Just Some Sub $300 Watches

Published on Wed, 21 Apr 2021 23:56:48 -0700

Synopsis

The podcast episode is a discussion between two watch enthusiasts, Andrew and Everett, about their favorite affordable watch options under $300. Each of them shares three watch models they recommend, highlighting the unique features, designs, and value propositions of each choice. Despite Andrew having contracted COVID-19, they manage to have an engaging conversation, sharing their perspectives on the watches they've selected.

They also touch upon some other topics, such as Andrew's experience with COVID-19 symptoms, a binocular harness from FHF Gear that Andrew recently acquired, and a pen case from Nomadic that Everett finds incredibly useful for carrying cables and electronics while traveling.

Links

• episode page
• episode MP3
• episode webpage snapshot
• episode MP3 - local mirror

Transcript

Speaker
Andrew	Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. This is 40 in 20 of the Watch Clicker podcast with your host, Sandru, and my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, how are you?
Everett	I actually don't like anything besides those things.
Andrew	Okay. I didn't say, what do you like? I said, how are you?
Everett	I'm just saying, we say other things we like. That's pretty much it. Yeah, those are the things.
Andrew	That's the comprehensive list of things that Everett and I enjoy.
Everett	I am doing really well. I, you know, working, uh, I've enjoyed the sun a lot.
Unknown	You have a good haircut?
Everett	I've got a good haircut. I went, I worked many hours today and I went to the driving range. I saw people. I've interacted with other human beings. My life could not be a ton better. I mean, it could be better.
Andrew	I feel like you're gloating a little bit.
Everett	I want to know, what I want to know is, Andrew, how are you?
Andrew	So, as some of you might remember, last week we discussed that I had a mild cold and an abundance of caution, decided to record remotely. You might glean from our audio that we are again recording remotely.
Everett	We are remote.
Andrew	And our abundance of caution actually paid off. Usually an abundance of caution is just that. No, I have the Rona. Yeah. I, I, I contracted the virus, but not just me, not just me, my wife and two kids all contracted the virus. Within about 16 hours, we all started showing symptoms. So Tuesday night, I wasn't feeling great. We decided to record remote on Wednesday, Wednesday, Or, yeah.
Everett	Yeah. Your timeline's right.
Andrew	Yeah. My timeline's right. Um, I had a fee, like, I just kind of felt crummy. Thursday I was like, all right, I should go get tested, you know, just to be safe. Doctor's like, well, it's a good thing you did. You got the Rona. I was like, well, good. Cause I'm pretty sure I'm dead. Uh, by, by Thursday the whole family was symptomatic. Uh, they have all, fought it off and are mostly, mostly recovered. Some lingering, uh, scratchy throats and whatnot. I, on the other hand, cannot shake this thing. I haven't had a fever for several days, but I am exhausted. I have a headache as though there's a railroad spike being twisted behind my eyeballs. Uh, I have a gnarly cough. Uh, I get out of breath so easily that I take breaks on my way up my one flight of stairs in my house. So, that's how I'm doing. Fortunately, I have this really great neighbor who's been making deliveries and care packages on my front porch. Uh, you guys may be familiar with her. She is the better half of my co-host here. Her name's Kim and she leaves all manner of goodies on our porch.
Everett	You know, she really is a fantastic woman. Uh, she, she does the same thing to me frequently. She like will go to the store and bring me home care packages, uh, with like, oftentimes everything I need for a week.
Andrew	Yeah. Oh, it's funny. Cause I, I ran out of beer, like everything else. It's like I had groceries you can get delivered. The way OLCC is you can get one six pack of beer delivered at a time. When I have nothing to do, nowhere to be. and absolutely no achievable goals. It's nothing for me to have a six pack in a day. Cause I'll open a beer at noon and I go to bed at midnight. That's easy to polish off a six pack. Sure. So I'm not going to get nine Instacart deliveries a day just to be able to have beer in my fridge. So I messaged Devin and I was like, Hey dude, I will, I will give you a Rota BJ for an 18 pack of PBR and an 18 pack of PBR popsicles, candy, popcorn,
Everett	some face mask makeup stuff for my wife all delivered to my front porch and we were all very appreciative so yeah that's how i am yeah that's how i am now uh i mean all things said and done it seems like at least thus far you know we're we're what eight days into this thing it seems like thus far you guys have escaped the worst of what's possible oh yeah yeah yeah How are you feeling just in terms of like anxiety as a family?
Andrew	I was pretty scared when the kids started showing really high fevers. Now, my oldest, he is a fever monster. We took him to the emergency room once when he was very young with 105 degree fever. And the doctor was like, why? Well, they say after 104, you should take your kid to the emergency room. And it's not like we've been parents before. So I don't understand what you're making me feel like an asshole for caring about my kid for He's like look, you really don't have to worry about it until they seem sluggish or lethargic It's like yeah, but 105 is like really hot. Yeah, look at him. He's fine. He's playing he's laughing Don't worry about it until he's lethargic So that was kind of our first introduction to his very high fevers and he'll it's nothing for him to hang out at 104 for three days like for the entire trajectory of a of an illness. So um he was hanging in about 104. Our one-year-old was sitting at about 102. I fortunately never uh my my fever probably maxed at about 102 and I only sustained that for a day and then I kind of hung out 99 to 101 for a few days. But uh yeah we um we kind of dodged the bullet on the really severe stuff. Like I've kind of had the whole suite of like if they've talked about it being a symptom of covid i have had it have you had any loss of taste or or smell that started this morning oh no yeah yeah and is that that's happening now yeah it's here in full force i can feel textures like real extreme flavors like spice and and bitter and sweet but there's no nuance to it Um, but my wife said she had that she had like the burnt tongue sensation where everything kind of tasted like mush Brutal. Oh, yeah. I'm just I got my appetite back finally today because I haven't really eaten in A week like I'd I'd eat Maybe five percent of what a normal meal would consist of for me and feel like I was gonna throw up because I just couldn't eat anymore Jeez Louise. Yeah, it's been interesting
Everett	I would have brought you some gummies. They always make me hungry.
