The Grey NATO – 251 – The Latest Watches From Oris, Doxa, Longines, And More

Published on Thu, 31 Aug 2023 06:00:00 -0400

Synopsis

The podcast episode begins with the hosts discussing their recent summer travels and mentioning some new watches they have acquired. They then delve into analyzing and sharing thoughts on several newly released watches, including the Oris Aquis Pro 4000, the Doxa Sub 300 Beta, the Synchron Poseidon Black Edition, the IWC Pilot's Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces, and the new Longines Hydro Conquest GMT models. The hosts also briefly touch upon the new Brew Metric Automatic watch. Towards the end, they share final notes, with one host recommending a video showcasing the diving adventures of the late Stan Waterman, and the other host discussing a travel sling bag he recently purchased from the brand Alpaca.

Transcript

Speaker
Jason Heaton Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Great NATO. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 251. And it's proudly brought to you by the always 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 TheGreatNATO.com for more details. Hey, Jason, how you feeling? Sharp and ready to roll after a bit of a summer break and some travel?
James I don't know about sharp, but yeah, ready to roll. I mean, it's been weeks and weeks. Yeah. Welcome back.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Same to you. Yeah. We actually thought we might cross paths in Miami. I think we maybe missed each other by about an hour as you were leaving and I was coming back from Mexico.
James Yeah. We both back from points South and lots to talk about. I mean, we've got some new watches. Of course, this is the start of, what is it, Geneva Watch Week.
Jason Heaton When we're recording this, yeah, on the Tuesday. So we're recording this on the 29th. Geneva Watch Day starts today. So most of the watches are largely have been announced and have come out, and then that'll push on towards the 30th. Maybe they don't really do Labor Day in Europe. I'm not sure, but it was kind of a nice quiet season there for August. I think the timing worked out pretty well for both of our trips. Yeah. Yeah. How have you been otherwise? You've been back for a couple of days. How much of that was spent packing
James Yeah, our summer bundles are now end of summer bundles just in the nick of time here. Um, so I got back late Friday night and, um, our, our restock of the pins to complete the bundles had arrived while I was gone. And so I just, uh, kind of jumped right in on Saturday and packed up a few hundred, um, of the outstanding bundle orders and took those over I guess yesterday, so Monday morning to FedEx. And I'm guessing by the time people are listening to this, uh, hopefully most people have received those that FedEx is usually pretty, pretty fast about delivering at least, um, at least domestic stuff. Yeah. Had a little bit of a wrinkle. I, you know, this has become a comedy of errors and clearly I'm on a better podcaster than I am a fulfillment manager. But, um, we did run 42, Uh, short of the loom stickers. So, um, you placed a quick order and, um, I've addressed envelopes to those people who, um, are getting bundles without one of the stickers and we'll ship those out, uh, probably next week when those, when those come. So not much of a delay. And I, I, I didn't want to withhold the caps and kerchiefs and things, uh, any, any further than we needed to. So, um, fear not, everything will be in hand, uh, for everybody, uh, very soon. So. Appreciate the patience and hope you're, you're loving the bundle.
Jason Heaton Absolutely. Yeah. I think, I think that that all makes sense. And yeah, what are you, what are you going to do? Like, like we said before, we're not great businessmen. Clearly we didn't forecast exactly how this would work out. Yeah. I'm still a little surprised by how well the, the traction of the hat, like I really liked the hat and the sticker and that kind of stuff. But definitely I think we got even more sort of, um, uptake, it was a little quicker than I expected. So yeah, it's, it's, uh, it's something we'll, you know, we'll, we'll pay these lessons forward for the next bundle and make sure that we're fully stocked, uh, before we kind of pop off next time. But I hope everybody loves it when they get them. And, uh, and obviously as Jason mentioned and has mentioned in the past, if you have any trouble with your order or anything like that, please feel free to drop us an email. Uh, that's been working pretty well so far. You know, we've certainly had a few people write in saying, Hey, is the order actually coming? Is it gone? It just says, or, you know, label printed and then nothing. And you're like, oh, label printed, then vacation. So, uh, you know, it's hand fulfilled if, uh, if that makes it a little bit more of an experience. Right.
James This is like artisanal shipping here. Yeah. So, so we're, we're both back from trips and we've got a few new watches to chat about. Um, we probably should just dive right in, but I guess before we do that, what are you wearing today? What did you wear diving? That's maybe that's the, maybe it's the same answer.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it actually is the same answer. I took the Pelagos 39. I wanted to get it diving properly and put some memories into it and that sort of thing. Yeah. So that's what I wore to Mexico. We did eight dives with it. It was great. Really, no complaints whatsoever. Took it down on the rubber strap and it kind of just worked out really well. It was like even hotter than I expected down there. We'll get into more of this in a bit, but yeah, that's what I wore was the Pelagos 39. Since I came back, I kind of jumped back into the Apple Watch a little bit just because it's been It's one of those very busy weeks with the Geneva Watch Days. So the Apple Watch is a great kind of productivity tool. But I took the Pelagos 39 and I took the Garmin Descent Mark II for a dive computer and just a fantastic pair of, you know, kind of tool-ish options from two different parts of the kind of brains, the mind share of watch enthusiasm.
