The Grey NATO – 368 – A Chat With Lydia Winters [Watch Photographer, Creative Consultant, and Podcaster]¶
Published on Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400
Synopsis¶
Episode 368 of The Grey NATO features hosts James Stacy and Jason Heaton celebrating a remarkable fundraising achievement for Second Harvest through their CWN1 prototype watch auction. The auction concluded with a winning bid of $6,000 from Dwayne Gardner, while runner-up Jan M donated $5,750, and 41 additional community members contributed, raising nearly $12,000 total. The hosts also announce a new monthly "Hodinkee Happy Hour" meetup launching at Watches of Switzerland Soho in New York City.
The main segment features an engaging conversation with Lydia Winters, former Chief Storyteller at Minecraft and current brand consultant for Nomos. Winters shares her unconventional journey from elementary school teacher to director of fun at Minecraft, where she spent 13.5 years helping build one of the most influential entertainment brands. She discusses her transition to watch photography and collecting, her philosophy on inclusivity in the watch community, and her current work helping Nomos with international storytelling and creative direction. The conversation explores watch photography techniques, the importance of personal style in content creation, and anticipation for upcoming releases at Watches and Wonders. The episode concludes with final notes including IKEA Helmer drawer recommendations and Sebastian Junger's new Substack.
Links¶
Transcript¶
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| James Stacy | 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 368, and it's proudly brought to you by the always 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 thegreynato.com for more details. My name is James Stacy, and I'm joined as ever by my friend and co-host, Jason Heaton. Hey Jason, how are we doing? |
| Jason Heaton | I'm doing really well. Yeah, it's uh it's a great uh great Tuesday here. Um we've got a we've got a great guest and some great news and um the new cat is settling in just fine here, so we can give an update on that in a in a little bit here, but uh before that, we've got some newsy stuff too. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, a little bit. Actually, some some pretty big news. So we'll we're gonna uh gloss over the our our weekly mention of the fantastic Vancouver and Montreal timepiece shows uh coming up at the end of April and the end of May. You can get your tickets at timepeace show.com. I will be at the Vancouver Show. I would love to see there if you're coming. And we've got a great party planned with Rolldorf and Marathon. Details to follow on that. So just stay tuned. But the reason we're moving quickly is the CWN one prototype auction has ended. It ended last night. It was uh very exciting. And uh Jason, I will not take any shine from this. Jump right in. It was what |
| Jason Heaton | a threat it was. It really was. What a what a what an exciting threat. I thought for sure, you know, after we announced this and had that first week, there was a bit of a lull, and then the the bids started coming fast and furiously, um, right up until the bell last night. And um yeah, what a tremendous result. So, you know, without without further delay, the the the winning bidder, for those who are on Slack, obviously already know this, but uh the winning bidder was Dwayne Gardner, uh Dwayne G on Slack with a whopping this makes me so happy to say six thousand dollar bid um which he already donated to second harvest, which almost brings tears to my eyes how how generous this community is. And then I we we have to also give a shout out to to Jan M who kept the bidding going and encouraged others to donate and we'll get to that in a little bit here. But but he his high bid was five thousand seven fifty and he went ahead and donated that as well. So um right there between those two guys we've got close to twelve thousand dollars for second harvest. Wow. A really worthy cause. They're gonna be just thrilled to get that. And then beyond that, you know, Jan had put out a call to the community saying, hey, you know, uh let's all jump in here and and even if you're not bidding for the the watch, um, go ahead and donate because it's a worthy cause. And we got forty one uh at least, because I'm I'm guessing some people donated without, you know, uh even mentioning it in the Slack thread. But um forty one folks that that actually mentioned that they had donated as well. And you know, on behalf of both of us and you know, James, I'm sure you'll chime in here. I mean, just thanks to everybody who participated. We're just so thrilled to to have TGN as a as a platform for this and and just amazed at the outpouring of support from our |
| James Stacy | community. And yeah, an absolutely massive result uh between the the official winning bid and the other donations that came in, including Jan M's massive uh donation. We did want to take a moment to just offer a shout out to everybody that was in the thread and said that they donated. So we got forty one additional donations like Jason said. So we've got Dwayne and Jan M. Jackson B, Tom Dugan, Brandon Dean, Lowry, J A Ruppert, Matt H, Dan Q, Miltime, Jonathan, Steve T Swimming Remy, Arno, uh in parenthesis, Dave, Bund, Josh Bund, the wrists floorer, Anthony C, Ray, Tom Scrivener, Caleb, Jeremy Biramai, Brian, Sean P. Nick, Southern Watch, Fur BC D Leroy Matthew Berth HTDG Bob Joshua Rado Dwight Paul Eastwood Peter Castle Christian Badali, Derek Seventy Two, Jack Cortado, Sweller, Troy, Josh D. Luke, Midlow, Ryan Jacobs, Alex H Ted, and Watch Thinker. So an incredible list. Uh you know, we had a couple hundred people or mm but the better part of three hundred people in the in the channel at large and yeah, just a huge result. So I just want to say a big thank you obviously to Dwayne and to Jan and to Jason for coming up with this idea |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, we we thought you know as a as a small acknowledgement to to the rest of you who uh who donated um to the cause and followed along with all your encouragement, um we wanted to pull a name from this list of additional donors and uh and maybe put together a little care package of some T GN goodies. And uh we selected a winner from that list that James just read, and the winner is Josher. So Josher, I will reach out to you and grab an address and those details from you and uh I'll put a little package in the in FedEx for you and you should see that in a couple of days. So, you know, thanks again to everybody who contributed to this. And, you know, we had other folks that offered up um, you know, JR offered a book and a watch and um, you know, some other people offered up things to include in an auction and we're we're kind of trying to sort this out because we have a j very generous community and we just wanted to mention we're not ignoring, we're kind of working with the mods on maybe a model for going forward um for for people that want to um give to to good causes because I think it's such a neat way to to use our platform for for good and this was such a great example of that. So thanks to everyb |
| James Stacy | ody. For sure. And I had to I had one interesting thing now that we we have that uh all locked in, a very strange sort of coincidence. These things happen in life, but it blew me away. Moments after we got the the final bid from um Dwayne, and then the news that Jan had made his uh donation as well. Uh Sarah got a text from a relative in New Hope where we meet up and Jan for the last several years has planned and helped coordinate with Triumph Brewing in New Hope, uh the TGN Hangout that we do each uh Thanksgiving, each American Thanksgiving. Uh as of yesterday, Triumph Brewing closed. Oh no. Uh at that location. March ninth, effective March ninth, uh they closed. So uh Jan, I I will reach out. We will find another solution. Maybe maybe we can get our get our we maybe we can get enough people that we can lock out the entire uh space for the ship, which is across the street in Lambertville, an incredible uh sort of old school nautical themed but very tiny uh bar um just across the water from from New Hope there. But yeah, I th I thought that was so strange you one moment you're telling me, you know, the the news that we just shared and then I get the I was kinda thinking of the scene we could do one over Easter. Oh yeah. Um but we'll uh we'll ha as I'm I'm heading down to PA for Easter, but we'll uh we'll figure that out and if it works out we will. But yeah, sad to see uh Triumph Brewing go, but um certainly we'll we'll get all those buddies together uh somewhere nearby and and have just as good a time |
| Jason Heaton | . All right. Well that's that's the ex well, I shouldn't say that's the end of the excitement because we have a great guest uh today and um incredible guest and a cat |
| James Stacy | and we need a cat update a cat update we will get uh Lydia Winters' incredible uh the the chat was super fun but we do need a cat update for su |
| Jason Heaton | re yeah I think the cat is ours um I you know that was kind of the first big decision. We we still haven't settled on a name. We're we're workshopping a few options and and you chimed in with some good ones last night uh when we were going back and forth and uh I I'm not gonna I'm not gonna announce any of the the short list of the names, but um i I I just it it's so weird how seriously we're taking this naming process because as most people know, I mean, cats sort of know their names, but they're not like dogs where it's like really critical that you have a name. So you know, we can take our time with this a little bit. But the the cat has settled in really well. We we had her in a separate space for um you know the first I don't know, four days or so um with some visits from Ruby, my dog, uh on a leash and that went really well, then off the leash in the separate space, but sleeping separately. Um and then we brought the cat inside and they've gotten along famously. They've they they play together. I mean, this cat is tiny. It's it's it's a it's a kitten, and I think Ruby understands that this is a tiny little creature, um, who I shouldn't say means no harm because she likes to kind of swipe at uh Ruby's nose, but and Ruby kind of bears her teeth and snaps at her kind of playfully and they kinda chase each other around. But I don't think it's gonna be too far along here before they're sleeping together and and snuggling up and and just being the best of buddies. So it's uh I it it it you know, this was entirely unplanned, a totally serendipitous uh happening in in our lives, you know, um, but it it kind of seemed like, you know, having to rescue a cat from a tree um into which Ruby chased this cat just seemed like fate. Sure. And we did our due diligence. I mean we've we've put messages out on social media and neighborhood groups and contacted people and I hung flyers up and nobody has responded. We we we got her scanned for a chip, a microchip, but she didn't have that. So I think I think it's I think she's our cat. So it's fabulous. Once once we pick a name I'll I'll give a further update. So but it's it's been fun and you know fe,eding time in the morning is is a a new adventure. You know, I take Ruby for her early morning walk and then uh come back and they're both ready to eat and one eats on the counter. You can guess which one and the other one on the floor. And |
| James Stacy | so uh yeah, it's it's all good here. Just a matter of time until once that weather's a little warmer. Kath's gonna be in a backpack for that walk. Oh I didn't think about that. I did think about that. Yes. All that's maybe the cat'll love bike rides. Oh yeah. Sitting up on the handlebar. Yeah. Yeah. I could see that. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. That's great, man. I'm I'm super glad to hear it. You've been sending me the the occasional picture. And then I caught uh bits and pieces on Instagram as well. Super fun. That's great. I can't stop taking pictures. It's like you at the zoo. For sure. They're just endlessly fast. Anals are fun. Yeah, it's good. Yeah. Yeah. All right. What have you been up to? Uh yeah, I got back from NYC late last week, pretty much laid low for the weekend, kind of zeroed out on energy and uh and then yeah, just just kind of attacking the week here. Um, have some travel coming up next week, uh a very short trip uh to see some watches in Switzerland. So I'll be there for a day. It's looking like just over a day. I'll say I'll stay one night. Wow. Uh the one thing that I did want to add on kind of on the note of uh of NYC is uh we're launching sort of a new hangout series. And and and if you're listening, you are the first ones to hear about this publicly. We have not announced it on the website. Uh it's because I love you all so much. But Hodinky is is bringing back a genuinely casual watch hangout monthly in New York. Um, we're gonna do at least you know the next several months and see how it goes. As uh as anybody who knows me or has met at meetups uh met me in the past, I love meetups. I love hanging out. I love chatting watches. Uh I love not having to have small talk. We can go right to watches or cameras or or or hats or whatever bags, whatever you want to talk about. I love it. It's perfect. Uh so I've been pushing um our friends at Watches of Switzerland, the owners of Hodinky to allow us to essentially just do a super casual hangout. They have this beautiful basement in the Soho store in New York. I believe that's 60 Green Street. Um, or it's on Green Street, it's it's the only one in Soho for for watches of Switzerland. Uh so now every last Thursday of the month, assuming people actually show up, if nobody comes, then we may not continue, but I don't think that'll be the problem. Uh my I'm I'm assuming we will deal with not having enough pizza and beer and drinks and that sort of thing. But uh four thirty to six thirty every last Thursday of the month moving forward is the Hodinki Happy Hour. Uh it'll be at at Watches of Switzerland Soho. If it works out, it's something I'd love to see move around the country. Uh to other great locations that they've got. Um I'm current currently curating some great pizza and a selection of solid beer. We'll obviously have water and I'm encouraging folks to plan for it. Some great watch conversations. There's no branding, there's no powerpoints. If you've come to the marathon party, it's food and drinks and people you can stand with and talk about watches. That's that's the idea. If I address the crowd, it'll be for under a minute, I promise. And uh yeah, we'll be hosting these monthly. So stay tuned for that. You'll see a notice on Hodinki's website and on the Instagram soon. But seeing as I'd love to see at least some of you that are in the New York area uh and and are willing to come in into Manhattan to uh to hang out for an evening. Uh let's do that. But uh yeah, the last Thursday of every month. So this one's the 26th. Watch a Switzerland Soho in the basement. You don't have to RSVP. You can just show up. You can show up for a slice and a beer and bounce if you got to keep moving. I get it. Uh but please come out. It'd be great to see there. And uh I'm really excited for it. That |
| Jason Heaton | sounds great. It's so cool that it's monthly too. I mean a lot of these events are kind of one offs and they feel like a bigger deal. That's the goal. It's nice and informal |
| James Stacy | and yeah, that's cool. Yeah, we were calling it office hours for a while. Like you know, the your your your prof or TA says, like, hey, you know, this time every week I just sit in the office with the door open. And it's like, that's a little bit too official. Let's just call it happy hour. Uh I I just think it's something that we used to do really well, and and then you I have learned how to do really well within the TGN space. And I just I just want it to be an open door. You don't you don't have to come in and buy anything, you don't have to see a PowerPoint presentation. There's no uh there's no brand connection right now. a I brfand wants to host, we'd be open to it. But again, they don't get to have a PowerPoint or a a discussion or something like that. You they can pay for the beer. Good good time of year for people |
| Jason Heaton | starting to w get out and about in the city too. Yeah. All right. All right. Yeah. With that, um, we did incorporate our risk check into our the beginning of our chat with Lydia. Um so we can probably jump right into that. Let's let's just give a brief uh kind of bio or overview of of who Lydia Winters is. She's an accomplished brand strategist, storyteller, and creative leader. By the way, I'm reading this from her website, LydiaWinters.com. With over a decade shaping one of the most influential entertainment brands of all time, Minecraft. And James will have a few things to chat with her about uh with regard to that. Um she was a chief storyteller, brand officer, brand director, and director of fun. She left there recently and um has been started her own company doing creative storytelling, brand, knowledge, and photography. She's built a distinct voice in the watch industry, showcasing timepieces with a fresh design-driven perspective. Uh her Instagram account is at Lydia's Watches, which we both highly recommend, and has become a recognized platform for watch enthusiasts, combining visual storytelling with cultural and lifestyle context. She also co-hosts This Watch Life, a podcast with her partner that explores an intersection of watches design and personal expression. Um She's been featured in the international press, including a profile about her in the New York Times. And we're just thrilled to have Lydia Winters on TGM. So without further ado, let's jump into it |
| James Stacy | . All right, a big hearty TG and welcome to Lydia Winters. Lydia, how are you? Thanks for being on the show. |
| Lydia Winters | I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. I am a I'm a big fan. |
| James Stacy | I've listened to many, many episodes. And uh and we of you, especially of uh of your photography. I feel like there's uh there's so many directions this conversation should go. Um but on the on the slim chance that some of our audience doesn't have the full background, uh, hasn't maybe listened to uh your podcast or or dug into your history. Why don't you give people the the quick sort of uh elevator pitch on what you're up to and then we can dig into the the fascinating because you're the video game history and the and the watches and the photography and all that. Okay, perfect. Yeah. I |
| Lydia Winters | think my history is varied across many different things. So you mentioned video games, which the headline is Minecraft for 13 and a half years, which is what brought me to Sweden, which is where I still live. And I love it here. But I resigned and I started my own agency. And so I'm basically, working on storytelling and creative across like a couple of different projects, one of them being watches, which is my first time in the watch world. And the watch community has been such an amazing place. And I got into it just shooting photos of watches, which my partner suggested and I thought was altogether like completely silly. And now it's like a thing I do and have friends around the world from. So that's the quickest, the quickest version of |
| James Stacy | my life story ever. That's that's a fantastic intro. And I know that's a weird question to be asked. Like try and sum this up, uh, give it a couple sentences. We always do a little intro beforehand, but I like to hear it from right from the guests uh own mouth. And yeah, I think my introduction to you was definitely uh your Instagram where you would post these gorgeous photos and then the next frame or the next couple of frames would be like these beautifully annotated sort of descriptions of how you made the image, not necessarily like the this this light at this, you know, brightness or this one at that one, but like more of the the artistic composition, the consideration of color and texture and and the things that I think make a good image that last thing where you go, Well, that's one of Lydia's images. Like you can almost tell I'm really blushing. Which is kind of a delight. And then and then we crossed paths last year uh at the Nomos booth um where uh you know you have a a relationship with gnomos. So yeah why don't why don't we dig into a quick wrist check. What what have you got on for uh for the show? Okay, so I you gu |
| Lydia Winters | ys have been talking a lot about quartz lately and how you've turned into quartz guys. So I went with my uh vintage JLC mecha quartz or neo vintage actually. Oh cool. It's uh two nineteen ninety-nine two thousand. Um I walked into a store and saw it and just was like, I want that one, which is very infrequent for me. I'm like this, oh, I need to think about I've I've had like chances for awesome watches. I'm like, can you hold it for me? I just need to think about it. And with this one, I just I looked at it, it's very weird because it's a chronograph. It has way too much going on. It has the Delphine hands. It like has a lot, but also it's perfect. And it was on the original bracelet, which really I have to say it has this almost, you know Cartier feeling bracelet. It's super nice. It's that like, yeah, that 90s style really gets me. I me |
| James Stacy | an the the late 90s had some watches. Exactly. Don't get me wrong, the they're now they're now deep into the neo-venture, that's what we're calling. Yeah. And uh and I think they're a lot of them are getting their shine. But yeah, JLC, you know, we've we've talked a lot about uh BrightLink from that era, but certainly IWC comes up every few episodes. Yes, for sure. What a great era for uh for like really nicely sized, but still very sporty, very sort of like intentional watches. I think it was that last window of time when you didn't, you maybe weren't checking your phone for the time most of the time. A watch had to be this functional thing, and whether it was a an Iron Man or something like that, that JLC, yeah, I think there it was a great era for |
| Lydia Winters | uh for watches for sure. Yeah, I also love it because it was pre-acquisition. So I care a lot about this like when things were acquired because I worked on something that was acquired and it's always different. And so for me, I really I it like sent me over the edge on buying it that it was like just before JLC was |
| James Stacy | that and that that gives us a great bridge to uh to Minecraft. But let's let's get Jason and my uh my uh uh uh wrist check out a yeah let's see what you're wear |
| Jason Heaton | ing. Um so yeah, I pulled out my um one forty sixty M submariner. So haven't worn it in a while. And um I've got a bit of a diving adventure later this week, so I'm you know, weighing workshopping some options for uh for watches to wear. So I'm pulling out a few out of the out of the box to to try out and see if they'll be suitable. But uh yeah |
| Lydia Winters | . So it's diving but not where you already have a watch attached to it. That's interesting |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah, right. Yeah. Exactly. Which is a it's been kind of a rare rare situation for me. It's kind of nice. The choice anxiety. I feel privileged to be able to wear my own watches sometimes. So yeah, it's great. Yeah. And it's such a such an old favorite of mine, this watch, and I just haven't't I don wear it as much as I used to, but uh boy when I put it on yesterday, I was like, yeah, okay, I'll keep this on for a few days. That's great. This is great. And another one from that similar era |
| James Stacy | . Yeah, right. James, you're wearing a gnomos, your gnomos. I am, yeah. I'm wearing the uh the club sport neomatic world timer, the glacier colorway. I've got it on my hilarious what what do we call the Wellendupe? Uh this knockoff Wellendorf sort of seven link polished bracelet.. Yeah I don't like I've I've talked about this watch a ton. I absolutely adore it. Um I have uh I have some travel next week and I'm trying to pick between maybe I take this one, maybe I take something else 'cause this has just been on the wrist for a lot of travel recently. But uh yeah, the the shine hasn't worn off for this one for me. I I absolutely love it |
| Lydia Winters | . It's so beautiful. It's the one I got to wear at the show, even though I was very much uh preferred the green one, the jungle, but then I wore the shirt and I was like, this is perfect. Also, a side note, I laughed every time you talked on the podcast, you were like, I don't know what this name Glacier is. And I was like, I did not do my job well helping gnomos with these names. If every single time you're like Glacier for some reason |
| Jason Heaton | , it was always cracked. |
| Lydia Winters | In the in the recent recent time, so I've just been working with them for the past year and so with the world time where we were thinking about this like, you know, this variety of landscapes and um we were talking a lot about like is it a beach or is it cold? I'm obviously like Sweden. So I'm like it's Arctic, it's glacier, the red and orange kind of being that, you know, emergency vest that you always have. Um, but James did not that did not come through for James. So I maybe the the red didn't translate as as the uh the em |
| James Stacy | ergency vest but uh I I mean I love the colorway so the name that's all that mattered. That's the thing is like a great watch is gonna be a great watch. Oh yeah. And and I like that all of the names are I don't have to remember a a reference number. Yes. |
| Lydia Winters | That that's very important to nomals and we were like, okay, if it's too hard to say if no one will ever remember it, you either want it to be so German that no one remembers and it's like really difficult, or we were like it should be numbers super, super |
| James Stacy | easy. Yeah. And gnomo's cool names. Yeah, exactly. Great inspirations, that sort of thing. No, I I dig that for sure. And I I definitely want to jump into the gnomos thing, but I want to get a little bit of the background because of course uh Minecraft was quite a meaningful game for me as well. Uh back in the day. I I I know I've told this story um so I won't belabor it, but way back in the day, I wanna say it was um it was oh dot eleven or oh dot one three. Oh my god it was right around when the PayPal got shut down. Mm-hmm Oh my gosh super early Yeah I was listening to This Week in Tech. I was obsessed with uh Leo Laporte show at the time. Uh shout out Leo if you ever hear this. Uh I I wouldn't make this show without without you know the guys like him who had done it for so long. But uh they were talking about this insane game that had gone from it was pre beta or maybe I guess oh eleven w might have been a beta technically. Um and they were I think it was twelve bucks on on PayPal and I went and bought it and it was I was staying in Mississippi, I was on vacation and it was probably like seven or eight in the morning when I bought it. I was listening to the podcast, and then I remember playing it, and then there was a knock on my door, and they're like, Hey, it's dinner time. And I had played for like twelve full hours of this game, and now my daughters both play it. Oh my gosh. And and I've watched it go through. And now like my my eldest daughter who's twelve, she'll try and explain to me the mechanics of the game. And like when I started playing there was almost nothing. It was it was very rudimentary. And now now there's all sorts of interior logic and world building and a a huge movie franchise that's tied to it. So yeah I I wanted to get that out there because yeah I feel like I was I was and I remember yeah they f they froze the PayPal account and then we saw the number years later with the Microsoft and that number still remains massive for a game, you know, a garage style game. Um yeah, uh I'm I'm um fascinating to hear how you kind of found your way into that. And did you grow up loving video games? Games always important. No, I wasn't allowed to pla |
| Lydia Winters | y video games actually. So Minecraft was this weird, uh, fun thing. So I had a totally different life, I was at elementary school teacher. Uh, I taught for one year, but that's what my background is in. And then I stopped doing that and started doing wedding photography. And I had some friends and they were like, oh, there's this game. Cause I was like starting to get into making videos and I wanted like a theme. And they were like, there's this game and it's getting kind of pop like it's getting really popular. Again, 2010. So not that popular. And I was like, I've never played video games before. And they were like, why don't you just do it from that perspective? And so I actually had my face on camera, which at the time in 2010 was like no one was doing that. And I had shaved my head for breast cancer research um to raise money and so I wore like a little hot pink wig that someone had given me and I named myself Minecraft Chick. Not a name I would pick today, but it is what it is. And then I just started recording, but everyone was doing let's plays, these very long videos, just like I pla play and I, you know, video it and I put it online. And I wanted to do edited almost like video blog style. So I would play a little and then be like, oh, I can actually swim, even though in the game I don't know how to. Um, and so it became like very quickly, a lot of people started watching it. I remember being like, I think my account was hacked because I got so many new new followers, new subscribers on YouTube. And I mean 2010 YouTube was so different. It was like really early in what it even was. And I just started making these videos and quickly got about 50,000 subscribers. I think my channel still lives somewhere around 80 something, which adjusted for inflation is a lot. Uh, but I actually met the Minecraft team by sending a cold email to them and it was a right place, right time situation. They were going to be in the US. And I said, like, do you need anyone to do anything? Like like, here's my channel. And I'm also a serious person. I was a teacher, which I'm not sure if anyone says they're a serious person, if they are. I think probably in my case that's not true. But uh I wrote to them and they just happened to need someone. They're like, why don't you host Starbooth with Sony Erickson for the Experia play, which was this little phone kind of popped out and you played Minecraft on it. And I met the team there and they were like, you like talking to people, we like you, come back to Sweden with us. And basically I started two weeks later and moved six five five months later. Uh, and I mean I brought my bags with me to Stockholm and like that was my stamp and my passport the first time. And I like I live here now. So it was a really wild, it was a really wild ride that started a really, really wild ride, which was Minecraft for thirteen and a half years. And |
| Jason Heaton | what was your um what was your role with Minecraft? I'm I'm guessing it evolved over the years, but it doesn't sound like you came from a technology background. It was more of a content creation sort of thing. |
| Lydia Winters | Exactly. So they were um it was only Swedish guys uh working on the team at the time. Uh they had a CEO, but most of the team was developers and they were like, you like to talk, come back with us and we didn't want to say community manager because we already had a community of people like James and so it was like okay we're not gonna manage the community it's already there so then we picked this name director of fun which, did not get me taken seriously, but it was also quite an awesome title. And I worked with the community on videos and then quickly transitioned into kind of everything around the brand, what things we were doing, should do, shouldn't do, working on things with like the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, putting on Minecraft exhibitions. And like there was just a lot of freedom to continue to grow. And then even post-acquisition, I was the chief brand officer, the chief storyteller. So just the one on stage talking about I mean, I deeply love Minecraft. It changed my life. So it's very easy for me to talk about how great it is, actually |
| Jason Heaton | . That's quite a transition. That's quite a success story. I mean, from sort of not cold calling, but effectively cold calling and saying, can I work with you guys? And then lo and behold, you move to Sweden. That's a that's a big leap. That doesn't happen to a lot of people. That's that's pretty amazing. No, it was pretty |
| Lydia Winters | wild. I I would say I'm I'm a dreamer by nature, but I would not have dreamed this one. I was just like, maybe I can actually what I wanted was I wanted to interview them for my channel because they were in the US. And I was like, awesome. They're never in the US. Okay. I'll like meet them and interview them. And actually, very quickly, I was like, everyone's pulling them in every direction. I'm not going to be that person. So I did not ask for an interview and they ended up like we did my interview outside the LA Vic Convention Center for like to work with them. So it's |
| Jason Heaton | pretty awesome. Yeah. Gosh. And you must I mean you've stayed in Sweden since since you left the company. So you obviously fell in love with Sweden and and and chose to stay there. You're in Stockholm. Abs |
| Lydia Winters | olutely love. Yeah, in Stockholm. Um we're a little bit outside of Stockholm. We moved out to the countryside, so we're on a dirt road, Icelandic horse farms, forest. My little nephews and my sister and my brother-in-law are visiting right now from Florida, and it's just like this freedom of we're like run around outside, we're in this amazing place. And um also my partner Vu is still working on Minecraft and we had been working on it together for a long time too. Oh fantastic. Not how we met, but that's like a whole other story. So we'll we'll he came with me to Sweden. So I say, you know, he moved for love, even though he started with work. But I'm staying for love. So it's fine. And also 'cause I love Sweden |
| James Stacy | . So fast forward a few years, I guess, in is it twenty nineteen, twenty twenty for watches, earlier than that? Yeah, I mean I had the perfect |
| Lydia Winters | two watch collection. If I could go back in time and just be like, Lydia, don't don't. Um I mean first boo got me a tag hoyer in about uh 2000, I think it must have been 2013, 14, and I liked it, but I I wore it off and on. And then he was like, I'm gonna try this again. And he like took me to our authorized dealer and was like, now you can pick something. So I picked a Cartier tank in rose gold. And then I was like, okay, this is so amazing. And immediately Vu was like, so what net watch are you getting next? And I was like, you have to back off. I just got this watch. I'm so happy with it. This was like a couple of weeks before Christmas. And then we were going up to see the Northern Lights and I was like, okay, don't don't like don't start. I'm gonna tell you this on Sunday night, but you have to like still sleep. I'd like to go look at a Rolex tomorrow because I can't really take the Cartier up to you know negative 26 Celsius. And he was like, Oh my gosh. And so then I had the most beautiful white dial date just that I bought myself as an acquisition um present from Microsoft acquiring the company. And I was like, you know what? Um I decided to stay on, and we none of us were shareholders, but it was still like, okay, I'm gonna jump in and be part of this, this new era of Minecraft. And so I bought that watch for myself to represent it. And then I had, I, I took it everywhere. It went like around the world with me. Every event I was at, it was almost always on stage and it was just perfect. And then in 2020, like the like the typical, like when you only have one watch, I was like, oh my gosh, it's it's five years. I have to send in my Rolex because it needs to be serviced. Like the day we were going to Vietnam and I was like, I can't, it can't wait those extra two months, like this extra, no, actually three weeks. I was like, it can't wait. So I send it in and I was like, I'd like another watch. And so I bought a tutor mini sub. And then it just sort of then we were also going to to Tokyo on that trip. It was right before everything shut down for the pandemic. And I was like, I'm gonna buy an IWC pilot chronograph. And so I just like bought one. And then it just like went wild and I I think again it was moving like we should listen to a watch podcast how about 10 and 2 with cat and catlin and I was like yeah you know what two cool ladies watch it and I just took the bait and just like he really he worked the long con on this one and now I always say now I'm much deeper in it and it I'm much worse. So it's like he he got me in and then |
| James Stacy | I went as deep as possible. To today, would you say you share similar tastes in watches, or is there a divide? No, there's a pr |
| Lydia Winters | etty big divide, I think. Um, and we don't share watches which, people are like, what? So we each have our own entire collection. But for context, we share everything else. And for many, you know, for the for almost the entire time I was working on Minecraft, he was too. So we were working together, living together, traveling together. Only now, since I started my own company, do we have less overlap? But we were like, our collections are our own. Uh, you know, he's gone very Japanese with like Otsuko Lotek, especially in the past few years, uh Corano, which he got me my first one. And then I was very Rolex colorful OPs for a while, and now I'm in my Neo Vintage uh with like the JLC. Um Yeah, we're cut we're like bouncing around. There's a lot of different watches that we both have or like at any given point. Tutor is one that has stayed consistent for |
| James Stacy | both of us like the whole time, I would say. Is that still the mini sub or you've you sort of transitioned |
| Lydia Winters | into more modern tutors or yeah, more modern. The mini sub was what started me and then I would wear Vu's Black Bay 58 sometimes. I got the Tudor 925 silver, which it does tarnish, so it's still like a a little annoyance to me. But uh my perfect tutor is the BB fifty four, which Foo gave me for our anniversary. So it says team uh on the back, which is something we say to each other. Um, especially when we're like slightly fighting. So it's like, no, no. You and then you have to stop, which is great. Um, and so the BB54 I think is a perfect watch. But one that I when I saw them announce it, I was like, eh. And then I saw it in person and I was like blown away. And I love it so much |
| Jason Heaton | . And do you do you sell watches as well, or do you just kind of keep accumulating them? I mean, are you kind of a flipper or |
| Lydia Winters | no? I'm I'm a horrible flipper. I'm a horrible not it not even flipper. Like just selling the watches I don't wear has been um I'm so bad at it. And I have a lot of great watches and I know that they need to find loving homes. So it it will happen soon. But I am definitely more of a accumulator and hoarding for sure. Cause I'm like, oh, but now I like it when I see it again. But now when I'm with gnomals, uh like I go to Berlin and work with the team there every other week, so then I'm wearing a gnomes every other week. So now I wear even less watches. So now it's really time to start like trim trimming the collection. It needs to happen |
| James Stacy | . And what's the what's the sort of current love in the nomos range? Oh well What do you like to wear when you're when you're in Berlin? What's the Berlin watch? So |
| Lydia Winters | I I have quite a few gnomos and we we did before we started. The only gnomos I've bought since I actually bought two gnomos since starting to work and one was a present for Vu, so it's not mine, and one was a vintage nomals. So I still haven't gotten like a modern one yet because I keep waiting and the the world timers I'm I I can't decide. Um but I have I typically wear either my club, I have a Tetra that Vu gave me for my thirtieth birthday because obviously Minecraft. So that that was one I wore on stage many, many times because I was like, it's just a perfect like as soon as he showed it to me, I was like, this is a perfect Minecraft-looking watch. Um, so the Tetras one. And then I bought a I found randomly in Sweden a Ludwig, and it ended up being from 1996, which is very cool. I noticed that the dial had the Glasshute SA, and I just like happened to look and the auction was ending uh in a couple hours, and I bought it, and it's awesome. So that one is the new, the newest one. But I actually have many different, I have almost all the model families and have since before. So big nomos phone here |
| Jason Heaton | . Lots to Yeah, exactly. And did that relationship with Gnomos come about the same way the Minecraft one did? You sort of approach them with uh kind of a interest in working with them or and and tell us about the work you do for them. I'm I' |
| Lydia Winters | m curious. Yeah. So gnomals actually was uh I started talking to them through uh watch photography. And so they were, you know, asked if I wanted to see a watch, and I was like, yes, please. And then they invited me to their yearly forum where they ask different influencers if they'd like to come out to Glashute. The first year uh who and I couldn't go and the second year we went. And now we just like won't ever stop going. You're not supposed to go back, but we're just kind of like we've been we're now allowed to keep going. Um but it was kind of similar to kind of similar to the Minecraft story. Again, I thought it would be cool someday maybe to do something with nomals. Uh it started with like maybe I could take photos of watches with them. But then when I decided to resign, actually it was right at the time that they were having the second gnomals forum that I attended last year. And the the founder, Roland, actually was like, I've been wanting to talk to you to come work at Gnomals. And I heard you are free now. And I was like, whoa, hold on. Yeah. So it was actually like super amazing. He had been listening to our podcast and I think reading about my work with Minecraft and the brand and storytelling. And so he knew way more than I ever said on the podcast. So I was very impressed. Uh because he was like, no, I want you to come and like work with our our international uh storytelling. And I was like, that is an offer I can't refuse. But I I did say, no, I'm starting my own company. And he's like, well, okay, then let's do it through that. So it almost is my uh my biggest client that I'm working with and I just I mean it's the it's the dream. It's like what I would have w wished and pitched later, which is kind of similar with Minecraft. Like I wouldn't have ever pitched like take me back to Sweden. Um but uh yeah it's uh it's just wonderful and so I'm working with them. I'm a brand and creative consultant for them. So I'm working on their storytelling and I'm mainly in Berlin at Berliner Blau, which is their agency side that's working on marketing and communications and the creative direction photography. And so it's just been um amazing. I'm in Berlin every other week, pretty much for the whole week, which is very cool. So I have these two two lives now. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | What other um if you can tell us what what other brands are you working with for for through your company or or are |
| Lydia Winters | they watch adjacent or just no, Sonomas is my only watch client, and that's by design because I wanted to go like deep on the brand strategy side. And then my other client, I can't say too much about, but it's it's around the Minecraft world. So it's not in Minecraft. So we're working on uh um yeah, I'll say that, but it's it's super fun to have the gaming side. And again, it's a client that approached me who I knew and thought was amazing. So I'm like very happy with uh the work I get to do with I only want to work on things that I'm passionate about. And so Gnomals was super easy. I I mean the first forum, the thing that they knew about me was that I was like really um wooing. Like, so you know, it's it's a kind of quiet forum, a lot of press, and they're they're introducing new watches, and I was like, I am a big fan. So I was like, woo, woo woo. Which is like not German at all. And they had never, even on the international day, they had never sort of seen this. Um, but they decided that they they liked that feeling of like, wow, okay, you know, I mean to me as someone who's on stage and has been like across the world, I you you need that like excitement from the energy. It's always very hard if you have this cold crowd. So I'm always like your biggest fan if I'm in the audience. I will like, I will look at you. I will nod my head. Sometimes someone like, I didn't know you spoke German. I do not, but I'm here for you like let's go I you're the best and so it was it was just really yeah like getting into um to nomals through that. |
| James Stacy | So it's great. Yeah, and you had mentioned that the the bridge uh to kind of start the conversation with Nomos was through photography. Which one which kind of ramped up 'cause I've I was on similar ramps at various parts of my life, which one ramped up for you more heavily first, the watches or the photography |
| Lydia Winters | ? It's always been photography for me. So I I mean when Vu and I are doing, you know, podcasting and you're like, okay, hypothetically speaking, you can only pick one. It's always gonna be photography. I love it so much. Um, I have uh since I was young. Uh my mom always had a camera. I was always shooting. Um, I've done it professionally and at different different phases in my life, in and out. I think what made me excited about watches and photography is that it was a way to take an object and kind of show some personality around it. And also because I just love that you have this thing that you know I really like doing portraits of people but people are moving and running around especially with their kids and so I was like wait oh watch I can just like sit for quite a while and just pose this thing and like make it look as good as possible. And so for me it's always photography, but then like my love of watches became so much deeper by photographing them. And then I started to be like that watch doesn't photograph well so I don't really want it in my collection which then means you know you're way too de |
| James Stacy | ep. Oh I've been there for sure I get that. And and yeah I think I think for me that's it's a it was a big piece of how I got deeper into watches was like taking this hobby and applying it to a new hobby. And yeah, I I I remember thinking to along very similar lines that this is so much more peaceful than trying to photograph a person. Yes. When I first got into watches, I or when I first got into like quote unquote professional photographers going to like you know dentist's office and they wanted to rebuild their website and I would have to get the five staff members, you know, photos for their their masthead or whatever. And of course nobody liked the photos, even if they were good. And then you know, oh take some pictures of the equipment. So we have those two. And you're like, I don't know anything about dentist equipment. And then all of a sudden it was something kind of small. I could do it in my room. Uh you could be in like it's uh control freaks paradise because and I mean I I don't r relinquish this much in my own photography but you can take this to your level to Vincent Lyons where the watch is suspended on uh little tiny bits of string and there's water being splashed behind it. Like whatever level of creativity you want is available to you. And goodness, I mean, since definitely, you know, following 2021, you know, pandemic kind of boost, but even I would say you know, 2016, 2017 with like the solidification of Instagram, it also became a very social thing to put on the internet somehow, despite it being a watch. Um, which uh which is something I've always kind of appreciated |
| Lydia Winters | . I think that's what made me fall in love with watches more is the social aspect. And then, you know, like I mentioned earlier, Vu, my partner said, Oh, you should take photos of watches. Cause I was like, okay, I'm gonna be on. It was actually Kat and Catelyn invited me to be on the podcast, and I was like, I don't I have a regular Instagram account, but like the I have to show that like I like watches. I have watches. I remember sending them a photo. Like, I have watches. They're like, we already invited you on. Like, what are you trying to prove? And so I just started my account thinking, like, okay, I will shoot a few photos and then it will be fine. But it just became so fun and quickly, you know, friends around the world where I'm like, okay, I can go almost anywhere and meet someone that I know online, which reminds me so much of the early Minecraft days when the community was smaller and you could really like you could get in touch with anyone. And to me, I love sort of reliving that in the watch world. But it's like with um yeah, you have this common hobby, but then you find all of these other things that you have in common. I mean, the two of you are a perfect example of that. And so watches like stay-I stayed for that, and it also really expanded my photography and helped me find like a more defined style. For so many years, I was like, what's I don't have a style? And then now I'm like, okay, if if someone knows it's my photo, then I have a style. So it's like I really watch photography helped me develop that because I could quickly know what I wanted to post and didn't post. And then that that is how you figure out what your style is. |
| Jason Heaton | Absolutely. That's a that's a really good point. I th I think um I I I am definitely not a product a product photographer or watch photographer by any means, but I I love um checking out other people's stuff, yours and James's and Mark and Hodinky and Vincent Lyons, James, I totally forgot about him, but what a great example of the thing. When you talk about developing your style, um it's you know, photography styles are a little easier to discern in in the wider world, like whether it's wildlife or you know street photography or whatever. But with watches, like it's it's a thing to like have your own style and and you definitely do have a very distinctive style. And I um you know because, you p'hotreographing an object that that if you give it to five people, like chances are all five photos could look very similar. How how how do you go about kind of creating your own style? What what does that involve? Props or lighting or just uh how how do you go about that? Yeah, I think for me it |
