The Grey NATO – 311 – Our Favorite Watches of 2024

Published on Thu, 12 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Synopsis

In this episode of The Graynado (#311), hosts Jason Heaton and James Stacey discuss their favorite watches of 2024. They begin with a discussion about the holiday season and gift-giving before diving into an extensive review of notable watches from the past year. The hosts cover watches across various price points and brands, including Doxa, Christopher Ward, Zinn, Tudor, Omega, Longines, Blancpain, and several microbrands. They highlight both affordable options and high-end pieces, discussing the merits and innovations of each. The episode concludes with final notes about automotive journalism, including a discussion of Wes Seiler's Substack article about the Ineos Grenadier and Henry Catchpole's Hagerty Bull Market list for 2025.

Transcript

Speaker
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 311, 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. I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host, James Stacy. James, we're counting down here last couple episodes of the year, right? You feeling in the holiday mood yet?
James Stacey I actually, I actually really am. I guess I just, I'm just my mother's son to some extent. My mom lives for Christmas. Yeah. Like I, I'm, I would not be surprised if right now my mom is considering Christmas gifts for next Christmas. Whoa. Like she's done enough for this year. Yeah. And that she made some, I'm one of six kids. I think this is on the record that, you know, it's a big family, which I absolutely adore.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey Uh, and also the rare treat as I get older, I realized just how rare it is. We all get along. Yeah, we don't get in each other's ways. We don't step on each other. We just have a good time. Yeah. And everybody's really chill. There's a lot of grandkids. It's a good time. And I really have come to look forward to this time of year. And I would say when I call it this time of year after the 20th. doing the Houdinki thing, especially with my current role where I'm overseeing all of it and which largely means doing a lot of the like planning and logistics. It's a lot. But I really, I love this for multiple reasons. From the watch world, we all look back at the previous year and you start to remember all these great watches. It's kind of like they came out all over again. And that's what we'll do in this episode. I love retrospective content.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey I love when the ringer puts out the best TV shows of the year. I love like all of this kind of stuff is all great, but I love it especially for watches and for cars. The car part will come up in final notes. Yeah. But as far as like dreaming about it being snowy out and it is snowy, I know you're, I think from the notes you've got warmer weather, it's starting to get colder here. And yeah, I just love all of it. I saw my family yesterday for like a little birthday for my brother who just turned 30. Yeah. And it's just it's the best. As long as you've got a vehicle, you're not scared to drive in terrible weather. And I'm more than fine to drive the Jeep. I just drive very slow if I have to.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey You can get anywhere you want to go. And I love it. And this coming weekend, there's a Christmas market in Toronto that we've gone to for the last four years. And very excited to get to that. It's one of my daughter's favorite days of the year, which makes it one of my favorite days of the year. I'm pretty pumped for more December. It's going to be good. Got some really solid Christmas gifts, which we can talk about in January. I didn't get them for myself. Yours are in the mail. And I got a FedEx notice today from you, so I assume my Christmas gift's in the mail. And to be fair, you and I have gone fairly hard in the paint for several years. We'll see where we land this year. But like with my daughters, I love buying gifts. It's the best. And with Sarah and my family switched over to Secret Santa. It's either billed or thrifted. So you can't buy something new. Yeah. So I got my brother listens to this, which I guess is a little bit of a giveaway because that means my two sisters know I won't have them. Most of my siblings listen to this and I'm ruining some something of a surprise, but I can't say what I got. But it's pretty rad.
Jason Heaton Well, I just got in sort of panic mode today because I was like, OK, like I I'm not such a procrastinator, but I was thinking like, I need to start thinking about gifts. And I, I have my list of people. And then, you know, with some exceptions for whom I've already bought, I wouldn't call it full on panic mode. Cause it's, we're still in the single digits barely. It's the ninth, but I'm like, what kind of, but I, I like the idea of build or thrift. And that's kind of a route I want to go. I want to like make something, whether it's something consumable or, you know, just something small and useful. Um,
James Stacey Absolutely. Yeah. I can't wait to hear how you approach it. But I think the thrifter make is really the move.
Unknown Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacey I, you know, I was very, I'm very thoughtful, like careful about this stuff as surprising to nobody that I keep a bunch of lists. Uh, so like I work on Sarah's list for about six months and then like today I just tell her, all right, you're not allowed on our Amazon account for the next like 24 hours. Oh yeah. and I'll order everything and then archive the orders. And then when they arrive, I just quickly wrap everything and then I'm done. I think that's the smoothest way of doing it. And thankfully this year, I'd say most things were pretty easy. There's one or two things that aren't Amazon style stuff. It's actually really weird and might as well take a chance to talk about it now. Because in the gift guide, you picked the giant mouse kitchen knife.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey which Sarah and I have been planned as our co Christmas gift for months.
Jason Heaton Oh, nice.
James Stacey Yeah. That, that was something we decided on a little while ago is like to upgrade from the, you know, inexpensive sort of Chinese, uh, steak knives or whatever that we've got with like a proper set from, from Jim. And then you brought it up and I was like, wow, yeah, this is just, Yeah, I always look forward to this stuff. I love the opportunity to like buy gifts, big, small. I like a $10 gift. I love an expensive gift. Like if this, you know, the psychology of this is so troublesome, but you kind of still get the psychology of buying this, but you get to, you know, you're giving it to somebody else. So I have a really good time with it.
Unknown Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacey I'd be fine if we did like two Christmases a year, we do the summer solstice and buy everybody a gift.
Jason Heaton Yeah, yeah, that's not a bad idea. Yeah, spread out the gift giving. We need a counterpoint in the warm months, that'd be a good one. I think definitely for the outdoorsy types, we should have a second Christmas.
James Stacey Yeah, yeah, call it something different. With a great sale on tents and that kind of thing. Just a good opportunity to patch up a few things in your kit and get back out into the woods. Like around the same time that school ends would be great, like kid's school.
Jason Heaton Well, let's do it. We should plan on a summer gift guide then for late May.
James Stacey be the change you want to see in the world. Exactly. Right. Can do. That's super fun. But yeah, to be more clear about what you actually kicked off with. Yes, we are going to take a holiday break for TGN. So we won't have a show on December 26th and we won't have a show on January 2nd. And if you happen to be sitting at your computer or you simply have a very strong grasp of the calendar, this episode comes out on the 12th. We'll have episode 312 on the 19th, and then we will be off until the 9th of January, which will be our return with episode 313. for a brand new year, our ninth year in production, goodness sakes. Wow. And yeah, it's going to be great. I'm obviously super pumped for the spring for numerous reasons. And certainly TGN and all the stuff we're working on there is included in that. And it also means we get to probably start thinking about a new merch bundle. I would say. But to be clear, our fall merch bundle still available. You want to tell people about it?
Jason Heaton Yeah, I mean, you know, not to get too, you know, too shilly here with holiday gift ideas, but we certainly do still have the Pippet 8 collection is available in the TGN shop. That's our collaboration with Tony from the Illustrated Watch. And there's a hoodie and a couple of t-shirts. the coasters and enamelware camp mug and then we've also got a kind of a standard TGN logo mug as well as all the TGN t-shirts that we Launched earlier this year. So, you know, if you're looking for that last-minute thing for a watch guy or a fellow TGN person Definitely hit up the graynado.com slash shop and check it out. And as we've mentioned before We're working with printful which is a fulfillment company that prints on demand in various locales and so they can ship things from kind of closer to where you are which Helps in various respects, but if you do add on a strap, that still does come from me here in Minneapolis. So that ships separately. So if you get a couple of different shipping notices, that's why.
