The Grey NATO - 138 - February Q And A
Published on Thu, 18 Feb 2021 06:00:25 -0500
Synopsis
This is a Q&A episode of The Grey Nato podcast where Jason Heaton and James Stacey answer questions from listeners on various topics related to watches, travel, gear, and their interests. They discuss things like watch preferences (dive watches, date complications, modular chronographs), gift ideas (for a newborn child or a niece/nephew), favorite hiking trails, and potential limited edition watch collaborations.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason Heaton | Hello and welcome to another episode of The Grey Nado, a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 138 and we thank you for listening. Well, after a long delay, we're back to Q&A. |
| James Stacey | We sure are. How are you doing, Jason? |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, pretty good. Yeah. I'm eager to get to some of these. We've, we've been piling them up and uh, yeah, yeah, me too. |
| James Stacey | And the, for those of you who are made, this is maybe your first Q and a obviously welcome. We don't do our normal chit chat. Uh, we don't have a show main topic and we don't have final notes or a quote or, or, or the rest of it. It's pretty much just questions. Um, and if you have a question for us, you can record it into the voice memo app on your phone and then send it to the gray NATO at gmail.com. We collect all of them and we try to do these every month. We skipped January just cause it was kind of a flux month for downtime and the rest of it. But we're back with February Q&A. And Jason, what do you say we jump into these? |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Our first question comes from Kara. |
| Kara | Hi, James and Jason. This is Kara coming to you from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am a physician here. So I would like to thank you for keeping me company on my ride to and from work. My wife and I are expecting our first baby in May of 2021. And to celebrate, I would like to buy a new watch that I will eventually pass down to him. I'm thinking about the Omega Speedy Pro that is due to be released early next year with the upgraded 3861 movement. My question for you is, should I go for the Hesalite or for the Sapphire Sandwich? I am not particularly hard on my watches. But I am a firm believer that if I own it, I should use it. So it will inevitably get scratched and banged up. So I was just wondering what your thoughts are on the subject. Thanks a lot. Take care. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, lucky kid, Kara. And apologies for mispronouncing your name as Kara. But thanks for the question. James, what do you think? What would you go for here? Hesalite or Sapphire? |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I mean, you know, we spoke about this a little bit on the 3861 episode we did, Straight to the Moon. watch, I believe is what I call the dumb name I gave that episode. But first, congrats on expecting. This is fantastic. That's great for you and your family. And thanks so much for listening and for everything you've done, kind of promoting public health and keeping people as safe as possible. As far as the watch goes, I think it's Hesalite. I mean, you can polish out a scratch. And if you shatter the plexi, it was probably in a scenario that was going to do some damage to a sapphire anyways, and you're just going to get it replaced, they can service them. I would go Hesalite. I like the slightly thinner case. I like the fully brushed finish with the Hesalite. And I kind of like the way light hits the Hesalite. You know, this is something that's kind of new in my world is comparing the glow of the Hesalite to the glow of the sapphire. It's kind of a different look. And I like the way the Hesalites look. And I think, Jason, this is what you had said in our speedy one, is you would lean that way too. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, yeah, funny you should say that because I think in this case, normally I would prefer Hesalite, but I think given your profession, Cara, and you intend to wear this thing and you're buying it with the intention of passing down, I think I might vote for Sapphire in this case. And I think, you know, I'm guessing a passed down watch to a baby that perhaps was just born or is yet to be born. We're talking, what, uh, 16, 18, 20 years down the road, um, has light could look pretty, pretty trashed if you're, you know, working in a, in a medical environment or just wearing a lot and you, you can polish it out. But I think, you know, Sapphire will just continue to look good for all of those years. And I think James, correct me if I'm wrong, that's the watch that has the, uh, the see-through case back, which I think might be a nice touch, um, for such a special watch for, for your son. So, I think we're kind of, it's a split decision here, but I think I might go Sapphire. |
| James Stacey | I didn't, I didn't really expect that. I don't, I'm not really a speedy guy, so I picked Hesalite because I kind of figured it would align. Yeah. Go with what Jason said, go with the Sapphire. I think those are all good reasons. I, you know, I don't think the little bit of polish on the bracelet is certainly like an issue in any way. And then you get the logo, the applied metal logo, which is kind of cool as well. Thank you very much for that question. Let's get on to actually we have two kind of very similar questions from Matt and Steve. And there are also things that we basically covered in our previous episode, which is, you know, this is what happens when you have a delay. I think Matt and Steve, you know, sent these questions in December or maybe early January. And so we kind of covered this in our like, what would we do if we were watch CEO? folks, you know, in charge of brands, what would we change? So we'll play both of these ones back to back, and then we'll fashion up a short answer. But if you want the longer answer, just go back one episode to the Watch CEO episode and listen to it there. And we actually got pretty good feedback on that episode, Jason. I'm sure you got some of that as well. So we'll continue doing that with a new list of brands. I'll go back and kind of like we do with the movie, with the film club, I'll make sure we're not doubling up on brands and stuff. But Yeah, so let's listen to the first one you're hearing. Obviously, they introduce themselves, but Matt, thank you very much for your question. And after that, Steve, and then we'll fashion an answer. |
| Matt | Hello, Jason and James. This is Matt from California, sometimes known as MattMcD underscore GMT. Fellas, my question today is this. Are there any watches out there that you would like to change, maybe some engineering detail or some feature? For example, I used to own and really liked the Zinn EZ-M3, eventually moved that watch on, and I'd love to get it back. If only, Zinn would produce that watch with the really great captive bezel that they put on the EZ-M13, and maybe the domed sapphire crystal that they have on the 103. The EZ-M3 shares a lot of case design and kind of the similar architecture with these two watches, and I think it could be a really great, great watch if they incorporated those features. So just getting back to my question, are there any good watches out there that could be great if you could only change maybe one or two details? What are they? I'd really like to hear about it. I'm sure a lot of people would too. Take care, guys. Thanks. |
| Steve | Hi, Jason and James. Steve here from Ottawa, Ontario. Been a listener of the show for over a year now, and I want to thank you guys for generating such awesome content all year long. I also want to give James a shout out for his NATO strap hack that he wrote about over at Hodinkee a little while back. I've actually trimmed the keeper loop on all of my Nados to help them sit a bit flatter on the wrist and I just love the look. I only have to get up the courage now to try that hack on some higher quality straps one of these days, so I'll let you know how that goes. My question for you guys today is pretty straightforward. Are there watches out there that you guys think are a solid 7 or 8 out of 10, so that is to say nearly perfect, But if you could change one minor detail about them, they would be 9s or 10s out of 10s. Like, you know, all time classics. For me, I really think like the new Seiko SPB 143 is an 8 out of 10. I just love everything about it. I only wish that the bezel were a little bit thinner, although at the end of the day, I don't think that's going to stop me from getting one. I've nearly saved up enough for that one. So thanks very much in advance, guys, and all the best in 2021. |
| James Stacey | Jason, obviously, like I said, a lot of this is in our previous episode, but in a short, sweet, sort of concise way, what would you offer up to Matt and Steve who are, you know, asking about what we change in watches to kind of make them perfect? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I'll kind of just echo a couple of the things that I mentioned in our episode about being watch CEOs. The big one for me then and remains is removing helium escape valve from any of the Seamasters, especially the kind of quote-unquote bond style Seamasters with the wave dial. I think that would be such a fantastic watch without an HEV. And I think just to add a bonus one, also Omega related, would be to bump up the water resistance on a Speedmaster Professional to, you know, something closer to 100 meters. They do offer that on some other Speedmasters, so it can't be that difficult to make it a little bit more, a little more water resistant. So those would be kind of my two big ones. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And I think I absolutely agree with those. I would say put sword hands or give me the option of sword hands on the Seamaster, which we spoke at length about. I don't have to do that again. And then I would say this isn't so much something I would fix necessarily, because I don't think there's anything wrong with the watch, but a slightly smaller Pelagos, I think would be pretty cool. Like a Pelagos 58. Yeah. I think would be pretty great. And then of course we made the point of really harping on the idea that a GMT Pelagos, almost of any size, 39, 41 who cares would just be such an amazing watch. So I think that's where I would go Yeah, so yeah, thanks very much to Matt and Steve for that question And we'll do another one of those watch CEOs around to in the coming months next up. We have a question from David Let's get to it Hello, Jason and James. |
