The Grey Nato - Episode 08 - "The Ones That Got Away"
Published on Tue, 10 May 2016 08:59:27 -0400
Synopsis
Jason Heaton and James Stacey discuss watches they regret selling in the past, including the Omega Ploprof, Doxa divers, Tudor Pelagos, and vintage pieces like the Rolex GMT 1675. They also talk about thin dive watches under 12mm for a listener question, recommended budget options, and the merits of buying newer vs older watches like the Omega Speedmaster Professional. For their final notes, Jason recommends the book "The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands" and the "What's On Her Wrist" blog, while James suggests the short films "Haywire" and "Car Maniacs: Life with Le Mans".
Links
Transcript
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| James Stacey | Welcome to episode 8 of The Grey Nado, a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, gear, and most certainly watches. I'm James Stacy. |
| Jason Heaton | And I'm Jason Heaton. Today we're talking about watches that we regret selling, thin divers, some best moonwatch buys, and we've got enough final notes to see you through to the next week. So let's jump right in here. We picked as our main topic this week watches that we regret selling, the ones that got away is what we've titled the episode. And we just thought that we'd kind of go through watches that we've owned and we've sold and maybe talk a little bit about what we liked about them, why we sold them, and then maybe why would we buy them again. So James, I'll jump right in. When I first got into watches, I had a different job. I had a day job that paid a little more than my current freelance gig does. And I just bought, sold, and traded like crazy. I was kind of a, what they call a flipper. I spent a lot of time on the forums. And, you know, I had some pretty epic watches, but I think I wasn't quite at the maturity of watch collecting or watch knowledge to kind of do what I really had. So, you know, one of the ones I think that's probably at the top of my list was the the Omega Ploprof, and I'm talking about the modern one, which I'm sure you're familiar with from Baselworld's past. It's such a great, such a really well-made watch. It's a watch that when you look at it close up or from a distance or in photos, it just seems like a watch that shouldn't work just because it's like a brick. It's just so square and slab-sided and kind of awkward. But, you know, it wore quite well. I had it on the black rubber strap right from the beginning. It has a great movement. It was kind of the early days of the 8500 caliber that Omega came out with. They kind of just did everything right with that watch. I remember when they announced it and it came off, I remember seeing it on timezone.com and I saw the photo and I was like, I just had to have that watch and saved up for it, went and bought it. And it wasn't long after I bought it that I went on a three-week trip to Sri Lanka. This was back in 2009. And I just, I wore that watch for, for three weeks while we were over there and, you know, diving with it and hiking and just wore it nonstop. It was, it was just a great watch. I, I ended up selling it, I think, because I had this notion for a while that, that I kind of wanted to pare down my collection to kind of one or two daily wear pieces. And I had a couple of other watches at the time and the Ploprof just given the bulk of it. I mean, it was really a heavy watch and it sat really high on the wrist. Um, just didn't fit the bill, you know, |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I think the whenever I see the plow prof and you know, they launched a new model at Boswell with last year, or a new version. I mean, it's always a plow prof, you know, new colors, and I think it had a new movement as well. And whenever I see it, I'm always confronted with the kind of like sense memory of a certain car, which is the Lamborghini LM002. This is this is their, their failed SUV. Yeah, so it's super rare. Nothing has ever looked like an LM002. I can't actually speak to its capability. Obviously the Ploprof is a very capable dive watch and a very interesting design. Yeah. But I always look at it and I look at the Ploprof and I always think like, this thing is just, it was its own thing. Like it doesn't matter how long that design's been around, nothing really like sharked it, nothing came after it. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it just kind of stands out and yeah, I've tried it on and they're kind of big and I tried on a new one at Baselworld this year, a new colorway with a gray dial and an orange bezel. It's on my Instagram. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | They're big and they're kind of, yeah, they're chunky, but they're so much fun. Yeah. And they, they really feel like a dive watch crossed with mechanical watch. And they're, they're just, they're kind of crazy and fun. And it's really strange that Omega is still a company that would continue to make that watch. Cause you correct me if I'm wrong, it wasn't successful. Right. |
| Jason Heaton | I mean, back in the day. Right. I mean, you know, when it was introduced in 1970, it was such a purpose-built watch that actually never quite caught on, I don't think. I mean, I think it was sort of in competition with the Sea-Dweller back in the day, and the Sea-Dweller obviously went on to great renown and a lot of use, but the Ploprof, you know, I don't know, I think even with the modern one, it has that push-button release for the bezel, which doesn't really work very well in practice. I mean, diving or topside, it's just kind of awkward. You have to hold three fingers in a certain position to get it to work. But you're right. I mean, the fact that Omega still builds that watch, I love it. I love them for it. I think, I think it's great. And it's, it's such a conversation starter. It's just one of those watches that, you know, people see it on your wrist and it's like, what is that? It has this sort of modernist, almost like an art piece or something. |
| James Stacey | Oh, no doubt. And the, the, uh, like a real original one has to be, you know, at least in the watch world to the same order of magnitude, as rare as an LMO to Lamborghini, just really rare. So when you see one, almost regardless of your feelings towards Omega or Lamborghini or whatever, You have to just kind of think like, this thing's awesome. Like, I don't know anybody who looks at that watch and doesn't go like, well, I think this is really crazy cool. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I mean, whether you'd wear it or not is beside the point. It's just one of those things that you look at and say, it's just, it's just a cool piece of engineering, you know? And I'm not sure, I actually don't think I would buy another new one. But just wearing that one kind of endeared me to the whole idea of a ploprof. And I think, you know, I'm leaning a little more vintage these days and I think if the right vintage one came along, I'd probably do my best to pick it up. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, that'd be pretty expensive, I think. Yeah. But definitely cool. I mean, like I said, an original one, that's, I don't know, cool old dive watches that are also rare. Yeah. That's, you know, well in our wheelhouse. Yeah. Do you want me to pull one from my list here? Yeah, yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | What's your first choice? |
| James Stacey | So when I got into... I really only recently got into kind of luxury level watches. Before a blog to watch, I was writing with another website that mostly focused on watches under $1,000. So within that range, my first few years of the hobby were with sometimes rarer watches, but nothing super expensive. So the first one on my list that I would definitely own again and would like to have someday is the Bathys 100 Fathom. I had a PVD case with the gray ruthenium dial. Oh, yeah. This is one of the first automatics I ever owned. I really attached to the kind of Hawaii dive watch, but no bezel because it wasn't really for diving. It was more just for an everyday sort of water lifestyle. Yeah. And I really liked the aesthetic and I still like the aesthetic now. There's a lot of watches that I liked back then that like my tastes have changed, but I still really liked that watch. It wore that gray dial with the black case really well. They made an even stranger version. with a UV PVD coating that was purple. So the case was purple and then with a black dial, that also looked really cool on a black rubber strap. I mean, really summery, like t-shirt and shorts, going to the beach, you know, maybe doing some hiking. The watch just felt like Hawaii. And, you know, as I got older, I've been to Hawaii and I really get where John was coming from with that design. Yeah. Really awesome stuff. And I think I'll probably have a Bathys again. I do wish I hadn't sold that one. But hey, you make mistakes along the way. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I remember that watch, you know, when it came out, it was such a darling on the forums. I think he was kind of one of those brands that caught on to the notion that you could really engage your audience on forums, kind of endear them to your, kind of create a community. And I agree totally that he just captured that Hawaii vibe really well. And if I remember right, maybe you've seen this, I think Petrolicious our favorite little car video website. They did a film with John, I think, in Hawaii with his old Volvo that he has. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, because he's a designer and it's not limited exclusively to watches. Because I'm not really sure what Bathys is up to today from a production standpoint. I think they still have 100 Fathoms that they're selling. Yeah. But I don't know of a new watch. You know, they had an Atomic. Oh yeah. Style watch that was being bandied about for a while and I don't know where that landed either. You know, John's a very capable designer and has a love for, like all many, almost all designers, a love for vintage cars. Yeah. So yeah, there's a cool Petrolicious. We'll throw that in the show notes. It won't be hard to find. And what's next on your list? What's the next one that got away for you? |