James Stacey Yeah. And I would say at this point, by the time you're listening to this, this episode would come out. If you listen real fresh, this episode comes out on the 12th.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey You're probably, that's got to be pretty close to the cutoff point if you want to hit Christmas day for one of these. In fact, it might often be after. But look, you know, there's always opportunities to spend a little bit of cash you get in the stocking or that kind of thing. And if you want to get yourself a hoodie or some t-shirts, I actually need to order some mugs as family gifts. That's innocuous enough to not let anybody down in terms of who will get a mug and who won't. I guess I could just buy a bunch of mugs.
Unknown Why not?
James Stacey And I really want a hoodie and I keep procrastinating on ordering one, but I would very much like one. So that's got to happen as well. All right.
Jason Heaton Well, look, beyond that, what else have you been up to? Yeah. I mean, not much here. I mean, I think, you know, we've kind of been in this mode the past few weeks where it's just, you know, head down doing work to get towards the end of the year. And, you know, weather-wise, it's been, we had a bit of a warm spell here. I actually had the The series three out of the garage just a couple days ago and no way, you know, doesn't have a top. So it was, it was in the upper forties Fahrenheit, which is, uh, within the realm of, of reasonable comfort, uh, took Ruby down to the lake for a walk and, uh, she loves riding in that. Um, other than that, yeah, it's just, uh, you know, just aiming for, for the next couple of weeks and, and yeah, and, and get into the, get into the holiday season. So that's, that's about it.
James Stacey Yeah, to be honest, looking at these notes, I actually don't even remember what I've done for the last week. Not a ton of specific fun outings, news, that sort of thing. Just pumped that the holidays are starting to actually warm up, which is always a fun time of year for myself and Sarah and the girls.
Jason Heaton We're kind of in retrospective mode, and today's episode is all about our favorite watches of this past year, and there have been a good crop of them. But before we get into that, what are you wearing today?
James Stacey I'm actually wearing the watch that I bought for my recent promotion to Editor-in-Chief of Hodinkee, which is a early 70s, I think a 73. Rolex Datejust with a linen dial. It's a Sigma dial. It's a steel on the Jubilee. And to be honest, I cannot find a reason to wear anything else currently. I just really like it. And I think it's equal parts beautiful and still very much like a steel sort of sporty watch. And yeah, I really like it. I'll take something else. I'm headed to New York tomorrow and I'll probably wear one of our limited editions. I think the Longines been calling me for the last couple weeks. So we'll do that. But for now, I'm wearing the Rolex and I just love it. Oh, nice. Yeah.
Jason Heaton Cool.
James Stacey How about you? What have you got?
Jason Heaton Yeah. So I've got, I've got my 50 fathoms on the big boy, the 45 millimeter titanium. And, you know, it's been on a NATO for quite a while. And I recently switched back to, I got this, big hole rally style sailcloth strap from Blancpain. They had it on one of their, it was on like the tribute to Aqualung that they had years ago and they've had it on a watch or two since then and I've always liked that strap so I kind of leaned on my contacts at the brand and asked if they have any available. And they sent one over, gosh, a few months ago. And since I was doing a lot of diving with this watch, I had moved it to the NATO, but I put it back on this strap. And it's pretty cool. It looks really good on the watch. So that's what I've got on. Yeah.
James Stacey Well, that's great, man.
Jason Heaton Yeah.
James Stacey Well, two great watches, which will kick off a very messy kind of fun chit-chat about our favorite watches of 2024. So if you listen to previous ones, sometimes we have more of a format. As I said earlier in this episode, I really enjoy this time of year where you're able to look back on stuff. But we opened up a Google Doc and just started dropping in watches, and we've got probably 40 watches in here, 20 to 40, something like that. So some of these are going to get a couple sentences because we like them, and others will be more because maybe we bought them or that sort of thing. So I think looking at the list, maybe we kick it off with Doxa, because we both have a Doxa on the list. Do you want to kick it off with yours? It's a nice recent one.
Jason Heaton The latest one, the freshest one, I guess, is the sub-300 topper edition Great White. I had that on my wrist last week. It was just launched last Friday, officially. And there was a lot of buzz around it. You know, I put a picture up on Instagram, and man, it did get a lot of comments and likes. I mean, I can't believe how... how popular that watch became. I'm not sure if it's sold out. I would highly guess it is because there are only 100 pieces.
James Stacey It's long gone.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Great piece. Lume dial with the blue lacquer markers and hands. No date. Just a really cool piece. And it's the sub 300 formula in terms of that 42 millimeter, beautiful case that we like. And certainly we talked about it plenty last week, so we don't have to go on about it. But that's kind of the first one out of the gate here in terms of DOCSIS and in terms of our watches here.
James Stacey Yeah, totally. And I think it's interesting because that one being a very special 300 comes in at about three grand. And the one that I bought this year is about half that, which is nice. I want to put this first because I just want to be very clear. I think this is probably my sport watch of 2024.
Unknown Oh wow.
James Stacey The Doxa 200T. Yeah. I just think for what you're getting for $1,500, $1,550 on a strap to be clear, but we'll call it $1,500. Yeah. I just really like it. That's very similar money to what you pay for a Seiko SPB. That's significantly less than you pay for an Aqua Racer. I mean, you can't even compare it to the price point of a Submariner or a Blancpain, and you wouldn't because of the difference in watchmaking, but you are buying into a legacy that I think is meaningful, especially if you love diving, the history of diving, Cousteau, all this kind of stuff. And even more so if you're a Clive Custler fan, these watches have a cultural impact that entirely outweighs the price that they command, especially at $1,500. I mean, a normal 300, which I have and love in the 50th anniversary, at 2,800 bucks or something like that, a watch I love and have no intention of selling. And I'm selling stuff. It's all fine. But I think these are really, really good watches. And I just... You know, I bought a handful of watches this year and I would think, you know, with the year previous in 2023, I felt very strongly about my Pelagos 39 being kind of the sport watch that I bought or the watch that I bought. And this year it's the Doxa for a fraction of the price. Yeah. It's, you know, for a third of the price. I just, I just think the value is huge. This is such a fun watch for the money.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I think back to, you know, when, when I, or we, you know, first saw this watch back in, in Geneva, back in, what was it, April or early May. And it's like, that's what I like about doing these retrospectives is that it's like these, I almost remember as you're talking about it, remember the buzz of when we first talked about it. And when I first saw this watch at, at the hotel there, right on, on the shores of, of Geneva lake. And, uh, yeah, really, really good pick and a good place to start, I think with, with two docks, which are, you know, very much in our, in our wheelhouse, certainly.
James Stacey Yeah. And I also think, you know, the, the watch world has gotten progressively more and more expensive with brands, both moving up and also inflation and the rest of it. So I think it is worth highlighting that Docs is a brand where you could get probably the most special, most interesting model they launched this year, this three grand in this topper LE and they're gone. I have no idea what the street price will be. We'll find out of course, but those watches are gone. You can't buy them, which is a huge success for, topper and for Doxa, and I think well-deserved. They made something people really wanted, and what do you know, it sold in a day or two, maybe even less. It seemed to sell exceptionally quickly, because by the time I went to see if I should put a story on Hodinkee, it was already sold out. And I was like, well, at this point, as much as I love these guys, this will only anger people, so we'll skip it. But yeah, I just, I love my sub 200. I bought it through Rolldorf here in Canada. So if you're in Canada as well, you can call them and I'm sure they'd be happy to hook you up with one. I got the diving star, which is the yellow. And then I went on to Etsy and bought a, a very inexpensive, I think it was $20 shark mesh. And for me, that's, that's perfect. Yeah. A docks on a shark mesh. Yeah. I could, I could quit if I, if I didn't, if it wasn't important to not quit, you know what I mean? Right. It's just a great watch. I'm super happy with it.
