Episode 171 - The Watches of For All Mankind, with Resident Actor Brett Williams

Published on Wed, 02 Feb 2022 20:40:13 -0800

Synopsis

The podcast discusses watches featured in the TV show "For All Mankind", an alternate history drama about the space race. The hosts and their guest Brett Williams, an actor and watch enthusiast, analyze and share insights about various watches worn by characters in the show, including a Timex Bullseye Sprite, a Seiko Yacht Timer, a Vostok Amphibia, a Sekonda chronograph, and a Bulova Accutron Astronaut. They also talk about other watches in films like the Rolex GMT Master "Pepsi" worn by Magnum P.I., the Casio AMW320 frequently used as a prop watch, and the Gruen Precision 510 worn by Sean Connery in the first James Bond film.

Transcript

Speaker
Andrew Hello fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. You're listening to 40 in 20, the Watch Clicker podcast with your host, Andrew and my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, how are you?
Everett I'm great. Happy Chinese New Year. Happy Chinese New Year. You're the tiger. We did our, we had our Chinese New Year celebration tonight, which some people were think we're joking. We are not. It was a real celebration. We actually attended a Chinese New Year celebration.
Andrew Dumplings and tea and lanterns.
Everett And a dragon dance, lion dance, dragon dance?
Andrew I think it was a lion dance, but I wasn't present for it.
Everett Yeah, so I mean, it was serious shit. It was. So our children attend a Chinese emergent school. So we celebrate Chinese holidays, such as Chinese New Year in our houses.
Andrew And now we're going to take the month off from work.
Everett That's what Betty was like. Why do we have to go to school on Chinese New Year? We're a Chinese school. And I was like, well, Betty, it's because you get all these non-Chinese holidays off. You think they get President's Day off? Do you want to trade in some of those for Chinese New Year? And she's like, no, I want to. I think we should get both. Well, me too.
Andrew Stupid kid. Yeah. I also want to retain my American wages. Andrew, how are you? I'm good. It's been a bit of a long week. We had, you know, another baby disease come home from the daycare, so I've been struggling with the sick kid. And I found, since I had COVID, I tend to get more sick from little stuff. I don't just get like a two-day cold anymore. I got hand, foot, and mouth. So anyway, I'm on the mend from that and just kind of bitter about getting a baby disease. Nobody else in the house got, like, the baby got sick and I got sick. Sam called it gingivitis, because he's also a little gingery. He is a little gingery. So she called it our gingivitis. And I was like, well, that's not very funny.
Everett But it's also possible.
Andrew That's really funny. It was maybe gingivitis. So, yeah. Other than that, you know, doing good, hanging in there. It's fun to do a brief for me Chinese New Year celebration. And I'm glad the kids get to participate.
Everett Well, and we'd be remiss not to ask our guest how he's doing, because Brett Williams, one of our favorite guests and one of our most at this point, one of our most prolific guests. Yeah, Brett Williams is joining us to talk tonight, not about his own watches, although we could at some point talk about his watches, but to talk about other watches. And because Brett is an expert on film, or at least as close to an expert as we're ever going to get, relatively compared to us, an expert on film, we decided it would be a lot of fun to have Brett come and join us to talk about watches of all of our favorite new shows for all mankind. Brett, welcome. How are you?
Brett Williams I'm good, man. I'm good. It's a, an overcast day down here. Down here being South Africa. I'm sorry, down here. I'm way down in the South. Yeah. Way down. Yeah. It's, it's actually beautiful. The clouds are coming over the mountain. It's nice and cool because it's been so incredibly hot. like horrifically hot. Yeah.
Everett We talked yesterday about this time a little bit earlier than this and it was 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Is it's cooler than today?
Brett Williams It's cooler today, but like two weeks ago, um, where I live was the hottest place on earth. Like literally.
Everett Yeah. Yeah. You said like 115 Fahrenheit, which that's hot. Andrew and I have both spent time in 115 degree sustained, sustained 115 degree and it's terrible. It's unpleasant. It's
Brett Williams It's horrible. You sweat in places you didn't know you could sweat. It's pretty nasty, you know?
Andrew Yeah, and just constant, miserable. And I used to get reverse seasonal affective disorder like in August. I would just, I would get, when I lived in Central Texas and it was hot like that all the time, I would get sad at the end of summer because I was like, I just want to remember what it's like to feel cold. I just, just like, I don't want to be hot anymore.
Everett Yeah, I don't know if I've told this story on the show before, but when I was at the National Training Center, which is in the desert, basically Death Valley, which is literally the hottest place on Earth, on average, and the National Training Center is there. When we got there, I was with a cavalry brigade, and we didn't have supply of ice. For some reason, somebody screwed something up, and we didn't have ice for four days. So I can distinctly remember To this day, I can remember there was a Gatorade, like one of those orange Gatorade jugs on the back of a Humvee. So you've got these trainers out there. And I saw this orange and you could just like see like the cold kind of like emanating off of this thing, the sweat. And I went over and I was like, man, let me, let me get it. Let me hit that. And he's like, yeah, you can have some, don't tell anybody. And I opened the spigot up to pour it in. I had, you know, a canteen cup, like an army canteen cup. And I opened up the spigot and I could feel the cold from like six inches away. And it was the most, you know, after like five days of 115, 116 degrees all day and then like 90 at night. Yeah. A cool 98 at night. It was, I mean, the sensation, like I could like feel just the cold air spreading on my skin. And it was the most wonderful thing of all time.
Brett Williams That's why I've been making margaritas, like half to drink them. And the rest of the time, I just hold it under my face and blow into it.
Andrew Just gets a reflection of the cool.
Brett Williams I'm like, please, anything, like any respite. It's been, it's been insane. But, um, yeah, it's calmed down and it's still a bit humid, but, uh, yeah, it's nice. I mean, I went for a run last night. It was like 30 something, really still pretty hot. But, um, it gave me an excuse to take my shirt off.
Andrew There it is.
Everett You know, do you, do you, I mean, do you even need an excuse? Just take that shirt off.
Brett Williams I'm middle-aged.
Everett I, you know, I'm not, I'm not young anymore, but, um, all the more reason, you know, I'm middle-aged and fat and I still take it off all the time.
Brett Williams I think that's the way to go. So, uh, I'm going to follow your advice from now on. Yeah, just take it off. Everett told me to do it.
Everett He hosts a really big show. You never heard of him? People know of him.
Brett Williams So, yeah, man. I thought that, you know, everyone always talks about the Omega and the Rolex in films. And I thought it would be cool to do something different, which is why I sort of pitched a very cool show to you that you guys both know, which you also think is very cool.
Everett Yeah, so I'm not sure Andrew's watched a ton of it. I've I'm totally caught up.
Andrew I'm only aware of. I haven't watched it yet. I haven't. I haven't copped for Apple TV.
Everett I know I do think it's like my favorite current running show. Maybe Ozark also, though I really like Ozark, but between Ozark and I mean, it's just wonderful. I've loved every minute of it. And as you said, you don't want to talk about Omega. We can just say up front there are a lot of Speedmasters in this show. Shocking. There are a lot of Speedmasters, so we're not going to talk about the Speedmaster because people have talked about the Speedmaster ad nauseum, especially related to space. This is a wacky universe. We've talked about the plot, basic plot on the show, so sort of alternate universe. I don't want to break the triggering event of the alternate universe because it's kind of a spoiler, but it's an alternate universe space story. And it, but it has really good, more or less period, correct watches, a ton of them. And so we're going to talk about some of those today.
Brett Williams Yeah. It's a historical it's alternate history, you know, which is, which is fascinating. And there's so many cool watches that, um, I think people don't know about because everybody is, um, because the other, the big to get all the limelight, you know? Yeah. So, so I, yeah. I mean, I, I like.
Everett And now when you say the big two. Yeah. So we've got the Speedmaster. What, what do you, what, what's your other big two in this?
Brett Williams So obviously not as a space watch, but Rolex just as a brand just gets so much exposure. And, and so that's what everybody knows, you know, and, and kudos to like Houdinki and worn and wound as well for, for kind of highlighting the lesser known space watches. But I think, I think, you know, we've got some kind of like kooky, cool, like pieces in there to talk about.
Everett Yeah, I mean, we've talked about some other space watches on this show. And I think that there's a lot of publications that are really doing a good job covering the the non speedy space watches. But these watches, except for one of them, actually two of them, These are not necessarily space watches. Not necessarily what I would call space watches.
