British Watchmaker's Day Build-Up: Scarlett and Rob Discuss

Summary

The Real Time Show: British Watchmaker's Day Build-Up – Scarlett and Rob Discuss

Release Date: March 2, 2025

Hosts: Rob Nudds & Scarlett Baker
Podcast Description: Real questions. Real Answers. Real talk. The world's most interactive watchmaking podcast, hosted by Rob Nudds and Scarlett Baker.

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1. Opening Banter and Personal Anecdotes

The episode kicks off with Rob Nudds and Scarlett Baker engaging in their characteristic playful banter. Rob attempts to dazzle Scarlett with a convoluted description of "Saxon," leading Scarlett to humorously dismiss his jargon as "a load of shite" (00:00). This light-hearted exchange sets the tone for the episode, highlighting their chemistry and mutual teasing.

Notable Quote:

• Rob Nudds: “So Saxon. Yeah, Saxon is a refined chemical compound of remarkable chromatic homogeny. That is the most Robinus thing to say ever.” (00:00)

2. Recap of Previous Episodes and Pronunciation Nuggets

Rob references a previous discussion about the pronunciation of "neologism," admitting he had been mispronouncing it until a recent echo on a psychology program (00:49). Scarlett seizes the moment to playfully correct Rob, leading to humorous exchanges about who was right or wrong, further strengthening their rapport.

Notable Quote:

• Scarlett Baker: “I was right and you were wrong.” (01:43)

3. Personal Updates: Dry January and American Road Trip

The hosts delve into their recent personal lives. Scarlett proudly shares her success with Dry January, abstaining from alcohol for five weeks before reluctantly returning to it on February 1st (07:59). Rob humorously contrasts this by admitting his trip to America often drags him back into "the throes of alcoholism" (08:33).

Rob details an extensive road trip across the American West Coast, visiting numerous watch retailers for Fortis Watches. His journey spans from Seattle to Portland, Mount Shasta, Davis, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, culminating in a meeting with Feldmar Watches in San Diego. The trip involved 2,099 miles driven in his Jeep Compass, highlighting his dedication to expanding watch retail partnerships (11:19).

Notable Quote:

• Rob Nudds: “I've visited as many retailers as I could on the Pacific coast to try and find suitable partners for the brand as they hope to grow their presence in the US.” (12:44)

4. Recent Watch Acquisitions and Reviews

Rob’s Vero Watch: Rob discusses his purchase of the Vero Watch Co.'s Forest Service Edition Air Tanker, a kinetic watch powered by the Seiko PX 280 movement. He praises its “fume effect” on the dial, creating an almost X-ray-like appearance. Priced around £387, this limited edition of 29 pieces is set to be a topic of his upcoming reviews (16:18).

Scarlett’s Chopard B Mad Ice Cube: Scarlett shares her infatuation with a unique Chopard watch featuring a red resin case and matching strap. Although initially hesitant about the £800 price tag on Chrono24, she contemplates purchasing it as a celebration of her new job. The watch’s distinctive design, reminiscent of gelatin and featuring a limited edition number (999), resonates deeply with her personal style (17:50).

Notable Quote:

• Scarlett Baker: “I really like how it’s called the Chopard B Mad Ice Cube. And I’m like, whoever decided to put B Mad in the name of a watch is a genius.” (19:58)

5. Highlights from LVMH Watch Week

Scarlett and Rob review their top picks from the recent LVMH Watch Week, showcasing a range of innovative and luxurious timepieces:

Rob’s Top Picks:

1. Louis Vuitton Tambour Series:

   • Features: Steel sports watch with intricate case and bezel designs.
   • Insights: Rob appreciates the complexity and unique design elements, comparing some aspects to Harry Winston.

   Notable Quote:

   • Rob Nudds: “I really like the tambour. It was, I think, wasn't it entered into the icon category in GPHG and that ruffled a few feathers.” (26:02)

2. Bulgari’s Automatic Serpenti Models:

   • Features: Introduction of automatic movements into their iconic Serpenti line.
   • Insights: Rob commends Bulgari for blending tradition with modern watchmaking techniques.

3. Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green Saxon:

   • Features: Utilizes "Saxon," a refined chemical compound, offering a unique chromatic effect.
   • Insights: Rob is fascinated by the material's properties and the watch's aesthetic brilliance.

Scarlett’s Top Picks:

1. Bulgari’s Genta:

   • Features: Sea urchin-inspired design with an opal dial and gem settings.
   • Insights: Scarlett is captivated by the watch’s maximalist design and the harmony of its elements.

2. Tiffany’s Jean Schlumberger Collection:

   • Features: Watches with intricate stitching on the dial and prominent gem settings.
   • Insights: Scarlett admires the artistic craftsmanship and the bold use of gemstones.

3. Zenith Chronomaster Sport Rainbow Bezel:

   • Features: Vibrant rainbow-coated bezel.
   • Insights: Scarlett enjoys the playful yet sophisticated use of color, enhancing the watch's visual appeal.

Notable Quotes:

• Scarlett Baker: “I really love the way that it was shot back then, like some of their campaign posters and stuff as well that they did around it was just so cool.” (19:40)
• Rob Nudds: “For me, the case is actually more important to the definition of an icon and really something that you need to get right before you should even approach the dial.” (31:57)

6. British Watchmakers Day Build-Up

As British Watchmakers Day approaches, Rob and Scarlett express immense excitement about the event, focusing on the exclusive watches slated for release. They highlight several key models:

Studio Underdog’s "Gimlet" Watch:

• Features: Limited to 200 pieces, priced at £1,000, manual winding SW2101 movement, 38mm stainless steel case with an onion crown, sapphire crystal, and 100 meters water resistance.
• Insights: The watch is celebrated for its aesthetic appeal, limited availability, and exceptional value given its technical specifications. Rob and Scarlett discuss the intricate design elements, such as the vertical fade dial, sapphire overlay, and the watch's overall harmony and depth.

Technical Discussion on Saxon vs. Sapphire: Rob provides an in-depth analysis of "Saxon," a material distinct from sapphire. He explains that while sapphire is an aluminum dioxide compound colored by metallic oxides, Saxon achieves its hues through rare earth elements and possesses a cubic structure, offering a brighter and more uniform shine (43:00). This material choice enhances the watch's durability and aesthetic versatility.

Notable Quote:

• Scarlett Baker: “I love that it's a big part of British Watchmaking's heritage and how these collaborations are pushing the boundaries.” (51:00)
• Rob Nudds: “I was gobsmacked... it's a grand affordable price for affairs. You get to carry the names of two of the most beloved and respected brands around on your wrist for an absolute song.” (80:37)

7. Listener Engagement and Technical Insights

Throughout the episode, Rob and Scarlett engage with their listeners, encouraging them to attend British Watchmakers Day and explore the showcased watches. They delve into technical aspects, such as movement types, dial aesthetics, and bracelet designs, offering valuable insights for both novice and seasoned watch enthusiasts.

Notable Interaction:

• Scarlett Baker: “If any of the listeners are flogging one, let me know.” (23:43)
• Rob Nudds: “It's a limited release, so queues are going to be around the block.” (85:44)

8. Humorous Exchanges and Closing Remarks

The episode concludes with more humorous interactions, including references to ASMR sensations elicited by watch designs and playful jabs about their own personalities and preferences. They express anticipation for British Watchmakers Day, urging listeners to participate and immerse themselves in the watchmaking community.

