Episode 205 - Watches Roundup for September 29, 2022

Published on Wed, 28 Sep 2022 21:37:50 -0700

Synopsis

The speakers, Andrew and Everett, discuss various new watch releases and other topics in this podcast episode of 40 and 20. They talk about Citizen's ultra-thin new Eco-Drive watches, Christopher Ward's new colored C63 models, Omega's Mars-themed Speedmaster X-33, Norqain's lightweight new field watch, a unique Tissot Tour de France chronograph, Orient's unconventional new tonneau case models, and Stephen King's latest novel "Fairy Tale". They also mention their upcoming trip to the WIndUp watch fair in New York and Andrew's discovery of a new shoe from Columbia.

The conversation covers the pros and cons of each watch release, with some models being praised for their innovation and design, while others are criticized for missed opportunities or odd stylistic choices. Throughout, the hosts engage in their usual friendly banter and express their personal tastes and opinions on the watches and other topics.

Transcript

Speaker
Andrew Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. You're listening to 40 and 20, the Watch Clicker podcast with your host, Andrew, my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, how are you?
Everett You know, I'm just so good. So good. What in the world are we doing? We do this every week.
Andrew It's an excuse to drink beer.
Everett Do you have like an existential crisis, though?
Andrew Yeah, but we we have created a situation that our wives don't question for whatever reason. I know that is that is really where we just get to hang out and drink beer once a week.
Everett That is the magic of this thing. Yeah. It's this totally unquestioned like, oh, hey, you guys, we we have to go to New York. I'm really sorry.
Andrew Yeah. It's like, it's just this thing that like the people have demanded it. We have to do it. Okay.
Everett We've got, we've got an obligation.
Andrew We're going to be there for three days. Well, you know, do you, you know, you like, we're really proud of you. We support you in this endeavor. Okay. I guess, I guess we're going to, you know, it's, it's a big ask. It's a big poll, but we're going to do it.
Everett Okay, so I've changed my answer. I'm doing great. We are geniuses, and I'm really proud of us, and I'm doing great. Yeah. Andrew, how are you doing?
Andrew I am good. I think I knocked out three weeks of procrastination today.
Everett Whoa. I mean, maybe don't go into details. That sounds like a lot of details.
Andrew It was a lot of big lift things, and I'm like, I got to do that, but I don't have the time or the inclination. Everything I did today was big muscle movements. So I didn't get that much done, right? It was like five things, but it was five things. It all took like an hour and a half or more to do said thing. I got them all done. Good. I'm feeling good about it. Some great.
Everett I love it.
Andrew Yeah.
Everett I love it. I like your shirt.
Andrew It's my Josh shirt.
Everett I had recognized that. You know, what's funny is you don't have a belly, but there's like that little seam where your chest meets your stomach and that lands right in the middle of the mouth. So when you bend and stretch, it looks like he's talking, he's talking, the teeth are closing.
Andrew Thank you for making clear that I don't have a belly.
Everett You don't have a belly. I appreciate that. You don't. Speaking of which, we have now completely secured all of our logistics for New York wind up October 21st through the 23rd. That's not the dates you told me it was. So we will be flying in very late on Thursday the 20th and they're all three days. All of it. We might go to watch time too.
Andrew But we're going to be there in the Big Apple.
Everett In the Big Apple, staying in the Chelsea, uh, I don't know why I'm talking like that. In New York, staying in the Chelsea neighborhood, going to wind up, probably trickle over to watch them. Hit us up, hit us up for beers.
Andrew I really advocated to stay at the Plaza Hotel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have an entire Home Alone package.
Everett Yeah. I think it's only like $3,000 a night or something.
Andrew Yeah, but it would have been really appropriate given our bachelor status. But, um, you know, we can stay at the Chelsea Holiday Inn, wherever. Yeah. It'll be nice too, because we can stumble to and from the venue.
Everett Yeah, that's right. I do think that there will be some beer drinking and likely some tapas eating.
Andrew He did say topless, too, if you were wondering about the pronunciation.
Everett I will be topless almost the entire weekend.
Andrew That's that's the best way to eat. And you just get a wet nap and you clean it all up. But there will be food. There will be beer and there will be both of us. It's my first windup.
Everett Well, I mean, we should clarify, too. The watch clicker will be in the house. Will. Daddy will be there. Daddy, the boss, the OG will be there. Frank Affrenti will be there.
Andrew The whole team.
Everett our senior writer. Yeah, it's gonna be the full crew. It's gonna be a blast. I can't wait.
Andrew I'm excited also. In spite of my deep dislike of large social gatherings.
Everett You say that, but I think it's sort of an affectation.
Andrew I appreciate that you think that. I think it's actually encouraging that I give up, that I, that I can hold it together for long enough in those environments to, to do well.
Everett Yeah. Uh, okay. So we'll see you there.
Andrew We will indeed hit us up. We will be down to party and look at watches and talk watches and also talk, not watches. Cause believe it or not, we're both normal-ish people.
Everett Normal-ish. I will at some point be getting a Korean hot dog.
Andrew Is that a euphemism or is it like?