Jason Heaton Well, let's move on to, we've got another brand that we have two pieces from that kind of is in the same price tier and kind of enthusiast level, very TGN as well. And that would be Christopher Ward, which is a brand that we really hadn't talked about in the previous five, six years of TGN, but they had a good year and we've each got a pick on the list. Why don't you go first with yours?
James Stacey Yeah, mine's the C60 Trident Lumiere. I have it here on my desk. I have it in the gray setting. I think this is a very compelling watch for somebody who might want something downstream of a Pelagos. You don't want to spend $4,000 or $5,000. I guess even some Pelagos push almost to $6,000. But definitely, you're deeply into the fours. And then, Jason, you just looked up the US price, which I don't have on my screen. What was the number again? 2390. So 2390, you're looking at maybe a little, maybe just that's a hair over the halfway point of a Pelagos 39. And I think aside from the legacy that you buy into, the branding, all the stuff that you get with a Tudor, I don't think this watch leaves a whole lot else on the table. It's nicely made. It's thin. It's modern. It has a nice bezel. The action's good. on the bezel. The action on the crown is nice. The bracelet's quite nice. I don't really have a lot to say about these watches in terms of like a detriment for the money. In my mind, this is absolutely a $2,400 watch.
Unknown No question. Yeah.
James Stacey It's got micro adjust in the bracelet. It feels very nicely made. I think it looks really good. if you like a modern design. I would say it's arguably even more modern than something like a Pelagos because you don't have the snowflake hand to ground it in the brand history. But that makes sense for Christopher Ward because they're a much younger brand. But I do think this is... If we were making an episode, and who knows, maybe that's episode 312, brands you should be watching next year, Chris Reward's on that list for sure. It was a mistake for us to gloss over the brand for the last couple years. And thankfully, we've got our buddy Mike Pearson, who helped create TGN at some level and has certainly been around a bunch of brands that we've been fans of for several years. and having his input and the ability to actually see some of these watches, which we just weren't seeing at shows or in person all that often has been a real treat because they really do make a compelling product. And I think you don't have to spend nearly this much. I think a C60 can be considerably less deer than this, but I like the top spec of a good model and that would be the C60 Trident Lumiere. And how about you? What Christopher Ward have you got on your list?
Jason Heaton Yeah, I've got the C65 Super Compressor Elite, they call it. So this is... Again, you know, here's a watch on bracelet $1,825 worth every penny. Hard to say that in luxury watches. Let's just put that right out there. But regardless, it's a fantastic piece. And this is the one with the very colorful decompression scale dial. And then it has the super compressor case. So they kind of re-engineered that whole concept from the 60s from the EPSA super compressor cases with the kind of a spring loaded gasket system that compresses the watch further the deeper it goes. It's got the twin crowns. Just a gorgeous dial. It's a chronometer certified Swiss movement. Just a really well made piece and I got to spend a lot of time with this watch and I was kind of smitten with it. And frankly, I still have it. And actually, the more I wear it, like every time I wear it, I get comments from people that are just not watch people. And they're like, what a beautiful watch. And it's so true. We've seen kind of a few examples over the years of these kind of deco dial watches, Mido's done it. Woolbrook on a really kind of inexpensive end of things does something like this. There have been quite a few. But I think this one stands out. It's got this big white elapsed time scale on the outside and then the blue and the orange in different shades in the middle of the dial. Yeah, it's a really handsome piece and really, really well made. I'm so taken with, and something we brought up in the episode where you talked about the Lumiere and your impressions, is the finishing on the cases of these watches are really top notch. And I think that's what kind of makes them so worth their inexpensive prices. I mean, they're just so good.
James Stacey Yep, I agree. I think they're nicely made. They're good looking watches. I think the brand has a pretty remarkable trajectory ahead of them. Yeah. And it's just worth keeping on your radar, but they're making some great watches. And certainly for me, like this one, you're talking about the super compressor, a couple that we saw in Chicago, and then the Lumiere really stand out for me as like pretty solid, nice sport watches, which I think if they said Zen on the dial, if they said Tudor on the dial, that sort of thing, you know, the price would be different. All right. What's next on your list as far as stuff? I guess we touched briefly on Zinn. Do you have a Zinn on your list? I do.
Jason Heaton Yeah. So again, a watch that I saw in Geneva. What was that awkwardly named? Time to watch.
James Stacey Time to watch. It might make more sense in the Swiss derivation, but the people running it are lovely. So I have no problem with the naming, but it's an awkward thing to say.
Jason Heaton Time to watch. It's always fun to visit with Zinn. And we've got a couple of winners on the list here. And one is the, or mine, I guess, is the The U50SL is what they call it. This is the full lume dial version of the U50, kind of the slightly smaller version of the U1 watch that we've touted quite a bit over time. And the SL is actually a black case, so S for Schwarz, and I assume the L stands for some sort of lume, you know, German word for luminescent dial. This watch just is so it's such a serious looking piece. And yet, you know, we've obviously professed our love for full lume dial watches. But what they did with this one was so smart, and that so many lume dials, including the the topper Doxa edition, it's a completely high contrast lume dial because the hands and the markers are completely black. So this is going to be incredibly legible when the when the lume dial lights up, as opposed to something like our beloved Aqualand, which the hands sort of, you know, blur into the background of the dial when the lights get low. And this just feels quintessential ZIN. I mean, a black ZIN diving watch, lume dial, you just know they're going to do everything right in terms of functionality and high build quality and durability. And yeah, you know, 41 millimeter case, you know, it's going to wear really well. It's got the black hard coating, et cetera, et cetera. So yeah, that's my pick.
James Stacey Yeah, it's a great one. And I would only add to that the Zen they launched alongside the U50 SL, which is the U50 Hydro, Hydro SDR and Hydro S. I just think these are the nerdiest, coolest. If you only want one dive watch, never answer any questions about it, never get any guff, never, never any negative attention. a U50 Hydro. It's so cool. In my mind, these are like a modern take on a Sea-Dweller, like a watch with just real genuine diving chops that was just sold alongside other watches. But these are quartz, they're oil-filled, 41 millimeters, 72 grams of the strap, 5,000 meter water resistance. Is that needed? No. Is it cool? Yeah, it's really cool because it's fun. I like these a lot. I have a real thing for the T50, which is not a 2024 watch, but I do really like the U50 and the UX style hands, the red accents, all this kind of stuff. I think these are super rad watches. Yeah. Oh, next on my list, we'll go from A, if that's more helpful, probably my favorite micro brand of the year, which is the Arken Altarum. I think technically that's a 2023 model. I got mine in 2024, so I'm going to call it a 2024. I have the loom dial. I wear it a ton. I do owe Ken a story for Hodinkee, which at this point will probably be January, but I think it works just as well then. as any other time, but I really like this watch. I wear it a ton. I don't even know where to start. I love Ken. That's the first point. This guy's the coolest. Ken Lamb, who runs Arkin, has become really just a presence I really like in this world. And I like the way that he approaches design. I like the way he approaches branding. I like the way he approaches his own community. and he's active in the TGN Slack, and that's always a treat. But this is just a really cool, unconventional titanium watch that kind of feels within the vein, if you will, of an overseas or 90s, early 2000s Vacheron as far as the bracelet goes.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey But then you have this custom modified movement with a modification that Ken created to allow for a second time zone and 2 a.m. p.m. indicators. And once you have it set, look, does it take a couple of minutes to remember how to set it? Yeah. Every time you kind of mess around with it, then you figure it out and you go, oh, of course, that's how it is. And then you're done. Yeah. So it's not so tough. It's not I wouldn't call it intuitive. You need to really kind of like understand what the watch is trying to do. But once you understand it, it works just fine. It's not that difficult to set. And then once it's set, it's just, you know, it's a date. It's showing you two time zones, 2 a.m. p.m. It's like genuinely handy for traveling.