| Jason Heaton | Well, it was either shortly before or after, or possibly even overlapped my plow prof, and it was a Doxa Sub 750 Diving Star. It was the GMT. I love these. Yeah. Yeah. chatted about this a little bit recently. It was it was a really unique Doxa and I think it was one that actually it shouldn't have worked but it worked really well because it so it had the yellow dials get that out of the way first it was the diving star configuration which in Doxa parlance denotes the the yellow dial version you know it was a it was a great watch it was fun the yellow dials just a blast to wear it was it was a good size Doxas you know are kind of well known for for fitting for being really comfortable watches to wear and it had a great that beads of rice bracelet It was just a really cool watch. And I tend to attach significant adventures or stories in my life to watches that I wore. And while I had that DOXAS, a year that I trained for and then did the open water swim that goes from Alcatraz Island across San Francisco Bay, and I wore that watch for that adventure. And I still look at photos from that trip and I can see the bright yellow dial in the photos and stuff. And I think I sold it because I had another DOXAS at the time. I had the Sub 800. titanium, the orange dial, or sorry, black dial version. Also cool one with the tritium. Yes. And I guess I just thought the GMT was expendable. I actually don't remember why I sold it. Maybe it was to fund another flip, another purchase. I'm not, I can't say I would buy it again, but you know, who knows if the right deal came along or somebody wanted to trade for something, you know, I might, I might pull the trigger on it. |
| James Stacey | A couple of years ago at Basel, I got a chance to see kind of the whole Doxa Core lineup in person. And I'd only ever seen a couple of these as friends got them. And as it turns out, you know, I like the dive watches fine. I think they're really cool. I have a, I think, well exemplified love of GMTs at this point. But man, I saw the 750 Caribbean, which is the blue orange layout. I saw that in person and I've been in love ever since. That's definitely something that I'd like to own at some point, just, you know, waiting for a good position for things like the Canadian dollar and being able to maybe buy one off for another collector and something like that. But what a absolutely cool mix of, uh, like a, this really deep blue and then this really oversaturated orange. Yeah. It's a really cool way to do a GMT because you see the hour hand is small and can fit entirely inside the GMT hand. So you're not, the overlap works really well. You have no loss of legibility at any point. And of course the blue orange works perfectly with the orange element of the, uh, you know, twin scale bezel. Yes. Docks is so known for. |
| Jason Heaton | And did the did that one have the the Caribbean have the the dive helmet logo on it? I can't remember. I don't believe so. No. Okay. All right. That was a different one that they had. But yeah, it's just what any any configuration of that GMT watch was was just cool. And they pop up for sale. |
| James Stacey | I've seen them around. So yeah, definitely. Yeah, that's the nice thing. I do think it is. I'm worried that I'm wrong. But I think I remember reading a little while ago that they're ending the 750 GMT. Oh, okay. So, I mean, they could have a lot in stock to still sell out. Yeah. But it could just be a thing where they're done getting 2893s, right? Right. That's the reality we live in is these movements, especially... There's a reason smaller watch brands aren't making GMTs these days, and it's because Miota doesn't have a 9015 GMT version. Right. Um, and you can't readily just haul out and get a 2893. You can if you, if you're willing to buy in a large enough order, but if you're not, then you're typically put back in line repeatedly behind larger orders. And you could wait a long time to get those movements long enough to kill watch brands, basically like small, really small brands. Right. So that's why we don't get these GMTs. And I actually, there's a watch, uh, that I'm going to mention later in the show that brings up that exact point, which is pretty cool. Huh? Next for me is a watch that I'm sure a few of our listeners will know. It's called a Yema Sea Spider, and this one would have been from the early 2000s, possibly the late 90s, at the very earliest. This is an exceedingly strange watch, and one that I didn't appreciate fully when I had it, but imagine if you kind of crossed a small Seiko diver with late 90s, early 2000s Breitling, like a steelfish. Wow, yeah. So it had a blue dial with a lot of detailing and kind of an engraved almost filigree sort of pattern. Hmm. Applied luminous markers. Um, I mean, Yema was a French dive watch company, I believe. I'm not sure who owns them now or when this watch was made, it had kind of a nice bezel with almost like a pseudo rider tab. I'll throw a picture in the show notes. These weren't expensive watches. Uh, you know, according to my notes, um, I paid around 160 bucks for this watch. This is pushing up on 10 years ago maybe. Yeah. And, uh, The only reason I sold it because it was a watch I was really enjoying. It was only 40 millimeters. It was really wearable. It wasn't very thick. I sold it because a guy on the forum offered me something like 700 bucks. Wow. And at the time, at the time I was in the site that I was working for, I was basically had no connections with watch brands. So to get a watch, I had to sell a watch. So I had something new to review. Yeah. So when somebody offered me to, you know, 4X my money, Yeah. I kind of had to take it if I wanted to be able to buy something else to review and at 700 bucks, you could buy something interesting. Right. So on that watch went and I, you know, I think some people will know this watch or remember this watch. They were kind of a strange watch. I think I bought it through the poor man's watch forum, which was a great resource to me when I was kind of coming up in this hobby and first starting out writing about watches. |
| Jason Heaton | It's got a great name too, Sea Spider. Oh, no doubt. We'll have to do a future show on great caseback designs and also just great names for dive watches. Definitely. Sea Spider's awesome. So my, let's see here, my number three choice is one that you and I have both worn a fair amount and have opinions on, and that's the Tudor Pelagos. And we've discussed the Pelagos on past shows. It's just one of these great modern dive watches. Yeah, I adore the Pelagos. just ticks a lot of boxes. It's got a really comfortable, lightweight titanium case. The bezel's good. The loom's good. It's got a great bracelet. And again, this is one that I wore on an adventure. I wore it to the Bahamas on a trip that I did with some scientists that were tagging tiger sharks, and I wrote a story about it. And, you know, the watch went through a lot. It was fun. It was great to wear. But for some reason, I think I've said this before, I sold it because in the end, the styling of it just kind of left me a little bit cold. I'm kind of a guy who prefers my watch aesthetics to be a little more on the retro or vintage side of things. And the Pelagos is just, it's such a severely modern looking watch, in my opinion, despite the references with the snowflake hands. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I think it's a very modern design. And I also think it's a design that kind of actively works to get out of its own way. Yes. So it doesn't present any specific style, aside from being a Pelagos. Yeah. Maybe with the exception of the snowflake hand, but I mean, even, even the way the, the shape of the, uh, the luminous pip at 12. Yes. It is quite modern. You know, it's, it's a little bit smoother. It's almost like a dive watch, um, with a little bit of Apple to it. Yes. In that they've, they've, you know, the proportions are perfect and the watches, I actually think the watch is gorgeous, but certainly the one you had with black. Mm. with the black dial and bezel is a very like subtle, quiet thing where the design, the functionality of the design seems to almost oppressively overstep any style once the watch is on your wrist. And it's a watch that doesn't necessarily say anything about the person who's wearing it aside from the fact that they have a really nice dive watch. |
| Jason Heaton | And I recommend it to a lot of people. I mean, I think it's a fantastic watch. I think it's a really superior, it's probably one of the top dive watch, top three or four or five dive watches made in the past 10 years. I would agree. And I recommend it to a lot of people, but I frankly, I wouldn't buy another one, but that's not to say that it's not a great watch. |