Andrew	And nothing, nothing was good. Uh, PBR was about my, uh, uh, what I could do.
Unknown	PBR and water. That was, that was it.
Andrew	Tried popsicles. Didn't feel good on my teeth.
Unknown	Yeah.
Andrew	It's been weird.
Everett	Yeah.
Andrew	But I'm, I'm, I'm not feeling worse. Right. Today's the first day that I haven't like developed a new symptom, haven't, Just like thought I was going to die. I didn't make it today without a nap. I am needing naps like a very old, old frail man, but.
Everett	You, uh, what have you been doing to kill the time? I mean, right. You know, we're, we're 500 yards, you know, fewer than that, probably 300 yards away from you. I haven't seen you. Um, you guys have been holed up. What have you been doing to kill time?
Andrew	Uh, wrangling kids. Cause, uh, when you work from home, you don't really get to call out sick. So Sam has been working, has been shaving hours as she can. The problem is the kids have never, they never really were down, right? They were ill and they have short tempers. They have short, like, lifespan between naps before they start to get frantic. But I've been, uh, staying home parenting and trying to wrangle kids when Sam's working. Full time. Daddy daycare. It's been miserable. A lot of movies. A lot of movies.
Everett	Have you been sleeping a lot at night?
Andrew	No, I have very bad insomnia right now. That's like, that's been the most, the most dramatic symptom for me is like, you know, when you have bad insomnia and you're, you're, you're so tired and you are so ready to be asleep that you're just like, like you have no coping skills left. All you want to do is just lay in bed and weep, but you can't fall asleep. That has been, that's been the worst symptom for me.
Everett	Man.
Unknown	So yeah.
Everett	It's brutal. It's sort of surreal. You know, it's like, uh, you, you know, you messaged us on, uh, Thursday and it was like, no, are you serious? Like, I thought you were joking at first, uh, because it came off so like flippant. Uh, but yeah, no.
Andrew	I mean, what else is there? Right. Like, it's just, I got it. I sort of knew, I mean, when, when everything started, last January, February, when we became aware of it, moving into the United States and getting into pandemic levels. Like I had sort of accepted that it was a foregone conclusion, given my work life, that I would eventually get it. And this far into it, I was sort of thinking like, oh, I made it. Like I'm to the other side and I'm not going to know what it's like. No, I know what it's like. It's very unpleasant. And I did not get the worst of it.
Everett	Yeah. Well, geez, man. I'm really glad that you're here. You know, I think you and I were thinking, um, episode, we might skip a week. We might try to record with Will or Mike. Um, but then here we are. He said, Hey, I'm feeling good enough to do this, which I'm really overjoyed at. Um, but it's just an odd thing to happen, right?
Andrew	Yeah, it's, it's weird. Uh, but I've, I mean, been in pretty good spirits, like even as Even as sick as I've been, I've not really had that like, the end is nigh. Uh, like when you have the flu and you're certain you're dead.
Unknown	Yeah.
Andrew	I have not had that yet. Um, yeah, it's, it's been, it's been a really interesting, uh, symptom set. It's been a really interesting sensation. Cause I, I think this is the sickest I've ever been for in your life. for the sustained period, right? Like when you get a severe cold, it's like two days, three days maybe. And you're like, man, I was pretty sure I was dead. You know, the flu is the same way, you know, 48, 72 hours and you're kind of cleared up. But this has just been sustained misery.
Everett	Yeah. Here you are at a week and still really hurting.
Unknown	Yeah.
Andrew	Yeah. Still not there yet.
Everett	But on the mend.
Andrew	Well, maybe. We'll see. Certainly not dead.
Everett	Certainly not dead.
Andrew	Yeah. I'm very, very much like the, uh, the Black Knight and Monty Python. I'm not dead yet. Oh no, that's not the, that's not, that's the old guy they were taking to bring out. Yeah. I'm not dead yet.
Everett	That's me. Well, uh, really good to have you here on the show. Uh, cause I didn't know that was going to happen this week, but, uh, yeah, I mean, since you're here, uh, do, do you have any interest in, Talking about watches?
Unknown	No.
Andrew	No, it was just nice to visit and have a little bit of human interaction. So. You didn't get the joke because you didn't hear me playing the music, but, uh, played a couple of notes of the music.
Everett	I hear it. I hear it. It gets piped through to me. Yeah.
Andrew	Oh, I didn't know that. How about that?
Everett	How about that?
