The Grey NATO - 141 - Bremont's Got A Wing And Some New Watches
Published on Thu, 25 Mar 2021 06:00:39 -0400
Synopsis
Jason and James discuss several new watch releases from Bremont, including the opening of Bremont's new manufacturing facility called "The Wing." They cover details and share their thoughts on the Jaguar 60th Anniversary E-Type chronograph set, the new S300 GMT diver, the Supermarine chrono, and the Argonaut Azure. They also talk about Jason's recent acquisition of a film development tank called the LabBox that allows daylight film processing, and James discusses a quirky online baseball simulator game called Blazeball.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason | 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 141 and we thank you for listening. James, what's new? |
| James | How's it going? Oh man, things are pretty good. You know, feeling kind of, I'm in a springy sort of mood. I've had a fair amount of coffee. Slept okay last night. No real complaints. You know, a few episodes back and kind of once a year, we ask everyone to, if they have a minute and if they have an opinion, preferably a positive one, but an opinion about the show, we ask people to, you know, leave us a review. We put it in the footer of every episode, but I don't really like to bang on about reviews or likes or anything else. But we ask, we try and ask about once a year because it makes a huge difference in the way that especially iTunes kind of looks at the show and treats the show and how it weights it in various algorithms. And we don't love playing that game, but we do appreciate all of this. And I wanted to start today's episode with like a super sincere thank you. I was putting together some marketing material for the show, which will take effect kind of later on down the road. But part of that job was I went through to kind of collect some positive mentions. As one of the creative forces behind the show, I don't love seeing some of the reviews always because a bad review can really stick in my mind for a while. Thanks to all of you, that's not really an issue. We have a really excellent rating and Jason, I could really not be more grateful for the audience that TGN has built up over the years. We're going to continue to try and make each and every episode something that you can enjoy and we have some special announcements on the horizon that we're pretty excited about. But I really did want to take this opportunity to just say like a huge and really, from Jason and I, a huge and really sincere thank you for the reviews, the listens, the emails, the DMs, all of it. We can't do it without you. This is, you know, just my most favorite thing I get to do is creating this show and chatting with Jason and then getting all the feedback and designing new shows and Q&As and the rest of it to try and fill in. gaps and stuff. So I did want to start with a big thank you as it was kind of a humbling and uplifting moment to an otherwise kind of very busy and stressful week, um, to, uh, to kind of see, to kind of see some of the feedback about the show. So if you left a review, thank you so much. If you plan to one day leave a review also, thank you very much. |
| Jason | Yeah, I'll, I'll echo the same. And, uh, you know, it, it makes me think of, you know, if you go to get your oil changed at a big, you know, chain, a car service place or you, I don't do anything with, with any sort of customer service experience. And you get this little notice at the end that says, if you liked our service, please give us a five star rating. If, if it's less than five stars, you know, don't leave a review. We'll call you and try to figure it out. We don't do that. And, and, and so I think, um, that carries so much more weight when we do read the reviews and see the really high marks that we get on, on the podcast, uh, apps. Um, I was looking at the Apple one, even the week before you were James, and I saw the same thing and it's like, wow, you know, I need to go in there and really go through and read those, um, in more detail because I think, uh, for people to go ahead and take the time to do that, um, is really amazing. And we both thank you so much for that. |
| James | Yeah, for sure. And, and, and, and to Jason's point, if you have criticism, put that in your review, if you want, or if you want to get it directly to us, the great NATO at gmail.com, uh, we always want to make the show better. We want to make sure we're not leaving people out or speaking in a way that isn't accessible and brings people into the appreciation of the things we list at the top of every show. But yeah, I'm trying to practice extra gratitude these days and a lot of it goes out to you guys. So thank you. In other good news, I have a functional MacBook keyboard. super quick too they turned that yeah yeah so uh a big shout out i i paid for it there was no freebies or anything but a huge shout out for the incredible service at ron c mac in toronto by high park and i normally i like to interface directly with apple with for these things but this was so simple and they took it in and they were super straightforward about the expectations and then they ended up having it fixed in less than 24 hours which for me um, is, is worth its weight in gold. And I was really impressed by the level of service and, and the communication and the rest of it. So if you're in Toronto and you have to get your max service during what's a difficult time to be going in and out of stores, certainly, uh, Ron C Mac made it super easy and, uh, they were very quick and very clear with, uh, with how things were going to go. So, uh, that's great. It feels like a brand new computer and, uh, it was covered, which is a super fun. I didn't have to spend several hundred dollars, uh, fixing said keyboard. And then to follow up, I had complained or lamented or shared frustrations, whatever term you prefer, about some monitor connections. And I can report back that running each monitor separately via its own DisplayLink cable, for anyone who might want to do this in the future, works really well. It does, of course, take up two USB-C ports on my MacBook. So it's kind of a weird collection of cables that are now plugged into both sides when I'm in kind of desktop mode. Uh, but that's working well. So, uh, from a tech standpoint, uh, we're doing relatively okay here in Toronto. How have you been? |
| Jason | Oh, great. Yeah, it is. Uh, it's truly spring here. Uh, it's a little rainy day here, which is, uh, kind of welcome actually kind of like a good, good spring rain. Um, but, uh, we've been, we've been hiking a lot. We go out, uh, we try to walk, you know, just around the neighborhood every day, but on the weekends we try to get a little further afield and, and get into the woods. And I just realized that ever since this all this sort of pandemic lockdown started a little over a year ago. We, we've just done so much hiking. And I think in that respect, it's been a real silver, silver lining to the, this big cloud that we've all been living under. It's it's been good to, you know, get out and get a little muddy. This is the time of year when all the snow is kind of melted in the, in the woods and you get those big mud patches and been able to, you know, Trump through and test out my waterproof boots. And, um, you know, I've been, uh, taking along my old Nikon F3 and shooting some film, which has kind of been a fun, fun thing lately. And, uh, yeah, it's just, uh, you know, spring is, is what it is. I mean, I, every year for my entire life, uh, come out of winter and, and underestimate spring and the power of, of longer days and, and getting sunshine. So it's been, it's been great. And then speaking of mud, I, Ghoshani signed me up, uh, for, An off-road driving course. I've got a birthday coming up and she thought that would be a really cool birthday gift. And it is. And, uh, so we're going to go up North, uh, in mid May to what's called the iron range, the region way up North and the border country of Minnesota, where they did a lot of the iron mining. And there's a lot of kind of backwoods, muddy patches and old open pit iron mines and whatever, um, that are suitable for, for getting off road. And, and so we're doing a, an off-road course in the Defender. So I'm super excited about that. You know, we, we've wanted to take some longer road trips and camp and that sort of thing. And I think if you get out to places like Colorado or even the Dakotas, you know, within a day or two's drive from here, you can get off road a little bit and do some, some, you know, what I would call light off-roading. I'm certainly not planning on doing rock crawling or mudding or anything like that, but it's good to have those skills. And, and, you know, look, if I'm going to, if I'm going to drive this Defender, I've got to at least be able to, kind of walk the walk to a certain degree. So I'm, I'm really excited about that. |
| James | Yeah, I have, I have so many feelings about this. I love driving courses. I've done several, um, you know, before my time in the automotive journalist community, I've used to pay for them. Uh, and they're, they're, they were super, I've, you know, I've done, uh, I've done a couple levels of the BMW performance driver training. Um, I've done, I haven't done any off road. I think this is a great idea, man, that the, you know, the big, I know that the big kind of thing, if you're going to get it dabble with off-roading, especially in, in your prime, the vehicle that you plan to live out of in that scenario, you know, that we learned from venture four-wheel drive and Chris shots, his YouTube channel, that like the winch is really the deciding factor. If you don't have a winch, you kind of drive one way and, and, and you drive with a completely different level of caution. And then if you have a winch and preferably even maybe even another person in the car with you, you can be a little bit more daring. Um, and, and you don't, you don't have a winch on the, on the defender currently, I |
| Jason | No, it felt a little poser. I mean, we'll see after this course, if we want to take it to another level, I would definitely consider that. Um, and they, they look the business and I think they'd be very handy even for just pulling cars out of ditches in the winter here. But, uh, you know, we'll see maybe one day. |
| James | Yeah. I like the idea of them. I really liked the ones that are hidden in the bumpers. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | Yeah. Um, so then you just kind of have an access. Sometimes it's behind the license plate, which is kind of clever. Yeah. Um, but I know that kind of stuff, that means you're then probably going to like an ARB bumper or, or whoever makes like kind of high end specialized bumpers for the defenders that could hide something like a Warren or whatever. And I, I would love to learn how to do the winching before ever considering buying my own. Yeah. So that's, that's where these, that's where these courses come in. So nicely, right. Is, is you can, you can get out there and I'm assuming you're in their vehicles, not yours. |
