Episode 72 - Listener Q & A
Published on Wed, 11 Mar 2020 23:10:00 -0700
Synopsis
This is a podcast discussion between two friends, Andrew and Everett, about watches, beer, food, and other topics. They discuss hypothetical "one watch" collections they would own if limited, underrated beer styles, their preferences between divers and chronographs, ideal watch collection sizes, early watch memories, cleaning/patina on watches, Seiko's move upmarket, finding local watchmakers, and many other tangents and personal stories. Andrew shares about going fishing with his friend John and Andrew's failure to catch any fish that day, while John landed several trout. Everett recommends the Pocket Casts podcast app and the YouTube cooking channels "Sous Vide Everything" and "Guga Foods."
Links
Transcript
| Speaker | |
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| Andrew | Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. This is the 40 in 20 podcast with your host, Andrew, and my good friend Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things you like. Everett, how are you? |
| Everett | Beer. Beer. Beer-y good. Beer-y good. Beer-y good. Uh, yeah, no, I'm killing it. Uh, you know, that's foaming. |
| Andrew | You're going to want to grab that. Oh my gosh. So my outside fridge keeps my beer exceptionally cold. Yeah. Uh, such that many of the beers I open, uh, do exactly that and foam over because they're frozen. So more often than not, I will bring two beers in sometimes three beers in, I will open one and overturn it into a glass. I will leave the other on the counter and then I'll open the third and just drink through the slush until, until the one that's in the glass has melted sufficiently. |
| Everett | Oh, I see. Because it's like it's like actually frozen. |
| Andrew | Oh, it's. |
| Everett | Have you considered just turning the fridge down? |
| Andrew | Oh, it's down to it. It's down to the absolute minimum temperature. But because it gets so cold in the winter and the way refrigeration works, it brings it below the temperature in the world around it. And when it's 40 degrees outside, it's bringing things down to 20 degrees. And I have no no clue how refrigeration works, honestly, so that's the only thing I can figure, because so my assumption is that it works very similar to air conditioning. air conditioning can only bring things 30 degrees below the ambient temperature. So if it's 100 degrees, you're only going to get to 70, which feels way better than a hundred. Is that right? Yeah. It only can bring things down 30 degrees. That's what I've been told. I can't speak to the science, but that's what I've been told by a couple people independent of one another. |
| Everett | So when it's like a hundred plus outside and you come inside and you're like, it does not feel like the air conditioner is on. It's because it's, it just can't bring it down. That's what I understand. |
| Andrew | Oh, interesting. That's how I understand it based on some folks who maybe I shouldn't trust, but how it's been explained to me. No, fuck, this is a science show now. Yeah. How things work. Air conditioners, they make it cooler than it is outside. But I think having a refrigerator outside has an impact on freezing stuff because it doesn't happen during the summer. Things great during the summer, but from like November to end of March, All my beer freezes, glass bottles break. It's a whole thing. |
| Everett | Sure. Sure. We went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry this weekend. |
| Unknown | Oh. |
| Everett | Which was fun. Took the kids. It was cool. Yeah. I mean, it's a cool place. You know, it's a little less cool than I remember from being a child. That makes sense. Yeah. I mean, you know, sometimes you do things and you're like, yeah, this is actually super epic. The zoo, for example. Yeah, that's right. I feel that way about the zoo still. It was a little bit less cool. So Oregon Museum of Science and History is actually a very big museum in downtown Portland, or it's actually technically not downtown. It's on the other side of the river, but it's right east side, right there in the heart of Portland. Do they still have a submarine there? Yeah, we toured it. We toured the USS Blueback. |
| Andrew | Oh, I wanted to say humpback, but I knew that wasn't right. |
| Everett | You said hump. I did. Um, yeah, yeah. But that's, that's, that was my weekend. |
| Andrew | How did the kids like it? That's the important thing. They loved it. Your enjoyment is irrelevant. |
| Everett | They loved it. You know, uh, we did this, they have like a, a planetarium with like, uh, you know, a big dome on the top and they, they can project, uh, stars on that, but they can also, um, they also have like a laser light show in there. And so we did a laser light show and the kids thought that was really epic. And I was like, this is so |
| Andrew | I have a vague memory of seeing Pink Floyd laser light show there. |
| Everett | Yeah, the wall. We used to do that fairly regularly. |
| Andrew | I must have, because I have a memory of doing it. I just can't think of when I would have done that. |
| Everett | It's pretty cool. They sync up the lasers with the... Pink Floyd's got that really sort of staccato, up and down, tempo, contrasty music, and that lends itself to a laser light show really well. |
| Andrew | Whatever. How are you? I'm super well. I have some friends in from North Carolina. They're people that I made friends with while I was in the army at Fort Hood. So they're at my house with their two kids. And so the house is a little bit of a zoo, which is to be expected because their kids are one in three. Oh boy. So I could kind of split mine. Sure. So it's just, uh, |
| Everett | It's just a little crazy. There's a lot. |
| Andrew | There's a lot. There's a lot of adults in my house and there's a lot of children in my house. |
| Everett | But you know the good news? Everybody is illuminated. |
| Andrew | Yeah, because I ran all those lights. Yeah, I was like, I don't understand. I thought you were for some reason referencing the Elijah Wood, everything is illuminated movie. And I was like, no, no, I don't get it. No, that doesn't track. But yeah, no, there's lights. |
| Everett | So I was referencing the ongoing saga of the Roberts lights. |
| Andrew | So this morning we went, uh, me and me and John went fishing in a place that we've been fishing before. And I honey hole is a honey hole. And I did some fishing, but because he's in from the East coast, like spent his whole life for the most part. |
| Everett | Wait, wait, wait, here it comes. You guys, here it comes. Let's, let's listen to why Andrew didn't catch fish this morning. |
| Andrew | Go ahead. So he's, so he's in from the South. And what I was really excited about was to get him out into a place that I know we catch fish. And I did some fishing, but I was super fucking cold and I had to make a poop drop. So I was like, just like uncomfortable the whole time. And he's out, he's, he's got my gear rod and he's just thrown a, just a little spinning lure out and he's hammering fish. He's picked up five and he picked up probably, uh, probably I'm going to say probably a seven pound trout. |
| Everett | Yeah, it was a good size trout. It was for sure a keeper. It was a big trout. Seven pound, not a seven pound. You think seven pounds? |
| Andrew | Dude, it was, yeah, it was, it was probably 16 inches. Yeah. It was a big trout from, from across, from across the row. I was like, that could be a steelhead. |
| Everett | Yeah. You know, they, they short, they, they pool up. So the, the place we're talking about is undisclosed location. Although we've already said everything you need to know. |
| Andrew | It's on the river. It's on the Rau River. And I will tell you that the Rau River is quite long. |
| Everett | Right underneath the Durino Reservoir. And there's a pool. There's a reservoir pool right underneath the dam. And they pull up the... There's hatchery fish. They drop off hatchery fish down the river. |
| Andrew | So we actually were not that close to the dam, relatively. Oh, okay. You guys were a little further down. Yeah, we were a little bit further down. There were some dudes who we met walking in and they were going to go hit the hole. Uh-huh. And they were fishing bass and cat and we're like, I was like, eh, let's go a little bit further down. Cause there's still going to be trout everywhere. Sure. And I don't want to interfere with these guys. So anyway, I, I didn't do a whole lot of fishing. I did some casting and just kind of throwing some, throwing some flies out and he's hammering with, with gear. And I'm like, dude, this is awesome. Cause he's coming from East coast, never river fished, never done any of this. So he's catching trout for the first time in his life. And it's amazing. And I'm like, hey, dude, you've hammered like you've you've caught five trout and you've got two really good trout. There are people who have fished for years and not catch either one of these fish. What do you think about going home smoking a pork shoulder? He's like, yeah, dude, but let me try your fly rod. Yeah, like, OK, whatever. And I had my fly rod and I'm trying to give instructions and I'm not doing it very clearly because everything I say is crystal clear to me and to me only. Right. That's right. So I'm trying to give him instructions, and it's a little bit of a mess. Sure. But he's got a fly in the water, and he's doing some casting, like he's backhand casting out, and he's getting some distance on it, and it's getting away. And he goes, I'm on a fish. I'm like, no, you're fucking not, dude. You're on a rock. Just give it a yank. And he gives it a yank, and it holds. And I hear the line run a little bit, and I'm like, son of a bitch. You're on a fucking fish. You're on a fucking fish. And he pulls in his sixth trout of the day on his first cast on a fly rod. So the dude has, comes up to the West Coast for the, I mean, the second fish is river fishing, freshwater fishing for the first time in his life and pulls in six trout, two money trout and one on a fly rod. |