Andrew	So shall we, uh, shall we dive into our
Everett	Yes, our main topic. Our, well, our topic. Our only topic. The topic. The topic. Yeah, we're talking about watches. We're talking about three watches. We're talking about three watches for $600. No, that's right.
Andrew	No, no, we're close though.
Everett	Three watches. Three watches, each for under $300. And we each picked three. So it's actually six watches, $600. Double your pleasure, double your joy.
Andrew	It's actually triple.
Unknown	Man.
Andrew	Cause, cause, I mean, it's, it's six watches for $1,800. It's cubed.
Everett	Yeah. I think.
Unknown	Is it?
Everett	No, not at all. That's not how math works.
Andrew	Oh, I'm not smart right now.
Everett	I'm never smart. And you're less smart now because you have COVID-19.
Andrew	Yeah. So we're talking about some of our favorite offerings under $300. Some of these are watches that you may be familiar with. Some of them maybe not so much, but these are what we think of as some of the better entry options for people who want something cool, something off the beaten path.
Everett	Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think we did a good job. We didn't really set any rules. We didn't, uh, we didn't have to set any sort of limitations on ourself. We're sort of, We know how to do this at this point, right? Standard rules apply. Neither one of us is going to pick the Mako or whatever, but sort of watches that we're interested in, watches that we like, watches that have something interesting about them, that you can get today, probably, for under $300. And I think all six of the watches we're going to talk about today are available
Andrew	Purchasable. They are all purchasable tomorrow or as you listen to the show.
Everett	Yeah. Yeah. Well, do you want to lead it off? So we are, we're a little deeper. Our intro is a little longer because Jesus Christ, you wouldn't shut up. Uh, I'm just joking.
Andrew	Sorry. I haven't had human interaction in some time.
Everett	Do you want to kick it off with your first, with your first choice? Let's do it. Cause I, I think your first choice is probably, the most boring of all these, although it very much belongs on this list.
Andrew	I don't think this is the most boring. This is actually one of my favorite available on the market, regardless of price point right now, in the affordable category, right? So we're going to go in the sub $600 watches. This is one of my favorites that are available right now. And first up for me is the Timex M79. It is readily available from the Timex website at $279.
Everett	This is sort of the automatic version of the Q Timex.
Andrew	It's the auto of the Q. Everything else is, I think, identical. I'm not sure if they had to adjust the casing to accommodate a different movement.
Everett	I think it's chunkier.
Andrew	Is it?
Everett	I think it's a bit thicker.
Andrew	Yeah. Regardless, I know with confidence that once you get the bracelet sized, it's very comfortable. It's a very vintage inspired case coming from the era of the quartz crisis. So it's interesting that in the same package as the M79, they're dropping an automatic. Like the M79 was, you know, one of the killers of the automatic and here they are dropping an automatic movement in it. It's a super comfortable watch. It's a fun watch. It's sporty. It's attractive. And it's very affordable. Comes in three colorways. Uh, black on black. So it's got a dive bezel. Um, only, I want to say 30 or 50 meters of water resistance. Not much. Oh, 50 meters of water resistance. So, I mean, enough. Uh, it's got a black and red and a black and blue kind of Batman styled, uh, dual color bezel. I mean, we all are familiar with this watch, but I think this is a, this is a cool first automatic. I think it's a cool Timex. It's coming from a cool brand, because Timex is doing some cool stuff. They're trying to wiggle their way into that void that Seiko's kind of leaving. They're lagging, I think, relative to what we expected from them, but they're still working their way there. And at $279, getting a good value in this. They're using a Seiko... Oh shoot, I don't remember the movement they're using in it, but they're using a Seiko movement.
Everett	Yeah, it's a simple Seiko automatic. I don't think it's an NH. I don't think it's an NH movement, but it's a decent movement. This is a great watch. A little thick, right? Yeah, just a touch on the thick side. A little chunky. So 14 and a half thereabouts, but really decent proportions, 40 millimeters across. It does carry an 18 millimeter strap. I think that they could have bumped that up to 20.
Andrew	uh the the stock strap on this or the stock bracelet on this thing flares a bit but I think on a uh you know on a NATO strap it maybe looks a little bit dainty on the yeah going with the 18 it's a little weird but the way that the way that mesh uh kind of styled bracelet is it it fits very nicely uh and I I like that bracelet um quite a bit I've um I haven't taken mine off of the of my cue
Everett	You know, I think that you're, I think you're in the minority there of people who, who really enjoy that, but I know that you, you actually enjoy it. Uh, you know, having talked with you about it, I think some people say they like the thing cause they're sort of pot committed, but I know you actually like that. So, uh, you know, you never know, right. You never know what you're going to like. Yeah. Uh, well, I, I like that choice. It's a, it's a good choice. I do think it's the least interesting, maybe not boring. I said boring earlier. I think this is the, maybe the least interesting of all our choices.
Andrew	I think it's the most expected. I'll accept that.
Everett	That's right. Well, my, my first watch, this is a watch we've talked about on the show before. Um, because I, I actually, uh, spent some time with this watch. Uh, I have on my list, the G M Lang Trail Seeker. Uh, And I love this watch, man. I love this watch. So for $399, excuse me, $295. That's a pre-order price. You can get a fantastic, fantastic, go anywhere, do anything watch. I do not think that there is another watch in the world available right now for $299, excuse me, that's as good as this watch. It's an original brand. It's a, we'll say, relatively original design. It's not an homage to something. It's not a ripoff of something. This is a brand made by a couple. There's a picture of them on the website. Real human beings. A fantastic case. Fantastic finishing. A really pleasant dial. My one criticism in this watch may be the handset. I just don't personally love the handset, but it's very well done. BGW9 on the hands and dial. 10.4 millimeter case. And then I think it's a little bit bigger than that with the domed crystal.