| James Stacey | Tudor was very kind and loaned me one for a dive trip in Mexico and I absolutely loved the blue. Oh yeah. I think the blue adds a certain warmth to the overall package a certain romanticism that's maybe not there with the black for me and it sounds like maybe for you yeah oh man i really really like that watch and uh it kept great time it was a fantastic dive watch i use it on a couple really fun dives and did you try it on the rubber strap because the rubber strap was the one weak spot in my oh i loved the rubber really it felt a little stiff to me i guess i didn't uh i don't remember it feeling stiff at all but i And it was a little short. It might have been short for you. I can see that because it was, I didn't have a lot of tail and you have a bigger wrist than I do. Yeah. I would say that like it's, it's stiffer than maybe the, the, an isofrane. Yeah, definitely. But I didn't find it stiff. I dove on both the, or I think, sorry, for the actual trip to Mexico, I only took the rubber. Okay. And, uh, cause I didn't want to unnecessarily destroy the bracelet being titanium. Yeah. Or I didn't really even want to worry about the bracelet because I wanted to be able to take it off and put it in the pool and take a wrist shot. I wanted to be able to, you know, put it down on a plate of food if you wanted to. Or like whatever stupid things we do to take photos for Instagram. Right. I wanted to be able to do all that. And I really like that Pelagos. I think about it quite a bit. Yeah. I love the blue. Great movement. Still one of the best bezels I've ever come across. And that bracelet is just the best thing. Yeah. I don't care for bracelets generally, I think. Looking at my watch box, one of my watches is on a bracelet. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | But that Pelagos titanium bracelet with the dive extension, the spring adjustment and the micro positions. Yeah. All in a clasp that really adds no bulk and you still get a taper from the top link to the bottom link. |
| Jason Heaton | It just feels like overall, top to bottom, that watch is, it's just, it just, it's pure engineering. It just feels like an engineered watch, you know? Yeah, I agree. I agree. So what's your next, what's your next regret? |
| James Stacey | Oh, my next one is, is one from a company that I absolutely love. Uh, one of these micro brands called Benaris. And, uh, if you don't know Benaris, man, I think I've reviewed almost every watch they've made, at least, at least one from every family that they generate. And this was one they made. I'd have to look back now at my actual review, but I want to say it was limited to 50 units. Uh, so this is the, uh, Benaris World Diver GMT Auto. So this was a stainless steel dive watch with a black bezel, used a 2893 to GMT movement, great lume, kind of had the 12369 military aesthetic, was on a rubber strap, 45 millimeters wide, 15 millimeters thick. This was just a really cool watch and one that I wish I had held on to. Like I said, at the time I was flipping watches to fund the existence of the site that I was writing for. And it's not a position I would be in now. It's one that I'm lucky enough to have been able to transition out of. Yeah. But certainly if that watch came across my desk now, it would be one that I would hold on to until either they wanted it back or I was able to buy it, whichever came first. |
| Jason Heaton | I've never held a Benares, but from what I see in the photos, they seem like a really high quality, I guess you'd call it a micro brand along the lines of a Hallios, maybe put it in that sort of echelon. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, no, definitely. Of the micro brands that I would be willing to recommend to people time and time again, yeah, Hallios and Benares and Helsin. There's got to be four or five more. It would take me a moment to actually think of them all, but I have a 42 millimeter Benares More, which is sort of an Italian style diver, kind of takes some tribute from Anonimo and Panerai. Okay. Uh, and that's one that I really enjoy. It's a really fun watch. I've taken it diving many times and it's a great dive watch. Super legible, great bezel, all those sorts of things. And they make a really nice watch. And, uh, it's a, it's a two man company, uh, run by nice people who really, who really do love their watches. And I just miss them. You know, I've, I've had a handful of their watches for some reason. That's the one that stands out despite the fact that at 45 millimeters, it's probably a little big for my tastes these days, but it was just a very cool watch. And I love a GMT. And yeah, that's one that I miss. Hopefully I'll see one around someday. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Cool. |
| Jason Heaton | I'll have to Google that. Well, next on my list is one, it's probably one of my top regrets along with that plow prof and that's the Longines Legend Diver. And I'm talking about the very first iteration of that piece, which was kind of, it was, if I recall correctly, it was sort of at the beginning of this sort of heritage family that Longines started releasing. Quite a few years ago now, it was the version that had no date. That was like 2007? Yeah, yeah. And, you know, it was the no date version that inexplicably, within a couple of years of that, they came out with a version with a date window and then they added some writing to the dial and it sort of lost its charm that it had at the beginning. But that first one that I had was just, it was a beautiful watch. It was such a, It felt like you were, it was one of the first watches, you know, along the lines of like the Oris Diver 65 and the Black Bay. It kind of preceded those watches, you know, in a piece that when you put it on your wrist, you felt like you were putting on a vintage watch. It had, you know, great size. It was like 42 millimeters, wasn't terribly thick. It had a beautiful strap. And then it came in this, I think it was like the, still to this day, the biggest box I've ever gotten a watch in. It was, it was the size of a box you get a pair of hiking boots in or something. And it had, It had a hardcover book, you know with beautiful archive photos of you know, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard's dive to the bottom of the Marianas Trench and you know, it was just It was just a really cool watch and and It had so much going for it. I think I paid, you know I think it was like a $2,000 watch and you can probably still get them if you can find the no-date version because a lot of people have held on to them since they discontinued that version but it was affordable and it I don't know, it ticked a lot of boxes, and again, I can't remember why I sold it, but I think if the right chance came along and I found another one, I might work out a trade or something for it. But that was a great piece. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, those are killer watches, and I've actually only ever seen the No Date in one situation. I was at the opening of a Longines boutique, and one of their executives was on site. I don't specifically remember who was on site, and that's what he was wearing. He was wearing it with a suit. Huh. Which is a strange choice, but you know, you work for Longines, you wear what you like. And, uh, he had the no date and was the only time I've seen it in person. And it's so, it's so much better than the version with the date, which is already a beautiful watch. I don't, I don't really dislike the version with the date, but man, you see the one without the date. Yeah. And it's like, when you see a picture of a car and it doesn't have to have the license plate on the front and the bumper's just perfect. Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, unmarred by a space, let alone an actual plate. And, uh, was that yeah that's a that's a great watch i have no idea what they sell for because i think they're fairly rare they were limited yeah the no dates were limited and uh i'm sure when they come up there's a list of people out there that are just kind of surfing on uh on watch recon waiting for ones to pop up but a very very cool watch and one that uh yeah would have been a tough decision to sell oh yeah what's uh what's next on your list My last one's actually one that I should probably just go ahead and buy again. It's not exactly even remotely a rare watch, but I had a Marathon TSAR, which is the quartz search and rescue model that they make. And I absolutely loved that watch and it was yet another one that I sold to keep that sight alive back many years ago. And it was a gift from one of the people who had written, you know, designed the sight back in the day and I loved it. I wore it a lot. I beat it up quite a bit. Being quartz, it just never skipped a beat. It never needed anything. Kept fantastic time. The tritium was nice and bright. That was just a great watch. And I think at a certain point, like you kind of get in a mode of like, well, I've had this one for a while, so it's got to go. Yeah. Yeah. And you don't really consider like how this is like a pretty legit fit for the way that I like watches. But I mean, the nice thing is, is It's not a huge mistake. I can, I can just get another TSAR. So worst comes to worst. I'll just dig up another one when that itch gets too strong. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I had the jumbo version of that, the JSAR, they called it, I think. And same thing, you know, quartz movement, whatever, but it was, um, I still think the marathon, the dive watch bezels are top one or two, you know, in my mind, in terms of dive bezels, they just, they sit so high, they've got that great, uh, you know, fluting on them. They're just, they're so easy to grip. They're just a blast. You just sit and like sit at my desk and just spin them, you know, they're just so fun. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, they're sharp. Yeah. The gripping's really sharp. Yeah. Very much like the jimping on the back of a knife. Yeah. And then you have, uh, yeah, fantastic grip and they're quite thick. Despite the fact that the watches aren't that thick in total, a big portion of their thickness is the edge of the bezel. Yeah. And, uh, they are very clicky, very loud. Mm. Beautiful to adjust in any situation. And yeah, definitely just great watches. I like Tridium a lot. And I think they make kind of what I think is the quintessential tool watch, like a modern tool watch. I actually think in some ways, not necessarily aesthetically, but in some ways like a Marathon SAR, automatic or otherwise, is kind of the blue collar Pelagos. Yeah, I think you're right. Because they don't specifically have a style Like they look like a little bit of a military piece of hardware, but I mean, they're just super capable You could easily wear one every day inoffensive Yeah, I actually made I think they look I think they look pretty good. |