| Jason | No, we're taking ours. Um, so we, Oh, that's great. We go in ours, uh, according to the syllabus, the, you know, there's some, it's a two day course and there are two instructors, one who drives at the front of the group and one who drives at the, at the rear, bringing up the rear. And then I think there it's a maximum of 10 vehicles. And so you, you do the kind of the beginner loop in this off-road park and. You know, they stop various places and kind of teach you how to get out of trouble and how to pick your lines and how to, you know, use the throttle and the brake and steer and all of that sort of stuff to get through. rocks and mud and wade through water and that sort of thing. So, um, I wasn't sure if instructor rides with you or if it's, you know, what scenario it is, but, but Gashani will be sitting next to me, potentially driving some of the parts. And yeah, so, you know, what's great about both of us being able to do this too, is that we should get some really cool photos and video out of this. So that'll be fun to share. Uh, it's, it's been so inspiring to watch like that, um, that Hagerty's video that you put up a couple of shots ago. |
| James | Yeah. |
| Jason | with Ryan doing the, the defender, you know, going through the mud and, and then with the Range Rover and then the defender and, uh, and then watching, um, venture four wheel drive or venture forward, you know, watching what he's doing solo in his Wrangler. Um, you know, that's kind of, I don't want to say it's our goal to get off road all the time, but I think that notion that we could go out to, you know, the desert Southwest or, or big bend national park down in Texas or in, know, somewhere out West here where you get a lot of public land and you might encounter kind of a bit of off-roading or a slight, you know, wading through some water or something, just having those skills. It's, it's a very different type of driving than, than on the road. |
| James | So, you know, it should be great. And the cool thing about with Chris shots and you learn this, if you watch enough of them is his driving style is very specific and it's, it's, it's not flashy at all, but everything he's doing is protecting the vehicle from damage. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | So it's very slow and progressive. And you see, I watch a lot of Jeep and off-roading YouTube now, and there's definitely a line between sometimes it's the driver, other times it's the build. Some of these ones are designed to be high power, jumping, ripping over things, like respond to a tough scenario with more throttle. But for the most part, you really just, and you saw it in that video with Ryan for Hagerty, just crawl. You're just kind of crawling along. You want to maintain a pace that's very comfortable for the vehicle. And yeah, I think some training in that, in that regard would be, um, would be fantastic. Yeah. Super smart. And my guess is you'll have a great time. I had a great time. And every time I've done one of those courses, it'll also be kind of fun because it's your vehicle. So you'll get to learn kind of, or, or understand some comfort zones and just how hard you can tilt it. |
| Response | Right. |
| James | You know what I mean? Like some of that stuff. I remember in November of 2018, I went to London for the launch of the new Range Rover evoke. Oh yeah. And the car wasn't out yet. So they were very much avoiding having it being driven on public streets. So in right in central London, kind of just outside of the shortage area that we, we ended up at, um, like kind of, uh, an empty railway facility of some sort. It was very beautiful. It was definitely probably something used in movies many times. And I I'll eventually recognize it in some Guy Ritchie movie or something, but It was all this brick and archways and there were pools of water and stuff. And they had designed an off-road course that was through this sort of terrain. Oh, wow. But they were really smart where every obstacle had a guy guiding you. Sure. And they were very clear about this. They're like, unless you drive off-road a lot, and they're like, I'm sure there's a couple of people here who have really driven Land Rovers off-road. You don't have any idea how hard you can tilt this thing, how well it'll drive through water or up what seems an impossible incline. And they were dead right. I was terrified through most of it. There are definitely a couple of times where I thought I was going to like go up onto two wheels. Yeah. And, and of course the guy waving me is barely watching the cars nowhere near its limits. Yeah. So you end up learning, you end up learning these balancing acts and, and, and kind of an understanding of, of just how much incline and, and what the real departure and breakovers are and the rest of it. I think, man, I think you're going to have such a good time. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| Jason | Yeah. Yeah. My only experience to this one was, um, years ago when I was writing regularly for gear patrol, I had an opportunity to, uh, I don't remember how this came about, but I was able to go drive a tank. There's a, there's a place, there's a place about an hour from home here that, that they've, they've purchased like, you know, old military tanks. They had a couple of Russian tanks and then they had a couple of old American tanks and, and they let you crush cars. And then they had an off-road course that was full of mud pits and through the woods. And, uh, It was, it was amazing, but a tank is not a defender. I mean, a tank, if you hit a tree that, you know, the tree's going to go over, not the tank or, you know, not your vehicle. And, um, I know it was wild and plus driving it as like, you're using these two big, um, you know, sticks pulling back and forth to, to turn the vehicle. And, um, you know, it's just, it was, it was, it was crazy. It was wild. That article is probably still out there somewhere on gear patrol, but it was, I'll dig it up if I can. |
| James | It was, it was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. But one that I think we should do is in, I think it's in New Hampshire, kind of Northern New Hampshire, actually pretty close to the Canadian border. If you end up really loving this course, let's take it to an extreme and we can do that. The team O'Neill rally school. It's a five day course. |
| Jason | No, no rallies. |
| Unknown | I'm not sure. |
| James | I'm not sure how we would, I'm not sure how we pay for it. I'm sure it's quite expensive, but it's always been my dream. There's a, there's a West coast. Um, I think it's called rally fish or dirt fish. I think it's dirt fish. Um, which I think is in Washington or maybe Northern Oregon that I looked into, uh, several years ago and it was just outside my budget, but that's, that's for me with a dream would be able to do. I've done a little bit of the snow kind of high-speed snow driving with Porsche and with, with a Mercedes, but that's not really rally. That's like right on the edge of rally, uh, you know, pendulum turns and, and, and that kind of stuff. And I would love to get the, I watch a lot of the team O'Neill's YouTube channel, uh, because they'll demonstrate a lot of like rally adjacent techniques that can help everyday driving. Oh, sure. Like a lot of it about, you know, making sure you have weight over your driving wheels, your steering wheel in the snow, that sort of thing. Um, I'll link, I'll link, I'll put one or two in the links and you guys can check them out. But, uh, man, I, I love these driving courses. They're super fun. Uh, they always seem expensive when you're looking at the price. Yeah. And if you've never had the experience, but on the other side of it, I've never once felt like it wasn't worth the money. You end up with this awesome experience. You feel a little bit more confident behind the wheel. You might save yourself from a big accident or some damage off road or something like that. All of it can be, can pay off. Yeah. |
| Jason | Yeah. And we'll make a camping, camping trip out of the same. So it should be. |
| James | Oh, well, that sounds like fun. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Super. |
| Jason | What about you? What else? |
| James | Speaking of camping this weekend, I was able to get up to the project property, make sure that it was all in one piece after the winter. You're never really sure. Not overrun with rodents or anything. No, no animals, uh, nice and clean. Uh, every, everything seems to be fine. Uh, so we're just making some plans for the last few kind of smaller rentals of flow, like a proper, probably a vinyl engineered floor of some sort and, and that sort of thing, but light stuff. But it was really fun to get up there. The lake was still frozen, but it was like a really nice sunny, warm day, sat out by the fire for a few hours. You got out of the city, which I think mentally helped a lot. And yeah, it was, uh, it was, it was super nice. I'm really excited for a summer of, mostly still hanging out up there, but also doing some of the, some of the projects, the little works that have to still be done. |
| Jason | Yeah. Did you camp? Did you tent camp while you were there? |
| James | No, we didn't stay over. Oh, you didn't. Just went, just went up for the day. Cause it's still dipping around zero overnight. Yeah. Um, which would be fine. Yeah. It's everything's very muddy and wet up there. If you, especially, yeah, if you, if you end up in a low point or, or yeah, where, where you might end up putting a tent. Yeah. Um, but no, we were up there. So saw a Fox. It was pretty cool. Nice. I like seeing foxes. Yeah. He was eyeballing us. We had some chicken wings. I think he was interested in, but he can't eat the bones. So we had to make sure to take them home. Oh yeah. Other than that. Yeah. I mean, along the same lines, it's like the, the, the, I, I'm trying purposely to limit the amount of weather talk we put at the top of these episodes, but it's been, it's been nice outside and, and, and I feel like I'm kind of reintroducing myself to going outside. Um, but I also, you know, especially where I live in Toronto, it's very populous. So everyone else is doing the same. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | Uh, so yeah, I've been kind of hunting for kind of quieter places and, you know, I want to fly a drone with my kids or something like that and really not be around other people. But, uh, I think, yeah, that kind of property will be super helpful for those sorts of things. Yeah. |
| Jason | Yeah. Cool. Well, let's, we should talk briefly about this pen we both got, huh? |
