Episode 266 - 2023 in Watches

Published on Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:25:16 -0800

Synopsis

This podcast episode covers a wide range of topics, including discussion of watches such as the Swatch Bio Ceramic Fifty Fathoms Collection, Studio Underdog Field Watch, Tag Heuer Carrera Skipper, Alpina Heritage Curry Automatic, and Zenit 50 series. The hosts also share their favorite watch releases of the year, including the Studio Underdog Field Watch, the Swatch Bio Ceramic Fifty Fathoms Collection, the Christopher Ward The Twelve, and the Zenit 50 series. Additionally, they talk about other things like boots, the Pendleton wool socks, and the Air Max 90G sneakers.

Links

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Transcript

Speaker
Unknown	Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. You're listening to 40 in 20 the watch clicker podcast with your hosts, Andrew, and my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, how are you?
Unknown	You know, I'm doing all right, Andrew.
Unknown	Judging by your hair, you're not. It's like real tall right now.
Unknown	The hair's getting crazy, man. I haven't decided what I want to do with it, but it's got a mind of its own.
Unknown	When I had hair, when my hair was that tall, it meant that I was hammered.
Unknown	Yeah, I'm not hammered. No. I haven't even cracked my very first beard. I cracked mine. I'm doing well. Andrew, I am in a very fortunate position that you share with me. to be very excited about the state of college football. Yes. There are probably about four football fan bases in the country right now that feel as good as us. About three of those feel better than us. But we are fans of the Oregon Ducks.
Unknown	Definitively three feel better. Football team. And many feel worse.
Unknown	On this last Friday we played Oregon State for our last ever conference rivalry game against our little brothers in Corvallis, uh, which is actually pretty sad. We watched that game together. Yeah. Uh, and, and then this week we play for the pack 12 anyway, it's the last one. It like, so the pack 12 is dissolving. If you guys didn't know, there'll be the pack too. And so there's a lot of history that's going away this year. Or I guess the history doesn't go anywhere. The history is just there.
Unknown	Over. It's now real history.
Unknown	But it's not something that we'll be doing again, which is sad. But also it just like excited about the team. It's a really fun team. They've been really fun to watch. So excited. Big football game on this Friday. We play Washington. second or third best team in the country, depending on who you talk to. Uh, that's exciting. And if we win, we probably get into the college football playoff. You know, we're not from the South. We're not from Alabama or Georgia. We don't get to see this stuff all the time.
Unknown	True. It's been some time since we've been invited to play.
Unknown	2014 was our last foray, I believe. Uh, so ish around that time. So anyway, It's exciting. So I'm excited and it's sort of it's sort of infiltrating my Being I'm thinking a lot about college football right now. Yes But but good I'm doing well Andrew, how are you?
Unknown	I am Also good. I got some new boots in the mail today. They're not my other thing. I ordered some they are your other thing No, they're not my other thing.
Unknown	Why would these be your other thing? Well, cuz I don't know yet.
Unknown	Okay Uh, but I got some of the preview. Yeah. Some, some Danner mock toe on their black Friday sale. They came a day earlier than expected. I hit him with some Hubert's I'm wearing them dry. And one thing that I really liked about Danner is that they are almost universally comfortable right out of the box. There's like some stiff points typically, especially with an all leather upper. Uh, but you get some Hubert's in there, some your shoe grease of choice. and wear them, they soften up really nice. You recommended Thorough Goods and I don't disagree with your assessment. I'm just, I'm really comfortable with Danner because they're a brand of boots that I've worn. Gosh, I don't know, probably a dozen different varieties. I know how they fit and I like them.
Unknown	So that's what I went with. Well, and Danner's an Oregon company. These are made in Portland, I believe. Yeah. So it's fun to support that company. You know, I've been to that factory. I think you've probably been to the factory too. I have been, yeah. When we were in the army, they would donate gift certificates for the ROTC folks to come up and I did a little mini factory tour and got to pick some boots. It was pretty cool. You know, if you can't picture this boot at home, it is the wedge sole mock toe. It's that white sole. It doesn't have like a 90 degree heel. Um and and in my mind that is like that's Thorogood is the boot but you know these of course look like they're terrifically made and it's that classic look. Yeah. And I'm sure they're going to last you forever and ever and you're going to love them.
Unknown	Probably. I think another kind of boot that you can get resold.
Unknown	Yeah it's a stitch down sole but I think it's a repairable stitch down sole.
Unknown	It is according to their uh literature.
Unknown	Actually, I think I'm not sure if the Thoroughgoods are welted or if they're stitched down as well. I don't know.
Unknown	Either way. Got them in the mail today. I've been wearing them all night. I actually changed out of a pair of Clarks to put these on. They look great. And they feel good.
Unknown	They look great.
Unknown	Yeah.
Unknown	So, yeah, I'm good. I'm happy. In any event, Andrew, we're not talking about boots or football today. Although we did talk about boots and football. However brief. Rather we're talking about watches and we're going to do a bit of a year in review of watches. Maybe not a year in review, but we're going to highlight our favorite watches of the last year.
Unknown	The ones we can remember because a lot happened this year and I don't think that we got to them all. I know we missed at least five that didn't even make it into our conversation for our picks.
Unknown	You know, and of course, at most, we're going to talk about 10, 12 watches tonight. With that said, these are not the only 12 watches that we think are cool. And these aren't even the 10 or 12 watches that we think are the best. But these are the ones that we think are the most notable and the most interesting to us. So I think it's fair to say our favorite watch releases of the year.
Unknown	Yeah.
Unknown	But the criteria being very loose. what we could remember today? Subjective. You know, uh, I feel pretty confident. I went through, I went through our notes. I went through watch releases. I feel pretty confident with the lists we came up with. I think we're going to cover a lot of ground. Um, and yeah, if there's a release that you think we just didn't talk about that, we should have, uh, happy to have you send it our way. Uh, with that said, don't don't feel bad. We're not leaving it off because we hate it. Or you. Well, these are just the ones we wanted to talk about. So these are our 2023 favorite watches in no particular order. Andrew, do you want to kick us off?
