The Unsung Watches – Geneva Watch Days 2026 – Episode 93

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But the caliber is a really interesting just dissertation
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on the passage of time. And what I mean by that is a dissertation
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on the passage of time. That's an all-time Asher quote, right? What it is.
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This is Open Work, a look inside the watch industry, a podcast
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from Collective Horology. And I'm Gabe Riley,
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co-founder of Collective. I'm back. It's Asher,
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co-founder of Collective. Collective Horology is an independent
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watch retailer based in Ventura, California. We carry a wide range of independent
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watches including Singer Reimagined, Ming,
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Ressence, and more. To learn more about us
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and check out our available inventory, visit collectivehorology.com.
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Gabe, I am so excited because we are now
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an official retailer of Ressence watches.
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Hell yeah! Yeah, and this is, this is a brand that you and I have
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wanted to represent for years.
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Oh yeah, when we like first started out in this whole authorized
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dealer thing and and, you know, probably wrote our business plan
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on paper with crayons. Yeah, I have that business plan.
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It's very incredibly embarrassing. One of the brands on
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the very short list of brands we wanted to carry was, was Resince.
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And so this is really cool. We're huge
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fans of the, of the brand, as well, you know, many if not all
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the brands we carry. This is a brand you've owned.
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Yeah. As a, as a collector and an enthusiast and love.
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And certainly they have an original point of view, and those
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are the brands we love the most. Not just the independents for the sake of
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being independent in their business structure, but really independent
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in their thinking. And Resonance is just one click out from the
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rest of the, the industry and their approach to watchmaking,
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which, you know, you can, you can love it or hate it,
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but the polarizing watches are the ones I think we love the most.
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Yeah, you know, when we were in Geneva this past week for Watch Days,
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uh, we had our meeting with Urwerk And if you recall,
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we were sitting there and, you know, after looking at their incredible novelties,
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and we'll get to that, we also got to talking about
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our friend Carell, who owns Barrel Hand. And through that conversation,
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we also talked about other brands that Felix admires. Felix Baumgartner,
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one of the 2 founders of Urwerk. And the first brand that came to mind
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that he talked about was Résence. And so much because
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Benoît Métienne, the founder behind the brand,
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is one of those unusual founders that has a very clear vision,
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technically, but is also able to bring it to life aesthetically in
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all manner of interesting and innovative ways. And I think this is an interesting
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thing about watch collecting just in general. I think about certain
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designers in the space who are able to take a clear design
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language and be able to go back to that well again and again and
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again and still find some novelty and creativity there.
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We're going to talk about a few of those today. Yeah. And, you know,
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we think about this, you know, with our friend Christian Canoop at IWC.
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Marco Boracino, Singer Reimagined. Exactly. You know,
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But these folks, you know, we're lucky to be able to work with a lot
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of people like this or have worked with people like this, but it's not common.
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No. And it's very rare. Totally. And when I look at
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a lot of the novelty that we see in the modern line
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from Raison, whether that's how the Type 1 has evolved
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into the in-house Type 11, for example, or how some of their art pieces have
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come to life to really showcase not only métier d'art. Yeah. The context pieces
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are so cool. They're so cool. But they're not just cool because of the artistic
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craft that brings them to life, because of the creative ideas behind them. Yeah.
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And when you look at all those things together, you really get to a brand
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that has a fresh voice technically and aesthetically.
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And at the same time, and much credit to them, have also been working
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to advance and grow their technical ability as
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they have done with the new in-house caliber that we see inside the Type 11.
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So Collective has opened the brand today. We have
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a few pieces in stock, more coming, and we are very
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excited to show you more and tell you more about this incredible
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brand, which is now joining our shop. Yeah,
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very, very excited. We got a lot of content on the way for Ressence
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because there is just so much to talk about with the brand. And we'll see
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them at Watch Time New York. We're going to be at Watch Time New York
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with Ming. We'll be in New York that week. We can't wait, but we'll
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see the guys from Ressence there along with so many of the other brands and
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our friends in the industry and our, our friends outside
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of the industry and clients. So we're excited for, for New York.
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I'm just looking forward to my friend Bacon, Egg and Cheese. Yeah,
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that Bacon, Egg and cheese. Yeah, you— that's your shtick during
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New York Watch Week. But it's only one word. Forget about New York
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Watch Week. Let's go back in time. So this is our usual episode that we
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do after Watches and Wonders or Geneva Watch Days where we talk about the unsung
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watches of the fair. Everyone's talked about, you know,
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the it watches. We did that on our last podcast. So Blake and I talked
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about a few things that came out, whether it was from Tudor, from MAD Editions,
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or of course from Bulgari and V&E Halter. So those are all off
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the table this week. But you and are going to have 3 picks each.
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But before we get to our 3 picks each,
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we do need to go back to one of the biggest industry stories, if not
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the biggest industry story of the week. Tariffs?
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No, no. We're told we're not. We're told by some very grumpy people
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on YouTube we're not allowed to talk about that stuff anymore. But Galley.
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Yeah. Galley, of course, debuted not as a, as a
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modern brand, but debuted as a modern brand with a full product
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lineup. And I will say, yeah, sure was. It's really We'll get into the,
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the watches and more importantly the business of it, which I think is, is fascinating.
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A lot has been said about the watches and I think we generally agree with
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a lot. I would assume you do, but I'm curious for your thoughts. I think
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we would probably generally agree with a lot of the ink that's
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been spilled on the watches themselves, but from a brand standpoint, it is
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extremely bold and aggressive. I think everything happening
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around Breitling right now and Galet is very bold, but it's
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very bold to come with 8 full collection. And obviously
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there will be more, but this is now a fully fledged
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watch brand. There aren't just— it's not just a new kid on the block with
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1 or 2 watches or dipping their toes in the water. They are all in,
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which, which is impressive. So why don't we start with,
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with the watches themselves? One of your big questions about Galley was,
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are they going to be kind of revisiting, you know, their, their heritage
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watches, and are they going to be using Breitling movements? Well, we got the,
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the answer to that, which is kind of sort of. There one collection,
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the Classics collection, which is the high end of their portfolio, where they
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do that sort of heritage fan service stuff with
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the, with the B09 calibers in, in those watches. But for the
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most part, I think this is a brand that is kind of looking forward,
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or if not looking forward, looking in a different direction than that. My big concern
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from, not from a fan service standpoint, but from just purely a
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business standpoint and executing on their strategy,
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was, oh no, are they gonna go too far down the heritage rabbit
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hole and be so faithful to heritage watches
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that they miss this bigger opportunity of, you know,
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occupying this, this, this price segment, which for Breitling as
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a business is, is wide open, which is that sub-$5,000
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price segment. And the answer from them is no, that's where they're going hard,
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actually. And the watches that they've released aren't
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really vintage reissues of Breitling watch— uh, Galley watches, rather.
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They do vintage-inspired— they're vintage-inspired, they borrow
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from the back catalog, but there's, I think, modernized and freshened up. And they also
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draw from Breitling itself, which is, which is interesting.
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There's a little bit of baby bends going on there. So one example would be
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for, you know, the bracelets. They have a 3-link bracelet. That was a weird
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choice. And it's basically that signature, you know,
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Breitling bracelet. So for those of you who, who may remember, you know, the,
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the bracelet that was like almost on every Breitling in the early 2000s, it's kind
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of like an Oyster style. You still see those on like their— on the,
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uh, what's the, uh, the, the dive watch? The, uh, oh, the Superocean. The Superocean.
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Yeah, I was gonna say SeaQuest. So they— it's like oyster-style bracelet or a 3-link
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bracelet, but all the links are at an angle, which I think is kind of
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cool and distinctive. But it's like, that obviously has nothing at
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all to do with Galet. That is a Breitling signature.
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And so they're really telegraphing— obviously made
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or manufactured by Breitling is part of the value proposition for the brand,
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which we talked about— but even in the product, they're putting some of that Breitling
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DNA, which I find really, really interesting.
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They're not going hard in the paint for the enthusiast audience.
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I think they're really going after a more broader watch-buying audience,
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a more casual watch-buying audience that just wants some— wants
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a nice watch, or, you know, with a particular budget in mind. But you know
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what I wonder about that? Let's say you're a person who walks
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into a Breitling boutique, which so far as I can tell is where you can
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buy these right now. Are there retailers? Yeah, yeah. So Topper, for instance,
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carries Galet, and they have a Breitling, like, shop-in-shop,
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but I don't think it's technically a boutique. So fascinating. We should— I'd be
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curious to talk to Rob about that. I mean, look, I But
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I think it's, you know, it's Breitling dealers who have invested at a certain level.
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But that's interesting because Topper is such a— I mean, they're such a great,
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like, an interesting store that's like very focused on enthusiasts, like a
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big client base around enthusiasts. So I totally see how
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it works there. Yeah. Where I'm a little confused, and I
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mean this like genuinely, like I'm not sure, is what happens when somebody
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who is just an average watch buyer, like just looking for a nice watch
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and aesthetically maybe they liked, you know, something they saw
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from Breitling, they go into a Breitling boutique. I see you're saying Topper has like
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an audience that has built-in interest. Yeah. And is curious to check it out,
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whereas someone going in cold has never heard of the thing. Totally. What is this?
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Yeah, what is this? And like, I came in here looking for, you know,
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for a Superocean and now you're showing me this. Like, I don't know,
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is it, you know, because there's no brand there yet. Yeah. And they don't suffer
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the same challenge or, you know, who knows
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how we'll describe it, but they don't have the same challenge that a lot of
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Rolex dealers have where the watch you go into the store looking for, they just
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simply don't have to sell you. Yes, for whatever reason. You know,
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there's probably plenty of Breitlings that you might be interested in.
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So the question becomes more about, you know, what's in your budget. I think the
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big takeaway that I have with this, like this relaunch,
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and we talked about it, you know, on previous episodes because we're curious
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about it and we have a lot of respect for, I think, what Breitling has
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been building. I have had to accept the fact
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and I've been trying to convince myself to like these watches. Yeah, I don't care
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for the watch. Yeah. Like I'm looking at them and I'm like, oh, I kind
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of like that one. Like, that one's kind of cool. There's a— I like the
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reverse Panda dial chronograph with the orange seconds hand. I like the kind of
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like yacht timer-y one. Oh yeah, that's the one everyone seems to default to.
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But with a little bit of a tepid— it's like, oh, if I had to
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pick one, it would be that. Yeah, totally. But like, am I gonna go out
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and spend like, you know, $5K on it? No. I think—
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and again, but like, but who cares? Like, I'm not the audience, you know?