| James | And yeah, yeah. So we, we, we've got this, uh, this pen to chat about, which is fun. Our, our friend Ed, uh, who we know from the, from the watch world, he reached out to me and saying that he was, he was kind of helping with, um, with some marketing for this company Tactile Turn. I like pens and Jason, you have some interest in pens as well, but I've never really found the one, if you will. I've done lots of different fountain pens. I've done ballpoint pens. I like those $2 ones that you can get from Muji, the gel pens. Those are pretty good, but I've never really found the one that matches up with the way I feel about a pocket knife or a wallet or a watch or a pair of shoes, like just that one that feels like it kind of aligns with the rest of your kit. I had heard of them before being in and out of kind of the pen scene, you know, back in the day with Kara Customs and Kickstarter projects and stuff like that. And Ed gave me the breakdown and there were a few things I learned about this company. So the company is called Tactile Turn. They make kind of higher end pens, typically with a kind of fun clicky mechanism. Um, so they're, they're kind of claimed to fame as the sort of bolt action, kind of like a, a Remington rifle that can, you know, click the pen down into place. And then when you tap it, it, you know, with a spring, it bounces back to the closed position. And then they have this other one called the side click, which is kind of the same thing. It's a clicky back pen. Uh, I'm sure there's an official term for that, but I'm going to go with clicky back. And then it has like a release button on the side and, uh, it sounds pretty nice. You can hear it here. Yeah. |
| Jason | Very satisfying. Very addictive. |
| James | Yeah. And I, I kind of knew what to expect, or I thought I knew what to expect from a, like a nice pen. And, and I don't want to go like overboard or anything, but they, they do, this is a really impressive thing. So both of us ended up with a sample of their current sort of like limited edition or seasonal release, which is called the Overlander. It's $150 pen. This one is Cerakote you know, um, covered titanium, uh, in sort of a, um, um, OD green. And then it has like a tan clip, but the company makes everything except for the cartridge in house, maybe the spring as well for the cartridge. I'm not sure. I didn't clarify that, but I should, but everything down to, I was blown away. The little torque screws that hold on the clip, they make those in house instead of buying them. So they're a Texas based company, you know, family, family brand. Uh, and I'm super impressed by the product. This one that was sent in is the short configuration. So it's a 5.3 inch and uses a Schmitt EasyFlow 9000 medium refill. So there's lots. But then their site has this interesting list of compatible refills. And it even refers ones that aren't quite compatible and how much you would have to trim off the back side to have it fit in your pen. So they're super kind of... I like it. In my mind, it's in the same space as like these Finch knives that I've gotten recently. It feels like a boutique product. That's very considered, really nicely made, like a flashlight as well. You've had yours, yours came in yesterday. I've had mine for a few days now. I've been using it to take all my notes during meetings and things like that. What do you think, Jason? |
| Jason | Yeah, it feels really good in the hand. It doesn't, um, it doesn't feel cold, you know, like a lot of pens do. Um, it's, it's the right thickness and then that very fine, I don't know if you call it knurling, but it's, um, that texture on the, on the barrel of it is just, it feels good. The finishing is really impressive. Um, you know, I've got one of the brass embassy pens that, uh, Houdinki shop and a few other places sell. And I like that pen, but it weighs a ton and, and I like it as an object. And I think this kind of scratches the same itch. It's a very tactical. And I don't mean that in the, you know, Molly, you know, Cordura. |
| James | Yeah. |
| Jason | It doesn't, it doesn't feel like that at all. I mean like tactical as in, tactile, I guess is the word, hence their name, I suppose, but it just, it feels good in the hand. And, uh, and then the clicky mechanism is fun too. And it, it, it writes great. I mean, I think it's a great product. |
| James | Yeah. If you wanted to try their kind of standard issue would be either their titanium slide click pen or the titanium bolt action pen. And they started a hundred bucks, which if you're used to like, like me in some ways, if you're used to a $2 Muji pen or maybe even less than two bucks, It may seem like a lot, but I think if you write notes or if you are in the mode of handwriting things and you might appreciate a good pen, this is not on the expensive side of where pens go. They get so much more. I've spent more on pens and they're pens I never touch because they didn't really connect with me. I've got Montblanc fountain pens. I've talked about on the show these Kaweco Lilliput pens that they cap over and they're quite small. They're good for a pocket. This is, this just feels like a, like they took a normal pen that you would use most days or every day and elevated it rather than making it a needless, like not a needless, but making it a specifically luxurious, fancy sort of product. And I kind of like the fuss free feel of this and the, the overland, you know, that green and green and tan kind of thing is, is cool. I'm impressed. And, and you know, we, we like ed quite a bit and I'm impressed by, uh, by the product for sure. Should you find yourself in the market for a new pen or if you are writing, if you like to journal, if you have a daily use for a pen these days, then I think it's absolutely worth a check. I look at the mug of pens I have on my desk and I think, well, that represents not an inconsiderable value that I've put into testing these things out over time. I know that we don't typically talk about pens, um, but in my mind it is in the same vein as a flashlight. It's something that I need occasionally. And when I have it and I need it, I just need it to work. Yeah. Um, but it is kind of nice to, to have this in your bag versus, uh, uh, you know, a simple plastic ballpoint or something like that. |
| Jason | Yeah. Thanks Ed for sending those over. It was really, uh, it's fun to try out and, um, you know, it's, it feels like the right pen to take, uh, take my notes or on that, uh, overlanding or that, uh, off-roading course. Yeah. |
| James | Yeah, I'm sure there'll be a little class session, you know, a little bit of book learning before you get behind the wheel. But it's not an ad. Tactile Turn didn't pay or anything. They just sent us each a sample to give it a try. And I'm really impressed. So if you could be even remotely interested, we'll put the link in the show notes. I think if I was spending my own money, it would be on something either like this Overlander Or really just that the standard titanium bolt action looks super cool. It has kind of like a clean industrial design. There's no flourish. It's just titanium. Yeah. And, uh, it's, you know, I, I think they're, I think they're cool. I, we, you know, suckers for well-made things, I guess. Right. But, uh, thanks. Thanks very much for that. Ed, like, uh, like Jason said, and, uh, hit the show notes if, uh, if that might be interesting. and and if you guys want uh if this should be kind of a something we should add into the the fold alongside flashlights in the occasional chat about pocket knives uh we we can start paying more attention to pens if people might be keen for it so let us know in an email um let's see what else we got on the list here well speaking of well-made stuff what are you uh what are you wearing we can segue into oh yeah let's do a wrist check wrist check yeah i've got my aquastar on I wore a smaller watch that I'm not currently at liberty to speak about, but a significantly sub 40 millimeter watch for some time. And I thought I would kind of get back into the kind of tough dive watch feeling. So yeah, I've got the Aquastar. I've got it on that dark blue shell that you sent me. Oh, nice. Yeah. The shell strap. I don't have the bund part attached. I haven't Haven't quite gotten there yet. I'm going to ease myself into that pool. It's a warm one. But yeah, I still absolutely adore this watch. It is one of these watches where when I'm bored on a Zoom call or something, I kind of glance down and it's so pretty. It just kind of makes me smile. I really, I absolutely love the way it wears. It feels big and like purposeful, but not too big. So it still feels like a sports watch. and I just I mean the style design both obviously it's a a very strong recreation of the original but I just think it's such a pretty thing in general and it takes a bunch of different straps uh once once it once I I start to transition into maybe more moving around and jumping in and out of water and docks and such I may move to a mesh it's really good on a kind of a shark mesh oh yeah which is a a fun match for these as well what uh what have you got on something that might speak to our main topic |
| Jason | Yeah, so I've got my old Braymont Supermarine 2000 on. This is a watch I've had since 2013. In fact, as I was thinking about it, I think it's my second longest lived watch in my collection. I think only my 40th birthday Rolex Sub I've had longer, which is really weird to think because it's not, eight years isn't that long ago, but yeah, and it's, it's amazing. You know, we, we talk a lot about the quality of Braymont and their watches and I think you know, the hardened steel is one thing that comes up a lot. And I think, you know, for a watch that's eight years old that I've worn a lot over the years, um, it doesn't show any scratches. I mean, there's just, there's no blemish on it at all. Um, which is good and bad. You know, sometimes you want to watch to show a little bit of life on it. I mean, my, my deep star, which I've worn pretty much nonstop since last July is just covered in scratches, especially that polished bezel. But, uh, this, this thing, this Bramont is just like perfect. Um, it looks like a brand new watch and, |
| James | Yeah, I mean you have my you have my solo there. Yeah, and that that watch has been loaned to a lot of people Yeah, I consider it kind of a Bremont and the watch is a Bremont ambassador So I've loaned it out to a lot of people I think it has one scratch on it or did the lot when I saw it about a year and a half ago Yeah, it's in it. I mean, I'm you know that the folks I've loaned it to are, you know careful with stuff But that's one of the that is one of the things I liked about that watch is I knew that if you just stand up to An absolute beating. Yeah. |
| Jason | Yeah |
| James | So big super means they're fun for sure. |
| Jason | It is. And it's, it's a huge watch. Um, but I put it back on the original rubber, which I haven't worn it on in a long time. I've had it on boom straps and NATO straps. And, uh, I got the bracelet for it, which made it really heavy, but it looks really good on it. Um, but I put it back on the rubber a couple of weeks ago and it, it, it, there's a reason why it, it's a perfect fit for the watch. It wears really well. And I think it's, uh, it's ready for summer, summer adventures. So. |
