And Now I want a Kurono Tokyo (332)

Published on Wed, 12 Mar 2025 21:29:49 -0700

Synopsis

In this episode of the 40 in 20 Watch Clicker podcast, hosts Andrew and Everett discuss several watch-related topics and personal updates. Everett shares details about his recent ski trip to Utah and his wife's unfortunate leg injury upon his return. The hosts review several new watch releases, including the Rosenbusch Horizon on Kickstarter, Tissot's PRC 100 solar watch with innovative Swiss solar technology, and a new King Seiko VanEck series. They also discuss Citizen's Premier line and Seiko's 60th anniversary Marine Master release. The episode concludes with Everett sharing his experience with a new travel backpack from Cotopaxi, and Andrew discussing his experience with a mysteriously gifted pizza steel for home pizza making.

The discussion covers various aspects of each watch, including technical specifications, design elements, and the hosts' personal opinions on their merits and drawbacks. Throughout the episode, they provide detailed analysis of the watches' features, pricing, and market positioning, while maintaining an engaging conversational tone that includes personal anecdotes and wider context about the watch industry.

Transcript

Speaker
Andrew Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. You're listening to 40 in 20, the Watch Clicker podcast with your hosts, Andrew and my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, how are you? How was Utah?
Everett I'm doing well, Andrew. Utah was terrific. We got snow every day. More some days than others. Monday, I think, we got there Monday morning. Flying to Utah from here is great. It's an hour 45 minute direct flight from Eugene to Salt Lake. And affordable. Those flights are not expensive. That's right. Well, yeah, they're not bad. And then if you fly, we fly first class, so it's a little bit more. Whoa. My partners are, my law partners are both very into like the niceties on these vacations, which you should be. It is not something I would ever do on my own, but we, we saw, that's why I say we fly first class because these guys are like, yeah, we're going to get the first class tickets. And so then I'm like, But in a flight like that, the first class ticket is just the front two seats.
Andrew No, there's a real first class section. Oh, every time I've done a connecting flight from Eugene to Utah, it's like two seats on the left, one seat on the right. The first class guy is just the first person in line.
Everett Yeah, no, it's Delta, so it's Delta. So they take pretty good care of you. And actually, if you fly into Salt Lake, fly in on Delta. Like that's the only, that is the only, if you gotta go to Salt Lake, fly Delta, because we come off the plane, so yeah, so we left at 545. is when the flight was. We arrived with the extra hour, we arrived in Salt Lake at like 8.30. By the time we got off the plane, peed, and got down to baggage, our bags were on the carousel and our skis were on the large item carousel. So no way to baggage.
Andrew Do they still have the smoking booths in the Salt Lake City airport?
Everett They probably do. I don't remember marking any. They kind of, they just did the read to their airport. So if they do have them there, they're out there hidden. Yeah. Um, and then, and then we go to, you go from baggage about a hundred yards to the Alta shuttle kiosk and they put you on a shuttle. It was there like within three minutes, 45 minute drive up little cotton Canyon, little Cottonwood Canyon. I think that's what it is. Cotton Candy Canyon, I think.
Andrew And soggy bottom boys sang about.
Everett That's right. And so we leave here at 545. 10, 15, we're in a lift line. Wow. Yeah. And they're not like hotels up there. They are, but they're ski lodges. So you show up with your skis, and they know exactly what to do with you. They're like, yep, go ahead and take all your stuff here. Grab your skis. We'll take care of the bags. We'll put them in the waiting area. Your locker is locker 47. Your ski locker is locker 47. So if there's anything you need, get it right now. We can always access it, but you know, get your stuff now. We'll take your skis downstairs and they'll be ready for you in your locker. And you know, you're paying for this obviously, but, and then, you know, like I said, lift line at 1015, no worry about our shit. Like everything's just taken care of. And yeah, and that first day it was snowing when we got there and then it just snowed all day. So we probably got like three to four inches of powder that first day, basically just free refills. And then it snowed like another like eight inches, maybe 10 inches Monday night. And so we just had powder the entire time, which meant you could do everything, right? So Alta is an interesting mountain. I really like it. It's kind of small. relative to some of the other bigs. It's not the biggest mountain, but it is, it's ski centric because there's no snowboards. And, and so everything's really made out for, for skiers. I will say Wednesday, the Powderhounds came out and There's very little ski patrol presence at Alta, and so Wednesday got a little weird just with like these ski bras. They go fast and make interesting decisions, which is fine, it's a little scary though. But yeah, snow was great, Utah was fantastic. Yeah, I did have, my wife did break her leg when I was in Utah.
Andrew Weird. You went on a ski trip and she stayed home and got hurt. Yeah.
Everett Yeah. She was not there with me. And yet here she broke her leg. And, um, so I got back from Utah and went directly to the hospital where she was in surgery at the time of my arrival. I spent the next what?
Unknown Day and a half.
Everett two, yeah, 30 or so hours at the hospital with her and then got home, gosh, another 30 hours ago and have just been convalescing with her, um, you know, making sure she gets medicine and, um, it was a pretty bad break of the leg as far as these things go. Andrew is, you know, just sort of for context. Um, so yeah, it's been a weird, it's been a weird week for me.
Andrew Yeah. And I mean, the real bummer is you could typically come home from a ski trip and convalesce a little bit, but like, I'm really sore. And there'd be like a little bit of sympathy for you. You're like, yeah, you just, you know, you, you, you had this athletic endeavor for a couple of days, totally get the, you're not really. feeling super motivated right now, go ahead and limp around the house, skip on these. Nope, none of that.
Everett No, yeah, it was it was right back into it. But I will say, you know, she hurt her leg while I was still in Utah. And we've got just such a great community of friends, you and Sam included. Fortunately, you guys live right across the street.
Andrew That's why we did that. That's right.
Everett Yeah. Um, but the, the community of people that came out of the, you know, not came out of the woodwork, but just were there to support, um, her and us was tremendous. And, you know, that's continued into, I mean, just right this very moment, people are still being tremendous. So it's, it's been great because, you know, we've got three middle school kids and they come with all of the activities and, Mm-hmm, you know, it's really hard It's really hard to do all those things if when we're both healthy and now Kim can't do anything and I can do Kim and then there's you know, maybe a little bit extra for the kids. And so just the amount of support we've gotten has been tremendous. I feel really calm and relaxed this morning, actually.
Andrew You sneaking some of the oxys? Yeah, I'm not. I'm not. Although it is tempting.
Everett No, I'm not. But I did just crack a beer, which is like, wow, that feels so luxurious. So. Yeah, kind of caught in above and sleep last night. I'm sleeping in, you know, two and a half hour increments around medicines.
Unknown And you finally got a new bed.
Everett Yes. Yeah. I guess that is the other thing that came out of this. We've, you know, I've been married for 20 years now or just about 20 years. And we have never had a real bed. We had a Hollywood frame for a while. And then a few years ago, we just decided, oh, let's just do box on floor, sort of like a poor man's platform. And
Andrew It's very much the poor man's platform.