Brett Williams So no, no, definitely. And as some like a little bit of background, like, you know, when I work on films and stuff, the watches I get are not necessarily brand watches and not don't necessarily work. So it's, it's pretty cool to see that, um, when, when these big productions take place, they do actually invest in original timepieces. You know, they go for authenticity. I mean, I worked on a film about Jacques Cousteau and I was so excited about the watches. And then I got them and I was like, Oh my God.
Everett What the fuck is this?
Brett Williams What is this? Is the bezel from this watch? It's like super weird. But yeah,
Everett You know, I think that there's, uh, so I don't know how much carry over there is from, you know, city to city. I think that there's this idea in Hollywood that the good movies have good watch props or, or other props, but then generally speaking, like, like Rolexes and movies are oftentimes not Rolexes. They're, they're perhaps replicas or even like specially crafted prop replicas. So not like canal street watches, but something that a prop master procures from someone who makes prop-specific replicas. Or they're owned by the actor. Or they're owned by the actors, yeah.
Brett Williams Yeah, yeah, exactly. Or like in, I don't know if you've seen Don't Look Up, the RM is fake for obvious reasons.
Everett Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that character is the guy who would wear a fake Richard Mille, too.
Andrew It was on purpose. Perfect, yeah.
Brett Williams It's a perfect drop selection. I actually didn't even think about that, but that is like spot on. His character would so wear a fake RM.
Everett You know, his bag, his bag too. It's sort of a famous style of bag and it's obviously, it's clearly fake as well. And the people who are making that show must have known that it was an obvious fake.
Andrew So I think they probably sought it out because, I mean, I think Jonah Hill could have probably made those things. He probably owns those things. When I saw the, the, the RM at a distance, I was like, I bet that's his. And then we get a little closer like, nah, that's not real.
Brett Williams It's a really pretty hat. Do you think Jonah Hill would wear an RM?
Andrew I don't know if I'd put it past him.
Everett Yeah. I don't know. He's kind of one of those hypey, he's into hypey stuff. So maybe. Yeah.
Brett Williams He's an interesting guy. He started surfing.
Everett Yeah.
Brett Williams Yeah. He's got like bleached blonde hair and he's, he's like quite a wacky, strange dude. Like, like I'm kind of fascinated with him.
Everett I can't kind of pin him down, you know, but, um, you know, he's, I wouldn't call him a physical comedian, but his, his expression is particularly physical. And I think he's talented. I think he's underrated in terms of his ability to convey sort of that comedic moment.
Brett Williams Totally. yeah he's uh there's another show he was in that i just uh i can't even remember but anyway i feel like i'm sidetracking um majorly sidetracking here so um yeah how should we get into the watches yeah start us off which one of these so we've got a list of watches here everything will be linked in the show notes you guys um but we can take them in any order you want because i don't think that they're the order of these is particularly uh uh expensive at this point so
Everett Lead us off.
Brett Williams Cool. But I think we just start like, let's, let's start at the probably bottom of the range. So, um, there's a character named Margo Madison played by Wren Schmidt.
Everett Um, and she was one of my favorite, favorite characters in any show ever. I do love Margo Madison.
Brett Williams She's so ballsy and cool. And she's one of those characters that you just root for because you know, she's so like driven.
Everett She stands up to Werner Von Braun in the most epic way ever.
Brett Williams She does. Like no spoilers, but like she is, that's a complicated relationship. It is. If ever there was a complicated relationship. But she did it right. Yeah. I think, you know, as an actress, she's great. And her accent is just, as a non-US person, I just love her accent. She's got that like Southern, I don't know if it's Texan or, Um, I don't know where it sounds very Southern and it's, it's really gutsy. Yeah.
Everett Yeah. It's sort of that, that mid South Midwest South Southern Midwestern, like real casual accent. Yeah.
Brett Williams It's the kind of accent where non-Americans try to do American and they always end up doing that kind of weird mishmash and hers is just like, she's just cool. She's just, she's a very cool character. I think like, They fleshed her out really well in the writing and stuff. And so she's in quite a, yeah, I have to, I can't spoil anything. That's okay. That's okay. You know, she, she's the first, um, the first woman in mission control and she wears quite a, a cool little time piece that's based on sort of a mil spec, 24 hour watch. Um, I S I think I did a lot of research on this and I couldn't say for exact sure, but but it looks like a Timex bullseye Sprite. I think that's what it is.
Andrew There's a lot of people that agree with you.
Brett Williams Yeah. And it's, it's a cool little watch, you know, it's got those like seventies color scheme. It's like a roulette style.
Everett There's a Todd Snyder. There's a Todd Snyder re-release of this that came out a few years ago. It's quite a bit bigger, but yeah. Yeah. So based on the like sort of seventies mil specs, the Timex never really made.
Brett Williams I know they totally missed out on that. It's like, so I think they made for the military, right?
Everett Yeah. So it was that we've talked about these specs and I'm going to blunder them. I think the, uh, whatever, I don't, I don't want to, I don't want to throw a number out, but yeah, it was one of the later mil specs and Timex was right there. And I think they maybe made them for like a month or two months, but then, but then essentially didn't, but they still had all the dyes and everything. And so I think what we see is in the 70s, them releasing these military inspired watches as Timex sort of began its slow descent into the affordable non-technical post-World War II. You know, Timex was just hanging on in some ways and incredibly successful in others. But, you know, they really sort of stopped being the tool watch and started being the ultra affordable consumer watch. And so these were not military watches. They were in military inspired watches.
Brett Williams Yeah. The cool thing is it's not a woman's watch.
Everett Yeah.
Brett Williams It's a, it's a unisex, I would assume a unisex, but at the time probably a man's watch.
Everett Um, like 34 ish millimeters, right? Yeah.
Brett Williams Well, I mean, back then men had like much smaller wrists as you know. Yeah. Yeah. I've heard that. It's a weird evolutionary thing. I don't know how it happened that we just got bigger and bigger and bigger.
Andrew Because our watches kept getting bigger and we needed to grow to match them.
Brett Williams 50 mils, you know, 50 by 50. Yeah. But yeah, she's a great character. I think everyone in that show is a great character. And I may be wrong, but the writer of the show also wrote Battlestar Galactica.
Everett The reboot? I don't know that. I'm sure that that there's some crossover there though. Yeah.
Brett Williams Yeah. Ronald, Ronald D Moore. Um, so, so the next watch there's another character. And so, um, I don't know if you, if, if anyone knows, but they, there actually was a space program for women during the original astronaut program. The original Mercury program. Yeah. The original Mercury program. And there were 13 women who were selected to go to space in a bit. And, and it was a private, it was done privately. I think it was sanctioned originally then done privately. They outperformed the men in some, in, in many, many ways. And, um, unfortunately that all got, uh, canceled.
Everett You swept under the rug even.
Brett Williams Yeah. I mean, sign of the times, you know, not, not cancel culture, but canceled.
Everett So before you introduce this character, let's talk a little bit about the way the show is set up, because I actually think somebody is going to write a book about the way they set this show up at some point, or there's going to be some studies, because I think they've done some clever things, but they've preserved some historical characters. Just whole cloth. You know, Deke Slayton is a real human being, and Deke Slayton is a character in this show, and they do drastically different things. Um, um, in the show and in real life, some of that is context, but both incredibly important people to the space program, both of them have heart condition, right? But there, but the role they play is different, but then there's other characters. There's a character in this show called Gordo. Who's not the Gordo that we expect and all know it's not Gordo Cooper, but instead Gordo Stevenson. And he's an amalgamation of several people in an amalgam of several people in the space program. And you can sort of, if you know your space history, you can sort of pull out parts of the character at different times, parts of the real people into the character. Uh, so they've done, they've made interesting choices. Um, but you're about to talk about Molly Cobb. Molly Cobb is based on a Cobb, not Molly, but a Cobb.
Brett Williams Yeah.
Everett From that Mercury 13, those 13 women in that original Mercury program.
Brett Williams Exactly. So Molly Cobb's based on Jerry Cobb, who was an original astronaut trainee. And, um, her, I mean, her character, I don't know, all the characters are so beautifully formed, you know, her character is like really tough and cynical about this whole thing. As you would be, you've been trained before, and then they sort of bring you back and you're like, well, this is all going to snafu again. It's going to, you know, it's a publicity stunt, but she, she's such a great integral character into the whole arc of the story. Um, and again, and she's, it's really interesting. They turn the characters on their heads, especially in the time period. I mean, I can't go into too much because of spoilers, but the, the, the show is really intricately, um, intricately, intricately written. so that every single character has archetypal sort of aspects that you recognize. And then they turn that on its head. It's really, it's fascinating. So her watch that I found was actually a digital watch. So I think it comes in season two and it's a Seiko A827 Yacht Timer. Yeah.