Jason Heaton I like this watch a lot. Yeah. Two points about that. I think one, it just brings up something we've mentioned over the years, and that is so much of this hobby and the love of watches has to do with the people behind the brands. Look, Arken is not on the same tier in terms of pricing or brand prestige or volume, et cetera, as Bremont is or was, but it was kind of that same vibe when Nick and Giles were running the brand and Mike Pearson was working there. You get this warm feeling with the people that work there and that run the brand, I get that feeling with Ken on his level of running it. I also think your point about it being a little fiddly to set, but once you get it, it's very satisfying. I think that makes this watch, well, there's so many things about this watch that make it the ultimate watch nerd's watch, right?
James Stacey It's definitely in the running, for sure. It's also 600 pounds.
Jason Heaton Yeah, exactly. Easily under a grand. I always think... If you can get one. This brand, I remember when first meeting Ken and I remember when the instrumentum came out and I've got one and it's just... You have an instrumentum? I do, yeah. On the bracelet. You gotta sell that to me, dude. And it feels like a brand that... kind of came from nowhere, came from nothing. And like he made these incredible watches. He wasn't just making some cookie cutter, you know, case off a shelf, uh, going with standard suppliers. Like he had a mission from the get-go and, and the two watches that he's produced so far are just, uh, they're just, they're mind blowing. So yeah. Yeah. We need to have Ken on the show for sure. And we did, I guess, when we were in Toronto, he was there for our guest episode.
James Stacey But we did for a few minutes. But I agree, a full on episode would be great. I think we talked about it. And then we said, ah, we'll go to the UK at some point. And that just hasn't happened. Yeah, we need to stop doing that. As a company, if you will. We should just like get people on mics when they can be on mics. But yeah, huge, huge Ken fan. And, you know, it was amazing to see him at the Toronto timepiece show. If you missed those episodes, go back and check them out because Ken's in them and we went to Swish LA. We had a great time. It was all these sorts of things, but yeah, I, I'm a huge fan of this. It, for me, it really, it hits the exact same part of my soul as Raven and Hallios and Momentum, like these brands that like are run by enthusiasts and want to make enthusiast product, and they make some cool stuff. And I think for Ken, he's remaining very dialed on the perspective on the scope on his audience. And it allows him to actually like execute in the space rather than doing too much.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey And I think that's to his benefit. And he's doing a really nice job. So a huge shout out to Ken and the Altarium. To borrow a phrase from The Ringer, this is a brand I just have season's tickets to. Whatever comes out, I'm at least interested, for sure. Yeah, definitely. I guess you've got a great one from another great English brand, if you want to do that.
Jason Heaton Another brand that we bump into at the smaller shows this past year, always a joy to see them, that's Elliott Brown. I remember I saw this watch for the first time at Wind Up Chicago, And it is the Holton GMT, the automatic version. I've always loved the Holton. It's kind of their most serious and purpose-built watch. It's kind of built on the platform of the watch they started producing for the Special Boat Service in the UK. It's really got some thoughtful features. the one-sided screw-in strap bars, the ultra grippy bezel that you can turn with the palm of your hand from the top, etc, etc. You know, shock-protected quartz or automatic movements in these. The GMT just kind of felt like this natural offshoot from that, and it's just such a handsome piece, and it's got this Slightly kind of vintage-y tan lume, which some people don't care for, but I think on this watch, especially if you pair it with the leather strap that they provided it with, just looks really, really good. And then to top it off, you know, I'm obviously a huge fan of the broad arrow mark that we see on a lot of British watches, et cetera, Vertex, CWC, et cetera. They incorporated that into the GMT hand, and then it's got a 24-hour rotating bezel as well. I'm a big fan of this watch. And definitely, I've got one. I wear it a lot. I've worn it a lot this year. And yeah, I had to make the list because it's a great piece.
James Stacey Yeah. And to that, I would add very quickly the Beachmaster Nevo, which you gave to me. I love this watch. The functionality is incredible. Highly recommend you hit the show notes and take a quick peek at it. Pretty impressive. You also mentioned another one, which reminded me. Man, the Vertex M36. Oh, yes. That was so beautiful.
Jason Heaton Yep. What a watch. Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacey So we've now, you know, proactively added it to the list. I jotted it down there. This is one of those ones where I'd go as far as to say I would be very interested in just buying one. Yeah. I think I've said that on the show. I think it's absolutely gorgeous. It's the right size, says the right name on the dial. I really like what Don is up to with the brand at large. And yeah, this might have to become a reality. It's weird because there's certain watches, there's two or three brands in Japan that I would love to buy, but I want to do it in person. And I kind of feel the same way about Vertex. I would like to go to England, have a coffee or a beer with Don and buy the watch. And maybe that's the move for 2025, if I can make it happen.
Jason Heaton Well, before we kick it too high up market, I mean, we have obviously some higher end brands on this list too, but we've got plenty of kind of affordable stuff. And I think I'm looking squarely at two on your list. You want to talk about the Momentum or the Timex?
James Stacey Oh, sure. Yeah. The Momentum, I think they had an incredible year. They launched the Eclipse Solar UDT. I'm just going to call it the UDT. And this is a watch I wore constantly once I got it. It's essentially a rethinking, a momentum rethinking of the Chronosport UDT. So the fellow that currently owns Momentum, previously owned Chronosport. Chronosport made this really kind of pivotal, interesting, nerdy, analog digital watch in the 80s that was in action movies and in Rambo and in these sorts of things. And these are very popular watches. We've talked a ton about them over the past year, especially because this watch came back out. But they made... It's under $400. I think it's offhand in US. Jason, maybe you could look up the price while I'm rambling here. I want to say $279, but that might've been a pre-order price. And whatever it is they're charging for it, Momentum's a company where I always feel like they're asking a fair number for their watches. So whatever they're asking, it's probably fine. I love this watch. I put it on one of those Wokey or Wochi Amazon Velcro Apple Watch style straps, and it's just the ideal grab and go.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey It's on time because it's quartz. It's solar, so you don't have to worry about that as well. It keeps great time. It's super legible. The functions are all really easy to use. It's actually quite a simple analog digital watch. I really like it. I would buy another. I think they're solid. I've seen a hint at what's coming in 2025 and you can all be excited. So yeah, I would say this is another one that absolutely stood out for me in 2024 for really high value, fun watch experience that doesn't cost a ton of money. Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Heaton Yeah. And I just looked up the price and I mean, it's crazy. This is, I mean, looking back at our holiday episode, Not quite stocking stuff for territory, but this is a $369 watch.
James Stacey $369, okay. Killer.
Unknown Great stuff.