James Yeah, it's funny. I was on this on my trip to Ecuador. I wore uh, my docks, a sub 300 shark hunter, the Aqua long edition. And, um, and then I had a chance to dive. I was there. Um, I was hired by Carl F Bucherer to, to write up a few stories from this trip, which I'll get into. But, um, while I was there, you know, most of the researchers that were there with the Manta trust group, uh, or definitely not watch people. Um, and, and, um, they were passing around a few of these Petrovi Verde special edition, uh, dive watches that, that Booker had sent along for, for people to wear for photos and to check out. And I, I got to wear one of them on a couple of dives, but we're sitting around and I, I felt like, um, I was sort of educating a lot of these, these researchers about watches. You know, they're asking like, why, why would anyone wear a diving watch? And do any of the watch brands, um, did they ever get into developing dive computers? You know, cause every, everybody just wears dive computers. That's, that's their tool. But I thought it was just interesting. And the one question that I really couldn't answer was, Um, have, did any of the traditional watch companies ever go into the development of dive computers? And I was like, well, it's, it's, they're sort of different animals, so to speak, different industries really.
Jason Heaton Yeah.
James I feel like docks or Aqua star was kind of the closest, but in a very mechanical sort of sense, I guess then you could say citizen with the first Aqua land kind of started to bridge the bridge, the gap. But, um, yeah, none of the, none of the watch brands that I can think of, you know, it was always, uh, the Suntos and Uatecs and Shearwaters and all that stuff. But, uh, yeah, it was an interesting point from someone who, who, you know, it was definitely outside of our kind of mind space when it comes to the watch world. But, uh, yeah, anyway, so I, I guess, uh, you know, going back to the, our risk check, uh, since I got home, I, I've been wearing my, uh, titanium, uh, Blancpain 50 fathoms. Um, it's, uh, you know, just, I was kind of, I've been wearing that big booker to dive in Ecuador, and I was just kind of in that sort of conservation minded, large dive watch mode. So that's what's on my wrist today.
Jason Heaton Nice. Very nice. Yeah, that's a winner, of course. Well, I mean, keeping on the watch theme, you want to jump into some of the new watches that have come out before we do a little bit of a trip report?
James Yeah. Yeah, let's do it. I mean, it's been kind of an interesting little hiatus for us. I mean, kind of watching some of the press releases come through and the watch news you know, Houdinki and other places. Um, there, there, there've been some interesting offerings lately. I think some, uh, I like better than others. Um, the, the one that really caught me, um, I noticed you wrote up for, for Houdinki. It just went up this morning was this Oris Aquus pro 4,000, which what a beast, what a cool watch. When I first saw that, when our buddy Josh sent over the press release a couple of weeks ago, I was, I was really keen. I think I liked the blue and, and you know, I'm all for kind of big chunky dive watches. Um, did you have a chance to handle that one?
Jason Heaton I saw it at watches and wonders or like I assume, you know, maybe not, maybe not the exact, you know, production expression, but I saw it at watching wonders and got to try it on, you know, it's a hockey puck. I mean, if you like an ecozilla, if you like a like a full size tuna, I don't think it wears that differently because it's titanium. Yeah, Yeah. And I mean, sure, it's 49.5 millimeters wide, so you're buying into a big watch. It's like buying a dually pickup truck. You're not buying it thinking it's something other than what it is. Yeah, yeah. But I think it's really fun. I really like that they went with light blue. Often in the past, when they've done the pro series divers, sometimes with the rubber clad bezel or the locking bezel like this one has, the 4000 has, It's that black and yellow color scheme that I feel like kind of came from the Titan era or the TT era that predates the Aquus. With this, it feels very much like they took an Aquus and made it this tank of a watch. And the light blue, the wave dial, the ceramic insert, the locking bezel, and then this bright blue strap really just makes it kind of this summery take on a big, serious dive watch. And I think if you want a big watch, it kind of has to be in the running. It's kind of their plow prof or I guess in some ways they're ultra deep or their deep sea challenge or it's funny because like and I'm part of this problem, I guess you could say or maybe just I'm part of the chorus. I think that watches like this aren't for me necessarily. They're so big. I like I love my aqualand but it wears weirdly small and comfortable. You know this is also over 20 millimeters thick and you know it's it feels like a piece of dive equipment, right? And just like I would find it difficult to walk around in my wetsuit or with my fins on, that's kind of how I feel with some of these. But the fun thing about it, and I think the part where some of us who obsess over the fact that a 39 millimeter Pelagos is better for me than a 42 millimeter Pelagos, can also zoom out a little bit and see there must be a considerable market for people who do want these. Not a huge market, but like a strong niche. Rolex does it, Omega does it, Oris does it, like these big, chunky, really deep diving Seiko, Citizen, they're not alone. None of these brands are alone at pushing the limit well beyond a thousand meters. And I think the Oris one's really fun. I like it quite a bit. I think if I had a bigger wrist or if you were just a bigger guy in general, I think this could be like a really fun sort of t-shirt watch. Yeah. Um, and, and certainly if you're, if you enjoy diving, it would feel really fun to use in the water.