Everett Which is like a plastic digital Timex looking watch. It's very Timex looking, right?
Brett Williams It's also like red, red and black. And, um, and it's a yacht timer. I mean, that's, what's so cool about it. It's not even an astronaut watch, you know, it's just the tool that they use. Um, it's not flashy. You can buy them on eBay.
Everett A couple hundred bucks, 200, 300 bucks.
Brett Williams You know, I mean, I'm sure the Seiko guys are like mad for them. I think it's, I think it's pretty cool as a retro kind of a retro piece, it probably doesn't get a lot of airtime compared to everything else. I think that's pretty cool.
Everett So Molly's kind of butch, clearly super athletic. Super competitive. Super competitive. She's this, if you can imagine, a triathlete or something. She's just one of these people that's gonna beat you up the hill, beat you back down the hill, and then beat you to dinner, and then, you know, shotgun beers faster than you at dinner, right? And so the watch just matches her personality so perfectly. And I think more than any other watch in the show, it's the one that drew my eye, right? You see the speedies, it's like, oh, he's wearing a speedie. You see Margo's watch, but Molly's watch is the one that I was like, what is that? And furthermore, where can I get one? Because that's awesome. It's just a perfect watch. The character and the watch line up perfectly.
Andrew Both of these watches have been pure Everett watches. Little quirky. They fit, they're normal, they're what you expect of a watch, but they're just a touch quirky.
Brett Williams She does wear a speedy early on and it's just like, you know, The weird thing is you see a speedy in a space film and it's no big deal. Right. You should see it. That's where you expect to see it. Yeah. Yeah. But when they, when they, you know, when they do something interesting, like the yacht timer, it, you know, if you're into watches, it really draws your eye, you know, it's something different. So somebody I hope knew what they were doing.
Andrew Cause not everyone in mission control is going to be wearing a Speedmaster. I'm pretty sure Omega doesn't just hand those out at NASA. Like it's not part of your welcome onboarding packet. Yeah, it could be, but I wouldn't expect so.
Everett Yeah. The calculators didn't get issued. Yeah.
Brett Williams You know, I mean, that would be quite nice.
Everett So so we we've gone through like the late. So we start the show in the late 60s. We've gone through the 70s at this point. I think we've gone through like 1985 or 1982. So I think the next season we're probably going to make another jump and be into the 90s. And I'm really curious about I think it's going to, you know, if they do it right, we're going to start to see a lot of G-shocks.
Brett Williams Yeah. That I think if they, you know, but yeah, it's again, synonymous with military as well, because it's space. Um, there's two seasons. The third season I think has been greenlit. Yes. Uh, I, I have a feeling that the third season may take a massive jump, uh, a massive jump. but we'll have to wait and see.
Everett So no spoilers, but we have these here and I want to ask you, were you crushed at the end of season two? Cause I was like actually crushed. Okay. Uh, Oh, okay. So Andrew hasn't seen it or haven't. Andrew hasn't seen it.
Brett Williams Yeah.
Everett And maybe some of the people at home haven't seen it.
Brett Williams So without, without spoiling it, um, that's so weird. I'm like tearing up.
Everett Seriously, I was like, you got to be fucking joking me.
Brett Williams Um, there was, yeah, there was a part of me where it was like fully emotional. And the next part was like, I'm going to quickly research this on, you know, on Google, there was a whole lot going on. It's a lot to like take in and fucking badass and badass.
Everett Oh, okay. Watches. Yes. Okay. Back to watches, back to watches. So your next watch, I love this watch. I don't know anything about this specific version, but suffice to say, there are some Russians in this show. Russia plays an incredibly important role in this show. The cold war is ongoing to where we are in the show now. So you, so mid eighties, we're still cold war and the cold war is not seemingly not going to go anywhere anytime soon. Um, but there are some pretty cool Russian watches in this show and you've picked out two. And I think you brought, I think you brought a couple good options.
Brett Williams Yeah. I, I reached out to an actor that I've worked with a couple of times. He's in the show. And unfortunately he's not, I don't think he's into watches. So he was like, I really, I really don't remember. And then like take pictures, bro. I know. It's like, send me wrist shots, man. Totally randomly. I found this website that sells watches, but also rents them out to film companies. So there were two watches on there and I just assumed, made a snap judgment when he wears this one or this one. So the first one is actually, uh, I'm going to get it wrong, but is it Vostok?
Everett Vostok? Boktok, actually. Andrew says Boktok. Early on in the show, we said Vostok, and then someone said, that's not how you say it. It's Vostok. Yeah. I don't speak Russian. So it's a Vostok amphibia. It's a Vostok. Oh, Vostok. Vostok. Vostok.
Brett Williams Yeah.
Everett Vostok. Yeah. Maybe in South Africa, you can get away with bad pronunciation.
Brett Williams Carry on. Yeah. Well, we would say Vostok, but you know. So that watch is really cool. It's definitely styled after an Omega Seamaster 200. Yeah. So what do we do? We call this a banana dial, right? Yeah. I don't know if that's like, um, in Canon, but yeah, it's colloquially. We canonized it.
Everett We've done it. Banana dial, right? So this is sort of like a gray, like a sector dial. I'd call this a sector dial with a gray outer portion and a really bright yellow inner portion.
Brett Williams Yeah. With, um, yellow and yellow and black indices, essentially. Um, it's really pretty. and it doesn't look very big. It's mechanical. Um, you know, it's, I've actually got the specs right here. I think I have the specs. Otherwise that would be really embarrassing. Ah, look, I don't, I don't have the specs, but I, I, um, I really liked this watch. It's, it's really pretty. I know. Uh, I'm also going to get this pronunciation wrong. Crepus, Crepus, the Spanish micro brand watch company bought out a, um, an homage to the, of Mega Banana, and they look very, very, very similar. You know, it is a dive watch. It's a dive watch in space.
Everett Clearly, yeah. I think this is like either the 100 case or perhaps a 120 case. Either way, it's about 41 millimeters case by 48 millimeters lug to lug. Both of those cases have roughly the same dimensions. So not huge. Dive watch though.
Brett Williams Dive watch. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's, um, the bezels all, uh, all the markers are black until you get to the 40, the 40 minute mark all the way up to 60. And then it's red and it's just, I think it's really sweet and cute. And you know, if I can say that about a space dive watch. Hell yeah you can.
Andrew And it's super vast. It's just super Soviet Russia.
Brett Williams Super Soviet Russia. It's cool. I mean, I remember going to India in the nineties and there were loads of Soviet, you could buy a lot of Soviet pilot watches in India. They just had them for sale everywhere. I didn't end up buying one, but I wish I had now.
Everett Yeah.
Brett Williams I bet you do.
Andrew Yeah. It wouldn't be worth anything, but it'd be still cool.
Brett Williams It wouldn't work. It would be cool.
Everett I don't know, man.
Andrew I think it'd still work. It'd just not be worth anything. Yeah.
Brett Williams But it's, that's, what's kind of cool. I mean, the next watch, the next watch is like really cool because that actually says made in USSR. And I love that stuff, you know, that real cold war stuff. So that's the Secunda, um, and that's a Chrono, but, uh, it's a, it's, It's a two subdial chrono, black. It's a 36 millimeter case. It's got loom. Bizarrely, it's got a Poleshot 3017 column wheel chronograph movement. What's really interesting about it is it's got a telemeter scale on it, on the inner track. I had to research that because I was never very good at maths. So this, this watch is a pure pilot. It's, it's for me, I, you know, I could spend hours just trying to work it out. Um, it was, it was developed for Russian air force officers and party members and government members and actually used by several, uh, cosmonauts, but the telemeter scale is used to measure distance, separating an observer from an phenomenon, which is first visible and then audible.
Everett So we did a... I don't know. We did a complications episode not too long ago.
Andrew And it was... It was a bezel complications that we did.
Everett Yeah. That's right. And it was one of these things, you know, one of the things that people have been listening to, listening to the show for a long time probably realize is that we are learning about watches in real time as we make this show. So we're 171 episodes, I think, as of today. Um, that is 171 instances of us learning something. So at every time, pretty much every time we talk about something on the show, we've just learned. So people say, ah, I'm, I'm really impressed by how much you guys know about watches. It's like, well, we, we didn't know those things about watches until we were, you know, so we both sort of discovered the telemeter scale in real time as we were prepping for that show. And it was like, This is so freaking cool. And duh, it works. And duh, it's so simple. Yeah.