Everett But you know, it's worked for us and we like it, but it's kind of a, it's a lower bed, that system's a little bit lower. And so we finally, it was just too low for Kim as she recovers. And so I was like, well, maybe it's time to get a grownup bed. So I went out and spent, Way too much money, I'm sure. $5,000 yesterday on a bed and mattress. It was time to replace our mattress. That was the other thing that was like.
Andrew Did you get one of the dual hemisphere smart beds?
Everett No, I looked at them, I didn't. Sleep number? As helpful as that might be for the next six weeks, it's just not really something that we would have long-term or desire.
Andrew I've slept on a sleep number one time in my life. It was the best night's sleep I've ever had.
Everett Yeah, no, I know. I know people really do like them. We're kind of like I would say we're pretty simple when it comes to sleeping We like it to be firm with a soft top And so that's what I did. I just got a very nice. I think it's the Oh, what's the it's one of the brands, one of the big brands, but it's like the high in the black Cadillac. Yeah, it's a Cadillac mattress. And that was okay. That felt like a nice sort of splurge. And we got a nice bed frame. It's not anything super fancy bedrooms are expensive, right?
Andrew They are ours is shit. 10, 14-ish years old. No, we got it in 2011. So however old that is. From Ikea, it has survived several moves. It's a platform, so we just have to put a mattress on top of it. Sorry, Andrew. It's fine, you know, mute me whenever you want. But it's like, it's, It was expensive when we bought it, and I haven't looked at another bed frame since. Because it just, it does the thing. It's one of the best pieces of IKEA furniture I've ever bought.
Everett So we went with a manufacturer that sells, I think they actually manufacture overseas, but they sell out of the Northwest.
Unknown You know, it's 1,600 bucks. Mm-hmm.
Andrew No, it's like, okay fuck and then And the damn three mattress box trucks and was blocking our street for three hours. I know I'm sorry about that Fortunately, you can get in from either side. I didn't I didn't have to go anywhere But the whole time I was like who who who did this Andrew quickly? I'm sorry. I've taken up all of our intro time. How are you? How are you? I'm not as good nor as bad as you I I'm just chugging on along. Yeah.
Everett Yeah. And sorry for, I got verbose there, but we're not here to talk about broken ankles or ski trips or new beds. Rather, we're here to talk about watches and watches we will talk about.
Andrew Do you want to kick us off? I am going to kick us off with an interesting brand that we've never talked about. It's a German brand who is doing their second release available on Kickstarter right now. This is a watch from Rosenbusch.
Everett Yeah, I wondered how you were going to do that. I think it's Rosenbush.
Andrew That's, I think that's the English version of it. I'm sure in German it sounds a little different.
Unknown Didn't we talk about their first watch?
Andrew We did. And I, and that's, I, maybe not on the show, but we have talked about Rosenbush before. Okay. And because of how many hours we've both recorded and talked about watches not online, it's hard to say what exactly is on. I didn't go through show notes. Um, So the new release is the Horizon and it's almost funded right now. So it's 25 days to go as of Sunday, which is daylight saving time. And I was so confused when I woke up this morning. I like, my alarm went off and I was like, it just doesn't seem like I was asleep that long. And I went downstairs and I was like, why would I set my alarm? For this time, what's happened? Oh, it's daylight saving time. That's the first time in the last almost six years that I have not worked while daylight saving time happened, either forward or backward. I was like, oh, this is what that feels like. So anyway, the horizon. So what we have is a, German-made, manufactured, 39.5mm case, 46 lug-to-lug. So here's the one piece that kind of confuses me, and because it's a Kickstarter campaign, I wasn't able to find a definitive answer here. The thickness ranges from 8.1 to 9.8. Both of those numbers are really good, so I don't think I really care which number it is. And I'm wondering if it's from, if it's the, if it's accounting for kind of like a little bit of a boxy crystal in there. Frankly, it doesn't matter because both of those dimensions are razor thin. 100 meters of water resistance. It's an SW, what movement is it? It's the SW. It's a Salida mechanical movement. I don't care. Uh, this is, this is my shit right here. This is my absolute jam. This is that collision between dress and sport. Super simple, great colorways on it. The blue kind of bums me out because it's a little bit of a, uh, It's like that brushed denim. It's that brushed denim, but it's also the only dial color that has a stepped dial. And I think if they had just maintained this really lovely, flat, texture-free dial on that blue, it would be terrific. Because it's blue tending toward gray. And even the colors I really like, but I would have liked it better as a totally smooth dial.
Everett It seems like they're trying to offer a number of different sort of dial layouts, right? So you've got the brushed flat copper, you've got that really smooth, I assume it's glossy black with the markers. You've got the smooth white but with Arabic's and then you've got that step It seems like they wanted every dial to be a little different.
Andrew Yeah, they wanted to provide some diversity in this Kickstarter Campaign and I'm kind of accepting of your second release still being on Kickstarter This is the last one that I would be okay with I Right, because their last release, it's a really similar case. So what we have in this case, it's a smoothed edge octagonal, no, six. What's six?
Unknown Hexagonal.
Andrew Yeah, hexagonal. Hexagonal case. Like bees. Yeah, and it's just really lovely. You can see that shape in it, but because of the way they've rounded the edges and they've rounded this really thin bezel around the crystal, it just softens it up. This isn't an angled case, but it's not a round case. That's right. Nor is it a square case.
Everett It's a really lovely case. It's almost like the suggestion of a hexagon within a more typical round case.
Andrew Yes. Dial matches that case shape too, which I think really plays on it in a really fun way. I'm super here for it. These are the early bird specials on them right now are, I want to say like 2,300 bucks. Hang on.
Unknown Back this project. Maybe I shouldn't have clicked that.
Everett Yeah, I'll just say, um, I actually, while you're looking for that, 875 euros with a Milanese bracelet.
Andrew There's still 25 of them available as we are talking. What's the MSRP on these? I think they're going to be like 2,300 bucks, 1,500 bucks.
Everett You know, I don't know the, how much? That seems like too much.
Andrew When I looked at the MSRP before I went to the Kickstarter, it was too much. It was more than I would be ready to go with. But when you look at their previous release, which is a really similar case, I want to say they're north of 1500.
Everett I'd be okay with 1,500 on this watch. I mean, I'm not the arbiter of these things, but 2,300 sounds like too much to me. Let's see, how do we back this project?
Andrew Yeah, but that's just the current specials. Yeah, so early bird is 875.
Everett Which is fine, 875 euro. You can get two for 16.50, you can get three for 23.50, you can get a quadruple pack for 3,000.
Andrew Do people do those? I don't, I mean, so the Quest, which is their integrated bracelet, slightly different case, but really similar design. Those were 9.73. And they had a skeletonized version at $1,300. So I think we'll be in that zone.
Everett Yeah, they haven't quite met their goal yet. I don't know when they opened this, but they're at $29,400 pledged of $46,500. They're halfway there. I think they'll get there. A little over, about a third of the way there. Not quite, or about two thirds of the way there. 65% of the way there. Yeah, these are really good. I think that this is one of those, if you like it, It's good, especially at that price, I think under $1,000, this is terrific. Yeah, it's a razor thin, sporty dress watch. That's right. I like the white. Yeah, that's my favorite too, which I typically, if they had the Arabic's on the black dial, that would go that way too. Yeah. But the, but on a Milanese bracelet. Yeah. That white's crispy. And, and that, that, that, uh, what are we going to call that? The Z dimension is really good on these. Cool. Yeah. What you got? I have a watch that I haven't decided what it is yet. Oh, oh, we got to talk about the PRC 100 solar. We do. So Tissot. Oh, Tissot. Um, yeah, I don't think it's, I don't think it's, uh, unreasonable to say we've been hard on Tissot.
Andrew Right. But we were some of the first champions of Tissot in kind of their becoming like when they hit their, seventh puberty, right? Like about five years ago when Tissot was kind of like, they're kind of out of touch. They're not really doing it. and we were right there with Tissot, and then they dropped the PRX, and we are all about it. And then they just kinda started shitting in their bed a little bit again.
Unknown And- Oh, I don't know.
Everett So the story quickly on Tissot is, I think in 2020, Sylvain Daluf, who had formerly headed Hamilton, moved over to Tissot, so within the Swatch Group. moved over and kind of took over the brand. At the time, I think Tissot was producing in excess of 150 SKUs per year. New SKUs, never mind what they were already producing.
Andrew They were adding 150 to the catalog a year. That's right.
Everett And Tissot is, you know, Tissot is one of these companies that does everything. They seek to service the entire market. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it presents some marketing difficulties. And so when he came over, he sought to limit that to 99 new releases per year, 99 new SKUs per year, which is still- It's under a hundred. Which is still a big number. But I think in doing so it's sort of without like completely changing the dynamic of the company allowed them to refocus their efforts. Right. So you essentially reduce that number by 33 percent at least at the minimum 33 percent. And that allows you to dedicate sort of power and energy in a more deliberate way. And so it was shortly thereafter that they released the PRX, which as we know, is one of the biggest watch sort of families released in that period of time.
Andrew It's one of the most impactful releases of the century.
Everett Well, certainly this decade and maybe this century as well. Well, we're early in the century, so we can still say that, right?
Andrew It'll be topped, but it's got some more weight.
Everett That's right. And I don't know, we don't have numbers in front of us, guys, but I don't know if there's another family of watches that's sold as well in that time. Maybe the Moonse watch is the only other thing I can think of immediately.
Andrew It's just ubiquitous. It's such a widespread watch that if you walk up to somebody wearing a PRX, it's a coin toss on whether they know what the fuck they're wearing or not. You might go up to this person wearing a PRX and talk to them about watches, and they will look at you like there's a dick growing out of your face. Or they'll get super excited, and it's equal chance on it.
Everett And you know, so earlier this year, Tissot released their PRS 15 or 16, I can't remember what it was, which is a watch that you and I were interested in. We were like, this is cool. This is attractive. It's good. It had a fixed, it had like a fixed bezel that we were both like, ah, WTF. But that's not the watch we're talking about today. The watch we're talking about today is an interesting watch for a couple of reasons. One, it's a $450, or 450 euro? I can't remember what the number was. It's like a 400 to 500-ish dollar solar quartz watch. And you might think, okay, well, I've seen these before. Tissot was really interested in solar technology in Switzerland, which didn't exist at the time they started developing this. And all the solar technology was coming out of Japan. And so they have, in some ways, reinvented the wheel by placing the solar receptors underneath the crystal. So oftentimes we get the, what is it, photovoltaic? panels that exist on the dial and companies have done different things in like hiding those or disguising them or implementing them in different ways. This is actually a grid, a grid of solar receptors that exists under the, the crystal directly behind the Sapphire crystal. And, um, I don't understand how it works. It's incredibly efficient. 10 minutes of artificial light or one minute of sunlight per day will power the watch for 24 hours, which is a high degree of efficiency. You don't see some of the marketing materials make this look as if the dial is very clear. However, Andrew, however, there are some photos. I'm going to show you one right now, Andrew. Oh, interesting.
Andrew It almost looks like a textured dial.
Everett in which you can see the grid below the crystal. I can kind of get with that. I do think that there is a legibility concern when thinking about that. It is not a crystal clear crystal.
Andrew Well, there's an obstruction on the crystal.
Everett Because there's an obstruction on the crystal. I don't have a problem with it. I don't have a problem with it, I don't think. But it's definitely novel and I'm not sure. And that doesn't look like a picture, that looks like a rendering. Yeah, I don't know, Andrew. I'm actually just not sure if that's gonna work. Yeah, I mean, it could get cloudy. It, it's beautiful though. So, so let's talk a little bit about the watch. So it's got sort of a, like a very iconic 10 sided bezel. Um, similar to many watches that you might see in 2024, um, a brand new solar technology. First, is it the first time Switzerland? Um, So the PRC is cool, man. This is sort of a step. It's sort of like Tissot saying, hey, we are a slightly nicer, slightly more refined alternative to a company. Say, for instance, like the biggest watch company on Earth Citizen. It does seem to me like they are refocusing their efforts, still across the board, right? Tissot makes everything. They make really good dress watches. $495 US dollars? Yeah, $495 US money. And so it seems to me like Tissot was like, hey guys, look, we're Swiss, but also we're citizen. Or we do all the same things citizen does, but we're Swiss. I'm okay with this. I'm okay with this. I actually think that's a really interesting market position.
Andrew Yeah, it does an interesting thing, right? They're innovating in technology in a way that Swiss brands haven't.
Everett And there's a lot of question marks on this watch. Lots. Hold on. I said I was going to go into the details of the watch. The PVD of this thing looks really good. Let's do some details real quick. I say that, and then, of course, I can't find my details.
Unknown I had them, Andrew. Well, it's a good looking watch. Look it up.
Andrew Uh, spec sheet on this.
Unknown Where are you finding the spec sheet? I can't find it all of a sudden.
Andrew 39 millimeter case. There we go. Right. So we have a good size. Uh, there is some plans for a 34. millimeter version of this, a two-tone reference, a full yellow gold PVD reference. Currently we have the release of a silver dial, a really good blue, I think that's the one I would go with, and then an all murdered out black dial, black PVD. Butterfly clasp on this bracelet. It's it's good and to see solar technology Permeating its way into Swiss manufacturing is really interesting Yeah, look, we're not experts on solar technology or really anything at all in the whole world at all yeah, so feel free to correct us on anything we've said if we said something wrong, but I
Everett Yeah. Yeah. Great size. I think 34 is too small. I think 39 and 36 and a half would be the right sizes to release this watch, but whatever.
Andrew What do I know? Not much as we've really, really like firmly, clearly cemented.
Everett And I think at this price, at $450, I think. 90, 500 bucks. Okay, well I saw 450 somewhere. I think Tissot does a really good job in terms of meeting quality fit and finish.
Andrew I mean, PRC stands for precise, robust, classic. I didn't see a thickness measurement on this. I think that's a risk that we're gonna run.
Everett I don't know, it's solar quartz. I bet it's gonna be 12. I don't know. 12 is fine for this.
Andrew Uh, King Seiko. Sure. King Seiko has released a, a new line, uh, the Vanak SLA08 series, uh, in six colorways, five colorways, uh, the 8-3, 8-5, 8-7, 8-9, and 9-1. Um, King Seiko's been really quiet, right? King Seiko came, like, they showed up to the party, they made this huge scene.
Everett and then they just kinda... I don't think I agree with you. I think King Seiko has been releasing every quarter or so.
Unknown It doesn't feel like it. I think that they're trying to keep that brand.
Andrew They're trying to figure out what they're gonna do with that brand. Exactly, right? We have a new release from Grand Seiko every month. We have 50 new releases from Seiko every month, and King Seiko is just kinda like, here's one, here's one, here's one, and this one... bums me out. It bums me out too. In every regard. So this is a 1970s reissue and they just missed in every way they could miss. I hate it. This is the first King Seiko release and I'm just like, Hmm, I'm maybe less negative than you are. Big pass. So the, here's where I am. Here was my real problem. Look at this photograph.
Unknown Yes.
Andrew The, the polish on this thing is unreal and it makes it like illegible almost. It's so polished and reflective at every angle that you can't even, I don't know. I'm, I'm bummed out by this. The color ways that they released, pardon me, uh, a purple guilted, a kind of blue cobalt, which is a really good color way. And it kind of has a roulette wheel minute track stacked dial. Um, a silver gilt, a bronze and cobalt gilt, and then a silver and kind of like periwinkle blue. I don't know why they didn't gilt that, but here's where I'm struggling with this case design. It's a kind of tonneau-y case that you shaved all the curves off. It's super angular. Well, that's sort of grammar of design 101. I get that. And I just don't get it in this case. This is It's like they took all the bad parts and highlighted them. So 70s design.
Everett I thought we were on the same page here when you started talking. We're not, we're not even actually that close to the same page.
Andrew I'm totally okay with being on separate pages.
Everett So here's my thoughts on these. The VanEck is a weird watch from King Seiko's legacy. So I think these were only made for like two years in the early 70s, but they make quite a few of them. You can find vintage VanEcks, with some degree of success. I think they did a really good job replicating the spirit of the Van Ecke. But they made it bigger, too. In the bracelet, in the case, in the dials. I think these dials are stunning. I actually have really one objection, but it's a big objection that I have, or at least it feels to me like a big objection. And that's that they did not, so the Van Ecks are, the vintage Van Ecks are most notably sought after because of their faceted crystals. They all featured these prominent faceted crystals. And they have not done that here. Rather they put these with a high top, Sapphire that's meant to that's meant to look like a vintage acrylic double dome or a high top but the Van Ecks are For me the most notable characteristic of the Van Ecks are these faceted crystals and they they didn't bring those back So that's my objection and this is originally a 38 millimeter watch which King Seiko has the capacity to do as they've proven to us This is now 41
Andrew I'm okay with that. 45 lug to lug. I'm okay. And 14.4 thick.
Everett I'm okay with all of that. In fact, that all feels to me like a modern VanEck. I can hear your objection on the size. So yeah, sure. Let's make this 38. Hold it at 38. I'm okay with that too. But these were big watches. That's what these were. They were big. like sort of GFY watches when they were released, and they are now big GFY watches today. So I'm okay with the sizing decisions they made, but the getting rid of the faceted crystal, which I assume is a cost thing, right? They were like, how do we do this and make this manageable? And they couldn't, that's my guess, or they couldn't.
Unknown They couldn't.
Everett It looks like it might be in this photo. No, no. Is it like fauxed? It's not even fauxed. It's just a high top domed sapphire. That's my objection. And frankly, it's my only objection. I'm okay with the rest of these because they're supposed to be what they are, which is big, oversized, heavily faceted, grammar design, interesting, intricate bracelets, interesting, intricate dials. I'm okay with everything except for the, I don't know, look at this omission of the faceted crystal.
Unknown Look at this picture.
Everett That's an old one. Oh, is it? That's a vintage one.
Unknown Oh. And never mind.
Everett Yeah, so this is the new one.
Andrew Yeah, I just wasn't sure if like the rendering versus an actual photograph, because I don't think that's the real one. And the V on the balance, ugh.
Everett Yeah, the balance V is weird, but I actually think it's fun. I'm okay with that too. The crown is really interesting. I think these are, for what they were supposed to be, I think they did an excellent job, except by omitting that faceted crystal. I think that's almost an unforgivable sin with this watch.
Unknown Just let's move on.
Everett I'm bummed out. I mean, but with that said, these are interesting. They're different than anything else.
Andrew They are different. Interesting. I understand they're King Seiko legacy releases. I just think the catalog has so much more to offer than this.
Everett So I wanna say in 2022, Corona Tokyo, which is the sort of affordable micro-brand line from Hajime Asaoka, who makes these like wild. Grand Complication and tourbillon watches And he wanted to make sort of a more accessible watch and and he has he has Corona Tokyo is known for being affordable. Although sometimes it can be hard to get each year since 2022 he's released a set of 34 millimeter like three hand watches, which are just beautiful and small, like notably small, 34 is notably small, but really meant to be like 1960s sized classic watch in a modern format. In 2022, he made some Art Deco ones. 2023, there was a, some like sector dials. In 2024, they did a Breguet set, which has these gorgeous Breguet numerals that I guess Asaoka like hand drew himself, which is fun. They released a new model this week of this watch. And so when I say a new model, the mid case, I wanna say for all four of these releases has been exactly the same. a really sort of classic 34 millimeter, just wrist watch, as we are known to say sometimes. This is the watch, but small. And, but he did a really cool thing. So this is a new Art Deco release, but they, there is a, they're calling these star dials. And that is because at each of the non-cardinal markers, you've got a forged star indicator. There is a, there is a Rolex, that used this, I want to say it's like a 1960s, they called it the Stillet. And there was other watches that used these star markers. It's sort of like, oh yeah, so the Rolex 6062 triple calendar, Stelline, excuse me. This is just a absolutely gorgeous art deco star dial sector watch. Um, syringe hands. It's just fucking stunning. Um, and they're like, uh, a lot 1200 bucks 1190 so so here's the deal. These are going to be hard to get public sale opens Thursday 13th of March. and is, you can get one variant a piece. And I don't know, I don't think they're limited. I think it's a one-time offering. That's right, that's right. So like you can buy them as long as it's open, but I don't know if they're maxing out the numbers or whatever. 9OS5 powered, which is kind of the idea of the Chrono Tokyo line, which is to keep things very affordable. It's got a stepped bezel on it, kind of like a 1920s stepped bezel, screwed steel case back. Sapphire crystal fit for meters of water resistance, 34 by nine six at 34. It's going to, it's going to be proportioned like maybe a, like a 40 by 12 and a half maybe. So it's not going to be like that razor thin proportions, although you're still getting actual thinness under 10 millimeters on your wrist.
Unknown Yeah.
Everett Um, This is a stunning watch. I almost don't know what to say about it. You just have to look at it.
Andrew It's just really lovely. It's a really well designed, like hit the accents really well. This blue is fantastic. The color combinations are great. And you know what I'm going to say.
Everett Love the fonts. We've got four fonts on this watch and they're all perfect.
Unknown Yeah.
Everett We've got the Art Deco, the 12369 are these like really cool Art Deco arabics. You've got sort of a bold cursive for the Corona. You've got a less bold, a standard cursive at the six o'clock for automatic, and it is, hold on, hold on, Andrew, just look at this. Oh, I'm looking. It is excellent. You've never seen a cursive automatic like this. And then even the tiny Japan made under at the very bottom, the very outermost six o'clock portion is well done. They nailed it. For me, they nailed this. It looks like it's got two sets of pad printing. You've got a white pad print and then a second black pad print and then these applied stars. I hesitate to call it perfect because no watch is perfect, right? But I don't think they missed anywhere. Zero misses. I agree. And $1,200. You might not like the syringe hands. That's maybe the one area that people are going to be like, meh.
Andrew I think the texture contrast of the kind of IP coated syringe hands, blue IP coated. I think the kind of sunray moving to this matte chapter ring could be offensive. and then going back into this, into the steel dial.
Everett Yeah, so like I said, maybe not perfect because no watch is perfect, but for me, I don't think they missed anywhere, which is what I mean when I say- Minute hand runs all the way to the track, hour hand right in the middle of the markers. Yeah, proportions, everything. Seconds is all the way out, yep. It's perfect.
Andrew It's, it is good. Uh, so you said a moment ago there that no watch is perfect.
Everett Let's hear it.
Andrew Here's my protest. Parmigiani Tonda PF micro rotor with a stone blue dial and full platinum body. This is the exit watch for a couple of reasons. Number one, it is 85,000 Swiss francs. So it's unobtainium. For most of us, yeah. This is absolutely perfect. 40 millimeter case, 45.6 lug to lug, 7.8 thick. Tiny, tiny. All platinum case and bracelet, sapphire crystal, 100 meters of water resistance, beautiful, simple, Two hand movement, because who needs seconds? Who needs seconds when you're looking down at this 95,000 money watch? Coin edge bezel.
Everett Engine turned, engine turned coin edge bezel.
Andrew Just this perfect, perfect blue, like river rock blue stone dial. this is it the crown could maybe be a little bit more robust but you know that's it this is it look at these lugs look at the the profile view of this case and and the way the lugs are are almost independent of the case yeah they are yeah they are i mean they're obviously not
Everett actually independent, but aesthetically speaking, they're set on the side of the case.
Andrew It's like a clawfoot tub, but perfectly integrated.
Everett They haven't overdone it. A lot of times with lugs that are separated from the case, you get sort of like, especially like that mid-century, they're sort of, or that pre-mid-century, they're sort of like emphasized separation. Here they de-emphasized it. It's there, but just, just, This is like a carapace or something. Yeah. Um, yeah, it is unobtainium, but it is gorgeous, Andrew. Um, and the level of attention and the detail here, I think it's 40, 40 and 20, by the way, I'm just going to throw that out there. Um, the markers, the markers, Andrew, there's so little and yet so precise. You've got a hint, I mean the second or the minute track on the outside, it's not a second track because there's no second hand, but the minute track on the outside is just, it's pushed, it's slammed and it's just almost not there. Like in fact, when you see the full size photos of this, Sometimes you don't even really see it. And it's stepped on the outside, so it creates a little space for it. It's further separated.
Andrew The hands are fucking incredible. These beautiful skeletonized spear tips that you can just keep seeing this perfect blue dial.
Everett And the Parmigiani, the logo is gorgeous too. Certainly not a watch for everybody. Certainly not a gotta watch. I'm gonna say this is not a gotta watch. I don't know. There's no loom. There's no second hand. Yeah, it's platinum. Uh, so with that said, if, if the things you go and do are not requiring loom or, uh, like heavy lifting, This is gonna be a gotta watch.
Andrew And the microrotor technology being integrated into it.
Everett Just come on. Yeah, so it's automatic. It's a mechanical looking movement, right? With the big exposed main plates. And you can see the entire movement. That case back is slammed. I do not always like an exposed case back here. I'm for it.
Andrew This is incredible. They're only making 25, so get in while they're hot. Yeah.
Unknown Send it to me.
Everett I'm with you, Andrew. I'm with you that this is, you said the perfect watch, doesn't it? Of course, this is, it's kind of a funny watch, but it's really, really great. It's yeah. I'm gonna talk, okay, so I'm gonna do a thing here. I'm gonna talk first about a watch, and then I'm gonna talk about a different watch later.
Unknown Okay.
Everett Like we do on the show every week? Sure, but there's a connection. I'm gonna right now. Okay, you're priming us. I'm priming for a connection, so Squala. Okay. Squalor is one of the first sort of brands and watches that really intrigued me. Um, and, and I think a lot, a lot of people, when you start looking at watches, you find yourself on Noma and you're like, well, look at this. Look, look at this. Uh, I think it's called nom nom nom. Look at this Submariner. Um, like, Oh, I can afford that one. Yeah, that's right. Um, but, Squalor also, I mean, squalor was always felt a little different to me. They're not just an homage brand. They've, they sort of like, they have, I don't think they're even an homage brand.
Andrew It's like they have a design that they make and they make it well. And, and they, I mean, they, some of their, they're kind of content. I mean, their contemporary of the release of that watch, like, This is a direct competitor that just didn't get the traction and they just kept making their shit right because what squalor their their sub homage is the same age as the sub and
Everett I don't know. I don't know. So anyway, in 2023, they re-released the reference 2001, which is sort of a, a notable model because it was the squalor model that Jacques Cousteau, you know, this is like Jacques Cousteau is like the moon, Jacques Cousteau is for dive watches. What the moon is for, for, for Omega chronographs. Um, if, if he touched it, then it's special. That's what's going on here. you That was a big, beefy, 100-atmosphere watch from, I think, 1970. And it was really cool. They re-released these in a limited edition back in 2023, or maybe 2024, I can't remember. Really sort of faithfully reproducing the design and proportions, but with a completely modern, tip-to-tail modernized watch. 40 millimeters, 43.6 really tonneau case, 600 meters of water resistance, 13 millimeters thick, and this like four o'clock sort of dive watch integrated giant crown. We talked about these on the show. We really liked them. They were interesting. Shouldn't be, you know, it's a bummer it's limited, blah, blah, blah. These are really cool. They used to have, I think, a Bakelite bezel, and now they've got a Sapphire bezel. They've put this in their catalog now. So they've released three versions of these, a orange with a black bezel, like sort of an ombre or a gradient orange, ombre or gradient blue, and then also a black dial with a khaki bezel. Now you may say, where's the black and black? Because that's what I say. But in any event, the black and khaki is good. The black and khaki is good. These are very Swalla, right? You've got these big black hands, you've got the great Swalla logo, both at 12 and six. These are double, uh, these are double logo, 60 atmospheres, Sapphire, 2001. They do a lot of text with these. This is not a, this is like the exact opposite of the Parmigiani. Um, yeah. There's no fucking date window. They're like you do not need the space you think you need and we're gonna take it off We're gonna take all the space and we're gonna do things with it So that that's if you if you criticize watches that may be a thing you criticize for 30 tending like like a 445 crown even So they're 40 by 13 by 43.6. Crown of 430, 600 meters water resistance. We've got a date at three o'clock. Salida 200 on these, which is a fine decision. A ladder bracelet? Ladder bracelet, is that what we're gonna call that? It's ladder-ish. It's sort of a wide oyster or a long oyster. Yeah, the one question I have about these, so I went to the Squalo website and I was having trouble finding these. No, that's a ladder. Is it a true ladder, do you think? Yeah, there's huge voids. Okay, yeah, there you go. Yeah, true ladder, yeah, true ladder.
Andrew That's the only weak point for this. I understand why they do it and it, Objectively makes sense, but this needs to go on a tropic Yeah, and you can get it on tropic.
Everett So they there's three three different prices for these you can either get a 1490 Frank oh, oh, no, they're not three prices. No, it's just three They've currently listed their currencies. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm you know, it's been a long week anyway, why These are cool, man
Andrew Actually really like these they're not different than the 2023 release, but they are But these are regular models and they're beautiful I do wish there was a black and black and I wish they had a not Ladder bracelet even just like an oyster Sure, I could get down with because the rest of this watch like kill on a Jubilee to oh, yeah, they would and I really dig these. Koala is always a brand that I look at. I'm like, I really like, I just, there's always something holding me back from them. And they're just baller watches, right? Like this is, this is deep cut aquatic stuff. Yeah. This is a watch brand.
Everett This is a big no shit. Dive watch. And I, and, and I, and I like, and I like how much it is today, a big no shit dive watch, even at 40 millimeters, which is a kind of a conservative size. And these are like 17 millimeters thick. I just love that they're unapologetic, big, fuck you. No, they're only 13.
Andrew They're only 13 thick. Yeah. they look huge but this this black and khaki it's because of that tonneau case this black and khaki is baller i never thought that that's a color way that i would get down with and i am fully down with a huge bezel like the the dial on it is appropriate for a 36 millimeter watch yeah anyway that's all i have to say about that okie doke what's next andrew I have another one. So citizens leaning into their premier category with the 55th anniversary, which is a weird anniversary to really lean into, of their first titanium watch with the Tessa Satellite Wave GPS F950 with a ceramic bezel. And I think that's a really cool texture addition to this watch. It's very Citizen, right? This is the Citizen watch you're gonna see at the Macy's counter. This isn't a Soyuza. This isn't any of the shit, like the really, really cool shit that they're releasing. But this is a super titanium, 100 meter water resistance satellite wave, 44 millimeter big bitch.
Everett I don't know that you're gonna find this at Macy's. I mean, this is like the next level of Citizen. You might find this at a boutique.
Andrew Maybe. So these are 2,000 bucks, but we were complaining last week that Citizen has these baller watches that you just can't find anywhere. There's no marketing materials anywhere. And now we have, and I do think we'll see these with the release of citizen premier and kind of the focal point of the premier line within citizen. Now, I think we're going to see these like pretty, pretty high availability. as they really lean into their upscale line, like brand even. I think it'll be interesting to see if Citizen Premiere becomes an offshoot brand, kind of the way Grand Seiko or King Seiko has. I don't expect it will.
Everett I still have the same questions about Premiere that I had last week. Like, what are we doing here? This isn't a TESA, but it's a...
Andrew But it's premier now. I have the same question. So it's a little curious, but it's a super titanium. Uh, there's Duratec DLC on top of super titanium, which is super cool. The, The bezel on it looks great with ceramic. They almost made it look carbony with the striations in the ceramic. Good texture on the dial. I really like this watch, but I also want to hate it. Uh, I just can't find a reason to hate it.
Everett Yeah. I mean, it's, it's a, it's a, a big weird citizen. That's why you hate it. But, um, that's why I would hate it. Um, it's undoubtedly cool. I'm not sure the enthusiasts that this appeals to, there is a class of enthusiasts this appeals to. It's not me. I know that much.
Andrew I, I, I'm confused by it, but I'm really intrigued. I think it's really intriguing. It's like eating snails for the first time. You're like, hmm, I like this. I feel weird about liking this. I don't like that I like this. I also think I might hate that I like this. And my dogs are barking. Because the kids are playing basketball, which is great because I'm about to go to sleep and basketball is the only sound that can cut through my white noise machine. That bouncing, that like reverberation of the ball on the pavement just cuts through white noise and insulation.
Everett Yeah, you know, it's interesting, the marketing photos for this, it looks like black on black, but in some of the photos, you can really see that there's a difference in color between the ceramic and the DLC, which I think is cool. It's undoubtedly a cool watch. This has never been the kind of watch that we've gravitated towards on this show. But I think I'm here for it. It is really what Citizen is and does. The best probably like this is citizens Sweets about this is citizens happy place. And so I don't object.
Andrew It's not my happy place It has like I don't know with that addition of ceramic that color contrast that black ceramic on the steel It kind of evokes like Belen Rossi flavors like it's evocative. Yeah evocative
Everett Um, okay. Well, so, so I actually don't think that's a terrible segue into another Japanese brand Seiko. I mentioned with my, with the Squala that there's going to be a thread here because I think, um, the Squala 2001 does a thing, that big sort of no shit dive watch. I'm here to work. that is also, for me, probably most well done by the classic, beloved Marine Master, the big, no-shit, monoblock Marine Master 300. We've talked a lot about the SBDX-001. We've talked a lot about what Seiko's done with the Marine Master label in the last, what, two years, Andrew? They've done some interesting, things you know they released a watch that was kind of like is this a marine master what is marine master psycho because I I object and then they and you tell us because we're we're all ears right now and then they followed up with a watch that we were like okay okay we're getting there we're getting there well For the 60th anniversary, Seiko released three dive watches, all of which are great, one of which we're gonna talk about at least significantly today, and that is the Seiko Prospex Marine Master SLA-081, which is Seiko's new top-of-the-line titanium Marine Master with a monoblock case based on the brand's 1968 diver. They also released a new take on the 62 MOS, which is reference SPB 511. I think I really like those. And it's beautiful. And then also a Prospex GMT SPB 509. All three of these have waved out. So the theme of these three releases are a 60th anniversary. Three wave dials.
Andrew The waves are not the waves you expect though. The waves are like Japanese art Waves, right? We're not talking Omega waves. We're talking like depth of pattern like yes into waves like peaking and falling This is one of my favorite executions of wave dial art
Everett And actually for both of the iterants that the variations that we're not going to really talk about today, the, the, um, GMT and the, and the, uh, uh, 62 Moss, they both have sort of Seiko wave waves. Have you seen that? Anyway, really good wave dials, but the Marine Master is a little bit different. It's more of that depth, that deep sort of random wave that Andrew's referencing. Top down view of the waves. Yeah, almost like a fish ladder. Anyway. Little bit, yeah. So this watch is really, so, oh, there's another thing that happened with all three of these. Seiko upgraded its clasp.
Unknown Finally!
Everett They both upgraded its high-end clasp for the Marine Master, but they also upgraded their mid sort of adjustable clasp on the 62 MAS and the GMT, and they look terrific. Seiko, Thanks for listening. Cinco, do you listen to 40 and 20? Or actually the entire community that's been screaming for a better class.
Unknown 50 years.
Everett So what we get is a big no shit, so back to the SLA-081, we get a big no shit monoblock case which is very much Marine Master. And you look at this and you think, okay, Marine Master. We're back. Not true of the last couple of Marine Master releases. Fully titanium, no shit, 54.4 millimeter titanium case, 16 millimeters wide, 50 millimeters lug-to-lug. You cannot pretend that this isn't a giant watch, which is what we want out of this watch. And when I say we, I mean I. This isn't a watch you want small. You've got a monoblock case with an L-shaped gasket for helium infiltration, but because it's monoblock, they have to get creative about how to attach the bezel. They've done that in an interesting way here. There's actually, at each end of the case, there is a black piece of stainless steel. I assume stainless steel because of its physical characteristics, and they've made it PVD. And I think the reason they've made it PVD is to differentiate the materials, like instead of trying to fudge a piece of stainless in, they're like, yeah, this is a different material. That piece of steel actually holds the bezel down from the bottom with a set of screws. And it is a really interesting design decision. I've never seen it before. It's cool. I like it. I want it. Monoblock case. Yes, please. This is interesting. This is really fucking cool, Andrew.
Andrew Yeah.
Everett It's really cool.
Andrew Yeah. They, they nailed it. And, and big ass bright Seiko loom.
Everett The only problem here is Ellie 600 pieces. So what I don't know, Oh, and I didn't say that we've got the eight L 30 or the eight L 45 movement, which is, uh, A movement that Seiko's going to use, I think, oh, same movement as in the King Seiko, by the way. That is a Grand Seiko derivative movement. And I think that it's something that we're gonna see in the high-end Seiko releases. The only problem with it is it's a big bitch. It's six millimeters. And it's got the Sprawn alloy, which is like a really sort of durable, resistant material. Not sure that's necessary, but that's kind of a Seiko thing. Plus or minus, minus five, plus 10. Accuracy, it's a cool movement. It's just a big bitch Yeah, so so the downside 600 pieces Available for 4900 price is huge Yeah, but I think that makes sense for this watch it does for all titanium for like some like new technology like R&D.
Andrew Yeah, that's 4900 euro. So you're probably looking at 5,500 85 dollars right now. Yeah exchange rates
Everett So that's, I think this watch is terrific. People are going to hate the price. Fine. But you know what? We always bitch about Seiko prices. We always bitch about Seiko pricing. They still make the greatest watch. I don't have any other objections about this watch. However, we do need a non-limited version of this. And I don't know if that's something that we're gonna see next year. And it could be that they say, let's see how well this, this is an incredibly expensive watch to produce. We'll release an unlimited version. If it's insta-sells out, we'll make a mainline release of this.
Andrew I think we maybe see a steel mainline release later this year, like probably summer.
Everett Scott, this watch has to be titanium. Otherwise it's going to be like like when you see people walking with the dumbbells, right? Yeah Maybe I mean, maybe we'll see I mean this watch is going to cut this is going to be like a two pound salmon around your wrist I'm, okay with that Really, the new bracelet, the new clasp, sorry, we're kind of running out of time, but everything about this watch, everything about this watch is terrific. It's the first Seiko release I've seen in an expansion clasp with a flip lock, like this is, it feels very much to me like fucking A, finally Seiko.
Andrew Yeah, thanks for joining the 21st century. Andrew, what's next?
Unknown I think a lot of things.
Andrew Do you have another thing? I do have another thing.
Unknown Other things go.
Andrew Uh, so I received in the mail around Christmas time with no note, no card, no nothing, a pizza steal. This just came in a box. I don't know who to thank for it. Make a pizza. Uh, it's, it was from a company called Cooking Steals. And so I have a enormous sheet of probably quarter inch steel. That's it is what bums me out is it's about a half inch too big to fit into my grill. Uh, cause my grill can hold and sustain at 700 degrees, which is really where I'd prefer to be cooking pizza.
Everett Yeah, it's hot, but that's the right temperature.
Andrew Uh-huh. But it doesn't fit. Provided it's the thin pizza. It doesn't fit. Yeah. So it fits in the oven as long as you turn your oven rack over. It needs the full, full space of the oven. So anyway, I've had this since Christmas and I hadn't used it. And a couple weeks ago, boys are like, Hey, we want pizzas. I was like, okay, well, dough in the freezer. And let's like, let's make pizzas. I got a pizza peel. Cause you really need a peel. If people get stones and they're like, Oh, I can't get my pizzas. Right. It's because you're, you need a pizza peel to be able to push dough or something very closely replicating that. Yeah. You need a big flat sheet of something with a handle, with a handle because you can't have your hands in there. I've used like the back of a cookie sheet before But I got a peel so but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the steel So I had it in there and I put my I set my oven to 500 degrees and I just let it roast for an hour Before I just get scorching hot. Yeah, like I wanted it like nearing the zone of changing colors and had the kids make their pizzas, get it all spread out, got it on the, on the peel, dropped it in. And seven minutes later we had phenomenal pizzas. I like, I love pizza. Like I think pizza crust is the most perfect delivery mechanism for everything. Especially a good thin pizza. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's the truth. I've had a stone before, and I never got the good, even with an hour long preheat, never got the good, like enough radiant heat in there to get a good crisp bottom. But this sheet of steel, so on their website, the 16 by 22 inch, which I didn't measure mine, which I think is the one I have, it's 100 bucks. And it is. You don't know where this thing came from? No, no, no one has like, it just arrived. Have you asked people? Yeah. It's gotta be your dad. No, because my dad sends a card with money. It was me. And it was sent to Sam. Interesting. So it just, it just arrived. So I don't even, I don't even know who to thank, but thank you, mysterious gift giver. Cause when we got the package, I like, it's this huge box sitting on the front door and I went to like kick it into the front door cause my hands are full. And I just, I just kicked the box and I was like, what the fuck is in this? I looked at some cookingsteals.com.
Unknown I'm like, okay.
Andrew And you're into it. I, I, I'm all about it. I won't ever go back to a stone. I might actually get a smaller version to put in my grill or I might get a bigger season. Nope. Huh? Cool. Nope. Just got it screaming hot. Cause once it's hot, right? Like I, you just put some cornmeal down under your crust and it, or some flour and yeah. Uh, put a pizza steel and a, and a pizza peel. If, The pizzas you can produce at home, even with store-bought in a bag pizza dough, are so much better than what you can get almost anywhere. It just takes a little bit of effort. Yeah, just a little bit. And a hundred bucks for a pizza steal. You're happy to have it. I'm super happy to have it. And I wish I knew who got it for me.
Everett Andrew, I've got another thing I'm going to do just I'm going to try to be brief, but I'm going to do a little bit of lead up. So I have two bags that are essential for me. One of those is the North Face uh base duffel i think base camp duffel i have that in the that's like rubberized ends right yeah it's fully rubberized so essentially it's a bucket it's a duffel it's a bucket format duffel so there's no pockets there's one little zip pocket on the flap But other than that, it's just a bucket and I think I have that in the large and the medium and That has been my go-to sort of travel bag The large is a little too big for some things the medium can almost get away with being a carry-on But I just I love it. It's it's a good material. It's relatively waterproof if not or water-resistant if not waterproof they're made for They're made for base camp Exercises, right? So it's gonna go on a truck and then it's gonna get thrown in snow and then it's gonna you know That's what these that's what these bags are made for. I I Really really like that bag. I've used it for everything every bit of travel I've done for the last probably 15 years and That's been my go-to and I just think they're great. And there's Patagonia's sort of jumped on board and North Face's like changed up and added rollers if you want, but just the regular North Face base camp duffel is about as close to a perfect duffel bag as you can get. Essential. I also have a Billingham Hadley One, which is what I use for my briefcase. It is a, Billingham is a, formerly a fishing bag company that transitioned to camera bags, I think in the 80s. And what they do, the Billingham Hadley One has a laptop sleeve, it's got a compartment, and it's got the ability to take a camera with you everywhere you go. And that is my everyday bag. I use it for everything. It's the format I've talked about on the show. It's my favorite bag I've ever owned. I needed, and that's my travel setup usually, is I take my Billingham Hadley one, I take my North Face Base Camp Duffel. there's a bit of a gap. There's a bit of a gap.
Andrew There's an inherent gap there.
Everett I struggled a little bit with like, cause neither one of those bags can do it all. Neither one of them's a do it all. And so I really wanted to have more of like a one stop shop overnight or, or maybe two or three day, like a three day travel bag. And I found it. I found it. This is from a brand called Cotopaxi, which is sort of like a Gucci outdoor store brand. They're known for their sustainability and their colors, really, more than anything.
Unknown Yeah, their colors. I have a Cotopaxi bag. I like it.
Everett And so what I really wanted was that like two to three day travel bag that gave me like all of the versatility of the North Face like or all of the sort of capabilities of the North Face, maybe a little less, but also some of the like more specific like use cases that I got in the Billingham. So more capacity, but also, so what this is, is a backpack.
Andrew You should've got the Mystery Ranch three-way.
Everett I think I did better than that. And I looked at the Mystery Ranch. I looked at a couple of different versions. So there's a company called Matador that's making really nice travel backpacks. Mystery Ranch obviously makes great stuff. but neither of their options really did what I wanted to do. So essentially what this is is it is a clamshell bag that as you open up the clamshell, it gives you one big compartment that's zippered with mesh on the right and then two smaller compartments that are zippered with mesh on the left. So you open up the clamshell and you get these flat pack compartments that you can load clothes or dot kits or whatever into. It's also got a exterior access compartment on the front that you can put smaller items in. It's probably like a two liter compartment, which has a zipper in it. And then it's got an outside and exterior accessed laptop compartment that is big enough that you can put a laptop and an iPad in it. So this is how I travel. I travel with a laptop, I travel with an iPad, I travel with some stuff that I want to have immediate access to, and then I travel with other luggage that I need less access to, but when I get to where I'm going, I want to be able to easily access that stuff.
Unknown I want it right now, right away.
Everett And additionally, because of the clamshell design, the zippered mesh clamshell design, you can additionally put a jacket in the middle of the clamshell. So if you wanna have a coat that is readily available, not like packed, but also like I can get it, you put that coat in the middle, in the inside of the clamshell without bothering your luggage, without bothering your clothes, you can put a code in there, open up the clamshell, pull your code up, don't disturb anything, because it's all contained. You've got your laptop, you've got your iPad, you've got your other things you need to access, so chargers, block that's in the front. It is, for me, for my use case, I traveled with this thing, and then again, I used it at the hospital for my short stay. It's I'm may it's perfect. Andrew, it is perfect. I was like, here we go. I finally found the one-stop shop. So I had, and I took the camera insert from my Billingham Hadley and I stuffed into one of the compartments on the left side, the two sides on the left. And I put that in there. So I also had that.
Unknown Oh,
Everett So I had my, I had my dop kit and my camera in one of the smaller compartments. I had some socks, underwear, and sundries in the other smaller compartment. And then I had my clothes in the third compartment, not a ton of room for clothes in that setup, but enough for two days, certainly maybe three days if you're, if you're Spartan in terms of your, And then I had my coat in the middle, laptop access from the outside, perfect. I think this is the perfect travel backpack. I love it. They sell it in two sizes, 35 and 42. I went with 35. I think the 42 would be too much. Maybe, because 42 you start pushing out of like comfortable carry. Correct, correct. And when I have this thing loaded up in the 35, it's pretty heavy. It's like about as heavy as I'd want it to be, but yeah. Anyway, I love it. I like it. Andrew, anything else you want to add before we go tonight? I'm out of things. Hey, you guys, thanks for joining us for this episode of 40 in 20, the WatchClicker podcast. You can check us out on our website, WatchClicker.com. That's where we post articles and reviews and photos and other important things. If you would like to follow us on social media, you can do that on Instagram at 40 and 20 underscore WatchClicker or at WatchClicker. If you want to support us, then, oh boy, we hope you do. Hey, Patreon ads are down for this year. And we do need money to keep this thing going. Patreon.com slash 40 and 20. That's how we keep the wheels on this bus turning. So go drop a buck if you can. And other than that, don't forget to tune back in next Tuesday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Bye-bye.