Notable Quote:

• Rob Nudds: “Stay safe and keep on ticking.” (86:53)

Conclusion

In this episode of The Real Time Show, Rob Nudds and Scarlett Baker blend insightful watchmaking discussions with engaging personal stories and playful banter. From recounting Rob’s extensive American road trip to dissecting the latest releases from LVMH Watch Week, they provide a comprehensive overview of current trends and exclusive releases in the watch industry. The highlight remains their excitement for British Watchmakers Day, especially the affordable yet luxurious Studio Underdog "Gimlet" watch, which epitomizes the event's spirit of innovation and heritage. Listeners are left both informed and entertained, eagerly anticipating the upcoming festivities in the British watchmaking calendar.

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Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Opening Banter: Rob’s Saxon Description
• 00:49 – Recap on Neologism Pronunciation
• 07:59 – Dry January Success
• 11:19 – Rob’s American Road Trip Details
• 16:18 – Rob’s Vero Watch Purchase
• 17:50 – Scarlett’s Chopard B Mad Ice Cube
• 19:40 – LVMH Watch Week Highlights
• 26:02 – Rob’s Top Picks from LVMH Watch Week
• 31:57 – Importance of Case Design in Watchmaking
• 43:00 – Technical Discussion: Saxon vs Sapphire
• 51:00 – British Watchmakers Day Excitement
• 80:37 – Detailed Breakdown of Studio Underdog’s Gimlet
• 85:44 – Anticipation for British Watchmakers Day
• 86:53 – Closing Remarks

Transcript

[Rob Nudds]

So Saxon. Yeah, Saxon is a refined chemical compound of remarkable chromatic homogeny. That is the most Robinus thing to say ever.

[Scarlett Baker]

Did you write that?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

What a load of shite.

[Rob Nudds]

Because chromatic is a weird word because I mean it to, like, apply to colors, obviously, but it can also be something to do with music, right? Like the chromatic scale.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, I think so. I've only ever referred to it as, like, polychromatic or monochromatic, though.

[Rob Nudds]

It's crazy, right? The definition is, number one, music, relating to or using notes belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage is written. And then number two, relating or produced by color. How crazy is that?

[Scarlett Baker]

That's two very different universes.

[Rob Nudds]

It is, isn't it? How odd.

[Scarlett Baker]

The sound of colour. There you go.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, that sounds like a Pulitzer Prize winning novel if it hasn't already been written. I'm going to write it down in my notes.

[Scarlett Baker]

I'm trademarking that.

[Rob Nudds]

Talking of words, I actually have a callback to our previous episode when we were discussing how to pronounce neologism.

[Scarlett Baker]

Oh, yeah? Did someone tell you?

[Rob Nudds]

No, but just how the universe works in this way. I was watching a TV show or something on YouTube, I don't know, a psychology program, and it came up and they said neologism, which is, I think, what you said.

[Scarlett Baker]

I fucking did. Yes.

[Rob Nudds]

And I said neologism. So I've been saying it wrong all these years, but I thought since it came up so. So soon after our conversation.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, that's weird.

[Rob Nudds]

I was like, right. I have to tell her that. Yes, you were right and I was wrong. So.

[Scarlett Baker]

Sorry, the audio cut out. Could you just say that one more time? I was what?

[Rob Nudds]

Okay, I'll just get it really clean so we can use it as a sound drop. Okay, I was right and you were wrong.

[Scarlett Baker]

I don't think that's true. I think it's.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, wait, no, hang on. Sorry.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, get it right. Get it on the record, please.

[Rob Nudds]

I was wrong and you were right.

[Scarlett Baker]

Louder for the people in the back.

[Rob Nudds]

I was wrong and you were right.

[Scarlett Baker]

Ow, my headphones.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, Sus. Oh, I'm gonna have a raspy voice for the rest of the episode and.

[Scarlett Baker]

You'Ve just lost 10 followers.

[Rob Nudds]

Do you think people follow me because I'm quite often right. Oh, I don't think that's why they follow me. I think it's for the mustache.

[Scarlett Baker]

We're gonna start sounding like an episode of the Archers. Have you ever listened to the archers?

[Rob Nudds]

I'm nearly 40, you know, in my day, we would huddle around the fire and tune in the old wireless, you know.

[Scarlett Baker]

I love it. Grew up listening to it. Still do listen to it when I want to go to sleep, actually.

[Rob Nudds]

I think the theme tune suits you perfectly.

[Scarlett Baker]

That should really. I like that. And I like the theme tune to the Antiques Ratio anyway.

[Rob Nudds]

It's intense. Nothing quite fits the theme tune to Ski Sunday, though. Ski Sunday's the best.

[Scarlett Baker]

Oh, I couldn't even try and hit that note if I wanted.

[Rob Nudds]

No, if you try and do it. If you try and hum it, you just. You. I found over the years, you just end up picking a note.

[Scarlett Baker]

Wait, how does it go again? I've forgotten now.

[Rob Nudds]

Well, this is the thing. I can't do it because no one can do it. You just pick one note and then you do it, like.

[Scarlett Baker]

And you just gotta. I miss that show.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, that was great.

[Scarlett Baker]

So good.

[Rob Nudds]

Absolutely great. I was such a huge fan.

[Scarlett Baker]

I used to get anxiety watching it, though. And the same with the Antiques Roadshow, because it would be Ski Sunday, Antiques Roadshow and Last of the Summer Wine. That would come on on a Sunday night, and as soon as I'd hear those theme tunes, I'd know that bedtime was around the corner.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, that's where you got anxiety.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

That's not what I expected.

[Scarlett Baker]

I'd be like, no, don't make me go up those stairs.

[Rob Nudds]

I actually have a watchmaking story about Ski Sunday, if you'd like to hear it.

[Scarlett Baker]

Go on.

[Rob Nudds]

So I am a huge fan of Ski Sunday. I loved watching skiing when I was a kid, despite only skiing for the first time myself a few years ago, I just adored, like, the risk, the mountains, the speed and everything. And obviously we had one very good skier when I was a kid from Britain called Graham Bell. All right.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

You know Graham Bell? Well, Graham Bell became an ambassador for Bremont. While I was working at Bremont, I was thrilled to hear that Graham Bell was going to be visiting the workshop. And I was the only one that knew who he was. Out of the entire workshop force, nobody knew or cared for Graham Bell. And he was actually like a bit of a hero of mine. And I was super nervous when he was coming around. Everybody else was completely normal because they didn't give a. And he comes into the workshop and one of the watchmakers, and this was like a scene from high school or something, he turns around, he goes, oh, Rob. Rob's obsessed with you, Rob. I think you're Rob's hero. And he turned around and I went Bright red. And he looked at me and he went, is that true? And I went, that's not like I'm that bothered or anything. You know, bottled it. And then he gave me the dirtiest look ever and just completely pinned me off for the rest of the day. Wouldn't talk to me, you idiot.

[Scarlett Baker]

That was your moment. That was your moment.

[Rob Nudds]

Could have been his best mate, but as it turned out, I was just a bit rude to him, which was fucking devastating. So, Graham, if you're listening, you are actually my hero, and I'm really sorry that I couldn't handle myself better when the lights were shining brightest upon me. What can I say? I was less used to media exposure at the time. Hi, and hello, watch fans, and welcome to another edition of the Real Time show with me, your friendly neighborhood watchmaker, Rob Nudds, and our humble rambler, Scarlett Baker, back in the studio to discuss what's just happened to us both personally. A big trip in America and an acquisition of a new watch. And Scarlett, the realization that she can no longer live without a certain timepiece in her life. And then we're going to talk about LVMH Watch Week and. And then we're going to look ahead to British Watchmakers Day.