Andrew This is so simple. So this watch, if you're not looking for the vintage version, Strela.
Everett Yeah, so Strela, Strela Seconda, sort of the same deal.
Andrew It consolidated all of these really classic models, and it's still available as the Cosmos.
Everett I don't know, is it still a 3017 column wheel though?
Andrew It's probably not. Some of them are 3017s, but currently it's using a, yeah, 3017, or resembles a 3017. It's using an ST-1940. It's using an ST-19. Some of them are using... Resembles a 3017.
Everett Some of them, I think, are still using pole yacht movements, but... Yeah, so the pole yacht 3017 is a Venus, I think a Venus 150, but really just a amazing, an amazing movement. And I think that architecture still lives in Siegel. It has to. Yeah. Yeah.
Brett Williams I did get that pronunciation wrong as well.
Everett Which one?
Brett Williams I think I said Poljat.
Everett Poljat. Yeah. Poljat. Poljat. My friend Poljat.
Brett Williams It's a great, I mean, I like this watch because it's, it's kind of dressy and, and it's, it's a piece of history and you can pick them up for the very small price of 14.50. dollars, not $14 and 50 cents, but $1,450 for India in the nineties.
Andrew Your call. Yeah.
Brett Williams Yeah. For like 20 rupees.
Everett Um, which is, um, yeah. And this is not going to be a trope. I mean, you, you're not going to buy this to be a, to be a daily, a daily banger, right? These movements are old. They were not incredibly well-made when they were, when they were first manufactured and over time, I mean, if you buy this, you're buying it because you like the idea of it, or because you're a watchmaker and you can fix it when it breaks inevitably.
Andrew Yeah, these were Soviet engineering. Make a ton of parts so that you have plenty of spares.
Everett But it's super, and the dimensions are great, right? 36 millimeters, I think like 44 on the lug-to-lug. Yeah, it's so pretty. 14 millimeters thick still, but that's a chronograph.
Andrew What do you want?
Brett Williams It's got that little bubble crystal.
Everett Yeah.
Brett Williams You know, it's, um, it's, you know, yeah, I suppose you'd buy this because it's a piece of history. Yeah. It's a pretty watch and it's a piece of history and it's, you know, when that case back is open, that, that movement is really, really pretty. Gorgeous.
Andrew And been featured for all mankind.
Everett And been featured for all mankind.
Brett Williams Exactly. It's, uh, it has. And it's, I, I like to think that, um, My mate, Mark, I say my mate, I've had a few conversations with him. Uh, but, um, I like to think that he wore it, you know, in, in episode 10 of season one, which is a very cool, cool episode. It ties to quite traumatic events into, uh, into that episode.
Everett Yeah.
Brett Williams Yeah. Very nicely.
Everett So your friend Mark, uh, and his last name even near. Mark Eveneer, I knew I was going to mispronounce it. Mark Eveneer is an actor. Just Google him. You will recognize him. He is a phenomenal character actor, tons of American film and television. Um, you know him, you know him, you don't know what you know him from.
Brett Williams I'm not going to say that I, we are buddies or friends. I've worked with him and we've spent time together on set. And we always weirdly, he works in South Africa a lot. Um, you know, and we just, every time he's here, we sit in Australia and have a chat.
Everett And so to be clear, when I say, you know, him, I'm talking to the people at home listening. So you have worked with him, but you at home, you know, him Google Markov even here and, and ask yourself if there's ever been a person who played the Russian more than this guy, he plays the Russian. That's what he plays. He's a character actor and he's a character actor.
Brett Williams Yeah. If you play call of duty, you will recognize him. There's a couple of video games, like Wolfenstein, where he's a prominent, prominent character. The guy is amazing. He's a great actor. He's a very cool dude. He lives in LA and he's originally from Israel. So yeah, he's, as you said, he's a phenomenal actor. And he is the go-to Russian dude.
Everett He's the dude. He's the dude. So we've got one more, one more watch. We're going to talk about, we've talked about an analog quartz watch. We've talked about, actually, it was probably a mechanical quartz watch, but it, or a mechanic, analog mechanical watch.
Andrew Okay. Yep. There we go.
Everett We haven't talked about a quartz watch. We've talked about a digital quartz watch.
Brett Williams We have talked about a digital, yes.
Everett A three hand, a three hand automatic. We've talked about a mechanical chronograph. We have not yet until right now. talked about a tuning fork Accutron movement, but that's all going to change right now because Gordo, not Gordo Cooper, Gordo Stevens in this show prominently wears a Accutron Pilot's Watch. And it's a wonderful watch that I didn't really know until now when we were prepping for this. Um, but he wears a Bulova Accutron, nicknamed Astronaut, but really what it is, it's a pilot's watch.
Brett Williams Yeah. So, I struggled to identify it. You actually identified it because of the coffin case bracelet. Yeah. And I was sort of struggling. I thought it was an Accutron and I looked and I looked and I just... And then you were like, oh, it's just on the coffin case bracelet. And I was like, no. But it's a great watch. That watch was... um, developed for the, let me just get this right. Okay. So it was developed for extreme conditions because the X 15 pilots, when they flew to the edge of space would encounter like varying degrees of, um, heat and cold, I think, or cold. It was, it was the watch that was developed to exist in those conditions to go rapid transitions of temperature and pressure. Exactly. Exactly. Um, So people loved it. I mean, there was even a letter from one of the pilots to Bulova to kind of explain how rad the watch actually was and why it was chosen. And it's got some really interesting features. It's got a tuning fork. It doesn't have a crown. You actually need a special tool on the back of the case. to set your time and things like that. I think you know more about this watch than I do, but I kind of researched the military aspect and things like that, and it is battery operated.
Everett Yeah, like most of these Accutron movements, you know, you throw a battery in and You get this incredibly high Hertz rate. So these super smooth sweeps, super accurate. Um, the, the original Accutrons had problems, right? Which is incredibly accurate. Um, beautiful, beautiful sweep, but just because of the high beat rate, because of that, just, I can't remember what it is. We've, we've talked about it on the show before, but it's way, it's way more than your standard beat rate. And so they've got a ton of, you know, they're pretty low torque. You just have, um, You just have a ton of versatility with this movement. So this watch is a GMT. So I think I said three hand earlier, but it's actually got a GMT function. You've got this 24 hour bezel. It's just, it's just a super cool watch and collectors are into this watch, right? You know, trying to find one in good condition is a, is a thing.
Brett Williams And it's quite a, quite a simple design. There's nothing kind of like, um, kind of like shouting out at you. It's quite a, it's quite a nicely balanced design. I really like it. I mean, I, I'm, I'm more into mechanical watches, so I haven't really gone down the Actutron rabbit hole. Um, but I, I really like it, you know, I think it's, I know it's, um, initially it wasn't a, an astronaut watch and then they, they, or it was an astronaut watch and then, uh, to the public, they actually, um, they released it as something else, but I'm not quite sure, but the astronaut is the one that I'm like really interested in because of all the history related to it. I just think it's freaking cool. You know, something that's developed for a purpose, you know, developed for those guys to fly to the edges of space. And of course, like the X-15 that flew to the edge of space was the predecessor to the space shuttle. They were testing, they were testing the, um, the maneuverability up there, the, the, the maneuvering thrust jets and things like that. You know, I think it's like gas gas that they use to like move around because you're, you've got no air up there. So you have to use these like little bursts of gas.
Everett Um, and that's how I move around. That's how I move around the house.
Andrew You should have seen him on his little one-legged scooter, man. He got around bastard and he ran.
Everett Yeah, you know, the Accutron, I think, is just one of the most underrated movements. It's one of my favorites. You know, there's maybe some marketing problems there and maybe some actual... That's what they put it in.
Andrew It's the watches they put it in. That's the problem.
Everett Yeah, you know, yeah. I think it's a chronically underrated movement. You know, we... And yeah, we wax poetic about Spring Drive, but And when I say we, I mean the broader we, but Accutron is some pretty and the new Accutron technology really good too. So, um, yeah, maybe, you know, we, we've talked about Accutron on the show before, but maybe, maybe some more unpacking at some point, cause it's a pretty, it's a pretty cool concept and execution is historically been really wonderful.
