Spending Time

For this week's episode of the aBlogtoWatch Weekly podcast, David got lost on the way to his recording studio, so it's just Ariel and Rick---but they're joined by Simon from Escapement24 and Rob Corder of WatchPro! The horological quartet exhaustively unpacks Rolex's pre-owned announcement, lament another massive watch heist, and fret about dropping ceramic watches. Plus, the future of Oris and Chopard's new 5th Avenue boutique!Highlights3:34 Rolex Launches Its "Rolex Certified Pre-Owned" Watch Program29:36 Good Week/Bad WeekWatches Worth £12 Million Stolen From Secure Storage Facility | watchpro.comRolex Prepares To Boost Watch Production With New $1 Billion Facility | watchpro.comGrand Seiko And Seiko Open Two-storey Showroom On London's Bond Street | watchpro.com37:11 Last Week, This WeekA watchmaker responds to David and Sylvan's discussion of ceramic watches, like the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic40:50 Watch ReviewsTudor Black Bay CeramicOris Debuts Coulson Limited-Edition Watch Inspired By Aerial Firefighters

On this week's episode of the aBlogtoWatch Weekly podcast, Ariel, Rick, and David are joined once again by Sylvain Berneron, Creative Director at Breitling. The group has it out over brands using auctions to launch new models, diverges from a discussion of the Rolex Daytona to discuss the realities of wear and tear, shares their favorite movie watches, and talks about the practical uses for chronographs. Plus, an update on the ABTW x Raymond Weil project and a new candidate for the best car brand collaboration! Listen below or on the player of your choice.Highlights3:13 Should brands be using auctions as a launch platform?13:57 Five Ways The Rolex Daytona Is A Better (And Worse) Watch Than You Might Expect23:41 aBlogtoWatch Audience Designs The Next Raymond Weil Watch, Part 229:44 Last Week, This WeekThe ultimate car collab: the SMART Car Smart WatchSylvain explains the new Breitling tourbillons (Breitling Debuts A Trio Of Premier B21 Chronograph Tourbillon Watches)35:00 Good Week/Bad WeekUK Foreign Minister

This special edition of the aBlogtoWatch Weekly podcast is brought to you by Arnold & Son and Angelus. Rick and David sit down with Bertrand Savary, President of both Arnold & Son and Angelus, to talk about what it's like running two very different watch brands in the upper echelons of watchmaking.While Angelus and Arnold & Son may seem like vastly different brands, the two have quite a lot in common. They both have rich histories and have recently been reestablished: Angelus traces its roots to 1891 and was rebooted in 2015, while Arnold & Son goes back to 1794 and was reborn in 1998; both have been under the Citizen umbrella since 2013 when the Japanese company acquired them as part of its purchase of movement manufacture La Joux-Perret (which produces the movements for both brands), and they both produce exceptional high-end timepieces in limited numbers. As much as they have in common, though, they also differ greatly. Angelus is defined by its stunning use of skeletonization, open-working

On this week's edition of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel, Rick, and David engage in heady discourse for another hour of the latest and greatest in the world of watches. The trio pick apart the divisive automotive watch genre, wonder why a Rolex X Toyota Corolla watch never happened, question the rationale of industry players diversifying their offerings, muse on the merits of expensive watches from fashion brands, and desperately try to tie the World Cup into the conversation. Plus, emotionally satisfying complications, a slew of new watches, the ideal watch for today's tropical Scotsman, and why it's so difficult to be a Swedish spy. Listen below or on your podcast player of choice. 5:00 Time Machines: Taking The Road Less Traveled In Automotive-Inspired Design With The Cartier Roadster12:50 Watchfinder to launch marketplace to rival Chrono24 next year | WatchPro.com18:24 eBay Opens A Store In New York City For Buying And Selling Pre-Owned Luxury Goods21:04 Good Week/Bad Week  Rick tries his best to talk about t

This special edition of the aBlogtoWatch Weekly podcast is brought to you by Bulgari, recorded earlier this year at Geneva Watch Days 2022. Rick and David sit down with Fabrizio Buonamassa, Product Creation Executive Director at Bulgari, to discuss how Bulgari is pushing the limits of watch design through cross-cultural collaboration.Founded in 1884 by Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari, the eponymous Bulgari brand has become synonymous with luxury, with a reputation for stunning jewelry creations and, more recently, exceptional watchmaking. After acquiring the personal brands of Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth in 2000, Bulgari's ascendance in the watch industry was almost guaranteed. Buonamassa joined in 2001, eventually moving into his current role leading the brand's watch design, but it wasn't until 2012---a year after the brand joined the LVMH group---that the Bulgari Octo we know today was introduced. Distinguished by its angular octagonal case, it built off designs from the Gerald Genta brand catalog, and,

On this week's edition of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel, Rick, and David gallivant through this week's latest articles from aBlogtoWatch and the biggest news from the wider watch world. The team dives into the cutthroat world of watch journalism and the future of watch shows, laments the unlimited string of limited edition watches, and calls out the hypocrisy of watch award shows. Plus, new watches, LVMH demotes the London Stock Exchange, and the unspoken holy trinity of the watch industry is revealed! On a less upbeat note, more watch collections are getting stolen, so keep your watches safe, people! Highlights3:25 SUPERLATIVE: Believing In High-Quality Journalism Today     With Astrid Wendlandt9:20 Is Anyone Listening? We Are At Our Limit With Unlimited     Limited-Edition Watches20:36 Introducing Inkdial's Affordable Horological Artworks To     The aBlogtoWatch Store24:51 2022 Grand Prix     d'Horlogerie de Genève30:41 Good Week/Bad WeekoJacob & Co.’s New 100-Story Dubai Tower Will Look       Like a Cryst

On this week's edition of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel, Rick, and David spend another delightful hour covering all the latest from the watch world. Listen to hear them go green with a discussion of sustainability efforts in the watch industry (including a drop-in from Oris CEO Rolf Studer), think deep about why people even bother buying luxury watches. Hear about another alarming watch theft, an auction house gets eviscerated on social media, and the horrible truth behind the new titanium Rolex Deepsea Challenge. You can listen below right now or on the podcast player of your choice.Highlights3:27 Grinding Gears: Is The Luxury Watch Industry Unsustainable     & Secretive About It?8:49 aBlogtoWatch Weekly: The Breitling Super Chronomat Origins     And The Brand’s Commitment To A More Sustainable Future10:10 Oris Unveils Waldenburgerbahn Limited-Edition Watch21:09 Ariel's Thoughts: The Four Styles Of Luxury Watch Buying31:44 Good Week Bad Week           ARCHIELUXURY     Returns Home Only to Find His Watch Col

This special episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly is brought to you by Breitling and its Sustainability Mission Report. Earlier this year during Geneva Watch Days 2022, Rick and David got a chance to sit down with Aurelia Figueroa, the Global Head of Sustainability at Breitling to talk about the new Super Chronomat Origins series and Breitling’s industry-leading commitment to a more sustainable future.While there is quite a lot of talk within the industry about recycled stainless steel, Breitling found that the actual impact of sourcing its steel alloys was relatively insignificant (less than 1%), while the impact of sourcing gold and diamonds was exponentially higher, despite the fact that these materials make up significantly less volume compared to the amount of stainless steel that the brand uses each year. The new Breitling Chronomat Origins is constructed from 100% fully traceable-to-the-origin gold that comes from ethical mines, along with completely sustainable lab-grown diamonds. Additionally, rather than

For this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel is back from his recent trip in Sicily with Jacob & Co., so our trio of usual hosts reunite to talk about the latest news stories and new releases from this week in the world of watches. To start the show, Ariel asks the ever-important question of whether or not anyone other than Rick (and potentially maybe other farmers) is actually legitimately in favor of daylight savings time, and whether or not the industry can just create a watch for those who do prefer it, which will be able to help them keep track of their altered schedules. The Casio G-Shock Plowman and Rolex Farm-Dweller were two of the more promising sounding options for potential watches to fill this category.Next is a discussion about the various crazy watches that Ariel saw on his recent trip with Jacob & Co. and the type of people who wear them, followed by a quick edition of Good Week/Bad Week, where our hosts aren’t quite sure whether or not it could possibly be taken as a compliment that

For this episode ofaBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel is still away in Italy with Jacob & Co. so Rick and David are joined by Sylvain from Breitling. To start the show, our trio of hosts get into a deep discussion about all things related to titanium and watchmaking. Given that titanium watches can exist at a remarkably wide range of different prices, Sylvain offers some insight from a manufacturing perspective on what factors can separate expensive titanium watches from affordable ones, and how differences in the production process itself can ultimately influence both the quality of the titanium and the overall watch. After getting into some of the cost premiums associated with titanium, our trio of hosts discuss the fake letter that was allegedly from Rolex, which was recently making headlines and said that production was going to be cut due to the brand’s efforts to help the Swiss government conserve fuel. After breaking down a few of the reasons why this letter is clearly a fake, we briefly get to hear from a

For this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, David is away on a secret trip where he has signed a strict non-disclosure agreement and can’t tell anyone where he is going, so Ariel and Rick are joined by Simon from Escapement24 to talk about all of the new releases from this week in the world of watches. After briefly discussing NDA’s and what type of agreement David might have signed, our trio of hosts turn their attention to integrated bracelet sports watches, and how the widespread popularity of the genre is slightly puzzling given that no one actually wears a metal bracelet watch as their preferred timepiece while playing sports. From there, the conversation shifts to how it seems to be exclusively watches that remain highly desirable when they show heavy signs of age, and how the concept of desirable patina seems to be virtually non-existent within the traditional jewelry industry. Next, we get a bit of last week’s show this week, as we circle back to note that Invicta is actually one of the brands that engra

For this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, our usual trio of hosts, Ariel, Rick, and David are joined by Rob Corder from WatchPro. To kick off the show, we get a quick discussion about the various gifts that watch companies have given throughout the years, including Rob’s favorite Oris Bear pajamas, and this ultimately leads to the question of what would Ariel do with a life-size stature of the Oris Bear if he were to be gifted one for the holidays. From there, it’s a deep dive into the economic side of the luxury watch industry, and Rob explains which markets are still seeing growth, along with why there will always be differences and lag in the reported figures for Swiss watch exports compared to the actual consumer behavior that can be observed within local markets. The discussion then gets into why the United States has a good chance of being positioned to be the dominant market in the near future, and how some recent changes in legislature might make the UK a great destination for Americans to buy luxury w

For this episode ofaBlogtoWatch Weekly, our usual trio of hosts, Ariel, Rick, and David are joined by Cam from the TriWatches Podcast. To kick off the show, our hosts discuss how Geneva is finally going to have its first pre-owned luxury watches event, and ponder what the Swiss version of a pre-owned watches show might look like, given Switzerland’s long-standing reluctance to embrace the secondary market. From there, the conversation shifts to the truth behind the decrease in pre-owned luxury watch prices, and how this recent change is only really allocated to the mega-hype watches that were trading hands for values significantly above their original brand new retail prices. Given that an increasing number of manufacturers are entering the pre-on space themselves, our quartet of hosts tries to answer the question as to whether or not there might ever come a time when we see the entire pre-owned luxury watch industry shift towards an in-house format.After discussing all things related to the pre-owned luxury

Too Many Steel Sports Models? What’s The Best Watch Case Material? Plus The Norqain Wild ONE And Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep With Sylvain Berneron from BreitlingFor this episode ofaBlogtoWatch Weekly, everyone has returned from their recent travels, so it’s back to our usual trio of hosts with Ariel, Rick, and David, who are joined by Sylvain Berneron, the Creative Director at Breitling. To kick off the show, our hosts briefly discuss Ariel’s trip with Norqain and David’s experience at an Omega event last week, where they didn’t show the new Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer but rather only had the novelties that were presented several months ago. From there, it’s a deep dive into stainless steel sports watches as a response to an opinion article written by David, in which he argues that there are simply too many steel sports models when the material itself has inherent shortcomings. Our hosts discuss how the greater meaning of a stainless steel sports watch has changed over the years, along with all of

Which Watch Brand Has The Best Ambassadors? Plus In-Depth Reviews Of The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Sejima Edition and New Tag Heuer Formula 1 WatchesFor this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel is on the road with Norqain in Switzerland to cover an exciting upcoming launch, so Rick and David are joined by George Bamford from Bamford Watch Department and Simon from Escapement24. After kicking off the show by discovering that George enjoys roller skating, our hosts briefly discuss the recent funeral of Queen Elizabeth II before diving into a deep conversation about watch companies and their brand ambassadors. After talking about why Roger Federer was such a good ambassador for Rolex and who might be able to fill his shoes, the discussion then shifts to Richard Mille and some of the genius tactics it has used in regard to maximizing the exposure generated by famous people wearing its watches. Once the conversation about brand ambassadors is wrapped, we then get to learn which stainless steel Rolex sports watch Si

The Apple Watch Ultra, New Smartwatches From Tag Heuer, Louis Vuitton, And Sequent, Plus A Look At The Credor Eichi II And Why G-Shock Won’t Make A SmartwatchIn this episode ofaBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel, Rick, and David are joined by Andrew from Watchfinder & Co. for a deep dive into the world of smartwatches. Given the recent release of a new generation of Apple Watches and the massive amount of attention that the Apple Watch Ultra has received from traditional collectors and enthusiasts, our hosts kick off the show by answering the question of whether or not the Apple Watch should even be considered a watch in the first place. From there, the conversation gets into why the new adventure-ready Apple Watch Ultra appeals to many individuals who historically had no interest in traditional smartwatches, along with whether or not its design was influenced by the traditional Swiss timepiece industry. Given its more durable construction and ability to even function as a proper dive computer, our hosts bring up

In this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel, Rick, and David sit down with Paul (@f1ptb) to discuss some of their favorite new releases from Geneva Watch Days, along with the latest news and reviews from the greater world of watches. To kick off the show, our quartet of hosts briefly discuss the prices of cheeseburgers in Geneva before diving into a conversation about whether or not watch brands are actually listening to the people who buy their products and the overall influence of the collecting community within the industry. The discussion then turns to some of the watches that serve as examples of when brands have given the public more-or-less exactly what it wants, with the new Tudor Pelagos 39 serving as a perfect instance of how a company can look at the data and create a watch that is (almost) exactly like what people have been asking them to make for years.After getting into the details over whether or not the Tudor Pelagos 39 should even be considered a new watch when it is really more of an exten

For this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Rick and David are in Switzerland, recording live from the ground while covering Geneva Watch Days 2022. To kick off the show, they first take a moment to catch up with Ariel and chat with him about his thoughts on why he feels that the western world needs to create new watch-buying rituals and ultimately find new occasions to purchase timepieces for each other, before then briefly discussing why esports might be a good way to reach the next generation of buyers. From there, it’s all about new watch releases, and the trio discusses the brand-new Oris Divers Sixty-Five with the Caliber 400 movement and why it could easily be the only watch a person would ever need. Ariel also takes the opportunity to announce an upcoming event that aBlogtoWatch will be hosting at a local brewery in Los Angeles with Oris on September 6th, 2022, where the Oris Airstream trailer and its showcase of the company’s history and innovation will be presented there (RSVP by emailing rsvp@ablogtow

In this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel, Rick, and David are joined by Simon from Escapement24, and our quartet of hosts sit down to discuss some of the latest articles and new releases from this week in the world of watches. Last episode, the off-topic question came up about how many whales you could fit inside Wales, and to kick off the show, Matt from the Spirit of Time podcast phones in to inform us that he has done the math, and the country of Wales can fit approximately 185,653,333 blue whales inside of it. After sorting out that important bit of business, the conversion then turns to watches and how the secondary market for Rolex models has been crashing in China, with a 46% drop in price compared to the inflated values from last year. After briefly discussing the concept of a “man drawer” once again and Rick coming to the realization that he doesn’t just have a single drawer allocated to his junk, but rather entire sheds full of it on his farm, our hosts then get into a conversation about the va

In this episode ofaBlogtoWatch Weekly, Ariel is away attending to other business, so Rick and David are joined by guest host Andrew — a.k.a. “The Man With The Hands” from Watchfinder & Co. to talk about the latest news and reviews from this week in the world of watches. To start the show, a quick message from Jake, the aBlogtoWatch Social Media & Community Manager, sets off a discussion about how the ever-changing algorithms are forcing everyone to use “Rolex” in YouTube titles as clickbait, which spirals into a conversation about the psychology behind clickbait itself and how the way we consume video content has changed over the years. To properly measure the effects of clickbait, the trio decides to conduct an experiment using two different titles for this podcast episode, and given how discussing clickbait-worthy topics seems to come naturally to Andrew, you can have fun guessing about which version you're actually seeing.From there, the conversation gets into Rolex and how the brand became the wor