James Yeah. I remember a few years ago they had that, um, I don't know if it's still in our catalog, but that, um, I think they called it the pro diver and it was, yeah, that we saw, uh, in Vail. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I had a week with that one. I think I wrote it up for Houdinki, um, several years ago in, in Bonaire and, and I enjoyed wearing that watch a lot. I, I, it was, I believe that was the same, not the same thickness, but the same dimension. Uh, diameter, I think it was like a 49 or something, but then it had this locking bezel and it just, it felt like this really technical watch that it's, it's funny to have that in the same catalog as, uh, you know, the, the diver 65, which is just so different. And then, and then the Aqua. So it was always kind of right in the middle. And I, I just, like you said, I think this is, this has a bit of a throwback appeal to the old TT or a dive watches that I, gosh, I fell in love with years ago. And then, you know, they used to have the neat colors. They had the one with, I think a red strap and. I just, I like how Auris plays with color. And I'm really quite smitten with this watch, even though it's, uh, it's up there. I mean, it's what's $6,200. So it's not a, not a cheap piece, but it's definitely a tour de force for them.
Jason Heaton Yeah. So, I mean, in, in the current Auris structure, you kind of have two price windows depending on whether it's a Salida movement or a caliber 400. Yeah. So when you're seeing a $6,000 Auris, it means you're also getting the five day power reserve, the 10 year warranty, all that kind of stuff. So. I think that could really speak to a lot of people, a lot of people in a relatively niche world. I think even if you went back 10 years to when people wanted more commonly 45, 47 millimeter, that when Panerai and Breitling were really popping off, I still think this would be a niche option just because it's thick and it has this very specific... Like I said, it's kind of like a really big pickup truck instead of a normal big one or a small one, right? you know, we're beyond the point where you can carry a four by eight sheet of drywall. This is a much more serious sort of endeavor. I think it's very cool. And I also like that it kind of leans into what's cool about Oris is that they just get to do what they want.
Unknown Yeah.
Jason Heaton Right. And who knows? Maybe they only intend to sell a thousand of these a year or two thousand. I have no idea. Right. Yeah. But they're clearly not worried about it. They, you know, Josh and Vijay were quite excited to show this watch off when I got to see it briefly in in Geneva, and yeah, I think it's cool, I think it's fun. And again, it's not like this is the only dive watch they offer. They offer a lot of very conventional dive watches or... And even kind of more interesting takes on conventional dive watches, like the pair of Aquus with the brace net dials. Oh, yeah. So the dials that are made from, I guess, like essentially melted down like waste nets. Yeah. Kind of another take on the upcycled, but in this scenario, it's a slightly different color way. It's a little bit more blue-green, which I like quite a bit. But those look handsome. And yeah, the brand just gets to do what they want. And that includes, you know, some niche avenues, which I think are fun.
James Yeah. Yeah. Well, where do we go from here? I need your take on another. OK, so, you know, we've professed our love of Auris over the years and like most of what they come out with. And the same could have been said about Doxa until this thing that came out today, which Yeah, I don't get it. Just came out of left field. This is the sub 300 beta, beta meaning the Greek letter, which is kind of in the name of the watch. You know, I saw this on Instagram this morning and then kind of saw a lot of photos popping up of it. And it's a real head scratcher. This is a, this is a, it's not a terribly attractive watch. Let's put it that way, at least to my eye. And I know that's a subjective viewpoint, but I'm just curious how many people are going to love this thing.
Jason Heaton I think this is, this is a deep niche. And it's not for me. Yeah. I don't wanna be unfair to Doxa because they don't have to make every watch... Every watch that they make doesn't have to be for me specifically. Obviously, this is a podcast and we talk about our opinions. I don't like this watch. I don't fully understand it, but I could see it having a home with a certain type of buyer. So it's a black ceramic case, a 3N gold bezel and crown, and then gold accents for the markers, but the hands are black, the dials a matte sort of textured black. It's just like hyper two tone. I'm trying to remember the watch I'm thinking of from the 80s that had this aggressive of sort of a two tone. It might have been an IWC Da Vinci or maybe I'm thinking it'll come to me in a couple of minutes. There's elements of this that I like. I really like the fully blacked out bezel. I think that looks pretty cool. Obviously, I'm not a two tone guy. I've been out on on that ledge for a long time. I don't feel like I'm coming back inside to hang out with the two tone crew at any point. So this doesn't work for me. And I guess in many ways, this is a sub 300 with a ceramic case, which I think is that's actually quite interesting. Yeah. I guess the easiest thing to say is for me, it would be I would lean carbon, especially if I was spending big money on a dachshund. This is 7,000 Swiss francs. Yeah, yeah. which I think is... I'm not saying they won't sell any of them, I'm saying that's kind of a tough price point for a brand that's known where their go-to model is $2,800. And you're still... You're getting a cost certified, either a solider or an eta, I'm not sure, but it is under 12 millimeters thick, 42.5 millimeters wide. I like the idea of a ceramic 300. I don't know how this case specifically differs from the ceramic case used in the army? Yeah. Yeah. It looks very similar. Yeah. If it's a 300, you would conceivably think it's a different case, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This doesn't really speak to me and it's probably mostly the two-tone-ness of it all. How does it land to you? I know that you're a little bit more open to something like a two-tone or otherwise.