[Scarlett Baker]

Am I allowed to say hello at any point during that intro?

[Rob Nudds]

That's an intro is what it's called. I'm about to kick it over to you. For fuck's sake. You know, you can do it next time yourself. Honestly.

[Scarlett Baker]

Go on, do it again. You did it too fast. Way too fast.

[Rob Nudds]

I did? Wait. Okay, so you. Here we go. All right. This is a work in progress. We're going to leave all of this in.

[Scarlett Baker]

No, we're not. We're not. We're not.

[Rob Nudds]

How the Sausage Gets Made. All right. Okay. Hi, and hello, watch fans, and welcome to another edition of the Real Time show with me, your friendly neighborhood watchmaker, Rob Nudds, and our humble rambler, Scarlett Baker. Hi, Scarlett.

[Scarlett Baker]

Hi, Rob.

[Rob Nudds]

Princess. All right, where were we? You've totally thrown me off now.

[Scarlett Baker]

We're here to talk about watches. We're here to talk about the lovely LVMH Watch Week that's just happened. And we're here to talk about British Watchmaking Day, which is just around the corner upon us.

[Rob Nudds]

Do we know what the name of this thing is? Because we keep saying watchmakers and watchmaking interchangeably.

[Scarlett Baker]

I'm checking the website now.

[Rob Nudds]

I thought you might. Good one. Have a look. Anyway, whatever it is, it is the greatest event in the current calendar of British watchmaking obviously. We used to have Salon qp, which in its glory days was headed up by our good friend Lucy Cheese Wright, who we need to get on this show at some point. Actually, we had a recording session booked once upon a time, but she's a very busy woman, as you'd expect. And you are going to be there this year. Right?

[Scarlett Baker]

I am also just to interject, it's watchmakers.

[Rob Nudds]

All right, okay. Watchmakers.

[Scarlett Baker]

And it's. We're not going back to this conversation. We're not.

[Rob Nudds]

I've got the sound drop. I was right and you were wrong.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yes. 8th of March. 8th of March, Linley Hall, London Town. British Watch. What is it?

[Rob Nudds]

Watch Baker's Day. That's your day. You can have a special event after. The after party is British Watch Baker's Night, so you're all invited to that. It was where we first met in person, wasn't it? As we commented on last episode, Bizarre.

[Scarlett Baker]

It was, yes.

[Rob Nudds]

I can't wait to be there again. And we're very excited because, as we'll touch on later in the show, there are an absolute slew of special editions and some of them are immense. All right, so it's been a while since we've actually seen each other in person. I can't remember exactly when it was, but it was definitely last year.

[Scarlett Baker]

It was. Yes, we were. No, it wasn't. It was the start of this year. It was dry January. We went for a quick drink.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We did quite well.

[Scarlett Baker]

A quick gingerbread.

[Rob Nudds]

Did you manage to stick to Dry January?

[Scarlett Baker]

I absolutely did. I did five weeks, no drinking.

[Rob Nudds]

Wow, that's incredible. Well done. Are you back on it now?

[Scarlett Baker]

So I had my first drink on February 1st and I was very underwhelmed by the entire thing and now I'm just, like, not really bothered. So have I turned a corner maybe?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah. Perhaps we'll wait and see what happens at Watches and Wonders. That often drags me back into the throes of alcoholism.

[Scarlett Baker]

But I'll see you in the Grand Duke, Rob.

[Rob Nudds]

See you in the Grand Duke. Yeah, for sure. Probably every night, I'm sure. Last man standing. Okay. What have you been up to since we saw each other very briefly in dry January?

[Scarlett Baker]

I've not really left my living room, to be honest. Been typing away. But beyond that, I did go to Geneva last week. What feels like my now second home. Went to Geneva, went to really incredible watch launch for the Elise Nadan X Amour Pas. Terrible pronunciation from me, but if you haven't seen the watch, it was a really cool limited edition of 29 pieces that came out with Udis Nadin partnering up with a fashion designer. And it was a super cool watch. You know, it took them, I think it was two to three years to actually develop because of the fume effect that they'd created on the dial where the movement is partly exposed but never fully obvious. It almost looks like an X ray of a watch in a way. So went out there to go celebrate the launch of that. Said hi to my Swiss pals, saw some cool watches. Yeah. And now I'm back in my living room typing away.

[Rob Nudds]

Well, that's because you're in demand at the moment, aren't you? You're getting new assignments on the regular. We had a call earlier today and I think you got two more commissions while you're on the phone.

[Scarlett Baker]

Things are cooking. Things are cooking.

[Rob Nudds]

Things are cooking.

[Scarlett Baker]

It's not me because I'm shit at cooking, but things are cooking.

[Rob Nudds]

Are you good at baking?

[Scarlett Baker]

Oh my God, no. I do my name absolutely no justice.

[Rob Nudds]

What a disappointment.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know, I'm shocking.

[Rob Nudds]

I'm great at nudcing.

[Scarlett Baker]

What's nutsing?

[Rob Nudds]

Well, it's actually. If you want to find out what nudding is, if anyone's interested, you can go to the Urban Dictionary.

[Scarlett Baker]

Oh God, no, no.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, that's. It's an entry. Let's see now. Nudds. That's how you spell my surname. Here it is. Nudds. Okay. Nuds. Nudds. A verb used without object or nudzing a noun, adjective. There are five definitions of this. Number one, to escape a self inflicted moment of social awkwardness caused by extreme brazenness and or inebriation using verbal trickery or surrealist wit to defuse or conf. That's number one. Two, to perform a feat requiring verbal or mental dexterity while under the influence of alcohol.

[Scarlett Baker]

I love how they're all related to alcohol.

[Rob Nudds]

Three, to get away with drunken mischief by concealing the original faux pas with further layers of drunken mischief. Four, the verbal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass in football, apparently. And five. Yeah, to dress and or act in a spivish manner while maintaining an air of universal affability so as to avoid reprimand. So named after the oft inebriated and serially mischievous author RJ Nudds.

[Scarlett Baker]

Every single definition mentions imbibing in some capacity.

[Rob Nudds]

We've got some examples of how to use it in a sentence here. So here's one. When you've dug yourself into a hole, try nudging your way out of it. I don't know how you got away with that. You totally nudged her. And here's one. It's a boom or bust situation. It's time to go Nuds. Lol.

[Scarlett Baker]

My God, I'm surprised you've never used that.

[Rob Nudds]

He's been nutsing around all night and it's done him no harm. So that was written by my best mate about 15 years ago. It's still in there, which is funny.

[Scarlett Baker]

It's time to Nuds. Nuds. Tell me where you've been in the world.

[Rob Nudds]

Well, I have been all over since we saw each other. Which, yeah, you're right. It was early January, wasn't it? Right at the start of January. I have been in Copenhagen assembling watches. Then I went back to Dresden for a few days to see my pals and then I took one day to England to visit my brother on his birthday. And then I flew to the US to Seattle to begin a week long journey down the west coast for Fortis Watches, for whom I do a bit of retail exploration in the United States and my task was to visit as many retailers as I could on the Pacific coast to try and find suitable partners for the brand as they hope to grow their presence in the us. And I visited Seattle on the Monday. I did seven retailers in Seattle.