Everett No, no, no, no. So they make these, uh, it's a Korean style fried dog. It is, uh, sometimes just hot dogs, sometimes hot dog mixed with cheese. They're often battered. They're usually dipped in like, like, uh, what do you call potatoes? Not hash browns, but, um, like the square chunked potatoes. It's dipped in. Like home fries? It's dipped in home fries and then fried. I ate one of them the last time I was in New York and it's a Korean dish, right? So it's not unique to New York, but New York is that place that I always associate with these things. And it's like this.
Andrew There is a little bit of food tourism that I'd like to try to accomplish too. Yep. I'd very much like to have another cat sandwich from the deli counter.
Everett Okay. We can make that happen.
Andrew Because it was really good when they mailed it to me. But I would like one from the counter.
Everett We're doing a wind-up. A wind-up? We're doing a round-up. Yes! Some things have been happening. Because there's been a whole bunch of cool shit that happened. Let me just, can I start this conversation with not an event, but sort of a logistical consideration? It appears that Watchville has been retired.
Andrew I think bought out and it was a really low key transaction.
Everett Bought out and retired, right? Yeah. They are no longer supporting or continuing the use of Watchville, it seems. Or at least that's the rumor. Although I was on there today and it had been updated in the last day or so.
Andrew It seems to be still consolidating, like doing the thing that it's done.
Everett Aggregating some things.
Andrew Aggregating, that's the word. But when you go to the Watchville website, which is kind of like was my starting point for all like, what's going on in the watch world today? It's at Watchville. We're sorry. But we have. It's not acquired. We should have, I should have held up the, I mean, I'm going to go to Watchville really quickly. It's going to happen. Watchville. Watchville is being retired. We'd like to thank the content producers who made the platform tick through the years. Hodinkee, come see what's new in the world of watches.
Everett So purchased by Hodinkee, is that what that means? Watchville is being retired. We'd like to thank content. I mean, I don't know anything about Watchville ownership or anything like that. So I'm not keen on What the heck happened here? Maybe if you know, you can let us know or not.
Andrew Because I just always have some ownership. It's an aggregator. Somebody's paying for the domain. Yeah. I wonder now if it's just going to. Forward you to a dinky.
Everett Yeah, well, you know, becoming this asylum monopoly requiring everything and everyone, you know, there are a couple of other sources. I know Watch Crunch. Watch Crunch does have sort of a news section. There's a few other places. I downloaded an app. Sort of the jury's still out, but I downloaded an app called All Watch News, which also seems to be an aggregator. Very similar. I'm getting very similar results to what I would expect. on Watchville. Time and Tide, Fratello, Hodinke, Quillenpad. Monochrome, yeah. A blog to watch. Yeah, Monochrome. So it's a similar type of, it's a similar type of experience, whether it's, I haven't done any sort of statistical analysis to determine if it's as good or whatever.
Andrew Well, and you can't anymore because Watchville's gone-ish.
Everett Right. Someone may know better than me, I guess.
Andrew It's intriguing. And I'm wondering, I'm just wondering what... Hodinkee had to have bought them.
Everett It seems like maybe there was... If that thing wasn't just printing money, then mistakes must have been made, right? There must have been some problem with the monetization of that thing, because they should have been able to just print money. That's where everybody went, right? Watchville. So I don't know, maybe I'm over, maybe I'm overselling it.
Andrew Or maybe Hodinkee came in with a real good offer.
Everett Yeah, but why? To shut it down?
Andrew To drive everyone to Hodinkee, to drive them to their store.
Everett Hmm. I don't know. It doesn't track. Uh, or maybe I'm just... It doesn't track.
Andrew No, you're right.
Everett I mean, if Hodinkee bought it, wouldn't it make more sense to keep it open, but just to, you know, give it self analog or algorithm points or whatever? I don't know. I don't know. It's a curiosity for sure. Moving on. Moving on, because there's some shit to talk about. There is some shit to talk about. And I wonder, as per usual, you've gone deep. I think you've picked more items than me. I always go deep. I can't confirm.
Andrew Do you want to start us off? I do. And I'm going to start with a new drop from Citizen.
Everett Do it. Go hard.
Andrew Citizen does all this cool stuff, right?
Everett And Citizen has done a cool thing.
Andrew But they just miss so hard in the landing.
Everett Hmm.
Andrew It's like, oh, man, that's going to be a face plant. Yep, that happened. And so I have this watch and used to article up never too thin five new time pieces in its ultra svelte eco drive one collection. And these things are insane.
Everett Yeah, they're thin.
Andrew A millimeter. What? That's the the movement is a millimeter and it's eco drive and it's dope. The dimensions are insane. And they are so ugly.
Everett Yeah. I mean, I'll just be really clear. This does nothing for me.
Andrew I would get so down with this slim of watch, even at the price tag of 4,500 bucks.
Everett Yeah.
Andrew These things. 4,750. Yeah. Not cheap. 3.88 millimeter case.
Everett Well, and let's just clarify. These aren't new. I mean, these are new. So here's the headline.
Andrew Well, you read the headline. They're new iterations, but you would just think that they would make their new iterations palatable. They're so ugly. I hate them.
Everett Yeah. I mean, these look like late 90s shopping mall. Fossil watches. Department counter things to me. And maybe that's unfair. I think Citizen does a lot of this kind of shit though, frankly.
Andrew That's their jam and it bugs me because they're better than this and they can make this watch so dope.