James Yeah. I'm not, I really sort of strongly, strongly dislike the aesthetics of this one. It's, um, At first I was, I was really trying hard to kind of find something charitable to say about it. And it, you were talking about sort of other examples that park from the same sort of aesthetic. And the one I could think of was in the eighties that the original citizen Aqualand that we know and love, they, they did make a, a black version with gold accents. I think it was the one that was made famous by Jean Reno in, in the big blue. Uh movie where he plays the free diver the italian free diver. Okay. Um, he wears that watch and and Citizen did it better. I mean it was it was nicely done It had the kind of the gold accents that that we've seen on some other aqualands, but then it was a blacked out case and I think It's not so much the two-tone that bothers me about this one. It's it's it's just too much black I think the the blacked out bezel is kind of cool, but I think it also detracts from the real calling card of Doxa, which is that bezel and not being able to read that scale. I realize this is not a watch that they're selling to be, you know, this great diving tool necessarily. It's more of a style thing, but, um, definitely there's just something about, about that, that I disagree with. And then, and then the, the blacked out, uh, uh, date window too is a bit of a, you know, confusing to me. And it's like, you couldn't read it anyway. Why not just eliminate it altogether? Um, yeah, that's a good point.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah, I don't... I feel like this is kind of... And again, I'm not throwing shade at Doxa. I love a couple of the watches that they make, and the other ones seem to be keeping the brand alive, which is, of course, great. Variety is excellent. I don't think this is even as successful as the Kessler Ellie we had previously, which is kind of a very interesting kind of romantic take on this, whereas this almost feels a little bit like... I guess the watch I was thinking of is that gold and black Emperor Tuna. Oh, yeah. Yep. Sure. Right. Yeah. But even that had a fairly conventional it had the golden black case and bezel thing, but otherwise a pretty conventional dial still very legible and all that kind of thing. The black hands on this kind of weird me out.
Unknown Yeah.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I think this is the kind of thing where if you really love a 300 Pro or Sharky or any of those, maybe not. But if you want a Doxa that kind of has a little bit more of a modern Hublot, Zenith, Defy sort of feel to it. Yeah. There it is.
James This sort of occupies the same confusing space as the solid gold T graph that we saw at Baselworld several years ago. Sure. To the point where it feels like they've crossed a line in my mind. I feel like Doxa was, always a brand. You know, I remember when IWC started to evolve a bit, you know, back in the nineties, they were this very Teutonic German, everybody admired it for its just starkness and commitment to utilitarianism. And I think Doxa has always in my mind and in a lot of people's minds has been this brand that has been very committed to tool dive watches. Like these are watches for real divers, um, or at least inspired by, they haven't changed much. Um, they've had a few variations and then, Then they do something like that solid gold T graph for whatever it was, $70,000.
Jason Heaton And then, yeah, which I think was a successful marketing.
James Yeah. Yeah. But it's, it's kind of, it feels a bit like, and like, as you said earlier, I mean they can do whatever they want and if they're a successful brand, who am I to, to argue with them? But, um, I don't know, I guess offerings like this are a little bit disappointing to me just because I want them to stay that sort of committed sort of, uh, down the middle, you know, classic, sort of docks a dive watch brand.
Jason Heaton But I would feel differently about this if it was replacing any of the classics. If we're just doing line extensions, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. You know, if this brings 500 more, a thousand more, 5,000 more people like to the brand because this is the combo that they like. I can't fault it. I love the idea of a sub 300 in carbon. I love that watch. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And that's also kind of an avant garde take on a classic of the 60s. So it just comes down to This is like the slightly wrong formula, right?
James Yeah. Yeah. Let's move on to kind of a Doxa adjacent, um, an obvious sort of connect, um, with another watch that was released, uh, I believe this week or last week. And that's this, uh, the Synchron, the Synchron Poseidon black edition or, or buddy, uh, Rick Mirai formerly of, of Doxa fame. Um, you know, he owns Synchron and he's kind of spun out a few of these, collaborations with Poseidon, which I love seeing that name on a dial. I think it works really well. He's had some success with the military version that he released in a couple of different variations. We saw a white version and then we saw those first two versions that came out a couple of years ago. This might be my favorite iteration of the bunch. I really like the colorway on this one as well as that awesome bezel.
Jason Heaton Yeah, as much as I enjoyed the sort of military style dial, of the quote unquote white version of the Poseidon, I think the black feels more focused, I think, maybe a little bit less 70s without the sort of like hyper contrast of that, of the white center dial and the kind of extensions of the hour markers that cut into the white element. What I would be really interested in is, because it's like a thing that I've thought about more and more often now is like, do you think the black dial, because there's more negative space, I guess, might actually feel bigger on your wrist or smaller? I'm not sure. It's probably one or the other. Yeah. It's got to feel differently than the standard white black one. Yeah, true. But I think this is a super successful one. I was on vacation when it came out, but Tony wrote it up for Hodinkee. Talk about a watch that looks incredible on an isoframe. Yeah, yeah. Like just perfect. Yeah. and I love the big hands. I would love to see them do a version of this watch that... I know that you like seeing the Poseidon logo. I'd love to see a version without the Poseidon. Yeah. But I think it makes sense and it looks cool on this watch, and I like the sort of asymmetry of the placement of the two logos, the Synchron logo and the Poseidon logo, which is fun to see. Yeah. And I think the Poseidon logo looks more at home on the black dial because it has a little bit more space to breathe, the logo. I agree.
Unknown Yeah.