| James | Yeah. I recall the first Braymont that I got in was an S 500 way, way back. This is, um, pre a blog to watch days is watch report days. It goes way, way back. Yeah. I'm sure that video is still online. The video review. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | But I was blown away by the rubber strap. Yeah. It just, it matches the quality of the watch really well. And they make a nice strap and they also make, um, a different rubber strap for other watches. I believe it's called the Islander. Is that right? |
| Jason | They have the Temple Island. The Temple Island. |
| James | Temple Island. The Temple Island. And I have a Temple Island in blue that is amazing on that. |
| Response | Oh, yeah. I bet. |
| James | On that solo that you've got. Yeah. I'm excited to get that back from you at some point when I go back to the States. Yeah. That's a watch I haven't seen in some time. And I have kind of missed lately, especially with, you know, the general Bremont news, which is only a couple of days old by the time this episode comes out. But certainly, you know, you and I both watched this presentation. And it was pretty exciting. |
| Jason | Yeah, let's just move right into it. You know, big news, big week for Bremont. I mean, here we are in the middle of a lot of watch news. We're kind of in the thick of watches and wonders time and meetings with various brands these days. And lo and behold, Bremont had some huge news. I think, you know, we'll talk about the new watches in a little bit, but I think the biggest news was the grand opening or the launch event for their new manufacturing and technology center. which they're calling the wing. Um, and, and they opened up this video to, you know, people who, that were on their mailing list of the recorded version of it is now on their website. So you can, you can take the tour. We'll have it in the show notes. Yeah. Um, but you know, an incredible drone pilot. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That was amazing. |
| James | So the, the video, the video has a drone that kind of flies into all the various rooms and it's a big building, big, beautiful, gorgeous building, lots of natural light. And it has this one element. Um, it has this one element and you know, this is, uh, the building is designed for those that, that care. I did look this up cause I wanted to pay respect. The building is designed by Spratley partners is the architect firm. And the reason it's called a wing, I assume is it has this one curved long roof section, kind of a parabola, um, that, that is kind of wing like, like a, like a plane. Um, and obviously that aligns pretty nicely. |
| Jason | I think it's a cross section of, of like, even like a Spitfire wing, it has that, the supports are supposed to mimic, like if you were to cut a wing. |
| James | Oh sure. Yeah. The uprights. Yeah. Yeah. The cross section. Like the bulkhead, if you will. I'm sure there's aviation nerds, I apologize. I'm sure it's not called an upright, which is from a car or a bulkhead, which I believe is from a submarine. I went with two disparate vehicles, neither of which can take to the air. Um, but yeah, whatever that's called, I do know what you mean where you, you see a cross section of a wing and there's kind of a rib inside that supports the structure. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, the really special thing for you and I, Jason, is like, this is a brand we followed along with for years. And I would say largely my affection for the brand comes from kind of the general enthusiasm of its founders. They're just so keyed up to what they're doing. They're just really enjoying it. And they're very much willing to do things their own way. And I think that they've been very successful in making a distinctive product in a land of products that aren't always all that special or different than what else is out there. And after, what, 19 years, and when we used to go to the townhouse stuff, you know, pre-COVID, they used to do an annual event called the Bramont Townhouse. And kind of the first time they did it, they actually flew people to London to take part in the event in an actual London townhouse. But that little- I loved that. It was the best. It was just an incredible time. And it was super fun to see the brand on its home turf. you know, it's like seeing your favorite team or whatever on, you know, play at their stadium. And to see them kind of in their element, the brand has its own context, which is very a UK context. And maybe that doesn't always translate to every other market, but to kind of go to the UK and to see that, and then to tour what they had at the time, which was two facilities, one for manufacturing and one for watchmaking and assembly. And now to see what they've got, kind of put together for a brand that's only been around for 20 years, they now have this huge manufacturing facility, um, that's going to mean, you know, more jobs and more watches and, and theoretically more control over costs and things like that, which are a major issue in the market these days, uh, especially due to supply constraints following COVID and the last year and such. Uh, I think this is a really cool thing. It's definitely worth checking out the video. Uh, but the fun thing is, is they, they kind of backed up They did, they did a lot. They did like a typical watch brand march where they just kind of look at all the great stuff we got. Yeah. Check it out, check out all of it. So they, not only do they have this, you know, brand new building, um, and which I think is a huge step for what is still a pretty young brand. You know, I think in some ways, you know, 2007 is when the first watcher ranked, uh, kind of showed up, but, uh, they predate that in terms of their planning and, and setting up the, the, the, the company and stuff. And so they're at, they said 19 years. And it's fun to see. You could even see the difference in Bremont versus other brands in the way that they do a presentation. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | Yeah. It's live. It's kind of dynamic. It had like six or seven set pieces. And then I'm not going to name the brand. I don't want to throw them under the bus specifically, but the next presentation I watched was, I spent more time registering for the presentation than I did viewing it because it was literally a password protected YouTube video. Yeah. Which like, I, I'm a working professional. Like I could, I could have watched this YouTube video yesterday or the day before. And, and the video also came out, I don't know, I don't know, 10 hours after the embargo dropped. So there wasn't really that much of a purpose, uh, really. Uh, but, but you know, there's just different methodologies and they seem so much more engaged with what they're up to. |
| Jason | I think, um, you know, the, the significance of, of the opening of the wing, um, they've been talking about it for years. It's long been their dream. And I think it's a, it's a really admirable dream. I think people tend to kind of get a little jaded in this industry and overlook the significance of these sorts of things. But if you had any brand that opened an entirely new from scratch ground up, uh, manufacturing facility to, to build watches and manufacture parts, that would be huge news in, in any corner of the watch industry, Swiss or, um, you know, German or whatever, what have you. I mean, if, if an American brand decided that they were going to open something of this scale and build watches, I'd be huge on a, on a fairly industrial scale, you know, you know, I'm sure they're going to ramp up production. I mean, they already sell a decent amount of watches. They're not a huge brand by any means, but you know, this, this is definitely aiming at, at cranking things up on, on the Braymont side and to do it on UK shores is a big deal. I mean, that was their goal. And I, I think, Yes, you can call it marketing, you can call it whatever to say that a watch is made in England, but it's been since the Smith's watch company closed its doors in the early seventies that you've had watchmaking on this scale. Now, certainly you can point to the Roger Smith's and the George Daniels and some of the smaller makers, but I think we're talking on an industrial scale where they're making everything on their own machinery and assembling it under one big roof. It's really admirable. I think I'm really happy for them. I think it's great. Big news. |
| James | Yeah, I absolutely agree. I think that this is, you know, for a brand that is among one that I followed the most across my career. And part of that's probably just like the serendipity of timing. Like one of the first watch events I ever went to, it was when I first lived in, when I was still living in Ontario, following my own birth, I had not moved anywhere else yet. I came from Hamilton to Toronto to a little pub in Liberty Village. And they had like a time zone, I think it was time zone or yeah, it would have been time zone, I think kind of connected hangout. And that's where I met, uh, that's where I met Nick. And, and at the time Mike Pearson was working for the brand and, uh, and yeah, that, that's, that was my first introduction. They had loaned me a Supermarine 500, which I then returned to that evening. But at the time they were still explaining, like they had the EP 120, which was kind of their first, thematic limited edition. And they were still trying to be explaining that concept to people. And it was very grassroots. And in many ways, I don't think they've changed. You see that video yesterday had the exact same sort of like buzz from, from the people involved. Like, I don't know, like you go through, you go to a hundred brand meetings and at about 90 of them, there's people, the people that are charged with either explaining the product or supporting it or, or whatever, just don't seem that excited. Yeah. Yeah. And part of that could be that it's not that much fun to do this on zoom, which is true. It isn't. Um, but I've sat in lots of Basel world meetings that have no energy, despite the product being pretty solid and fun, maybe even exciting. And then I've sat at some that feel way more like, um, like that original hangout. And, uh, and I think that's one of those things that makes Braymont kind of different. You know, they've, they, they do a lot of things differently than other people, but there, there is this thing where they're still so the brand is still so closely tied to the enthusiasm of its founders. And I think a lot of brands, of course, their founders aren't around anymore. So that, you know, 200 year old brands, you know, maybe I'm sure Louis Breguet was very, very excited about his chronographs back in the day and, and as he should be, but it's kind of a different, it's a different thing to experience that brand versus this one. And while I don't think you can call Bremont a micro brand by any stretch, the unit, you're not going to compare them to a Hallios or a Raven. the concept is still very similar. They just took it to a different, uh, a different sort of proportion. |
