The Grey NATO – 306 – How To Gift A Watch
Published on Thu, 31 Oct 2024 06:00:00 -0400
Synopsis
This episode of The Grey NATO podcast discusses the topic of gifting watches. The hosts, Jason Heaton and James Stacey, explore various scenarios for giving watches as gifts and offer advice on how to approach each situation. They cover gifting watches to young adults, parents, groomsmen, watch enthusiasts, and friends who are hard on gear. The hosts emphasize the importance of considering the recipient's interests, lifestyle, and relationship to watches when selecting a gift. They also discuss the potential pitfalls of gifting watches and suggest alternative approaches, such as restoring a vintage watch or gifting one of your own watches to a fellow enthusiast. Throughout the episode, they provide specific watch recommendations for different scenarios and price points.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason Heaton | Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Graynado, a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 306, 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 thegraynado.com for more details. My name is Jason Heaton, and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host, James Stacy, Happy Sunday, James. We're recording early. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Yeah, we are. I have, uh, I got, uh, uh, sort of last minute. You need to be in New York for a meeting tomorrow morning. Uh, so yeah, we, uh, I'm going to be in New York, you know, across what would normally be our recording and production window for the, for the show. And as much as I would love to know with certainty that we could just record an episode from a hotel in New York, you never know what that means. The wifi could be terrible. It could be, national run every fire truck siren all day long in New York day. Yeah, it could be all sorts of things. So I just asked if you wouldn't mind recording on a Sunday. And to be clear, I do mind, but we'll be done in an hour. And I think it'll be a fun episode. And we actually have a little bit of fun news to tease. You and I aren't big for teasing stuff, but we have a special merch drop coming. It's been in the works for a while. It's a collab with somebody from our world that is also a fantastic artist and designer. And I guess I'm talking about it because it's real enough that we ordered the samples. So I got all the designs into Printful, the company we use for these things. And we've ordered samples. I believe you've received one piece, which isn't even clothing. That's a real tease. Yeah. Yeah. And I think there's maybe three or four, it'll probably be like a five piece collection of options. It's going to be very specific in terms of its reference to something from the Slack. But I've, I've seen the renders and the art that we were originally delivered by our collaborator and I'll share all of this once it's ready to be online. But I've seen it and I'm really, really excited to have, I mean all of it and for myself to wear around and have and that kind of thing. So I'm pumped. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And it's fun. It's a little different than our usual designs and it is a, it's a very specific reference to some of the, our Slack culture. So if you're in Slack active there I think this will really resonate and I think people will be excited about it. And I am too. And I think it's, it's just fun to kind of work with, with somebody else for a change and come up with some fresh new ideas. |
| James Stacey | You and I have, you and I have a few skills each, neither of one of us are designers. Uh, you know, I, I maybe I've gotten 2% better at it over the last several years of working with very talented designers, but it's definitely one of those tasks where like, I know what I'm good at and this isn't it. And the, the way that this came around and we can tell more of the backstory with the collaborating party, uh, once it's all official, but the way this came around was very natural and easy and the design is simple, but perfect. Yeah. And I'm just pumped to see it on, you know, some shirts and some other stuff. So yeah, it should be very cool. Yeah. Cool. And besides from that, what have, uh, what have you been up to? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, it was a big weekend here. Um, well I think it's, we're at the beginning of the second day of the weekend, but yesterday I took it upon myself to do a big purge here. You know, I had, uh, sold a number of watches a few weeks back on Slack and it was, it felt really good to do that. And it was kind of part of a bigger mindset that I often get in the fall where I just, I feel like I feel kind of restless and burdened by just lots of excess stuff lying around. And, and yeah, so I opened up a giant suitcase, like the biggest one of, you know, one of these things you get at TJ Maxx for, you know, long trips that you seldom use. And I just laid it open and just went through my closet and all my drawers. and got rid of just a massive amount of shirts and pants and jackets and, uh, you know, everything, caps, outdoor gear, um, shoes, lots of pairs of shoes and red wing boots are, are gone. Some, you know, flip flops, some Palladium, you know, canvas hiking boots, like anything I wasn't wearing. I just sort of had a bit of a, um, you know, one of those come to Jesus talks with, with every piece of clothing, like, Hey, look, have you served a purpose in the past year or not? If not off you go. And, and it felt really good. And so I'm going to kind of continue that or hope to continue that over the coming weeks with, you know, closets in the house, kind of going through and getting rid of old stuff that I just don't, don't need. And that's been, that's been very therapeutic and really nice. And then I guess part of the same mindset is I've also decided to take a bit of a hiatus from social media. It was a bit of a, snap decision a couple of days ago, I was, uh, just realizing I was spending way too much time just sort of zoning out, scrolling Instagram. And, you know, you kind of get in this mode of, Oh, look at, look at the, you know, cool watch. So-and-so God, or look at the cool trip. So-and-so is taking that I'm not on and look at whatever. And then you post a picture and, you know, I don't know. I mean, look, it's no, it's not, uh, not foreign to a lot of people out there that are in the same boat, but, uh, it was just time. And I think, so I just. removed the app from, from my phone. And so far it's been great. I've actually enjoyed the past 48 hours immensely and getting a lot done. So it's been, uh, it's been kind of nice. It's been, it's been, and then between that and walking the dog a lot, I just feel like it's, uh, you know, turning a bit of a page. It's been great. |
| James Stacey | That's great. That's awesome. I know. Speaking of purging, I can't explain this perfectly in words. I would need more time. I'd probably have to sit down and write it out, but there's an essay here somewhere. Maybe it's for your, uh, Substack, There's something about like summer is messy. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | But fall has to be tight. Oh yeah. Yeah. I don't know why. I can't explain it to you why. Maybe it's because I find winter to be chaotic. Yeah. Yeah. Because of the weather, just especially Ontario, Minneapolis. Like if you live in a genuine winter territory that could like, I mean, Toronto, it could be like lovely and warm one day and negative 30 literally the next day. And they'll do that in, in Calgary too. But, my point is more just like there's something about getting things in order in fall that makes the coming season, which I don't think there's that. I don't hate winter as much as I used to. It's more fun with kids. It's more fun when you accept like, yeah, you're going to have to shovel some snow, but that's not a bad workout. And you know, all that kind of stuff. It's, it's, it's the perspective thing, but I do think that it's, it's, I can't explain it entirely, but it sounds like you understand, like I'm fine with things getting messy during summer, but then, this time of year comes around and I start to tidy. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And I think it goes along with, I also spent a lot of time in the past month sort of buttoning up the garden and the house and, you know, doing last bits of painting projects and putting away garden furniture and hacking back the dead foliage. And there's just something that transfers from that to inside the house where I know I'm going to be spending more time. |
| James Stacey | Yep. And suddenly you're like, why is there something? Why, why did I leave something sitting? |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | errantly on every horizontal surface in the summer is messy and you don't want to be dealing with that stuff in the summer. You want to come in and take off your whatever and hang it up and I'll deal with it in two months. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other, the, the funny you're, you're taking a break from social media, but maybe before your break, did you come across, you know, like the, there's the Marie Kondo, like does this spark joy or whatever when you try and go through and get rid of things from your life? The one that I really like, which I saw is like a trend for a couple of weeks during the summer. on, uh, on Instagram reels was, uh, it was this question was like, if you go through your closet, try and pick things. If, and if you, if you're not sure if it's something you really want or not, uh, imagine what you would do if you got poop on it, would you throw it away or would you wash it? Oh yeah. And only keep the stuff that you would wash. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Get rid of the stuff that you wouldn't even try and salvage if, if, you know, you got poop on it or whatever. |
| Jason Heaton | That's good. |
| James Stacey | Kind of a funny thought exercise, right? |
| Unknown | Yeah. Right. |