| Lydia Winters | was I find watches very joyful and just in life as a person, I try to bring a lot of joy and enthusiasm into what I'm doing. And so I think the first few photos that I posted, they felt a little more similar to the style that was very prevalent at the time. And it's like maybe a little moodier. And then I was like, okay, actually I'm gonna take a bunch of flowers and make a set piece of flowers. And I'm gonna put flowers in my pocket. And so it became very like uh nature-based, I would say, and very colorful, sometimes a little bit um silly, like you know, glu cutting out and gluing all the dots onto my turquoise Rolex OP to make it look like the new celebration, which then I had to tell people like it isn't. It like look closely, like I just glued these on. Because I was like, watches are fun. And so I just didn't want to take it so seriously. So I think that really helped me. And some some of the photos are maybe a little more serious, but I like to create a bit more of this illusion. Like, I'm not putting something underwater. I'm holding up a glass of water and reflecting it in the light and like making, you know, it's it's more of in some ways, this photography is more about me than the viewer, which I think is how you develop a style. It's like what do I like shooting what's fun and what I realized and why I don't put out just like tons of photos or like here's a more similar thing is because I only want to do things that like make me feel creative because that's what the outlet is for, which is why like James, I love your zoo photos. I'm like, okay, he's going to the zoo with the kid, with the family, and he's like, I'm gonna be creative today. And like that's that's what it is. |
| James Stacy | Yeah, the zoos the zoos become like a an escape because you you get a split second and it's great. I'm I'm probably at a point where like I don't ever need more camera gear to shoot watches. I could probably do it with less. Yeah. Um, but this gave me like a dumb outlet to be like, you know, resetting camera gear to now have this big long lens and I look exactly that dad at the zoo. |
| Lydia Winters | It's perfect. I also like that you say like I I'm set on camera gear but yeah I like recently see this like I just got the Rico so like this is all of us camera nerds it's like you immediately are like but also for sure I could have another camera which is me too I just bought more equipment I.'m like, I don't, I absolutely do not need this. Um, but the other thing, Jason, was what James said earlier, is I wanted to show the behind the scenes. And this is something that like I did in my Minecraft videos and, just like I think the more you can share how to do something, and so for me, I wanted to show the behind the scenes for two reasons. To show a little bit about myself, because what I missed in the watch world for good reason, many people don't want to show themselves. But like I missed that as an outlet of like, I want to know something about you. Like these props are actually things I have. Like, I'm doing this. And I think now you know years into like the watch photography space. I think people share a lot more of themselves than at the beginning where it was like, okay, here's the generic prop set. And so for me, I was like, I want to just share. And if someone can take something also that I'm, you know, using great cameras, but the rest of the equipment is very minimal. I'm setting up like typically like a box I found because mainly because I'm very lazy. I don't like to deal with the lights. I'm using natural light. And so to me, it was, you know, sharing those things so someone else might go, oh, actually with my camera, I can just, you know, I can set up this little set of things or I can find this this location and take an image. And it's always very amazing when people reach out and say, oh yeah, I did this, or like, I did this in the Lydia style. It's it's always incredibly flattering and humbling |
| James Stacy | . Well, that's fantastic. Yeah, I uh I'm definitely a fan. Uh some some really lovely work. The one that I always remember is the yellow flowers on the yellow OP. Uh because it just looked like it should have been a movie poster or like it had that feeling. You know, I'm curious. So Jason put a great question here, which we don't we don't I don't know why we don't ask this more commonly. Um what do you dislike in watches? And that could be like in the realm of brand storytelling where you're like this brand is getting it wrong. You don't have to be specific to brands if you don't want to, but uh what what is it that you're not either not a fan of at a personal level or or maybe yet a more broad scope for like a brand. Yeah |
| Lydia Winters | , I mean, I think overall, obviously whenever you're into something luxury, there's uh this big barrier to entry. And so for me, I am like, do you like watches? Okay, then you can be in the club with me. And so that's like commenting on kind of broadly on anyone's watch to be like, oh, I like your watch. And then they're like, oh no, it's only a Cassio, or it's only this. And I'm always like, no, tell me more about it. And I mean, I've had people like hand me their w like just the amount of times someone will take off their watch and just hand it to me. I have a friendly face, so they're not worried I'm gonna run. I don't think. Um but it's just to me, it's any type of watch that someone wants to wear, I think is awesome. And so I know there are like these jokes in the watch world of like, oh, this brand or that brand. To me, and you know, that's any hobby. Yep. But to me, I'm also always like, but you can wear that watch. Like you can have the Ublow if that's what you want. If it makes you super happy. Or I had a friend like, oh, that's what my husband picked. Is that like a bad watch? And I was like, no, of course not. It's the watch he picked, and it's the one he wanted when you two got married. Like, why? Like, what could be bad about that? So I think the watch world could use more, more just openness in that regard. And then that also directly translates to like the brand storytelling. I think it's gotten better in the years that I've been in. Obviously, for me, like 13 and a half years ago, now for what was, you know 2010 in video games as a woman, like terrible. Like I've never I mean you still see some pieces of that left. And there's there's yeah, that's the thing.ing Th there still is so much of it. Um, and it watches, you know, maybe it's a little further ahead of where it was in video games all the way back there, but it's definitely not at the most inclusive state that it could be in. And I think the more that's why I love you guys talking about courts the way you do. It's just like, why can't people just like watches and they can like whatever they like and they can have something within their budget and like how cool if I get to know so much more about them because when I ask about a watch, people tell me like way more personal things than I would ever hear if I just like cat like had the longest lunch conversation. So to me just like openness overall. Yeah. And like not so much of a feeling of like what is a collector? You know, oh you just like watches or you are a collector. I'm like, do you have a couple watches perfect? You're a collector. Like, let's not |
| James Stacy | You know, uh Jason and I joke about this occasionally also like some of the watches that people would especially if you're brand new to the to the hobby or or still kind of learning everything, the watches you might be pining for are some of the least interesting to talk to talk about at a meet. Like, don't get me wrong, I I I love the submariner, Jason's wearing a submariner, but like I've seen them. Uh do you have is it is it a special one or is it just a submariner? And there's nothing wrong with submariners. I'm picking on on an icon, which is a ridiculous thing to do. Uh or you know, let's be let's not be unfair. Uh uh a speedmaster, I have a date just that I really like these aren't like incre they're so ubiquitous to being a great watch. Um and then when I so yeah when I see a weird uh Timex or uh a a great Seiko I haven't seen before JDM Seiko, something like that. Cool, cool old citizen. Show me a s you know, uh an aqualand of any type. I'm in. You know what I mean? I'm in pr I'm pretty deep. Uh so yeah, I definitely I definitely feel that. And um I do think I think it's it feels at least from my perspective that could be a recursive loop uh uh uh internal bias but it feels like it's become more more of a space where like there's a broader window of what is perceived as like entry to the quote unquote club. It's not it's not just the the 9-11 show where you have to have one of five references and then that's good. And those those are great watches, great cars, all that kind of thing. But yeah, I I agree that it's it's nice, especially you know, you go to like a wind up or um or you know, some of the TGN meetups, that sort of thing. This these are the things that we do. You you go visit one of the the Toronto like the the can the Canadian shows now, and the breadth of watches you see is ridiculous. I mean, in within twenty minutes I saw um I saw uh a Spinnaker and the then the next guy had a uh Roger Smith. Uh an early Roger Smith. So I mean like these are the two I mean if you don't and if you you have to be fairly deep in watches to know either of those two, but two different ends of the scope, both bought by people who love watches, which is really the the signifier for me. If you bought it because you love it, that's like that's yeah, that's gonna be good. Exactly |
| Jason Heaton | . The more we love watches, the more we should want more people involved in watches. And therefore to be that sort of open and inclusive. I mean, it's just it's counterproductive to be elitist and exclusionary. Um I mean, and I would argue that well, James's watch today is a close second, but I would say your mecha quartz is the most interesting watch on this on this Zoom call here. I mean it's it's it it's that kind of thing. That my submariner, like you said, James. I mean it's we've we've seen them. Um but but tell me the story of that mecha quartz. I mean it's just it's a cool piece, you know? It's that's that's what it's all about. What drew you to that one then? What you just saw it? So are you are you drawn to watches for a visu |
| Lydia Winters | al? Okay, so what drew me to the to this watch actually is first of all, I can always like see the size now because of like looking at so many watches like even my IWC that I bought in 2020 was I was like it's slightly smaller than the rest because it's 39, which is still, you know, kind of big for me, but I was like, okay, it's smaller than the rest. And for this one, I just saw it and I really loved the bracelet, the look of it. I think it's very weird. It has a white date window, but with a black dial. Not something I would normally go for because it stands out, but also the date is in red. Like it, I this watch doesn't make sense. And that's kind of what I love about it. And I think that's what drew me to it. It's like no part of it is what I would think I would pick or put together on a watch. And somehow I was like, oh, this is so cool. Yeah. And the open case back is very cool because then you actually see um both the mechanical and quartz parts. So it's awesome. We're gonna need some photos. I know and this is the funny thing because I haven't actually photographed it because I'm always like, oh I need to. Yeah. But yes, okay, now |
| James Stacy | I will. This is my homework. Yes, please. That's great. And then we'll uh we'll I see you at uh watches wonders this year. Yes, absolutely. So I'm I'm curious, you probably know what's coming from Gnomos, and I don't think I've signed that NDA, so I don't know. But I we we I'm I'm kind of loosely it's the the predictions thing is weird. But what would you love to see from more brands? Ooh. Is it more is it easy? Is it something more color? Obviously you have a fondness for for not just not brighter or uh punchy colors, just color use in general. But then you've got a black dial JLC on. Yeah, ex |
| Lydia Winters | actly. Which I really don't have that many black uh dial watches. But I mean for me it's always like a little bit smaller sizes, but keeping like the design proportions of the original. So I mean, yeah, I am I love the submariner. I would love to have a a Tudor mini sub. It's not gonna happen because as a brand, like it doesn't make any sense. But I'll always wish for it. So it's like I'm always like, is it a prediction or is it just like me free wishing? And then it's hopes and dreams. Yeah, and then it's just I would buy this watch immediately. You have one sale. And so I think for me, like, yeah, I would love a tutor mini sub. I would love yeah, a modern which, you know, okay, I know that the the VB50 foot range, yeah. It's in the range, but I mean a 33 versus a 37, those are not the same. So I I'm always like, it's different. Um, and I love the BB54. So I wouldn't actually replace it. I would just add another one into my collection that I'm not diving with. The black band. The BBM. That's a great |
| James Stacy | idea. Yeah, if they if they do a blue fifty four, like if they follow the what they did with the fifty eights uh and go from the black guilt to the blue, I I think between my wife and I we'd probably have to get one, yeah. Yeah, it will be perfect |
| Lydia Winters | . I'm excited to see. Honestly, what I just I like seeing what all the brands are doing. I think the coolest thing at Watches and Wonders, uh especially as a brand nerd, is just getting to see watches and wonders, I would say, is the most pure brand expression. So any booth that I go to, I should be able to see like, okay, here's what this brand stands for, because it's really this like moment in time that all of them um not only talk about their novelties but also about you know the it may maybe Vasharon is like okay history and so you really see that in the booth and in everything or you know, JLC last year with the reverso year, like, okay, this is very deep, or oh, that gold reverso on the bracelet. Yeah, exactly. Gorgeous. And that's not something I again would predict. So I really I guess my biggest hope is that like some brands surprise us uh because to me i think that's the most fun year so i thought it was really fun with the land dweller it was fun when rolex did the puzzle dial, the celebration, uh, which then after making one, I do have the real one. And it's just though to me, it's those things that you're kind of like, this doesn't exactly make sense. So I'd love to see more of that around Watches and Wonders and it's an interesting time because obviously with the industry down do some brands like play it safe or do they really go like swing for the fences and say okay this is the time to be bold and interesting and try stuff. So that that's what I'm kind |
| James Stacy | of looking for this year. And and I'm curious with your with the role that you now have in in the watch industry with your company and and obviously your servicing with with Nomos, is this a I never once thought about it this way, but like in your world, is this an interesting place to walk around and like take notes and see how brands are showing themselves in their booths, in their displays? What's good, what doesn't work. Is this is it is this like a uh a a great chance to to kind of like get inside the playbook of of other brands? It |
| Lydia Winters | is and I wish I thought of that more, but mostly I'm just like a watch nerd, like living my best life. I am watching for it. Um, not as much on the critique side because I think obviously with any brands, there's, you know, like they're trying to tell their story. So more of like a curiosity towards like what the brands are telling. So that's what I enjoy with watches and wonders. And then the watches themselves. So those two things getting to walk around. And but I I would like to not be labeled like a brand spy. I'm not like spy spying because I also have this other side of like our podcast and and being in the watch world and a little bit influencing. And so for me, um any work I do with gnomols is making sure they're not like everyone else. So anything I'm looking at is to not do that and not advise that because you need to have your own clear uh brand aesthetic and story. That's the best way for people to really understand what you're doing when you combine that with a watch, that's the the perfect moment. |
| James Stacy | Well look, I think that's uh that's loosely the the our block of time here. Uh I've got you know fifty more questions so we should have you on again maybe maybe after the show and see what you thought of everything that came out. Looking forward to see what comes up uh with Gnomos this year. Uh last year I was a delight for me and and one of the the only sort of super noteworthy new watches I've bought in in a little while. It was a it was a delight to have you Where should people kind of follow along |
| Lydia Winters | ? Okay, yeah. I'm on my Instagram is at Lydia's Watches. My partner Vu and I have an I would say on and off again podcast called This Watch Life. I mean, we did do daily episodes for like two hundred episodes. So I mean, I feel like now that they're kind of more scattered, it's okay. Um Daily. Daily. We did them Monday through Oh James, she's putting us down. No, you guys okay, ten years of like you guys are like the consistent ones and we're like I wouldn't have made it six months of daily. No. We started out bi weekly. But I mean we do have uh we live together, so it's a lot easier and we would just get up in the morning and have coffee and do like a ten like fifteen to 20 minutes was the typical episode Monday through Friday. And it was really just an experiment and a lot of fun. And now we've switched to more bi-weekly-ish, uh, more like 45, 30 to 45 minutes. When I'm traveling so much, it's a little harder to find the time, but I think yeah, we're we're getting back into the swing of it. And watches and wonders time is like, I mean, the gift that keeps on giving for podcasting. You you only have content. So I think now is the time |
| James Stacy | to kick it back into gear. Absolutely. Well, everybody should uh give it a follow and uh and check out those episodes and certainly the Instagram. Uh Lydia, an absolute treat to have you on. Thanks so much for uh giving us an hour. Thank you so much for having me. All right, we'll see you in uh Geneva in just a little over a month. No, no, no, no, no, don't do the countdown. |
| Lydia Winters | I was gonna say you're probably as stressed |
| James Stacy | as I am. I'm like whew. Well, thanks again and uh all the best and we'll chat soon. All right, and as we said there to close out that great chat with Lydia, a huge thank you for uh her coming on the show. I thought it was a really good time. So a big thank you to uh to Lydia and looking forward to seeing what she's got cooking up with uh gnomos in the future. With that, I think it's time to probably put a bow on the show. You want to get into some final notes? Yeah, let's do it. Um yeah, you can go first. I think you've got kind of an interesting one here. I just spoke about it on the previous episode that I I had kind of redone my office. I moved it from downstairs up to a bedroom and the upstairs and the goal here, among other things, was to get all of my stuff into a different room, which we succeeded in, but also was to aid in some better organization. I have a lot of just things that are around that like I don't necessarily want to get rid of, but I also like they can't just sit on any horizontal space in the room. Um and the solution for this, as as you might well be guessing, is to go to IKEA and get some drawers of some sort. And so I went to IKEA and we walked around. We really didn't find the thing that I wanted. We looked at a few different options. Some were available, some weren't. I you know, really wanted to find some proper organization for the 3D printer that was out of stock or wasn't my color, that sort of thing. And then as we were going to check out, I found these IKEA Helmer metal drawers. I got them in blue. I bought two of them. They're on for 40 bucks each. And I've actually had really good long-term success with metal products, like metal sort of industrial products from IKEA. I have since before Vancouver, I got them when I was in Hamilton secondhand 16, 17 years ago. I got two red lockers, which I still have, just very simple, straightforward sort of lockers. That's what the 3D printer is currently living on. I have this sort of weird architectural structural orange series of tubes that holds tripods and stuff like that. I'm not actually sure what it was for originally. Um and then I uh when I redid the office first when we first moved to this location, um, I bought a bunch of these kind of gray industrial shelving units, which used to be in the background of my Zoom calls. And those have been really good. So I'm I'm I'm batting a thousand on metal products from IKEA and their usefulness. And these are on their website, these Helmer drawers are on their website for $80 currently. Like I said, I paid $39 Canadian, which is like $30, $28. Yeah. US. Uh so I bought two of them and they are about um maybe two, two and a half feet tall, um, probably not quite a foot wide and have six fairly large metal drawers. So it's all flat pack. So you're basically just bending stuff, and then kind of once it's into the shape, there's little tabs that you bend down with like a screwdriver or whatever. Pretty easy to put together once you get through the first couple. And I don't think I needed more than the two I have, but I've I've got them all divided up. There's little pieces of paper that you can label each drawer. I'm really happy with them for the for the 40 bucks for sure. For 80, you know, maybe buy one and decide if it suits your life and then if you need another, buy another. And it's just really good. I'm I can I can share a photo into Slack or something like that if people want to see kind of how I've got 'em, but I think you'll get the idea from the link in the in the show notes, but uh really useful and I think like I've got one that's just for NATOs now. So I don't have to put my NATOs into a different thing and then hide that thing somewhere. I've just got a drawer. I've got a drawer for like bracelets and bracelet bits. I've got one for stickers and patches. It's almost full. I've got one for like travel adapters and and other things I use just for travel, right? Uh a neck pillow that I wear once a year uh coming up soon when I've, you know do a couple economy trips to to and from Geneva and I know I'm not gonna sleep that well and and yeah so it it's it's handy and and useful and I think they look okay and I can imagine them being in the right zone for the sorts of offices I imagine many of the people listening to this uh have at their home |
| Jason Heaton | . Yeah I think your use case is uh as you were s saying what you have in each drawer is like, yep, yep, yep. I I should, you know, I I probably have something at home I could adapt for this use, but these these look like a great size and and there are certain products that IKEA I mean Ikea is great. I mean I have so much Ikea stuff and uh admittedly, you know, some of it doesn't have the greatest reputation, some of the the flat pack stuff that you know isn't terribly l built for longevity or whatever. But like the the metal stuff and some of the older things, the the wood products that they that they've made, um I've had really good luck with and yeah, I should I really need to migrate my NATO's to a drawer. I think that's the moral of the story here. Yeah, it's nice. I'm so tired of like emptying out a giant ziplock of twenty millimeters and sorting through this. I was using like |
| James Stacy | a DeWalt case that you're supposed to put hardware in. And it was it was effective, but all of the bins were NATO's. Yeah. Yeah. So like what now I've got it separated. But yeah, I would agree. Like for me, IKEA really comes down to the the flat pack the MDF stuff it you can build it once a lot of it doesn't seem designed to be then taken apart and moved somewhere and built again you know right especially those ones that they use the little wooden peg and I'm sure there's an official name for this. I sho The little wooden peg, and then on the receiving side the little metal circular cylindrical keeper. Yeah. Those don't ever seem to go tight really tight twice. Um but I I I everything uh the the metal stuff, the lighting I think is excellent for the money. Like I I I love having a lot of little lights in my office and a handful of one of them's like 70s I key, it's awesome. Um but I like having that kind of stuff. They do a good job if you want something like a paper lantern, like a Naguchi style lamp, but you don't want to spend Noguchi money. They've got that uh kind of locked in. Um yeah I I'm I'm a fan of it. I've got their their lighting and the metal stuff kinda all over the house whenever it's useful. Yeah. Yeah. Good pick. Yeah. Good price too. Wow. Yeah. Fun stuff for sure. But uh what what have you got for this we |
| Jason Heaton | ek? Yeah, I've got a a a substack recommendation. Um I think you know this this guy, Sebastian Younger, um, you know, that doesn't need much introduction to to most people. Um, just one of my favorite authors, writers, um, going way back, you know, I'm he used to do some writing for Outside Magazine and Men's Journal and you know war reporter, um author, obviously the perfect storm um is his famous one. Um filmmaking. Yeah, he's uh I mean he he he he's he's I I would say he's one of the five writers that I would claim as an influencer for me uh on my own work and just kind of what I would aspire to be. And and he's just so good. And he's he's launched a substack. So this wasn't long ago. I think it was within the past couple of months. And I I I immediately paid up and subscribed um to it because he's just such a thoughtful, excellent writer. Um and these come out, you know, roughly weekly. Um and then he does some um chats, you know, so if you want some more direct interaction with this incredible writer, you can you can interact with him on on Substack Chat. Um and his Substack, kind of the the one where he posts his his stories is called Tribe and um and it's just it kind of goes all over the place. Like I'm looking at one called The Future of Warfare, and there was one called What It Feels Like to Be Blown Up or um or Survive an Explosion or something along those lines where he um recounts you know riding in a hum Humvee when he was embedded in the Corangal Valley in Afghanistan and and they hit an I IED and and it blew up their Humvee. And you know, he he talks about what it was like to almost die when he when he had this horrible uh aneurysm um that almost killed him. And you know, just just all of these really thoughtful things. And then lately he's been doing these regular excerpts of novels. He made a point of sitting down and reading a number of kind of well-known canonical works of fiction, and then he'll extract like a passage of it and then analyze it and say like this is what this is really good writing and here's why. And I I just find that so great for for a great writer like him to to kind of explain what he likes about someone else's writing. It's uh it's really good. I I really recommend it. Um, like I said, younger's one of my favorites, and and this doesn't disappoint. It's a good good way to get him on a weekly basis. And frankly, I'm surprised it took him this long to get there. Um, you know, I think a lot of these well-known journalists and writers and things are migrating to these kind of subscription based platforms and um and it makes sense for somebody like him. I mean he's just got such a following and it's a it's a it's a neat way to to get his stuff in a more intimate way. For |
| James Stacy | sure. I mean you've got Sebastian, you've got uh David Concannon, like a lot of our our faves are uh are are making it onto the platform. I I think it's an exciting time where I mean we the obviously we've built a a small business on this, but the idea of just being able to go direct to the source of what it is that you like. And uh and like I'm not saying that that a book deal and buying a book, I love books, I read books all the time, that sort of thing, but it's cool to have uh that an even shorter route to an idea, a thought, maybe something that would never become a book. And uh and you know, with your and my love of yeah, the the Sebastian Youngers, the the um uh Mark Twites, the like this this sort of thing and to have these guys kind of back in this cycle of a space where you're already kind of living. I'm reading yours, I'm reading David's, and and then now you can add to that list. It's it's a it's a delight. Yeah. Good stuff. Yeah, cool stuff. Great recommendation. So you got some uh some metal drawers and a great sub stack and an absolutely incredible chat with uh Lydia Winters. So a pretty solid episode, a huge result for the TGN CWN1 protocol And uh yeah, what an |
| Jason Heaton | episode. That was a fun one. That was really fun. And I'm after we click off here, I'm gonna go pack up that prototype watch and the care package for Josher and uh head off to FedEx. So uh exciting Tuesday here. Uh and as always, thanks so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to the show notes, get into the comments for each episode, or consider supporting the show directly, and maybe even grab a new TGN signed NATO, please visit thegreynado.com. Music throughout a siesta by Jazzar via |
| James Stacy | the Free Music Archive. And we leave you with this quote from Charles Darwin, who said: A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. |