Andrew	Yeah, the dome crystal and it's 1.7.
Everett	Miyota 9 series, Miyota 9000, 9039 movement, 200 meters of water resistance, screw down crown, big sapphire crystal. I mean, this is a fantastic oyster bracelet. Maybe we're not supposed to say oyster, I don't know, but a fantastic oyster bracelet. There is Nothing, nothing objectively to criticize about this watch. Zero. And at 300 and that, or excuse me, I keep doing that at 299 bucks. Who? We. I don't think there's a better watch on the market than this right now.
Andrew	Once pre-order is done, the final final cost to you, the consumer is $365. It's come, it comes in three awesome colored ways. Really cool. kind of powdery blue, a sagey, they call it Chisos Mountain Green, sage green, and then a gilt, yeah, a gilt dial. I agree with you on the handset, but I think they did a good job executing the handset. And I'll say too, the photos that are on the website don't really do it justice to this watch in person. Nope. Not at all.
Everett	this this thing this was a really really good surprise yeah you know these photos on the website i think are actually a bit of a miss uh i i think that the opportunity to really showcase this watch was there and i'm sure they have very very small margins right they probably do not have a bunch of cash to throw at a photographer but in this world that we live in um They're always around this. So I do think the photos are a bit of a miss because the watch, this watch is really, truly phenomenal.
Andrew	And the details that they decided to hit on, one of the, I think the best details on it is the, on the inside of the lugs, you've got a chamfer. So you don't have just a flush lug to end link connection. I think that's really common. in the affordable segment to cut down on some of your milling procedures, cut down on some of your manufacturing costs. They really landed the details. The finishing on this watch was terrific. Great, big, chunky crown, very sporty feeling. They just kind of nailed it all the way around.
Everett	Yeah, you know, those polished chamfers are all just excellent. I mean, It's not going to compare to $1,000 watch. No, right. It's not. I mean, it does compare, but it's not going to be a direct comparison to that, but this in, I think as good as any 500, $600 watch that you can find in terms of finishing.
Andrew	Yeah, absolutely. Designs there, price points there, functionalities there. This is, this is a, We should rate this on our scale and just see how it lands. I think it would do exceptionally well.
Unknown	Yeah.
Everett	What's next though?
Andrew	Next up for me is a brand I think we've only talked about ever in passing. It is the Caravelle Model 43B166. And I think the only time we ever would have talked about this watch in passing was when we talked to Bulova. Now Caravelle is still a subsidiary of Bulova. It trends toward their fashion, their affordable fashion brands from Bulova. Even though right now Bulova is kind of just a fashion brand. They're doing some good things, but there's so many hard misses. I just, I want to see more Bulova tradition. They've got such a rich heritage that they could really be leveraging, and I don't think they're doing a good job with that. Now, this caravel designed by Bulova, model 4-3-B-1-6-6, is a tonneau cased? Yeah. Yeah, I'd call this a tonneau case, yeah. We'll call it a tonneau case. Kind of diver, driver style. Again, very vintage inspired. with the blue and orange feel 50 meters of water resistance 11 meters thick or 11 millimeters thick and i think that was one of the things that like really drew me to this is this is a very thin kind of sporty driving watch i think is is gonna be the best fit for this it's not a chronograph but it's a very driving feeling very racing world inspired watch i've got this at 11 meters at 11 millimeters That's what I said.
Everett	Oh, OK.
Andrew	Isn't it?
Everett	I don't know.
Andrew	Whatever. Probably. 50 meters of water resistance, 40 millimeter case. It's a quartz movement. There's nothing particularly special about this watch. But it's still a very cool watch and it's $125. So for me, for my money, if I'm looking for something just a little bit sporty, kind of fun, dip my toes in the water of off the beaten path. This is something that I'm going to be looking to very classically designed dial, cool color way. And the only, for me, the bummer is that it's coming on a, on a throwaway NATO.
Everett	You know, I gotta be honest. I actually hate this watch.
Andrew	Uh, I hate your face.
Everett	And it's not because, uh, It's not because of anything it's doing. I just think this is a not particularly aesthetically pleasing watch. I don't really love the colors. I don't love the markers. I don't love the big crosshair, but I think that this does all the things it's trying to do really well. And so for someone who sees this and thinks, I like the style of this, you know, Caravelle, I think is a underrated brand.
Unknown	Yeah, absolutely.
Everett	You know it's going to be made well. The details on this are, are unobjectionable to me. I think the date window execution is great. I think the handset on this is, is really good. Some people are going to say the hands are stubby. Um, and, and that might be true. I don't mind it with the big, with the big sort of heavy, uh, chapter ring. Is that what we're going to call that? I'm not sure.
Andrew	Yeah, I think we have to call it a chapter ring, but I don't know. It's, it's, it's.
Everett	Hmm. It's just inoffensive, I think. I don't love the style, but it's inoffensive. And I think to the extent you see this and you think, I like this. I like the way it looks. You could do a lot worse than this.