James Stacey And then the other one that you mentioned, if we're just blitzing through them here, would be a watch I've talked a lot about, which is the Timex Abu Garcia. So it's an 8-lap OG Timex made for a distributor in Japan. And Abu Garcia, for those of you who are fishermen, you'll know the name brand. But for those who aren't, they make all sorts of fishing gear, specifically, I think, fly fishing. And they made this watch, which I ended up with because my colleagues at Hodinkee Japan sent me almost one of all of these eight laps, these cool eight lap versions made for Japan. So Jason, you have the gray shades, which is probably the sweetest of the bunch. And it's super cool. It's just such a rad watch. And then I have the original eight lap OG, which looks like a watch from the nineties, but as a modern one, also incredible. Currently, none of them are on sale and the Abu Garcia is out of stock. at $173. I would say maybe don't spend $173 if you're just looking for some consumer advice. Because I feel like we've recorded episodes where we talked about this and it was like $118. Yeah. What I would do is bookmark this page and check it occasionally or put it in some sort of a watch app. and take a look. Cause I think the Abu Garcia, the gray shades and the standard eight lap, which is the gray, black, orange are all absolute bangers. And I've seen them as low as 93 bucks. Wow. And this is out of Japan and they'll ship anywhere where you're located. So highly recommend those. I'm not sure you could find, you could have more fun for your dollar than the Abu Garcia. The case is luminous. So like the whole case is luminous. It's kind of this mix of gray and purple-y kind of tones. It's really cool. I'll include a link to it, of course. Again, I'm not sure it's a $173 thing when I've seen it frequently for less than $140, but worth keeping an eye out for, for sure.
Jason Heaton Yeah and Timex is clearly aware of the rekindled popularity of the Iron Man in general because I just caught a glimpse of something earlier today where they've come out with one on a bracelet that they're selling and so they're they're kind of they're spinning it out and that's I'm all for it because it's a cool watch. Yeah, for sure. What have you got else on your list? Well, if we're kind of sticking in the same space with the Momentums and the Zins and the Arkans, whatever, I feel like another very TGN watch that came out this year is the Osar D from Marathon, a brand that is near and dear and that we did a nice event with them in Toronto not so long ago. The Osar D, I believe O stands for original, Sar being the search and rescue watch. This is the watch that kind of started it all for Marathon. It was the watch that they were making for the Canadian search and rescue techs back in the early 2000s and was a darling of military watch resource and some other kind of nerd forums back in the day. I remember when these were out there, you know, similar formula to kind of the standard SAR that we love. But it goes back to the pre tritium dial version that had these Giant, you know painted markers on the dial and this one has it, you know as a Cyclops on the date for the date version Just just a great watch. I mean, we've talked so much about marathon I don't think we need to go on too much about it But it did come out this year and we saw it at the Toronto timepiece show and it's it's a great piece
James Stacey Yeah. And I think if you go back and look at 2023 best watches, I'd be surprised if I didn't bring up the SS Navdy. I just brought it up recently on two episodes. Remains an incredible watch. Don't forget, if you go back, you know, you're watching our favorite watches of 2024. Most of the watches are still available from 2023, 2022. You know, you could go back and get like a 300 watch suggestions by listening to a couple hours of audio. But there's definitely some good stuff. Look, I think, let me buzz through a few here. Autodromo Group C, I bought one of these at Windup. And I just love it. I bought the yellow Cerakote. It's really fun. It's not my most practical or useful watch, but I absolutely love with the right outfit, with the right scenario, you're going for a drive, perfect. Absolutely love it. Highly recommend, great value for money there. What else did we see on the less expensive side? Scuba 50 from Blancpain & Swatch. I have the Ocean of Storms, which is the all black one. Great watch for the money, I think. I still think that.
Jason Heaton Wow, that's 2024 still. Wow, that seems like ages ago.
James Stacey I think to be fair, it came out like November 23. Okay. I got it in 2024, so I'm playing the Arkin Altarum list here. Yeah, I see it as a 2024 watch by the time people could actually go just walk into a store and buy it. But I think for $400, thereabouts, $379, something like that, pretty compelling and a nice alternative if you would like to spend that kind of money, but you're like, maybe I don't want to anti-digi from Momentum. You get an entirely different spec, but like a very similar sort of value proposition of like a cool watch for the money. Obviously, these aren't like highly repairable and all that kind of stuff, which like if that bothers you, you're not in the market for one. But it's just a kind of a cool watch that I'll probably keep for a few more months and then give to somebody. I'm absolutely a fan and I think they did a nice job with it.
Jason Heaton Well, you mentioned Anadigi and you've got a Citizen on the list. This is the ProMaster. I do.
James Stacey This is rad.
Jason Heaton Yeah.
James Stacey So this is the 822 ProMasters. I'm a big fan of these. I have two of them in my office. I'm actually just very much not keeping up with the pace of having to write about new watches. So thankfully, Citizen is fine lending these for quite some time to me. But I like these watches a lot. So this is the Citizen ProMaster Land. It's the anti-digi. It uses the new movement. So you get a higher resolution screen and a backlight and a bunch of new features and really just a solid watch. It's a large watch, but it wears really well. I've got both versions here, one on a strap, one on the bracelet. And I think both are quite compelling watches, especially if you don't mind a slightly larger case dimension and put some value in having a really full featured expression of the anti-digi like this is as close as you're going to get to a smartwatch before you have to have something where the whole thing is a screen. Yeah, this watch can just do a lot. And the legibility is weirdly good because the screen is the dots are smaller, as dumb as that sounds like the resolution of the of the MIP screen is higher. And it's just like a very comfortable thing to be able to read from a distance. It has a backlight, all that kind of stuff. So I'm a huge fan of these. I will eventually put a story on Hodinkee. I just haven't gotten to it yet. And obviously with these ones that have so many features, it can be some work to try and put a story together. But I like these a lot. Yeah. Have you had a chance to see these in person?
Jason Heaton Maybe just quickly at windup? Just quickly at windup. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess I did tinker with it a little bit when I was at your house just a little over a month ago, a couple of months ago. Yeah.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey Yeah. So the way to tell these apart from any others is one, they look a lot like a Nighthawk. Yeah. And then on top of that, they'll almost certainly, within the watch space, they'll include the term U822, which is the movement set, which allows for the better screen and all these other functions. Personally, the only thing I would say on this is I would love one where the rest of the dial was much more simple, which I think we talked about a couple months ago when we chatted about these watches. Yeah. I'm looking at Ariel from a blog to watch Ariel's review came up just a couple of days ago. Oh, yesterday. So I'm not actually that late. Apologies to the citizen, of course, that I've been hanging onto their watches for so long. But yeah, I think the same thing, the screen, the big hands, the big markers, great. But maybe do you need the sub-dials? I think not. Let's just, I would say, like, give us a simplified version. Could be pretty fun. I think it's also exciting to dream of a world where this movement goes into an aqualand.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey Which could be very exciting. Or something similar in aesthetic to the current aqualands.
Jason Heaton Well, speaking of Aqua, a brand that we should not overlook here and a significant watch that came out earlier this year was the Aqua Star Benthos 502, the founder's edition. Our buddy Rick still singing the hits at Aqua Star. I mean, if anyone knows how to revive a brand or recreate absolute icons of watch history, it's Rick Mirai at Aqua Star. And this watch, look, it's not an inexpensive watch. I mean, it's a $3,790 watch. But look, we both know Rick. The guy, he's very cost conscious. He knows when things feel too expensive. He divulged to me that he was concerned about the price of this. But I know he squeezes everything out of these things to make them as affordable as he can. And this watch is no slouch. This watch is that expensive because it required the development of an entirely new movement. And he worked with Lejoux-Perret for years on this one to get that central minute chronograph hand and recreate this, what's essentially a modern version of a real icon from 1970 in the benthos. So hats off to him and a great piece.
James Stacey Yeah. I think, look, the only way that you could say this watch doesn't make sense is if you can't deal with a thicker watch because of the movement, because of the water resistance, all of that. It is a bit on the thick side at 15, 15 and a half millimeters. I think it's 15.4 if I remember correctly. But goodness sakes, is this a cool watch that's the same dimensions as the original with a very cool movement I love this. I think he did it. I think this is like a bit of a... Like, this is flagship Rick, if I can. And Rick, if you don't like that, send me a text message. But I think this is very cool. I was super impressed by it. I can't wait to see what Aquastar comes up with in the coming year, if this is kind of the arc that they're on. I just think they just keep turning out watches that are pretty appealing. Yeah. All right.
