearly our mission and it's not necessarily uh easy to do so uh sometimes because uh all these brands are are also competitors and uh but what we want is really to um to uh to raise awareness among uh among uh connuessers about around the general public, among people who don't know necessarily uh a lot about uh fine watchmaking and there are and maybe some people are curious and uh they they |
| Unknown | want Well that that that's a great way to bring us to kind of our main our main topic today, which is in a year where we've seen show after show get cancelled or quote unquote postponed, you know, I don't quite think it's postponement if it's ten months, but that's a separate topic. Um but uh in in that climate uh you guys are actually announcing today that Watches and Wonders 2020 will happen. It's just gonna happen online instead of in person, right? Yes, we we will try to because it's always |
| Unknown | very difficult to uh to to mm to replace uh such uh beautiful a such uh amazing show uh sure uh uh especially as it was was planned for this year because it was a new formula as you know uh watches and wonders uh twenty twenty was supposed to to to to be uh to be a a new a new format uh more open to the public uh especially with uh with the program we we put together uh uh in the city you know that we we we plan to have uh um beside the the the salon in pal expo uh we plan to have uh a big uh pro uh uh uh programmation, a kind of festival of fine watchmaking in the city of Geneva, uh with exhibitions, with uh live demonstrations, with uh um workshops, uh with uh conferences uh with uh visit of manufacture with uh uh big happenings uh uh around education around the showing once again the behind the scene of our uh of our industry and uh and so this uh this version was supposed to be very different and more open than the than the previous one. So uh of course it will be difficult to do so online, but uh the idea is really to create this uh this uh platform watchandwonders.com to present especially for the for the in the in the first step um at the dates uh suppose uh where where the the show was supposed to to be, uh that is to say 25 April to 29, the idea was to uh especially unveil uh the the novelties and the products and the launches and big announcements of the exhibiting brands or the particip participating brands uh we will say now because they are no more exhibiting uh physically. But um the idea was is really with this uh platform uh to be a portal for the for the brands to present the novelties uh as they they they would have done during uh the physical event in Geneva. Uh and uh the first audience for the for this first phase, let's say uh it's more the the the first circle of the community of the salon. So there are for retailers, for journalists, but also for clients, for VIPs, for for all the the the the the community of watches and wonders that used to come at the at the show. So this will be the first phase of the launch of this platform. But uh as you said, the ambition of the platform is is much more than than than that uh this will be the first step then the idea is really to become a kind of uh flagship of the watches and wonders ecosystem showing uh showing the actuality showing uh um presenting sorry the the the the uh the content uh created by the f uh as an educational perspective but also uh uh uh point of view of uh some experts. Uh you you were mentioning uh earlier the the cultural council of the FHH. We are gathering uh around fifty uh experts around the world. Some are uh retailers, some are journalists, some are experts, some are people from museums, some are collectors, and so we have a big diversity of these uh different uh key opinion leader let's say uh of the industry uh in this cultural council and of course we will uh we will ask them to give their input, their insights uh uh about the novelties, about the actuality, about some uh let's say uh business uh topics uh uh that we want to uh to to to to tweet that we want to to uh to go deeper uh for instance about uh I don't know like uh the sustainability approach in watchmaking, and the sourcing, the innovation, the e-commerce also, the business transformation. So this is really uh the the kind of subject we want uh we want to cover uh within this platform uh with our experts and with our community |
| Unknown | . Yeah, that's that's all great. I think I think that that's really interesting to see it happen, you know, sort of for the first time, the new Watches and Wonders, new SIHH, um happening virtually because you know the, the goal of reaching more consumers and having this be more than just sort of press releases and and press conferences is is really fascinating to me. I wonder if you think that the future of Watches and Wonders and the future sort of of watch trade shows, if we can call them trade shows anymore, um is more content focused and is more consumer focused as opposed to just being a place for for retailers to to place their orders and for, you know, folks like me to go Yeah. No, you're right. |
| Unknown | And uh this is uh the the the point about the the the the the format and the definition and uh and the and the objective of this uh uh let's say uh old trade show because during uh twenty-five years uh I think the CH was a private and professional show, so a trade show, right? But uh but now now uh uh as i said before the the business has changed a lot we we we we assist at the retilisation of the distribution uh we assist uh uh to the raise of uh the e-commerce uh we have a big change in the in the uh in the profile of the of the clients, the way to talk to them. You know now the the the the new media the online the the the the influencers so so now um the the the way uh to do business and to sell watches has has changed a lot and uh and we had to adapt and uh and the shows uh had to adapt also because a show finally i is nothing else than uh than a kind of media. So it has to to do also uh his big transformation as media uh had to do. Uh so and it's why with uh with uh with the SIHH and now uh the Watches and Wonders uh show uh we want to address all these different audiences and this is not easy to do because uh because of course when you want to treat in the same place and the same momentum uh uh let's say uh business audience with retailers press and uh uh um uh general public audience or customer oriented audience uh with uh and and clients uh with general public with uh um yes uh young generation that you you want to onboard uh uh in the in the uh in fine watchmaking, uh it's really difficult to do to to address all this audience with the same format of salon. So it's what it's why we we had this um this uh this move and this uh this change uh since a few years now with uh with the SIHH and especially with the new uh with the ambition of the new version of Watches and Wonders uh events, uh is really to to of course still continue to serve the industry and the retailers because uh some we we we cannot forget that uh maybe uh depending on the brands but some brands are still doing uh fifty maybe more uh of their uh fifty percent of their business uh with still with retailers. So uh they need to have uh uh uh a professional platform, a trade platform to to to uh uh to meet present the nouvelties to the distributors so it's still a necessity but it's not uh it's uh it's not uh it's no more sufficient. Now uh you need also a platform where you can address um with the press and no and no more only the professional press but the general public press, the lifestyle press, the yes, the influencers, the Carel, the uh you have a new range of media uh of prescriptors that uh you have to invite and to uh and to treat also if you if you organize this kind of salon. So this is the second audience. And then the the of course the the the the the last one and maybe the most important one because finally is the one that will but who will buy the the the the products the watches uh is uh they are the clients the client the end clients the the customers and uh and now and this is quite new for for us to treat directly this kind of uh of um of customer because at the very beginning the brands uh didn't know really well the customers because more of them uh used to to to um to not having direct link with with the hand customer because uh they were selling through their district distributors retailers so so now it's something new and uh and for them it's really important to uh to to build uh uh uh a relationship with the hand clients and it's why uh um this shows and uh the watches and wonder show uh it's also a unique occasion to demonstrate the brands, the DNA of the brand, the product, the history of the brand, the vision of the brand and uh we are we are like if you want we are we are we are doing this transformation we are like uh uh the the the the the fashion week uh for watches you know uh n at the very beginning the fashion weeks were only for the for the press and for the for the the profession for the they were trade uh trade approach now they are more and more with end customer with but big clients uh because um yes uh today it's really important to uh to have this direct link with uh with the with your with your client so today uh we have this fantastic uh platform uh which is uh the physical event in Geneva. Because uh we can say it's the most beautiful show in the world. So of course it's it it would be a pity not to use this beautiful uh setup to uh to to invite uh uh the the the the hand the hand customers and to and to present the novelties and to treat them. So for them it's a privilege to be invited in uh on a such uh on such event. And uh and it's why we want to continue and we are we are sure uh uh that that the momentum also of april it's more interesting for them because uh because the the the the products will be also sooner in the uh in the boutiques. Uh the the the time to markets is more interesting in april than in january. So uh all these things uh uh make that we we really uh believe in this in this new formula of this of this show which is more a celebration of the watchmaking excellence than a trade show as it as it used to be. |
| Unknown | Um and it's why it's that's a good way to put it. The idea of a c a celebration of watchmaking as opposed to a trade show. Exactly. So it's |
| Unknown | it's exactly the the the the the the the the our vision and the and and and our ambition is really to to to to transform uh to achieve uh the the the transformation of the ex SIHH to a watches and wonders uh uh celebration of uh watchmaking excellence uh within uh physical events so in geneva in Miami tomorrow I don't know in other cities in the world uh but also online with a permanent uh presence online uh with this watchesandwonders dot com platform. So it will be a kind of uh permanent uh rendezvous for the whole community of uh watches and wonders, uh, fans and uh and um and people interested. Uh and then we will have physical event to uh uh to to relay let's say the the the the presence of this uh online community |