| Jason Heaton | I like the way they look quite a bit Yeah, and you know a few shows ago. We talked about you know kind of a backup watch or travel watch or something I think the t-star would be just a fantastic like grab-and-go You know you throw it on either on the weekend or you keep it in your bag for traveling or you know it's It's one of those watches that I can almost picture like it's in your locker with your dive gear. You know, you put on your wetsuit and you strap on your t-sar and leave your whatever else you're wearing behind. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, no doubt. I mean, just today a blog to watch ran a story that David wrote about a guy getting $200,000 and a Rolex and a Patek Philippe stolen out of the overhead container on a flight to Hong Kong. And David's report actually went into the reoccurrence of these types of crimes on flights to Hong Kong. Oh boy. So one small note to anyone who's listening, if you fly to Hong Kong, figure your system out. Yeah. Either don't take a watch and certainly don't take $200,000 with you, like in cash or however this guy was carrying it. So, I mean, in that situation you could be wearing a TSAR and not really give away that you've got something else in your bag. Right. Again, a really nice travel option. Yeah. You know, a watch I really like. I think pretty much everything Marathon makes is like accessible and high quality and will, I would say, almost undoubtedly outmatch any wrist you put it on in terms of toughness. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, it's another one I would have as well, I think. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, definitely. And then you've got, oh, it looks like one of my favorites next on your list. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, so I've got, I'll close it out with a couple of vintage watches that I have had and sold and probably will have again. The first is the 1675 Rolex GMT Master. And, you know, everyone knows this watch, doesn't really need an introduction, but the one I had was, I think it was dated to the mid-60s. It had, you know, beautiful Mark I dial with the beautiful yellowing patina, the Pepsi bezel. You know, the GMT is one of those watches that, you know, if I were to to go down to one watch you know which is an absurd thought at this point but um i think it's it's such a perfect candidate for for kind of that one watch that can do just about anything and you know i don't know why i sold it but uh i i i know for for a fact you know these other watches i've listed you know it's arguable whether i would have another or not but the 1675 is a watch that i will have again and unfortunately i'll probably pay twice as much as i did for the one that i had i think for my tastes and and and certainly |
| James Stacey | uh, you love the sub, um, for my taste, the 1675 and, and in some ways, the 16710 GMT master are the Rolex I think of about Rolex, despite the fact that I bought with my own money, a different one, if I could afford a 1675, um, I think that's where I would have gone. And certainly, you know, you and I had a slack discussion going for a while of, you know, just essentially, you know, no argument, beautiful cars. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And when you turn that to watches, I think it becomes pretty murky as to a watch being beautiful or not. But for me, one of the first, you know, beautiful sport watches I can think of in my mind is a 1675. I think they're just a marvel of design and color and form and shape. Really, really great watch. And they've just become fantastically expensive. I know. Yeah. Compared to where they were even just a few years ago. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I think my ship may have sailed on that one, but I'll hold out hope. |
| James Stacey | Who knows, we can all keep our fingers tightly crossed that this whole thing is cyclical. And we'll see a big drop. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. So my last, uh, just my last regret or my last one that got away was, uh, it was also vintage and, and it was another Doxa. This was the sub 300 T. It was a shark hunter with the black dial. And, you know, we've talked about it before, but vintage Doxes are, they're possibly the coolest watches that you can own. I mean, just full stop. It's their, their, I think they actually look better when they're beat up. Um, Their size, you know, the vintage ones, I think they were 41, 42 millimeters, cushion case, they fit almost any size wrist, super comfortable. They actually, they feel like the quality of the old ones from the late 60s, they actually feel like a modern watch. I mean, they feel exactly like the new ones, except they're collectible and old and cool looking, all beat up and scratched. They look really great on leather straps, strangely enough. And, you know, I just think the story behind Doxa, it's just such a purpose-built watch. It's a great conversation starter. And the one that I had was the Shark Hunter with the little U.S. Divers logo on it with really nice aged lume and just a nicely repainted the numerals on the bezel, which was already nicely scratched up, which I love. And, you know, I'm sure I sold it to fund something else in a moment of weakness, but I'm sure I'll have another vintage Doxie one day. And, you know, prices are creeping up a little bit on them, but it's still one of the best deals in vintage watches that you can find. |
| James Stacey | Certainly in the dive watch world, I think they're a quintessential design. They have everything that should support a fairly high price point, a lasting build quality, an iconic design. And I don't use iconic lightly. I genuinely think that's an iconic design within the dive watch community, within the watch community legitimately, because Doxa is that design. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | And then you have the ability to still have them serviced. People are still getting them serviced and cared for. And genuine interest in models that are less than perfect condition, which is, you know, almost like what's happening with Inacar, a rough Inacar is still worth a fair amount of money these days. And I think that's where we could see Doxa going, especially as, you know, who knows, maybe taste shift from where they are now with big dollar vintage chronographs into currently lower dollar vintage dive watches. You know, and you could, you could see a jump from a handful of brands. And I think Doxa would be within that list. But Hey, this isn't, uh, this isn't just Jason and I, everybody out there who's listening. I'm sure you've had the chance to, uh, to sell something and you pulled the trigger and then shortly thereafter, you regretted it. Let us know. Uh, you know, you can either tag us on the post for this, uh, this episode, or you can send us an email at thegraynadoatgmail.com. We want to hear about it. We want to know your stories. And if you had any kind of similar watches as we have, or maybe you've still got them and you just want to rub it in, let us know. And we'll be back in just a minute. All right, we're back. It's time for some new business. This is where we like to cover anything new that we've been writing on, working on, experiencing, just whatever's new in kind of our day to day since the last episode. So, Jason, what's new with you? You've been doing some traveling. Tell us about it. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I got back last week from a very short trip, but a very fun trip to the south of France. I flew into Marseille with Bam and Mercier and then spent just two nights there and a full day at the circuit Paul Ricard, which is a formula, a former formula one racetrack up in the mountains there. And, you know, Bob and Marcia, if you're not aware of this partnership, they've collaborated or they're partnered with a Shelby Cobra, the car tuner or the, you know, the legendary, uh, car modification shop that was started back in the sixties, um, using Ford engines in, in small British sports cars. And so, They, Ballon Mercier invited some journalists and retailers over there to experience some laps around the track and kind of see the new watches. And it was, it was just a, it was a fantastic time. The weather was great. The food was good. The cars were, were just achingly awesome. I mean, there were, you know, like four, four GT40s there. There were, you know, multiple Shelby Cobras. There were, you know, Daytona coupes. |