| Jason | Yeah. And I think as kind of a way to move into talk about the individual watches, I think one thing that I've always liked about them is that, uh, Nick and Giles English, the two founder brothers, I don't think we've actually mentioned their names, but you know, these guys, they're, they're so enthusiastic about so many different things that you get the sense that this is a watch brand, but they're not so, um, you know, micro-focused on, The watches themselves, they see, they have all these other interests. These guys are, they're pilots. They have old cars that they love. They have both of them drive old Land Rovers that I've traded messages with them about, you know, getting parts from the UK for my own. And, um, you know, you did the English tour somewhere here in the U S with, you know, them and their old Porsche and their old Jaguar and several States in a, in a haze. Yes. And I, and I love, I love that level of enthusiasm and it leaks into the watches that they make. Um, you know, whether that changes, um, you know, you, you bring in investors and you have to have this big influx of money to, to build places like this and do what they're doing, uh, remains to be seen. But so far I still see that enthusiasm come through. And if you do watch this video, you'll see it when, you know, Nick is standing by the E-type Jag, or they're talking about their partnership with, uh, with Williams Formula One or some of the ambassadors that they bring in. And I think, you know, You know, briefly, this is a watch that was introduced a few weeks ago, so it wasn't technically introduced yesterday, but the 60th anniversary E-type chronograph set that they introduced were two watches that have come out of the partnership with Jaguar that they've had for a number of years. And I think in terms of car-themed watches, they've done a better job than most in terms of incorporating the elements. |
| James | I think it's one of the hardest design challenges in the watch world. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | Because look how many people have failed, right? Yeah. Like look at the endless string of brands that have tried to make luxury watches that have Ferrari on them. Right. Like, like Gerard Perregaux. Right. All right. Maybe, maybe not the world's biggest brand or the hottest brand, but they were still a huge presence in watchmaking. Right. And remain as such. Then we have Panerai, which at the time that, that Panerai was making Ferrari watches, I'm not sure Panerai, there was a hotter brand in the world. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | you know, this is pre huge Rolex steel explosion. Like Panerai was the thing to have and they were making a Ferrari watch and like, they're not popular. I watched one sell at Christie's recently for probably about what it was worth in 2007 or whatever. Yeah. And then you have, um, you have, uh, and now we're up to Hublot. I think Hublot is doing the best job. Also, I think there's a nice overlap between Hublot and Ferrari. Right. And then, and I just think in general, the, the challenge of making a car themed watch, require such a deft touch. And it's why, um, Bradley at Autodromo does such a good job is he, he has a real spread that, that respects kind of the spread of aesthetics that exists within automotive design. And that gives him a lot of flexibility. And I'm, you know, I have a group B, I love it. It's a great solid watch, beautiful design. I think a really strong way of taking cues from one industry and putting it in the other. Um, but these Braymont, um, Jags, have always been really good looking watches that didn't go too hard in the idea of needing to look like a speedometer or a tachometer. |
| Unknown | Right. |
| James | And I think that's, that's the zone of where things go bad. You know, I always thought like BRM was kind of cool, uh, because they were making automotive inspired watches that were kind of inspired by other elements of the watch than the clock faces. Um, but with the, with the brand one, I think they've really, especially with this latest generation, they've really massaged it into a, frankly, a really good looking watch that also does kind of have like a Jag feel to it. |
| Jason | I get it. Yeah. Really handsome pieces. So there's the, um, the, the green version and the gray version, which are each inspired by a different authentic, uh, original E type, uh, paint color. Um, and whereas the, the previous Jaguar edition chronographs that, that Braymont was making didn't have, um, a tachymeter bezel. These, these both do. Um, and that's where the color comes in the color differentiation as well as on the strap. But, uh, I think they did a great job. I think what's particularly cool about this is that, so you can, you order one or the other color, I guess you could order both if you really wanted. But, um, and then with that, you get this incredible, um, dashboard clock set, one of them. Yeah. Rally timer, rally timer, chronograph. |
| James | It's so cool. The one, the one don't get me wrong, but let's be fair. The watch is very cool. Sorry. |
| Jason | Cats coughing again. Why does this happen every time we do this? |
| Unknown | It's our co-host. What's his name? Seriously. Birdie. Birdie? Birdie. B-E-R-T-I-E. Birdie. All right, Birdie. Get in there. Get on the mic. Yeah. |
| Jason | So rally timer. I mean, you've got this 60 minute timer and then a clock mounted on a turned, you know, aluminum plate that you can put on your desk or you could, I suppose, mount to the dash of your of your car. Um, so, you know, love that. That's something they announced a couple of weeks ago, along with, with Jaguar's introduction of, I think they're doing continuation e-types, right? Wasn't that the kind of the tie-in or am I? |
| James | Yeah, I think, I think, I don't know if that's the direct tie-in with this one. I don't know that they've launched a new continuation e-type, but they've been doing that for a little while. Sure. Yeah. Um, yeah. Uh, you know, and then they did the lightweight a little while ago. Those are like hyper-rare. I want to say there's 11. I saw one at McCall's Motor Union. Just stunning. And we talked, we chatted about this yesterday on our Slack. I'm not as big an E-type guy. I'm actually, I would say like, if the zero is I actively dislike something and a 10 is I actively love it, I'm like a really strong five on E-types. Really? Wow. But if you show me, like, I was looking at C's last night. Yeah. Oh my goodness. C-types. C types look like a wonderful way to die. You know, they don't look like enough car. It's like when you see a full grown adult get into like a five 50, a Porsche spider, which is also like a several million dollar car. And you're like, I don't think that's enough car. Really? You're sitting in a lawn chair that goes about 140 miles an hour. Um, but yeah, no C's and D's absolutely. For me, I was very fortunate, um, pre COVID to, to, uh, you know, In the process of shooting the McLaren F1, I got to sit in a Le Mans winning C-type. Oh, man. One of the rarest, one of the coolest things I've ever experienced, and it was a beautiful shade of green. It has a plaque on the dashboard from its win at Le Mans, overall win at Le Mans. And you just sit there and you're like, oh my God, I can feel this thing. This inanimate thing is alive. And I've never gotten that in a modern car. I've been in $5 million modern cars. I've been in cars that go every speed you can imagine. I've never gotten quite that feeling from something else. There is something so special about a vintage car that was intended for racing. Just the fact that it survived. Oh yeah, for sure. And it's gorgeous, right? And the thing that I've learned over the last few years is these cars also become tickets to a certain world. Mm hmm. Right. So if your car has its passport for certain events, um, whether it's because it's super original or very rare, but not the continuation stuff, it's, it's the original stuff that gets to go to, you know, the quail, you get more stuff, which is a big car show during a pebble beach, but there, you know, the, the pebble beach concourse, Amelia Island, uh, concorso Della Gonza, these things all have kind of a class of car that they're looking for. And the reason that people are buying these cars isn't always to drive them. Sometimes it's to be able to show them at these events. |
| Response | Oh, sure. Yeah. |
| James | And there's a side of me that goes like, well, that's rich guy garbage. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | Right. But also people buy art just to show it, put it in a museum and let people see it. And, and like a lot of the C's I've ever seen, the only two 50 GTOs I've ever seen the probably D types. Uh, I could, I could go on. These are cars I've only seen at really specialized car shows. Yeah. Uh, so I, I actually, uh, I love this, uh, Uh, and, but I, I do know that you're a bigger, like you, you told me yesterday, it's one of your favorite cars, the E-type. |
| Jason | Yeah, I would call it a holy grail car. I think, um, I think every time I see one, no matter which configuration or from what angle, I just think it's a, it's perfection. I also think that there, I don't think there's a car that Jaguar made from its founding up until recent times, up until their modern lineup, um, with the possible exception of the F-type that, that was not just drop dead gorgeous. I think they, their designs right up through the, you know, the XJ6 and the XJS, which is another sleeper favorite of mine. I mean, I, I just love all their cars, so I'm sorry. I agree. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | Yeah. I, I, and I like, I kind of like the Jaguar vibe, right? It still has, it's, it's kind of in my mind, it is, it's, it's what, what also kind of informed some of the appeal that I see even Bentley is it has this old kind of racing vibe at a certain level. You have to spec them correctly. Like, I don't think you're going to buy, a giant four seater kind of limo Jaguar and get the same vibe. And just like, I don't think you could buy a flying spur or like, uh, uh, you know, a half a million dollar, highly optioned Moliner spec continental GT. But like, you know, I, I drove a Connie GT over, um, the gross Glockner pass in Austria and it was, uh, metallic green on tan leather. It was perfect. And you kind of, and you kind of like that the Bentley brothers would like this, they would have been out for this drive. They would have dug it. And I think that's cool with some of these stuff. And I, you know, I'm a huge fan of the XK 120s. The mark twos are gorgeous. Um, uh, you know, for me, maybe, maybe my diss, my diss, not my dislike, but my indifference to the E-type is kind of based on its hype. It's just long heralded, you know, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. And for me, I have this, I've never driven one, any of the ones I'm about to list, but aesthetically I really liked those tiny, um, mid century roadsters. So like, like a five 50, maybe a three, five, six in the right spec for sure. Uh, and then the C's, the D's, these things that like the Barchettas, the little Alpinas, the, the, the little, uh, Lancias that are, some of them are like coach built. I saw this incredible, we went to shoot that, um, Cunningham car, the C4RK, uh, recreation. And, uh, the owner of that car had this, uh, Lancia Aurelia that had been coach built, uh, in period. to be a little tiny two seater that basically looked like you were sitting in a baseball glove of like red leather. And it was just the most viciously beautiful thing. And it was so small, yet it had this like magnetic draw I needed to sit in it. And I have to imagine, you know, a little Revy engine and a nice light gear shift. That thing's probably just such a dream to drive around on a sunny day with a tuque and a pair of sunglasses or something like that. So that's definitely where my fascination lies. and translating any of that to get back to our point. It's been a very rambly episode, but to get back to our point, you know, to translating any of that into something else is so difficult. You know, if you try and make your shoes look like they're meant for driving, they look dumb. If you try too hard to make your watch look like your car, it's going to be dumb. It takes this kind of like deft touch. And I also think it takes some evolution. And I think that's what we're seeing in this. Would you, is it, this must be what the third or fourth? Cause they had a Mark two Jag version. So this must be the third or fourth generation of this design, roughly speaking. |