Everett At the price, I assume that the quality of finishing on these is very good. They've got these like dictionary entries on the back of these things. I mean, I kind of hate this watch. I'm just going to throw it out there. Technologically, Uh, probably very good. The quality, the fit and finish probably very good. I'm kind of, I'm a no, it's a no for me.
Andrew Because they're ugly. Take this technology and to put it and put it into something awesome. It's not like they don't have awesome stuff in their catalog. Why? Why? Why?
Everett Yeah. It's like, what is a dog lick his balls?
Andrew I get it. Cause it feels good.
Everett No, because he can. That's the answer to that question. Take it easy, Andrew. Have another beer. We're on different pages, apparently. Because you can. That's the answer to that question.
Andrew So that being said.
Everett Because it feels good.
Andrew I got you.
Everett All right, moving along. Yeah, no, they're ugly. They're a millimeter. It's a millimeter movement.
Andrew Four millimeter total case. Even the case shape is right. The bezel is a problem for me. The dial design is a problem for me. The crown guards on the tiny, insultingly tiny crown.
Everett Yeah. What the fuck is that crown? How do you use that?
Andrew I mean, I can't imagine it's much harder than an SNK crown.
Everett Yeah. It's nice. I don't know. The one, the 38 millimeter one, I actually don't hate. It's got a little bit more of like almost a tonneau case and kind of like a hexagonal bezel to it. I actually like that better than the main line. I think it's smaller too. So I think it's 38 millimeters. So that's the AR506058E. So 38 millimeters. I think it's the most expensive. I like that one slightly better. There's also a little bit more going on from the case, you know, at a profile, which I think, I just think it's all in all a more attractive watch, but.
Andrew I'm so bummed. I want them to put this technology into something likable.
Everett Because it feels good. Moving it along, I've got something that we haven't done in a little while. I've got a watch that I saw referenced on Time and Tide that I had never heard of the watch or the brand. And I was like, ooh, which I feel like happens less and less for me. Uh, but this one caught my eye. So time and tide does their micro Mondays. And yesterday they wrote about a watch called the circular pro trail, which is, let's just be really straightforward. This is a SW 200 field watch. It's got a 24 hour ring. I mean, there's not, a lot happening here that's crazy, which is probably what I like about it. The case is interesting. Mm hmm. It's got the it's got like the sides of the case have a cutout that make kind of reminds me of Relio. Mm hmm. It's not exactly the same, but sort of does a similar.
Andrew It's a relief cut, for sure, though. I mean, it's it's very much in that. And with this with a blasted textured cutout, Yeah, that's right.
Everett So this just I mean, I think this is just a really attractive watch. I actually might like it better without that relief cut on this case sides, but I hope we don't go to relief cuts.
Andrew And I'd sort of wish small brands would stop doing it because they're cool, but I don't like them.
Everett Definitely not a deal breaker for me. What I will say is from the top down, this watch is gorgeous. We've got a great blend. of brushed and blasted and polished. Mm-hmm. SW200, the polish looks really good. The case, the dimension of the case looks really good, like kind of a steep, sharp cut, almost like a gem cut. The crown is interesting. I actually And the dial is great. The font is great. I, this may be subjective, but I think they've pretty much nailed it all around. It's got sort of a Navy, uh, and black, the one they've shown here, the one they featured on time and tide, uh, has a yellow dial. There's also a PVD version with a black dial, um, with Fotina. Yeah. I prefer that yellow dial.
Andrew The yellow is full loom.
Everett Yeah. The yellow is.
Andrew Well, it's not exactly full loom.
Everett It's a sector dial and the outer portion of the sector dial is loomed. Yeah.
Andrew But it's certainly cool. The, the, the case is interesting. And I think that's one of the cool parts about this is you don't often see, we see a lot of uniqueness in cases. Yeah. Especially brands that decide to go ground up engineering. Right. Because it's a one of a kind case.
Everett Yeah.
Andrew This is unique. Even in that world, I think without the relief cuts, this is still a very cool case. And I really, I think it's a cooler case without these textured relief cuts on the side of the case. Because unique, it's it almost look, it almost reminds me of like a tanto blade of the way, the way that case kind of sweeps into the lugs, really sharp, clean edges. And just in their photographs, the finishing looks very good. Which you'd hope for, you know, $750.
Everett Yes, $750. So this is sort of at that, like, it better be good range for a microbrand watch. No bracelet on these. And the lugs are, there's something interesting going on with the lugs that I don't know the opening to the lugs, which I don't know if I am fully into. I'd have to see it in person. I think this watch is pretty cool. And I think it's worth a look. I have not, like I said, have not talked about sort of a brand like this that I haven't heard of in a while. These are being pre-ordered now.
Andrew I'm really down with a leather-backed sailcloth on a field watch strap.
Everett Yeah. No, it makes sense. I really like that. Yeah, it makes sense.
Andrew It kind of, it gives you the best of both worlds in the way of comfort, but also that like ruggedness that you would desire out of a field watch.
Everett Yeah. So actually 629 right now on the website. So I'm intrigued. I dig it. Oh, there is also a black dial with sort of orange accents and a steel case. So a silver case as opposed to the PVD case.
Andrew I'm more down with that.
Everett Is that full loomed? Um, let me see. I don't think so, Andrew.
Andrew That's okay. I put you on the spot. I like full loom. I want a full loom dialed watch.
Everett No, it's, it is not, but it's handsome.