| Unknown | . Yeah that's that's that's great. Um you know I I I think we we touched on it a little bit, but I I think it's worth kind of finishing on on this point is you know, next April is is gonna look very different now, right? We we have uh Watches and Wonders Geneva taking place and then also uh a new show that the FHH is is involved in some kind of event. Um that was, you know, this week, the week we're recording this. Uh the big news this week, right, was that Rolex, Tudor, Patek Philippe, uh, Chanel and Chopar have have left Basel World. And actually, as of about an hour before we hopped on the phone here, uh LVMH has announced that they're they're leaving as well. But um though those first five brands, part of that announcement was that they'll be doing something new and they'll be doing it with the FHH. Uh I wonder if you can speak to that at all and if you can speak to kind of what how you envision the broader sort of ecosystem looking in Geneva next April. You know Stefan, I I would love to talk |
| Unknown | about that, but uh but for the time being it's it's it's it's too early. It's it's frankly too early because I have uh frankly speaking no idea exactly of of uh what uh what will happen exactly but anyway this is a fantastic news because uh i think it's a fantastic uh uh opportunity for the industry uh and uh it's a fantastic opportunity also for geneva because you know that geneva is a is a cradle for uh of watchmaking so to gather all this beautiful uh maison of authorlogerie uh in Geneva at that time it's uh it's uh it's something uh uh absolutely unprecedented so it's uh I think it's uh it's a it's a fantastic opportunity for everybody. And I think it's also a fantastic opportunity for the FHH because uh uh to come what we were discussing at the very beginning of this conversation, the mission of the foundation is really to gather all the all the stakeholders of the fine watchmaking industry and uh to promote their know-how, their sour, their their expertise, their values worldwide. So we are more than happy to be uh associated uh to this new initiative because it's completely uh in line with our mission and our amb |
| Unknown | ition. That's great. Well, thanks. Thanks so much for doing this. And then obviously on April twenty fifth when all the new watches drop, we'll have wall to wall coverage for you. Um and you know, we'll we'll continue to check in with Fabienne and and your colleagues uh at the FHH throughout the year, I'm sure, uh as as the situation develops. So thanks for giving us kind of the the inside track here. It was a pleasure. Thank you very much |
| Unknown | for your time and uh see you uh see you soon uh see you soon in Geneva. Yes, I hope. |
| Unknown | Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Next up, Ben James and I recap Watch Madness and give you an inside look at producing talking watches |
| Unknown | . Hey guys, how you doing? Pretty good. You guys have like big microphones. I don't I don't e my airpods don't even work. I've I've got one in and it doesn't even do anything |
| Unknown | . Fake fake airpods. It's a professional endeavor. But I have to I have to admit some some jealousy at Stevens over microphone coming down and in. That's something else. It's funny. What is that what's it clipped on |
| Unknown | to? Uh there's a whole like tension fit arm here that's like clipped to the side of the sh shelving unit on my wall. It's this is absurd. Gray came over and set that up for you? Yeah, basically. Gray Gray uh ordered me a whole bunch of stuff that just showed up in a bunch of giant BH boxes and I got to assemble it. Uh it wasn't like a non-union team that came over and uh yeah there's somebody with a giant inflatable rat right outside of my apartment uh just protesting me just me but uh yeah, it's Friday.' Its quarantine Friday. Again. Again. Yeah. Yep. It's another one of these. But uh Round four or five, something like that? I think so. Kinda lost track, but I think that's maybe a good thing, actually. I don't know. Um it's okay. It's a thing. Yeah. The good news is we have some fun stuff to talk about. Um Watch Madness, we're recording this on Friday. Uh Watch Madness is officially over. Um, we have a winner. It will be announced uh in the next hour or two uh on the site. So by the time anybody's hearing? It's you, yeah, actually. It's that secret episode. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Uh you have to own all of our limited editions to have access to that. It's hosted by our Easter egg. Yeah, right, exactly. Um God, that would be amazing. Um Yeah, so it's over. We have a winner. We're gonna talk about that. Uh we're gonna get deep into kind of how this whole thing went, uh some of our favorite matchups, some of the kind of unsung episodes that maybe didn't didn't quite get their due in in our not so humble opinions. Um but before that, uh because this week hasn't been crazy enough, uh some news broke a couple hours ago uh that LVMH's watch brands are also leaving Basel World, uh in addition to the news we got earlier this week about Rolex Tutor, Paddock, Chopard, and Chanel. Um it's pretty pretty crazy. Yeah |
| Unknown | , I mean the in L VMH taken off, I mean it makes sense, right? I mean they're they're the other powerhouse. Um as Stephen astutely pointed out in his story that broke this morning, you know, uh Bulgari was already out and and Bulgari is a massive brand, you know. I mean Bulgary touches jewelry as well, which is So it it's just tag zenith and uh and huge low uh that are out. And you know, for those of you who haven't been to the show, those are the first brands that you see. They actually have the the arguably kind of the best real estate. You know, they're right by the front door. They're there right next to uh Rolex and Paddock, effectively. And so, you know, now you know it basically hall one is is is over. Brightling's out, been out for a year, Swatch is out, been out for a year, uh, and now Rolex Paddock uh and all of L V Mage is is gone. So I mean that you know I I asked Jack something earlier today that I probably won't repeat here, but like Basel is is really struggling right now. There, there's no question about it. And I'm curious if if they even do it, you know, if they do it, what it looks like, et cetera. But without L VMH, I mean there there's really kind of no no anchor left at all |
| Unknown | . Yeah, it's funny. I hadn't thought about the sort of like geography of the show, but you're right now. I guess like I'd have to go back and look at a map to confirm, but I I think now hall one you could probably get 70% of the way back to the back of the hall and not hit a single booth anymore. Um it's kind of wild. Exactly. I mean at le |
| Unknown | ast by you know historical kind of layouts for sure. I mean, you know, Rolex, Paddock, those guys, LV Mage were always right up front. Uh and then after that, you know, then Swatch had a huge kind of phone, like Omega was dead center as you walked in. Um yeah, no, |
| Unknown | things things things are changing for sure. You know, one of one of the things I thought was interesting and I I pointed it out in the story is that And I think, you know, the not just the logistics and like certain brands backing out and whatever, but I think the the sort of culture around it has maybe soured and become toxic. Um, you know, they cite wanting to maintain like positive atmosphere with their clients and and with their retailers uh and with the press as as a reason for them withdrawing. Uh and I wonder if at this point it's just like it's become such a mess that nobody really wants to to cling to it and risk getting blowback on it. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Yeah. And I mean the the the other thing that, you know, not to go too into the weeds, but like Basel World is really expensive, you know, incredibly expensive. True. You're paying all that money to share your audience with everyone else. And if and frankly, if you're not Rolex, Paddox, Watch or LBMH, you know, you're you're basically kind of a secondary citizen there, you know. Um, and so you know, I remember George Kern telling somebody or maybe saying in an interview that you know he can do a roadshow uh like he did two years ago um and fly all around the world and have every press and every journalist and every retailer to you know kind of rap with his attention or you know wrap to him um and for for a fraction of the price. You know, so it's just like, you know, if if if you're a Brightling or even an Omega or a Tag Hoyer or I mean, those are big brands. Think about the brands below them. Like it just makes sense to kind of do your own thing. I mean, the Movado group has been been doinging their own th for a few years now and I know they plan to again. Uh AP obviously left the SHH which is a different thing, but you know they plan to do their own thing. And if you have any following at all, like you just kinda want to say like hey like we'll just we'll just do this on our own term |
| Unknown | s which I I totally get. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be really curious to see how the the sort of like mid-sized brands at a sort of middle price point react to this. The Ourus is the gnomoses of the world. Um, because those brands obviously you know don't have quite the same capital that like LVMH has to invest in something or even Brightling has to invest in something. So I'll be curious to see how those brands, you know, kind of get get creative. I think that's where we'll see some real creativity because they're gonna have to if they if they want to reach everybody |
| Unknown | . Yeah. There's gonna be obviously a stronger leaning on sites like ours, of course, and the their own digital platforms, no, no question. Social. Uh we'll see. You know, it it it's interesting times in in in just about every way right now, you know? Yeah, true stor |
| Unknown | y. Uh all right. I think uh I think we'll leave it at that. You can go read, we'll link up the story and I'm sure there will be more. I'm sure the dominoes are not done falling here and we're we'll get we'll get more on this in the coming week. So uh let's leave that there and let's let's get into watch madness. Uh I just want your your hot takes here. Like what are your personal reactions to how Watch Madness has gone before we get deep into the weeds here |
| Unknown | ? Uh yeah, I mean I think it's been crazy. It's the level of engagement that kind of blew me away. And then a coup you know a couple folks and we'll definitely get into this but a couple folks actually like getting into the mix with the commenters and and that kind of thing has been like uh so charming and kind of fun and like uh really lighthearted which which is uh you know comment sections aren't always lighthearted. Ours are typically great. Um, but that's not a common fact around the internet. And then to see Gary and and some others kind of actually uh you know being involved in that process is great, and then and then I mean just just kind of the like the general level of enthusiasm around this idea. Um, which is you know I it's hard to say that one talking watches is actually better than another because they're all distinct. They're about a person, so they're just they're a personality story to it to an extent and the expression into watches. But to see people like get behind this as like a piece of entertainment, I I I've really enjoyed just kind of like armchair kind of basking in the glow of of uh you know what, we'll put together with all this |
