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Scottish Watches Podcast #779 : Once Your Pop You Can’t Stop!
00:59:51
There’s chaos surrounding the rumoured Swatch x Audemars Piguet collaboration that has social media in meltdown ahead of the May 16th reveal. From AI-generated “leaks” and speculation over a possible...
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- [00:01]
Dave
This episode was recorded on Monday 11 May, well ahead of the photos and news dropping on the new AP and Swatch collaboration. So that's why we sound dumber than usual as we were guessing what was coming out later in the week.
- [00:14]
Ricky
Welcome to the Scottish Watches podcast. It's been a very interesting week or slightly longer now, because there's been a lot of rumors kicking around on the blogosphere. Well, actually, not in the blogosphere. All the usual culprits, all the usual suspects. They have not been talking about this on their websites, they've been talking about this on social media. And can you guess what it is, Dave, we're talking about? You want to take a pop at it?
- [00:33]
Dave
Oh, there's a good wee giveaway. Well, this one managed to stay completely and utterly secret until, to be honest, they outed themselves by placing some adverts in some big mainstream press outlets, newspapers and such like, when suddenly there was, well, some news from Swatch that closely was followed by some news from ap. And then the Internets and interwebs went on to fire, including all the social medias. About four what is coming up? And there's lots of clues, but no definitive information as of this moment in time.
- [01:07]
Ricky
Yeah, lots of talk behind the scenes, lots of sneaky peeks. And the problem we've got. Right, let's go back to Moonswatch Mania a number of years ago, where they teased some things, people got an idea in their head something cool was coming down the line. Turned out to be not quite as cool, but it was good for the industry, good for the collector community. This time around, we've got that bloody AI thing. So lots and lots. Not Photoshops any longer. It's not skilled artists putting things together, concocting ideas like we did with a no Time to die Moon Swatch that never came to be because we made it up. But this time around, people are just using all these different platforms to create fake plastic AP Roy locks, this, that and the other, uploading it and saying exclusive. So you don't know. When you're scrolling through Instagram, you're looking at it going, is this official? Has this appeared from the proper channels and the like count? Maybe pictures get 10,000 likes, 15,000 likes, you know, it's legit, it's legit. Okay, somebody's got the jump. None of it is legit. Nothing has appeared. Everybody's talking about it, but nobody's committing words to, not print, but words to websites. The only outlet we have managed to find, we look at everybody before we Record the show just to make sure we've not missed any news, any sort of current happenings that may have slipped through the net. And I went through 20 different online platforms from Time and Tide, to Blog, to Watch, to Fratello. The only one that's mentioning anything to do with this and we're recording on the 11th ahead of the 16th drop. The only place to mention anything to do with this is Watch Time usa.
- [02:27]
Dave
Indeed. And I think it's fair to say that there's a few pieces of information that I think we could put some gravity towards. We know it's ap, we know it's Watch because both of them have come out and officially said so on their social media channels. There's been some adverts. It looks to certainly be something mechanical, not quartz because there's some images of movement components.
- [02:48]
Ricky
Looks like a system 51 when you see the actual proper rotating animation.
- [02:52]
Dave
Well, I was going to say the obvious solution would be System 51, which of course is Swatch Watch's mechanical movement complete, the machine built, automatically regulated, et cetera, et cetera. But it's a mechanical movement nonetheless. That said, it's not being completely determined if that's what it is. It could be system 51, it could be a derivation of system 51. It could potentially be an all new mechanical movement from Swatch as well. Who knows, they may have put that extra effort in because of, well, the gravity of this collaboration, but we don't know that for sure. But we think it's very likely going to be mechanical from what they've showed.
- [03:25]
Ricky
What they could have done is gone to JLC who used to supply the movement for the Jumbo in the Royal Oak and got them involved as well. And it'd be a three way somehow.
- [03:33]
Dave
I think that's highly unlikely. Probably highly unlikely, but who knows? Nobody knows because this is, well, the collaboration that no one saw coming. Anyway, outside of that, what else do we know? Pop? Well, we know that Pop's watches were a thing back in 1986. Pop's watch was a thing. It was a bigger 47 millimeter watch. In fact, I've got a few of them lying around in, in the background here. That was a kind of round, plastic, almost pocket watch esque shape and it had a kind of weird clippy container and you could put it onto your T shirt, you put the clip on the inside and you clip the watch on. Or you could wear it around your neck.
- [04:05]
Ricky
Or is it like the way that a nurse or a doctor would wear a watch?
- [04:08]
Dave
Yeah, the great thing with the Pop swatch was you could literally wear it more as a fashion accessory rather than it was just a watch. It did have a kind of, if I remember rightly, most of them, an elasticated strap that that kind of fed through almost like a NATO strap that fed through the plastic clippy container. And you could wear it on your wrist as well if you wanted. You could wear it up in your upper arm, you could wear it on your leg, you could attach them to your T shirt. There was various lanyards and all sorts of accessories. Anyway, that was way back in the 80s. They did that and they were a big thing. Most of those pop swatches that still exist are dead now, though, because, well, they're pretty old and they were never really designed for survivability. They did kind of revive it in a smaller format back in 2022. What we do know as well, a few col that have leaked white, pink, green, orange, yellow, red, light blue and navy. Eight variants we believe, but nobody knows. It's most likely going to be very similar to the case shape of the Royal Oak because all of the graphics, typography and everything that we've seen so far definitely is leaning towards Royal Oak. Even so much as the pop word has been written in the same way as they kind of write oak in Royal Oak. Obviously that's the famous watch designed by Gerald genta back in 1972. Ultimately, who knows? It's going to be successful, that is for sure. Moonswatches, I believe they've sold in and around 2 million of them across 36 different models. But all will be revealed Saturday 16 May is when it's all official. There is lots of decoration in many boutiques already. There's kind of a vitrine with boxes and lots of AP and lots of swatch decoration up in windows and in the stores. But nothing has been exposed. Many of the staff are claiming to have complete ignorance. They may well actually have complete ignorance. I think they probably kept things well under wraps. I'm sure there's more than a few people know, but they've probably all been made to sign bits of paper that mean that their life is owned by Swatch and ap. And if they were to divulge informations, terrible things may happen, like they'll lose their jobs.
- [06:04]
Ricky
This is a weird one because in any other industry there is always a leak when it comes to the watch industry, up until moments before watches and wonders, up until moments before something like this is about to happen. You don't find out anything. And, and it's strange because a lot of journalists behind the scenes have got this information. An example would be Barbara Blomble seemed to know a lot more than she let on ahead of time because she did some articles for Vanity Fair on time and she didn't tell us anything. And she absolutely remained silent up until the moment the information was supposed to drop publicly. And then you've got the people that make the flyers, the brochures, all that stuff, the online content creators. Nothing leaks. And we've had leaked from Apple on the iPhones, on the Macs, we've had car leaks, we've had this and the other, and not the kind that kind of drip out just ahead of time as a bit of marketing spin. Genuine leaks come out all the time in the watch world. It genuinely doesn't happen. How is that?
- [06:55]
Dave
Well, it's a fairly small industry compared to something like, say, Apple or maybe a big car company or something like that. You know, these are bought by significantly more people globally than watches are watches as much as they're popular and we are deeply embedded in that whole culture. It's still a fairly fringe hobby, if we want to put it like that. This is certainly going to like, I think it did with Moonswatches. It's going to put it much more into the main markets. The average person, you know, AP is one of the brands that I wouldn't say, if you stopped the average punter and said, name some famous watch brands. I think certain kind of demographics might name ap, especially if they're into certain types of music, these kind of things, where that brand is in and about luxury lifestyle. But I think a lot of people, of course Rolex is going to come up. Even Omega might come up. I think there's other brands that will come up necessarily before ap, but it's going to put them into the huge mainstream. There's going to be mega cues. It's going to be super hard to
- [07:50]
Ricky
get, oh, are we going camping again?
- [07:51]
Dave
I don't know. Do you know what? I can't. I love the fact that this is happening. I think it's super cool. Do I necessarily want one? When Moonswatch came out, I was like, yeah, because as everyone knows, I like, well, Speedmasters. And I was like, this is cool. I like this idea. I'm totally on board with what they're doing here, unlike lots of people going, oh, it will ruin ap. It's the beginning of the end, all this nonsense. It absolutely is not. These guys know what they're doing and this Will absolutely set the world on fire.
- [08:17]
Ricky
Can you imagine going back 10 years, Dave, 10 years and thinking you're going to have Black Panther and Spider Man's balls on the dial of an ap? Can you imagine having a plastic Royal Oak? Could you imagine that?
- [08:28]
Dave
I mean, I think to be honest, if you went back 10 years and asked the same about Moonswatch, you would have said this will never happen. Of course it won't. Even when it did happen for a little while were a bit disbelieving of what actually is the objective here, what are they doing? But it happened nonetheless and it's been successful.
- [08:43]
Ricky
The weird thing with moonswatches, I still see people to this very day not watch people as such, but genuine normal folks out and about, civilians wearing moonswatches versus wearing this. I see some G shocks, but moonswatches just seem to work.
- [08:58]
Dave
Yeah, I think lots of people got on board with it and they like it and it brought Swatch back to what Swatch should be. It's a watch for everybody. It's something that you can get relatively easily. Okay, let's say that moonswatches were hard to get initially, but they're significantly more easy to get now than they were. Let me put it like that. I want to know. My big question is, are they going to learn some lessons from the early days of what they did with Moonswatch where they were very hard to get? They were difficult to get in certain locations where you just couldn't get them because of course they weren't online. I don't think these ones are going to be online. Certainly initially I think it seems that there's going to be a lot more. More stores globally actually have them, which is a good thing in my book. That's yet to be seen, but on the website you can see all the stores listed that are apparently going to have them. No doubt, first few weeks, rare as hen's teeth, going to be super hard to get. You either queue, you either camp out overnight and you're lucky or you're not. But I think I'd like to think I'll rephrase. These will become more attainable more quickly than the likes of the moonswatches. I'm sure they'll do some special editions that are ultra rare. A bit like they did with the golden versions of the Moon swatches where they only did limited numbers of them. But anyway, all of this is hearsay. Who knows? I think it's cool. I know lots of folk who hate it. I know lots of folk will love it. I'm Looking forward to seeing what happens on the 16th and what comes out. Have I got an inbuilt? Must go and get one of these. No, I don't. What about you, Ricky, are you going to go and actually try and get one?
- [10:26]
Ricky
No, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go down to the local swatch place, I'm going to make sure it's on this list that I didn't know existed, so Dave mentioned it a second ago and I'm going to go down with a Super Soaker and some black currant Ribena.
- [10:36]
Dave
Ah, just amuse the crowds.
- [10:40]
Ricky
Amuse the crowd with some water sports, but that's that. So that's a story for another time. We'll report back. You know, I liked the first time around, it wasn't me. I think you actually went day one Moonswatch mania before we knew it was going to be mania. And you went down, looked at the queue in Edinburgh and thought that and went home. And Ted Guy, that's been on the show many times before, Ted Hunter and he will be back shortly, he went down, he actually queued and the queues were like a game of Snake in the Nokia. It was all over Edinburgh, about a mile long queue and there was lots of dodgy folks at the start of the queue, you know, fighting people to try and get possession. Won't be getting involved in that but I think I might pop down just to see what's happened, to get involved in the cavalcade and the spectacle of it because it's all fun, it's all. The weather's been good in Scotland, might as well go down, have a good time. And if you want to have a good time, you should check our show notes. That's where all the. Do you like that segue? That's where all the good information will be. The pictures, the tech spec, the links, everything will be put together. Thanks to Mziel podcast player, it'll be linked in there. If you're watching, this YouTube link will be in the description. So click across there to our website and just play along at home. Next up, we're going to talk about some more good things and it turns out it's around about that time of year when we get in touch with the police to say, do you want to. Come on, do you want to give us an update on what is happening? The bad things are happening so we can try and avoid them and concentrate on the good things that are happening. So behind the scenes, the Metropolitan Police, fingers crossed, we'll Be back yet again for a bit of a reminder. And it's always good to hear from them because we get a little bit complacent during the year. Everything goes well and then before you know it, you hear about one of your friends that's had their watch stolen, taken off them. They bought a fraudulent version, a fake or a Frankenstein. So fingers crossed, we can get them on sooner rather than later. But we do have some good news from ebay.
- [12:14]
Dave
We do. And ebay is going to be, well, rather busy, I think, after the 16th of May. No idea what might cause that, but I'm sure they'll have a bit of a run of some plastic orientated watches that may or may not say AP and Swatch.
- [12:27]
Ricky
Well, them having a run than you having the runs.
- [12:28]
Dave
Well, it depends. Sometimes the runs are a good thing. Clears one out for the preceding days anyway. Yes, ebay, they have been, well, embellishing the services they offer in order to make things better and safer for people buying watches there. They have added the stolen watch database into their whole system of authentication that they're offering. Obviously for a little while now they've been taking the watches. There's an intermediary that gets involved between the buyer and the seller to check that the watch is all as it is said to be. And this has been a service that has, well, I think done a great service for both sellers and buyers.
- [13:04]
Ricky
I think it totally revolutionized the whole buying and selling of watches online. It upped the game. They didn't load the price point. And I took the jump myself. I gave it a blast with my Daytona a couple of years ago. Story I've told in the show before, but we do have new listeners and new viewers. I put my money where my mouth is and ran through the system, ran through the service without a chaperone. I didn't tell my head of time, oh, I'm doing this, make sure it works out okay. And it was phenomenal. It was so silky smooth. I actually thought something had gone wrong because I didn't hear from anybody. Money just appeared in my account and that was the end of it. And we've heard from loads and loads of people, similar stories from them. So this new development, what is the benefits here?
- [13:41]
Dave
Well, what it is is the integration of a service called Inquirus, I think that's how you pronounce it. And this has been integrated into their authentication service effectively. It's one of the largest databases of stolen watches. And the watch that are sent in for this kind of authentication will be checked against this database to make sure of course, that it's not stolen. So this is really ultimately bringing an additional layer of protection for both buyers and sellers so that we're not seeing any watches that suddenly, years after the transaction it gets sent for service and suddenly someone discovers that it's a stolen watch. So this just makes it better for everybody. And this will be through the uk, the US and Germany initially. These will all be checked against this global database before the watches are sent through to the buyer. So I think ultimately it's going to strengthen trust, makes things more transparent and it just makes the resale market clearer, more normal, less dodgy. Because as much as there is the majority of people completely legit, there are a few nefarious characters that play within this space as well. Because of course, well, as we all know, certain brands of luxury watches are a target for thieves and they have to move them somewhere and we don't want to see these really infiltrating into our collections. So great to see them, but adding additional value, not pushing all of these huge additional costs onto the buyers and sellers, but just making the whole system better, more conscientious, more transparent and better to use. So can't say anything but great work by ebay bringing their whole platform into the 21st century and beyond. More so than many of the other platforms out there may have done.
- [15:18]
Ricky
Well, we don't have all the details on this, but we do have a man with a master plan and that is Keith and he's been on the show many times to talk about this, that and the other with ebay. And every time he comes on, he's adding value. There's always a new thing. And again, like Dave says, there, there's no upsell, there's no, well, you know, if you want this, if you want that. In a world where Netflix and Disney and everybody else are trying to up, up, up the price, add new things on and shit ify the world. The guys at ebay are actually doing a favor for everybody out there. So yeah, to be commended and fingers crossed we can get Keith on to tell us more about it. More of the behind the scenes stuff because I is a lot more. He has given us the headline but I'm pretty sure the main story, there'll be a lot of more information in there exactly how the system works and how it is of benefit. And a benefit of having a friend in the industry or a friend and a colleague within the collector community is that if you've got a watch brand and your friend has got a Watch brand you can join, you can partner. The collaboration process is always something we like to talk about. We talk about the beginning of the show, Swatch and ap. Well, it turns out the gentleman behind Space One, Volcano, many other brands that we know and talk about on the show, well, he has got in cahoots with the folks at Baltic and there's a beautiful creation has come because of
- [16:24]
Dave
this, both of these being French brands. And as Ricky mentioned, Space One and Baltic have got together and created a collaborative watch called the Second Major. Now they're calling an alliance between the two brands. And I think it's fair to say that you couldn't take two more different brands and try and bring them together because of course with Baltic you've got very much vintage design language going on. They arc back into the 50s, 60s, 70s with a lot of their creations and they're bringing modern watches to market that are really leaning into that vintage design language. And Space One doing well, exactly the opposite. It's a kind of futuristic creation, thinking all about how time might be told in the future, how different ways of telling the time can be portrayed in a watch. Very, very different. And so you're bringing together two very directly opposing styles and languages. So what has this resulted in? It's not something that's been forced. This is something that they are very much saying was just really all about friendship of the different individuals and the people within the brand. Back in, I believe they're saying 2021, Baltic had a bit of a barbecue event at their Paris headquarters, invited lots of their different competitors and friends within the French watch industry to get together. And this is where Theo Offet, who was actually a finalist in the 2024 edition of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize, that was for the independent creatives and Guillaume Ladi, they got together and started talking and it's taken five years since then, but that kind of shared vision of what they want to do has ultimately brought this watch to fruition. And I have to say a, I saw it, I've seen it in real life and I thought this is pretty impressive. I like this watch. It's got lots of design codes that you might expect from a very high end independent brand.
- [18:13]
Ricky
Well, maybe describe the look of. For people that are listening and not looking at the show notes right now.
- [18:17]
Dave
Well, there is. How would I describe it? I think on first glance it's something that you would expect to come from a very small artisanal brand. Someone like maybe FP Journe or maybe someone of the Very small, very low volume brands that put watches out. It doesn't strike me as anything that you would expect to see from Baltic or for that matter from space.
- [18:40]
Ricky
One that doesn't tell us anything, Dave. So I'll jump in and I'll say it reminds me maybe of Arnold and Son, maybe something Louis Erard ish. Maybe something of that kind of look. Because it's got a lot of stuff happening in the center. Even Garrick plays in the way this looks. But then it's got the clear part, then it's got the train down the center a little bit like the quorum. There are many things in here. You're gonna have to do a better job of describing these things.
- [19:06]
Dave
Well, I think what we have to do is say to everyone, go and check out the show notes. Because there's no real easy way to actually describe this. But what we'll say is this. Hours and minutes are not centralized. They are actually both displayed on rotating sapphire discs which are positioned at roughly 12 o' clock and 6 o'. Clock. There's an arrow tipped cross here. That's where you can read the time. So these discs are both moving and you've got a stationary line at which point you tell the time. You've then got a decentralized display at the top and you've got a sweeping central seconds hand, so it's actually moving. So you've got the movement on the dial from this central seconds hand sweeping round. You've got a jumping hour disc for the hour up at 12 o' clock clock. The typography on it is definitely more towards the futuristic. It's not some classical styling there. It's definitely more leaning towards a space one aesthetic. So you've got this real weird contrast between what you might describe as very classical artisanal watch architecture and something much more futuristic. Now on this watch, the complication module that's been developed by Theo, and you've got a central control wheel that will complete one full rotation every 60 minutes. That then triggers the star wheel which controls the hour display, which is up at 12 o'. Clock. And a jumper then releases which allows that disc to snap to the existing hour that we've got on there as well. And none of the components are really hidden, or most of them are not hidden anyway. But they're all revealed because the dial is cut from a single piece of what they're calling malcord, which I think is how you pronounce it. This is a silver colored alloy that's mainly made of copper, nickel and zinc. It's structural. And then on top of that you've got these sapphire discs showing the hours and the minutes and you can see many of them, the components through it as well. You've got a vertically brushed finish. Or in the second version you've got a texture that's been created called Charbonnet case wise, 38.5 millimeters. A very wearable, very in vogue case size. It's 904L stainless steel. The case has got brushing and polishing and a concave bezel. It's going to be available to pre order between the 12th and 17th May. So it starts before that AP swatch goes mad and it finishes after as well. So you've got plenty of time to look and consider in the madness. And the price point. You will not guess the price point. If you just initially look at this watch. It's great value for money, amazing value for money as far as I would go.
- [21:26]
Ricky
How much would you say a watch like this would cost if you didn't know the price?
- [21:31]
Dave
Looking at it, I was going to guess probably in the. Somewhere between five and €10,000 is where I kind of thought this watch would be sitting. There's lots going on about it that would allow for it to be priced at a pretty premium price point. Obviously both of those brands primarily produce watches that are at the more accessible price points, but this looked like a kind of much bigger exercise with different modules, lots of exotic or more unusual materials being used, even down to the 904L stainless steel, which is generally reserved for slightly more premium price points as well. But the price point is €2,500 excluding taxes for the brushed version. And the slightly fancier Charbonnet version is coming in at €3,500, excluding taxes, because there's a lot more hand artisanal work done on that decoration. Exceptional value for money for what it is. I normally am not a big fan of this aesthetic and look, but there's something about this that just appeals to me. This is a watch that certainly for the brushed version, I could potentially see myself considering getting one of them. Okay. I don't know if you've had a chance to actually get a hands on and see this one because they were exhibiting in Glasgow. Any thoughts?
- [22:41]
Ricky
I did not. We'll get to the Glasgow Watch show, which was a phenomenal year too. Far better than year one and year one was tremendous in itself. This is a watch that I would not buy, I would not wear myself. Only because it's not my style as A technical exercise as something to own. I don't own a jumper yet, so maybe that does change things slightly because I've got everything else in the collection. I think I've collected all the panini stickers, but this is missing from that collection. I like the look of it. I love the price point again, the value for money, the accessibleness of getting something like this on the wrist. And if people look at it, they don't know the brand. They might think it's 10k. They may actually. When you were saying, oh, five to eight grand, I was thinking more because if you look at an Arnold and Son or something like that, or a Garrick or whatever or something, maybe from the limited edition where as an atelier, it's a low volume watchmaker, you would be spending a lot more money. Even Armin strong, mid teens to maybe 25, round about there for something. The fact that this is two brands working together to create something, everything works. It's like the UR Freak from last year. Oh, shit. Ulysse, Nardan and Urvoerk are getting together. This could be an absolute catastrophe. And it was greater than the sum of its parts. This is the same at a much lower price point. These two companies are doing amazing things. We constantly hear great things from collectors, enthusiasts, people that buy the watches and they don't sell them on. That's the big thing. A lot of people do buy watches, then they flip them because perhaps it doesn't live up to expectation, it doesn't sit on the wrist properly. But when people buy these ones, they do keep a hold of them. So I think this is going to go gangbusters. People will love to get this on the wrist. And another brand that people seem to really enjoy getting on the wrist is Sega Design. We've been working with them for I think maybe three years now, something like that. And the first time they said to us, we've got a new watch out, would you like to see it? You'll love it. And I thought, well, that's a high mark to meet. They sent across a watch. I looked at it, I loved it so much I actually bought one for the missus. So yes, that is how good these guys were. Then they picked up an award at gphg. Really ruffled some feathers with that one. And with the might of Xiaomi, the mobile phone manufacturer from way out in the east, they have been creating watch after watch. Blue Planet, the Hunter, the Skeleton, X, all kinds of stuff. We've actually got something sitting that we don't know when the Embargo is for. So we're not going to talk too much about it, but as soon as we're told that we will be bringing their latest creation to showcase to the world. But they've also been doing something else.
- [25:09]
Dave
They have. Well, they found out that there was someone quite famous involved in Formula One who actually was wearing their watches. That being the inimitable Eddie Jordan, who is, well, very famous, if you follow Formula One, you will undoubtedly know who he is. Bit of a character have to be said now. Yes, you're right. Sigurd Zein doing some super interesting thing. Probably one of the brands who've come out of China that have really helped to legitimize Chinese watchmaking outside of China. They've really brought some cool things to the market that maybe you would never have seen coming out of Switzerland or other markets. So their origins date back to in and around 2010. As Ricky said, they were pushed by Xiaomi initially, but it was the industrial designer Zhang Jinmin. His early success was really because of this collaboration and distribution via that help from Xiaomi. But they did, as Ricky says as well, won that challenge prize at GPHG for the Blue Planet 2, which is, I think what put them on my radar are pretty much. And I saw lots of adverts for them.
- [26:11]
Ricky
Well, that's when you jumped in and bought one for yourself.
- [26:13]
Dave
I did indeed, yeah. It was popping up constantly on, I think it was probably Facebook at that time, the feeds. There was lots of adverts popping up. They really pushed that hard into our markets and I kept seeing this thing and going, that looks quite interesting. But yeah, you know, you see these things all the time. Then of course up comes GPHG and well, the rest is history, so to speak. But what they've done is they've made a couple of of limited edition models for Eddie Jordan's charity foundation. Partly he's been a bit of an admirer of the brand. He's been seen frequently wearing one of their Edge timepieces. But what they've done is they've done two models and there is a three hand automatic, fully skeletonized Hunter watch that's been limited to 191 pieces. The multi part case on this is signed on the side by the Formula one driver, former Formula one driver and team owner and lots of other things to do with Formula one. It's got a bright yellow strap and it's a stamped on it with the initials ftb, which is short for the Begrudgers, a philosophy that he has kind of embraced through almost 50 years in the Formula One and motorsport industry. That one's available to pre order from Eddie Jordan's foundation website. It's available for £654. There is another one which is going to be the Eddie Jordan Hunter Tourbillon. That's definitely going to be more unusual. They're only going to make 15 of those. Now that number equates to the number of Formula one cars that were developed by Jordan Grand Prix that was going to come in that similar Hunter case. But it's of course going to have the Tourbillon in it which will be displayed at six o' clock again on a skeletonized black dial. That one will again will only be available from the Eddie Jordan foundation website but it has as of yet not been advertised for sale and the price has not been revealed. So more to come on that. But if it's anything like the pricing of their normal models and they have done Tourbillon before, I'm sure it will be at the much more affordable end of the scale than the opposite to that. Really cool looking watches. Nice to see them doing more things. It's a brand that pop in and out of our awareness. You know, they are not one of the huge brands that you see on the high street everywhere. Every time they do something they seem to kind of hit it out the park.
- [28:25]
Ricky
They do. And this is not the watch I alluded to earlier. It's a completely different watch and a different shape. Not going to give too much away but stay tuned for more information on that. It's next door. Can't wait to show you what it's all about. But hey, you know, hold your horses and all that. This is amazing knowing the price point of these watches. The Hunter that came out last year and we got one of the bead blasted ones, it looks a little bit titanium. I think it's steel. It's just incredible value for money and it's of a look that's kind of Richard Mule Bianchi, that kind of style, but not completely derivative of and the way that they have got their movement. It's a. They call it in house. I believe it's probably based on something else but they have worked on it. The finishing is great, even the rotor, the decoration, everything that's on it. And then you look at the price they charge for these things and it just, it blows my mind what you can get these days. As much as we keep pissing on the Swiss for upping the price all the time, these guys are keeping it real. And you mentioned it's good to hear about stuff coming out of China, because the last couple of years Barons had been really pushing things forward and we've not heard a peep out of them for a while. They were doing collabs with Batman. I remember me and Dave sitting at Geneva Watch Days and they announced this watch tourbillon from I don't even know who was helping create it behind the scenes. And it sold out as we sat in the auditorium. We didn't get a sniff at it, but then they kind of just disappeared. They did a collab maybe the year later with Konstantin Chaikin, but Sega are consistent every year, more than twice a year. Sometimes they put stuff out. And they recently updated that Blue Planet too. The original was perfect. I didn't see a problem with it, but apparently they wanted to make it more legible, more luminous, larger, so people could tell the time easier. We didn't have a problem with it. We're getting on in age. Our eyesight is not the greatest in the world. So it shows you to continuously redevelop, redesign, push things forward instead of just trying to milk the crowd, which is fantastic news. So stay tuned for that and good luck with everything they're up to. Dave, what should people be doing now?
- [30:16]
Dave
Oh, sorry. I was thinking of something completely different they should be doing. But what they probably, probably should do is if they want to communicate with us, send us an email infooottishwatches.co.uk did you say nympho? Did I say nympho? No, no, no, no. That's just. That's just your delusions in your own head.
- [30:32]
Ricky
So you're not nymphottishwatches.co.uk no info I
- [30:35]
Dave
n f ottottishwatches.co.u feel free to email us if it's interesting. We may read it out in a future episode or we may not.
- [30:43]
Ricky
But with something we're going to talk about in this episode is something from Gerard Perregal, Dave's favorite one of favorite. Got to be careful. One of Dave's favorite brands. Got to be super careful nowadays because you get many favorite brands, but they have done a laureato. They've done it in a colorway, in a material with a colored strap. And I think all the colors are going to blend together and Dave is going to be. I don't know if he's not going to be camping outside AP boutiques and houses and swatch shops, he may be camping outside GP you're correct.
- [31:11]
Dave
Girard Perregaux is one of the brands That I have a bit of a soft spot for it has to say. And they brought out an all new Laureato chronograph. It's in 42 and it definitely leans into the 70s. Of course this is a watch of the 70s, 1975 it first made an appearance. Now there's lots of things about this watch that on paper shouldn't make me think I'm interested. It's a two tone watch, generally not something I'm particularly interested in. 42 millimeters, I'm more and more leaning towards smaller sizes. But this is one of these watches that when you put them together it's got an appeal. I'm really looking forward to getting a hands on of one of these. So, so what have we got?
- [31:48]
Ricky
Well Dave, it turns out you won't have to wait very long to get hands on one of these.
- [31:52]
Dave
No, because we will be in a location very shortly where we'll be able to see it in the coming days and we will be able to report back after a hands on. But more about that later. Let's talk about this watch. So it's two tone, it's a chronograph, it's a 50 piece limited edition and it's definitely color wise, leaning into what I would describe as 70s, lots of chocolates, browns, colors that I for sure have said for a long time should make more of an appearance in watches. They've also pushed away from the integrated bracelet which is definitely part of the design language of this. And this one comes on an integrated rubber strap. 904L stainless steel.
- [32:27]
Ricky
Right, time to ask you because you work for a company that deals with this kind of shit nowadays. So 904L, also known as Oystersteel nowadays because Rolex decided to do that versus 304L and 316L give us a bit of a masterclass on the different types of metals, stainless steels. Why there's a difference, what is better, what one should people go for?
- [32:47]
Dave
Okay, so let's just cut through all the marketing BS. 904L of course is famously used by Rolex. They have made a very good job of telling everyone that it's a much, much better stainless steel than the other alternatives. The reality is they are all very similar. They're all quite often put into a category which might be called surgical stainless steel. Pretty good quality, it's got low reactivity. The main difference would be that 904L stainless steel does on paper have a higher resistance to saline corrosion than the other alternatives. But a most of them don't get much seawater exposure and if they do, it's an in and out. And usually most people give them a bit of a rinse off on normal water or non saline water to wash away the salt. But if they were both to be exposed or all to be exposed to saline water for considerable periods of time, 904L Steel and theory will show slightly less corrosion than the others in the real world. Does it make any difference? No, let's be honest, it does not. When it comes to how they can be polished and the effects and the colors, yes, all different materials have slight different tendencies and slight different, I guess, ways that they can be polished and how they look when they're polished. And 904L in Rolex's opinion and in some other brand's opinion is slightly nicer. But. But I think as always with materials, it's down to the eye of the beholder. Don't get tied up too much in oh, I'm not going to buy this watch because it's not 904L stainless steel. If it's 316 or one of the others, to be honest, it will still be absolutely perfect for day to day use as a high quality watch. So that's probably as enough as I need to say on that.
- [34:28]
Ricky
Well, why do arage then use 904L versus 316?
- [34:31]
Dave
We actually use both. Depends on the watch. We have actually used three different steels. We do use 904L steel and one of the reasons is there is a perception in the market that it's better. And the reality is sometimes trying to convince people that it's not better and sometimes trying to tell people and explain all of these things, they don't always want to listen. And when you've got a brand as big as let's say Rolex, who have spent a long time telling the world that it is much better actually have they actually told the world it's much better or have the world decided that because Rolex use it it's better? They are two different things. Anyway, we've used it because it is available, but we've also used 316L and we've used a couple of different grades of course of all so used titanium predominantly in grade five is what we use. But yes, materials, lots of different materials out there all have pros and cons. All of them have advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes they are advantages to manufacture, sometimes they're disadvantages to manufacture. Sometimes they're pros and cons for the consumer themselves. But within the short window of materials that are used in watches, there is so little differential between most of them as to not really be worth a huge amount of airtime and use of oxygen, shall we say? That's what I've got to say on that matter.
- [35:44]
Ricky
Right, Dave, thank you for the metallurgy course. Time to tell us more about the watch before we move on to the wrist check.
- [35:50]
Dave
So a rose gold bezel crown and pushers on this watch. It comes in a brown rubber strap that's got the clue de Paris hobnail pattern on it, as does the dial. The dial itself is a mocha brown dial as I mentioned with that Clue de Paris patterning. The watch is 12.16 millimeters thick. It's got their in house GP03300 calibre. It's got a lot of components. It is a chronograph after all. 46 hours of power reserve and it's going to come in at the princely sum of 24,300 Swiss francs. If you like browns, if you like laureatos, if you like chronographs. Definitely worth having a look. See, it really does work as a two tone watch, which is something that I rarely see. So let's move on to wrist checks. Ricky, I come second. You're going first. What are you wearing?
- [36:33]
Ricky
What was that you said there? What does Ricky think of this watch? Before we do the wrist check? Walter, what do you think of this watch? Dave? Since you asked, I like it. I think it's quite nice. I like the sub dials, I like the concentric circles that are inside it. And the thing that got me, and it may just be my shitty memory, it has got horizontal brushing on the watch face. And the watch head itself, it doesn't have a starburst, it doesn't have a satin effect. It's got the horizontal lines running across it and I've never really seen that before. And then the pushers and everything are really polished on the right hand side. So yeah, I do actually quite like this one. And we will be seeing it because this is when we record this. We're recording this Monday. This show goes out on Thursday. The video goes out on a Saturday. Lots of editing behind the scenes. Thanks, Gav. And we are heading to Buchrur for their novelty days over the next few days. So we'll be down in London on Wednesday. I think we've got a full house. All the tickets are now gone. Well, definitely will be. In the event it'll be done by the time you Hear this. It doesn't really matter, but we will be down there. And Bucharen obviously are big with gp, so we're going to be able to see not just this, but something again, we can't tell you about until next week. People do trust us with things. We appreciate that we don't break embargoes. Mziel does that for us. And it's time for wrist check and Dave likes to come second. I will go first. So this here is from our good buddies over at Spinnaker and it's a collaboration with 4Ocean. So I can already tell ahead of time that this is going to be something to do with ecological issues because the packaging looks very, I don't know, it looks very recyclable. And as I'm taking this apart, looking inside, we have got a bracelet, a freebie. Don't know what's going on there, don't care. We've got some information. Ah, information. Information is always good. Crafted with purpose, this partnership between Spinnaker and four Ocean supports the removal of plastic and debris from our oceans, rivers and coastlines, preserving the beauty and health of our waters for generations to come. Cool story, bro. This is what we're here to see. It's the new release and I have actually seen this watch advertised and pictured all over the interwebs over the past little while. And this colorway is not the one I was thinking it was going to be. They have got a number of different colors from blues and purples. The one that has appeared here is actually, I don't know, it looks like an opaline. It looks like a mixture of lapis and different blues, but obviously it's made of plastic. It is little bits and pieces that they have scavenged from the oceans from different places and put together inside a watch. Not the first brand to ever do this, but it is always nice to see people getting behind great causes and helping out behind the scenes. David, have you seen this one before?
- [38:59]
Dave
I have not seen this watch in real life. This is actually the first time seeing it. I went and had a look at the website to see what watches and as you mentioned, there's lots of different color iterations available. And again, as you correctly mentioned, there are a few brands have done various things with a number of different charities that tend to work about pulling plastic out of our oceans to try and make them a cleaner place. But this is one of the, in my opinion, better looking options that have been put out into the market.
- [39:23]
Ricky
You're right. And looking at the color Scheme. Again, it plays into the old Scottish watches logo with the blue blues and the whites. Yeah, there's even a little bit of Zodiac in there. But the thing that got me is it is not an insignificant piece. This is a rather. Well, it's a bit of a chunky monkey looking at it. So 43 mil is definitely not on the svelte side. But you know, with Spinnaker it's always going to be high quality, high fit and finish and decent on the wrist, no matter what size of wrist you have. Because my missus is wearing all kinds of bold watches. I think 45 mil is the largest one that she has had a shot of and no doubt she'll be giving this one a bash at some point point to post on her Instagram. So running through the details on this, it is a limited edition, don't know how many will be left because as with all spinnakers, they do disappear and evaporate rather quickly. We know that having done Ernesti watches with them in the past and potentially later on this year as well, this here has got a one of a kind dial because everyone is unique based on what kind of plastics they have recovered and placed within the dial behind the dial the movement is the Miota 8215 automatic Japanese movement, three hander with date, 42 hours of power reserve, which is actually decent in a budget watch. And you have got 300 meters of water resistance which is absolutely fantastic. Yeah, I'm actually quite digging this one. Looking on the side profile, as with most spinnakers, you have got the crown with the logo in there with a bit of inking and then on the back you have got the clasp and that chunky bracelet. Two years international warranty on these things. Again, don't know how many will be left by the time you check this out out. And of course you have got your 30 days returning refund available if it is not something that is going to sit in your collection for a large amount of time. 43 millimeters, 22 mil on the bracelet and it comes in, well, 206 grams. Not insignificant, but again, saves you from a trip to the gym, I suppose. Yep. Check out the show notes for all the pictures on this one and obviously if you're watching on YouTube the link will be in the description. Next Dave's going to tell us what he's got on the wrist.
- [41:18]
Dave
What David's wearing is what well by chance he found found being slightly untrue. He was looking for something else as he usually does on a shelf was it an elf. It was an elf. Elf on a shelf indeed. It's not Christmas shit either. But David is wearing his Girard Perregaux or one of his Girard Perregaux and the one he is wearing is his Laureato Absolute. This is with the black onyx dial with the rose gold markers and logo at the top there and the second hand and of course with the rose gold rotor. This is a watch that I have not worn for many months now and I got it out, wound it up and I am happily wearing it and I've actually had it on my wrist. The strap is nice and warm. I like the watch we talked about earlier in the show. Have put this onto the rubber strap, the official rubber strap. I do wear it on the bracelet very occasionally but have found this one much more wearable and comfortable on the official Girard Perregaux rubber strap. Lovely and slim. This is my 1970s thing. I like this much more than. Well, another brand that make watches and they're doing a plastic version coming soon to stores hopefully near you. But this is my favourite shape of the kind of Genta esque designs from the 1970s. So that is what David is actually wearing on his wrist today.
- [42:36]
Ricky
Alrighty, you've done the wrist check? I've done the wrist check. Tell us what you've been up to.
- [42:39]
Dave
What has David been up to? Well, as Ricky, apart from not pressing
- [42:43]
Ricky
recording your audio recorder.
- [42:45]
Dave
Yes, David forgot to press his separate audio recorder record today but luckily we have a backup because, well, we have to have backups. These things happen. Anyway, what's David been up to? Of course it was a Glasgow Watch show the weekend just before we are recording this which turned out to be, as we expected, a great success, a new venue. We talked all about it before. The light in the venue was excellent. We even did a live podcast recording there which will be coming to your ears very soon. It went well, Very well. Except for the double microphone. Lots of double entendres going on about that.
- [43:18]
Ricky
I noticed you didn't reply to any of the WhatsApp group messages where I had a little picture of you holding two mics and then the Jennifer Lawrence gif of her I'll take two of them at once thing.
- [43:28]
Dave
Revenge is best served cold because I know that you are additionally holding two microphones in said manner.
- [43:35]
Ricky
I didn't look as proficient.
- [43:36]
Dave
Well, I mean, you know, practice makes perfect. Anyway, moving along, there were a lot of people from the minute the show opened at 10am it went absolutely mental ballistic and Every stand that I could see within the whole venue was, well, at least one or two people deep the entire time of the show. And it went on all the way through into the early evening. It was an excellent, excellent attendance. Lots of really engaged people coming along, wanting to learn all about watches and it was nice to see lots of families there. There was plenty of people came along with their kids. Lots of people who maybe were ordinarily not into watches, having a good look at what was going on and, well, engaging and asking interesting questions. You were there as well, Ricky. So before we talk about what else we were up to, you could maybe say a bit about your thoughts on it because you were there as a punter for most of the show, outside of recording the podcast. And of course I was there with work, actually exhibiting. So as someone going along, wandering around the different stands, how did you find it?
- [44:33]
Ricky
Well, you are the exhibitionist in this duo, I suppose. I had reservations before the event started because moving from one venue to another venue, it was a better venue. There's always going to be the chance something's going to go wrong or you over egg it, or perhaps you upgrade to a larger venue and you don't quite fill it to capacity and it looks lukewarm. Versus the previous shows. That was not the case. We turned up after opening. We didn't try and queue or try and fight our way through or anything like that because we had all the cameras and equipment with us. Unfortunately, we were going to make a video podcast and we couldn't record on video. The reason for that is the show was so successful, so many traders and brands and watch companies wanted to come along, that the area that we had scouted the month before to actually set up all the cameras, the lighting and everything that was utilized for watch brands, we were pushed so far to the edge, we were backing onto the kitchen door. That is how packed to the gunwales this event was. Kudos to Ed, Hamish and everybody behind the scenes. We recorded. We did it in audio and as Dave said, because we were moved to a different area and it was so big and loud, we actually had to have a PA system so people in front of us could hear what was going on. So, yes, we were not double wristing but double making, having to hold two mics in the one hand. Again, David's got a lot of experience here and it was phenomenal. We invited up lots of different people from start to finish. We had Martin from Martin to Glasgow. We had Wes from Nordis. I met him for the first time Been chatting to him for probably five to six years and we just had a great old time. In actual fact, he messaged yesterday morning to say that he had the best time ever in Glasgow. He sold out everything that they brought with him. Couldn't believe the turnout and how things are going in the UK for Nodis, the brand. And. And we're going to have a chat about doing something together in the not so distant future. Elliot Brown was there, Christopher Ward was there, Bamford was there. They all came up to chat to us. We had all kinds of people and folks from the lead sponsor, that's Lyne and Turnbull. That's how things kicked off before we brought Hamish up to have a chat about things. A great show again, we did it in front of a live audience. It's been a few years since me and Dave did that and the last time Dave had to carry things forward because I had got my second bout of COVID and I was under the weather. Dave, this time around, he was the one that was coughing and spluttering to the side. So it was a great partnership, back and forward, bringing people up, having a chat. Audience seemed to really enjoy it, including some of the jokes will not make the cut. So if you have the opportunity in the future to come and see us live, you probably want to do so, because we can be a little bit more fast and loose with what we say, as long as we're not being recorded. And thankfully nobody has posted anything on the Internet. It was a fantastic show. I hung around. Usually when we do these things, we've got a little bit to do somewhere. Somewhere we'll do that and then we'll bugger off, leave everyone to it. We remained almost until closing, going around, chatting to people, forging new friendships, new partnerships, speaking to brands that we didn't know existed beforehand and catching up with old friends, people that were there that maybe we just kind of casually glanced to give a wave to as we walked past. It was mobbed. We waited until the opportune moments to actually approach people because we didn't want to take them off their game. Speaking to watch collectors and people that looked to buy the watches. Even caught up with the folks at Adler, the bicycle watch company that we introduced in one of our videos recently. And it was just great start to finish. Absolutely great. Fantastic parking, great venue, good weather outside. But I don't think it could have been better.
- [47:48]
Dave
I totally agree. Looking forward to what happens at the other two shows that he's got in the UK this year, that being Manchester and Southampton I think Southampton comes first, then Manchester towards the end of the year and of course I have no doubts they will be back in Glasgow in 2027. Outside of that though, what else have you been up to, Ricky?
- [48:06]
Ricky
Pretty much nothing. And I don't care because that is more than enough to tell people about. And we have got limited time so we're going to move on to the next watch. And we've been talking about Ulysse Nordan for a couple of years since I spent a lot of time in Dubai as Dave did as well in Dubai with Matthew, the MD of the company. And he was taking me through the motions of the brand and it gave me the warm fuzzy feelings because he was such an enthusiast when we actually managed to drag him and he's a busy guy when we dragged him on the podcast. He was one of those brand leaders that doesn't shy away from the fact of talking of other brands. He spoke of Tag, he spoke of Patek, he spoke of Rolex in very good ways, not putting them down, not diminishing what they do or trying to one up them. And when somebody does that, and it does not happen a lot, especially with the Swiss, you know that they are a true enthusiast and they're not shackled by corporate or don't say anything about our competitors in a positive light. And yeah, we've been to many presentations across the world. I remember seeing the Freak Ops coming out over in Dubai. I remember the marquetry stuff a couple of years ago that we saw in their boutique. And then this year, or sorry, last year it was the world's latest weight dive watch that they announced and released to everybody. Previous to that, gumball collaborations. And this year, super freak 25 years of the freak and the world's most complicated time. Only watch now, we thought, right, that's it, fine, well done, you've done a great stuff. There'll be some more stuff coming down the line in a couple of months. No, no, couple of weeks. They decided to totally turn things upside down, to go in a completely different direction with Ermetar. So maybe you can tell us what they've got for people now.
- [49:35]
Dave
Indeed. So they've announced their Classico Rendao Louis Make Waves collection. Now I think it's fair to say most people, when they hear Ulusi Nardin say things like Silicon Lefreak, high technology, lots of the things that, that most people would associate with the brand, they're maybe not so widely known for Meti Adar now, what they brought out this time is four models. They're 40 millimeter rose gold watches. Very simple, very clean, round, classic looking watches in many respects. But it's the dial that does the talking. They've got hand painted, miniature painted dials. Now there were four pictures created by a Chinese contemporary artist. His name is as Rendellui. He used ink as a medium and once he'd created these images which are all to do with the sea, the Ulysse Nardan's in house and micro painters carefully studied these and then recreated each of these as miniature paintings on the watch dials. No mean feat because they had to do each 25 times to create this full 100 piece collection. Of course four watches, 25 of each equals 100 watches. They say it was around 50 hours of time on each dial was the time taken to actually properly bring these to life. Now the subject of each of the four paintings is the raw power of the sea. There are four designs, they've got Chinese names. I'm not going to butcher the Chinese names. The English equivalents are the kindred spirit resonance, mystic melody and graceful ease. These are all very artisanal, very. I think you can of observe these almost as a piece of art as much as it is something you wear on your wrist to tell the time. They all feature the calibre UN320 which is an automatic movement in house of course by the brand but it's one of their simpler movements, not something like their world's most complicated time. Only watch that we saw only a few weeks ago it's got 48 hours of power reserve. It does of course though stealth each other's silicon escapement. We mentioned there's 25 pieces of each of them and the price point is is £48,600 of each of these watches. Now availability is a bit unusual. You can get it from the boutiques in China as you would expect also Geneva but it is going to be available by request globally at any of their outlets. So if you see one that really you would decide you want to have, you can put a request in and hopefully that will be fulfilled. So it's not regionally locked like some of these limited releases sometimes are very unusual. Not something you would particularly expect from UN but have to say it's nice when a brand does something different and catches you a little off guard and
- [52:10]
Ricky
they have done for a number of years with all kinds of stuff. We're working behind the scenes, we're trying our best to get across and actually visit the atelier where they put these things. Together, because I want to see behind the scenes. Having seen one of the videos from Super Freak when we were over in Geneva, I actually want to go and meet the guys, not just on the booth, because that's fun, but there's 20 other people vying for attention of the watchmakers. I want to spend a bit of quality time, learn a bit about how they put these things together because they don't have the might of Rolex behind them. You know, they're a small operation when you think about it. And these ones we're talking about today, it is complete art. The logo almost disappears up at the 12 o' clock position. It is an art piece first and foremost, similar to maybe some of the Vacheron stuff that we've seen before. But it's almost like you've taken Grandstand, Seiko and what they talk about with dial design and all the imagery they have, and blending it with Vacheron, but not charging 150 grand for it. I think the price point in this one is around about the 45 mark. And because it is solid gold and it has got all these unique attributes towards it, I think the price should have been a lot higher. But that's just my personal opinion. I think they're doing amazing things. They don't rest no laurels they could do. They're innovating, changing up, and they're not all the same. This looks nothing like a freak, nothing like a super freak from just a few weeks ago when we were overseeing them in Switzerland. I don't know what else they've got coming down line. They don't trust us enough just yet to tell us things ahead of time with embargoes in place. But this is a departure from the Freak, from the Superfreak, from the other stuff they've done, the air diver from last year, etc. So what are your thoughts on this? Does this remind you of other brands that would charge three times a multiple?
- [53:49]
Dave
Have to say there are many brands out there that would be charging significant significantly more for this kind of level of meti d' art skill. We've had the pleasure of seeing some of these fine artists working not, albeit with un, but we have seen it with other brands and it is a very, very considerable skill set these people have. Generally, the price points, as you mentioned, are considerably higher than the sub £50,000 that is being asked for the likes of these watches. It's not, you know, a watch that I would necessarily wear on the wrist, but it's something that I could see being on display somewhere. As you mentioned, they are pieces of art more than they are timepieces. But I'm sure there are people out there that will put these on their wrists and wear them as they should be. Because at the end of the day, ultimately, it's a watch.
- [54:30]
Ricky
Oh, oh, hold on. There's some new watches out.
- [54:34]
Dave
Yes, indeed, there are some new watches out, along with a film that's coming. I think it launches on May 22. A film that follows up from a series that was of course shown on the Disney Channel, that being all about the Mandalorian. And, well, as Ricky is showing. Grogu, Baby Yoda, Bring Me the Child. Yes, They've brought out two watches. One is a GM2100, better known as the Cassioke, and a baby G, a watch that normally we probably wouldn't be covering on the show, and a watch that, well, none of us would wear, but this is maybe a BBG that I might actually go out and buy. Both of these watches are going to also come with something that's a little bit new and unusual, which is a collectible bounty hunter ID card watch stand. The watches. One of the watches based around the character, the Mandalorian Din Darjin, and the other, of course, Grogu. The GM2100. It's going to be in and around that 200 US dollar mark that is arguably one of G Shock's most popular models. For sure. You've got a forged metal bezel on there, kind of rugged finish that's obviously taking inspiration for things like the best curse steel armor that's worn by the Mandalorian. The other, the BA110. That's the baby G. It's a little less expensive in and around the $120, $130 mark. Definitely taking cues from Grogu. It's got that punchy green colorway. You've got lots of the G Shock technology that you would expect. Good water resistance, LED lights, many daily alarms, 100th of a second stopwatches, countdown timers, world timer, all the things you would expect from G Shock if you're into Star wars, if you're into the Mandalorian, these could be something that you wish to have in your collection because again, at the affordable end, I would maybe even potentially be tempted to get both of them because I'm not a big Star wars fan, but I do enjoy the Mandalorian. Ricky, you're more of a Star Trek guy, but you do like Grogu because, well, as we know, you've got a soft cuddly toy that lets you get some nice peaceful sleep at night when you cuddle them. What do you think of the watches though?
- [56:31]
Ricky
Well, you're right, Star wars isn't quite my vibe. Although I do love that fossil Star wars watch that I wore on a previous edition of the show recently. It's good to see a collab and it's good to see a collab that is genuinely a good watch. It's not just been fannied about with different colors. Oh look, we've got this amazing collaboration. Yeah, pretty cool. And the fact that they've done it as a baby G as well. For the baby, the child loved the Mandalorian. The first season that came out it was different. I know it was kind of based on Wild west type television shows, but it worked. And the way that they created the characters of Baby they should have just kept it called Baby Yoda the way they created that character and it had so much not humanisms in it but so much life and expression through the face and the movements and everything else. It was just sublime. And unfortunately I kind of fell off. I watched the second season kind of. It dissipated slightly and I've never really paid much attention since. But I am actually going to go to the cinema to check out the new film when it is released. And we're probably gonna have to release you from listening to this episode because we are done. We have come to the end of our time. We are out twice a week, Monday and Thursdays. You can obviously catch the video at the weekend, generally Saturday around about 9.10am by the time it launches UK time. And you can get in touch with us by dropping us an email info@scottishwatches.co.uk check us out on Instagram scottishwatches and that's pretty much it. Anything you want to tell people to do?
- [57:50]
Dave
You should check out the back catalogue. Go and listen to one of many episodes almost at 800 now. PO go and check if you want to hear from Czapek if you want to hear from from Fears Chrono Swiss if you want to hear from Mike France, his annual check in talking all about of course what Christopher Ward are up to or some episodes with Barbara or Pietro giving their thoughts of what was happening at Watches and Wonders. There's lots of things I'm sure you've not listened to all of them. Some of you of course will have, but there's always ones that are always worth going back and listening to again because you might miss a piece of information outside that, as Ricky said, tune in twice a week. And if you haven't already, please do check that subscribe button on our YouTube channel. It does help us.
- [58:29]
Ricky
It does indeed. Try to think of anything else. Keep an eye out, as Dave mentioned, for an episode we recorded live at Glasgow Watch Show. It's going to be interesting once it's edited, I think should be fine, I'm pretty sure, yeah. And also the live booker recording that will be happening in two days time from the moment this is being recorded. And I've got no idea how that one's going to go because we don't actually planned what we're doing yet. We like to wait until just before recording to end time to get the latest information, to find out what we can talk about, not talk about. Which means by the time it comes to air, it is as fresh as possible because a lot of people record stuff weeks in advance and by the time you hear it, you've seen it in social media. Maybe it's a bit stale. We try our best to be as up and current as possible and that is it. So thank you for listening and we'll catch you again soon.
- [59:11]
Dave
Take care, Sam.