Jason Heaton I think these look really good. Yeah. And certainly these are very similar in build, not identical, but similar in build to the previous Synchron Military, which I thought was a lovely watch for the money and really enjoyed my time with it. And these are still less than $1,000 on pre order and they'll make 1,000. Yeah, yeah. Same formula. They've really hit a nice calm stride with Synchron. Every few months something comes out, they don't make a ton of them, the pre-order price seems really fair, especially like this feels like pricing from before the pandemic. Yeah. Which seems pretty good, especially for a watch with, you know, 70 hours of power reserve and the LJP G100. Yeah. As always, I feel very similar to this as I did about the last one. So I'll include my story on the previous one and Tony's story on this one in the notes, and you can check it out if you happen to have missed it. What do you think of this Lume Dial IWC?
James I kind of like it. I'm, I'm not a huge fan of that, uh, that, uh, logo. Yeah. I mean, I like loom dials. I think it kind of works. And I think with that case and, and it, you know, I, I guess for me, like, let's say that watch didn't have that, that logo on the dial, I think it would be maybe slightly boring to me. Um, but then with, with the logo on the dial, It just feels like I think stolen valor is the wrong term to use here. But you know, like if you weren't connected somehow to this, um, squadron, uh, this Navy squadron, um, I just, I just don't think I could, I could connect with it, but, um, yeah, yeah, I'm sort of neutral on this.
Jason Heaton I think it's fine, but yeah, not for me. So this is the, uh, the IWC pilots watch automatic 41 black aces. So this is a ceramic 41 millimeter, um, IWC pilots watch with, you know, the, pointy hands and otherwise a sort of black paint on a luminous dial. And then at six, actually in place of the six Arabic marker, is essentially like a playing card, a 41 aces playing card with a red stripe through it. I like this idea a lot, but my lack of a connection with the emblem on the dial would be enough to quell any interest in it. I do like to see that they're fully ceramic cases seem to be coming down somewhat in pricing. This is 6,800 bucks. And I feel like when you see the ceramic or the ceramic variations on the Mojave and stuff like that, you're talking about five figure watches. And obviously, in this case, you're getting... It's again a 4 hertz, 72 hour, 32100 movement. So They're not really cutting any corners with it. It's 11.4 millimeters thick, probably wears really nicely. And I like the idea of the ceramic with a loom dial. There's like some... That's a combination that I don't think we've seen that commonly, but I'd be interested to see if they do a further version of this watch that doesn't have the 41 and is in steel. Yeah. I think that would be... And then we're talking about you could do it in 39 millimeter, like the current Mark series. Yeah. And could be pretty exciting. And I don't think at that point, if you went to steel instead of ceramic, didn't have the 41 aces logo, I don't think it would like step on this watch's toes. It would just be an extension of another like loom dial. And I think we're on record as, as you know, give us all the loom dials you got.
James Yeah. My only question about this is the, you know, it's the same sort of issue I've had with, with our beloved loom dial aqualand. And that is the, the contrast between hands and dial. Once you get into the dark with everything loomed up, um, I have found that as the loom starts to fade, the hands sort of blur into the dial, um, at a glance as opposed to a really contrasty, like if the hands had more black on them that you could see against the loom dial. But again, you know, minor quibble. I think it looks good. Um, certainly the black numerals on the loom dial or the right approach. I mean, I think that's incredibly legible and like you, I mean, I think that a loom dial with this, um, with this case is... Somehow it works. It's not too contrasty for me. I think it's sharp. I agree. Yeah.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it's cool. How about these, the new GMTs, more new GMTs from Longines? I'm still working on my write-up. Maybe it'll be out by the time this episode comes out for the Zulu Spirit 39 with the GMT. But now, even since I got that watch, they've announced a quartet of versions of the new Hydra Conquest GMT. So these are steel 41 millimeter Hydra Conquest. I think they're the best looking Hydra Conquest they've made in a very, very long time. I agree.
James I think it's the first one I've, I've actually considered and looked at twice. I mean, I've never really cared for this family, but they're, they're super sharp. All the colorways. I mean, I don't know which is your favorite, but I, I mean that I'm just looking at the foursome across the top of this Houdinki article and that sort of olive green dial is sharp. The blue is nice. And then that sort of brassy Brown, on the right side there with the NATO strap is super sharp. I think these are real beauties. I like these.
Jason Heaton Yeah, I think these look really good. They capture... The bezel's just enough Planet Ocean that I think it's nice and modern and pretty. It's a Dive GMT, so you have a Dive bezel, a traditional, very legible, big Dive bezel, and then a 24-hour RIAT surrounding the dial. 41 millimeters wide, 12.9 millimeters thick, 300 meters of water resistance. Again, green, brown, black or blue. Black or blue are the only ones that speak specifically to me. Both the green and the brown are too into the brown, yellow kind of spectrum. Doesn't really suit my taste. But I could see these being very popular steel bracelets. These use the L844.5 movement, which is a very... I think it's just one expression off of what's in the 39 millimeter Spirit Zulu. So you have a flyer style GMT and 72 hours of power reserve, obviously automatic with a silicon hairspring, a modern, essentially at a derived caliber. Uh, pricing on these is 2675 on the NATO and 2775 on the bracelet. And I think, I think Longines has been very, very smart with the pricing of this and of the spirit in that it's lesser than it's specifically lesser than what you'd pay for a tutor. like a BB Pro or a BB GMT, and it's specifically more than what you'd pay for a Seiko. And if you consider that it's $1500 for a 383, 381, the collar style dive GMT from Seiko for less than double the money, you're moving to a brand that's been around for a really long time, makes a great sports watch, seems to be cracking the code on what the next few years of their sports watches will look like, between a rehashed Hydra Conquest and the continued success of that Spirit line. And I think if this price point makes sense to you, if you want something that's more luxurious and just has, I would say, a tighter tolerance for the overall movement or the expectation of the movement than you would on a Seiko, but you don't wanna necessarily spend, let's call it 3,800 plus on a Tudor, they're kinda cornering the market at this point.