| David | My name is David. I'm in wonderful Rochester, New York and my question for you is I What is the right age to give a niece or a nephew their first mechanical watch? And then as a follow-up, what is the right mechanical watch to give them? I'm not really tied down to automatic or manual wind, but definitely something mechanical. And I'll give you my back story. I definitely picked the wrong age. I gave both of my nephews a Seiko 5 military, the SNK-805, at 10 years old and they absolutely decimated the watches. I mean, I don't even know if they still have them anymore. Wanted your opinion. What's the right age? What's the right watch? And hello, James. You know me. You did an article for Odenki with me here in Rochester a few years ago. Just want to say hello. Hope you guys are doing well. Staying safe. Keep up the great work. |
| James Stacey | David, I sure do know you. That's great news to hear from you. We had a great day in Rochester. David runs a really fantastic kind of strap and leather goods manufacturer called David Lane Design. It's not an ad, he didn't ask for this, but I really like David and he's a very sweet guy. David Lane, as you would assume, DashDesign.com. You can hit the show notes if you want to check out his work. It's really great stuff and really nice to hear from you, David. Jason, where do you stand on this? Have you given any watches to kids? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, actually, funny you should say that. I did and it makes me think, David, that watch brands should probably hire 10-year-old kids to kind of destruction test their watches. Cause it's, you know, um, and James, you've got, you've got two young kids, so maybe you can volunteer a little, a little summer project. But, uh, uh, Gashani and I gave one of our nephews a, one of these swatch flick flack watches that we got at the Amsterdam airport on our way to Sri Lanka one time a few years ago. Now he was quite young at the time, probably, I don't know, seven or thereabouts, and, uh, seemed to take an interest in watches, uh, more as a, know, fun toy or accessory kind of thing. And it certainly wasn't a mechanical watch, but, um, he, he ended up, uh, they, they took a little short family trip to the other side of Sri Lanka, went to the beach like the next day and he lost it like right away. Um, so, you know, seven years old or thereabouts is way too young. I think 10 probably is two for a mechanical watch. I can really only go by my own, personal experience. And that is, you know, I got my first mechanical watch, as I've told a hundred times now that the Seiko dive watch that I got in high school, and I was probably 17 or 18, uh, junior or senior year. Um, and to me that feels about right to me, I think for a mechanical watch, I think it's also coincides with a nice milestone, you know, high school graduation might be a great time to, to get a mechanical watch. And I think it doesn't have to be anything super high end. I think a Seiko dive watch is a great way to embark on, you know, college or whatever you're doing right after that. And it just, it feels like the right time. I think you're, I don't know, it's a, it's a bit of an adult thing to do is to kind of get a mechanical watch. I think younger than that, you're a little less careful with stuff or something. So I'm going to go with, I'm going to go with 18. That's where I'm putting my flag in the ground. |
| James Stacey | All right. |
| Unknown | All right. |
| James Stacey | How about you? Uh, yeah, I mean, I, I'm, I'm inclined to agree on not, maybe not on that number, but on the idea that like, the first, the intro to a watch maybe shouldn't be an automatic or a mechanical watch. And with my kids, they like watches because they know I like watches, so they'll wear a Timex around, they'll wear a G-Shock, they'll wear something where they can read the numbers and kind of understand it, and they're still very young. But I would say probably like, yeah, between 10 and 12 is a really great age to get into a watch, but I would start with a Timex, an Iron Man, like I did. I was maybe more like eight when I got mine. But, you know, I liked, I loved the idea of tech. I still do. But at the time I was, you know, very much obsessed with it. So the idea that had Indiglo and the rest of it was very special to me. And I don't think it would have felt as special if it were a better watch or a more complicated watch or a mechanical watch. It was, I wanted that Timex. So I think you kind of have to align the watch with the kid in some metric. And then, yeah, I think I actually, David, I think you picked what I would recommend, which is a Seiko 5 and SNK Seiko 5 is a great option. super sporty, but at ten you could just trash them. The other thing that that comes to my mind is that at least for me, I had to I had to kind of learn to care for things better. So I think it was better that I started with forty and fifty dollar time x's than eighty or one hundred and fifty dollar, you know, mechanical sakos on my path, you know, because I think I think maybe in my mind, I think the kid would probably be ready for a watch that requires some care, winding or setting the time frequently, that sort of thing, when they're in the mode of caring for other things in their life. Yeah. Maybe they've had a cell phone that they haven't destroyed for a couple of years or that you see that they kind of take care of their things. There is that transitionary point where you go from being a kid who like when you're done playing with your toy, you just kind of put it down wherever you're standing and your mind moves on to something else. Right. And then there's a part where you become more cognizant of of not just possessions, but the idea of caring for something so that it lasts. And all I would do is try and align the watch to what you perceive that level of care to be. Because even though as adults, we say that a Seiko 5 is a pretty tough watch and they're very reliable and relatively bulletproof, that the level of stress that an active kid can put on anything is remarkable. I started my kids out really early with cameras, but I go with $5 garage sale point and shoots that like nobody would want anymore. And if and when they break, remarkably neither has, but if and when they break, very disposable. And while on a long tail, I don't like the idea of disposability in watches, I broke almost all of my first three Timex's. I still have one, it functions, but the strap decayed to the point of coming apart. And then I literally, I physically broke the next two. So I think maybe give him give him a chance to start with something that that's not super precious and not super fussy. Yeah, I think that I don't think that starting a kid Jason you would agree like I don't think that starting a kid with a quartz watch is going to mean that they won't find interest in other watches. |
| Jason Heaton | I agree. Yeah. I mean I was going to also throw in here that I recently picked up one of these marathon navigators, um, for, I figured you'd get there for next to nothing. And I, I'm just blown away by how, just how fun this little, you know, sub $300 watches courts with a composite case. I mean, it would be a great, if I were in high school or if I knew a high school kid that needed a watch, it'd be a great place to start. And I think, you know, the glowing tritium tubes on the dial and the hands and it's, it's pretty, pretty bulletproof. So, um, yeah, I agree with everything you said. That's great. |
| James Stacey | Great question, David. Again, all the best to you and yours in Rochester, and hope to hear from you soon. Thanks so much for listening to the show. Up next, we have Dan, who has a question kind of about Hodinkee content and projects and stuff like that. |
| Dan | Hey guys, this is Dan Margansky coming to you from Chicago, Illinois. Long-time emailer, first-time caller into the Q&A episode here, so I had a question for you I wanted to ask you. really enjoy the content that Houdinki puts out on their website and on YouTube and of course the podcast so I was wondering what my question is for you is what's your favorite piece of content that you've each published for Houdinki yourselves and then also what's another piece of content produced by another Houdinki contributor be it a video or a written article something like that and then here's the second question just to squeeze one in what's your favorite Houdinki limited edition watch that was released I just got the Timex Q and love the attention to detail, especially it being the only limited edition with Hodinkee actually written on the dial. I love that and it's my favorite weekend watch. All right, thanks. Hope to look forward to hearing your answer. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, thanks Dan for that question. Yeah, I mean I had to think about this for a while. I was kind of going through some articles that I've written over the years and I think I would have to settle on I have actually two, two articles that were kind of on a similar theme. And one is from, I think it was back in 2013, I wrote this article about, um, encountering this guy who had a, an old GMT master Rolex that, that, uh, that he wore since he bought it new when he was, uh, spending time in Africa. And it was his only watch. And I wrote this article about something about, you know, the myth of the one watch or something like that. Um, and it really resonated with a lot of people. I still get emails about that and the story wasn't terribly long or, or researched or anything. It was just sort of an impression piece. And then last year I wrote an article about, uh, not buying a 50th birthday watch. Um, and kind of my reasoning behind that. And I think they're both kind of on the same theme. And I would say those are, those are my kind of two most memorable ones that I've written for, for Hodinke over the decade or so I've been there. Um, in terms of what, other people have written or produced. I think the one that sticks with me, and again, this is really a tough question, uh, cause there's just so much good content, uh, is a piece that, that you James had something to do with. You didn't write this, but you narrated it. It was the long return. I think that's so many people's, you know, favorite piece of anything that, that Hodinke's done for forever. Um, the, the two part video series about, um, the Vietnam vet who lost his watch when he got shot during the war. And then a tutor actually went and kind of rebuilt it for him. And that reunion between him and the medic that helped him, I think it was just such a powerful piece that went so far beyond a watch to, to this relationship between these guys. And I think what was neat about it is that, you know, several people within Hodinkee had to, had to come together to put that together. Um, and I think that was just a, that was such a great piece. And then I just real quick, my, my favorite, Hodinkee limited edition. I might surprise people, you know, I have the Blancpain Bathyscaphe version, but I still have this, I still, my eye still goes to that, the Tag Heuer Skipper. I think that was, that was just such a beautiful watch. I almost wish I had pounced on that when it, when it went for sale. Cause it was just such a cool watch. And there was just a story, I think today on the site by, by Jeff Stein of, on the dash about kind of the history of that. historical model, and I don't know, just such a cool watch. So those are my picks. |
| James Stacey | That is a really cool watch, I agree. Yeah. For sure. How about you? Yeah, so I mean, for me, I mean, the stuff that I'm kind of the most proud of is probably the Long Return. You know, I got to host essentially those two pieces. That was great. The one, you know, that I think will always kind of stand out was, you know, Malky Martin's Talking Watches. Yeah. He's just such a fantastic guy. you know, incredible attitude, really powered by gratitude and, and that sort of thing. And, and, and, uh, just such a friendly, it was just a day that I won't forget, you know, um, getting a chance to do something like that. You know, there's, there's a lot of times where if you zoom out even a little bit, it's really easy to think like, this is just watches. And if I stopped doing it, it wouldn't matter. Like, like really at all. Yeah. Um, but once in a while, a couple of times in my career so far, I really felt like I had, um, I had a chance to push something that I like, watches, into a greater sort of perspective. And The Long Return and Moki Martin, the last piece I ever wrote for a blog to watch, I know this was a question about Hodinkee, but the last piece I ever wrote for a blog to watch was my trip to Clipperton, which is 17 days on a boat in the middle of nowhere, a piece that I remain exceedingly proud of. And yeah, I think that's probably Probably that kind of stuff. You know, the Black Bay GMT, I don't think I'll ever do a better watch review than that. I think that that's currently probably the best of my talent. And a lot of that came down to Steven and Gray and Sarah helping to kind of produce all of that. So, you know, none of these are made in a vacuum. You know, I didn't do any of the legwork to make the long return come together. So I don't want to take too much of the credit. But those are the ones I'd be pretty proud of. And then, as far as somebody else's, I mean, my favorite is one that Ben wrote in 2016. I've definitely talked about it before. It's an in-depth look at the watches and cars of Briggs Cunningham. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. You know, he was just a great guy, kind of like a pure mid-century American sportsman. Exactly what you would have wanted, you know, from a post-war wealthy guy, you know, a celebrated sailor, race car driver, started his own car brand. which we covered in the magazine and I got a chance to sit in some of the cars and go for a ride and that kind of thing. Pretty special things, the Cunningham cars. He was also like a prolific watch collector. Some custom Pateks and really, really neat stuff. A lot of it in steel because he was very much a sporting sort of guy. This is a great, great post. It's definitely, like Jason said, it's pretty difficult to pick one and just deal, you know, the stuff that Jason does that are like dive reports. the Sylvia Earle story, the one from last year up in, was it Lake Michigan, where you went with Chris? Oh yeah, yeah. I thought that one was great. I like that stuff that it either captures a time when watches were more than they are now, less trinkety than they are now, or where it's more about a story and maybe the watch is part of a pin in the story. whether it's an activity or an adventure or something like that. So that's where I would go. And then for me, I mean, the LE, there's kind of so many, if you actually think about it. Hodinkee's done a lot of LEs before my time and after. I have the Oris, and I absolutely love it. It's great. It is one of those things where, sadly, it's in a stable of dive watches, so it doesn't get worn every day. But it is a great watch that I really like. I thought the Blancpain 50 fathoms, the bathyscaphe is about a perfect luxury dive watch. I'm not a speedy guy, but I thought the Hodinkee 10 Speedmaster was pretty rad. Yeah. You know, really cool. One I would definitely wear and enjoy. It's a great size, great case, the rest of it. But man, there's been... You could go on for a long time. The Skipper is a great one for sure. |
| Jason Heaton | The IWC, the black case. |
| James Stacey | The IWC is a cool one for sure, yeah. No, they've got some winners. For me, it'd be the AORUS because it's one that I could afford and buy. A lot of these I can't afford to buy. It's nice to be able to get into it with the AORUS. And then I think some of the more entry-level stuff that they've done recently has been really impressive. That MERCY watch with the gray blue I thought was pretty cool. The most recent NOMOS was pretty cool. If you're a big NOMOS fan, I think that one was like different enough to be interesting within their lineup. The team that does that between Kara and Ian and all those folks, they do such a beautiful job taking a great design and just kind of making it their own without it being too heavy handed. So super fun question from Dan there. Up next, we've got one from George. So let's hear it. |
| George | Hey Grenado, this is George here coming to you from Washington DC. I had a question for you because I always ponder this. I've worn both date complication watches and watches that don't have a date complication, and I just find the date complication to be so useful, just in everyday life. I was wondering what's your take on that? If you guys prefer a date complication or no complication? Because I've seen both of you guys post stuff on Instagram where it, you know, it changes from time to time. But at the end of the day, if you were to choose one, which one would you go for? Yeah, so just let me know. Love the show. Been digging all the things that you've been doing recently and I hope that you guys both have happy holidays and a happy new year. |
| Jason Heaton | Alright, thanks for that one, George. You know, boy, it's a tough one. I think I have to admit that having a watch with a date complication and even those with a day complication are surprisingly handy. I don't know, maybe it's this past year with the pandemic, uh, you know, kind of one day sort of bleeding into the next, um, kind of having, you know, even this week, James, I think you and I had some confusion about what day of the week it was. Um, so I lose track of day of the week a lot these days. So a day complication, like on a, even a, like a Seiko turtle is, is really handy. Um, and I'm finding the date, you know, when it's there, it's, it's super handy, but, uh, you know, I'm looking at my screen right now on my computer and there, lo and behold, there's the date and the, and the, little calendar icon at the bottom. And, um, you know, if I'm away from my desk, I, you know, it's easy enough to look at my phone or something like that. So aesthetically, I think I just prefer a no date watch. Um, you know, that's what I gravitate towards, especially if you're wearing watches in a rotation and you don't want to have to set the date because that drives me nuts to wear a watch that has a date complication that's not set correctly. And so I'd rather just avoid the whole issue and, and, and skip the date altogether. And I just think aesthetically, especially on dive watches, it's just so pure and and clean looking. So that's where I come down on that. How about you, James? |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I find it's one of those things where you kind of get in like a mode where like if you wear a watch for a few days that has a date, you start accessing it. Like you start looking at your wrist to check the date day if you have to sign a piece of paper or whatever it is. But as soon as I moved to a no date watch for a little while, like I'm wearing that gold chronograph Swiss chrono right now, which doesn't have a date. I don't miss it. There's just, there's so many other ways to get the date, and I know that's the same argument for like why would I wear a watch? I have clocks all around me, so like we're splitting hairs and there's some hypocrisy in this, but I don't miss it when it's not there, but when I have it, I like it. What I what I can't stand is like dates that that aren't good that are ugly. You know, like a date on a sake of nine times out of ten ninety nine times out of a hundred will look fine, but a date from another brand might almost almost invariably look terrible. So placement is important. I really like date at six So watches with date at six, I almost don't feel like they have a date complication as much as they have a date, you know, integration of some sort. Yeah. When you put it at three, it's OK. When you put it for 30, it's a hot mess. I like big dates