| James Stacey | uh you know gt350 mustangs just it was just a for a guy who likes cars and watches it was really really an amazing trip well that those are those are reminiscent of a pretty special time not only for ford but for cars in general yeah um you know that's pre the safety changes that kind of made cars what they are today they're just flat out more boring than the gt40 yeah but also and this is the first thing i asked you you sent me a picture of uh of a daytona you know a cam tail Yeah. Daytona was, you know, is that a real one or is that a superformance? |
| Jason Heaton | They had a couple. So there were two Daytonas there and one of them was one of the original six that were built. And I believe that number 98 car that I had a couple of pictures of, that one had to be a superformance one. I'm pretty sure that one was. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I mean, even to see one original, like I'm, I would have to go back through my photos from when I was in Pebble Beach and went to Quail to see if I saw an original or a superformance. Yeah. But I mean, those originals are crazy rare. Yeah. And just seven figure expensive. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And, you know, once I, when I got home from the trip, I was just, I just immersed myself in reading about the history of all these different cars. And, uh, you know, the, the Daytona coupe is just such a, It's got such a great backstory and sort of it got overshadowed by the GT40. Shelby got kind of pulled off the Daytona project and pulled over to the GT40 project by Ford. And the GT40s, I mean, it's one of my favorite cars to see and you just don't see them. It's a fantastic story too. And to see them just roaring at speed around a Formula One track that just had this really great, beautiful setting. um was it was it was a real thrill so it was it was a wonderful trip and if you want to uh read about my experience i wrote up an article about it that uh that published on hodinke uh last week and uh i included plenty of photos from there as well so you can check that out yeah and for anyone who who doesn't know the cars that we're talking about we'll have links to that article but the big thing is the gt40 was essentially a car created by a feud when ford learned that ferrari was just essentially |
| James Stacey | turning back and running away from them. They designed the GT40, which is a stunningly beautiful car that they're now putting into their third generation as the Ford GT. So there's a model from 2005, 2006, and then there's another one coming out next year. But the original GT40, 40 because it's 40 inches tall off the ground, an unbelievably cool car. They turned around and were so angry about what happened with Ferrari that they were really serious about winning and they went ahead and won 1966, 67, 68, and 69, which is flat out unheard of. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I think they took the top four spots in the 66 run. I think in the first race, I think it was one of the, one of the years that they took literally the top four spots in the 24 hours of Le Mans, which is just incredible. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And then, and in 69, that was with Jackie Ickx. yeah which is even better just another little tidbit for the history of the gt forty but you know it would be that that car was basically four-wheel middle finger to ferrari uh... and their attempt at owning uh... the greatest endurance race in the world uh... twenty four hours of le mans really really cool stuff yeah it was really jealous great sound great it was just great to see and then switching gears you know i i had this uh... posted a few photos on on instagram about this but i uh... |
| Jason Heaton | A couple of years ago, I acquired a vintage dive watch that was from a very obscure brand called Sportsways. Sportsways was actually a dive gear company back in the late 50s, early 60s. And then they disappeared sometime in the late 60s, got swallowed up by another brand. And, you know, they sold co-branded or rebranded dive watches made by a Swiss company. And I'm not sure which Swiss company, but it says Swiss made on the dial and it has an A shield hand-wound movement in it. So the watch I have is a Sportsway Mariner, and I bought it from a guy who collects vintage diving gear, and I met him at a dive show locally here in Minneapolis, and asked him if he had anything to sell, and we kind of kept in touch over several months. And he told me one day, he emailed me and said, you know, I have an old dive watch if you want to come and take a look at it. So I drove over to his house, which was just, he's this old bachelor, lives in this small house, Smelled of cigarette smoke. It was just packed floor to ceiling with old dive gear. And he pulls out this little box. He had the outer box, the inner box, the instruction booklet, and then this old watch that had the most incredibly, you know, the term tropicalized. It was a very faded brown dial from being in the sun so much. And it was called the Sportsways Mariner. So I took it. It didn't work. It didn't run. I just kind of kept it. Never really thought about it. And then a couple of weeks ago, I thought, you know, I want to get this thing running. So I had it serviced. Got a new mainspring, new balance wheel, and a new crystal, and everything kind of lubed and ready to go again. And I put it on a 19mm original 60's era rubber tropic strap, which was the strap that it probably originally came on. And I've been wearing it quite a bit, and it's just the coolest watch. I paid like $40 for it, and it's something that no one's really heard of or cares about if you're into watches. To me, it's kind of, it has such authenticity to it because for one thing, Sportsways, like I said, was a dive gear company. So there's no doubt that whoever bought this thing back in the early sixties when scuba diving was still sort of raw and a new sport. Um, you know, I'm sure they bought it at a dive shop. You know, they wouldn't have bought a Sportsways diving watch at a, at a jeweler like you would a dive watch today. Um, so it was probably bought for diving and given the condition of the dial, which is this nice chocolate Brown, uh, You know, I'm sure it just spent many, many days and hours, you know, out in the, out in the sun somewhere, uh, on, you know, surface intervals between dives. And, and I don't know, it's just, I, I, I love just kind of not knowing the history of it, but I, on the other hand, I would love to know the history of it. So that was, that's been kind of my big, that's great. |
| James Stacey | It's a really great looking watch. And, uh, well, you know, it's exciting that you have it kind of tuned up and ready to run. And for such a reasonable cost, I think it's a little bit of a lesson to people out there that. There is still an echelon of watches that exist outside of anyone that cares about the brand. Yeah. Uh, that's on the dial, but you can get a very interesting watch. I mean, there's certainly loads of watches that have, uh, kind of twin, twin, uh, makers, you know, a brand, and then it'll still say squalor on the dial, et cetera. There's lots of cool stuff out there. And, and I mean, that one that you've got that sports ways, I think it's really, really gorgeous. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| James Stacey | and it's one that I personally am almost positive would have just overlooked. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, and the case is identical to, you know, I've searched high and low for other examples of this watch and I can't find anything branded Sportsways, but there was a brand called Aquastar, which most dive watch aficionados are familiar with, as well as Jean Richard, were both making watches in this same case back in the early 60s. So you can see And you see them in a lot of sort of old grainy dive photos from that era too, that case shape. But I'm not sure exactly who made this one for Sportsways. But yeah, you can find such cool old diving watches. And they're some of the best looking vintage watches. And you can just troll eBay. Just, you know, if you're up late one night, you know, just plug in vintage dive watch on eBay, and you'll just find scads of obscure brands that no one's ever heard of, but just really cool watches. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, and you can get something that's cool. Typically, you can get something that's a known movement. Yeah. And you can do so without worrying, well, is this the right movement? Is it the wrong movement? Because at $40. Yeah, right. Your investment isn't really tied up in whether or not that movement is right or wrong. Yeah. Moreover, like, can you wear the watch or not? |
| Unknown | Yeah, right. |
| James Stacey | Which I think is beautiful and very much like kind of the heart of this hobby. Yeah, I think it's great. You know, I've spent all my time looking for Seiko 6117s, but I'll have to move that search over to you know, strange vintage dive watches sometime soon. I think that sounds like a good late night pursuit. Yeah, right. |
| Jason Heaton | So then, finally, I just have one more item here. It is, you know, we talked about a few weeks back, and we've posted plenty of photos on social media of the green Nageur de Combat Marine Nationale straps that the old French Navy divers were wearing on their watches. These are the green Elastic bands with with the thin yellow stripe in the middle that have kind of ballooned in popularity around Instagram and you know, I got a lot of requests, you know, where did I get this and somebody finally Put up a link on one of my Instagram posts Directing people to Erica's originals now. Erica is a Dutch woman who lives in Spain and she makes these straps And I thought you know, I'm gonna place a bulk order of these straps. So I ordered 20 from her They arrived last week in a couple of different colors, and I've been sort of selling them for the same price that Erica's been selling them here in the US and North America, just to kind of give people a little more local option, and Erica's certainly okay with that, and I appreciate her support in sending those over. Yeah, really cool. Yeah, so if anyone's got any interest in any of these straps, you can certainly drop an email to thegraynadoatgmail.com or just comment on an Instagram post at some point. If I've got any left, I'd be happy to send them over. So that's what I've got this week. What about you, James? |