Jason Heaton Let's keep the momentum here. What's next? We're... Want to give us some Tudor? Well, yeah, before we get out of the truly affordable stuff, well, not that the Benthos is necessarily, but you have a Seiko on the list and I totally overlooked this. Oh, I do.
James Stacey Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's the SPB451, 453, which is just the evolution of the 20 mass, which is a watch I absolutely adore. I think they just did such a nice job of ever so slightly improving an already great watch that didn't really need to be improved in many ways. But the SPV451 and 453 are absolutely great watches and should be on your radar, especially if you want to move up in the Seiko world, but you don't want to go to Grand Seiko, you don't want a Marine Master, you want something you could wear every day. I think this is a great offering.
Jason Heaton All right, you mentioned Tudor. I think Tudor is a good place to go. Yeah, we've got a bunch of Tudor on the list. They had a good year. Yeah, they did. Let's start with the most recent work backwards, I guess, and that would probably be the FXD GMT, one that you've had extensive hands-on time with and wrote up for Hodinkee recently. And we did an entire episode about it, so I guess we don't have to go too deep into it, but it deserves to be on the list for sure.
James Stacey Uh, yeah, I look, I think, I think as even just being downstream of the black FXD, which again, I said in the article, and I understand it's a big statement to make, but when I wrote up the FXD GMT, I said like, look, this is a derivation of an existing watch that came out in 2023, which is the black FXD, which I think might be the best sport watch in the world right now. yeah pound for pound gram for gram however you want to call it i would i would go for a pelagos 39 yeah i like having the option of the bracelet the ability to put other straps on it i like that it's a little smaller uh you know 39 instead of 41 and and all that kind of stuff but this is a really good watch. And the imprint on the community is very divisive because of the coloring, because it's a FXD with a GMT and not this with a GMT or not that. And look, I'm part of that problem. Do I wish this was a P39 GMT, maybe even blue, blue, orange, something like that? Yeah, of course. I drew that watch in Photoshop four or five years ago. I'm on the same page as many of you, but that doesn't make this watch lesser. And yeah, I think they did a really nice job with it. But I also think they had a really good year to begin with. I like that the FXD is an off-axis sort of presentation, so it doesn't necessarily come out at Watches and Wonders. We get something in the late summer, fall scenario. I think it was end of October, we got the FXD GMT. And I think it's a winner, but it's a winner that comes downstream of BB-58 GMT and the Tudor Chrono Blue, the BB Chrono. But in blue, I think both really successful. The new monochrome, which is its nickname, but the new all-black 41 millimeter black Bay. Incredible. Like just, they, they took an idea that, you know, came out a decade ago and they, they, it feels like it finally found it's like home as no, no box left unchecked. I guess, you know, you may or may not like one or two elements about it, but it's largely a monochromatic watch, so there's no coloring there to kind of upset you, which kind of seems to be the tone with tutor feedback these days is like, oh, it's great if it wasn't this, or oh, it's great if it wasn't this color, which I both get and also it is what it is. They're going to make what they make. But I think they had a really good year. And I'm so excited to see what they come up with next year.
Jason Heaton I, I, you know, I'll just throw this out there. I, as I look at this list, as I look at past years, the past few years, a Tudor is in my mind, without a doubt, the hottest brand and watches right now. I mean, they're just sport watches. No question. Well, the watches I like, let's put it that way. I mean, it's just one hit after another car. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cycling team, sailing stuff, uh, formula one, like they're just okay. Forget all that. Like the watches themselves are just,
James Stacey So good. Yeah, none of that would be... That's a good point. None of it would be interesting if the watches weren't good.
Unknown Yeah, yeah.
James Stacey We can all name corporate sponsorships of major cool events where the watches are just duds. Yeah, yeah. To be clear, I don't believe we've seen what they're bringing out if they bring something out for Dakar. Yeah. Am I excited? Yeah.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey Yeah, I'm really excited. That's January, so let's hold our breath and see what happens. But I think they had a great year, and I remain just such a fan of this brand's ability to take something of the mid-century Rolex excellence and apply it to a modern watch. Specifically within the Pelagos world. I like a lot of their watches, but it's a Pelagos thing for me. What else have you got on your list? Oh, we've got a couple of Zeniths. How about you drop your Zenith and I can do mine.
Jason Heaton Yeah. So Zenith again, back in Geneva at Watches and Wonders, the the two Zenith Defy dive watches. For years we've been talking about like Zenith needs a good dive watch in their collection and then lo and behold they came out with two, both called the Defy, but one which is I believe they call it the Revival and it's this very accurate kind of update to a watch that they made back in the, I believe the sixties or seventies, you know, kind of a very geometric case, bright orange bezel and dial just an amazing and recreation with, with full on, you know, 600 meters of water resistance you know, high end, you know, kind of Zenith movement, good, good quality. Yeah. And then there was the Defy Extreme Diver, which would, you know, had the, the funky straps that you could quick release, um, just a big watch, big, fun, colorful watch. It was definitely on my list as, as one of the top two or three watches that I saw at, at Watches and Wonders. And, you know, as a dive watch enthusiast, it's always exciting to see a new kind of high-end watch, you know, not just, you know, especially one from a brand like Zenith that just hasn't been in the dive watch game for, for several years. So. Yeah. Two winners in my book.
James Stacey Yeah. And the only one I would add to that is the LE that Hodinke did with Zenith this year, which is the Chronomaster original triple calendar, but each of the sub-dials is meteorite. I've only gotten a chance to spend about a half an hour with this watch, and I absolutely fell in love. It was one of those rare ones that come up, and maybe they'll come up again. There's certainly come up again in my list today where you just go like, yeah, this isn't, I can't afford it, but I definitely like it. Yeah. So that, that one's on my list is probably my favorite Zenith of the year at the, the meteorite triple Cal is rad. Yeah, and then next up, we had a couple from Omega that I think was quite interesting. How about you lead with yours?
Jason Heaton Yeah, you know, we recently talked about how Omega's kind of fallen away from kind of our list of favorite brands, but they did have a solid year. And I think I would consider myself a bit of a lukewarm Speedmaster fan. I own a vintage one. I've had a lot of respect for the Speedmaster, but I'm not like a rabid fan of them. But the most recent first Omega in space Speedmaster that was released just within the past month or two with the deep blue-gray dial and that Fotina lume, 39-millimeter case with the straight lugs, reminiscent of the 1962 one that Wally Schirra rode into space in a Mercury spacecraft. Really, really is an amazing watch. And something about that new colorway with just that hint of blue-gray just makes all the difference. I mean, just a beautiful, beautiful watch.
James Stacey Yeah, I agree. An absolute winner. Next to that, I would also put the white dial Speedy, which I think might be a 2023 release, to be fair. But I really like that watch. I think it's absolutely, every time I see it, it's gorgeous. And that comes from a guy that's not like a core Speedy fan. What I will throw out, and I think it's their best release of the year, are the two no-date, quote unquote, Daniel Craig Seamasters. Both, I don't care which one you pick. The black dial, this should be, This is the closest they've come to having a direct competitor to a sub in a little while. And then the silver dial with the relief bezel, also so Omega, so fun. I really like these. On a mesh, let's go.
Jason Heaton Yeah, throw some proper sword hands on that black one and I'd be able to win. Could you imagine? I'd be fine.
James Stacey Or I'd at least be trying. If they put sword hands on that black one and made a moderate 2.254, come on. It'd be real good. So yeah, those ones are absolutely in there. You can't really throw a blind eye towards Omega's year, as I think it was quiet. And you and I have been not negative, but critical of their strategy. And then boom, they come out with these watches. The Daniel Craig models, as they're being called, came out in the end of November. So it's just recent. But just kudos to them. I think that this is the sort of product that will actively engage people. I think the pricing is high, but you're getting a very tech-forward, modern watch. You're not just buying a 2254 they still make now or a 2538 or whatever. You are buying a today watch, which from Omega, that's what they cost. They're 6,500 bucks on a mesh or 5,900 on the rubber. And I don't know, between those, would you spend that much more money for the mesh? I love mesh straps, but they're not that expensive to come by. They're only $600. And to be clear, they also probably make one of the best rubbers out there. Yeah, I agree. It's just really good. Your white one that you had on a rubber was great. keeping the pace going. Next up on my list was a brand down from Omega, but still within the group, and that's Longines. And I think they also had a pretty solid year. But specifically, I would shout out their Spirit Zulu Time 39 in titanium, which Hodinkee in 2023 did an LE that I absolutely adore, and it sold out. And I think this is the production version of that watch. It's a little bit different, but not wildly. This is a really good watch. I wear mine a lot. you get a ton of value, it's grade five, it's nicely finished, it's got a solid movement that keeps good time. It doesn't quite look like a lot else. The Hodinkee one, to be fair, looked a lot like a Black Bay Pro, which is a fair sort of criticism from folks. But I think the standard one just kind of looks like a cool Longines. And the Hydra Conquest GMT was last year, I believe. But I think this is an absolute winner for the price point and the size and the rest of it.
Jason Heaton you know, Longines is a brand that we don't talk about a ton. I mean, it pops up occasionally and then we kind of gush about it and then it goes away. But like, it's a brand that doesn't, for such a major brand with an incredible history and some really cool watches, I feel like it just doesn't get the attention it deserves in many respects. Because, you know, their pricing is often accessible, obviously super high quality, great designs. So yeah, hopefully, you know, well, I'll put it out there even just to myself, like pay more attention to Longines. I'll just say that.
James Stacey I do really like those watches, and I really like what Longines is up to currently. So even outside of the sport watch world, they're just doing a nice job. Yeah. Yeah. So big shout out to them. Pumped to see what they come up with. Oh, I mean, speaking of watches that are maybe not revolutionary, but more of an evolution, in 2024, we saw an update of both the Oris Aquus and the Oris Diver 65, both to kind of simplify ad refinement, that sort of thing. And I just think they did a great job. Did they get a ton of fanfare for it? No. You typically have to change a lot to get the fanfare. Yeah. But I think they did a really nice job. And they took two watches that were already really solid consumer products and just refined several elements, even down to things like the font. like minor touch points they really thought about and went through. And I think that's a nice kind of signifier of how Auris operates. Yeah, I agree. I don't think they need to rethink their line in any way. I think they have a solid lineup, but a nice bit of refinement is always welcome.
Jason Heaton On the other end of kind of the price spectrum and kind of going back to this watch group briefly, I had the new Blancpain 50 fathoms in the 42 millimeter size that came out this year. They've got the titanium version either on a lovely tropic style rubber strap with a pin buckle or then they've got the titanium on bracelet or or you can go gold for a fair bit more money. But, you know, we've talked a long time. Of course, I'm actually wearing today my 45 millimeter titanium and I love it. But, you know, we've often talked about how a 42 or even smaller, you know, 39, 40, whatever would be great. And someone was listening and it's just a great piece and we both handled this watch and they're just, they're amazing. They're so good.
James Stacey If I was in the market, I would not hesitate. That's a great watch. I was so thrilled to get to play around with one in person. And at the same time, I'm very impressed by the watch. I'm continually and perpetually impressed by Blancpain and the ocean equipment and everything that they put into the dive side. I just, yeah, I just think it's, it's pretty solid stuff. So that's, that's a good call out for sure. I had a couple other, like we could call them micro brands or small brands, that sort of thing. It's up to you. The VPC type 37 HW I thought was rad.
Unknown Oh yeah.
James Stacey It was like a very fun experience that I had earlier this year. So if you don't remember that, I'll put it in the show notes. So VPC comes out of Thomas van Straten's mind, and Thomas is previously and probably still is a writer with Fratello watches. And he just made a really gorgeous sport watch that crossed ever so delicately into the world of dress watches. And I just really liked the watch. I thought the pricing was okay. I thought the quality was great. I thought the watch was quite beautiful and wore really well and was the right size and all that kind of stuff. So the VPC 37 HW is on my list for kind of shout outs for the year. It was a treat to spend some time with the watch. And I love when you can tell like a watch was made by an enthusiast. They check all the boxes. There's certain things that you just go like, yeah, this bracelet was made by someone who's owned a lot of bracelets. And the size of this crown is from someone who's owned watches with crowns that are too small and that kind of thing. And that certainly tracks. Other ones that stood out for me, if we're just going to kind of blast through them, and then we have a couple of kind of higher cost ones to end it out. The Oaken Oscar Atwood chronograph, I had a chance to see that at Wind Up Chicago, and was just very impressed. It just wore so nicely. And they make a solid watch for the money. They just really do. They always have. And to see them push into the chronograph space, maintain their sort of design language, if you go to a wind up next year and can try it on your wrist, it really is just a sweet thing in terms of its proportions, which is kind of a hard thing to communicate digitally. But if you certainly if you get a chance, or if you're coming through Chicago, see if you can connect with the Oakland Oscar folks, because that's a pretty solid watch. And if you're in the market for a sort of classic chronograph, that's still fairly sporty. I think that's a good option. And then last one I threw in there is a watch that man, I figure I probably spend I don't know, a couple hours a month just kind of drooling over this watch. Yeah. And this is the Ming 37.09 Bluefin. Fully sold out, was about 5,000 CHF. For me, this watch represents mid-century sort of super compressors, but at the same time, the really cool stuff that came out of IWC in the late 90s, early 2000s, the GST line, the Cousteau stuff. So it is a double crown sort of compressor. And then all of a sudden, it's also the most modern watch you can imagine. I have to own a Ming at some point. At some point, I've looked at every model they've ever made. I'm such a fan of his photography before he had a brand. all this sort of stuff. And to see something like this, I go like, ah, that's probably the one. I didn't have that kind of money, didn't need to spend it, all that kind of stuff. So maybe someday in the future, but I wanted to at least give it a shout out. If you don't know the watch, I mean, it's in the show notes, the 3709 Bluefin. Jason, I think this is also like maybe as close as a Ming for you as I could imagine.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Oh, definitely. I'm revisiting the story with those photos and it's, I mean, the shape of the lugs, the color coding on the gasketing. I mean, it's all these little details that just, the rubber strap. I mean, so much of it just makes me smile. I love the three dimensionality of the, of the crystal and the markings. And yeah, that's, that's a really cool piece.
James Stacey 38 millimeter steel.
Jason Heaton Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacey 600 meters, water resistance, cool loom. Yeah.
Unknown I love these. Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacey I just, I just think they look so cool and I'd be so thrilled to wear one. So maybe someday in the future, but I at least wanted to get a shout out in there.
Jason Heaton Well, I've got one left and it is, um, we're talking kind of esoteric, um, interpretations of a dive watch moving on from Ming. Uh, this was probably first half of the year. If not the entire year, this is probably my favorite watch to actually spend some time with, uh, of the year. And that is the singer re-imagined dive track. Um, it's just something else. I mean, to even just call it a dive watch or a watch is not doing it justice. This, this, you know, being able to kind of sit in that room with that thing and spend time with it and hear it, um, explained to me how it all works. Like it's a total re-imagining of, of a dive watch architecture. You know, is this a watch that you'd wear every day? Uh, probably not. Is it a watch that's the most practical dive watch? No. Um, but I just love what Singer's doing. I love the, there's this element of. sort of Teutonic functionality, but then there's some whimsy to it, like with the markings on the dial. It's just, yeah, it's mind-blowing. I think it's just a really fun watch from somebody obviously that loves watches, you know, the creators of this, but also for people who just really nerd out on some of the little stuff, the click of the bezel, the functioning of the chronograph. Yeah. Really clever, really well-made and just interesting. And I'd love to see brands like this and like Ming just pushing the boundaries of what's possible because a dive watch is a hard thing to reinvent and Singer kind of did that. So yeah.
James Stacey I'm so glad you brought up. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so glad you brought up the dive track. I think this is one of the coolest watches of the year for sure.
Unknown Yeah.
James Stacey Yeah. I just think it's so funny and so interesting, obviously ludicrously expensive, but that doesn't really bother me. I'm not trying to like, I'm not selling a car to be able to afford one. I'm just enjoying it from the, from the stands. Yeah. I don't have to be a player in this game, but I just, I just think it's so cool. Yeah. I think that's a great place to end our list of watches. I'm not sure how many we got to there. It had to have been 20, 20 plus. Eclectic list. As you know, you know what we're coming up to next if you listen to this. What did we miss? What was your favorite of the year? What watch did you absolutely love? Maybe you bought it, maybe you didn't, maybe you're hoping to buy one next year. Maybe it's just a thing that you saw and you thought, well, that's pretty special and I'm here for it. Let us know. You can always drop us an email at thegreatnado at gmail.com, but if you want to be part of the grander conversation, But if you want to be part of the grander conversation, be sure to dip into the Slack. You can get in there for as little as $5 a month, and we have really, really good conversations about all these sorts of things. And I guarantee within, you know, like an hour of this episode coming out, the Slack will remind me of the 20 watches we forgot about that we didn't cover. And it wasn't purposeful. Obviously, it's difficult to get to everything. We're well over an hour at this point. So Please let us know if you want to continue the conversation on the Slack. We'll have a really good time. But how about, Jason, you and I dip into some final notes.
Jason Heaton Yeah, let's do it. You know, we've talked about Wes Seiler, the writer on TGN before. We're both big fans of his work. covers everything from, you know, kind of the outdoor space. He's a hunter and an outdoorsman and, you know, kind of lives out in the mountains, in the mountain west of the US. But he's also a real car guy and a real expert on off-roading and off-road vehicles and trucks and camping. And today I just got his latest Substack and he's a very prolific Substack writer. So I'd first of all recommend that you subscribe to his His substack, it's really good and so far he hasn't even offered a paid version, which he said he's going to at some point. But today's post was one that I would definitely file under the strong opinions, I don't know about loosely held, I know that's your tagline. I'm not sure he's loosely holding it, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Why you shouldn't buy an Ineos Grenadier and which 4x4 you should buy instead. His subtitle is the English chemicals conglomerate owned Austrian engineered French made German powered Land Rover replica isn't by far the best 4x4. Just judging by that you can tell he's got some strong opinions about this. I read through it. I wrote a fairly lengthy comment to it kind of defending Owners of defenders or at least my own experience with owning a defender because he does talk a bit about kind of the mindset or kind of the current market for defender ownership and kind of what that vehicle is all about. But I respect his opinions. He's a great writer. He's got some great viewpoints. Um, and I won't go into detail. I could look, I could talk for an hour about this particular story and about kind of our differences of opinions and that sort of stuff, but it's fascinating. It's great. And he's always got, got good stuff. So check it out.
James Stacey Yeah. I read this as soon as it came in. I was subscribed to Wes's, uh, sub stack, uh, when Wes did, you know, used to write for outside and, and other elements previously, I would always read his stuff. And I think he takes a very, look, Is there a little bit of clickbait into why you shouldn't buy the Ineos Grenadier? Sure, a little bit. That's how the internet is. I wouldn't even remotely blame Wes for going down that route. I do think he's a spec. Hunter for trucks, especially yeah, and it's because he went down it himself and then he made a choice In West if I got this wrong drop me an email the grenade or gmail.com. We'd be we'd be thrilled to have you on Yeah, I'm a big fan as is clearly Jason But I believe he went down the road of picking a truck for his own lifestyle. Yeah, and then in feedback for the truck and he started to write more about trucks and why he picked this versus that. And there's the cult of the Toyota thing, and there's the Ranger thing, and now there's the Defender thing, and now we have the Grenadier. And I would say most of the points he brings up in this article are absolutely spot on.
Unknown Yeah, definitely.
James Stacey some would require more experience than I have, which is just to be fair. But like his point about the idea that how are you ever going to get a part for one of these?
Unknown Oh, yeah, that really rang true. Great point. Yeah. Yeah.
James Stacey Yeah. I thought it was a very interesting story. I mean, like Wes can be I mean, he's very clear in saying he hasn't driven one, although I would say none of the points that he calls against the Ineos are about how it would drive at all. So I don't think he's being unfair in any way. I thought it was a great story. And I thought it was largely like a pretty fair take on something that clearly he's trying to steer people away from. And he gives you a handful of pretty good options or reasons for doing that. Yeah, good one for sure. And Wes, serious offer. I'll send you a microphone if you don't have one. We would love to have you on the show. Yeah, I agree.
Jason Heaton All right. What do you have?
James Stacey Yeah. So for mine, going back to what I said at the top of the show, I love this part of year where we start to look back or in some ways look forward or when you're doing it best. And we know Henry Catchpole always does it best. You look in both directions at the same time. Yeah. And I would be remiss to not include the Hagerty bull market video for 2025. So this is the 2025 bull market list. 11 cars collectors should buy and in capitals drive this year. I really like these videos. They're very clear to say that this, it's not that we're saying you should buy one as an investment. It's that the value on these is not in line with other cars like it, which means you could get a car for less money and have the same experience as a more expensive car. Yeah. This is all I want from automotive journalism. And Henry's my favorite. I love this guy. You know, we definitely have to have him on the show again soon, but this is a really good video. And right from the get-go, we're kicking around in vintage Volvos. We're driving some very cool old Ferraris. I can't even name because I don't want to give anything away, but they're not as old as you think, but they're older than you think at the same time. This is just a great video. Highly recommend it. Hagerty does such a good job with this sort of stuff. And to see Henry, you know, out in 11 different collector cars talking about why this might offer you something that you would otherwise have to pay a lot more for, I think is quite an interesting premise for a video. So one of my favorite videos of the year always is the bull market list. I think they've done it since 2023. So this would be the third one. I could be wrong. Maybe they've been doing it longer, but this is a goodie and I highly recommend it. Even just as entertainment. I'm not buying any of these cars, I don't think.
Jason Heaton Yeah, well, we're recording this in the evening here, and as soon as I'm done walking the dog, I'm going to watch this over dinner. So it looks great. Yeah, cool. All right. Well, good retrospective episode, just like this video. Well, I guess it's more looking ahead, but looking back at older cars.
James Stacey Yeah, for sure.
Jason Heaton Well, as always, thank you so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to The Show Notes, get into the comments for each episode, and please do for this one especially, 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.
James Stacey And we leave you with this quote from Lyndon B. Johnson, who said, There are no favorites in my office. I treat them all with the same general inconsideration.