James You know, as I'm, as you're talking, I'm looking at these photos again and I'm thinking, you know, I never did care much for the hydro conquest designs with those strange oversized numerals. And they were just a little too modernist for my taste. But as I look at this, I'm thinking it's a really sharp watch. It's a very safe is the word, um, the design, it, it feels, it feels sort of classic in a very long gene sort of way. And I'm just wondering, is that, I have no doubt it's a high quality watch. They're handsome. But like, is, is that enough to, to woo somebody away from kind of the usual suspects? Like, like if you compare this to say, um, your beloved, um, the Mito, the, the Houdinki edition Mito.
Jason Heaton I was, that was, that was good. That's where I was going next. They do have a problem and it's from their own family. Yeah.
James Watch family. Yeah. Like, like that watch stands out, you know, the Mito's, um, you know, several of the Mito's are just sharp, distinctive looking watches with probably similar quality. And look, I think this is the best looking Hydra Conquest in a very long time, but I'm just, I'm still, I'd still probably walk away from it personally.
Jason Heaton Yeah. I mean the, the Oceanstar GMT discounting the Hodinkee one, which you can still get in is 40.5. The Oceanstar GMT is 44 millimeters. So immediately that's going to count some people out. And at 41 for these conceivably they could, they've, they've made modern Hydra Conquest down into the mid thirties. So we could see this move somewhere else, but I would say that's the major thing. And Mito's really operating and I'm sure we'll see more stuff in the size and price point of the Hodinkee LE, which is not a dive GMT. It's a GMT with a kind of dive water resistance. So that could also be a deal breaker for some people, depending on what you want. It all depends on how you frame it. If you frame it against Mito, they have a bit of a fight because the Mito's are like $1,500 to $1,700. Yeah. And I don't know that I've ever perceived a huge difference in quality. They're both really nicely made watches. Longines, I would argue, is a better known name brand, especially in North America, which is gonna help, especially if you want a luxury watch. But I think if you compare it to the Mido and what I assume will be more and more Swatch family houses running this movement, the C07, and then there's three digits beyond that, GMT movement, these guys are offering kind of the more premium experience. And if you're a Tag Heuer or even a Braemont where you're offering a collar that's $2,000 more, it's a tough price point. Tudor, I think people genuinely like and understand. But then even just on the Tudor thing alone, sure, the BB Pro is 39 millimeters, so two millimeters less in width, but this is less than 13 millimeters thick. Yeah. So it's always this give and take. Nobody's really offering necessarily the perfect thing, depending on what very little specifics you're worried about. But I think this is a really compelling addition to their lineup. And personally, I'm just excited to see a Hydra Conquest that I like, because I normally find them kind of bland. If you knocked the name off of them, it could be a mall looking... I'm not saying the quality of the watch. The quality of the watch is Longines, just the aesthetic. The Spirit, I think, is better. I like the Master stuff. I think they've done a good job with a variety of lineups, but to see them mature the Hydra Conquest into something that feels like it takes the place of where Omega was a decade ago, I think that's exciting, and I hope they continue on that path. But the black one with the orange accents, I like quite a bit. I would love to know what the bezel feels like. Hopefully, I can get one in to borrow at some point. Tough competition these days in GMTs because they go as low as what, six, 700 bucks for a Laurier. Right, right. So you can get a lot of watch for your money, but I do understand why someone would pick the Longines and certainly I would over something like a tag and that sort of thing. So I get it. Yeah. Cool stuff. Yeah. Love to see them offering it on a NATO as well. That's fun. Yeah.
James All right. Let's finish up with a fun small brand from arguably the nicest guy in the business, Brew. um this is a handsome watch it's the the new uh metric automatic so we we've both seen the metric and and loved it i think did we did we try it for the first time at wind up chicago last year i seem to remember it was around that time um i had a a unit in for i wrote a big story for hodinke i can't remember i think that might have been before wind up last year but um always liked that sort of form factor um you know jonathan's a very talented designer and it's just such a mix between sort of a Very modern take, um, kind of that again, the, the integrated bracelet look, um, but with a bit of a feel of that sort of early seventies Omega, you know, kind of the funkiness, especially with the, with the chronograph. And then now we see this, uh, the metric automatic, so there's no more Mecca quartz movement, uh, that that's in the chronograph. This is actually a, a Seiko automatic movement. Um, and again, it's a, it's a, I'm assuming it's a very nicely wearing watch. It's, it's 36 millimeters. kind of a cross and then, and then I guess not really lugs, but you know, top to bottom on the watch is a little over 41 millimeters. So I'm sure it wears great. It's, it feels like a very sort of urban, um, stylish piece that, that I'm sure would slip nicely under a cuff and just look good with just about anything. And, um, yeah, I mean, congrats to Jonathan. It's a, it's a cool piece and it's only, it's only $525.