| James Stacey | Actually, well in the same general milieu, I have a special thanks to a Twitter user, at the underscore watch nerd. He was kind enough. You know, I lamented online when we first started talking about these combat, you know, these French, you know, marine diver straps. I'd commented online that the, the one option that made kind of the most faithful reproduction, which has no hardware, it's just a sewn loop of elastic. Uh, they were only eight euros, which seems awesome. And then you went to ship them and they were like 30 and, uh, the watch nerd, you know, to his credit, uh, and extreme generosity offered to send me a couple, but I took them up on the offer and they arrived, uh, you know, late last week. Uh, so I've got a couple of these ones and they are literally a length of elastic sewn with a box stitch at one end. There's no hardware at all. No adjustability. They come in three different sizes, a small, a medium, and a large. And that covers anywhere from 20 centimeters to 24 centimeters. And these are sold through UltramerSurplus.net. Obviously go to the show notes, we're not going to spell that out. Because these aren't designed to be adjusted in any way. It's either going to work for you or not. I'll report back on the show in a little while, once I've had a chance to wear one and maybe sweat into it and see if the elastic loosens up a little bit. But for me, they just come a little bit on the tight side. And if your wrist is perfect for that sizing, then I think this is a fine option. Otherwise, when you factor in the shipping, I think you're probably better either picking up some of whatever's left over in Jason's stock or ordering direct from Erica's. These are cool and they're certainly real cheap. The stitching's a little rough, but otherwise, you know, I wore one on a couple different watches, the Zen and a Seiko SKX, and I think the aesthetic is awesome. I think they look really cool. Definitely a military kind of vibe. But with these ones, I think it's just gonna be, it either fits your wrist or it doesn't. I mean, it's almost like buying a ring. Like it's going to be your size or it isn't. The elastic, and Jason, I'm sure it's the exact same elastic for the Erica's ones, the elastic is like military elastic. Yeah. So it's not like the elastic on your boxers. It's not like something really, like it's very, very much springy, but it wants to return to its final, to its original size. Right. So it takes a fair amount of pressure to actually expand the elastic. So that's something to consider. A huge, huge thanks to The Watch Nerd. So again, please give him a follow. He's at the underscore Watch Nerd or thewatchnerd.co.uk on Instagram. Great account. And he's got some really cool stuff and a fantastic website that you should definitely be reading. And finally, for the new business, just a quick mention, JLC officially opened their boutique in Vancouver. So if you're a Vancouver listener, swing by their shop. I mean, it's been open on Alberni for a little while, but it's now officially open and they did the full, uh, kind of the full event and they were very kind and, uh, you know, extended an invite to myself and the local Red Bar crew. And, uh, you know, about 10 of us showed up and had a really fantastic evening. There was some top brass from JLC there. They had, uh, an ambassador, the actress, uh, Sarah Godin was there, which is really cool. She's in a movie that I loved by, uh, Dennis Villeneuve called Enemy. And it was just a really nice night. And I don't know, as a watcher, I'm just really excited to see something like a brand boutique show up in Vancouver, which isn't a huge city. So if you're in the Vancouver area, or maybe you're traveling up this summer from Seattle or parts further out, be sure to swing by Alberni Street. And here's your insider tip across the street from the boutique. There is an absolutely outstanding French bakery coffee spot called Terry's. Go there. Absolutely everything you see is amazing. It's really good. So if you're in Vancouver, don't skip the JLC Boutique or Thierry's. |
| Jason Heaton | And we're back and it's now time for Q&A. Cal, also known as at Tom underscore Hanks with an X on Twitter, wrote us because his faithful dad duty G-Shock is due for retirement and he's looking for a thin diver. Cal likes big divers like Seiko Marine Masters. The thickness is a pain, which James and I would tend to agree with. He's looking for something tough, but less than 12 millimeters thick. James, I know you're a student of thin dive watches. I've tried a few watches, a few thin divers, and I guess what I think is thin might not pass muster with you or with Cal. I happen to like the Submariner, which is a hair over at 12.5 millimeters. Rolex does a pretty good job. They've always stuck with pretty slim, but still rugged dive watches. And then, you know, the Aorus 65, you know, these are all sort of vintage or vintage style watches. The Aorus Diver 65 is at 12.8 millimeters, but it's got this domed crystal, which I think sort of accentuates a thickness that isn't quite there. The case is still nice and thin, and I think it wears like a pretty thin watch. And then the Legend Diver that I mentioned earlier from Longines, Also, you know, it's a vintage style watch. It's got nice long thin lugs. But again, it's got a domed crystal that kind of tops it out at 13 and a half millimeters. So it doesn't feel you know, it doesn't feel terribly bulky. But you know, it's definitely not under 12 millimeters. So I'm going to pass it on to you because I know you've got a quite a list for Cal. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, so I've been kind of obsessed with thin dive watches for a long time. So it was actually lucky that Cal wrote in, because I do kind of keep a running list in my head and I just had to type some of it out. The struggle with a truly thin dive watch is of course you need a certain amount of metal to be water resistant, you need a certain amount of crystal to be water resistant, and then you've got to slide a movement in there too, preferably automatic. But not everything on the list fits that bill entirely. I think you'll find that what we have here is a bit of a spread and a lot of them are a little bit on the older side, so they might be a little bit hard to find. Some of them are brand new and you can buy them from the store, but the first one I'd start with is the Archimedes Sport Talker. I think this is a really cool watch in general, like for anyone who's asking, but it's 12 millimeters thick, it's 41.5 millimeters wide, comes in a bunch of different colors, bracelet, rubber, leather, it's got all those options. Blue dial, black dial, white dial, black and orange. I would say it's almost, it's kind of somewhere between a cross between like a Zen and what do you think Jason? Like a P.O. with the 12, 3, 6, and 9. I think it's a really handsome watch. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And you know, I can vouch for Archimedes quality. I mean, it's such an underrated, such a great brand anyway. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. And I think it, it hits basically that same sweet spot that Omega found for a little while, which is a roughly 12 millimeters and 41 and a half millimeter wide in steel. They use a Sellita SW200 movement. They make, and this is the watch I was talking about at the top of the show, they make a version that they call their GMT, but it's the same movement and they just put a 12-hour bezel on it. So if you're not planning, you know, Cal, if you're not planning on using it for diving, maybe the 12-hour bezel is the way to go. I would certainly be very tempted to buy the 12-hour bezel version. These are 690 euro pre-tax. So, you know, Cal being in Europe, I think you'll have to pay some tax on it, which brings you up into the 940 somewhere between 820 and 940 euros. But it's also the kind of thing that you might easily be able to find on watch recon if you take your time. I think that's definitely one I would consider if I was back hunting for a thin dive watch. The next one's pretty strange and cool. And I find it's one that not a lot of guys know about. This is the Citizen Promaster Air Diver PMX 56. The 2811 or the 2812. So there's two versions. The easiest way to see them is in the show notes. I'll send, I'll have a link directly to a retailer called Higuchi and Higuchi has them for roughly $300 US currently. So this is a, uh, eco drive power. So, uh, solar courts, it's, um, 11 millimeters thick, 41.5 wide. It's a monoblock titanium case. So there's no, no removable case back. It's one piece. Super cool. They make two versions, one that's kind of your basic kind of military inspired dive and one that has I believe like a 12, 369 numerals and circular markers and a bit of red. Both are really cool, not that expensive, would make an excellent beater. This might be the one I would suggest to go with unless you absolutely don't want to do quartz or if you're worried about the titanium. At that price point, I wouldn't worry about either. Really cool