The Grey NATO - 170 – A Tale Of Two Dive Watches (the Pelagos FXD and the Deepstar II)

Published on Fri, 19 Nov 2021 09:01:09 -0500

Synopsis

The episode covers two recently released dive watches - the Aquastar Deepstar 2 and the Tudor Pelagos FXD. Jason and [SPEAKER_00] discuss the specs, design, pricing, and their overall impressions of these watches. They analyze how the Deepstar 2 pays homage to the original Aquastar diver while offering a modern reinterpretation at an accessible price point. For the Pelagos FXD, they examine its unique features like the titanium case with fixed lugs, slimmer profile, and design collaboration with the French combat diving unit. They appreciate Tudor's boldness in creating niche, quirky watches catering to specific audiences.

For the final notes, Jason recommends the new CWC NATO stretch strap, praising its comfortable stretchiness yet secure fit. [SPEAKER_00] discusses the insightful podcast episode where director Michael Mann joined to provide rare insights into the making of the classic film 'Heat', a movie greatly admired by the podcast hosts.

Transcript

Speaker
[SPEAKER_00] Hello and welcome to another episode of The Grey Nato. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 170. We thank you for listening.
Jason Jason, how are you doing? Good. Good. We're churning along 170. Here we are approaching 200. I remember 100 like it was yesterday.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. I mean, I guess, where does that put us? Probably late spring for 200. We'll have to figure out something fun. Yeah. Uh, we have some fun announcement coming next week, which, uh, so tune in for that if you're keen, especially if you'd like, if, if you have any interest in sort of supporting the show or that sort of stuff. And then, and then as far as this week, we actually delayed this episode one day, uh, because of one of the watches we're going to be talking about later in the show came out, uh, this morning. So the morning that this launches at the same time, actually, we did not only do we delay a day, we delayed it kind of 27 hours. We normally go up. Nobody cares about this. Just me. We normally go up at 6 AM ET. And then whenever I actually wake up, I publish the notes to sub stack, maybe an hour, hour and a half later. And this time we're going to go up at nine. Uh, so it's a little later, but we thank everyone for the patience. We wanted to be able to talk about the new Aqua star, deep star two as part of the main topic. There's been two exciting dive watches that kind of came out since we recorded the last episode. And obviously both are actually are pretty in our wheelhouse, I think, and come from people that we know and like, and kind of have an interesting history. So, That's going to be the big kind of middle part of the show. But Jason, what I'd like to hear about is this, uh, is your trip up to, uh, the, the sort of beacon lighting for the Edmund Fitzgerald. How was that?
Jason It was, it was good fun. You know, I think I highly encourage people to, if you have weird, spontaneous whims or excuses to get out of town for, um, like micro adventures, uh, just go and do it because, you know, so often, we, we, you know, we plan like a long weekend or a week long vacation and then neither doesn't come to fruition or it gets over, overplanned and, and doesn't happen or something. And, and we kind of decided to do this, you know, the day we recorded last week, it was not that long ago.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. Right. It feels like longer than that.
Jason We pretty much just cooked this up, this, this, this, this cabin that we, that we rented was the same one we rented back in April when we went up, up there. And it just so happens that it, It popped up with a reduced rate because they had an opening midweek. And it happened to be over the days of this annual beacon lighting at the split rock lighthouse to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. And I was like, it kind of all came together. And I said, let's, you know, let's take off and do this. And, and Ghoshani was able to, you know, quickly take the time off work and we loaded up the Land Rover and drove up and, and, you know, it was, it was fun. It was quirky. It was, you know, the weather wasn't spectacular. Um, it wasn't, It wasn't terribly cold, but, um, kind of a gale blew up, uh, just on time, uh, for the, the beacon lighting and the winds kicked up and the waves were crashing on the shore, which was very fitting for what we were there for. And so it was fun that this lighthouse was built in 1905. So it's, it's, it's old, it's beautiful. It's very picturesque because it sits on a cliff over Lake Superior. And, you know, we've, we've been there several times. In fact, we've, we've dived in the water below the lighthouse because there's a shipwreck just down there. But, you know, they had the lighthouse staff was reading the names of the deceased from the shipwreck of the Fitzgerald. And then there was a small choir that sang the naval hymn. And then at 430, which is pretty much dusk, they lit up the beacon, which they don't do regularly because that lighthouse is now not in service. They, you know, ship navigation on the Great Lakes is done via GPS nowadays. And so you don't need visual cues from lighthouses to tell where you are. So that was kind of a thrill. We, we, we were up on the observatory deck of the lighthouse. And then when they lit it up after the ceremony, we hiked down to a, a beach, um, probably about a mile down the, down the beach and kind of wraps around into this Cove and you can see the, the lighthouse from a distance and great place to take pictures. And neither of us had brought the right long, longer lenses that we needed, but it was still fun. We were kind of setting up in the dark. We had tripods and Gashani had her, um, uh, Nikon Z seven, and then I used the, my old F3 film camera, which has a self timer and has an auto exposure function, which was novel back in the early eighties. And so, um, I set it up and got it in as good a focus as I could from that distance and, and, and let her rip. And so I haven't developed the film yet, but I'm, I'm eager to see what, what comes of it. So that's great.
[SPEAKER_00] Well, we'll, we'll put some of those photos in the, in the, yeah.
Jason Yeah. And, and other than that, we, we kind of just stayed at this beautiful a-frame cabin up on a Hill and uh, hiked a little bit and read a lot. And then we actually, you know, I brought my new Mac book up, uh, not with the intention of doing any work, but in case we wanted to stream some shows and you had mentioned, I think it was last week in final notes that the Alpinist, that movie was available on prime video. And so we, we streamed that and it was as good as, as you said, I mean, it was as good as all the hype and it was, it was just a tremendously powerful, sobering, beautifully made movie. I mean, just, everything about it, the footage, the way that it was done. It was very thoughtfully and compassionately done and kind of makes you think about a lot of things. And it was, uh, it was really good. So I'm not going to go into the detail that, that you did last time, other than to just encourage people to, to check that out. Definitely worth checking out for sure. And then another movie we watched was, um, actually this was after we got home was a road runner, the movie about Anthony Bourdain, which I know you've seen as well. And I haven't, I have yet to watch it.
[SPEAKER_00] I wanted to get his entire, I wanted to get through his entire thing. And then I read some kind of semi negative stuff about people who knew him really well, who said that the movie didn't, like kind of did him dirty. Like didn't paint all sides of it, kind of painted the part that people already knew that the part, obviously the depression, the sadness, the kind of emptiness, that part, but not the whole picture, which I'm not sure what the veracity of that is. But when we get to the end of probably the three shows, maybe even the three shows in the book, Yeah. Um, I think that's when I'd be ready to, to, to be able to watch that and then see if I had the context for it or not. What'd you think of it?