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No, no, no. So I think like, to a certain degree, my opinion about
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this is irrelevant. My opinions are often irrelevant.
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I think it's a bit like Hublot. I mean, obviously they did some fan service
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here, but like Breitling's— but you pointed out Hublot is like,
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they're very confident. Yeah, who they are and who their audience is, and enthusiasts aren't
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it. I think there's some of that going on with Galay where they did enough
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fan service with that Classics collection, but otherwise it's like,
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you guys aren't— well, that's enough to differentiate them from, from Hublot in that
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they know they got one foot in either side. Look, we're so early into Galay
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right now, who the heck knows where it's gonna go? There will be more watches,
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you know, and let's see how it sells. I mean, I don't know.
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I think bottom line here is it continues to
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be an interesting addition to the house
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of brands, as it were. I was
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not particularly interested in the Universal Genève pieces, and then
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I became interested in them. That may happen with
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the Galets as well. I don't know. But regardless,
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it's, it's impressive to see what they're doing.
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And you know what the thing— you know what really hooked me more on it
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than the watches? Which makes me wonder if— and this could cut either way— the
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branding is really good. Like, I feel like, you know,
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they have a clear brand voice. Yes. You know, it's well articulated,
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attractive. Like, it's got a vibe. It's more than just
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like, you know, this was once a brand we brought back to life. They realize
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like, you know, they need to have in a modern context a sense of
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who they are beyond just like, we make heritage watches, you know. And I mean,
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look, that could cut either way, right? It could be a stuff— wanderlust.
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Yeah, exactly. A lust for one. I think it, but, but I mean,
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like visually, like I like the color palette. I like the design of the brand
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that could make it a stuffed shirt or it could actually be backed up by
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good product. Time will tell on that. But yeah, my initial reaction
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was kind of, oh yeah. Look, I think these watches are
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very kind of also, Ran, you and I being in the industry, we see a
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lot of watches like these where there is a heritage brand
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that's been brought back to life. In the sort of sub-$5,000
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range. These brands are a dime a dozen, and they've been brought
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back to life. And here's our modern version of this dive watch from our past
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and this chronograph from our past. And they're all fine,
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they're well made, they're Swiss watches, they're nice, but it feels a lot
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like milquetoast. Yeah. The challenge that those brands have that
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Breitling doesn't have, and I think where Breitling and Galay can succeed
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where those brands will be really challenged, is in distribution.
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Yeah. A lot of these these, you know, heritage brands reborn,
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and here's our Skin Diver come back to life, or whatever it might be,
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they don't have distribution, you know. So they're trying to fight for distribution
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and fight for shelf space. It's good in a world where there's
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a lot of other watches like what they're offering. Breitling has a strategic
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advantage where they're offering an attractive, well-made Swiss watch.
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Um, Blake had a chance— you and I haven't gone hands-on with these. No,
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I saw them through the window of the boutique. Blake had a chance to go
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hands-on with it, with them. His thoughts are actually on the Deep Track podcast,
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so you want a little more in like hands-on with them. But, you know,
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they're well— he found they were well-made watches, but they just didn't really resonate with
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him. But these are well-made heritage watches that
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now have distribution that a lot of these other brands struggle with. I'm looking at,
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at the Breitling. So Breitling and Galay, this is interesting.
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When you go to the Galay website and you go to find a boutique,
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it redirects you to the Breitling website where you can now specify—
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so let's see, store type, Galay. Wow.
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So it's everywhere. Yeah, this is wild. So you can
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buy them. Is it listing just every Breitling retailer or is
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it like a subsection of them? I mean, I can't analyze this.
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Well, hard to say, but I'm talking hundreds, a lot of
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like here, let me just look near us. Well, there you go. So every
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one of these other, you know, heritage brands reborn, you know,
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the one reborn last year,
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last month, this week, tomorrow, they're all looking for distribution.
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Breitling will not have that challenge with Galley. Yeah. So like, let me just look
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in LA. And that may be, that may be enough. Okay. Interestingly, there does
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not appear to be a Galley retailer down here in
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Los Angeles. That's interesting. So it's a subsection of,
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of the stores. Oh wait, apply. Maybe I need to apply this filter.
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No, we're doing it live. Yeah. No, I'm not.
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That's interesting. Wow. But when you look at the raw list,
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There's many. And look, would it take much for these
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watches to show up at a retailer down here? No, they just
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activate an existing Breitling retailer. And there is a Breitling boutique in
16:01.192 --> 16:04.227
that Century City Mall, right? Yeah. Yes, there is.
16:04.307 --> 16:07.663
Across from Tudor. Yeah. And there's also one, there's a Westime
16:07.776 --> 16:11.148
one downtown. Got it. Downtown in Beverly Hills. Excuse me,
16:11.164 --> 16:15.227
in Beverly Hills. Downtown. And then there's, and then there's multiple Breitling
16:15.324 --> 16:18.439
retailers. It wouldn't take much to get those watches into a case.
16:19.010 --> 16:22.940
No. Yeah. And I think that, that alone may be the, the success of,
16:23.440 --> 16:25.720
of, of the brand. Let's keep an eye on it. I mean, look, it's,
16:26.220 --> 16:29.140
it's whatever it is, it, it is further evidence that, that they, that they,
16:29.640 --> 16:31.900
that they're gonna keep moving, which, uh, apparently they need to do. Yeah. Because,
16:32.400 --> 16:35.620
uh, I hear, I hear they, they, uh, they got a little debt. I don't
16:36.120 --> 16:39.260
think that's, that's really news. I know that was sensationalized a lot. I don't think
16:39.760 --> 16:43.080
it's sensationalized. I think what it proves, if we're being honest, is they're making a
16:43.580 --> 16:46.800
very big and aggressive bet here. Exactly. To me, when I saw that,
16:47.300 --> 16:48.520
it's like, on the one hand, you can look at that and you can be
16:49.020 --> 16:51.720
like, oh, look at all that money. You know, like they're in so much debt.
16:51.840 --> 16:54.580
You're like, well, yeah, I mean, obviously look at how they're growing.
16:55.120 --> 16:58.760
Exactly. So the question there is like how quickly they can outrun that and
16:59.260 --> 17:01.540
like if the bets that they're making are going to be viable. But at the
17:02.040 --> 17:05.480
same time, like, of course you're going to have a bill— you know, a billion-dollar
17:05.980 --> 17:08.800
company using billions of dollars of debt to be able to grow. Like, that's a
17:09.300 --> 17:11.460
necessity when you're talking about— they're not going to be able to do that the
17:11.960 --> 17:15.020
way they're trying to grow, not just Breitling, which has been a success.
17:15.520 --> 17:18.240
Yeah. In it in the last 10 years under Georges Kern. But the way they
17:18.740 --> 17:20.500
want to grow UG and Galay, you cannot do that out of existing cash flow.
17:21.000 --> 17:24.165
You need a— you need to make a big, big swing.
17:24.743 --> 17:28.981
But we'll see. It's a big swing. And look, the watch industry is
17:29.109 --> 17:34.937
littered with triumph and failure. So we'll
17:34.969 --> 17:38.244
see which way it goes. But a
17:38.744 --> 17:42.531
story to track for sure. Let's talk about these unsung watches.
17:42.579 --> 17:47.234
So as always, you know, you can listen to plenty other podcasts about
17:47.539 --> 17:50.734
the best picks and the most interesting watches from Geneva Watch Days.
17:50.782 --> 17:54.135
And by the way, a lot of those watches we love. Yeah, and that's not
17:54.635 --> 17:57.935
to take anything away from them. Our approach here, as always, is to talk about
17:57.983 --> 18:01.654
the stuff that is off the beaten track and really the
18:01.670 --> 18:04.844
things that you and I had the chance to go hands-on with in person.
18:04.892 --> 18:08.883
So some of these things may not be brand new watches— most
18:09.383 --> 18:12.474
of them are— but they're things that we had a chance to hold in hand,
18:12.650 --> 18:16.289
spend time with, get to know the people, and have our eyes open.
18:16.401 --> 18:19.912
So these are— I think looking at these, these are the things you're not
18:19.944 --> 18:23.855
going to hear a lot about pretty much anywhere else, maybe with, with one exception.
18:23.920 --> 18:28.248
Exception here or there. So why don't you kick it off? Your first unsung
18:28.504 --> 18:31.646
watch. Yeah, so not a brand that we
18:32.146 --> 18:34.900
currently retail, but one that I've admired for a great deal of time, which is
18:34.996 --> 18:38.571
Laurent Ferrier. Oh, you're going out of order in your little list here.
18:38.683 --> 18:41.873
Just mixing it up, man. Yeah, I'm throwing it. I'm gonna freak you out then.
18:43.348 --> 18:47.275
Look, Laurent Ferrier is one of those brands that I think we
18:47.775 --> 18:51.331
can— we could talk a lot about, you know, design and, and the man
18:51.379 --> 18:54.441
himself and the rest of it. But the bottom line, if you really like zoom
18:54.489 --> 18:58.025
way out, is that these are just heartbreakingly beautiful
18:58.380 --> 19:01.641
dress watches. Yeah. And a couple of years ago,
19:01.754 --> 19:05.692
our first meeting with the brand was at Watches and Wonders the
19:05.708 --> 19:08.469
year that they released— oh, that's right. Yeah, it was the year that they released
19:08.969 --> 19:11.524
the Classic Moon. Oh, and, you know,
19:13.341 --> 19:16.945
I'm not like the world's, like, biggest Patek Philippe fan or anything,
19:17.075 --> 19:21.197
but there is a certain harmony to Patek. Yeah, like Patek Philippe.
19:21.504 --> 19:23.598
Fine. But what I'm saying is, like, I'm not, like, obsessed with the brand.
19:23.663 --> 19:24.935
Okay. Yeah. You know, I don't mean that as, like, a dig, but you're just
19:25.435 --> 19:28.555
not, like, not a fan. No, no, no. I'm not a fan at all.
19:28.876 --> 19:33.117
And part of the reason why I like certain Pateks, especially high-complication
19:33.679 --> 19:36.779
Pateks like perpetuals and annual calendars— when they nail
19:36.844 --> 19:40.442
the aesthetics. Yeah, like, you know, and there is no
19:40.586 --> 19:44.088
doubt that due to the connection with Laurent Ferrier
19:44.120 --> 19:47.574
to the brand, to Patek, but also just that general aesthetic,
19:47.590 --> 19:51.092
that there is a— there is a parallel there to the beautiful symmetry
19:51.204 --> 19:55.429
and like the pleasure that you get from a high-complication Patek.