| Unknown | . Yeah. And I I think like I think I think we can all agree that though he is not in the the final, you know, championship level uh matchup here, the real winner of all this is Gary Steingart, right? I mean this guy is a for his engagement in in the the group. |
| Unknown | Yeah. I agree entirely. Gary's Gary and a a small cadre of other Talking Watches alums uh all ended up on like a group chat and were like scheming behind the scenes for all of this, which I just love that these guys were that engaged. And like I didn't find out about it till like a week ago, I guess. You know, as we were entering the final rounds, I was chatting with Gary and he mentioned it. Uh but yeah, these guys were like doing their own thing the whole time behind the scenes, which is awesome |
| Unknown | . Yeah, and I think it's just like, you know, Gary is is such an amazing and such like a ca charismatic human being. And I just think like to have his take on everything, which is so kind of like pithy and so funny and so kind of clever all the time in in every post that we did. Uh it was just a a real delight, even from my side, just to see that happening, you know |
| Unknown | . That's awesome. Uh let's let's do a quick recap for people who who aren't aware of kind of how this how this ended, right? So we started out fifty-three episodes. There were some by rounds and it was it was a first round, a second round, then a sweet sixteen, an elite eight, a final four, and then the championship. So uh let's start with we'll we'll we'll start kind of in the later rounds here. So we have the final four it came down to Gary Steingart, who we talked about, going up against the original John Mayer episode. Um those two episodes, I think, in some ways like couldn't be more different and also couldn't be more similar. Um it's like two two guys who are like really nerdy about watches and really love them, but in like kind of different ways. Yeah, and two guys who are |
| Unknown | like completely inside their own heads as well, you know? Like they they couldn't be more different in so many ways, but they're also, as you said, extremely similar, you know. Yeah. Um two two really ch |
| Unknown | arming personalities as well. Yeah. Like I I think that's real personalities, you know? But I I think that also speaks to their like their ability to kill their every time they had a competition is there's just this like there's no guard with either of them. They're just kind of like, I'm gonna just it's it's out. I'm doing this, it' its's all out. I'm it's just pure personality, and I I think it's incredible for sure. There's a commitment, I think, to uh to being okay with the cameras and talking about your watches and all these things, and obviously that's the point from our standpoint, but that's that's not something that's always communicated with someone who's uh or or natural to someone who's on on the program |
| Unknown | . Yeah, and I I think it's just it's amazing that frankly Gary got to the final four. You know, I mean that means he went further than you know, Azizan Sari and Jack Nicholas and Mario Andretti and the second John Mayer, which is like one of the craziest things I've ever seen just as a watch person. Uh it's it's it's pretty fun for sure. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Um all right, and on the other side of the bracket, opposite those two guys were two other incredible personalities that again in some ways couldn't be more similar, couldn't be more different. Uh is John Goldberger and Jean-Claude Beaver. Yeah, I mean come on. |
| Unknown | That that's like that's like the heaviest of heavy hitters you could possibly imagine. Uh you know, both those guys are like heroes to not only me, but you know, I would say all of us, you know, anybody in the watch industry, certainly in the watch collecting industry uh world. Uh that that was that was a that was a very, very close one I believe |
| Unknown | . Uh yeah. Uh if if I'm not mistaken, it came down to single digit votes. Uh it was real close. Wow. Um so the guys that emerged from the Final Four and made it to the championship were Mayer and Goldberger. Uh the two two Johns. Um two tall Johns, yeah. Yeah, two tall Johns, exactly. Not just two Johns, two tall Johns. Um And that's like, I mean, these are like as as classic a pair of talking watches episod |
| Unknown | es as you could hope for, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, I mean these are these are the guys that that laid the foundation, right? I mean this was episode number one and number three, I believe, with JJ in between. Um you know it's really, you know, these are these are, you know, I hesitate to say to use this word about anything we've ever done, uh, but like these are iconic videos, you know, these are things that like you know have shaped the the the collecting culture over the last however many years, seven years. Uh so it makes sense that they're both together. You know, they are they know each other. I've hung out with them both. Uh, you know, they have a lot of respect for one another. Couldn't be, you know, more different. You know what I mean? I mean, John is so animated and so quirky and so strange, and Goldberger is so monotone and just like very reserved. Um, you know, John is is you know, this like suburban white kid from Connecticut. And uh and Goldberger comes from this, you know, really prominent European aristocratic family, you know, this beautiful home in Bologna, like a town home in Bologna. Uh just really different upbringings, you know, different, different, uh, different kind of ideas behind what a collection is. Um but you know just two of the absolute best. No no question about it. Like these these guys belonged in the final four for sure |
| Unknown | . Yeah. My my favorite thing was, you know, when we found out these these were the two final guys, uh I shot the meet you an email and was just like, Hey, you you made it to the finals. Uh can you just give me finals what? Yeah, right, exactly. The funny thing is they they both knew uh and they both responded like immediately. Uh which was was pretty funny. But uh yeah, I shot the Meet You Note and was just like, hey, you're you're going up against the other John. Uh can you just give me a few words about like what you think of of your competitor, your competition uh as a collector and kind of what they mean to the the watch space and each one of them said that they looked up to the other one in certain ways and and that they thought the other one should be the winner, that it was like a clear choice that it was not them. And I I actually buy it. Like I don't think it's false modesty from either of them. I think they they have this amazing relationship and each really respect what the other one brings to the table, which to me is ultimately what makes this like this whole endeavor so special, you know? Ye Yeahah.. I me |
| Unknown | an they they they represent two pinnacles of like two pillars that this that this world, you know, our world needs. I mean, one of them is like mass appeal, right? I mean, like nobody has has put better watches in front of more people than John Mayer over the years. Like it's just's a fact. There not anybody. Clappin included. Like, you know, he's kind of off the grid. He doesn't post on Instagram. You don't see him wearing a great AP on stage that much anymore. So you've got this like mass exposure to like mainstream world. And then you have like a connoisseur, like an actual academic in Goldberger. You have somebody that is like actually doing research on the you know production numbers of Cartiers in the 1940s, things like that. So you've got the these two very different kind of tenets of of what the watch world needs and combined, you know, it's uh it's a special thing for sure |
| Unknown | . And ultimately our winner, as probably a surprise to no one, is Mr. John Mayer?. Oh James Stacy. Yeah. James Stacy won. It's the other secret episode. It's the secret secret episode. Yeah, so our winner is Mr. John Mayer. I mean, that's that's you know, I don't think super shocking to anybody. I think uh it's the original episode. It started at all. I think it was probably the favorite going into this. Um I think so, yeah. Yeah. And like that's fine. Like I feel like every everyone can kind of like sleep at night knowing that he won and like if you got knocked out in an earlier round or knocked out by John, like it's okay. You can't really be upset about it. Ye |
| Unknown | ah. And I mean look, I mean the thing is like that that video is what launched the this whole series. So you kinda have to, you know, kind of give respect uh where it's due there. And I think also like, as I've said many times, and I think somebody even pointed out in the comments on this, was that like that video, I get well, not not any longer, I'm afraid, but I used to get stopped on the street when I used to go out on the street, uh all the time and say like, hey, like that video like got me into watches period. Like straight up. You know, not even like it wasn't like John Mayer did it, it wasn't Hodinky did it. It was like that particular eleven minute video or however long it is, got people uh really excited about about watches. And so I think that that video deserves to be deserves to be the winner here for sure. You know, winner, what does it mean? Not all that much, right? This was just a fun thing to kind of buy the time because March Madness wasn't happening and all professional sports are off. So you know, don't put too much stock in this. This was truly just meant for fun. Um |
| Unknown | , but I'm I'm happy with the outcome for sure. I was surprised that it went I I guess I expected in you know Mayor one oror May two or Goldberger or Mokey to just kind of cut their way through a path. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's it's it's so awesome. And and obviously I have a huge bias there because I I was the host of that episode and and I love that dude and I always will. But I was I was in in planning my seeds, I wasn't sure mayor one or mayor two because the the size of the audience for the website was much larger by the time Mayor 2 came around. And I thought maybe that might be a whole new kind of generation of Hodinky readers footnote for their like and and it it's they're both great videos for sure. And it's I I find it oddly uplifting, I guess, that that it's mayor one. Like the proof of concept is still something that's resonated back through this. You don't get a lot of TV shows where the pilot was the one that people go, you know what, that's the one I would vote for a as my favorite episode and I I think it's killer. Yeah, no, I took a point. I I I agree. I I thought |
