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Devin: Hello and welcome to the Time Well Spent Podcast. My name is Devin Pennypacker, and on this show we use our shared love of watches as a jumping off point to talk about the passions that keep us ticking. This week I'm joined by my bi weekly co host Griffin Bartsch from an undisclosed cabin in the woods. Griffin, how are you doing?
Griffin: Doing pretty well. It's not that undisclosed. I'm up in I'm up in Maine, with my family. It's kind of an annual annual trip for me and but one that we've n kind of missed out on the last few years. So I'm up here for a couple weeks. There's a dock right down the hill from me that I can jump off when it's slightly warmer than it is right now and I'm just enjoying being outside of the real world for a bit.
Devin: Okay. No, I don't blame you for a second. I am incredibly envious. I'm ready to be part of the outside world rather than the inside world at this point. the weather's been absolutely insane. And I'm in about a week and a half or a week from now, I will be hopefully sailing in good weather. And I I am like teeming with excitement to do that, and it makes every day leading up to it that much more difficult. So I see you sitting in a cabin up in Maine, and all I can think of is if you're not
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: chopping wood, jumping in a lake and like getting really sweaty all day long for no reason, you're doing it wrong, man.
Griffin: no no lakes unfortunately, but that is only because we are right on the ocean. Slight yeah. I like I like salt water.
Devin: Yeah, okay, that that's a fair that's a fair swap. yeah, fair enough. Well, and so all of this leads us into what is kind of our main topic eventually here, and that is that we are going to be talking today about summer watches, specifically summer dive watches. We are gonna go through a whole draft here where we talk about our picks in each price category. We're gonna put them up head to head against each other, make you guys tell us who picked the better Dive watch collection ready for summer. But before we do all of that, Griffin, what do you have on wrist? Here.
Griffin: not a dive watch. no. no, I brought three watches with me. I'm up here for a little over two weeks. I brought three watches with me. two of them are dive watches. One of one being my CWC CWN1, the other being my Vertex Aqualion, which you know I'm we'll get into this later, but is a watch I'm not picking today because it's the only pick for me. Like, it's too good, it's great.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Might.
Griffin: But you can't get them right now. We'll talk about them later in the fall when they're available again. But right now I'm wearing a recent pickup actually, which is a beat up Hamilton khaki field automatic silver dial, 38 millimeters. it came with no straps, no bracelet, no anything. I threw it on a tan NATO, and I have been wearing the ever loving shit out of it for the last week and a half.
Devin: Ooh. That is the best way to pick up Hamilton Khaki Fields is secondhand slightly disheveled and cheap. Pretty cheap. I I still think that the Hamilton Khaki Field is still one of your better entry-level field watches out there. And it is actually one of the watches that I started off my watch journey with, but I never talk about because it didn't stay in the collection. but with it, I don't know. I just think that there's something about that watch that it's better when it's worn in.
Griffin: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I was you know, I s my my whole collecting thing, and we'll talk about this in a later episode, started with a vintage Hamilton. And I all of a sudden looked at my watches and was like, I really want to wear a Hamilton today. How do I not own a Hamilton? And this popped up in a group chat and I was like, I'll have that. and you know, I was a big proponent of the hand wound khaki field mechanicals. They're a great watch. There's a lot of affection for the new 250th anniversary, America and 250 edition they just did. But none of those felt entirely right for what I was looking for anymore. they're and I don't say this as an insult, they are slightly contrived, they are they are putting on airs, they do what they do really well. but this is a slightly more modern interpretation of that design philosophy. It makes it perhaps slightly less interesting from an enthusiast standpoint, but I think that's what makes it slightly more interesting to me at this exact moment of my collecting.
Devin: It's really funny. Okay, so there's a concept I thought about a long time ago. I had an Oris Pro Pilot Daydate, right? And this watch was on a bracelet, black dial. About as simple as a watch could get. And that watch in my collection was the watch that I put on in the morning when I couldn't be bothered to wear a watch. I which sounds really stupid and sounds convoluted. But yeah, there's like there's days where I don't want to think about the watch that I'm wearing. I just want to grab whatever and put it on.
Griffin: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I a hundred percent get it.
Devin: And I know I'm probably not going to check it the whole day, but I don't want to not wear a watch because I I genuinely enjoy wearing watches. And so that's what that watch became. And I think the khaki field line in general is kind of perfect for that. You can enjoy it if you want to enjoy it, because they are fantastic watches. But then you take a step past that and they are just like such a foundational watch that you can wear it and forget about it. And it's okay. It it's perfectly fine doing that. It's not screaming for attention. It it kind of disappears on the wrist nicely.
Griffin: Yeah, exactly. And yeah, I just love it. But what are you wearing?
Devin: Very cool. something that doesn't disappear on the wrist and doesn't go subtly into the night. this is the new Citizen wave tracker. I mean, full disclosure, Citizen sent this to me for review. showed up on my doorstep when I was at least expecting it, which was kind of wild. but the whole
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point of me getting it in is I'm going to be taking it sailing with me. And cannot wait to actually test out all of the different nautical things that are going on here because I got on the dial.
Griffin: Mm-hmm.
Devin: You have or on the rehot, I should say, it has all of your points of tack for running a sailboat. the bezel gives you a full 360-degree graduation compass, quote unquote, but not really. helps with timing. And there's just a lot of cool things outside of wave tracking that you can do with this watch in a nautical sense. And I'm very excited to kind of put it to the test and and use it out on those real world conditions. Yeah, really been enjoying this watch. I love the orange bezel, orange strap combo. It's loud and kind of aggressive and obnoxious in all of the fun ways that you want a summer watch to be, which I I really like and really enjoy. Yeah, it's a cool one. I th I think that kind of brings us to a point where we should start jumping into some of our topics here. The first one, though, before we get into the main topic, you brought up Hamilton.
Griffin: Fantastic. Yeah. Yes, I did.
Devin: and we're gonna talk about the Odyssey in just a moment. But before we do, I wanna give a huge shout out to everyone who was in Chicago for wind up. I was there for just a quick weekend and really flew in for the meetups and for the friends and stuff like that. did did the whole thing, went to the TGN meetup on Friday night, on Saturday, went to my buddy's house, my my buddy Ben Lowry, the submersible wrist on Instagram, who if you don't follow you should because he's posting awesome stuff every day. I went over his dad's house for an awesome lunch with the entire dive crew and, you know, did our whole sex pile of watches on the table and everyone swapping watches back and forth and talking about each other's collections and it was just it was awesome. It was a bit of watch community that I've been missing a little bit lately because I've been doing more events than meetups and you don't get the same sort of conversations at events that you get at meetups. And these guys are guys who I really don't see too often and genuinely appreciate any
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: second in their company I can possibly squeeze out of the year. So it's just great and great to see some people out in Chicago. So huge, huge shout out to people out there. you know, Toronto Time Piece is coming up not too long from now. And then we got Watch Week in New York City. I think at the moment you and I are both planning to go to Toronto for Time Piece. Okay, cool. Yeah. So if you're going to Toronto, hit us up. Love to hang out and meet up with some people out there. And then obviously Watch Week in New York is
Griffin: I think so.
Devin: Gonna be here way faster than anyone feels like it's going to be. So again, if you're in New York City for that, hit me up, Griffin. I I assume you're gonna be out here for that because it's a quick little jaunt and a wild week for sure. So hit us up if you want to do some meetup fun activities, grab a beer, see some watches, whatever. but speaking of seeing Griffin, you and I both went and saw the Odyssey. Yeah, and the the reason I bring up Hamilton with your watch is.
Griffin: yeah. Yes we did.
Devin: They made a watch for the Odyssey. And because they made a watch for the Odyssey, they invited Jamie and I actually to a a press screening of the movie and you got a chance to go and see it with your father and sit through the experience. Very quick take, how do you feel about it now that you've digested it a little bit?
Griffin: Yes. I don't know and I want to see it again. I still haven't decided. It's possible that the Odyssey is the best movie. I'm not sure. But I'm I am confident that it is the most movie.
Devin: Yeah. Interesting. Okay. Yeah, I think you're right.
Griffin: and also I think and while I'm up here, I stopped and I I picked up a copy of Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey, which is the copy that which is the edition that Christopher Nolan worked off of. I'm gonna read it over the next two weeks and see the movie again. I thought it was fascinating. I thought Chris Nolan, to my memory of the Odyssey from when I read Robert Fagel's translation.
Devin: interesting. Okay. Cool.