| Everett | You know, the best fish I, one of the best trout I've ever caught. I caught a rainbow there a little bit up right under the dam. But I could see there was a little bit of a hatch. I think it was about this time of the year. And there's a March brown hatch coming up. And I had like a perfect fly on and I was presenting it just really well. And it was getting sort of late. It was getting sort of late. And I'm like, God, I should be catching fish because they're rising, they're popping out of the water, and I'm just not catching anything. And it's that that time of day where I'm like, okay, just one more. Just one more. And then my fly starts sinking. I'm fishing a dry fly and I can't see shit because it's just starting to get dusky. And I realized my fly, it's a little parachute, March Brown, and it's going underwater, so I can't see it anymore. And so I remember thinking, well, I'm just going to swing it for a second. And so I kind of let it just sort of hang out like underwater, downstream, nothing, nothing, fish jumping all around it. God damn it. And so I kind of, like, temper tantrum, start ripping it in. I remember, like, borderline temper tantrum, like, big yanks. I've caught fish on that temper tantrum. I get hit hard. I get hit hard on my temper tantrum retrieve. And it was, you know, I don't know if it was quite a 16-incher, but probably a 15-pound fat football rainbow trout. |
| Andrew | Just awesome. Yeah, this was one of the biggest trout I've ever seen come out of the water. cool yeah it was it was impressive so uh so yeah so that was my day and then we smoked pork shoulder and some ribs i made the best ribs i've ever made before on the smoker so with the pork shoulder do you just uh you just chop it up and mix it with like a cigar like wrap it up in a like how do you do that i throw it on whole i give it a dry rub throw it on whole and just smoke it no okay i understand |
| Everett | We should get into it. We are talking about watches today. Sort of. We're talking about watches. Well, yeah, we'll have some watch-related things. And assorted musings. So this is, as you know, because you've clicked on a button to get to this podcast. And read the title. |
| Andrew | Well, unless you're not illiterate, and that's okay. |
| Everett | Unless you're not literate, unless you are. Oh, no, a literate. Oh, unless illiterate. Yeah, not illiterate, a literate. Like the noun. Yeah. Okay. That's confusing. It could be. Yeah. Uh, so this is our question and answer. So we reached out to you guys via, uh, via the, uh, Instagram and, uh, asked you, Hey, if you could ask them some questions, what would they be? Uh, you guys responded, man. I'm telling you. Yeah. You guys hit it. You hit it. I think that there is at least three questions for, uh, four. Oh, okay. Four. No, you know, I, we're just, there's zero chance we get to all of these. there is only about a 25% chance that we get to half of them. So we should start. Yeah, we should get it. We should start in no particular order. So, so here's the deal. We're going to sort of run through these. We're going to see one as we see it. Uh, we're going to pop it up. We're going to talk about it. If we do not get to your question, if we do, because we don't like you or your question fear, do not feel bad. Do not feel bad. We will try to get to all of them over time. Although that very well may not happen. |
| Andrew | We might make this like a quarterly thing and just try to catch up on the backlog and the new ones. |
| Everett | That's right. So I'm going to start. I'm going to start and I'm probably not going to say all of these people, but this is a question from Catlin. Ooh. Catlin. Catlin.watches.life. Start with the hard ones. 10 and 2 media. And I'll present it to you first, Andrew. If you had to go to a one watch collection, what would it be? |
| Andrew | What watch would it be? So I guess the question is, my first clarifying question, and this is important. So I'm going to give two answers. Number one is if I have to go to a one watch collection from what I currently have. And then answer number two will be if I have to go to a one watch collection of just one watch in the world. |
| Everett | Why don't we present it this way? Take your current collection. Take your current collection. Sell it all. You can have one watch. with that value plus or minus, say, 50% of the total value. |
| Andrew | Well, that makes it unfair because I don't have a speedy. Unfair for you, yes. So, one watch collection. I am going to go a dress sport. I'm going to land with either the Laurier Falcon or the Seiko Saab. And I think I tend towards Saab |
| Everett | Because... You have more money than this. |
| Andrew | But I think that's where I land. Oh, interesting. I think those are two of the most versatile watches in the marketplace right now. They can go anywhere, do anything, be dressed up, be dressed down. They're not especially expensive, so they're not going to fall into beater category, but they're not going to fall into, I need to baby this and wrap it in bubble wrap every time I wear a category. And I think that's where I land. I land in a dress sport in the neighborhood of Saab or Falcon? |
| Everett | I go with a black dialed Aqua Terra. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Everett | That's it. |
| Andrew | Okay. All right. It's just question answered. Like no, no thoughtful. Like, yeah, no, that's the answer. Okay. |
| Everett | So, uh, beer question. Ooh. What type of beer is underrated? Oktoberfests are the questioner's answer, but what type of beers are underrated? |
| Andrew | So we're going to go style of beer that's underrated. That's right. That's right. |
| Everett | What style of beer is underrated? |
| Andrew | Oh, interesting. So I'm immediately thinking toward sours. Yeah. Yeah. Cause there's such a, there's such a variety or maybe Saison's like farmhouse ales that the really traditional champagne yeast beer. But I don't know if they're underrated. I think every, I feel like every beer has its appreciation. Like Natty Light has a, has a following. Natty Ice has a following. Hurricane has a following. Hurricane's not yummy, but I'm going to tend in the beer world, in the way of beer drinkers, I'm going to, I'm going to say farmhouse ales. are underrated. And I think they're underrepresented in the beer market, at least in the Northwest, because IPAs are king here. |
| Everett | Yeah, no, that's right. That's right. You know, I think that Farmhouse is a better choice than Sour's. Two years ago, I think Sour would have been the right answer. I think Farmhouse is a better choice. I'm going to go with maybe not an obvious answer. I'm going to say Brown Ales. |
| Andrew | Yeah, I think you're right there. |
| Everett | Yeah, I'm going to go with Brown Ales. I think that there are a number of really good Brown Ales. But I don't think they get sort of the attention they deserve because, you know, beers, like with so many things, right? You know, dive watches, everybody wants a big chunky dive watch or a thousand meters. You know, we go to extremes. I think brown ales are so moderate, just by definition, it's a very moderate beer. And so I think that they are a little bit underappreciated. Some of my very favorite beers are brown ales. |
| Andrew | There is a English pub not far from us and they are all cask English style ales, like all session ales right from the cask, super cheap. And I'm going to add on to your brown ale. A lot of them are like English special bitters, which are kind of, they're a varietal of brown ales. And you're looking at like ESB, you're looking at like a 2% beer that you could drink from dawn until dusk. Just sesh on. And just never ever feel drunk. And they're so light and refreshing and tasty. It's like drinking tea all day. |
| Everett | But also toasty and malty, right? Yeah. Yeah. Also toasty and malty. Divers or chronographs, which do you prefer? I don't know. Well, I know what I prefer. I prefer chronograph all day. |
| Andrew | I think I prefer Diver. I love a good chronograph, and I love the sportiness of a chronograph, but I burped. It was long. I think in a daily wear watch, I'm going to tend towards Diver. I want a little bit more simplicity. I want a little bit more refinement in it than what a lot of chronographs offer. |
| Everett | Yeah, you know, uh, I, you know, this is sort of a, a question that presents an analog when the answer is certainly not, uh, not analog. Um, but if I had to choose one, my, my interest in chronographs for sure. Uh, you know, these old Seiko automatic chronographs, uh, I've just recently sort of, uh, kindled a, an interest in 7750 movements. Which are cool. Yeah, that's right. You know, I think these mechanical chronographs are so quirky. They're a little expensive. Obviously, you know, I had my... And they're a little touch and go. |
| Andrew | That's part of the issue with mechanical chronographs is they're not a VK64 where you can do whatever the fuck you want to it and it's going to just keep running. They're a little finicky. |
| Everett | That's right. Yeah, that's right. So yeah, for me it's chronographs for sure. In fact, I suspect that most of the money watches that I'll buy in my life are going to be chronographs. But, you know, time will tell. Interesting. Time will tell. OK, what would be your ideal collection size? Ooh, all? Yeah. Is that an answer? No, I was going to suggest a number. Do you have a number in mind? My number, I'll just say my number and then you can say yours. My number is about 532. |
| Andrew | Well, I was going to say all right. Just, you know, the same, but different. Uh, so in the way of an ideal collection size, I would say 10 to 15. I don't, I don't really want to live in a world where I have more than 15 watches in my closet. Uh, I will live in that world and I'm pretty close to living in that world. Yeah, I definitely am. Um, I, I just want to be able to be in a place as a consumer and as somebody who appreciates watches to be discerning enough to filter my collection, my pile, down to less than 15. You know, I really speaking like they're like maybe it'll ebb and flow, you know, things can come in and make their way in and out. But I think generally I want to have a no more than a core of 15. |