| James Stacey | Um, and then it's, it's funny. You bring up, um, you bring up the red wings that you're getting. I, it, it only took me five or six years, but my, uh, iron Rangers are now on their third soul. |
| Unknown | Oh, wow. |
| James Stacey | That's great. Finally got them done the plan. I remember in March of 2020, so we'll call it four years. I was going to be in New York city. Um, and I brought those boots with me and I was going to go up to, it's right by, um, Madison square garden. There's a big red wing and you can drop your, Boots often have them resold. And then of course, pandemic came and I didn't do any of that. Yeah. And I pretty much lived in Birkenstocks or, or, um, uh, you know, Blundstones the last several years. And then I was like, you know, I, I really want to wear these it's fall, got to get my boots back and took them in. It's egregiously expensive. I'll start there to get your Iron Rangers resold, but they've got a nice brand new looking set of Vibrams on the bottom. And I'm, I'm very excited to wear them this week. |
| Jason Heaton | So, Oh man, that's great. Yeah. Yeah. New souls. And I'm guessing they cleaned up the leather a little bit and they look pretty good. |
| James Stacey | I mean, I, I really, I treated that leather in a very specific manner, which I like all the scratches. Yeah. Um, and I just kept it really well conditioned. So the leather's held up really well. They even said like, it's rare to see this combo of kind of this much damage, but the leather is still very, uh, supple. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just, I use that Allen Edmonds shoe cream conditioner all the time. Like, at least once a month in the season when I wear the shoe. And I don't use anything that closes up the pores of the leather like mink oil or that sort of stuff. I save that for when shoes are on their very last edge and I will wear them in puddles and stuff like that. Yeah. But yeah, it's great. I'm, I'm pumped. I haven't, I haven't put them back on yet. I only picked them up a couple of days ago. Yeah. Um, but all, uh, you know, I'll be that guy at the airport tomorrow morning at four in the morning, untying a complicated set of boots, uh, at security. Um, that's a factor for sure. Yeah. That's how I am. Uh, I don't know why, but it seems like when I travel, it's always, I love a pair of boots and you end up in this scenario. |
| Jason Heaton | So, yeah. And, and just to close the circle, I mean, I, I, you know, during this purge, it wasn't a matter of like, throwing the stuff out or just dumping it at Goodwill. I actually, I have in, in my family, on my sister's side, there's a good number of, uh, large boys and young men, um, on her side of the family, you know, kind of sons and grandkids and et cetera, and nephews and things. And they, I just always just like say, take this whole suitcase, keep what you want, pass on what you don't want. So hopefully those red wings and a lot of that, that good, good outdoor gear and stuff. We'll get some continued use in the, in the family. |
| James Stacey | That's awesome. Yeah, that's great. Uh, you know, look, other than that, since we recorded the last episode, I've done almost nothing but work. I don't, I don't really have that much to share, you know, celebrated my, one of my daughter's birthdays, went to the zoo, all that kind of stuff. But, um, it is one of those ones where as soon as we shift the schedule, you know, doing this on a Sunday instead of a Tuesday. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | It feels like the week's really short. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, it does. Yeah. It seems like I blinked and something, something went by too quickly. |
| Unknown | Yeah. So, yeah. |
| James Stacey | Um, but that was, Oh, and I would, uh, wouldn't throw one shout out. I was on the deep track podcast with Blake following our hangout at the odd drain, uh, with longer. So if you want to hear more about my opinion on cars and other ramblings and certainly some watches, uh, check that one out. We'll put it in the show notes, but a big shout out to my buddy Blake. Oh, cool. Uh, we're big fans and obviously he's been on the show before and we'll definitely be on again, but, uh, it was fun to be on his show as well. |
| Jason Heaton | Nice. Well, what do you got on your wrist before we dive in? |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I don't, I can't really explain why, but I woke up today and I really, really wanted to wear a Timex eight lap iron man. Uh, so I put on the Abu Garcia. You took home the like four gray one. Yeah. Uh, which is great. And yeah, I've got this on and to be honest that this might be what I wear to the city for the, for a few days. Oh, that's a good move. It's just such a cool, fun thing. I find that, you know, obviously Indiglo is very important to me. It makes me happy. And yeah, just a very lightweight, easy watch, nothing to be worried about. But yeah, that's all I've got on. I spent most of the weekend wearing the Pelagos on that Zulu Alpha, you know, watch that has been our strap, which I've really started to enjoy. But I did realize, what was I thinking putting that on the Pelagos? Like, it makes sense on the Pelagos, sure. With that yellow stripe and the, the kind of grayish green coloring, it should just go on the, on the Longines GMT. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh yeah. Perfect. Great on there. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | So I've got, I've got to throw that on and then maybe that'll end up being what I take to the city. |
| Unknown | Right. Right. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Great. Yeah. Well, I've, uh, I've switched back to the, the Pelagos FXD. Um, it's just such a, such an easy wearing watch. It's a, you know, I've described it as the kind of watch you want to wear when you don't want to think about your watch. And, and it's, it's interesting to say that about a, you know, luxury timepiece, but it is that sort of watch, especially, you know, when you can only wear it on a fabric strap and it's titanium. So it's light and it's lower profile and rugged and accurate, et cetera. So it's, uh, it's kind of become, I guess my default choice when I don't feel like fiddling, you know, rummaging through my watch box and coming up with something new to wear, you know, it's, uh, I would say the same for, for mine. I wear it a lot. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And, uh, the good power reserve also means that, when other watches, you know, with 35, 38 hours have kind of shut down. I can still pick this one up after a couple of days of not wearing it or if I'm wearing something else. Yeah, I did. I went to a wedding on Friday, a friend's wedding. Shout out Jared. Congratulations. I went to a friend's wedding and a buddy of mine who I hung out with, uh, you know, like a, a friend of mine for, you know, the better part of 25 years, I forgot I'd given him my Universo. to wear around, and he's like, oh, I've got your watch for you. I was like, wait, which one? What watch do you have? And he's like, oh, it's the Hallios with the blue dial. Oh, man. I said, oh, yeah. So, like, Pearson's got one of my Hallios. He has my Tropic. Yeah. And then, yeah, my buddy Matt had my Universa. So, I've got that back. I wore that for several hours this weekend, and what a treat. You know, 37 millimeters, very cool, great bracelet. I forgot I had it. |
| Jason Heaton | You know, you've got too many watches when your boy has a few problems. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Right. Right. It is what it is. But yeah, so that's, uh, I'm wearing the Abu Garcia, but clearly I've, I've had a kind of a watch forward weekend of switching from this and that, and even reclaiming some things I forgot I had loaned out. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Right. Well, that's a kind of a good segue into our main topic. Sort of. Um, we're talking about gifting watches. Um, we're entering you know, gift giving season, so to speak. And we're going to, we're going to ease into it today. Right. We're going to talk in a little bit more of a high level abstract sense about, uh, kind of ideas for, for gifting watches in different scenarios. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. We kind of kicked around the idea of something more like a draft or a challenge. And what I, what we kind of came up with just in a very quick little text message was just like, maybe it's, maybe it's like a discussion of the philosophy of maybe giving a watch as a gift, which I think is difficult, but, We get a lot of Q and A questions. And those of you who are on the paid side get a monthly, monthly is the wrong word. You get 12 Q and A's a year. Most of them come in the last two months of the year. As you'll know, we've made it to July. So I owe five before the end of the year. We'll get there. I promise. And you'll have a lot of Q and A's in December to listen to extra episodes. |
| Jason Heaton | We'll do a one five hour one. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, exactly. This is the August to December. The Q and A marathon. Q and A. Every question that we have left in the inbox. But normally we do loosely, we do something like a monthly Q and A. And I would say almost every episode has some question about someone giving a gift of a watch. So we know these scenarios. And I think the thing is, is it can be a really bad gift. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. You're right. I think it's very difficult to buy watches, especially for people who love watches. It's a, Like even if you really like watches, unless you know exactly the watch that this person wants. Yeah. It can be difficult to thread that needle. I love giving gifts. It's one of my favorite things. And I don't, I don't really like buying the thing that the person like, like outside of a 10 year old niece or nephew who says like, I want this thing from Amazon or video game or whatever. Yeah. I like it to be, I interpreted, interpreted you or your needs, your interests. And this is my solution for it. And I think that's part of like a gift is a two-way thing. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And I think it's worth considering that there are ways to go about this. Like there's ways of thinking about gifting watches. Yeah. Um, but in my mind, the biggest pitfall is kind of like that. Um, you know, in my family, we would call it like a sweater from grandma scenario where maybe you get a sweater that you don't love, but grandma made it, you're going to wear it when grandma's around. And I would say the only thing you really want to avoid, And to be fair, my grandma never did that to me. And I actually have a sweater that my girl made that I like quite a bit. I do too. I'm just, you know, grandma sweaters can be amazing, but you see funny sweaters online or, or, you know, I think there was a great Reddit years ago of a guy that was given a sweater by his grandma and he posted like a photo of it. And the sweater is absolutely gorgeous. And he's clearly upset about it. Yeah. And no one could figure out why. And then he posted a photo of the sweater on him and it was about four sizes too small. Oh. And it just looked hilarious. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Right. |