| Jason | And then they've got a, they had a hand wound, they had a hand wound version that was limited and very expensive. And then they had the, the, the kind of more stock chronograph version. And then, um, and then this one, which adds this tech emitter bezel to it, which I think, I think, elevates it. I think it changes the watch. Now my one quibble, of course, and it's not so much a quibble for me because I don't mind bigger watches, but it is 43 millimeters. And I think for an automotive watch, that's hearkening to a, you know, 1960s car, I think, I think a slightly svelter watch would be a little more fitting, but I think this is, this is, it says that same burly appeal that, that we, we love about Bremont anyway. So it's okay. |
| James | It'd be kind of cool because with the chronograph, I think the larger size makes some sense. even today. It's funny, you know, Bremont founded in something like 20 years ago, first watch around 2007, 43 millimeters was kind of, that was the size of the time. And in many ways, we're now moving more towards the normal zone coming back down to say 38 to 41. But it really does depend on the case structure and the strap, how a 43 millimeter watch wears, because you have that solo. I don't think that feels like a 43 millimeter watch. The white dial kind of helps. You put it on a strap that's not too heavy. It wears nicely. Um, it would be cool to see them take some of this aesthetic and then put it into, um, one of the mark cases. |
| Silence | Hmm. |
| James | Yeah. And, and just to see if you could make the, the non chronograph kind of just time only gentlemen's, you know, vintage watch inspired or vintage car inspired watch design. Yeah. You know, they, they have a lot of great cases. So there's, I'm in my mind, I always like to play mix and match. Give me this from that and that from this. And, And that does kind of bring me to the next one, the one I'm the most excited about from this list, which is a little bit of the give me that and I'll take this. And it's a GMT version of their S300 Diver. So this is their 40 millimeter dive watch. I think it's one of the best wearing watches they've ever made. It's really beautifully made. It has their still their three piece case design, a really good bezel with a matte sort of finish on the insert. And then you're still getting the hardened steel and the rest of it. instead of a sort of at a 2892 base, we're now moving to a 2893. So you're getting a GMT. It's a collar style GMT. So it's not your true local jumping. So an independent 24 hour hand, but it has this sort of black gold and yellow color scheme that I actually think works way better. Every time I look at a picture, I, my mind quickly sees the sort of faux tan coloring. And then I hit that yellow, the yellow GMT hand, which is very much pulled from like, um, the same style you see in the S 500 sort of have GMT versions, the Terra Nova and such. It's a really nicely proportioned, very long, very legible sort of handset. And I actually find this, I think this watch is so pretty. Like, yeah, I really, really think they made something that I would absolutely love to have. |
| Jason | You know, I think one of my favorite features of this whole S 300 family is Um, well two things, the crown has that little bit of color, that little extra ring. Yeah, it's kind of cool. Yeah. Um, but also the 12 o'clock marker, that upside down arrowhead is, I don't know, to me it's like, it's this little design element that makes all the difference on this watch. It's, it's not the standard, you know, Rolex upside down triangle that you get on so many dive watches. This is, um, has that little, little thing at the top. I mean, it just looks like an arrowhead upside down and, and, uh, I love it. I love the interplay of colors. Um, Yeah. You know, this case style is just so Bremont. It's so perfect. And then to put it in that size, um, just makes it so wearable for so many people. |
| James | So, yeah, it's a chronometer rated, obviously being a Bremont and, uh, it's a domed Sapphire crystal with their, uh, anti-reflective anti-scratch, uh, tech, which is as far as I've come across the best that I've ever found. Um, they make the, my favorite crystal out there, especially for photography, 300 meters, water resistance, uh, you know, decent loom. It has sort of a tan, finish to the lume. But then if you look at the macro photos, you'll actually see like the painted markers have a surround. There's a lot of like really fine details in what's an otherwise looks like a very sporty watch. And, uh, yeah, I'm, this is one I'm absolutely going to ask to see in person. And then it'll probably go right in with the U 50 and the, you know, the black Bay blue and, and some of these ones where they're watches I've probably shouldn't borrow. Cause I'll never stop thinking about them. Yeah. But I think this is great. You know, I think it's also something that a lot of people have been asking for, which is give me, give me the, you know, Bremont's like a complication, a chronograph, a GMT. We'll get to another exciting watch in just a moment that does both. And I think it's something that I've always kind of thought of the brand is when I bought my Solo, and I've had, to what you mentioned earlier, I got my Solo in the end of 2012. So it's one of the longest I've owned a watch, maybe just my SKX longer. And it's been such a faithful, fuss-free, easy to wear, all those things. But I do kind of think, well, I feel like their watches need something a little bit more than just time and date, whether it, whether it's, uh, uh, you know, the, the MBs have the, the trick bezel, uh, the two crown and, or, or you get a GMT or a chrono, you get the alt one CTs kind of have both. I think they have a lot, but they are kind of fun to have a bit of a complication. And I really liked the way they've implemented this GMT. Yeah. |
| Jason | Yeah. |
| James | Me too. And, and, and they've done so without touching the dive bezel. So if you really wanted the watch, that still would be the dive watch, but could do the second time zone. It's not going to be the same as having a GMT master or a black Bay GMT, but keep in mind, neither of those have a dive bezel. So there's always a give and take depending on what you want the watch to be. And clearly they thought that this would be a dive watch with some travel ability rather than a travel watch that you could probably take underwater. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's killer. |
| Jason | I think, you know, I mean, to me, this was one of Bramont's strongest, And a very compact offering this spring. I think, you know, there were, there've been years when they've, you know, really pulled out everything but the kitchen sink and renewed a lot of things and introduced new, new watches. I think this is such a compact offering there, you know, four or five new watches this year. And I think they're all so strong. And I, I think one thing I like about it of course, is it's very dive heavy with the exception of that Jaguar thing. And I think the next one is one that man, I've been wishing for one of these for years. I, I, I'm, Um, it's still so new that I'm still kind of digesting it as to whether or not it's exactly what I had hoped for. But, um, this is the supermarine chrono. Yeah. Um, I've often felt, I mean, you know, I'm wearing a supermarine right now, so I love this family of, of watches. It's one of my favorite dive watches from any brand. Um, and I always thought it would lend itself really well to a chronograph. But what I always pictured in my mind was a two register, you know, like almost like the super ocean heritage that Breitling has. Oh yeah, for sure. Two opposing, um, Sub dials. Um, what, what Bramont has done with the supermarine chrono blue or, or they've also got a black version and I think there's a white dial version as well. |
| James | Um, I'm seeing blue and blue and black, both with a silver sub dial. So sort of a, you're right. |
| Jason | Okay. So, and then the inverse panel has, and you can get it with a bracelet or with the rubber strap. So, um, it's, it's the, the 12, six, nine configuration of, of sub-dials, and it's a movement that was put together for them by Le Joux Perret with a GMT complication to it. Yeah, they date at 430. Really useful, you know, complication, useful watch. Screw-down pushers, screw-down crown, of course. This one has 200 meter water resistance, so it's probably the least water resistant of the Supermarine family, if I'm calculating that right. Still more than you're ever going to need. Exactly, right, right. Really handsome piece. I think that reverse panda just worked so well. I think it's always been kind of one of my favorite aesthetics. |