Brett Williams Yeah. It's, it's the first American watch in space as well. Yeah. Essentially. Essentially. That's right. Yeah. I love it. I love the little like bubble crystal and the legs are really interesting. Um, it's weird. It's interesting. It's actually, some of them have got like a Ming style like, right.
Everett Where it's sort of, I think they all do appears to curve outward at the end. Yeah.
Brett Williams I think that might be, I think that might be optical illusion, but I think the way the, Oh, I see what you, yeah, it is because of the angle of the legs, because it's not a straight leg at the top, it does kind of, uh, lend, lend itself to that. But it's just such a pretty watch. You know, it's like, I don't know. I would, I would give up my child for that watch. Probably not. Maybe.
Everett So five watches from, for all mankind, space, a space show with space watches. We by and large managed to avoid talking about Omega. So yay for us, but we've got a bonus here. And in the interest of spreading our wings, taking advantage of you being here, we've all picked a watch, a favorite watch from film and or cinema. That's not related to for all mankind. This was inspired by your, this section was inspired by a pick you had suggested was something else you wanted to talk about. I was like, shit, that's great. Let's talk about it. So I'd like to, if we can't just start with you, Brett, cause you've picked, I think the coolest of these three watches perhaps.
Brett Williams Um, I, yeah, I, I was a big fan of, um, you know, I grew up, I like grew up in the eighties and there's just one mustache from the eighties that's carried on through and that's, you know, Magnum PI. If anyone's had a mustache, but Reynolds was cool, but Magnum PI learned it from Magnum PI. Yeah. He just rocked a mustache and he was like, so cool. He was, you know, living in Hawaii, driving Ferrari. wearing Hawaiian shirts. He was like ultra, ultra casual.
Everett You kind of got a little bit of a Magnum PI thing going on. I think you do.
Brett Williams I think you might be right there. Actually, you know, now that the microphone is, um, over your chin, I definitely can see a Magnum PI in you.
Everett No one has ever said that before.
Brett Williams But, um, yeah, I mean, Magnum P.I. was probably one of the biggest TV shows in the 80s. He was a character who sort of lived outside of what you would consider a normal cop show, even though he was an investigator. They were all ex-NAM guys, and he had a really interesting watch that, again, the wardrobe department gave him to wear. And eventually at the end of the show, they gave it to him. He'd hope so. I mean, he'd, he'd sweat a lot in that watch. I think the reason that the bezel has got so much patina is because of, you know, it's just all Magnum PIs sort of like sweat and manliness.
Everett Everybody knows that pheromones will accelerate the patina. So you've got to tell us what the watch is. So we're talking about this watch. You have to tell us what the watch is, Brad.
Brett Williams Okay. So I wasn't going to talk about Rolex, but it is a Rolex. It's a GMT Master reference 1675 Pepsi. And it's just, it's just cool. I mean, it's, I've never really been into a Pepsi because I think because of my color blindness, the red doesn't really pop for me. Um, but it's, it's just cool. It's got the slender lugs. It's, it's a beautiful looking watch. And I think it's such a cool part and gift, you know, he's still got it today, apparently. It's a cool parting gift. I mean, if I worked on a show and there was a watch that I really enjoyed, I would hope that it would be given to me. Obviously, it's a GMT Master. It's a great, great, great looking watch. The Pepsi bezel is cool. I put my color correcting sunglasses on the other day and It did pop. So it is cool. There's a problem with this watch from the show.
Everett So the run of the 1675, if I recall, it was from 1980 to 1988, which is exactly the same as the run of Magnum PI. And so it's probably a coincidence, but The story in the show is that his dad wore this watch and gave it to him when his dad died, but it doesn't work because of the timeline.
Andrew Unless his dad died immediately after getting it. Right.
Everett So his dad bought the watch, croaked, and is like, here you go.
Brett Williams It's, it's, it's completely, completely believable. He, um. It was also the eighties.
Andrew There was no Google.
Everett Yeah. That's right. He wore the watch. It was a lot harder to fact check this shit.
Brett Williams Yeah. It just came out. He bought it, died in a tragic spear fishing accident and Magnum, uh, Magnum retrieved it.
Everett And you know, we internet, we modern internet sleuths. So there was a GMT master that came before that, but the internet has figured out that this is certainly a 1675 because of where the 24 hour time, where the 24 hour hand sits in relation to the minute and hour hand. But, uh, yeah, that's a fun little fact.
Brett Williams Now, you know, yeah, they switch, they switch the, um, uh, the hands basically, um, where the GM, you know, where they sit on top of one another. Yeah.
Everett Yeah. Yeah. And the best, the worst and the best.
Andrew Can we agree on that? I'm looking at one on, uh, on Bob's watches right now. There's three people also looking at it right now. It says three people viewing $20,000 with a good patina on the red. It's almost, it's not red, it's pink. At best. It's like a very soft pink.
Everett Get that? Grow a mustache?
Andrew I can do neither of those things. Panties will drop. My mustache looks as if my eyebrows just fell beneath my nose. It doesn't connect.
Brett Williams Morgue at your house? Buy a red Ferrari? Yeah. You're in there. My wife's gone.
Andrew I can make the decisions now.
Brett Williams There's no consequences. I like the patina on those watches. I actually prefer it. Um, you know, every time a Rolex is on Chrono 24 or that I take a look at, I love, I love a worn, a worn watch.
Andrew Yeah.
Brett Williams You know, there's just something about it. It's, I don't know. I don't, it's not precious and it's been worn and it's seen history. And I really liked that kind of stuff personally.
Andrew Yeah. We have a friend Xander who collects, uh, vintage Seiko. He wouldn't say he collects vintage Seiko. He collects vintage Seiko. And he always has watches that are just like lived in. Like, man, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't pay money for this. He's like, yeah, I got this. It doesn't work, but I love it. Okay.
Everett Yeah.
Andrew He does a good job getting them on deals though. He's, he's, he's gotten some smoking deals, but he's always got cool vintage Seiko. Yeah, for sure. Like real lived in. just fucked up.
Everett But not but but also like well preserved and in good shape and running and all the stuff you needed to do. So sometimes. Andrew you got a fun watch. I do. And this is a watch that I own. You do own it. Precisely for the reasons that you're about.
Andrew And I chose I chose the AMW 320 and the AMW 320 outside of the big the big brands you know the Speedmasters the Datejusts the OPs, the speedies, take your pick of the super iconic watches, I think is perhaps one of the most featured watches in television and movies.
Everett Yeah, I think that's right. I see it all the time. So this is the Casio Barney watch.
Andrew The kindergarten cop, Arnold Schwarzenegger, gold dial, monstrosity. It is everywhere. Just just a couple examples of where I've seen it. And these are just like what I could pull from memory because I see it regularly. And I try to take pictures. It is in Scream.
Everett It is in Matthew Lillard wears in Scream.
Andrew Matthew Lillard wears in Scream. It is in Home Alone as born by Joe Pesci's character Harry. It is in The Office. It's it's not a new watch. It stopped production long before The Office began, but Craig Robinson's character, Daryl Philbin, wears an AMW 320. A couple photos, you see him wearing a Timex sport watch, but those are just in headshot promo photos. I've never seen him wearing anything else in the show. Fairness, I've never watched every episode watching for the watch. Every time I see him wearing a watch, it's the AMW 320. I think it's the most featured watch. I see it all the fucking time, and I always try to take a picture, but that's a 320.
Everett Kindergarten Cop.
Andrew Yeah, Kindergarten Cop.
Everett Also, Last Action Hero, I think.
Andrew Yeah. Is it Last Action Heroes? Last Action... It's something. Yeah, he wore it in two subsequent movies. But it's such a weird watch to pick, because it's not iconic. It's not expensive. It's not particularly attractive.
Everett I mean, I love mine, but yeah, it's actually got a really good case shape. It's got a good, but it's huge. It's 45 millimeters. Yeah, by like 52.
Andrew And it makes me think that this watch is just in the top drawer of like a handful of prop masters toolboxes. Casio just sent this out to prop masters. Here you go. Here you go. There's 20 of these. Here's all the new in box, whatever. Do what you will with them. We don't even need you to pay us. Just we need to get rid of them. And that kind of got me thinking like, And you've, I don't know how closely you've ever worked with prop masters, but I've read a good handful of interviews with prop masters when choosing watches. Some seem really deliberate. Some kind of just go with the feel of the director and some are like, no, no, no, this character needs to be wearing this watch. And I'm curious what your experience has been. It sounds like, I mean, you kind of alluded to it earlier where you're just like, Hey, take this piece of shit and, and wear it and, and be gone. But what have you seen in the deliberateness of prop masters in choosing their watches?
Brett Williams So, I think it always depends on the prop master or the wardrobe. Often the wardrobe is doing it in commercials or even on film sets sometimes. I think the prop masters know more about the product or the watch than wardrobe assistants. Wardrobe assistants would just give you a watch that sort of goes with your look, but the prop masters in general, they give you something that they think fits your character. You know, even though, even though the watches were like terrible in the Jacques Cousteau film that we wore, they were all period correct. At least there's that. There's that, you know, it wasn't like, you know, it wasn't like the ceramic bezel GMT For all mankind.
Andrew Yeah. Right. Or like Ben Affleck's in, uh, Oh shoot. It doesn't matter. He was, he was wearing like a 30 year Ford watch. It doesn't matter.
Brett Williams Oh yeah, no. So it is, there's nothing worse than when you see an out of, out of era watch on someone, unless it's an alternate reality, but it just, then you know that the person hasn't done the job, you know, it's somebody screwed up. Yeah, they don't. It's like when you watch like a war film and you go, Oh, wow, the plane that they're flying wasn't invented until after the war or something like that. It takes you out of that suspension of disbelief. But in general, they know this shit.
Andrew You know, And they give a shit? Like, I mean, are they that?
Brett Williams And they give a shit. Okay. Yeah. That's what I was, that's what I wanted. Props masters within, within budget constraints, depending on the film, but props masters are generally like very savvy to what they're doing. There's a lot of research done, like a lot of research. Um, sometimes they slip up, but, but generally it's really good.
Everett Yeah. You know, Andrew can probably back me up on this, but being a fellow in the army, we've got, uh, or formerly in the army, we've got, you know, the uniform. Yeah. the uniform requirements in the military are really specific, right? And I think that 98% of movies, big budget, it doesn't matter what budget, without respect to budget, 98% of movies screw up on their portrayal of military uniforms.
Andrew And it just... In just miserable ways.
Everett In miserable ways. It is really, really... frustrating. It's one of those things that it's like how hard would it be just to have a you don't even need somebody like I would do it for free. You just need to have a guy who's been in a line unit in the last 20 years to sort of walk around the set because the things it's super distracting. It's like this is this is what what what maybe it's so distracting like being someone in the military. I'll see these folks and they're like, you know, either like just come off deployment or something, you know, this is an infantry. He was an infantry corporal and you know, like he doesn't have corporal rank on. He's got, he's got like his, you know, his collar is like popped and velcroed and he doesn't have like a, you know, the proper badging and this it's really, it's really minor stuff. But as you know, we've got this really pretty robust population of people who have served. It's such a silly thing. It's, it would be so easy to get it right. Like I said, I would do it for free. And the amount of films that they get it wrong. I mean, I'm not exaggerating when I, when I say 90 to 95% of films get this wrong. It's so distracting.
Brett Williams It's like, there's always going to be a certain number of people that know their shit and can see. It's sort of what drives me crazy about The Great Escape is they're in the middle of Germany and Steve McQueen's writing a triumph. Right. a British motorcycle. Right.
Andrew Well, he had it smuggled in while he was digging his tunnel. That was an enormous endeavor.
Everett And it's such a good seeing him hop in the concertina. I mean, come on, this is amazing.
Brett Williams It is this, but like, I'm really, I'm really anal about that stuff and like really a stickler for detail usually in, in, in that kind of regard. And, and it just like, when I see stuff like that, it's the same thing with the uniforms. It just sort of takes me out and I'm like, why, Then I start questioning why they did that and why, why didn't they just do a little bit of research?
Andrew It was easier to get right than it was to get wrong.
Everett Someone on set was in the military and they know you're fucking this up. Just ask, hey, was anybody in the army in the last 20 years? Just, just pull the room, right? Get this right.
Brett Williams So I was, I was in a period, correct, World War II TV show. for a split second. And the military advisor on that was fairly old. And I asked people, how's it going and whatnot. And they were like, he's fucking confusing Vietnam with World War Two. And this was the budget on this was extreme, extreme. Yeah, I think he was maybe losing his marbles a bit.
Andrew But you live that long, though, like that guy probably shouldn't even be hired.
Brett Williams But also he wasn't even like in active combat ever. He became a, um, you know, he just got into the movie business and started, uh, fairly famously, you know?
Andrew So we have a future.
Everett Yeah, I know we should do this. Can you get us work as military advisors?
Andrew I'll fly to South Africa six times a year.
Everett So I've got, I've got to watch, I've got to watch. So, so this is, so when I told, Brett, what I think this watch is, he fact-checked me and I think he now agrees with me, but I've got the very first Bond watch as my pick. Oh, it's the Rolex Sub? It is not a Rolex Sub.
Andrew What it is... Speedmaster? Seamaster?
Everett Is a Gruen... Gruen? Gruen Precision 510. This is a 34 millimeter gold filled Gruen dress watch, 17 jewel, nothing fancy. It is the very first watch depicted in Dr. No on Sean Connery's wrist. And it's depicted in that opening casino scene and then later at the airport in Australia. But as soon as Sean Connery gets in the limo, he's got the iconic sub on. But that very first watch and Anecdotally, in pre-production, Sean Connery is wearing probably his own Gruen Precision gold-filled, 17-jewel, nothing fancy, 34-millimeter dress watch. And it is, I think, the very first Bond watch, and you can get them for under $1,000. So if you want a Bond watch right now, today, for under $1,000, go to your eBay, type in Gruen Precision 510, and get yourself the very first Bond watch. How big is it again? 34 millimeters. Yeah. Yeah. These, so these are little watches and, um, you know, so it's a, it's a very sort of, it's a big dial, small bezel, lots of dials. So you're going to get, you're, you're going to get that feel of a substantial watch. It's not going to feel like one of those tiny little square, um, one of these square Rolexes or something. It's going to be, bigger feeling that but it's going to be a diminutive watch but it's a dress watch straight lugs gorgeous totally totally classic dial you know no no nonsense beautiful gold filled most of these are gold filled dress watch available in fantastic condition for 1200 bucks in any sort of decay under that 100 bucks yeah yeah But such a cool watch and a bond watch. It was probably his watch. And if it likes, I think we hear a lot of times people say, I need a dress watch. I need a dress watch. That's a good pick. Well, I need a dress watch and I want something like, oh, you can get a Bambino or, you know, you can get this or you can get that. For like 400, 500 bucks, you can get this wonderful classic Swiss movement dress watch. that is also you can see when people say oh that's a that's a pretty little watch what is that this is a conversation starter yeah it's like a dress watch bond watch this is the very first you know yeah uh i don't know that anyone's ever going to ask you about your watch but maybe if you're wearing a 34 millimeter dress watch they might um i love this i love this watch and i love that i didn't i hadn't heard about it before today and i love that when i told the actor uh with an imdb page did we mention that yet this this episode oh we'll we'll link to it in the show notes then when i told the the imdb paged actor he didn't even know right it's like this is a great conversation piece it is a great great great conversation piece it's also the only watch that truly stands out in the bond watch history because today i watched no time to die and i was almost offended
Andrew by how apparent the Omega brand placement was. Really? During the entire movie, it is very clear that Daniel Craig's cuff is pushed up over and behind his watch. There is almost not a single scene with him visible. Yeah, Omega doesn't fuck around with that. That watch is visible. And I can tell you, as a person who does some physical things with a watch on and typically in long sleeves, that bitch gets covered up pretty easily and pretty quick. Not in, not the case of, and maybe it's because I'm not a secret agent. That's possible, right? And I'm very, I'm open to that possibility. I'm even accepting of that reality, but I can just say some of the things that I watched him do that immediately his shirt cuff was again, tucked behind his very clear Omega watch was, um, Troubling.
Everett One hour. Brett, go ahead.
Brett Williams Yeah. I was just going to say, I'm probably going to ruin it for you movies, but every time you see a dinner scene or someone's having a drink or something, just take a look at the labels on all the cans or everything is always turned.
Andrew Unless it's Netflix and then it's Budweiser branded.
Everett What up?
Brett Williams It's so annoying. It's like, it's really annoying.
Everett The reality of the economics. Yeah.
Andrew Cause they didn't buy it, but they, Omega paid them and they get their screen time.
Brett Williams It was like the Pierce Brosnan Bond film, the one that was like the most product placement in any film at the time. You know, everything was branded and it's just sort of, we get it, you know?
Everett Yeah. You know, it takes money to do things and that's one of the ways to get money to do the things.
Andrew I'm not going to buy an Omega because of James Bond though.
Everett Buy some other things.
Andrew I might buy an Omega because of James Bond.
Brett Williams Okay, now... I might buy a Gruyen because of James Bond. Yeah, there it is. And because of you.
Everett Yeah, I'll take responsibility for that. Yeah. So now one hour and six minutes in. Andrew, Andrew, Andrew, other things. What do you got?
Andrew I have forgotten what my other thing is, but let me scroll and I will get to it.
Everett We're scrolling.
Andrew We're scrolling. I had to run through my tabs. So this is adjacent to a television show we've already talked about. My other thing this week is 1883. It is the prequel to Yellowstone. And I started watching. It's a Paramount Plus available. You can watch it on Amazon Prime, at least here where we are. I don't recall how many episodes are out. It says there's ten episodes. They're not all out. I think there's four episodes out, maybe five. They're slow rolling them. They're slow. They're they're slow releasing, which is something I don't appreciate with streaming services. Give me them all. I want to binge them because you know they're all out.
Everett They're all done.
Andrew Yes, yeah, don't fuck my God. It bugs me. Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, are the people you're going to immediately recognize. Everyone else is going to look familiar. I was, I started this cause I was like, I heard, I liked Yellowstone a lot. What could be wrong with a prequel? I was a little bit hesitant with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Everett Yeah. As you should be.
Andrew Right. As you should be because they're country singers. They're not actors.
Everett It's not 1998. anymore. No, it's not. You're not listening to music in your pickup truck.
Andrew I'm not didn't have a pickup truck in nineteen ninety eight. I'm an old enough, but this show is terrific. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill hold up. I'm believe I would write unbelievable, actually believable as a stand alone commentary. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill hold up. Sam Elliott is obviously a the goat Perhaps. Goat. I think 1883 stands to perhaps be better than Yellowstone, because Yellowstone's kind of gotten to this point where they have to force some drama, right? It's the modern era. You don't have to force a lot of drama on the Oregon Trail, right? Cholera, rattlesnakes, Indians, they sort of do the shit for you, right? You don't have to force the drama. It just kind of occurs as as the course of life. But this show is So good. I came in with relatively low expectations. High hopes, low expectations. Hopes were met. It's fun. It's well-acted. The story's well-written. It's got the drama you expect without being excessively forced. There's going to be some forced drama, right? Because you can't just have rattlesnakes and cholera as your... I mean, you can. You could, right? But I don't know. It's not particularly exciting. I mean, especially you got Tim McGraw-Faith Hill. I don't know. It's a survival show, right? Like Survivor is on for 25 years and is still running strong, right? So maybe there's something. I watch every episode. I love it, but it's worth a watch. It's on. So there's four or five episodes available on Prime through Paramount Plus. I don't know what Paramount Plus is exactly, but apparently I have a subscription for it. I don't know if I pay for it, but I have it.
Everett Paramount CBS, right?
Andrew No, it's a standalone television. Like when I was looking at this, to make it another thing, it's a standalone app on my TV. Give it a watch. If you've liked Yellowstone at all, if you like Westerns at all, if you like Sam Elliot at all, if you like decent acting and good drama at all, this is a good watch.
Brett Williams I'm in.
Andrew Yeah.
Brett Williams I've never seen Yellowstone.
Andrew Do watch Yellowstone. It is The Sopranos set in modern Montana. fuck if you like good drama me.
Everett If you like good drama, yellow stones for you, I think God time to scrap this episode and record something else. Yeah, we're gonna have to find someone new. I can't believe you right now, Brett. I can't believe you. I've got another sorry do me. So I I I I teased this last week. I had my logitech mx master mass three. He did he give us just I gave you just the tip and I said, I've got a follow on other thing for next week. So I, when I bought my new mouse, I also decided that I wanted a new, so I was using this old mouse pad, like a serious, like 1990s neoprene, like be all you can be army recruiting one that really terrible. And you know, it was like, sort of like, like started like getting shiny. And then like, there was parts of it that like had like, chunks some unidentified white well no and i was like i know i can identify that way it's time it's time it's time you know let's let's get a mouse pad but you know some some of you guys remember i recently got a new keyboard uh and so i was like well maybe if i get something i kind of want something so i so i go to amazon as you do and i start looking at mouse pads and or like desk pads right so so i'm thinking something long yeah you are you know, sort of narrow, decent girth. Yeah, exactly. And I start finding these, all these like very highly rated on Amazon desk pads. And they're all like TPU or like pleather. And I actually had one in the cart and I was about ready to order one of these, you know, 33,000 reviews for plus stars. You know, people buy this thing and they like it and it does everything. I had this moment where I was like, no, Everett, you like nice things. You could do better. You can do better. And so I decided I'm going to keep my 15 bucks, delete from cart, and I'm going to spend way more on something that is not any better. And so, uh, I found something that was way more money and practically Pragmatically speaking, not any better.
Andrew Exactly the same, but definitely better.
Everett I found a company in Portland called Grovemade, and so this is a company that's very close to us, but is a company with national renown. They're a small team of sort of, they make you feel like they're artisan makers, but in any event, they have three distinct lines of desk mats.
Andrew They do?
Everett They've got a, like their high end, like sort of benchcrafted leather, which are pretty expensive. You know, we're talking about hundreds of dollars. They've got their felt, felted wool. Fuck they are. Um, desk mats and their, their lower range, which are all under. Merino wool would be really nice. Yeah. It's like a felted merino wool. Supposedly they're nice, but they also have a natural linoleum. So cork backed natural linoleum. And I was like, Oh, the price on these is what I'm looking for. So I think I paid 40 bucks for the medium sized desk mat. And you're going to wish you bought the large for 80. I didn't really know. Well, I did. I sort of measured my desk and figured out what size I needed. Um, I didn't really know what to expect. So I'm kind of spending, I'm spending three times more on this thing than the 33,004 plus star Amazon review. Um, is this going to be worth it? The answer is no, obviously. But also, yes. So I get this thing. It is very sort of... Did you get black or navy? I went with the navy. Okay. You get this thing and it's just well packaged. It's a roll of butcher paper. But then you lay it out. The linoleum is fantastic. So natural linoleum. I think they make linoleum with wood pulp and linseed oil, basically. That's what it says, yeah.
Andrew Did it have any memory issue when you unrolled it?
Everett It was just open. It was about two days. before it sat flat. Now it sits flat and I set my coffee cup on it. It's got no rings. Um, and I guess over time that might happen, but I got this thing and it's just feels nice. It was exactly what I wanted. It was exactly what I wanted. It's a nice thing. It's not functionally any better than anything you could get for 15 bucks on Amazon. So I'm not telling you to get this because you'll have a better experience, but you will feel way cooler, way more, uh snooty when you roll your mouse around on this thing.
Andrew They do a good job uh with on their on their product page demonstrating the scale of the pad against monitors and a keyboard and a mouse.
Everett You know the other thing they do is they provide all your dimensions so if you have a tape measure you can sort of measure your desk and they have a quite a few different sizes too so they've got like four sizes medium, medium plus, large, small and you know you can figure out what size you need. For me I found a size that was actually almost exactly perfect for what I needed it for. And like I said, this is just a fucking desk mat. But I got it and I was instantly gratified. I was like, yes, this is exactly what I wanted.
Andrew I want a merino one. I don't even have purpose. I don't have an office.
Everett You could put it on the like on the dash of your patrol car.
Andrew I just get one of the dash mats for that. No one shares my car. This is like a miracle has occurred. I typically, you typically share a car with three other people. You have a day, like from your side of the week, you have a day car partner. And on the other side of the week, two other people use your car. No one uses my car. Like hot bunking. Yeah, I'm the only person who doesn't, who uses this car. No hot racking for me. My seat is always perfectly adjusted. The mirrors are always perfectly adjusted. My phone is the only one that's the Bluetooth saved to it, so I don't have to search for my fucking phone when I get in the car. It's awesome. Aside, Brett, what have you got for other things?
Brett Williams For other things, so I started running, which is not a big feet. I've never been a runner. I've always been slow. You've been a surfer though.
Andrew You're an athletic looking dude. If you guys haven't seen this guy, he's felt.
Everett Thank you. He looks just like Magnum PI. I'd say really close.
Andrew He just wears t-shirts instead of Hawaiian shirts. Also no penis shirt today.
Brett Williams Yes. I specifically didn't wear the penis shirt today. I actually asked them why they've changed their logo to horizontal rather than vertical. And they were like, oh, it's just something we changed.
Andrew Just a design aesthetic. It had nothing to do with looking like you were getting attacked by a penis.
Brett Williams I didn't know. Yeah, I didn't want to say it because it looks like you've got a, you know, a dick in your mouth almost. It's like, it just is like a design thing. But I mean, you couldn't see the whole print.
Andrew No, even with the whole print, I linked to it. And if you haven't looked at our show notes for it, did you see the picture? Yeah, I showed you the picture there. It was like two guys, like one sitting in the other guy's lap wearing the dick in your mouth. That's a thing.
Brett Williams It's weird. They're, they're an amazing brand. Mummy water. They're, they're fricking cool. So, okay. So I started running and, um, I've got some really shitty assets, kind of like gym shoes. And I managed to do three kilometers on my first run. I don't know what that is in miles, but I didn't die.
Andrew Like he just ran, like walked out the door, strapped him up and ran.
Brett Williams yeah my friend was like hey do you want to come running with my girlfriend and I and I was like yeah okay and my whole thing this year is to say yes to things you know that's my sort of new year's resolution or initiative to say yes so I went running I wasn't out of breath yeah well within reason within reason um and yeah shit I ran like three k's and I was like this is actually cool I can do this so I bought some Mizuno running shoes and I tried them out and they just didn't work for me. So I took them back because I had seven days and I bought some Socony Peregrine 11s, which are a trail running shoe. Cause we've got loads of trails around the mountain side here. They've got power run cushioning for a fast and responsive ride. And that's spelled P R P W R run. They've got loads of grip. They've got like a, um, I think it's a carbon fiber rock protector in the middle of the shoe. They're super comfortable, which is, you know, if you're ever into running, you have to try your shoes on because everybody's feet are different. They're so light and they just make me want to run more. I ran another 3Ks yesterday, but I've been running up in Newlands Forest, which is a trail area, which is really like stunning. And I go with my girlfriend and her four dogs. So, they're like $170 over here. I don't know what they are in the States. I got the red and navy because I think they're pretty dope and colorful.
Andrew They'll stand out in the forest should you fall.
Brett Williams Yeah, exactly. If I die or my feet stick out of the brush, you'll find me. I just want to abuse them. That's a good color. It is a dope color. It is, isn't it?
Everett So, I think this is about 120 in the U.S. I actually did. I did a 40 miler.
Andrew I found them on sale. From Saucony online, 100 bucks right there?
Everett 100 bucks. I did a 40 miler last summer and I did the first half of my 40 miler in a pair of Peregrine 10s, which is a great shoe. It's interesting you say it's super light. They were actually by several ounces the heavier of the two shoes I wore. I think they're actually kind of a little bit of a heavy shoe, but they are They're low, so it's not like a... The midsole is pretty thin. And the lift is not that high. That's right. So kind of a low drop, which is nice for the front half of a 40 miler. It's a great shoe. Great rock plate, like you said. For running trails, I think it's a great shoe. And they're affordable. The second half of that run, I wore a much more expensive shoe. Um, because I wanted the cushioning, but the, the price point there, that a hundred, you know, a hundred to $120 USD is a really nice price point for a running shoe.
Brett Williams So the Mizuno's that I used originally, I tried, I tried them out for like two runs and the, the drop on that is, well, there's a lot more sponge under your heel. And I just found it was like, it, It was, it was, it was difficult to run in super comfortable shoe, like amazing. I think on a, on a flat road, those shoes would be incredible, but I love the Peregrines it's I know you find them heavy. It's just that my carbs are a lot stronger than yours. So I don't feel it. It's all the surfing and I've lost weight. I'm like, I'm getting even more spelt.
Everett I know you're looking really good.
Brett Williams Have we said that yet? Yeah. Don't make me blush. So yeah, I, I don't know as much about running as, as you, I mean, 40 miles to me sounds like, like a death March.
Andrew Yeah. That's why you would run 40 miles as you missed a turn.
Brett Williams That's grueling, man. Grueling. There's a, there's a South African runner who was dead to run a marathon by his friends and they got, They got wasted the night before, right? And he did it and he won. And he was like, Oh, I can run. And now he's like a desert runner.
Everett That's horrifying. So have you heard of the comrades marathon? Yes. Yeah. So there's a super famous, one of the most famous ultra marathons in the world. I think it's 90 kilometers. That's far in South Africa. And not only is it far, but it is, Incredibly hilly. Yeah. I think there's two major summits. Um, and it's one of those races that anybody who does ultra marathons is like someday I'm going to go to South Africa and do comrades. And then nobody actually does. Cause it's like the most terrible run of the world, but you, you, if you, if you've got it in your backyard, Yeah. I mean, 90 K is like, you could drive the course. I don't know, 60 miles or something. You could do it.
Brett Williams When I go surfing, I think I drive, I drive a lot of the course. It is the hill. I mean, I drive up the one Hill where my son lives. Uh, I think, I think, yeah, my, my car starts rolling backwards, but, um, but, but I know that the site, the August cycle tour, the guys do the August cycle tour. And when they get to that Hill, it's like, it's not even that far. It's not even the distance of the hill is not even that far, but the incline is so hectic that everybody like struggles with it. It's really intense. Um, yeah, our, our terrain is not flat at all. It's all very like down and up. And it's weird when you start running, you really feel there's like small inclines.
Andrew Yeah. I didn't realize there was a hill here. Yeah. I driven this a hundred times. It seems so flat.
Brett Williams There's a Danish, There's a, uh, in, no, the Norwegian army, they have a test where they put you on a, um, you have to walk in full pack at seven kilometers an hour, which is right in between walking speed and jogging speed. So you're just, you want to run, but you can't. And then every 15 minutes, they incline it up. I think it's like nine degrees and the record is 30 minutes.
Everett What is that? It's like four and a half miles.
Brett Williams It's because of the walking speed. It kills you like, cause you can't run it. You're just constantly like on the edge of like wanting to run. And yeah, it's really horrible to watch.
Everett Andrew's done more ruck marching than I have. I've done some but. Miserable, underweight. We've both done some weighted ruck marches and it's brutal. Yeah.
Brett Williams Really? Yeah. You've done a lot more of that than I have.
Andrew Yeah.
Brett Williams Well. In the army or?
Andrew Yeah, in the army. No, I wouldn't do it on purpose anymore. Like I did it, because I was told to do it and threatened with consequences should I not do it.
Everett Yeah. Yeah. Well, at an hour and 24 minutes in, this is a bad time to be compared with the Joe Rogan experience. So I think, I think we should call it.
Andrew I think we got hours left in us. I'm telling you, I got, I don't have unlimited beer, but there's still more.
Everett We do not want to get pulled from a call. Brett, anything you want to add about For All Mankind, uh, the watch industry, anything at all?
Brett Williams Yeah, cool. I just have one little thing for Andrew. There's a show called Godless that I think you should watch.
Andrew Oh, that sounds familiar. Oh, that's the, uh, the cartel one. Yeah.
Brett Williams No, no, no. Godless is a Western. Oh, you've watched it. Okay. Okay. But for anybody else, if they like Westerns, it's, it's fantastic. It's like, it's a good show. I'm not going to go into it. Just watch it. It's like,
Andrew Jeff Daniels may be at his peak. It perhaps eclipses newsroom.
Brett Williams Yes, totally.
Everett You're not going to recommend it to me?
Andrew No, he said, fuck you, Everett. It feels a little weird. You have a podcast about watches.
Everett I like Westerns. You could watch it too, if you want to. I see. This is getting awkward. Andrew, anything else you want to add?
Andrew I'm a lot of things, man.
Everett All right. You guys, thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of 40 and 20, the Watch Clicker podcast. You can check us out on Instagram at 40 and 20 at Watch Clicker. You can check Brett out at Tool Watch Co. Check out his Arctic Explorer or Arctic Field Watch. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yes. The Arctic Field Watch. I just said the wrong word.
Brett Williams I just said the wrong word. I'm not going to hold it against you.
Everett If you want to check out the Watch Clicker weekly content, articles, reviews, and every single episode of this podcast, you can do that at WatchClicker.com. We want to thank Notice Watches for supporting this episode of 40 in 20. You can go to the Notice website right now, buy any watch on the website and get 10% off by using the code CLICKER at checkout until March 1st. If you want to support the show, you can do that at Patreon.com slash 40 in 20. That's how we get all the money that we need for hosting and hardware software, etc. We'd love to hang your actors. Exactly. And don't forget to tune back in next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things. Bye bye.