| James Stacey | Like normally you would think like a big cable knit comfortable sweater. Uh, and then it was like, this was for a child and it was not a full size man. Yeah. And uh, just kind of silly that way. But yeah, I think, I think that there's a philosophy of going about this and there's scenarios where it can work really well and be an interesting gift. And there's scenarios where it can really kind of fall flat and you spent the money and the concern in the time and just didn't get something that the person was ever going to wear. Yeah. I learned this early on with the first time I ever bought somebody else than SKX007, a watch that at the time I thought was perfect. Yeah. And they got it and they said like, it's huge. Yeah. It's wildly uncomfortable and they couldn't figure out the movement. They couldn't figure out how to set the time. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it was, it was all these things and you go like, Oh no, I, I grossly misunderstood the brief. Mm. And, and, you know, I think we've said many times, like maybe don't buy watches a gift unless you're very confident of, and to be fair, I was very confident about that SKX, but, uh, yeah, I think, I think it can be weird, but you definitely, I think the big one you want to avoid is creating a scenario where you give someone a burden where they have to wear this thing they don't like, right. Either when you're around or for a certain setting. So in my mind, I think the first tip is if you're doing a watch for a gift, I would say, make sure you keep it kind of light. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, and the other thing is I, you know, I've got, when I look at the scenarios that I noted down here and I've just thought of another one as well, in every situation there has been an interest expressed, not so much in, you know, like this curiosity about the watch world and maybe they've seen, you know, these people have seen a watch on my wrist and said, that's really cool. I'd like to start wearing a watch and tell me about, you know, why is the dial orange and what does that rotating thing do? Yeah. There's a bit of a curiosity. I think going in completely cold with somebody that, you know, you're like, what should I get Bob for Christmas this year? How about a watch? Like if you have no idea that Bob is even remotely interested in something you've been wearing, that's a dangerous, dangerous thing to do. |
| James Stacey | No, I love the, I love the connection to somebody sharing your passion. So they know that you're an expert or at least into it. And they, they've, you've started to set the line. Um, I also think that's why sometimes a weirdly specific watch, can be great, but other times it's terrible. Like I would say, don't ever just buy someone like a Garmin. Yeah. Yeah. Because there's all this baggage that comes with it. It's an amazing product for somebody who wants that product. It's a great product. We really like them. Yeah. Tough gift. Right. Yeah. An Apple watch. I also think a fairly tough gift. Yeah. Granted there's scenarios in which I think an Apple watch is an incredible gift, especially for someone who doesn't like watches. |
| Unknown | Right. |
| James Stacey | It all just has to suit the person. And so like, yeah, maybe you have to buy a secret Santa gift. at your office for Bob and you know watches and you know that Bob loves fly fishing. Right. My solution is don't buy Bob a dive watch. Buy him like a weird Casio fish finder watch. Right. Right. Lean into the joke. |
| Unknown | He might still wear it. |
| James Stacey | Right. Yeah. True. But I think let's let's kick it off with one of your scenarios. Explain the scenario and then how you found like a solution to giving a watch as a gift. |
| Jason Heaton | Years ago, uh, I was involved with the big brothers, big sisters program and was matched with a young, young man, um, who spent a good number of years, you know, doing various things, uh, you know, could be hiking or photography or teaching him to drive that sort of stuff. And, and over the years, obviously he grew to new over the years, he grew to know what I was into and what I was all about. My kind of weird career choice with watches and podcasting and writing and that sort of stuff. Um, at some point he, you know, he was, he was turning 18 and, um, I had actually been given, so this wasn't a purchase of mine. I'd been given a sample of, to write it up for, I believe it was gear patrol back then. The Victorinox Swiss army, Inox carbon watch with the paracord strap. And, you know, it was all black. It had this, this cool strap, you know, very modern, very rugged watch and I, you know, I had the box and everything and I wasn't wearing it much and it just seemed like a good fit for him. And so I gave it to him and you know, I still keep in touch with him. You know, it's been years since we've really been matched formally through the big brothers program, but we've, we've kept in touch and met off and on over the years and he still wears it. I've changed the battery in it for him twice now and it is, it's pretty beat up. The paracord straps kind of fraying. I mean certainly paracord will last for a good long time, but like it's, it's showing where, um, but he loves it. And he wasn't a watch person again, you know, like we were talking about, but he knew what I was into. And, um, I knew that he had some interest and I just thought this sort of all black, very rugged, very more modern design watch rather than some vintage looking, you know, black Bay, you know, or a Stiver 65 or something like that. I just thought like, this is a watch that can a stand up to his lifestyle because it's quartz and it's an Inox. And it had sort of a contemporary youthful feel to it. So I gave him that watch and like I said, he loves it and it was a really good choice. And I can tell that because he still wears it and he tells me he wears it all the time. Now that's a $900 watch. So I think, you know, that's, that's a good deal of money to spend on somebody totally for like an 18th birthday gift if you were to buy a watch like this. But I think if it's somebody like your son, a godchild, a nephew, someone you're close to, that's not an exorbitant amount of money. But I came up with a couple of other choices, maybe a little more affordable if, if you wanted something similar to go that route. And, you know, certainly there's the steel Inox, kind of the more standard edition that's $600. So that's more affordable, similar vibe, similar durability, et cetera. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. You're not, you're not explaining the movement. That's exactly right. |
| Jason Heaton | And I don't think people are wondering why it died over the weekend. Exactly. And I think that's a really good point. I think he wasn't the type who's going to be into watches for, Appreciating a movement or this smooth, you know sweep seconds hand like he would just wanted something that looks cool on his wrist Tells the time and he can wear all the time. So yeah, you could go steel inox or you know If you really want to go cheap, you can go with something like the a g-shock that the ga 2100 and I'm thinking Youthful is kind of my guiding principle when it comes to this scenario 18th birthday Young man could be a young woman something even like a Seiko five diver, like the SRPD 59 for 325 bucks or that G-Shock I mentioned, if you want something, you know, really more modern, but not smart watchy and, and just kind of cool street culture, you know, skateboarding kind of stuff. I think, uh, I think any of these would be a good choice, but that Inox I think is a good one. And I think for me, that was kind of my return to, to watches was, it was a Victorinox as well after years of wearing Suntos and that sort of thing. And I think, you know, as we both discussed, Victorinox is a great choice for awesome first watch. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Yeah. No, I think they're great. Uh, you know, Victorinox was always a very aspirational watch when I was growing up. I would have been thrilled if, uh, if a mentor, if, uh, somebody I really looked up to had gotten me something like that when I was, you know, at the time I was deep into Timex, I had like a Indigo Safari, uh, like a white dial. I mean, it's crazy to look back on some of the watches I own, like a white dial sporty, you know, thing that looks a lot like an Explorer too. It was what I was buying from Walmart for $35 back in the day. Right. Old habits or whatever. Uh, yeah, I look, I think, I think you always, you, you do have run that risk of like, am I, is this person into watches enough that I could be their introduction to a mechanical timepiece or is quartz enough where it's not going to get in the way of enjoying the rest of the watch because they don't have to deal with the complication. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think you do have to make that decision every time you do this, but there's a lot to be said for a great reliable quartz solar kinetic eco drive for somebody's first watch where you're introducing them to the other things, the design, the comfort, the fact that maybe they're coming from a, maybe like a very inexpensive watch with kind of a rough jangly bracelet and maybe there's a nicer bracelet on. And like there's, so there's other ways of like bringing somebody into the interest without saying like, all right, you can't have quartz. It sucks. If you're serious, you gotta have an automatic or whatever. |