Andrew	Oh, absolutely. And it's $125. This is the dip your toes in the water of watches episode. For those of you not willing to drop the full $300, looking in that sub $150, sub $200 range, This is a good place to be looking. What have you got up next?
Everett	My next watch, this is a watch that I've looked at about, I don't know, 2,000 times. I haven't picked one up. In fact, I promised someone once that I would get one of these, and I didn't do that. Obviously. But I'm going to do it someday. What I've got here, this is the Marathon Pilots Navigator watch. So those of you who have had personal conversations with me about watches know that I'm a big, giant sucker for an asymmetric case. And this is the mother of all asymmetric cases. Maybe short of like some of the Gigaro uh design watches you know besides those this is yeah but those are kind of weird yeah well and and i'd say this is kind of weird too but you know this has got a dive style bezel on it it is a fully resin case uh it's got a high torque quartz edda movement it's that f06 movement which you know i don't know a ton about torque ratings in quartz movements, uh, you know what they're good for, but there's a good for torque. That's, that's, that's right. Um, you, you know, I think that the idea is that it's going to be able to operate in, in many environments and, and, and proceed through stress.
Andrew	I think the sound you're probably going to get on that is probably higher too. You're going to get on each beat.
Everett	A diesel engine. Yeah. This has got tritium tubes for luminosity.
Unknown	Love it.
Everett	Which is cool as shit. It's got 60 meters of water resistance, so a little bit higher than I think your typical field watch, which maybe is expected. 41 millimeter is the size rating, but I think that these wear significantly smaller than that.
Andrew	I would think so, because the dial is so small. It's got such a thick bezel. That's like a 38 millimeter dial, maybe less.
Everett	Yeah, I think it's less than that. I think that it's significantly less than that. So, bi-directional bezel, 13 millimeters thick, including the crystal. And these guys, Marathon, I think is sort of well known for using flat crystals. 20 millimeter lug width. So if you've been listening to the show and if you listen to the things we say, all of your watches will fit, um, or all of your straps will fit on this watch. It is, it is, uh, I, I believe a fixed lug system. So you're not going to be able to put like your alligator, uh, in there or whatever. I do think you're going to need a pass through.
Andrew	You can get a pass through gator strap though.
Everett	Yeah. We should, we should start a watch company and just do pass-through gators. That's a pass-through croc. Exotic pass-through straps.
Andrew	Man. That says, I want to be, I want to, I want to be formal, but I came to party.
Everett	Ostrich.
Andrew	Ray. Kangaroo. Take your pick.
Everett	So yeah, I actually just think this watch is weird and fun and You know, a ton of bona fides. So, you know, they say this on in the description when you go to the website. I don't know if this is true or not, but they say they it was requested by Kelly Air Force Base and they made it for them. Basically, someone at Kelly Air Force Base in procurement said, hey, we want something to meet these specs. And so they made it for the Air Force. You know, something that can withstrand withstand pressure changes, et cetera, et cetera. So, and that's where the, the hydro movement comes in. I think these are great, man. And it's just classic, right?
Andrew	It's super cool. And they're, they're unmistakable watches. There's, there's nothing else like them. It's the American version of the, of the G10. Yeah.
Unknown	Love it.
Everett	Anything else on it? I don't know. What more do you say? Well, I'll say this.
Andrew	These have NSNs too, which makes them cool.
Everett	They have NSNs. And because of the very, very specific military application, well, a couple of things. One, this is a super military dial. You look at this, it's got that H3, it's got the radioactive symbol, but also they come in really specific military colors. There's a coyote tan. I think it's coyote. It might be, it might be desert sand, but a coyote tan, I believe. And, uh, like a sage green, like a dark forest green, uh, and, and then black, obviously. And, and it's the whole case. Yeah. Uh, and the bezel. I love it. I love the colors. Um, I think there might be a blue one out there too. Uh, I'm not a hundred percent on that, but yeah, I dig the shit out of this watch.
Andrew	Everything they do is really weird though. All their watches are just weird to me. They're all like this.
Everett	Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if I agree with you, but that they're weird. I mean, obviously it's a little bit weird, but.
Andrew	No, it's weird, which is okay, right? Weird is not bad. Weird is just weird. Sure, sure. These have always been on my list too. Just because they're cool and weird. And I don't know, I feel weird not having one.
Everett	I really like that tan. Oh, I think I'd get the green one if I got this, but, but the tan is really attractive to me.
Andrew	It might be on my list.
Everett	What's next for you, buddy?
Andrew	Last up for me, I have, I think the weirdest watch on our list.
Everett	Yes. A hundred percent. There's no doubt about that.
Andrew	And this is from a brand, again, that we've talked about that I think doesn't get the appreciation that it very often deserves called Yema. Yema? I have chosen the Yema LED Silver. Ringing in at $224. And this is very much The Hamilton, uh, Computron or no, it's not, it's not, uh, that's all of us, the Computron. Yeah. Yeah. The Pulsar led. It's a very eighties future vibe. Yes.
Everett	Seventies future even maybe.
Andrew	Yeah. Seventies eighties. This is what 2020 is going to look like. silver case, big black LED screen across the front, two crowns, red luminous marker or red illuminated, uh, uh, cells. This is LEDs. Yeah. LED cells like right there. Cells.