[Scarlett Baker]

Wow.

[Rob Nudds]

Then I drove to Portland, I think I did three or four in a Portland area. Then I drove down to Mount Shasta, which is a volcano in Northern California, and visited a retailer there, nice little old jewelers. Then down to Davis, also in California, just outside San Francisco. Then I went through Burlingame in San Francisco, visited Zak Pina, who you might know from the wind up fairs and a blog to watch, and his dealings with Topper Jewelers who are based in Burlingame. And I visited them because they have one of the finest watch stores in the whole of the United States. If you're ever in the San Francisco region, pop down there. It's only 10 minutes south of San Francisco airport.

[Scarlett Baker]

Have you. Are you reading all of this from a list?

[Rob Nudds]

It's a list in my brain.

[Scarlett Baker]

This is bloody good memory.

[Rob Nudds]

Well, I had to drill it into myself so I remembered where I needed to be because it was quite a tight schedule. It was about 32 hours driving over the week.

[Scarlett Baker]

Wow.

[Rob Nudds]

2099 miles in total in my Jeep Compass which I became very attached to. I got down to Carmel by the Sea where I popped into Fort Hain hoping to have a conversation with Russell there, but unfortunately he wasn't in. When I was there, so that was sad. Left him a message and then I drove on to LA and I went to Feldmar Watches, who we also hope to partner with. They've got an incredible space, more brands than you can shake a stick at and a wonderful bar area. So a brilliant event location. And then I was feeling fruity after six hours driving, so I thought I'd carry on and drove another three hours down to San Diego with rush hour traffic. This was actually outside of the remit, so Fort was kind of wanted me to stop in San Francisco as it were. But while I was on the West Coast, I thought it'd be remiss of me to not chase up with Feldmar, who we'd approached last year and we were in a conversation with him. I'm hoping that there's a chance that we can work with them in the future, but just touching base in person made sense. And then there is this retailer. There's actually one branch in LA and one branch in LA Joll Diego. I think there may be more elsewhere. There's certainly part of a big group that has other jewelers attached to it. This is west time. I went down to La Jolla in San Diego and popped in there on Saturday morning, had a really nice conversation with a guy called Bernard and that was not one I was really thinking we'd have a chance of getting okay. But having been there again, I went there years ago for Nomos, maybe seven or eight years ago. I think that there might be an opportunity. They, they've got a great portfolio, They've got a huge amount of brands. Had a massive Hermes stand. I think I mentioned this to you earlier, but with no cuts on display. No cuts.

[Scarlett Baker]

Had they sold or were they just.

[Rob Nudds]

I don't delivered yet. I think that was. Yeah, they obviously have been quite well received.

[Scarlett Baker]

They're going to be flying off the Charles.

[Rob Nudds]

It's a great watch. Yeah, it really is. Can't say enough good things about it. And then after I finished my meeting there, I drove east to Tucson to meet up with my dad who was there for Fossil Fair that's held every year. And I just spent the night in Tucson, had dinner with my dad and his girlfriend and then flew back from Phoenix to Copenhagen. And I arrived at 8pm last night. Here we are.

[Scarlett Baker]

Are you with us? Are you? Well, are you okay? Because that is a lot.

[Rob Nudds]

I'm fine. I had a pretty lazy day today, to be honest. I was just sort of lolling around mostly in bed, doing housework and cleaning up the Office and preparing the bathroom to be decorated because I think it needs a bit of a spruce up. And I was. Yeah, just, just doing tasks. But the great thing is while I was in the States, while I was in Portland, I drove out to visit Vero Watch company. Do you know Vero?

[Scarlett Baker]

I don't. I'm not familiar.

[Rob Nudds]

So they make some nice little watches and you know, another US brand that deserves a bit of pop. And I went because I wanted to get one because I've liked them for a while. And I picked up the Forest Service Edition Air Tanker. So this is a kinetic movement. Yeah, it's. So they partnered with the US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, blah, blah, blah. And this particular model, the Forest Service edition, comes in four colorways, all quite striking. One with a bright green case which is called the Service green. One with a kind of khaki drab case with a black dial and green internal bezel called the Ranger. There's a yellow one with a ocean blue and gray dial that's called the Hot Shot. And then the one I got has got a pale gray case with a bright red dial and a yellow seconds hand. And it's super cool. They cost about, well, about €400. About £387, I think it is. I say about exactly £387. And it's powered by a Seiko PX 280, a kinetic movement, which has a date and a sweeping power reserve indicator. So it's got a yellow button at 2 o'clock. When you press it, the seconds hand instantly locates to the power reserve level on the watch. And so it uses the dial as like a gauge.

[Scarlett Baker]

That's cool.

[Rob Nudds]

So it is pretty cool. Yeah, I like it a lot and I'm going to be reviewing it in the near future, so watch your space. What about you? What watches have caught your eye recently?

[Scarlett Baker]

When I was in Geneva last week, I came across this beautiful Chopard watch that I'd never seen before. But I'm sure we're all well acquainted with the Ice Cube collection that they created. But there was a model that I'd actually never seen and it was a beautiful red resin case with a matching red strap. And I just instantly fell in love with it. And I started looking on Chrono 24 immediately and there was one for £800. And I was like, oh, God, this is too good not to do it. I haven't done it yet. I was like, I'm going to think on it for a week. But because I've just started a New job. I was like, oh, this would be a nice way to kind of celebrate with like the first paycheck and get myself a little watch. And then I actually would get something engraved on the back. So yeah, I've got my eyes on it. It's incredible. And also like the way that it was shot back then, like some of their campaign posters and stuff as well that they did around it was just so cool. It made me fall in love with it even more. You know, from afar it just looks like a plastic watch, which I love because you're like, it's Chopard. Like they're insane at, you know, media dar and their jewelry watches. So I just love that it's kind of out of context for them in a way. So that's my, my new one to add to the list. So J12 will have to wait for a little bit and I think I might have to. It's annoying because my mum and dad's birthday in February and I'm like, I want to spend the money on me, not on their presents. But alas, I should be a good human. So maybe I'll wait till March because March is my birthday and maybe that will be something that I finally add to basket and get on my wrist. And it'd be quite nice to have it for watches and wonders as well as like my new acquisition for the year.

[Rob Nudds]

So what kind of era is this from?

[Scarlett Baker]

Apparently it's circa 2000s, early 2000s.

[Rob Nudds]

Crazy. I have never seen this before. I just had a look for it. I couldn't find one at 800 pounds on Chrono 24. Really found one at $1700.

[Scarlett Baker]

No one came up at 800 for me the other day. Unless all of a sudden there's been a huge uptake in everybody looking at this watch. But I just, I really love the name behind it as well. Like I love the fact that it's called the Chopard B Mad Ice Cube. And I'm like, whoever decided to put be Mad in the name of a watch is a genius. And I'm like, you know, is it the obvious homage to it being the color red and seeing red? But also my name is Scarlett. So not to be too cliche, but it seems like the perfect fit.

[Rob Nudds]

I mean this is incredible. It is an incredible looking watch. I've never seen it in my life. I had no idea it existed.

[Scarlett Baker]

It looks like gelatin almost.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, I was gonna say it should be called the jelly cube. It looks like, you know, a round trees jelly when you have a pack. Huh. It is so, so good. And according to this, it was 2004, and it was a limited edition of 9999 pieces. The one online, the one on Chrono that I can see is number 999, which is a pretty good number. And, yeah, you're right, there's plenty of space on the back there for an engraving. And the crown. The crown is interesting. I mean, you know, I'm an Arkano boy. We love a square crown. And it's got a little square crown tucked away in there. It's cute on the buckle as well. The buckle is great.

[Scarlett Baker]

I'm glad you like it. It's me in a watch. I just look at it and you know sometimes how you're like, particularly with getting your first couple of watches. For me, I really want to be able to see myself somehow in a watch. And we talk a lot in. And I specifically write about this a lot, about how people should perhaps find traits of themselves and how that manifests in the watch that they were for me. I just look at this watch and I'm like, it's me. And I'm not saying I'm an angry, mad woman should have a watch that says be mad, but, you know, we all get a little bit angry every now and then. Yeah. I think it's epic, so. And it's unexpected. I've not seen anybody else wear one.

[Rob Nudds]

I mean, I've never seen it in my life. And that's saying something. Right? I mean, it's. It's pretty rare that you come across an entire, like, concept that is totally alien to you at this point. And. No, I see what you're saying. 100% agree with you, that it's important to have that personal, emotional resonance with the watches that you wear. And this one, it is you. It is absolutely brilliant. I could just see it going so well with a lot of the other bits and bobs. You've got your Piaget jacket, your Happy Meal handbag.

[Scarlett Baker]

You know, shall I just do it? I'm. You're kind of, like, pushing me towards getting off this call and actually just fucking buying it.

[Rob Nudds]

Can you still see that one for 800 quid?

[Scarlett Baker]

Well, there was one that was 684 the other day.

[Rob Nudds]

Scarlet, buy it.

[Scarlett Baker]

No, I know I should. I actually might, when we get off this podcast, do it.

[Rob Nudds]

I 100 advocate and.

[Scarlett Baker]

I mean, I am an impulsive person, and this is an impulsive decision, but to be fair, I have been sat on this for a week.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, that doesn't. That means it's not an impulsive decision.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

If anything, you've lingered too long right now. Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

You'll be losing the fourth host of the Real Time show if you do that, Rob.

[Rob Nudds]

Unless I bought it and gifted it to you. That'd be nice, but that's not gonna happen, so. Okay.

[Scarlett Baker]

Great way to get my hoops up. Thanks.

[Rob Nudds]

I honestly think you should get it. It's a show part. It's a show part for. If you can honestly get one for seven, 800 quid. Like, it's a joke. It's like when David and I bought those, like, hublot Service watches for 400 quid.

[Scarlett Baker]

So cool. Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

I mean, they are cool. They are cool. But this is. This is next level. This is even better because this isn't even a standing. This is a proper watch and it's limited.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know. It was epic. Oh, my God. I'm looking on Chrono 24 now. There was three the other day and now a lot of them have disappeared. What's happening?

[Rob Nudds]

Something in the air. Scallop.

[Scarlett Baker]

I've not mentioned it anywhere. What's going on? If any of the listeners are flogging one, let me know.

[Rob Nudds]

You know, I was thinking when you were saying, oh, it's the watch that, you know, you see yourself in all the time. The watch that I have that I wore all last week while I was in the States, unsurprisingly, is a Fortis. It's the Fortis Nova. Not just the standard, not the special edition one that they released when the watch came out, but this watch is just. It's perfect for me. It's like I look at it and I just feel at home, which a weird thing to say.

[Scarlett Baker]

Don't you just love that when you get that feeling when you just know you made the perfect decision?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

And you just feel so seen by this object. And like, I know it sounds stupid, but, you know, sometimes we buy. We buy watches or we buy, like, other luxury objects or, you know, I don't know why my brain's saying, like, you buy a new plate, not that that's something I've done recently. And you just kind of think you bought it on a bit of a whim and you're like, yeah, I kind of like it. And then you actually spend some time with it and you're like, I'm not that bothered now. If the plate drops on the floor, if it cracks.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, yeah, I went sad.

[Scarlett Baker]

Maybe I am a really. A mad woman just going around smashing plates on my floor. Maybe I do really need this. Chopard ice cube B. MAD watch.

[Rob Nudds]

I think so. Just so you know, I checked on ebay while you were prattling on and there's three options and two of them are about a grand in your money and one's about 1200 roughly. So you've got options.

[Scarlett Baker]

It was lower last week. They've seen me searching.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, someone's watching you.

[Scarlett Baker]

This is why cookies are a bad thing. I don't like them. Anywho, talking about watches that we, we love and have surprised us and we didn't expect to attach emotions to. I want to talk about LVMH watch week because there was some big hitters that came out and I think it was a really great start to the year as like the first big horological event. So much so that my voice has died in the process and I'm getting emotional about it. Sorry. Rob, tell me your top three from LVMH watch week, please.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, my top three. Let me think.

[Scarlett Baker]

Let me google it first and see.

[Rob Nudds]

Okay, well, I will go for. Do I have to do them in order?

[Scarlett Baker]

Yes, just to be difficult.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, that is difficult. It's tough. So I'm a big fan of what Louis Vuitton is doing. Okay. So I really like the tambour. It was, I think, wasn't it entered into the icon category in. In GPHG and that ruffled a few feathers. Some people said it wasn't really an icon. I kind of disagree in the sense that while it may not be an industry wide icon, it certainly is Louis Vuitton's icon within the collection. And it's a really great effort as a steel, I guess, sports watch, you would say a different take on it. I like what they do with the case. I like what they do with the bezel. And there was a couple of models. Really two of the top three for me could easily be Tambours. I liked the tourbillon version with the sort of floating square hour markers which sort of gave me some Harry Winston vibes. I think it's a super complicated watch considering the platform. You don't expect it from Louis Vuitton all the time to see this kind of horology. And I don't mean that to be derogatory, but when you look at Chanel and you look at Hermes, those are fashion houses that I think have really cracked the watchmaking game. Like, I think that we see their watches now as really watches by watchmakers rather than a fashion house. Stepping into this arena and I'm fully.

[Scarlett Baker]

Going to agree with you There and say, I really believe that Le Fabrique du Temps is like fully given a middle finger to anyone that uses the phrase fashion watches. Like Michael Kors is like, is what I would put in that fashion watch kind of slur that people, you know, still kind of want to throw around sometimes. This is like it's made by a fashion house. But as you say, it is incredible like approach where watchmaking and, you know, couture and these worlds align. I think what they've just brought out is killer. Like, I think it's brilliant. I mean, I particularly loved the spin time that they brought out for me. It kind of reminded me as soon as I saw it of children's abacus. Yeah, spin the numbers and stuff. I thought it was insane. And like, I'm all for distorting ways of seeing time on a dial. Like for me, that's something that particularly gets me excited about a watch. If things are a little bit unconventional and you know, a bit more down the less trodden path. But even down to the tumble convergence that they brought out to rough. We did spend a little bit of time earlier arguing about dragging hours because to be honest, it was not a phrase that I was familiar with. Um, I know my jumping hours well, but dragging hours, the term you, you probably took about 10 minutes trying to explain it to me and I think all physics and logic exited my brain and I just couldn't seem to understand it, could I?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, I'm not really sure which end of the stick you were grasping at there because it, I mean to me it seems pretty self explanatory, but I guess if you've never encountered it before, much less the term dragon hours because it's not like a universally accepted term. Yeah, it could be confusing, but basically as we defined it, normally the hands move and the numbers stay in the same place.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

On a dragging hour watch, the hours move and the hand or the indicator, a small diamond shaped indicator between the hour and the minute wheels which replace the hands are the things that move. But it's a very simple thing to achieve. You don't even need to make a movement modification. And by the looks of the homepage for this particular tambor, they haven't used a different movement. It's a new movement, as in it's a new caliber designation. Nice decoration on the plates.