| Jason Heaton | But be sure to wind it if you don't wear it and you don't set the date between this hour and this hour. |
| James Stacey | And now you've given someone a task, not just that burden, which I talked about. Yeah. And to be clear, the burden thing, like I didn't create that. This is like in the, in the sort of pantheon of like rules of gift giving is like, don't give somebody a job. Yeah. Don't give somebody something they now have to worry about. Exactly. Yeah. Right. Uh, that sort of thing. Like you'll know the right people to get a puppy for or whatever. Uh, and I think in the same way you want to, you want the watch has to suit someone's life. Think about how much time you, me, everybody listening, to a nerdy podcast about watches thinks about how well the watch suits them. Right. And that's what you're trying, you're, you're really solving for that end value of the, of the one of that person that you're buying for. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | So I recently gave a watch as a gift along with a couple other of my colleagues, uh, actually to my brother who helped do a ton of, um, proofreading for Pudinky magazine. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And I, you know, I work very closely on Hoodinkee magazine with Will Holloway and Malika Crawford and Matt Thompson. And Malika was largely leading the magazine, which meant that I could do the other things that keep Hoodinkee's website on the, on the, on the internet and that sort of thing, which is great. It meant a lot to me. And they were looking for a proofreader and my brother, Tim is excellent. And so I suggested him and they went for it and and yeah, they, followed up later, cause I didn't, I didn't involve myself in that process, but they followed up later and said like, we're just absolutely thrilled with the work that he did. And it wasn't, you know, wasn't necessarily a super expensive contract as far as our budget goes, what, what would make a great gift? And I said, I mean, he's proofreading Hodinkee magazine. You should probably get a watch, right? |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And I thought about it, but I only had to think about it a little bit. Cause I know my brother really well. And he dailies a watch I'm going to talk about for another scenario in this, because I love this watch. He dailies a gold Casio, a 500 W the world timer. Oh, wow. Yeah. And that's just his watch. He's been wearing it for a long time. It's beat up. It's scratched. It's worn out. It looks great. I love, I really like seeing it on his wrist, but I just, all I thought was, what can we do to compliment that? |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And my brother is, um, not, not a watch collector by any, any sense of the word, but definitely in like nose watches is interested in them to a certain extent, you know, down downstream of my interest, that sort of thing. Mm. And so I got lucky. I was able to get him. We had the money and the budget and all that to do the Mido limited edition. Oh wow. That we still had a few from Hodinkee left over from the now defunct Hodinkee shop. And so that's what I got him. Yeah. And I think if we didn't have that, I was trying to think for the purposes of the show, like what were the other things that I was kicking around? Like it's a, it's a Hamilton khaki. Yeah. Yeah. Cause you can go courts, you can go mechanical. It's like, If you're buying, so in this case, the solution or the scenario I'm presenting is a watch as a professional gift. Yeah. And I think this is still the space where you can buy a generic watch as a gift for somebody from your work environment, or it could be a gift for you after a certain number of years. And it becomes more about the job, the relationships, the, the, this, the, that, then specifically the, your interest in that one model of watch. And so yeah, in my mind, I think as long as you can pick something that I would say has an unassailable classic style. So go with something with a mid-century vibe, you know, military derived, that kind of thing. I think, and again, in this scenario, we're talking about a young man, a man in his early thirties. And yeah, I mean, my, my other tip is like, it's so tempting to go with the watch that you love, you know, whether it's an SKX 007 or whatever. And I'd like to be clear, I love this Mido that worked out in my favor, but Don't do a dive watch over 40 millimeters. Yeah. Yeah. Just don't. Yeah. That's it. That's something you learn your way into. Yeah. Or you're convinced by enough watch you seek threads that a 44 millimeter Orient beast won't be too big for your wrist and you buy one. Yeah. I think otherwise that's an advanced move. It doesn't feel advanced, but like if you're going to get somebody a dive watch or something in, in the sporty space, keep it 40 or less worst case. They go like, I wouldn't mind if maybe a bigger watch someday they, There's lots of big watches for them to pick from. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And I also think, you know, going with something like, especially with like a Hamilton, um, oftentimes that, you know, again, going back to my choice with the Victorinox Swiss army, you know, people know Swiss army, they like the word Swiss. Like if you're getting a first watch, I think with Hamilton, like if a person starts to wear it and they get curious, they can start Googling, you know, Hey, what's, what's up with Hamilton. And they realize like, Okay. This brand's got some history and then they can dig into that. Oh, it had a history with the U S military and the pocket watches, et cetera. And I think to not that we're trying to evangelize here, but like if you can get somebody to kind of go down that trail, that rabbit hole of, of watches in general, and can learn something rather than, I mean, again, I don't want to diss any micro brands and things like that, but like if you're, If you're getting something significant for somebody and you give them something with an interesting brand or connection, it can, it can be a bonus. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, no, I, I certainly agree. And I even added a little note that I think this would be a difficult, this would be a little bit difficult for me to explain like in one sentence, but I promise I'll get there. And I mean, no offense by the following, if you're going to do, and again, for this scenario, let's say the budget was up to a thousand dollars. So like you could get somebody a watch they could wear for the rest of their life. Yeah. I, my suggestion, especially in this case, you have a fairly good budget, you're buying it for a professional setting. Skip the standard department store brands. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Not unlike the larger dive thing, a Seiko or a Citizen, an Annie Digi, an Aqualand. These are advanced moves. We're ordering off menu when we buy these things. That's true. Right? Yeah. These are not casual people's watches. Right. Right. And again, there's, it sounds like I'm dissing Seiko or Citizen. That's what I would buy if I was buying a watch for myself. Sure. but that might be a hint that it's not the right watch for somebody who's not a huge watch nerd. Yeah. Right. And there's something about Hamilton or Tiso or CWC or Amido. Like when someone Googles that they get all sorts of feedback on, on the Swiss watch thing, the connection to this, the storied history of that. And I think that's all great. And I think it just elevates it a bit that it maybe isn't a brand that they see at the, at the, their local department store. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True. Again, that's a little bit snobby. I understand how that's coming across. I hope people understand what I'm saying. Or like, again, if I was going to go out and buy a watch for myself for a gift, it would be something like an Aqualand or a Seiko Diver, another SPB or a 777 or something like this. Cause I know and love these watches, but I don't know if that, if it's a little bit like ordering something very strange for the table. Right. Right. If you're ordering food for the table, you order chicken wings or pancakes. Yeah. Like something that almost most people like. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And I think you kind of have to go that direction. And because look, we can argue all of this and we probably will for the rest of watch conversations, but like the brand is important. Yeah, it is. And I think the longer you're in the game, it becomes less important. But when you're starting out, it's important. And I think if you, if you get a gift of a watch that I think there's just a big difference between like people know, let's use Timex as an example. I'm wearing a Timex. I love Timex. I mean, no shade, but people know that Timexes are inexpensive, well-made watches. And I think if you're trying to flash a little bit, if you're really trying to suggest that you're thankful and you're spending also very difficult to spend a thousand dollars on a Timex, God bless them. Right. Yeah. The context shifts a little bit. And I think that that's where suddenly the brand thing has to be this kind of general. That's I think why Hamilton works so well. Yeah. Yeah. I think all those touch points allow somebody with a more generalist sort of, um, perspective to appreciate the watch more deeply. Yeah. You know, if you think of your favorite band, would you buy, would you try and get your friend into that band by playing your favorite songs? Probably not. You'd play their hits, right? Like if I wanted to introduce someone to pink Floyd, I'd probably go with dark side of the moon, even though I prefer wish you were here or animals. Right. Those are deep tracks. Hard cuts. Right. So I, you know, I guess that's the point I'm trying to make. And I know that to a certain extent, it kind of sounds a little bit snobby, but that's the watch for a professional gift. What other scenarios have you come across in, in giving watches and how successful did it work out or like how successful were you in the process? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So here's a success story. And this is at the opposite end of the, of the age spectrum, I guess, if you will, from my last one. And that is my, My dad. So when he turned 70, um, you know, and he listens and, uh, Hey dad, I hope you don't mind saying that you're now 85. So, uh, he's had this watch a good 15 years. In fact, it's just coming back from service, I believe tomorrow. So I'll be giving it back to him. He's been borrowing another one of my watches to wear for a while, but I wanted to get him a suitable watch for his 70th birthday. So this was a while back and I kind of knew his taste and, and, you know, my dad necessarily isn't a watch guy. in the, in the sense that we think, um, you know, he had watches all his life. He's a pretty frugal guy. He's, uh, he also doesn't want to have to, you know, fiddle around with stuff a lot. He wanted something big and legible. I thought like something without a date that, you know, for older eyes, you don't, you have trouble reading or you have to set on the shorter months, et cetera. Um, and I settled on an Archimede pilot automatic, the 45 millimeter. Now, certainly the Archimede makes a 39, they make a 42, they make a 45. He's a bigger guy, big wrist. The 45 was the right choice. Um, opted for the automatic as something a little more, I don't want to say prestigious, but a little more special for, for a significant birthday. Yeah, for sure. And it kind of ticked all the boxes. Like I said, big size, easy to read, very legible. This is kind of in the, in the vein of an IWC big pilot, that kind of Flieger style, big crown. So if you need to set or wind it easy to grip, um, and currently they run about a thousand dollars. So this is not a, an exorbitantly expensive watch. It's certainly a special watch at that price. And it turned out really well. It takes straps really well, 22 millimeter straps. I've, I've put it on a bund for him. He's had it on kind of a big chunky, like the, the 22 millimeter leather that Helios had with some of their watches, you know, it's big, thick, chunky leather straps works well on that. So that was a real success story. And I think again, this is a bit of a minefield. This, category, I think buying for a father or a grandfather or parent because they can be all over the spectrum in terms of what their tastes are and what their history is or their interest. Because if you look at a lot of scenarios, it's usually the parent who's passing on a watch to a child. You know, when I was visiting you in Toronto, um, you know, I think you have a watch from, from a grandfather that you wear regularly. Um, you know, you've had your, a couple of your dad's watches fixed for him. So like your dad's a bit more of a watch guy. Um, and a lot of parents are, you know, you might get like, Oh, my dad gave me his date just that he bought when he was in the military or whatever it might be. Sure. Yeah. That wasn't my scenario. Um, so I think in this case, the Archimedia was just the right choice. He still loves it, wears it all the time. I think I'm, I put a second choice in here for something that maybe is a little out of left field, but I think could make a good choice for apparent or someone in this situation. And that is, it's a Grand Seiko. And again, they don't really have names. So this is the SBGX261. It's, it's with the 9F quartz, you know, highly accurate in-house quartz Grand Seiko. It's a $2,200 watch, very simple piece on a bracelet with a date. 37 millimeters steel. Yeah. This would be a great watch. An everyday watch that doesn't demand a lot from its, its wearer. Um, very classic looking. Very unobtrusive, but oozes quality. There's a good story behind it. It's very subtle. And subtle. And I think for someone who's turning 60 or 70 or older, whatever, I think, I just think this would be a nice choice. And I think courts is a bit of a different move, but I think the Grand Seiko courts are something special. And yeah. And so I'm, I'm offering that as kind of a more upmarket option, if you will, in this scenario. |
| James Stacey | I think the, the, the gift for the dad, Uh, the L like the aging dad is, is a little bit of a sweet spot where you kind of can't go too wrong as long as it's pretty legible. Yeah. Yeah. And not fiddly. Right. Uh, you know, you mentioned having, um, having a watch rebuilt, which is actually a suggestion I have for a future scenario, like restored or fixed a vintage watch. And we did that with my, my father's, uh, Buran or Gruen, sorry. And, uh, and he wears that, but I do know that like, it's a little bit more difficult to read. It's silver on silver. It's a mid century dress watch. Yeah. And then, you know, he's got my SKX. That's easy to read, easy to use. And then he's now, now I, I switched him over to, um, a citizen challenge diver. Oh yeah. The standard spec. Right. Every time I see him, it's on his wrist. Yeah. It's easy to read. It weighs nothing and it glows really nicely. Yeah. Yeah. Keeps great time. He's very happy with it. Yeah. So I, I think, uh, I think that's a, you can get away with, with something cause you know your dad really well. Right. And I think to be fair, I think the Archimedes is an incredible choice. Nice, big, stylish, cool, right. Easy to read. Yeah. Those are the, that's what you want. You want, you want to watch that works a bit like a clock. Yeah. If you're in your eighties, you know, exactly. Yeah. I'm going to do the same. Yeah. So that's a good one. I, you know, as, as far as other scenarios that I've got, I've been through it with my dad several times. Um, but I think we've talked about at least some of that on this episode already. And certainly on other episodes, the other one that comes up really frequently, in the Q and A's is, we've probably had it four or five times, which feels like to me, very frequent in, you know, a few years of doing the Q and A's is watch for like groomsmen or a wedding party or a group of guys for your bachelor party. Like, you know, the, the things you have to do for a wedding, they change every few years. So the tone can sometimes maybe, maybe it's, you know, maybe you have more friends at a bachelor party, but fewer people in the wedding party or whatever. Like, you know, the idea of buying, watches for a group of people with presumably a limited-ish budget? Yeah. And we've answered that question a few times in the past, but I wanted to put even more thought into it. So for me, the scenario I've designed is you have $1,000 for the gift, so you're buying four watches and you have a maximum of $250 a watch. And believe it or not, as we learned in a recent Q&A, that's plenty. You can get a lot of watches for under 250 bucks. I think this is a scenario where you need to give up on the idea that you're going to buy a watch that somebody is going to wear every day and love for the rest of their life and buy something that's more about an experience that you share. So you all, you and your four guys or gals or whatever have this one watch and maybe you wear it when you hang out together. Maybe, maybe it's something you just remember from the wedding photos. And I think in this case, like if I was doing this again, if I was going through this process again you know I did personalize Swiss army knives. Uh, I had almost no money, uh, when I, when I got married that time and you know, the, uh, the, this was, you know, 40, maybe 40 bucks a person and everybody got one with their name and little adjustments made to the knife based on their person and that kind of thing. And I think you can go a similar direction. Like I didn't, I don't even know that most of the guys there would carry a knife. Right. But at least it's in the drawer, it's on their desk at home. Right. And I think the watch equivalent of that is, this watch, when you're doing the thing for the groomsmen, the wedding party, that sort of thing, I think you're buying something that's a little bit more of a totem to the day than what you're actually giving the person. But instead of like a paperweight with the date on it, right? Get a watch. Casio F100 came up in the watch that Ripley wears in 305, we talked about it. But an F100 is kind of goofy, they're kind of cool. little bit of color and, and you know, you could, you could easily, you could probably get them for a hundred bucks a piece, maybe a little bit more. It'd be well under budget. And then everybody has the same watch, but the watch is also so light in tone, kind of, it's more frivolous that nobody has to feel like, Oh, well I probably have to wear this every time I see this person or that sort of thing. And you don't want that burden, I don't think. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And I think, I think that I was balking a bit at the idea of giving digital watches for, for groomsmen's gift, but I think, if you give something analog, if you're not into watches and analog watch of any sort, if it's decent looking, it's going to look expensive and kind of special. And they're going to think like, Oh gee, you know, I can only wear this, you know, on good days or when I'm dressed up or whatever. And then it really doesn't get worn. And not that that's the goal, but like a fun digital watch can be like, Oh, I can take this fishing. I can swim with it. I can, you know, leave it on my dresser for five weeks and it'll still be running and working when I want it to. |
| James Stacey | Like I definitely, I definitely saw one recently. So this is not my idea. I saw it on Instagram, but it wasn't anyone I knew. So I can't like, I don't remember where it came from, but it was some guys on a bachelor party, like to, I don't know, maybe, maybe it was Nashville. It was somewhere that had a swatch store. And as part of the day, they went into the swatch store and when they were in there, the guy said, Oh, you all have one watch on me. And they all got moon swatches or whatever. |