Everett	Yeah, sure. I don't know.
Andrew	This is such a cool digital watch. This, this is, really an homage to the original LED or LCD screened watches. But here's what makes it better. 20 millimeter lug width, 100 meters of water resistance. It comes in, uh, I think a black also. Um, but this is just that silver case, super, super vintage feel to it. This looks right out of a space odyssey. cool digital watch. If you're the type of person who prefers digital watches, uh, I'm kind of one of those people. I love me a good digital watch. And this, this fits the bill for me.
Everett	I love it.
Andrew	Yeah.
Everett	You know, I think that what I like about this watch is it's a, it's a new design. Um, it's from a neat company. It was a super cool company. It's made in France. Uh, it's, it's doing the, the vintage thing without being over the top, right? It's got, it's got a great case design. I almost wish that they would have made the bracelet a little bit less retro.
Andrew	This is flat square, like flat rectangle bars. No, that's perfect.
Everett	You know, I don't mind, I don't mind the aesthetic of the bracelet. I just wish that it would have been a little bit less 80s construction, right? So, or 70s construction, you know, they could have done this in a way that's not quite as, uh, shitty. Perhaps that's the word I'm looking for.
Andrew	Perhaps.
Everett	But, but you know, then prices go up and I, and I don't, This isn't a cheap watch, 250 bucks. It's not a cheap watch.
Andrew	No, it's not a cheap watch, but it's, I mean, it's not meant to be a cheap watch. It's meant to be that, that reach back into the age of yore for these vintage futuristic watches that now when you look at them, it's like, God, that's what you thought the future was going to look like. It's an octagon. This thing is shaped like a stop sign.
Everett	Yeah. Yeah. No, it's good. It's so cool. And there's nothing extra. I like that about it too. You know, they could have easily, um, yeah, they could have screwed this up. I think my very favorite detail of this watch is the engraving of the Yamaha logo on the dial watch at the six o'clock. Uh, it's, it's deep, it's deeper than you expect. It's going to be, and it's really just well done. I love it. That sort of vintagey swoopy Y. Yeah. Yeah. Really good.
Andrew	For no reason. That's the only thing on the dial besides the LCD screen across the middle of it.
Unknown	Yeah.
Andrew	The chamfers on the edges of the case look great. Like this was a very deliberately and well thought out designed watch case. Yeah. This wasn't just slap it together and set it to market. Very cool.
Everett	Well, can I talk about the last watch we're going to talk about?
Andrew	No.
Everett	Please.
Andrew	Now you may.
Everett	Okay. So my third watch, R6. This is really quality content, you guys. Uh, R6 watch for under $300. I believe this is a brand we've never talked about. I don't think we have. I talked about this brand a lot. I know you've talked about this brand a lot, but I don't think we've ever talked about this while, uh, the red light was on. Uh, this is the Woolbrook. Skin Diver, you know I'm a sucker for a Skin Diver. World Time Mecca Quartz Watch.
Andrew	Could they have packed any more cool things into this watch?
Everett	I don't know. I just love these. You guys, you guys who listen know I like a Skin Diver. You guys who really know me know I really really like a skin diver. And this is in my mind, the form factor, the appropriate form factor for a skin diver watch. So when I say that, I mean, we've got these squared lugs, this single plane top case, a very smooth bezel sloping down slightly, This is a fucking skin diver. So many skin divers quote unquote skin divers. You didn't see my finger quotes there, uh, exist and they don't do these things. When I hear the word skin diver, I want it to look like this. Um, Walbrook is an interesting brand. I don't know a ton about them and, and, and maybe that's, uh, that's my bad. Uh, they do a lot of automatic stuff. Um, This is Mecca Quartz. And when we say Mecca Quartz, my mind goes to chronograph. This is not a chronograph. This is a three hand Mecca Quartz. I think this movement was introduced by Seiko in 2018. So it's not new, but this is one of their three hand VH movements. This is the VH 31 Mecca Quartz. I think that Seiko using the term Mecca Quartz in this context is a little misleading because I don't really think that there's anything mechanical about this. You know, in the chronograph context, it's, it's actually a mechanical chronograph functionality on quartz module. This is just a quartz module, but it's been tuned such that the second half beats four times per second.
Andrew	So I think that's why they call it Mecca quartz. So it looks like a mechanical movement. I'm sure.
Everett	With that said, I don't think that there's actually anything mechanical going on here. But this is going to give, I don't know, perhaps the illusion of a mechanical beating movement. It's going to be a smoother sweep. Now, these aren't like an Accutron, right? They don't sweep.
Andrew	I mean, the Accutron is the smoothest sweep on the market.
Everett	Yeah, maybe spring drive. Maybe spring drive is smoother. I don't know. This isn't going to be like that. So it's definitely got a little bit of a tick to it, but it's not a one second tick. So it's got that illusion, if that's important to you. And, you know, I think we've watched people sort of quickly sort of eschew the notions of, you know, faking a mechanical movement or whatever. I don't know, I think that's something that maybe you might want, and it's something I might want.
Andrew	I mean, automatic movements are, they're shit. They're soulless. They wind themselves. If it's not a hand cranker, it's not a watch.
Everett	So this is a quartz, so it's going to last. I think the battery life on these is a great two years, which is fine. I just love, I love the aesthetics. This is really inoffensively retro style. I love the bezel. It is a classic, a classic world time bezel. You get Denver, Chicago, uh, San Juan, uh, Moscow. So, uh, how you use this bezel, I'm not, I'm not for sure. I don't really care. I've gone with the version. There's a few different versions of this. I've gone with the black bezel version of this with the mint green, the minty green loom. Um, I don't really like Fotina and this is the opposite of Fotina, which that's always going to be my choice.
Andrew	It's a little radioactive.
Everett	Yeah, it is. I don't mind it at all. I don't mind it at all. So, um, you know, there's other options. There's a stainless bezel that I think is gorgeous. And there's like a red bezel, a blue bezel. You can get this thing on a bracelet, sort of a not quite beads of rice, but almost beads of rice type bracelet. Kind of jubilee-y. Jubilee-y, that's right. I like this on a pass-through. I'd probably wear this on a pass-through. And maybe that's partially just because I don't love that bracelet. But this thing's freaking cool, man.
Andrew	It's really cool. I love it. I think that red bezel is kind of singing to me right now. Because it's also got white loom. Yeah that's cool too.
Everett	The blue and the the blue and the red bezels both have a really traditional white loom and I think you can get the stainless with the white loom as well.
Andrew	Looks that way. Yep.
Everett	I love the font. Great font on it too. 239 yeah yeah great font. This is a killer watch dude. I love this thing you know uh I was introduced uh to this watch through Pete Chillman with watches and and our good friend Joe Frost so uh I haven't been on this, but I think I may need to at 230 bucks. This is this is a good watch. I dig it a lot.
Andrew	Yeah, this is one that we need to get in and get some pictures of. And I like this.
Everett	Andrew, Andrew, Andrew, my friend. Other things. Do you have any sort of upper respiratory infection type? Medications that you want to recommend to the people at home?
Andrew	You know, PBR. People don't talk enough about the importance of disinfecting yourself from the inside. And I think it's an often overlooked precaution and also treatment regimen.
Everett	Have you been drinking bleach? Because I've heard that that might be a reasonable way to deal with it.
Andrew	I was mainline in that shit. Okay, good. Yeah, and you'll notice my recovery is Only been hindered. Full disclosure, don't drink or mainline bleach. We should be really clear that that's not something we would ever condone. For my other thing this week, I have, I got in the mail today a new piece of hunting gear from a company that I don't know if we've talked about before. In fact, I'm pretty sure we haven't. It's from a company called FHF Gear. And they are... That is an acronym for Fish Hunt Fight. And it is a veteran owned, American made... Well, maybe it's not veteran owned. I think I might be mistaken about that. It doesn't matter. It is a... It looks veteran-owned, which is why I think that. Now, it is an American-made, kind of tactical-inspired outdoor gear company. And they do primarily load-bearing equipment, not packs. So what I got from them is a new binocular harness. And their binocular harness is unique. because number one it's molly paneled. So I got the Bino Harness Pro M and these are available for $110 in I think seven different colorways. What's really cool about this is they have molly panels on the sides and bottom that let you integrate all the other junk that you have to carry with you or you really should be carrying with you when you're hunting or fishing. Your GPS, a range finder, bear spray, take your pick on things, and they have MOLLE attachments and gear that all fits and integrates nicely. And for those of you who hunt, fish, backpack, you know that when you finally get a pack system you like, that company, and usually some other companies, make about a hundred million accessories that all nicely integrate into your pack system. So for this, it's my binocular harness that I basically never take off. It just sits on my chest the whole time I hunt because I need my binoculars there. I also need my calls, my range finder, my lighter for my wind checker. All this stuff that like otherwise fills your pockets and gets stuck. And I've never found a bino harness that just that fits right. They're all kind of like meh. These are money. I hunted last year with a friend who was wearing one, checked it out, absolutely loved it. I got mine in the mail today and it is just as good as I remember. Um, so if you're in the market for new bino harness or kind of anything of that ilk, they've got a chest rig and a whole pack out for turkey hunting. They've got chest rigs for fishing. They've got hand warmers that integrate to these harnesses and chest, chest mount systems. Take a look at them. They are, I think worth every penny.
Everett	You know, I think what I like about, uh, this company, I'm just looking through the website right now. So, and also the owner's a law enforcement officer, so it doesn't look like he Yeah, it doesn't look like he's a vet, although maybe he isn't. I think what I like about this company is just looking at the website, you can tell that they make this stuff for people who are going to use it. And that knowing that, they've decided to add a lot of stuff to their website that you might want to buy. So they've got buckles. Yes. For three bucks. You know, they've got just male ends of the buckle for a buck. They've got these, they've got their pull tabs. They've got their, their tri-glides on the website for, for 50 cents. They've got buckle straps. So they've got, um.
Andrew	The shit you break.
Everett	Yes. Right. And, and even, even if it's really good shit, you're going to break stuff. You know, they've got equipment fasteners, webbing management keepers, uh, molly straps. Uh, you know, they've got, they've got the stuff on here that people are going to use. Uh, I love it, man. I really like it. You know, it's so easy to break, uh, a buckle on a pack and then the pack is useless, you know, and you can go to the, you know, the outdoor supplier or whatever and get something and replace it. But this is their own shit. You know, you're going to be able to restore this. In a year or two years or three years, whenever, uh, you know, you've used the shit out of it, need to restore it. I love it.
Andrew	One nice partnership they have. They have a partnership with the, uh, with the holster company, Razco, R-A-Z-C-O. And they make a holster and integration platform that hangs on the MOLLE webbing on the underside of these pouches, and then integrates in the buckle system with your pouch. So that for those of you who do a significant amount of hunting, fishing in grizzly country can have a holster that's not encumbered by your pack straps or waist belt.
Everett	And, you know, theoretically, MOLLE should be interchangeable across all brands, right? MOLLE was, you know, I think created by Natick in the late nineties or mid nineties. And so all MOLLE gear should be interchangeable and compatible but But some some companies don't make it the right sizes, right? They don't dimension it right.
Andrew	So yeah, it's not just the right sizes. It's that this is designed the the load bearing harnesses of it are designed to interchange with your carry equipment already. It's not just the MOLLE attachment that rides on the top of it. It's a it's a nice feature that is clearly designed by the end users.
Everett	Yeah, that's great. That's cool, man. I dig it. Uh, and not just the bino harness, because I think that that's kind of a, a really discreet, uh, package, but all their stuff looks, looks super interesting. It's obviously pretty, pretty tactical. So if that's not your aesthetic.
Andrew	Yeah. It's very much tactical tailor, but for, uh, hunters and fishermen.
Everett	Very cool. I've got something, I've got something way less badass.
Unknown	Ready for it.
Everett	Like almost anti-badass.
Unknown	Okay.
Everett	But also gear, also a pouch.
Andrew	Ooh, love pouches.
Everett	I, I've got a, I've got a pen case. Uh, it's a pen case by a company, uh, out of Japan called Nomadic. Um, and this is Nomadic's PE-07 case. Now, if you're not into pens. or pencils or, uh, you know, everybody who listens knows I'm, I'm, I'm sort of a pen nut. Uh, this is a product that I was introduced to introduced to through JetPens, which is a fantastic store and they've got a blog and, um, it's, it's just a pencil case, right? It's just a pencil case, but I'd say this thing is about 4 inches by 8 inches, maybe 4 by 9. There's probably dimensions on this somewhere, but it doesn't really matter. It's about 4 by 8. And a good inch and a half to 2 inches thick. It's flexible. This is a nylon ripstop case. I'm not going to describe this thing, right? Because... You're doing a really good job.
Andrew	Continue, please.
Everett	You don't need me to describe this thing. What I will say is the utility of this thing is astounding. So I bought this just because I wanted a fancy pen case. And what I've found is I use, do use this for pens and pencils. Um, but it has also become my go-to travel electronics pouch.
Andrew	Like your chargers and headphones and cables and shit.
Everett	Yes. Yes. Cables. Um, I can put, a 20,000 mAh Anker power bank in there, four cables, headphones like a AirPods Pro case in there, thumb drives, an extra battery for my camera, and like two or three 18650s for my vape. I can get it all in there and it doesn't like bow it out, it just also like snaps in there and feels great. It's the perfect sort of material for that. It's got some stiffness. It's got a number of storage places. So it's got a big center zip case, but everything's flexible so it all can shove to one side if you want to have it be a big bucket. It's got a number of like mesh pockets inside to kind of stuff It almost looks like Cordura. It is almost Cordura. I don't think it's Cordura brand. In fact, I'm sure it's not, but it's got that same feel. It's like a ripstop nylon. Yeah. It's not quite as, as thick as Cordura.
Andrew	It sounds like a beefy zipper too, which is usually the failure point on things like that. Or the stitching too, like between the zipper and the pouch itself.
Everett	Everything's double stitched. The construction is, is phenomenal. So, and this thing is a bit ubiquitous in the pen world. People who are into pens, know about this case. And some people like it, some people don't. Whatever. I think it's fantastic. I bought it because they're 17 bucks. So we'll have a link in the show notes to the Amazon, but I recommend if you're not opposed going to JetPens, it's a great company. I love supporting. Free US shipping. I think on $25 orders or maybe it's $40 orders. I can't remember.
Andrew	You'll have to get a couple then.
Everett	Yeah, well, you'll have to get that, you know, some some new zebra pens or something. But that's it, man. That's all I got. That's it, huh? That's it. All right. Andrew, I do have to say, I think there was like 15 minutes where I had muted my audio and didn't turn it back on. So I'll just have to use the board recording for those 15 minutes. It'll be fine.
Andrew	We'll see how it goes.
Everett	Great. Anything you want to add today before we get out of here?
Andrew	No, I'm all, I'm, I'm cooked, man.
Everett	Well, hey, thank you guys. Uh, thank you guys for joining us for this COVID infected, uh, episode of 40 and 20, the WatchClicker podcast. We're really glad to have you. Uh, don't forget to check us out at the website. That's WatchClicker.com. That's where we put every single episode of the podcast, reviews, articles, tons of good stuff on there. Uh, you can check us on an Instagram at watch clicker or at 40 and 20. And really, really, this is important. If you want to support us, you can do so at patreon.com slash 40 and 20. Uh, Andrew's got COVID and he needs your support.
Andrew	So bad. So bad.
Everett	And don't forget to tune back in next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like.
Unknown	Bye bye.