Jason Heaton So, um, yeah, they're making 500. Uh, you get the bracelet, I think a really nice sort of, like a modified take on a bunch of different inspiration from the 70s. Yeah. Definitely take a closer look at that crown. If you haven't kind of looked at the photos, I don't think I've come across a crown that looks like that. Very cool. Yeah. I like these. I really enjoyed the metric. I got to see the gold one at wind up this year and try that on. Talk about a really, really fun watch and a great price point and just a brand that I think has basically endless potential. Yeah. And I think if you had told me like, oh, it's not gonna be a chronograph anymore, I'd go like, well, how are you gonna make that work? Because it's such a distinctive thing as a chronograph. And then this, it almost has the dial design of a dive watch. Yeah. And yeah, I just like it a lot. They did a nice job, a little bit of color, nothing too garish. And then in making 500, I assume that means they'll have opportunities to make other versions down the line as they have with the chronograph. Right, right. And 36 millimeters with an automatic movement. It's really hard to disagree with very versatile, easily wearing watch with those watches with the bracelets just look like they look great on wrist. They wear nicely. They feel very specific. It's good.
James This, uh, this sort of occupies the same space for me as, as like the, the group B autodromos, you know, cause that's that same appeal. And again, might not be a watch for me specifically, but I really respect them. And I think, uh, I think they're, they're super sharp. Yeah.
Jason Heaton Totally agree. Well, I think that's our list, at least the ones that we wanted to chat about before we got into talking about our kind of combined trips away. We're already at about 40 minutes. What do you think for this one, Jason? Do you want to hold the trips until next week's episode or it'll be too stale by then?
James Yeah, we could hold off. I mean, this could just be a new watches episode just to kind of get the dust off.
Jason Heaton Alright, I think I'm going to make a quick game time decision. We originally said that we would talk all about Jason's trip to Ecuador with the Manta Trust and my trip to Cozumel to just dive on vacation with my wife, but we're already, you know, pushing 40 minutes here. And, you know, with the Geneva Watch Days and the rest of it, it's a very busy week. So I'm not sure I have time for, you know, a solid two hour edit. I think we may just push that topic into 252, so I think those will be... It'll be just as interesting then as now. I'm glad we got to the new watches rather than letting them wait another week, but I don't think we've got time to do a decent breakdown of both of our trips. I have at least 15 or 20 minutes to chit chat about Cozumel, and I think you could have even more on your side. Yeah. So let's hold that for next week's episode. If you were looking for the trip report, you'll get extra. We'll go even a little bit deeper in 252, but Uh, why don't we put a bow on two 51 with a little bit of final notes and, uh, and, and keep it a little bit lighter for this week. Sure.
James Yeah. Well, as many of you might know, uh, one of our, uh, sort of TGN idols or heroes, uh, Stan Waterman died, um, I believe last week or the week before, um, he made it to the ripe old age of 100, which is, uh, yet another impressive, uh, notch on, on his very notched belt, um, for life's accomplishments. Uh, and you know, in, in sort of looking back or respecting what, what Stan was all about, I rewatched blue water, white death, and then went down kind of a bit of a rabbit hole on YouTube and found, uh, this video about this, this trip that he took and filmed for a national geographic show back in the late sixties. Um, and so I, I found it on, on YouTube. It's about, um, it's about a little over 45 minutes long. Um, it's just called national geographic Polynesian adventure and, and YouTube says it's from 1969. This, this link that I found, um, it's, it's a great piece. I mean, it has kind of all those sort of hallmarks of the, the sixties era diving adventure stories that we know and love. You know, there's, there's a Stan wearing his, uh, his orange dial, uh, aqualung or, you know, black lung doxa throughout this. And he's, you know, he's got like a tropical print shirt and he's there with his wife and kids and they're sort of motoring around, uh, from Tahiti to, to several other islands. And he's teaching his kids to dive and, and they're visiting some, some local villages and taking part in some customs and meals and things. And, um, it's just a really, really nice piece. And if you know, you're not that familiar with Stan Waterman, it might be a good place to start, uh, and then move on to blue water, white death. I think it's a very different take on Stan. He's much more of the kind of the central figure in this video than he is in blue water, white death, where he's definitely a supporting character. But, um, Yeah. It's a, it's just a fun piece. And I think, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, when, when people say, Oh, well, you know, uh, I have kids or a family or whatever. And it's like, that keeps me from doing things. And it's like, you know, look at what Stan did. I mean, granted he, he was a subsidized a bit by national geographic to go do this, but you know, he took his entire family, took his kids out of school and, and went off to, to the South Pacific, to French Polynesia, um, and just expose them to so many amazing, adventures. And it's, uh, it's really well done. It's really fun. And it's, it's kind of classic sixties national geographic, um, if you like that sort of thing. So yeah, check it out.
Jason Heaton Very cool. Yeah. That sounds fun. It's always nice to find another, another video you didn't know, like from the back catalog of, of this sort of stuff. And, and anything that speaks into the same world as blue water, white death, I'm on board. That sounds like a blast.