Jason Yeah, we, we both really liked it. I mean, it was, it was a terribly sad movie and, and to watch that on the heels of watching the Alpinist kind of not to get overly philosophical, but they're, they both have this similarity, their underlying element of, of, you know, people dying too soon and, and for, Arguably questionable reasons, both of them in very different circumstances, but it was, you could say it was kind of a grim, grim pair of movies to watch kind of back to back, but both really, really well done. I don't know the, like you said, I don't know the veracity of the claims about Roadrunner and, you know, how objective it was or whatever, but.
[SPEAKER_00] I mean, it's really hard to hit a really strong balance when the core topic, the subject material isn't there to speak for themselves. Yeah. Yeah. Um, to, to provide any context, you know, uh, I think that's a tough one. I think what is interesting, especially for those two movies is they, they exemplify two people that, that were very much had some acclaim. Obviously with Bourdain, we're talking about worldwide fame. Um, at one point, you know, 20 million households could have watched his show at any point, like a really remarkable. And I bet you that number was much higher actually, uh, later on. I just remember him saying that at one point during, um, uh, a joke that, you know, that they couldn't get they couldn't get into a certain spot in Romania. And he was like, there's a lot of people that watch this show, but sure. We'll just go do something else. Yeah. Two guys that really kind of wore their, their almost pathological need to do what they like to do right on their sleeve. It was, it was a big piece of their personality and there's really no comparing the way that both of them kind of met their end. Right. Two kind of entirely different scenarios. But I think both really, uh, beautiful and human. You know, I haven't seen Roadrunner. I've seen the trailer and obviously I understand a lot of what went on with Bourdain just in following his life and his work and stuff. And, you know, just two really kind of beautiful people that had not just demons, but just, you know, that seemed to have a kind of supernatural push to do and to see and to experience and to live life almost to their own metric. Yeah. Even if it didn't work out. Right. Right. It's definitely not an easy double header for sure. I hope you watch something maybe a little bit lighter at some point in the last few days.
Jason Yeah, really. And then going to the ceremony for a deceased shipwreck. Yeah, true. I don't know. I don't feel particularly down after that. It was... No. But you're right. Yeah. Maybe it's time to pull up a comedy or something. But how about you? I saw you ran into some snow at the cottage. We got a little bit here.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. So I was, you know, Work has been insane. The hours have just been crazy. So I had this little window where it looked like my brothers would be up at the cottage. And this is probably, I mean, it's always hard to say we might have another weekend up there before it's legitimately too cold to keep the space warm. Because we didn't do any of the winterizing, or the really not just winterizing, but like making it ready for winter this year. But so went up for a day and a half and kind of kicked around and took some pictures. watch some Bourdain and just kind of relax. And it was pretty good. It felt really good. And like you said, it's nice to have these kind of impromptu... I wouldn't call this an adventure necessarily, but then it snowed and we got to do that and those sorts of things. So it was nice to get up there. While we were there, the Jeep ran over 200,000 kilometers. So that was kind of a nice little point in time. I guess that gives me about 22,000 kilometers I've put on it since we bought it. Wow. And, uh, and then the other one I would highlight is, uh, I've been there twice now, once outside when it was nicer weather. And then once inside, uh, cause it was fairly cold. Is this a Bosch Kung brewing? So if you're, if you're around Ontario, you've accessed Ontario beers, pretty solid stuff. They didn't really have anything bad. They've got a lot of really funny merch and the rest of it, but they're, they're kind of operating. They have two breweries like brew restaurants in, in the Minden area, which is kind of, um, in the general area of where my cottage is, an hour or so away, but it's a beautiful drive nonetheless. Yeah, they have a sort of tap room below a restaurant called Rhubarb in just outside of Minden, Ontario. And if you're ever up that way and you drive by and you see this, it looks like a big black barn and then giant letters. This is Rhubarb. And you're interested in a solid pint. Check it out. They make really good stuff. Definitely worth a shout out. Nice. And I'll put them in the show notes. I don't know I know there's, I'm sure there's plenty of folks listening that like to drink a beer, but I'm not sure how far any of this stuff ever gets distributed. You know, there's, there was a lot of stuff that I liked in Vancouver, like 33 acres that you can't really find here. And so I assume it doesn't make it to the States either. I don't know. But these guys, you know, my longstanding sort of favorite for Ontario beer is a collective arts and they do a really beautiful job. Really, really incredible. A lot of stuff. That's pretty good. Despite the fact that I have fairly narrow tastes when it comes to beer. Yeah. And, uh, and these guys are, are, are getting right up there too. Cool room, a nice spot to sit a nice patio that faces a little Lake if you're there in the summer.
Jason So gosh, geez, I mean, we're, we're, we're, I mean, I'm sure it's the same on your side of the border, but you know, we're just so spoiled for choice when it comes to good micro brews and tap rooms and just small breweries nowadays. I mean, we can't, you know, can't throw a rock from our house and, and, you know, not hit, you know, two or three. I mean, they're just, they're, they're popping up everywhere and, you know, It's the difficult part is picking which one to try. And I kind of go through phases when it comes to beer. I mean, I haven't been drinking beer lately. It's been kind of more of a whiskey time around the fire kind of thing, but we're getting into that season where like a porter or a good stout or something just is so, so nice. Feels so cozy. It's like, you know, it's like a meal in itself. So yeah.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. I mean, for me, I'm that jerk that, that the memes make fun of. The only beers I like are kind of like the kind of strong, overdone IPAs. I didn't really come to beer. I was introduced to the wider world of beer by my wife. And so we like to make little derivations if we're going places, try and see if there's an interesting brewery nearby that you can check out and sit and have a basket of French fries and a beer. And she has much wider tastes than I do, but I'm learning bit by bit. I mean, my home plate is still bourbon, but Yeah. The selection really sucks in Canada right now. You can't get anything that's legitimately worth drinking or being excited about. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's just, and when, when the LCBO, which is our kind of liquor control unit here where you buy everything in Ontario, when they do get something that the, there's like a crew of people that are ready for it. So, I mean, I can't tell you the number of times I drove 30 minutes to try and get a bottle of like, okay, bourbon, like say Blanton's. Yeah. Yeah. It's good. I like it. It's not amazing. It's not especially collectible, but in Ontario, it's, that's like peak stuff out here. Oh yeah. Yeah. You know, you're not going to find like a nice willet. You're not going to find any, any of the stuff that people get legitimately or the really rare stuff that people get excited about in the States. So yeah, it's nice to expand the horizons a little bit. And then also I'm getting older. A bourbon at the wrong time of day can give me a hangover. So I've lost some of that, the edge I had when I was younger,
Jason I think we've been encouraged in the past by a handful of people like, Oh, you guys should do an episode on, on booze or on whiskey or whatever. And I, you know, we legitimately probably could talk for a full show about our favorite, you know, rum, whiskey, beer, wine, whatever. It's just, you know, I guess I'm not sure if a full episode is, is merited, you know, given that there are probably a lot of listeners that don't drink or aren't that into it.