19:56.280 --> 19:59.650
That you don't necessarily get from other brands. And the
20:00.260 --> 20:03.583
classic Moon doesn't disappoint on that front.
20:03.663 --> 20:07.307
And the version that they released at the show, the Dusk— first of all,
20:07.339 --> 20:10.533
I like yellow gold to begin with. Yeah, but— and the sort
20:11.033 --> 20:14.851
of like ombre-ish dial, I know, is heartbreakingly good. But there's
20:14.883 --> 20:17.258
one little detail about this watch which I think a lot of people miss,
20:18.157 --> 20:21.672
and I find to just be really beguiling because it's
20:21.720 --> 20:25.444
not— it shows a level of modernity and creative thinking
20:25.700 --> 20:29.070
while still staying within the, the trope that they operate
20:29.570 --> 20:32.938
in, which is how the moon phase operates. So for those of
20:33.438 --> 20:35.987
you who are unfamiliar with the classic Moon, I would encourage you to Google the
20:36.487 --> 20:40.111
watch and take a look. The way the moon phase operates, you have a—
20:40.464 --> 20:43.464
it's a full aperture, right? So it's not, it's not cut off in the way
20:43.964 --> 20:47.476
that you see like on a 5712. So more similar in a sense
20:47.976 --> 20:52.338
to what you would see on like a perpetual band. But he's dropping 5712.
20:52.515 --> 20:54.777
I don't think you have to be a Patek fan to know what a 5712
20:55.277 --> 20:58.773
is. This. But okay, as a cue, my— me
20:59.273 --> 21:02.784
pushing the glasses up the bridge of my nose. So the classic moon dusk
21:02.848 --> 21:05.223
reference, LCF039J2BW1,
21:06.090 --> 21:08.962
if you want to be specific. I now know what I'm clipping and putting at
21:09.462 --> 21:12.733
the end of the podcast. Exactly. When you look at
21:13.233 --> 21:16.937
the moon phase, there's 2 sapphire discs that are mounted across the center
21:17.049 --> 21:20.483
of the moon phase aperture. And what that does is
21:20.499 --> 21:23.851
you have 2 full moons that then rotate through those,
21:24.139 --> 21:28.177
those sapphire discs, which demonstrates the phase of the moon very effectively,
21:28.770 --> 21:32.663
very attractively, and very elegantly without closing
21:32.760 --> 21:36.060
it off, say, by having it dip below the aperture or some effect
21:36.560 --> 21:40.755
like that. It is a very clever, very simple, very elegant
21:40.771 --> 21:44.216
way of demonstrating the moon phase. I love it.
21:44.632 --> 21:47.516
I also used to be a big fan of the Echol watches, the Echol annual
21:48.016 --> 21:50.561
calendars that the brand did. And this, of course, borrows from that with the pointer
21:51.061 --> 21:54.328
date. I— and the typography is wonderful, was wonderful too.
21:54.408 --> 21:57.695
If you're, you know, if you are a vintage watch fan, you will recognize the
21:58.195 --> 22:01.783
open 9 and open 6s of the font. I find that incredibly appealing and
22:02.283 --> 22:06.000
attractive too. The date is cool. Yeah, the time telling is really
22:06.112 --> 22:09.462
interesting. It doesn't read super easily because it's like,
22:09.783 --> 22:12.557
it's, you know, I'm looking at a press photo here. It's Tuesday. Then you got
22:12.685 --> 22:15.314
to look at the pointer date to find the date, and then you got to
22:15.814 --> 22:19.258
go back to the month. And so, but is it a very romantic
22:19.758 --> 22:23.762
and beguiling dial? Yeah. Yeah. Now on the back, do we have power reserve here?
22:23.906 --> 22:27.544
Is that what that indication is on the caseback? On the caseback?
22:27.592 --> 22:31.245
That's your power reserve integrated on the caseback. Absolutely. I love that.
22:31.357 --> 22:34.802
You have the, you have the ratchet wheel exposed there too, which is really gorgeous.
22:34.963 --> 22:38.200
You know, absolutely beautiful finishing on the movement. I mean,
22:38.808 --> 22:42.174
look, when you, you also, this is also one of the watches that
22:42.674 --> 22:46.436
features the Swiss lever escapement versus the natural escapement. And when
22:46.936 --> 22:50.929
you put the watch on your wrist, it's just, it's just a romantic
22:51.074 --> 22:54.060
classic piece. And I mean, this is one of those watches too,
22:54.108 --> 22:57.206
which I would say, like, wear it how you want. You know, I would wear
22:57.239 --> 22:59.711
this with, with a t-shirt and jeans, and I think it would look awesome.
23:00.144 --> 23:02.440
Yeah. You know, you could wear it with a suit. It would look awesome.
23:02.954 --> 23:06.213
And I mean, look, this is an expensive watch. It's like a $100,000-ish watch.
23:06.726 --> 23:08.428
You know, if you're gonna spend that much money on a watch, you should be
23:08.928 --> 23:12.281
able to wear it all the time. And I think something like this really delivers
23:12.329 --> 23:15.603
on it. So I found this watch to be Absolutely stunning.
23:15.716 --> 23:18.539
And I think it speaks to the core of the brand because when I went
23:19.039 --> 23:22.326
in to meet with them, you know, the Gala— the, the sport pieces were all
23:22.438 --> 23:25.791
out, and I love those watches, don't get me wrong. But my— oh, they kill.
23:26.144 --> 23:28.358
And they had a new release there too with the Traveler, which was great.
23:28.551 --> 23:30.909
Don't get me— you know, also killer watch, but that's not what I reached for.
23:30.957 --> 23:33.460
That's the watch I thought you were gonna put in the doc. No, this is
23:33.960 --> 23:37.118
the one I reached for. Yeah. So all of that to say, the moon— the
23:37.618 --> 23:41.150
moons are lumed. Yeah. And that's cool. It's kind of cool, which is Seeing that,
23:41.650 --> 23:44.220
it sort of pops you out. It's like, well, of course the moon is lumed.
23:44.410 --> 23:47.690
You want to know what the phase of the moon is at night. But you
23:48.190 --> 23:52.050
could think in terms of practical use, but it's definitely like—
23:52.550 --> 23:56.790
No lumed moon on the 5712. No. Well, this is my point. It's a juxtaposition
23:57.290 --> 24:00.590
to how classic the watch is otherwise, which I just think is a cool little
24:01.090 --> 24:04.250
wink. You don't expect— Perhaps why it is called the Classic Moon.
24:04.750 --> 24:08.110
There you go. Awesome. Classic Moon. Submitted for your approval.
24:08.610 --> 24:12.563
With a lumed moon phase. Pretty neat. I didn't see that coming. All right,
24:13.043 --> 24:16.552
I'm gonna do— I'm gonna talk about— it's a Laurent Ferrier,
24:16.568 --> 24:20.062
not a brand we carry. A lot of these aren't actually.
24:20.671 --> 24:23.555
Singer, a brand we do carry. Now gosh,
24:23.859 --> 24:27.593
what a meeting. I think of all the meetings we had at Geneva Watches,
24:27.625 --> 24:31.423
and this was one where our full team was present, of all
24:31.631 --> 24:34.804
the meetings we had, this was the best. It's the most fun.
24:34.916 --> 24:38.153
We love the people there. It's in their atelier. Their atelier is rad.
24:38.281 --> 24:42.550
Lots of of lots of incredible natural light. So a great place to get photos.
24:42.678 --> 24:46.305
Blake and I went to town on that. Also, the watchmakers were
24:46.805 --> 24:50.189
there working while we were having our meeting, which is very cool
24:50.238 --> 24:53.335
and romantic and all that. But just a great vibe. The people
24:53.351 --> 24:57.524
there are great. The watches are crazy. And, you know, I was thinking back
24:58.182 --> 25:00.959
just like a few years ago when we first picked up the brand,
25:01.392 --> 25:04.698
and this wasn't that long ago, they were kind of like
25:04.923 --> 25:08.946
the central chronograph brand. They were to like
25:09.155 --> 25:12.922
automotive design and the central chronograph what Urwerk
25:12.938 --> 25:16.256
was to sort of space and wandering hours. Like, that was their,
25:16.528 --> 25:20.199
their sort of shtick. They were known for these agengraph-based watches,
25:20.312 --> 25:23.357
primarily the, the Track 1, and they did a lot with
25:23.857 --> 25:26.964
that and that platform. But like, that's kind of what they were
25:27.464 --> 25:30.715
known for and where the product was. In the last year and a half,
25:30.795 --> 25:34.386
really since Watches and Wonders of, gosh, 2025,
25:35.204 --> 25:39.371
they have been on an absolute tear and, and really expanded
25:39.871 --> 25:42.273
the brand. And the first watch they did that— I would say '24 with the
25:42.773 --> 25:46.056
Dive Track. Like, to me, the Dive— I mean, I know the Dive Track to
25:46.556 --> 25:49.711
me was like the pinnacle of what they are doing with Agenhor. To me,
25:49.791 --> 25:52.452
yeah, it was the pinnacle of that era. And then it pivoted. And, and then
25:52.952 --> 25:56.027
it pivoted. But with the Heritage in particular, so they were, you know,
25:56.299 --> 25:59.986
the, the first Heritage watch, they had these new old stock Valjoux manual
26:00.486 --> 26:04.217
wind chronograph movements, and they did these absolutely beautiful 3-register classic
26:04.298 --> 26:08.239
chronographs in these beautiful green and black dials. I still don't
26:08.739 --> 26:11.828
know which one is better. They're both, both so good. But it was like,
26:11.909 --> 26:15.882
holy smokes, the crazy gonzo central chronograph
26:16.091 --> 26:18.911
guys, the guys who came up with the Track 1 and the Dive Track,
26:18.959 --> 26:22.965
have now done a classical 3-register chronograph.
26:23.686 --> 26:27.291
And of course, there's a parallel to Singer Vehicle Design in that it was essentially
26:27.791 --> 26:30.479
a restomod watch where they were restoring these, these movements.
26:31.073 --> 26:34.574
But it showed just how— but yet it looked completely
26:34.670 --> 26:38.043
like a Singer. Like, if you had no logo on that watch and showed
26:38.543 --> 26:41.335
it to someone, they'd say, oh, that's a Singer. But I didn't realize they were
26:41.835 --> 26:45.751
going to make a classical watch. So they had that. Then they introduced the Caballero
26:45.767 --> 26:50.263
with their Caliber 4, their first kind of in-house movement.
26:50.825 --> 26:54.679
I own a Caballero titanium watch. Absolutely fantastic.