| Jason Heaton | That's awesome. Swatch is a good pick. Swatch is a really good pick. |
| James Stacey | Swatch is great because you get it and you know immediately that it's not this precious thing that you have to keep as an heirloom or never wear or wear all the time. It's just fun. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think that you see people on, on, you know, bachelorette parties with personalized t-shirts or hats or that sort of thing. Just do the swatch. Right. Everybody gets the same swatch. Yeah. You wear it for the weekend and maybe some of, some people wear it for the rest of their life and some people never take it out of the drawer. It goes back in the box and you go, Oh, I got that for that cool weekend. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | You got to, you have to make sure the stakes equal the person and the scenario. And I think with something like this, the stakes are kind of low. Yeah. And if you go, Oh, but I would like them to have something a little bit more, a little bit more like an heirloom, then just go with a Timex Marlin or an Orient Bambino. Yeah. Classic mid-century design, easy to wear. Yeah. And it absolutely could be something now you've given somebody every time they put a suit on, they go, Oh, I should wear the watch that I got at so-and-so's wedding. Right. Right. And it becomes this nice little thing that, that kind of connects back to that day. So I do think the dress watch is an option. You just have to, it has to kind of suit what you expect and kind of the tone of, of that experience for everybody. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm, I remain a big, big fan of just like, yeah, do a swatch, do a Casio, do an a 500 W. I mean, you can probably get five, a 500 W's for about 200 bucks. Yeah. That's a lot more money for your rounds of golf or whatever you're doing for the bachelor party. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Or, or if it's a golf thing, get them all golf watch. Yeah. There's lots of weird ones. And then, and then that's the little joke. Like it's part of the day and you've got that. And maybe you guys golf two, three times a year on little trips or something. Right. People wear their golf Casio or something. Yeah. So I think there's options there where it can work. It doesn't have to cost a fortune and it can suit the sort of scenario for that, that person. Yeah. But how about you? You've got one here in the list that is like, um, the person who's like, interested in watches, but is you probably assume is never going to be like, uh, put the hours in to become some sort of aficionado, but you also at the same time, no, they probably would destroy a cheap watch. My brother's like this hard on watches, not necessarily a true like deep core enthusiast, but knows I love watches, loves watches kind of secondhand because of it. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And you have to find that solution. And I've tried several with my brother to be fair. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And I think this is the person I call it the watch curious friend. Who's hard on gear. And I think I've had, I wrote this with one guy in, in mind particularly, and I've talked about him, I believe on a Q and a or on a past episode, but I've actually thought I've done this in three different scenarios. One, one guy is a fly fishing guide. The other guy is an arborist. So he's a tree climber, you know, um, runs a tree service business. Um, and the other one, um, owns a fence building business and I've, I've gifted watches to all three of them. And in one case with, um, with Nick, Nick, if you're listening, Shout out to Nick. Um, he was thrilled to be called out on the past episode and I'll do it again here. Um, he's got my old, uh, SCRFA MS 21 and, uh, you know, great, great piece. He, he, he saw it, he liked it. I lent it to him. He's, he's traveled with it. He loves it. And I think, you know, it's his and he wears it and he loves it. Um, the other one, the fly fishing guide, um, guy, Scott, he's, he's, he's not a listener. I know that he's, he's too busy out to waiting in cold rivers in Nova Scotia, et cetera, to be listening to podcasts. But he, And I was like, look, tell you what, I'll, I've got a couple of spare watches. Let's see what, what appeals to you. And I showed him a few. And the one that stood out for him was I had one of the smaller sized TSARs. So marathon TSAR. Oh yeah. And you know, courts, you know, you know, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can Super rugged. He liked the smaller size. Um, he liked it. I had it on like a coyote or, you know, tan pass through nylon strap and he wears it and he loves it. And he does not care a hoot about watches. Um, he liked having a watch. He liked the idea of being able to tell the time and he needed something that would hold up in his work as a fly fishing guide. And he goes all over the world with this thing. And I, I don't have a lot of contact with him, but I, I'm always looking, uh, I told you I'm on a, hiatus from Instagram, but when I was on Instagram regularly, I would see his posts from far flung places, holding a trout in a, in a freezing cold river. And there I'd see the watch on his wrist. I'd be like, good man. You know, he's still got it on. He's still wearing it. That's great. So that was a good pick. And then for, for my friend, uh, the arborist, uh, I, I had given him actually two watches. I started him out with a citizen, one of the old ultra crowns, you know, solar titanium, very rugged, cool watch. Um, and then, And again, you know, rugged watch, like he loved the look, like these are people who other than the fly fishing guide, like the other two guys, like they like the look of a watch. That's what they care about. They like, I need it to hold up. I don't want to have to baby it. I don't want to have to think about it, but I love the look of a kind of a dive watch or a rugged watch that I don't have to take off and it'll work for me. So in all these cases, we're talking, you know, I don't want to have to think about it, but I love the look of a kind of a dive watch or a rugged watch that I don't have to take off and it'll work for me. You know, the Scarfa long discontinued as is most of their stuff on their website is unavailable at this point, you know, it was around $400. I think an Elliot Brown that I would suggest that isn't the Holton that I was looking, they've got the blocks worth heritage diver for five 46. I just think Elliot Brown makes really rugged watches. I think that's a good pick. Yeah. Yeah. And as, as for the, the TSAR, if you want to go up a little ways in terms of price, you know, we're talking inching closer to a thousand bucks, but it's, it's super high quality watch. Obviously we're big fans of marathon here, but any of those watches I think would, would be rugged enough to stand up to a non-watch person who likes the idea of wearing a watch and wants to wear it all the time. And I think those are the people that, look, those of us that are enthusiasts and collectors, we, we kind of are secretly envious of those people that, that just want to wear one watch and just beat it up and, and don't care about it. |
| James Stacey | But they just want it to work. The SS NavD, the steel navigator. Oh yeah, that's a really good pick. Accurate to seconds a year. That would be a great choice. Glows in the dark. |
| Unknown | Yep. |
| James Stacey | Yep. put any strap you want on it, it's going to get no attention, like no negative attention. Yeah. That's, that's a watch that would like, you could, you could, you could in one gift, it's a very nice gift, 800 bucks or whatever, but in one gift you could start and end somebody's watch fascination. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Cause you, I guarantee if you give that to a certain type of guy, especially a guy who's out in the field, tough on his gear and this thing holds up for a couple of years, they will be the biggest evangelist for one watch. |
| Unknown | Yep. |
| James Stacey | Yep. the whole world should be wearing Latissar or Navdy or whatever. Like I think, yeah, I mean the marathon stuff, especially, I mean, I just adore my SS Navdy. It's such a good watch. I've raved about it plenty before, but yeah, I agree there. It's a fun needle to thread this idea of like these people, typically if they find you, they know you for whatever reason and they know they want to watch, but they definitely want one. What they're concerned with, like you said, is kind of the aesthetic. They know they like it. Right. The way a dive watch looks or whatever on your wrist, but they also want one that will last because they've, you know, they've broken all the cheap gear they've ever owned. Right. And they've gotten to a point where they buy nicer stuff and then, and then you're into a kind of a different level. And in this case, the gift could even be the suggestion. Yeah. Yeah. You don't always have to be the one paying for it. I think that there's a certain, you have to go through the same mental math when somebody asks you what they should get, what watch they should get. Right. Right. Yeah. And if you're a watch enthusiast, you know, refer to my story for Houdinki, there's like a pyramid to follow, to understand, like, if you come to Jason and I, we need to know a little bit about you to make this pick. But if someone that you know comes to, you could probably suggest a watch. And I think that, that math is going to be the same, whether you were paying for it or not. Right? Right. Right. Yeah. All right. So we're getting towards the end of the episode. I have kind of the last scenario in my mind, which is breaking the rule. How do you buy a watch for someone that you know, loves watches? Yeah. Another watch friend. Yeah. Right. That could be somebody like, let's say it's you or me and we