[SPEAKER_00] But you know, I mean, yeah, I also, you know, I like to be as cognizant as possible. And I know you do too, that there's, there's people listening who have overcome, Yeah. Drinking problems. Yeah. Right. And I, I'm not here to tell anyone to drink. I feel like the whole world is telling people to drink from the time you're about 14. Yeah. Right. So I don't know that we need, need any, and there's also lots of great podcasts that already cover this. Yeah. Anyone can find it if they need it. It's not hard to find it in most places in North America.
Jason So yeah, true enough. All right. Well, I think we should jump into the main topic and I think on the way to the main topic, we are going to do a very appropriate risk check, I think.
[Silence] Yeah.
Jason We're both wearing the same thing. What's on your wrist? It's the Aquastar Deepstar 2. I have the shimmery blue dial on. And you do too, but a different color.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah, I have the gray dial. That's what Rick was kind enough to send for my hands on. That will have gone up on Houdinki the same day that this came out on Friday. I guess we're just going to get into the main topic. We can start with the Aquastar. We're also going to talk a bunch about the new Tudor Pelagos FXD. which is a pretty exciting watch. I just find it really encouraging that Tudor's doing some weird stuff still. It's not just new dial colors. Yeah, right. But let's start with the Aquastar. We're looking at... I'll run through the specs so we can get it out of the way. This is a brand new watch, so I think a lot of people maybe haven't had the time to sit down and read the stories and check the website and stuff. But for those of you who don't know it, it's a 37mm steel, skin diver style watch. It's a time only with small seconds, so it uses a Sellita SW290. It still has the sort of silvery sub dial, which is how the chronograph operated. But in this case, that's your small seconds. No date on this one. 13 millimeters thick, including a domed crystal and 46.5 millimeters lug to lug. It's 19 millimeter lugs, which is a bit of a dig against it, but we can get into this. You know, I fit 20 millimeter straps in it. They just kind of squeeze in. It doesn't seem like a big deal. And then, of course, the watch itself comes with some strap options. It's a sapphire crystal, 200 meters water resistance, a screw down crown, gray, black, or blue. We've got blue and gray represented in the opinions in this show. It has sort of a pretty deeply aged treatment to the loom, but there isn't that many loom plots because of the dial layout. So I think it feels pretty balanced that way. And then it has the classic decompression bezel. It's bi-directional. Uh, if you make it in for the pre-order, you're looking at just under $1,500, $1,490. And if you hit up at a retail, it'd be $1,890. And that for that price, you get a, uh, a leather strap and a tropic rubber. Um, my example came on a pretty nice, all things considered a pretty nice Aquastar kind of seat belty NATO.
Jason Yep. Same here.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. Yeah. So where did you land on this? Like, I think you have a pretty good understanding of, of the background. And then of course the Aquastar relaunched with a, a larger version of the original chronograph, uh, what about two years ago? Um, yeah. Where, where does this hit you as far as compared to that and say originals, which are now, you know, low five figure watches?
Jason Yeah, I, I, it's funny. I think when, when the deep star came out, what was it two years ago, the, the chronograph version, which was kind of in some ways more authentic to the original deep star, um, except in size, I think some people, you know, a lot of people loved it. I love that watch. I wear it quite a bit. Uh, but some people kind of lamented the fact that it grew in size from, from what the original deep star was, which was this 37 millimeter case that we see on this one. And so it was with great curiosity that when this one arrived, I put it on. I was like, that's what it, that's what the original, you know, felt like, or feels like. And it's funny, there, there are a couple of weird, first impressions or mind tricks that happen when I, when I put this watch on for one thing, because it's that smaller size, it has this quaint, I keep saying like jewel like quality compared to the, the, the chronograph, which just feels more like a big, like retro style tool watch. This one has this, this actually feels a bit vintage. It feels vintage. Yeah. And the other mind trick that it does is, It looks so much like the standard deep star chronograph, but it's missing the pushers obviously.
[Inaudible] Yeah.
Jason And then the dials flipped. It's like a mirror image. So on the chronograph, the, the sub dial is on the right side and then it has this little spinning propeller type thing on the left side for the running seconds. And then of course it has a big sweep hand, which is kind of not that noticeable I guess on the chronograph cause it doesn't have any like big loom flag or anything like else on it. So it sort of disappears on that one. So this, from a, at a glance, like if you were to wear this or caught a photo of it, you know, a leaked photo on Instagram or something like you'd think, Oh, he's just got a standard deep star on. But then like you look and it's like, wait a minute, where are the pushers? And wait a minute, the sub dials on the wrong side of the dial. And you know, because it's, it's so close to that. Um, and it still works as the deep star would have with this decompression bezel. And the 30 minute chronograph is arguably, you know, not as useful as, as just a standard, you know, time only dive watch. So I dig it. I mean, I think, you know, Gashani's worn it quite a bit since it's arrived because it's, it's smaller and she was always kind of jealous of, of me being able to wear the bigger one. But, uh, but now I've got this on today and it's, it's pretty fantastic.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. And I think the interesting thing is in, you know, in their kind of press release in the, in the communication, which comes from, you know, Rick, who's been on the show. I don't know anyone who really understands dive watches in the same way that Rick does. He's just has a real knack for recreating these things, but also if he's going to make a change, he, it seems intentional. and kind of thoughtful. And in this case, they're quite clear that they're not trying to remake the original. Even in calling this the Deep Star 2, it's more of a, you know, what if, what if Aqua Star had survived the quartz crisis? What might've been the next thing they would have made or another thing they would have made in the same lineage. And I think within that brief, this is a very successful watch. I think the pricing is super fair. you're under two grand, well under if you hit the pre-order. The other thing that strikes me, and I know I've talked about my love of the originals and having tried to buy some in the past, I got priced out of that world, but this is just an absolutely gorgeous watch. And I like that they've made enough changes that I don't feel like I'm buying a direct homage to the original one from the 60s, right? Yeah, right. Right. I love something that comes in under 40 millimeters. I say this a lot, so I don't have to push it, but I like thinking about watches that I'm buying now or might wanna buy now as, are these gonna be something that my kids might wanna wear? And I've got two girls, and I'm not saying that they wouldn't wanna wear a 41 millimeter chronograph, who knows? But I think this might be a safer bet. Yeah, yeah. Who knows where the taste in watches will go? Maybe we'll all return to wanting 47 millimeter Panerais or something like that. But For the time being, I can only predict based on my own evolving taste. And as much as I love the chronograph, the previous chronograph, which is 41 millimeters, if you've ever put on a Black Bay, it wears like a Black Bay. Perfectly comfortable, but it's a big watch. It's both of those things. This, on the other hand, I mean, you're under 47 millimeters lug to lug. The crown is the right size, so it's not digging into my wrist. It's big enough to be legible and have enough loom and to have an effect and to have a feel on your wrist. but not big enough to feel too big or too heavy or too hard to wear. You know, it was a little too late in the season for me to take it swimming or snorkeling or whatever, but I, I, I'm a, I mean, I love a skin diver. This is just very like, like the watch we're going to talk about in a couple minutes with the tutor, very much up my alley. You know, this is maybe a little bit preaching to the choir. So there's not really anything I don't like here. I think it's, this is a good use of aged loom. Yeah. The case is nicely made. It's just a simple brushed, skin diver case. So you're not, you're not dealing with anything super fancy in terms of the, the finishing or, or otherwise. But yeah, I, you know, I think Rick not nailed it right out of the park.
Jason Yeah. I think also, you know, for people that maybe were scared off by the, the, the, the deep star itself, the chronograph version that came out a couple of years ago you, you get everything that's really great about the deep star, both the vintage, the original and, and the reissue from a couple of years ago. You know, some people just aren't chronograph people. I mean, you've, you've mentioned in the past that you're not so much a chronograph guy and some people are, they don't need a chronograph. They don't like the complexity of a chronograph or the service price of a chronograph as well as, you know, the smaller size on this is just, it's going to fit a huge range of risks. I'm wearing it now on my seven and a quarter to seven and a half inch wrist. And as I said, Gashani's worn it a few times and it fits her and me equally well. I think it's, it's great. And it still has those features that, that made the, the, original deep star, just such a design beauty, such a classic that like you mentioned, that font, that scripted Aqua star type at the top. And then I just, there's something about that little star logo and then where it says deep star to 20 ATM. I mean, it's, it's, it just feels so of an era. And then those big long applied markers at a 12, three and six, or just, it still retains all of the goodness of the original deep star. And then you're, you're getting a slimmer case, uh, you know, shorter lug to lug, um, and then, you know, a simpler movement without the, the, the chronograph, uh, part of it. So, yeah, I agree. I think it's great.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. I don't think it's as cool as, as being able to spend say 12 to $15,000 on a really clean original one. Yeah. Those are still OG, but like if you buy that and then you have to baby it, that would concern me. That would be instantly the most expensive watch I own. I think it's one of the most beautiful watches ever made, especially within like the sports, the sixties, like classic dive watch look. I don't think that you could, you could make a top 10 and not include that watch. I think you'd be sleeping on something that was really pretty beautiful and special at the time. But in making this and making something that's hits an accessible price point, a price point that we really like, under two grand is fantastic, right? Like there's a huge amount of competition from the standard sort of micro brands say $600 to $900. And then this is sort of your bump up. This is only a little bit more than something like an SPB. And I think it's made a little better than the Seiko. It's a better movement. It's already keeping considerably better time than my SPB 143. And I like the... I don't like... I adore the SPB. So I don't think that's a dig against it. But if you're going to just do, um, one and you still wanted a skin diver, you wanted something that's a nice size. This is even closer to the SLA in sizing. So the original, uh, 62 mass, if it matters. I think the bezel on the SPB is much more useful for day to day, right? Like this bezel is not that useful for me. I use the pip just kind of, if I want to time something. Yeah. but I ignore all of these little dashes and numbers and the rest of it. That's, you know, it's a, it's a reference for me, a nod to the past, if you will.
Jason Yeah. I mean, I think there were multiple versions of this that there were some lesser known ones. There was actually a rally version of the deep star, which is sort of strange because it kind of crosses genres. And there was a rally version of the deep star that had a tachymeter bezel version of this, which is kind of strange, but you know, who knows, a 12 hour version or just a lapse time or something would be, Maybe it's not out of the question, who knows? But, uh, yeah, I mean, I think it's, uh, it's, uh, it's a cool watch. And I think, um, I think it'll be a hit. I think, you know, coming in at, I think the, the deep star chronograph re-release was about a thousand bucks more than this, um, both for pre-order and for the standard retail price. So I think, you know, even those that were a little put off by, by the price or, or any of the other things I mentioned, I mean, 1490 if you get in on pre-orders, a pretty killer deal for what we're both wearing here.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. And I mean the 1890, it's hard to predict with these things, but they're making 300 of each colorway is the opening series. I guess that maybe that means they'll make more or different versions in the future. I'm not sure, but these ones are limited to 300. So I think the 18, I do almost wonder if they'll just all sell it pre-order. It's hard to predict.
[Silence] Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. But yeah, I think it's easy to look at it and go like, Oh, you know, it does cost more than the Seiko. It does cost more than a Hallios or something like that. But I think given the limited production and the timing and the movement and the rest of it, I don't think it's out of line in terms of what it costs. But I do think that obviously the $400 you save to go pre-order makes sense, especially if you're already on board with the kind of the rest of what we've said. Right. Yeah. Who knows if they'll, which color might go first. I obviously have a strong preference for the gray, but having not seen the others, I have the, I have the chronograph in black, but I haven't seen the blue. My guess is it's, it has an entirely, it has a sort of vibe entirely its own.
Jason I'm not a big blue dial guy myself, but this is, this is pretty amazing. I mean, you know, oftentimes I think what happens is when you see blue dials in photos or especially like press photos, they come across kind of, dare I say cheap feeling, they almost look a bit too bright blue, at least in my eyes. And I think this one in certain light is bright, but like right now I just, I'm sort of slowly pivoting my wrist around and angling it. And it takes on, you know, seven different shades of blue, depending on which way you're looking. And if I look at it straight on and kind of a slightly dark office that I'm sitting in, it's, it's, it's downright black looking and there's a bit of sunburst to it, a bit of a shimmer. And then in certain light, those, those small loom markers that the round ones that are not the kind of the Cardinal points, um, they kind of stand off in, in sort of a three-dimensional way. And it's, it's really beautiful. I'm wondering, yeah, like you said, I wonder if there will be other colors. I know he did a, a green dial version, the Greenwich version of the, uh, of the chronograph. That would be interesting to see in this one too, but, uh, yeah, very cool.
[SPEAKER_00] I guess, I guess it depends on how quickly the 900. that come up today actually sell through. But yeah, I think a blue dial is one of the more challenging dials. I think it's easier to do a gray dial or a black dial, especially when you have some sunburst. I think doing that with the blue, making sure that it works with the sort of old radium style, super luminova and making sure you get a strap option that actually kind of pays into that. I don't know how much more you had to say about this one. We can move on to the Pelagos. Yeah. Speaking of blue watches. Yeah. The other, you know, new dive watch we wanted to talk about, which just due to the lag in our recording, we had literally just recorded last week's episode. And then that afternoon I had my meeting at Rolex Canada. First time I've been to that building. Marvelous. Wow. Super fun, obviously. And to do that in person, to kind of do like a Basel world style meeting, you've got, I think I was there for about 45 minutes, which is a little longer than a Basel meeting. And especially for one watch, but to see that in person was pretty exciting. You know, this is a watch that, um, a lot of you have emailed Jason and I about, or DM'd us about with leaks. And, you know, Tudor is part of Rolex. Rolex doesn't say anything to anyone really. So there was no way for us to confirm a leak. It's always easier just to say like, yep, I've seen it. I got nothing to say. I don't think it's worth covering things like leaks typically, especially if they're already out there. There's a lot of really good rumor sites, if that's what you're into, Instagram as well. But we have the new Tudor Pelagos FXD. Should we should we do a list of specs for that one too, Jason? You think that works?
