Episode 266 - 2023 in Watches¶
Published on Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:25:16 -0800
Synopsis¶
In this episode of the 40 and 20 WatchClicker Podcast, hosts Andrew and Everett review their favorite watch releases of 2023. The discussion covers twelve notable watches including the Swatch x Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bioceramic collection, Christopher Ward's C63 Séleste, the Zinn T50 in titanium, and the Laurier Hydra S3 GMT. They praise innovations like Studio Underdog's Field O2 with its floating sapphire indices and Tag Heuer's glass box chronograph revival. The hosts note 2023 as a significant year for affordable automatic GMTs and appreciate brands like Marathon, Alpina, and others pushing boundaries in design and value. Their personal watches of the year are Everett's Zinn T50 and Andrew's Studio Underdog Field O2.
Beyond watches, the hosts discuss Oregon Ducks football's playoff prospects, Andrew's new Danner Mokto boots, and share other things including Pendleton wool socks and Nike Air Max 90G golf shoes. The conversation highlights their appreciation for both heritage brands revisiting their catalogs and independent watchmakers bringing creative innovations to the market at accessible price points.
Links¶
Show Notes¶
- Swatch X Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
- Christopher Ward The Twelve
- Alpina Alpiner Heritage Carree Automatic
- Tag Heuer Carrera Skipper
- Studio Underd0g Field Watch
- Lorier Hydra SIII
- Sinn T50
- Pendleton Wool Socks
- Air Max 90 G Golf Shoe
Transcript¶
| Speaker | |
|---|---|
| Andrew | Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify, you're listening to 40 and 20, the WatchClicker Podcast with your hosts Andrew and my good friend Everett. Here we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, how are you? |
| Everett | You know, I'm doing all right, Andrew. |
| Andrew | Thank you. Judging by your hair, you're not. No. It's like real tall right now. The |
| Everett | hair's getting crazy, man. I haven't decided what I want to do with it, but it's like it's got a mind of its own. |
| Andrew | When when I had hair, when my hair was that tall, it meant that I was hammered. |
| Everett | Yeah. I'm not hammered. No. I I haven't even cracked my very first beer. I |
| Andrew | cracked mine. I'm doing well. Andrew, |
| Everett | I am in very a very fortunate position that you share with me to be very excited about the state of college football. |
| Andrew | Yes. There are probably |
| Everett | about four football fan bases in the country right now that feel as good as us. |
| Andrew | About three of those feel better |
| Everett | than us. But we are fans of the Oregon. |
| Andrew | Definitely three feel better. Football |
| Everett | team. And a many feel worse. On this last Friday, we played Oregon State for our last ever conference rivalry game against our little brothers in Corvallis. Uh, which is actually pretty sad. We watched that game together. |
| Andrew | Yeah. Uh and and then this |
| Everett | week we play for the pack twelve ch anyway. It's |
| Andrew | the last one. It it like so |
| Everett | the pack twelve is dissolving. If you guys didn't |
| Andrew | be the pack two. Uh |
| Everett | and so there's a lot of history that's going away this year. Uh or it's not- I guess the history doesn't go anywhere. The history is just there. |
| Andrew | Over. It's now real history. |
| Everett | But it it w's not something that we'll be doing again. Uh, which is sad. But but also it just it like excited about the team. It's a really fun team. Uh they've been really fun to watch. So it excited, big football game on this Friday. |
| Andrew | We play Washington second |
| Everett | or third best team in the country, depending on who you talk to. Uh that's exciting. And if we win, we probably get into the college football playoff. You know, we're not from the South. We're not from Alabama or Georgia. We don't get to see this stuff all the time. |
| Andrew | True, it's been some time since we've been invited to play. |
| Everett | 2014 was our last foray, I believe. |
| Andrew | Uh I think so. |
| Everett | Ish around that time. So anyway, uh it's exciting. So I'm excited. And it's sort of it's sort of infiltrating my uh being. I'm thinking a lot about college football right now. |
| Andrew | Yes. Uh but but |
| Everett | good. I'm doing well. Andrew, how are you? |
| Andrew | I am also good. I got some new boots in the mail today. They're not my other thing. I ordered some they |
| Everett | are your other thing? No, they they're not my other |
| Andrew | thing. Well, why wouldn't these these be your other thing? |
| Everett | Well, because I don't know yet. Okay. Uh |
| Andrew | but I got some preview. Yeah, some some Danner Mokto on their Black Friday sale. They came a day earlier than expected. I hit them with some Huberts. I'm wearing them dry and one thing that I really like about Danner is that they are almost universally comfortable right out of the box. There's like some stiff points typically, especially with an all-leather upper. Uh but you get some hubirds in there or some your shoe grease of choice and wear them. They soften up really nice. I yeah. I you you recommended Thorough Goods and I and I I don't disagree with your assessment. I'm just I'm really comfortable with Danner because they're a brand of boots that I've worn. Gosh I don't know, probably a dozen different varieties. I know how they fit.. I like them So that's what I went with. |
| Everett | Well, and Danner's an Oregon company. These are made in Portland, I believe. |
| Andrew | Yeah. So it's it's fun to |
| Everett | support that company. Um, you know, I've been to that factory. I think you probably been to the factory too. |
| Andrew | I have been. Yeah. When we were in |
| Everett | in in the army, they would they would donate gift certificates for the ROTC folks to come up and I did a little mini factory tour and got to pick some boots. It was pretty |
| Andrew | cool. You know, if |
| Everett | you can't picture this boot at home, it is the wedge sole mock toe. It's that white sole. It doesn't have like a 90 degree heel. Um and and and in my mind, that is like the that's Thoroughgood is the boot. But you know, these of course look like they're terrifically made and it's that classic look. |
| Andrew | Yeah. And I'm sure they're gonna last |
| Everett | you forever and ever and you're gonna love them. Probably. I think |
| Andrew | another kind of boot that you can get resold. |
| Everett | Yeah, it's a stitch-downsole, but I think it's a repairable strip stitch downsole. |
| Andrew | It is, according to their uh literature. |
| Everett | I I actually I think I I'm not sure if the thorough goods are are welted or if |
| Andrew | they're stitched down as well. I don't know. |
| Everett | Either got them in the mail today. I've |
| Andrew | been wearing them all night. I actually changed out of a pair of Clarks to put these on. |
| Everett | They look great. And uh they feel good. They look great. |
| Andrew | Yeah. So yeah, I'm good. I'm I'm happy. |
| Everett | In any event, Andrew, we're not talking about boots or football today. Although we we did talk about boots and football. |
| Andrew | However, brief. R rather, |
| Everett | we're talking about watches and we're gonna do a bit of a year in review of watches. Maybe not a year in review, but we're gonna highlight our favorite watches of the last year. |
| Andrew | The ones we can remember, because a lot happened this year, and I don't think that we got to them all. I know we missed at least five that didn't even make it into our conversation for our picks. |
| Everett | 12 watches tonight. W with that said, these are not uh the only 12 watches that we think are cool. And and weren't these aren't even the the the 10 or 12 watches that we think are the best, but these are the ones that we think are the most notable and the most interesting to us. So I think it's fair to say our favorite watch releases of the year. Yeah. But the criteria being very loose. |
| Andrew | S what w what we could remember today. |
| Everett | Subjective. Well you know, uh I I feel pretty confident. I went through I went through our notes, I went through watch releases. I I feel pretty confident with the lists we came up with. I think we're gonna cover a lot of ground. Um and yeah, i i if there's a release that you think we just didn't talk about that we should have, uh happy to have you send it our way. Uh with that said, don't don't feel bad. We're not leaving it off because we hate it. Or you. |
| Andrew | Well, these are just the ones we wanted to |
| Everett | talk about. So these are our 2023 favorite watches in no particular order. Andrew, do you do you want to kick us |
| Andrew | off? I am gonna kick us off. I am gonna start us with what I think was one of the coolest releases of the year, and it was a swatch collaboration with Blanc Pond to do the 50 Fathoms collection in bioceramic. I think this is head and shoulders cooler than the Moon swatch. |
| Everett | No, a hot take. This |
| Andrew | is terrific. This was one of my like the most exciting releases of the year for me. |
| Everett | Yeah, well, and even to the extent that it, you know, I'm not sure that either one of us was clamoring to buy this thing. I still think it's probably one of the most notable watch releases of the year. You know, I I think it's pretty hard to argue that it's not. |
| Andrew | I the the the designs that they do, the Arctic in that kind of gray tan with the orange, the Pacific Ocean with the kind of gradient black to white with a yellow bioceramic case, the Atlantic in blue, Indian in green, and Antarctic in all white and gray, the the unique touches that are on each of these watches, the history that they brought forward out of the fifty fathoms. It it's this is cool. |
| Everett | You know, I I think some of the thrill of the release, the the Speedmaster Moon Swatch, I I think w was sucked away by the release of that watch. Um and and and and so I I think this hit the the market with a little less hoorah. Uh with that said, I I think it's probably it's a certainly objectively a better watch. Um you have a lot a lot higher attention to detail, just from tip to tail, you've got the automatic system 51 movement. Uh it I I think for me personally, it's maybe a little less special just as a speed master person. Um but gosh, I I think you'd be hard pressed uh to get me to kick one of these out of bed. |
| Andrew | Oh yeah, I didn't bite them all into bed. I don't know if I'm man enough to handle it, but the seven C's as it were, but |
| Everett | Do you know if these are relatively available these days? |
| Andrew | Uh you know, I didn't do any looking for them. I don't know. |
| Everett | I don't know. And which of these assuming you pick one up, which of these do you think you wind up with? |
| Andrew | I think if I pick one up, I I'm going with the uh with the Antarctic. |
| Everett | I think it's the it's Antarctic. The the one that that feels like it's the most versatile to me. But I'm pretty keen on that Indian Ocean. |
| Andrew | The green. Yeah. The the green. That that has you written all over it. |
| Everett | It's pretty sexy. Yeah. The Pacific |
| Andrew | kind of bummed me out. Um in the in my least favorite. I don't I don't particularly like that yellow and black color combination in this application. |
| Everett | Yeah if you're like maybe like a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, this would be the watch for you. |
| Andrew | Yeah, this is this is a Steelers fan. |
| Everett | But I'm not a Steelers fan. Boo Steelers. |
| Andrew | Yeah. Swing your terrible towel above your head next to your terrible watch. Uh it's not a terrible watch. It's just because it's not even that I don't like it. It's just my least favorite of the series. |
| Everett | You know, we talked a little, we talked a lot in the in the community and that you and I talked a little bit on this show when this came out about, you know, what else, what else could we see in terms of Satwch collaborations. And and you know, I don't I don't have any insight into whether Swatch is gonna do more of these. Um but I do wonder if maybe uh the somewhat ho-hum reception to these. And and maybe that's not fair to say it's been a home ho home reception, but I think l a lot less excitement about these than we saw with the moon swatch. And I wonder if if that will |
| Andrew | I temper future forays. I think uh I think there's less excitement just simply because people get more excited about the Speedmaster than than almost any other release. There is just such a cult following and fan base to the Speedmaster uh that just doesn't exist with the 50 Fathoms in in a way that just never will. Yeah. Um |
| Everett | I mean it's just the coolest watch ever made. |
| Andrew | And it's been the moon. |
| Everett | And it's cool. And it's cool. Cool moon done. |
| Andrew | It's got all the things. Uh sorry, I get why the excitement is out there. I don't know I don't recall actually if these are brick and mortar only. I think they are also brick and mortar only, uh, in the same way that the moon's watch is, which is an interesting marketing technique. Um, and it's a bummer for those of us who don't live near to uh swatch AD. Um |
| Everett | it looks like these are available for |
| Everett | not crazy amounts of money. Like four |
| Andrew | or five hundred bucks? Yeah. So they're retailing |
| Andrew | at four, I think. Uh |
| Everett | gosh. You can buy these on the website. Oh. No, maybe |
| Andrew | not. No. I thought I |
| Everett | thought maybe you could, but it looks like that's not true. Gotcha. |
| Andrew | Yeah, you gotta it you see stores. So you this is brick and mortar sale only. Um yeah. I think I think we've said enough about the the bioceramic fifty fathoms collection. |
| Everett | Yeah. Uh I've got a watch. Do me that I'd like to talk about. I'm going to start with Christopher Ward's the 12th. |
| Andrew | Interesting. Is that all you have to |
| Everett | say? That's it. |
| Andrew | So I first |
| Everett | a few caveats. I really am not |
| Everett | crazy about any of the dial colors |
| Everett | they've released this in. I like the silver. The Arctic White. |
| Andrew | Oh, is it Arctic White? Is my |
| Everett | favorite of the dial colors they've released this in? But I am a black dial kind of fellow. Um the |
| Everett | blue they've used, I think, |
| Everett | is a little too blue. With that said, it is really hard to deny the |
| Andrew | Well they use the two blues. They have the Yeah, they've got the glacier blue, |
| Everett | which is blah, and they've got the astral blue, which is an ombre. |
| Andrew | Yeah. And then there's the Nordic blue. |
| Everett | Right. I like the Nordic blue. I do like the basalt gray dial. I do like the, I think that's how you say that. Basalt. Basalt? |
| Andrew | Yeah. Um, I wish it was |
| Everett | a little bit rubber. Wish it was a little bit darker. |
| Andrew | Just a touch. Just touch. |
| Everett | Um, but look, so what you get here is a really, |
| Everett | really lovely |
| Everett | looking watch that's made. I've seen these, they're made to terrific standards. And they're under 10 millimeters thick, which if you've listened to any of |
| Everett | the episodes of 40 and 20 |
| Everett | podcast in the last year, you know is kind of my thing right now. Thinner is better. Um I made a comment. I was talking about this watch to some folks today, and I made a comment that my biggest problem with this watch is the existence of the Antarctic, right? This watch when it came out, I thought, well, holy crap, this looks a lot like a Chopek Antarctic.be May Chapic. Antarctic. Chapit. And that bothered me a little bit. Uh you know, just it's it's a little bit too derivative. Well, what I found, what this person what what someone told me today is they're designed by the same frickin' dude. So uh Adrian Buckman, Chapic Designer, and Christopher Ward designer came out and uh said, Hey, I designed both of these watches, which is why looking at the Chapek Antarctic, you might think that looks a lot like the Christopher Ward 12 and vice versa, because they're actually designed by the same people. Still derivative, but more of like a uh royal oak nautilus deal at this point. |
| Andrew | Yeah it's I don't know if you can even call it derivative if it's the same designer. It's just the same design language existing in it. |
| Everett | I think that's right. I think that's right. |
| Andrew | And the same fingerprints, if you will. |
| Everett | The same fingerprints. And it's actually still just a terrific watch. So for $1,300, um, this brings up a bit of a I'm gonna I'm gonna leak a uh honorable mention, which is the Nevada Grenchan F77. Also a really terrific watch released this year. Uh fantastic movement. I think Nevada is a really fun company that does a lot of exciting stuff. They make really great watches. And I kind of put these in the same. I mean, they're these steel integrated sports watches. But the the F-77 is like 12 and a half millimeters thick for about the same price. I mean, you just can't do a heck of a lot better than this 12. |
| Andrew | I have two complaints. |
| Everett | Give them to me, baby. Number one. |
| Andrew | I don't see how this watch fits into the Christopher Ward catalog of watches. Uh it kind of fits when you look at some of the things that Christopher Ward has been releasing in the way of the Celeste and the Belcanto and that kind of um almost novelty. They're not novelty watches, but they're novel designs. Maybe more innovative, like they have their their mainstream, and then they've got their RD section doing some interesting kind of outlier shit. Um that's the only way this works for me in in the greater Christopher Ward ecosystem. And number two, the only two iterations that are in titanium are my least like they're they're my bottom in my bottom three of all of the available options. They only have the titanium in 40 millimeter. This this is released in a 36 and a 40. They only have the titanium in the astral blue, which is the ombre. |
| Everett | Yeah. I'm not super jacked even |
| Andrew | about the the center blue saturation. It's just it's not doesn't do it for me. Um and purple. And though it's a really lovely purple, neither of those are colors on a dial that I would ever wear or even consider wearing or give a second thought to. And it just bums me out. I would I would love to see that Arctic White in 36 in titanium. |
| Everett | How much are these uh how much are these guys in American dollars? They're sixteen hundred pounds. |
| Andrew | In American dollars, uh in titanium, they're eighteen ninety-five. Uh the Halo versions, which feature a rose gold bezel, are 2500. And then the um just your standard fare are twelve twenty-five in dollars. Uh they're under a thousand if you get them on rubber and they look really good on rubber. |
| Everett | So there you have it. But you want it on a bracelet. |
| Andrew | Christopher Ward does phenomenal bracelets. |
| Everett | No, this and it's I mean it's an integrated steel sports watch. You buy the fucking bracelet. |
| Andrew | Yeah, you get it on the bracelet, and you know that you're gonna get one of the best bracelets available on the market out of the Christopher Ward. |
| Everett | One of the watches of the year. Yeah. |
| Andrew | Even though I I don't particularly dig it. |
| Everett | You know, I I think that it's a great platform. You had made a comment that it doesn't fit in the Christopher Ward catalog. I I I maybe disagree |
| Everett | just to the extent that it |
| Everett | it feels like a really nice niche that Christopher Ward hadn't dipped their feet into. And it |
| Everett | is different. It's certainly different |
| Everett | than the light catcher case. Uh, it's got a different feel. |
| Everett | You know, this is like a Chop-Ek |
| Everett | looking Christopher Ward. It's not that real |
| Everett | sporty utility |
| Everett | divey thing that they've done. With that said, you know, we've got brands likeike perhaps Monta or or maybe |
| Everett | Laurier, which really don't |
| Everett | branch out, right? They've got their design language and |
| Everett | it's so inherent that |
| Everett | they struggled to get out of there. I don't see that with Christopher Ward, and I think that this is a great platform for them to build on. I |
| Andrew | don't know that I see that with Laurier either. They've got really clear design language, but they have some pretty versatile selections. |
| Everett | Well then just in the last year, last year and a half or so. |
| Andrew | Zephyr's like two years old now? Yeah. |
| Everett | You know, r kind of branched out. But before that it was really that's m maybe uh unfair comparison, both unfair to Christopher Ward and unfair to Laurier slash Monto. But w with that said, I I'm okay with a brand having significant |
| Everett | branches. And this feels to |
| Everett | me like a significant branch, |
| Everett | uh, which maybe there wasn't a lot |
| Everett | of groundwork laid for, but I think it's a smash success and I'm totally fine just now saying, yeah, that's the new Christopher Ward. I'm cool with it. |
| Andrew | That's their it's their innovation division. |
| Everett | What's next? Uh next up for me |
| Andrew | is the Alpina Alpiner Heritage Carey Automatic. I am totally smitten by this watch. |
| Everett | Yeah, you are. It's it's gorgeous. |
| Andrew | I I love absolutely everything about it. Um my color pick is the uh gray dialed version. This thing is just is gorgeous. And it is another watch that like just doesn't quite fit for me in the in the typical Alpina line. Um, but when I mean we we know what makes this watch special. These are original, what, 1938 manufactured movements. Uh these are these are super cool. And not just because of the design, but because they were able to reach back into this this treasure trove of antique movements, get 'em up and running, drop 'em in watches, and build something really beautiful around them. I'm I'm totally for it. This is this is a great release. |
| Everett | Were these limited? I believe they were, |
| Everett | right? Actually severely limited. Yeah, |
| Andrew | there wasn't there was like how many? Uh I can't find how many. There wasn't a ton. |
| Everett | It does look like you can find these. I'm |
| Andrew | sure they exist. You can't get them direct from Alpina. |
| Andrew | Um there's a black dial |
| Everett | available from Iguana Cell. Don't don't don't go there. Don't take my word for that. Do your own research. |
| Andrew | Don't buy that. Uh do |
| Everett | your own research. Uh yeah, no, these are terrific. This is a terrific release. It is I would never wear this watch. It's just the |
| Andrew | furthest thing from uh my |
| Everett | style that as you can get. I'd wear the shit |
| Andrew | out of this watch. Really a cool watch, |
| Everett | though. Yeah. |
| Andrew | Sixteen hundred bucks. I mean, for for for all |
| Andrew | the bang you're getting, that's that's a I think a a good price for a nineteen thirty-eight movement in this package. Thirty meters of water resistance though, so you're you're gonna have to treat this one gentle. |
| Everett | Yeah, don't take it in the hot tub. |
| Andrew | No No. I want to be |
| Andrew | able to wear it in the hot tub. It's also on leather, so I'm probably not gonna wear it in the hot tub anyway. I know leather is totally fine to get wet. I just don't like it to get wet because I don't like the way wet leather feels on my wrist. |
| Everett | You know, Alpina's one of those brands uh that I just don't know that much about, don't feel really comfortable with their catalog. Um |
| Andrew | I'm the same way. But everybody, |
| Everett | nobody ever says, oh Alpina. Uh I think people love them. |
| Andrew | Yeah. I have found a |
| Everett | watch for you, Andrew. Oh, |
| Andrew | do it. Look at the alpineer |
| Everett | sport quartz rainbow this is a 36 and a half millimeter dive watch |
| Andrew | is this what we were gonna is is this as you're just rolling through their catalog or is this uh one of your picks? No |
| Everett | this, is a watch for you. |
| Andrew | It's not not. Yeah, it's |
| Everett | not not. Um, okay. That is not my next watch. My next watch of 2023 is oh gosh, and this is a good one. Okay. The tag warrior, |
| Everett | oh yeah. Carrera |
| Everett | skipper specifically, but really the Taghoyer glass box chronograph. Yes. |
| Everett | These aren't cheap. Which |
| Andrew | makes sense because they're taghoyer. I I don't I don't they're super understand Taghoire's pricing, but people are paying it, so |
| Everett | these are makes sense. A little outside of what we would normally uh what we would normally buy. The skipper in particular, I think, is six thousand almost seven grand. Um but this is a recreation of an old watch sort of increased in size, but done so really tastefully. So it's a 39 millimeter chronograph, which is a terrific size. |
| Everett | Such a good size for that, especially because it's all |
| Andrew | dial. So it's an it's gonna |
| Andrew | even still feel big at 39 big |
| Everett | vintage feeling quote unquote glass box uh crystal uh jeez These are terrific. These are terrific. The sort of dish on the dial and the dimension and the handsets, in particular with the skipper, the colors you get, that really rich blue and the teal and the orange, the case is just totally terrific. The shape of the pushers, the position of the pushers, the crown. I love everything about this watch. I think this may |
| Everett | be the one of the |
| Everett | very few watches that is not sold on a bracelet that I'm like, yes, please give it to me. |
| Andrew | I'm I'm okay with that. I'd like to see it on a bracelet. |
| Andrew | Imagine that on mesh. Ooh, girl. |
| Everett | Well, and you can put this on mesh, no problem. Uh I |
| Andrew | want their mesh. Sure. |
| Andrew | That's what I want. Or a bond clip. |
| Everett | Yeah, I was gonna say put the thing on a bond clip, I think, would would be great. |
| Andrew | Oh, that'd be good. Like gives |
| Andrew | me like a little bit of shut. Ooh, on like the Sereka |
| Andrew | bond clip that pay just wafer thin. Ooh. |
| Andrew | Not there, that's not a bond clip. It's their um |
| Andrew | yeah, it's a bong clip. Yeah, I think it is. |
| Everett | Yeah. Um with the with the skipper, you do get uh well, so first the I'll just say the movement on these glass |
| Andrew | box chronographs is phenomenal. |
| Everett | 80 hour 288 automatic |
| Everett | chronograph movement. Uh with the skipper version, you get a modified movement that has a 15-minute rather than a 30-minute register, which I think |
| Everett | is a lot of fun. Uh you get |
| Everett | small seconds. Central seconds on the chronograph. Come on. |
| Andrew | How thick is this? Come it okay, |
| Everett | so it doesn't you it's really hard to find. They are about fourteen millimeters thick. |
| Andrew | It makes sense. Automatic chronograph. I accept. |
| Everett | Yeah with a chunky but I think it's a giant crystal. |
| Andrew | Yeah. So they are 14 millimeters |
| Everett | thick, which it is. It |
| Everett | is what it is, you guys. It's gonna be bothersome |
| Andrew | to some. It's no 7750. |
| Andrew | So I was wearing my fifteen millimeter yeah. |
| Everett | My fifteen millimeter seventy seven |
| Everett | fifty all day and yeah. And and I was put |
| Andrew | on an F ninety one. Just to lighten the load. |
| Everett | That's right. I got home and I was like, Oh my shoulders |
| Everett | getting tired. Uh and yeah, I am wearing an F-91. Actually, it's an F-84. |
| Andrew | Oh God, I'm an asshole. It's an F-84W. |
| Everett | Um yeah, so movement TH2006. I |
| Everett | think this is, I'm not gonna say the best |
| Everett | chronograph releases of the year, but |
| Everett | I think this is probably |
| Everett | my favorite chronograph release of the year. |
| Andrew | Even more than the rowing blazers. |
| Everett | Yeah, well, I said when the rowing blazers came out, I said, |
| Everett | wish they would use the glass box. You did, |
| Andrew | and so now we're at the glass box. Because that rowing blazers color scheme |
| Everett | is dope. Pretty cool. I'd like it a lot better if it was a glass box. Instead, it's a 41 millimeter Carrera chronograph case. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. |
| Andrew | Oh tragedy. Fine. Yeah. |
| Everett | I really like this release. Tag hoyer did some really cool |
| Andrew | shit this year, and I don't |
| Andrew | think they get enough uh appreciation in our community. |
| Everett | I think it's sort of easy to look over. You |
| Everett | know, uh they're weird, they're an odd |
| Andrew | price point. They do a lot of courts. They're |
| Andrew | doing some really interesting and innovative |
| Andrew | stuff this year and last, like really in the last three years, they've started to dive back into their catalog and bring back all the shit that made them cool originally. Yeah. And they're re-kind of reesta-blishing that identity. They're moving away from being the golf brand with tons of brand ambassadors. Uh and I'm I'm liking the direction they're going |
| Andrew | in. You know, when you and I |
| Everett | got into watches twenty thirteen, fourteen, 15, that that era I I think was really sort of the tail end of Tag Hoyer. Tag Hoyers kind of bl you know, still making a lot of primarily quartz watches at that point. And and I think that their reputation was sort of some you know, maybe not cemented, but certainly set at that point in the negative. Um and then I I think it was four, three or four years ago they changed out leadership and I |
| Everett | think they've done some really good stuff. Yeah, |
| Andrew | they're doing all kinds of cool stuff. Yeah. |
| Andrew | Um, next up for me, this could |
| Andrew | be my favorite release of the year. Not just because of how fun it is, but also how cool it is in the way of the studio underdog field watch. What is it called? It's the |
| Everett | Studio Underdog Field |
| Everett | W Oh, what is it? Oh |
| Andrew | gosh. It's the Field Watch Collection. Yeah. Um |
| Everett | no, but they call it something specific. |
| Andrew | He does. Let me find it. Darn |
| Everett | it, Andrew. Ah just |
| Everett | never prepared. You never. You look |
| Andrew | for it. I'm gonna talk about why it's so cool. |
| Andrew | So um th this is not just the Studio Underdog cool color palette. Field |
| Everett | O2. Field O2. That |
| Andrew | was super hard for us to remember. Um, it is a sapphire dial with printing on top of the sapphire kind of and then a plate beneath the sapphire so you have floating markers that cast shadows around the dial. Uh, Will took some photographs of these that really captured that floating marker. |
| Andrew | I don't know, you can call it a marker, the floating |
| Andrew | indices is, I think, the only way you can it's super unique. |
| Everett | Numerals, it's absolutely |
| Andrew | one-of-a-kind design, |
| Andrew | it's so creative and innovative. This is like why people get excited about watches because we can the moment we think, all right, well, we've seen |
| Andrew | it all. Now we have an affordable minute |
| Andrew | repeater. Affordable-ish. But now it's out there. We get cool |
| Andrew | innovation from young and exciting brands like this |
| Andrew | innovating with materials and |
| Andrew | their application within watch design. And this is so cool. And he |
| Andrew | he stays true to himself in the way of his great color palettes and the playfulness of the watch. We've got full loom options, we've got all manner of stuff that makes this not just your what would otherwise be a very attractive field watch without all that cool shit happening. |
| Everett | You know, I've heard mixed reviews on this |
| Andrew | watch. Uh I think that there is a |
| Everett | a bit of derision about the screws on the dial. In fact, some impassioned derision about the screws on the dial. I love I like them a lot. I think that they look fantastic. They |
| Andrew | create some symmetry, add some more depth and texture to that dial. I typically wouldn't |
| Andrew | be one for them. Um they're practical, |
| Everett | but you know. Yeah. They're practical, they're |
| Andrew | necessary. And it does something to capture the depth of the dial um where where you can where you can see level changes where that screw ends against where the dial ends it's yeah |
| Everett | you know we we waxed poetic on these when we first talked about 'em and I think I think w we we're probably inclined to do that again. I w I I know I know we're sort of in lockstep on this. I think this is a terrific release. I think ri Richard Bence uh had really set himself up to have a challenging second release. Yeah. And I didn't see this coming. |
| Andrew | Mm-hmm. No, |
| Everett | because it would have been really easy for him to just keep |
| Andrew | playing the fiddle of wild colors in a chronograph or just wild colors in a field watch. He's like, I got I I got I got a little more in the tank. |
| Everett | And and as a designer, I think that that's that that's the mark of a designer that they could do something different and fun and good. And and with both of these watches, with both of Studio Underdogs' releases now, you see a watch that looks |
| Everett | kind of basic at |
| Everett | arm's length, and then you get it a little bit closer and you're like, man, |
| Everett | this is just terrific. Yeah, when |
| Andrew | you see these in person, it's a whole a whole new experience too. |
| Everett | So well done. I love this watch. |
| Andrew | And I like Richard. I like I |
| Everett | like Richard too. Yeah, |
| Everett | these are great. What |
| Andrew | you got? Next |
| Everett | up for me, second best watch of the year. The Laurier Hydra S3 GMT Diver. |
| Andrew | Yeah. Alright. |
| Everett | So this has been the year of affordable automatic GMTs with |
| Andrew | It has been both Seiko and |
| Everett | Miyota releasing their affordable GMT movements in the last what, I |
| Everett | eighteen months, I think at this point. |
| Everett | This was the year. Yeah, and like early, |
| Andrew | like first quarter this year is when we saw all the all the the releases using those movements. |
| Everett | This was the year of the 9075, and |
| Everett | there were a lot of |
| Everett | terrific 9075 watches that I |
| Everett | wanted to talk about that we could have talked about. We |
| Andrew | could have spent the whole episode just talking about those watches. |
| Everett | We sure could. Certainly the Trask Aventure GMT, I think is just |
| Andrew | and terrific. Jack Mason turned making a huge brand pivot with their first iteration of the GMT that's right and turning away from being what was I mean arguably exclusively a fashion brand to like a a honest to goodness watch brand. |
| Everett | That's right. Well, at least a a brand with an honest to goodness |
| Andrew | watch. Yeah. Um there's |
| Andrew | there's always time to fail, I suppose. You know, |
| Everett | they just and and this watch |
| Everett | is so Laurier, but also not anything like anything we've seen from Laurier. Um |
| Everett | it's got an incredible amount of a depth for a brand |
| Everett | that typically leans on its more simple, |
| Everett | austere designs. You've |
| Everett | got that 60-minute bezel, you've got the internal 24-hour um geez. |
| Everett | Well, what more to say? Laurier really |
| Everett | hit it out of the park. The case is fantastic, very much a Laurier case, |
| Everett | but also different than anything we've seen. |
| Everett | I believe the insert on the bezel is sapphire. |
| Andrew | If if you took their logo off of it, you would still recognize this as Laurier. |
| Everett | Yeah, I think so. I I think |
| Everett | so very much. |
| Everett | Um Um, yeah, I I don't really know what more to say. Perfectly sized. It's only 12.2 millimeters thick, which for |
| Everett | an automatic GMT, they've done really well. Dimensions |
| Everett | are great. You've got 14-6 |
| Andrew | wrist of crystal with that big with it with a little bit of dome. |
| Everett | BGW9 and C1, 200 |
| Everett | meters of water resistance, |
| Everett | and all of this. For 600 bucks. Yeah. Yeah. |
| Andrew | As if as if the it wasn't good enough. |
| Andrew | You can really afford it. All of this for |
| Everett | 600 bucks. We talked about the we |
| Everett | talked about the um |
| Everett | Um trasca last week. I said, man, this is just really, you know, the value. I |
| Everett | said that and almost completely forgot |
| Everett | about that w this watch when I was talking about |
| Everett | Trasca, as wonderful as the Trasca is, and |
| Everett | I don't take anything back. Well, and this is only two years |
| Andrew | separated from Baltic and Laurier both dropping what were at the time the most affordable GMTs at between 900 and $1,000. |
| Everett | Yeah. Yeah. I want to say the Baltic was maybe twelve or eleven. |
| Andrew | Yeah. I thought it was just under a thousand. |
| Everett | You could be right. Uh and so yeah, |
| Everett | here we are with a better |
| Everett | dimensions, clearly, in my mind, a much better design watch. Um |
| Everett | yeah, what's not to love? |
| Andrew | The I'm I'm really enjoying |
| Andrew | watching Laurier's growth and their uh kind of evolution as designers. I'm I'm enjoying watching that. Because we started with the um the Falcon, right? That's that's the first Laurier |
| Andrew | coming out of like really hitting the |
| Andrew | scene, and then they expand with the Neptune |
| Andrew | and the Hydra. |
| Andrew | We see the Zephyr last year or was it two years ago? Fairly recently. |
| Everett | Yeah. Because I think we we put hands on in New York in October. |
| Andrew | Yeah. We're seeing some iterative |
| Andrew | design coming out of uh the Hydra and |
| Andrew | the Neptune. We're on a we're on like the V3 of the Neptune, aren't we? |
| Everett | Yeah, I think so. Um I'm I'm |
| Andrew | loving watching their growth. |
| Everett | And they're and they're just terrific people, terrific, lovely people. |
| Andrew | Also that. Also don't fight Lorenzo. Just |
| Andrew | or do. But make sure somebody's recording. |
| Everett | Yeah. World star. |
| Andrew | What's next? Uh next up for me. |
| Andrew | How are we doing on time? We're doing pretty okay. |
| Andrew | Uh next up for me, this got me |
| Andrew | super excited because something that I'd always lamented with Marathon was that their navigator |
| Andrew | and like that their line of just |
| Andrew | resin cases. And as much as I really like a resin case, I'd like to have a steel case option. The |
| Andrew | Marathon Navigator coming out in steel with that beautiful |
| Andrew | asymmetric case, that super tool watch. |
| Andrew | Everett's making weird faces at the |
| Andrew | the beer can. |
| Everett | And a bit of a weird aftertaste. We're |
| Andrew | drinking a strange afterbirth. |
| Everett | Like a juicy, hazy IPA. And it's got a little bit of like a some acid aftertaste. |
| Andrew | A little bit. It's all the citrus in the it's probably |
| Andrew | just a bucket load of citra hops in here. I'm |
| Andrew | not sure. I can't read it because it was a little dark. A |
| Andrew | little so a little soapy on the back end. That last |
| Everett | drink was just a touch soapy. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I just opened the can, so that's |
| Everett | that would be odd, but on the cans. |
| Andrew | Anyway, uh so it's the |
| Andrew | marathon navigator, but in steel, and I think it's super cool. This it |
| Andrew | it I really want a navigator anyway, and I've I've always kind of |
| Andrew | wanted one. And this creates a dilemma |
| Andrew | for me where I think I now need two, because I |
| Andrew | really want it in steel. Because their dive watches come in steel, and that was it. Everything else was this resin case, which has a lot of really great application, is really awesome. But I super appreciate that they decided to make this in a steel offering, and it's it looks absolutely terrific. Uh if they drop it in titanium, I'll be buying in triplicate. |
| Everett | Yeah, you know, uh uh these came out with an NSN number. |
| Everett | Uh it's just like here's the new watch. This is the new |
| Everett | one. SS Nav D. 316, 41mm, 11 millimeters thick, |
| Everett | 48mm log to lug. Do |
| Andrew | you have a navigator? H case. No, I don't. I've |
| Everett | been very close to pulling the trigger several times. |
| Andrew | I thought you had a navigator. You have a marathon, don't don't you? |
| Everett | I do not have a marathon. |
| Everett | I borrowed a CSAR for a while. Oh that's |
| Andrew | wow. I have a Pulsar G10. |
| Everett | I know you have the Pulsar. I thought you had I |
| Andrew | I must remember that when you had the C-Sar. |
| Everett | I yeah. The CSAR I thought was a terrible watch, by the way. |
| Andrew | I don't know how we haven't acquired |
| Andrew | one of these. I think we gotta do it, man. Splitsies? |
| Everett | Eight hundred bucks. We'll get the resin |
| Andrew | case. I mean eight |
| Everett | hundred bucks is such a terrific price on these. |
| Andrew | Yeah, I think I don't I don't I don't have |
| Andrew | any disagreement with you on it. One of your watches of the |
| Everett | year. Is it a steel bezel on these or |
| Everett | is it aluminum? Do you know? It looks aluminum |
| Andrew | just from photographs. But uh given that it has an NSN number, I I don't think they know what it's made out of. |
| Everett | Yeah, hard to say. Tradium tubes. |
| Andrew | And I love trit. Tritium is just the coolest thing. |
| Everett | I think some people think will probably say, |
| Everett | even for high high torque quartz, this has got the ETA |
| Andrew | F06412. Even with high torque |
| Everett | quartz, it's a little bit high. |
| Andrew | I think it's kind of fine. Uh yeah, I'd like to see it a little bit lower, but it's just because I want to buy it. Right. This is also one of the few watches that you can wear a compass on |
| Andrew | the strap. And it doesn't |
| Everett | look weird. And you're not an asshole. |
| Everett | Do you know if these are fixed bars, Andrew? |
| Andrew | They are, I believe. I think all of them are fixed. |
| Everett | Yeah. I'm looking, it |
| Everett | looks to me like that's a spring bar actually. |
| Andrew | I think they might be spring it might be a spring bar watch. Let's see. |
| Everett | Yeah, cool watch. And something you |
| Everett | you know, there's there's a lot of watches |
| Everett | out there that feel like |
| Everett | you know, Bill Yao's MK2 is making |
| Andrew | these, uh Benrist is making these. |
| Everett | Th there's a lot of watches out there that feel |
| Everett | really similar to this. But this is it. |
| Andrew | This is the watch. But this |
| Everett | is yeah. There's a lot of people |
| Andrew | out there making things that look like a sub. And they look like a sub. |
| Everett | Yeah, I mean, I I'm gonna throw it out there that arguably |
| Everett | this is a Benris. Uh but Benrus is not Benriss. |
| Andrew | And it doesn't have an SN number. Nothing. You couldn't unethically order this for yourself through the army supply or not a Benrist through the Army supply. |
| Everett | Nothing is what it appears. |
| Andrew | You could unethically order this for |
| Andrew | me through the army supply system. Any of you who have purchasing capability, um I'll I'll spot you for the flip-hole. |
| Everett | Um Andrew, are you ready for my watch of the |
| Andrew | year? Do it. My watch |
| Everett | of the year is a Zen T50. |
| Everett | Give it to me in regular |
| Everett | titanium. Give it to |
| Everett | me in gold bronze. Just give it to me. |
| Everett | This is my watch of the year. This |
| Everett | is, so if you don't know what it is, just stop. Okay. Go figure it out. This is Zinn's. You know, evolution of the 50 series in full titanium or gold gold bronze or a mix of the two. Uh come on. They're not cheap. |
| Andrew | Okay. Okay, you guys, they're not cheap. |
| Everett | Nothing from Zen is cheap, and you're not gonna get |
| Andrew | it from Zen direct, so you're gonna pay markup somehow. |
| Everett | But it's a 300-1 fully titanium gorgeous |
| Everett | dive watch that doesn't look like anything else. Fully antimagnetic, water resistance. This is the 500 meters. |
| Everett | That's right. I think that they are like uh on a |
| Everett | brace at 4500 bucks. 4600 |
| Andrew | bucks. But it's all titanium. |
| Everett | Fuck it, man. This is the shit. |
| Andrew | That's what you're gonna pay for a Pelagose. |
| Everett | Yeah, that's right. It's the same price as a Pelagose. |
| Andrew | Yeah. Cheap. Well, same price |
| Everett | as a as the BB58 Pelegos. It's cheaper than a than a full Pelegos, I think. |
| Andrew | I think the five o'clock crown is weird. |
| Everett | Yeah. Whatever. Yeah, it's weird. It's |
| Andrew | but it it I also really like it. Fuck it. |
| Everett | It's weird. I really like |
| Andrew | it. Give it to me. The bezel shape I also really like. It's a I don't even know how you how you describe it's kind of monster. It's it's kind of like the monster with like big finger indents, but not |
| Andrew | as dramatic. So it almost looks |
| Andrew | like a like an octagon, like an angular bezel, but it's not. It's a round bezel with kind of deep cuts to get good grip on it. This is as to a watch a diver as they come. Weird crown placement. There's got to be a reason for. Maybe it's so you can not have to interact with your wrist when you're manipulating the crown. |
| Everett | Yeah, but how does that work? |
| Andrew | I don't fucking know. I don't wear my watches on that hand. |
| Everett | I hear people talk about manipulating their crowns while they're wearing their watch. I cannot. I I have never |
| Everett | left side, right side, doesn't matter. I can't do it. |
| Andrew | I can't because the crowns are all pointing up my arm. Like reach over and get all contorted. I |
| Everett | mean, I can reach it. I can get to it. I just can't do anything. You |
| Andrew | just need a big crown. Or like a key winder, like a like a mantle clock. |
| Everett | Anyway, this is my watch of the year. This is a this |
| Andrew | is a good watch of the year. I I I love the U50. This 50 series is super great. I wish they were just cheaper. I wish there was |
| Everett | a fully gold gold bronze bracelet. |
| Everett | I just want this in full gold |
| Everett | bronze. Case and bracelet. |
| Andrew | That'd be pretty baller. Um, maybe more baller than I could handle. Uh, they're also using higher grade titanium than the Pelagos. You're just you're getting a lot more bang for your buck in this titanium dive watch. Uh, and it's way more unique. It's objectively way cooler than the Pelogose. |
| Everett | Yeah. I won't it. I won't it. I do too. |
| Andrew | It's also big. It's what 44? |
| Everett | No. Looks huge. I think it's 41. |
| Everett | I could be wrong about that. Yeah, I'm |
| Andrew | looking. |
| Everett | Uh 41 millimeters, 12.3 thick, 47 |
| Andrew | millimeters, lug to lug. It looks big. Whoever and |
| Everett | it only weighs 53 grams. |
| Everett | It's pretty pretty light. That's my watch of the |
| Andrew | year. That's that's an interesting pick for the watch of the year. |
| Everett | That's the one. My watch of the year. |
| Andrew | Okay. Andrew, what about you? Um for me, my watch of the year. It's the studio underdog field watch. That's the one. |
| Everett | So you didn't save it for last no. |
| Everett | Okay, fair enough. W what's the |
| Everett | other one that you have? Do you have another |
| Everett | one? Or do we already get it through yours? |
| Andrew | I think we're through we're through I had a I had a bunch. |
| Everett | Okay. Right. Well we did. We both had a bunch. Well why don't we do this quickly? It's 51 minutes now. Why don't we quickly go through a |
| Everett | couple honorable mentions? Because I know we both had couple that we want to talk |
| Andrew | about. Yes. Start with you. C63 Celeste. |
| Everett | Oh yeah. Super |
| Andrew | cool application. I love the adventurine dial. And I love introducing the adventurine into the C63 line. It's such a perfect fit because it takes this really sporty watch. It drives the class through the roof. It's I think it's better than the moon phase because it's an actually legible watch as beautiful as the moon phase is in the C63 is amazing. |
| Everett | What else? Uh the |
| Andrew | swatch bioceramic what-ifs. |
| Everett | Oh yeah, these are fun. Ocean King |
| Andrew | V3 timex giorgio galley s2 |
| Everett | oh yeah that's that's a that's a nominee |
| Everett | for for for our main pick that that just barely missed |
| Andrew | and two picks for me |
| Andrew | that fix their size |
| Andrew | is the Orient Mako coming down to 40 millimeters and the BrO3 reducing just slightly down to a 41 millimeter watch. |
| Everett | That BRO3. Fantastic release. |
| Everett | I wish I wish those were more affordable. |
| Andrew | Me too. Because at the price, |
| Everett | they're too much for me. Um, I already talked about the Nevada Grunchen F77. Definitely an |
| Everett | honorable mention for me. Uh Trask Avenger GMT |
| Everett | also talked about that. Very much honorable mention. And then the only one I haven't talked about yet is the bull of a jet |
| Andrew | star. Yes. Will |
| Everett | picked up the complecto version of this, but I think this the main releases are great too. Really a terrific watch. |
| Everett | Great bracelet, great case shape. |
| Everett | Uh, you know, re-release of |
| Everett | an old watch that I think actually may,be got smaller. |
| Everett | Just a terrific watch. Yes. |
| Andrew | Oh, and the the lunar pilot down back down to the original size. |
| Everett | Yeah. From Bulova. Bulova |
| Andrew | doing some cool shit this year, too. Bul Bulova, |
| Everett | Bulva with the citizen marriage, |
| Andrew | I think, is going to wind |
| Everett | up being a company to watch in |
| Everett | the next several years. They're already a company to |
| Everett | watch, but they just need to stop missing |
| Andrew | the clutch shot. That's |
| Everett | right. I think one hundred percent. I think we're gonna start seeing some good stuff from Bolivar. Well, with that said, I think we can put a wrap on this year. We we |
| Everett | will be back this year. Yeah, |
| Andrew | we're not gonna like hang it up and and take a sabbatical. |
| Everett | But I think that that we're wrapping our 2023 with these thoughts in mind. |
| Andrew | Mm-hmm. So it's |
| Everett | been a great year. Let us know what your favorite watches, if we didn't talk about them. |
| Andrew | And there's a bunch we didn't there's there's a |
| Everett | bunch obviously. Um but I'd I'd like |
| Everett | to hear your thoughts on that. So let us know. Uh Andrew. Other things what do you got? |
| Andrew | I have another thing. Uh so it |
| Andrew | is that time of year. We are in that fall-winter transition period where it's like twenty-five degrees when you wake up and you go to the car, uh, and it remains under about 40 degrees for the majority of the day. |
| Andrew | Warm socks are key, but I don't |
| Andrew | like always wearing thick wool socks. So my other thing this week is the Pendleton wool socks. So I'm |
| Andrew | wearing a pair right now, and these |
| Andrew | are fairly |
| Andrew | thin, just a hair thicker |
| Andrew | than a dress sock. Like they're not quite that uh super |
| Andrew | heavy, cotton, cushiony dress |
| Andrew | sock thickness, or not even dress sock, but just single color crew sock thickness. But they're so warm, and because they're wool, they don't get like stanky, so you can do two days in them and not feel weird without them getting crispy or like funky. |
| Andrew | Um they come in several |
| Andrew | packs right now uh pendleton's |
| Andrew | doing a black friday sale so |
| Andrew | typically they're three packs are |
| Andrew | 35 bucks. Right now, three packs are 26.25 on the website. And individual socks, not individual socks, single pairs of socks. You can't buy them on ones. Uh 1050 off of their typical $14. So not a huge discount, but definitely discounted price. They come in great patterns. I've got a couple different uh patterns of these and I absolutely love them. They don't fall down. They they just they you pull them up, you wear them, they're warm, but they're not like sweaty. |
| Everett | Yeah. I love these socks in like |
| Andrew | for all day wear in I wear Clark's all day, and Clarks like in not wool socks get really sweaty and yucky. Um these are great. Feet are dry, feet are warm, feet are happy all day. |
| Everett | Pendleton wool socks. Pendleton wool socks. |
| Everett | We actually had in our uh group |
| Everett | chat we had a a conversation about wool socks and it made me think I I I think I'm gonna get a handful of wool socks, medium weight wool socks and sort of side by side them maybe not literally like one one. One each |
| Andrew | foot. I like that. But left foot today |
| Andrew | was real comfortable. Righty, man, |
| Andrew | he was good. Because I think there are |
| Everett | probably about four different |
| Everett | brands making, you know, anywhere from $12 to $20 wool socks right now that are all really competitive. And I think I'd like to have like a a w winter wool sock guide. Because I'm with you. I don't want them to be super thick. |
| Andrew | Mm-hmm. They |
| Everett | need to have a little bit of beef to them. There's a day |
| Andrew | for those. Yeah. That's right. There's a time and place. Because wearing some |
| Andrew | like nice thick alpaca wool socks. |
| Andrew | Like wearing slips all day. Well, Andrew, |
| Everett | I've got another thing. Do it. Do me. And it's another thing |
| Everett | that can be worn on top of your other thing. |
| Andrew | It would actually be a really perfect combination. Sure |
| Andrew | would. I picked up a |
| Everett | new pair of golf shoes this year. They |
| Andrew | are specifically the Air |
| Everett | Max 90G. |
| Everett | There's a thing that's happened in golf shoes in |
| Everett | the last four or five years. Well, there's two things |
| Everett | that have happened in golf shoes in the last four or five years. Uh w one is that uh spikeless golf shoes have proliferated and perhaps are even more popular now than spiked golf shoes. So I think |
| Everett | ten years ago, if you went to buy golf shoes, |
| Everett | you'd get spikes and you'd wear them on the golf course, and you really couldn't do much else with them. Certainly you didn't wear them to the golf course or from the golf course. You put them on when you got there. |
| Andrew | Yep. You wore them while you were there, then you took |
| Everett | them off. Uh so spikeless golf shoes have really, I think, as I said, |
| Everett | proliferated. And it's nice because |
| Everett | you can stick them on at home if you want to wear them |
| Everett | to where you're going, you know, blow them |
| Everett | off when you're done golfing, and then wear them home, uh, which is really |
| Everett | nice. The other thing that's |
| Everett | happened is brands, I think in particular Nike, but there are a few other players, have come out and released uh really pretty attractive shoes. So AirModics 90, one of the most famous shoe silhouettes of all time is probably in my mind the best possibility that you can get. You I picked these up this last year. I actually picked up a pair of I think that they well, they were like a bubble Air Max a couple years ago. I wasn't super happy with them. The bubble didn't work out. Um, these are |
| Everett | much more conservative looking shoes. |
| Andrew | They look just like Air Max's. It's |
| Everett | just an Air Max 90. However, they've got a breathable |
| Everett | but also sort of impervious shell |
| Everett | on them. They've got really good |
| Everett | paints on them. I have worn these in the mud twice, cleaned them, and on the back end they came out looking brand new. They've been perfectly waterproof. In fact, you and I, this last weekend, went to a gun range and went shooting. There was red clay. There was |
| Andrew | there's still red clay on my floor mats and my whole fucking truck for that matter. |
| Everett | But there was water. Um |
| Everett | I I was warm. I was dry. I wore so I don't |
| Everett | think I said I wore these golf shoes |
| Everett | to go shooting and an outdoor shooting range, |
| Everett | which is an interesting choice. I don't think you'd think the |
| Andrew | color palette of the Air Max is actually had me questioning your decision. He said, Oh, these are my golf shoes and I was like okay I'm I'm with it |
| Andrew | yeah right and you know they're |
| Everett | they're they've got a heavy lug |
| Everett | on the sole for grip they were for |
| Everett | shooting they were perfect. There was they were |
| Everett | absolutely perfect for shooting. Especially it was like I think it |
| Everett | was probably like twenty-nine or thirty |
| Everett | degrees when we got to the range. It never got above like thirty-three. |
| Andrew | So uh and there was some moisture, |
| Everett | there was dirt. It was nice to have something that was waterproof, that kept me dry, kept me warm. I |
| Everett | think these and I've also just |
| Everett | just for the record, I've golfed in these several times and they do just fine. Meanwhile, |
| Andrew | everyone else there was in like some varietal of either roper boots or hiking boots. |
| Everett | Which is the obvious choice. Yeah. It is the obvious choice, but I felt like wearing sneakers. |
| Andrew | Now I'm with it. And I had the perfect |
| Everett | sneakers. You absolutely did. Uh, my one |
| Andrew | question about these is as golf shoes, so I've never worn spikeless golf shoes on a golf course. I've golfed not in golf shoes, and like I've I've golfed just in sneakers and felt like it didn't have the traction I wanted, especially during a drive. Um how are these on your grip. |
| Everett | You know, I've not had that problem, Andrew. |
| Everett | And so I I don't want to say they would be fine |
| Everett | for you. What I do know is that |
| Everett | they actually engineered the lugs on these. So they've got directionally engineered lugs that are meant to support the things your feet do while |
| Andrew | you're golfing. Um because they're certainly not the same sole pattern. |
| Everett | Is that effective? I have no clue. I have no clue if it's |
| Everett | effective, but it works just fine for me. |
| Everett | I think if you're someone who really wants to get |
| Everett | that bite that you'd get with a spike, you might miss that a little bit. I have had zero traction problems golfing, |
| Everett | and I've been wearing spikeless souls |
| Everett | for five years at this point. |
| Andrew | And I've exclusively. Yeah. |
| Everett | So I just want that torque out of |
| Andrew | the twist. I I I |
| Everett | would I would give it a try. You you |
| Everett | don't have to spend a hundred bucks. So |
| Everett | woo every pair of shoes costs |
| Andrew | a hundred bucks. I think you could probably |
| Everett | get something if you if you were patient, you could probably get something for thirty-five or fifty bucks that's last year's model on a clothes out or something, but um |
| Everett | or whatever, spend a hundred bucks and have a backup |
| Everett | pair of golf shoes just like everyone else spend a |
| Andrew | hundred bucks. That's right. So everything costs a hundred bucks. |
| Everett | I think they're terrific and I'm actually kind of enamored |
| Everett | by these shoes for their their utility, right? I I didn't ever feel like ugly uncomfortable golf shoes. |
| Everett | They're just sort of like heavy duty waterproof sneakers. |
| Andrew | Yeah. They looked good. They |
| Everett | felt good. They were perfect for that application. So |
| Andrew | they're they're Meryl Air Maxes. |
| Everett | That's right. That's right. That's my other thing for the week. Specifically the Air Max 90G, because I've had a few different |
| Everett | shoes of this oak. These |
| Everett | are the first ones that I've ever had that I thought |
| Everett | this is a great shoe. I would wear this. |
| Everett | And I've only had them, I've think I've played |
| Everett | maybe I |
| Andrew | don't know. Mabey a hundred rounds of |
| Everett | golf or a hundred holes of golf in them. A hundred holes. So maybe |
| Andrew | a hundred rounds. Not a big deal. I don't have a ton of experience. |
| Everett | And and now I've w worn them |
| Everett | shooting as well. Uh guns. Uh and and they did fine in both those applications. It's I I |
| Everett | think kind of an interesting it's an interesting |
| Everett | application now to have this really sort of specific purpose shoe that is probably usable in other places if |
| Andrew | you're hik aing shoe. |
| Everett | Yeah. Just not as supportive. Not as supportive, but |
| Everett | maybe not as flexible as you'd want in a hiking shoe. |
| Andrew | Yeah. Very stiff? |
| Everett | A little bit. Yep. Yep. |
| Andrew | A little bit stiff. I'm intrigued. |
| Everett | That's it. All right. That's it. I think that's a good place |
| Everett | for us to leave off for the week. What do we think? I think we've |
| Andrew | done it. We did it as per the usual. |
| Everett | Hey, uh you at home, |
| Everett | I'd like to thank you personally for joining us for |
| Everett | this episode of Forty and Twenty, the WatchClicker Podcast. Do me a favor and go to our website. That is watchclicker.com. |
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| Everett | twenty. And don't forget to tune back in next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and |
| Everett | other things we like. Bye-bye. |