| Unknown | Moki was gonna go pretty far. And and he didn't I definitely thought four. Yeah. Um but you know, it the the bracket was weird. You know, there was some you know, the the the William Messina versus Fred Savage, you know, in the first round, the Aziz versus Way in the first round, like there were a lot of things in the first round that like really gonna impacted later stuff. Like to me, like William, who's a good friend of mine, that was one of my favorite episodes just because I've known him and the I thought the collection was great. Um but you know, there's Fred Savage, you know, and Fred is just Fred and you know, you just you never know. So I think a lot of it had to do with bracketing. And I don't I yeah truly have no idea how that bracket was created. So thank you to whoever did that for us |
| Unknown | . Um but uh the bracket the bracket was the result it was done numerically. So it was done based on the order in which they were published. So there was there was really no there was no element of of chance, like it wasn't pulled out of a hat, but it also wasn't purposefully set up. Right. But that I mean that gets us Ben into into you know where I wanted to go with this, which is, you know, what are some of the episodes that you think maybe maybe got knocked out too soon? May whether it's because voting was a little bit strange or whether it you know surprised you or just because they got a really tough early matchup |
| Unknown | . Yeah. I I think, you know, the I think William would be one. I think Way would be another. You know, there was a lot of uh hullabaloo in the comments about Way versus Aziz. And you know, Way is the man. I mean he's he's just an awesome dude and you know good friend of the show and good friend of mine. I think the one thing that that our audience kinda tends to forget sometimes is that our audience is not just pure, pure like watch loving dudes. And Azizansari is like a major celebrity that is a real watch person and has like real sentimentality behind all of his collection. Um so you know I think way could have gone deeper had he not had to face Aziz uh early on. Um Paramiko, I mean Paramico, like, you know, it's that that collection is top two, top three for for me of all time. And there's some you know kind of fun what-ifs about that one for sure that I can share later. But like the Paramico collection is just bananas, you. You know if look at it as like it's different categories, it's not just Rolex, like you know, say John's would be Rolex and Paddock. Uh you know, it's much broader than even uh Goldberger's, you know, in terms of scale. Uh the Paramico collection was was amazing for sure. Uh and I actually I could have seen that going in going into the Final Four as well |
| Unknown | . Yeah. It feels, I mean, to draw an NBA comparison, right? It's like Houston and Golden State having to play each other in the in the Western Finals. You know, it's like whoever whoever wins that is winning the finals, you know, and I feel like Goldberger and Paramico uh having to go up against each other in the Elite Eight, like that was that was pretty early for that mat |
| Unknown | chup to happen. I would agree. I would agree. And I think you know, under different seating, I think Paramico could be in in the top four for sure. Uh who did Mokey end up losing to? I forget. Paramico. Uh to Paramico. Yeah. Yeah. You know. I mean it's uh you know, it it is what it is, right? I mean I thought the Moki video was really something special. Just like I thought the Jack Nicholas video was something special. You know, like w effectively like you know, one guy, one watch type stuff. Um I thought |
| Unknown | Jack could have gone further as well, honestly. Yeah. I mean we're we're not publishing the numbers on these polls uh for lots of reasons. Uh but I'm I'm happy to say and and feel totally fine saying that uh Moki and Paramico came down to less than twenty-five votes. Uh that was a nail biter. It was super tight. Um and you know, if you look at the comments on that, it's interesting to see how passionately people feel about like one sort of collecting versus another. Yeah. Um which I think is another nice thing that this that this brought out in the comments was, you know, we got to see a lot of people share kind of their own perspectives on collecting. Um our our readers, the people who, you know, don't get interviewed and get 12 minutes, 15 minutes to talk about it. Um but that was able to kind of come out through commenting on other other episodes. Agreed. Agreed. I th |
| Unknown | ought I thought the you know what's funny is in the beginning of this I was like, huh, we'll we'll see how, you know, we'll see if people care about this Watch Madness thing. And in the end I I love it. And I I love the way that as you said, Stephen, like people like people were just like, you know, so adamant that like Moki is superior to whatever, Paramika. And it's like, okay, like what what does that even mean? You know, it's just like this is like one man's opinion about like a video, like it it doesn't you know, it's just so funny how how varied everyone's opinions are of everything, which again is why Hodinky works and why watches work, is that like you can have guys care about watches for like dramatically different reasons, you know, like almost polar opposite. Uh and I think we we really saw that here for su |
| Unknown | re. Yeah. I mean James, did you have any others that that you felt kinda got |
| Unknown | knocked out too soon? I was surprised by Moki like we've mentioned and talked about um Bayer. Uh was a surprise by me simply because like I I feel like the the mix and I think we see this through most of the matchups, there's a mix of personality and collection, right? And and this isn't surprising, this isn't like some uh analytical revelation, but um the the you need kind of both to go a really long way. And that's what you see in the Mayor and Goldberger is a mix of just insane collections and knowledge and watch love but also like a personality that comes out on the video and connects with the person who's watching it and I thought we had both of those in Bear and Savage and I'm surprised neither of them went uh even further. I mean like Bayer as kind of a champion of the watch industry and and Savage as kind of a champion of watch people, I think. Yeah. I think the the Bayer thing was really about like an anti Steven |
| Unknown | vote, to be totally honest with you. Yeah, mostly. Mostly. Yeah. It coalesced |
| Unknown | . Yeah. I mean you guys I'm sure have seen by this point the conspiracy theories about how uh having Gary on Hodinky Radio and me mentioning that Gary and I had dinner a few weeks ago uh is that I fixed this against Alton Brown. Oh man. Well you gotta follow the money, right? Always follow the money. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Always follow the money. Always case though like |
| Unknown | Exactly. The Renee Bayer episode was awesome. I mean like you know as you said, like he's as old school as it gets, you know, getting these watches from like Hans Wilsdorf, you know, I mean just um amazing stuff. Uh another one that I think could have gone further just based on personality alone is uh Ha uh Ahmed Rahman, Sherry Raman. If you know him or have met him anywhere along the way, he is the most lovable, affable, friendly, welcoming human being like I think I know. Like I don't I don't know that I know somebody nicer than him. He's definitely way nicer than neither of you, I can tell you that. Uh That is extremely true. It's a low |
| Unknown | bar. No, he's he's a special guy for sure. Yeah, he's he was toward the top of my list, I think uh, you know, Tony Fidel uh is somebody who like Tony drew John Mayer, the second John Mayer video in the first round, and the moment I saw that I was just like, Oh, that sucks. Uh, you know. Uh Tony's another like he might be the smartest person I've ever met. Um, definitely up there. Except for you. Yeah, of course. That goes without saying. Um yeah, smartest, handsomeest. You you guys know what's up. But uh yeah, Tony just like super smart, great taste in watches, genuinely loves watches. Um I think that was that was a bummer matchup for me. Um what |
| Unknown | do you guys think of uh D D Kim versus Reza? Because that that's your cult of personality. You're like he's a very obviously very famous guy and loves watches and that that's incredible. And then you have Reza like just the one of the most incredible uh collectors, a really sweet guy. Talk about a nice guy. Uh you know, I got to do a dive watch panel with him and Heaton at H ten some time ago, uh lifetime ago at this point. Um but uh I thought that was an interesting matchup because it was really two absolute polar opposites in terms of their approach uh to watches, but obviously it's all the same general passion that brings someone into it. And I mean good good on Kim for for taking the public vote. Uh that that's uh that's solid. But I I was surprised to not see Reza go a bit further because I think he |
| Unknown | Yeah, I I I would agree. I think you know whether I I don't know what it was, but I think maybe because when we did the talking watches with with Reza, uh, we only focused on Rolex dive watches. And I think that that was really limiting for him. And to be clear, like he's got dive watches like you've never seen in in everywhere, you know, new vintage, everything, doxes, crazy stuff, you know. And I think in some ways people didn't really appreciate how special of a collector he is. I mean, he is the guy for all dive watches, omegas. I mean, you name. Um, and I think because we focus so heavily on Rolex, people are like, Oh yeah, like this is cool. I mean, obviously, deep sea number one is is amazing. Um, but I think you know it if we were to do again and we we refocused on other stuff, I think he he he would go further. If we were I would love to see a research pandemic. |
| Unknown | We'll do that again, you know? Yeah. A res a two with Doxa would be would be |
| Unknown | something fun. That's the most James Stacey content I've ever heard. I was gonna say it would be like it would be like you, James Lambden, and Jason Heaton as like the only two people now. We'd be voting though. We'd be voting. We'd be voting like crazy. We do Doxa Madness. Yeah. I like games, people, and games. All right. So we we've gotten through kind of our our picks for people we think maybe maybe got knocked out too soon. But I wanna know what what things surprised you guys. I definitely found myself like I I wasn't keeping a super close eye on this on the back end. So you know, we would we would get the new bracket every day. It would end up filled out in the CMS and I would see it and there were there were days I was surprised. So I'm I'm curious before I talk about mine |