[Scarlett Baker]

It's caliber LFT MA0101, I'll have you know.

[Rob Nudds]

And we know that you've actually learned that and not just read it straight off the Internet. So congratulations. Thanks for Doing the.

[Scarlett Baker]

In the way that you learned your entire journey through America. I was able to say that amazement off the top of my head as well.

[Rob Nudds]

So, I mean, to be fair, when you've got eight days behind a wheel, you don't have much else to think about other than where you're going. I have like the entire.

[Scarlett Baker]

Not have gps.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, they have GPS here. That's fair enough. Yeah. But it was. It was a memorable trip, so I'm not going to forget it.

[Scarlett Baker]

One thing just, I really want to say, I love about this watch is that, yeah, to me, it gives more of a story to the case. And I know that sounds like an obvious statement, looking at it, when you consider the proportions of how much of a dial you can actually see. But I think it's something that we never really get more of an. We get much of an identity about the case in a watch. It is very much about the dial, you know, without being the first thing you see. But it kind of reminds me of the pebble from Cartier in the way that the case interacts more. There's more of a dialogue between the dial and the case, if that makes sense. Like it's more of a feature. It's the striking component of this watch. And I really like that. I like the fact that time isn't necessarily the most obvious thing when you're looking at it.

[Rob Nudds]

I mean, you're absolutely right, that the main reason why people buy watches, and there's been many a survey done on this, is the dial. And that's all well and good, but for me, the case is actually more important to the definition of an icon and really something that you need to get right before you should even approach the dial. Like, the case is the foundation, it's the platform, as it were. And I always say, because we tend to go even further than like the layman in this conversation about watches, the bracelet, like a true icon, really needs a great bracelet attached to a great case and finished off a great dial.

[Scarlett Baker]

What would you say is. Is that first? Like. Like the blueprint of building a watch? Like, what do you start with first?

[Rob Nudds]

This is a really, really interesting question. It's very expansive. I mean, it could be. It could be several episodes. Because if we asked 10 different watch designers, I am sure they would all say different things. But speaking personally, from my perspective, when I'm designing a watch, it will depend on the brief very much whether I begin with the dial and design outwards, or if I begin with a case and design inwards. Occasionally for myself, I Start with the bracelet, because I think that bracelet design is really underserved and we have such a capacity now to create such wonderful things out of metal and other materials. We should really focus on delivering this generation of watch collectors the greatest era of bracelets that we've ever seen before. And I was thrilled, and I know you were as well, because we talked about it on the last episode. I think to see the Ferland Marry Disco Volante bracelet, like the woven bracelet, it's not like it's new, but it was just class and it was done well.

[Scarlett Baker]

It just like hit different on that watch.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, everything just sort of clicked. It came together perfectly. So let's take some practical examples. So when I was working on the Jan Mayen project with Straum, the dials were kind of defined by what we would see on our mission. So the dials didn't need to be designed almost. They were kind of born through the experience of being out there in the Arctic and photographing the snow and the crater and the waves and then miniaturizing everything that we saw and making a stamp out of it. And the concept, Lasse and Einstein had really defined that very well with the off have. The first release from Stram was set in stone. So what we focused on was the case and the bracelet design was. I kind of followed the case without any, any extra effort on our parts. We knew what it was going to look like right from the get go. But the case itself, we really labored over that. Because the idea of Straum as a brand is that the watches are designed for the environment that has inspired them. Okay, so designed for, inspired by. It's like two separate tenets of the brand. So they have to work in the harsh climate of Norwegian outdoors, and they have to communicate the soul and character of that environment through the aesthetics of the dial. So you got these two different things working in harmony. So that was really an exercise in fit, in finish. Also, the angles of the case, the angles of the crystal and the bezel, they interact with one another to deflect blows towards the outside of the watch so that you're less likely to get like a solid impact that just kind of hangs on a corner or an exposed edge, etc. Etc. Because it's designed to be a tool that you wear on your wrist while performing extreme activities outside. So that was one example. I was talking to Guido Turenni of Parmigiani about a year ago, maybe, about the prospect of designing a watch for Parmigiani, which is. It was Just a brief conversation that we had, I think after we'd recorded an episode of the Real Time Show. And I never followed up with it because very quickly I came up with a concept that I wanted to pitch to Parmigiani, but I was never able to finish it sufficiently in the way that I was happy with. And it was entirely dial focused. So I had this idea to design a range of watches called Luce Aggressiveness. So, like aggressive light. Okay.

[Scarlett Baker]

Okay.

[Rob Nudds]

And the dial was supposed to be set with hundreds of individually faceted and black polished diamonds of metal. So not diamonds, but like diamond shaped like a cat, like on a suit of cards. Just a very typical diamond, like beveled at the edges. And then the top layer was supposed to be black polished, and then the sides were supposed to be frosted. And so they would be set not touching one another, but set into a dial that itself was a completely flawless, high polished, maybe blued sheet of either titanium or perhaps even silicon. Okay. So you would have this, like, wild interaction of, like, light, and the dial would shift and change color as you moved it around on your wrist. And what I really wanted to be able to do was to create a pattern that emanated from the center of the dial towards the outside. And it is doable if you use components of different sizes or even multiple shapes so you can tessellate the thing. But doing it with one component, one size, it's really tricky. So I haven't quite cracked it yet, but I still have it in the back of my mind as something to finish. And finally. And then I'll shut up. I was talking to Albert Adelman from Zeitwinkel, and I've always loved their movements, but I really think that there needs to be like, a home run hitter watch from that brand. Like a complete concept. The movements are exceptional. Dial finishing is great. The cases for me are always a little thick. And there's no iconic bracelet within that collection. And I have this idea for a bracelet. Very complicated construction, too many components to even mention, but a bracelet that would be the star of the show effectively, and is something that I'm working on with the intention to pitch to Albert in the near future. So there's three projects there that all had different origins and different routes to the conclusion.

[Scarlett Baker]

So there's no one way, basically, is the answer.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

And so I'm so glad it took you 15 minutes to tell me that.

[Rob Nudds]

Well, you know, if we just answer questions about any explanation, it'd be a very short podcast, wouldn't it?

[Scarlett Baker]

No, I know, I know. So where did we get to with your top three? So we had Louis Vuitton in the.

[Rob Nudds]

I got to three. I just got to the first one. And I was gonna say that the. The Dragging Hours model is possibly my number one. But I'll just slot it in there at number three as well because you mentioned it already and. Gorgeous piece. Stunning. My favorite Louis Vuitton ever. I think that I would scratch the hell out of the beautiful. What would you say is. Yeah, covered case, front case. But yeah, number two. I'm gonna give a nod to Bulgari for the addition of an automatic movement to the set of Tori or Serpenti models. It's. Yeah, a nice watchmaking coup, I think. What do you think?

