The Grey Nato - EP 21 - Watches Under $1000

Published on Tue, 08 Nov 2016 08:54:08 -0500

Synopsis

The episode is a discussion about affordable watches under $1,000. Jason and James share their recommendations for various watch brands and models in this price range, covering different styles and features like diving watches, pilot watches, and dress watches. They also mention some honorable mentions that slightly exceed the $1,000 budget.

Transcript

Speaker
James Stacey Welcome to episode 21 of The Grey Nado, a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, gear, and most certainly watches. I'm James Stacy.
Jason Heaton And I'm Jason Heaton. You know, we're approaching our first full year of The Grey Nado, and we'd like to thank all of our listeners for supporting us this past 11 months since we launched episode one back in January. As we head toward year two, we'd like to put out a request. If you'd like to help financially support future episodes of The Gray NATO, or if you have ideas on how we can earn enough to pay for some of the ideas that we've got for future episodes, we'd love to hear from you. We're looking for sponsors, large and small, whether it's a one-time donation, some continuing support, or even a corporate sponsorship. So if you're interested or have ideas for us, please do get in touch, and our email address is thegraynatoatgmail.com.
James Stacey Alright, so on with today's topic, we're talking about watches under $1,000. So while Jason and I may own and chat about watches well over this price point, I think the heart of watch enthusiasm still rests under $1,000. And you can certainly find a ton of stuff to be happy with at that and under that price point. So we each prepared a list and like we have in the past, we've done so blind. So I haven't seen Jason's, Jason hasn't seen mine. So it's gonna be fun to kind of see where we overlap.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I think this is probably the most, to me, the most kind of exciting category of watches these days. And, uh, I think it should be a good, good show. Should we kick it off? Maybe trade back and forth.
James Stacey Yeah, that works for me.
Jason Heaton Okay. Well, the first watch I have, uh, kind of goes back to, it's kind of one of the poster children of sub thousand dollar watches in my opinion. Uh, and it comes from Victorinox Swiss army. Um, it's a brand that I know when I was just kind of getting back into mechanical watches, you know, kind of struck me as just a great bargain and kind of a lot of bang for the buck. And the watch that I'm choosing actually isn't a mechanical watch, but I think it just has enough classic style to it. And I don't think there's really anything wrong with quartz in this category. And it's the Swiss Army Infantry GMT. It just has a really kind of a classic And you know, the Infantry is their family of watches that they're kind of trying to make sort of vintagey or retro style. And this watch, it gives you that added functionality of a GMT hand. It gives you some classic styling. It's got sort of stylized Arabic numerals. It has a 24-hour scale on the bezel. You can get it on a bracelet or on a rubber strap. It retails for about $450. So, you know, we're talking well below our price point. It's a 40 millimeter case. They always do a really nice job with straps. And I'm just a big fan of Swiss Army. I think you get a lot of value with their watches. I think the cases are really solid. They're really versatile. They kind of have that... I think they've managed to do a really good job with sort of straddling dressy and sporty. And this watch in particular, you know, a lot of people will maybe turn up their noses a little bit at, at the fact that it's quartz, but I think for, you know, $450 for a GMT, it would just be kind of a great bang around travel watch. It's, it's dressy enough. You could, you know, wear it on a trip. It has a hundred meter water resistance. So you could, you know, throw it on a NATO strap and swim with it or hike or whatever you want to do. And then still kind of dress it up enough for evening activities. You know, if someone isn't really a hardcore kind of mechanical watch snob, and you're willing to look at something with a Swiss quartz movement in it, I think it kind of makes for a great option.
James Stacey Yeah, I actually have a Victorinox on my list. But with the Swiss Army, the Infantry GMT, that's a pretty cool watch. And I've actually had for review the non-GMT version that uses an automatic movement.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey And it's a great watch. It's a really wearable and it has kind of a nice pseudo military aesthetic that's not heavy handed. They make it on a leather or I believe like a Milanese mesh.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey Super wearable, nice price point. And yeah, I would probably actually lean towards the quartz because you get the GMT function, which makes it kind of a better all round travel knock around and then maybe save up for something maybe even outside of the price range of this piece. Yeah.
Jason Heaton I think, you know, Swiss Army just as a brand. I mean, I think they're actually have, they have a lot of watches that could fit into this sub thousand dollar category that we're talking about today. And you said you have one as well, but it's just one of those brands and this watch in particular that, you know, a lot of times I'm sure you get the same. I get people coming to me or someone's wife who maybe wants to buy their, her husband a gift for birthday or Christmas or something. And they're like, Oh, you know, he's not really a watch guy, but he kind of likes watches. And I don't want to spend more than, $500 or whatever, what should I look for? And there's always this set of brands that I kind of have in my back pocket that I pull out and Swiss Army's like near the top of that list just because I've had a few in my past and I just, I've always had kind of a soft spot for them. And, you know, I'm curious, which one did you choose?
James Stacey So I cheated a little bit with a couple of my answers in that they're kind of A, B options. So watches that I think are in my opinion, is very similar in terms of the way you would use them, but not at all the way they look or wear.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey So for my first one, it would be the Inox Titanium. Oh, yeah. Which is the Victorinox, it's quartz, it's essentially indestructible. If you don't know the Inox line, really cool. In this past Baselworld, they launched the titanium versions, 43 millimeters on a rubber strap, comes in gray with a red seconds hand, or an orange seconds hand or a blue seconds hand, and then you get a rubber strap that matches the seconds hand. So really kind of subtle. I would actually say it has a bit of a kind of Aquanaut vibe to it. It's a lot of metal around maybe a slightly smaller dial than you would expect. But with these Inox, they essentially made watches that were literally as tough as possible. They drive tanks over them and they run them through an unbelievable battery of tests.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey The only reason they told us, the only reason they don't make a mechanical version is you can't get them to survive the test where it's thrown out of a window.
Jason Heaton Oh, sure.
James Stacey And then down, it's either two stories or three stories, something like that. Anyways, I'm not sure it matters. Like, let's say you wear dress watches Monday to Friday, nine to five, and you want to come home and put on something that's kind of a little bit burlier, kind of has the same kind of wrist appeal as, you know, like a Royal Oak offshore diver or something, you know, It's hard to explain because the watch is only 600 US.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey So I keep comparing it to watches that are grossly more expensive. But I guess what I'm trying to say, it's actually a really pleasant design. The titanium means the 43 millimeters wears really well. The rubber strap looks great and it fits really well. And yeah, that's kind of my first one. And at $600, you still have some room for really probably another watch, entire watch from the list.
Jason Heaton Yeah. I mean, I feel like, you know, with the Inox, it's like you said, that the design kind of speaks the same language as some that are infinitely more expensive. And I think that's, what's kind of neat about that watch is that so many watches in this price point, the lesser ones, they haven't really put the time and the energy into design. And I think this one, it's a real design-y kind of watch. And I don't mean that in a negative way. I think it was really well thought out as well as the battery of tests you said. So it's, that's a great choice.
James Stacey Yeah, I would totally wear one. Yeah, I would too. The alternative on that is if you look at the Victorinox and you want something that's that tough, but you want more features. Here's the watch that I spent my own money on is the Casio Rangeman 9400. So this is the protrek movement, but in more of a military aesthetic. They call it the Rangeman or the 9400. It comes in a few different color versions. It's $300 list. You can definitely get it for less, like through Amazon and such. It's 55.2 millimeters wide. and 18 millimeters thick. So I used to love wearing it when I was hiking or running or in any situation where I wanted a bunch of features and none of the hassle of worrying at all about the watch. It's a perfect watch to fly with as a thousand hour chronograph, instantaneous world time, all sorts of alarms, altimeter, barometer, compass, thermometer, excellent backlight. It's very wearable. It doesn't weigh that much. It's 93 grams on the strap. I have watches where the head is 93 grams. So I would simply throw that out that in my mind, you could go if you want something that's more traditionally a watch, that Inox is an awesome choice. And if you want something that's kind of a Swiss Army knife of options and toughness, the Rangeman is probably my favorite. Casio that I've owned so far. I think it's just a very accessible platform. The user interface is very polished the screen is very nice all these sorts of things and That's basically where where I land on those Jason. Do you have any any digital in your in your list?
Jason Heaton Well, I don't have anything Too close to a g-shock and you and I have gone back and forth on g-shocks for yeah for sure several times I'm not a huge fan of g-shocks, but I get why it's on the list and I have respect for them the closest I get is It's a watch that I think I've talked about before and it's the Citizen Aqualand and it's actually the first generation version or rather the reissue of the first generation version. They call it the JP2000. And you don't see them around that much. I don't think a lot of like North American citizen retailers are carrying this watch, but I see them all the time on these, um, you know, Asia based, uh, websites like creation watches and some of these other places. The JP2000 Aqualand is styled, or it's actually a direct reissue of the old C0020 Aqualand from the 80s. And it's an analog and digital watch. So it's the one that has the depth gauge on the side of the watch. It has, you know, surprisingly really classic sort of dive watch aesthetics, despite the digital readout at the top of the dial. I think that's nicely integrated. that kind of bulbous, bulbous, uh, depth sensor on the side. It's, it, it, it's kind of awkward looking, but at the same time, I think it gives the watch a really distinctive look that when you see it from a distance, it's become almost a kind of a modern watch icon. I think a lot of people will see that and think, yep, Aqualand, you know, it's, it's just, it was kind of the dive watch for the eighties and it's still one of my favorites. I've got one of the old ones now, as I think I mentioned on our last episode and it's, um, it's just It's one of those great, truly, you know, tool watch, quartz, do anything kind of watches. So.
James Stacey Yeah, for sure. Those are killer design and, and they're, they seem rather timeless, especially because they're making the JP, the 2000. Yeah. And it looks so similar to the original, but it is the kind of design that you expect to see on a dive boat. Yeah, exactly. Or, you know, in, on some like really weathered, bleached out arm in the keys. Yeah. Right. Just a really cool watch that bears a certain aesthetic that I think has given some holding power, some lasting ability in the market. I don't have anything on my list really like that. So I'll go through one that we'd probably both have on our list. This is the SRP777, the Seiko Prospex. I've said it before. I said it in my review on a blog to watch. I think this is the sub $1,000 dive watch right now because it comes in like I think you can get them all day long for about $350. Yeah. US. Yeah. And at that price point, there's almost no equal competition except going even cheaper into Seiko. Right. I love the SKX, but the movement's not as nice and you don't get hacking and the dial is much nicer on the 777. So I would say, you know, a sub $500 Seiko diver should be in any competition. for, you know, great sub thousand dollar watches. And certainly that 777, as we've talked about ad nauseum at this point, is about as good as they come.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I, I'm not going to add much to it. I mean, everybody is aware of both of our love for that watch. I think it's, it's on my list. So, you know, we don't have to go too deeply into it, but definitely it's a great followup to the Aqualand because I think it's kind of styled after that great eighties, seventies, eighties Japanese dive watch that is, has hung around for so long for a reason. So great choice. Yeah. Same, but different. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I have one that it's kind of, I would say it's almost an heir to that type of watch and it's, it's totally different. It's, it's from Skirfa. Uh, Skirfa is a very small brand. It was started by a commercial diver in the UK named Paul Skirfield and Skirfa has focused almost exclusively, well, entirely exclusively on, uh, tool watch, you know, dive watches and being, you know, this, commercial diver. He's had plenty of time sitting in, uh, the, the, the bell or the, the habitat, um, thinking about watch design. And he, he actually is, um, if you check out his Instagram feed, I think it's skirful watches. He is a fairly, uh, vigorous collector of vintage dive watches of all sorts, tutors and Rolex and stuff, but he wanted to design something that could just be worn on the job and, and knocked around and whatever. So he came out with one, a couple of years ago called the Diver 1, which he sold on a rubber strap, uh, or also on a NATO strap. And I believe the Diver 1 is now sold out. That's a watch that I had. It came with a quartz movement, uh, sapphire crystal, um, good size, kind of classic styling, really high quality for just, you know, 300 bucks or something like that. And now he's followed up. His new one that just came out is called the Bell Diver 1, and he's put an automatic movement in it. It's the Miyota 9015. And it's, again, it's kind of, the reason I called it's kind of an heir to the SRP is that it's one of those watches that it's about, I don't know, about 420 bucks or so US, he sells it in pounds on his website. And it's one of those watches that you want to wear to do stuff with. And I think that that is going to apply to a lot of these watches that we're talking about today. But I think particularly, I don't know, maybe it's because of Paul Schofield's background and kind of pedigree as a diver, but I just feel like the watches that he makes are just really no nonsense. They come delivered in like this threaded plastic cylinder that's like used for delivering off, you know, gear to the offshore oil rigs and divers. And he does a nice job with straps and the bezels click nicely, the crown screw on with confidence. They're just nice watches for the money.
James Stacey This is surprisingly nice looking watch for, yeah, 348 pounds plus some shipping. Yeah. And I like in the, in the description. So it's, yeah, it's a 43 millimeter, it's 51 lug to lug. So that's pretty wearable, 16 millimeters thick, not bad for, uh, uh, you know, 500 meter water resistant watch, but then right in the, uh, the third line in the description says working Heliox escape valve. And then in parentheses tested by myself from 151 meters of decompression. I love that. That's awesome. Yeah. I think we were long on record about how silly we think HEV valves are. Yeah. But if the guy who makes the company uses it, that's fine by me. Exactly. He gets a pass. But yeah, you get a ceramic insert. Yeah. Yeah. It's great. And a nice matte gray dial, great big luminous markers and hands, and then the bezel's luminous as well. This looks great for the money. I like it a lot.
Jason Heaton Yeah. So, and I'm just a big fan just because he's one of these, you know, one of the little guys and I think he's, he makes a great product and he stands behind it, but he doesn't have any, you know, illusions about what it is and good stuff. So Skirfa, Bell Diver 1. That's my next choice.
James Stacey Yeah. Very cool. So I actually have a few, um, quote unquote, little guy divers. Uh, so I'll just start at the top of how I have it typed on the sheet. Uh, the first is the Helsin shark diver 40. Uh, so this is a watch that I had in 42 millimeters and I'm very tempted to see in 40, but I've only really been holding off because there might be a chance they'll make one in carbon. They make a 44 or 45 millimeter carbon diver. Wow. Which looks really cool. You know, they make a 40, a 42, a 45 version of the Shark Diver, and they're all the same. They're just changing the case size. Yeah. They're ETA based, 2824 based from around 670 bucks. Yeah. So like I said, they do make the Shark Diver 45 in forged carbon. Oh, wow. Which looks wild. And at 40 or 42 millimeter would check a box for me because I really like the idea of having a carbon watch.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey just because it's kind of techie. But if you look at the overall aesthetic of the Shark Diver, it's this kind of old school. It's got kind of these thick, shouldery lugs and very wearable, amazing loom, great bezel, and a good price. And they come in a handful of different colors. They also make versions in bronze at 42 millimeters and 47. Oh, and I guess they make a similar version called the Stingray at 43. So they make a ton of watches. Now, I've only seen the 40 in person once. but it's just a great size because you still get these oversized markers in hands. But the 40 millimeters, especially on a strap rather than a bracelet, just feels just right. It's not too big. It's not too small. It feels a little bit more old school because of the size. I really liked the 42 and I bet you the 40 would be a great choice.
Jason Heaton I think the 40 millimeter case with these thick lugs reminds me of like the latest Submariner uh, sort of that aesthetic because of the thicker lugs with that, that smaller case size. And I think it works really well, but this is definitely not a sub homage. I mean, there's obvious cues that almost every dive watch has anyway, but it has these, these kind of chunky, uh, crown guards. Um, the, the dial has those big triangular markers. Um, there's a, you know, I don't know if all of them have the same dial, but I think they've got like a light colored dial. They've got this blue dial with the touch of orange on it.
James Stacey Yeah. The blue is great. That's what I had in 42.
Jason Heaton Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's a cool little watch. And I know Helson has a really good reputation just from some of their other sort of, uh, uh, watches that kind of have looked in the past, like, um, like they kind of harken to the, like the Blancpain or, um, watches like that.
James Stacey Yeah. They've done, they've done some pseudo homage to direct watches. They also have done some pretty creative, like stranger designs. If you're on their website, check out the porthole and the gauge in both steel and bronze. They have a cool one called the Blackbeard, which is unlike any watch I've really seen before. It has elements of an old Fifty Fathoms, but then it has like an embossed skull and crossbones in the dial that's the same color. It's a little bit too avant-garde for me, but I do like that they kind of swing for the fence when they try things. And I've had a handful of their watches to review over the years, and they've all been very cool, nicely made. They always offer a really wide range of sizes and I think they're one of kind of the first of these web brands to offer, you know, something as small as a 40 and something as big as, you know, 47 or more.
Jason Heaton Yeah, right. I'll chime in here with another kind of one of these smaller brands and it's one that has intrigued me for a long time. I've never owned one. I've only handled one of their watches once and I know that We kind of loosely set some rules that the watches we were going to talk about today were ones that we've either owned or spent some time with, and this one I'm going to break the rule a little bit, but it's the Magretti Moana Pacific Waterman. I think I'm pronouncing Magretti, I think that's how it's pronounced, out of New Zealand. And Magretti is a brand that has made watches that largely in the past have Had a bit of kind of almost a Panerai homage because of that cushion-shaped case and that style of lug, but not direct, not direct enough to annoy me. And I think this new Waterman, which actually hasn't even been shipped yet, I think it's an all-new piece, just looks fantastic. I've seen some live photos. They've got some drawings on their website. It's an automatic Miyota movement. It has the rotating 12-hour bezel, which you know, you and I both like.
James Stacey Yeah, it's great. I like that they use two digits too. They use two digits. So it's like 01, 02, 03.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. And what I like too is that it's a really slim bezel. It gives it that kind of vintage-y look. And then the dial has those double hashes at 12, 3, 6, and 9. It has kind of a Seiko 6105 style stoplight seconds hand flag. It's just, it has enough different elements to it that make it very unique, I think. A little touch of red on the dial. They're pairing it with like kind of a cool old tropic style rubber strap. I just think, you know, I'd love to get my hands on this and give it a shot. I think it'll be kind of a cool watch. It's, it's 200 meter water resistant. I like that. It's not, you know, it's definitely kind of a dive style watch, but I think it kind of has a bit more of a versatility to it.
James Stacey Yeah. I had a, I had a more on a Pacific PVD way back and it's, you know, their aesthetic is loosely similar to Anonimo. another Italian kind of dive watch brand kind of adjacent to Panerai in some ways. Yeah. And I really liked the Moana. You know, I bought it so I could review it with a site that I used to write for. And I kept it for some time and then, you know, flipped it. But really comfortable. It was kind of cool with black and red overall kind of coloring. And it was a nice watch and definitely their price points always right in the sweet spot. You know, they really stick between that. $500 and $800 point.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I think this one's going to retail for like $575 and I think that's just about right. I think it, you know, hopefully it'll be a lot of watch for that money. I'm sure it will be. So who's your next, you said you've got another kind of small.
James Stacey Yeah, this next one's not going to be a surprise to anyone who's listened to the show, but obviously I'm a huge fan of Hallios watches, you know, based in Vancouver, like myself, I've gotten to know Jason, who runs the company and great designs, great watches, if anything, a little cursed by how quickly they sell. So they never really have a lot of stock on hand. So you kind of have to plan your Hallios purchases with what's coming up. But they've got a few new models in the works, you know, a new Laguna and the C4th. And if you follow them on Instagram, there's always kind of little teasers and references to new designs and things like that. But I've had, oh man, I've had about five of their watches and then maybe another two just for review. Yeah. And I have a Tropic. which we've talked about quite a few times on the show in the past, and it's just a fantastic watch. I love the designs. I really like their kind of anti-approach to advertising. They just kind of sell to people who already know about the brand for the most part, and they have a very loyal following and always interesting uses of color. All the things you want, basically, from a brand in this price point. An exciting, wearable design. A lot of size variants. So, I mean, the Tropic's around 41 millimeters. Laguna is closer to I want to say 43 and a half and then you have like the puck which is even bigger and the Dolphins that I believe 44 millimeters and That way you kind of can get a similar design Sense across a few different sizes, you know, just a big fan of Halleo So I didn't actually put a specific model in I just wrote anything from Halleo's and then in brackets It's gonna be between say 650 and 850 bucks depending on the watch. I think that's roughly where they fall
Jason Heaton Yeah, I've got Helios on my list and I chose specifically, even though it hasn't even been built yet, the C4th because from the photos I've seen or the mock-ups, I guess, the teasers.
James Stacey The design looks so good.
Jason Heaton On Instagram. It's just right up my alley. I mean, talk about putting your own money down. I'm ready to like pull the trigger right now after the show because the problem for me is figuring out which one to get because they've got like three, it looks like I'm looking at the website now, they've got like three designs that have a rotating, again, it's that slim, rotating bezel that I like so much. And then they've got three that just have a fixed bezel, just a clean fixed bezel with a few different kind of color ways, like this lighter blue, like a darker sunburst blue, some black. Great. He's going to be charging 675. They're coming out in like Q1 of next year. It just looks like such a winner. I just can't wait.
James Stacey Yeah. 40 millimeters. 40 millimeters. Oh, 12 millimeters thick. So 47 millimeters lug to lug means it's going to be very wearable. 20 millimeter lugs. You put all your straps on it. Yeah. Dome sapphire. And I like that, you know, with the Tropic, they offered a bronze version.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey That had the fixed bezel.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey And I like that they've kind of carried that over where if you really just want the aesthetic, it's so clean with a fixed bezel. Looks really cool. And it's a 9015.
Jason Heaton Yeah. I'm definitely in for the fixed bezel. I think the fixed bezel, to me, and I've got so many watches with dive bezels, and I just think this is so clean. It's such a clean design. I think it's going to look killer with with a fixed bezel.
James Stacey So that's... Yeah, on kind of a tropic strap. Oh, perfect. And they're going to offer an option of a rubber strap. I don't know what that'll look like, but, you know, just a really, yeah, just a clean design, very similar to the tropic. Yeah. But then an entirely different view on the case, you know, these kind of faceted lugs. Right. And again, that really thin bezel. Yeah. And crown guards.
Jason Heaton Looks great. Yeah. Well, I think I'm going to switch gears here because we've been talking a lot about dive watches and sort of water inspired watches and And I'm going to move to one of my absolute favorite brands. And that is Archimede. Archimede makes, you know, they make a number of watches. They've got this a lot of watches. Yeah. I mean, they've got the sport talker, uh, dive watch. They've got, um, like a field watch. They've got dress watches, whatever. But you know, the one that I think they're best known for, and the one that I like is their Flieger or their pilots watch. And there's so many, I mean, they make them in 36, 39. 42 and 45 millimeters, I think. I mean, just across the board.
James Stacey Yeah. The 39 is on my list.
Jason Heaton Okay. So I chose the 42 and I chose the 42 millimeter hand wound because I just think it's just, it's cool, you know? And it's, uh, I think on their website, it's like in euros, but I calculated it out to about $685. Great, great watch. I mean, it's center seconds, like that sort of touch of, I don't know if it's real blued steel, but it's kind of these blue accents on the hands, the big onion crown. It's a sterile dial, which I love. Um, no date. Um, and 42 is just, it's a great size for kind of a pilot style watch. And what's really cool about these watches, um, is Archimedes, a division of, of the Ickler kind of family of, of watches. And, and Ickler is, is kind of a well-known German based maker of watch cases. And I like the fact that, you know, so many of the brands they'll, they'll take a kind of a Swiss movement or Japanese movement and put it in a case that they don't really reveal where they're getting it from. But I think what's cool about Archimedia is, you know, for better or for worse, they're like, yeah, we're a case maker. We make these great cases at our facility in Germany. And then this one, you know, they plunk this great hand-wound, you know, simple kind of Swiss movement in it. And it's, they're just great watches. A few years ago, for one of my dad's significant birthdays, I got him the big 45 millimeter automatic with no date. And he loves it. He's worn it, you know, every day for seven years or something like that. And it still looks good. Um, so I'm, you know, I know that these watches are well-made and, uh, I just like the brand. I mean, it's such great bang for the buck. I hate to overuse that term in the show because the whole show is kind of about that. Yeah, for sure.
James Stacey I, um, 685 for this is just crazy. I think it's less than 681 because I don't think you have to pay VAT. Oh, you're right. Yeah. I was, I was figuring tax. So it's a 521 euros, which as we're recording, this is 576 us dollars. Oh, I mean, you can't beat that. No, certainly not. I chose the, um, the pilot 39H. Oh, okay. So this is the unsigned dial. Yeah. Yeah. They make a version for left-handers, a version to be worn on your right wrist.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey And they make a PVD case. There's actually just a lot of versions of all of them. It would be really cool to see a 39 millimeter in titanium because they make titanium in some of the larger cases. Really, really cool. I love the design. You know, it's that really iconic Flieger design. And I think that they nailed not only the price point, but you do get a great case. I've seen two of these pilots in person, a 42 and a 45. The cases are fantastic. The crowns are very nice. The dial is as good as you would want it to be at that price point. The hands are very cool. There's some loom. All just a very nice package and then a great price point. They make divers, like you said, and such. So there's lots to see on their website, but I could definitely see spending some of my own money on one of these. I just think they'd be very wearable. I love the case size and all the options. Yeah. Big fan of Archimede. For sure. And let's see what I've got up next.
Unknown Hmm.
James Stacey Let's go to cars. Yep. So maybe an obvious choice for anyone who listens to the show, but I put the Autodromo Group B. on my list. Me too. Yeah. This one squeaks in right under at 925 bucks US. Yeah. But this is one that for me, I cannot, I've, you know, there's a, there's a local retailer in Vancouver and I'm kind of itching to, uh, to put that yellow one on my wrist and, uh, and give it a shakedown. I just think there's such a cool watch. I love the design. I really like what Autodromo does. I just really liked the overall look and how that passes into the watches. And then of all their designs, the Group B, is certainly my favorite. I haven't, have you had a chance to see any of the special versions?
Jason Heaton No. In fact, I haven't seen the, the group B in person yet.
James Stacey So I'm. Ah, okay. Yeah. I know. Cause they made the night stage. Oh yeah. And they made the Evolucione, both of which look really cool. I think the night stage is like a PVD, a lightly PVD coded version of the Evolucione. Huh. Just some really, really neat stuff. But I I've got kind of just a love for that. The normal, the base group B. Yeah. especially in yellow. And I think that's probably going to end up on my wrist in short order. But I, you know, it's just one that I keep looking at. And whenever I stop by this store, I kind of eyeball it and then that kind of thing.
Jason Heaton So it's funny you choose the yellow cause that's the exact one that I chose too. I'd wear it all day long on that gray strap. I think the yellow straps a little over the top, a little too much yellow, but I think the yellow dial or sorry, you know, the yellow markers and hands with that gray strap is just perfect. It's absolutely perfect.
James Stacey Yeah, I think unless I was spending a day at the racetrack, I'd probably option the gray strap. And I mean, I believe that case shape would fit any NATO roughly.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey I could be wrong because I haven't tried it, but I've seen it on other NATOs on Instagram. So other straps will fit that because it's fixed lugs, right? Kind of like a seatbelt retaining system. Right. But I really dig the design. It's funny that we picked the same color. I wouldn't have guessed necessarily that you would have gone for yellow.
Jason Heaton Yeah, and I've met Bradley Price a couple of times, the guy who kind of founded Autodromo, and I actually own two of his watches. I've got the Veloce and the Prototypo Chronograph, and both, everything about them, like you said, I mean, the packaging, the warranty card is like, it's like a machined aluminum card. I mean, it's, the straps are good. You know, the little bag it comes in is good. I mean, There, look, there's a lot of places that you can cut corners in the sub thousand dollar category to save money or to kind of keep watches affordable. But what I love about Autodromo is they're under a thousand bucks, but they don't feel under a thousand bucks there. He puts so much attention into the design. You can just tell there's, there's a care that goes into all these watches. And I think that's, that's what separates most of the ones we're talking about today. And I think those are the ones that make our lists, you know? Yeah. And for sure. I I'll, I'll jump to my next one. It's, uh, It's one that I've admired for a long time. And actually there are a couple of different versions of it. This is completely different from anything we've talked about because it's not even a sports watch. It's the, the Junghans Max Bill Automatic.
James Stacey I have that on my list too. Yeah.
Jason Heaton It's such a cool watch. So, you know, if, for those who maybe aren't familiar, Junghans was, was a German brand from going way back. And, you know, I don't know what convoluted history they've had, but, um, Yeah, they, in the past, I don't want to say 10 years or so, they, they brought out this line of watches that were named for this guy named Max Bill, who was like a Bauhaus art product designer and kind of architect, I think. And the watches are extremely minimalist. They're just really elegant. It's almost like, it's almost like the out no most, no most, you know, they're just, they're so minimalist. Like the, the, this one in particular, I chose the one with the silver dial indices and it's just There are no numerals. It's just these slivers of markers on a really broad, like silvery dial, slim hands. I mean, there's almost nothing to it. The whole watch is dial with this big domed crystal, um, just super elegant. Uh, I, I just, it's, it's a 38 millimeter watch. It would make just the perfect, perfect dress watch. And the one I'm really lusting after, but I couldn't put it on the list cause it's not under a thousand dollars is the chronoscope, which is the chronograph version of this. You know, at under a thousand bucks, I do the automatic. It's, it's just fantastic. And it's barely under a thousand dollars. It's, it's $965, which I think is probably, yeah, it's as close to a thousand as I get on my list.
James Stacey Yeah. For, for this exact same money, I picked a slightly different version, which is the one based most closely on the Maxbill clocks.
Unknown Huh.
James Stacey So this is the automatic matte silver dial numerals. So it's the Youngins 027, I guess. Yeah. Um, so it has the, Arabic numerals and the minutes hours and minutes and Is in a 38 millimeter case, you know, it's lug-de-lugs only 40 millimeters. So it'd be super wearable. They're so elegant, but they're not Like fancy. Yeah. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like I'm not to say that they're not nice certainly, but they're not ornate Right, I really like yeah, and yeah I absolutely adore this style and it's actually I think it's the only one on my list that I haven't seen in person but have like for years just kind of flirted with the idea of ordering one blind. You get a little, you get a little spoiled at, you know, dealing with the journalist side of the, like the press side of the watch world because you end up really not dealing with watches that you haven't had a chance to see. Right. So buying one blind, like from photos, especially a watch that's a little on the small side and isn't a case shape that I'm used to, that sort of thing is a little daunting. Yeah. Man, what a watch, just so such a beautiful design. And there's a ton of iterations, different dial colors, different sizes, they make gold versions, all that sort of thing. Yeah, definitely worth if you don't know the Max Bill aesthetic, but you're kind of loosely in the normal, like you appreciate the no most aesthetic, I would say that this is different, but in the same rough field. Yeah, for sure. Really, really cool stuff. And yeah, definitely, definitely on my list. The next one on my list is a similar, but different And this is the Hamilton Intramatic 38. Oh, yeah. Yeah, good one. So this is my favorite Hamilton. I reviewed one a while back. I kept it much longer than maybe they would have wanted me to. I just really love for the watch. I did, you know, it eventually was sent back, but I wore it well. So this is their kind of vintage aesthetic dress watch. And the Intramatic, comes in a 38 and maybe a 42 millimeter version. It comes in a larger version. I don't remember the size because the 38 is perfect. Yeah. And you can put it on a variety of different straps. It wears a 20 millimeter strap. It's very thin. It doesn't weigh anything. It has a beautiful crystal. The quality of the crystal they use on the watch is great. And it has this kind of sunburst brush silver dial with black markers and hands. And you get a date at six that kind of sits on top of the post of the marker. Oh, yeah. And very minimal dial text has the vintage Hamilton logo. And I can't find any fault with this watch. They make versions that again, like I said, are larger, you can get it with a bracelet if you want to really go for the kind of late 60s aesthetic. And I just think it looks so so cool. And it's very wearable. And if you had to wear a dress watch every day, this one ticks all the boxes, doesn't have a second's hand if that bothers you. I know that bothers some people. I really like it without.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that, that, I didn't have that on this list, but I know when I was for a while there, I was writing a lot of kind of roundups, uh, um, you know, top watches under a thousand or top dress watches to get. And the intramatic is just great. And it's so mad men, you know, it's, it's so perfect entirely. It's, it's, it's, it's a good kind of companion piece or counterpoint to the, the max bill piece. I think they really occupy kind of the same, same aesthetic.
James Stacey Yeah, same size, very thin, you know, kind of a vintage one. I would say that the Hamilton is more for somebody who specifically wants a timeline for their watch. Oh, yeah. Because it does look so very late 60s. Yeah. But it's before watch design got kind of wild. Right. And you got stranger case shapes and bold kind of colorful dials. This is still very reserved.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey And then with the Max Bill, I mean, it just looks like something you would buy at MoMA. Right. and it doesn't really have a time. It was just a great design and that was the end of it. Yeah. It doesn't necessarily carry like a chronological aesthetic to it. Right. Both really, really cool watches and the Intramatic. The only reason I don't own an Intramatic 38 is I ended up winning an auction for a vintage Gerard Perregaux hand winder. Oh, sure. That's an almost identical aesthetic. It's 36 millimeters, but otherwise identical, save from saying Hamilton. Oh yeah. Uh, it says Jarre Perregaux. Yeah. But if I didn't have that, I guaranteed would have bought an Intramatic by now. Cause I think you need one dress watch. And if I was only going to wear one with these price constraints, that would definitely be the one. I absolutely love it.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I think for me too, I think a dress watch is probably the watch. Well, a beater and a dress watch kind of opposite ends of the spectrum are the watches that I would want to spend. not that much on because they're probably the watches I would wear the least. Yeah. Not because I don't like them. It's just, I don't have much opportunity to wear a dress watch. But when I pull one out, I think it'd be really inspiring to kind of strap on a Max Bill or an Informatic. I think it'd just be, it'd be great.
James Stacey Yeah. I think the Max Bill's more casual too.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey You could definitely do t-shirt and jeans with the Max Bill. Maybe, maybe a, maybe a nice a nice tight turtleneck and some architectural glasses. Exactly. Right. Just to really complete the look. Yeah. Perfect. I love both of those watches. They're, they're just both beautiful in the right size and everything.
Jason Heaton Yeah.
James Stacey What, what, what do you got next?
Jason Heaton Well, my next one is it's, it's from a brand that I think we both like we've talked about. Um, it's, uh, Mark two or MK two, uh, Bill Yao's, uh, brand out of Pennsylvania. Uh, they're known for doing, uh, largely homage watches, which, you know, I'm kind of on the fence about some of them are little, little over the top, a little too much. Um, but the one that I chose is one that I saw kind of a prototype during Basel week earlier this year, and it's their newest, it's called the Hawkins, which is, it's pretty much a direct homage to IWCs and, and Jaeger LeCoultre's, uh, Mark 11, the, the pilots watch that they were making for the Royal Air Force back in the 1940s and fifties. Uh, the Hawkins, The one I chose, they've got a few different options on the Mark II website. I chose the type 48 non-date, which is, they're listing it for $595 and I think it's kind of a pre-order thing. They've got a lead time of three to four weeks, which is not untypical for Mark II. But it's a great kind of pilot's watch in a very opposite sense of the Archimedes that we talked about. You know, if you want to go with that metaphor, you know, the Archimede kind of takes it from the German side of the World War II pilots battle. Whereas the Hawkins airs on the Allied side, it was kind of an RAF watch. It's a great size. It's like slightly under 38 millimeters. You know, it's just a super simple, highly legible Arabic dial.
James Stacey Yeah. It's kind of an iconic aesthetic at this point.
Jason Heaton It is. I mean, it's like one of those watches that anybody from a watch geek to a non-watch geek would look at that watch and just be like, Yeah. It's a, it's a wristwatch, you know, it's perfect. Yep. You can't really improve on it. Um, and, and I think it's a nicely done homage without being too over the top, like, like a sub homage or, or the latest GMT master homage that, that Mark II came out with. Uh, this one's got, I think it's like a Seiko derived, uh, automatic movement. Um, so I, you know, just, I know that Mark II builds great watches. I had a, a Paradive, which is one that I wanted to put on my list, but I don't think it's, It's either sold out or it's not under a thousand dollars. So I couldn't put it on my list, but the Paradive was a great, great piece. And so I can speak firsthand about the quality of Mark II watches and having seen the Hawkins during Basel week. It's a, it's a pretty cool piece if you're, if you kind of like that classic sort of pilots. Yeah, for sure.
James Stacey What about you? What's your- My next one, yeah, we're rounding down the very bottom of the list here. I think I got two left. Yeah. And the next one is one that I actually should have in before the next episode. And it's one I've been excited about for a while. It's the Raven Trekker 40. Oh, cool. So Raven watches is a kind of sister brand to Stevrow watches and Stevrow watches used to be called Benares watches. And I've been a Benares fan for many, many years. I really like the kind of Italian diver style, but they kind of went their own direction. as far as case shape and dial allotments. So they weren't necessarily right on top of a Panerai, but rather offering a similar wrist presence for a fantastic price point. The guys behind these watches are huge watch fans, especially sport watches. And you can see that really applied in this brand new watch from them, the Trekker 40. So it's a 40 millimeter steel watch. I would say it's a cross between, hmm, You know what? It has the 12369 sort of Arabic dial. Sure. But then the bezels vary, Pelagos. And then the case shape is kind of smooth with sort of military with kind of an exposed crown. 40 millimeters, again, steel. Really, really cool. They come in a bunch of different versions, date, no date, brushed, sandblasted, yellow accents, PVD. Really good price point at 630 bucks is about where they start and you can get them on a leather strap or a NATO. And it's just a design that looks right up the alley of what you should be able to find in the sub $1,000 kind of micro brand market. Sure. I think it's a really nice design and I'm actually really excited to see it in person. So I'm not at the point where I've spent any of my own money on it, but I will get one in for review with a blog to watch, which I'm pumped for.
Jason Heaton I think it looks great. Yeah, it is a good looking watch. And I think, I guess when you look at sub thousand dollar watches, probably the most crowded category is dive watches. So it's pretty tough to kind of stand out. And I think this one, while it's not, um, you know, it doesn't break a lot of new ground. I think it combines just enough of the kind of different sort of disparate elements that they bring together in really handsome way. And then when you add the, you know, sapphire crystal and like a good movement, like it's those features that kind of add up to making it a good value. So yeah, nice looking piece. I like the one with the yellow seconds hand.
James Stacey It's great. Yeah, the yellow accent and the bezels loomed. I kind of like that they didn't go with a, you know, Rolex esque dial. Yeah, they kind of went with a little bit more field watch, but you know, a little bit of the Explorer vibe and just kind of a nice mix of sport watch dials. Right. Very, very legible. And I love that they offer a no date option and that you can just get it on a NATO. Yeah. Save you a step when it comes out of the box because a watch like this, you're going to put it on NATO. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's kind of a subtle design and I'm excited to get it in.
Jason Heaton Yeah. I can't wait to hear your impressions on that one. So my next one, it's getting kind of to the end of my list here. And I, this one, I cheat a little bit. It's a, it's a hair over a thousand dollars, but it's a watch I really like. It is the Zodiac Super Seawolf 53. Oh, okay. Watch I've, you know, I've had, I've dived with it. To me, it really stands out from kind of that thousand dollar diver crowd because it, it's such a perfect recreation of, of the icon that was the, the Seawolf of the 1950s, which was arguably one of the very first dive watches, but really well-made. And I think a lot of people are kind of rediscovering Zodiac because they've come up, they've had some winners in the past two or three years. that kind of came on unexpectedly. I think people kind of wrote off Zodiac for a while there because, you know, let's face it, you know, after they kind of went bankrupt in the, in the eighties, then they kind of got swallowed up and traded around among a different few different parent companies and made some fairly forgettable watches. And now they're owned by the fossil group, which makes people kind of chafe a little bit. But I think if you kind of set aside those prejudices and you give particularly the, the super Seawolf series, they've got the super Seawolf 53 and the super Seawolf 68, If you give them a try, wear them, you know, take a look at them, spend some time with them. They're pretty darn good watches. They're well-made. I've found that the crowns screw in nicely. The bezels are nice. The lume is good. And particularly with this Super Seawolf 53, you know, it has that, whether or not you like the aesthetic, I guess that's kind of a polarizing feature that the triangle markers on the dial and that engraved metal bezel. Yeah, right. I think either of the Super Seawolf versions are real winners.
James Stacey I got a chance to see a bronze Zodiac limited edition one.
Unknown Oh, yeah.
James Stacey Yeah. At Basel last year and was really impressed. Yeah. You know, I bought into Zodiac right when I got into watches with like a Sea Dragon. Sure. Quartz chronograph is maybe 150 bucks. Yeah. And I enjoyed that from an aesthetic standpoint, but very quickly realized, you know, the quality wasn't great. Yeah. But certainly the Zodiac that I saw last year at Basel was an entirely different category than what I'd seen from them in the past. And if that's the effect of getting fossil money, then so be it. Keep making cool dive watches.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And it is a cool dive watch. And it's, um, I think Zodiac, they, I don't know if they have a chip on their shoulder or if they sort of, um, They know that they're kind of underdogs, that they're operating against people's prejudices. I think it's forcing them to kind of up their game a little bit. And I think that shows in some of their recent releases. So, um, good one to consider the 53.
James Stacey Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All right. Well, I can wrap my list up with, um, a real cheat. This isn't even a specific watch. It's a case shape. Yeah. So I bought that Sylvana a little while ago and it's loosely called a skin diver. Yeah. that case shape. you know, it'll be a vintage diver, probably at earliest, the very early sixties, if you find something like a Jean Richard, the Aquastar. And then later they became Aquastar. And then you start seeing a bunch of other brands using that case and putting their dial in it, like the Sylvana and like Elgin and just many, many brands at the time. So there's a glut of them out there. You just have to kind of look for that case. And I'll link to some actually, RetroWatchGuy.com He didn't pay for this plug. I actually just found it because I was Googling around today while I was making the notes. But RetroWatchGuy.com has a really cool Jean Richard Aquastar. So they're available under $1,000 as a bracket of watches. So that's why I'm putting them on the list. I'm not sure I've found a watch more charming for the money lately. Yeah, I'd love that. I just really love wearing that Sylvana. Yeah. And, you know, I bought that Sylvana from 1025 Watches out of New York. They're connected with analog shift. And 1025 had, I think, three other watches with that case, at least two with that same sort of case. And it's the case size and shape that does it for me. So check them out. Lots of cool stuff. If you can find one like the Sylvana, I'd be really surprised if you didn't at least have a lot of fun wearing it.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I agree. And I think we could do an entire episode on sub-thousand dollar vintage watches. I think vintage is a whole nother category that you can really get some great deals under a thousand bucks. You know, one that we didn't mention that I'm kind of surprised and I was going to put it on my list, but I'll just close with this one. And I think we'll both probably agree to a certain degree is a Squalor. The one I chose was the 1521, which is their, the 50 Atmos watch. But I know you've, I think you owned one. Is that right?
James Stacey They loaned me a 1521, the Ocean Blasted with the blue. Yeah. Okay. That's right. I kept it for quite a while because I really liked it, but it went back earlier this year. It's a really cool watch. Yeah. And, you know, I had the- Very similar case. That case shape is right in line with the Skin Diver case. Exactly. Generational difference with the von Buren design.
Jason Heaton I mean, Squala still is, I think, one of those great kind of small brands that is really swinging above its weight. They're doing such a great job with you know, good quality, you know, Swiss made watches. Um, I wrote a fairly lengthy piece on squalor for Houdinki, I think last year, the year before it's it's the company's being run by like their Italian distributor that was friends with the Von Buren family. And, you know, they make a few different models. Some I like, some I don't like, but the 1521, I think just has that, that great shape that was used by so many brands back in the seventies. And it's almost like they've just kind of just kept making them like almost oblivious to the change, you know, the passage of time.
James Stacey Well, they even found like a bunch of bezels.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey A little while ago and then made a limited edition with Page and Cooper, a retailer in the UK. Yeah. With these two, you know, 50-50 split Bakelite bezels.
Jason Heaton Oh, they're so cool.
James Stacey Yeah. Just so gorgeous. I would definitely pick up one of those if I could find it. I think those are really, really neat.
Jason Heaton Yeah. I mean, and the 1521, it's 500 meter water resistant. It's a great size, 42 millimeters, you know, good strap, good loom. Just nice watches. And they're like $850.
James Stacey And the bezel width is the widest part point of that case. Oh, yeah. The case gets wider as it leaves your wrist. And then the bezel's grip is the widest point. So you have no issue turning the bezel. It's just a nice design. There's a handful of watches that do that, where the widest point on the case is the edge of the bezel. But it's not always that way. Like if you think that my Omega 2254 with that scalloped sort of bezel. Right. It's just very difficult to use. So I always appreciate it. Like with the Pelagos and the Squala, you get a really excellent bezel grip. It's just something I, for whatever reason, sticks in my memory. Yeah. So what else? You got, you got anything left? I got, I got an honorable mention if we want to bend some arms. All right.
Jason Heaton Well, let's, let's see if we, I'm curious if we merged on our honorable mention. Mine is, it's the Sin 556. Oh yeah, that was mine.
James Stacey It's $80 over the limit. There we go. Yeah, we had the same one.
Jason Heaton Here it is. I mean, the funny thing is about this watch is when people say, You know, again, it's that question, like my husband wants a watch or I want to get one for myself and I want to spend X. I always say, spend a little bit extra and get the Sin 556. If you just want a simple watch that you can wear 24 seven. Forever. Forever.
James Stacey That's the one. Get it serviced every, I don't know, five, six, seven years, something like that. Yep. Totally. Just such a great watch. Super wearable, like a great aesthetic. Very legible. Yeah. The right size. Yep. You can get it on a rubber strap or a leather strap for $1,080 US dollars. Yeah. So if you're willing to bend the budget and you've already got a couple of these ones we've talked about, the Zinn is, uh, is great, but there's a lot of Zinn's just above this budget.
Jason Heaton Yep. I guess, uh, I guess we can move on. I mean, I think, I think we, we covered a lot of good watches here and we'd love to hear, you know, certainly we didn't run the gamut. I'm sure a lot of our listeners have tons of other options. So do, do write us at thegraynadoatgmail.com with your, your alternative choices, or certainly tag us on Instagram. Just, you know, tag at the Graynado or hashtag the Graynado. You know, keep the dialogue going with these sub-thousand dollar watches.
James Stacey Yeah, there we go. We will be back in just a moment. All right, we're back for a little new business. First up, a special thanks to David who wrote in to inform us of the U.S. specific process for traveling with personal effects, including watches. You'll remember that we spoke about the BSF-407 form for Canadian Customs that allows you to leave Canada and come back with watches and you basically register the watch. We talked about it on episode 20, so feel free to check that out if that sounds important to you. But David wrote in to let us know that the CBP form is the 4457 Certificate of Registration for Personal Effects Taken Abroad. I will do a Google search and see what comes up and then put that in the show notes. So if you want to get that all set up and feel nice and safe when you're coming in and out of the States.
Jason Heaton Thanks a lot, David. I'll just follow up on that. I mean, I I'll take one for the team and I'll, I'll definitely go and, and check that out and, and fill out the form and get, get in the system because you know, I travel a fair amount with my watches and, and I'll certainly report back on how that whole process went. So. Oh, cool. Yeah. So I, you know, I've had a, couple of weeks too, since our last episode, but I did have an opportunity to, uh, get down to Chicago last week, I guess it was with a friend of mine. And we went to a place that I haven't been since I was a little kid. It's, it was the museum of science and industry, which is like an old museum that was built for like the world's fair in the 1930s, 40s, maybe. Um, anyway, big, cool museum. You know, if you're into science and industry, that's the place to go. But what was particularly exciting about it and the reason I really wanted to get down there was Uh, you know, everybody who has listened to a few episodes of the show knows that we're big fans of the book shadow divers, which was about the finding of a sunken U-boat off the East coast of the U S and this museum in Chicago has a legit real U-boat. It's the U 505. Uh, it was captured off of the, uh, Atlantic coast of Spain, I believe, or, or West Africa. uh, in 1942, I believe it was. And what was unique about it is that, you know, so many of these U-boats when they were depth charged to the surface, the crew would escape and then they would open the flood hatches and sink the U-boat so they couldn't be captured. But this one was captured and it was towed back to the U S and it's been at this museum in Chicago since the 1950s. And about, I don't know, 10 or 15 years ago, they brought it actually inside the museum after 50 plus years of sitting out in the elements. And they built this special hall around it and you can tour the inside of the U-boat, which they've completely, you know, reconstructed. They've got like an audio tour and they've got a guide that takes you through and you see the crew quarters and the torpedo room and the. Oh, that sounds so good. Command center and the periscope and the bunks and the galley and the toilets and the engine room. And I mean, it's, it's just a dream. I mean, it's just awesome. The tour is a little short, the walking tour. I was kind of disappointed. You kind of blitz through it and. you know, 10 or 15 minutes and they kind of hustle you through, uh, which made me laugh because I remember reading shadow divers. Uh, one of the authors, John Chatterton, who was diving on this then unknown U-boat in the Atlantic really wanted to get the lay of the land of the inside of this U-boat that he was diving into. So he had to do this tour over and over and over again. And as I was doing the tour, I was picturing him, you know, going through this thing five, six, seven times, because, you know, you pay for each time through it and you really don't get much opportunity to kind of stop and really kind of let it sink in, but it was, it was great. And then outside the U-boat itself, which is like a 250 foot, you know, vessel, which I was shocked at how big this thing is. Yeah. They've got like some nice interpretive displays of like artifacts that they recovered from the wreck. They've got like an Enigma machine. They've got uniforms, they've got a periscope, they've got like a cutaway of a torpedo, you know, flags and diaries and binoculars and China and all this kind of stuff that was inside. So definitely have to go to, uh, to the museum of science and industry and check out the U505. It's a separate kind of tour that you take in addition to the rest of the museum. So you pay a little extra, but highly worth it, I think. And then that museum is just great anyway. I mean, the rest of the museum has, they've got a full size Boeing 727 that's mounted like on a balcony. So it's like cutaway on the side and you can like walk through it. Oh, neat. They have the Apollo eight capsule. They've got the Mercury 7 capsule that Scott Carpenter flew in, which I think is on loan from NASA. So I don't know how long it'll be there, but that was really cool to see. And then I was walking through this, this kind of space exhibit and there in this like little case, I see this little wax bag folded over and it's Jim Lovell's Omega Speedmaster that he flew with on Apollo 8. And it's just like in this little case, like you'd never even know it's there. So cool. That was really cool to see. So really, um, Science and Industry Museum is great. It's a great, it's a great place to visit.
James Stacey I love that places like that exist. I'm all for an art gallery, but man, flight museums and yeah, like something like this Museum of Science and Industry, that's just fully my jam. I can have so much fun and go move so slowly through the various exhibits. Yeah, just that sounds like a real treat.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it was super cool. When I was down that way, I was actually staying in Milwaukee, which is just up the road from Chicago, of course. And there's this little known company based in Milwaukee that's been there since the 1930s or 40s. It's called Desco, which I believe stands for, um, diving equipment, salvage company. And they are based in this building down in the historic, what they call the third ward area of, of the city. Uh, they've been in the same building since the sixties and they make diving equipment. They make hard hats, they make diving helmets and they're still making them. So they have a workshop, they have a, you know, the factory, If you can call it that, cause there's only five guys that work there, five employees. But in the front of the, of the shop, I just wandered in, I knew where they were. I knew their address and they're on like the upper floor of this kind of older building. And I went up the stairs and there's a sign on the door and I knocked and went in and one of the five employees, this guy who's worked there for 26 years came out and he gave me a little brief little tour of where they're actually making, you know, welding these helmets together. And then in the front room, they've got like this little area of kind of like a mini museum where they've got all these historic diving helmets and, and, um, they've got it like a rebreather that they developed for the precursor to the CIA during world war two for like, you know, special operations diving. They were, they, they used to make like wooden water skis and, and scuba equipment. And yeah, I mean, so it's all this kind of weird quirky mix of stuff, but I don't know if they do official tours, but if you're kind of into that, you should just look up Desco in Milwaukee, we'll put a link in the show notes and you know, I'm not I'm not thinking that we're gonna get a flood of listeners, you know deluging Desco with a request for tours So I'm sure they'd be okay with it. But if you're in the Milwaukee area and you're keen on that sort of thing you got to check out Desco because you know, really just a neat company and Milwaukee was back in the 30s Desco was founded by a pioneer in the diving industry who at one point set the record for the deepest dive in actually in Lake Michigan in December of all things, it was like 437 feet. And it was in the 1930s or early forties. And that's insane. He was one of the first guys to do it on mixed gas. I mean, mixed gas was pioneered in Milwaukee at Marquette university and he founded Desco and there's all sorts of, of great sort of commercial diving history wrapped up in this really unlikely place. And it was, it was just kind of a fun bookend to this, other day that I spent at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. So good stuff. That's, that's, that's the extent of my new business.
James Stacey Well, that's probably for the best. My voice is getting ever more drawn out by the moment. So let's, let's buzz right into final notes. Sure. Yeah, go for it. All right. So my first is, you know, we've spoken about the science of survival, which is Outside Online's podcast in the past. But they've really hit on something as of episode seven. They call it Cliffhanger. I found, you know, episode two came out as we're recording this. So episode three will be out or roughly out by the time anyone's listening to this. And it's a three-parter, at least. Maybe there's more. I don't know. I'm finding out as we go. But I've listened to the first two parts and it's just absolutely fantastic. So I'm just going to read the synopsis they provide. Because I really don't want to give anything away. It's a really intricate, fun story and it's really well told. So here's what they have to say. It's one of history's greatest aviation mysteries. On New Year's Day in 1985, Eastern Airlines flight 980 was carrying 29 passengers and a hell of a lot of contraband when it crashed into the side of a 21,112 foot mountain in Bolivia. For decades, conspiracy theories abounded as the wreckage remained inaccessible, the bodies uncovered, and the black box from the plane missing. Then two friends from Boston organized an expedition that would blow the whole case wide open. And I'm just, I'm living this series so far. It's a great story. It's the exact sort of thing that I love to read about. It's very, uh, it has some shadow divers elements to it because there's some history and there's some conspiracy and then they just go for it. They're actually in La Paz on the mountain and it's great.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I heard, I listened to part one and you just told me part two's out. So I'm going to check that out. I, I agree. It's one of those stories that has a lot going for it. It just kind of appeals to a lot of the geek in me. You know, there's the aviation aspect, there's the mountaineering aspect, there's this conspiracy thing.
James Stacey Oh yeah. Drugs, contraband, maybe a bomb. Oh, it's crazy. Yeah. So I'm loving that. If you're listening to this, there's no way that anybody who just listened to us talk for an hour more about sub $1,000 watches probably wouldn't just adore this. Production value is very high. The story is very well told. By all means, go onto your podcast app and check out the Science of Survival. And this series starts at episode seven, but the first six episodes were all awesome. What do you got for us, Jason?
Jason Heaton Yeah. So, you know, kind of keeping on with the mountain climbing theme loosely. Um, I just read a great essay just a couple of days ago that was published in the New York times and it was called, uh, the pleasure and pain of the climbing life. And it was written by a guy named Kelly Cordes. Um, and you know, nothing too extensive, nothing super deep about it. It was just, uh, it was one of those kind of really well-written, uh, Cordes is, he's not only a climber, but he was, he's also an author. He's written a few, uh, books and articles about climbing. So he kind of knows his way around a keyboard. And he just kind of documents his history of how he got into climbing. You know, he was kind of a runty kid who kind of was looking for his kind of athletic outlet and came upon climbing and it became his passion. And he did it for decades until a few years back he had a pretty nasty accident. I think he was ice climbing and he fell and his crampon snagged on the ice and he tore up his leg and whatever. He was kind of adrift, I guess you'd say, after that, you know, he recovered, but he, because climbing had become such a big part of his life, he wasn't sure where he was going to go after that. So he, he was kind of forced to kind of examine what he wanted to do with his life. And I'm not going to give away the ending, but I think it ends in kind of a really quiet sort of beautiful way. And it was just a, it's not a super long essay, but I thought it was just really well-written and a nice read for anybody that that's interested in kind of the mountain life Did you have a chance to check that out?
James Stacey I did. I thought it was beautifully written and a great, great story and a lot of hope.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey In the way that he approaches, not only wanting to do more mountaineering and experience those environments, but also the way that he approaches his rehabilitation and, and, and the realities of getting older and injury and that sort of thing.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey I really liked it. Easy read. And like I said, beautifully written. Yeah. You got another one? Yeah. In an entire, change of pace, something that I loved so much now, 15 years ago, is back. The BMW films are back. So in 2001 and 2002, BMW produced these short films that were essentially ads for their cars, but not really. So they got big name directors, Guy Ritchie, John Woo, Frankenheimer, that's to name only a few, to make these kind of short action films based around a car. So if you're a fan of like Gone in 60 Seconds or Ronin or Bullet, anything with a great chase scene and high drama, you're going to love these. And I found a link to all of the 2001-2002 series on YouTube. And then I remember back in the day, I actually had to write BMW. to get a DVD. I think it was 15 bucks and they sent me a DVD with all the episodes on it. But they did two seasons. I'm not sure how many. All of these had some big name stars in them, including a yet to be big in North America, Clive Owen as the driver, the nameless driver. Oh, yeah. So this was kind of before he really broke into what we know him for now. And obviously he was still, you know, acting in the UK. And this is before he was kind of up for the running for James Bond at one point. And I think the BMW films must have weighed into that. But you know, they had episodes with a lot of famous actors, Don Cheadle, Madonna, etc. All of them are very entertaining. A few of them stand out if you want to get a real taste for it quickly is Star by Guy Ritchie with his then wife, Madonna. is probably the most famous one and that's in a really awesome E39 5 series and then Hostage, which was in the second series by one with John Woo is a great short story or short film, but the the new one is back and I couldn't be happier. So the new one is called The Escape and it's super watchable. It's really fun. John Barenthal's in it as kind of the bad guy and Clive Owen reprises his role as the nameless driver. I just really love these. I mean, I know that what I'm watching is an ad, but it really does make me love the cars and they're always amazing chase sequences and all these sorts of things. I just, it's, I'm just so thrilled that something from, you know, like I said, 15 years ago, half, half my life ago is now back and really cool and feels the same. It's great.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it is great. I remember the old ones and, and when you linked me out to this, the new one, it's, uh, it's just as good. And I, uh, I'm just so impressed. I feel like in so many ways, advertising has kind of gotten a little bit stale. And I think I love when I see brands come up with these new ways of kind of incorporating storytelling in not a really blatant, I mean, obviously there's product placement, but they just did a great job of, you know, these big actors, um, you know, great directors, you know, and, and to be able to tell this, there was some talent involved here in telling the story. In I don't know how many minutes this video is but it's like It has a start a finish or a middle and an end. Yeah, they're well crafted it like I don't know eight minutes or ten minutes or whatever it is.
James Stacey It's uh, Really good stuff and it's definitely not I I guess sure you're watching an ad essentially, but I would say you're not watching somebody's easiest ad Right. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like like it's not it's not like seeing another bmw or some other car drive down a road that they probably didn't even drive down in the first place. It's just done in computers. Yeah, right. It's not that with a voiceover. It's not even something kind of borderline crazy, like the Matthew McConaughey in the Lincolns. Yeah. Which is entertaining, but not going to make me buy a Lincoln. Whereas like I watch these BMW films. I'm like, man, I probably need a five seat. Yeah. Like it's it totally connects. And I love that what I'm watching is somebody knows that if they put a lot of work into something like an ad, you can make something that kind of transcends just a 30 second placement between something I actually wanted to watch. Yeah. And this becomes like an event. So I'm sure that I'm pretty sure they're making more and I can't wait for for the next one.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I think a lot of brands and in other product areas could learn a lot from from what BMW is doing with these films. Yeah, I would agree. So I'll kind of wrap up, wrap things up here. I've got another Automotive advertising video. This one is certainly not as ambitious as the BMW films, but I found it entertaining It's about a minute long or so and it's it's an ad for Volkswagen. They make a Pickup truck that's not sold in at least in the US. I don't know about Canada, but it's called the Amarok Kind of a cool little pickup truck, but that's not the point of why I like this video It's it's because of where they filmed it They, they shot it at the airfield in Kircheval, which is like a ski station in France and the Alps. And in the video, the, they hook up this pickup truck to like one of these sailplanes or a glider, and they tow the sailplane and I'm not going to give away too much of the video, but it's, it's just really cool because of the dramatic setting. It's a very short runway. It's a very short runway and it's downhill. And at the end of it, there's nothing. It's crazy. It's like every time I watch it, you know, I pucker a little bit.
James Stacey Oh yeah, for sure. No, it's definitely like, it's tense.
Jason Heaton This is the time the truck's going to go off the edge, you know, and it never happens, of course, but it's, uh, it's, it's just a fun video. So we'll link that out on the, on the show notes.
James Stacey Yeah. Check the show notes. And I did receive an email last week asking what the show notes are. So if you go to thegrenado.com, it'll put you on our SoundCloud page. And then if you actually click on the actual episode, you'll see the description. And then if you click more, it'll expand and you'll see all the links of everything we spoke about. So certainly some people have found them because I can see how many people are clicking on any link. But if you're here referencing the show notes and then you have no idea what we're talking about, you can actually find them like in your podcast app on your phone. Sure. You just have to find the show description and then there'll be like an option to expand it to see everything. And you'll see a giant list of links that we've put together. So that's something to keep in mind for, uh, for the future. And if you want to track down anything we spoke about, uh, in this one, in episode 21. So, uh, Jason, you want to wrap it up?
Jason Heaton Yeah. Well, you know, as always, thanks so much for listening. And as James said, hit the show notes for more details about anything we talked about. You can follow us both on Instagram. I'm at, at Jason Heaton. James is at J E Stacey. And follow the show at TheGreyNado. If you have any questions for us, please do write TheGreyNado at gmail.com. And please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts or grab the feed from TheGreyNado.com. Music throughout is Siesta by Jazzar via the Free Music Archive.
James Stacey And until next time, we'll leave you with this quote. And of course, I got the quote because my voice is just getting better by the minute. Karen Blixen said, you know, you are truly alive when you're living among lions.