Andrew Ooh. Yeah. With red.
Everett Yeah. It looks like sort of a red oxide. So, uh, circular watches, dot com circular spelled like Dracula.
Andrew But with a whole lot of other letters in it.
Everett Yeah, it's exactly the same though.
Andrew C I R C U L A. Yeah. Something is happening outside my house.
Everett Kind of an acquired taste in terms of the case, I would guess. So it might not be for everybody, but it caught my attention and I was like, Ooh, what do you got, man?
Andrew Wind is blowing my Halloween decorations around and alerting my blank cameras a lot. So it's very windy. Next up, Christopher Ward's doing some cool stuff. We have the C36, which I don't know if we've talked about or not. It's the C63 in a 36 millimeter case, which is very cool. Will has one. Yes, on his wrist right now.
Everett I think he
Andrew bought the black. Yes. Yeah. So he has one and I've been wavering. I've, I've said many times that I intend to buy one. They, if they ever did a 36 millimeter, the problem is that it is virtually identical to the commuter, which has been kind of my hangup.
Everett Yeah. It would be some overlap.
Andrew And I don't know if it's a reasonable hangup because I've bought plenty of other watches of the same size. I may be talking myself into it, but. They have also. Joined the color party.
Everett Yeah.
Andrew In the C63. Automatic with a red, green, yellow and. Teal.
Everett Yeah, they're calling it Lucerne blue.
Andrew That's not I don't know what Lucerne means, but I don't think that's. It's more green.
Everett It's inspired by Lake Lucerne. Where's that? I'm guessing in England. But these are... Yeah, so they've got lucerne blue, jura green, of course, inspired by the forests in the Jura Mountains. A new forest yellow. Who knows? Yeah, an ancient Hampshire woodland. Great. And Acer red, which...
Andrew Pay tribute to the trees and shrubs of the maple family, which.
Everett OK, so I mean, Christopher Ward. Yeah. No, these I mean, these are fun. Haven't we talked about these on the show?
Andrew I don't think so, because these are relatively new. I mean, we've talked about everyone joining the color party. Yeah, everyone's doing it. And and I I don't know what I was hoping the trend would have been this year. I'd have to go back and listen to my hopes for this year. I was certainly not. excited about the color party being the thing.
Everett Well, these are, I mean, they're cool. They're, they're great. I think if you want this watch, it's nice to have colors. You know, I feel that way about the five, five, six is, you know, there's a handful of, of watches out there that are like, if you love this watch and you may, right. I think this is a killer watch. Uh, I really liked the C letter.
Andrew Oh, you know what? Maybe we have talked about this. Cause I remember that we talked about a little bit of an, of a limited release of the colors in the 36. Yeah.
Everett Yeah. I think that's right. So, Either way, I'm still excited about it. 200 pieces each, like $9.25 on a bracelet or $7.95 on a strap. The straps are beautiful. They're leather straps. Get the bracelet.
Andrew The bracelet is dope. And they are doing a new bracelet, which we can't speak to because Will's sample didn't come with the new bracelet. Yeah. Because not his purchase. His purchase didn't come with it because it wasn't out yet. He has some review pieces in that don't have the new bracelet. But I wear this shit. out of my C63.
Everett I love this watch. Yeah. And you've got the full size.
Andrew Yeah, I have the full size and I wear it on a Barton Elite.
Everett Because the bracelet's a little chunky. A little chunky, but it's also, I like the silicone strap. It's that polar dial. Yeah. Can I talk about a new Omega watch?
Andrew I think you have to because this is really exciting. I don't know if it's exciting. It's exciting to me. Fucking cool. And it makes me really tempted to buy one.
Everett So Omega just released a new Speedmaster X33, which is the sort of Omega's current space watch, like actual bonafide space watch. So the standard X33, I believe, is certified for space flight by NASA. But this is a European space agency collaboration or partnership, I guess. And it's a Mars timer is what it is. In fact, when I first saw the name, I thought it was Marzitimer, like marzipan, but it's not. There's no I there. It's just Marzitimer, but I wanted it to be the Marzitimer.
Andrew I like that better.
Everett So this is the X-33 that you know and love, at least aesthetically. That you know and are aware of. Yeah, yeah. But it's got a new movement, a new movement with a purpose, which is, if you haven't figured it out yet, to track time, in part to track, so hold on, I should just say, these X-33 movements are nuts and they do eight billion things that are really unique to space travel. Uh, but this is specifically calibrated and perhaps built to track the day on Mars.
Andrew In addition to all the space travel nonsense that you have to track.
Everett That's right. That's right. So I believe the day on Mars is, is something like 40 minutes.
Andrew 39 minutes and 35 seconds.
Everett Okay. Longer than the earth day. And so things just happen at a slightly different scale. So this does this will allow you to track that time in addition to our time. I believe this movement was developed specifically with the ESA specifically to be used on Mars missions and that could both be for people going to Mars, I suppose, but, but practically speaking, it can be for people in, um, the, the J doc or not the J doc, but the, the mission control, right. Who are working on unmanned unmanned, uh, exploration of Mars or, or whatever. So there's all sorts of things that, that you can use this for on earth. If you work at the ESA, or perhaps on NASA on unmanned Mars missions. In Mars capacity. And for other people, I'm sure you could find something to do with this watch. I have a question. Please. I probably don't have the answer.
Andrew And I don't know. I'm going to have to do some reading, further reading. It features a solar compass, which allows the user to find true North on both Earth and Mars.
Everett Oh, interesting. What? No, no clue. I couldn't even begin to tell you.
Andrew I have some reading to do. Yeah, maybe so. Because that seems like that would be a, I mean, if it's packed into a watch, I imagine then that technology should totally surpass magnetic compasses. But for the fact that it's electronic.
Everett Maybe, yeah.
Andrew But even a magnetic compass has its failures.
Everett Shit, man. I don't know. Yeah. So this is made of titanium. It's a titanium watch, which is good because it's fucking giant. I think it's 45 millimeters. Yeah, it's the same size as the Skywalker. Grade II titanium. It doesn't have, like, it's not a real dark titanium, but they do come in a little bit darker than a standard steel. The one, so the article I read about this was on Hodinkee and Danny Milton was a little bit critical of the bezel on this, which is sort of a, like a red hematite or a red oxide color.
Andrew It's burnt. It's meant to look like the red planet. Give it a burn.
Everett Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. And he said, well, that's a little bit on the nose. Right. And, and I don't necessarily disagree, but also, I mean, it's a Mars watch. I think it actually, it's a good look. It's an attractive color way. And it was a little bit critical of that, but not overly so. And he's not wrong in saying that that's a little bit on the nose, but it looks great. I mean, I think if you're going to buy an X-33, this is kind of a cool one.
Andrew This is probably the one to do it. It's also introduced to us a new timing standard. You don't just have. any of the other hundred GMT based timing measurements. We now have MTC, which is Mars timing. Oh shoot. Uh, Mars, Mars time coordinated. Yeah. Okay. I was, I scrolled down to look for the price cause I don't see the price. Yeah. 6,400 bucks availability immediately.
Everett And so this has all the normal shit, mission elapsed time, phase elapsed time, UTC, chronograph, calendar, triple alarm, but it also has the MTC function.
Andrew Here's an interesting thing because of all those extra functionalities. 24 month battery life.
Everett Yeah, which is less than I think the Skywalker.
Andrew It's not very long at all.
Everett Or the standard Skywalker.
Andrew Yeah. Two years for a battery change is significant.
Everett Not very long. Yeah. Mars a timer.
Andrew And Mars Capone for that matter.
Everett What do you got?
Andrew We got some exciting stuff coming from Norkain. And I want to talk about The wild one.
Everett This is their new watch.
Andrew This is the new. New stuff. So they. Have Norkane has introduced a new watch. It is I'd call it a field watch.
Everett Yeah, I think that's I think that's right.
Andrew I don't think there's anything else to call it. With a new material to them.
Everett Narke being this sort of oft reviled but also fairly appreciated brand that I've just recently read is in the high grade of watches. There's mid or high range of watches. Mid range and then they're in this 2,500 to 5,000 high range of watches.
Andrew They live with Tudor and Kind of Grand Seiko.
Everett Longines.
Andrew Yeah. Kind of that zone of. Tag Heuer. Yeah. Grayly kind of stuff. But they have released with a new material six times lighter than steel. Six times. Which when you're considering weight in the grams, you could go 10.
Everett Three and a half times lighter than titanium, too.
Andrew Which is actually really impressive when you consider putting on a titanium watch, how light it feels.
Everett And so they've been careful, too, to say this is not carbon. But practically speaking, I am curious about what the difference is between this and carbonite.
Andrew It's got to be some kind of composite of resin and carbon.
Everett Carbon is black. oftentimes and this is not, it's coming in colors, which is neat. Composite in colors is good, but I mean, it's practically speaking, I'm kind of understanding that this is a carbon like material.
Andrew Nortek carbon fiber.
Everett Nortek.
Andrew Yeah. With a Q at the end because obviously. NN-201 movement with a 70 hour power reserve. Chronometer certified. And these are cool. They're very Formexy. I'm not a huge fan of the textured dial with this. I mean, it's a beautiful dial, super intricate. Geometric pattern. I've got a close up of the. Crimson, I don't know what they're calling it, but I'm going to call it a crimson case. Gray dial. guilt markers.
Everett Is that the one with the lion's fur, lion's hair dial? Yeah. What they're calling lion's fur.
Andrew Is that what they're calling the texture? Yeah. It's weird. I'm not a huge fan, but it's very Formax-y.
Everett Yeah. You know, interesting. Cause this is a suspended watch with a bumper system. This does feel really Formax-y.
Andrew Yeah. And even when you look at the case shape with a, with a complimentary, not crown guard, crown guard to balance, like to create some symmetry of your crown guard. I, my first thought was, Oh, what is happening here? Um, but this is a cool introduction into their lineup and I'm digging it. It is a little north of what I expected it would be. But when you consider the R and D and where they lie in the market, you're looking at 5,200 bucks. I mean, I think that sounds right for the blue and for the black 56 for the gray and 56 again for the Hakuna Mipaka option.
Everett And that's not a mispronunciation. No, I think I did good actually. I think so too. Yeah. No, I mean, I think that they're falling where, so I think they're falling where you'd expect these to fall roughly give or take Um, interesting. These are lab tested to withstand 5,000 G's, which is a big number. That's an enormous number. These are, these are, uh, I don't think it's unfair to suggest that these are kind of G shock like, right? This is sort of feels to me like a Swiss, uh, a Swiss, Indie brand G-Shock competitor.