Unknown	I am going to kick us off. I am going to start us with what I think was one of the coolest releases of the year. And it was a swatch collaboration with Blancpain to do the 50 Fathoms Collection in bio-ceramic. I think this is head and shoulders cooler than the Moon Swatch. No, a hot take. This is terrific. This was one of my, like, the most exciting releases of the year for me.
Unknown	Yeah, well, and even to the extent that it, you know, I'm not sure that either one of us was clamoring to buy this thing. I still think it's probably one of the most notable watch releases of the year. You know, I, I think it's pretty hard to argue that it's not.
Unknown	I, the, the designs that they do, the Arctic in that kind of gray tan with the orange, the Pacific ocean with the kind of gradient black to white with a yellow bio ceramic case, the Atlantic and blue Indian and green. and Antarctic in all white and gray. The unique touches that are on each of these watches, the history that they brought forward out of the Fifty Fathoms, it's, this is cool.
Unknown	You know, I think some of the thrill of the release, the Speedmaster Moon Swatch, I think was sucked away by the release of that watch. And so I think this hit the market with a little less hoorah. With that said, I think it's certainly objectively a better watch. You have a lot higher attention to detail just from tip to tail. You've got the automatic System 51 movement. Uh, it, I think for me personally, it's maybe a little less special just as a Speedmaster person. Um, but gosh, I think you'd be hard pressed, uh, to get me to kick one of these out of bed.
Unknown	Oh yeah. I didn't invite them all into bed.
Unknown	I don't know if I'm man enough to handle it, but the seven C's as it were, but do you know if these are relatively available these days?
Unknown	I, you know, I didn't do any looking for them. I don't know.
Unknown	I don't know. And which of these, assuming you pick one up, which of these do you think you wind up with?
Unknown	I think if I pick one up, I I'm going with the, uh, with the Antarctic.
Unknown	I think it's the Antarctic, the one that, that feels like it's the most versatile to me, but I'm pretty keen on that Indian ocean. The green.
Unknown	Yeah, the green. That has you written all over it. It's pretty sexy. Yeah. The Pacific kind of bummed me out in my least favorite. I don't particularly like that yellow and black color combination in this application.
Unknown	If you were like maybe like a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, this would be the watch for you.
Unknown	Yeah, this is a Steelers fan.
Unknown	I'm not a Steelers fan. Boo Steelers. Yeah.
Unknown	swing your terrible towel above your head next to your terrible watch. And it's not a terrible watch. It's just because it's not even that I don't like it. It's just my least favorite of, of the series.
Unknown	You know, we talked a little, we talked a lot in the, in the community and you and I talked a little bit on this show when this came out about, you know, what else, what else could we see in terms of swatch collaborations? And, and, and, you know, I don't, I don't have any insight into whether Swatch is going to do more of these. But I do wonder if maybe of the somewhat ho-hum reception to these, and maybe that's not fair to say it's been a ho-hum reception, but I think a lot less excitement about these than we saw with the Moon Swatch. I wonder if that will temper future forays.
Unknown	I think there's less excitement just simply because people get more excited about the Speedmaster than almost any other release. There is just such a cult following and fan base to the Speedmaster that just doesn't exist with the 50 Fathoms in a way that just never will. Yeah.
Unknown	I mean, it's just the coolest watch ever made. It's been in the moon.
Unknown	And it's cool. And it's cool. Cool moon done. It's got all the things. So I get why the excitement is out there. I don't know. I don't recall actually, if these are brick and mortar only, I think they are also brick and mortar only, uh, in the same way that the moon swatches, which is an interesting marketing technique. Um, and it's a bummer for those of us who don't live near to a swatch ad.
Unknown	Um, it looks like these are available for. Not crazy amounts of money.
Unknown	Like four or five hundred bucks? Yeah. So they're retailing at four, I think.
Unknown	Uh, gosh, you can buy these on the website. Oh. No, maybe not. Oh. I thought, I thought maybe you could, but it looks like that's not true.
Unknown	Gotcha. Yeah. You got it. You see stores. So you, this is brick and mortar sale only. Um, yeah, I think, I think we've said enough about the, The Biosceramic 50 Fathoms Collection.
Unknown	Yeah. I've got a watch. Do me. That I'd like to talk about. I'm going to start with Christopher Ward's The Twelve.
Unknown	Interesting. Is that all you have to say? That's it.
Unknown	So first a few caveats. I really am not crazy about any of the dial colors they've released this in. I like the silver. The Arctic white. Oh, it's an Arctic white. Is my favorite of the dial colors they've released this in. But I am a black dial kind of fellow. The blue they've used, I think, is a little too blue. With that said, it is really hard to deny the... Well, they use the two blues. They have the... Yeah, they've got the glacier blue, which is bleh. And then they've got the astral blue, which is an ombre, bleh.
Unknown	Yeah. And then there's the Nordic blue. Right.
Unknown	I like the Nordic blue. I do like the basalt gray dial. I do like the... I think that's how you say that. Basalt? assault. Yeah. Um, I wish it was a little bit rubber. Wish it was a little bit darker. Just touch, just touch. Um, but look, what you get here is a really, really lovely looking watch that's made. I've seen these, they're made to terrific standards and they're under 10 millimeters thick, which if you've listened to any of the episodes of 40 and 20 podcast. And last year, you know, it was kind of my thing right now. Thinner is better. Um, I made a comment, I was talking about this watch to some folks today, and I made a comment that my biggest problem with this watch is the existence of the Antarctic, right? This watch, when it came out, I thought, well, holy This looks a lot like a choppeck. Antarctic, maybe choppeck, Antarctic. And that bothered me a little bit. Uh, you know, just it's, it's a little bit too derivative. Well, what I found, what this person, what, what someone told me today is they're designed by the same fricking dude. So, uh, Adrian Buckman, Czapek designer and Christopher Ward designer came out and said, hey, I designed both of these watches, which is why looking at the Czapek Antarctic, you might think that looks a lot like the Christopher Ward 12 and vice versa, because they're actually designed by the same people. Still derivative, but more of like a Royal Oak Nautilus deal at this point.
Unknown	Yeah, I don't know if you could even call it derivative if it's the same designer. It's just the same design language existing in it.
Unknown	I think that's right.
Unknown	I think that's right. And the same fingerprints, if you will.
Unknown	The same fingerprints. And it's actually still just a terrific watch. So for $1,300, this brings up a bit of a... I'm going to leak an honorable mention, which is the Novato Grenshin F77. Also, a really terrific watch released this year. Fantastic movement. I think Nevada's a really fun company that does a lot of exciting stuff. They make really great watches. And I kind of put these in the same... I mean, they're these steel integrated sports watches, but the F77 is like 12.5 millimeters thick for about the same price. I mean, you just can't do a heck of a lot better than this 12.
Unknown	I have two complaints. Give them to me, baby. Number one, I don't see how this watch fits into the Christopher Ward catalog of watches. It kind of fits when you look at some of the things that Christopher Ward has been releasing in the way of the Celeste and the Bel Canto and that kind of almost novelty. They're not novelty watches, but they're novel designs, maybe more innovative. Like they have their, their mainstream and then they've got their R and D section doing some interesting kind of outlier shit. Um, that's the only way this works for me in, in the greater Christopher Ward ecosystem. And number two, the only two, iterations that are in titanium are my least like they're they're my bottom in my bottom three of all of the available options they only have the titanium in 40 millimeter this this is released in a 36 and a 40 they only have the titanium in the astral blue which is the ombre
Unknown	Yeah.
Unknown	I'm not super jacked even about the center blue saturation. It's just, it's not, doesn't do it for me. Um, and purple and though it's a really lovely purple, neither of those are colors on a dial that I would ever wear or even consider wearing or give a second thought to. Um, and it just bums me out. I would, I would love to see that Arctic white, in 36 in titanium.
Unknown	How much are these? Uh, how much are these guys in American dollars?
Unknown	They're 1600 pounds in American dollars, uh, in titanium. They're 1895, uh, the halo versions, which feature a rose gold bezel are 2,500. And then the, um, Just your standard fare are $12.25 in dollars. They're under a thousand if you get them on rubber and they look really good on rubber. So there you have it. But you want it on a bracelet. Christopher Ward does phenomenal bracelets.
Unknown	And it's, I mean, it's an integrated steel sports watch.
Unknown	You buy the fucking bracelet. Yeah, you get it on the bracelet and you know that you're going to get one of the best bracelets available on the market out of Christopher Ward.
Unknown	One of the watches of the year.
Unknown	Yeah. Even though I don't particularly dig it.
Unknown	You know, I think that it's a great platform. You had made a comment that it doesn't fit in the Christopher Ward catalog. I maybe disagree just to the extent that it it feels like a really nice niche that Christopher Ward hadn't dipped their feet into. And it is different. It's certainly different than the light catcher case. It's got a different feel, you know, this is like a Chopek looking Christopher Ward. It's not that real sporty, utility, divey thing that they've done. With that said, you know, we've got brands like perhaps Manta or maybe Laurier, which really don't branch out, right? They've got their design language, and it's so inherent that they struggle to get out of there. I don't see that with Christopher Ward, and I think that this is a great platform for them to build on.
Unknown	I don't know that I see that with Laurier either. They've got really clear design language, but they have some pretty versatile selections.
Unknown	More than just in the last year. The last year and a half or so.
Unknown	Zephyr's like two years old now?
Unknown	Yeah, you know, kind of branched out. But before that it was really, you know, and so that's maybe an unfair comparison, both unfair to Christopher Ward and unfair to Laurier slash Monto. But with that said, I'm okay with a brand having significant branches. And this feels to me like a significant branch. Uh, which maybe there wasn't a lot of groundwork laid for, but I think it's a smash success and I'm totally fine just now saying, yeah, that's the new Christopher Ward. I'm cool with it.
Unknown	That's their, it's their innovation division. What's next? Uh, next up for me is the Alpena, Alpener Heritage, Curry Automatic. I am totally smitten by this watch. Yeah, you are. It's gorgeous. I love absolutely everything about it. Um, my color pick is the, uh, gray dialed version. This thing is just, is gorgeous. And it is another watch that like just doesn't quite fit for me in the, in the typical Alpina line. Um, but when, I mean, we, we know what makes us watch special. These are original what 1938 manufactured movements. These are super cool, and not just because of the design, but because they were able to reach back into this treasure trove of antique movements, get them up and running, drop them in watches, and build something really beautiful around them. I'm totally for it. This is a great release.
Unknown	Were these limited? I believe they were right.
Unknown	Actually, severely limited. Yeah, there was there was like. How many? I can't find how many there wasn't a ton. It does look like you can find these. I'm sure they exist. You can't get them direct from Alpena.
Unknown	There's a black dial available from. Iguana, so. Don't go there. Don't take my word for it. Do your own research. Don't buy that. Do your own research. Yeah. No, these are terrific. This is a terrific release. I would never wear this watch. It's just the furthest thing from my style as you can get. I'd wear the shit out of this watch. Really a cool watch, though.
Unknown	Yeah. $1,600? I mean, for all the bang you're getting, that's a I think a good price for a 1938 movement in this package. 30 meters of water resistance though, so you're going to have to treat this one gentle.
Unknown	Yeah, don't take it in the hot tub.
Unknown	No, I want to be able to wear it. It's also on leather, so I'm probably not going to wear it in the hot tub anyway. I know leather is totally fine to get wet. I just don't like it to get wet because I don't like the way wet leather feels on my wrist.
Unknown	You know, Alpina is one of those brands that I just don't know that much about, don't feel really comfortable with their catalog. I'm the same way. But everybody, nobody ever says, oh, Alpina. I think people love them. Yeah. I have found a watch for you, Andrew. Oh, do it. Look at the Alpiner Sport Quartz Rainbow. This is a 36 and a half millimeter dive watch.
Unknown	Is this what we were going to is this as you're just rolling through their catalog or is this one of your picks?
Unknown	No, this is a watch for you. It's not not. Yeah, it's not not. OK, that is not my next watch. My next watch of 2023 is. Oh, gosh. And this is a good one. OK, the Tag Heuer. Oh, yeah. Carrera. Gipper specifically, but really the Tag Heuer glass box chronograph. Yes.
Unknown	These aren't cheap, which makes sense because they're Tag Heuer. I don't, I don't super understand Tag Heuer's pricing, but people are paying it.
Unknown	So these are a little outside of what we would normally what we would normally buy. The Skipper in particular, I think, is $6,000, almost $7,000. But this is a recreation of an old watch, sort of increased in size, but done so really tastefully. So it's a 39 millimeter chronograph, which is a terrific size.
Unknown	Such a good size, especially because it's all dial. So it's going to even still feel big at 39.
Unknown	Big, vintage feeling, quote unquote, glass box. Crystal. Jeez. These are terrific. These are terrific. The sort of dish on the dial and the dimension and the hand sets, in particular with the skipper, the colors you get, that really rich blue and the teal and the orange. The case is just totally terrific. The shape of the pushers, the position of the pushers, the crown. I love everything about this watch. I think this may be the one of the very few watches that is not sold on a bracelet that I'm like, yes, please give it to me.
Unknown	I'm OK with that. I'd like to see it on a bracelet. Imagine that on mesh.
Unknown	Oh, girl. Oh, and you can put this on mesh. No problem.
Unknown	I want their mesh. Sure. That's what I want.
Unknown	You know, I'm a bond clip. Yeah, I was going to say put this thing on a bond clip, I think would would be great.
Unknown	Oh, that'd be good. Like gives me like a little bit of shit. Oh, unlike the Sarah bond clip that just wafer thin. Oh, nothing. That's not a bond clip, but it's there. Yeah, it's a bond clip.
Unknown	I think it is. Yeah. Um, with the, with the skipper, you do get what's the first, I'll just say the movement on these glass box chronographs is phenomenal. 80 hour, 28, eight automatic chronograph movement. Uh, with the skipper version, you get a modified movement that has a 15 minute rather than a 30 minute register, which I think is a lot of fun. Uh, So you get small seconds, central seconds on the chronograph. Come on. How thick is this? Okay, so it doesn't, it's really hard to find. They're about 14 millimeters thick. It makes sense. Automatic chronograph. I accept. Yeah. With a big giant crystal. So they are 14 millimeters thick, which it is, it is what it is, you guys.
Unknown	It's going to be bothersome to some, but it's no 7750, so. I was wearing my 15 millimeter. Yeah.
Unknown	my 15 millimeter 7750 all day and yeah.
Unknown	And I was putting on an F91 just to lighten the load.
Unknown	That's right. I got home and I was like, whoa, my shoulder's getting tired. Uh, and yeah, I am wearing an F91. Actually it's an F84. Oh God, I'm an asshole. It's an F84W. Um, yeah. So movement TH2006. I think this is, I'm not going to say the best chronograph releases of the year, but I think this is, Probably my favorite chronograph release of the year.
Unknown	Even more than the Rowing Blazers?
Unknown	Yeah, well, when the Rowing Blazers came out, I said, wish they would use the glass box.
Unknown	You did. And so now we're at the glass box. Because that Rowing Blazers color scheme is dope.
Unknown	Pretty cool. I'd like it a lot better if it was a glass box. Instead, it's a 41 millimeter Carrera chronograph case. Fine, fine, fine, fine.
Unknown	Oh, tragedy.
Unknown	Fine.
Unknown	Yeah, I really like this release. Tag Heuer did some really cool shit this year. And I don't think they get enough appreciation in our community.
Unknown	I think it's sort of easy to look over, you know.
Unknown	They're weird. They're an odd price point. They do a lot of courts. They're doing some really interesting and innovative stuff this year and last, like really in the last three years, they've started to dive back into their catalog and bring back all the shit that made them cool originally. And they're kind of reestablishing that identity. They're moving away from being the golf brand with tons of brand ambassadors. And I'm liking the direction they're going in.
Unknown	You know, when you and I got into watches 2013, 14, 15, that era, I think was really sort of the tail end of Tag Heuer. Tag Heuer is kind of, you know, still making a lot of primarily quartz watches at that point. And I think that their reputation was sort of some, you know, maybe not cemented, but certainly set at that point in the negative. And then I think it was four, three or four years ago, they changed out leadership and I think they've done some really good stuff.
Unknown	Yeah. They're doing all kinds of cool stuff. Yeah. Next up for me, This could be my favorite release of the year. Not just because of how fun it is, but also how cool it is in the way of the studio underdog field watch. What is it called?
Unknown	It's the studio underdog field. Oh, what is it?
Unknown	Oh gosh. It's the Field Watch collection.
Unknown	Yeah. No, but they call it something specific. He does.
Unknown	Let me find it. Darn it, Andrew. I was never prepared. You never. You look for it. I'm going to talk about why it's so cool. So this is not just the studio underdog cool color palette. Field O2. Field O2. That was super hard for us to remember. It is a sapphire dial. with printing on top of the sapphire, and then a plate beneath the sapphire. So you have floating markers that cast shadows around the dial. Will took some photographs of these that really captured that floating marker. I don't know if you can call it a marker. The floating indices is I think the only way you can, it's super unique. Numerals. absolutely one of a kind design. It's so creative and innovative. This is like why people get excited about watches because we can, the moment we think, all right, well, we've seen it all. Now we have an affordable minute repeater, affordable ish, but now it's out there. we get cool innovation from young and exciting brands like this innovating with materials and their application within watch design and this is so cool and he he stays true to himself in the way of his great color palettes and the playfulness of the watch we've got full loom options we've got all manner of stuff that makes this not just your what would otherwise be a very attractive field watch without all that cool shit happening.
Unknown	You know I've heard mixed reviews on this watch. I think that there is a bit of derision about the screws on the dial. In fact some impassioned derision about the screws on the dial. I like them a lot. I think that they look fantastic.
Unknown	They create some symmetry, add some more depth and texture to that dial. I typically wouldn't be one for them. And they're practical. But, you know, yeah, they're practical. They're necessary. And it does something to capture the depth of the dial where you can where you can see level changes where that screw ends against where the dial ends.
Unknown	It's, yeah. You know, we, we waxed poetic on these when we first talked about them. And I think, I think we, we're probably inclined to do that again. I, I know, I know we're sort of in lockstep on this. I think this is a terrific release. I think Richard Benz had really set himself up to have a challenging second release. Yeah. And I didn't see this coming.
Unknown	No, because it would have been really easy for him to just keep playing the fiddle of wild colors in a chronograph or just wild colors in a field watch.
Unknown	He's like, I got, I got a little more in the tank. And as a designer, I think that that's, that's the mark of a designer, that they could do something different and fun and good. And with both of these watches, with both of Studio Underdogs releases now, you see a watch that looks kind of basic, at arm's length and then you get it a little bit closer and you're like, man, this is just terrific.
Unknown	Yeah. When you see these in person, it's a whole, a whole new experience too.
Unknown	So well done. I love this watch. And I like Richard. I like Richard too. Yeah. These are great. What you got? Next up for me, second best watch of the year, the Laurier Hydra. S3 GMT diver. Yeah. All right. So this has been the year of affordable automatic GMTs with. It has been. Both Seiko and Miyota releasing their affordable GMT movements in the last, what, 18 months, I think at this point, this was the year.
Unknown	Yeah, in like early, like first quarter this year is when we saw all the, all the releases using those movements.
Unknown	This was the year of the 9075, and there were a lot of terrific 9075 watches that I wanted to talk about, that we could have talked about.
Unknown	We could have spent the whole episode just talking about those watches.
Unknown	We sure could. Certainly the Traska Venture GMT, I think is just terrific.
Unknown	Jack Mason making a huge brand pivot with their first iteration of the GMT. And turning away from being what was, I mean, arguably exclusively a fashion brand to like a honest to goodness watch brand.
Unknown	That's right. Well, at least a brand with an honest to goodness watch.
Unknown	Yeah. Um, there's, there's always time to fail, I suppose.
Unknown	You know, they just, and this watch is so Laurier, but also not anything like anything we've seen from Laurier. Um, It's got an incredible amount of depth for a brand that typically leans on its more simple, austere designs. You've got that 60 minute bezel. You've got the internal 24 hour, um, Geez, what more to say? Laurier really hit it out of the park. The case is fantastic. Very much a Laurier case, but also different than anything we've seen. I believe the insert on the bezel is sapphire.
Unknown	If you took their logo off of it, you would still recognize this as Laurier.
Unknown	Yeah, I think so. I think so very much. Yeah, I don't really know what more to say. Perfectly sized. It's only 12.2 millimeters thick, which for an automatic GMT, they've done really well. Dimensions are great.
Unknown	You've got 14-6 rista crystal with that big, with it, with a little bit of dome.
Unknown	BGW9 and C1, 200 meters of water resistance. And all of this for 600 bucks. Yeah.
Unknown	Yeah. As if, as if it wasn't good enough. you can really afford it.
Unknown	All of this for 600 bucks. We talked about the, we talked about the Traska last week. I said, man, this is just really, you know, the value. I said that and almost completely forgot about that. This watch, when I was talking about the Traska, as wonderful as the Traska is, I don't take anything back.
Unknown	When this is only two years separated from Baltic and Laurier both dropping, what were at the time the most affordable GMTs at between $900 and $1,000. Yeah. Yeah.
Unknown	I want to say the Baltic was maybe $12,000 or $11,000. Yeah.
Unknown	I thought it was just under $1,000.
Unknown	You could be right. And so, yeah, here we are with better dimensions, clearly, in my mind, a much better designed watch. Yeah. What's not to love?
Unknown	I'm really enjoying watching Laurier's growth and their kind of evolution as designers. I'm, I'm enjoying watching that because when we started with the, um, the Falcon, right, that's, that's the first Laurier coming out of like really hitting the scene. And then they expand with the Neptune and the Hydra. We see the Zephyr last year, was it two years ago?
Unknown	Fairly recently. Two years, yeah. Because I think we put hands on a New York in October.
Unknown	Yeah. We're seeing some iterative design coming out of the Hydra and the Neptune. We're on like the V3 of the Neptune, aren't we? Yeah, I think so. I'm loving watching their growth.
Unknown	And they're just terrific people. Terrific, lovely people. Also that.
Unknown	Also, don't fight Lorenzo. Or do, but make sure somebody's recording. Yeah. World star. What's next? Next up for me, how are we doing on time? We're doing pretty okay. Next up for me, this got me super excited because something that I'd always lamented with Marathon was that their navigator and like their line of just resin cases. And as much as I really like a resin case, I'd like to have a steel case option. The Marathon Navigator coming out in steel with that beautiful asymmetric case, that super tool watch. Everett's making weird faces at the beer can.
Unknown	And a bit of a weird aftertaste. A little strange afterbirth. Like a juicy, hazy IPA and it's got a little bit of like some acid. aftertaste.
Unknown	A little bit. It's all the citrus in the, it's probably just a bucket load of Citra hops in here. I'm not sure. I can't read it cause it was a little dark.
Unknown	A little, a little soapy on the back end. That last drink was just a touch soapy. I spit in all the cans too. Yeah. I just opened the can. So that's, that would be odd, but. On the cans.
Unknown	Anyway, uh, so it's the Marathon Navigator, but in steel and I think it's super cool. This, it, it, I really want a Navigator anyway, and I've, I've always kind of wanted one, And this creates a dilemma for me where I think I now need two because I really want it in steel. Because their dive watches come in steel and that was it. Everything else was this resin case, which has a lot of really great application is really awesome. But I super appreciate that they decided to make this in a steel offering and it's it looks absolutely terrific. If they drop in titanium, I'll be buying in triplicate.
Unknown	Yeah, you know, these came out with an NSN number. It's just like, here's the new watch. This is the new one. SS Nav D. 316, 41 millimeters, 11 millimeters thick, 48 millimeter lug to lug.
Unknown	Do you have a Navigator?
Unknown	H case. No, I don't. I've been very close to pulling the trigger several times.
Unknown	I thought you had a Navigator. You have a Marathon, don't you?
Unknown	I do not have a Marathon. I borrowed a Seasar for a while. Oh, that's... I have a Pulsar G10.
Unknown	I know you have the Pulsar. I thought you had... I must remember that when you had the Seasar.
Unknown	I... yeah. The Seasar, I thought, was a terrible watch, by the way.
Unknown	I don't know how we haven't acquired one of these. I think we gotta do it, man.
Unknown	Splitsies? 800 bucks? We'll get the resin case. I mean, 800 bucks is such a terrific price on these.
Unknown	Yeah, I think I don't have any disagreement with you on it.
Unknown	One of your watches of the year. Is it a steel bezel on these or is it aluminum? Do you know?
Unknown	It looks aluminum just from photographs, but given that it has an NSN number, I don't think they know what it's made out of. Yeah, hard to say. Tritium tubes. And I love Trit. Tritium is just the coolest thing.
Unknown	I think some people think, will probably say, even for high torque quarts, this has got the ETA FO6 412, even with high torque quarts, it's a little bit high. I think it's kind of fine.
Unknown	Yeah, I'd like to see it a little bit lower, but it's just because I want to buy it. Right. It's also one of the few watches that you can wear a compass on the strap. And it doesn't look weird. And you're not an asshole. Do you know if these are fixed bars, Andrew? They are, I believe. I think all of them are fixed.
Unknown	Yeah. It looks to me like that's a spring bar, actually. I think it might be a spring bar watch.
Unknown	Let's see.
Unknown	Yeah, cool watch. And something, you know, there's a lot of watches out there that feel like, you know, Bill Yao's MK2 is making these, Benris is making these. There's a lot of watches out there that feel really similar to this. But this is it. This is the watch.
Unknown	But this is, yeah. There's a lot of people out there making things that look like a sub. And they look like a sub.
Unknown	Yeah. I mean, I'm going to throw it out there that arguably this is a Benris. But Benris is not Benris.
Unknown	And it doesn't have an SN number. Nothing. You couldn't unethically order this for yourself through the army supply or a Benris through the army supply. Nothing is what it appears. You could unethically order this for me through the army supply system. Any of you who have purchasing capability, um, I'll, I'll spot you for the flip hole.
Unknown	Um, Andrew, are you ready for my watch of the year? Do it. My watch of the year is a Zen. t50 give it to me in regular titanium give it to me in gold bronze just give it to me this is my watch of the year this is so if you don't know what it is just stop okay go figure it out this is zen's you know evolution of the 50 series in full titanium or gold bronze or a mix of the two. Uh, come on. They're not cheap. Okay. Okay.
Unknown	You guys, they're not cheap. Nothing from Zen is cheap and you're not going to get it from Zen direct.
Unknown	So you're going to pay markup somehow, but it's a 300-1 fully titanium, gorgeous dive watch that doesn't look like anything else. Fully anti-magnetic, water resistance.
Unknown	This is the 500 meters.
Unknown	That's right. I think that they are like, uh, on a brace at 4,500 bucks. 4,600 bucks.
Unknown	But it's all titanium. Fuck it, man. This is the shit.
Unknown	That's what you're going to pay for a Pelagos. Yeah, that's right. This is the same price as a Pelagos. Yeah. Same price as the BB 58 Pelagos. It's cheaper than a full Pelagos, I think.
Unknown	I think the five o'clock crown is weird. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, it's weird. But I also really like it. Fuck it, it's weird. I really like it. Give it to me. The bezel shape, I also really like. It's a... I don't even know how you describe it. It's kind of monstery. I don't have words for it. It's kind of like the monster with like big finger indents, but not as dramatic. So it almost looks like a, like an octagon, like an angular bezel, but it's not. It's a round bezel with kind of deep cuts to get good grip on it. This is as tool watch a diver as they come weird crown placement. There's gotta be a reason for maybe it's so you can not have to interact with your wrist when you're Manipulating the crown.
Unknown	Yeah.
Unknown	But how does that work? I don't fucking know. I don't wear my watches on that hand.
Unknown	I hear people talk about manipulating their crowns while they're wearing their watch. I cannot, I have never left side, right side. Doesn't matter.
Unknown	I can't do it. I can't cause the crowns are all pointing up my arm and like reach over and get all contorted.
Unknown	I mean I can reach it. I can get to it. I just can't do it. You just need a big crown.
Unknown	We're more like a key winder, like a like a mantle clock.
Unknown	Anyway, this is my watch of the year.
Unknown	This is a this is a good watch of the year. I love the U-50. This 50 series is super great.
Unknown	I wish they were just cheaper because I wish there was a fully gold gold bronze bracelet. I just want this in full gold bronze case and bracelet.
Unknown	That'd be pretty baller, maybe more baller than I could handle. Uh, they're also using higher grade titanium than the Pelagos. You're just, you're getting a lot more bang for your buck in this titanium dive watch. Uh, and it's way more unique. It's objectively way cooler than the Pelagos.
Unknown	Yeah. I want it. I want it.
Unknown	I do too. It's also big. It's what, 44? No.
Unknown	It looks huge. I think it's 41. I could be wrong about that. You know how I'm looking. Uh, 41 millimeters, 12.3 thick, 47 millimeters lug to lug. It looks big. Whoever. And it only weighs 53 grams. It's pretty, pretty light. That's my watch of the year. That's, that's an interesting pick for the watch of the year. That's the one. My watch of the year. Okay.
Unknown	Andrew, what about you? Um, for me, my watch of the year. It's the studio underdog field watch. That's the one.
Unknown	So you didn't save it for last?
Unknown	No.
Unknown	Okay. Fair enough. What's the other one that you have? Do you have another one? Or did we already get through yours?
Unknown	I think we're through. We're through. I had a, I had a bunch. Okay.
Unknown	Well, we did. We both had a bunch. Why don't we do this quickly? It's 51 minutes now. Why don't we quickly go through a couple of honorable mentions? Cause I know we both had a couple that we want to talk about.
Unknown	Yes. Start with you. C63 Celeste. Oh yeah. Super cool application. I love the aventurine dial and I love introducing the aventurine into the C63 line. It's such a perfect fit because it takes this really sporty watch. It drives the class through the roof. It's, I think it's better than the Moonphase because it's an actually legible watch. As beautiful as the Moonphase is in the C63 is amazing. What else? The Swatch Bio Ceramic What Ifs. Oh yeah, these are fun. Ocean King V3. Timex Giorgio Galli S2.
Unknown	Oh yeah, that's a nominee for our main pick that just barely missed.
Unknown	And two picks for me that fixed their size is the Orient Mako coming down to 40 millimeters and the BRO3 reducing just slightly down to a 41 millimeter watch.
Unknown	That BRO3, fantastic release. I wish those were more affordable. Me too. Because at the price, they're too much for me. I already talked about the Nevada Grinch and F-77, definitely an honorable mention for me. Traska Venture, GMT, also talked about that, very much honorable mention. And then the only one I haven't talked about yet is the Bull of a Jet Star. Yes. Will picked up the Complecto version of this, but I think the main releases are great too. Really a terrific watch, great bracelet, great case shape. you know, re-release of an old watch that I think actually maybe got smaller. Just a terrific watch. Yes.
Unknown	Oh, and the lunar pilot back down to the original size. Yeah. From Boliva. Boliva doing some cool shit this year, too.
Unknown	Boliva with the Citizen marriage, I think, is going to wind up being a company to watch in the next several years.
Unknown	They're already a company to watch, but they just need to stop missing the clutch shot. That's right.
Unknown	I get 100%. I think we're going to start seeing some good stuff from Bulova. Well, with that said, I think we can put a wrap on this year. We will be back this year.
Unknown	Yeah. We're not going to like hang it up and take a sabbatical.
Unknown	But I think that we're wrapping our 2023 with these thoughts in mind. So it's been a great year. Let us know what your favorite watch is if we didn't talk about them. And there's a bunch. There's a bunch, obviously. But I'd like to hear your thoughts on that. So let us know. Andrew.
Unknown	Other things. What do you got? I have another thing. So it is that time of year. We are in that fall winter transition period where it's like 25 degrees when you wake up and you go to the car and it remains under about 40 degrees for the majority of the day. Warm socks are key, but I don't like always wearing thick wool socks. So my other thing this week is the Pendleton wool socks. So I'm wearing a pair right now and these are fairly thin, just a hair thicker than a dress sock. Like they're not quite that, uh, super heavy cotton cushiony dress sock thickness or not even dress sock but just single color crew sock thickness but they're so warm and because they're wool they don't get like stanky so you can do two days of them and not feel weird without them getting crispy or like funky. They come in several packs right now. Pendleton's doing a Black Friday sale So typically, their three packs are $35. Right now, three packs are $26.25 on the website. And individual socks, not individual socks, single pairs of socks. You can't buy them in ones. $10.50 off of their typical $14. So not a huge discount, but definitely discounted price. They come in great patterns. I've got a couple different Patterns of these and I absolutely love them. They don't fall down They they just they you pull them up. You'll wear them. They're warm, but they're not like sweaty Yeah, I love these socks in like for all day wear in I work Clark's all day and in Clark's like in not Wool socks get really sweaty and yucky These are great feet are dry feet are warm feet are happy all day
Unknown	Pendleton wool socks. Pendleton wool socks. We actually had in our group chat, we had a conversation about wool socks and it made me think, I think I'm going to get a handful of wool socks, medium weight wool socks and sort of side by side them. Maybe not literally like one on each foot.
Unknown	I like that. Left foot today was real comfortable. Righty, man, he was good.
Unknown	Because I think there are probably about four different brands making, you know, anywhere from 12 to $20 wool socks right now that are all really competitive. And I think I'd like to have like a, a winter wool sock guide. Cause I'm with you. I don't want them to be super thick, but I know I love good thick wool socks. They need to have a little bit of beef to them.
Unknown	There's a day for those. Yeah, that's right. Um, there's a time and place cause wearing some like nice thick alpaca wool socks, like wearing slips all day.
Unknown	Well, Andrew, I've got another thing. Do it. Do me. And it's another thing that can be worn on top of your other thing.
Unknown	It would actually be a really perfect combination.
Unknown	Sure would. I picked up a new pair of golf shoes this year. They are specifically the Air Max 90G. There's a thing that's happened in golf shoes in the last four or five years. Well, there's two things that have happened in golf shoes in the last four or five years. One is that Spikeless golf shoes have proliferated and perhaps are even more popular now than spiked golf shoes. So I think 10 years ago, if you went to buy golf shoes, you'd get spikes and you'd wear them on the golf course and you really couldn't do much else with them. Certainly you didn't wear them to the golf course or from the golf course. You put them on when you got there, you wore them while you were there, then you took them off. So spikeless golf shoes have really, I think, as I said, proliferated and it's nice because you can stick them on at home if you want to wear them to where you're going. You know, blow them off when you're done golfing and then wear them home, which is really nice. The other thing that's happened is brands, I think in particular Nike, but there are a few other players, have come out and released really pretty attractive shoes. So Air Max 90, one of the most famous shoe silhouettes of all time is probably in my mind, the best possibility that you can get. I picked these up this last year. I actually picked up a pair of, I think that they, well, they were like a bubble Air Max a couple of years ago. I wasn't super happy with them. The bubble didn't work out. These are, Much more conservative looking shoes. They look just like Air Max's. It's just an Air Max 90. However, they've got a breathable but also sort of impervious shell on them. They've got really good paints on them. I have worn these in the mud twice, cleaned them, and on the back end they came out looking brand new. They've been perfectly waterproof. In fact, you and I, this last weekend, went to a gun range and went shooting. There was red clay.
Unknown	There was. There's still red clay on my floor mats and my whole fucking truck for that matter.
Unknown	There was water. Um, I was warm. I was dry. I wore. So, so I don't think I said I wore these golf shoes to go shooting and an outdoor shooting range, which is an interesting choice. I don't think you'd think.
Unknown	The color palette of the Air Max is actually had me questioning your decision. And he said, Oh, these are my golf shoes. And I was like, okay, I'm, I'm with it.
Unknown	Yeah. Right. You know, they're, they're, they've got a heavy lug on the sole for grip. They were for shooting. They were perfect. There was, they were absolutely perfect for shooting, especially it was like, I think it was probably like 29 or 30 degrees when we got to the range, it never got above like 33. So, uh, and there was some moisture, there was dirt. It was nice to have something that was waterproof that kept me dry, kept me warm. I think these, and I've also, just for the record, I've golfed in these several times and they do just fine.
Unknown	Meanwhile, everyone else there was in like some varietal of either roper boots or hiking boots.
Unknown	Which is the obvious choice. Yeah. It is the obvious choice, but I felt like wearing sneakers.
Unknown	I'm with it. And I have the perfect sneakers. You absolutely did. My one question about these is as golf shoes, so I've never worn spikeless golf shoes on a golf course. I've golfed not in golf shoes and like I've golfed just in sneakers and felt like it didn't have the traction I wanted, especially during a drive. Um, how are these on your grip?
Unknown	You know, I've not had that problem, Andrew. And so I don't want to say that would be fine for you, What I do know is that they actually engineered the lugs on these. So they've got directionally engineered lugs that are meant to support the things your feet do while you're golfing.
Unknown	Because they're certainly not the same sole pattern.
Unknown	Is that effective? I have no clue. I have no clue if it's effective, but it works just fine for me. I think if you're someone who really wants to get that bite that you'd get with a spike, you might miss that a little bit. I have had zero traction problems golfing. And I've been wearing Speckless Soles for five years at this point. Exclusively. I just want that torque out of the twist. I would give it a try. You don't have to spend a hundred bucks So we'll do every pair of shoes cost a hundred bucks. I think you could probably get something if you, if you were patient, you could probably get something for 35 or 50 bucks. That's last year's model on a closeout or something, but, um, or whatever, spend a hundred bucks and have a backup pair of golf shoes.
Unknown	Just like everyone else spent a hundred bucks. That's right. So everything costs a hundred bucks.
Unknown	I think they're terrific. And I'm actually kind of enamored by these shoes for their, their utility. Right. I, I didn't ever feel like, I'm wearing uncomfortable golf shoes. They're just sort of like heavy duty waterproof sneakers. Yeah. They looked good. They felt good. They were perfect for that application. So they're they're Merrill Air Maxes. That's right. That's right. That's my other thing for the week. Specifically the Air Max 90G because I've had a few different shoes of this oak. These are the first ones that I've ever had that I thought this is a great shoe. I would wear this. And I've only had them, I think I've played maybe, I don't know, maybe a hundred rounds of golf or a hundred holes of golf.
Unknown	A hundred holes. Maybe a hundred rounds, not a big deal. I don't have a ton of experience.
Unknown	And now I've worn them shooting as well, guns. And they did fine in both those applications. I think kind of an interesting, it's an interesting application now to have this really sort of specific purpose shoe that is probably usable in other places.
Unknown	It's a hiking shoe.
Unknown	Yeah. Just not as supportive. Not as supportive and maybe not as flexible as you'd want in a hiking shoe. Yeah. Are they stiff? A little bit. Yep. Hmm. Yep. A little bit stiff. I'm intrigued. That's it. All right. That's it. I think That's a good place for us to leave off for the week. I think we've done it. We did it as per the usual. Hey, uh, you at home, I'd like to thank you personally for joining us for this episode of 40 and 20, the watch clicker podcast. Do me a favor and go to our website. That is watch clicker.com. That's where we post weekly reviews and articles and other things about watches. But more importantly, that's where we post every single episode of this podcast. You can also also check us out on social media, specifically at Instagram. That's at watch clicker or at 40 and 20 underscore watch clicker. That's where we post updates and pictures and other fun shit. If you want to support us and oh boy, we hope you do. You can do that at patreon.com slash 40 and 20. That is where we get all of the income that we need to support the show, which includes things like hosting hardware, software, Just the things we need to do to keep this thing going. For those of you that support us already, we thank you so much. And if you don't, go check us out patreon.com slash 40 and 20. And don't forget to tune back in next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Bye bye.