[Scarlett Baker]

Well, I'm going to chime in and talk about Genta. Oh, that gentle stole it for me. The sea urchin in French. It looks like fire on the wrist. It's so cool. And just how you have like a case with beads on it is. I can't even think of the word. I'm like that speechless by it. Like, I think it's such a beautiful watch. Really great size as well. In 36 mil. I'm yet to try it on my wrist. I would like to track this watch down and very much try it soon because I love it. I think he can probably kind of gauge my tastes at this point, can't you, Rob? Of watches that are probably a little bit more on the maximalist side. But yeah, I think it was brilliant. And the opal dial is beautiful with it as well. That was a real showstopper for me also to talk about Tiffany as well because they brought out quite a few watches and they were not low key watches either. Like the gem setting on them was incredible. There's one model called the. Could I say it so English? Jean Schlumberger. You can probably do a better pronunciation than I can. Jean Schlambongere by Tiffany. That watch was so cool. And actually it looks like it has stitching on the dial which I really love with like these little X cross stitch sort of gold. I don't know what you'd call them. Well, it's in place of the numerals that are sort of etched into the dial. I think it's really cool. The central disc on it is like stunning. That one I would love. But sadly I'll never be able to afford that watch in my lifestyle. But in my lifestyle in my lifetime, A girl can dream. And the aquamarine model that they also came out with as Well, I thought was pretty epic. Magpie watches, as I like to call them, just totally decked out in 35 carat, whatever diamonds. I loved it. Perhaps deterring from my typical style. Other watches I really loved were the Zenith Chronomaster Sport rainbow watch with the rainbow bezel. I was very fortunate to try that on. I loved it. I wouldn't typically go for a Chronomaster sport personally, but that one with a little bit of the bling to the bezel I really loved. And also I want to give a little humble shout out to the TAG Heuer Formula one chronographs, particularly the black models with the neon accents. If you saw the Monaco that they bought out for the Vegas Grand Prix last year, it sort of follows in a similar vein, but with chronograph model, Formula one chronograph model. I really like that. I think it's, it would be a good everyday watch that I could just sort of bash around on my wrist and I, I'm one of those people that speaks the language of neon. I like things that are neon, so it doesn't scare me to wear that on my wrist. So I really enjoyed that as well.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, that's a cracking watch from TAG Heuer and I have a lot of time for neon as well as, as well, you know, so yeah, thumbs up. The Monaco is not my favorite platform, but I do think that that execution of it is exciting and it's nice to see a brand of tags heritage really embracing color in recent years. I mean that pink dialed Carrera that I think Ryan Gosling was rocking for a while was absolutely gorgeous and I wish wish brands would do that more often. I mean I, I rejoiced when Fierce released that cherry dialed Redcliffe. You know, that's a great, great color. It's bold, it's arresting and it is so characterful. It goes with everything basically because it is the statement. And talking of statements, my number one pick from LVMH watch week is probably unsurprisingly given the love that this brand gets on the Real Time show. But it's the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic green Saxon.

[Scarlett Baker]

Saxon. It sounds Anglo Saxon. Yeah, I. So I didn't see this in the flesh, but I've seen the images of it. The shade of green. Can we just talk about that for a second? Like epic. But I was kind of mind blown when, when the team were explaining it to me, this Saxon thing. And it's like Earth's minerals somehow included in the wash. I'm Sounding so stupid saying that, but, but I can't, my, my brain can't quite comprehend it, so. Please elaborate.

[Rob Nudds]

Well, I had to dig out a definition of Saxon from Revolution magazine written by an exceptional author.

[Scarlett Baker]

Are you nudzing around again?

[Rob Nudds]

I'm not sitting around. Yeah. So apparently I said a while ago to quote myself. To quote myself, yeah. Which is obviously the way to do it. Saxum is a refined chemical compound of remarkable chromatic homogeny, similar to Sapphire in appearance, but chemically quite distinct. Made of aluminium dioxide, sapphires are colored by the addition of metallic oxides, while Saxon receives its distinctive hues from rare earth elements, which of course can vary from watch to watch because they do different colors of Saxon.

[Scarlett Baker]

So to clarify, it's not a sapphire case.

[Rob Nudds]

Bear with me.

[Scarlett Baker]

Okay.

[Rob Nudds]

It is not a sapphire case. There's one more thing that is crucial, the main differentiating point. Furthermore, Sapphire has a triangular structure, while Saxon has a cubic form. This results in a brighter and more uniform shine, which, while not immediately apparent from images, is easier to appreciate in real life. So it is actually chemically quite different from Sapphire, although the result is relatively similar. What those rare earth minerals or elements are. Hublot is not particularly explicit, but yeah, there's more colors available. Soil. Yeah. Dirt. Like the finest dirt in planet Earth. Yeah, maybe. I don't know.

[Scarlett Baker]

So does it give a sort of shinier effect to it than Sapphire does? Like, does it allow for greater finishing?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, I mean, I've never finished a Saxon case. I've been around people finishing Sapphire cases and the QC failure rate is high. Well, I say QC failure rate. Most of them don't make it to QC stages, most of them just shatter or explode or fall to bits. So it's a really tough materials to be working with. I would guess if anything, Saxon might be easier to actually wrestle into a case shape because of that cubic structure. But we should get someone from Hublot, from the technical department, from the Forge and Neon, maybe get them online and chatting to us about it because it's incredible stuff that they're doing.

[Scarlett Baker]

And it's. It's borrowed tech as well though, isn't it, with what they're doing with the Saxon. It's the. I can't remember what industry it was taken from. Is it sort of space related? I can't remember. Can you?

[Rob Nudds]

Good question. I don't know. I could imagine it having lots of industrial applications, something like that. Especially if it is easier to work with than Sapphire, which is just an assumption. We don't know that for sure, but If a watch brand is being smart, then they'll choose something that is more likely to result in a high yield of usable components while also giving them a story to tell, you know, and this.

[Scarlett Baker]

So you can manipulate this a lot better than Sapphire, basically.

[Rob Nudds]

That's what I'm assuming, though. I'm just. I'm making clear it is an assumption. But, you know, Sapphire is hard enough to work with as it is. I would be surprised if Hublot did their R D into Saxon and then were like, okay, this is 10 times harder to work with than Sapphire. Let's not bother. Yeah, maybe they would. They do like to take on the challenge. And it's not like they are giving them away. The prices of these pieces are, as you can imagine, pretty hefty. The model I chose retails for 210,000 Swiss francs. So how to get saving?

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, you know what I'm gonna say it is, to be honest, Hublot actually came in second. And it was a watch that, had I seen it online, I never would have chosen it. And it was the Big Bang Mecha 10 in titanium. I don't know if it was because that day I was wearing all black with some, like, really shiny shoes and this huge ring. And the way I'd kind of staged this, this wrist shot, it just looked really great together, like, everything sort of harmonized. I would never pick this up. I would have looked at it and thought it was too big. I think it's 43. And I just loved it. I really, really loved it. And I would typically not choose a Hubo. I'd probably. If I was, I'd go for probably one of the smaller, classic fusions that came out from Watches and Wonders last year. I really liked those. But this was, like, bulky and, you know, the dial was super interesting with the sort of. It's a skeletonized dial on that one, isn't it?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, it is. Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

And it's a great, great choice. I'm. I'm really impressed because I, as, you know, me and David especially, and Alan also, to a slightly lesser extent, are huge fans of Hublot and the Mecha 10 collection. The movements are exceptional. I would love, love, love the magic gold one because magic gold is.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

Favorite material. I think it's. It's ace. It's like a beautiful. Well, beautiful.

