The Grey NATO – 220 – Our Fav Watches of 2022 (Tudor, Seiko, Citizen, and more)
Published on Thu, 15 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0500
Synopsis
The hosts Jason and James reflect on their favorite watches of 2022, including some new releases as well as watches they experienced over the past year. They discuss affordable and high-end options, ranging from dive watches like the Citizen Aqualand and Seiko GMT to luxury pieces like the Omega Seamaster 300m Bond edition and the Porsche Design Chronograph One. They also touch on the strong year for Tudor, highlighting models like the Pelagos 39, Black Bay Pro, and Ranger. Overall, it's a casual conversation about the watches that delighted them in 2022 from different brands and price points.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason | Hello and welcome to another episode of The Gray Nato. It's a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 220 and it's proudly brought to you by the ever-growing TGN supporter crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support. And if you'd like to support the show, please visit thegraynato.com for more details. Jason, how are we doing? Last episode of the year. Yeah. Nice round number 220. |
| James | Not bad. It feels, uh, feels good. It's been, uh, it's been quite a year and, uh, you know, I gotta say I'm, I'm, I'm dragging a bit today, so I apologize if I have a bit of a fatigued sound today. I got a double vaccinated yesterday, flu and a COVID booster and, uh, just kind of feeling a bit, a bit under the weather, but it has nothing to do with TGN. I'm excited to, uh, to cap off our year with our last episode. |
| Jason | Yeah, me too. Man, two doses, that's plenty to then go ahead and record this. Masochism, yeah. Yeah, for sure. I probably would have tried to make that a Tuesday afternoon sort of thing, but good on you. I hope any reaction is nice and short-lived for those. Yeah, right, right. Other than that, a little bit of an update that I've got would be if you're waiting on November's Q&A, it's because I'm still working on it. I thought I had it mostly polished up and then had a little bit of a problem with a garage band and I'm just rebuilding the show now. I figure because we're not doing anything to come out over the next two weeks, I'll drop it sometime early next week, just before Christmas, and that way it kind of fills in a little bit of the gap for of the Chat about anything you can imagine, basically. Every evening's a new surprise. |
| James | It's great. It has taken on a life of its own. I love to dip in there a few times a day and just like peek at what people are talking about. And there's like guys that are adventuring in Arctic Norway and then you get, you know, the kind of the evening rolls around, people start posting their cocktail hour choices and new straps and questions about, you know, what tires to put on a truck and whatever. And, uh, it's, it's amazing. I mean, it's this, this community, it's like when you put out this, platform for it. And it just kind of grows. It's like the field of dreams cliche, you know, it's like, amazing. |
| Jason | Yeah, no, I'm thrilled by it. It's definitely what I'm doing in the evenings these days. My Instagram is very, you know, quiet and dusty. Yeah, at this point, just kind of enjoying enjoying actually connecting with folks in there. So like I said, if you're on the supporter crew and would like to jump in there and give it a try, Uh, there are, uh, kind of specific instructions that you would have gotten by email, or if you can't figure that out, just drop us a, drop us an email and we'll get you some details on how to get in there. |
| James | Pretty easy. Yeah. I don't have much to report this week. You know, we're kind of, I don't want to say I'm coasting into the end of the year, but I'm kind of ticking off things on my list, you know, things to do. Like I've got, you know, kind of year end business finance stuff. And I sent off my kind of final manuscript edits to my agent for the next book. And then. We're going to wrap this up today and it's easing into the holidays and the end of the year. And we'll take a couple of weeks off and it's a tough time of year. I mean, not tough. I love this time of year, but it's always tough when we get back into things in January. You know, some people feel rejuvenated. I always feel a bit lethargic coming out of holiday time. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. You know? Um, so we'll see what happens. |
| Jason | Yeah. I also find that I've, I start to take stuff right now and push it to January. Oh yeah. and go like, well, I'll do that in January. I'm so close to some time off or I've got enough on my plate for these things or that thing. And then I end up starting January and it's like a mad dash to be like, well, why did I do this to myself? Yeah, right, right. It'll be like that again in January, but I'm already pumped. We'll be back on January 5th, which should be great. you know, besides keeping everything in line and shuffling some stuff into next year and that sort of thing. The only other thing I've done, you know, kind of of note recently is I got to do episode 40 of Single Serving Cinema. That's my brother's podcast with his friend Tay. I've done now several of them. So every 10 they do a potluck episode and I've done those all for Denny Villeneuve movies. So this one is for Prisoners, which is a, you know, a TGN Film Club pick from way back. It's one of Villeneuve's kind of first major films. And we had a really good time. It came out a little while ago and it wasn't, I didn't think it was necessarily going to be out in time for last week. So I held the mention until this week. |
| James | Yeah. You know, I saw this in the notes and I, it reminded me that I haven't seen this movie and I located it on, I can't remember where it's streaming, but it was one of the services on Netflix. Yeah. Netflix. Yeah. So I'm definitely going to check that out. Maybe that's a good, a good downtime holiday viewing. Yeah, I think so. Speaking of viewing, either last episode or the one before you, you had as a final note, the trailer for last overland. Oh yeah. And I did start watching it. I've, I've watched two episodes and it's, it's great. I mean, it's, uh, it's what you expect. Um, but also a little bit more and also a little bit less. I was hoping for so far a little bit more about, you know, the, the kind of Land Rover nerd in me, I wanted to kind of dig a little bit more into the vehicle itself, kind of some of the prep and maintenance and issues they had with it. And it's turned out to be more of. a travel log program, which, which is great. And they do go through some spectacular places, but, uh, so I've got two more episodes to go and I'm really enjoying it. So yeah, I know you're, you're kind of holding off on, on watching that, um, for some time soon, but, uh, I think you'll like it. |
| Jason | Yeah. I'm really excited for it. I watched the first 10 minutes of the first episode and then realized like, Oh wait, I don't have four hours to devote to this, to try and get through it. So it is something I'm saving myself as a little bit of a treat for the start of holidays. with stuff like that, I like to wake up in the morning, get a cup of coffee and then watch a couple hours before I start my holiday day. Yeah. You know, if you're hanging out with family or you're doing that kind of stuff that usually starts around lunch or the afternoon. So this kind of fills in the, fills in the morning. So that, that, that's my plan for a sometime, you know, next week, week after that sort of thing should be great. I'm, it looks fantastic. I really enjoyed the first few minutes. |
| James | So yeah, yeah, that's great. And then besides that, I mean, I don't have much else to report other than I, I received my watches of espionage alpha Zulu strap. Oh, nice. Our, uh, our chum over at watches of espionage, you know, Cole Pennington's writing a little bit with him and, and he's, uh, he, you know, he's got such an interesting take on watches in general, um, from, from his, his time as a covert, uh, operative or, or agent. Um, and, and some of his inside knowledge and, and it's just such a different way to look at, at watches coming from that angle. And he did this collaboration with Alpha Zulu straps out of the UK and produced this kind of interesting, I wouldn't call it a drab olive color green, but it's, it's an interesting shade of green that I've never seen on a strap before with some stitching, very kind of heavy texture to it, a nice buckle, good hardware. And yes, they are. Well, for one thing, they're sold out. They were a bit expensive, but I I've, I've spent more on a NATO strap. I'm either ashamed to admit or proud to admit. So this wasn't too extraordinary for what it is. I think it's really well done. So, um, those of you that were lucky enough to get one, you'll know what I'm talking about, but that was a, that was a cool pickup and I've got it on a CWC watch. Um, very cool. |
| Jason | Yeah, that's great. I was, uh, I was keen on taking a look at that. And then I think that came out like over the weekend, uh, when I was dealing with the funeral out in Edmonton and I, I just, you know, I saw it, I saw the price and I kind of thought like, I'm going to have to think about that a little bit when you factor for, you know, taxes and the rest of it and getting it to Canada ends up being It would definitely be my most expensive NATO, and I'm definitely a fan of what they're up to. And then by the time I went back, got on the other side of that trip and everything, they'd sold out. So great for them. NATO or not, be sure to check out Watches of Espionage. I've really been enjoying the process, especially now that they're publishing directly to the website. Right. Solid work for sure. All right. And yeah, I don't really have that much else to do. It's the end of year for Hodinkee and such, so we're writing all these sorts of year-end posts, and that's pretty much filling the days and otherwise just attempting to get outside and enjoy a sunny day. It's probably what I'll do right after this recording. It's, it's a little chilly here today. It's like negative eight Celsius, but I'm looking forward to a nice walk in the park and maybe a little bit of a podcast before I settle into this edit for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Yeah. Cool. You want to dive into a wrist check? |
| James | Yeah. So, you know, I looked at the notes, we're both wearing watches that have some connection to our main topic today. I strapped on the Vertex M60 Aqualion. This is Vertex's first effort at a dive watch, and quite an effort it was, or is. It's just an amazing watch. I posted a lume shot on Instagram this morning, and like, it's got to have the best lume of any watch I've owned. I mean, better than Seiko's and the Lumedial Citizen, etc. It just glows all day long. It's just a fantastic watch. |
| Jason | When I had the M60C, sorry to cut in, but when I had the M60C in for review for Hodinkee, I was able to do a wrist shot that's actually the hero photo, and it's a loom shot. I don't think I've ever done a wrist loom shot as the main photo in an article. There's so much loom. That's one of the few watches this year that I genuinely missed when I sent it back. Usually when you have a month, especially with a watch that comes from a long way away, Don was very kind and was not pressuring me to get it back to him. And then when it went back, I was like, I'll miss that. That was like, That was like a really a proper tool watch from a guy who clearly loves watches and kind of gets the points. But I apologize for cutting in, but I did enjoy that watch and what a loom shot you can make with it for sure. |
| James | He knows what he's doing. I mean, for such a small company, like he ticks all the boxes, you know, great bezel, great design, great strap choices, great packaging. So, yeah, that's what I've got on. And we'll be talking a little bit more about Vertex in a bit here, but tell us about what you're wearing. |
| Jason | Yeah. You know, I was wearing the Mido and I've been wearing it a ton. I actually put it on a 21 millimeter gray tropic. Oh, nice. Which is just a really nice pairing. And I'd enjoyed it for several days on that. And then I started writing this story about the best budget watches of the year that could cover 30 or 40 watches. Like a lot of what we're talking about in this episode, we'll kind of expand upon that idea. But we had 10 and they were selected from the entire Hodinkee editorial team. So it was a mix. It wasn't just what I suggested, but of course, I fought very hard to make sure that the Citizen Aqualand, the 2007 17W, would make that list. And sure enough, in the voting of the 10 watches, it was at the absolute bottom, despite the fact that I had voted it number one. I like it even more than the SSK. I think that it's an absolutely fantastic watch. I'm super happy with it, and that's what I've got on risk. So during the process of making that, I realized like, oh, I don't remember the last time I actually measured it, so I went and got it. and quickly put it back on the rubber just because it's more fun that way, I think. And then I've been wearing it for the last couple hours, and I don't think I'll put the Mito back on today. I love this watch. There's just something so unique and special, and you can find them online for about 500 bucks from a variety of retailers through Europe and parts of Southeast Asia and, of course, Japan, but I'm absolutely in love with it. It does the commando thing really well, and it's the biggest or maybe it's the smallest big watch or the biggest little watch. I'm not sure which way you want to come at it. But man, for a watch that's about 51 millimeters wide, it's ludicrously wearable. I had to check myself when I was writing about it because I don't think that anyone who hasn't had this on their wrist would believe just how small it wears. Visually, it's not small, but it doesn't hang over my wrist on either end because it's a little over 47 millimeters lug to lug. It's a ton of dial, but there's still all this extra case. You get a great bezel, and then it's a loom dial. Come on. It's a loom dial. I think this is the reason probably that I didn't end up selling a ton of stuff and squeezing my way into a white pearl. Oh, sure. Like I think this scratched the itch well enough between this and already having the Sea Rambler, which I'm not willing to sell even to get a carbon. Yeah, I absolutely love this. I love having the seconds hand perfectly synchronized with the digital seconds counter. That makes me happy. There's all this all this sort of stuff. This is a fantastic watch for $500. Yeah, that's what I've got on my wrist and it's only one of I guess we can cross that one off the list for what we were going to talk about, which is just kind of our favorite watches of the year, some of which came out this year and some of which we experienced this year. I think this is the perfect way to end the year in terms of episodes. Yeah, I do too. It's just to look back on on the watches that kind of like delighted us or cost us some money. or kind of came and went, but we're good, like all that kind of stuff. So I don't know, you want, you want to kick it off with, um, maybe pick one of your favorites from the list. |
| James | Yeah, sure. But I mean, before we leave the citizen, I mean, since, since that was the first one we're, we're checking off here. I mean, to me that I would almost say that that was, even as I look at this list now, yeah, I think that was my favorite watch of the year. I mean, by far, I wore it the most for, for sure. And, uh, I think we both got ours, you know, early summer and it was the perfect summer watch. I mean, it just does, does everything so well. So yeah, great pick. |
| Jason | Yeah, I would say under $1,000. Definitely. It's my favorite. And it really, the only reason I give it that, that hard line is because there's two watches, two other watches that I think I like just as much, but for totally different reasons. So, but you take it away with your, with one that kind of hits you the hardest. Yeah. |
| James | Gosh. Okay. This is going to be an oddball pick. I'm going to get this one out of the way right away. It's certainly wasn't a It certainly is way outside my wheelhouse, but it's one that I saw at wind up in Chicago that kind of blew me away. And it's from a brand I love, and that is Laurier, this Zephyr. So it's a dress watch, you know, this is, this is a, a small, Oh, this is the sort of tonneau shape. Yes. I mean, it's, it's like a 31 millimeter wide case. It's only eight millimeters thin, thick, whatever, 18 millimeter lugs. Like to be clear, I will not buy this watch. I won't, I would never wear this watch. I loved this watch. I loved seeing this watch. I love that they make this watch because, you know, we've, we've crossed paths with Laurier a few times over the years that came to an event that we had in New York way back when, and it was great to meet them. And, uh, and then of course it wind up, they were there and they're just a charming couple that run this company. And, and, but the thing is that they've always made these great, beautifully designed kind of nostalgic dive watches and chronographs that kind of remind you of other things, but not, not, you know full-on homages and then to see this one this clearly very dressy watch that they're referencing the kind of jazz age you know 1930s watches and you know it's just fun it made me smile I remember putting it on thinking like good on you you know this is this is a this is a great release and it's it's only $499 and like if you're someone who is into you know, dressier watches or you need one in your collection, I would not hesitate to, to recommend this one just from, from handling it and knowing the company. |
| Jason | Yeah. I feel like this is one that I could actually see you buying just a little ways down the road. It's like for the, for the, the, the pipe, the pipe in the evening. Yeah. Sort of, you know, yeah. The right, the right record on the, on the player, that sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah. It's a vibe. And I love the, the old school ads they've got on the page as well. Yeah. It fits really well. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great pick. And definitely, I remember also seeing it. I think you called you kind of brought me over to the table at wind up and checked it out along with their other stuff. They've got some beautiful watches and totally support that on the list for sure. Yeah. All right. Next up, I'm just going to pick a random one. And this would be back from March. So kind of earlier in the year in the phase, and I got to spend maybe like two hours with the solid gold Omega Speedmaster. with the green dial, the moonshine. And I would say the big thing for me isn't so much that it's a gold speedy. I think I saw the original moonshine a couple days before it even came out. We took photos of it. So not my first time. And the BA style with that maroon bezel, like the kind of anniversary edition that they remade a few years ago with the black dial furniture. That's incredible. But this one really came down to that bracelet. I believe it's a new or an updated, like tapered bracelet. And the combo of the two together is one that I kind of haven't forgotten about. This is obviously a hugely expensive watch and not one that is even remotely in my future, but it made an impact. I remember being in Miami and this is... Talk about an impact, this is a watch that was released kind of, quote unquote, in the shadow of the Ultra Deep, just as another kind of line extension of the Speedmaster. And they had another version that was on a rubber strap with the champagne and black sub dials. Yeah. Also fantastic. So I'm just gonna start there with a watch that made me happy. I'm not gonna buy it. I didn't buy it. And I, you know, that's not in my future, unless again, the supporter crew really, really blows up. But even then, yeah, just a really fun watch. And there's something there's something weird about occasionally the switch from steel to a gold really changes the way I feel what a watch. It happens with the Royal Oak, and it happens with the Speedmaster, where The steel ones, they're fine. You can't take anything away from their merit as iconic watches, but not something that makes me feel any specific way. The gold does something else entirely. And the green dial's almost black and a lot of light, and then in sunlight or highlights, it's this very radiant sunburst-y green that I liked. |
| James | Yeah, and for some reason, this combination of colors with that dial also brings out this dimensionality of the dial. Like it looks like you can see all the facets and the angles to the dial, which you don't always get right. Like the black dial ones, when you look at them, they often look just very flat. Um, a little bit flat. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a, that's a good pick. So we've basically kicked off, you know, other than the citizen, um, we've kicked off with, with two watches. We'll likely never own. Probably true. Yeah. I'm going to jump into a quick one that, that I do own, um, that I enjoyed also that I saw for the first time at wind up in Chicago, but back in July, and that is the, the Benrus type two reissue. Oh, nice. You know, I've talked about this a lot on the show. I mean, we've, I've worn it for wrist check and, and I think I talked about it when it first came out, you know, great watch. I love this form factor. I love this, um, you know, what it conjures, uh, you know, going back to the, the watch that Benrus made, um, not for public consumption back in the, in the early seventies for special forces divers and kind of CIA operatives in Vietnam and beyond. you know, between the type one and the type two, it's, it's a bit of a toss up. I had kind of that type one format with the mark two paradigm still love that. Um, but I don't know, there was something about like getting one from Ben Ruse and it came in this like little zippered case, um, felt very authentic, you know, it has the markings on the back and, uh, it's, it's a solid watch. It's, it's incredibly accurate. It's got the, there's no phantom position for, for a date, um, with the movement. Bezels are kind of a firm friction bezel. a couple of good straps that came with it. So yeah, um, great, great watch in, in 2022 that I think, you know, probably flew under a lot of radars, um, for people, smaller brand, but, uh, yeah, good one. |
| Jason | I would think so. Yeah. I think that's a great pick. Uh, you know, I I've seen and handled the type one and I really liked the dial design of the type one, but the type two is really grown on me. I think probably just in seeing it more often since the, the sort of re-release. |
| James | Yeah. Yeah. Very hard to photograph though. It's got this incredibly high domed, you know, like totally convex crystal, but that's what makes it cool. |
| Jason | All right, next up. Let's see another one off the list here. I think I'm going to go with the Seiko SSK GMT. Oh, okay. The Seiko 5. Yeah. So I think this is one of the more like crucial watch releases of the year from again from a budget standpoint, and I bought one very quickly, have really enjoyed it. And while I won't take anything away from its importance or anyone else really liking it, I almost feel like it's a little bit diminished because I had my time loving an SKX and it wears exactly the same. Oh yeah. It almost feels like I'm in the wrong stage in my, you know, appreciation of watches for this to be as good as it really is. Yeah. That makes sense. Does that make any, that makes a bit of sense. |
| James | Right. But, but yet it would be the perfect watch for, for somebody that's coming into this. And I think so. Yeah. Cause the SKX is such a timeless, perfect design for a watch. And we all have recommended it, but then like you throw the GMT thing in and like, you could be a new collector and come into this and find yourself with a really cool watch for not much money. |
| Jason | The other thing for me, isn't so much being a new collector or an old collector or even the money, but The thing that strikes me is that it came out after the SPB. Oh, sure. And for me, the SPB 143 coming out was kind of the end, like was the bookend, the next chapter in what I like about Seiko. Yeah. Because it kind of captured a lot of what I appreciate about the SKX, but did so in a format that I felt was like a little bit more mature, a little bit more refined, a little bit easier to wear, and really quite exciting at a product. Yeah. And as much as I like my SSK, I'm kind of fighting between selling it or saving it for mods. You're interested in getting into modding this winter. I'm kind of interested in the same. I've been looking over lists of tools on Reddits and that sort of stuff, but I haven't really decided which way I wanna go with it. If I'm not gonna mod it, I think I would rather pass on the watch to somebody who will travel with it and will show it a good time at this point because of watches like my Explorer 2 or another watch we'll mention in a few moments, I don't feel like I need a GMT that isn't ideal for travel. If I want a passive GMT or sort of a caller GMT, I could very well use this Citizen. It does a second time zone very easily. True. Or something with a 12-hour bezel, which there are options. So yeah, it's an interesting thing because I feel like even just a few years ago, the Seiko 5 SSK, and I have an 03, and I like the way it looks. It wears really nicely. The bracelet's a big update. but I feel like it's some of it's the like buzz that I wanted from it wasn't there because I've almost like I've attached my kind of Seiko fascination to other other specs like something a little bit more wearable for me every day than than in the SS in the SKX format. Yeah. Yeah, that's a complicated explanation of a really good watch. |
| James | Yeah, and it definitely bears inclusion. I mean this this watch had a lot of buzz. Yeah, for sure. You know, I remember I think I ferried it to Chicago for you. So I got some time with it before you took it over. And yeah, really good pick. |
| Jason | I like that one. Yeah, I can't I definitely don't have anything bad to say about it. Maybe just I'm in the wrong phase or whatever. So yeah. Um, a winner nonetheless. And I highly support, um, anyone who's got one taking it somewhere special. And if you're looking for an inexpensive GMT that has a great style and has an incredible world of mod options beyond it. Yeah. Uh, great, great starting point. And I think a super fair price. Yeah. 475 bucks. Uh, maybe they're selling for a little bit less these days. I don't, I'm not sure what the demand is. Right. What do you got? |
| James | Yeah. So back in the summer, um, our friend Mike Pearson was, was in town here. to, um, launch, um, the brand he's working with, um, Zodiac at a, at a local retailer. And he brought, you know, as he does, he had a, you know, box of watches, um, that he was bringing to the event and he came over to our house for dinner and he kind of laid some out and showed them to me. And one of them that really caught me off guard and struck me as a really cool watch was the Zodiac Olympus. And he had, um, kind of a pre-released version of what then they later released. Um, and that is this Olympus field. which is a watch that probably normally wouldn't be one that would be on my list, but it just struck me. And it's, it's such a unique watch. It's a, it's a classic kind of field watch. It's got 200 meters, water resistance, um, a screw in crown, you know, good solid automatic Swiss automatic movement. Of course, what, what struck me is it's has this, what they call the Manta shaped case. So, you know, the lugs at the bottom kind of go out and up and then kind of taper into the, to the top strap horns there. And then the crown is at two o'clock the specificity of the field version, um is that it has two dial choices it has kind of this uh smoky gray brown and then it has this um uh kind of an olive green color and they both have this I guess you'd call it like a fume or kind of a fade texture or appearance to them and it was just a cool watch it was super lightweight I mean for the size it's a 40 millimeter watch it just it wore really well there's no date it has a very retro look it's it's just different you know when you think of zodiac these days you think of the Super Seawolf stuff and the GMTs and, and, uh, I was just pleasantly surprised by this one. So it's, uh, it's 895 good size, good, good, solid build, and just a really unique watch that you're not going to see probably on anyone else's wrist. So I thought I'd throw that one on the list too. |
| Jason | This is definitely one I'd like to see in person in the coming year. Yeah. Um, I have, I have a few watches that have to go back to Mike, so I should probably maybe just organize a little trade. I think this dark dial captures some of the aesthetic of like, you know, the, pilots watches from Zenith. Oh, sure. Yeah. But like in a little bit more simple, maybe less garish sort of format. Right. I like this. Yeah. I think it's handsome and distinctive and cool and the price is right. And I've been really impressed with what Zodiac's been putting out for the last couple of years. Yeah. Especially like you said in the Super Seawolf stuff. And this gives you an entirely different outlet. Like if you if you've got enough dive watches, you know, if such a thing exists. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Good pick for sure. I'm going to follow up with something very colorful and just the right size. And probably so far, that's hard to say, the world timer is really good, but probably my favorite thing to come from the brand so far, and that's the new Farrer Aquamatics. Oh, yeah. So I had one of these over the summer and really just kind of fell in love with it. If I was in the market for a watch, anything like this, I feel like it kind of defines what's available at $1,000 for a steel sports watch that doesn't have any connection to something like a Submariner. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's so much color and fun. A good bracelet comes with a quick change rubber and a NATO 38.5 millimeters. It wears low. The bezel is pretty good. The loom is good. Like they just don't get anything wrong. And if you can pick one of the, I think it's four versions. And if you can pick one, if you like the colors enough to pick one and lock into it, I think you just ended up with a fantastic watch for a thousand bucks. |
| James | Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking at the site. I remember when we, when you talked about this, uh, earlier this year and, and the one you had was, was very colorful and, and I mean, the color options are just crazy. And, and someone at that company, um, has a real eye for what colors go well together, because there's no way I would pick some of these color combinations and yet they work. So you're, you're totally right. These are totally unique. They don't reference anything else. |
| Jason | and uh yeah and and they seem to be good quality build and the price is perfect you know right at just under a thousand bucks price is right good warranty uh from a brand that's proven themselves so you're not buying into a brand that might go away in a couple years like fair's been around they do the wind-up circuit they're part of the they're part of kind of our level of the industry yeah they're nice people every time you reach out to them they understand and enjoy watches they do some cool le's They made that killer world timer a couple of years ago, which I really loved with the luminous city disc and all that. I'll put it in the show notes, the name of its... Their naming structure sometimes escapes me, which is why I'm happy they went with Aquamatic, which is very, very nice and easy to remember. But if you've had some of their larger cushion case divers or the sort of super compressor style stuff, they were bigger, right? And I think this brings a similar charm, but just so much more wearability. And at 38.5, I'm sure at some point I'm generalizing but it also becomes a watch that I feel you could share pretty easily with your significant other. Yeah, true. Which is nice, regardless of gender, creed, wrist size, the rest of it. Yeah. All of that would work. Yeah, I just think there's a lot of value here. And it's far from our only dive watch or smaller dive watch on the list. But it is one that when I think about this year, I do think about it, having it and rather enjoying wearing it around. And it's a little bit of like, like, it's a smile kind of machine for your wrist. You look down, and it's just nothing like a lot of the more stoic kind of simple, straightforward dive watches that I've got. |
| Unknown | Yeah, yeah. Yeah, good one. |
| James | Good unfair as always. All right. I noticed we have we have more than one tutor on our list. So we probably should Dive into Tudor. Yeah. Big year for Tudor. It was a big year for Tudor. I mean, some, some really, really strong choices. And I, you know, I'll, I'll let you talk about the other two. Um, but, but the one that I added to the list, uh, was the new Ranger, which I just, I felt like it feels like the proper sort of, um, air to the, to the Ranger name. Whereas I felt like the first one that they came out with several years ago, the bigger one, the 41 millimeter one just was, it was a bit of a swing and a miss. There was too much dial empty space on the dial. just something about it just didn't sit right with me. This one just looks so good. And I've, I've gone on record as saying, I need a watch that has something to fiddle with like a bezel or chronograph pushers or something. This one has none of that. It's no date. It's just, you know, Arabic numerals and three hands. But man, I've come close to trying to figure out if it's something I can make, make my own because aesthetically, I think it's just, it's such a perfect watch. And of course, Tudor makes such high quality stuff that there would be no, No issues there. The price seems good. I suppose the way to go would be to get it on the bracelet for $3,050. Yeah. But it sure looks good on a strap and that's the way I'd wear it 90% of the time. |
| Jason | Have you handled these? Yep. I was there at the launch when it came out. A really impressive watch. I think for me, especially given that there's these other two watches that we'll talk about, I kind of, because the Ranger wasn't smaller than they made it. Oh yeah. It almost doesn't differentiate itself enough. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason | I almost feel like, in many ways, I would almost suggest someone, depending on what you're looking for, go with a Black Bay 36, which is also still a compelling watch in a nice size. I do think that if the Ranger persists, if the 39 millimeter works, who knows? You can never predict these things, but we may see them follow suit with what Rolex did and go to a 36. And then I think at 36, we start talking about a product category that people really like. They love the Hamiltons, the smaller hand-worn Hamiltons. Obviously, people love the current six digits, 36 millimeter Explorer and to have something at a significantly lesser price point than the Explorer, but still gives you a brand on the dial that you love and the build quality and the movement and the rest of it. You can't take anything away from 39. It is definitely not too big. It's just the watches that it referenced were significantly smaller than 39. So I think it'd be interesting to see if they go ahead and actually expand the Ranger beyond a single reference. I think it's a solid watch. In my mind, it just got overshadowed by the Black Bay Pro and the 39. Which I think you should talk about. Let's... Let's lump these together. Sure. Obviously, they came out two different times of the year. The Black Bay Pro was the big announcement from Watches and Wonders. It was my favorite watch of the show. I think it's a fantastic watch for the money. If I didn't own the Explorer II that I'm lucky enough to own, I would definitely be in the market for something like this. It's a nice size. It's easily worn. It goes in a bunch of different straps. I like the coloring. I like the aesthetic. I like the sort of nod to the history of a two time zone time watch, like the 1655 in the overall aesthetic. And then I think the execution just works really well. Yeah. It's a little on the thick side, but genuinely that really tends to only bother me when the watch doesn't sit correctly on your wrist. And I didn't find that to be a problem with this. And I would say, again, the funny thing I would say about the Pro is the only thing slowing me down is a watch that I already own. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, true. months later they announced a watch I really want and probably will kick off, hopefully will be able to kick off 2023 picking up a Pelagos 39. Yeah. Yeah. There's only been a few sort of more expensive sort of watches that I've wanted enough to actually sell, trade, buy, weasel my way into a comfort zone to get to get a watch that I definitely don't need. Yeah. You should think about so many watches on this list you and I own. So there's no need left for any of these. It's just kind of fun and part of our life. But The Pelagos 39 has really got me. I've been joking in working on a week on the wrist story for Hodinkee that it's kind of like the straight pipes guys who we had Jacob on the show some time ago when they got a million subscribers. They joke about there's fast cars and there's like dad fast cars. So there's like super cars, like six, 700 horsepower, maybe more. And then there's cars that are kind of like dad fast. Like, yeah, it's still a normal car, but it's also quick. Right. And in some ways, and who knows, maybe, maybe tutor won't love this. And tutor, I say this with nothing but love for the watch. I really love it. It's a bit of like a dad Pelagos. They've taken like most of the core, they've left a lot of the, a lot of the capability and that kind of stuff, but they've removed the most advanced sort of cutting edge I dive every weekend sort of features. Right. And what's left behind is a little bit more of like the CUV, the crossover of dive watches, and it's a great crossover at that. Yeah. I think normally I wouldn't want that, but man on wrist is it really good, really just a deeply a fan. I think it's probably my favorite kind of more expensive watch of the year, and hopefully it's one that I can kind of have next year and wear and take diving and do all that kind of stuff and just cover the titanium and scratches and Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. If I can make it work. I've sold one watch through the Slack buy sell channel. A big shout out to John for picking that watch up. That money is going directly into the kitty for the Pelagos. |
| James | Nice. Yeah. I mean, this trio of 39 millimeter watches from. Wow. From Tudor. I mean, what a year. What other brand can say that it's had such a tremendous year? And I think of the three, you know, I talked about the Ranger being very enticing. I think the Black Bay Pro. I wouldn't have a single issue with the thickness of it. I think it looks great. I love a steel bezel anyway. And then, yeah, you know, the, the, uh, the flyer GMT, the local jumping, um, you know, yeah, just, just tremendous. I'd love to see what they do, how they iterate this watch. You know, you talked about the range or maybe getting smaller or something, but yeah, the pro like to see if they can spin off other dial colors or, or, or something would be really cool to see. |
| Jason | Yeah, I mean, I think a blue one would work really well. Yeah. Dark blue. Yeah. Dark blue. You could even keep the yellow. Sure. Of the GMT hand, and it would give the watch an entirely different vibe than the current one. Yeah. And that's usually Tudor's next color is a blue. Right. Right. But imagine if they even went the blue of the FXD. Yeah. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason | that sort of richly navy blue rather than the purpley blue or the or the somewhat less saturated of the 58. We're splitting hairs here, especially describing colors and audio. I feel like as long as we've been doing TGN, we've been talking about the fact that Omega moved up market to go after Rolex and they left this vacuum. And it's weird because I think Tudor filled that vacuum in 2015 with the Pelagos, with the Black Bay, but it's taken them seven years to really show where they could take the whole scope of the brand when it comes to steel sport watches. And I think we're really starting to see that line expand. We now have two totally different ways you can go with the Pelagos, several different ways you can go Black Bay, whether it's 58 or Pro. And then we saw them try something with the Ranger, which definitely had its fans, but maybe wasn't successful enough to keep going, and now they're trying another thing. I'm excited to see what they try in 2023 for sure. I mean, the FXD is another one that I think... True, yeah. Obviously, that's a 2021 great watch. Yeah. And we see them all the time on the Slack now, the TGN Slack, and they're just deeply cool things. And I've also found, and this leads me to, I suppose, yet another watch on the list, but I really like a fully graduated bezel. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Whether it's the FXD or the MS22, or you have an MS21 Scurfa. Right. Just really cool. Yeah. I don't, I can't fully describe why, but I like it. They've got it on the Aqualand. Right, right. |
| James | It, it, it lends a certain like seriousness to the watch and, and usefulness of course, but it just, it aesthetically, it just looks good. I, you see those hashes in like the first 15 or 20 of some watches and then like they disappear for the rest of it and it feels a little empty. So does that mean we're, we're segueing into Scurfa? I think that's not a bad, bad move. |
| Jason | I mean, the funny thing is, is I spoke previously about the budget watches story for Hodinkee and I didn't put the scruff on there because for me it was the MS-22 was both the watch I got and it's their 2022 release and it's sold out. And I've become very sensitive to members of the audience that get bummed out when most of what they read about is stuff they can't even think to buy. Right, right. And I think within this context, which is a little bit more personal, a little bit about our 2022 in watches, that MS-22, man, we say it a lot. I mean, the TGN slacks becoming largely like a scruff of cult. Scurfaforum. Scurfaforum, yeah. And all different shapes, colors, sizes, but for me, that black or the blue of the 21 with the full bezel and the titanium on a strap is just... It's so much watch for the money. |
| James | I know. It's visually just striking when you see it. There's just so much going on with this watch. The hands and the markers are just twice the size of what other watches do, and then the bezel's incredibly legible. I heard some people on the Slack channel, um, you know, questioning about the thickness of it. It's nothing I ever noticed with it. Um, for a quartz watch, it might be a little chunky, but somehow the overall dimensions just sit just so snugly and perfectly on the wrist. |
| Jason | Yeah. I wrote a story recently that was like one of, one of those Houdinki like steel versus splurge. Yeah. And it was the, the, the diver one titanium in whatever version you prefer versus the Pelagos, you know, one's 250 bucks, one's 4,400 bucks. Yeah. And these steel versus first things are kind of silly because usually The answer is like by the better one, if you can afford it or by the cheap one, if you can't write like the there's not always a big argument here for one being a better watch than the other or worse watch than the other. They're just two different markets. Yeah, but the interesting thing about this was, you know, I wrote the whole thing and did the post and I was happy with how it came out. And then in the comments, a guy kind of took me to cat task and said, like, so the scurf was fine at that thickness, but the same thickness on a DOCSIS 600 is bad. All right, right. And I said, like, well, I mean, both of, you know, the docks, the thing I explained over like 1500 words, and it largely comes down to like, yeah, there's thickness, but then there's how the thickness moves around on your wrist. And the docks sits up off your wrist on like a higher case back. And look, I have nothing to gain. I like the way the 600 looks. I wish it wore better on my wrist. It just doesn't. And when you add in wanting to wear it on a NATO, having a tall case back, so the watches millimeters off your wrist, I just found it kind of wobbled and toppled around. That's not gonna be the same for everyone's wrist, but it's my job to literally talk about how the watch kind of hit me. Yeah. It changes with the strap. If you put a stiff strap on the Scurfa, it sits too high for me, but on the rubber it comes with, on a nicely broken in canvas, on a leather, on a NATO, I really like it, and it doesn't bother me at all in terms of thickness. Yeah. It's also a nice... It has nice, smooth, rounded edges, so it kind of tucks down a little bit better than a watch that It's kind of brutalist like the 600. Yeah, definitely. Great watch. |
| James | I'm super happy with it. Yeah, good pick. And I think also, you know, you're someone who came to yours after it was long sold out. I mean, and that's just the nature of things. I think a lot of, you know, readers might take you to task over that sort of thing for writing about a watch that's not available. But the fact is they are available. Like you just need to know where to look, be patient, make a deal. People buy and sell and trade stuff all the time. |
| Jason | And yeah, you can still get one. Yeah, and then even in the last week, availability changed on scurfers website and it popped up on on the slack people chatting about, oh, you know, there's certain models are now available again. They came back in stock. Yeah, so it's a question of watching what's available new. Also, you now have forewarning of two years that there'll be an MS-23, predictably. Right. So maybe, you know, keep in touch with Scarfa for something like that, and you could jump on that if you can't. And then it took me a couple, maybe a month, month and a half of asking around and checking on forms. But I mean, you know, you look at WatchRecon, there were a couple MS-22s that I had only missed by a little bit of time. Yeah. So they're not that hard to get. I think it's probably harder to buy all sorts of other watches. There just aren't that many of them. with 500, but I feel like even if you don't want the MS, you just have to wait a little while, and there's lots of options in terms of the second hand for the Diver 1 in titanium. Probably one of the biggest impacts a watch had on me this year, because you were kind of big on the Scurfa, and I would see Henry wearing it in his videos, and I couldn't quite get behind the hands in photos. And then in person, I don't think I thought about it again. I put it on my wrist and I fell in love. And for an amount of money that I could literally recommend to anyone, like whether you know watches or not. It's in many ways, it's slotted right into where I used to suggest something like an SKX, which of course you can't get for a couple hundred bucks anymore. but you can do this. You are supporting a cool small brand. You're getting something that I don't think is going to give you many headaches because it's quartz, right? Right. Right. Yep. I think the value there is in spades. I think they're cool watches. And I like that they've kind of like continued to just be just kind of popular, even with people who like that, like and own vastly more expensive pieces. Yeah. I think that's kind of like the mark of a, of a good budget watch is one that belies its budget. |
| James | Yeah, I would agree. I guess another one that I would mention is the citizen, another citizen. This is the, what people have called it a number of things that, Fujitsu bow, which is Japanese for barnacle, um, the challenge diver. Um, but this is the, the pro master automatic with the titanium case that, that you reviewed and I reviewed and we both have spent ample time with. And you know, this is a watch that I think was a significant release for citizen. I think they were, I felt like over the past few years they've been less uh, eager to jump on the kind of retro or heritage bandwagon like Seiko, but they probably looked over and saw Seiko kind of doing so well with the SPBs and some of the throwback stuff. And they came out with this one, which, um, hearkens back to a model that they produced in the late seventies and they've done it in their super titanium, which is this incredibly scratch proof, incredibly light, um, alloy. And, um, it's an automatic, which, you know, citizen is kind of really, gone in hard on the eco drive stuff. And so to see it in an automatic in this kind of retro style case was kind of a breath of fresh air. And when it first came out, admittedly, I handled it and I thought, this thing feels like plastic. It feels like so light. The bezel action's light. The crown is tiny and kind of flimsy feeling. But the fact is once you get it on your wrist, you're like, okay, I get it. Like this watch wears really well. It's the right size. It has the right looks. Yeah. It's a, it's a great little watch. |
| Jason | Yeah, I didn't think much of it when I pulled it out of the box. It didn't feel like... It's so light, you almost think it's not that well made, and then you put it on your wrist and it just kinda disappears. Yeah. And you can do the sort of vintage effect, Submariner adjacent sort of design, but it weighs less than the bracelet for the dive watch you probably have on your wrist right now. Right, right. It works really well with a variety of straps because of the weight. It has a nicely kind of curved case back that nestles against the curvature of the lug. So it sits flat. It stays where you want it to stay, especially on the rubber. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason | So it ends up just being kind of this comfortable, legible, straightforward dive watch that allows you to do the titanium thing while it's still, while it's still small. Yeah. Right. Rather than we said this so many times, I've said this so many times, but it does feel like we've reached a point with titanium dive watches where they don't, you just use the titanium to hide a giant cases weight. Right. we can get both. We can have a small watch in the presence of a smaller watch and the super lightweight of the titanium. And I think that the challenge diver captures that really well in for a thousand dollars. |
| James | Like, yeah. And it reminded me, you know, wearing that watch for, for a couple of weeks reminded me or reinforced with me how important wearability and comfort is with a watch. Because I, you know, I've, I've got plenty of big heavy watches and frankly, I don't wear them much anymore. I mean, I hate to say it, but you know, my S 2000 Bremont, I've got that regatta Omega Seamaster chronograph. And it's like, I pulled them out. Cause I'm like, this is cool. I'm going to wear this today. And then I put it on. I'm like, after an hour, I'm like, man, this thing's heavy, you know? And then a couple of years of wearing watches like this, or a couple of weeks with this on my wrist, I'm like, man, I just want to wear this thing all the time because it just weighs nothing. It just feels so good on the wrist. |
| Jason | So. Yeah. I mean, it's like, you know, we did a whole episode on titanium a couple months ago. It's been a big year for titanium watches, and I think there's a bunch of different ways you can look at it, but one of them is definitely this way. It's a conventional watch made in titanium. It's a solid product. I could see it being quite successful for them. All right. Alright, let's get into a couple that I can't afford, but would very much like to if I could. The first of which we can just jump back to the Doxa Carbon White Pearl. I think the addition of the White Pearl in general is great. Yeah. The 300 White Pearl is really cool, like really, really cool and feels so different than the colorways we've seen before. But there's something about that loom dial carbon that I've not been able to forget about. I think it's a watch that I'll have to own someday. I don't feel as much pressure as I might with the Pelagos. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason | And for why, I'll consider... I'll keep looking inside to try and figure out why. Maybe because I already have the 300 here, the Sea Rambler. But yeah, I just love this watch and I don't think my love for it has changed in any way. The carbon still really speaks to me as an interesting way of keeping a format and a footprint and a silhouette of a vintage watch, but entirely changing the way it wears and feels. I think it's just, it's a really compelling sort of product, especially if you're, well, probably exclusively if you're a Doxa nerd. Yeah. |
| James | Yeah, I agree. And I think if you had a watch like this, it would feel not only nostalgic and Doxa-esque, but really special because of the material. I think you'd always find yourself kind of looking at it up close and people would ask to see it. And it's really a unique, beautiful watch. I remember one of our listeners brought one that he had to to wind up, and you're right, I can't get that out of my head. It was so good looking, and he had it on a NATO strap. |
| Jason | I mean, it just looked perfect. Yeah. I think it definitely might need to happen sometime in the future. Someday, maybe I'll get down to four or five watches, and it'll be these ones I've been talking about for the last couple of years. Yeah. And the other one, while we're on Doxa, that I'd love to get to is just the Army, especially in steel. Obviously, the ceramic LE that came out was super impressive, but the steel is just a really nice price point for a good looking watch. Yeah, I agree. |
| James | It was a good release. I think, you know, people were waiting for it. They made the one with the bronze accents that called to me strangely. I mean, something I normally wouldn't go for, but I thought that one looked good too. So yeah, strong year for Doxa. |
| Jason | Yeah, it was a strong year for Doxa. You know, it's cool to see them add an entire color to the lineup. And normally that would feel maybe not that important for most brands, but because they run a color right through the whole lineup, it adds one whole watch to the whole... Yeah, true. To each strata. Yeah. And I think because they name their colors, the colors are part of the identity, especially the core three colors. To go with one that's white, I think it's just a whole different appeal to those watches. And I guess it was... Maybe it was announced in 2021, but let's say maybe it's come to fruition now. they're a little bit easier to see in person, at least in the States. Oh, sure. Which I think is pretty helpful for docs. If you're on the fence, they're a weird watch. They don't wear like other watches. It makes sense to try and see them in person. And now you can not only see and try on a couple of them, but you could see probably conceivably the whole line, especially if you can get to a major city. Yeah. You could see more of them in person, which I think is a good development for them as well. So yeah, it would be a sad year end for us if we didn't have some docs to talk about. What else have you got? |
| James | Yeah. I mean, a couple of these all we can go through quickly because we talked about them very recently. Uh, indeed this one, the, the Omega Seamaster 300 meter diver, the bond 60th anniversary edition. Oh yeah. I mean, we just talked about this one, not much more to say about it. Um, I'm really smitten with it, especially from the front. I, the, the back feels gimmicky that, that kind of, uh, um sort of animated animated bond intro intro thing on the on the case back I could do without in fact I'd love to see I'd love to see the um the closed case back with like the broad arrow on the back like they did for the no time to die watch like but I just think the blue with the the aluminum anodized aluminum bezel um they just nailed it it was it's a nice looking watch uh it's less money than the no time to die it's you know just over seven thousand that one's got to be on the list I think it was a significant release for for Omega this year, and I love it. I thought it was great. I'd love to see kind of a standard edition with that format. |
| Jason | I think it's probably the strongest thing they announced this year to our tastes. Yeah. Obviously, the Ultra Deep was a big experiment and a really impressive product, not something I was going to necessarily attach to or want to buy, that sort of thing. Fairly large, fairly specific in its appeal. And then we saw stuff like the Chrono Chime, which is wild and deeply impressive, but not really in our zone. And then even as much as I opened by talking about a solid gold moonshine speedy with a green dial, also like not really within the purview of what we normally chit chat about. Yeah. Whereas this maybe on the upper end of the price point that we like to we like to cover, I think just has a huge amount of appeal for a day to day dive watch. |
| James | Yeah. I can't wait to see this one show up on people's wrists now as we start to see the risk check channel in slack blow up with something like this. |
| Jason | We mentioned the ultra deep, so we should probably also mention the deep sea challenge. Yeah. You know, I got the chance to go ahead and actually go to Geneva and photograph it for a story that Tony was writing, which is like kind of a fun treat to do the Rolex thing and to see some of those processes. The watch itself, you know, it's a giant almost like reference to Rolex's ability to make dive watches more than it is a dive watch. Yeah. And, you know, there's also an argument to be made, which I made in a recent story that or maybe the story is not out yet. Well, you get to decide depending on when you get to this. The machine that they designed, which is called the Ultra High Pressure Tank, which was made in partnership with ComEx, that they designed to test the Deep Sea Challenge, can actually test to a water pressure that doesn't exist on Earth, like in standing water. There might be some crazy geological feature, and if you know of that, by all means, please know that I'm ignorant to its existence. But I mean, there's no standing depth of water that would provide 13,000... The pressure equivalent to 13,750 meters, and that's not even the maximum of the machine. So if you see this story go up on Hodinkee about how Rolex is testing these watches, check it out. It's kind of a fun little one. I got to go deep into a basement below their headquarters and actually see where they're testing 10 of these watches at a time in this machine, and it's something else. If you understand these things, the machine is essentially clamped for 1750 bar. Wow. So I'll let you do that math on your own or you can read my read my article when it comes out to know just how deep or how much pressure that really is. It's something else. And I think as a technical achievement, it's worth chit-chatting about and enjoying and knowing it's there. Is it a commercial product? You can't really convince me that it is. You know what I mean? Like, like, sure, they'll sell a few, but but they also only sold a few of like original ones that, you know, the commemorative editions of the original ones that were on the Trieste, right? Right. |
| James | Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think you're right. This is, this is an emblem. This is a, this is a tribute to, to their capabilities because you're right. As a dive watch, you know, to wear this watch diving, that's not even the point. This is a watch you strap onto the outside of a, of a submersible. You know, it's not a watch you strap on your wrist to, you know, dive 30 meters, uh, you know, kind of on a reef somewhere. But cool, they made it and definitely worth talking about because it was a very significant watch this year. |
| Jason | And then, yeah, before we got into the whole deep sea and the ultra deep and the rest of it, I was saying that there were two watches that I really like but can't necessarily afford on a whim. And the second one of those is one that I finally got to witness in person, and it's on its 50th anniversary this year. That's the Porsche Design Chronograph One. Oh, yeah. I don't normally like fawn over chronographs. They're not like... That's not my zone. Yeah, I absolutely love this thing and I can't stop looking at them. You know, I got to go into the factory and the manufacturer where you get to see some of these made and the designers and see some of these additions that are kind of yet to be released, some stuff from the future. And just that core 1972 design offers so much little variances, a lot of which happened in the past and some of which they'll iterate upon in the future. But it's like a really nicely wearing, genuinely automotive inspired watch that comes from the same guy that designed the 911. Yeah. Yeah. That really speaks to me in a way that I don't think, without having the experience of visiting Porsche Design and getting some of the background on that, I don't know that I would have attached to the watch in the same way. It has that specificity of the story. And look, I'm not fortunate enough to own a 911, so I like that it doesn't say 911 on the dial or that sort of thing. It was just meant to kind of follow in the lineage of the same design language from the same designer. And Yeah, the fact is that they're expensive, but I do, I kind of get it. They're not making a ton of them. They look really good. I love that, you know, these modern ones have quick change, so you can pop that bracelet off and put on another strap. You can wear them on a NATO. Yeah, you do all that kind of stuff. And then now they've got ones with a flyback movement, which I think is really rad. Wow. And yeah, like I said, I've seen some of the stuff that they've got planned for next year, and it makes me only more excited about it. So much like with the doxa, that's one that I can absolutely see in a future sort of edition of my collection. I really like these. I could easily see it because sort of my like, like in the way that somebody might attach to a Speedmaster. I think this is more my field, my zone. Interesting. |
| James | Yeah. And I guess in a way you've had a similar format. So you've been able to try that, that shape, right? With your Xen. |
| Jason | Xen, yeah. Which references? Same case sort of thing, very similar design language overall. Yeah. Very dramatic. |
| James | Yeah. This is very much a guilty pleasure of mine. I remember a local shop here was selling a vintage version of this, the Orfina version from way back. And it was, I remember handling it in the case and it had the kind of that rolled bullet style, you know, bracelet and the, if you can even call it PBD, it was all kind of wearing off. I mean, it just, it looked great. And yeah, these are, these are cool watches. Yeah, I'm shocked to hear you say that you could see this being in your collection. I never would have put something like this on your wrist. However, I can see it on your wrist. I mean, it is the right, very tool-ish aesthetic. And of course, you being very dialed into the automotive space, I could totally see that happening. I think, you know, when you get your 911, I think this would be the perfect accompaniment. |
| Jason | They're going to have to come down closer to the price of the chronograph before I'm a 911 guy. But yeah, they're These things are in the neighborhood of 10 grand. Used ones can certainly cost that much depending on their condition. Not always, but depending on their condition and the era and that sort of thing. And I'm not debating whether they're worth that or not. If that's what people are paying, then that's what they're worth. Super. Just more than I've ever spent on a watch. And I would say that remains more in a dream class, but I am happy to have seen every generation collected in one space and get to try a bunch of them on. Just a really nice wearing watch that feels super, super specific to an era and a design. And it is... I like those designs, I think everybody does, but those designs were like... It worked, so they just didn't bother changing it. Speedy's in there, Sub's in there, Fifty Fathoms is in there, Royal Oak is in there. There's tons, right? And a lot of them are now celebrating 50, 60 years of age, so there's clearly... There was something in the water. Right, right. In the 60s and the 70s, you know, maybe 72 is towards the tail end of some really great designs. Yeah. But man, I really enjoyed getting a chance to see more of these and it just becomes something that kind of defined and it just became another one of these watches that defined sort of my perspective in 2022. Cool. |
| James | That's a great addition to this. I wouldn't have expected to see that on the list, but among all these other kind of dive watches, but that's a good one. Yeah. All right. So, I mean, we're kind of down to the end of the list here. We've talked about some watches that we'd love to have, some that we own, some that we've tried. Do you have one that kind of stands out as a favorite that you want to close out with? |
| Jason | Yeah, I think I do. And it's fun because I feel very sure-footed in this decision that my favorite watch of the year is that new Mido Ocean Star. I actually saw this one quite some time ago, and immediately I thought like, oh, wait, that's going to be a winner, at least for my wrist. Yeah. under $1,500. I think it's actually under $1,400 with the bracelet, two straps, an automatic movement. That's a proper flyer GMT. It's a great size. It wears really well. I really like the aesthetic and that it doesn't lean too hard into the sort of faux vintage. It just has sort of a vintage aesthetic based in some past Mito designs. Yeah, I've had it almost nonstop on my wrist since I got it a couple weeks ago, and I absolutely love it. I've traveled with it. I've jumped time zones with it, and I'd It's not going anywhere. I'm absolutely thrilled by it. And I think they're still available in the Hodinkee store. At least they were, you know, at the point of recording. You know, I feel like I've advocated for GMT watches for many years, especially the sort of picking the one that suits the way that you need to track another time zone, whether you're traveling to the time zone or calling into the time zone or watching the time zone. And I think this year we had both with the Seiko and then with this Mido and then we had, you know, Citizen and some other brands with the Miota 9075. I think this has been a great year just to see the starting point of a few brands coming at the GMT world at a budget or close to budget space. And if I was comfortable spending and praising the SPB 143 in say 2020 and through 2021, I feel exactly the same about the Ocean Star GMT from Hodinkee. |
| James | It's great to be able to talk about a brand that we don't normally talk about. I mean, Amido is... True. I'd have to go back through all of our old shows and count, but I bet it'd be on one hand, the number of times Mito has come up. Um, but they make solid watches. I mean, you know, swatch group quality is certainly not, not one to be questioned. They're, you know, top to bottom, they usually make a solid watch and, and, you know, Mito has been doing some good stuff in the past few years. And I think this watch you've, you've obviously, um, sung the praises of recently, and we've seen a lot of them pop up on the Slack group and on Instagram. And I think people are drawn to this one and it just goes, goes to point out that It was a solid year for travel watches. And coincidentally, it's a year when, you know, as the pandemic was winding down, people started to get back on the road again, but the timing couldn't have been better. I mean, look at our list. We've got Black Bay Pro. We've got even the Aqualand. You can do a second time zone on the Ocean Star, the Seiko. Yeah, just really solid. Even the Benrus, you know, you can use the 12-hour bezel. Absolutely. |
| Jason | Yeah, that's a good one to finish on. And how about you? Do you have a favorite or is it probably the Aqualand? It's the Aqualand. |
| James | I love it. Yeah. I wore that watch so much. And every time I see you or anyone else post a picture of it on their wrist, I'm like, all right, got to go get it out of the box, put it on and it's running. It's pretty keeping perfect time, which is great. |
| Jason | Yeah. Sure. Yeah. You know, for two grand, then you're in, you're in under two grand for a two watch collection, a travel watch. That's a little bit on the more elegant dressy side. And then a dive watch that is decidedly neither of those things and is all the better for it. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Not bad. Well, I would love to know whether you put it in the comments or you wanna jump into the slack. I would love to know what your watch of the year was, what your favorite watches were, what you think we might have missed, because we had a long list and we tried to trim it down and have some focus to it. We wanted to make sure we got a solid hour plus out of the topic, which we have, but I'm sure we didn't get to everything. I think this is one of the stronger years of my time in watches. It seems like some of the pessimism of the last few years, especially around really expensive watches, has kind of meant that there's a new focus in like, well, what can I get for a thousand bucks? What can I get for under two grand? Yeah. And, and maybe people have been asking that for a couple of years, but brands have started to reply and whether it's more titanium or more travel watches or man, do I hope we combine the two in 2023 I'm I'm here for, I think it was a solid year. We had lots to talk about on the show and we'd love to know, you know, what was your favorite? What kind of hit for you? what's on the dream list, what you'd like to see next year. So let us know in the comments or hit it, hit it up on Slack. We always have a, kind of a, a weekly show thread going. And, uh, I would love to keep that conversation going with, uh, with everyone who's listening. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason | Want to jump into some final notes? |
| James | Yeah. Why don't you go first? I've got kind of a repeat one that we do every year. So why don't you go first? |
| Jason | Oh yeah. Look at that. I didn't, I hadn't scrolled down far enough. So my pick for this week and to close out the year is another thing that I've been kind of dreaming about. And it's, it's this idea of having like an adventure camper. Yeah. like just a vehicle that's ready to go that you're not really compromised by using it as your daily. And there's an and so this is a story from outside online written by Brian Rogala and it is an in-depth look at his not first form but like arguably one of his final evolutions of coming to like an adventure camper an overland rig if you will. Yeah. So in reading this you get an idea that Brian's been down the road with pretty much everything that you could imagine online as far as different gear, different trucks, different platforms, different modes of camping, all that kind of stuff. And then this is sort of the culmination, or at least current to say, fall of 2022, the culmination of all that experience. And then he details and when I say details like this is a long read. And when I got into it, I thought like, Oh, I'll read the first couple paragraphs, find out what the truck is maybe read into the camper. Nope, I read every word I really liked it. It's super enjoyable. I learned a ton. And there's also videos throughout. So if you want to see in, you know, in, you know, quote unquote, three dimension in more detail than a photo or more moving detail than a photo, you can, you can also watch the little videos that kind of fill in some of the blanks for the stuff that he describes. But this is everything from the truck to how to modify the truck to the camper, to how to modify the camper, to the electrical system, the water system, the heating system, the cooking platform, the organization, It's all of it. And I just really enjoyed it. If, uh, if you're like me, that the type of guy who will watch venture four wheel drive and, and kind of enjoy the ones where Chris changes something about his truck or, or maybe the same thing for a Drew Sims or that sort of thing, then I think this, this, uh, fairly long and very in-depth story is for you. And it made me think about what you might spend on a, on a very inexpensive cottage. Yeah, true. Uh, providing you don't, you don't live near a major city where the cottage property could cost as much as anywhere else. |
| Unknown | Mm. |
| Jason | but what you might spend on an inexpensive piece of property somewhere where you could put a low cabin or maybe off the water, like no water, no power sort of cabin, you could probably end up with a pretty nice truck build that could take you anywhere. It's a compelling argument. We had a Q&A earlier in the year, I wanna say four or five, six months ago, about whether or not we would wanna be in the woods or in the water and how far we would wanna be from home. And in some ways reading this story, I thought like, well, this is almost an answer to all of those questions because you could just pick on your own. Yeah, true. Right. Yeah. And the last thing I would say is I don't think that you need to go as deep as he did, because like I said, he's been through the other stages. I think it's something you kind of ease your way into maybe a bit like scuba diving or any sort of adventuring in general. You start off with a weekend trip or a well known option and then move on from there and let it kind of cascade and I would say his, his rock has rolled further downhill than others. He's, he's very specific in what he needs and what they're using it for. And I really enjoyed the post. Yeah. |
| James | It's so thorough. I'm just scrolling through. I mean, he's got lists of tools and then, you know, sort of video demos of how he did each thing. And I mean, the, the, the slide on camper ideas is a nice idea. I mean, so many people have pickup trucks anyway, and I've always liked this format of camper because you can leave it and go, you know, it's not attached to the vehicle full time. And, uh, Yeah, that's cool. |
| Jason | Yeah, it's a compelling thing. And anywhere where you think he might not, he might've made a decision that you wouldn't, he at least gives you the reason why. Yeah. And it may or may not apply to you. Yeah. You know, this is a four season platform for skiing and backcountry touring and that kind of stuff. And I think there's something to learn for anyone who might want to do an overland build or, or, uh, you know, a camper build. Um, yeah, I loved it. This is the kind of stuff that I like to see from outside, uh, which there's a lot of depth, a lot of value here and a lot of specificity. So, That's my suggestion. Read it over the holidays if you want to dream about maybe a good project for the next year. Yeah. Good one. |
| James | How about you? All right. I'm going to close out with our annual recommendation to listen to The Shepherd, which is a short story by Frederick Forsyth, specifically the version that's read by Canadian treasure Fireside Al Maitland, who started reading this yearly on Uh, the CBC as it happens show, um, he started back in the late seventies and, and this recording that they have on their website, uh, they, they just keep it up there and you can, you can just use their player embedded in the, in the webpage and play this. And it's, it's a wonderful holiday story. Um, you know, the, the, the lead in here is the year is 1957 and RAF pilot is heading home from Germany for Christmas fog sets in and all radio communication is lost. And that's the gist of it. And it's told first person. Forsyth was a pilot. He did fly a de Havilland vampire. You know, there's just a lot of nostalgia. Al Maitland's voice is perfect for this. He does all the kind of different accents and voices that come into play in the story. And, you know, I've roped enough people into this now where, you know, on Christmas, we're sitting with my parents and I make them listen to it and we enjoy it. And sometimes we listen to it more than once. It's just, it's kind of a cozy kind of holiday tradition that, that I've come to enjoy. And, um, we've, we've kind of tended to recommend it every year now on our last TGN of the year. So give it a go. |
| Jason | Yeah, that's fantastic. That's definitely one that I will be getting to, uh, you know, I have a fairly long drive ahead for part of our holiday plan. So I think this will be part of it when we get tired of my silly comedy podcast and the sort of high energy options we might, uh, you know, derivate into a new recording of this, which I'll have to make sure I have, uh, available on the phone. But yeah, I co-signed completely. I think this is a great tradition, a beautiful story, well told and pretty much good for any, any listener. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James | Well, that, that takes care of episode 220, but it also takes care of the gray NATO for 2022. And, uh, you know, we thank you all for listening to this episode. You know, maybe you're new to TGN, maybe you've been listening since episode one, way back in 2016. Um, but you know, for, Speaking for myself and obviously for James, we appreciate every one of you that listens, that supports, that chimes in in the comments, that jumps in on Slack, tags us on Instagram, has bought our kerchiefs and t-shirts and stickers and watch straps. TGN has become so much more than a podcast and we're really proud and humbled and so pleased by that. |
| Jason | Yeah, I would absolutely mirror that. It has become more of a podcast, but not because we've done much more than make a podcast. It's because Um, of all, all of you are willing to kind of. Co-mingle and enjoy the world of adventure and travel and diving and driving and gear and certainly watches. And I couldn't be more thankful for the way this last year has gone. Uh, TGN is the high point of, of my work life. It's something I'm deeply proud of and, you know, launching the supporter crew. And then later on the slack, it's really been fun to meet more of you and connect with more of you wind up with such an uplifting sort of experience that helped define. The fact that, you know, watches are fun and should remain fun and be about people and all that kind of stuff. And 2022 was a great year. And I owe that to all of you who are listening. We've got some great plans for 2023. We're going to try and do more for the show and, uh, and, you know, bring more value to the table and that kind of stuff. But, uh, we wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for the listeners and the support of crew and the rest. So, uh, a deep and heartfelt thank you for sure. |
| James | And as always, thanks so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to The Show Notes, get into the comments for each episode, or consider supporting the show directly and grab a new TGN signed NATO, please visit TheGreyNATO.com. Music throughout, as it always has been, is Siesta by JazzArr via the Free Music Archive. |
| Jason | And we leave you with this quote from Karl Bard who said, although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. |