26:55.000 --> 26:58.597
Then this year they introduced the Dual Track. So again, using that Caliber
26:59.097 --> 27:03.377
4. I own that too. This time with a 24-hour 24-hour scale
27:03.570 --> 27:06.839
on the periphery of the dial. Absolutely wild.
27:06.887 --> 27:10.476
Again, it's like it looks like a Singer but totally
27:10.976 --> 27:14.674
different expression and time-telling complication. And then they
27:14.722 --> 27:18.168
showed us just how far that heritage line can continue
27:18.668 --> 27:22.110
to stretch with the V72. Yeah, 2 versions of this in stainless
27:22.126 --> 27:25.795
steel with a beautiful like gray dial, applied furniture,
27:25.939 --> 27:29.373
Valjoux 72 movement, This time, obviously a legendary
27:29.873 --> 27:34.175
caliber. Again, of course, fully restored. When we were at the workshop, the watchmakers
27:34.271 --> 27:37.515
were showing us a before and after. So they had an unfinished,
27:37.965 --> 27:42.028
unrestored Valjoux 72 there, and then they had— it's
27:42.092 --> 27:46.059
the, it's the watch version of the restomod. I mean, but beautifully
27:46.412 --> 27:50.106
restored. 100% finishing is absolutely impeccable, and they
27:50.606 --> 27:53.880
are tearing these things down and rebuilding them, which was cool.
27:54.266 --> 27:58.746
The watch though that got me, which I didn't expect
27:59.246 --> 28:01.003
And I posted a photo of it on our, on our Instagram, was the gold
28:01.503 --> 28:05.331
version. Yeah. Oh my God. It's got this beautiful
28:05.347 --> 28:09.002
gold case, beautiful panda dial.
28:10.060 --> 28:13.330
It just, it's, you know what's interesting about that watch? It gives me chills.
28:13.523 --> 28:16.937
It's so beautiful. And I think this is true about the LF we were just
28:16.953 --> 28:20.384
talking about too. Sometimes gold is
28:20.800 --> 28:24.503
added to just make it more expensive. No,
28:24.568 --> 28:28.206
this was added because it's like the best expression of this design. That's what I'm
28:28.706 --> 28:33.021
saying. And I find that— and there are some watches that to me are
28:33.521 --> 28:35.910
not just different but better in gold, you know?
28:36.921 --> 28:40.580
And I just like, like, for example, like the GMT-Master, like you could love
28:40.693 --> 28:43.357
it as the full root beer or you could love it in steel. They're both
28:43.421 --> 28:47.385
great watches. They're both good expressions. One isn't necessarily better than the other. An aesthetic
28:47.434 --> 28:50.916
choice. Yeah. Or a gold watch choice. Yeah.
28:51.302 --> 28:54.399
This one is just a different watch in gold. It's just different.
28:55.057 --> 28:58.727
And I think that is awesome when you see someone
28:58.839 --> 29:01.356
be able— when you see it used as a, as a,
29:02.606 --> 29:05.475
as a tool in the creative palette. But hey, it's Marco Boracino,
29:05.491 --> 29:08.857
so no surprises there. Easily one of the best designers currently alive
29:09.357 --> 29:13.393
making great watches. Yeah, and again, it just shows the extensibility
29:13.729 --> 29:17.239
of the brands. Like, you can have this watch which obviously calls back to racing
29:17.336 --> 29:20.894
chronographs of the 1970s, not just in terms of the movement but
29:20.958 --> 29:24.503
the design of the watch as well. 2, 2,
29:25.033 --> 29:28.711
the reverse panda dials, 2 beautiful reverse panda dials.
29:29.530 --> 29:33.287
But they don't feel like— going back to like the whole Galley
29:33.400 --> 29:36.821
thing and heritage brand thing, it's like these don't feel like an
29:37.077 --> 29:40.418
also-run heritage reissue kind of play.
29:40.546 --> 29:43.742
These are their— these feel like their own watches with a
29:44.242 --> 29:47.918
clear reason for existing in a modern context that are just beautiful
29:47.998 --> 29:51.932
objects in and of themselves. And yet
29:52.432 --> 29:54.398
yet they feel like they're entirely at home with the rest of the brand.
29:54.654 --> 29:58.277
You put it next to a Dive Track or a 1969 or anything
29:58.777 --> 30:02.765
else from Singer, and it's so different, yet so apart
30:02.846 --> 30:06.196
and comfortable as part of the family. But man, in the gold, the way
30:06.696 --> 30:10.139
you characterized it, couldn't put it better. It just kills. Yeah. I hope
30:10.639 --> 30:12.864
they keep going down this Heritage path because even though these are sold out,
30:13.249 --> 30:16.391
I love this line. It's great. Yeah. And I, you know, when we heard another
30:16.891 --> 30:20.511
Heritage was coming, another 3-register chronograph, I don't think we
30:20.543 --> 30:23.845
were ready for— the first one was register. Oh, was it? Oh yeah,
30:23.861 --> 30:26.987
you're right. But okay, so another classically
30:27.035 --> 30:30.161
laid out chronograph layout, which is unusual for them.
30:30.417 --> 30:33.848
But when we heard that this one was, was coming, it was— I was like,
30:33.928 --> 30:37.519
oh, how different can it be from the first? And not necessarily in a bad
30:37.535 --> 30:40.516
way. Like, I love the first, and that's for me a watch that got away.
30:40.597 --> 30:43.546
They sold so well, you and I could never get our hands on one for
30:44.046 --> 30:47.089
ourselves. So I was kind of excited, and, and then it was like, wow,
30:47.169 --> 30:50.455
this is so different, such a different expression of the idea. And I
30:50.535 --> 30:53.693
didn't think it would be the gold one I would be reaching for and falling
30:53.741 --> 30:56.789
in love with, but man, does it kill. So there you have
30:57.289 --> 31:00.640
it. All right, let's take a right turn here. I got to see
31:00.800 --> 31:04.346
during our meeting with Atelier Wen the Messina Lab Inflection Shuo.
31:04.795 --> 31:07.860
Shuo? Shuo? I don't know. And I didn't see the watch. I didn't get the
31:08.360 --> 31:11.807
proper pronunciation. This watch is dope. So look,
31:11.935 --> 31:15.689
I think one of the things that I find to be really fascinating
31:15.882 --> 31:19.460
about collaboration in general, right, which is not generally what you
31:20.389 --> 31:23.866
see in— let me actually, let me differentiate. Years ago,
31:23.914 --> 31:27.472
we talked about the difference between a limited edition and a collaboration, right? Limited edition
31:27.568 --> 31:30.757
is like a mild variation on a theme. A collaboration should express a new
31:30.853 --> 31:34.235
idea. And I think in this particular
31:34.379 --> 31:38.241
instance, Atelier Wen and William Messina
31:39.042 --> 31:42.472
found a new idea on an existing platform.
31:43.113 --> 31:46.622
It— the watch, if people are not familiar, came in 2 different dial configurations.
31:47.616 --> 31:51.141
They're both gold dials. One has rose gold accents, another has white gold
31:51.641 --> 31:54.302
accents. Sense. It's essentially a California dial,
31:54.497 --> 31:57.161
sort of, sort of, except you have,
31:58.385 --> 32:01.826
you have numerals in Chinese calligraphy on the bottom of the dial
32:02.326 --> 32:06.410
and then classical English Roman numerals on the—
32:06.911 --> 32:10.235
no, Arabic, Arabic numerals, pardon me, on the, on the top of the
32:10.299 --> 32:13.833
dial. Like, it's like, it's like a good song, you know, like White
32:14.333 --> 32:17.645
Christmas. It always should have existed. And it feels so obvious. You look
32:18.145 --> 32:20.505
at this and you're like, why has no one ever done this before? It's such
32:21.005 --> 32:24.750
a, such a basic idea or obvious idea, yet no one's done it.
32:25.250 --> 32:27.590
And when you see it, it's like, wow, that really kind of works. That's cool.
32:28.090 --> 32:31.090
Look, the reason we opened Atelier Wen is because of the Inflection. The Inflection is
32:31.590 --> 32:35.030
an awesome watch. Yeah, yeah. You know, ergonomically it's beautiful. Even the way the
32:35.530 --> 32:38.830
clasp operates is really cool. The GP movement is
32:39.330 --> 32:42.870
fantastic. It's a phenomenally well-priced watch for what it is at about $30,000.
32:44.110 --> 32:47.030
This is meaningfully more expensive. This is $45,000,
32:47.530 --> 32:51.390
$44,000, like that. It's nearly sold out, if not already sold out. But it
32:51.890 --> 32:54.934
was like, like so many other watches that got my attention at the show,
32:54.950 --> 32:57.934
the first one that I grabbed, which of course is not even available to us,
32:57.950 --> 33:00.822
like we can't sell it. It was just through, through Missing the Lab.
33:01.367 --> 33:05.170
But the expression of it just really took the inflection
33:05.234 --> 33:08.956
in a different direction, which I think is also really exciting
33:09.068 --> 33:12.325
because as an Atelier Wen retailer, it tells
33:12.421 --> 33:16.223
me, it shows me, it demonstrates the creative potential of the platform
33:16.723 --> 33:20.380
of that watch. And And, you know, the attention to it and the fact
33:20.880 --> 33:24.763
that it sold as quickly as it did also, I think, demonstrates the potential
33:24.795 --> 33:28.392
of Atelier Wen on the higher end. And I mean, look, you know, Robin,
33:28.713 --> 33:31.892
who owns the brand, is very transparent with us and shares a lot of what's
33:31.940 --> 33:35.215
coming from them. And they continue to improve and they
33:35.715 --> 33:39.213
continue to grow. You know, we're a couple weeks away from receiving our inventory
33:39.390 --> 33:43.051
on the new Perceptions that run off the Péquignet movement with the gorgeous
33:43.163 --> 33:46.679
aventurine bridges, which is a really interesting idea that I have
33:46.695 --> 33:50.531
never seen before. And that watch is like just under 6 grand. It's a
33:50.643 --> 33:54.297
lot of watch for the money. It is. And I
33:54.329 --> 33:57.343
just have a lot of respect for how that brand has really grown.
33:57.535 --> 34:00.836
It could have really pigeonholed itself into, you know,
34:00.981 --> 34:04.651
the way that they were making dials and the methodology and
34:04.971 --> 34:08.177
the, you know, and their supply chain. And they didn't, not at all.
34:08.898 --> 34:13.001
They've really blossomed into a much larger brand
34:13.501 --> 34:16.142
with a collection. The Ancestra, I think, is a great example of that. Like,
34:16.190 --> 34:19.363
yeah, managed to get out of their own way and continue to have success success
34:19.972 --> 34:23.194
with the Perception but be able to explore new—
34:23.242 --> 34:26.320
yeah, and I know Robin has a lot of ideas for where the Ancestra is
34:26.368 --> 34:29.558
going to go too. So a lot of really interesting
34:29.654 --> 34:33.534
work here, and hat tip to William for looking at that platform
34:33.662 --> 34:36.740
and seeing this in it and actually making a collaboration I
34:36.804 --> 34:40.266
think was truly collaborative. So dope watch, loved it. Yeah,
34:40.346 --> 34:44.226
it's cool. We saw William and he was very proud of this and happy
34:44.258 --> 34:47.672
with it, turned— how it turned out, and, and frankly impressed with Atelier Wen
34:47.784 --> 34:50.990
and their, and their manufacturing capabilities, which I think is the
34:51.267 --> 34:54.610
compliment you can— yeah, you, you can get. I mean,
34:54.900 --> 34:58.162
he's worked with, with everyone, so he— yeah, William's not gonna give an empty compliment.
34:58.227 --> 35:01.682
No, that, that's also true. Okay, I've got one you got
35:02.182 --> 35:05.475
to help me with a little bit here because— which one? So I'm gonna do
35:05.975 --> 35:09.979
the Urwerk UR-1001 Amadeus
35:10.334 --> 35:15.015
pocket watch. Okay, so we're
35:15.160 --> 35:18.776
obviously both huge Urwerk fans. I had a great meeting with
35:18.792 --> 35:22.943
them. That was another wonderful meeting. Felix Baumgartner joined
35:23.052 --> 35:26.546
to take us through a number of watches, which is always such,
35:26.819 --> 35:30.634
such a treat. But yeah, always one
35:30.810 --> 35:35.235
of the best, the best meetings. But he
35:35.299 --> 35:38.537
took us through a one-of-one pocket watch.
35:38.601 --> 35:42.897
So URWERK has made this, the UR-1001.
35:43.250 --> 35:46.840
It's a limited edition pocket watch, essentially. I'm gonna rely on you
35:47.340 --> 35:50.608
to talk about the horology here. Sure. And then they've created, as part
35:51.108 --> 35:54.294
of that series, which they've been producing I think over a decade— it's been in
35:54.794 --> 35:58.078
production for quite quite some time. Yeah, they produce them slowly
35:58.578 --> 36:02.213
and steadily, but they created this absolutely wild version of
36:02.261 --> 36:05.900
it, a bespoke version of it for a client that has
36:05.996 --> 36:09.395
an entirely engraved case. And so it
36:09.459 --> 36:12.729
looks like what you would expect in— just if you closed your eyes and
36:13.229 --> 36:16.961
imagine what might an Urwerk pocket watch look like. It's like a very Baroque case
36:17.073 --> 36:20.199
too. Yeah, yeah. You know, so Amadeus is appropriate. So the, the, the,
36:20.504 --> 36:23.229
yeah, the title of the watch or the name of the watch, you know,
36:23.309 --> 36:27.124
the, the Urwerk UR-1001 pocket watch, it's like a space-age pocket
36:27.236 --> 36:30.907
watch essentially, right? But then you introduce, you're right, this very
36:31.019 --> 36:34.177
baroque hand engraving throughout the case.
36:34.289 --> 36:37.912
And it's this, again, speaking of fascinating contrasts, it's this
36:38.056 --> 36:41.566
absolutely fascinating contrast. And it almost feels
36:41.582 --> 36:44.676
like this, like, I don't know how to describe it, like this,
36:44.949 --> 36:48.138
this kind of punk object that arrived from outer space.
36:48.571 --> 36:51.649
Like, you know what I mean? The thing's not sterile at all.
36:51.777 --> 36:55.799
No. I mean, the thing about this, this pocket watch. Oh, I love
36:56.299 --> 37:00.217
this thing because like so many watches or just
37:01.787 --> 37:04.837
time-telling devices from Urwerk,
37:05.094 --> 37:08.926
it is both avant-garde and deeply philosophical, you know?
37:09.747 --> 37:13.373
Yeah, there is the— you could enjoy this watch as an object
37:13.390 --> 37:17.481
in this iteration purely for its handwork, but the caliber
37:17.821 --> 37:21.686
is a really interesting just dissertation
37:21.783 --> 37:23.915
on the passage of time. And what I mean by that is a dissertation on
37:24.415 --> 37:27.478
the passage That's an all-time
37:27.590 --> 37:31.123
Asher quote, right? What it is. So, you know, on the front of the,
37:31.219 --> 37:34.237
of the pocket watch, you have a number of indications.
37:34.334 --> 37:38.348
You know, you have obviously the satellite time-telling mechanism that is familiar to
37:38.364 --> 37:42.056
Urwerk fans, but you also have a calendar that is also built on a
37:42.538 --> 37:46.215
series of rotating discs. So you have your month and your date, etc. You have
37:46.715 --> 37:50.421
your, your hours and your minutes. But the caseback
37:51.112 --> 37:54.720
measures time in a very different way. You have 3 indications on the
37:55.220 --> 37:58.120
caseback. You have one of my favorite things that URWERK does, which is the oil
37:58.620 --> 38:02.760
change indicator. That's always, you know, it tells you when you're— when your device needs
38:03.260 --> 38:06.800
to go in for service. It's like, how are— this is another thing—
38:07.300 --> 38:10.800
how are they the only ones to do that? Because they're geniuses. But like,
38:11.300 --> 38:14.940
wouldn't you expect that? Like, you know, it's like the best ideas are
38:15.440 --> 38:18.560
the most obvious ideas, man. Right, right. But like, I love— we were talking about
38:19.060 --> 38:22.260
with Laurent Ferrier— the power reserve on the back of a caseback. You see that
38:22.760 --> 38:26.123
on Grand Seiko. This is Yeah, but that's my point. It's great,
38:26.619 --> 38:30.065
you know, like people adopt it. Sure. I don't understand why no
38:30.565 --> 38:33.526
one has adopted the service indicator. I don't know, man, but it's one of the
38:34.026 --> 38:36.747
coolest things, right? But so that's not a philosophical part of the watch, that's just
38:37.247 --> 38:40.962
a really great utilitarian part of it. You have 2 other indications on the caseback,
38:41.122 --> 38:44.151
which is one is a linear display of time and the
38:44.247 --> 38:48.429
other is a— is on a dial. And the first dial specifies the
38:48.493 --> 38:52.087
tracks, the passage of a a century. So if you are using
38:52.183 --> 38:55.779
this watch or this pocket watch continuously, it will record
38:55.988 --> 38:59.567
from when the moment it started going into operation and
38:59.583 --> 39:03.115
then track over time if how long it's
39:03.615 --> 39:07.546
been in serial use. So if you're using this, it will track the first century
39:08.046 --> 39:12.169
of its usage and then the linear measurement on the back tracks millennia.
39:13.213 --> 39:16.841
So this is an object that is— that's a, that's a, that's a bold line
39:17.341 --> 39:20.037
in the sand. It really is. And this is what I mean by philosophical.
39:20.085 --> 39:23.635
Like, clearly none of us will see probably one rotation of the
39:23.651 --> 39:27.313
century, let alone, you know, be present to see
39:27.586 --> 39:30.365
the, the passage of, of the, of the,
39:30.815 --> 39:33.995
the, the millennia. But philosophically,
39:34.734 --> 39:38.027
I find that to be a really beautiful thing. And there's
39:38.527 --> 39:42.299
a lot of philosophy in, in, in Martin and Felix's
39:42.799 --> 39:45.399
watches, you know, that's absolutely present in the UR-10.
39:46.698 --> 39:50.401
There are watches coming from the— in the future from them that
39:50.901 --> 39:54.392
also think about time and what
39:54.553 --> 39:58.544
we're all made of in a very philosophical way. It's easy
39:58.576 --> 40:02.119
to look at her work sometimes and just be like, oh, that's a crazy
40:02.183 --> 40:05.918
watch. And it is, but it serves a very
40:06.014 --> 40:09.140
clear creative purpose. And you and I have—
40:09.640 --> 40:13.356
watches always invite more thought and attention. It's like the more time you spend
40:13.388 --> 40:16.610
with them or you learn about them, there's more to appreciate, whether it's
40:17.110 --> 40:20.205
in the watch itself or just in the philosophical approach to that watch?
40:21.329 --> 40:25.037
The more time that passes between our
40:25.537 --> 40:29.130
You Are 100 that we did with them, the more I look back on
40:29.630 --> 40:33.561
it and I realize what a gift that was to experience, because Martin
40:33.786 --> 40:37.189
in particular is a singular human
40:37.237 --> 40:40.625
being. Anyone who's ever met Martin, you know what I'm talking about.
40:40.673 --> 40:44.381
And if you haven't, you should seek the man out, because not only is he
40:44.881 --> 40:47.912
an extraordinarily affable and kind person, he's a lovely lovely guy.
40:48.890 --> 40:53.219
He is creatively, and not
40:53.251 --> 40:56.056
to keep coming back to the word philosophically,
40:56.634 --> 40:59.952
brilliant. Yeah. And the way that Felix ain't so bad
41:00.452 --> 41:04.072
either. No, no, but Felix has the incredible task of turning
41:04.265 --> 41:08.417
these ideas into reality. Yeah, they're very much the yin to one another's
41:08.917 --> 41:12.826
yang. They are opposite sides of the same coin, and they make some incredible
41:13.326 --> 41:16.754
stuff as a result. Yeah. That brand between the two of them is an
41:17.254 --> 41:20.216
exercise in of tension. Yes. I just,
41:20.601 --> 41:24.160
whether I sell their watches or I don't, I am,
41:24.288 --> 41:27.382
I love them. And I just buy that watch for,
41:27.574 --> 41:31.229
yeah, sure. You know, people talk about buying, we have got a client
41:31.729 --> 41:34.756
who has this beautiful dress watch, beautiful vintage chronograph,
41:36.006 --> 41:39.084
gold tortoise-shaped chronograph,
41:39.356 --> 41:43.316
vintage. I won't reveal the brand because this guy's a very big
41:43.364 --> 41:46.265
collector of this brand. But he told me, yeah, this is the watch I'm going
41:46.765 --> 41:49.199
to be buried in. I look at that watch. I'm like, man, it's a classy
41:49.231 --> 41:52.820
watch. It's a watch to be buried in. This is the watch I'd be buried
41:53.320 --> 41:56.500
in. You know, really? You're like,
41:57.000 --> 42:00.380
just you? This one? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I don't know. Cause if someone ever,
42:00.880 --> 42:04.480
you know, exhumed my corpse, they'd know how long you were in the
42:04.980 --> 42:08.060
ground. Yeah. And I need to have someone, someone more important. Yeah. A little monkey
42:08.560 --> 42:11.320
there buried with me. You gotta figure out how to service it too. But yeah.
42:11.820 --> 42:15.200
But this is, you know, philosophically, this is, this is the watch you get buried
42:15.700 --> 42:18.320
with. Although, you know, I'm, I plan to be, who knows, but I plan to
42:18.820 --> 42:22.494
be cremated. Maybe I'll go in a fiery explosion. Explosion and all that's out the
42:22.558 --> 42:25.541
window. But if I were to be buried with a watch, this would be,
42:25.718 --> 42:29.118
this would be the one. Cool. It's just cool. Hey man,
42:29.374 --> 42:31.716
you know, you never have to convince me on a watch. Maybe that's why the
42:31.796 --> 42:34.731
dude who commissioned this watch bought it and got it engraved.
42:35.549 --> 42:38.740
Maybe there's some like hidden meaning in the, in the engravings,
42:38.869 --> 42:41.066
like cave paintings. Is there Ralph Nearsby?
42:42.060 --> 42:45.236
I'm clearly not well, but yeah, man, this thing
42:45.348 --> 42:49.085
bowled me over because it's like one, the pocket watch itself and the time telling
42:49.277 --> 42:52.823
and the engineering of the thing is impressive. Yeah, and I guess the engraving is
42:52.871 --> 42:56.018
pretty good too. The engraving is absolutely
42:56.518 --> 43:00.159
mental and just creates this contrast with it, but it feels
43:00.659 --> 43:04.670
like this found object from another civilization in that sense. And then you
43:04.686 --> 43:08.217
add to it all of the philosophy
43:08.717 --> 43:11.990
and the thinking that went into the watch, and it's absolutely just this insane trip.
43:12.535 --> 43:16.372
Well done, guys. They nailed it again. All right, my last one.
43:16.436 --> 43:20.401
Last pick. One left. So this is a brand that we also
43:20.901 --> 43:24.364
don't currently carry, but we Currently. Yeah, but we've been talking to
43:24.864 --> 43:28.262
them for years under their former moniker, Kross Studios, which has now
43:28.762 --> 43:31.566
been folded in under the greater— Is it Kross with a K? Yeah. Wasn't there
43:32.066 --> 43:35.880
a band Kris Kross, a hip-hop duo? Yeah, unrelated. Unrelated. Much in
43:36.380 --> 43:39.152
the same way that Marco Tedeschi is also unrelated to the Tedeschi Trucks Band.
43:39.650 --> 43:43.627
Or, yeah, Susan Tedeschi. You know, I found out Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks
43:44.397 --> 43:48.519
Band is the heiress to the Tedeschi convenience store
43:48.648 --> 43:52.354
chain. Which also Cross Studios and
43:52.854 --> 43:56.302
therefore is part of the Steinhart wig. Yeah, exactly. But anyone
43:56.350 --> 44:00.009
from, like, anyone from New England will know the, the Tedeschi
44:00.041 --> 44:03.042
convenience store chain. Okay, so anyway,
44:03.877 --> 44:08.226
Marco Tedeschi, the, the watchmaker behind the brand, has now essentially
44:08.290 --> 44:12.126
reorganized to bring Cross Studios under there. They make some crazy collaborative watches.
44:12.238 --> 44:15.544
Well, I think this is, this is important. Marco has always been the
44:15.609 --> 44:19.669
watchmaker, the guy at Cross Studio, and Cross Studio is mostly
44:19.717 --> 44:23.019
known known for their central tourbillons, which have been done
44:23.292 --> 44:27.155
usually around collaborations. They've done Harry Potter or Batman
44:27.655 --> 44:30.570
or Star Wars. I love the Harry Potter one because the tourbillon cage has,
44:30.762 --> 44:34.625
has like little figures playing Quidditch around. Yeah. And of course, Game of Thrones.
44:34.689 --> 44:38.024
Game of Thrones. So they've, uh, they've done this stuff, but I think very— and
44:38.136 --> 44:41.871
it's been their calling card. And that— but that cuts two ways.
44:42.544 --> 44:47.113
A lot of times the gimmickry or the— forget
44:47.613 --> 44:50.848
the culture, the pop culture nature and the craft of what's going on with these,
44:51.040 --> 44:54.214
these moving sculptures really has overtaken
44:55.112 --> 44:58.061
the, the watchmaking and the brand and the watchmaker himself.
44:58.109 --> 45:01.604
So what they've decided to do importantly with the brand is say,
45:01.780 --> 45:04.698
okay, now the brand now is Marco Tedeschi, and then Cross,
45:04.906 --> 45:08.160
Cross Studio, is one line within that brand
45:08.257 --> 45:11.527
that really makes these pop culture watches. And I think is important because
45:11.575 --> 45:15.534
Marco is an incredible watchmaking talent who's—
45:15.951 --> 45:19.926
and look, it can be really uncomfortable for anyone unless
45:19.975 --> 45:23.533
they're an egomaniac, which I assure you he is not. He's a very soft-spoken,
45:23.662 --> 45:27.300
kind, gentle person. It can be uncomfortable for people
45:27.800 --> 45:30.378
to put their name on something and say, this is my thing, you know.
45:30.458 --> 45:34.338
Like, there is a certain amount of ego in putting your name on
45:34.838 --> 45:38.265
a brand or on a business or something like that, and he's probably the kind
45:38.765 --> 45:42.433
of person who would shy away from it. And I think wisely he's realized,
45:42.561 --> 45:45.511
and the folks at the brand have realized, they need to elevate his,
45:45.847 --> 45:49.598
his name and him as a watchmaker. And it's, it's frankly, it's about time because
45:49.935 --> 45:53.686
he, he deserves that. Couldn't agree more. So enough of my glazing,
45:53.878 --> 45:57.597
please. Oh, good, good use of a— it was a Gen
45:57.661 --> 46:02.182
Z, I guess. So yeah, who knows. The MT 1.1
46:02.294 --> 46:07.312
is his most recent release, and it is a 7-day hand-wound
46:07.424 --> 46:11.207
tourbillon. But that, of course, doesn't really do it any justice.
46:11.287 --> 46:14.557
It's a fully skeletonized tourbillon, power reserve of 12,
46:15.038 --> 46:18.549
tourbillon cage down at 6 o'clock. But let's talk about
46:19.049 --> 46:22.252
how you wear and control the watch. Oh yeah, so on the side of the
46:22.316 --> 46:26.262
watch, so where the crown would be, there is a button. This button sets the
46:26.762 --> 46:30.770
function for what the caseback does. So in one setting, you rotate
46:31.270 --> 46:34.444
the caseback, not dissimilar from how Ressence works, for example,
46:34.764 --> 46:37.989
to wind the watch. But in a unique twist,
46:38.037 --> 46:41.534
when you push the button on the case flank, you then are
46:41.582 --> 46:44.566
able to set the watch. It's really neat.
46:44.871 --> 46:48.609
It's really clever. Yeah. And it of course allows the watch to
46:48.641 --> 46:52.494
be crownless, of which there are very few watches— true pebble
46:52.994 --> 46:56.492
on your wrist, totally. And there are very few watches that achieve this, this crownless
46:56.992 --> 47:00.185
design in a way that's effective. Résence being the one that comes to mind really
47:00.685 --> 47:03.830
effectively. There are a handful of like bezel-controlled watches out there that do,
47:04.376 --> 47:08.117
that do this to a degree, but really it's an unusual
47:08.374 --> 47:12.163
technique. It's also very svelte and very elegant
47:12.485 --> 47:16.064
and very modern. The watch feels modern.
47:16.257 --> 47:19.917
And I think this is something that I love about the MT 1.1.
47:20.494 --> 47:23.849
Yes, the finishing is there. Yes, the, you know, it's running
47:23.865 --> 47:27.332
on a classical high complication. Yes, all of the things that
47:27.832 --> 47:31.087
you would expect from a nearly $100,000 watch. Oh, and by the way,
47:31.168 --> 47:34.923
it's an in-house watch. Of course, movement in tourbillon, because he's making
47:34.955 --> 47:38.470
it. Exactly. All of those things are there, but the
47:38.502 --> 47:42.709
aesthetic of it is such a vibe because it really is
47:42.965 --> 47:46.145
a unique idea and it feels that way.
47:46.675 --> 47:49.147
And it's one of those watches where it's like when you see it, you're like,
47:49.244 --> 47:52.615
oh, this is just cool, man. And then, and then it reveals all of the
47:53.115 --> 47:55.811
interesting things that it can do as opposed to someone looking at it. It's really
47:56.311 --> 47:58.685
a good-looking watch. And also it kills— is that rose gold?
47:59.199 --> 48:01.671
You can buy it in titanium. You can buy it in rose gold. There are
48:02.171 --> 48:05.493
other materials I know they're exploring. And frankly, it's competitively
48:05.993 --> 48:08.622
priced. Priced. I think it starts around 70,000 Swiss francs.
48:09.376 --> 48:12.585
Yes, it, it exists in this category of like, you know,
48:12.665 --> 48:15.569
you call them— and I think it makes sense— like super watches, where— and a
48:16.069 --> 48:19.805
lot of them are tourbillon watches— where you have these like avant-garde
48:19.965 --> 48:23.495
design, high-end, highly finished,
48:23.511 --> 48:27.426
sculptural tourbillon watches. And you know, these things cost
48:27.926 --> 48:31.453
up into several hundreds of thousands of dollars. What's interesting is like
48:31.614 --> 48:35.832
this sort of sits in that category. It's a very avant-garde is an incredibly
48:35.928 --> 48:39.229
well-made, well-finished, beautiful object.
48:39.309 --> 48:42.962
The watchmaking is at the highest level. It's unusual. It's a watch
48:43.074 --> 48:46.776
that is not from central casting for all the reasons you just— you,
48:47.160 --> 48:50.365
you described. And it sort of sits in this category of
48:50.865 --> 48:54.387
these insane tourbillon watches. And relative to
48:54.451 --> 48:58.105
what you're getting here, like, one, a lot of those
48:58.281 --> 49:01.550
like super watches and those, those wild tourbillons ones,
49:01.566 --> 49:04.227
like, I don't know how to say it, like, they're just not my taste.
49:04.291 --> 49:07.721
They're a bit gaudy. Sure. This one manages to be like both
49:07.914 --> 49:11.152
out there and restrained at the same time.
49:11.601 --> 49:15.063
Like, you know, you know what I mean? Like, it's very tasteful. It's unusual.
49:15.127 --> 49:18.942
We know why. Very tastefully executed. I think it boils down to a very interesting
49:18.974 --> 49:22.373
design choice with it, which is because the nature of
49:22.421 --> 49:26.236
a tourbillon feels open, the rest of the watch being
49:27.070 --> 49:30.805
skeletonized and essentially surrounding and encasing
49:30.917 --> 49:34.991
the tourbillon makes it feel like a holistic design idea. Because if
49:35.491 --> 49:38.602
you think about the way a lot of tourbillons exist, you know, in a
49:39.102 --> 49:42.470
traditional sense, usually have this like very, you know, austere traditional dress watch
49:42.550 --> 49:46.209
dial, and then you punch this hole in it and like boom, there's the tourbillon.
49:46.547 --> 49:49.949
Yeah. And it's like, you know, like think about like one of my favorite lines,
49:49.965 --> 49:53.801
like the Vacheron Overseas. The tourbillon there is kind of like, now with
49:54.301 --> 49:57.236
tourbillon, you know what I mean? Or even when it's done well, like with Breguet
49:57.736 --> 50:01.518
and the Roth era tourbillon stuff, It's like the tourbillon's like
50:01.646 --> 50:05.830
blasted in there in a way that's more thoughtfully designed that creates a contrast.
50:05.910 --> 50:09.790
It doesn't just pop in there. Whereas this one, it's like, it feels like it's
50:09.806 --> 50:13.509
part of an integrated whole. Exactly. In a way that you don't often
50:13.589 --> 50:17.003
see. And like, that ties into— it's not just the watch,
50:17.019 --> 50:20.514
the movement ties into the case structure. Yes. And if you look at it,
50:20.546 --> 50:23.960
like if you break it down, right, you have the circle of the, the unbroken
50:24.008 --> 50:28.069
circle of the case because there's no crown. Then you have the tourbillon
50:28.165 --> 50:32.005
at 6 o'clock, and then you have the symmetry of the power reserve
50:32.422 --> 50:36.101
up at 12 o'clock, which is also circular in
50:36.133 --> 50:39.491
the— in the— in— on the bridge it sits on, you know.
50:39.908 --> 50:44.053
So it really feels oddly
50:44.085 --> 50:47.185
symmetrical for being so open.
50:47.764 --> 50:51.442
Dude, this watch is rad. It's really rad, and it is an insane
50:51.555 --> 50:55.329
kind of super watch, tourbillon watch, uh, I think
50:55.829 --> 50:59.327
tastefully done, which they're usually not done for, for significant—
50:59.827 --> 51:03.566
like well under $100,000. I don't know about well under US in titanium.
51:03.855 --> 51:07.853
In titanium, it's, it's, it's comfortably under— there you go— 6
51:08.353 --> 51:12.156
figures. So hats off to them. The watch is mental.
51:12.204 --> 51:15.207
It's been out a few months, but the watch is mental. I think it's super
51:15.223 --> 51:18.338
important though that they have elevated
51:18.451 --> 51:22.417
the Marco Tedeschi as the brand. Yep. They have a core
51:22.917 --> 51:25.207
collection. This is, this is a core collection watch. You know, they'll continue to do
51:25.271 --> 51:29.121
the limited edition stuff, but like now they have not just the,
51:29.281 --> 51:32.377
you know, the Marquis and Marco Tedeschi, but a core collection of these,
51:32.570 --> 51:35.891
these watches. And there will be more to come. And I think that is super
51:35.939 --> 51:39.195
important. Keep your eyes on him. He's going somewhere. This guy is one to watch
51:39.372 --> 51:42.355
and it deserves, deserves his, his flowers. Okay,
51:42.676 --> 51:45.772
bring it home. Bringing it home. Now this is, this is a watch,
51:46.189 --> 51:49.766
uh, I don't think we talked about on the last episode, but Blake and I
51:50.055 --> 51:53.872
peeled off to do an interview with Nicholas Bowman Scargill of Fears,
51:53.984 --> 51:57.303
of course, and Lee Yuan Rapati, the designer of this watch. And that
51:57.495 --> 52:01.390
is the Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar. So I
52:01.438 --> 52:05.286
will say, if you want to know all about this watch, it's what it's
52:05.786 --> 52:09.966
like in person, the story behind it from a design and a development standpoint
52:10.014 --> 52:13.589
in particular, why they— why it is made the
52:13.605 --> 52:17.372
way it is, we've got an interview up on YouTube. Blake sat
52:17.872 --> 52:20.691
down with Nicholas and Lee to talk about that. It's also available as an episode
52:21.191 --> 52:24.940
of the Watches Of podcast. So if you've subscribed to that, you'll find
52:25.440 --> 52:28.185
it there, or you can just look in your podcast player of choice for the
52:28.281 --> 52:31.478
Watches Of podcast. You can listen to that if you
52:31.494 --> 52:34.916
want the, the behind-the-scenes skinny on this thing.
52:36.008 --> 52:39.430
This is a watch— I'll say a few things. One is incredibly
52:39.446 --> 52:43.719
well executed. I mean, it is a perpetual
52:44.219 --> 52:48.024
calendar, but it is so tastefully executed. It manages
52:48.121 --> 52:51.623
to feel like an elevated classical perpetual
52:52.123 --> 52:56.138
calendar. Calendar, yet intrinsically and 100% a Führer's watch
52:56.638 --> 52:59.930
because it of course lives within this Brunswick family. And it shows how far the
52:59.946 --> 53:02.243
Brunswick collection can stretch.
53:03.625 --> 53:06.871
The watch is also impressively thin with the crystal included.
53:06.919 --> 53:10.438
It's 10.1 millimeters. This is, you know, a comparable watch
53:10.550 --> 53:14.021
to this just competitively and on specs would be like the IWC
53:15.033 --> 53:17.925
Portofino perpetual chronograph, thicker than this.
53:19.082 --> 53:22.230
So the, the dimensionality, the design,
53:22.278 --> 53:25.539
the wearability of it, all that is extremely impressive. This is
53:25.651 --> 53:29.249
also just a really important watch for Fierce as a business to be able to
53:29.346 --> 53:32.607
go out and do something like this. I mean, think about
53:32.623 --> 53:35.867
how far they have come, and Nicholas and the team
53:35.915 --> 53:39.803
have come from the first Redcliffe 10 years ago, which was
53:40.303 --> 53:44.267
a quartz watch, and now they're, they're, they're executing a
53:44.507 --> 53:48.017
beautifully done perpetual calendar.
53:48.113 --> 53:51.159
Nicholas first showed this to me a few years ago in the basement at the
53:51.175 --> 53:54.701
Iceberg Bar in Geneva during Geneva Watch Days at the
53:54.845 --> 53:58.515
AHCI. He had like a, like a printed, like, rendering of the
53:58.547 --> 54:01.288
watch and showed it to me. And on the spot I saw it, I was
54:01.788 --> 54:05.022
like, that is exceptional, that is beautiful, and I am going to
54:05.038 --> 54:08.789
buy one. And I will buy one. Our customers have to come first,
54:08.805 --> 54:11.738
and this has been a very commercially successful— Really? You like it that much?
54:12.075 --> 54:14.799
Oh yeah, I'm gonna buy one. That's awesome. I got to be a man of
54:15.299 --> 54:18.724
my word. But no, I mean, seeing it executed, it's even better
54:19.224 --> 54:22.329
than I thought it would be. Now, the reason why I want to talk
54:22.829 --> 54:26.031
about this watch is because really, this is Openwork. So let's talk about the business
54:26.531 --> 54:30.165
behind this watch. One of the comments that has come up— surprise,
54:30.181 --> 54:33.962
surprise— shockingly enough, over and over
54:34.462 --> 54:37.455
about this watch, whether it's on YouTube or Instagram or anywhere else, is,
54:37.952 --> 54:41.237
well, that's a lot of money. This is a $28,500 USD watch.
54:41.477 --> 54:44.892
That's a lot of money for a watch with a Sellita movement. Yep. Now,
54:45.084 --> 54:48.514
our feelings on Sellita movements are well known. They are an engine of
54:48.546 --> 54:52.394
creativity in independent watchmaking, and we don't think there's
54:52.894 --> 54:56.337
anything wrong with the Sellita movement. But I want to talk a little bit
54:56.837 --> 55:00.777
about the business behind, you know, why this watch has
55:00.826 --> 55:04.272
a Sellita movement and why it's priced the way it's priced, because I
55:04.336 --> 55:08.280
think that that's important to, to put some context around.
55:09.065 --> 55:13.041
First of all, most the brands who are doing perpetual calendars
55:13.297 --> 55:15.221
that, that this watch is often compared to.
55:16.375 --> 55:19.581
IWC is a great example. I mean, they make perpetual calendars in their sleep.
55:19.885 --> 55:23.316
Jaeger-LeCoultre, the Master Control Ultra Thin Perpetual
55:23.816 --> 55:27.468
Calendar, more expensive watch than, than this, but it's a perpetual with a moon phase.
55:28.526 --> 55:31.908
Even if you look at Frederique Constant, these are brands that have the
55:32.405 --> 55:36.461
ability to develop these products at scale and
55:36.541 --> 55:39.811
in many cases in-house. Fears does not.
55:39.923 --> 55:43.578
Fears is a much smaller brand. This is a much more limited production watch,
55:44.155 --> 55:47.714
and this also a watch that they want to be robust and reliable.
55:47.778 --> 55:50.808
One of the things that Nicholas talked about is like, this is part of
55:51.308 --> 55:54.719
the Brunswick family and it should be as robust and as daily-able
55:55.136 --> 55:58.326
as any other Brunswick watch. This is not a watch you
55:58.422 --> 56:01.788
want to have a fussy movement that you have to worry about. This should be
56:01.868 --> 56:05.395
able to be banged around and worn without a care.
56:06.036 --> 56:09.146
Frankly, a perpetual calendar should. And so I think the
56:09.242 --> 56:13.154
choice of the Sellita movement with the Dubois-Depraz module, which is
56:13.250 --> 56:16.344
also a custom module for them— they talk about the things that they did to
56:16.392 --> 56:19.810
customize it, which are significant, makes a ton of
56:19.842 --> 56:23.180
sense, both from the perspective of, well, what else does Fierce
56:23.373 --> 56:26.502
frankly have access to, A, and B,
56:27.000 --> 56:30.322
if you think about the design intention behind the watch,
56:30.434 --> 56:33.869
a daily-able, unfussy perpetual calendar,
56:34.190 --> 56:37.913
well then the choice of a Sellita movement and a Dubois-Depraz module makes sense.
56:38.057 --> 56:41.155
And even still, it's a 10mm watch.
56:41.283 --> 56:42.278
It's remarkable.
56:42.551 --> 56:45.232
That's finished. That's hand-finished. And, and yes,
56:45.906 --> 56:49.389
yeah, there's a Sellita movement in there, but it is finished to an incredibly high
56:49.889 --> 56:53.642
standard by some of the best watch finisher movement finishers in Switzerland.
56:54.204 --> 56:57.398
So I don't think it takes anything away for
56:57.898 --> 57:00.094
it. I think the movement is part of what makes the case for the watch
57:00.287 --> 57:03.625
when you think about it holistically. It's an interesting— the watch is an
57:03.657 --> 57:06.546
interesting Rorschach test as a collector.
57:06.707 --> 57:09.500
Here's another Nasher chip. But it is, you know.
57:09.901 --> 57:13.015
Yeah, because you look at it in What do you see? Exactly.
57:13.112 --> 57:16.949
Interesting. And, you know, we look, we sell Fears. Nick is
57:16.965 --> 57:20.353
one of our best friends. Obviously, we, we have an opinion about the
57:20.853 --> 57:23.292
watch. Yeah, a big part of the reason I love that watch— I mean,
57:23.308 --> 57:26.487
heck, I'm wearing a Fears right now. You are. And I'll be honest, am I
57:26.535 --> 57:30.485
entirely biased? Yes. Am I biased from a business standpoint?
57:30.935 --> 57:34.242
Maybe. But I'm mostly biased from a personal standpoint because I look at
57:34.742 --> 57:37.261
that watch and I am just so incredibly proud of Nicholas.
57:37.999 --> 57:41.994
Yeah. Yes. But I just think it's a really interesting
57:42.250 --> 57:45.876
exercise to go through, you know? And I don't know
57:46.376 --> 57:49.069
that like, I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. Like if you look
57:49.569 --> 57:52.759
at it and you're like, I can't wear this because of X, Y, or Z,
57:52.839 --> 57:56.481
then that's not what you value in a watch. Fine. Move on. Exactly. Sure.
57:56.786 --> 57:59.658
And if you look at it and it's interesting because I've had some, some clients
58:00.158 --> 58:03.492
reach out to me that are massive collectors of watches,
58:03.990 --> 58:08.387
5, 6, 7, 10 times the value of this watch have
58:08.484 --> 58:11.630
Patek and Vacheron, you know,
58:11.871 --> 58:14.970
perpetuals, and they love it.
58:15.243 --> 58:19.144
Yeah. And I— so I think it's just— it is an interesting thing.
58:19.337 --> 58:22.259
And I think, you know, for me as a collector, I love stuff like this
58:22.708 --> 58:26.545
because sometimes I look at it and I have to ask myself— like,
58:26.561 --> 58:30.045
I'll give you another example from a completely different brand, right? The UR-101
58:30.736 --> 58:33.834
from, from Urwerk. That watch
58:34.252 --> 58:37.340
runs off of a very like simple Vacheron
58:37.840 --> 58:41.600
caliber. You know what? Yes. When we— so I was talking with Felix when
58:42.100 --> 58:45.360
we were at Urwerk. You were on the other side of the table talking to
58:45.860 --> 58:48.560
some other folks, and I was talking to Felix. I heard him. You're talking about
58:49.060 --> 58:52.440
Vacheron. About his relationship with Vacheron. Vacheron.
58:52.940 --> 58:56.160
Vacheron. And look, Vacheron, it's owned by Parmigiani.
58:56.660 --> 59:00.260
It's part of that same group, but they're a movement supplier to the industry,
59:00.760 --> 59:04.260
and they make great calibers. Carl Suchy uses a bunch of Vacheron
59:04.760 --> 59:05.520
calibers. Tons of people do. Urwerk do. A lot of people.
59:07.468 --> 59:11.540
Does, Czapek does. They are great
59:11.940 --> 59:15.307
movements. I don't mean this— I mean this in the best way
59:15.807 --> 59:19.234
possible. This is not a diss at all because they are— they're excellent movements,
59:19.875 --> 59:23.097
but they're kind of unremarkable movements. They're common. They're common movements,
59:23.145 --> 59:26.816
right? And because they are reliable. And, and so the conversation
59:26.848 --> 59:29.413
I had with Felix about it, I was like, well, tell me how you picked
59:29.913 --> 59:33.485
Vaucher as a supplier. He's like, oh well, you know, like, look, this is the
59:33.581 --> 59:37.204
engine of the watch. We, we think about everything else around
59:37.252 --> 59:40.990
the watch, obviously, you know, the case and the time-telling layout.
59:41.183 --> 59:44.699
For them, the modules— they talk about like what they really do is designing modules,
59:44.956 --> 59:48.714
you know, like the— whether that's the, like for instance, wandering hours
59:48.810 --> 59:52.840
complication and the rotating— the rotating— and they're like,
59:52.985 --> 59:56.710
but this is the engine of the watch and I
59:57.210 --> 01:00:00.387
need it to be reliable. I need to be able to put my time and
01:00:00.887 --> 01:00:04.530
attention on everything else, you know. It's like the old, you know, does it
01:00:04.562 --> 01:00:08.175
make the beer taste better kind of thing. It's like what URWERK is gonna do
01:00:08.675 --> 01:00:11.966
is the stuff that is wild and unusual usual, and that's where they need to
01:00:12.466 --> 01:00:16.352
spend their time, attention, and budget, and R&D, and resources,
01:00:16.368 --> 01:00:19.373
and all that stuff. And he's like, but Vacheron is the engine.
01:00:19.421 --> 01:00:22.699
I need that to be reliable. And they have the ability to produce
01:00:23.199 --> 01:00:26.828
things that are reliable, that are well-made, and the equipment that I just— doesn't make
01:00:27.328 --> 01:00:30.266
sense for me to invest in all of this equipment that they have to make
01:00:30.766 --> 01:00:34.203
the best possible engine for my watch. It would bankrupt me and I wouldn't
01:00:34.703 --> 01:00:38.187
be able to make the watches. I just
01:00:38.687 --> 01:00:40.627
want something that's good and not, you know, not gonna create problems for me.
01:00:41.109 --> 01:00:44.273
Yep. So that I can do the things that only I can do. And I
01:00:44.321 --> 01:00:47.581
think that's exactly what's happening here with this watch from, from Fierce.
01:00:47.758 --> 01:00:51.468
Exactly. And where they put their time and attention was in the module from Dubois
01:00:51.548 --> 01:00:55.483
Dépraz. They made a number of complications. It has its own caliber number
01:00:55.983 --> 01:00:59.048
and all that sort of stuff so that it would meet their brief and their
01:00:59.337 --> 01:01:02.517
vision of a watch. So if you don't have a problem
01:01:02.549 --> 01:01:06.045
with a voucher caliber in an inner worker. Maybe there are people
01:01:06.141 --> 01:01:09.507
who do think, you know, that's a lot of money for a Vacheron caliber.
01:01:09.603 --> 01:01:12.728
I don't, I don't know. But I think you've said this
01:01:13.228 --> 01:01:17.120
many times, and we don't need to beat a dead horse, but if you're
01:01:17.620 --> 01:01:21.239
gonna criticize a watch for having a Sellita movement, it may make sense
01:01:21.739 --> 01:01:24.701
to first ask the question, well, why does it have a Sellita movement? Was this
01:01:26.095 --> 01:01:29.477
a cop-out or a deliberate choice? And in most
01:01:29.977 --> 01:01:33.310
cases, in the case of this watch, it was a deliberate choice. Yep. So,
01:01:33.711 --> 01:01:37.017
but what made me so happy to see that watch was the
01:01:37.517 --> 01:01:40.274
personal story of it, what it means for Fierce, what a line in the sand
01:01:40.322 --> 01:01:42.457
it absolutely is for the brand. Also, the watch is awesome. Like, when you put
01:01:42.957 --> 01:01:45.843
it on, the watch is great. And it just works. Yeah. It just— it's like
01:01:46.343 --> 01:01:49.453
when you were talking about, like, you know, the best stuff from Patek is just
01:01:49.953 --> 01:01:52.952
the stuff that's just so beautiful and straightforward in its presentation.
01:01:53.609 --> 01:01:57.798
That's what this is. It is just a beautiful object,
01:01:58.119 --> 01:02:01.374
and it's incredible. Well executed. It wears
01:02:01.406 --> 01:02:04.852
like a dream on the wrist. All of the proportions have
01:02:05.352 --> 01:02:09.165
been thought through here, and it's extremely impressive. So check out the— check
01:02:09.665 --> 01:02:12.306
out the video on our YouTube to get that sort of behind the scenes.
01:02:12.467 --> 01:02:15.753
And they do talk a lot about the movement choice, the module
01:02:16.253 --> 01:02:19.680
choice, and why they made it and what it allowed them to do from a
01:02:19.825 --> 01:02:23.688
design standpoint, which is what this thing is about. So man, what a
01:02:24.188 --> 01:02:27.615
cool watch to finally see from a— from a dingy basement,
01:02:28.176 --> 01:02:31.607
dimly lit cellar somewhere in Geneva to to
01:02:32.107 --> 01:02:36.259
a hot hotel room in Geneva. The room we were in had— you
01:02:36.759 --> 01:02:40.365
know, okay, so kudos to the Alternative Horological Alliance for
01:02:40.381 --> 01:02:43.797
their choice of the East West. East West is a great spot, great air
01:02:43.813 --> 01:02:47.230
conditioning. Yeah, please. So, and thanks to them as well, of course,
01:02:47.342 --> 01:02:50.662
for allowing us to shoot and record a lot of content there.
01:02:50.951 --> 01:02:54.014
We greatly appreciate that. Cool. So we leave it there.
01:02:54.544 --> 01:02:57.447
Let's leave it there. Thanks for listening. This, of course,
01:02:57.591 --> 01:03:01.338
is Open Work. It's a production of Collecting Horology. You can find
01:03:01.435 --> 01:03:04.973
us and many of the watches from today's podcast online
01:03:05.086 --> 01:03:08.635
at collectivehorology.com. And let us know your
01:03:08.684 --> 01:03:12.095
thoughts, send us your suggestions, your feedback,
01:03:12.143 --> 01:03:14.940
your thoughts on Sellita movements. And to do that,
01:03:15.840 --> 01:03:20.022
email gabe@collectivehorology.com. You can email steve@collectivehorology.com.
01:03:31.443 --> 01:03:33.833
Reference LCF-039-J2BW1.