| Unknown | what what surprised you guys the most. No no discredit to Gary and his campaigning and his spirit and his personality because he is he is just simply an amazing human being. But I am surprised that Alan, just given the social media presence that Keegan has, uh couldn't couldn't uh you know couldn't couldn't kind of lean a little bit and just wipe that that bracket right out. That was a bit of a surprise for me because I thought just just in terms of uh like genuine passion and personality, Keegan Allen has all of it. The guy is magnetic in person. He's in he's a really incredible dude. And I I thought that it's a tough matchup because in many ways the they share a very similar like general humanness uh to the way that they talk about their watches and the way they talk about themselves and that sort of thing. Um so it was kind of a tough matchup, but I that one was definitely like for me a a coin in the air, but I definitely thought it was coming down uh Allen. So I was a little surprised on that outcome. I hear you. I mean Keegan |
| Unknown | is a is a very sweetheart, popular, love like just not even likable, he's a lovable person, you know. Uh sure, you know, also in really good shape, we found out. Oh. Yeah. Uh no, just agree. It's like shoots, like uh I mean he's like he's he's totally like our guy, you know. Um I'm surprised also. I I think you know Gary is just Gary's just so Gary, and there's just nobody else like him. He's special. Yeah. He's a special guy. Any uh any from you, Ben? If if Mayor One didn't exist, or like let's say we like forgot to press record on that, imagine we did that, and like that video just didn't exist. I think b I think mayor would have won that. I think everybody kinda knew that mayor one was the favorite, so mayor two kind of got knocked out. I in in a a diff differerentent routing or different routing, uh I could see there being two John Mayer videos in the |
| Unknown | final four. If the path didn't necessitate Goldberger and Mayer going head to head, Mayor two going head to head before the final four, I agree with you. I I I had Goldberger as a as a favorite through all of this. I really think people, you know, it's one of the videos that people talk about the most uh just when I meet folks. And and I I kind of I was kinda Yeah, look, I mean that's he's as he's as you know, cool as they get. I mean, there's just nobody cooler than that guy. I I think one that surprised me was uh our our mutual friend uh Matt Jacobson beating Fred Savage uh coming out of the second round into the sweet sixteen. Uh I love Matt, and you know, we'll talk about this later about you know, of the collections shown, uh if you could swap your collection for one of the collections in a in a video, uh, which which would it be? And like Matt is toward the top of my list there. He's also a good good friend, but uh Fred is just so magnetic and I think has such, you know, kind of broad mass appeal and his watch collecting story is something that I think a lot of people relate to. I was a little surprised there. I mean, in some ways, kind of impressed at at people's, you know, faith in Matt's taste and and love of Matt. But uh I was I was a little surprised to see Fred taken down there |
| Unknown | . Yeah, no, I I I agree on on some level. I think, you know, you just have to think about like relatability of of all this stuff. And I think like, you know, Matt, even though he's you know, his position in life and all of his success is not relatable in basically any way, he's still just a normal guy. You know, I mean he grew up in Manhattan Beach and like he's just a very approachable guy and he's not famous. And I think that's the big thing here. And I think like Fred is also like an incredibly approachable guy, but he is like he's Fred Savage. And like everybody knows this guy, you know? And I think just the relatability aspect of choosing somebody that has done exceptionally well for themselves in in in Matt, has impeccable taste, you know, has this this mantra of one in one out, which I know people love. Um you know, I I could just see that being like, all right, like this guy is a little bit more relatable because he's not a television star. You know? Yeah. That's fair. |
| Unknown | It's totally fair. Come on, Fred is Fred. Yeah. Uh yeah, completely. If you could have seen any head-to-head matchup, you know, forget the bracket, right? Like what would have been your dream matchup in the final in it could be in the finals or it could be just like a fun matchup earlier |
| Unknown | in the tournament. I see this as almost like if you could have the two guys sit in the same video and just talk about watches. And there's no question for me, the two that come up in my mar uh in my mind are uh May or JCB would be just the best |
| Unknown | . 'Cause like they would be both like frantic. Yeah. For the people listening to this and not watching this on YouTube, uh Ben, the the smile on Ben's face the moment James said that, I think like broke the edges of the the zoom recording. Yeah |
| Unknown | , I hear I mean to have 'cause they're both huge energies, but they're entirely different energies. Uh you know, the like Mayer has this uh calmness about him, especially if you're into his social media and and the way that he he kind of offers his his kindness forward and then I you know I've I've had the great pleasure of being in several meetings that Jean Claude Bivert uh kind of burst into like uh like that is what he does. He doesn't he bursts in like an a a like like a third act in in a great play and he's suddenly there and suddenly the tone has changed and he's very loving and very like uh uh like he can be very focused on one thing or he can kind of be pitching to the whole room. I think that video would be bonkers. And then the other one that I'd like, and this is more of not a a power matchup, but just a a complete difference in what I perceive as perspective. And I don't know either of these guys that well would be Gary and Roger Smith. Oh interesting. I think it'd be fun to have those two guys come like talk about watches from each of their own perspectives 'cause I think we're seeing like a very disparate sort of um way route into the same sort of love. |
| Unknown | Yeah. In a weird way, I'd love to see like John Mayer's circa two thousand thirteen versus John Mayer 2019. You know? What do you think that would do to John's brain? Oh man. Like he's gonna he's gonna see this or hear this later and like think about that for like four days, you know? Uh well we have that technology. We could we could kind of make that happen. Exactly. Uh I think seeing Way versus William, you know, Way and William to me are kind of like they're the watch industry. You know, they're they're just like they're both total insiders. They both have like grammatically different personalities. You know, Way is like, let's just hang out with everyone. William's like, I fucking hate everyone, you know? Uh but in like his own charming way. Um and they both have they both have Devathunes. Like they're they're both like they're both real watch guys, you know, almost you know at least contemporary watch guys. I'd like to see that one. Well what else? I think seeing Paramiko and Goldberg are on the same screen at the same time would be cool. You know, I've obviously known them and they're often in the same room. They're friends. Um that would be a cool one for sure. Just like so suave and so well dressed and |
| Unknown | so Italian. Yeah. There'd be so much like chic Italian energy going on in that uh that video. Yeah, I agree. Good jackets. There'd be a good jacket energy, I'm sure. Oh my god, the Blazers would be out of control for sure |
| Unknown | . |
| Unknown | I think I think for me, you know, one of them and it's it sounds like an obvious one, but Gary and Fred would be amazing. That would be high end. Mostly because of the comments. Like, could you imagine if the two of them had gone head to head what the comment section on that post would look like. It's a lot. Ben is now just shaking his head. Uh yeah, I I just I think seeing those two guys, especially 'cause they're friends and they talk about watches all the time together, uh, I think would just be super, super fun. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Alright, so the the the last thing I want to ask before we get into some more like behind the scenes talking watches stuff, but the last thing about the the bracket really um is what do you think was was the toughest matchup for you to vote on? Like which one did you find yourself like, I'm gonna take I'm gonna take ten minutes, I'm gonna rewatch these videos, you know, before before casting your vote |
| Unknown | . I I I hate to say it for me, but it was it was the final round. You know? I mean these guy as I said, these guys are they're two not only great friends, but great supporters of Hodinki and great just advocates for the entire watch world, you know. Uh and they're both so different and so cool and uh have meant so much to to all of us, you know. So I I would you know it's expected, but the the championship |
| Unknown | round was was really a difficult one for me. Yeah, I I'd echo what Ben say and then also add, you know, I was I was following my boy Moki through the through the branch and uh uh the the Bayer Paramico one was where I went back and actually r again rewatched those videos, uh which I you know, I'd watched them because uh both of those fell in kind of my bracket or my set of brackets for a previous podcast. Uh but I thought I'd give them both another chance and try not to come at it with too much of a like who who could I pick that would kind of be most easily dealt with by Moki and and it turns out you know Peramiko did well |
| Unknown | . So I actually I just thought of another one that actually really gave me pause and that was Andretti versus Jack Nicholas. Oh. Oh yeah. I I I mean like these are right now anyway I'm super into golf for whatever reason. I've always been really into cars. Like these are these are the guys, you know? Uh and they both just not like they both kind of have similar auras, like they're both just like fierce, fierce competitors, you know. I think I forget if we did this on the podcast or not, but like who do you think would be better? Like if they were forced to pick up the other one's fort, you know? Like that's just like they would both try really, really hard. You know, like they would both really get into it. Uh that was a very difficult one for me for su |
| Unknown | re. As a follow-up to that thought, I I thought about this after that we recorded that lat that pr several podcasts ago, but would you be really surprised if you found out that like Jack Nicholas was also a pretty talented race car driver or Mary Andretti was also a pretty talented golfer? Like, not really. I would almost guarantee it. You know? Like I would I would almost like I feel like you could hand these guys almost any sport. You could make up a new sport and explain it to them and they would like think for a few minutes and then immediately become in the top five percent of of those who have ever touched the said Yeah. I mean it's just a good thing some people are |
| Unknown | just winners, man. Yeah. Yeah. Athletes are athletes. I mean that's true. Yeah. Uh all right. So I I had two matchups, uh and they were both in the uh Elite Eight round. Um I found the one I was accused of fixing, uh Alton Brown Gary Steingart, uh really, really tough. And then I also found uh Jean-Claude Beaver, Roger Smith really tough. Um in the case of Alton and Gary, uh you know, Gary is is, as everyone knows, a friend. Um and he and I have extremely similar taste in watches. Um, like very, very similar. Uh our collections overlap in multiple ways. Um and then Alton is somebody I've I've admired for a long time. I've had the pleasure of meeting him a few times uh and corresponding with him a few times. Uh I love cooking and I basically learned to cook from watching Alton Brown on like late night reruns on Food Network. Um and I think both of those guys just have such a like genuine passion for watches and it's a genuine passion in a way that's very like day-to-day. Like watches aren't like a separate thing that they do sometimes. Watches are like a part of how they approach every day of their lives, which I think is really relatable and nice. Um and then on the other side we have have Jean-Claude Beaver, have JCB and Roger Smith, um, who are two titans of the watch industry in completely opposite ways, uh, and they have completely opposite affects and very opposite collections. But I found choosing between those guys really tough because it almost meant choosing between two sides of of watches. And they're two sides that I I love and respect. So yeah, those were the the toughest two, I think, for me. Yeah, the the the Alton the Alton Gary one is is a very good one for sure. That was tough. Yeah. Uh let's while I've got you guys here, you've you've both been involved in in shooting a lot of these. I mean for a long time Ben uh you hosted every episode and then since then it's it's been a mix now for the last couple years of us kind of rotating through whoever you know we think is the best fit or whoever's on deck um to So I I wanted to start Ben with the the early episodes. Do you have any fond memories from these early episodes? I mean we saw that the earlier episodes kind of, you know, tended to do better uh in this bracket and there's just something special about them |
| Unknown | . Yeah, no, I you know, we we've kind of talked about the earliest few a lot, you know, birds. I'll try to not rehash those, but I mean the the first few episodes, John, JJ, and John Goldberger were were they were, you know, it was just like lightning in a bottle type stuff, like just seeing like throwing stuff out there, seeing what happens. Um I mean the Paramico one, you know, I I think back on and like that one, yeah, I think this might be a question you have planned for later, but I'll talk about it now. Like that was the one where we almost had the best watch ever in the video, and then didn't and that was just like fuck, you know, like basically Paramico had this watch that is like considered by many, including people we've discussed here, uh, to be like top three watches of all time, like individual, like solitary watches of all time. And we something happened where like we couldn't he had sold it like a month before or like we were delayed in filming or something like that. But we were this close to having like, in my opinion, like top three wristwatch of all time in the video, which really would have changed everything. The Paramico video is so awesome as is, and I think back on that collection often. Uh but this one really like this was close to being like v |
| Unknown | like ridiculous. Totally ridiculous. Yeah, I I I think you know, my memories of being a part of those early episodes where I was there for recording a lot of them. Your description of them as lightning in a bottle is is kind of perfect. You know, like we didn't really know any better at the time, so we were winging it a little bit and we would show up and like we would prep and we'd talk to these folks and figure out what watches, but then like we would get to wherever we were shooting and just like the vibe and the energy and once the watches came out, like they just kind of took off, you know, and and Will, you know, did an amazing job kind of capturing that that energy and, you know to me when I watch those episodes Hm? All the water glass uh shots? Yeah, all the water glass shots. Those are great. We can uh we can insert some water glass uh B roll b roll here right now but uh it's his lens flare.ah Ye. Oh it's so good. Um but like watching those videos, like it it captures a moment in time of hodinky for me, uh and like a way we did things and a an energy and a vibe and I think it does that maybe for for longtime readers and and watchers and listeners too. Yeah. |
| Unknown | And the the other one that I I forgot to mention, which shouldn't, is Jason Singer. You know, Jason Singer was I still have uh like he holds a special place in my heart because I'm obviously extremely American. Uh and like, you know, there was just for the longest time, there was really nobody that represented like the American in in this incredibly kind of like you know Francocent-ric or Italian-centric uh hobby. And Jason Singer has been a top-tier collector for half a generation. You know, he's been doing this since the early 80s. Um, I guess that would make it a generation. Like and you know, that collection was just oh absurd. And the fact that like this guy lives in the middle of the middle of nowhere being Arizona, uh, you know, relative to New York or LA, because nothing else matters if you're not on a coast, I don't know if you're of course. Yeah. You know, he pulled out his collection, we're just like, Hyol fuck, you know, I mean this is just like as good as like the best of the best. And he is such like you know, myself, and I think you guys, and a lot of these guys, like part of it is the collecting, the like, okay, I want to find a great watch, and I'm but also like okay, Jean-Claude Beaver bought an AP because he used to work at AP, you know? Um Jason is different. Jason's like, I just want the best things. I care about quality above all else. I care about rarity above all else. And like, you know, he he used to and I think still might. He would measure the thickness of lugs on Pateks um to make sure that they haven't been polished. Like we're talking like that level. It's not just like can I eye it? Can I see original finish? It's like you he would actually measure it like with a micron uh level um caliper. Uh I mean he's just a different level of like he's a real collector. Whereas a lot of these other guys, including myself, are like, it's fun. Like it's a fun thing, and like, yeah, a great mint watch is gonna get me excited. But like Jason is a true academic level, you know, intellectual collector. He was a great one. |
| Unknown | Yeah. I mean, I wonder, James, from these early episodes, is there if you could pick one where you could have just like been a fly on the wall, you know, being sitting in the case of you know, like John Mayer's original episode be sitting and having lunch on the other side of the bar. Uh which episode would that be for you? Uh JC |
| Unknown | B. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I like I I've I've like I adore his personality. I love that he's a hundred percent and and when you when you start to think about the effect he's had on the watch industry and then to the not to just be that it was a business concern, like then you see the evidence of his actual passion in things that he's decided to call his own and dedicate, you know, his some of his wealth to and that sort of things. And he's just um he has uh I I don't think he would mind me saying this. I don't I certainly don't think he would even know who I am, but uh you know, like uh uh he has a sort of like grandpa charm that I absolutely adore when he enters a room. It's his room for that time. He's he's put in the work. Listen to him talk. He's gonna say some friendly stuff. He always has some insight. And and like look at the effect. Look at look at where he he moved around in the industry and where those brands are now. And I think seeing that in uh on a table of watches, there's I just it's an insane amount of respect. And there's also like credit to Ben. I I don't think he'd be the easiest guy to sit down with and and have any control over the conversation at all. Um I think you I think you just I mean I it it looks that way in the video, but like I think at a certain point, like you the dice are in the air and, you you just kind of hope that they come down in your favor. And uh and and with that, with that video, I think it was a very sweet video, it was a portrait of a man that adores watches to the extent that he's essentially devoted not only his life to this cool collection, but also to the industry at large, to the Swiss watch industry at large. And uh I think that |
| Unknown | 's one of my most favorites. I I would agree. And I think like you know, I think I've I know I've shared this story before, but I mean the the genesis of that video was like early days, you know, Hugo and Hodinky just like did not get along. Like it just wasn't it just wasn't a thing, you know? And Jean-Claude back back in 2012 said, Hey, like, you know, I've I've seen what you guys do, I love it. Like, how come you guys don't And I was like, I gotta be honest, like it's just not like it's just not our our thing. Nothing against it, it's just not our thing. But he he I had heard through somebody that he was a big pet tech collector. Asked him about that. He said, Oh yeah, like I'd love to show you sometime. And I was like, Well how about we do a video on you instead of uh Hublow? And he said, okay, fine. And so we talked about the collection. And I just remember, I mean, keep in mind, he was ahead of watches for LVMH, like major, major, I mean, still is major, major group. And uh and I was like, you're okay talking almost exclusively about a competitor. And he's like, yeah, that's fine. Like it's my clutch, you know? Uh and at that point I realized like he was effectively different than every other Swiss executive for sure, because they would never ever do that, you know. Um and we go there and he just he spends an hour or more really, you know, edited down, of course, uh talking about paddock, AP. I mean, I I confront him very explicitly and say, like, hey, the the the the big bang looks just like the offerers. Like, yeah, like of course it does. You know, I mean like can you imagine any other executive saying that ever, you know, in the in this in the Swiss watch world? Like never. And I think that in many ways, you know, really uh it it really built our relationship, you know, mine with Jean-Claude and with Hubelow for sure. Um and certainly like introduced this legend who was always a legend. We had nothing to do with making him a legend. It introduced, reintroduced him to our generation. Like I don't think people really understood how fucking this guy was before that video, you know? Ag |
| Unknown | reed. Yeah. So legit. Uh and one of the coolest things is like he's been kind of a member of the the Hodinky family ever since, right? Like he came and he flew into New York for a day to speak at H ten. And, you know, he's he's, you know, really been a a part of our story and we've been kind of fortunate to get to be a little bit tiny part of his story uh over the last you know six or seven years now |
| Unknown | . Yeah. The the the other thing I think again without you know giving us too much credit is like John Goldberger was effectively an unknown. You know, unless you were like part of the the the auction scene or even the really dealer scene. Uh Jason Singer was for sure an unknown and really made a point of being like off the grid, Matt Jacobson. You know, a lot of these guys were were really kind of unknown and really trusted us to kind of be the first to tell their story in the in this way, which is really risky. You know, and it I I get it. You know, I understand why there are reservations. Like you're basically saying, like, look, I'm really successful. I have spent in some cases an ungodly amount of money on things that don't mean anything to most people. Um and so they they trusted us to tell those stories and I think, you know, we we've done right by them for sure. And this is a very special kind of community that that would support it for sure. But I think, you know, now the everybody knows who Goldberger is, everybody knows who Jason Singer is and Matt Jacobson and all these guys. But back then, I mean, it was it was new for me, and certainly new for our audience to get to get to know these personaliti |
| Unknown | es. Yeah, I mean, we we can all speak to this, but I want to start with you, Ben. You know, James mentioned a minute ago like having control of the interview and you've mentioned this idea of people trusting us to to help tell their stories. And I wonder like how you you guys and and Ben you specifically prep going into an episode of this because it is it is a responsibility and you do kind of like need to have a little bit of control while also giving them room, but also like framing it in such a way that that people are gonna react positively to it. So we set these people up for for success uh and and to be appreciated rather than, you know, torn down or misunderstood. Yeah, exactly. I mean the you know, the there's I don't I don't |
| Unknown | do I think Steven will probably guess this, but like I don't do any real prep because you know I mean that's that's the losers. Um no I mean I but I think it it's just you know primarily it's about making these people feel comfortable and having them understand that like this is this is the real world, but it's also not the real world. Like this is a microcosm for sure. And we do everything we can to make sure that they're appreciated for all that they are. And you know, Will, who you mentioned has done a great job editing. Uh and you know, I can't tell you how many notes I've received after these videos go live and just be like wow like I don't I don't sound half that good in my normal conversation. How did you guys make me sound that good you know? Uh and so we're not we're not manufacturing anything. It's just like we're we're highlighting the strengths of of people and and in their collections and and making it |
| Unknown | Yeah, James, is it the same for you? Uh on on the uh on the possible flip side of Ben, like I I prepare excessively uh for the for the few talking watches that I've done. But that's also like better than I think I guessed that for the two of you. Yeah, I mean Ben Ben and I also come at it from a from a different level. Ben Ben is a hardcore collector with a huge knowledge base, like a wide ranging huge knowledge base and understanding of both like taste and specific models. And I came into watches very much at a product level, say ten years ago. So I'm still developing that back history. So if you want to talk what you got there at Apple Watch, okay. Yeah, talking about my level of uh so I yeah, I I I kind of enter that differently and and and I see these as um not unlike what Ben said, I see these as profiles of personality because that's what that's what watch collecting is, that's what car collecting is, that's what art collecting is. It's it's an expression of what's inside you, your personal taste, your temperament, your um your ability to connect with times that aren't your own in many ways. Especially when you get into vintage watches or uh you know well vintage cars, the same thing. And I all I want to do is know enough about somebody that when they answer a question, I can have some sort of a thoughtful response. I don't want to say that much. I I definitely don't want to say that much. Um uh you know, the y Gray, who's on this recording and just not uh not visible, he he knows that when you give me three sentences to say in a row, it will take me 35 tries to get them in the correct order. Um and and often it's in like 40 uh cell you know 105 degree heat uh in in you know in some some sunny location where we shoot these things and uh and and so yeah uh mostly uh my goal with these is always just can you get out of the way of the person so that their personality can just kind of shine through and once they're comfortable they're just going to pour out their love of these watches and and I think that's all that someone watching wants to see. They don't want to see me talk like at all. You can't do this without a host, so you have to be there. |
| Unknown | But yeah, it's funny you say that. That's kind of how I measure after a shoot how successful it was. Is like the less I talked, the better the episode's gonna be, you know? For sure. Because the more the person we already we already discussed those. I I'm I'm I'm getting the veto here. But uh yeah the uh the less I talk the bet,ter. Like the nobody's gonna be able to tell that person's story better than them. Nobody's gonna be able to show their excitement and their passions better than them. And if if I can get them to a point where they feel comfortable just sharing and like I don't need to ask them, you know, question, answer, question, answer, question, answer, you know, for every every sentence, like all the better. Uh and the way I prep for that is is by researching the people generally, not their watches. Like I have enough watch knowledge I can I can figure that out usually. Um but by researching the people, like hopefully I can relate to them a little bit and and we can have like a real human conversation uh and not a like questions one through twelve interview about watches sitting on a table. An |
| Unknown | other video I I want to give a a quick shout out to that we haven't talked about is Rani Madvani. You know I know that's a favorite of games like that is just like that's a collection. You know what I mean? Like a lot of these are just like all right, here's a grouping of watches. That is like a tight, tight collection |
| Unknown | . That's very true. Uh so I've got I've got two more questions. Uh of all the talking watches episodes, if you had to swap for one of the collections, which one would it be? You give up all your watches, but you get the Talking Watches collection. Whose collection are you're taking |
| Unknown | . For me it's easy, but James, you want to go first? Uh I'll go first. Yeah, I would say Reza. Give me Reza's collection. But I want the stuff that was off camera as well. You want it all? Yeah, give me well it's the collection, right? If he's getting my like eight watches, like it's only fair. All right. Yeah, I I I adore the guy. I do I I you know I I like the the the level of passion that he has for kind of a specific thing. And uh and yeah, right. It'd be Reza, you know, May or two, some pretty pretty incredible stuff in there. And then I I don't want to take I don't want to step on what I believe Ben's I was gonna say I could see you were in that sixty two seventy that Daytona. Hell yeah, right? Why not? Or the you know, he's got a fifty one sixty four A on a brown or on the uh on the green, which is a dream of mine. Like he's got some some solid stuff and I'm not gonna step on what I think will be Ben's answer. Uh so I'll I'll let him pick it up. What do you think is my answer? S |
| Unknown | inger. Uh actually no, but close. Close I mean I would I would die to have one of his watches, but yeah. Right? Yeah. It's Goldberger. There's no question about it. Like he's you know, I've I've said this in writing, like he's my idol as a collector. You know, he is he has taught me so much. Like there are actually uh when I when we when we produced that video uh you know he had those three split second uh the universal, the Minerva and the capped chronograph. I was wearing my Henry Graves uh Universal and I just started like really falling in love with the the the Corelli split. I now own one. I mean I bought that truly because of of that afternoon with him. He has that uh white gold perpetual uh brigade that's kind of rectangular. Oh I have a watch. Yeah it's amazing. I have a jump hour brigade that is kind of in the same production line as that. Um, you know, I mean he's an inspiration for that for sure. So it I mean, and and I mean not even to talk about the white gold six two six five, which is absurd. You know, it's just like it's just not a thing. And the one thing I was thinking about why I might not want that collection is like you know, I love the the early stuff, the 30s and 40s, the like the the step bezel stuff and like those long-z-n and sector dials and all that. But at the end of the day, like when I'm kicking around, like I do want to wear like a Rolex Oyster watch or like And I was like, shit, Goldberger doesn't really have that in his collection, but then I remembered the white gold they don't, which has a screwdown crown in white gold. I love I love that that's gonna be your kicking around watch. Yeah, I mean come on. If if you're Goldberger, that's what you do, you know. Uh true. But I I think also like, you know, that that's absurd and you know, at at like, you know, the very pinnacle of of some mountain top of collecting. I think John Mayer uh episode one. Like, come on. That's just like it's blue chip stuff. You can't, you know, it's a fifty-nine seventy, it's a mill sub, it's uh it's a six two six three, like you could kind of stop with those three watches right there, you know. U yehah. And similarly the Paramico collection, you know, the the the watch that I'm referring to that like didn't get shown in that collection what was like basically thirty days away from being featured was the the JB Champion uh unique watch, which is like, you know, that that sold for more than the the Clapton Platin twenty four ninety nine at auction. Like it is it is considered by many like one of the greatest watches ever made. And Alfredo owned that watch up until like, you know, thirty days before we did that video. Um so that that that would would |
| Unknown | be be up there as well for sure. How about you, Steven? Uh so you know my my instinct at first was to maybe say Gary's collection, uh, but I realized that's because it's basically m a collection of watches that like I either currently own, have owned, or like am on the verge of owning. Um so I'm gonna let that slide because that's basically just saying like I wouldn't change anything. Um I think I would take Matt Jacobson's collection. Great choice. I like that it's a tight collection. Um, I like that it's it's like really well edited, which appeals to me. Uh it's a mix of like vintage Rolex. He's got you know the 3700 Nautilus that's in like unbelievable condition. Um about as good a condition as you would want to actually still wear it, um, which is is important. Um but then he's got weird stuff. Like he's got the the beta 21s, which I just love. You know, those paddocks, they're huge, they're heavy, they're on removable bracelets that like, as he says in the video, like he hasn't he can't figure out how the bracelets were made. Um, they're just so weird, um, which I find appealing that there's something like that in the collection. A mix of Rolex Sport Watches. And then if if we're talking about stuff that's that's outside the collection or was outside the video, you know, I know Matt has acquired quite a few things since, uh, some really beautiful Daytonas, other Rolex sport models, and then a Credor, um, an Ichi, uh, which we talked about when we had him on Hodinki Radio. Uh and to me that watch actually is what like tips it uh for me is to to have a collection that has like great vintage Rolex, great vintage paddock, twenty five twenty six, thirty-four forty eight, like really incredible, like beautiful minimalist stuff. Oh yeah, there we there we go. Ben's Ben's Ben's Ben's just killing me here with this white gold twenty five twenty six. Uh I won't celebrate first, I promise. I appreciate that. That's that's all I've asked. Uh yeah, I that that that to me is just like it feels like a very me collection. Um so I think I'll I'll go for that over I'll go for fit over like pure quantity and like objective quality there. Ye |
| Unknown | ah. Jason and now that you you know, I've been thinking about what you said, James, like the Jason Singer collection was absurd. And now obviously I know the other watches that he has and and since uh you know, since purchasing just absurd. Sorry. Uh I wish I had headphones in, but I don't. Um just absurd stuff, you know. I mean really like the best of the best of the best. I mean his white gold thirty four forty-eight, which now is on a bracelet, is just like come |
| Unknown | on. I mean that's that's a dream, you know. Yeah, the the Singer collection was the one was my natural answer. And then I I didn't I wanted to make sure we had we had some variety, so I I went with a couple there. But I mean singers, singers, I mean, it'd be I if I I could you give a collection like that to a guy like me, I sit down and just learn about each one, it'd be a whole you'd have an education. That's a that's a four-year degree in Incredible Watches. Yeah. Just just yeah, really cool |
| Unknown | stuff, really thoughtful. For sure. All right. So to wrap things up here, uh, I got a question for you, Ben. Uh, you know, you talking watches is is your and Will's brilliant uh creation here. You know, you've you've been deeply a part of it since before episode one. We're now fifty-three in, you've got a whole team of people making episodes now, multiple producers, multiple hosts, the whole thing. Where do you want to see it go from here? Like if you could come back in five years and see what Talking Watches is like, what what would you hope it looks like |
| Unknown | ? Yeah, I'd I'd love to figure out a way to get more um d first of all to do more of them. You know, I think this this is our number one requested editorial product by a country mile. You know, people just want this all the time. It is very difficult to produce. I mean, much more so than I think people really understand, uh, at least to to our standards or the standards that we've imposed upon ourselves. Um, so certainly more of them. And I think, you know, just f really striking a a really great balance of celebrity and real people. You know, we often tell stories of great sentimental watches. You know, we typically write those stories. Um, but I think we could use this format to tell uh to tell them in meaningful ways. The Mokey uh the Moke videoy was a great example. You know, the long return, which was not a talking watches, could have been, you know, in in a weird way. Um, you know, there are things where things that we produced that have been really wonderful and a little bit more kind of like uh human and uh we didn't put those in the talking watches uh category maybe we should have uh so I I think you know focusing more on a little bit more more real life stuff as well as you know the crazy stuff and like you know there's some guys that that we know are out there that we just have to to get around to filming. You know, they're mostly in Europe, uh, you know, arguably the biggest watch vintage watch collector in the world we know and uh, you know, we'll be getting to that at some point. There's Ed Shirian, which we know we'll get to at some point. Uh, you know, th there's some there's some bangers that are like right, you know, right on the edge of of occurring. It's just a matter of making the time. Um you know, first of all being able to leave your house, you know, that that would be help. That helps, yeah. Uh and then beyond that, being able to get in a car and get go get on an airplane. Um but you know, it's the the one thing I would just want to remind people of is that like, you know, this this is like none of these videos are sponsored at all in any way. Like there there's not a dollar coming to us for for doing this stuff. Like we just do this because it's the best content there is. And I know that doesn't seem like any great, great notion, but like this stuff is incredibly expensive and incredibly time consuming. Uh and it's a lot, you know. So I wish we could figure out a way to kind of um do more of them without deviating from the products that that actually do kind of pay all of our salaries, you know. Uh and it's it's really tricky. I think we found a good balance, but you know, it's I would love to be able to to to do more of them and have people like I'd love to have a team dedicated to talking watches full time. I mean, make it a series, you know. Um, but you know, maybe with time, you know, the business is is doing okay, so who who knows, you |
| Unknown | know? There we go. Awesome. Well, uh, if you're listening to this or watching this on YouTube, uh check out the comments. Let us know your favorite episodes. Feel free to answer any of the questions we talked about today. Uh like we've said before, like the best part of doing this is uh talking about it with all of you guys. Ben's Ben's waving waving watches at the screen there. So I've got uh so I've got you know watches on my desk here, and it' |
| Unknown | s just like I'm just looking at them talking to you guys. We're doing an impromptu Ben Climber talking watches now? Yeah, I mean this is not you know this is |
| Unknown | not something you don't know about, but this watch is so good. Yeah. I've honestly that might be the watch I'm wearing most while working from home. Yeah, it's a really good one. Uh awesome. Thank you guys for doing this and uh for making Watch Madness so awesome. And uh yeah, we'll have you back on. We'll talk again soon. See ya. Take care. And to take us home this week, we've got our own John Buse talking about his favorite work from Homewatch |
| Unknown | . This is John Buse here. Gray asked me to hop on Hodinky Radio this morning to tell you about the watch that I've been wearing while working from home. For me, it's been just one. Each day for about six weeks, I've raised my left wrist and seen the same watch. It's a Rolex GMT Master 2. This kind of uninterrupted wrist time isn't totally uncommon for me. While plenty of friends and colleagues find satisfaction in changing their watches each morning, I tend to wear mine for longer stretches, chalk it up to laziness, or the overabundance of caution that's caused me to keep my watches at the bank. A watch in my collection might draw my attention for any number of reasons. Formality might call for my early 60s IWC Caliber 89. The desire to view a perfect dial and changing light might have me reaching for my grand seiko. Or a beach weekend might mean it's time for my tutor Black Bay fifty eight. Oh, to have those occasions to look forward to. Or it could be a story I'm working on, in the inspiration I hope to gain from having a certain watch ticking on my wrist. Whatever it may be, the watch I choose tends to stay with me for maybe a month or so. I started wearing my GMT Master 2 for inspiration. I was writing my longest piece of watch journalism to date, the recently published reference points, Understanding the Rolex GMT Master. And I wanted to tap into what this watch means to me as much as what it means to the larger collector community. I had a feeling wearing my Batman would help me along as I went deep into an important part of the Rolex story, and I think it did help. Purchased last July, my Batman is a watch that drew me in mostly from a design standpoint. Its black and blue bezel insert being my favorite color combination of all the Seracron GMT Master twos, and its Jubilee bracelet converting me from a dyed in the leather strap guy to someone who started to lean toward bracelets, as long as they're the right bracelets. A Rolex GMT is a travel watch, of course, and I hope to put mine to its intended use once COVID nineteen is a distant memory. But I also think a Rolex GMT makes a fine contender as a daily wearer. I sometimes think of the great photographer Bruce Talaman's reference sixteen seventy five, which he talks about in a Hodinky magazine column titled One Man One Watch, When I Wear My GMT. I hope to attach meaningful memories to my GMT the way he has to his. This was a watch born to go places after all. Like most of us who are fortunate enough to work from home during this difficult time, my morning starts with waking up, figuring out breakfast, and then staying put. Zoom meetings with an upbeat core of colleagues are the highlights of my days. When I occasionally venture out, it's with a mask covering my face in a travel sized container of precious purel tucked in my po The rest of my watches are sequestered in a safety deposit box at the bank. And while accessing them occasionally feels like it might be an essential activity, like buying food, I obviously know better than that. For now, I'll continue to wear my GMT happily as I work from home, the local hour peg to New York time. I look forward to going places and making new memories with this watch on my wrist when the time is right. Stay safe and enjoy your watches. See you See you on the other side |
| Unknown | . This week's episode was recorded remotely by our group of editors and was produced and edited by Grayson Corhonin. 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. |