Andrew It feels like the luxury competitor, like perhaps the Mr. G or the like that upscale line. Hey, if you don't want a digital, we've got something with some or a lot or a logical chops here.
Everett Some chops, yeah. Kinesi movements. I think that they call these manufactured calibers or something stupid like that, but they're Kinesi movements. Yes. So great, cool movements in these. Yeah, I think this is an interesting watch. I don't know what else interesting they're doing. I mean, I think this is their annual cool thing. Yeah, I think it is. And it's pretty fucking cool, right? It is a cool thing. This is not just a release.
Andrew It's a baller G-Shock drop. Yeah. From Norkane. With a weird dial.
Everett Yeah, I mean, I think this technology Um, could be used to do some cool shit. I think right now it's a miss for me in terms of the overall appearance, but I could see one of these coming out that I was like, oh, that's the one, but this isn't it for me.
Andrew No, none of these. I think if they were to just do like a, just a clean black with no texture, I could get down on that or not, not even texture pattern. I mean, it's a really beautiful, Lions for pattern.
Everett Everybody knows what that is.
Andrew Yeah, that's exactly how I'd describe it. Skeleton hands, man, these are just they're gorgeous.
Everett Yeah. Well, that's I mean, that's what Norcain does. Right.
Andrew But and I and I wouldn't feel uncomfortable taking this watch into it. Right. Like I would feel comfortable wearing this watch in the environments that they've intended you to wear this watch in.
Everett like at like the trampoline park or something.
Andrew Yeah. I don't feel like I'd wear this like a $6,000 watch.
Everett Yeah. Uh, I have a watch, a carbon watch that I'd like to talk about. Ooh, do me. So Tissot, Tissot, which I think is the official timer of the Tour de France. France. France. Yeah. Uh, Tissot was just released their 2022 special edition Tour de France watch. which I don't care about Tissot and I don't care about the Tour de France. Uh, there was a time when I kind of was interested in that. That time was a long time ago. And then I was like, I'm not watching that anymore.
Andrew Uh, I watch for the crashes. I get up early to watch legs.
Everett So this is a quartz powered chronograph. Um, It's a PVD coated steel case, but also has some, a mid case made out of carbon fiber, which is good because it's huge. I think that this watch were it made in pure stainless would be pretty heavy and you know, bikers are weight weenies. So 105 grams, I think it's 45 millimeters and 105 grams. And it's just a giant, big ass biking chronograph in a pretty attractive package. It's weird. And it's weird in a way I like. Thin, 11.6 millimeter. It's got this like cool pie plate dial, tachymeter.
Andrew It's got some... Bicycle balance on the second hand. Bicycle balance.
Everett Yeah. I think this is interesting in a way if it, I think any, any number of ways that they could have screwed this up. And in my mind, obviously this being subjective, I think they kind of nailed it. It's on the nose. The bicycle balance is on the nose. There's a lot of this that could be hokey or cheesy. And for whatever reason, I think they pulled this off and uh, Have I ever talked about a Tissot watch on this show before? Maybe I have.
Andrew They absolutely pulled it off. This is very like Seiko. This is very Tag Heuer. This is not Tissot. This is, this is cool. Like way, way, way, way out of their wheelhouse.
Everett Yeah, maybe not, but in terms of the way they pulled it off, I think you're right. This doesn't look like any other Tissot watch. Like out of their wheelhouse in terms of making a good watch, you mean?
Andrew No. This doesn't look like Tissot. This looks like, as I previously stated, Seiko or Tag Heuer. It's this really sporty, really modern, kind of playful watch that is unlike Tissot. It's super fun. Because it's good. Yeah, a lot of the stuff that they do is they fuck this up. The little, just the yellow band on the crown to color match the second hand. This is dope.
Everett And not super expensive either. I mean, it's a quartz watch, which I think it would be hard to do this in an automatic. 600, 600 bucks, I think for this.
Andrew Yeah. 595.
Everett Yeah. It's an S E not a L E. And so it probably will not be available forever, but I don't think it's limited production.
Andrew I dig it.
Everett Me too.
Andrew What do you got? Okay. Hmm. Orient has done it again. They have done some new neoclassic sports drops. And it's a tonneau case. They've got a couple other watches in this line, but it's their kind of 70s revival tonneau case, dual crown, too much shit on it. I think they're, um, It's like their globe timer is on this platform. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Um, it's working off this platform and they've got two coming out. A steel with, for some reason, two marker tracks. Three, really? And then a black. Again, with two marker tracks, but a rainbow track.
Everett It feels it feels super 70s, man. It is 70s.
Andrew And in both these watches, I saw them and I and I I see the like just the first top down view and I'm like, oh. And I start to actually look at it and I'm like, why? Why? So the steel version. These are. Dual crown dive watches with internal rotating bezels, which is why we have two tracks. You've got a dive timer on both of them, which is what's actually rotating. And it seems totally unnecessary with a five link. It's just, They do all these things that have all this potential and then they just straight crash and burn. They orient it. They orient it, man. Like these are, if you, if you go to even one of their oyster bracelets on, on the steel and pull the dive timer track out entirely, this is a cool fucking watch. Day date,
Everett Do you have more to say about that?
Andrew There it is. Oh, geez. We got a day-to-day complication on it. I like the case. I like the shape.
Everett But they orient... It's like a hooded lug thing going on here.
Andrew Yes. They've got these hooded lugs, this great tonneau case, this really 70s design language in it, but then they just... They just fucked it up. Bums me out. It's 43 and a half millimeters. 13 and a half high. 46 lug to lug.
Everett Like. Do do better. Do better orient.
Andrew Yeah, the rainbow PVD black, which is it. is my favorite. I think it comes on a strap. I think it's the best of these. It's the best, but it only comes on a strap. It is limited 2000 pieces, 420 euros though. So it's a kind of coming in on the top end of Orient pricing and just perfectly in line with how can we fuck up this really great idea? Bums me out. Cause look at that case.
Everett I want that. It's a good case. Yeah. I don't disagree.
Andrew It's just a miss. That's the last thing I want to talk about. If you get one, tell me how it is, but I'm sure it's going to be a miss.
Everett Well, it's Orient. So it's a mess. Um, anything else you want to talk about?
Andrew No.
Everett Well, Then in that case, do you have another thing you want to talk about? And is it appropriate for me to say other things? What do you got?
Andrew No. I do have another thing. So I, as we're coming into fall and winter here in the Pacific Northwest, I wanted to get a new pair of like just daily driver weather shoes that weren't, you know, like leather boots or, you know, take your pick.
Everett So you wanted something that would be comfortable and easy to wear and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches of winter footwear.
Andrew Yes. Of foul weather footwear, which means it's gotta be waterproof. because that's the world we live in here. Like I can't walk to my car without getting wet. And I came across a pair of Columbia hiking boots and I've had Columbia sports where the famous Portland based outdoor stuff, a dozen pair of Columbia hiking boots. And the one thing I will say about Columbia hiking boots, they got about a year and a half to two years in them. before they start to fall apart. And that's just, they're just, they're, they're glued together. Their construction is meh. These are not buy it for life. No, these aren't red wings. These aren't even like high end Danners. They're not, they're, they're disposable. So I found a pair of boots that I took a flyer on the trail storm Mid waterproof shoe and they right out of the box where Like a brand new out-of-the-box running shoe Super padded uppers that are really comfy. They're not hot even though they're waterproof really comfortable beds 110 bucks I'm not a huge fan of the eyelet placing on the top eyelet. I think it needs to just be a touch lower because it just based on the shape of the shoe, it hasn't been an issue. But where it is, it makes me feel like when I tie the laces, it's going to work its way over the tongue. Oh, I see. But it hasn't happened. So that might just be a concern because of the placement. I want just a little bit more space just to feel more secure. I have gotten them wet. My feet haven't gotten wet. It's Gore-Tex, man. And they're super comfortable. They're runners. They wear like trail running shoes.
Everett Yeah.
Andrew But they're not.
Everett They're also not heavy. That's what I said as soon as I saw them. They look like trail runners.
Andrew Yeah. And they're not heavy. They're super light. They don't wear like a mid even. They wear like a low, like a low height shoe. And I'm down with them. I think I'm going to get a pair for work because they do have an all black. I got the Norian black because they're just, it's just green. boots with like orange lace keepers and a black stripe.
Everett How much color can you get away with at your work shoes? Black.
Andrew That's it? Yeah, you can get away with a little bit of gray because I work in the darkness, but yeah, but black.
Everett Black. Black. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I used to referee basketball, high school basketball, and we had to have black shoes and it was always a pain in the ass finding black shoes that didn't suck.
Andrew You couldn't find Black Monarchs?
Everett You could find Black Monarchs. You could find... I'm gonna sneeze. My mic picked that up. You could find, you know, some new balances. But yeah, like it was always a struggle, like finding shoes that I actually liked in all black.
Andrew You should have just worn dress shoes.
Everett Yeah.
Andrew I used to work with a guy who, as a cop, he wore dress loafers.
Everett And it worked for him, huh?
Andrew That's what he did. He was a cop in some weird little town in Pennsylvania and that was the expectations. He wore dress shoes.
Everett Was it Easton, Pennsylvania? No. I know a guy from Easton, Pennsylvania. He's okay.
Andrew Um, but yeah, I, I, I'm down with them and I, I'm glad that I took a flyer on them cause I mean they're, I think I got them on Amazon for like a hundred and a hundred ish from the Columbia website. They're 110. four colorways. They've got the green, the nori, pardon me, a graphite and Creek, which is kind of like a blue with a brown accents and all black. And then a gray pair with a warrant with kind of red accents, which I also really like they call it kettle and mountain red. It doesn't look like a kettle. Okay. Yeah. I dig these. These are, these were a good flyer. If you're looking for, some inclement weather, comfortable shoes, and you can wear nylon shoes at work or in life.
Everett You had said you wanted something with no break-in. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I dig it, man.
Andrew Right out of the box.
Everett I like it. It's like almost a boot, almost a runner.
Andrew Yeah, it's a hybrid, and a good hybrid. And you'd expect that at a Columbia.
Everett And the price is right, too, for $100. Take a flyer out.
Andrew They're going to last me two years and then fall apart.
Everett So I got another thing. Do me. So for the, I'm going to, I'm going to use a phrase here for the constant listener of the show. You may know that I'm a big fan of Stephen King, the author, Stephen King. And when I say that, I'm saying I'm a fan of the books that he writes.
Andrew Not him as a person, cause he's a weird fella.
Everett Well, I mean, I don't dislike his him as a as a person, but just I'm not really commenting on that right now. I think that he's, you know, the best storyteller of his generation, if not our generation. And I think that pretty much everything he drops is worth a read. Even even his least good books, novels are really, really well written, fantastic stories. So he, uh, just dropped his newest novel. It's called fairy tale and, um, just finished it. I, I downloaded it the day it came out and I think I read it over the course of about four days and geez Louise, uh, I really enjoyed it. So, uh, I don't want to give too many of the details, but your protagonist is this 17 year old kid. Uh, Stephen King has, always been a little bit quaint, uh, in the way he writes about kids and, and sometimes worse, uh, perverse in the way he writes about the minds of kids. And sometimes he's made some weird decisions about, uh, expressing sexuality of kids and, and whatever, and, and whatever that that's fine. But in this book, we've got this very quaint young man, impossibly quaint, perhaps who uses uh you know antiquated language uh but but it is a story that the first I don't know almost two-thirds of the book you are nothing happens almost nothing happens and still you are completely captivated the entire time because he spins such a good yarn that you are just wrapped in. And so when the story unfolds, when the beat drops, you're already there for no good reason, just because he's told this story that is so compelling, notwithstanding being completely pedestrian. This is just sort of day-to-day stuff with little hints of intrigue, right? Nothing, almost two-thirds of the book you get none of the story. You're just getting these intriguing details. And the way he delivers those details is so masterful. So not Stephen King's best book, not even probably a top 10. Um, but how many books has he written? Oh, it's 78 billion. The number is 8 billion. Andrea counted. Uh, but Just super good. And it's a pretty quick read. It's not a short book, but because of the way it reads, it's so digestible and pulpy. I don't think it's unfair to call it pulpy. But like I said, when the beat drops, it is like and it's quick, too. It's like, oh, my God. And some of this stuff is it gets scary in a hurry.
Andrew He's written Sixty-five novels.
Everett Holy shit.
Andrew Five nonfiction. What the fuck is up?
Everett Yeah, that's a lot.
Andrew Seventy. That's how many I guessed.
Everett You did guess 70. Well done. And I think that that's more. I feel good about that. I think that's like a book a year for his whole life because I think he's 70 ish.
Andrew So he's prolific. Yeah. I mean, he's he's pumped up more than a book in a year. He started writing in. Hang on, I'm going to pull it up. He started writing in 1967.
Everett Anyway, it's really hard to give details of this book without giving spoilers. I'm sort of I'm in that place where it's kind of raw, so I don't want to spill anything. But it's about this kid who befriends a grumpy old man in the neighborhood and this grumpy old man's dog. And things are kind of weird, but also like really kind of normal, you know, kid's mom has died several years ago and he feels like he's got some atonement to do. And so he takes it, uh, upon himself to sort of help this guy out. And you know, like I said, you get like halfway through the story and nothing's happened. And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom. And it is so good when it happens. And it's not even a drag to get there. Sometimes you read a story or watch a movie perhaps where the first half is like, okay, Let's go. Something's got to happen. This wasn't that way. Nothing happens and it's still great. So Stephen King's new book, Fairytale, recommend it. I get it on Audible. We'll drop a link to something in the show notes, but uh, or not, not Audible, excuse me, uh, Kindle, the Kindle version. I read everything on Kindle these days. So, um, but I actually don't know if this is released for Audible yet or not.
Andrew Have you tried listening to and reading a book at the same time?
Everett Uh, no, I haven't done that. Is that something you've done?
Andrew No, I was just wondering if you've tried it.
Everett No, I haven't. I'm not sure. Would you like read a section and then go back and listen to it or vice versa?
Andrew No, you listen to one book and then read a different book.
Everett At the same time? Yeah. No, I have not done that. I thought you meant like the same book. Like read it while you're listening. That seems unnecessary. That's my confusion. Uh, Andrew? Are we all done? Have we, have we done it?
Andrew We've covered all the things. Anything that's important in urology we've talked about. We did it. Once again. Anything else you can ignore?
Everett Uh, I think, I think that's more or less right. I don't even think we missed any major stuff this week. Sometimes we miss major stuff and sometimes it's on purpose and sometimes it's an accident.
Andrew Sometimes we do it just cause everyone else has the hot take this week and we're not interested.
Everett And we just don't need to give you, give you another hot take.
Andrew Yeah. Our takes aren't hot.
Everett In any event, hot takes or not, I do think we did it. Uh, and in light of that, I'll say thank you for listening to this episode of 40 and 20, the watch clicker path podcast podcast, podcast, podcast. Uh, you can check us out at our website, watch clicker.com. That's where we post weekly reviews, articles, some pretty good shit lately, actually. And I do recommend checking out. You can check us out on Instagram at Watch Clicker or at 40 and 20 if you want to support us. And we hope you do, because all of this shit costs money. You can do that at Patreon dot com slash 40 and 20. We got a bunch of folks supporting us this day and these days. And we're so thankful for you guys. You know, a buck a month, three bucks a month. All of that stuff adds up. And we really love you guys for it. And yeah, other than that, don't forget to check us out next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like.
Andrew Bye bye.