| James | Yeah. The black and the red with the, the gold tone around the, uh, hands, I think is super, super successful. I'm not typically a fan of guilt and I would want to see it in person if it was something that I was going to buy. Yeah. But I think, I think this is one that they had to make. And I also think that even if this one isn't like you, you said you wanted the two register. I think as long as this ends up being a successful thing, it'll just, you know, we'll see other versions. Like we're now seeing the GMT version of the 300s, which they launched, you know, three years ago. Um, I think, yeah, for, for, for a two watch sort of launch, um, that's kind of right into the core of, of the, of what, like, I think their core is MB in many ways. But just beyond that is definitely Supermarine. And I think they took the Supermarine now in the two directions it needed to go. I think the Chrono makes a lot of sense for this brand, the Chrono GMT, because they make it in all the other Pilot's versions. Alt-1 ZT and otherwise. But now to see this, and I like that they've taken some of the styling from the Ion Bird ones for this. It's a little bit more of a modern take on the Braymont aesthetic that's not kind of directly derivative of the Alt-1 series. So it doesn't feel like a pilot's watch that they've made into a dive watch, which I think is quite smart. I'd love to see what this is like on wrist. Typically, when you have a lot of complications, it's going to get a little bit thicker than I prefer, but who knows? This isn't a SW or an ETA in this case, so maybe it is a little bit thinner. For me, it's definitely that 302. And then as far as pricing, the Chrono starts at $67.95. on a rubber strap and the 302 starts on a NATO at $4,200. So typical to Bremont, you know, it's a luxury product. It's priced like a luxury product. And I think as long as you're not in a buying mode where you demand an in-house movement, once you get to a certain price point, I think these are absolutely worth looking at. I don't have a huge love for in-house movements or even, you know, movements that would require any sort of special treatment, say five or 10 years down the line when you go to get them serviced. |
| Response | Yeah. |
| James | But I don't know how many people worry about that when they buy their watch. Maybe people have been around the block enough times where they've had the $1,800 service bill for a time only in-house watch or something like that, that really didn't cost, you know, like if you're spending 10 or 20% of the value of the watch, every, every service is something to consider. And, and I do like that, that these could be serviced by, you know, uh, any competent watchmaker. I think is always good. And then, of course, you're getting a chronometer spec from them and the rest of it. And then kind of the final one that we haven't mentioned is they've made a blue dial version of the Argonaut, which is called the Argonaut Azure. I had an Argonaut for some time. I'll link the review from Hodinkee in the show notes. I think it's a great watch. I don't know if the blue is better than the black. I actually really like the black with the orange hand. Um, so it'd be something again with colors. You kind of want to see him in person. You want, you want to, you know, walk in the boutique over to the front window and see him in light and the rest of it. So blue is seldom a bad option. Uh, but I certainly don't think that the, uh, the black was a slouch in any metric as far as looks a good looking design. |
| Jason | Yeah. I mean, I, I normally like twin crown designs. I like the MB a lot. Um, I like old super compressor divers for some reason, the Argonaut was my least favorite of their armed forces collection. Um, this, this is the collection that's kind of their starting point in terms of, uh, pricing. Um, it's got the, the one piece or two, I guess it would be a two piece case, not the trip tech that they, they use. Um, but I think I personally like this one better than the black dial one for some reason that there you go on burst blue. And then with that, uh, the really light blue on the timing ring with that orange line that they put around, I think, I don't know, it does something for me. It's, it's really cool. I like that interplay of blues. |
| James | Yeah. Match it up with an orange rubber strap. It's $3,700. Um, I mean that, that watch, especially with that two piece case, it's such a, it feels so solid and a great, a great sports watch design for sure. It feels very divery. Um, you know, I, the, we've argued the merits or disparaged is maybe more accurate than argued the merits of a twin crown internal dive watch. Yeah. uh, you know, I don't know that they're super useful for diving, but also the brand makes all sorts of traditional rotating bezel dive watches. Um, and, and I think aesthetically, these always look really good. They looked great when I in a car was doing it, they look great when Hamilton was doing compressors and the rest of it. And they look sick with the, with a larger watch and be a diver or something more like the MBs. |
| Jason | Yeah. So, I mean, easy, easy offerings to talk about. I mean, we've got, you know, supermarine Chrono S three Oh two GMT Argonaut Azure and to a certain degree, the Jaguar 60th anniversary E type stuff. It felt really good to, to kind of, you know, listen to those offerings and the way they went through them in the video. And you can watch this. Um, it was a very comprehensive presentation of watches that are easy to understand and kind of see this evolution of, of Bremont with some really kind of exciting, cool new stuff. |
| James | So yeah. Yeah, no, I dig it. I think they've done a nice job. I'm super happy to see that the, the building happened rather than being this thing kind of dragged on due to the, you know, maybe the Brexit scenario, the COVID scenario, like there's a lot of challenges that would prevent someone from making this happen. Uh, so I think that they deserve a lot of credit for, uh, not only following through on something they've been saying for years, which is that they're returning watchmaking to, uh, like scaled watchmaking to, uh, British soil, but also just like pulling it off and at a weird time, that's gotta be kind of a hard time for, I mean, most brands are probably having trouble keeping everybody employed. Yeah. And, and this, you know, small kind of endlessly plucky British brand, you know, is expanding. And some of the decisions that Bremont made over the past five years prepared them to work better through the current scenario, you know, leaving Baselworld while Baselworld still existed, um, and, and, and kind of shoring up their own PR into a predictable format where now the townhouse was a virtual thing, which is obviously a bummer from a social standpoint, but not an ineffective way to share the news about some new product. And I hope it's stuff that Like I hope I'm able to review a 302 sometime in the coming months. I'd love to know how it feels for that kind of money. And, and, and I think you would feel probably the same way for the, uh, the supermarine chrono. |
| Jason | Yeah, definitely. |
| James | So stay tuned for that. Oh. And the one thing I would say is we would really like to have, uh, the Braymont brothers on the show at some point, but Jason, I speak to them with some frequency and I don't really want to repeat a, uh, an interview that other people have already done with these guys. So if you guys would like to have the Bremont Brothers on and have sort of a candid conversation about what it is to do and run Bremont and these changes that they've made in the new building and the rest of it, send in some questions. And that way we can kind of entice them with some audience feedback and that sort of thing. So if you're listening to that and you think it might be kind of fun to get an inside ear on the direction, then send us some questions. These could be text or audio. We could make it work. But thegreatnado.gmail.com. either record it into your voice memo as I ask every episode for Q and A's and we'll do one pretty soon. We're just waiting to get enough questions in. And, uh, and, and if you, if it's going to be pretty much just put Braymont in the, um, in the subject line so I can, I can kind of file it away for an appropriate time. But I think that could be kind of a fun way to, to, uh, bring those guys in. Cause they're super, they are really super fun to chat with. And I think the last time we did one was in a parking lot next to Graceland in Memphis. Uh, or right, right across from the Boeing museum or something like that. I don't, I don't remember specifically, but it was definitely in a parking lot, um, you know, several years ago during the Bremont, uh, the, the English tour. So what do you say we get into some final notes? |
| Jason | Yeah, let's go for it. Um, I've got one that I'm pretty excited about. This is, um, you know, as I mentioned at the top of the show, I've been shooting a little more film recently and, uh, you know, in the past I've dabbled in processing my own film at home, which is fun and rewarding, also a bit frustrating and, and, I wouldn't say messy, but, um, a bit finicky, um, to do it, uh, you have to, you know, take, take the, the, the spent roll out of the camera and then somehow extract the film from the canister in a completely dark space, um, and put it onto a spool, seal it into, uh, uh, what would you say? A light tight, um, or completely dark canister. And then you pour in chemicals and agitate and et cetera, et cetera. Um, so I used to duct tape myself into my closet here in my office to get into complete darkness. And then you're doing this finicky work by feel to get the film out. It's not really hard, but it takes practice. And so, um, I recently got a really cool new product. It's called the lab box and it's by a small company. I think it was a Kickstarter campaign originally by a company called Ars Imago, an Italian company. And it's since been kind of adopted by, um, Cinestill, the film company that uses old cinema film and makes it compatible with 35 millimeter and 120 cameras. So Cinestill sells this on their website and I think you can also buy it through Arzemago. But the concept behind the LabBox is this is a daylight photo processing tank. So it allows you to take a roll of film and you set the canister into one half of the the small tank. It's about the size of, I've got it right here. Um, Oh, what would I compare it to? Um, you know, smaller than a shoe box, half the size of a shoe box maybe. Um, actually even smaller than that. |
| James | Maybe like significantly smaller than like a bottle of a, sorry to use your term soda. Yeah. Like a two, a two liter of soda. I don't even, you guys don't use liters. I don't know what this is called in the States, like the larger bottle of pop. Two liter. |
| Jason | Yeah, we do use liters. A two liter. |
| Unknown | Oh, okay. |