Griffin: Over fifteen years ago now. it was an incredible adaptation. it's not comprehensive by any stretch of the imagination. I don't think you could do it comprehensively, but it certainly feels divinitive. And the movie is just an overwhelming experience. It's incredible.
Devin: Yes, overwhelming is a good word for it. So we walked out, I I we saw it in IMAX. Hamilton was gracious enough to rent out the IMAX and bring some watch journalists along for the ride, and gave us a free soda and popcorn and candy, so like I was happy as a clam sitting there in a movie theater with some free snacks and stuff like that. But I I sat through that film and while I
Griffin: Mm-hmm.
Devin: Did enjoy parts of it. I do think that there were there were some things about the movie that kind of frustrated me, which I think are just personal things. I'm a very harsh critic. For if no one out there has figured that out yet. I'm a very harsh critic. I use very real ratings and I'm very honest about things. Jamie walked out and absolutely loved it. it's one that I think is incredibly worth going to see and incredibly worth watching, but I don't know that I'm ready to put my money down to go see it again.
Griffin: Interesting. where do you where do you stand on Nolan movies generally?
Devin: Very fifty-fifty. Re realistically, if you read me off a list of all of his movies, I would probably go like, don't like, like, don't like, like, don't like. And this one falls right in the middle. I will admit that having time to digest the movie a little bit more as we've gone on, I'm liking it a little bit more in hindsight. I think in the moment, the the three pet peeves that I have that pulled me out of the
film really were like wearing on me as the film went on. I'll give you to you, I'll I'll tell you what those three things are right now because people are probably incredibly annoyed that I'm not bringing them up. number one, there's a lot of big name actors and actresses in this film, which is great when you're trying to attract people to the theater, but I think can be a little bit distracting in the moment. And when some actors are incredibly good on camera and other ones maybe aren't as good, it's very noticeable.
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: So there were a couple scenes in particular where I felt like some actors and actresses outshined others. And because of that, it pulled me out. The second thing is that the dialogue is just too quick, which I know is hilarious coming from me, the person who talks a mile a minute and barely breathes. But there has to be pauses. There has to be moments where you have to stop and r and digest the verbiage that has just come out and You don't really get that. And that's kind of a null intrope it is too, like the dialogue is always very quick and snappy. And then the third thing is that some characters spoke the entire movie in like quote unquote period correct dialogue, while others took a more modern approach. And when you're faced with those two things happening in the same film, again, it just kind of pulls me out of what's happening and it makes me go, wait a minute, what did he just say? Like why did he say it like that?
Griffin: So that's an interesting, all valid. you know, I think I think one of Christopher Nolan's clear strengths as a filmmaker is he's someone people want to work with. it makes it very easy for him to fill a cast with people you recognize. and I do wonder some of those things are the, you know, for some people, you know, I think Christopher Nolan can be a little bit of a black licorice director for some people. I
Devin: Yeah. Mm-hmm. cool. That's a great way to put it.
Griffin: I'm more on board with him than I think you are. I think I'm like 70 more 70-30. He's definitely made movies I don't care for. for example, I have never gotten why people like Interstellar particularly. I'm I know, but that is a movie that falls apart in the third act in a big way.
Devin: Mm. Okay. You're gonna you're gonna get so much flack for that. Wow. You terrible human being, how dare you have an opinion.
Griffin: You know what? And maybe it's because I'm not the father of a daughter, but that's where I stand. I I think
Devin: Mm. Yeah.
Griffin: I find a lot of his movies more gratifying the more I watch them.
Devin: Mm-hmm.
Griffin: But it's interesting that, you know, if if this is not a movie that is inspiring you to go out and see it again, that may not that that may be an indictment of it.
Devin: Well, y and that's very true. I think though, if you were to remove those three things from my brain, I would have really enjoyed this film. I would have probably loved it. Those three things in the moment just
kind of really held me back. But all of it being said, I am so happy that I went to go see it in IMAX because I do think that watching this in your living room, you're gonna lose a lot. And i I just
Griffin: Absolutely.
Devin: Again, I'm really I I think I would have gone to have seen this movie on my own if Hamilton hadn't invited me. but I don't know that what I would have gone to an IMAX theater in order to see it. I am so grateful that they booked an IMAX theater because I walked out of there and I'm like, I need to see everything in IMAX because that was just it's assaulting. You know, that movie just really comes at you hard and fast, and there are moments that are really cool. but I did I did walk.
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: home and I was thinking like, you know, I really want watch Troy again.
Griffin: God, you're one of those. I mean I think this is also where we come down from completely different perspectives on this. I think I just go to the movies a lot more than you do. I mean I I and and also, you know, I'm a I'm a proud I've been an AMC Stubb subscriber for I think going on a decade. I see basically everything that comes out. and I think that's just so I'm coming at it as well with a perspective
Devin: Yeah, it's tough here. Yeah. Yeah.
Griffin: I'm almost looking at it more like I'm also thinking as I'm watching this movie, like, well, what does this mean for the Oscar race? Because it's gonna get nominated in every technical category. And and I think it's what it is it is impossible to walk out of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and not think and not recognize it as being an a a profound achievement.
Devin: Mm. Yes. Totally. Yeah, for two hundred and eighty million dollars I don't think you could have made a better movie.
Griffin: I actually don't entirely know how they made it for only two hundred and eighty million dollars.
Devin: That is actually a fair point because if HBO would have done this, it would have been two hundred and eighty billion. If Amazon would've touched this, it would have been three hundred and fifty billion. And Yeah. And it would have been awful. Yeah. man. Well.
Griffin: If Marvel had done it, it would have been 600. And it would have looked like CGI garbage. but anyways, I think that I think I can safely say that our assessment is whether you're gonna like it or not, go see it. And go see it on the best screen you can. I didn't I haven't seen it in IMAX yet. I have tickets in August to see an IMAX 70 millimeter. IMAX 70 millimeter film projection. I saw it in Dolby.
Devin: Yeah. Mm.
Griffin: It was incredible. it's not quite the aspect ratio, but it's as close to fidel it's as high fidelity as you're gonna get, and it is the best sound you will get, which for a Christopher Nolan movie sound is such a big part of it. you saw it in IMAX. Did you see it in IMAX or IMAX seventy millimeter?
Devin: Yes. just regular IMAX something. There's like this is really confusing to me. There's like five different kinds of
IMAX. and I know that the one that I saw is not IMAX seventy, but it is like one of the other high high ones.
Griffin: Yes, there are. Yeah. which theater did you see it at?
Devin: The AMC on thirty fourth.
Griffin: Okay, I think that is IMAX laser projection, but I might be wrong.
Devin: No, you're right, you're right. It is IMAX laser. I remember seeing something going laser and then in my brain I went pew pew pew pew pew pew and
Griffin: Yep. And is it bad that I know which AMCs have which IMAX screens in New York City? True enough. But on that note, yeah.
Devin: Little bit, considering especially you don't live here, so all right, Griffin. Well I think we've spouted out about the Odyssey. it's time for us to dive into what we actually came here today to talk about, and that is summer dive watches, the thing that you strap on your wrist when you're ready to go jump in a lake, jump in the ocean, go for a hike, go for a bike, whatever you're gonna do, the summer dive watch I think is quintessential for anyone's collection because it is just that grab and go. Do anything watch. And in the spirit of that, you and I have put together a list of watches here, starting in a couple different categories. Number one being the ultra affordable. Then we're going to move up to $1.5,000, then $5,000, then $10,000, and then an unlimited budget. We each get one pick for every single category. And then at the end, I think the audience should tell us who did better on selecting the dive watch picks. Cool. Well without further ado, you wanna jump in? Ugh, okay, all right. So
Griffin: Absolutely. And I'm gonna make I'm gonna make you go first.
Devin: The ultra affordable category is a tough one because as we discussed very briefly before actually starting this recording, in looking at all of these different price categories, man has everything gotten more expensive than it used to be. a lot of the watches I would have chosen for every single category have crept into the next one. And I think in doing so, they don't quite represent the same value that I was anticipating. I think you you got into this a little bit too, especially with the 5k category. That might be the hardest category.
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: Well, the ten thousand dollar category was very hard to fill to you.
Griffin: It gets it gets hard at Well, what gets hard at each price point is when you have a mental image of what's available at that price. And it's hard to update that mental picture. So the stuff that we just think of as a given is like, that's under five thousand dollars. A lot of it's not. The stuff we have a mental picture that it's under ten thousand dollars, you know, a sub is no longer under a no date sub is no longer a sub ten thousand dollar watch. It's barely above it.
Devin: Mm-hmm. I know.
Griffin: But that's a difference and it's a it's a it's a Rubicon. it's a river that has been crossed. But but I gotta
Devin: Yeah, it it's such a strange it's a strange thing to have ten K and
go, I don't know what to buy for ten K.
Griffin: Yeah, and I will be interested to see where you landed on that 'cause I landed in a very particular place with that decision. But we'll get there. So let's start. Ultra budget.
Devin: Ooh, okay, interesting. Well, mine is probably yeah, mine's probably a bit more easy. Let's start with the ultra affordable. Yes. now I in my brain I started quickly racking the kind of normal everyday watches that you would go for. So I started thinking about the Casio Duro. And quite frankly, that watch has doubled in price, and I just don't know if it's quite the same value anymore. Cause it's it's fine. It's just not that nice. And then I started thinking about like
Griffin: Although let's be honest, y you know, it still shows up on Amazon for sixty bucks. It it's worth considering. I don't think it necessarily has a home in this conversation. I think when we talk ultra affordable in a collector context, that doesn't mean the same thing as ultra affordable in the real world.
Devin: Right. Right, exactly. And until that point too, I started thinking of stuff like like Skurfa, right? The the Diver one. And as much as I really love that watch, and I think that boy is it worth a price tag of like roughly four hundred dollars, the fact that you can't really get them, I think, made me take it off the list. even though it's a fantastic watch and I think that it's really good. I just looked at it at the end of the day and I was like, I can't
Griffin: Mm-hmm.
Devin: I can't recommend a watch that you can't go buy. That just feels like a dirty move. it feels a little bit scummy. So I was left with a couple different options. And my first thought was to go Citizen Pro Master Diver, which you can pick up regularly for like 250 bucks from Macy's. Pretty good deal. Solar.
Griffin: Yeah. Yep. And we've both just seen the latest iteration of it. it's great. It's an awesome watch.
Devin: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that with those like you can still get a Fugu too for like a pretty good price, which is pretty awesome. so I think what I'm gonna go with here, Griffin, is actually one that I don't think you're going to like very much, and that's the Invicta Pro D no, I'm just kidding. No, I I so I think I wanna go with a G Shock though.
Griffin: You have me there for s just a second.
Devin: To be honest with you. And this is where things get a little bit tricky because there's a ton of different G Shocks, but the DW5600 is just like the classic quintessential G Shock. It is the traditional, the original, whatever the case may be. And for right around $100, you're getting a watch that can withstand the depth. You're getting a watch with a pretty good display that can light up if you wanted to. Sure, you don't get any loom, but you've got a backlight if you really need it.
Griffin: Okay. Yeah.
Devin: A watch that can do timing capabilities, can do all sorts of different things. And it's a watch that when you wear it every day and you beat
it up, I think it embodies the spirit of what we're doing here really well, where it is just a gotta watch and a true classic for a reason.
Griffin: Yeah. I think that's a great pick. I was very much you're right. I'm not really a G Shock guy, but I was very much thinking in the same vein and could easily have seen have picked a Timex Iron Man. That that's probably my my equivalent. you know, the look, these are not gonna go 600 meters deep, but they're gonna do all the things we ask a dive watch to do all summer.
Devin: Yeah. Amen, neither am I.
Griffin: But what I have s but I I did settle I just just in the spirit of the thing and and since you have picked a G-Shock, I'm gonna go in a slightly different direction. go for s a little bit more money. still under 500 bucks, still under 400, actually. and I'm gonna go with a brand I have a ton of affection for. And now this is technically a skin diver, but I'm gonna go with the Chronofix.
Devin: good, okay.
Griffin: Divers. these are these are well I own one of these. I own the special edition, the first special edition Asterix watch they did. That is a very specific watch for a very specific audience. They have done two vers they they have two versions of it available now, one in blue, one in black, that are much more I think universally appealing. there's no
Devin: okay. I think that's a good pick. You've got you've got quite a bit of hands on time with him too. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Griffin: Cartoon characters on it. These are just numbers. They're straightforward. I would go, they they did a special limited edition with Passion Orgère, the French magazine. I like this one a lot. This is a blue dial, a dark blue bezel, and stark white numerals, but still keeps that classic skin diver look. it also has some red accents. This is $385. It comes on a shark mesh bracelet.
Devin: Oof.
Griffin: Plus a leather strap. And it's really good looking. This is gonna be a smaller size watch. I think it's 37 millimeters. But it's it's yeah, but it's 20, you know, 200 meters water resistant. it doesn't have a screwdry and crown, which will bug some people. But at this price and at the
Devin: That's small. That's much smaller than I remember it being.
Griffin: quality that these watches are and I think you can speak you've seen mine enough to speak to the fact that for 380 bucks or 385 bucks it's really well made this is a good place to look small brands they're they're available right now they're not always super available but they're here right now and honestly I have one I'm like do I actually do I actually want to pull the trigger do I want the blue one to and it's tempting.
Devin: And I'm curious too, did you have a backup pick for this one? So in my brain, w w I guess what was your price bracket? So in my brain we did ultra affordable, right? And my my first thought was like under five hundred dollars. And I say that as if it's nothing because like when you're in the watch world, five hundred dollars becomes like a
small amount of money. But in the real world, five hundred dollars is a lot of money.
Griffin: Yeah. Yeah, well what's funny is I started I mean my backup was the Timex Iron Man because when I was thinking about this, I don't love calling $385 ultra affordable. It's not. it's actually, you know, frankly at that point, y buy an Apple Watch is gonna be more useful is would be better consumer advice. my job isn't to do consumer advice.
Devin: Yeah. Right. No, no, no. You're here to be passionate. Yeah.
Griffin: yeah, and I think anything below this that you can get at this point, you know, in a world where a Seiko V s diver, which, you know, I I struggle to call that, Is actually what do these run for now? Let's see. What's the MSRP? 450 bucks.
Devin: They're actually getting up there, yeah.
Griffin: I don't think anything you can get for much below this is worth calling a dive watch.
Devin: There's hmm.
Griffin: There's a couple things that pop up. but if but this feels like kind of the it's become sort of the floor. the Caravel is a watch I love and really thought about. Caravel Sea Hunter, I think that that thing is great. And those show up for pretty great prices. And I think between those watches, you're seeing the floor of what an enthusiast dive watch is. I mean, I think even an Orient is like 300 bucks now.
Devin: Yeah. Careful C Hunter. Yeah. Yeah. They're yeah, they're 300, 350, some are even hitting $400. So my my alternative pick originally was the Woolbrook skin diver automatic, which comes in at like just under $450 on rubber strap. I adore this watch. It's it's a beautiful little skin diver, such a little beater watch, so much fun. You can get it in 40, you can get it in 38. And I genuinely think that these are a ton of fun. They're a hundred and I could be getting this wrong, but I think it's 150 meters water resistant for the 40 mil, and I think 120 for the 38, or maybe 120 was the old version and the new version's 150. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I love the Woolberg skin divers quite a bit, but when I was looking at it, I was like, you know, 450 bucks, I can't put this in the ultra-attainable category. And then when I had that thought process, I was looking around and I'm like, man, for people who want a good dive watch for under 500 bucks.
Griffin: That sounds right. No
Devin: The options are getting much slimmer than they used to.
Griffin: Yeah. I mean I think about God twelve or thirteen, maybe fourteen years ago now, when I was in high school and I bought my first SKX off a forum, I paid seventy five dollars for that watch.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Wow.
Griffin: and it like yeah, it kept terrible time.
Devin: Mm.
Griffin: But I spent years swimming with it and bringing it in the ocean and going into saw really abusing and mistreating that watch and it never fogged up, it never let water in. and I eventually gave it to someone. I've actually bought and sold I I've probably owned close to a dozen SKXs at this point, between buying and selling them and just giving them away as gifts. mostly giving them away as gifts when that was an affordable thing to do.
Devin: Yeah. Right.
Griffin: I feel less good recommending cheap watches now. and it's only because they're harder to find reliably, they're harder to to buy easily. And so I would say, you know, short if you're not gonna if you're not willing to spend what you would spend on an Apple Watch on a watch, which is a totally reasonable limit to have on yourself.
Devin: Yeah.
Griffin: I think you're gonna be much more satisfied buying something like a G Shock, a Timex Iron Man, a Swatch. and actually, as I'm saying that, what was a really tempting proposition for me at this ultra budget price point was the swatch divers that we've talked about over and over. the the s the Scub Aqua. that's 155 bucks.
Devin: I thought about that too.
Griffin: You can swim with it, you can do all the things with it. It's a swatch, it's super fun. it will not speak to everyone. But that's a great pick as well.
Devin: Super fun. Yeah. Okay. Well, I think ultra affordable out of the way. I think we should probably put the the bigger price conversation aside for now. Otherwise this is gonna be a four hour podcast where all we do is moan about the fact that we can't afford the same things we used to. before we do that I'm gonna just mention I would have probably recommended a Seiko Turtle or Samurai, but those have gone up in price too, and they're like above five hundred bucks now, which is
Griffin: Yeah. Yeah, if you're looking to spend five six hundred bucks, Seiko I still think is the home base.
Devin: Tons tons of options in that category, but we were really trying to challenge ourselves to think outside the box a little bit. And with that, too, we bring ourselves to the $1,500 category. In this category, you have triple the money roughly to spend. You've got some really good options out there, and really the watch world starts to open up to you. But for me, I found myself with my pick kind of staying pretty well below the $1,500 price point. And
Griffin: Interesting.
Devin: The first watch I thought of, because my brain just immediately beelines for this watch every single time, is the Certina Dia Super PH 1000M. A watch that I adore with all my heart. 43 millimeters, chunky thing, captive bezel you to press down to rotate it. You can backflush it if you need to. Tons of loom, tons of wrist presence, and a watch you can pick up for right around $1,000. That I mean, a thousand-meter dive watch.
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: For $1,000 with a PowerMatic 80 movement inside and good loom and a design language that harkens back to a genuine watch used in history? How do you beat that?
Griffin: Yeah, actually I thought about making myself If I'd if I'd gone first, there's a very real chance I'd have picked this, even though it's it's not a watch I've owned. You have I associate you much closer with Sertina. for for a lot of reasons.
Devin: Yeah.
Griffin: but
as I was thinking about it, like this is a watch I I think I probably need to put some effort into trying. I was looking at the the the kind of teal blue dial version with the black rubber strap. That just looks super fun. I I think it's a great choice. I think it it's hard to and it's hard to disabuse someone of the excitement that you could get from it.
Devin: I I absolutely adore it. I did knowing that this was going to be a bit of a polarizing pick, because it is so big and it is thick and all of the reasons. my backup for it too was the Trasca Free Dive or Free Diver, sorry. because for $735, you are probably getting the best made sub $1,000 watch on the market. it's just A great bezel, 200 meters, good colors. You can get a date or no date. You get it on a bracelet that is incredibly comfortable and well articulated. On the fly micro adjust, good movement inside, hardened coat coating on the outside. It does all of the things that you could ever want from a dive watch and it's seven hundred and thirty five dollars.
Griffin: Yeah. There's a lot to be said for that.
Devin: Yeah. All right, Griffin, what was your pick for your fifteen hundred dollar dive watch?
Griffin: Okay. Well my first instinct, and I'm not doing this just because of how much I have already talked about Trasca before, was the Trasca free diver.
Devin: Mm-hmm. no, I blew your dude. I'm so sorry.
Griffin: But but no, but I'm actually glad you but like I think it's we're well on the record for really liking Trasca. And so my logic was actually I'm gonna take a step away from this. and I went with the Unimatic Modello Uno UT1 GMT Tool Watch, which is now available on a bracelet.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Okay, I'm gonna need you to explain yourself on this one.
Griffin: Okay. So this is a weird pick. I think Unimatic, like Christopher Nolan is a bit of a black licorice brand for people. but I think this one and I'm not the biggest Unimatic fan. I've got one, I really like it. but this watch, so this is a a quartz dive watch.
Devin: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Griffin: It is their most ruggedly tested quartz dive watch. It has an in-dial GMT function that shows a second time zone just below the 12. this is like a big block of a watch. It's just a hunk of watch. It is now available on a three-link bracelet. I think that makes the appeal slightly more universal than when it was only available on a two-piece nylon strap.
Devin: Yes.
Griffin: I don't think this will speak to everyone. If you're looking for something that's a little more down the road, I would just get the Trasca. there's and there's plenty of other, you know, I think the my prevailing advice for the $1,500 price point is find a micro brand dive watch that you like and just get it.
Devin: Yeah. Or Christopher Ward.
Griffin: Or a Christopher Ward. although even Christopher Ward, some of their you know, some of their really compelling Dive watch options are now more in the kind of two thousand dollar range.
Devin: They are. I argue th the aluminum cased trident that they came out with last year, I think is fantastic. SW two hundred on the inside too, you're getting a great movement inside of an awesome watch, for like nine hundred and ninety five or something like that. Cool watch to pick up.
Griffin: Yeah, absolutely. Very cool watch. but I think this speaks to like If you're if you're kind of seeking out that summer dive watch experience, this isn't necessarily, I'm thinking, the watch that's going to be your core diver that you would wear year-round all the time. But for $910, you get a high accuracy quartz movement that's really tough, properly water resistant. it's got their 360-degree protection system, a solid bezel, sandblasted bracelet. And you get a GMT. So it's, you know, easy and fun. not working for you.
Devin: I gotta be honest, Griffin. I'm not on board with this pick. So I think I have to have a bigger conversation with you, maybe offline, where you explain to me the appeal of Unimatic. Because Unimatic as a brand has never spoken to me the entire time they've been in the popular media. And everyone who owns them raves about them, and maybe rightfully so, but I just have never quite understood it.
Griffin: You know, here's a funny thing. I never quite understood it until I owned a Modello Quattro. Drive the very first edition of the Modello Quattro, which is basically their dive watch but without the dive bezel. So maybe what I need to do is just stick that on your wrist for a couple weeks and let you work at it yourself. they're weird watches. Like they are. They're a little too blocky. they're a little too straight-lined.
Devin: Okay. Yeah, yeah.
Griffin: But I there is an appeal in that. There's a they're fun. They're just fun. I mean, at the end of the day, that's the that's the argument. And you know me, I love an overbuilt quartz watch. I was trying, and and also I think it's worth saying as I'm going through this, I made a very conspicuous effort to not choose watches I own. because yeah. I think the reality is if
Devin: Yeah, that is true. Yeah. I I did that.
Griffin: I were really faced with buying a watch for under fi a dive watch for under fifteen hundred dollars at this exact moment and I had nothing else. I'd probably buy the standard edition of the CWC titanium diver.
Devin: Yeah, good pick there.
Griffin: but again I own the CWN one. trying not to pick watches I own. And this the Unimac actually doesn't feel that far off that CWC to me. once you aesthetically it's different, but in kind of terms of character, wearing experience, and presence, there's a d definitive overlap.
Devin: Okay. All right. Well I'll I will have to take your word for it and maybe take you up on that opportunity.
Griffin: We're gonna I think we're heading towards another watch swap at some point, but
Devin: Yeah, I'm I'm ready for it when you are because you got some explaining to do.
Griffin: Okay, well with that in mind, let's move into arguably a harder price point with five
thousand dollars.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so the interesting thing with 5k is so I had I had a really hard time with 5K and I had a really hard time with 10K, but for completely opposite reasons. So in 5K, I felt like I was spoiled for choice. There were three watches that I kept coming back to time and time again and could not take my brain off of them. I couldn't find watches that I wanted more than these three watches. And at the end of the day, all of them are about. 2500 bucks. yeah, about half the budget that we were allotted for this category. Because I think that all of the options that there used to be out there that were $5,000, they were like $4,500, right? And those were the watches that we were like, these define the perfect everyday dive watch, the Black Bay, for instance. All of those watches have crept up and touched the 5k line and even passed it. And
Griffin: Interesting.
Devin: Once they do that, I think that it's harder and harder to recommend. But then I looked back at twenty five hundred dollars and at twenty five hundred dollars, boy was I really excited. so I'm just gonna rattle off two quick honorable mentions here that I think are really, really cool watches, ones that I would actually consider. Maybe maybe I shouldn't do this. Maybe I'm gonna spoil your pick again. okay.
Griffin: Yeah. No, go for it. I picked I picked closer to five thousand dollars, so I think you're safe.
Devin: okay, all right, cool. first and foremost, I wanna shout out the Christopher Ward C sixty Trident Lumir, which you can get for twenty-five seventy. super cool watch. You get the good automatic movement inside of there, great loom on these watches too. A design language that's a little bit polarizing, but all in, I think just a really, really cool watch cut in titanium too, and a really cool interjection of design from Christopher Ward and the Dive Kabotch community. A watch that I think really punched up a little bit at the time when it was released and maybe caught some people off guard. but in doing so they've kind of re-established this price point for them. And I think this is genuinely a fantastic watch for the price.
Griffin: I'll give you that one. Yeah. What do else what else you got?
Devin: The second honorable mention I'm going to throw out here is the new Long Jean Hydro Conquest. I am on record. We both are on record as talking about how good this watch is at $24 or $2,200. Absolutely adore it. Don't need to belabor the point. This watch is fantastic. I just actually released a full hands-on written review on the Deep Track. I'm going to list that down in the description below if you want to read that. Wait until the podcast is over and then go click on that review link. It's fine. It'll be there for you. But I think that these watches are just absolutely incredible for the price point. but I wanted something a little bit more unique and spoke to me a little bit more at this price point, and so I actually picked the Zin U50 Hydro. This is a quartz watch filled with oil that at any angle you look at it displays as if the dial is pressed firmly up against that crystal.
Griffin: Okay.
Devin: It is such a weird watch. It is so unique. The design language is aggressive. It looks like you have a piece of submarine strapped to your wrist because guess what? They're using submarine steel. this is such a cool watch. And like frankly, I would buy it. You can get them, I think they're like $20,650, $2,700. have a bit of wrist presence. I would get it with the bracelet, and then I would try and get the Zin orange rubber strap to go with it.
Griffin: You do?
Devin: And just have the perfect one two combo for like roughly three grand.
Griffin: Yeah, that actually he's very close to a choice I almost made. I was very much considering the Zin T fifty. Similar watch, titanium case. I recently had the chance to try that watch out on a Ming Polymesh strap. Which I'm enamored with the Ming Poly Mesh, but I think it looks good with very few watches. It looks amazing on the T fifty.
Devin: really? What was that? Yeah. Ooh. Mm-hmm. And
Griffin: and I and honestly that combo comes in just a little over five grand, which is what took it out of the running for me. I'm not a big fan of Zin's bracelets on the whole.
Devin: Yeah. Fair enough. Yeah, they are a bit more on the rugged rather than refined.
Griffin: Yeah. So that was that was where I was I was very I think that's a great choice. The U fifty Hydro is awesome. if you've never seen any oil-filled watch, you kind of it kind of breaks your brain the first time you look at one. And I s in the best way. And this is a watch I've actually the U fifty hydro is a watch I've very seriously considered buying a couple times.
Devin: It is wacky. Mm-hmm. I I will say, so I just looked it up live in the moment here and realized that the price through watch buys is 3150, which is quite a bit higher than I remember it being. But I yeah, I still think at 3150 I'm I'm still leaning towards it. Maybe I would skip the bracelet and just try to get it on a rubber, which comes in at 29.50. man, what a cool watch these are.
Griffin: I still think that's fine. I I would skip the rubber because aside from anything, honestly if if I'm getting a watch like that, I'm probably just putting it on a NATO. so a hundred per exactly.
Devin: Yeah. Yeah, that's a you know what, that's a fair point. It's going on a watches of SBNs, Glomar anyway. So Yeah. Alright, what do you got for one point five? Or sorry, five K. We're already past that. Yeah.
Griffin: Okay. Five K. I leaned away from the everyday and more into the fun summer here. And I decided not to overthink this and I just picked a watch that's come out recently that I really like because I think it I could have overthought this category to death. I'm taking the Doxa Sub two hundred T graph two.
Devin: Are you really? Alright. Alright.
Griffin: I am recently re-released. I would, you know, if if you feel so inclined, go
for it with the professional orange dial. everyone will a lot of people will tell you that's what you should do. for my money, I'm I'm taking a C Rambler, silver dial. These are these are again, I'm I'm feeling like this is big, this is a little over the top.
Devin: Mm-hmm. That's cool. Okay.
Griffin: I've always had a weird affection for dive chronographs, even though I had never quite understood why they're useful. and this is 4290 on a bracelet, on a bees of rice bracelet. these watches, I finally got I got to see one a little while ago. They fit my wrist really well. Doxes always fit my wrist really well. I mean, they're big, they're bold, they're a statement. But I think you'd have a lot of fun wearing one over the course of a summer.
Devin: You're one hundred percent right. I will admit that and I'm gonna now it's my turn to make some people mad. I I don't really lean into modern Doxa very much. I don't care for them as much as a lot of people do. and I think that this is twofold. Number one, I think it's really a a factor of me being around more vintage Doxas frequently between my my friends who own Doxa or, you know, analog I'm Seeing vintage doxes quite a bit and they're awesome, especially the stretch bracelets. and then also too, like not really spending too much meaningful time with a modern Doxa. maybe I I need to spend some meaningful time with a modern Doxa, but the few times I've worn them, I love them on wrist. They're very comfortable. I never really love the case to dial ratio. I think that they're a little bit harder to read because the dials are a little bit smaller. the loom just doesn't quite stack up to where I want it to be either. And those two things alone kind of pull me away from it and into other categories. but I think if someone says, Hey, I want a fun summer watch and they buy a Doxa, you're making the right choice. Like they are just that is what they are. They are fun summer watches and built like tanks.
Griffin: Yeah. and I think I think that's just if that's the exercise we're doing, I think it's a great choice. if I'm and again, the the kind of un the underlying issue with this price point for me is if I'm buying a dive watch under five thousand dollars, I'm buying back my Vertex Aqualine. And
Devin: Yeah, I thought about putting it on my list and then was like, I can't I can't admit that you have a good watch.
Griffin: I just I you son of a bitch. I just I just can't quite break past it. Like that watch is is it for me. So I've already got one though. So let's go in a different direction. And speaking of going in a different direction, let's go in a much more expensive direction now.
Devin: Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, 10K. well, so I mentioned a minute ago that 5k was really hard to choose because I felt a little bit spoiled for choice. 10K was really hard because I don't feel the same way. I feel like the five to ten thousand dollar price range is getting a little bit leaner because everyone's moving above ten K. Griffin, you and I talked about the Rolex and Mariner is now above ten K.
Griffin: Ten K.
Devin: By fifty dollars, I think. So it's not it's not huge. Yeah, it's not hugely above ten K. But when you're setting up parameters like this and you put that cap of ten thousand dollars, to add sixty or fifty or whatever feels like cheating. So you know, you go backwards and you you try to look around and see what's out there and it's thin. Most of the watches above ten K actually end up being between five and six.
Griffin: I think it might be sixty, but yeah.
Devin: not necessarily between like the eight and 10, which is usually where people tend to go when you're putting these budgets out there. and so in the 10K category, I found myself torn between two watches in particular. Two watches that I have had hands on time with, two watches I've reviewed, two watches that I love, but one that I loved from the second it was announced, and the other one that I was wildly skeptical about until I actually had some meaningful hands on time with it.
Griffin: Mm-hmm.
Devin: Now my runner-up pick here is going to be the Omega Planet Ocean Orange on Rubber. I really genuinely think that that's a really great watch. As much as I hate to admit it, because I do love the first gen. I think that this is the best version of the Planet Ocean since the first generation. Send me your DMs. I'm ready for them. yes, it's a little bit dressier. That's okay. I'll beat it up and it won't look so dressy anymore. The orange is bold, it's loud, it's fun. The dial is crisp and beautiful in a fantastic way. The bezel's pretty good and the movement is tough. But ultimately, at $8,900 for the orange version, there was another watch that I couldn't stop thinking about. And this is my actual pick. And I'm going with the Tutor Peligos Ultra. That is a watch that from the second it was announced made it onto my hit list, my wish list, my want list because it just it's awesome. It is, it's a big watch, but it doesn't wear super big. Yes, it's titanium.
Griffin: Yep.
Devin: Titanium, titanium. but it's grade two and grade five in all the places you want it to be grade two and grade five for cost and weight and scratch resistance, whatever. The loom is absurd. The little pops of teal make me so giddy like a child every time I see them. you know, playing with the clasp is just amazing. It's the most over engineered clasp that you could ever have on a watch. And realistically, I don't think I could pick a better dive watch for under $10,000 than the Pelagos Ultra.
Griffin: Titanium. It's Yeah, I mean I think one thing I I felt like looking at this price point is if you're gonna be thinking about spending this kind of money on any watch, I kind of want the sober series version of it. I want something that's unabashedly great. and we'll get to my pick in a minute, You know, my my first instinct was like, Okay, let's have some fun with this. I've been I've been kind of playing the fool a
little bit this episode, a little bit on purpose because just to remind you that it's all out there and there's a lot of fun to be had.
Devin: Yeah.
Griffin: And I was like, okay, get a get a Ming 37 Eleven on a polymesh bracelet. Like you can you can order that now. It'll be here in two weeks. It's a Ming titanium GMT dive watch. It's awesome. But at the end of the day, like that's not where I'd put my money at this level. I heavily consider tutor. I think I think there's an argument there's a very easy argument to be made that if what you want to do is spend over five K on a dive watch, spend between five and ten K on a dive watch.
Devin: Brother what?
Griffin: You should go to your tutor boutique. You should try on everything they have from a Black Bay 54 up to a Pelagos Ultra and just pick the one that speaks to you? Like that's the easy answer. That's and that's actually the right answer. I think for me it's probably more Pelagos FXD N than it is Pelagos Ultra. But but these are all slightly interchangeable.
Devin: Yeah. Yeah, probably. Yeah, that's fair.
Griffin: But instead of that, I'm going to pick the forty-two millimeter. Seamaster diver 300 meters on a mesh bracelet. Actually, on a rubber. On the rubber strap. the I'm gonna go with the black dial with the matte bezel and the small wave dial. No date. I love the, you know, I own and love Bond Seamaster. I think this is a great format for a dive watch. I think this.
Devin: Okay.
Griffin: This latest black dial iteration with the small wave dial is the best version of it they've done since discontinuing the 222080, which is the version I own, the Casino Royale Bond diver. 7,300 bucks takes brings you in about a little under two, a little over two grand less than a Planet Ocean. coaxial movement. This is a thoroughly modern dive watch. These are fantastic.
Devin: Mm-hmm.
Griffin: They wear great. get it on the mesh if it's gonna fit your wrist, if like you can get it comfortable. Otherwise get it on a rubber strap. Wear it however you want, wear the hell out of it. probably buy a tutor, but I think the Omega's maybe a little bit more fun.
Devin: So I actually heavily considered the Seamaster Diver three hundred on mesh, but with the brushed grey dial and relief bezel. Genuinely love that watch. it's one that I think it's probably my favorite Seamaster Diver three hundred they've ever made. I really like that watch.
Griffin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean I think There's a lot of there's a lot of reasons to criticize or critique Omega is probably a better word for it. and there's probably a lot of reasons to criticize the Seamaster range.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Be careful, you might not be eligible for a moon swatch if you speak badly about Omega. It was in their questionnaire, I saw it.
Griffin: but I think this is a watch that we have all slightly gotten to a point where we take for granted. And it's actually a really good watch. It's a really good watch, and it is actually they Omega. Yes, Omega has gotten more expensive. Omega has clearly made a conspicuous choice to keep these in the relative scale of what Omega's cost.
Devin: Yeah. It is.
Griffin: affordable. they're by no means cheap. This is a seven thousand dollar watch now. That's tough to swallow. in 2006 when the first coaxial Seamasters were out, these cost around two. Like that is a huge swing. These watches have also changed a lot and you can you can evaluate for yourself. You know, I also don't think you you you wouldn't be wrong to choose the green dial, green bezel with the ceramic dial and bezel. Like you can just kind of pick the one you like. For me it's the black small small wave dial. I like the matte look. they're easy to ignore.
Devin: Yeah. I know they're more expensive, but they're I think the new versions, the pop of orange, the silver brush, and then the black small wave. I think those three new versions are worth the I'm not gonna say they're worth the price necessarily. That's for you to decide. I like them $600 more than I like the older version.
Griffin: I I agree a hundred percent. I'm in I'm in the same place. you know, and I think we both considered the the titanium no time to die, which might be the best Seamaster they've ever made. it's over ten K now. It wasn't when it launched.
Devin: Yes, yeah. It is, yeah. It's over eleven.
Griffin: That's yeah. you know, other watches I thought about, like I thought about a glass suit original C Q. Those are over ten K now. Like these are like it's just where we are now.
Devin: They are.
Griffin: With that all said, shall we move on to stretch?
Devin: Yes, so stretch category was the essentially over ten K category. So this is where we could really have any budget, no budget, you just throw out there whatever your heart desires and you pick the watch that you would love every second of every single day if you could afford it, which we can't. But we're gonna pretend like we do for just one moment here. this is another one where i clearly, spoil for choice, right? Like you're
Griffin: a hundred percent.
Devin: Over 10K, you could have whatever you want in the dive watch category. But for me, there were again only two choices. And sad to admit here, as most of my picks were, both of them come from the swatch group. And really, at the end of the day, I have a hard time deciding between the two. And I still like in this moment right now, as I'm sitting here talking to you, Griffin, I can't pick between the two because ultimately I just want both. I just want both. I will make the choice right now. I
Griffin: You want you want you want the the first light speed ma see master card
Devin: How did you know? that's the no budget no thanks. no, I I will say that my backup pick was the Blanc Pond 50 Fathoms Automatic 42mm that came out two years ago roughly. And I I'd actually get it on the rubber. Their bracelet no, you know what, I'd get it on the bracelet and then pick up the rubber afterwards because their bracelet is so
flippin' good. But again, this is one that I would throw on.
Griffin: Great choice. Yep. It's incredible. Yeah.
Devin: Glomar or FiveEye or whatever. absolutely love this watch. I think that it is genuinely one of, if not the best, dive watch bezels that you can put your hands on. It is just made meticulously well. Beautiful watch. So much history. I'm gonna give it the tiniest knock for the case band script that says Bling Pond. That's why it's in second place over my first place pick, which is the Glass Chute Original CQ Panorama Date. in I do specifically in green. Now talking about over-engineered bracelets, this bracelet is incredibly well engineered, incredibly well fitted to your wrist. It's very comfortable. It drapes perfectly. The clasp is great. The watch itself is stunning. All of the details are just perfect. The bezel is snappy. The green is amazing. It's transformative.
Griffin: I this a watch you absolutely adore. Mm-hmm.
Devin: You flip it over and you stare into the movement, and this beautiful handmade German movement puts on an absolute show inside of this domed sapphire case back. That every time I look at it, a small tear falls down my eye as I picture all of the crafty little German worksmen working away, tinkering away to make this incredible dive watch that I love with all my heart.
Griffin: Okay, you're talking about them like they're elves, but I get the point. I mean, this is a watch we've talked about over the years. I this is a watch I know you love and would own in real life. They're they're great. They're really well done. they feel like watches from Blachuta Original while still conforming. It's har it can be hard when a brand like that decides to make a dive watch for them to do it while preserving some of their own identity, and they really nailed that.
Devin: Yeah. Yes. In a heartbeat. Yeah. It it's somehow quintessentially them while still being quintessential tool watch and Germanic and modern and vintage and it's all of the things. It really just I don't think I'm alone in thinking that this is one of the best dive watches on the market. I think there are other people who agree with me, but I think that we are in the minority, unfortunately, because when it comes to over ten thousand dollar dive watches or whatever, one just says, you know, you get a sub and you stop at the sub. But
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: Man, I would I would actually take this over a submariner just because I think for me this is the thing that really plucks all the heartstrings. I'd have to donate my heart in order to afford one, but it plucks all of the heartstrings.
Griffin: Yeah. think you could probably get away with it with kidney and part of your liver.
Devin: That's true, yeah, but I drink a lot. So all right, Griffin, I've waxed poetic long enough. What is your stretch pick?
Griffin: Uise Nardam Dive Rot No
Devin: get out of town. is.
Griffin: Yeah. this is a category I went in a I was like, okay, let's sh is this a place where I should have some fun or be really true to myself and really honest? 'cause it would have been very easy to be like, I'll take a singer reimagined dive track or you know, an RMO twenty eight. Like there's plenty out there that you can choose and like spend an insane amount of money on. If I had to pick a new good watch, I'm really interested in that new 40 millimeter or yeah, the new, the latest, the 40 millimeter Polaris date. that's right around ten thousand dollars from JLC. that's a really great watch. But really, if I'm spending this amount of money on a dive watch, I'm I'm making a really boring pick. and I'm I'm going, you know, you mentioned Blancin. There's
Devin: Beautiful. Yeah.
Griffin: There's really only one other brand you have to mention when you're talking about dive watches.
Devin: Zodiac.
Griffin: Okay, two other breads. but it's it's Rolex. Like there is something great about a Rolex dive watch. And I could easily here pick something crazy, some double red, some crazy vintage sub, you know, a big some big crown, something or other, that would cost you, you know, more than just your heart and kidneys, to be able to afford. But I'm gonna go with a watch that I
Devin: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Griffin: kind of sincerely hope to own at some point, which is a Rolex Sea Dweller 16600. So this is the version of the Rolex Sea Dweller that ran from 1989 to 2009. I want a a relatively late one. I want one with superlum with Luminova or Super Luminova. Like I want a modern version of it. I want as modern a version of it as I can.
Devin: Mm-hmm.
Griffin: And I want as immaculate a version of it as I can if I'm spending over ten K. You can get yeah. You can get them for eight or nine thousand dollars. if you spend eight or nine thousand dollars, they're gonna be kind of knackered. but if you're willing to spend up to, you know, maybe fifteen thousand dollars, you can get one that is perfect. And I think that's what I would do.
Devin: Which I don't think is unreasonable. You can get them. Mm-hmm. I I can't argue against this. this is probably the the safest and smartest choice that we've made this entire game. I think for me, the only reason I wouldn't pick it is because I would rather have a yacht master. but that's not what we're doing here. We're doing we're doing summer dive watches, not yachting watches. I I cannot argue to me, this is the logical pick. I went
Griffin: Yep, I can see that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean
Devin: with my heart, but I do understand too for a lot of people, this is a watch that this is the heart strings pick. And it's one that w when you hold your first Rolex sub or C Dwell C Dweller or OP or Daydate or whatever, when you hold it for the first time, it tells you that there's value. They're just made to an almost perfect degree for what they are. You know, they're not gonna blow you away with some exhibition case back, they're not gonna blow you away with some incredible design language, but what they're going to do, they're going
to do perfectly. And so, you know, you hold this watch, even though it might be a two thousand and eight model, almost twenty years old at this point, it's going to feel pretty darn close to coming off the assembly line yesterday.
Griffin: Yeah, and I I think for me, I'm not unique in feeling like the the five digit era of Rolex is the era of Rolex that speaks to me. I think part of that is these are the watches that I saw on billboards when I was a kid. part of it is also I you know, I think Rolex in moving to the slightly broader cases
Devin: Mm-hmm.
Griffin: Not so much bigger necessarily, although sometimes bigger, but you know, square lugs with more polished elements and all that, you know, ceramic bezels and slightly shinier stuff, feels a little bit less like the Rolex I feel connected to. For me, the 16600 is the peak of what that Rolex that I love was. And you know, I've come very close, like I Earlier this year I was sending texts to friends being like, should I sell like a bunch of stuff I really love and just get a sixteen six hundred and wear it every day? And like that's a very real risk. it's something I would I would do. it would require letting go of s maybe at the moment slightly too much that I can't see myself letting go of. But it's a it is a goal that I actually think I maybe have. So we'll see how it goes.
Devin: Yeah. Interesting. yeah, I I really I can't I can't argue this at all. I do think for me too, if I were to pick a sea dweller, like I don't think I'm a sea dweller person. I think that these watches in my brain they require you to be a certain person and I don't think I'm that person. But again, just ten out of ten pick. all right, Griffin, really quick, give me a rundown of your picks in each category so the people at home can tell us who did better. Go ahead and Run that through your list, I'll run through mine and we'll leave off leave it up to the audience to let us know who did a better job of picking watches in each category.
Griffin: for my ultra budget pick, I have the Honafix diver. you can choose whether you want to do blue or black, that's up to you. At $1,500 I have the Unimatic Modelo 1 Tool Watch GMT diver on a bracelet, on a brush bracelet.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Griffin: At 5k, I have the Doxa Sub two hundred T Graph two with a Sea Rambler silver dial. At 10k, let's just put it like this. I have pick your adventure diver Seamaster Diver 300 meter. for me, it's the small wave, black dial, black bezel on a mesh bracelet. And for my stretch, I have a perfect, and I mean perfect Rolex 16600 Sea Dweller.
Devin: Yeah.
Griffin: On an oyster bracelet, if we need to get details. I mean, what else was it available on? So with super luminova in the dial. Yeah. Late model.
Devin: Yeah, that's fair. That's quite the collection that you have going on there. Right. Yeah, more modern. Yeah. for my list here, for the ultra affordable, I went with the Timeless G Shock DW5600 1.5K. I have the Sertina DS Super PH 1000M chunky boy with so much charm. My nickname's in high school. for the 5K category, the Zin U50 Hydra, oil-filled and just Amazing from every angle. 10k. I've got the Tudor Pelagos Ultra, which I mean, come on. And then the Unlimited Budget is the Glachute Original Panorama Date in green specifically on bracelet. yeah, that I think rounds out our summer dive watch section here. This is just two collections of two very different minds going down the list of what we can fit in each price category.
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: I think my collection's better. You probably think that your collection's better. But I would love to know from every single person listening who picked the better collection of dive watches in each prize category. Drop it in the comments. Send Griffin a DM and say, sorry buddy, you lost this time. but either way, let us know what you think in the comment section. Griffin, you ready to play a game? Let's play a game.
Griffin: Yeah. I am.
Devin: This week's your game, buddy.
Griffin: Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's weird that you asked me if I was ready to play a game because okay. So I wanna preface this for everyone listening, but this game or this game format is is based on a text message I got from Devin a couple weeks ago. totally out of the blue at four o'clock on a Friday afternoon. My phone pings.
Devin: Yeah, I realize that. Yeah.
Griffin: and I pick it up and Devin has sent me this text. You have one text to talk me out of this, but I kinda wanna buy a hoobla.
Devin: Ha ha. If that doesn't describe my brain on a Friday afternoon, I don't know what does.
Griffin: and so with that spirit in mind, I want to get your quick takes to a handful of new releases that have come out over the last few weeks that we haven't really had a chance to talk about. And so I'm going to share.
Devin: Okay. Wait, so do I have to in one line talk you out of each of these watches? okay. Alright, cool, cool, cool. I'm gonna I'll tell you which one I'm gonna do as we go for
Griffin: Or into it, it's up to you. So here's yeah, here's my here's my little format. Okay.
Devin: Yep. You have one text to talk me out of this.
Griffin: and yes, I did format this, I made fake text for all of these.
Devin: awesome. All right, perfect. Let's do it.
Griffin: Okay, first we have the Tutor Black Bay Chrono thirty nine Bubble D.
Devin: Ooh, I'm gonna talk you into this. This is the best Tudor chronograph that they have made in the modern era. It is the closest thing to the original Prince Chrono date. the yellow might not be your thing, but you know what? Buy it anyway.
Griffin: Okay. Sticking with the theme of yellow. Are you ready for this?
Devin: I don't think so.
Griffin: The Bellinros BR O three helipad
Devin: do you hate yourself? And that's all I'm gonna send god, what a thing.
Griffin: on to the next. The Swatch Mission to Moon 1969 Moon Swatch. And be careful because depending on what you say, you might not get this.
Devin: Yeah, that's true. The questionnaire is
quite the thing. I'm gonna talk you out because I want a better chance of getting in.
Griffin: so I guess this raises the question, have you filled out the f the form for it?
Devin: I I have filled out the form. Have you filled out the form? Did you answer honestly? Cause the one says has you have you ever talked poorly about Swatch or Omega? And I had to answer yes.
Griffin: I I did, yeah. I I did within reason. Yeah, I no I said yes, I definitely have. I will say, I think this might be the most successful execution of the Moon Swatch so far.
Devin: One hundred percent agree.
Griffin: I think the the it just works and I I don't this is not we don't need to go much into that.
Devin: Plus gold.
Griffin: Yeah, I mean yeah, plus if you decide you hate it, don't resell it. yeah. And there goes our chances of getting one. okay. The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto, the Odyssey.
Devin: Scrap it, yeah. Yeah, there it goes. man, I'm gonna say out. This is expensive for a bit of a novelty watch. However, I don't think the more I've lived with it, the more I think it's not that bad of a watch. And this is a very funny thing, is the watch enthusiasts I've talked to about it are kind of split 50-50 on whether they think it's cool or they hate it. But the non-watch people absolutely love it. So I think that Hamilton has done a perfect job of trying to attract. a new audience into their watches by using pop culture. The one text that I'm going to send to you though is Will you still like this movie in ten years?
Griffin: Absolutely. question. I think what is fascinating, I mean, Hamilton obviously has this real connection with movie watches. Wind up in New York last year, I saw a dude wearing the Hamilton Dune Ventura digital watch. Hadn't seen any of either of the Dune movies. He was just like, this is a cool watch.
Devin: Mm-hmm. Well. All right, buddy, if you're the person texting me, I'm just gonna give you a thumbs up.
Griffin: Yeah. people are gonna buy this. I think I'd probably still take a Murph. Despite not liking Interstellar. okay. The Bramont Supernova Hawking Edition.
Devin: I would too, frankly. Yeah. I'm just gonna send you the middle finger emoji. man, this watch grinds my gears for so many reasons. Number one, you made a limited edition watch for with the man's name on it who couldn't set the watch himself. Number two, I feel like he would have thought that mechanical watches of this ilk would have been somewhat dumb. it just it you know, you tried to make something cool and you put some elements in there that I think I I You should probably get some credit for because like they pulled on some strings that I think are actually cool for enthusiasts who are into space, time, travel, all of that stuff. But at the end of the day, it's a ten thousand dollar watch with an equation written on it. And I don't like math. So middle finger emoji, it is.
Griffin: That was a long text, but I'll give it to you. Okay. The panerai well, I sped laminar l Luminor Lunaroso Chrono.
Devin: man, you really you really went for it on this one. Alright, my text to you is just going to say How long could you survive in a jungle with nothing but a survival kit from an airplane or a helicopter? And if you send me a text back and say not long Sorry, buddy. It's not for you.
Griffin: Okay. I kinda like this watch though. I'm into it.
Devin: And I kinda it Panorai's trying. they're really trying to appeal to a more modern audience. They're really trying to do things, but the thing is is their prices are still going up and it's really hard to recapture an audience that's walked away.
Griffin: Yeah. That being said, I think I actually do think this is one of Panorai's more successful recent designs. I think if what you want is that Panorai experience, this is a pretty good example of it.
Devin: Yeah. If you're looking to get pammed up, here we go.
Griffin: Yep. Okay. The show part Mila Mili Classic Chronograph Radicosa. This is their latest. You know this is a watch I love. And I'm honestly I just I just threw this in because I know you don't.
Devin: Yeah. Yeah, if you so if you sent me this text, I'm just gonna send back, go for it. If anyone else sends me a text, I'm actually just gonna find other more affordable options and send it to him. I don't think this is a bad watch, but I just like
Griffin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. This is this feels like the worst possible version of this watch for you.
Devin: Yeah, one hundred percent. I look at this and I just see like an old pile of play doh. You know what I like it's just like it's crusty and hard and you don't really wanna touch it but you have to touch it to clean it up. Like I don't know, this just doesn't evoke any good emotions.
Griffin: I still want it with a black dial. Anyway. The Taghoyer Formula One chronograph by Gulf Racing.
Devin: Why do you hate me? best color scheme you could possibly get on this watch.
Griffin: Because you make it so fun. Yeah. I mean what's fascinating, this feels like this is gonna be one of the watches Tag Warrior probably sells the most of this year. And they're not gonna sell them to us.
Devin: Yeah, yeah. No, but I again th the one text will read, It's the best color scheme you can get for this watch. And then I will mute this chat and pretend like it never exists.
Griffin: Okay. And then we have the Doxas sub two hundred TI five Clive Cussler.
Devin: F yeah, do it. I am unabashedly into this watch. yeah, I'm just gonna be like, man, it's you're gonna get like a I don't know, a meme of someone like just two thumbs up grinning at the camera because this watch is cool. I know it's limited and expensive and all of the things, but it is the first Clive Custler limited edition that I I genuinely think is really cool and appealing.
Griffin: Ha ha.
Devin: It's very different than anything else that they've been doing lately. it's just it's got my attention.
Griffin: Okay. and I think it also speaks it pretends good things coming from Doxa and the
Titanium World.
Devin: Yeah, for sure.
Griffin: Okay. And last but not least, we have the Hublow Big Bang Summer Multicolored Ceramic.
Devin: Sun's Out, Buns Out, man. I think that this is the watch that you wear when when you got your Speedo on at the beach in Mallorca. you know, me and Andrew McCutcheon are gonna be hand in hand skipping down the beach together, wearing our hublows. I'm gonna be really excited about it. is this watch ridiculous? Yeah. Is it ridiculous fun? Yeah. can you get it for a screaming deal on the secondary? Probably next year. But I do really like this watch.
Griffin: Yeah. by Easter when you really want the pastels on your wrist, you'll be in good shape.
Devin: You know it's funny, I'm looking at this and it does look like the bottom of the lug where it like connects to the strap. That looks like a micro USB port. Yeah.
Griffin: You're not you're not wrong. I still think I'd take it in orange or green first, but these are f these are just fun.
Devin: I I really hate that you didn't talk me out of buying a hooplow with that one text, and I still kind of want one.
Griffin: Yeah. well I believe my my my response if if anyone is curious was before my one text, can I ask a question? you said sure, ask away which Hublow. you told me which one, and I said, Okay, so you te your text convinced me you should buy it. Absolutely.
Devin: We are just a bad influence on each other. Wow. that was a lot of fun and also painful. So, Griffin, thank you for making my toes curl and stomach turtle. That was definitely an interesting game for sure. I would love to know what other people thought in the comment section. I'm sure that the people are gonna see that and think that I'm an idiot for hating on half of them, but you know.
Griffin: don't don't worry, they already thought think we're both idiots before this.
Devin: That is very true. Actually, I put out my my last time well spent video on this past Sunday, talked about the Braymont watch. And one of the comments on there, I think it was just yesterday, someone posted that he really loves that watch. So there is a an audience out there for every watch, even though you might not be it. And I think that that is a good mantra to end on because, well, that perfectly sums me up. Before we wrap up, Griffin, I do typically ask people if they brought anything to share with the audience. did you bring anything this week?
Griffin: Yes, I did. so we haven't really gotten into it on this show, but I have probably maybe longer than I've been into watches, I have been into cars. and two of my favorite creators are Doug DeMuro and Jason Camisa. Jason Camisa particularly holds a soft spot in my heart because we have a similar affection for kinda shitty Volkswagens. But recently the two joined Forces and they did a bunch of videos together that showed up on Doug DeMiro's podcast. which you can find on YouTube. But if you are into cars and you are into car personalities, I cannot recommend highly enough
watching, and it's two videos. but Jason Camisa and Doug DeMiro each went through each other's garages and raided each other's cars.
Devin: Fun.
Griffin: And it was an absolute blast. in part because they both kind of hate everything the other person owns. Which makes me think that maybe we should do this at some point. but this is this is just a super fun. I mean, all in, you're you're looking at a little over an hour on YouTube watching both of these videos. I guarantee we've all watched more than an hour of dumber stuff on YouTube.
Devin: Yeah, I wasn't saying I wonder that doesn't remind me of anybody at all.
Griffin: so there there's my there's my recommendation. What do you got for us?
Devin: yeah. Well, if you've made it this far, you've definitely watched one hour of dumber content than that on YouTube. my recommendation this week is actually it's another podcast. you know, taking the subway, you lose cell service when you're underneath there, and so I'm constantly flipping between ebooks and audiobooks and podcasts and whatever I can download in order to make it a little bit more tolerable to sit there in a wee smelling packed tube full of meat.
Griffin: Ha ha
Devin: So I've been listening a lot to the Outside Podcast hosted by Patti O. I used to listen to the Outside Podcast like it feels like a decade ago now, which it genuinely might be. and in listening to it back then, it was just never that entertaining. It was very sponsored, it felt just like really it felt forced. It felt like something that they had to put in their portfolio in order to sell advertisements, and they did. However, a gentleman named Patti O took over this podcast a
Griffin: Yeah.
Devin: little while ago now actually, and has been making episodes which are well produced, light on the sponsorships. You get like one ad break in the middle, and that is about it. The guests are pretty good, the topics are funny, and boy boy, have I laughed a lot listening to this podcast because to me it just sounds like one of my old friends that I used to work with at the outdoor gear shop way back in the day. yeah, it's just it's a ton of fun. there's an episode with Brooks Wheelan that they recently released not too long ago that is absolutely hysterical. And Patio and Brooks Whelan going back and forth the whole time just literally made me cackle out loud. And it made me realize that I don't laugh out loud as much as I used to, which is kind of sad. But you should go and listen to the outside podcast and just
Griffin: yeah
Devin: Have a good time. If you like the outdoors, you're gonna like it. If you like funny stories about the outdoors, you're gonna love it. I'll have it linked down in the description down below, as well as everything else that we've talked about so far. Go check out the outside podcast. Griffin, this was a fun episode. I think that this definitely has one of those like late night episode feelings where we just got a little bit goofy, said some dumb stuff, and tripped on our words, and somehow made it to almost an hour and a half doing so.
Griffin: Great pick.
Devin: So thank you for taking the time in in your remote cabin in an undisclosed location.
Griffin: Much. Yeah, I hope you enjoyed my mom, aunt and dad coming in through the kitchen and trying to do laundry and all the things.
Devin: yeah, a host of audio issues. I'm sure we're gonna have some fun video issues. but all in, we got a fun podcast out and I really appreciate you being here to do it with me.
Griffin: I'd say it was some time well spent.
Devin: Absolutely. And hopefully it was time well spent for all of you.