wanted to buy a gift for Jake or Crystal, our two moderators on the Slack. Right. Yeah. How would you approach that? These guys love watches, like really love watches as much as you and I do, maybe more. Yeah. How do you even approach that whole thing? And, you know, I have some, some tips. That's how I would describe this is unless they specifically told you a specific model, or expressed a very specific opinion that you can lock in, please don't buy them a new watch and don't buy them anything digital or smartwatch. Unless for whatever reason, that's what they said they want. If they're really excited about the Momentum UDT, great choice. Very specific, fun watch, keep going, not crazy expensive. But I think the secret here is we all know that there's a few things that make watches interesting. One of them is a story. Yeah. And I think if you can, I think you, you need to use the story to overcome all of the normal mental processes that a watch person goes through before they buy another watch taste consideration, what they've owned before, what they have now, what sizes they like, what colors they like, all that kind of stuff. You almost need to present an alternative that doesn't need to be concerned with all of those elements. Yeah. And I think the key here is thrifting garage sale, eBay finds doesn't, I don't think, I think if you're buying a watch for a watch person, especially someone who's been doing it for a long time, the value isn't as important as the way that you're able to describe the way the watch would suit them or why it reminded you of this person or your relationship with this person. You know, I, I, I'm a big fan of if you got, let's say I got to know, somebody really well, or even it could be you, Jason, like, let's say you and I lived in the same city and we spent more time like handling each other's watches. Almost every watch guy I know has like a somewhere like either an heirloom or like an heirloom adjacent watch that doesn't run. Right. That's true. Get it fixed. |
| Unknown | That's a great gift. |
| James Stacey | Yep. Right. You, I guarantee you have one. I have two or three. I went on a little weird buying spree a couple of years ago with, with like thirties and forties Bolivas. Oh yeah. Yeah. One of them, is so bad, my timer can't tell you how bad it is. I just get like three lines where the, where the, how many seconds a day. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. You know, and, and like, if you wear it to dinner, it loses an hour. Yeah. Well, I mean, that'd be kind of a cool gift if that watch was, if somebody, you know, had that watch restored and, and, you know, in the past when I've done this, you're talking about Al Archer did my father's Gruen for maybe $400, huge amount of work, right? I don't think Al's still doing this. Al at Archer. Um, but yeah, the, uh, but yeah, I think, I think like having a watch rebuilt for somebody is like quite a sweet gift that aligns with even people who love and know watches. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not against the idea, especially if it's like a family member have pay to get their Rolex serviced or whatever. The one they got for their job and it's run 25 years on their wrist. Yeah. Yeah. Get it serviced. Like there's, there's options there that don't even need you to get them a watch, but you are getting them a watch. But I do think there's something really fun about like, you know, you're up late, you're on eBay, you're on watch recon, you see something kind of cool. It reminds you of somebody, maybe you owe somebody a thank you or, or it's an actual gift you're planning on a birthday or whatever. But I do think this is the scenario where you have to think way outside the box because like just buying like a new watch for somebody who knows most of the watches on the market, it's just kind of a weird move, right? Like at that point I would say like get them a strap for a watch you know they like. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. It's kind of like, it's kind of like, you know, when you're so used to something or like you praise somebody so often that it just, it starts to become this white noise. Like, you know, it's the same thing with just buying someone else, another watch. Like if you go out and buy a new watch for someone that has 30 watches, it's going to be like, it'll give them a bit of a buzz for a day or two, unless it's just this ultra special thing. They'll wear it, they'll like it, but then it'll probably go into the rotation and you won't see it for a long time. And that's okay. I mean, that's gift giving isn't about, of course. whatever, but it's, yeah, I think I like your idea of, of finding something kind of weird and rare or, or vintage or, or something. Um, or in your case, you know, you gave me the, the Timex Ironman, like it's the quirky weird watch that, yeah, you know, like it, it, it fits a niche and I love it. And it's, you know, it's, it's an unexpected thing. Um, had you gotten me a, you know, I don't know, like, you know, suddenly a package arrived and it was like, Oh, Hey, I got you the new, uh, Longine or something and be like, okay, cool. You know, and I'd wear it for a while and then it would kind of go into, into the rotation and disappear. So, yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think, I think it's one of those ones where you just have to think outside the box. And I think the other funny thing is, and you, you touched on this, which is where I wanted to close the convo anyways, is you see a lot of watch people do a certain move, which is giving, giving somebody, giving their watch. Let's say I wanted to give you a gift. I would give you one of my watches that I already know your opinion on. Right, right. I think that's a really sweet solution to this problem. If you have to give a watch to somebody who also loves and is deeply into watches, I mean like, like listens to podcasts about watches, reads all the major publications, knows 95% of brands and models and reference numbers and all that kind of stuff. You wouldn't like, the watches that I know that your opinions on are the ones you own and mine. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And I think the safe play would be like, if, if you're talking about a good buddy, that sort of thing, give them one of your watches. At least then it's only one, it's only one degree away. It could always come back to you someday. Like it's, it's all that kind of stuff is I think that that was kind of my final point for giving a watch to a watch guy or gal. |
| Jason Heaton | I think that's a very good closing point actually. And a really nice idea is to, the ultimate move is, Give one of your watches, um, you know, assuming it's not, you're not going to miss it horribly and it's going to make you resentful or whatever, but that's a great, that's a great place to kind of put a bow on it. I think that's a great idea. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And to be clear, like I am projecting a little bit because there's definitely people in our audience who have way more self control than I do and have three watches that they love and there's not one to give away. Sure. Yeah. Right. That's not the scenario I'm in. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, Jason, for the most part, that's not a scenario you're in. Yeah. Yeah. I, a lot of my watches are impulse purchases or experiential. I want to experience a brand. So I'll own one of their watches for a few months and then it moves on. But I want to, I want to have that touch point. I want to be able to say like, Oh no, I had one of those for a while. And this or that it's kind of how I was with the moon swatch. Right. Yeah. And the moon swatch made a perfectly easy thing to move on and sell, but also would have made a nice thing to give to somebody. Right. Right. So some, something to consider for sure. But yeah, that's our, episode on the ins and outs of gifting watches. It's a little complicated. I find it quite enjoyable, but I don't think it's always the solution. There's definitely scenarios where a watch is not the choice, but I think there's scenarios where you can do some really good things. You just have to make sure all the bricks kind of interlock correctly. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, and I think it's a minefield for sure, but I mean, let's face it, who will, it's what is often expected of those of us that are known to be into watches, that you will get a watch and we should know better than most, um, where to find the good stuff and know, you know, which, uh, crevices to dig around in for that really interesting piece. And so it can be a fun challenge to do that. So yeah, really fun episode. And I think I liked that we did this in very specific scenarios and ones that maybe, um, we've already had experience in. Um, and touch on a little bit of the stuff that pops up in Q and a from time to time. So good, good, good, good fun. |
| James Stacey | If you have any feedback, if you have the different methodology or philosophy for gifting watches, we would love to hear about it. By all means, you can send us an email to the great NATO at gmail.com. But if you really want to go in deep, you got to do that in the slack. You can get into the slack for as little as $5 a month that comes with other benefits. But these days, I think most people are paying the five bucks for the slack. And, uh, And yeah, I think that that's where these conversations will live. I'm sure we're going to learn some really fun and interesting ways that people think about gifting watches from the Slack. So check that out. And you can obviously still leave a comment right on the main episode page on Substack if you would like, but most of the conversation and that sort of fun is happening on the Slack these days. But look, we're about an hour in. You want to jump into some final notes? |
