The Grey NATO – 226 – Pitching The Watches We'd Love To Make (And Buy!)
For this episode, the TGN boys are pitching their ideas for a watch that doesn’t exist, but – we think – should exist. Jason and James were tasked with building an outline of a watch they’d like to see made, like a pitch for imagined investors. Neither shared their watch pitch in advance of the show (we promise) and the resulting watches capture what they feel is missing from the market.
From the start, Jason is about to leave for a far-away and shark-packed coral atoll and James is recovering from a light cold. Adventurous times for all. Stay in the mix for a Final Notes which will have you taking a wintery drive in a weird roadster and learning of a woman who works at a grocery store despite holding the record for successful bids on Mt. Everest.
Click here if you want to play episode 2226 from your browser – thanks so much for listening.
1:26 Hodinkee Radio
2:33 Momentum Sea Quartz 30
4:38 Rangiroa
8:33 Jason’s Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
8:53 CWC Royal Navy Diver
1821 Grand Seiko 9F quartz
24:40 Orfina-style bracelet
27:10 IWC Timezoner
30:40 Chronosport UDT
30:52 Oris “Full Steel” push-button GMT
31:00 Oris bezel-set GMT
31:10 Glashutte Original Sport Evo GMT
39:49 “The Queen of Everest Trains While Working At Whole Foods” - NYT
43:30 The Morgan Super 3 - Collecting Cars Youtube
44:10 Alex Roy on the 3-Wheeler
46:47 Henry Catchpole’s video on the Super 3
"The alternative to good design is always bad design. There is no such thing as no design" - Adam Judge
I feel like a slightly more practical, and flexible, way to do James' concept would be to have a separate crown, like a Seiko Alpinist or a compressor style case. It would be easier to go back and forth in time (not a huge deal for James, but I imagine Europeans traveling to the US or people traveling from Asia to Europe might care) and it would be a lot easier to keep the case waterproof. You could even make it screw down.
Regarding Jason's idea, I'd also suggest a Citizen A0600 (as used in their GS competitors). It has a perpetual calendar, jumping local hour hand, and is solar powered. If you aren't moving between time zones, you'd only have to touch the crown for DST. That's the only way to make a more practical diver than one powered by a 9F, at least for me. Either way, I'd buy Jason's diver in a heartbeat.
Super fun episode. Of course, now James needs to do his famous Photoshop mockups...
James, I know it's a fantasy movement, but would the bezel keep going around infinitely, or would you eventually have to go back the other way to "reset" it?
Jason, I'm jealous and would be interested in a recap of your rebreather experience. I have looked around and it is hard to find a dive shop that does rebreather courses for recreational divers. Not something that has a lot of need for recreation, but it's always been on my bucket list.
If there was a TGN collab watch I am sure they would sell, but agree the branding should be on the case back.