Jason I think so. I mean, the first thing that leaps to mind is, you know, you have the list in our notes here and it's it's 42 millimeters across and 52 millimeters lug to lug. But what I'm noticing is this 12.75 thick, which is having just talked about the Aquastar is actually slightly slimmer than the Aquastar. And from what I remember of the standard Pelagos, I mean, that's a considerable slim down.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah, I believe the standard's 14.3 since they went to the MT5612 movement. Yeah. So this is a... And it feels way thinner. Really? The amount of space between, say, the inside edge of the crystal and the dial is much closer, much like it is on a Zen U1. Sure. You just feel like they didn't build any thickness into the case, they just made each piece. Yeah. And that is kind of what you get where... I'll run through the specs, it'll make it a little bit faster. 42 millimeter titanium case, like Jason said, 12.75 thick and 52 millimeters lug to lug. It uses a distinct, as in nobody else is doing this, especially not within Tudor or Rolex, titanium case that has channel lugs, which are kind of like a modern version of thick spring bars, but it's not that the bar is welded where the bar holes would normally be. The channel is actually at the lowest part of the lug. So where the strap laces through the watch actually sits directly against your wrist rather than going up off your wrist a little bit, which is an important consideration for a watch of this size. It wears... It's almost creepy how comfortable it is. And you look at it and you go, I know this is 52 millimeters and I shouldn't be crazy about it, but it wears really lightly and evenly on your wrist. It comes with both a rubber and a fabric strap. Both represent two of the nicest I've ever come across. The rubber is a single piece rubber with a buckle, a tang buckle. definitely higher quality than, you know, the one we've talked about for years now, the ZD328. It's a step above that. It feels great. It looks great. And then the fabric strap is made by the same supplier that makes all the Black Bay fabric straps. And it uses like a hook and loop sort of Velcro style secure for that. Both are single piece, both laced through. You can only run essentially NATO style straps with this or Maritacks or however you want to call them. 200 meters water resistance. Keep in mind a normal Pelagos is 500. We're also... The big part with the thinness is no more HEV. So the watch was made with a specific design brief provided by the combat swimming part of the Marine Nationale, they're called the Commando Hubert. And so they removed the HEV because they don't need that. The bezel and dial are now a darker blue, so it's less purple-y is the easiest way I would describe it. The blue Pelagos, the standard blue Pelagos has a bit of a purple hue to it, which gives it this sort of brightness. Yeah. And this, I wouldn't call this navy blue. It's very saturated, darker blue than the more purpley one of the other. It's a brand new bezel size and sort of grip. It really is like in many ways an entirely different watch. There's so many tweaks here. It's a different case. It's a different movement. We're now at the no date movement. So that's part of the thinness as well. So that's the MT5602, which we've seen in like the Black Bay Dark as well, which is a no date 41 millimeter Black Bay. A little bit less dial text. Everything is still loomed. It's a fully graduated bezel, so you get markings all the way around the bezel. And then, yeah, like I said, this was made in conjunction... You have to be kind of specific about the wording here because this is not a military-issued watch. If you can imagine, I think it's a fair assumption to say that a modern military outfit isn't going to spend $3,900 per watch of taxpayer money. Right. And also the world of issued watches is not really the same as it was when, say, the MNs were being issued in the 60s and 70s, right? Right. So this was made in conjunction via a brief from the Commando Uber. It was then approved by the MN to be used for underwater navigation. The new bezel is bidirectional with a countdown scale for that specific purpose. It's not an ISO dive watch. It's not a classic dive watch. These guys don't swim deep enough to be worried about bottom time.
[Inaudible] Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_00] And it's actively in use by the commandos, but it wouldn't be fair to say that it's issued. They're not being given this watch. This is a watch kind of designed with help from this outfit. It's a big, interesting release from Tudor. It's the first big evolution of the Pelagos. Obviously, we went from Eta to in-house, and then with in-house came Blue, and then later we had the LHD, which kind of was the biggest one. Now we have FXD. FXD, for those who missed it, is a kind of a compression of fixed. Oh, sure. It's a Pelagos with fixed lugs. Jason, where do you land on this? What do you, what do you think of it? It's 3,900 bucks. So it's a little bit less than the cost of a, it's about 500 bucks less ish than a standard Pelagos, but you don't get the bracelet, you know, no HEV, which is good. But what do you kind of think of this having, you know, not seen it in person just yet?
Jason I'm a huge fan of it. I don't know if it's a watch I would personally own, but I have to just be utterly thrilled that a company, a big company like Tudor is releasing strange watches like this. I mean, what other brand, you know, big brand these days is doing anything with fixed spring bars or, or, you know, any sort of a NATO only strap option. Um, you know, I've gotten multiple CWCs that come with fixed bars based on the, uh, the MOD spec, um, and their, and their history. But, but for Tudor to kind of build a case that has these really cool, uh, channel kind of strap feed system. Kind of like, uh, I guess what Autodromo did right with the, uh, Yeah, that's the only other one I know of.
[SPEAKER_00] And that's where I kind of learned this term channel lugs.
[Silence] Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00] I don't even know if that's a real term. I picked that up off of like watch you seek years ago when I was obsessed with the group B. But I've always loved that look.
Jason I think it's a, I think I saw it was like a dive computer years ago that had this and I thought, boy, that's, that's such a cool idea. But for a brand to do that, a big brand that, is selling watches to, you know, for a fair amount of money to people that like to swap straps around and like a bracelet option. It's a bold move to, to, to go this route, um, to sell a watch that has only the option of using fabric straps, you know, for this amount of money to an audience that largely likes a, a bracelet option and likes to change straps a lot as a really bold move. You know, it's, it's almost to the, to the, uh, to the degree of the P01 that, that Tudor released a couple of years ago with those really funky kind of hinged lugs and strange strap configuration and, and, uh, and the bezel. And I, I, I applaud that. I think it's great. I'm, I guess the, I like bi-directional bezels. Um, I'm not a huge fan of countdown bezels. I just don't find them useful in almost any respect. I just don't find myself needing to count things down. I mean, even if it's a, making posture or a parking meter, um, the kind of the cliched pedestrian uses of, of dive bezels. I think it's still easier to count up, but you know, Hey, I mean, it's, if they built it to a specific spec and they kind of want to frame it that way, that's, uh, that's certainly fine. But, uh, yeah, I mean, no HEV, I'm a huge fan, you know, you know, me and 200 meter water resistance. If you're going to keep the watch slimmer, I think that's a, that's always a good thing. I can't wait to try it. I mean, I hope one makes its way through town here. Maybe there already is one at one of the Tudor dealers here, but I would love to. It's quite likely. Put one on my wrist and take a peek at it.
[SPEAKER_00] And you know, I, I already did an episode about this watch for Hooding Key Radio, just cause the timing of the episodes worked out. And I really didn't want to share my, just my opinion, which this is more the venue for that. I wanted to get this kind of collector perspective. So I called Ross Povey, who we know the Tudor collector. Russ is excellent and he was exactly what I wanted, which was like, I wanted to understand this from someone who lives and breathes just Tudor, really understands the kind of military history, really understands the design legacy and kind of even sees things outside of the hype in that has the context is to see the watch for what it is to someone who loves Tudor. And one of the big things that he brought up that I did not even think about, it's not in my original writeup, any of it is that these are, engraved with the MN logo, but also say MN 21 in reference to the way they would have been engraved as issued pieces back in the day with the year that they were issued.
[Silence] Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00] But he said, you know, that's going to make a big difference to a collector because there's only like six weeks left in November and then it's going to be MN 22. So the key here is... Right after this episode, I'm going to run out and buy one. Right? There's going to be some people who really, really buy it because it's a no date blue MN style watch that has MN 21 on it, and it'll be rare. There just won't be as many as there will be next year, or theoretically the year after. I don't think this is going to be a high production watch to begin with. So we might actually be talking about actual rarity, not just the word rare compared to how many watches Tudor makes in general. I think this is a really interesting watch. I don't think it's the Pelagos I would buy. I've had time to think about this, is what I asked Ross at the end of the H Radio episode. which one would you buy? And it was a very fast answer for him. This is the Pelagos for him. It's the one that he likes. He's an FXD guy. For me, I still, weirdly enough, despite my general indifference towards bracelets, I love the normal Pelagos' bracelets so much.
[Silence] Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that this makes my longstanding Pelagos conundrum any easier. This is a little bit cheaper, which is nice. I think they've made some very specific updates. Oh, the other thing I'll bring up because it's in the comments constantly is people don't understand the, um, the bezel markings where some spans have four marks and some have three. It's a direct pull of, of the MOD stylings. And you can see it quite specifically on mil subs as well. It's a reference to just the sort of military legacy of, of Tudor and Rolex's work in that space, but you'll have different markings depending on where you are in the bezel. And it's just meant for speed and accuracy when you're getting closer to the, um, To the pip, that's all. Oh, but people seem confused on that or, or, or upset about it or whatever. And it is, if you look at the bezel on a, uh, you know, uh, a sort of MOD dive watch or a mil sub, I think it becomes a little bit more obvious what they were working towards. It's not exactly the same, but it's very similar.
Jason Yeah. And I, I think, you know, the, the, the reaction oftentimes the, the, the initial reaction that people have when they see a watch like this is would I buy this or was this a swing and a miss or was this you know like with the P01 or this one it's these are quirky watches and I think we have to applaud a big brand like Tudor for even making them and the fact that it is going to be more of a niche watch for a very specific kind of person I think is what makes it cooler so you know the Pelagos what so many people have talked about myself included and you just mentioned is that superb bracelet that the original Pelagos comes with. I mean, it's like almost like it's calling card is that that floating clasp and just the beautifully done bracelet. And this one doesn't have that. And you think, oh, you know, they've really missed the boat here by by deleting that piece of it that is so popular on the standard Pelagos. But yeah, the fact that they made this one that can only take a fabric strap was was something that to make a very niche product. I mean, I know you've talked about it with cars in the past, but for a brand to make something so Um, just so peculiar is something worth celebrating in my mind. And I think it will make it, you know, not to, not to be a big future prognosticator, but you know, like, can you imagine in 25 years, if you had an MN 21 Pelagos effects D when, you know, they stopped making it after three or four years. And, um, it's almost like the North flag, like they've stopped making the North flag. And that was kind of a quirky, weird watch that, you know, people are going to wish they had bought in 10, 20 years.
[SPEAKER_00] Yeah. And I mean, assuming people are still into watches then as we are now, then I think that's an absolutely fair prediction that people will have had the time to learn about how many were maybe made, how many have been seen, what they kind of do at auction, that sort of thing. And then you'll see these collectors. But I think what's important here is Tudor does something that Rolex doesn't and Tudor does something that a lot of other brands don't do, which is they're willing to make a play to a very specific window of people. And it makes a big splash in that community, even if everyone else who kind of already has the watch they want, give or take. And I can get to that part in a moment, but like the P01 was, was for a very specific niche and that niche really likes it. And I think that perspective, that kind of thought towards product design and implementation should be exalted to some level, even if you don't like the product that much. Yeah. Yeah. It's one thing to do a special edition. We're seeing the, the kind of peak of special edition in the sports car world, just milking it. This isn't a special edition. This isn't like a slightly different Pelagos. This isn't a Pelagos with an MN logo on the dial. That's otherwise the same. Yeah. Those are all things they could have done and the watch would have sold. Yeah. Right. This is something specific for a specific group of people. And, and part of that group is this commando Uber, and they're actually using it for the underwater. And I think that adds a lot of coolness. for the other, the casual buyer who, who likes this watch and we'll see it and, and kind of go after it. And I think it's just a world of like, sometimes you just need some context. Yeah. My first gut reaction was probably like a lot of people listening. Why is it 52 millimeters lug to lug? Why? Yeah. And then I actually put it on my wrist and it doesn't because of the weird shape of the, the, the case and the way it sits in the decent strap. And even when I put it on a 22 millimeter Utenado, it just sits really nicely. Don't get me wrong. It's not a small watch. It's not, it's not, it can't hide the 52 millimeters. It's not going to suddenly feel like 46. Yeah.
[Silence] Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00] But it doesn't wear like a 52 millimeter dive watch normally would, because it's not like other dive watches. It has this very, very strange kind of ingenious little case design. And I think that they've made something for a certain type of collector and that not everybody kind of immediately saw that context. I saw the lug to lug and the fact that it's not a Pelagos 58, like a smaller standard Pelagos, which is still something that I'm begging for. I don't know if we'll ever actually see the Pelagos GMT at this point. It's just become this kind of joke. It's a bit... And I also think that they made something that had... It has enough of a take to be divisive and cause some controversy and some kind of discussions. Does it really matter if it's issued or not issued? I don't know how you could expect a watch, especially a $4,000 Swiss watch, to be an issued watch anymore.
Jason Yeah, right, right. I think, you know, people in the military and those out there that are listening that are part of the military can correct me. Um, I think there's a sense of heritage and I think there's a sense of tradition, um, if you're in the military. And I think, um, this reminds me a bit of the, the Braymont, uh, HMAF collection there, Her Majesty's Arms Armed Forces collection, where, you know, there's no, nobody's pretending that, that, you know, RAF pilots are wearing that mono pusher arrow chronograph, but it's, if, So many military outfits will get these small run, customized dial CWCs and Rolexes and Omegas and Bramonts and Breitlings and things. And they wear them proudly and they might not wear them while they're, you know, out, you know, kicking down doors and flying sorties and things like that. But you know, when they're, when they're off duty or, you know, off base or whatever, I mean, they love this stuff. And I think, I think this will be something like that.
[SPEAKER_00] Ultimately, I don't know how much that would matter to me personally, but I do understand why somebody else might attach to it as like, that's what would make me buy the watch or not. I don't have a strong enough military connection, especially to a military that isn't even of my own nation, for it to matter to me very strongly. I once met a fellow at one of the first watch meetings I ever went to in Toronto before I lived in Vancouver, as I was just kind of getting into writing about watches. And he had a Canadian Coast Guard Tudor. Oh, sure. A black Tudor sub that was for the Canadian Coast Guard. Now that I get it. So I have to be fair. Maybe if you're French, maybe if you really love military connections, that adds a big appeal. But I don't think the way that this has been sort of presented or the way that it works out necessarily detracts from what they've made, which is one of the biggest watch brands in the world. Certainly the sister brand to the largest, most prolific watch brand in existence, has made something weird and fun and special and different. And I think that's, that's what, that's the way I attached the story once I had some time to absorb it.
Jason You know, I'm looking at your post on Hodinkee from, from last week when you first introduced the watch and just scrolling through the photos. And I, one of my favorite views of the watch is you, you took a case back view with the strap removed and it's just this like chunk, you know? I mean, it's a single piece. It just looks like it was just, It was just like carved out, you know, the, the, the channels for the it's, there's a difference, you know, with, with the CWCs that I have with the fixed spring bars, like you can actually see where it was kind of welded and then polished out where the spring bars went in. Like this is like, this case was designed as like a single piece, the movement dropped in and then like run a strap through it and go. And, and I love that very solid kind of look to it. I think that I might even be my favorite view of the watch is just that back view looking straight down at the case back. No, No clear case back, you know, whatever. It's just super cool. I mean, I think this is that kind of watch with no date, titanium, and just a single chunk of metal, you know, with a strap run through it. It is that kind of watch that almost encourages you to just thread a strap through it and off you go. Get after it for sure.
[SPEAKER_00] I think, you know, I've said it a hundred times, you know, I think they did well. I get that there's some controversy. I also understand that I've learned, because I've written about almost every tutor that's come out in the last couple of years, certainly. Certainly any dive watch has landed on my plate. Thankfully, the brand likes to give me the opportunity to see and take pictures of these things. I think it's a very flattering thing. I don't know how a tutor sees it, of course, but I see it as a very flattering thing that people feel very personal about what tutor makes. If I was tutor, I would think there's no way I could buy this attention, but it's a double-edged sword because if you don't deliver, you know, they put out a Black Bay 58 blue, which is one of probably my favorite watch they make, or at least in the top three with the blue Pelagos and the FXD. Yeah. Yeah. They make the blue, the blue 58. And a lot of people got upset that it was just another color way, but then the comment right below it is the alternate. It's the, all I wanted was the blue one, which is where I land. People seem to have a very personal opinion of how well Tudor delivers exactly what they want. People give Rolex a pass because they're this nameless, faceless monolith that you pay deference at the throne and maybe you get a watch. And I think that that has a lot of baggage to it that doesn't necessarily exist for Tudor. But people seem to take it personally. And I don't know where that started or how it started. It could be that they came back to the America and UK markets in a very specific enthusiast-focused way with the Black Bay. And so they have an enthusiast audience, a deep enthusiast audience. And I think people didn't get what they wanted from the P01 if they wanted a kind of a vintage reissue of a sub, and then the 58 was the wrong color, or it's this color or that color. Or listen to me, how many times have I talked about the GMT? Tudor's a special brand and people seem to interface with it differently. Yeah, true. But I hope that doesn't put them in a position where they don't wanna take interesting fun risks like with the FXD or the P01. I wasn't crazy about the P01. I don't see the point, but I have met people who gave me a different context. He said, no, I love this watch. I think it's very cool for these reasons. I hope Tudor can contextualize the feedback they get sometimes, where I think in many ways, it's people saying like, we love you, do this for me, please. And that's not really how you make a watch brand that makes this many watches a year. Yeah. Or at least not always. They made something niche for a group of people here. Yeah. Both of these watches really capture elements of the way I really interface with the dive watch world, but you couldn't have two more different watches. They're not made out of the same materials. Right. They're not the same size. They don't look the same. The Pelagos is resolutely modern. And even down to its very philosophy, the DS2 is the opposite of modern. They just wanted a thought exercise of what might've come next if Aquastar had continued.
Jason Yeah, I think this was a fun episode. I, I remember when, um, you know, the Pelagos came out last week and we kind of just missed it for, for last week's episode. And then the timing with the Aqua star, it's just perfect. So I, I was excited to kind of have this chat today and it's kind of a good old fashioned, just kind of, you know, talk about watches episode, which is a lot of fun. I hope people enjoy it. And we'd love to hear the comments. I'm sure everybody's going to have all sorts of feedback on both of these.
[SPEAKER_00] And if we missed something, if there's a question that you have, if we didn't get it in the spec list, if whatever, just put it in the comments, uh, on notes at the great NATO.com and I'll, I'll answer Jason answered or address it to us specifically if you need it. Um, we can, we can answer all these questions and that sort of thing. It, I wanted to put these in one episode because I felt that they were very different, but they're both kind of skin divers. Yeah. There hasn't been a lot of like really amazing, exciting watches that are accessible to a certain extent these days. You know, it's, it's impossible to buy a Rolex. And it doesn't always seem like that brand wants to iterate to keep us excited. Whereas at least this is something we can sit and chat about and have an argument or a difference of opinions, whether it's on either of these watches. I think they're both very successful in what they set out to do.