Unknown Yeah.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Nice way to maybe wind down the summer, a little bit of viewing in an evening, right. You know, once the fire's gone out, that sort of thing. So Alright, what's yours? Yeah, for mine this week is actually, I mentioned it a couple episodes ago, it's another piece of kit I bought from Alpaca, that's that like they make all sorts of EDC gear, bags, wallets, that sort of thing. And it's funny, I travel so commonly for work that all of my sort of like packing and bags and that sort of thing is for work, it's for multiple cameras, it's for a big laptop, And I was going to Mexico. And as we'll talk about on the next episode, when we do kind of our trip reports, my main focus, like 90% of my concern was that this was a real vacation, which meant removing layers of stress that I might otherwise accept because I had to get somewhere and start working. I just wanted to get there and relax. And the relaxing included some diving, Um, but only to the extent that like we, like that I didn't even bother bringing my own dive gear beyond the mask and the computer and snorkel and fins. I brought my personal gear, the rest we rented. Um, and we picked a resort that made sense for that, had a really nice outfit. Again, we can get into that next week. So yeah, I wanted to find a bag that would work for light travel, no camera. I didn't take a camera on this trip. I took my phone. So I needed like an iPad, a charger. my Kindle reader, and then just the variety, like something to hold your keys, your wallet, that sort of stuff. And I wanted something in the vein of a sling bag, but didn't really look like a normal sling, something closer to a hip pouch or a hip bag. And so Alpaca started making this thing called the Go Sling. It's specifically designed for an 11 inch iPad, which is what I carry around when I do this sort of stuff. And for that and all the other stuff that you might want on your person for some light travel, it was literally perfect. I loved it. It's not super expensive. It's $90, uh, comes in black or green. I of course bought the green one and it has enough space and sort of pocket organization for all the little stuff, whether it be keys or air pods or, you know, whatever, whatever little doodads and stuff you're carrying around while also offering a little bit of flexible, larger space. I mean, with, with a thin enough lens, like with a wide angle or pancake lens, I could take the M 10 in there as well. There is enough room for something like that. But, you know, sometimes you see these things and they're either too small. I have a smaller bag, the everyday bag from or a little case thing from Alpaca as well. I have a handful of their stuff here. But I wanted to give this one a spin. I was kind of impressed by the price point because it's quite sturdy for 90 bucks, feels really nicely made, has their nice zippers. And like I said, the organization, a nice strap with magnetic releases and that sort of thing. Yeah, I was really impressed by it. I think they make a nice product. This is in no way sponsored. I paid $90 for it quite happily. I don't have no relationship with Alpaca at all. I like their stuff so far. I've probably got four or five pieces and I now buy it pretty frequently as gifts for people. Like these little tech cases that can hold the stuff, the wires, the chargers, that sort of thing when you're traveling are just so handy for anyone. And the brand will make stuff in 20 different colors sometimes. So you can get cool like limited edition colors and that sort of stuff. So I enjoy it. They have a nice sort of ecosystem of, of things that work together. Um, but for, uh, kind of, uh, it's kind of like a, the maximalist take on a, uh, a fanny pack, a hip bag. And I think it works really well for that.
James Yeah. I like this cross body sort of option for wearing too. I think it's, it's really smart, especially, you know, when you want something close at hand and secure and, and this, The strap alone looks really, really high quality. I mean, for, for a bag that it's deceiving until I'm kind of scrolling through the photos on their website, just how, just what the size is on this thing. You know, you mentioned carrying an iPad and it looks like in the photos that it would be too small for that, but seeing it in the photos, um, you know, with somebody putting an iPad in it and wearing it across the body, it's a, it's a nice size. I like the look of this a lot. It'd be great. You could bike with it. You can hike with it.
Jason Heaton Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. It does have a little bit of that purse vibe, which I'm old enough now that I don't care. I probably wouldn't have carried something like this in my 20s.
Unknown Yeah.
Jason Heaton But you can very easily slide it under your arm or across your back or have it in the front and it's got a security pocket for your passports and your money and that sort of thing. And otherwise, it's just kind of simple. It doesn't have any big logos on it. I don't think it looks especially fancy. It just kind of looks considered and nicely made. Yeah. And yeah, I was happy with it. So I had said I would mention it at some point in the show and We don't always cover product in Final Notes, but I paid for it, so I'm happy to chat about it. So yeah, that's the Go Sling from Alpaca, and of course it'll be in the show notes. If you're on the fence on any of this stuff, I would say buy one of the things that you're kind of interested in. It's the same experience across all of them. I have a couple of things that are more wallet-sized. I have some that are more like a traditional small fanny pack, and then this is kind of the largest thing I've bought from them so far. for those rare experiences where I don't need a camera or two and flashes and batteries and chargers and a laptop and all that kind of stuff, this is great. It was really handy.
James Nice. All right. Well, welcome back. I mean, this was a good way to kind of get back into things with a little bit of watch talk and some catch up and a couple of solid final notes.
Jason Heaton Yeah, it didn't feel too rusty. It was nice. Yeah. Nice to see you on Zoom, of course, and I'm glad we both had really great trips. I'm already excited to chat about next week. I've actually been waiting now over a week to hear all about your trip and trying not to ask you too many questions in our Slack and that sort of thing so that we would have fresh stuff to chit-chat about. But I'm looking really forward to hearing about your trip and chit-chatting about mine. So I think 252 is going to be a blast. Yeah, this one's a nice length, and I think it made sense to talk about those watches before they got too stale. Right, definitely.
James Well, as always, thanks to everyone 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 maybe even grab a new TGN signed NATO, please visit TheGreyNATO.com. Music throughout is Siesta by JazzArr via the free music archive.
Jason Heaton And we leave you with this quote from Helen Keller, who said, Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.