and that kind of thing, but that's not typical to sport watches. I think I'm kind of largely indifferent, but I definitely if I'm going to go for a watch, if the same watch has a date and a no date version, naturally I'm going to be drawn towards the no date version. I don't want to sound like flippant about it, but I guess like if the watch has a date, I'll set it and use it. And if it doesn't, we, I can access the date in another way. I also find that while I'm losing track of days of the week, like, like on Tuesday, I wrote Jason and Slack and said, do you want to record Q and a on tomorrow or Wednesday? And of course, Jason being as intelligent as he is told me today is, is tomorrow. It's Tuesday today. You idiot. So yeah, I lose track of that kind of thing sometimes, but I think I probably had way more use for a date when I was moving around and you're constantly thinking about your next flight or your next this or that. I find now I pretty much just take my computer from one place to another in my house, so I don't need a date at all, but I definitely use it when it was on my Explore 2 or whatever and during travel. I think there's a case for it either way. A purist is going to want the no date, and sometimes that is absolutely the best version of the watch. But as Jason and I have been told by, you know, myriad watch CEOs, people buy dates. Like normal consumers that go to buy a watch, they want a date on their watch. So I think that probably speaks for itself at a certain level anyways. Solid question, George. I like that one. Up next, we've got one from Bernard. Let's give it a listen. |
| Bernard | Hi James and Jason, Bern here from Amsterdam. My question is about wearing a so-called luxury watch for its original purpose. I'm an avid road cyclist and I recently started wearing my favorite watch, a Rolex 14270, while riding my bike on mountain roads. Part of me thinks I'm crazy for wearing an almost vintage Rolex during a pursuit that involves copious sweating and the danger of crashing. But a bigger part of me loves the idea of actually using this watch to climb mountains, albeit on a bike. I also keep track of my elevation using Strava so I can figure out the equivalent of how many Mount Everest's I've climbed in total. Something I'd love to inscribe on the case back one day. Am I crazy for doing this? Or is it more crazy not to use the so-called Everest watch to climb Everest's of my own? Thanks again for your wonderful curiosity and a truly great show. |
| James Stacey | Alright Bernard, this is a great question. One that we've gotten in different versions before. I actually think we can probably keep it relatively simple. Just wear it. That road, the Rolex will be fine. I would say absolute worst case in, in my mind, and this is an assumption, but absolute worst case is the vibration from the bike. Now a road bike shouldn't have a lot of vibration depending on the surface. If you're on mountain roads, passes, that sort of thing, you should be pretty good, but maybe the vibration means that it needs to be serviced somewhat sooner than it would have been. But I don't think by a wide margin, these, those are, that's a, that's a Rolex Explorer. It'll be fine. Wouldn't you agree, Jason? |
| Jason Heaton | I would agree. And I, you know, I've kind of come up with a bit of a stock answer now when, when people ask this sort of question and I just say, you know, if not now, when, when will you wear this watch? I mean, I think you sound like you're a passionate cyclist who would really love to be able to engrave his Everest sting, which is a sick idea. |
| James Stacey | I like that a lot. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it's a great idea. And I think, uh, I think you should definitely do it. I mean, I could elaborate on this, but I just think, you know, don't, whether it's your, your old car or your old watch, I mean, What are you saving it for at this point? You know, just wear it. The danger of crashing, I think I'd worry more about yourself and get a good, you know, the best helmet you can buy than worry too much about your watch. So anyway, yeah, good question, Bernard. All right, next up, we've got a question from Andrew. |
| Andrew | Hey, James from Jason. This is Andrew from Ogden, Utah. Love the podcast. I'm a new watch guy. And just one of you guys' thoughts on adding watches to the collection. I have a couple entry-level watches, but I'm looking to get a little more serious into a watch, maybe in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. I feel like, though, before I get it, I need to wait for a special occasion or an achievement, maybe a promotion at work, a life event, something meaningful to kind of attach to the watch. I kind of want my collection to grow organically, and I don't want to be buying things just on a whim, even though I might like it a lot. Just wondering what your thoughts are on if you've had that summer situation. Keep up the good work and stay safe. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, Andrew, I love this question. I think, you know, it points to something that I've struggled with over the years. And that is, you know, just the kind of acquiring watches just kind of for the sake of it, you know, out of almost sometimes out of boredom or, you know, you just, you see something shiny and new and you want to pick it up. And I think I like your way of thinking here, Andrew. And I think to, you know, wait for a milestone or something special or an achievement is a, it's a great excuse and motivator to go do stuff. If you have this, you're dangling this carrot in front of yourself saying, Hey, we know when I, um, make this much money or get a promotion or get my MBA or whatever, I'll get myself a watch. I think, um, it's also a good way to impose a little discipline on what can sometimes become an out of control hobby for, um, for some people. And I think, Um, your, your notion of not just acquiring stuff is, is smart and very mature and, uh, and I like it. So that's, uh, I think, you know, you certainly don't have to take my advice or our advice and wait for a special occasion, you know, go ahead and buy that cool watch if you see it. But, you know, if, if you're debating and you're thinking you might just wait for a special occasion, you know, I think that's a nice, that's a smart, uh, smart philosophy. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I would say the same, especially if in this scenario, Andrew, that this sort of thought process will mean that the watch is more meaningful to you, then absolutely. I think a lot of the times, Jason and I maybe aren't, or at least I can speak for myself here, I'm not always that cognizant of the weight that people put into their watch purchases because I have them coming and going all the time. So it's a very flippant sort of reality to the way that I interface with a lot... I have watches that are very special to me and I have them for special reasons. but a lot of times the idea of watch ownership almost isn't a concern. The idea that somebody could come in or go isn't so much of a big issue, but it also means the watches are kind of less precious. They're just kind of things I'm experiencing for a little while or a way that I keep in touch with the community or really just like Jason said, something to kind of manage a certain type of boredom. That's what hobbies are to a certain extent, right? So if I would say how this hobby hits you, is more important than, than necessarily what Jason or I might say. It's like, if the watch is going to be more special to you because you waited and you got it, you know, for a great reason, uh, then absolutely. This is a very thoughtful way of doing it. If you get more watch enthusiasm out of just kind of cycling through watches and experiencing all of them and not having them tied to a special scenarios, you know, we we've had previous questions where folks ask, like, do you avoid wearing certain watches at during certain times of your life so that you don't kind of imprint memories on them, watches that you may not be considering, you know, a long term hold. So I think it comes down to how will you kind of extract the most personal value from this hobby? And if in doing that, if you do that by, you know, timing your watch purchase decisions with life hallmarks, I think that's a fantastic way to interface with what can be, like Jason said, something of a problematic hobby at times. |
| Unknown | Makes perfect sense to me. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I think so, too. Next up, we've got a great question from Neil. |
| Neil | Hi, James and Jason. Love your show. This is Neil from Champaign, Illinois. My son has commandeered my Moonstone down jacket, and I'm looking to get a Patagonia, either the Nano Puff or a down sweater. and would like your opinion of the difference between the two. My other one was down and I never had a problem with it getting wet. Is there, besides the being wet concern, a benefit over the synthetic versus the down? I'm leaning towards the down, but would love your opinion. Thanks. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, thanks for the question, Neil. Uh, your timing couldn't be better given how cold most of the U S is these days. Um, and I've had ample, ample, uh, chance to, to test out, uh, both down and synthetic, uh, as luck would have it the past few days, um, on a few hikes. Um, so I've got a, a pretty plush Canada goose jacket that I got as a gift several years ago. And I, I kind of hold onto it for the, the all, but the, you know, the coldest day or sorry, only the coldest days. Um, and it is super warm and I've also got a few other down jackets, uh, from, uh, Westcombe and some others, but I tend to wear synthetic more often. I think that the Nanopuff is just such a versatile piece for all but the coldest days. Um, and then I've got this Trollvagen Primaloft 100 jacket from, uh, Neurona. They sent us some gear a few months back and I wore that out. Ghoshani and I went for a hike on a frozen lake yesterday and it was like below zero Fahrenheit. So quite, quite chilly, you know, 20 below Celsius or something. And, um, it was incredibly warm. I mean, no problem at all compared perfectly with, with down. I think the, the fears that people have about down getting wet are valid. Um, but you know, when you're wearing it, when it's really cold, there's very little liquid water around anyway. So unless you're breaking through the ice somewhere, um, you know, I would say it's a pretty minimal concern. Um, And then for the warmer weather when you might get a chance of a downpour or some rain or something, you're wearing your nano puff or something that still has a little bit of insulation when it's wet. So those are kind of my feelings about it. |
| James Stacey | I actually don't know. Every year, all of these brands, Patagonia and others, always have a new synthetic material that's warmer than down or lighter than down or can be sewn in as a panel like The big reason that the nano puff is different than the down jacket is the down jacket is cells of feathers and the nano puff is a synthetic material that's sewn like a canvas inside the jacket, so that not only does it function okay when it's wet, it also doesn't bunch up when it gets wet into balls of feathers. So the Nano Puff is an easier jacket to manage in terms of cleaning it and caring for it. You don't have to put tennis balls in your dryer necessarily or that sort of thing. You can kind of treat it like a more traditional modern garment. There's a little bit different care when it comes to a down jacket. That said, I don't know that I would want to exist in a scenario where I only had one or the other, depending on how cold it got, because when it's really cold, I go to down immediately. I have a Marmot 800 weight down jacket. that I really like and it's super warm and sometimes I wear that under a shell of some sort. If I think there is going to be inclement weather and then the only other side is with these jackets, it genuinely matters what you're wearing underneath the jacket and how you tune that to what you're doing. If you're going on a walk, it doesn't really matter, but if you're going hiking or cross country skiing or doing something where you're going to be sweating, the down will be less effective. at kind of making sure that you're not either over warm or or too cold. I like a world where you have both. If I could only have one, I would probably go with the nano puff simply for flexibility. I like that the nano puffs not as warm as down, but it's also about the weight of a sweatshirt. When you're wearing it, you just don't really notice it's on. It gives you two three pockets. That's all really handy, but I also yeah, this is kind of tough. I've never I've never really considered like one versus the other, because especially if you're interfacing with a shell, like in mountaineering, you would always have a big down, um, which, you know, which is what you'd put on if you were stopping, if you weren't moving. But if you're moving, you move in synthetics almost exclusively or walls, right? Like high quality walls. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, I think when it's really cold, the, the, the big concern, if you're doing anything active is moisture management, you're, you're always sort of dialing up or down your speed or your effort to keep from sweating too much. And I think down you know, if it has a downside, it's a pardon the pun. It's that it, uh, it can almost make you too warm. If you just even crank up a little bit, if you jog up a hill or, or, or, Oh, absolutely. Country skiing. I mean, down is almost too warm and then you, you sweat and then it's actually counterproductive because then you get, you get that chill, um, from your own sweat. Now there's a third option that I'll throw out there because I had a, I don't know if I still have it. It was from a brand called Ortovox, a Swiss brand that make, uh, makes, avalanche transceivers, but for a while they were making a line of clothing and I had this vest, insulated vest that was insulated with a wool. And so it was, it was a puffy vest, but in the, in the baffles inside it, they used, um, they used wool and it was, it was one of the most warm pieces of clothing I had. Um, it was heavier than, than down or synthetic, but, uh, definitely would do the job if it got wet. Um, so if there's, I don't, I've never heard of anybody else having that out there, so I don't know if they're still around, but, uh, That was a third option. |
| James Stacey | The thing the thing that gets it. I will say the last thing that will get that gets me where I will normally I'll reach for the the nano puff versus the marmed or a down is if I have to drive somewhere in the winter because you go outside and you're cold because it's cold outside. Then you get in your vehicle and you have to return to a normal temperature that everybody else in the vehicle is always comfortable with. And I run hot like as a human being. I run kind of hot. So I like my car a little bit colder than most of my passengers usually do. So then if I'm in there You go outside, you clean the car off, you kind of get your heart rate up a little bit, getting the snow off the car, or even if it's just a cold day and you don't have to clean the car off, you get in the car and you're the right temperature. Fifteen minutes later, it's hot and like unzipping a down jacket doesn't doesn't really do that much. It's holding a ton of heat in around your back and your arms. So there's that's definitely a scenario where where I like that the the the effectiveness of the of the the standard nanopuff. They're light and they're not that warm. They're not crazy warm is what I mean. And they're very effective as a layer for those transitionary temperatures, spring, fall, in and out of cars, in the winter, that sort of thing. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. A good sweater under a nanopuff will do. Oh, absolutely. |
| James Stacey | Or the big sweater and the vest, right? If you run a bit hotter. But I would say ultimately, if you're just talking about a casual jacket, that you kind of wear around and it's not necessarily for really intense sports or, or otherwise it, it almost doesn't matter. Yeah. Both of these products will be excellent. You'll get a lot of years out of both. They have a fantastic warranty. Um, my preference just after years of owning a few examples is the, is the nano puff cause it's the, it's the least fussy of, of the options in terms of how it regulates its temperature. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Well, good one. A little bit of winter left, uh, Neil. So yeah, yeah. |
| James Stacey | Next up, we've got a Chopard question from Sylvester. |
| Sylvester | Hey guys, this is Sylvester in Berlin, Germany. Firstly, just want to say how much I love the show. Your knowledgeability and your humanity are really welcome these days and I look forward to every episode. I have a two-fold question concerning a chronograph I bought many years ago. It's a Chopard Mill Miglia. During my ownership, I've gotten very deep into the hobby and along the way, it surprised me how Chopard is very rarely mentioned. and sometimes even looked down upon as a fashion brand, which is a term I have a problem with, but that's another topic. So why do you think this company, which is family-owned since the 1960s and in business since the 1860s, is shunned by the community? It doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the watch, but I'm curious. The second part of the question is technical, and that is, why do I so often hear that the modular chronograph movement, which this has, makes for a thick watch? I've measured it at 11.5 millimeters, so is there something particular about Chopard's manufacturing? or is the thickness issue just misinformation? Looking forward to your reply and keep up the great work. Thanks. |
| James Stacey | All right, Sylvester. That's a fascinating question. We can speak in opinions when it comes to why Chopard maybe isn't as popular as they once were, and I actually think it's a question of timing. I'm sure, Jason, you'll remember some of their sportier watches that they used to make, stuff in steel. And obviously this Mille Miglia exists in steel and they still make watches in steel. But I think right around the time that the whole market started to move towards sportier steel sports watches, they went a little bit harder on Geneva Seal, LUC Perpetuals and higher end stuff. And I think it's taken them a few years to kind of find their footing. Now they have the Alpine Eagle, which is sort of their sort of Royal Oak or Nautilus or you know, page has the polo. So I think that it's just a question of maybe they were out of phase with where enthusiasts were going, maybe even more specifically male watch enthusiasts. I really like the Mille Miglia. I really like a bunch of their kind of automotive chronographs. They do a nice job with that. They used to make some really interesting sort of oddball sports watches in the early two thousands and in the nineties. But I think just as they sort of you know, not so much reposition themselves, but they are one of these brands that they're almost like, I think they remind me a little bit of like Chanel, where like Chanel makes watches, but most of what they do is in jewelry, right? And then if you flip that, Chopard makes incredible watches and a really fantastic manufacturer, but they also have this side that's more tied to jewelry and, you know, you always hear of, oh, so-and-so at the Oscars is wearing a one point five million dollar show par necklace, and I think that's some of that doesn't always tie back to having enthusiast support. They used to do a little bit more with pushing the millimillia is connection to the race, the millimillia and their connection, and certainly the people running the top, the very top end of show par very much into vintage cars and that kind of thing. But yeah, I think it's a question of timing. I think that they have a great lineup and they make an absolutely incredible watch. And they've even dabbled in the last few years in trying to find a home with sort of luxury sports travel watches, right? They make some lovely GMT world timer style stuff. But I think they mostly get overlooked because just as maybe they were ending some of their sportier stuff, the market really turned towards very sporty stuff. I would say in my mind, thanks to a specific generation of Panerai, Breitling and, uh, and Rolex. |
| Jason Heaton | Does that make sense? I don't have much to add. I don't have a lot of experience with Chopard, but I, I, I tend to kind of like these brands that are known for something else, but still quietly do these amazing watches like Chopard or like, like at Hermes or, um, Harry Winston or something, you know, there might not be to my taste, but like whenever I would go visit them at Basel, I'd always be like, wow, you know, props to you for turning out these amazing pieces. Um, And I think, you know, before I learned more about watches, Chopard was a jewelry brand in my mind. It wasn't anything disparaging. It wasn't anything negative. It was just, it was, it was known for its jewelry, but I like the Mila Milia stuff. And I think it's, I think it's great. |
| James Stacey | The other thing I would say before we get onto the modular chronograph aspect of the question is, you know, Sylvester, you had mentioned this idea of like a fashion brand. And I think, I think within certain circles, fashion brand has extended to be way more than the Daniel Wellingtons and maybe the Invictas and the Michael Kors and that kind of stuff. And now they start to include, people start lumping in brands that they just don't really understand into that moniker, that sort of mall watch moniker. And I think that term, I like the term fashion watch because it allows me to understand where the company is coming from. Are they making a watch that manufactures, you know, that kind of follows a trend? and is meant to be more of a part of a greater ensemble that may be worn by someone who doesn't care that much about watches specifically. Or, you know, like I've heard people say use that term to describe even things like Cartier, which is insane. You know, there's a very big difference between being a fashion brand and a jewelry brand or a high jewelry brand. And there's a lot of amazing jewelry brands that have watch wings, but there's also amazing watch brands that have jewelry wings. I think that's where we find Chopard and, uh, and Cartier and, and, and, and less so, whereas if you, like I said, if you spend that on its head, you get the Chanel's and the Hermes. And, and I think all of them are making really incredible watches, especially with the availability of high-end watchmaking within these circles, you know, from LVMH and, and, and other entities. But yeah, I think that, uh, I think that Chopard doesn't get the credit they deserve because they weren't really positioned to be in the core of the enthusiast market for the last say 10 years. |
| Jason Heaton | And I think Sylvester to move on to your, your, question about modular chronographs. Just by their nature, they tend to be thicker simply due to the construction of these watches. They're typically layered. You're taking an automatic or a hand-wound movement and layering on the chronograph functions or components to the movement, and that just by its nature creates a slightly thicker movement. I think some brands have mitigated that using thinner components overall or incorporating a micro rotor instead of a big rotor that sits on top. or a peripheral rotor or something like this. And so certainly your 11.X millimeter Chopard is not an extraordinarily thick watch, especially for a chronograph. |
| James Stacey | Very thin. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with modular chronographs. I think they solved a certain problem and make kind of a base movement more versatile because you can use it for other things. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And I think in many ways it's also, it's just a question of packaging, right? Um, what, what they everyone and it's not, it's not a question of all packaging being equal. So when a brand like Zen makes a modular chronograph, you can actually see the, in some cases, the, the disparity between the winding stem and where the position of the pushers are for the chronograph. There's, you know, uh, uh, a gap, they're kind of stacked one being higher or lower than, than the other. Um, and then as you get into better, you know, more complete designs when it comes to either how the modular element is added or when you get to integrated chronographs, if you design them from the ground up, it's just a thinner overall thing. It's better. It's better integrated. Hence the term. I like to think of it as the difference. Sylvester, if you're, if you're into cars at all, if you take a, uh, say a, uh, a V8 and put a supercharger on it, you're going to drastically change the, where the hood is in the car. There won't necessarily be room for the supercharger. So then the hood gets higher or you put a big power bulge or whatever. And then brands more recently have really found ways around that, uh, uh, Mercedes-Benz and now the brand new McLaren Artura, which was announced yesterday, they use deep incline V engines. So the Artura is 120 degree incline on the cylinders. And then in the space of that cylinders, in the gap created by making that wider angle, that's where they put the turbos. And that allows you to take the packaging of the engine and put it way down. So the balance of the engine, the weight goes down and it allows a proper hood line, a cowl line, Um, and, and I think that it's the exact same thing in watches. There's scenarios where brands are operating to a certain budget and let's face it, like show par has a bigger budget than as in like the watch costs more, there's, they can put more time into it. And the end result is greater refinement and, and, and thinner. And maybe in some cases, the movement isn't necessarily that much thinner, but maybe they're able to slim down the case and the case back to account for it. Uh, you know, great watchmakers do some really great things. And it doesn't always matter what the movement is in question. It's how they kind of package it. Interesting question, though. And for sure, Chopard, I think, probably has some great stuff ahead. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. First time that brand, I think, has come up on our show in five years, I think. |
| James Stacey | I think so. Yeah. Give or take. Yeah. All right. So we've got another from Daniel asking about Seiko's, a brand that has come up more than once. |
| Daniel | Hey, James and Jason. This is Daniel hailing from the very snowy Helsinki, Finland. A while back I found myself in a situation where I was contemplating on which watch I would buy to be my number one daily driver watch. After a lot of pondering I actually ended up getting the Seiko SLA-043 which As you guys know, it's the remastered version of the Seiko's first ever die watch, the 62MAS. I just couldn't say no to the vintage looks fused with the modern tech and the kind of amazing silvery luster of the ever brilliant steel that Seiko uses in these new watches. I know you guys like your Seiko, but usually there is a strong value angle attached, which is only natural given the history of these Seiko divers. Now that the brand has started to break that mold, I was wondering what do you guys think of these current top of the line Seiko divers? Thanks guys for everything you do and Jason, I cannot wait to get to read the depth charge book. Cheers, guys. They care. Yeah. Thanks for the question, Daniel. |
| James Stacey | This is a good question because I think these are absolutely incredible watches. I also think in many ways they offer a huge value if you compare them to other high-end watches, other high-end dive watches. But on the flip side, this is an SLA 043, which is a $4,500, 1,700-piece limited edition. which is a kind of a blue dial version of the SLA-017 from 2017, which was like a direct kind of reissue of the 62 mass from Seiko's first dive watch. And I think all of that is fantastic. I want to say the SLA-017 was more like $3,800 or $3,400, so they're getting even more expensive. And in that, it says Seiko on the dial, but you're getting, like in many ways, a grand Seiko-level movement. uh which is which is kind of a calling card for these jason where do you land on spending this much on a seiko i don't i don't want to speak out of turn here because i i don't spend this much on my watches yeah i just don't like so that's what one of the reasons i went with my spb 143 is you got most of this aesthetic for a thousand dollars and at the time i mean i still feel that's not an insignificant amount of money to spend on a seiko but it is a fourth of what uh what they're asking for something with a an amazing movement and the slightly smaller case and this incredible design legacy? |
| Jason Heaton | Well, I think, you know, um, we have to allow brands to move out of kind of what they're known for. And I think Seiko for so long has hung its hat on its affordability. Um, but on the other end of the spectrum, they have the capability to make these incredibly high end watches at the Creed or in grand Seiko level. Um, and to have that sort of meet in the middle with a watch, like the SLA series, um, you know, what, a three, four or $5,000 watch, um, is kind of a sweet spot. I think you, you know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with, um, you know, paying that much with Seiko on the dial. I think you're getting such a tremendous watch. And if you're not someone who, you know, is worried about, you know, the guy next to you on the plane or at the restaurant looking across and saying, you know, it's a Seiko, you know, like they make cheap watches. I mean, you're buying it for yourself presumably and for your enjoyment of it. And if you really like the steel they use and the precision and finishing of a movement, um, you know, Seiko's up there with, with some of the best and, and still much cheaper. So I think to buy an equivalent watch from, you know, in Omega or something, you might end up even paying more than that. So I think we should, we should, uh, applaud them for, um, for, for making the watches that they do at all levels. And I think, you know, they swing above their weight, even at the lowest level, even for a turtle, I think it's, you know, another brand might sell that for twice as much. |
| James Stacey | So yeah. And I think the other thing to consider is like, while, while this is a $4,500 Seiko one that makes it such a sleeper, like it's a watch that only a watch enthusiast is going to be able to have any, any knowledge of. Right. And then the other side of that is like, look, we're like, sure. Maybe Seiko has moved up in the last little while, especially with these SLA lines, the top of the prospects, but They're also moving Grand Seiko up. They announced a Grand Seiko this week that's $9,100. And like I think a lot of the value proposition that we might normally attribute to Grand Seiko still exists, but it is moving up. It's not the same insidery brand that nobody really knew about five or 10 years ago and was kind of this like super nerd core, you know, Japanese brand. And I think in bringing prospects up to help with some of that gap, especially, and I don't wanna be unfair to Seiko here, but I'm really not wild about any of their Grand Seiko divers. They're very big, they have a very specific kind of design aesthetic, and I think in many ways, the Grand Seiko diver that I would want is one of these SLAs, the 043 or the 017. I just think they're just beautiful watches. If I had the money, absolutely. Largely, the aesthetic is what took me to the SPB, So in some way, I had already invested in the idea of wanting a watch like that, and to be able to take it to that very high end degree with the SLA, I'm all for it. And I think it's... They're not cheap watches, that's not what we're gonna sit here and say. If you want the quote unquote cheap or more accessibly priced thing from Seiko, there's a lot of grand... There's a lot of TGN episodes that cover those, but with these, I think they've done a great thing and made a really beautiful watch. And sure, they're not cheap, but they're also really not that expensive if you're just in the mode of comparing them to others. |
| Jason Heaton | Good question there, Daniel. And I'll be sure to look for your depth charge interests and get a copy off to you in Finland. All right. Well, now we have a question from Jeff, who wants to know about our favorite day hikes. |
| Jeff | Hi, Jason and James. Living in Northern California, I have found a real sense of peace in doing many solo day hikes throughout the pandemic, similar to your great recommendation of the Craig Adams YouTube videos from Final Notes. I recently completed my now favorite and top bucket list day hike, Coyote Gulch, in the Glen Canyon area of southern Utah. I know you have had some similar questions in the past, some with special sentimentality in the case of Jason, but what are each some of your all-time favorite day hikes? If you could give a brief summary of your thoughts and highlights for each, that would be great. Also, what hike would be top of your list if you could be dropped off at the trailhead anywhere in the world tomorrow? Looking forward to another great year of TGN. Thanks and take care. |
| James Stacey | All right, Jeff, that's a great question. Obviously, we like to do some hiking. I haven't gotten in very much this year, but yeah, I got lots of faves. Anything stand out for you, Jason? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I've done a bit of hiking. I think one of the most beautiful places to hike and most friendly for a visitor is over in the Swiss Alps. I've done a few trips over there and managed to get out for some day hiking. And the scenery is spectacular, but also their signage is just you know, second to none when it comes to kind of the friendliness of, of not even having to worry about navigating the signage, uh, you know, at these trailheads and junctions, it's just incredible. Gishani and I were there, uh, over above Grindelwald at a ski station called, uh, Fierscht. This was several years ago. We were doing a photography clinic there and we managed to get out, um, for a day hike. It was a pretty wicked day. This was like late fall. So it had started snowing and the wind was blowing, but we hiked up to a, this mountaintop restaurant called the foul horn, uh, was the name of the peak and, and had a cup of tea and a bite to eat and then hiked back. And it was a really memorable hike due to the weather, but also the scenery was just amazing. We were looking across the valley at, uh, at the Iger and at the better horn peaks just across the way there. And, um, and then I was also in Zermatt years ago, uh, also in Switzerland, but in a different part. And, Um, got up early and did a hike up out of town, uh, pretty rough track, kind of Rocky and through some woods. And then it breaks open above some tree line and you get these spectacular views of the Matterhorn and these kind of little villages with the cows with bells around their necks and just kind of quintessentially Swiss. And, uh, you know, I I've hiked, you know, in Rocky mountain national park and in Wales and Sri Lanka, but I think for me, the Swiss Alps. is just such a magical place. And I recommend it to anybody that's even just passing through. You can jump off the train in one town and hike to the next and catch the train back where you started so easily that it's just such a great place to hike. So those are my favorites. |
| James Stacey | That's killer. Yeah. Wouldn't it be nice to be in Switzerland for a hike? Oh, yeah. Man, that sounds great. Yeah. For me, it'll be just north of where you're already based, Jeff. Most of my great hikes were in the Pacific Northwest. So for Vancouver, uh, you know, huge love of, um, the gross grind and then Thunder Ridge to crown mountain, which includes a dip into Headley Valley. That, that that was one I used to do several times a year. It was a, uh, you know, you're sort of all day slog, especially if you didn't take the gondola back down. If you went down on tired legs on the BCMC trail, which is a kind of an on. unmanicured trail that they don't really like people using, but you can go down that way if if you don't want to take the gondola back down. You know, pretty much anything that you can any any of the hikes that you can access from Cypress Mountain or Seymour Mountain, which are these two mountains that kind of flank Crown Mountain in in Vancouver in on the North Shore. Those are ski areas. You drive up there park for free. There's bathrooms and then there's tons of hikes off of there. You can do st. Mark's. You can do the three pumps of Seymour. You could do a really fast one like dog mountain. You see me my favorite just for some training. Um, it's a, maybe a 30 minute thing. If you're running it, it was, it used to be a fave of mine. If I, if I just wanted to start the season off with something that wasn't a lot of climb, it's kind of a more of a horizontal run along a line. And, um, and then the, the, the really state, the really fantastic stuff is, is, is a little bit harder to get to. So tunnel bluffs, I always really enjoyed. It's a, it's a, um, a not heavily used trail, uh, partway on the way up to Squamish. and you kind of have to cross the road at this sketchy area and enter the forest by some hockey sticks. And then once you're in the woods, you kind of move through these these various almost like X file set designs of just like deep, lush, rich forest. And it's not a ton of climbing. It's a little bit. It's some switchback work, but the end is you end up on a little bluff that overlooks the house sound. You're not up as high as ST marks, but you'll have less people than you will on ST marks. The the geography is a little bit more varied the st. Mark's a very famous hike It's the one I took Jason on and of course we did on a cloudy day, so you couldn't see anything It was wasn't wasn't the ideal, but that's one of one of Vancouver's great hikes incredible Incredible visibility and then I would say if you're in Vancouver and you're feeling fit and fast and you get a very early start I've never had a better hike than Brunswick Mountain But it's a hike I didn't see anyone else on, which is weird for a five or six hour hike at speed in Vancouver. It also takes you to the peak of the highest mountain in the North Shore Range, which is Brunswick Mountain. It's not quite 1,800 meters. So it's a great climb. You basically leave out Alliance Bay. Super, super good. And then if you go a little bit further north, I mean, it's kind of endless when you get into the Whistler area. Girobaldi is amazing. Like I said, it's a little and then you can go even further and go into Pemberton. I mean, like you could do all these if you don't want to come into Canada. I did some really, really fun, really easily accessible hikes around Table Mountain, which is in the Baker Ski Area. So that's a short drive from Seattle, a short drive from Vancouver, all things considered. There's also lots of great like rental properties in that area. Obviously, post COVID would probably make it a bit easier. But yeah, I did. I've done the you know, there's a behind route on Baker that takes you to the base of the Coleman Glacier, which if like you haven't had a chance to walk up to a glacier and touch it is kind of a pretty special moment, almost a religious experience. I was just I was floored. It was so much bigger than I expected it to be or that it almost felt like bigger than anything I'd ever seen. So there's some fantastic hiking through that throughout that area. And my guess is you don't have to go that far into the Cascades. But yeah, I'm big Big Pacific Northwest guy for sure. |
| Jason Heaton | And, uh, his followup question about where you would want to be dropped off. Like if you have a dream day hike that you want to do any, any thoughts there? |
| James Stacey | Uh, yeah, I mean, I, I'm not fit enough to do it now. It would take me 10 to take me 10 hours. I'd probably take me a whole light cycle to attempt to do Brunswick. Um, but if you gave me a little bit of time, uh, to, to sit on a bike or a stair master and try and get my legs back into some sort of shape, I would do Brunswick again on a clear day in a heartbeat. There's also some, um, There is a route that you could take essentially from Cyprus, uh, the skiing area, which is just in North Van, and you can take it all the way to Porto Cove where you and I dove on those shipwrecks. Yeah. Um, so I would like to do that. It's a, maybe two, two or three day, depending on your pace and who you're with and the rest of it, but it follows, it follows this really incredible collection of, of peak runs and wherever Jason is saying that he would go, just find me there. I'll go with him. So where would you go? |
| Jason Heaton | There's one, uh, one place that I've wanted to try that, um, I didn't even know existed, um, in this form. And it's, I think it's along the Southwest coast of the UK. Um, and it's right along the coast. Um, and I can't remember the term they use for it cause it's kind of a peculiar form of hiking, um, to that area. And, and it's kind of a combination of hiking and swimming and sort of scrambling on wet rocks and kind of playing with the tide. Um, you know, they have this sort of trail that runs right along the coast and then occasionally you'll sort of scramble down some rocks or jump down into the water and then swim across a little cove, climb up those rocks and hike a bit. And, you know, you, I've seen, you know, YouTube videos of people doing this and they're wearing, you know, sort of a kayak or rock climbing helmets and carrying a dry bag backpack and a wetsuit. And then, um, it's sort of fast and light, uh, multi-terrain, um, kind of hiking. And I thought that that just looks like kind of a neat adventure. So for sure, that's sort of, One of those things that exists out there on a, I guess, on a dream, dream hiking list for me. |
| James Stacey | The other one that comes to mind before we clear, just because it's an entirely different zone than the Pacific Northwest or, or, or this water hike that Jason described is a super Alpine did, did an episode all on the Alps maritime that, you know, that area of the French Riviera kind of around Monaco and Nice and then in and around the mountains there. but there are walking or pseudo hiking routes between the cities along the coast. |
| Unknown | Oh yeah. |
| James Stacey | And I think if you didn't want like the big verticality, but you wanted like, I would say, I would call it almost more of a vacation hike. Uh, I bet you that's an incredible way to spend a few days walking from one little town to a big city and then to another town with a backpack. And I don't know what the rules are for camping there. Maybe you'd have to, you'd have to do different something else. I don't, I don't, I'm not really sure how that works in various countries. But at that one, the photos in the in the super alpine issue were were incredible and it just looked like not a lot of hikes are like really relaxing necessarily, especially if you're talking about like I want to get to this peak and that peak and you know you're in for a slog. So I think there's a there's a time and a place for the slog for sure for the what what adventure journal calls the suffer fest and and in other cases that you just kind of want to be outside and in somewhere beautiful. Um, so yeah, either give me a temperate rainforest for that or, uh, or the coastline would be incredible. I'm sure like Oregon's coast is probably some of the best hiking in the States and that kind of thing. So lots and lots out there front, really fun question. I would, I would love to be, love to be hiking more than I am these days. |
| Jason Heaton | Can't wait. You've got me in the mood for summer all of a sudden. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Oh yeah. All right. So we'll do a, let's do one more as we're now well over an hour. So, uh, let's get to one about the, uh, Nomos Ahoy. |
| Brandon | Hello gentlemen, hope all is well. This is branded in North Carolina. I wanted to get your take, and I apologize if I missed it in past episodes, but I don't believe you guys have ever discussed the Nomos Hoy. And I've been looking at the Hoy and kind of narrowed it down to the Atlantic Dial. And there's the 40mm date and no date version. Then there's a 36mm version that looks to be maybe the one I'm leaning towards. Everything I read reads that it kind of wears the best. certainly is big enough at the 36 mil considering it's mostly dial, but I just wanted to see what you guys thought of the Nomos Ahoy sort of in its standard colors and sizes and date and no date option. And for the fun part, if you guys were given the opportunity to do a gray NATO Nomos limited edition Ahoy, I'd love to hear what you guys would be interested in each doing. Let your minds run wild. Solid gold's always an option. Sounds good. Take care, guys. |
| James Stacey | All right, Brandon, that is a great question. You know, we don't talk about Nomos a ton on the show. I think in the past we've said it's kind of like the greatest watchmaker that we probably wouldn't buy a watch from. And it's definitely not because their watches aren't great. It's that I have a lot of choice anxiety when I look at their watches. You know, they make a lot and they have a very defined kind of similar aesthetic. And I kind of get lost in it. I absolutely love the Ahoy, you know, the spot in Vancouver. Rolled Orphan Co, they carry them and I've seen them, I've gotten hands on, plenty of hands on time with those watches. I absolutely would go with the smaller version. Again, to your point, Brandon, it's so much dial that a 36 millimeter almost does not wear like 36 millimeters, especially with the long lugs. So I would definitely go with the smaller one, but I don't think you're going to not like the 40. Uh, just, just pick to your preference. Um, a fantastic watch. Really, really cool. Uh, I, I would, I would just have a hard time if I committed to the idea of having a NOMOS, what, what the next step would be. How do, how do you filter it down? So if you're already filtered down to the Ahoy, I don't think you can go wrong. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I love the Ahoy. I had, uh, I had one to test for about a week, maybe a little longer, several years ago. And I actually took a diving, um, in, uh, where was I? Uh, St. St. Martin and the Caribbean. Um, and it was, it was for a column I used to write for revolution magazine. Um, and it was such a, it was such a wild watch. It has that beautiful Perlon strap, which was my first experience with that material. And it's such a, an elegant looking watch. And I remember strapping it on, on the dive boat, like getting ready to go in the water with a bunch of strangers that were also diving. And one guy looked across and said, that thing looks way too precious to be taking diving. And it does, it looks, it looks a bit dressy and, um, you know, very modern. Um, and it did fine. It certainly isn't a dive watch by any stretch, but it does have the 200 meter water resistance. I just think NOMOS does such a great job with, with color and with, you know, typeface, um, very angular, very designy, very, you know, sort of my cliche phrase is, you know, it's very architect-y kind of black turtleneck look. Um, and, I would say maybe with the possible exception of like the World Time Zurich piece, you know, this would probably be the one I'd get just because it feels the most versatile. But those lugs are long and I think even at the 40 millimeter, I think even on my big wrist, it would hang over the side. So yeah, I'd opt for the smaller one. And then I think for a TGN version, actually, I think this watch would would actually look pretty cool in like a slate gray or Admiralty gray dial with an orange seconds hand. I think it would just look spectacular. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. No, we're on very similar pages. I would actually, I would say go with a dark gray dial, make sure the hands pop with some color. So a blue or an orange seconds hand would be really cool. And then all I would say is I would really love a brushed Nomos. A lot of their cases are fully polished. I think it'd be super fun to do a 36 millimeter Ahoy with a gray dial, no TGN branding, of course, or anything like that, but like a nice gray dial, maybe something that felt a little bit more specifically sporty and then put it on like a nicely made like gray, like a Cordura style strap. I don't think those watches will take a NATO super well. I actually believe the lug or the spring bar points are actually slightly lower than the case. So it's not going to hold on to a NATO really well, if that makes any sense. But I think it would work super well on a strap. They also, I've seen a couple of people wear these Ahoys on like really simple rubber straps, like Hirsch Pures. They look pretty cool. Yeah. Especially if they suit your personal style. I think you'll do, I think you'll do great, Brandon. Well, good pick. Good questions. Super fun questions today, everybody. Yeah, so we got to we got to all but five. So if you're listening, I don't list your names or anything. But if you're listening and you're like, why did they get to our question? We try and keep these, you know, within the range of an hour. But we also I won't wait until the end of March to do our next one. So if you have a question for us, the great NATO at gmail dot com, record it into the voice memo app on your phone and then send us that file and we will get you on the list. Uh, we currently have, uh, we received 171 questions. We couldn't be more thankful and, uh, and thrilled that the Q and A's continue to be popular. So if you have that question for us and it doesn't have to be about watches or, or even travel, adventure, diving, driving, et cetera. Um, it could be kind of anything that you might want to have our opinion on. These are, these are meant to be us all kind of having a conversation together. So, uh, that's how we'll, we'll carry on with that. Uh, but thank you very much for everyone who sent one in. |
| Jason Heaton | And as always, thanks so much for listening. You can hit the show notes via Hodinkee.com or the feed for more details. You can follow us on Instagram at Jason Heaton and at J.E. Stacey and follow the show at The Graynado. As James mentioned, if you have any questions, please write to us at TheGraynado at gmail.com and send in those voice memos. Please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. Music Throughout is Siesta by JazzArr via the Free Music Archive. |