Jason Yeah. All right. Well, let's move on to final notes. I can go first because I think mine sort of relates to, well, I suppose both of these watches, but maybe more so towards the new Pelagos FXD. And I recently picked up a new strap, a NATO strap from CWC. So CWC sells obviously watches, but they also have a small strap shop where they, they do kind of standard NATOs that they source from Phoenix, the, the old maker of the original MOD NATOs. But then they've got one on their site now that I recently bought. It's called the, the NATO stretch watch strap. And it's the format is a standard NATO strap, but the material is, is quite stretchy. You would ask if it's kind of similar to the straps from Erica's and it is sort of along those lines. I would compare, I don't know if you've tried, um, one of Nick Mankey's straps. He makes the, I haven't no stretchy straps that you can thread and use on a Garmin. I would compare it to that. It's a really high quality material that has a fair amount of stretch to it, but it doesn't feel kind of rubbery and elastic. And I think that material with the NATO format solves a big problem in my head when it comes to NATOs. And I think, you know, a lot of people are like, Oh, you, you know, you always use a NATO when you're diving. And actually I don't because a NATO is one of those straps that there's no give to it. And so none, if you're diving and you don't set it properly before you descend and your suit shrinks and the strap gets wet, the watch can kind of spin around on your wrist. And if you over tighten it, it feels like a tourniquet, et cetera. Well, The cool thing about this one is it's a NATO strap, but you can pull it a little bit tighter to, to, um, to utilize the stretchy aspect of the material and it'll, it'll stay nicely firmly in place on your wrist. And it's cool. Um, I didn't just buy it for diving. Obviously I, I think it, it has a nice texture to it. It looks good. Um, it comes in set, they're offering seven different colors and I'm not a huge, stripey fan although I do have a soft spot for the bond so I got the bond striped one and I think what I like about this bond version is it's the gray is a darker gray and it's not the outer color I think a lot of the bond straps it's like a lighter gray and then the the two stripes are black if I'm not mistaken and this one has it kind of the opposite so it wears a lot darker and I just think it looks really good and I I'm wearing it mainly on CWCs but I've tried it on a couple of other watches but they do also have the green with the yellow stripe that was kind of the original strap that came on the on the tutors made of the the parachute parachute uh strapping material and then they've got some black with red black with gray a full red one which is the only solid color version uh well i guess they've also got a straight black one as well but um i hope they do come out with some other colors because i just think it's a nice option these go for about 18 pounds which is you know what 20 i don't know somewhere close to $25. $25, something like that. So not horrible and really well made. And yeah, if you're looking for something a little different in a NATO strap, I encourage you to check that out, especially for the new Tudor. It might be a good choice for the Pelagos FXD.
[SPEAKER_00] Might be just the thing. I like these quite a bit. That's a cool idea. I like the idea of having some stretch in your watch band. And yeah, I would agree. Let's see some more colors. Let's see an Admiralty Gray. Yeah. Uh, you know, standard gray with a brush hardware would be pretty killer. I definitely could see myself going that direction. And then, you know, that's the color that Phoenix has used for a long time for the gray NATO. It's where we based our color code for the show on is Admiralty gray and that sort of thing. So as always, CWC does, does lovely work. And this seems, it seems like a solid product, uh, for the money. So very cool. What have you got? Mine is a bit of a left field option, but it was just something that, um, you know, when I was coming home from Germany, I had, you know, this is going to be 13 hours or something with a mask on. And I was looking just to feel a little bit happier and not think about work for at least just a few minutes. And then I looked at my podcast feed, and I've been enjoying a podcast. I've mentioned it before, but I've been enjoying a podcast called The Rewatchables, which is a huge podcast. Most people who would like it in the audience probably already know about it, but it's from The Ringer, which is typically a sports website. Um, but the rewatchables is a podcast that looks into movies with high rewatchability. So like the kind of movie where if you caught it on cable on a Saturday afternoon, you'd go, Oh, I love this scene. And then you would end up watching the whole thing, right? It's one of my favorite movie podcasts along with blank check. If you haven't listened to that, that's fantastic. But the ringer, one of the things I really like about these guys is Bill Simmons and, and the team there, they have a real love for the movie heat, which is one of my absolute favorite movies, easily my favorite movies from the nineties. And I believe it was maybe the first rewatchable they ever did with heat. And then at a certain number, they did the reheat where they just kind of dug back into it with the new form. The show had evolved in its format and its scope. And it was a little bit more produced by that point. So they did it again. And then they said, you know, someday we'll do the three heat, but only if we can get Michael Mann. Yeah. And I always kind of figured they wouldn't do it. Michael Mann's not a guy that necessarily pops up on podcasts. If for those of you who don't know, he's the director of the movie heat along with, um, a lot of really other fantastic movies that we've talked about, many in the TGN Film Club. I'll put a show note in there. We don't have to go too deep into that part. But they got him. So I was sitting in Frankfurt Airport. The lounge was closed, so I had to sit just in a normal spot and just hang out for the several hours until the flight. The flight changed gates like four or five times. It was kind of stressful. And I had this to listen to. And for them to be able to take all of their kind of beliefs and opinions and a lot of like, um, rumors and conjecture about the production of the movie and the various actors and who might've had other roles and all these sorts of things. And just have Michael Mann be like, no, that's not real. Yeah, that was real. No, that's not real. And then provide all this great context. He was also like super open to chat about stuff, which I didn't really expect. He seems, um, very intellectual, very thoughtful in his process, but not necessarily very accessible. in many ways, and it was clear that he had a respect for what they had done and how much they loved his movie. Maybe he didn't understand just how much they love Heat. I thought it was great. If you like Heat, it's simply amazing. I don't see how... I don't see how anyone who appreciates either Heat or Michael Mann's movies wouldn't absolutely love this episode. I've listened to it twice. I'll probably listen to it again at some point. Once I got home, I re-watched Heat just to kind of fill in some of these additional blanks. It's a movie I watch every few months. I'm so thrilled that they were able to do the three heat. So that's definitely my final note for the week.
Jason Oh, that's cool. They got Michael Mann. I think, uh, I think that sets the bar high. I think we need to get like Denny Villeneuve on, uh, on TGN film club someday or something, right?
[SPEAKER_00] I would. Yeah. I mean, someday that'd be great. Uh, Denny, if your people, if, if any of Denny's people are listening, we'll, uh, we'll roll out the red carpet. Uh, it'll be a fun episode. I promise we can talk all about. Yeah. I, I just, just got a chance to, um, to check out Dune. Uh, we can, we can talk about that maybe on a future film club. It's, um, I'm not going to ruin anything for anyone about that movie. It's a treat. Check it out. Oh, oh, you know, we love Villeneuve here. Dune is something else entirely. Now I need to read the book to really understand. There's a lot of stuff I didn't fully grasp. Uh, I've never read the book, um, but that'll be on my, my kind of a winter reading list before I rewatch it. And certainly before the second half comes out, part two, wow.
Jason Killer stuff. All right, well, good show, a couple good watches, some good final notes, and as always, thanks so much for listening. You can subscribe to The Show Notes via notes.thegrenado.com or check the feed for more details and links. You can follow us on Instagram at jasonheaton at jestacy and follow the show at TheGrenado. If you have any questions for us, please write thegrenado at gmail.com and keep sending those voice memos. If you're enjoying the show, please do subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts and music throughout a siesta by JazzArr via the free music archive.
[SPEAKER_00] And we leave you with this quote from Epictetus who said, anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether.