Episode 220 - Frank ”FrendyMcGee” Affronti
Published on Wed, 11 Jan 2023 21:24:01 -0800
Synopsis
This is a podcast episode where the hosts Andrew and Everett are joined by their guest Frank Affronti, a new partner and creative director at WatchClicker. They discuss Frank's background and passion for watches, diving, and photography. Frank shares the story behind his first Rolex watch, inspired by his father, and his journey into collecting watches and writing about them. They talk about Frank's unique perspective of capturing watches in adventure sports like diving and mountaineering. Frank also talks about his recent acquisition of a fun watch from Solabs. The conversation covers various topics related to watches, diving experiences, baseball gloves, and other interests.
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Transcript
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| Everett | Are you ready? Let's go. 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? I'm doing so good. I don't know why. I don't know why I did that. Just I don't know either. It's fine. I'm doing really well. I gosh, what do I have to say about anything? Very little, but I'm doing exceptionally well. I'm feeling good. I have been New Year's resolutioning it up. So I've been like working out, getting swole. My legs feel a little like jello. but they feel firm. Like as I, as I grasp them right now, we've got some good firmness. And I'm not even flexing. I've got some new firmness there. Some doms. Some doms. That's a term. That's a term I've learned. Uh, delay onset muscle soreness. I've got that. Um, but yeah, no, that's good. It's like, it's like painful, but like good painful. Like, yeah, that's good. I'm so, I'm so manly that I'm sore or I'm so like swole. Yeah, that's right. But no, work is fucking crazy, which is fun. I feel like I can complain when work is crazy because it's hard, but it's also my favorite time to do work. Because you're just billing always. And you're just going. You're like, email here. Build it. Motion here. Build it. Bow, bow, bow. And I win. I win. All I do is win, win, win, no matter what. And every time there. Yes. And so like, it's like a lot of success. It's just like, yes, I'm so good at everything. It's really nice. Yeah. So it's good. I'm doing really well. You know who else is really good at everything? The Georgia Bulldogs. And I'm not a Georgia fan, but they have just won another national championship. And I think This makes a really interesting conversation for non Power Five teams in playoff contention conversation. Michigan TCU had no business being in the conversation. Well, Michigan's a Power Five team. But they're not. Michigan? Who does Michigan fucking play? Are you? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Michigan's a Power Five team. There's no doubt about it. |
| Frank Affronti | Who does Michigan play? |
| Everett | It's not arguable. Let's look at Michigan's schedule. Michigan's a power five team. You can't argue this. It's actually just fact. What conference are they in? You tell me. The Big Ten? Are you going to say they're power five? Are you going to say the Big Ten is not the second biggest conference in the country? It's just not as competitive a league as I don't know. It's more competitive than the Pac-12. No, it's not. Or the Pac-10 because now... It's the Pac-6, I think. Yeah, I totally disagree with you. And the Big Ten will be next year. No, but they just... I don't know. The college football playoff causes some emotions for me because it creates really weird... I think we're going to get nasty comments this week, Andrew. |
| Frank Affronti | No, it creates weird mismatches. |
| Everett | I'm going to send them your cell phone number. I'm not, I'm not going to engage. I don't answer. I'm just going to say, this is Andrew's cell phone number. Well, Michigan got beat. They did. And then TCU got like spanked. Annihilated. Yeah. Like not even, and it's like when Notre Dame goes and plays in the college football playoffs. Well, the college football playoffs are a problem. Oregon, Oregon, also played that Georgia team. And it was not... And got their shit pushed in. It was not great. I'm not saying Oregon had any business being there. It hurt. But what I'm saying is that there's some college football playoff problems. I think Georgia's just exceptionally good. I think that's just... I don't disagree. A generationally good football team. I don't disagree. Congratulations, Bulldogs. And fuck yeah. I didn't get to watch the game. We were otherwise engaged. It doesn't seem like I missed anything, though. With the final score being 60 something. Andrew, quickly, how are you? I'm good. 65 to 7. I'm not that good. I'm not Georgia Bulldog's good right now. But I'm good. I bought a travel trailer today. How about that? Take delivery on Thursday. So they're doing their walkthrough and installing some stuff for me. Cleaning it up. Kicking the tires. Yeah. Lighting the fires as it were. And then I'm going to drive it home on Thursday. And we have our first trip with it on Friday. Fantastic. Just rolling right into it. Hopefully it works. And I will say the purchasing experience for a travel trailer was far less stressful than that of buying a car. It has a really similar layout in their office, right? You got all these cubicles. You know, you're talking to your salesperson. He's like coming in and out. with a stack of paperwork. The sales manager eventually comes in to introduce himself and to offer some kind of incentivizing deal. But here's the thing. There was never a discussion of numbers. He was just like coming back and forth, like double checking things with me. The sales manager came in to say like, Hey dude, I saw from your driver's license that you're a veteran. Here's a hundred dollar gift card to the store. I was like, this is odd. And then after about 30 minutes they were like, all right dude, You're good to go. We'll call you this afternoon. I was like, what do you mean? Like, we'll call you back this afternoon and let you know what we got for you. And I'm accustomed to in that environment, like those motherfuckers leaving with your car key that you came in and your driver's license that you need to leave with. And they just hold you hostage there for hours until finally you just break. or you like have an outburst, which is, you know, its own version of breaking. This was a really enjoyable, low stress experience. And it was awesome. And I have a travel trailer. And now you're the proud owner of a travel trailer. Well, I will say our guest tonight is... He's tired of waiting. Also, he is his own travel trailer. Tonight, we've got a special guest. So... Yes. He's oddly offended and... and like feeling really good about that compliment. Joining us today from the snowy, snowy state of New York, Buffalo, to be precise, is our newest partner at WatchClicker and creative director, Frank Affronti, a name you may recognize if you are a listener of the show, because Frank is one of our sponsors. Frank Affronti, photography at affrontography.com. Frank, Frank, hello. Welcome. How are you? |
| Frank Affronti | I'm doing great, guys. Thank you for having me. |
| Everett | Dude, we are so pleased to have you. I mean, you have officially been a partner for four months and we are just now getting you on. So, you know, our apologies. But we're so pleased to have you here and to introduce you, though many people know you, but introduce you to all the people who haven't yet had the opportunity to hear you chat. In the off chance that Frank Affronti, that name doesn't ring a bell to you at home, you may also know him as Friendy McGee. Writer for the Matic blog for quite a while. Started writing for us, now is making fantastic video content at WatchClicker. And my OnlyFans. And Andrew's OnlyFriends. Only friends, only fans, only fans. The only friends is the PG rated. You don't want to, you don't want to subscribe to that. That's the teasers. So, uh, watch, watch, uh, aficionado video-making extraordinaire. What the hell, Frank? |
| Frank Affronti | Hi. How's it going guys? I, I'm trying my, I've only been on one other podcast and it was also with three people given they were not nearly as professional a crew as, as this, but I noticed that they struggled, they struggled a ton with when to interject. And so I I'm still gauging it. It's, it's all brand new for me, but I don't want to create a podcast that is unfriendly for people to listen to. |
| Everett | No, it's better if we talk over each other. It's better if we're all talking at the same time. Yeah. |
| Frank Affronti | Just if we all continue to talk. Yeah. Right. |
| Everett | So here you are scared because Everett's making the face like he's about to talk because we're on video. Those of you who are listening, can't hear this. So he's punking Frank and not talking. How are you? Welcome to the show. What's going on? |
| Frank Affronti | Oh man, I've been, I've been doing great. I've been waiting to get on this show for ever since really since, um, Since I started listening and I've had a list of other things, I know that that's at the end of the show, but I've had a list of them ongoing for like the last three months. You've been curating other things for your show. I've been curating other things and I keep, I run them by Everett, but he doesn't respond to any of my text messages. Incorrect. Contrary to popular belief, Andrew is actually far more responsive than Everett. |
| Everett | Incorrect. Yeah. I think I have to disagree with you too. Everett will text me like three or four times in a week and then I'll finally answer. He'll be like, oh, hi, glad you're alive. Just me. He won't text like a group. He'll just text me and I just leave him on read. That's kind of my jam. So Frank, we've got you here. We're going to ask you some questions. Hard hitting questions. A lot of ex-girlfriend stuff. A lot of ex-girlfriend stuff. Uh, let's, let's start with an easy one. How did you get into watches? |
| Frank Affronti | Oh, man. Well, I always liked watches like from a from a young age. I was interested in them. And my dad always had a watch on. My dad grew up in construction, Italian American family here in New York. And I tell this story all the time. He he works in construction and like one of those people that comes home and they're just covered head to toe in mud. They're just like always dirty, never clean. because they're just out working manly job. Yeah, they're working outside. They're, they're working for a living. And he took me when I was like, I don't know, I want to say 11, 12, really impressionable impressionable age to go get a watch. And he was like, come on, I'm going to go get a watch. And it was his first like watch purchase. He always wore like kind of like a fossil watch that he had gotten as like a promo from one of the equipment companies. And he took me with him and he bought a Rolex Submariner two-tone fucking in cash in work clothes, just trash in the, um, in the Rolex boutique. And he walked in, put his money on the table and said, I want that watch. They put it on his wrist and he walked out and then he hasn't taken it off since those days, the fucking days, man. Yeah. And, and ever since then I was like, man, I want to do that so bad. And obviously that's not a reality now, but from then on I was like, man, I, this is going to be a part of my life. That's going to be a moment. It was clear to me in the moment that that was like my dad telling me I've made it, you know, this, this, I've made it moment that everybody wants. Does he still wear that watch? Yeah. Oh my, it is disgusting. Is it a black dial? Absolutely never. Yeah. Black dial, two tone. It's a subbie and uh, has it ever been serviced? No, absolutely not. Are you kidding? Um, no, it hasn't been serviced. I timed it recently and it was plus or minus two seconds in four positions. |
| Everett | God, that's fantastic. Look, look, people say Rolex is, you know, this or that and people talk a lot of shit, but at the end of the day, you know, Those watches are just the movements in particular, just fantastic. The engineering is, that's why it got there. Right. And now it's, you know, it's a whole other thing, but it made it for a reason. |
| Frank Affronti | So, so that was probably the origin story of why I was like, Oh, I want to, I want to have a watch in the future. And then I went into engineering. I'm a structural engineer by trade. I designed the, the beautiful bridges you drive over every day. Um, And so they were always interesting from like a mechanical standpoint. I wanted to know how they worked. What is the deal with these things? And there's something really beautiful about the, you know, the organized chaos within side of this little machine. Um, and then I met all you guys and it kind of went off the rails, uh, and, and became a little bit more than just a little side hobby. |
| Everett | So with respect to your bridge design, um, do you guys like, get together and decide to make four lane freeways, two lane bridges, like as a punishment or as like a cruel joke. What's the, what's the thinking there? |
| Frank Affronti | So those are actually, um, I I'm sorry to inform you if you've never known this before, those are traffic engineers. Oh, so there's a whole subset. Yeah. I, I designed it so it doesn't fall down. The traffic engineer is the one who actually decides, are we going to put four lanes here? What is the curve of the bridge going to be? You know, is there going to be a slope going up, going down? What does the line of sight look like for your car? How fast are you going to go? All that jazz is a traffic engineer. |
| Everett | OK, so those are the guys who I have a beef with. |
| Frank Affronti | Right. I feel so bad for them. Well, I mean, they do great work. They really do like that. They do stuff. Imagine if you're one of those people that work on the Lincoln Tunnel, right? You're, you're trying to devise ways to increase traffic flow into the Lincoln Tunnel and you do your job, right? You get an extra million cars through the Lincoln Tunnel each day from some improvement you do. |
| Everett | Nobody cares. |
| Frank Affronti | No, because you know, all they know is a million cars, right? You're still just sitting in traffic. And so you meet anybody and you tell them what, what you do. And immediately they're like, oh, well that sucks. |
| Everett | Yeah. It's like the weatherman. But at least the weatherman everyone jokes about. No one hates the weatherman. No one's like, that's fucking raining. Why is it raining again? Like they just accept that he didn't do that. But the guy who made my four lane freeway into a two lane bridge to then reopen into a four lane freeway, fuck that guy. What's that Nick Cage movie where he plays the weatherman? Pig? Anyway. No, no, no. Cable guy? We'll come back to it. Uh, so, You've got this expertise in engineering, structural engineering, which is kind of specific, but you are, by definition, a mechanically inclined guy and a smart fellow, also kind of a beefcake. Definitely a beefcake. What else did you do in college? |
| Frank Affronti | I wrestled for Hofstra University, which is a school in Long Island. That's They were alluding to the absolute dump truck that I carry around every day because wrestlers are known for having a fat dump truck. That's where all your power is. It's in the hips and in the butt. So you got to don't skip leg day, folks. Everett's laughing at me. It's a travel trailer. Yeah. Yeah. Travel trailer. I didn't even have to take a loan out to get mine. |
| Everett | No, you didn't. It just when you kind of did, you had to put the effort in. You just saved it. He was on scholarship. So tell us a little bit about your first handful of watch purchases. So there's going to be, there's going to be the Shitters, um, you know, the, the sort of thoughtless watches, the mall watches, perhaps the watch where you, you bought a watch and you didn't know what you were going to buy when you headed out in the morning. Tell us about your first, like you're thinking about watches, you're buying watches that you've thought about. |
| Frank Affronti | I think about this watch quite frequently. Actually, it was on my senior trip. So we went to New York city. because New York city, for those who don't know, is real far away from Western New York. It's like seven hours. And we went into the swatch store and I bought this like 38 millimeter skeleton dial swatch mechanical watch. And it was my first assistant 51. I, no, it was not, it's not a system 51. This is like circa 2011, 2012. I think that's when system 51 came out. I think I wouldn't agree with you on that. Maybe it is. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll send you a link after this. They sold for like a hundred bucks and I've looked at them on mine since. Cause I was like, Oh, maybe this would be a fun watch to repurpose, repurchase. And they're selling for more money now. Um, jokes on you. Yeah. Jokes on me. Should I, should I held on to that one? Uh, I bought that. And then I bought a bunch of like fashion watches occasionally that I would go, go to the mall and I'd be like, Ooh, I look at the case. And I was always a sucker for those. Um, and then I got into, these like awful toxic closed knit societies on Facebook. Are you guys aware of these watch groups on Facebook? Tell us more. There's these all these closed groups on Facebook and they'll do like illegal gambling and there'll be watch raffles and like spin the wheel or like they'll do some watch and you can buy a slot in the raffle and we'll raffle a watch off and people would It was like the wild west. Um, at least when I was in there, I don't know if it is now, but all these people would buy a bunch of watches. Like they'd get into watches and buy a bunch of them. What kind of watches are we talking about here? All micro brands, all exclusively micro brand watches. |
| Everett | Okay. So watches that you shouldn't be buying at a discount. Cause it's or, I mean, are you really buying at a discount? Like what's happening there? |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. They, they'd be all like secondhand watches from, I don't know, or like brands that go defunct and they offload their, I don't, it was, it was weird. I'll send you some links to these sites, but basically these people would buy 20, 30 watches in the matter of a few weeks to a month. And then I would come in and be like, Hey, I noticed you got a bunch of watches that you shouldn't have bought. You want to, you want to sell them to your friend over here? And then they would sell them all to me. And then I would buy them. And then I would resell them to the other Facebook people that just joined and wanted a new watch. And that's how I bought my first Rolex. And then I left. I was like, you got to get out of here. This is toxic. And then I. That sounds genius. I guess stop buying things. |
| Everett | Sounds how you buy your, sounds like a good way to buy your first Rolex. Right, right, right, right, right. That's what I did. Yeah. At some point. You Rolexed Rolex. At some point you got into the, what are we going to call it? The content creation aspect of this. Um, you know, Andrew and I are on record about our evolution into this thing. Um, tell us a little bit about how you decided you were going to start publicly sharing your thoughts about watches. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. I mean, most people I think wouldn't do that. I wouldn't recommend it. Um, I guess I started taking photos of stuff, photos of watches. If you go back on my Instagram real far, you'll see some really awful photos. And so I was doing that. And then I got into photography separately and then watches became like a really good avenue to practice some new photography technique or try some long exposure or do something new to then use later within the realm of photography. At least that's what I said. I just want to take photos of watches. And that was the excuse I said. And then writing, I started writing. Around that same time, I wrote a guide. It was like five tips to getting into watches. And it was like, all centered around this idea of these people in these close Facebook groups. And I was like, you guys have a problem, and I should write this article to help you fix it. And then I sent it around shops that around to a couple of blogs to see who would post it. And everyone just turned me away. And I'm an engineer, and I can't write really well, at least in my opinion. So it's been an evolution for me in that regard. People need to practice their writing skills. And I could not write that well, when I graduated college, because as an engineer, I took one writing class in college, and it was freshman year. So by the time I graduated grad school, I did not do a ton of writing. So it was a real great idea for me to start putting ideas on paper. |
| Everett | And where Why though? Like, I understand the altruistic, let's fix these weird Facebook guys who, you know, were the legs to get me my first Rolex, but why? Future crypto NFT bros. Yeah. All those groups are now converted. |
| Frank Affronti | All those groups are converted now to crypto scams. I'm sure of it. |
| Everett | But why, why is that? Like, why, what, what drew you into that? I mean, like, lichen watches, I get it. I get that like interesting. Lichen watches? Are those like watches that grow on the north side of trees and forests? Yeah. |
| Frank Affronti | Okay. Yeah. I think ultimately, Andrew, to answer your question, from a, from its core, you're just chasing the dopamine. You know, it's just, this was a little hobby that you're pursuing because you are fixated on it. And then you know, those fixations might last or not last. This one for me did, and I keep getting farther and farther along. And then eventually you think, oh man, I must have additional knowledge than most people. And you want to share it, which I think is why you guys started the show and now are where you guys are at. But for myself, it was a fixation that just hasn't quite ended. I don't think it probably will at this point. It's one that's going to stick around. Um, but same reason why I chose to try to learn how to write or read handwriting, like those people that work for the FBI to like read handwriting and tell you if you're going to kill somebody. Like that was just a small fixation that ended, but this one is just, you know, continuing on. |
| Everett | Yeah. That's interesting because I think, you know, all of us probably, and by all of us, I mean, these, you know, folks that are heavily invested in, um, this watch culture, we're all sort of people that have picked up hobbies and collected hobbies. And so there's this interesting thing, you know, for folks like you and me and Andrew, you know, where we've settled in and stuck with this thing for a prolonged period of time. I mean, you know, Andrew and I now have been doing this podcast for four years. I've never done anything ever in my life for four years, right? You've been married for longer than four years. That's true. But there's this thing, for whatever reason, I'm here and it's just stuck. And I gather that's the same for you. I'm curious about that, Frank, because Andrew and I have the ball and chain that is one another. You've floated a little bit. And so, but, but nonetheless, here you are and you stuck, you stuck this thing out. What's, what's been, what's been behind that staying power? |
| Frank Affronti | So I think, you know, there's a, there's definitely a community aspect of it. So I had written for a couple other blogs, but mainly just, uh, the, the Matic and then WatchClicker and the Matic is like, you know, this Hodge, the Hodgepodge crew of. I don't want to call them idiots, but like, you know, they don't really know what they're doing over there. They're just, they're just kind of, um, fumbling through life and making their podcast and, and not making their podcast and writing articles and not writing articles. And it just, it makes watch clicker look like, you know, this. Oh, dinky is what they make us look like. So it was more just being friends with them and wanting to like, hang out and do different things through the medic. And then I started doing more. And they were like, Hey, like, you're like kind of taking this a little seriously. Like, are you sure you want to write for us? Like maybe they're like, maybe you should like go, you know, write for somebody else. Um, because that's not what we're about over here. This isn't the serious blog and the serious podcast. And they're like, have you heard of watch clicker? Cause I think, um, yeah. And then they, they directed, they kindly directed me over towards will. And they were like, you should, you know, right for them because they're like, we can't keep up with what you're trying to have us do and post on the site. If you go on their site still, like I left, I don't know, six months ago and I'm like the last five articles. Right. |
| Everett | Well, you know, I think that's, I think that's a lot of what this, what we see in this world, right? People get excited, they're heavily motivated and, and then that, that wanes, you know, it's, it's rare to see someone, you know, who stay in this world at that degree in an uncompensated way. You know, folks that are engaged in the community without obligations, um, have the ability to kind of pop in and out. And, you know, these are my friends. I'm going to say hi when I feel like saying hi. Uh, but it's weird to see someone stay engaged in the way you have, uh, for such a long period of time, I think. So it's cool to see, and we're really glad to have you because it's like, we know Frank's going to continue to He's going to carry it. What we were really looking for was somebody to carry the weight. We need someone highly focused. And that's just not our thing. Um, within that you, you're not just taking pictures. You're not just writing about watches. You have a really interesting lens through which, at least I think, an interesting lens through which you engage with watches through adventure sports, whether it be diving or climbing, or I don't know if I'm comfortable calling it mountaineering, but it's pretty goddamn close to mountaineering. From 14,000 feet up to 100 feet below. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah, that's the tagline. Yeah. So I do understand your hesitation. Like I would never go to like someone who truly does what I would consider like real mountaineering and tell them that I'm, I'm a mountaineer. |
| Everett | That's not me. That's my hesitation. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. And I have no qualms with that. |
| Everett | Real goddamn close. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. Like I'm not doing, let's say, I'm not doing some sketchy traverse that's going to end up with a 50% fatality rate. Like I'm not, I'm not doing any of that. I'm not doing some ridgeline that's only been done a handful of time or teaming up with Tommy Caldwell to, to link a bunch of paint peaks. Like that's not me. I'm doing your, what I would still call ambitious adventures, but within the realm of what you could do as a functioning adult, that's not dedicating your life to these things. |
| Everett | Let's talk about that collision. So first I want to talk about your diving in. Ooh, gosh, that was a totally unintended pun, but let's talk about the diving into these extreme environments, right? I mean, you're a diver, you're an alpine climber, backpacker, camper. Let's, let's talk about that. And then how that has influenced your relationship with watches and then how you, the lens through which you view watches. So I want to talk about diving first. What? Sure. Yeah. Where, where, what, what and why, how there's sharks and alligators and all other manner of things that are higher on the food chain than you are. So let's just start there. |
| Frank Affronti | Oh man. Diving is so cool. Diving is so diving is so cool. If you like want to chime in to somebody who is enthusiastic on something and we'll get you like jazzed about it and Diving is the topic right now. It would, it would be your boy. It's me. It is the closest that you are ever going to get on this planet earth to space exploration, period. It is it. If you're into space, if you're into NASA, if you're into going to the moon or astronauts, any of that jazz, and you are not diving, stop what you're doing right now. Shut off the podcast and go sign up. Don't do that. Don't turn it off. We've only got like another 30 minutes. Come on, Jesus. Yeah. Drive, drive there and then go sign up. It is the coolest thing that you can do while you are breathing air on, on the planet bar none. Um, it is so awesome. You're going into a hostile environment. That's not meant for humans. You're seeing things that maybe have never even seen a human before and you've never seen before. And It's one of the only places where you can go and see the planet and wildlife in its natural habitat that can't be replicated anywhere. You can't get footage photos, even though I try to get of what you're going to see that is going to do even remotely justice. And if you go out into the wilderness. most of the time it's in this like heavily manicured setting. If you go into a national park, if you go into a, a, just a regular park or you try to go camping for the most part, unless you're doing back country and going deep into the woods, it is super manicured. And if you do see a wildlife, it's going to be like, then them coming through your campsite. If you go underwater and you're 80 feet deep in a school of hammerhead come by you, like it's something drastically different. And, because you're a human and in fins and dive gear, you're like 15 feet long. Like they don't look at you like your prey. You're just a massive creature in the water. And so they look at you like, Oh, that that's obviously some predator or something that I don't want to mess with. And the bubbles freak them out. So really you're at very little risk unless you're doing something dumb. Um, which we can talk about, but unless you're doing something in the water with those apex predators. No, no, that's not it. |
| Everett | Although, you know, I think, I think this, this thing you're talking about this, this, this realization, um, you, you haven't described it as a realization, but there's this moment when you're doing a thing and you're like, Oh my God, how did I get here? What is going on? And how awesome is this? I got to tell you, I had a really similar experience to this recently. I I've got kids. We've talked about this on the show. They're 9 and 11. And I've got a third now that's 10. So 9, 10, 11. And we took these kids to, we've got like a trampoline gym here in Eugene. And we were there on New Year's Eve and the kids were just jumping around. And I was like, this is the most awesome, natural event in all of Lane County, at least right now. Like watching these humans interact in this way. I'm joking, obviously a little bit, but there's these moments, right? When everything stops and you're like, what is going on here? How did I get here? I'm joking about the trampoline gym, obviously. But, uh, you know, diving is, is one of those things where, you know, you're so backwards. You should never be down there. There's no reason for you, a human being, a bipedal human to be you know, 150 feet below the surface of the ocean, um, and, and communing with or interacting or, or even just observing, um, this, this complete ecological system. Um, yeah, no, it's, it's a really incredible, awesome thing. So what's burned that, what created that, like, what was the spark? |
| Frank Affronti | Oh, so I think the spark for sure was, was my wife, my girlfriend at the time was like, we need to, we need to get scuba certified. |
| Everett | We need to go underwater, Frank. That's we need to, we really need to be deep down underwater. And for most people, that's a red flag. That's like, Oh, this person wants to murder me. Right. Why are they trying to do that? And you're like, I'm in. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. So we went on a trip in, uh, 2017, 2018 to Thailand. A few years ago, five years ago now. Wow. Um, to Thailand. And we did like a discover dive tour. We got stranded in, um, I want to say Phuket. We get stranded somewhere in, in Fifi or one of these islands and we couldn't get back. And so we ended up like, It's crashing for an extra couple of days on this island. And we did this discover dive, which looking back now, like I wouldn't recommend anybody to really do a discover dive. It's kind of sketchy. Basically you have no training, no idea what you're doing. And the dive master brings you down. He does everything for you. And they just tell you not to stop breathing for the most part is all you need to know. But if anything goes wrong, you, you can't, you don't have any skills to save yourself. Um, so I think as somebody who like likes taking your life into your own hands. And I think Andrew, you can speak to this as well. Cause you like to go into the woods and live there. Like there's something really satisfying about knowing that whatever comes up for the most part, you can handle it yourself and you're self-sufficient. |
| Everett | I'll be good until I'm not. And if I'm not, then I'm dead. And it's like, that's just the way of the wild. |
| Frank Affronti | Right. But you wouldn't go out there with no, without the knowledge or the tools to, to do that safely. Like you would do that ahead of time. And looking back, I did not have any of those skill sets yet. So like to do it was dumb, but when we did it, my wife was like, Oh, this is going to be what I do for the rest of my life. We're doing this from now on period. And I was like, okay, I guess. And then we came back and she signed us up for a course. And so we took the course, we did the thing. And then as we get into it, the more you learn, the more that you're into it, the more you want to do it, the more you keep going past whatever. You know, the basics are and you want to go farther and farther. Yeah, so I would blame her. |
| Everett | OK, so Kenzie is is to blame for this interest. Yeah, an awesome thing. So so it now now being. Having had a discovery dive, which I have, I did a discovery dive in a dive tank. I think Everett was there. That was like Uncomfortable. In just a dive tank. Not outside. Super controlled environment. Heated pool. So you've done a discovery dive. You guys have gone and got dive certified. At this point, you're living in Colorado? |
| Frank Affronti | No, we were still living in Buffalo. We got dive certified in Buffalo at the YMCA. |
| Everett | Oh, so where are you diving? Like, how are you feeding this newfound passion? |
| Frank Affronti | It was, um, I would say it was dormant. Like we, we did all our dives in Buffalo to get certified. And then we had a big trip coming up. We wanted to travel our big thing. We hadn't quite figured out. We just knew we wanted to travel, but we didn't know what we wanted to do yet. So we did this like, I'd say two and a half week long Euro trip to Italy, Greece, Spain. And we got it in our head that we were going to go get do our certification dives, like the four test dives in Greece. |
| Everett | That's an interesting and really ambitious decision. |
| Frank Affronti | It's a, yeah, it was a horrible idea. Um, and we got stranded again. We get stranded all the time because we are too ambitious with what we want to do. And the ferry stopped running. So we got stuck in Naxos and then we. Ended up in Mykonos and we were like, we're going to go diving in Mykonos. Mykonos is like this party Island where you go clubbing and do drugs. And neither of us do- And then obviously go underwater. Yeah, well, neither of us do that, the drugs or the clubbing. |
| Everett | So we rented like- I've gone clubbing with you, so I know that you do do that. |
| Frank Affronti | Oh, we do. Yeah, we did do clubbing. Yeah. We left the party and then like stayed in this tut with this Greek guy and he did these certification dives, but like certification dives are not fun. They're like testing you. |
| Everett | Yeah, it's skill set. It's- Can you do this? Can you remove your mask? Can you clear your mask? And like, okay. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. So it was a total, a total wash, I would say the, the, but you got certified at Greece. |
| Everett | Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that's cool. Right. There's a thing. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. Yeah. We, we, we got certified in Greece and then she was like, this was awful. We need to plan more. So her plan was after that, that we need to do a dive specific trip. with the effort of diving because we didn't do what I wanted enough for this last trip to Greece with diving. And then from there, it became like a focal point that we were going to have at least one or two like major dive trips per year. |
| Everett | So now crash this with watches because these are happening not exactly contemporaneously, but more or less pretty close. So these are two growing and budding passions. When did, like, it sort of seems to me like a natural union, but when was the, when did you make the decision to be like, Oh, duh. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah, I think that they were, it was always there. Like I never, I haven't been on a scuba dive and not had a mechanical watch on. So even in 2018, I had like some. micro brand. I think it was an ocean crawler actually. So the dude up at Rochester, he, he makes dive watches, but I had one of his watch on in Thailand in 2018 and then nothing ever really came that this could all be connected until the photography aspect. Like I was like, Oh, I want to take photos and I want to take photos of watches. And I was like, I want to take photos when we're diving. We could take photos of watches while we're diving. And then the whole thing just started getting connected. Um, And there isn't a lot of people that are doing kind of that specific watch photography, but that theme is sold and oversold and oversold again to the watch consumer constantly, that this idea of an adventure watch. But there isn't really the material out there of like people actually using it. And then the idea of using it is so far fetched that the idea to try to use it was so ridiculous that I was like, I want to do that. That seems fun. |
| Everett | Let's talk about that growth. Cause one of the things we want to talk to you about, cause you're, you know, relatively unique within the space as somebody who does true underwater photography of watches. What does that growth look like? What are you looking for? What does that learning curve look like? What are the pitfalls? I want to talk about your first underwater watch photo shoot. |
| Frank Affronti | Oh man. So I don't know if I would classify it as like a photo shoot, but the first time I tried, right? Like I got a housing for my a 6,000, which is like, you know, a perfect starter camera for anybody looking to get into photography. And I bought like this Ali express housing as one does. Yeah. Right. And we were in Hawaii diving and. Which island? It was the first time. Big Island. Okay. Big Island diving is dope. Big Island. So I don't know if you're talking about the Big Island diving company called Big Island diving. |
| Everett | No, I'm talking about Big Island diving. I stayed there like totally not commercially assisted and then did some like locals like, Hey, where do I need to go? And dove off of their recommendations. And it was very scary. |
| Frank Affronti | It's not my gym. That's awesome. So I would totally recommend that to anybody to go diving in Big Island. |
| Everett | I would tell anybody to not do that and to pay somebody the money to take you someplace safer. |
| Frank Affronti | So we did that the first time that we went, I guess. And then the next time that we went, we did all our own dives and like did all the planning and did all the shore dives ourselves. But we took the camera and I was all excited and somehow I lost it. The camera and I was like, yeah, I lost the camera. And I was like looking around on the on the ground and I was like trying to tell the dive master like, hey, like I lost my camera. Like I'm looking around for it. And Kenzie's like, like doing the hand thing. If you've ever been diving, you'll know like the people go like this a lot like with their hand to get your attention. And she's like, what are you doing? I was like, I'm looking for the camera. And she's like, it floats like Why are you looking on the ground, you idiot? The camera floats. Um, so I lost it. We went up to the surface, we surface and a dive charter came over. Somebody was passing by, it was over active boat channel and they had my camera and they took a bunch of photos on it. Of course they did. And they gave it, they gave it back to me. Yup. It's super red filter. So like they were just completely red. Um, And I was like, man, I'm not good enough to this, to do this yet. And I, I stopped for a while until I got better at diving because it was just irresponsible. |
| Everett | But then how do you do that? So, so now, so rather than trying to learn these two skillsets, which are super challenging and super technical in and of themselves, how are you taking this photography experience and applying it to underwater because I as somebody who is, you know, a not good photographer at best. Above the water in ideal conditions. How are you taking terrific photos and videos underwater? |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah, I think it's not great take a ton of bad ones. You take a crap load of bad photos and bad videos. And then eventually you get like a couple good ones. Um, but really it's like you make your plan to, I want this photo, I want this video. And you go for the idea in your head. Um, and maybe you dive that site a few times before without your camera, without your rig. And then you do it again to shoot. And then you do it like three more times afterwards and hope that on one of them you get decent photos. |
| Everett | And are you treating it just like above water photography? Like you're, you're looking through your live view and this looks right. |
| Frank Affronti | Maybe, maybe I shouldn't be, but I, I think I am for the most part, like I haven't this idea in my head of like what I'm looking for. And I'm looking at the live view on the camera and then I'm trying to position you hold your breath or you, you let your air out or you sink down, whatever you can do to get into position. But. The main skill set is like your buoyancy control and the video aspect I would love to get into eventually. But if you run into somebody that does like true underwater video, we're not talking like somebody with a GoPro, somebody that really does like National Geographic video, that is the pinnacle, I think, of any sort of film or videography because those dudes or women will set up their rigs, be perfect, hit the record button, And then they push it and they float it out and they just let the rig go all by itself. And you have to be right there with it, but you have to do all this work in advance to make sure that your rig and your technology is all. Perfectly weighted underwater. Otherwise it just goes off into space or just like twists or turns or floats or sinks or anything. And then there's people like Paul Nichols, like putting it inside of a seal's mouth, like lunatics, you know, just the things that people do underwater. |
| Everett | So tell us about your watches, Frank. What are your favorite watches? Why do you like them? |
| Frank Affronti | My favorite watch has got to be my Explorer two, which is the watch I was talking about earlier that I bought. And I was sharing with you guys. I shattered it on a mountain in Colorado this past year. Um, sadly on one of our watch clicker straps that we just come out with, I had a spring bar failure watch cooker strap. Zero to do with the strap. It was 100% freak accident. I got terrible luck, fell right off my wrist shattered. Um, we'll put a photo of it in the show notes. If you want to look at it, I just got a new watch today actually. And it's, it's easily my favorite pickup of 2023 and it's the new, so labs, um, I forget what it's called. I don't, it's got this layers to layers 2.0. It's got this, Uh, colorful dial and there's these concentric rings. So the movement actually has a day and a date function, but there's no text and there's no numbers on the dial. So. In place of those, there's just a gradation of color and then every day it'll rotate one rotation. And so the dial is just slightly different and you tell the day and the date purely by vibe. |
| Everett | This is the brainchild of Rick at, at so labs that guy's got. ideas and thoughts and he puts together really fun things and vibes and vibes. That guy's a vibe. That guy's office is like a thing. Yeah. We, we, we had, we had Rick on the show and with Andrew Perez of Astro Banks and celebs and man, that office, I get to live there. Yeah. Fantastic. |
| Frank Affronti | Like in the video, you saw it in the video. |
| Everett | Yeah. Well, we saw it. The folks at home didn't. Sorry. Yeah. |
| Frank Affronti | Sorry. |
| Everett | You missed out. Uh, maybe he'll, he'll post a picture eventually, but it was, it was a thing and he's just a pleasure of human to it. You know, I've had an opportunity to hang out with him quite a bit at this point and he's just a totally amazing guy, but that watch. So the, the original layers, I'm an owner of the layers one. Um, and it's, Uh, this 2.0 I think is really more so than an evolution on the idea. I think it's really like manifestation of what that watch was supposed to be. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. Um, for those that have not seen one, the model that I got is the all Chrome just in your head, close your eyes and think of that SpongeBob episode where he's got the can of Chrome spray paint and he's just spray painting everything Chrome. The watch looks like it's right out of that episode. Um, or, and combo with like a fifties, I don't know. What are those cars called? Speed, speed wagons. |
| Everett | Sure. I accept. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. Except with the weird humps in front of the tires, whatever. I don't know. It's very cool. I like it quite a bit. Yeah. |
| Everett | Nothing about the best content here. It is a dope watch. If you're not familiar, I'll put a link in the show notes because there there's some next level shit. And and having seen them in the steel and the PVD coated in person, they're better in person. They are pictures. Yeah, I think that's right. I think that's right. Yeah. These watches are pretty, pretty incredible and different than anything else on the market right now. One hundred percent. So we've got an Explorer two. OK. Check. We've got a still loves layers. Check. What else? |
| Frank Affronti | I have a 94. Yeah. I look around because I was like, what? |
| Everett | It's not on any watches. That looks like oranges. Yeah. Yeah. |
| Frank Affronti | Oranges in a bowl. I have a 1994 Speedmaster Apollo 11, which is like kind of a, you know, when you look Going to speed masters. If you ever want to get one, you can get as niche as you possibly can imagine. There's a specific reference for everything. This particular one was made in 94, which was the 25th anniversary of the moon landing. And so they came out with a 25th anniversary model. That one is like pretty expensive and it's kind of, I don't want to say it's boring, but it's, it's a fairly regular. Speedmaster. In addition to that 25th anniversary model, during the year of 94, they engraved in their regular production model, Apollo 11. And they only did it during that year. And then they stopped. And their regular production model at the time was a Hesalite crystal in the front, Sapphire on the back, which is no longer an option when you go by. Right. You have to get a Sapphire sandwich and So after 94, they stopped making the Apollo 11 engraved. So it ended up being like a 10th as many of these watches as the 25th anniversary watches. And they sell for like, I don't know, I would say 40% of the cost, 50% of the cost. So I picked that one up last year, um, as like a, a gift to myself for passing my professional engineering exam. that I would study for for a long time. So that was like my big achievement watch, the equivalent to, you know, Everett passing the bar and getting hit by a car. |
| Everett | I didn't, I didn't buy a watch when I passed the bar. He opened up a law firm. I just waited until I got hit by a car. We could combine that now. My made it watch. It's like, yeah, I got hit by a car and I made it. |
| Frank Affronti | Right. The same thing. |
| Everett | I didn't get hit by a car. And are you... So we made an episode, I don't know, four months ago at this point, where we kind of talked about the different types of watch collector. Oh. We've got the butterfly collector, we've got... The butterfly catcher. The butterfly catcher. We've got the curator. How do you describe yourself You know, what, what are your collecting habits? How would you describe yourself? |
| Frank Affronti | So I guess like many of your listeners, I felt personally attacked by that episode, but then so convicted by it. |
| Everett | You're like, man, you guys like see me. |
| Frank Affronti | No, no. I, I actually thought you did a great job. Um, I'm at somewhere in between, right? Because like, for example, this, so labs 2.0, this doesn't fall in any category. Right. And for my entire watch collecting journey, up until that point, I was very much, okay, I have a watch for a specific purpose, and I'm gonna get the best version of every watch for that specific thing. So I have my Explorer II, which is like the peak travel and adventure watch. And then I have a Doxa Sub 750T GMT, which is like, Just uber specific only really neckbeards talk about them to be honest. I'm not super proud of that watch, but that was like my idea. That was my idea of a travel GMT that you could take diving and you're not going to get robbed. So I bought that and then I have a G shock for working out and other activities. And then I have all these like kind of micro brands that I have in for review or I buy because it's cool and you meet the brand owner and you want to support them. And so everything has kind of gotten frayed, but I only have like five core watches that are just in my box and they're there forever. Um, so I feel like I'm somewhere between the curator and the butterfly catcher. |
| Everett | All right. I like that. I like that. I mean, at the end of the day, those categories are super specific, and I think all of us... And rigid and unwavering. A feat in both camps, right? There's this whole wide world, and some days you feel like a curator, and some days you feel like the butterfly catcher. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah, I do think my soul is a butterfly catcher and it definitely is like my, I'm battling it because it is a direct reflection of my impulsive nature at times. Like I battle with impulsivity with watches. I think a lot of people do. And so sometimes something will come up and I'll want to buy it immediately. And then just to rebel, I won't, but then other times I fail and I just have to buy it. Like this Solabs, I just had to buy it immediately. And then other things, I won't buy it. I won't buy it. I won't buy it just out of spite to myself. |
| Everett | If if you're in the market to just be buying something like just for the sake of I've been trying to acquire a Smith's Everest. From from the website, if you're interested in joining me on like a Sunday morning between five fifty nine and six a.m. to see if you can acquire one. I would appreciate that. |
| Frank Affronti | Is that when they drop? |
| Everett | Yeah, they drop. Uh, what's that like 2 p.m. GMT? It doesn't matter. Uh, it, it, it becomes 6 a.m. Pacific standard time, uh, is when their store goes live. It is impossible to buy a Smith's Everest unless you program a bot, which I'm not equipped |
| Frank Affronti | So I don't want to tell you to do something unethical. However, have you considered emailing them a fake product email saying that, Hey, I purchased this. Here's my product email. I can't find my order. Would you be able to just confirm it didn't go through to my bank either? And then they might let you buy it ahead of time, like you, you know, skirt the line. |
| Everett | I've, I've, I've made some acquisitions of watches. Uh, and another accoutrement. And I, I try to make a, I try to be really deliberate to be independent of watch clicker because I don't want that to be an influence on the brand. I want to be able to experience the brand as a normal person and not somebody with a, just a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny penis, insignificant penis. and a significant amount of influence among those like me. |
| Frank Affronti | I, so I actually didn't even think about using watch clicker. I just meant just in general, you could email them a fake order, but I do recommend you reach out and say that you're a member of watch clicker and you have a substantial following of at least six to 10 listeners per week on a podcast. |
| Everett | And you could, I only do that when I'm trying to get seats at a restaurant. It has yet to work. Frank, You're here, finally. You're invited back anytime. But before we transition here... I want to talk more about underwater photography, specific trips. Before we transition here to our next thing, what do you want these folks to know about you? The Freddie McGee, to the extent that these folks don't know you, and many of them do, many of them do, but to the extent that folks listening to the show don't know you, What do you want to tell them about yourself? |
| Frank Affronti | I guess more than anything, I'm excited to be here and excited to converse with you guys on our platform for the WatchClicker fans. And I would love to talk to more of the WatchClicker people. I know that Will is inundated all the time with requests and things to assist. I am an open channel that you can try to communicate through. And if you have questions about what we're doing, if you have suggestions for articles, for reviews, for stuff that you want to see on the site, um, I would love to hear what they are. And you can reach me at my Instagram at friendy McGee. There's no, I, it is just friendly me. Um, and I would love to talk to you guys. |
| Everett | I was trying to think of where the I would be. It don't worry about it because it's not there. Yeah. In that it in that light. I have a last question. Oh, God. Did you dive to step on the big island? Oh, he's. |
| Frank Affronti | Yes. |
| Everett | I had a super horrifying experience at two step. We dove out and we're snorkeling. We weren't we weren't tank diving and we saw these gray masses. beneath us on the second step. So two step. It was me. For those of you unfamiliar, two step refers to a pretty famous diving location on the big island of Hawaii. That's a really like severely tiered reef system. There's a real shallow reef and then a hard break and then a fairly, when I say fairly for a snorkeling depth, fairly deep depth, and then another step. So it steps out into the ocean. Um, we pushed past the second depth where you can no longer see the floor. Like you can tell where the ocean floor is because it's, you know, obstructed. It's not just blackness, but we could see these gray masses moving beneath us, which is troubling when you're in warm water. Cause I'm like, I'm, I'm a, I'm a normal human person. I'm like, Oh, that's sharks. Today we die. But there's multiple of them. And I was like, that's unusual. We're not exactly safe, but I don't know for sure if those are sharks. And just kind of slowly these gray masses became visible to be about seven dolphins who were suddenly like interacting with us and surfacing and playing with us. I wasn't getting anywhere near them because I'm not interested in that. but there were suddenly like these gray masses became super dangerous, super predators who were not interested in hurting me. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life was these dolphins just like, Hey, what's going on? What up? Let's play. And they're diving up around us and they're surfacing and they're like, they're attempting to interact with me. And I'm like, get the fuck away from me. I'm not interested. Go away. |
| Frank Affronti | It was cool. I guess two things. You said that you were not interested in those dolphins and you said it in a way that made me think that you were trying to stop Everett and myself from assuming you were interested in those dolphins. You got that too, right Everett? |
| Everett | Yeah, you nailed it. Yeah. No, there was obviously a sexual attraction and I couldn't get out of the water for several minutes after I retreated to safety. Hold on, I'll be out in a second. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. Yeah. And then the second thing was that you said you realized that they were not super predator. |
| Everett | Those things are super predators, but not in this, not at, not, I'm not in their food chain. Super predator. How do you know? I've never heard of a person getting eaten by a dolphin because you never hear about them. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. |
| Everett | They just, they're just, that's all the missing persons on the West coast eaten by dolphins. Yeah. Her plane. |
| Frank Affronti | I guess the, the only times I've been in the water with, with dolphins and they're that close, like, It's obvious that those things are super predators and you are just, if they needed to, you could, they could piece you up. |
| Everett | No, dude, there were, there were like basic white bitches, like grabbing them by the dorsal fin and riding them down into the water. It was horrifying. I was, yes, there were, you know, there were, you've seen this nonsense. Yeah. They're just, Oh, I'm going to grab this dolphin. I'm like, bitch, don't do that. It could kill you. Yeah, it was it was a thing. It really, really reinforced the fact that I am an apex predator on land and on sea. I am just a just a little bitch. Andrew. Other things. What do you got? I have another thing. I'm a little late to the game on this, but I'm ready to join the bandwagon. I recently watched this series Wednesday. Oh yeah. On Netflix. I mean, you're, you're contemporaneous. You're fine. I do feel a little late to the game because it's kind of the thing. |
| Frank Affronti | You're in your thirties. |
| Everett | You're fine. I gotta say for those of you who've been holding out, it has all the things that you want. For those of you who like have real childhood memories of the Adams family, they did this really, really great job of incorporating, and that's kind of a thing right now, is incorporating these 80s and 90s shows and movies into modern versions of themselves, right? So they're appealing to the people who were kids when they were originals and to the kids currently. It's a little bit older than my kids are ready for. Totally. This was super well done the whole time watching. I'm like, this is familiar to me. I recognize what's happening. I recognize these characters. I recognize these things, these themes, these feelings. But this is all new. They've just remade something that I'm already aware of. This is episode two. I was for it. Adam's family means Stranger Things meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yeah, it's it was a little predictable. But it was well done. The cinematography was great. I thought it was, I thought the cinematography was really good. It was good. It was a visually enjoyable show. I enjoyed the heck out of it. I liked every second of it. At no point was I like, I'm done with this. There was no like, like there was no like with Outlander at this point in Outlander where it's like, God, fuck, just end. Just end. Can we be done with this? Can we please be done? Cause I'm tired of watching this, but I'm going to watch it until the end. There was none of that. I'm excited for season two because they created this really interesting kind of the way stranger things did where it was like, how are they going to do a season two? But you know, they're going to come up with something creative and enjoyable. If you're kind of holding out on Wednesday, go for it. It landed for me. I thought it was great. Okay. Fuck you. |
| Frank Affronti | That's a good one. No, I'm serious. |
| Everett | I'm saying so. Me too. Frank Fronte. Other things. What did you bring us, man? |
| Frank Affronti | Man, I got, I have, um, I had some other things and Andrew text me and I said, should I bring anything to the show? And he was like, yeah. And I was like, I have other things. And he was like, you can bring an other thing. |
| Everett | Yeah. |
| Frank Affronti | It's an other thing. Other thing. I've been, I've listened to many episodes where he has three, four other things. |
| Everett | That's not true. I am another thing just as an, as my existence. |
| Frank Affronti | Frank. So make a decision. I'm going to do them. I'm doing, I'm doing them. The first is this Nintendo on Amazon. It's $40 and it just has super Mario bros and that's it. And it's from Nintendo. And it's called the Game Watch Super Mario Bros Super Mario Nintendo. It's not the Nintendo switch. It's actually like essentially a Game Boy, but you can charge it with USB C and it has Super Mario Bros one and two. And if you're just like looking for peak. 10 minutes of serotonin from your childhood. And you are, you know, 40. This is perfect. It's so worth it. And you can just be driving in the car. Your kid is screaming in the backseat and you just take it and you just wing it in the back, hit him in the head, hit him in the face. And this will be perfect for them. It's like the size of a deck of cards. Yes. It's smaller than a deck of cards. Look how thin it is. It's perfect. Half a deck of cards. |
| Everett | Okay. |
| Frank Affronti | Yeah. It's, it's quite nice. Um, the other thing is this podcast called heavyweight. You guys are listening to a podcast right now. So I think this would be a good option. It's called heavyweight. Basically this guy, this really nice Jewish man named Jonathan solves your life problems. So one of them that he solved this year was this young man had a, uh, his, his mother passed away when he was in middle school. And the gym coach gave him a hug that like he remembers to this day. And then the gym coach left the school. And so the guy got him in touch with his gym coach and they had this beautiful reunion moment. And they said, yeah, I remember that hug. And he said, I remember that hug too. And it meant a lot to me. And then they just, that was it. That's the whole show. So I would recommend it. It's another perfect boost of serotonin for you. And it's not too serious. Another great one was they were lifting a curse of this Scottish clan and the guy like got on the phone with the Pope He tried to lift this curse. It was just, it's very good. He literally tried to call the Pope for like 20 minutes, the podcast. |
| Everett | Did he go to voicemail? |
| Frank Affronti | No, it went to the Vatican and they were like, you need the exorcism department. And he was like, okay. And so they transferred him to the exorcism department and they're like, oh no, no, you don't need the exorcism. You need the blessings. |
| Everett | No, no, I need the Pope. It was this whole thing. Did he get on the phone with the Pope? No, the former Pope just died. The former Pope. The Pope didn't die. |
| Frank Affronti | Right, the former Pope died, but the guy that they were... Which is atypical in and of itself. |
| Everett | Usually, we get a new Pope because the Pope died, but in this instance, we already have a new Pope because the worst Pope maybe of all time, at least in modern history, stopped being the Pope and now he's dead. |
| Frank Affronti | He's the first non-acting Pope to die in like 600 years. |
| Everett | Yeah, that's a long time. 600 years is a long time. I made up that number, so don't comfort me. I'm comfortable with the number that you quoted. It could be right. It could be wrong. Gents, I've got another thing. Okay, do me. So West, my son, my nine-year-old son, this kid is fantastic, by the way. So my daughter, she's 11. We thought she was the smart because she's very, very smart. She's ridiculously smart. And Wes is kind of, he's not aloof. He's just like, he just doesn't give a fuck. He just DGFs all the time. Turns out he's also really smart by the way. So we, you know, he's old enough now, you know, we're, we're doing parent-teacher conferences and they're like, Wes is really freaking smart. Uh, I love it. I'm bragging. I can brag on my kids, right? Can't I? My kids are really freaking smart. And, uh, But Wes just got a really like discreet way about coming at things, right? He'll talk to us in really direct ways sometimes. And he came to me and said, Dad, I want to play baseball. And I don't just want to play baseball. I want to like really play baseball. And I could tell he was serious about it. And I could tell it was this opportunity, you know, this moment where he was like, Dad, I need you to engage with this because this is a thing. So I was like, all right, buddy, I'm fucking in. Let's do this. Oh, so we're working on that. We'll get there. No, this is this is the right time. This is the right time. So we're working on baseball, working on skills in the midst of this, because I'm a selfish piece of shit. I was like, I need to buy something for myself to celebrate this occasion. And I was like, I need a baseball glove. I need a baseball glove. I have not looked at baseball gloves commercially for... 30 years. Yeah, 20. Let's say 20. Let's say 25. 25 years. It turns out baseball gloves are really similar to what they were 25 years ago. Yeah, basically, the only addition is gonna be like an index finger relief. Yeah, I mean, the technology hasn't changed. The bottom line is the technology hasn't changed. There are things happening in baseball gloves that I think are controversial, that Maybe people know, but I was like, you know what I want? I just want the really good heirloom leather baseball gloves. It's going to last forever. That's built really well. That doesn't have any compromises. And so I started looking at baseball gloves and fuck man, they're expensive, right? Baseball gloves are expensive. Like it's a lot of leather entry level, 300 bucks, right? Is what we're talking about. And so, you know, 250, if you find stuff on sale, blah, blah, blah. So I'm looking at baseball gloves. I'm trying to figure for nerds. Let's be clear here for like for baseball people, right? Baseball people. |
| Frank Affronti | And so, and so professionals as well, like people who are really playing baseball. |
| Everett | That's right. For people that need a baseball glove, enter levels 300 bucks, which of course means I'm going to buy a $300 baseball glove minimum. Uh, but, but I discovered this really, I discovered this really interesting thing, this thing that kind of surprised me. So, Like with golf clubs, with golf clubs, you've got this like gradation, right? You've got like, like entry level gloves that are good for a basic player, right? So, so if you are, if you're, if you're like a 14 handicapper, a 20 handicapper, you're going to buy a, like a player improvement club, probably. you know, and they're going to be less expensive and blah, blah, blah. And then the pros, they're all buying these like hyper expensive forged blades. And so the prices just go up. The more you need, the more the prices, right? It's really simple, right? These clubs are made for amateurs. These clubs are made for pros. And so the more expensive clubs are for the better players. Baseball clubs, A, you don't have that much variety. There are only like eight baseball gloves. You know, you know, realistically that's a tiny amount of baseball gloves for the amount of people in the world that play baseball to only have like eight to 12 baseball gloves that everybody's picking amongst is fucking crazy to me. And then I, and then I discovered another thing. So the two biggest baseball glove manufacturers, Rawlings and Wilson, and they make, you know, probably between the two of them, 65% of all of the baseball gloves. They get sold to anybody and, and, and they're, they're tiers, right? And, and so both of these companies have these two upper levels of baseball gloves. One of them is 300 and one of them is like 400 to 500 depending on, on specs. So you, you've got 300, 400 to 500 that there's two, these, these two tiers. And, and what I discovered is at the professional level, people almost down the middle 50 50 pick the second tier versus the first. So like when you look at the major leagues, these people are not buying their gloves. They're getting the glove that they like probably two a year. If you're a, if you're a major league player, probably more than that. If you're a major league player on Wilson's pro staff, you're getting probably two gloves a year in addition to whatever compensation you negotiate. They're just sending you fucking gloves and you're probably getting a glove, a game. And half of these people are picking, no, it's like two a year. And so half of these people are picking the second tier of glove, which I just, I don't know why this is interesting to me, and maybe there's someone who understands this thing. But half of the people pick that second tier. So like Wilson, for instance, has their two gloves. They've got the A2000, which is one of the best selling gloves of all time, and then the A2K, which is their higher tier of glove. Half of Major League Baseball players, and we're not like talking about like, oh, well, the guys who float minor majors go A2000. No, like serious players Carlos Beltran will bag an A2000, which is the second tier. It kind of blew my mind. I was like, this doesn't exist in any other sporting goods world that I can think of. Really, really interesting. Anyway, I bought a baseball glove. Aside from like shoes. Yeah, well, maybe, right? But I think shoes are a little different because it's subjective. And maybe that's the deal here. It's super subjective. You get the thing, what feels best on your hand. Do you want a slow break in? Do you want a fast break in? Are you going to use the glove for forever? Are you going to use the glove for two seasons? Are you going to use the glove for just today? That's right. That's right. So it's super interesting. Anyway, I wound up on a glove. I picked the Wilson A2000. I've got it. I started the break in process. I've been playing. I'll tell you, playing catch with a new baseball glove is hard. But Wes and I are playing baseball. We're, we're, we're playing catch. We're going through like fundamentals in the dark. I commented on it tonight. Yeah. Well, like there's a streetlight. I was like, that doesn't mean it's not dark. So, you know, the, the, the kids, the kids got tenacity and, and we're going to get there. But, um, yeah, I, I, this, this baseball glove world really kind of blows my mind. I think it's very interesting. I think that there's, um, a lot of history and legend and probably a whole bunch of things that I don't understand that play into it. But I think it's fascinating. Baseball gloves are the most interesting thing that I've had to buy for myself in a very long time because it's such a massive sport. Which color did you get? I got a blonde. It's blonde and it's got tan welts and it's fantastic. But really interesting. PF 89. Uh, nope, nope, nope. Uh, so I got it. I saw Frank, Frank, a front. He has started screen sharing. I got an outfielders glove because my, my son throws everywhere. So I got a 12.75 inch glove, which is pretty big. 1799, 1799. Yup. Tan 1799 optic yellow trim. It's fantastic. I love it. It's like my new price position, but that's not my other thing. My other thing is this weird. That's not your other thing. My other thing is this weird world of baseball gloves. It is so weird. And I think it's cool. And I, and I, I really, uh, am into it and I'm here for it. |
| Frank Affronti | Can we, can we back up just a second? Because I, I do appreciate your other thing. I think it was really well thought out and it's clear you put a lot of time and effort into researching this product that you chose for yourself so that you could then help your son. What did you get for your child? |
| Everett | He's got an A550. It's a pigskin. It's very similar to my glove, but it's pigskin. He's got a shorter glove. It's not as good. It's not as good, but it's better for where he's at. It's easier to break in. It's a softer, more supple leather. It won't last as long, but it doesn't need to because he's going to need another glove in two years max. He'll outgrow that glove. That's right. So this is a better single-year gamer glove. And that's the last glove you'll ever And exactly. I needed the glove that I'm never going to have to replace. He needed a glove that's going to be gameable, flexible, help him build skills. I'm glad that we were on the same page about all right, what did you get for West? |
| Frank Affronti | And if someone was listening to this, they'd go, Oh man, this is perfect. I got to buy my kid a baseball glove. It's clear that Everett did all this research and then he just didn't say which glove. |
| Everett | I went with the Wilson 8550 for West. It's a pigskin glove. It's Fully leather construction, except for the bindings, which are vinyl, but that's fine. It's pigskin leather, which means it's going to be soft, easy to break in. It's going to flex with him, play with him. It's a great glove too. But who cares about that? My glove is the important one. Concur. I'm not even going to include the kid glove in the show notes. Frank, we have talked about diving, We've talked about your watch journey. We have talked about watch photography. We've talked about buying baseball gloves for yourself when you ought to be buying it for your kids. Do you have anything else you would like people to hear about tonight on your debut episode? |
| Frank Affronti | Oh, I think I should have saved my second other thing. for right now. I didn't know I was going to have another opportunity. No, but you didn't. And so I'm all out. Yeah. |
| Everett | Yeah. I'm all out now. Sorry. I'm running out all the time. Where to find you on Instagram, Frank? |
| Frank Affronti | Oh, you can find me at Friendy McGee. There's no I, it's just Friendy McGee. F R E N D Y McGee. Um, yeah, my profile picture is just a little cartoon version of myself scuba diving. which is very cute. It was like my last memory of the Matic. They made me that cartoon. It was very nice of them. |
| Everett | And then we got you. Do you guys mind if I thank our sponsors real quick? I think we ought to. Hey, this episode of 40 in 20, the Watch Clicker podcast is brought to you by Escapement Media. If you are starting a new watch brand or have an existing watch brand, Escapement Media has your photography and video needs covered. Once you see the photos, you won't be able to escape. Check escapement out at escapementmedia.com. Buy Foster Watches, great effing watches. Check out the 11 Atmos Skin Diver, now on sale at fosterwatches.com. And Frank Afronti Photography, offering images and videos of real watches on real adventures. Your favorite divers from a hundred feet below to 14,000 feet up. Now accepting underwater bookings for March of 2023 at afrontography.com. Links to all of those will be available in the show notes. And listen, this is the most important bit, because none of these people actually pay us. If you would like to advertise on 40 and 20, the WatchClicker podcast, you can send us an email at hello at WatchClicker.com. That goes to Will. I think I might get him too. I'm not sure. And talk to us. Talk to us about it. We'll work it out. We've never even taken any money from this on people. So you've got some opportunities to negotiate. If you want to advertise, email hello at foster watches. Nope. Hello at watch clicker.com. And thanks for joining us for this episode of 40 and 20, the watch clicker podcast. We're really glad you're here. If you want to check us out, you can do that at watch clicker.com or on Instagram at watch clicker or at 40 and 20 underscore watch clicker. That's where we post all. all of the, everything we do here, all, every single episode of the podcast, all the updates about our new articles, new reviews, et cetera, et cetera. Check us out there. If you want to support us and oh boy, we need your support right now, more than ever more to come on that, but we do really need your support. Patreon.com slash 40 and 20 as it exists. This is how we pay for everything. This is how we pay for the software, the hardware, but we've got more in mind and we need your support right now. patreon.com slash 40 and 20. And don't forget to check us out next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. |