| Everett | I can see I can see a lot of value in that answer. And I and I sort of feel the same way. But but I actually on balance, I think that when I go to Red Bar or something and I see these fantastic vintage collections, I could see myself with a 25-40 watch collection and be comfortable with that. |
| Andrew | whether by having had them this whole time or by sought them out and found those watches versus me as a consumer who just wears watches and likes them, accumulating watches for the sole purpose of wearing them and enjoyment, not necessarily their value as a collector's item. Because I'm on board, like if you have a hundred watch collection and it's because you like this Seiko movement and you have every time it's ever been issued that, you know, a hundred is a hundred. That's a collection versus an assortment. |
| Everett | I'd want an assortment. I wouldn't want a collection. |
| Andrew | And I like the assortment. And I think for me, an assortment is probably neighborhood of 15. |
| Everett | So I'm going to move up the list, but I want to get to this one first. So someone asks, so this is actually, I'll say who this one is. This is SouthpawSTL15. |
| Andrew | This is one of our very good... I'm still eating chips, man. And it makes me so happy. |
| Everett | This is one of our very favorite listeners. And my best friend. Yeah, perhaps. He doesn't know it. No, now he does. Uh, so he says, what is your dream car mod for your LS? My LS 400. This question is directed at me, obviously, because Andrew does not have an LS. And we've talked about this. |
| Andrew | I know it. I already know what the dream car mod is. What do you think it is? Dual extended exhaust. |
| Everett | Yeah, that's it for me. Yeah. Uh, some sort of, some sort of exhaust modification. You know, the, the thing about the Japanese, uh, specifically with regards to that Lexus is they are very, very focused on a smooth, Luxurious, silky ride. So, meanwhile, they've taken this 1UZ engine, which is one of the all-time great power plants, V8, four liter, just a King Cobra under the hood, and they have made it purr very quietly. |
| Andrew | At best. It sounds like a Tesla, or not a Tesla, but like a Prius. Right. |
| Everett | You know, and so that feels a little bit of a waste to me, especially because it is a, you know, at this point, damn near a vintage car. So I will almost certainly put a some sort of dual glass pack exhaust on that thing at some point. I don't want it to be nasty. I don't want it to be loud, but I do want it to be. You want that rumble. I want some rumble. |
| Andrew | You know, I heard a Mustang was a good rumble the other day from around the block. And I was working. And it had such a loud rumble to it that it drew my interest. I followed him for like two and a half miles. He was like, I'm getting fucking a ticket. Yeah. And we've talked about that mod. We spent a day on the river talking about that mod and planning out how we do it. You're like, I'm pretty sure we could just do with a hacksaw. I'm like, nah. I mean, you're not wrong, but you're not right. And you know that. |
| Everett | We just get, you know, the spring clamps and call it a day. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think it's pretty doable. I think it probably, we could do it in a day. We could do it. We need to get a welder. We don't have one, but we could do that. We could get a welder. |
| Andrew | Harbor Freight. We could probably get one for like $34. Yeah. |
| Everett | I mean, you know, I think welders, you know, you do get what you pay for a little bit, but for this, for this case, you know, as long as we could get it sealed up, as long as we could get it sealed up, it doesn't need to be a jewelry box. Right. |
| Andrew | What I can tell you is that I can't solder. Oh, I can solder. |
| Everett | I'm so bad at it. Yeah, I can solder. But that is not applicable to this skill. It could be. |
| Andrew | I imagine they translate pretty closely. Not exactly, but that skill set translates. |
| Everett | Earliest watch memory, Andrew, go. |
| Andrew | Oh, so I had probably like a Casio diver. that I remember I was super excited about. This is the first watch I remember having. I'm sure I had watches before it, but it was this big, clunky, probably Casio diver. And I remember breaking the crystal on it and continuing to wear it because I was so excited about having that watch and also so scared of admitting that I had broken what I perceived to be a super nice watch. |
| Everett | Sure. Sure. Something valuable that you were supposed to be careful with that you weren't. And just smash the acrylic. Yeah, mine is, uh, I had a lady and the tramp watch as a very young person. I remember where I was at least at one point wearing it. So I could not have been older. I was at most in the third grade. So it was like eight. Yeah, that's right. So probably second or third grade, it was a lady in the tramp watch and it was mechanical. I don't know that at the time I realized that it was mechanical or even what a mechanical watch was versus just a watch. Uh, at that time, you know, this is, you know, late eighties. Um, and so I didn't have any sort of recognition that it was quartz or mechanical or whatever, but I overwhelmed it. I overwhelmed it. Yeah. And it broke and it was that same feeling. It was like, man, I've been, I've been given this cool, nice thing and I've broken it. |
| Andrew | Hmm. Yeah. A lady in the tramp mechanical watch. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Andrew | Yeah. It was cool. That sounds right. Who made it? It was like, like I, It's gotta be coming through like a Disney licensed. |
| Everett | You know, I have looked for it. I have looked for it and not been able to find it. You know, if you Google sort of Lady and the Tramp mechanical watch, there's a number of things that pop up. I would know it if I saw it. I have not found it. So I don't know. |
| Andrew | There must have been like nine of them made. So you destroyed like a priceless piece of horology history. |
| Everett | Cool, Ev. Uh, so if you can only own three watches, what would they be not limited by price? So a bit of an extension on Catlin's one watch, you only get three, no price limit. What are they? |
| Andrew | So my first watch is going to be a Breitling NavTimer LCD. Okay. Okay. One of the, that, that's it. That's, that's my number one, my go-to. I don't, particularly care what else is in there. But that's the end all be all. But if we're only gonna go three, so we're gonna go Breitling NavTimer LCD. I think I'm gonna go... I think I'm gonna go a Datejust, like a 38. Uh, so I think 39 is the 39, right? Yeah. Yeah. 36 or 39. Yeah. I think I'm going to go whatever that, that, not that small size, not just two. Yeah. The two. And then for my third watch, I, uh, Oh, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to retract my Datejust and go a, an Explorer two. |
| Everett | An Explorer two. |
| Unknown | I'm going to go to Explorer two. And then I think number three, I'm going to land on a, I don't know, circle back to me. |
| Everett | Circle back for, for number three. Okay. So number three, I'm going to go Speedmaster. Yeah. I'm going to go, uh, black dial spring drive, plain bezel grand Seiko. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Everett | And I'm going to go for a dive watch, probably a Doxa 300 sub. Yeah. |
| Andrew | Number three, I'm going to go a snowflake snowflake. Okay. Um, I was trying to decide between like, I'm trying to think through that spring drive lineup and I think I'm going to land on a snowflake. |
| Everett | So you've got an LCD. Yeah. You've got a snowflake. What was the, what was the second one? |
| Unknown | An Explorer. |
| Everett | Oh, an Explorer. So, so, so the LCD, the Explorer two and a snowflake. Yeah. I dig it. |
| Andrew | I dig it. I guess I will work the rest of my life and not have any of those. |
| Everett | Oh, you know what? If we really, if we really don't have to, Yeah. So I'm going to replace my, I'm going to replace my Grand Seiko. |
| Andrew | Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you're going to go up like an AP kind of route. |
| Everett | I'm going to go Nautilus. |
| Andrew | Oh yeah. |
| Everett | Yeah. Nautilus, blacked out Nautilus. |
| Andrew | I want OBJ's Richard Mille. Yeah. Just to sell it. And then I can buy all the watches I want. Cause I, I feel like it would take me a long time to reach the quarter million mark in watches that I want. |
| Everett | So this is a quick one. Would you rather go over your budget on booze per and whiskey or a watch? Ooh. |
| Andrew | I mean, I'm more inclined to go over my budget on whiskey. I do it all the time. I go to the liquor store. I'm like, I was going to pick up a bottle. I'm like, I picked up a couple. We're like, oh, hey, this bottle was only $90. It's not a big deal. It's easy. It's easier to break the budget on booze because to break the budget on a watch, you're looking at like, like my wife's threshold of like raising her eyebrow. I'm like, yeah, I guess. And like fuck off is neighborhood of $300. I didn't say this last week because I didn't want to risk that, that, uh, you know, whatever. Right. Uh, but the watch that I was bidding on eBay was a, |
| Everett | Casio, G-Shock, JDM, MRG210TT, being a titanium designator. This is a watch from 1997. I've talked about it on the show a number of times. It is my unicorn, my grail watch. They oftentimes pop up, but because they're JDM, the bracelets tend to be between five and three quarters and six and a half inches. And so it's just really hard to find one to fit my big, my fat American wrists. You know, one of these popped up with an 8.4-inch, approximately 8.4-inch bracelet, or, you know, total size. It was basically mint, and I did not bid enough. I made the mistake and didn't bid enough, but it was that deal, right? Yeah. It was... I needed to bid another probably $100 to $125 on it, and I was feeling anxiety about spending that much money. So would you rather... I mean, I don't like to go over budget on anything, I would rather spend a little bit extra money to get a watch that I really wanted, because booze is booze. You know me, I drink nothing but Wild Turkey and Famous Grouse. Well, you're drinking some Dayglo right now. Right. Yeah, so Elysian Dayglo IPA, which is fantastic. It's my favorite IPA on the market. My favorite IPA, but it is delicious. It is delicious. So we have another one in here that says, what's your favorite bourbon? I'm not looking at the question right now, but Um, that was the tone of the question. What, what about you there, Bubba? |
| Andrew | Uh, so I am in the way of like, this is another nuanced question in, in what, what's the context of it? It was, is it my favorite bourbon I can drink every day? Or is it my favorite bourbon to just have like that special sip of? Have yourself an answer, man. Have myself an answer. So my, one of my favorites that I have ever had is W. L. Weller, the special reserve purple label. It is fantastic. It's got Sherry notes and it's the, the, anybody who's familiar with bourbons and is listening is familiar, is familiar with the, with the Weller lineup. It's a Buffalo trace. It's a, it's basically the, the X outs, the seconds of Pappy's distillery and W. L. Weller is phenomenal. It's extremely affordable and it is, |
| Everett | And when he says extremely affordable, I mean like 30 bucks a bottle between 30 and 80 bucks, depending on, depending on where you find it. |
| Andrew | Yeah. So like 30 bucks a bottle for just something terrifically smooth, terrifically drinkable. And what's great about it is that it's, it tastes special, but it's also not so big. It's not an Elijah Craig that you can have like once a week and be like, Oh, I don't need any more of that. You can have it every day. And it's affordable enough that you can have it every day. Sure. Provided it's available in stores because people have caught on to the fact that it's a seconds and is also delicious and is the best value in the liquor market. |
| Everett | You know, I really love Green Label Weller when you can find it. It's hard to find, right? If I'm going to buy something special that I know I can find, it's going to be Knob Creek. I like Knob Creek. Woodford's really good too. Standard Knob Creek is my go-to jam. But in terms of what I like to drink, what I like to drink on a daily basis, as you may or may not know, I'm a Wild Turkey guy, so Wild Turkey is 101 proof. |
| Andrew | But it's the Wild Turkey 101 specifically, because there's a Wild Turkey that's not 101. |
| Everett | Well, there's a number of Wild Turkey products, but Wild Turkey 101, the OG, you know, I'll tell you guys, I think that a lot of people have an experience with Wild Turkey 101 when they're in college or perhaps even high school. And so there's this idea that wild turkey is nasty booze. No. But I'll tell you, as a guy who has had a lot of bourbons and a lot of really good bourbons, my experience is that wild turkey is the best, the best value. It could be in bourbon. It is an incredibly smooth drinking, super balanced whiskey. And because it is 101 proof, it's hot. I use the term hot, which in my mind is a good thing. I think some people feel like hot or spicy takes away from bourbon. |
| Andrew | It can when improperly managed. |
| Everett | But in terms of a daily drinker, golly, Yeah, Wild Turkey. That's my go-to jam. |
| Andrew | Famous Grouse is the same way. I mean, Four Roses. I don't know. We could probably have a whiskey podcast, I think. |
| Everett | So, Tom Sorolini asks us, what was your first watch? I think we both kind of talked about that already. |
| Andrew | I don't really know what my first watch was. In the way of my first thoughtful decision, it was the Citizen Avion. Sure. But in the way of my first watch, who the fuck knows? |
| Everett | Yeah, I know for me, I know it was that Lady and the Tramp watch. And there was a swatch that closely followed that one. You know, an 80s, lots of color swatch. But yeah, my first thoughtful decision was my SKX. |
| Andrew | Sorry to not give you a better answer on that one. |
| Everett | Okay, I like this. What are your views on price range within a collection, i.e., consistent prices versus grails among beaters? |
| Andrew | I'd tend Swords of the Second, like the latter. I think for it to be a collection, an accumulation of watches, it should be diverse. You should have some beaters. You should have some watches that maybe have some sentimental value. And I think that everyone deserves to have those couple watches that are like, this was more expensive than I... This is more money than I should have spent on a watch, but I love this watch and I want to have it. Yeah. I think you should have some diversity because if your watch is are you know if what you have is entirely made up of beaters then why have more than one and if it's entirely made up of grail watches like and none of them are grail watch right yeah i mean if you have nine grails which one's the grail well i think that the i think that the you know this isn't either or right so so it's either do you want sort of consistent pricing or do you want these this sort of diversified uh collection i think that the first option |
| Everett | uh, connotes a certain level of, um, well, I think it connotes an idea that there's, uh, objective qualities to watches that are only obtainable at certain price levels, right? So, so a thousand dollar watch is inherently going to be better or more good than a |
| Andrew | $200 watch. Or a $9 watch in the F91W. That's right. |
| Everett | And we have, over the last two years, I think squashed that idea, or at least attempted to, whether or not we've done so successfully or not. It's up to you guys. But, you know, I get more joy out of the SKX, putting that SKX on my wrist, than I do just about any other watch I've ever worn. So if you brought me a Patek Calatrava, I would realize that it was wonderful. I would love to wear it. I would have a good time. I would enjoy it. It would be special. |
| Andrew | And he would run so far and so fast. |
| Everett | Right. With that said, I would not get more joy out of wearing that watch. Furthermore, you know, everybody loves the Orisaquis, and I've said on the show before that I don't like the Orisaquis, but I think that there's this idea. In fact, TGV, what is it? What? What is the, what is the, is it TGV? What is the, are you talking about human papillomavirus? Yes, exactly. No, uh, the urban gentry, uh, I think released a video in the last couple of weeks. That's that suggests that the Oris Aquas is the best dive watch between a thousand and 2000. I tell you right now, I'll take an SKX all any day over an Oris Aquas. |
| Andrew | Now there are other watches. There's other watches in that price point that I think are superior. |
| Everett | That's right. That I would, you know, as I said earlier, a Doxa, a Doxa, you know, 300, I think a Sumo is a better watch. Perhaps. I would, I like, and I would not trade my SKX for a Sumo. |
| Andrew | I wouldn't. Yeah, I know. They're going to be the same price soon. So there is no... I'm an idiot for not having bought one. |
| Everett | Dick. So there's no, you know, buy the watches you like. Yeah. No matter how much they cost. I mean, obviously you're going to be constrained by your own budget, but you know, to the extent that you see a hundred dollar watch and you're like, I just fucking love that watch and I want to wear it, but wear it. I have a Speedmaster, I have an SNK, and some days I pick up the SNK and I'm like, I'm wearing you today, SNK. |
| Andrew | Well, your SNK is not a good example of an SNK. |
| Everett | But you wore your SNK the other day and it was the same thing. I thought, God, that's a fucking cool watch, man. So there's no inherent value in spending more money. |
| Andrew | But I think there is to the point of if you can only afford 12, 15, 25, 30, dollar watches, like super, super affordable watches, like forgettable money watches. I don't think it's necessary for you to be buying 100 of them, 20 of them even. Sure. Cause they're really, there, there's not a big, there's not a really noticeable difference in what's available at that price point. So there's going to be things where, yeah, you're, I feel like your prices, your price points, your, your actual, expense of your watches should have a variation, but that's in the nature of what's filling those roles in the watches that you have. Everyone should have their dirty banger watch that they can wear in the mud, that they can wear when they're over the grill, when they're swinging a hammer, and whether it's an F91, whether it's a 5600, whatever. There's going to be some diversity. I think it's like a toolbox. you're going to have tools that are more expensive than others. And you're going to have tools that have different applications. |
| Everett | So thoughts on Horages efforts to build a movement and whether more people will do it as costs come down. I thought about this a little bit today, so I'm going to tackle this one. Um, you know, I, I think that there's a number of companies right now that are doing a lot to sort of develop, uh, develop movements and diversity of movement manufacturing. Um, Haraj being an example. I don't know a ton about Haraj's movement or the CMMK movement, whatever it is. What I do know is that they're fairly expensive. I know that in the United States, we've got sort of a movement to have truly sort of American movements. I know that RGM for years has had their sort of American made and assembled. I know Cameron Weiss. a number of years ago, had one of the first actual FTC-compliant American-made movements with the, I think it's the 1003 caliber. They're expensive, right? They're expensive. Because it just takes a lot to do that in the United States. I asked Nick about this, Nick Harris of Orion, about this earlier. You know, hey, what are we still lacking on? He thinks we can do jewels here, there's still a hard time doing hairsprings here, and escapements can be tough. So yes, I think more and more companies are going to start trying to do movements. This implies that companies are going to make movements and the prices are going to come down. I don't see that happening. Not anytime soon. |
| Andrew | What I hope for the next five years is that we get an, at least an American company doing soup to nuts movements. Like an eBauch. Yeah. And at like the five year mark becomes competitive with ETA or MIOTA in the way of movement production. That's what I hope. I don't think it'll happen. It won't happen. |
| Everett | But that's my hope. You know, there's, there's a couple of problems with that. One, there's, there's ROI, right? Right. These companies are going to invest so much money into these processes. And so the odds that they're going to be able to get an ROI in five years, such that they can lower the prices. The other thing is scaling, right? They're not going to be able to scale production. I mean, this is a 50, you know, maybe a 25, 30, 40 year process. And someone's going to have to be really focused on efficiency and scale. |
| Andrew | I don't think it's a 40 year process. I mean, I think American manufacturing can capture the efficiency and scale because American manufacturing is, it has all the same components. It's just what we're trying to do is translate it into making watch parts. And it's a matter of a company seeing the value in, in the American watch market, which is, is a burgeoning small, like a boutique market. That's which is, which is, which is hard to capture. What they're going to have to do is be able to capture 100 clients. as opposed to one. |
| Everett | That's right. Yeah. So we'll see, right? We'll see. We'll see what happens. I think we're much further off from having accessible sort of entry-level American movements. I know that wasn't exactly the question, but we sort of reframed it in a way that's on our minds. |
| Andrew | We'll have to do another State of the Watch Union at the conclusion of 2020. Perhaps. And state our current state and where we hope to be. in the following year. |
| Everett | So I'm sure this person wants to remain confidential, so I won't say who this is. What, if any other podcasts, perhaps hosted by two hilarious Scotsmen, do you listen to? Andrew, what watch podcasts are you listening to? |
| Andrew | So my watch, my podcasts in general have fallen off because for the last, you 18 weeks I haven't I've been in a car with somebody else. But as I get back into being a car by myself, I like a lot of the great NATO podcasts. I like to broke watch knobs. I really like Scottish watches. Ten and two is a winner. But in the way of none, watch. And there's other watch podcasts that I'll like pick up, like find episodes and go to them, like Love and Watches. I don't want to leave anybody out of this because everyone is producing quality content. Some people like more than others. So not being on my list, I don't know. I don't know why I feel like I have an obligation to not be offensive. Yeah, because I like these people. But outside of watch podcasts, I love Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. Small Town Dicks is one that I listen to whenever they drop their new season. And that's all, well, for the most part, it's all true crime stuff. Stuff You Should Know, Radiolab. Stuff You Should Know. Just the kind of general nerdy podcast lineup that I think everybody's listening to. I don't think I'm unique in my podcast consumption. No. |
| Everett | No. So I'm, I'm a, you know, Radio Lab, This American Life, every week, both of those, both of those shows. I do really like Stuff You Should Know, although sometimes I feel like... I pick and choose. |
| Andrew | I mean, I'm not a, I'm not an every episode person. |
| Everett | They're like the us version, you know, like, you guys don't know what the fuck I'm talking about. They just read some shit on Warner Round, you know? |
| Andrew | Yeah, that's our jam. We are you guys right now. We're the same people. We just happen to have microphones in front of us and |
| Everett | But in terms of... Like drinking beer together. In terms of watch podcasts, it's no surprise. I really like Tenet too. Their material is week in and week out the best. They did a Teddy Baldessar interview that is just freaking nuts. You know, week in, week out, that's my favorite. Those gals really have the gift of gab down. Scottish Watches is hilarious. Too bad they'd never join us. I know, right? Those fuckers. Uh, out of time, out of time podcast, I think is maybe a little bit of a sleeper pick. I'm not sure that they're, um, I'm not sure that they're really in the popular conversation, which is too bad because they are doing fantastic, fantastic shows and their whole sound, their whole thing is different. Uh, so cow watch reviews, uh, Miguel, Miguel and, uh, uh, P and, uh, they're, they're doing something really fun. I really like what they're doing. And obviously, two broke watch knobs, that's my jam. I've stopped listening to Grey Nato. |
| Andrew | I just... They've got some episode... I pick and choose. I'm not a... Any of my podcast consumption, I'm not an every week, every episode listener anymore. |
| Everett | Sure. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I actually wound up getting through most of all of those every week, but... It is what it is. It's hard. It's hard to sort of, sometimes you feel like you got to keep up and then, and then I'll see something and I'll. |
| Andrew | I don't even listen to our podcast anymore. |
| Everett | Oral on it. Well, yeah, no, that's a waste of time. Yeah. Because you're here. |
| Andrew | Well, I used to listen to it because I, I wanted to hear what I sounded like and how to get better. And then I found I was just listening to myself and like zoning out. I wasn't even listening. I was just, I was like talking to myself. It was weird. |
| Everett | Why do you collect watches? Status, quantity, sentimentality, obsession, et cetera? |
| Andrew | Oh, it's because of status because I want to look cool and be cool. |
| Everett | Um, so give me a good answer in about 30 seconds. |
| Andrew | So I, because I love the technology. So my, my friend John today, I was like, Hey, I'm going to go record this podcast. And he's like, I don't understand. I was like, dude, I love, I'm a tinkerer. We, we know this about me. I love things. I love things that I don't understand. I love learning things. And one of the things I like about watches is this tiny little piece of engineering miracle. The technology that goes into a watch fascinates me. The different parts of a watch fascinate me. How they can do exactly the same thing differently fascinates me. And I love watches. I like wearing a watch. We've talked about this since the beginning. I think if you can get the little details right, you can get everything else right. I feel put together when I'm wearing a watch. And as a result of that, I need many. |
| Everett | Yeah, I mean, I think that's pretty close. You know, I collect watches for the same reason I drive an LS 400. Right. I do not have to drive a 1996 Lexus. There is no necessity there for me. I could drive a Prius because you're kind of a Prius guy. I would probably drive a Prius if I was going to go buy a new car. It'd be a Prius or perhaps a Tesla if I was feeling funky that day. |
| Andrew | But you should drive a Tesla if you're going to choose that route. But it continue. |
| Everett | But right. There's room in the budget. Right? So it's not like I'm forced into this 25 year old car. So I collect watches for the same reason that I drive an LS 400, that I wear, that I have, you know, 12 pairs of American-made dress shoes in my closet, and, you know, another 10 pairs of Air Maxes, right? It's a thing. I see a thing. I like a thing. I get the thing. |
| Andrew | And you want to know everything about that thing. And as you learn more about that thing, you want more of that thing. |
| Everett | That's it. That's it. So this is a good follow up. Nick from Orion says, what keeps you interested slash engaged with watches? And hold on a little cutaway. I'm saying some of these people because they're public people. And I know that they wouldn't be. I know that they wouldn't be offended that I said this person asked the question. Some of you, I'm just preserving your anonymity because I don't know. So if I'm not saying your name, it's just because I don't know the answer. But I know Nick would be okay. He says, what keeps you interested, engaged with watches? |
| Andrew | It's growing. It's different. It's constantly changing, even though it's always the same. Right? The watch world could be in the way of the watch world could explode, could have some kind of revolution tomorrow, but it's all going to be the same. We're all going that every watch company, every watch manufacturer is going to be trying to fit this new technology, this new cool thing into something 40 millimeters by 47 millimeters or less. Right? How cool is that? We're dealing with the adult version of micromachines and I love it. Every watch is so different, but exactly the same. Right? |
| Everett | That's right. Yeah, that's right. The adult version of micromachines is a fantastic line. If I was on my Kindle app, I would highlight that. Yeah. |
| Andrew | Thank you. I'm so profound. |
| Everett | Your thoughts on it. There are weeks where I feel like I don't want to do watches today. |
| Andrew | That's why we're doing this episode this week. |
| Everett | I don't want to do watches today. But I will say, I will say this. I always come back. And because no matter what, Andrew, you know, will ping me, you know, say Thursday or Friday afternoon and say, what are we doing this week? And I say, God, I don't know. What do you want to do? And then he'll say, Why don't we do this?"And in my head, I go, that's a fucking stupid topic, Andrew. And then I'll start... And then you'll start burying into it. |
| Andrew | You're like, oh, I like this. Watches are fucking awesome. You'll bring more to the table than me. And I'll come and I'll have, you know, a page of notes. And you'll be like, you'll have nine legal pages. You're like, I don't know how we're going to fit this all in an hour. I'm like, how did you... Like, you don't write any bigger than I do. |
| Everett | You know, it's just I keep, you know, the more I learn, the more the more interested I am. |
| Andrew | So... And so, for example, I have three chronographs sitting in front of me. Mm-hmm. And they are all the same. They all do exactly the same thing. And yet... And yet, no, there's no similarities. And yet, yeah. And I love them all. Yeah. In different ways. They're kind of like my children at this point. |
| Everett | At least one of those, or at least two of those are not your children at all. |
| Andrew | No, they're coming home with me, all of them. |
| Everett | Best travel travel watch with a dual time or GMT. |
| Andrew | Can we circle back first to our live audience question? Because it sort of relates to the question we're just working on. Our live audience. My friend John is here. He's sitting in the massage chair and he's drinking beer with us. And he asked, he brought over his phone. He was trying to not interrupt. And he asked, what about smart watches? So John works at a university campus. And he's our age. He's, you know, he's a grown-ass adult. And he works on a university. uh, educates the future of America. Yeah. And he asked what about smartwatch? He said, all everyone he sees is wearing a smartwatch. And I, and I think that we probably haven't given smartwatches the, um, recognition they deserve in the watch industry or the, as the disruptors to the watch industry that they warrant. Right. And I, I think we probably owe an entire episode to smartwatches and the value and the detriment to urology as a whole. Yeah. So I have never... I've worn one. I put it on my wrist and said, okay. And Toxic does smartwatch straps. He makes an adapter. |
| Everett | Terry from Toxic Natos. |
| Andrew | Yeah. So Terry makes... an adapter for Apple watches to put his straps on Apple watches. So there's some companies in kind of peripheral to watches specifically who were in the smartwatch category, Barton's making Apple watch straps. Um, but I, I think in the way of smartwatches, I, I don't think for people like you and me for, for watch folk, I don't think they hurt the watch industry because psycho is going to continue making watches. All the micros we love, all the boutique brands we love, are going to continue making watches because there's always going to be a market for people like us. Just like there's always going to be a market for people who restore classic cars. |
| Everett | That's right. You know, I've bought my wife three very cool watches. Yeah. Very, very cool watches. And she loves them. She loves them. But, you know, she's just not into watches, right? |
| Andrew | I bought Sam an Apple Watch and I just said there's no sense in buying her anymore. |
| Everett | I bought Kim an Apple Watch for her birthday in February, and it's one of the few gifts that I've given her that her eyes lit up when she opened the box. And she has worn it every day and she loves it. I think that there's... At least she's worn it every day. What's that? At least she's worn it every day. Yeah. Well, I think that there's something to be said for what a watch, what an Apple Watch can do uh, that integrates very well with our modern life. Yeah. For guys like you and I, I'm sort of, I'm not anti Apple watch. I'm certainly not anti Apple watch, uh, because I think they're really cool. And sometimes I, you know, I will grab her Apple watch when I'm going to go on a run. Cause I want to listen to this American life for 10 and two while I run these six miles or whatever. Right. Um, but it's not in my mind, it's not properly a watch. It doesn't fill the void. That's right. I want to put a watch on. It's not doing the things I want to watch to do. |
| Unknown | Yep. |
| Andrew | Be cool. Even though it's cool. Yeah. I can never see myself wearing one. And I feel that that's probably... And I've seen the Instagram photos of people who put an Explorer or Datejust background on their Apple Watch. That's fun. That's cool. But it doesn't make it a watch. It's not going to do it. |
| Everett | It just... It is a cell phone, a smartphone strapped to your wrist. It's a Tesla truck. |
| Andrew | is what it is. That's exactly what an Apple Watch is. It's a Tesla truck. |
| Everett | That's uncalled for, sir. Best travel watch with a dual time or GMT complication for under $1,000. Under $1,000? Shit. |
| Andrew | World timer, 20 bucks. Yeah. You don't give a shit if you lose it. If it, if it doesn't make it through security, if it breaks, it's a five time zones preset has every time zone preloaded into it. You set the time. Once you hit your time zone, when you get off the plane, you're good to go. |
| Everett | You know, I haven't, I don't, I've never touched one of these. Um, but squalor's tropic GMT with the ghosty gray blue bezel. I love that watch. I think that's the one that I always come back to. If I'm going to buy a sub-thousand dollar GMT watch, I think it would be that one. |
| Andrew | So I really like Bernhards, but the reason I tend towards the... So the word travel watch is what pushes me towards the world timer. A watch you're going to travel with, you kind of have to be emotionally prepared to lose. Interesting. I don't agree, but... You don't think so? You don't think a watch that you're going to be in a hotel with, you have to be emotionally prepared to lose? |
| Everett | I mean, I just don't see that. I mean, I understand what you're saying, but no, I don't think it's a significant concern that I would have. |
| Andrew | Oh, that's me. Anything I'd take traveling with me, I'm emotionally prepared to lose. You're ready to let it go. |
| Everett | Yeah. Yeah. That's fair. I think that's totally fair. No, for me, I don't see any sort of need to You know, I am cognizant if I have someone else's watch, I won't travel with someone else's watch. I won't... Sort of? |
| Andrew | Yeah, I mean, I have. Didn't we take a Nemo to Mexico? |
| Everett | That's possible. Yeah, that's possible. |
| Andrew | No, we didn't. We left it here. We just... Yeah, no, we didn't. Because we talked about it, actually. |
| Everett | So we're not the best people to answer this question. What are the jewels for in a movement? Why does the amount matter? |
| Andrew | The amount doesn't matter. And the amount matters insofar as people felt like as a marketing device, more jewels is more better. About 18 jewels, I think, is sort of the diminishing. |
| Everett | 17 is where you start to get into it. |
| Andrew | Is the diminishing return. And what they do is they lubricate your movement. They're the bearings that your movement runs on. |
| Everett | It's a harder surface that's less abrasion resistant than steel. |
| Andrew | More abrasion resistant. |
| Everett | Or another, or a precious metal, or any sort of metal. So they're going to have less wear over time, and they're going to be a smoother surface. |
| Andrew | They're the bearings for your movement. And 1718 is, I think, the demissioning return. And I don't know why 23 seems to be kind of the universal, like, this is what we're doing. |
| Everett | Well, yeah, you see 17, 21, 25, 27. |
| Andrew | You get into precious jewels, which is a function of just luxury items. Yeah. So short answer. Sorry, we can't do better right now. |
| Everett | That's right. Anywhere where metal is going to be rubbing against other metal, you stick a jewel in there and it creates a point of less abrasion, less resistance. Yeah. Thoughts on Seiko moving upmarket with higher prospects slash priceage prices and the Grand Seiko brand? |
| Andrew | I'm kind of torn by it. I want Seiko to stay super affordable and super accessible and they don't have to because people love Seiko now at this point. We're looking at like a brand who has become incredibly established. Everyone knows Seiko. Everyone, even non-watch people know Seiko. And because of that, people associate it with a higher quality, closer to, you know, a luxury brand watch, even though it's not a luxury. People know Seiko, people know Rolex. Those are the two watch brands that everyone knows. So people are going to be willing to pay more. If you walk into Macy's and you see a Seiko for 250 bucks. You'll be like, Oh, okay. Yeah. No, I'm cool with that. You see a Seiko for 500 bucks. You're like, Oh yeah. No, that makes sense. It's a Seiko. You see a Rolex for a couple grand. You're like, Oh, that makes sense. That's a Rolex. And I think, I think Seiko's brand recognition has garnered its ability to be a $500 and over watch brand. |
| Everett | Yeah, no, I think that basically captures my thoughts as well. You know, I remember at some point before I really started collecting watches, thinking Seiko's are something special. And I think this idea that Seiko's moving up market is we're seeing it in real time. We're seeing it happen in real time. So it's certainly happening. I would say that Seiko has been sort of lagging in that regard over the course of the last 20 years, right? They should already be there. Yeah. |
| Andrew | And I think that... But Grand Seiko made it so they didn't have to. Perhaps. |
| Everett | And then they split. Perhaps. You know, I think Seiko's taking control of its brand in a way that makes perfect sense. I don't take anything away from them for their decision, and I want them to continue to make good watches. |
| Andrew | I want them to continue making the SSB. And the SKX for that matter, but I've lost that hope, so at least give me the SSB. Don't take that away from me. |
| Everett | You know, I think, as with any brand, you've got to sort of be comfortable with where the brand is at any given time. My life is not dependent on what Seiko is going to do next year. We've got another question that we're not going to answer. Someone did ask us what our thoughts are on all the new releases. Uh, we're going to get there indirectly by way of another question because we just don't have time to talk about it. Neither one of us are going to buy any of those watches that got announced last week, at least not in the next year. It's just not going to happen. Um, they're not acute timex. They're not really, you did buy acute timex. They're not really on our radar, but, but we, I think we'll get there indirectly coming up. So do you have any tips on finding the near mythical local watchmaker with reasonable pricing? |
| Unknown | No. |
| Andrew | Because they don't exist. Here's what you need to do. You're going to need to... I don't have an answer. I don't know the avenue to go to find your local watchmaker, to find a local watchmaker. My greatest recommendation is to hit the forums and find... Because there's not going to be a local watchmaker. |
| Everett | Well, we've got a local watchmaker here in town. But he's a dick. He's a... Well, no. So there's two of them, right? There's one of them that's a dick that I would never even step foot into a store. And then there's Anderson's. Anderson's, I think John is the name of... You're coming in quiet. I'm coming in quiet? Yeah. I think John is the name of the owner in Anderson's, and he's not a dick, and I think he's a good watchmaker. But he's not... I mean, it's not what I'd call, quote unquote, reasonable pricing, because watches are fucking expensive, right? So this is a man who's dedicated his life to a craft. And so what do we mean when we say reasonable pricing? |
| Andrew | I don't think he's... Go to watch school. That's how you find the local watchmaker, is that you become that person. |
| Everett | This shit's expensive. He's a fucking master craftsman. It's not reasonable implies to me that it's not going to cost an arm and a leg. Well, guess what? |
| Andrew | That's the equivalent of asking for a reasonably priced mechanic when your engine blows a head gasket. You're paying a couple grand. |
| Everett | It's going to cost an arm and a leg. If you want to have a 7S26 movement service, it's going to cost you four times or 12 times the cost of the movement. Sorry, that's not a reasonably priced watchmaker. It doesn't exist. They're reasonably priced because that's the value of a service. |
| Andrew | And you're going to have to outsource it. You're not going to be able to go local. You're going to have to go to somebody like Terry in Colorado. from toxic, like you're going to have to go out of your area. You're going to have to go to the forums. You're going to have to go to watch you seek and they're going to refer you to then 12 guys, maybe 15 guys across the United States who are doing this as a passion project and not as a living. That's right. And that's what it comes down to. If you're looking for a reasonable price, you're going to have to look for dudes who are doing it out of the passion, not because they want to make money doing it. |
| Everett | And let's take the piss out of that word, reasonable, right? Because it's fucking reasonable, no matter what they charge you, because that's how much they charge, right? |
| Andrew | The only unreasonable pricing in the world is Eric at EAA, right? And yeah, I'll say it again, Eric, you don't charge enough for your watch straps. |
| Everett | Charge more. Okay, so scratches, dings, nicks on the watch slash bracelet. Do you leave them? or do you clean them up and why? |
| Andrew | You leave them. I leave them. That's personality. That's patina. That's the character that watches earned as being a part of your life. My truck is parked in your front of your house right now. I can't wash. I've driven it through the woods so many times through across so many logging roads that are not drivable because trees have fallen. Branches are in it. Brambles are across it. I've, I've driven it off the road just through like fucking Jurassic Park world that when it's washed, it looks like it's striped. I, I spent probably three hours trying to buff out scratches and it didn't, it made no difference. And I love my truck. It's the personality that my truck is owned because my truck goes everywhere with me and, and my, my Mako, every little scratch ding, that's, that's my, That's my go-to watch. It's earned its life. It's earned its scratches. They're just like the scars that I carry on my body. |
| Everett | You know, I am maybe a little bit more liberal. I will brush a buckle. I will brush the bottom of a strap if it's getting sort of unduly scratched. But yeah, by and large, I'm not polishing bezels. Occasionally, I'll take a Cape Cod cloth to the sides on my SKX because I love it when they're blingy. But, yeah, I mean, by and large, I just roll with it, right? I've never touched my Sarb with any sort of polishing cloth. Now, this is interesting because this is a bit of a segue. I was talking to Catlin over at... I can never remember which one prefers Cat and which one prefers Catlin. I was talking to Catlin.watches.life, not Cartoon Cat, but the other one. She said something about, you know, you better clean your bracelets yourself and not take them to someone to clean them. And I was like, wait, do people do that? Do people not clean their watches? |
| Andrew | Do people clean their watches? I clean my watches all the time. The only watches I clean are my Iron Man and my 5600. The reason I clean my 5600 is because I wear it at work and I encounter a lot of yucky at work. |
| Everett | It's got meth on it at any given time. |
| Andrew | Yeah, it's got meth. Literally crystal meth. Actual meth, actual blood. So I hit it with the kill everything wipes, and then I hit it with Q-tips, and the same with my Iron Man. |
| Everett | I have a soft bristle toothbrush, and I take baking soda. Baking soda and a soft brush, or even Toms of Maine. I'll take toothpaste And I'll hit the bracelet, I'll hit it on the inside, I'll hit the inside of the lugs. Am I dirty? Am I yucky? Is it bad that I don't clean my watches? I've never noticed that your watches are dirty, but I... Yeah, no, I definitely clean mine. When they look like they need to get cleaned, I fucking clean them. Oh, I don't clean... Maybe I'm yucky. Yeah, you are. So, what do you call... No, I'm gonna skip that one. |
| Andrew | No, do it. Because we already talked about it. No, we already talked about that one. I just wanna hear the question, because it sounds like a joke. |
| Everett | Nah, it's not. What do you call a bracelet that had a first link that is larger than the end link? Why can't I buy one? So this question came from... A tapered bracelet. No, it's not tapered. It is... He's talking about something different. So he's talking about the end link being skinny and then it flares out to that first link. |
| Andrew | Oh, like an integrated bracelet. Kind of. |
| Everett | Like for a hooded... Perhaps. Yes, for hooded lugs. That's right. And so we talked about this a little and I think that the answer is... because those are going to be super sort of unique in size and they're going to be really designed for a specific watch, which is probably why you can't buy them on the general market. But frankly, I don't know what you'd call them. |
| Andrew | Good luck. Yeah. Good luck. Talk to Eric. He does some pretty cool custom leather straps. |
| Everett | So here's another one. Sir. Ooh, who's he talking to? Are bund straps demonstrably better than all other types of straps? No. No. This came from an account, by the way, called Bund or Bust. Oh. Bund or Bust. Bust. |
| Andrew | Bust. Bust. The effort you put into creating the Instagram account, I commend, but I must say that there's a reason the bund strap did not make a showing in our exhaustive list of the top straps, bracelets, shoes for your watch. |
| Everett | I am very certain I know exactly who this person is. This person has been trolling the Instagrams as of late and for good reason. |
| Andrew | But yeah. Though the picture he did send us of that watch on it, I don't remember what watch it was on a button strap. It looked dope. It doesn't make me like the strap though. It just was a good combo. |
| Everett | Last question. Are you ready? Do me. If Orient is the new Seiko, Is Vostok the New Orient? |
| Andrew | No, because Vostok isn't growing. Vostok isn't changing. They're still dropping garbage and the Amphibia and the Commander. |
| Everett | Okay, so the New Orient then being on the count of three. One, two, three. Timex. Timex, yes. Yeah. Yeah. No, in my mind, that's what's happened here. I think Seiko's moved into some sort of hybrid, almost Swiss brand |
| Andrew | I think they've filled the gap between luxury Swiss and Swiss and luxury. So they filled that, they filled the gap between luxury watches. Like they, they've generally Seiko is, is in most people's mind a sub, sub $500 watch. I think they've stepped into the five to thousand dollar range, which I think is, I think we can all agree on. |
| Everett | They're in sort of the Tiso, maybe not quite Oris, but sort of heading there. |
| Andrew | They're in that zone. Orient's going to fill that space. And Orient, I think, is going to drop some new lines, some new watches over the course of the next three to five years to fill that gap. And I think we're going to see Timex seeing this transition and just seeing what Timex has done in the last year. They're going to step up and they're going to fill that Orient gap. And I'm really excited to see an American company fill that gap. Hole. To fill that hole. |
| Everett | Other things. Andrew, go. |
| Andrew | So what I want to talk about today for my other thing I sort of already talked about was fishing on the Rau. And I took, I didn't catch a single fish today. |
| Everett | We heard the excuses. |
| Andrew | So I worked at it for quite a while. I was cold, I had to poop, but I worked at it. I hit it pretty hard. I changed flies a couple times. I was starting to get pissed off because John's over here. So John's our live audience right now. He's just sitting in the massage chair drinking beer, and John's just ripping fish out of the fucking river, and I'm getting sort of pissed off because I'm like, here I am telling him that the The experience of the Pacific Northwest is trout fishing on a fly rod and he's got he's got my trout gear and he's just pulling fish out. I got one fish on. I'm like fuck up John. I don't care and I'm throwing my fly. I'm getting tangled up because I'm just starting to get angry and I'm just like flailing like an idiot in the water. It's normally how you fly fish though. Yeah, but I'm getting like I'm getting mad and I'm also cold. So I'm getting like extra mad and I had a poop and I have to poop So I'm like getting really, yeah. So and he's, he's, so John fished in my, in my, uh, in my water fouling waders. So he's, he's expecting to be cold. So he wore like a, like a waffle bottom thermals and he's wearing my neoprene waders. So he's like dripping sweat and just gear fishing and ripping fish and I'm fly fishing and I'm in my waders and I figured I'd be comfortable. So I'm in no insulation, freezing, fishing, furious in this honey hole. What I, I loved sharing the Northwest river fishing experience with someone who's never had that. And I think that's, it was, it was super spec and I, and I think really valuable for me to not catch any fish in the way of a learning experience to just share the, to share what we have here in the Northwest. |
| Everett | Fishing in a small stream for rainbow trout or cutthroat is a fucking experience. |
| Andrew | And he caught a cut. He caught rainbows. And I know if I were to go to Carolina or to Virginia or Florida and fish with him and we go out surf fishing and we're in shorts and flip flops and we're casting, he'd have exactly the same feeling of like, I don't want to catch anything right now because my only goal is that you get to experience what I get to experience every day. And I loved it. Cause he's, he's been out here a couple of times for work, but this is the first time I've ever got to take him fishing up here. And it was such a cool, like one of the best feelings I've ever had. Like the only way I could top it is if he came out here in September and we went elk hunting and he got to shoot an elk. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Everett | Well, I'll tell you, I really appreciate the invite and I'm sorry that I couldn't make it. Um, But yeah, no, I do appreciate you messaging me to ask me to go because that was super nice of you. |
| Andrew | Fucking bastard. It was a little impromptu, so I'm not sorry I didn't invite you, but I'm sorry you didn't come. |
| Everett | I've got two. I'm going to make one of them short because it's sort of... I feel a little bit weird about this one because there's a couple of podcasts that are pimping this thing pretty hard right now. But the group the public radio group that owns NPR and that owns WBZ Chicago, is it W? Yes. WBZ Chicago. Yeah. And the Radio Lab and some of these big NPR type podcast groups, they bought a few months ago, they bought Pocket Casts. And so this is going to sound like a paid advertisement. I promise you they are not paying us anything. We don't make money here. I fucking promise you. But Pocket Casts became, I think in September of last year, a free app. And I just haven't gotten around to trying it. I downloaded it on my phone today, and it's fucking awesome. What's it do? You know, it's a podcast app, but the way it organizes podcasts, the way it allows you to search, and the way it does sort of trending is suggested. You know, its search function for different podcasts is really good. I liked it a lot. If you have any reservations about the podcast app you're using, that was deep. I'd say give it a try. I really like it. I have been an Overcast user for years because I really like Overcast. I've used Breaker on and off, although Breaker I think is sort of like a social, and I'm just not digging that. I'm an iTunes guy. The Apple podcast app I don't think is half bad. But Pocket Casts, I really liked it. I really enjoyed it. I've been using it. |
| Andrew | Are we on Pocket Casts? |
| Everett | Well, yeah, you can find us on Pocket Casts. Okay, then you can use Pocket Casts. Continue your spiel. You can find everybody. It picks up an RSS feed. So if you're publishing by way of iTunes at any level, you're going to be able to find it. That's it. Pocket Casts. I think give it a try. If you have any reservations about your podcast system, I do understand that importing from other apps is a little bit of a bitch. I didn't have that issue, but some people have suggested, I think if you're a power user, you might have some difficulty there, but I didn't. |
| Andrew | Did you know that people are now, for music that you don't want to buy, like the Napster, the current era Napster, people are uploading music as podcasts? |
| Everett | Oh yeah, that makes sense. |
| Andrew | I was not aware of that. Yeah, that makes sense. I recently learned that, that people will like, in order to crowd share, |
| Everett | Music. |
| Andrew | They upload as a podcast. They just upload it as a podcast. |
| Everett | That makes sense. Cool. I'll have to figure that out. |
| Andrew | We should do that and then start getting advertising. |
| Everett | We can pay for this podcast. That reminds me. I want to talk to you about something we're not. America. Do I cut this out? I think maybe. The other thing I have. So there's a fella. There's a fella on YouTube named Guga. Google? Guga. |
| Andrew | Is he British? No. And says his name is Google? |
| Everett | He's American, but I think he's probably of Latin ancestry of sorts. But he has two YouTube channels. One of them is called sous vide everything. Oh, I could sous vide everything. Sous vide everything? Sous vide everything? |
| Andrew | Whatever. |
| Everett | Sous vide. And the other one is called Guga Foods. They're both sort of meat heavy cooking YouTube channels. Sous Vide Everything, obviously, is focused on sous vide food. And the other sort of concentrates on dry-aged and very fine steaks and meats. But he does experiments. He does experiments. So people will say... Hey, Google, we think that you can do like a dry aged tenderized thing packed in butter. And he's like, well, fuck it. Let's try it. He does a lot of like Kobe, Australian Kobe or not Kobe. Yeah, Kobe. Yeah. Why is he so rich? You know, it's just what he does. These channels are freaking awesome. I watch almost every video that comes out on either channel and they're all really good. He's goofy. He's a goofy dude. And he has, I don't know where these guys come from, they must work for him in some capacity, but he brings these guys on to do tests with him, you know, to taste the food. Risk food poisoning? That's right. They're probably his siblings. Perhaps, you know, I don't think they are. I think that they must be employees and I'm not sure what his primary business is. |
| Andrew | Hey, Guga, if you're looking for someone who's willing to risk food poisoning, I'm your guy. |
| Everett | Right. But it makes me just want to try everything. |
| Andrew | I, you know, I looked at making a dry aging locker in my backyard and it's pretty easy. You just frame out a room and put an air conditioner in it. |
| Everett | You don't even need to do that. He shows you, he has these bags. They're not, I mean, he uses these bags where he just takes like a ribeye, a whole, a whole ribeye, sticks it in a bag, vacuum packs it just like you were going to sous vide it and sticks it in the fridge for 30 days. And then they bring it out and he's like, this is dope. You've got to check out Google foods, Andrew. I am amazed. We don't talk about this before we record. I'm amazed that you haven't watched it. I haven't. I own YouTube a bunch. Let's go in on a ribeye and you can use your vacuum packer. We're going to have to get the bags. We'll get a ribeye. |
| Andrew | I have bags. I have a vacuum sealer. I have everything. You need special bags. |
| Everett | You need special bags. |
| Andrew | I have a vacuum sealing bag. |
| Everett | It's like I have the vacuum backpacks. You need special dry aging bags. That's what I'm trying to tell you. |
| Andrew | What I'm trying to tell you is that I want to frame out a dry aging room. All you have to do is frame out a small room, put some racks in it and attach an air conditioner to it. And if you music me right now, this is not the Oscars. You've done this. |
| Everett | I want to get one of these big hooks. I want to get one of those big shepherd's hooks. |
| Andrew | You know, last week after you musicked me, You let me finish after we ended recording. You're like, oh man, I wish I hadn't music to you. That was interesting. It's true. I'm done talking. |
| Everett | Bye bye. Andrew, do you got anything else? Fuck off. No. Thank you for joining us for this episode of 40 and 20. Check us out on Instagram at 40 and 20. If you didn't, if we didn't answer your question, uh, fear not. There'll be another one of these. Check us out on patreon.com slash 40 and 20. That's where we get all the support for the show. That's how we pay for hosting. That's how we pay for microphones. That's how we pay for this wonderful recording thing where I can turn the music up and down and up and down. |
| Andrew | And cue it in right as soon as I start talking. Basically every time. |
| Everett | We've got a review on the YouTube channel up this week. What was it? Yep. What did we put up on? |
| Andrew | Oh, you put the Nemo up. No, no, no, no. |
| Everett | You put the Scepter up. The EMG Nemo. The EMG Nemo went up on the YouTube this week. Our YouTube review. It's a really fun review. Check it out. Don't forget to tune back in next Thursday for another Hour of Watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. |
| Unknown | Bye bye. |