| Jason Heaton | Sure. Yeah. Um, I was pretty excited about this one when I came across it. I sent it to you last night, actually. Um, I remember back in, uh, gosh, what would it have been the late nineties? Uh, when the, the artist known as Moby, uh, released the album play and man, I played that album CD, I guess so many times. Uh, it, it, I was reading about it last night actually. And it was the, I think it remains the best selling electronica uh, album of all time. I think it sold 12 million copies or something. Um, Moby was this, uh, very eclectic, interesting, very talented artist who was kind of classically trained in guitar, but then moved into kind of hip hop and electronica music, did some movie scores, et cetera. And play was his big breakthrough. And it's the album for which he's known the best. And he has a podcast, which I wasn't aware of, but he has the Moby podcast that he co-hosts with a woman named Lindsay Hicks, who's an actress. And I haven't listened to any of the other episodes, but the most recent one is about the 25th anniversary of the release of play this album. And it, this is actually part one, I guess there's going to be a part two coming up. Um, they kind of banter back and forth about the, the kind of the, the Genesis of, of that album and how it came about and you know, who some of the artists were that he collaborated with and kind of his own background. And then they, intersperse it with him playing acoustic versions with some guest kind of backup singers, uh, acoustic versions of a number of the songs from that album. And it's really good. So if you're into Moby or, you know, music in general, I think it's an interesting listen. I think he's a fascinating guy and, uh, it's just such a great album. And if you're not familiar with play, uh, you know, stream it wherever you get your music or go out and buy it or whatever. But, uh, it's, uh, It's fantastic. So yeah, the Moby podcast, 25th anniversary of play. I listened to it on Apple, but it's available elsewhere as well. |
| James Stacey | That's killer, man. That's super cool. I definitely am going to check this out maybe as, as early as tomorrow morning as I'm waiting in line for security and such, uh, at the, at the airport. But yeah, I mean, it's funny because he is so ubiquitous. His, his sound, the effect that he's had, I think looking back 25 years on an album, like play in 25 years, I want to say play is not even close to his first album, |
| Jason Heaton | fourth album. In fact, he was going to make it his last album because he had limited success with previous ones and was like ready to give up his career and thought, this is going to be my swan song. Well, it turns out it was huge. |
| James Stacey | Even if you're not a Moby fan, if you like, um, if you like film club, there's a lot of Moby in film club born identity has, um, has, uh, uh, what was that song called? Extreme ways. It was great. It became like, It's the Bourne song, but it's a Moby track. He also, look, I mean, let's not forget, somebody is, maybe Tom Place is screaming at the screen at this point, I'm not sure, but like, New Dawn Fades, which is a Joy Division song, was covered by Moby and is in heat. And it's great, right? I'm only ever one or two connections away from a Heat reference, and Moby gets me there real quick, for sure. So this is great. I'll definitely check this out. I love, I've really, I don't really know why maybe it's the like effect of years of listening to the rewatchables, which is the movie podcast, one of the movie podcasts from the ringer. And I just love oral histories of these things, especially when you get the person in the seat, not just like an expert, but these, these stories of how movies came together, how albums came together, how books came, like all of that I find really fascinating. So I'm definitely gonna check this out. This is great. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Cool. You got something cool and new this week. |
| James Stacey | I did. You know, I, I convinced myself, I don't know how I did this necessarily, but I convinced myself that, uh, I wanted, um, especially for the fall, I wanted, uh, like a proper fanny pack of some sort and we can get into the argument as to like how these are so popular, but they're still not really stylish and all that kind of stuff. But I knew I wanted one, uh, to carry, you know, the normal things that I carry around, uh, with me and, I went on a hunt and I kind of decided I would, I knew a lot of what was on the market from Patagonia and from Bellroy and from all these other, you know, Mountain Case and Mountain Smith and all those guys. And I really wanted, uh, preferably something that was handmade and I would love something if it was, uh, from Canada. Yeah. So those were kind of the two things. And I came across this company and originally I came across and I even, um, bought the, the, the pack from them thinking they were from, uh, Australia. Oh, because it said they were from Sydney. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | But they're from Sydney, Nova Scotia here in Canada. Cool. And so I bought this one, the company's called fees, P H E E S P uh, fees, original goods. And they make the Franny pack, which is named after a mountain in that area, the Franny mountain. And, um, it's a very simple, I would call it kind of banana style where it's quite slim and stays right against your body. Two zipper waxed cotton. I didn't want leather and I didn't want like a tech material. I really wanted like something that felt filsony. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | If that makes sense. Um, but I also didn't want anything with bright polished zippers or brass or any of that. And this really checks the bucket or this really checks all, all the ones for me in that it's a really nice handmade. It's made to order. So they, it takes a few weeks, they make it for you and then send it. And I think this took about two weeks. What color did you get? So I went with nutmeg as far as the color, it comes in six different colors. So nutmeg is like very, a filsony tan color, black zippers has a little leather loop, but otherwise there's no branding on it. Even the, the webbing for the strap, like the piece of nylon they use for the strap is that sort of heavy cotton feel stuff. That's not shiny or slippery. And it's just the quality of it feels really good. It's very simple, like plastic, you know, uh, push, clip. I'm not really sure what these are called. They're not quite D clips. Um, it's like the two flanges that pop out as they enter the channel. Very everything, every fanny pack you've ever seen. It's one of those clips, but it's a nice, simple plastic one that's kind of heavy duty and feels like it could be replaced, fixed, all that kind of stuff. And I really wanted to do the like cry once, buy once, buy once, cry once sort of scenario. And so these are 160 bucks, which for the U S it's 125. |
| Jason Heaton | It's not bad. |
| James Stacey | There you go. 125 bucks us for this. And I think the quality feels aligned with that, but you're buying a very simple thing that is kind of without any frills or hidden pockets. There's no space to hide an Apple air tag. There's no hidden zipper pocket from your passport. It's just a basic two pocket thing. You can put like keys and sunglasses or something like that in the front one. And then you have a larger pocket in the back phone wallet, passport, you know, knives, that sort of thing. You can do all that. I'm super happy with it after, you know, I guess two days of having it. I wore it all day yesterday. It's low enough profile that I can wear it while driving. The clip doesn't bother my back. The actual pouch in the front doesn't like, it's not so bulky. That's an issue. And the stuff that I've had from Alpaca, the stuff I've tried to make myself, it was always kind of bulky or it stood very far off of my person. Kind of like, you know, how a backpack sits far off of your back. And I think with the cross carry thing, cause I'm not wearing this around my waist, it's, it's, you know, over one shoulder. And I think this, this design where it kind of wraps around your torso is just very comfortable while still having sort of a rustic look that I find a lot more attractive than the, the more techie vibe. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. Cool. Well, we're, we're back in bags. I mean, it's been a while. We used to talk about bags a lot. Now we're, we're getting back into it. That's good. |
| James Stacey | It feels like vintage TGN. I, after you, yeah, after you got me that, um, Oh yeah. For Christmas, I swore. |
| Unknown | Oh yeah. |
| James Stacey | And I think this is, this is how my sickness is evolving. I'm like, well, I can't buy a backpack, but I could probably use a fanny pack. So I've got it. Um, and, and you can hit the show notes for it, but it's the Fees original Franny pack. And for what I was looking for, I threaded, I didn't, I thought I would have to try a few. Um, and I took a risk with this being made to order and, and all that kind of stuff. And I'm just absolutely thrilled with it. Yeah. |
| Unknown | Nice. |
| James Stacey | So shout out fees for that one. Uh, Oh, and, uh, again, disclosure is important. So we always try and remember to do it. I paid full price for this. I did not communicate with fees in person in any way at all. I used Shopify or whatever. Yeah. And, uh, they have no idea that I do the show. There was no discounts. There's no promotion or anything. I paid the full 160 Canadian for this and I'm thrilled with it. So there's that good. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And, and yeah, full disclosure, Moby had no idea I was going to talk about his podcast. |
| James Stacey | Exactly. Yeah. We were not getting any money from Moby. Yeah. I'm open to it though. Well, hey, as always, thank you so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to the show notes, get into the comments for each episode, bounce around on our ever amazing Slack, or consider supporting the show directly, maybe even get yourself a TGN signed NATO, please visit TheGreyNATO.com. Music throughout is Siesta by JazzArr via the free music archive. |
| Jason Heaton | And we'll leave you with this quote from Mother Teresa who said, it's not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. |