| Jason | Two liter bottle. No, it's definitely smaller than that. And it's a, it's a plastic box, um, with a, a lid that presses on that keeps light out of the inside. And you put the canister of film in one half, you feed the liter out enough so that you're not exposing any of the film. Um, and then you, you feed it onto this little feeder unit. put the lid back on, then you crank a handle on the outside and it unspools the film from the canister. Then there's an integrated cutter that you cut it off and finalize the spooling. And then you, you pour in your chemicals and you just spin this wheel continuously for 10 minutes, pour that off. Then you add your fixer, spin the wheel for eight more minutes. And then you rinse it and you're done. And it's really cool. It's, Uh, I ordered the chemicals from Sinistil. I pre-mixed them, which was very easy. And then because you can reuse photo processing chemicals as many times as you want, um, you know, you're not pouring it all down the drain or, or wasting it. Um, so I can just, uh, now that I've pre-mixed the chemicals, I can just, every roll of film I shoot, I can just crank it onto the spool, snip it off. And, uh, and in, you know, 18 minutes of, agitating the spool of film, I can come away with an exposed roll of negatives. Um, and then I bought this, I don't remember where I got this. I was probably on Amazon, just a cheap light table. So it's a little lit backlit platform that I put on my desk and I've got a negative holder that I can put the roll of negatives on and lay it on this light table. And then you can use a regular camera or your, even your phone with like a little clip on macro lens to do kind of quick and dirty digital scans of, of your film. So I'm, I'm pretty excited to kind of put this to use. I was talking to a guy who I think he's a TGN listener, um, named Andre who works for Sinistil and he's been kind of counseling me on, on some tips and techniques for using this thing. And, uh, yeah, it's been, it's been great. Um, so I, you know, I'm excited to use it. Uh, he, he said he travels with it. You know, he, he, he goes on like camping trips in his Subaru and he said, he's, you know, he's, developed rolls of film right in the back of his car, um, you know, from hiking trips and stuff that he's doing. So, um, a lot of potential here. I think it's, it's really cool. I, I, I love the process of shooting film, but the idea of having to send away my film to a lab or drive it across town, drop off and then get a, you know, an email with a, we transfer link to all of my scans feels a little bit like you've got this really neat, um, manual analog process up until, you know, suddenly, Oh, here's a wee transfer link with all of your photos. Like I like that I can do it from end to end. Yeah. Um, and, uh, and this kind of helps with that. So yeah, we'll put a link in the show notes. It's, uh, it's currently, uh, I pull up the website here. It's currently on sale for one 59. So it's not as cheap as the other style, the, the old school, um, self agitating or, or sorry, manual agitating little tank that you have to tape yourself in your closet to, to get the film off. But, uh, right. you know, if you're, if you're kind of into this, um, I, I, I think it's gonna be a blast. I'll, I'll definitely put up some photos on Instagram when I develop a role and report back. |
| James | Man, it's a good thing. My, um, it's a good thing. My, my pick today is free because I think you just cost me 160 bucks. Uh, I have, I have a couple of roles here that I just haven't bothered driving across town to downtown camera, which is where I've been. I've been getting my, and they do a lovely job and it's a fair price and the rest of it, zero complaints, but just on curiosity alone, Yeah. Yeah. I'm probably going to end up talking myself into it. Um, also I think my, probably my kids would find this fascinating. I think they really liked the little Polaroids I've got. Yeah. Um, you know, the instax and then I've got the Polaroid version as well. I don't remember what they call it, but they shoot the insects one. I mean, as much film as I'm willing to buy for stuffed animals and stuff. So, yeah, but yeah, that sounds super cool. And I just clicked the link and it's a neat, it's a neat looking little product. Uh, I mean, anything from, um, still is, uh, is super high quality. I've been very impressed with their film stocks in the past. Yeah. Uh, so that's a really clever, uh, mine could not be more left field than anything. Cause I'm going to talk about sports. I do highly recommend if you're a little bored with the way that things are going these days and you're looking for kind of a new thing to try. Um, and I'm sure there's no way cause the, the, the, the game has really blown up in the last year. So there's definitely some listeners who play along and I'd love to hear from you. Um, it's a, uh, an online passive, baseball simulator called blaze ball with an L. It has no reference to real baseball aside from the metrics of the game. Kind of, um, the easiest way for you to understand what's going on here is, is there's a YouTube video that I will link from another, another YouTuber that, that explains blaze ball, but it's this really wacky zany, um, fake thing where they, uh, they rapidly play. So every hour, a new season sort of plays out or a new round of games plays out. And then they have several different stages to the season, which take, I think a week. I'm still relatively new to this. My brother got me into it and it's been, you know, on one tab, I kind of have my stock portfolio, which is fun to watch because the market's kind of crazy right now. And, uh, and I have blaze ball and basically each hour you can bet on the next coming games. You're not betting real money. This costs nothing. There's several different ways to game. The results, depending on what food you assign to your, um, concession stand will change kind of the parameters of your bedding. It's, it's sound, it's complicated, but honestly, I think if you like sports, it's already complicated to understand all of it. Uh, it, it's super passive. It's really lightweight. It's not like playing a modern video game when the games actually play out, they play out in a big list and you kind of have to You know that little graphic they put in the bottom left of baseball game that shows you the batting position and the number of the base position. Exactly. So that's basically all you're getting. But then there's this kind of funny feed to the right of that, that tells you what baseball, what player is playing. And sometimes they're struck by lightning. Sometimes they get a disease. It's all super wacky and funny. And it's just for fun. At no point has anyone asked me to put, I think there's a Patreon. And I'm now looking to see if I can get TGN on the list of sponsors. I'd love to sponsor a season. I think it'd be super fun to see, you know, this season brought to you by the Grenado. But please check this out. I think it's super fun. Watch the video. It's the best explanation I could find. You know, my brother gave me just enough. I typically, if one of my brothers are excited about something, that's good enough for me. I'll try it. But with this one, my brother gave me a small intro and I kind of rolled my eyes like I don't really even like baseball. And he's like, I don't think you have to like baseball that much. It's a little bit like playing the stock market, but zanier and wackier. And if you actually sit there and watch the games happen, if you have a couple minutes at the, uh, kind of the bottom of the hour, they'll, they'll start playing through the game simulation. It's, um, it's super funny. It's very specific. Basically you, you attach your fandom to a team. I have the Mexico wild wings and, uh, and, and from there you, you kind of build, a metric of, of a plan for betting and the rest of it, it's, it's, it's kind of hard to describe. And I think you'll get that if you watch this video, but if you, if you kind of like the, the idea of, uh, of, of, of sort of, I don't know, um, just being involved in this kind of silly world of fake betting, it's not unlike doing a stock simulator, but something's happening every hour. And if you miss an hour, you can put something in your concession that basically pays you to not play the game. So I was having some trouble earning, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars to really bet, uh, up my betting limit. So I enabled this payout for not playing. And now I just log in every couple of days. I'm waiting until I have 20 or 30,000 credits and I'll get it on right now. They're in, they're in, uh, between seasons, uh, as of today. Um, so it's a good time to get in and watch your videos and learn about it. It's super funny. Uh, I hope a couple of people give it a try. Uh, cause I think what they've made is something kind of, unique and weird that feels very grassroots, uh, from an internet standpoint, this feels like something I would have come across on the internet 10 years ago, not now. And, uh, I I'm, I'm really enjoying it. It's super, super fun, really silly, but super fun. |
| Jason | Wow. Yeah. I'm going to have to watch that YouTube video. I don't understand how it works, but it sounds, it sounds fun. |
| James | It sounds fascinating. Yeah, it's a, it has, it has an internal structure that you kind of have to get in on. And then it also, it's one of these things where if you want it to play at a very light level and just kind of bet and watch the games play out, that's fine. If you don't want to get into the concession stuff, eventually, if your team does well, you get voting to change how the game will happen in the next season. And it could be everything from like your stadium could be classified as a war zone or other things. Like it's all, it's all kind of really weird, almost bored. Like parts of it feel like they made it by playing like, um, what's the card game, uh, crimes again, or is it thoughts against humanity, crimes, cards, cards, cards, games, humanity. Oh, yeah. It's a little bit like that where some of it just feels like Mad Lib stuff, but it's always really fun. So if you're looking for a distraction that really doesn't take like you could definitely manage this while you do a full day's work. It takes a few minutes each hour to bet and then you can kind of sit there and you get a kind of a scroll of what's happening in terms of your coins and the rest of it. I think it's fun. I think it's super creative. Whoever thought this up. And, um, and, and I think it's kind of engaging. Uh, so I think, I think it's something that we could kind of connect over. So if you get into it and enjoy it, drop me an email, I'd love to hear if, uh, people like it. And I'm sure there's a couple like real place ball tycoons, uh, among the audience that have, uh, you know, really, really built a following up. So awesome. |
| Jason | Give it a run. Nice. Yeah. Well, we've, we've run the gamut today. I mean, we've talked about off-roading and, uh, and, uh, keyboards and watches and, and baseball. And film processing. |
| James | Yeah, we got it all. And film processing. Knives and pens. Yep, sure. And yeah, as always, you know, thanks so much for listening. Like we said at the top of the show, thank you. Like really, we mean it. Thank you. We're huge, hugely grateful for the audience and the reviews and the rest of it. You can hit the show notes via Hodinkee.com or the feed for more details. You can follow us on Instagram. That's at Jason Heaton, at J.E. Stacey and the show at The Graynado. Should you have any questions for us, please write thegrenado at gmail.com and please keep sending in those voice memos. I want to do a Q&A soon. I want to make sure we have enough for a nice big meaty Q&A episode. And of course, please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. Music throughout a siesta by Jazzer via the free music archive. |
| Jason | And we leave you with this quote from Chuck Yeager, who said, if you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing. |
| James | Way to go, Chuck. |