watch. If you're the type of guy that wears dress watches all the time and you want to try a sport watch, I think this would be a great kind of bridge into a larger, tougher sort of watch. Next one on the list is the Glycine Combat Sub. I don't think what I'm talking about now is the current version, but G. Noman, the internet retailer, a well-respected internet retailer, they carry the one that I'm specifically talking about, which I think might be one generation back. It's 10.6 millimeters thick, 42 millimeters wide. It's a Swiss automatic. There's a bunch of different versions. And G. Noman has them from 860. So very reasonable for a brand new Glycine. You know, we've spoken about Glycine on the show in the past. They make a nice watch. And I think the Combat Sub is like a really interesting, approachable design, very legible and a really nice looking dive watch. I unfortunately haven't had a chance to dive with one, but I've seen them at Baselworld and they're a solid watch. is certainly a contender within this list. Now we start moving into a couple of real strange ones. The first one's from Zenith. This is the Zenith Rainbow Elite Diver. Uh, guys on the forums have some confliction between either nine or nine and a half millimeters. So it's somewhere in there. These were made in the mid to late nineties. They can be fairly hard to find, but it's a Zenith Elite movement and it's a black dial, black bezel. They also made one with a yellow dial. which is kind of strange, but it's basically your your kind of classic dress diver. So it's a very much kind of a dress watch with a rotating bezel and some water resistance, a screw down crown, etc. The one or two past eBay sales I could find would suggest 1500 to 2500 US dollars, which is a fairly wide range. But there's a lot of love for these by the guys that own them and kind of seem to be hoarding them online. I think they're just kind of rare. And obviously it's not within Zenith's wheelhouse to make a dress watch that's also a diver. It's a strange watch, which is I think why it's always kind of stuck in my brain. And it's one that I would definitely like to see in person, uh, and, and could consider owning at some point if I, if I found myself kind of needing a watch of that format, the next one's even more rare. It's the Eterna 1856 diver. So this is, um, 9.2 millimeters roughly is what the, you know, internet users seem to be claiming on theirs. I have no idea what these would sell for. I've never seen one for sale. So I guess this is more just to mention the fact that it exists, that Eterna used to make this sub one centimeter thick dive watch. Aesthetically, it's like a little bit more of a military spin on the Zenith. They actually share a lot of kind of rough looks. Really cool watch nonetheless. And certainly if you have one, please tag TheGreyNado in an Instagram photo. I'd love to see one. on someone's wrist. You know, there's a few forum photos trading hands and those are fun. Next up on the list is one that I had. This is the Tag Heuer 300 meter Aquaracer. So the specific model is the WAN2110. The model that came after that, which I don't know, could be the 2111. I'm not sure. Might be the same size. I don't know for certain. It's when they transitioned to a ceramic bezel. So this is the kind of the last generation of their aluminum bezel. It's 12 millimeters thick, really comfy, basically direct spin on an Omega Seamaster. So you get a nice Swiss movement. And there's actually one on Watch Recon currently for $800. I like this watch. It didn't suffer from the crown problems that the 500 meter with the rubber bezel had from the same generation of watches. And I had one for quite a while and, you know, just sold it because I had other dive watches and I actually bought one that shows up on the list in a moment. |
| Jason Heaton | They made a quartz version of that as well, I think that probably would even be thinner, right? |
| James Stacey | I was unaware of that, but yeah, a quartz one could definitely be thinner. My guess is they use the same case. Yeah. So it may be exactly the same, but it's possible that it's thinner, which would be something to look for. Yeah. Certainly. This next one is one that I've never seen in person, Jason, maybe you have, is the Concord Mariner Dive Watch. I've never heard of it. So Concord is a brand that people don't talk about too much, but you know, that they made a, you know, a luxury watch and, uh, they made this Mariner dive watch and it was kind of, um, uh, kind of a cross between, it kind of had a bit of a Zenith aesthetic overall cross with maybe a Patek Philippe, uh, in, in some manners or, or maybe an AP. And it was an interesting watch. I believe it had integrated lugs, 8.7 millimeters thick, discontinued will be likely hard to find. No idea on price for that one either, but Cal, you're a resourceful guy. Maybe you could dig one up if it, if it kind of suited your tastes. I'm not sure that something like the Concord would do great for kind of dad duty as you know, it's kind of a classy, fancy, you know, lots of little polished surfaces and places to scratch up. And then finally, I mean, best for last, in my opinion, is the Omega Seamaster Professional 300 meter 2254 In my case, the 225450 is the watch that I actually bought after going through all sorts of these sorts of lists of like thin, really easy to wear dive watches. So that's 11 and a half millimeters thick. It's 41.5 millimeter case. They can be found all day long on watch recon for about $1,500. And it uses a really, really reliable caliber 1120, which is based on a 2892 from ETA. easily serviced. I've had mine serviced twice in the many years that I've owned it. And it's always been simple and fast and very cheap to get serviced. It's a lovely watch. I think that in some ways it's the sub for a guy that either doesn't have the money to buy a sub or is just tired of maybe seeing subs on a lot of wrists. I love the watch. I love the wavedial. I love the sword hands, the .50 model. has the speedy bracelet which i think the way to go i don't care for the bond bracelet so much but at this price point you can get a quartz one for even less of you know you can get a quartz one for under a thousand dollars these are a killer watch and and that's basically my list you know i would struggle to come up with a lot more but luckily we have a a whole audience at our disposal so guys if and gals if there's a a thin dive watch that i missed preferably under 12 millimeter please send me an email Uh, you know, thegraynadoatgmail.com or, you know, drop us a note on Instagram, hashtag at thegraynado. If you've got one that you know of that I totally missed that you think might be just right for, or at Tom underscore Hanks on Twitter, uh, we would appreciate it. Uh, Cal, thank you so much for the question. It was fun to answer it. And I hope that you find something you like, please, of course, let us know when you do. And I hope we see you at the next, uh, next big watch meetup in, uh, in Europe. |
| Jason Heaton | Nice one. |
| James Stacey | Wow. Okay. And onto question number two. Tim from the UK wrote in to ask, I'm looking to buy my first Speedmaster Moonwatch. I've been seeing some good, but varying prices on secondhand Moonwatches. He's speaking specifically of the 3570.50. My question is, should I go for the newest watch that I can afford, or would it not matter too much if the watch had been well-serviced? He's basically looking for advices. Do I try and buy the newest, closest to its sale date sort of watch? Or with a speedy, is it roughly equal if the watch has been treated correctly? Jason, you're easily the speedy guy between the two of us. Certainly, you've owned more than a couple. What do you think on this? How would you guide Tim in his hunt for a perfect speedy? |
| Jason Heaton | Well, yeah, I've owned a couple of speedies. I think I've owned three or four speedies over the years, and I've had both the 3570 as well as a couple of older ones. I'm certainly not an expert on that. Hodinkee has a great reference points. I think it was a video and a long article on the different generations of Speedmaster that you can check out. But I happen to think that pretty much any Speedmaster professional is a worthy watch. And there was such, you know, especially with the post-moon landing watches from late 69 up until the present day, there are such few differences or so few differences between the different watches and generations in terms of movement, build, quality, etc. And I think this is because that's the watch that NASA approved, and therefore they can't really tweak it or change anything with it, that you get a watch from 1974, you get a watch from 94 or 2004, there isn't much that separates them. So I think, you know, unless you're talking pre-moon era, in which case the prices definitely get up above the $6,000, $7,000, $8,000 range, any of the post-moon watches with the 861 caliber in them there's just not going to be a lot of difference. So I would say, you know, first thing to do would be sort of establish your budget and, and then just try to find either, you know, you can certainly get the newest watch that you can afford at that price. I think that would probably be safe because if you're getting a watch that was, uh, you know, has a, uh, an original sale or build date of, you know, let's say 2012 versus one from 1995, you're essentially getting the same watch. So you might as well get the newer one. It has fewer miles on the clock, so to speak, to use sort of car parlance. But that said, if you prefer a watch from the 80s or the 90s that has the tritium dial, might have a little bit of aged lume to it, or a different bracelet. The older bracelets didn't have that extra ridge or row of polished links. It's these small nuances that sort of separate the different generations. I would definitely opt for the newest or best condition one that you can afford in terms of your price range. Anybody that's into watches or into even, you know, the space program or the space race of the 60s and 70s will have some relatable story or love for the Speedmaster and the story that's behind it. So I hope that that helped out. My answer, certainly tag us on Instagram, TheGreyNado, and let us know what you ended up with. And thanks again for the question. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, thanks very much Tim and Cal for the questions and for everyone else who's listening, if you have a question that you'd like Jason and I to chat about, please send us an email. I read every email, I reply to every email and we try and get as many on the show as possible. So it's thegraynadoatgmail.com and we'd love to hear what's on your mind. I thought both of these questions were great and we really appreciate you taking the time to write us. So let's go on and we'll be back with final notes in just a moment. All right, and we're entering the final stage of episode eight. This is final notes. It's where we try and give you something to chew on for the next couple of weeks, a couple of videos, maybe a book. It's always something different. It's always something that we've really enjoyed and we just want to share. And we always do our best to keep it to free or as close to free. So Jason, you know, what do you want people to check out before the next episode? |
| Jason Heaton | Well, this week I've got a book and I've got a fairly new watch blog. that I'm going to recommend is called The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands, and it was written by a German author, which I believe was then translated into English. Her name is Judith Schelansky, and it's really a cool little book. It's, as the name suggests, it's pocket-sized, it has sort of a rubberized orange cover, and the format of the book is each section. She takes 50 Tiny remote islands, you know, we're talking like uninhabited stuff in the middle of the North sea or the South Atlantic or something. And each section has a beautiful full color map of that island and it's sort of topography and landmarks. And then on the accompanying pages, she writes just a brief tidbit, you know, two, two or three page story about something that happened or something significant about that place. So it might be somebody was shipwrecked there and survived by, you know, eating coconuts, or they might've, um, there might've been a famous shipwreck there, or there might've been, um, a certain animal that lives there and nowhere else in the world. |
| James Stacey | Sounds like the sort of book the, uh, kid from Moonrise Kingdom would have carried with him. A very Wes Anderson sort of thing. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | It's, it's, it's really a fun book. It's, it's one of these books that it's small enough that, you know, you can throw it in a bag and it's great to read on the airplane or, you know, keep it in the bathroom or something like that. It's just a fun little book you can read, you know, just a chapter or a little section at a time because it doesn't take any time at all to read. And it's just a fun, it's a fun little book. So The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Sholansky. And then the watch blog that I'm going to recommend. It's a fairly new one. It started up right around the time that Baselworld kicked off back in March. It's called What's on Her Wrist and it was written by Barbara Palumbo or it was started by Barbara Palumbo and she is the sole writer at this point of the blog. I think, you know, regardless of whether or not you're into women's watches or you're shopping for a woman's watch or you're a woman, it's really a fun blog to read because I think Barbara has a really sort of fresh writing style. She's very witty and her writing is really good. She's got a lot of experience in the jewelry industry and therefore that has overlapped into watches over the years. And I think she just comes at it with sort of a nice perspective. So what's on her wrist? You can check it out. We'll put a link in the show notes, but give it a follow. You can also check her out on Instagram at what's on her wrist and be sure to tell her that we sent you. |
| James Stacey | So good luck, Barbara. Yeah, I got a chance to meet Barbara at the Braemont event. at Baselworld this year. And yeah, real sweetheart, definitely loves watches. And I've checked out the site a couple of times. I think it's great. I fully endorse that selection. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, that's good. |
| James Stacey | What do you have? Yeah, so for mine, I've got two videos. Keeping it real free this week. Keep your money in your pocket. You know, use it for some adventure gear or something in the new sunny weather that's with us now. So the first one is called Haywire. It's a video that seems to have been put online by Mountain Hardware. But it's actually kind of a selfie style documentary, well produced, I really like it, of this hardcore adventure of two guys to go climb routes on Baffin Island. The movie's about 15 minutes long, it's very cinematic, I think it's nicely edited, especially given that a lot of these internet videos, Jason, you and I have complained about this, a lot of these internet adventure videos end up having no story. Yeah. They're just a collection of kind of nice imagery and some music. This is very much a story. Some things happen for these guys and they really end up kind of digging deep on why people go on these sorts of dangerous, uncomfortable adventures and how they manage that risk and then how they kind of deal with it when things go bad and people get hurt. I highly recommend it if you're even remotely into something like adventuring or climbing. The visuals alone are stunning and it's called Haywire. It'll be in the show notes. It's pretty cool. And the second one, I recently bought a new monitor, a 4K monitor. So I spent, of course, an evening, which means a frigging whole weekend of just surfing YouTube for 4K content. And while in that 4K fugue state, I came across a video that I had seen some time ago and just kind of forgotten about. It's called Car Maniacs, Life with Le Mans. And it's, I mean, it makes me smile just talking about it, but it's the story of three guys that own actual Le Mans race cars. And two of them drive them on the street. Wow. I mean, one of the guy that, the one gentleman that has a Porsche 962C, he quite famously did a video of going on like a milk run. Wow. In his, it's a Rothmans. It still has all the race livery, blue and white, 962, short tail, if I remember correctly. Awesome, but he goes out and he's got his race gloves and just ripping down what I assume is maybe a Japanese highway or something in this 962. The other car is a Jaguar XJ220 LM. The XJ220 is a very special place in my heart. It was a car that I've loved since I was a very little kid. I kind of lined up right with my the birth of my interest in cars. And then this is the, you know, the Le Mans race car. And these two guys are driving them on the street. And the final guy has kind of a different perspective where he has, man, if you grew up with the Gran Turismo, like I did, then you know, this car intrinsically to Mazda 767B, which is a rotary engine Le Mans car, bright orange and green is how most people would remember it. It's just awesome. And nothing sounds like this car like Pull this video up. It doesn't matter if you have a 4K monitor. It genuinely doesn't. Pull this video, put on your best headphones and just wait for when this guy rips away in the 767B. It's just the best. The video is cool. You know, it's subtitled because these guys are kind of waxing poetic about what it is to appreciate a race car that's no longer actively racing. And, you know, some of them believe it's only for the track. Some of them believe like if you're not driving them, then they're wasted. It's awesome. I mean, it's a great video. And if I was that, that, that fantastically wealthy, I would be that kind of crazy. That's like, yeah, I definitely need a 962C. No doubt. This is, this is, this is my next car. Like I, you would have a, like a Mercedes wagon or something or like an old Jeep XJ and a Le Mans race car. Nice. Be perfect. It'd be perfect. But yeah. Those are the final notes. Jason, I think you should check that video out. It's a lot of fun. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I think I've got my evening planned out for me now. |
| James Stacey | Well, as always, thanks so much for listening. Hit the show notes for all the details, all the links, and anything else you could possibly want from the show. You can follow us on Instagram, jason at jasonheaton, me at jestacy, and you can follow the show at TheGreyNado. If you have any questions, we really genuinely want you to write in to TheGreyNado at gmail.com. I'll either reply quite quickly if it's something, you know, quick, and if we think it's a pretty cool question and something we can use on the show, then sit tight and we'll get it on the next possible episode. Please subscribe and review the show wherever you find your podcasts or grab the feed from thegraynado.com. Music throughout, as always, is Siesta by Jazzer via the Free Music Archive. |
| Jason Heaton | And until next time, we leave you with this quote from the Roman poet Ovid, to wish is little. We must long with the utmost eagerness to gain our end. |