[Scarlett Baker]

Does what it says on the tin.

[Rob Nudds]

It's magic. It's unscratchable, it's. And it's masculine and it's. But it's got a little bit of pop to it because it's got the gold like forced into those carbon billets, extreme pressure and the Mecha 10 version is, you know, expressing who blows better movement, shall we say? Yeah, a lot of the Big bang stuff. As much as I love the Unico, it's pretty basic, you know, in terms of horology, but those mega power reserves in that format are just nuts. And I mean, I just think it's a really, really cool choice of yours and quite an affordable hublot as far as they go.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, it was 19,000, I think.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah. £19,000, yeah, it's dear.

[Scarlett Baker]

No biggie. It's fine. Me just crying over my 1000 pound show part watch that I can't get. But no, we'll skip to the 19 grand new Hublot.

[Rob Nudds]

Look, I know, like it's a crazy amount of money and it's something that many, well, the vast majority of people wouldn't ever be able to afford. But you are in this industry and let's assume that you stay in the industry for your entire career, you know, in 20 years time, if you've bought yourself a thousand euro watch every year and I guarantee that those prices will, will escalate quickly, all you got to do is cash in your collection and then you can easily buy one of these and get it on copy 24 for a bit of a discount. It's attainable. Sounds stupid, but it is attainable over time.

[Scarlett Baker]

Does anyone want to buy my vegetable Swatch watches that I've currently got?

[Rob Nudds]

Your watch? Your what?

[Scarlett Baker]

My vegetable Swatch watches. I've got the collection of the chili, the cucumber and the bacon and egg. Have you not seen these? That came out in 1991, they're epic.

[Rob Nudds]

Bacon's not a vegetable, but no, this.

[Scarlett Baker]

Is the ironic thing. They were dubbed as the Vegetable Collection and everybody refers to them as that. But there's literally a bacon and egg watch in it. But they were distributed at markets, like in food stores. It was. Yes, I know, this is so cool. Yeah, it was a collaboration with an artist. His name was Alfred Vegetable. The first word of his name is art in German Kunst. And then I can't remember the second half of his name now, but yeah, he created this sort of menu for his watch and I bought these watches as my first big purchase. Yeah, Tell me your surname, it's going to annoy me.

[Rob Nudds]

Hofkunst.

[Scarlett Baker]

Alfred Hofkam. Yes. Not sure what Hof means in German. What does it mean?

[Rob Nudds]

Is it just H O F with I? Yeah, yeah, it's like Courtyard.

[Scarlett Baker]

Love that. But yes. Maybe one day I'll depart with those I could maybe get myself. I don't. I don't know that it would go on that hublot, but I do love that hublot. But speaking of more exciting watches that we haven't yet seen in the flesh but are on the horizon, can we please talk about British Watchmakers Day that's coming up?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, all right. You've twisted my arm. Yeah, fine.

[Scarlett Baker]

Did you see that?

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, I'm so excited.

[Scarlett Baker]

Did you see the moment of panic in my voice then where I nearly said watchmaking?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I wobbled, to be fair. There's nothing to fear. You've already fucked it up so many times on record. Like you can't embarrass yourself any further. So you're golden. Don't worry about it. So, British Watchmaking Day. Yeah, let's talk about it.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, you've said it wrong.

[Rob Nudds]

I know I'm taking the piss. I just don't want you to go down alone, you know?

[Scarlett Baker]

Thank you.

[Rob Nudds]

I'll fall on my sword. So I am really excited about this and you rightly reminded me that we had to talk about LVMH Watch week, which I kind of missed because. Because of the driving, but because of.

[Scarlett Baker]

The great American road trip.

[Rob Nudds]

Because of the great American road trip. Yeah. And I have not missed poring over all of the special editions that the many wonderful British brands that will be attending on March 8 are producing for this day and for this day only. And yeah, baby, really, it is absolutely thrilling. And I don't know, I mean, people outside the industry aren't going to be as excited as we are, but there's a lot to be excited about, right?

[Scarlett Baker]

Hell yeah, there is. There's some epic models coming out for this.

[Rob Nudds]

So shall we go through them all in order and give our reactions to them or would you prefer to just pick and choose your favorites you want to discuss?

[Scarlett Baker]

Pick what speaks from to the heart, Rob.

[Rob Nudds]

So first things first, right, Scofield. You know, we love Giles on the show. He's been on three times, I think, and maybe additionally as a guest on a multi brand episode. Giles is a genius. His watches are amazing. He has released case back images of what appear to be three piece uniques. Although I'm not really sure what's going on and I can't wait to see them in person. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm just gonna check my emails because I am an avid subscriber of the Six Pips newsletter. If you do not subscribe to Giles's newsletter. Go and subscribe to it. It is the best, most beautifully produced newsletter I've ever seen in watchmaking. And I save every single one. I've saved every single one from the very first watch one. I have them in a folder in my computer.

[Scarlett Baker]

I think Giles, his approach to watchmaking is really interesting because he doesn't ever want to go down a typical route. And he has his own unique reasons for why he's made these decisions, Whether it's the most obscure reference of something he's watched or noticed in his surroundings. I think he's very good at translating that into a watch that really speaks to him. I'm pissed off that it's only the case back. I want to see it. I want to know what it is. I don't like waiting. I'm also intrigued by the strap as well, from the images that they've released so far.

[Rob Nudds]

Right. I'm just going to text him. Carry on talking as well.

[Scarlett Baker]

Can we. Can we. Can we drop an exclusive right now, please? Will he reply in time? Yeah, I think it's really cool. Well, from what I can see, I think it looks really cool. But, yeah, I'm just. I'm just looking at it now. Why a mermaid? But, like, what's she holding in her hand?

[Rob Nudds]

Well, hopefully not. What? The ones that Ulis Nadan put on their dials that their watches were holding.

[Scarlett Baker]

These. The.

[Rob Nudds]

The horny little watches?

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, the erotic ones. I thought it was that. Yeah, horny little watches.

[Rob Nudds]

You horny little watch. Always texting me back. There we go.

[Scarlett Baker]

Is he. Come on, tell him he's live.

[Rob Nudds]

Okay, I'll tell him. No pressure. We'll leave all this in real time to see how quickly we can get a response. Typing. It's probably gonna tell me to off. So why mermaids? Well, yeah. Why? And. Okay, I'll ask him. And why Scarlett says.

[Scarlett Baker]

Oh, inspired by a line by Shakespeare's the Tempest. Ah. Okay. There we go. It's Miranda.

[Rob Nudds]

Okay, well, I won't ask him that because then it'll make it look like you didn't bother reading anything.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yes, Do. Do we have any update?

[Rob Nudds]

He says he can't because he's still making them. He said his exact words are pain in my knickers. So there you go. The travails of watchmaking live on air. Poor chap. He says it's going to be fine. It's just going to be down to the wire. Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

Does he know he's just been exposed?

[Rob Nudds]

Well, I don't think We've exposed much that anyone didn't know, apart from the fact he maybe wears knickers. But if he does, I bet. I guarantee you there'll be the finest Japanese cotton with mermaids on them. Probably with mermaids on them as well. