The Grey NATO – 268 – The Watch List Vol. 1¶
Published on Thu, 18 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0500
Synopsis¶
In episode 268 of The Grey NATO podcast, hosts James Stacy and Jason Heaton discuss their current activities, including Stacy's upcoming family vacation and trip to the FAT Ice Race event in Aspen. Heaton talks about his training regimen for an upcoming endurance challenge and his positive experiences with chiropractic care. The main topic focuses on their "watch list" - watches they're interested in but haven't purchased yet. Each host shares three picks: Heaton selects the Sinn U50 SDR, the Tudor Black Bay 54, and the Fears Archival 1930, while Stacy chooses analog-digital chronographs including the UDT Chronosport and Breitling Pluton, the Bulgari Diagono quartz chronograph from the movie "Heat," and an orange Seiko Monster. During the recording, Stacy impulsively purchases a rare Breitling Pluton military edition. The episode concludes with recommendations including Rebecca Struthers' book "Hands of Time" and a Nite Ize Doohickey Plus key tool, finishing with a song by Vulfpeck featuring Evangeline.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| Jason Heaton | Hello and welcome to another episode of the Grey Nato, a loose discussion of travel, adventure, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode two sixty-eight, and it's proudly brought to you by our ever-growing TGN supporter crew. We thank you all so much for your continued support. And if you'd like to support the show, please visit thegraynato.com for more details. My name is Jason Heaton, and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host up in Canada, James Stacy. James, how's it going? |
| James Stacy | Uh you know, I uh we're doing uh uh to this is actually a triple record week because we did the episode with Blake. We did a QA, which is now up if you're on the subscriber side that's in your feed, and then this one which is going to cover us for next week and I'm I'm off. Yeah. I'll be honest, man, I slept in today. It's uh it's a Friday uh when we're recording this, which is not usual, but uh definitely fun. We should bring probably a slightly different energy than our normal Tuesday recordings. Yeah. They launched a recent update to the Call of Duty mobile, which I'm still playing a ton. Yeah. And uh and it included a gun that I really wanted to get and and play with. So I played a lot of Call of Duty last night, um, after like after work and the rest. Yeah. Oh, I f and then I found out that uh do you know the the comedy show? It's alwaysny Sun in Philadelphia? Yeah. Uh it turns out they have all of it on Disney Plus. So I was like catching up on the last four or five seasons, and it's like maybe the most easy watching nonsense. Yeah. I still think it like it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen at times. So anyways, I blinked and it was like, you know, one AM. Oh sure. And so yeah, I slept in a little bit today. So you guys are actually like uh you're listening to me become caffeinated in real time. Yeah, |
| Jason Heaton | I'm in kind of the same boat. Yeah, I'm I'm dragging today. I I didn't uh stay up late for any particular reason, but uh I just did not sleep well last night, so I ended up kind of like finally when I did go to sleep, I got up quite late too. So we're we're both kind of in this weird half half awake foggy mode, which uh might lend an interesting energy to the show. But uh and then you're off uh next uh well by the time this episode goes up, you are out of the country for for a while. And uh so yeah, might some of this might be a little old news, I suppose, |
| James Stacy | but yeah. Yeah, I I don't think that anything we're doing today is going to be especially timely. Like yeah, this will this episode will be recorded almost a week before it goes live, but I have a family vacation coming up and uh and so I'm gonna be offline for uh several days with uh my wife and my father uh catching up on a a family wedding that's uh out of Canada. Yeah, other than that, not a like a ton happening. Like I said, it was a triple recording week for us. Mm-hmm. Plenty going on at Hodinky, working on a couple of cool stories. Uh the one thing I would give folks a heads up um is that I'm going to be at ice race in Aspen, so FAT formerly GP Ice Race, they're doing an Aspen version which runs February 8th to the 10th. Yeah. Um, I don't know what tickets cost or or that kind of thing, but if you happen to be around uh and and see me, please do say hi. I don't think I'll be able to do I like I just got the itinerary and I'm obviously there for Hodinky uh so I don't know that I'll be able to do a hangout or like a get together. Obviously if it turns out that I have uh entirely spare evening or a couple hours free. I will uh organize that on the TGN Slack, so uh keep a lookout for that if it if it's able to work out. But otherwise, if you see me, you know, go ahead and say hi, as long as I didn't just crash a car into Are you driving as a few just give me a give me a minute? I'm hoping. I mean fingers crossed. Uh nobody has told me much about it. I was given a an itinerary, uh, you know, when to get there, when to leave. Uh I booked my flights in my hotel, so I'll I'll be there. That's uh February 8th to 10th in Aspen. It's a very tight trip. I get in the morning of the 8th, I would leave the even |
| Jason Heaton | ing of the 10th. Sure. Yeah. You know, I was in Aspen the only time I was in Aspen was several years ago and it was uh with Richard Meal. They do the or at the time they were doing the snow polo stuff in Aspen. And uh Ah right, okay. And that's the that was actually the trip that Gashani came along, and we uh hiked into that remote hut and I was wearing that Sylvester Stallone full Rambo kind of survival watch, that crazy uh kind of Rambo Richard meal. And I I I I enjoyed Aspen, I thought it was a a lovely city, but I'm trying to think where is is there a lake that freezes there that they're doing the i |
| James Stacy | ce race? I I I can't picture much water there. I don't know that they bother doing it on a lake. I think it's probably on a compacted snow surface. Ah, okay. Um like I've done two other winter driving courses I guess, like multiple day courses. I did the Mercedes Benz one. Uh those of you who've listened to the show for some time, uh when I used to work specifically in the car and automotive sort of journalism world, I did the Mercedes-Benz AMG performance driving ice tour. I don't remember the specific name. That was in Gimli, Manitoba. And that was on a frozen lake. Yeah. On Lake Gimli. And um and then I've also done the Porsche winter driving experience, which is a uh that was a one I think that was a one day yeah, it was a one day event in uh like n st you know, studded tire nine eleven's and just outside of Lemek Antique in Quebec, in Canada. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I've I've done a little bit of this sort of driving before, and I don't think you necessarily need the lake. I guess it's called ice race, so m maybe it is. I actually don't I haven't looked that that closely into the event. Yeah. Um I I don't know why, but in in the past years, like I used to kind of overly try and sort things out, but in this case, this isn't my event or even Hodinki's event. Yeah. Um, so I it it'll be very much like a responsive sort of just follow along, take some photos, that sort of thing, see what's going on. So if I if I get a chance to run uh left seat and and you know try and keep the car out of the snow wall I will but maybe it won't happen. I don't know. Yeah. Oh that'd be fun. Yeah, totally. Yeah |
| Jason Heaton | . Cool. How's the training going? Uh it's going well. Yeah. I'm upping my running mileage and yesterday I went for a six mile hike with uh you know kind of rocking I guess you'd call it uh some dive weights and a backpack and went out in the woods and hiked around a bit and um yeah that's going well and and uh you know, kind of fitting and rowing and swimming when I can. But you know, I back in the late summer, I tweaked my my lower back just on one side. Um embarrassingly enough, I was I'd spent three days like fixing the wiring for the wipers on the on the defender. And I was sitting in this awkward position for like three days straight. And it kind of tweaked my lower back. So I couldn't cure it. And I started, um, I finally sought out uh a chiropractor and it's actually a friend of Gishani's and uh she runs a clinic in in town here and I started going to to her and I I I was going weekly for a while and now it's kind of gotten to like every two or three weeks. And I had never been to a chiropractor before and I didn't really know what to expect. I I I just kind of pictured like a a loud banging table and kind of a cracked neck and that sort of thing. Yeah, like that's scary stuff from Instagram. But you know what? It has been an absolute revelation. And I I you know, I don't I can't speak for all chiropractors everywhere, but I highly endorse the kind of this therapy that I've been getting and and to the point now where it's I'm kind of in maintenance mode, the the pain is long gone and whatever. But like it's it's become almost a part of my kind of just self-care, you know, it's like going for a massage. I go to the chiropractor for half an hour and and it's so much more than like just adjustments. She really works with me on flexibility and and kind of teaches me about, you know, stretches and connective tissues and and it's really been eye-opening. So, you know, I again like I'm well into to middle age and and I've discovered something brand new within the past several months that that has really kind of changed my life for the better. And so yeah, it's been uh if anyone's on the fence about chiropractic and and if you can find a good one that comes with a good reputation, that's been kind of a good thing. I think you know goes kind of hand in hand with with you know training as I'm kind of ramping up towards the summer and doing the fan dance.. Mm-hmm Uh I I'm gonna have to pay attention to, you know, kind of connective tissues and kind of s staying injury free. And I think uh I think that's gonna be a a big part of it. So yeah. Other than that, I haven't been haven't been doing much. I mean, as you've said, we we've this is our third record of the week, so uh there's not much that I can say that that's happened in the past uh what two |
| James Stacy | days or whatever it's been. But yeah, cool. Well that's great. Well, I'm glad the chiropractor is working out. That's it's always um uh nice when like you hear somebody tries one of these things where like you don't necessarily know it could be chiropractic, it could be acupuncture, it could just be getting a massage. Like I'm always on the fence of like, I think I would like a massage. Yeah. And then I just ne I never go through the work of actually doing it. And you know, I have a a kind of long-standing uh borderline phobia of like the medical world in general. Yeah. Uh so you know I granted I I understand that that's not necessarily the same as the massage, but I don't even want to necessarily like go in somewhere and answer a bun |
| Jason Heaton | ch And you know, if if if if you're not comfortable with that, then that's a different matter. But it's n it's it's it's blood tests and then you know usually like a worksheet that tells you what you can do or go get physical therapy or take these pills. And the thing about the chiropractor and this office has a massage therapist that I go to as well, like every other time. And it's it's great because I feel like I'm actually getting my body's getting the attention that that it kind of craves, you know, someone to kind of manipulate joints and work out knots and muscles and that sort of thing. So um I've really, really appreciated that. And it's kind of made me wonder about some, you know, what else I'm missing out on. Like should I should I talk to a nutritionist? Should I, you know, do Pilates or get a personal trainer or that sort of stuff. I think I've always been hesitant to kind of spend money on on some of these things, but um self-care is uh important when you're |
| James Stacy | Yeah, and the I mean the big plus with Pilates is obviously the complete lack of impact in a standard Pilates routine, but also you can just you don't have to go anywhere to do it. Like my wife does Pilates every day just from home with her laptop. She like signed up for someone's course and you get a video every day and then you just follow along with it. Oh yeah. I figure a dollar spent on a decent personal trainer pays huge dividends, like it's just a a nice investment. But I think probably and I'm sure we have personal trainers in the Slack. My guess is you already know your goals. Mm-hmm. Um, so I I have a I do wonder like how much necessarily uh uh uh like a personal trainer, especially beyond like advice you might have gotten from a guy like Lurwell or or similar. Yeah, and I've I've really pul |
| Jason Heaton | led a lot of um good information from a number of uh you know, trainers, whether it's on Instagram or YouTube or or you know, Sean Lurwell, kind of his kind of consulting. Um and I think th I don't necessarily feel the need to to have an in-person trainer, but I I do find that there's a lot of good resources out there. You turned me on to the Row 20 uh series of videos on on rowing on YouTube and I started following Austin, who's the guy that kind of hosts that and he goes beyond rowing. He does weight training and flexibility stuff and whatever. And I follow him on Instagram and he always has good videos and we can put that in the show notes. But he goes by training tall because he's like six foot eight. But he's he's got a really nice, cheery, friendly demeanor. It's not intimidating and uh and he's been great too. |
| James Stacy | So And I I don't know. I have a you know, this is why like when I when I tried you know, I had originally had a a like a an exercise bike and attempted to get it like a friend gave me uh like a code for a month free of Peloton. Oh yeah. And it w like as m I really like Austin because he's not always talking Mm-hmm. Yeah. True. And there's no there's not like aggressive music. We're not essentially in a dance class that happens when you're on a rowing machine. Right. And like I could not find I spent a month. I probably did twenty sessions. Yeah. Fifteen to twenty sessions of the Peloton. I could not find one that kind of like matched my mental energy. It was all kind of like being in an annoying store. Yeah. Yeah. Or or or whatever. And like, look, it it definitely works for some people and they really enjoy it, but like whether it was I didn't really vibe with the pr the the trainer's energy or their music choice or the combination therein. Sure. You know, when I was first getting into the biking stuff, we found that um global cycling network. Oh yeah. Where you can watch videos of people like, you know, riding over a pass. I like that quite a bit. And there's still a guy talking and saying, like, all right, you should increase your thing because we're going uphill, like just offering a s like more of a spin like less of a spin class more of like a bike exercise right sort of scenario. So it's it's I think it's like a a really difficult thing to find the the like video YouTube or otherwise sort of workout that really works for your personality. Yeah. You know, I used to do a ton of like YouTube yoga and that's pretty tough. Yeah. Yeah. Um 'cause a lot of it's like very spiritual, which I'm that's not what I'm looking for from my from my uh yoga workout. And then but I you know I eventually found a guy who was just like he would go out in his backyard, he lived somewhere pretty, put a mat on the ground and walk you through what you were doing. Was he the guy with the dog that ran around in the background? He was great. Yeah, that's the exact one. His name is Sean Vig. So that's Sean Vig Fitness, uh V-I-G-U-E. I'll put it in the show notes. He's been kind of my long-standing favorite because there's almost no pretense. He's just kind of a positive dude, yeah, who's very fit, yeah, and will just kind of do yoga wherever he is. Sometimes like uh some of my favorite ones were like in his garage, some were in his backyard, some where he was like traveling and at a friend's house and in their backyard. Yeah. And it's like very it's not flashy. And I don't I don't know why. I have definitely got to this point with my there's probably a term for it or some um you know psychological study but like I am weirdly doubtful of very flashy videos now. Yeah. Like like if they've spent it's like sometimes you're like, oh you spent more time on the camera and everything else and then you didn't have a plan for this workout or this cooking tutorial. Um and and you know, sometimes I feel like you just the people who might really know what they're up to just put a camera down and don't really sweat some of the details because that's not the the outcome isn't you know the outcome from a workout video isn't how much you enjoyed the photography. Mm-hmm. True. Yeah. At least in my mind. But yeah, Sean Veg fitness is is great. Austin's incredible. I'm a big fan. And row twenty's really nice because any time now since he has that program done it's twenty s each one is twenty minutes and he does tw he's done twenty. And now that the program is there and uh on his YouTube, you can just go in and pick one. Yeah. Yeah. And so I have a couple that I really like depending on their pace and that sort of thing and I'm not touching the rowing machine much these days. It's actually in its vertical position. Um but I am l absolutely loving my treadmill. Ah good. Uh the the only difficulty I'm finding and maybe maybe some people in the audience can can you know align with me on this, but uh I'm trying to stick to like zone two so like moderate heart work heart rate workout, yeah, as much as possible. Yeah, but I get bored and I want to run. Oh, sure. And if I run then we go right into zone three, yeah. Sometimes into zone four, depending on how long I so I'm I kind of go up and down where I'll walk and it's you know, I'm walking at a grade at three and a half miles an hour, so it's a pretty quick walk. Yeah, at some point now we're getting |
| Jason Heaton | some bitterly cold weather here. I think um I might finally begrudgingly have to start going to the gym and using um I've never really used a Stairmaster, but you know, given the given the the nature of the fan dance, I think uh it might be some good good off season training here to kind of even you know even throw a backpack on and you and use the stairmaster at the gym despite all the strange looks I'll get you will |
| James Stacy | you will be that guy at the gym but uh you know, when obviously you trainined for Raier, so it's not your first time, you know, planning to carry some stuff up a hill. Yeah. Um but yeah, with with Baker, it was, you know, I had access to a bunch of mountains around Vancouver, so training was pretty straightforward. Yeah. But definitely if you don't, or if you're if if you're going right through winter like you're going to, the stairmaster is perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Stairmaster with weight or a treadmill with weight, and just try and avoid hurting your knees and and some of the stabilizers with the weight. I think uh I think you can do you can do a ton and definitely get a lot sharper. That's my that's my next phase. I wanted to complete whatever it was thirty thirty days of working out on with the with the treadmill and then I'm gonna add uh one of those weight vests like running weight vests. Yeah. Yeah. Or um between that or just uh like one of those plates that you can put in the go ruck. Right. Right. I'm not sure which makes more sense. Yeah. Have to do a bit more research. Yeah. Slash ask the guys in the Slack, which is how I research stuff now. It's a good resource. Certainly stuff like this. Yeah, it' |
| Jason Heaton | s great. Speaking of Slack, uh I put this up on on the subscriber Slack group uh yesterday. Um and I'll throw this out there to all of our listeners now. Uh I've been late in the past couple episodes, I've been talking up some some NATO straps that I got from Cincy Strap Company. And um turns out we got a few fans among the the T GN crowd and and uh the the folks at Cincy Strap Company have have now offered a discount code to our listeners, uh a twenty five percent discount, which is, you know, substantial, uh, if you enter the code T GN and, this is not a limited time code, I'm not sure if it will expire or when it will. Um so you know, don't wait too long, I suppose. But uh if you're in the market, as we probably all are, strangely, for straps and they don't just sell NATO straps, they sell other stuff as well. But I'm I'm a real fan of their Admiralty Gray uh SF2 straps uh as well as this this woven cotton strap which is strangely a a a a lovely thing. I've got a and when we go into risk check, I've I've got a watch on it today, but um I I highly recommend that one too. And uh word is that that since he does uh have you know limited inventory sometimes and so he might find that some other stuff sold out, but you just have to keep checking back. But yeah, thanks to Cincy Strap Company for offering a a a really generous uh discount to our listeners. So check it out. Yeah. Super nice. And solid straps for sure. Yeah. And |
| James Stacy | and with that, let's uh let's jump into risk check. What what are you wearing? Yeah, actually in honor of today's uh main topic, which is kind of the kick off of a series I've kind of had in my head for a while or or you know, one of these ones that we can come back to as we have uh more ideas. Uh I decided to uh dig out my watchbox, my pelican, and pull out my black monster. I was actually uh fortunate enough to be included on a little bit of a a sort of not a group buy, but so I don't know who if people want their name out there, so I'll hold off and then I can fix it later if people want. But uh some people through the Slack helped uh connect me with a a black mo a really n tidy black monster on a bracelet um a couple years ago and I have worn it maybe ten times. Yeah. It's something I'm very pleased to have. It didn't cost a ton of money. I really like these. They were one of my first Seiko's. Yeah. And returning to it, uh I'm very happy with it. And uh but I I don't wear it very much. I've got it on the bracelet. It's a big chunk of a watch. And I don't actually necessarily know why I don't wear it a bit more. I put it on here and it's just making me grin. I've got my UV flashlight. I keep charging the loom and and uh just kind of sitting here and enjoying it like a child. But yeah, this one it it comes up in the topics later in the episode uh as uh as I have a a possible solution for uh what might make me wear a monster a little bit more than I wear this one. So I guess we'll see. But uh yeah, that's my that's what's on my wrist today is the uh black monster. It's a a V one, an original, and uh I I like it quite a bit. Such a uh sort of weirdly iconic other people don't do it sort of design. How |
| Jason Heaton | do those uh watches wear on straps? I always see them on bracelets. Uh is that how you wear it on the bracelet? I've never seen one on a rubber strap, I don't think. It's I have it on the bracelet, yeah. Do they even take a rubber strap |
| James Stacy | ? I've seen them on Z twenty twos. Uh which is just like way, way too stiff, if I remember correctly. Um and then back in the day, like you know, we go way, way back to the the early day early days of my watch fascination. Yeah, I was probably buying like any big baseball sort of leather panorai adjacent strap I could find for these sorts of things. Yeah. And uh I think they're okay on a strap. I think they just they're it's so much kind of steel around the dial that it almost makes sense on the bracelet. Yeah. Um but I think with the right strap, I it could be great. And and certainly occasionally you see them on NATO's, which is sort of a um it looks very two-piece. Mm- likehmm the case is very different than the strap in that in that scenario. Oh but I don't think the I don't think it would be bad on a NATO as much as um you know, it it all comes down to those those kind of strange little lug adapters that wrap around the the bezel. And how about you? What have you got on today? |
| Jason Heaton | Aaron Powell Yeah I was wearing my CWC yesterday and I had it on until this morning and then I switched over to uh my Omega, the the Seamaster, the 2254, which turns out, you know, I as I've said I've I've been wearing the FXD like ninety five percent of the time and it seems like whenever I reach for something else, it's it's often this watch. And uh as I mentioned earlier, I've got it on on this woven cotton NATO, which is just kind of a weird, fun, comfortable combination. It's this super light, kind of feathery, soft, very soft strap, and then this incredibly thin watch. And it's uh yeah, it's kind of perfect. So |
| James Stacy | that's what I've got out. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome watch. Beautiful. Aging well. Yeah. One one of those like the T GN top ten. Definitely. Uh a two two five four. I still think a great buy. They seem to only be getting a little bit cheaper. I'm seeing I've occasionally see them around fifteen hundred bucks now. Yeah. And uh, you know, with it being eleven twenty, which is essentially just a a mod of the you know like a lightly modified EDA should be serviceable yeah. Much more readily than an 8,000 or a 9,000 series, you know, in-house Omega movement. Right. Right. So yeah, big fans and the ergonomics are incredible. Re |
| Jason Heaton | ally, really nice. You know, it's funny you just you just said this is kind of one of our a TGN kind of top ten and that makes me think we should we should makes me think we should consider um like a hall of fame episode. We we do have a series of watches that kind of pop up uh yeah for sure the the T GN canon so to |
| James Stacy | spe Yeah, I don't I don't like I saw I've I've flirted with the idea of having like another page on the website that was kind of like you know, like Oprah's book list or book club or that sort of thing, like a you know, a T the TGN buy list, like something if you can get it, right and the price is good. Yeah, we we think this is a great watch. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but I think that could be a fairly long list. We might have to pick something more like ten. Right. Right. Yeah. Otherwise, fifty or sixty watches |
| Jason Heaton | later. There's a lot of great watches these days, to be fair |
| James Stacy | . Well speaking of watches and lists, uh we've got a kind of a fun main topic for today. Yeah, I've been mulling on this topic for a little while because I feel like I I most watch nerds I meet have a little note on their phone or you know whatever, like wherever they keep kind of lists and and and jotted down ideas of like watches that they're interested in but for whatever reason they haven't pulled the trigger. Yeah. And so that's basically what we're talking about today. It's called the watch list. We'll call it watch list one. I think this could be kinda cool. Like you remember back we did our our watch discomfort zones and then each like eventually tried to conquer that discomfort, whether it was dress watches or chronographs. I think those were the two that we had picked. Yeah. Uh I think in this case it gives people sort of a fun thing where, you know, maybe we talk about it today and in a couple of years w maybe we end up with one of these um when the timing's right or or when you know, often I find that watches kind of find us in some ways. Yeah. Not always, but some ways, like with your Brightling and certainly like with this black monster, I just managed to m have mentioned that I was interested in one and then lo and behold, someone pings me and says, Hey, you know, I can we can make this happen. It's pretty easy. So Yeah. Uh that kind of stuff can be fun. Uh I figured if you know, just for simplicity and and not burning our entire list, I have a fairly extensive list of watches that I'm always kind of curious about, but have But for this one, each of us will have three picks. Yeah. And if you'd like Jason, why why don't you kick it off with one of yours? Uh w what's a watch that you're interested in but haven't really gotten to like dusting off the credit card, so to speak? |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean I you know when you suggested this topic I thought eh I'm not really in watch buying mode. I don't really have a list. And then you said well let's pick three and like these three came to me in like 30 seconds. So clearly I do have a list. Um I do have a mental list to s so um ye |
| James Stacy | ah the first one is I think the list is longer when I'm not in buying mode. 'Cause I spend more time in like reading or looking or you know, watch recon alert mode. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And I think for me, the these three that that I've got for today are not ones that I've necessarily been researching to buy, but they're ones that whenever I see them, whenever I see someone post a photo of or I think of it and I read a story about it, I think I really like that watch. Why don't I have one of those? Like I could, you know, I'd love to have one. So yeah, I'll kick mine off with um one that is a bit of a darling, at least in some some version of it uh for both of us and that is the the zin U50 and specifically for me it's the the S Dr uh on the on the bracelet. Nice. You know the U50 it's it's it's kind of that sweet spot. It's it's it's U1 aesthetics with those blocky, very modernist hands, high legibility, uh tegemant steel, um typical high quality sin, but then it's in that the more modified, more wearable size of 41 millimeters with uh an 11 millimeter height. So just just kind of a sweet spot. I've I don't think I've actually trying to think if I've actually seen one in person, like I've actually been able to handle it or put it on, but every time I see them pop up, and I'm I'm I've ri I'm really kind of a I really kind of have a a a a thing for the the black bezel uh on these zins. I know that I think you're more of a fan of the steel bezel and for some reason I mean the black uh kind of against that very matte almost like not quite bead blast, but it's it's just that matte toolish case with that black bezel, just has a certain menace to it. It just it it just looks just right to my eye. Yeah. With all those uh those flashes of red. You know, strangely enough, m all the watches that I picked for today are all within a couple of hundred dollars of each other. This one goes for on watch by's three thousand three forty. Yep. And I think, you know, this is a watch that I think I probably it would be one of those superfluous picks that I would you know either buy after a few whiskies or if someone wanted to make a trade for something I have that I'm I want to get rid of or whatever, but it is a bit redundant with the FXD, I think in some respects. I think it kind of occupies the same modern high-quality diver space. So probably not uh near-term purchase for mine, but it's definitely one I come back to and look at uh a lot. |
| James Stacy | And you had the um you did a great dive review of the U1S |
| Jason Heaton | . U1 Professional. U1 Professional ten o'clock brown and no date. Yeah. It was yeah. I that that watch still haunts me. I wish I had pulled the trigger on that. Cool watch. But then again, this is this is more wear more wearable. And I think as as someone who doesn't mind big watches, I think still I think for for this formula, for these these sins, I think the U fifty is the way to go. I don't think I'd go U one anymore. I used to have one and I remember it being a big big Yeah, not small for sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah |
| James Stacy | , not small. Uh uh large watch for sure. But I I love the 50, obviously big fan of the T series as well in that sizing. And yeah, between SDR and standard, I I mean well it's it it's six and one half dozen the other. I would prefer the the kind of more color-matched bezel. Uh but the I can I definitely can see that the SDR stuff is popular and that's why they continue making it and all that kind of stuff, which is uh pretty fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's my number one. What are you gonna go with? Yeah, so uh you know, my three are largely stem from a current my current position in Watch Fascination, which is I feel like my home my headquarters are like pretty much locked in around the Pelagos thirty nine, the CWC, the Aqualand, stuff like that. Like I'm pretty well sorted when it comes to sort of core functional sort of dive watches, even stuff with some weirdness to them. Yeah. But I have a long standing, and we've talked about it on the show before, and I'll I would even extend it into other analog digital watches of a similar ilk. The the love and fascination for the UDT chronosport is so high. Yeah. And remains. Yeah. I have I have an alert on eBay. I have an alert on Watch Recon. I pretty much try and see whatever's around. And for whatever reason, maybe it's a fear of the whole problem problem with like the movement is essentially non-serviceable. Yeah. So there are some like r realities of owning a watch that like if if you get a good one, like with my aerospace, if you get a good one, you're good. But if it needs to be serviced, it has to be serviced by someone who knows what they're doing so they don't dis you know disrupt the screens and that sort of stuff. But yeah, a UDT chronosport or because they're roughly similar prices, and I think especially if you get one with a the dive style bezel, pretty much as cool, not quite as cool, but pretty cool. Yeah. The Brightling Pluton. Yeah. Yeah. I think both are both are way up there for me. I'm not a huge fan of the Pluton with the um compass bezel, only 'cause like I'm not gonna use it. Yeah. I like the idea of the other bezel and and I prefer the UDT because it feels like the most original take on that watch. Yeah. That like special forces, it's black. We were just before we started recording, and and I'll include the link in the show notes, but we were linking back and forth a couple examples of the UDT and we found one the w one that the single one that's currently fully available on um eBay is just like drop dead gorgeous, like perfect patina. Yeah. A bunch of the steel case coming through the the sort of black P V D, you know, a bit of a tint to the loom and that sort of thing. And then th th the thing when you get into the the Pluton side is you get a bunch like if you just, you know, look up Bright Link Pluton on eBay, there's a Swedish Air Force model in there. There are all sorts of kind of like more interesting ones that maybe you didn't always think about or remember. We even came across a Jupiter, which is like an earlier uh Pluton's formula, if you will. Um it in and it's an analog digital brightling and with a gold case. There's one in there for about twenty three hundred bucks Canadian right now, which is pretty dang cool, if I'm honest. So the Jupiter could be added to the list as well, but there's something really that I really, really rad about the the Pluton in general, and then I think it's it's taken a full step further in terms of like just raw sort of special forces adjacent appeal with that UDT |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah, they they're so so good. And and this one, I'm staring at the photo now and we we obsessed over it before we started recording. It's it's the perfect patina. And then of course they have it on a granado in the in the wrist chat, which which just brings it out even more. And there's so many elements of this watch that I love, these little details like the the super long sweep seconds hand with the like the red flag on I guess it's the the counterweight end of it. That's like it's the full width of the dial itself. Like almost, yeah. It's great. And then the stepped dial, and then I like the the how thin bezel is, like the bezel insert. Like there it just has so much going for it. It's they're just so cool. I I had a a Pluton years ago with the steel compass bezel, and I think that was the kicker for me. I just it didn't stick because of that bezel choice. But other than that, it was yeah. And it's it's that same uh roughly the same case shape as uh as the CWCs that we love, you know, that I'm not sure if they were actually made by Monin or whatever, but uh Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Really, really cool. I I think, you know, you've you and I have talked about these for so long. I think one of us needs needs to kind of fully f finally pull the tri |
| James Stacy | gger on it. Well here, I've got something to share you. So check your check your messages. All right. What about this weird one? Well d we're doing this live, we'll keep this in the cut. So I sent Jason a link for a Bright Link Pluton for D W P Diavoli Rossi, the Red Devils. It's military. Oh my gosh. So it's jet black with a weird red insignia on the dial. The markers are have yellowed out. That wild bezel too. Pardon? Yeah, the bezel looks insane. Yeah. Yeah. And then on top of that, I can't quite tell. Well, definitely the crown is not steel as it's worn away and it looks to be some sort of a base brass of some sort. Yeah. This is the kind of watch that I think people probably buy to take the movement for $500 is what it's currently selling for. Yeah. Should I just buy it? Oh man. An 80s Brightling Pluton for DWP militarycial Spe edition Watch to honor the partnership with six Italian Stormo Cazia. My apologies to the Italians in the audience. The sixth fighter wing Diavoli Rossi reference eight devils 191. That's so good Yeah. Watch measures forty two millimeters with a crown, brightling movement, excellent condition, was serviced in December 2023. Everything works without issues. And that's a third of the price of uh of one that just just says Chrono Sport or Brightling on it. Yeah, pretty tempting. Oh |
| Jason Heaton | man. That logo's kind of cool too. Yeah. I'm also looking um uh at uh this one isn't uh the PvD, so a little less appealing, but uh my friend kind of a friend of mine, uh Ali, who runs uh Patina National out of the UK, he has a a new Pluton thirty one hundred as well with a dive bezel and and he's a big fan of these as well. So his site is a good one to bookmark and keep an eye on and the Oh my goodness, look at that. It's so pretty. Yeah |
| James Stacy | . Man, I like these so much. I know, I know. Man, I I'm I'm going to include the link to um that red devil's one in in the show notes but I can't promise one that it'll still be available and two if it sells that it's not me who bought it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm really genuinely trying my best not to buy watches. I'm I'm I've sold five or six in the last couple weeks. Yeah. Anyways, yeah. So that that's my that's my first pick in the watch list. I'm just I I love these. I'd the Plutons, I love the Chrono Sports, like whatever it is, they're rad. Uh this weird one might have to be mine, uh to be honest. Uh especially just that it's like fully functional working. Yeah. Case looks to be in largely good condition. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a bunch of that must be color cast. It looks so gold in in the wear. Yeah. The wear and tear. Yeah. Ugh. Come on, James. Yeah. Yeah. Why do you do this? Anyways, I love these watches. They're always on my list, and uh that's my first pick for the watch list num |
| Jason Heaton | ber one. You know, I think as we've talked about, I think we talked about it on the last QA when someone was talking about rationalizing a watch purchase, and and I think I mentioned that I know l roughly if something is is a pretty sure bet, if I've been thinking about it a lot for a long time. Um and it doesn't fade. It doesn't waver my my sort of enthusiasm for it. And I think I think the chronosport UDT, I think it's definitely you've passed that test, you know. Uh we've been talking about them for a long time and and you occasionally you and I share good examples with each other. So yeah, I think that's a that's a good one for you. |
| James Stacy | I I would say uh we I tried to ballpark the uh if you want a tidy UT UDT, I think you can expect to spend, let's call it in the of neighborhood two thousand dollars, fifteen hundred to twenty five hundred dollars. Yeah. And this is a five hundred dollar fully functional, but it's a pluton. Yeah. But otherwise is very similar. Same movement, same sort of dial layout. Yeah. You get the black case. So it is very UDT ish. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I like it so much |
| Jason Heaton | . Well who knows by the end of this episode we might have it on the way. PayPal sent. Yeah. Oh boy. All right. Give me your second one so we can I can stop looking at this one. All right. My number two. Um I'm I'm sure I'll lose you here. You won't you won't be listening anymore. You'll be like you know, checking your bank account. Um yeah. Um second one is is uh it's not a big surprise again. This is a watch I've mentioned before um that I've been interested in. And frankly, if if the FXD hadn't found its way out of my wrist, I I might actually have pulled the trigger on one of these and it's the the Black Bay 54. Which I think might surprise some people because it's it's it and clearly I mean it's calling card or it's uh kind of claim to fame is it's it's small. I mean this is a 37 millimeter dive watch. Um but there's just something so appealing about this watch that that you know I haven't really thought about a black bay fifty eight or or you know the black bay forty one or anything. I just uh this watch when I tried on Christoph's at our tutor event in Florida in September, um I wore it for a dinner, just kind of for fun. And I was just I I just kept looking at my wrist thinking, like, this watch is so perfect, the size of it. And I think I largely lately, you know, for someone who has always been partial to kind of vintage style or retro watches, um, lately I feel like maybe the FXD kind of cured me of that, but I've I've kind of moved away from that space. And so this one would be kind of going back to that very clearly. But I don't know, it's just it's kind of a perfect little watch. And uh so yeah, black bay fifty four, thirty nine hundred dollars, so you know, a few hundred bucks more than the than the U fifty that I mentioned. But uh yeah, I could I could see myself uh moving with a Black Bay fifty-four, although again it might be more of a long shot simply because it it it follows the roughly the same formula as a submariner, which is something I own. You own, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it but it's one that I look at a lot. Um especially, you know, I in a final note, I I mentioned that that guy True Patina, Greg, who had put the the big crown on it and replaced the hands and oh yeah. That sort of thing. I mean I just think it's it's an it's a neat little watch. Um |
| James Stacy | , you know, and I think they're great. Yeah. Yeah. I'm and I'm like I I think we've said this on the past uh on past episodes, but I also think it'd be really interesting to see what they do in terms of other colors if they do others. Yeah. Yeah. You know the fifty eights had several versions including like the core blue. Right. And I think it'd be interesting to see a fifty-four that was maybe a little bit less vintage in coloring, like the gilt style coloring. Yeah. Um, but the watch itself, the proportions, the size, the fact that it's everything that a fifty eight or forty one is just smaller. Yeah. It's like it it's exactly what people ha beg every company to do and they've done it. And it's what do you know? It's good. Yeah. I don't know that I would put it in my top three. I guess it might be number three. Mm-hmm for for Tudor right now. Yeah. Or or like you know, the Mount Rushmore of their current catalog. I think I think the one of the BBs, either the fifty eight or the fifty-four for me, would would probably land a spot there. But there's something really sweet about the way it sits on your wrist, especially like weirdly, especially with the rubber. Oh, sure. I was just very impressed when I saw it and got to play around with it. I I'll include my hands on from watches and wonders last year uh in the show notes. But this is a a great pick and in in a different world if I wasn't so just flat out appeased by the Pelagos thirty nine uh to the extent where like it's difficult to put on another dress watch or another dive watch. Yeah. I I could definitely see it. I love them. I think they make a lot of sense. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully they keep iterating on that format and uh and you know, may maybe offer another colorway in this year, maybe next. Right. Yeah. All right. What's your number two? All right. My number two is also one that I've talked about, I think, more recently on the show, but it is a constant watch list for me, and I've come pretty close to buying three of them. They're not especially hard to find. I think you would expect to spend between twelve hundred and eighteen hundred dollars. And that would be the Bulgari Diagano quartz chronograph. Yeah. So this is the one that is worn by Al Pacino in the movie Heat, which is my favorite movie. You can see it very clearly in the film. I'm I'm being uh you know uh to the extent that I can be you know essentially influenced by Al Pacino to buy a watch this is it. Yeah. Yeah. U heh is he is my version of uh of a an effective watch ambassador for a watch that Bulgari no longer makes. But uh what I also like about this is it's so left field for me. It totally is. It's a chronograph, it's quartz, it's um it's you know, uh uh from bulgary is another one. Yeah. It has an entirely different style than I'm used to, and I think I like the idea of pushing my boundaries a little bit while also being able to go like that's the washroom heat though which I like quite a bit. Um both the well I like the movie more than quite a bit. I love the m that the watch was from that movie as well. But um and then I also like that the the quartz doesn't have bulgry on the dial, which kind of makes it an it's the CH thirty five S. Mm-hmm. And it doesn't have Bulgari on the dial, which I think kind of increases my interest. Yeah. Because I it says Bulgury at least twice on the bezel. In in the right price point, I think it would be one that I would like impulse by. There's always one or two for sale out of Japan on eBay of you know for around a thousand dollars, maybe a little bit more USD. Yeah. And I I bet you I've spent I've I've had my mouse cursor hovering over that buy button. That's as close as I got. But I I've hovered. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As I'm currently doing with uh with the DPW |
| Jason Heaton | uh Pluton. Well I I I hate to disappoint, but you know, as I I'm such a strong endorser of the the UDT chron uh chronosport. But I I just I this is a watch this Bulgary is just I I don't see the appeal of it. I mean personally, it's just sure. I I think it would be a wild left field purchase for you. And I'm I given your passion for it and the fact that you've looked at it for a long time, I think it's it would be a good choice. Um, and I'd love to see you wearing this. I'd just love to see anybody wearing one of these. Um, definitely not my aesthetic at all. Um, but it's uh yeah, it's a wild thing. I mean, it's uh it I'm not sure I think once you own it, you would it would be it would be yours forever because I think it feels like a watch that would be very hard to sell again. Uh I think so. It's a very specific taste. Um but hey, you know, and it's thirty five millimeters, so you know, Sarah could probably wear it if if she liked it. Uh sure. Yeah, yeah. |
| James Stacy | I mean look, Sarah Sarah's go to sports watch is larger than any of mine. Yeah. She wears a forty one mil black bay. Right, right. It's that and a pant there, which is a real yeah, yeah. Real uh plus minus there in terms of you know, probably like twenty twenty millimeters. But uh no strap choices with this, right? It's bracelet or nothing, right? Bracelet or there's a rubber. Oh, okay. Uh sorry, there's bracelet, rubber and, leather. Oh wow. Okay. Uh like and it's not the bracelet that he's wearing in in heat. Oh, okay. But he is wearing about forty other bracelets next to the watch. Oh yeah. Um but yeah, I mean this is all part of my plan to to figure out a way to social engineer slash what's it called where like you you write down your intent and put it out into the world and then it happens that that thing I don't believe in, the secret or whatever. I secret it. Secret my way into the um uh the premiere of Heat 2. Oh yeah. I want to be there, I want to be wearing basically this like uh an oversized suit jacket you know like like De Niro and I want to have this watch on. Oh yeah. And oh yeah. Yeah I need I need I need to get to that as well. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I need I need to be part of that. I need to be there. So we'll see. Well, and if you wear this, you'll have to start doing episodes in the Pacino gravelly voice. Oh, exactly. Yeah, just a lot of shouting. Yeah |
| James Stacy | . Keeps me shop. And uh and yeah, I I just uh yeah, I feel like I need I need to really make a concerted effort now that heat too is is moving into production to become yeah like the number one heat influencer yeah right in the world. Uh and part of that I think you I I need to move into that realm of the weirdo that buys yeah. You know the, same things as the movie, or maybe maybe I could get some props, or yeah, yeah. But yeah. So that's uh that's my second pick. So uh two weird chronographs so far. Both of them I'm in love with. Yeah. Yeah. Um but yeah, so that's the Bulgry Diagano CH thirty-five S quartz chronograph, just like in the movie Heat. Yeah. Nice. All right. Give me your third one and uh we can close |
| Jason Heaton | out the list. Yeah, you had uh you had a uh left field one with the Bulgari I feel and and this this is my kind of oddball one that people might wouldn't expect. And it's the the Fears uh archival 1930. So for those that don't know, Fears is a British brand, um kind of an older brand name from the early twentieth century that was revived by a descendant of the original founder of the company. Uh his name is Nicholas, and he was at Windup in Chicago recently. Super nice guy. The watches feel good. He's fun to talk to. He really has a respect for the history of the brand. And although most of his watches do not resonate with me. Um this archival nineteen thirty is is there's just something so simple and beautiful about it. I mean, this is straight up like art deco era dress watch. Like it's rectangular, it's small. It's on what looks like a like a Horween strap, like kind of a blood red or ox blood strap. Beautiful dial. Like totally not my style. Totally not a watch that anyone would imagine me wearing. And frankly if I owned it, I probably wouldn't wear it much. Um, just because I know myself. I don't wear dress watches. But every time I see this, this is one of those watches that when I see photos of it, I like scheme and almost try to justify. Like, I would wear that, wouldn't I? You know? Um and I probably wouldn't. But I think you could probably wear this. I think I probably could, and and I did try one on at Wind Up and just love it. And what's neat about it too is this archival 1930, well, for one thing it's a limited edition. They only made 136 and apparently they're sold out on the Fears website. But I know that our friends at Collective uh are Fears uh retailers as well, and they you know I'm sure I could find one, source one if I was really desperate to to get one of these. But uh what's neat about them is that that this very limited series uses um old movements. They're it's a manual wind at a 2360, so it's uh it's not a a movement from nineteen thirty, of course, but it's uh it's it's a vintage movement that they've had refurbished and they put in this watch and and it's just it's a neat piece. It's sort of, you know, in the same vein as a some kind of a a Cartier tank or a reverso or something like Yeah. Yeah. These are these are neat |
| James Stacy | . Also kind of get like vintage AP and Vashron from this. Yeah. Yeah. Uh you know, just it's it has such it's such a crisp sort of uh look and feel, you know, only hundred and thirty six made. Yeah. Uh I c I could see, you know, you with the right sweater, maybe a pipe. Yeah because of the pipe wine. Yeah, true. Manual wine, or the or the few times a year where you're you're you know going somewhere a little bit fancier than you know, a lighthouse or whatever it is you do with your free time. Yeah, right. Right |
| Jason Heaton | . It's a lighthouse or a brewery, yeah. Yeah, exactly. But again, uh as um as with the other two, this one comes in right around thirty five hundred. So uh I guess all three of mine are kind of in that that space. I guess that must be my kind of price bracket for for my comfort level. |
| James Stacy | But yeah. Yeah. These are these are great. And uh Fears is another brand just worth worth watching. Even if this isn't to your liking. They make a lot of other watches and styles. Uh but that that one that you've highlighted in the archival nineteen thirty is definitely a favorite of mine from them as well. Yeah. Good pick. All right. You have one more. What's it gonna be? I've got one more, which I uh kind of teased out earlier in the show, and that would be an orange monster. So the seven eight one SKX uh is the orange version of the series one monster. I'm wearing the black one on my wrist and I've I guess as long kind of as long as I've been into these watches so we're talking twenty two thousand five, two thousand six, something like that. I've wanted an orange one and just never bothered to pull the trigger. Yeah. And uh and even when I bought this black one, I wasn't sure which one I'd which um skew that I had provided uh to the folks making the connection there and I ended up getting the black one which I'm perfectly f fine with in in that deal. But uh I yeah, I I think an orange monster would be a lot of fun. You know, I I we were people were teasing me and I was teasing back on um on the slack recently about y you know, someone had posted a uh you know, like the the perpetual diver, the smaller one with the quartz, the high accuracy quartz movement in orange and it doesn't have oh mismatch coloring for the hands and markers. There it's but then the the bezel is guilt. Yeah I was like we gotta start that bezel though. Yeah. Yeah. And uh and somebody moments later posted an orange monster, which is you know just orange and and the markers, and I was like, uh you know what? I think I might still need an orange monster. Which is so much to say that if if you want to get in on the game of this episode to some extent and m maybe maybe you could get in by buying this uh Diavoli Rossi Pluton so I don't have to but something tells me it's gonna be sold by the time this episode goes live. But if you've got an orange monster and you're interested in a tidy black monster, drop me a line. I might be up for a trade. Yeah. I I d I can keep the bracelet from this one. I can make it easy, whatever works, but I wouldn't mind trading the black, which I've now experienced twice for an orange one. Uh that might get a little bit more aware, especially throughout the summer. I kind of miss my my Doxa Pro. It went to a good home and I'm happy uh uh you know with its new owner and all that kind of stuff. But uh yeah, an orange watch could be fun um in in in the forecast, especially if it ended up just being a bit of a trade |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. I mean we we talked about the monster at the top with your your black one and and the orange is what I always associate with this watch. So the black one is strangely more appealing to me just because it's not the kind of the what comes to mind when I think of a monster, but the orange is definitely the kind of the iconic one of this bunch. And I think uh I know several people that have these. I think uh I think it's Chris Sol's go-to dive watch. I think he's told me he wears he wears it for every dive he's he's done, I think, ever since he started diving, which is kind of cool. Yeah, and um Chris was part of the crew that connected me with this podcast, yeah, through some other good guys. Yeah, and this one's a low barrier to entry. I mean, you know, you the pricing you have listed here is like $400 to $800. So and especially if you can make a trade, I mean this is this isn't something that you need a lot of vacillating on. I I I think, you know, if you found the right one, I'm sure you can make it happen. |
| James Stacy | You know the the you know the world where the monster was a hundred and seventy dollars or whatever. And I think I might actually be saying a hundred and seventy dollars Canadian, which is probably what I paid for my first one. Yeah. Uh that's over. And the series one the, original ones have become a little bit more collectible. And then if we start talking about like the rare stuff, yeah, uh, and you can see some of it in the first episode, you can like you can see some of the more wild limited edition versions in the first episode of Wild Watches in the, which I'll put in the show notes with uh that was hosted by Cole and he met like a you know a super collector uh which is super fun and I I don't need to get into the yellows or some of the rare stuff. I just I I thought the orange would be fun to try. Yeah. And granted trading a watch doesn't actually change how many watches I have. But yeah. Uh I I think an orange one could be super fun. For whatever, it it feels weird for me. Like once I had this watch, once the the second one came in, the one I'm wearing now, it felt a little bit like oh I've restored a little bit of my the foundation. Oh yeah. Like just having this in my in my watch box kind of makes it it's like a reminder of right where I started with dive watches. Yeah, I |
| Jason Heaton | think you know, again, going back to stuff we've talked about before, I think there's a point where if if you've looked at something long enough, it's probably the right thing, but on the other hand, there are watches that as, I've said, I can look at and admire from afar without having to own, and I think the Black Bay 54 is probably that watch. The U50 is one that it goes a little beyond that, like to the point where, you know in, a moment of weakness I could see myself making that happen. The fears is probably a bit more of a long shot, just given that I probably wouldn't wear it much, and it's a bit outside the price of something that's impulsive and wouldn't get worn much, but uh yeah, I mean this this is a this is a fun theme. I think I'd like to revisit this uh in the future because I know there are more and as we were talking I'm already thinking about other watches. So um definitely this was a this |
| James Stacy | was a fun exercise, good episode. Yeah, no, I had I had a good time with it. as well And uh well let's be clear, I am going through the process of buying that. Ah good good. Just updating my address. Yeah. All right, let me fill this in. All right, I bought it. |
| Jason Heaton | Woohoo. Congratulations. Here we go. There you |
| James Stacy | go. So the the watch list uh ended up being a little expensive. Oh man, this is gonna become a new thing on the episodes. Live purchases. Five hundred bucks later. But uh you know that feels pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. Cool watch. I guess that means I'll sell something else. Yeah. Right. Um I guess if you're in the market for a black monster and you don't want to trade, let me know because I've I've got a hole to fill or uh the spot in the stable that's now double booked, however you want to consider |
| Jason Heaton | it. Yeah. I'm not sure what's in your coffee this morning, but uh you know, I I might need some of that and maybe I'll just buy the U fifty. Yeah, I'm having a good time. Apparently, maybe maybe not en |
| James Stacy | ough Yeah, let's get out |
| Jason Heaton | of this episode without uh draining our bank accounts here. Okay, well, yeah, mine's a quick one. Uh, and it's probably not news to to most people listening. Uh Rebecca Struthers, the the watchmaker from Birmingham, England, um, really phenomenal talent. Um, she and her husband Craig run Struthers watch company. And uh she wrote this book uh within the past year, I would say, called Hands of Time, A Watchmaker's History. And I had the book, actually the the the hardcover version of it here at home um for for probably close to a year now. And I finally just got around to reading it. I finished it a couple nights ago. And you know, for those of you that maybe are familiar with the title, just because it's popped up on various watch blogs and things, uh, but haven't decided whether you're going to read it, I highly recommend it. It's really, really a good, a good read. There's a good mix of kind of horological history um interwoven with some kind of personal anecdotes and history of her own history and watchmaking, and kind of a unique take on the concept of time throughout history and how it was tracked and how people viewed it. Um, and then kind of the evolution of time keeping and of clocks and, then into pocket watches, and then into wristwatches, and then her own work in watch restoration. And uh, she's a really compelling writer. There's some kind of really sort of uh personal stuff in there that that lends a a warmth to the book so it's not just kind of a dry history. And uh I I just can't recommend it highly enough. I think uh uh Rebecca would actually be a great guest on the show, I think some at some point uh if we could get her on, but uh really a a w a wonderful book and and I highly endorse uh Hands of Time, a watchmaker's history by Rebecca Struthers. So check it out. And actually, um I might have yeah, it was on a final note a while back that I think I had posted uh there was the BBC had done some excerpts with somebody reading a few excerpts from chapters that was quite good. But I do remember that, yeah. But the book itself, the full book is |
| James Stacy | uh is really worthwhile. So check it out. That's excellent. Good uh good suggestion. And I man, I would kill to have uh Rebecca on the show. That'd be fascinating. Uh I don't know her. I I don't believe that we've ever met, uh but so talented. Yeah. And this is uh yet another book I guess I've got to add to the stack and maybe get to sometime this year. But that sounds great. Yeah. All right. All right. So I've got uh two uh for mine today, but we're gonna close one of them as a song uh and we'll close on that. Uh but if you want to click that link and listen to it while I ramble about a cool little thing from Night Eyes, feel free. Yeah. In my further efforts, we're now two hundred and sixty-eight episodes in, uh, in the further efforts of eventually becoming the main promotional wing of one of my favorite companies, Night Eyes. I've bought so much of their stuff over the years and I'm a huge fan of we've talked about their S Beaners and the Camjams and the rest of it. But a little while ago, as they often get me, I was in checkout at uh at a a store. I don't actually remember what the store was, maybe Canadian Tire or similar. Uh could have been a home depot. And I came across this thing called a do hick key plus and it's spelled D O O H I C like doohickey, like a thing, an object or whatever, but then K-E-Y is like capitalized. So it's a key ring mounted like little multi-tool. And I for six and a half dollars, this thing's amazing. Wow, yeah, that is cool. You should b buy twenty and just give them out every time you like meet someone or come across a kid. It hasn't uh it's never been taken away. I I wanted to use it several times through TSA. Yeah. Uh it hasn't been taken away. It has a Phillips screwdriver, a carabiner clip to you know click it onto stuff. It has three different sizes of like a little wrench. So if you'll if you need to turn like a small bolt. Has a bottle opener, a serrated edge that makes really short work out of uh boxes. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. Uh especially in those scenarios like if I'm traveling and I don't I can't travel with a knife, obviously. And then it has a a sort of flathead screwdriver, a ruler, and then a a sort of pinched prying edge that has a nail puller in it as well. I don't know how much you're really gonna pull nails with this, but you could probably get one out of a wall or something like that pretty easily. Yeah. Uh I I just absolutely love this and I was trying to think of like what I could throw in today that was a little bit more actionable than check out this cool song. Right. Which I'll get to in a moment. Yeah. Um and I I just really, really like this and then uh we see things like this pop up in the in the slack as well, these sort of like pry bar tools. Yeah. And a lot of those are more expensive. You know, um, giant mouse makes an incredible one that I really like. And if you have the money for the premium option, obviously go with the giant mouse, but this has a few more kind of features and is a little bit more. I mean, I don't want to be unfair to night eyes, but at six dollars and fifty cents, it's a little bit more disposable. Like yeah, if if I'm going through security and someone decides to make a problem out of it, I'm not gonna feel bad. If I lose the the sort of pry bar tool from giant mouse, I'm gonna be pretty bum. So it typically stays home with me. Right. Um and and I I like I said I like it a lot. But for these with I they can be if I need to have them taken away, if I want to just if I just on a whim decide to give it to somebody, six fifty. Who cares? That's what a coffee costs in a major city. Yeah, yeah. I do like the |
| Jason Heaton | idea. Something this affordable that you do buy several of and oh yeah give to a young like a teenager or or you know, uh a relative or someone you don't see regularly. It's it's a thoughtful, truly useful tool. And and I have that giant mouse tool as well and and they do come in handy, like these these weird little uses for it. And you know, typically around here it's it's mundane stuff like cutting open an Amazon box or |
| James Stacy | you know, pulling a staple out of something or whatever and opening some non-alcoholic drink that you're trying because you can't get your fix. Yeah. But the move, in my mind, the move is to buy at least two, put the other one in your wallet or whatever and then when you use this in front of somebody and they go like, Oh, that's amazing. And you give it to you go, Oh god, I got an extra. Yeah, I love that. And you just made their day. Yep. That would make my day. Yep. Anyways, right? Yep. Especially if it was like a kid, right? Yeah. Yeah. Um a niece, a nephew, son, daughter, whatever. Yeah. Um so yeah, that's the dohickey plus key tool from Night Eyes. Big love for Night Eyes. They have no clue. Uh like I don't have any relationship with them at all. I'm just a mass, massive fan of their of the it feels like it must be such a fun company to work for. Yeah. But yeah, big fan there. And uh and for my second, which I'll close the show on it, it's actually a new song from Wolfpeck. Uh it's called Letting Things Go, and it features guest vocals by a woman named Evangeline, who you might know from several other popular songs that she's done. I don't know how much we have to say for this to be considered commentary so that we don't get in trouble for playing the audio. Uh but Jason, did you get a chance to to preview a little |
| Jason Heaton | bit of that? I did and I I wished it was longer. It's a two and a half minute song, but uh just a lovely voice and it's just it's so like stripped back and simple and and just |
| James Stacy | like really pleasant. Super minimal. Still a little bit funky, but really fun and soft. And I've just I found myself going back to it since it came out. Like I listened to it once and I go like, oh it's a new Wolf song. I'm gonna like I'm gonna enjoy it. I like probably ninety-five percent of what they do. Yeah. And then I just keep kind of like uh I I that little that little bop in the it's like gets stuck in your mind and then I I just keep kind of replaying it. So um I'll we'll leave you uh with our quote of course, but uh the closing audio is going to be a little different. Today music throat uh will not be CSD of by Jazz R via the free music archive, but it was uh through the intro. I I guess before we get to the song, as always, thank you so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to the show notes, get into the comments for each episode, or even consider supporting the show directly, and maybe even grab yourself a new TGN sign NATO, please visit thegraynato.com. And we leave you with this qu |
| Jason Heaton | ote from Seneca, who said, It is not the man who has little, but he who desires more that is poor |
| James Stacy | . Those are great words, and here's a solid song from Wolfpeck and Evangeline, letting things go. |
| Evangeline | On something you said, I shoulda guessed you wouldn't mess with mine. You got up and I stayed in bed. I was about to say something, said nothing instead. So if you let me then let it show I've been getting good at letting things go |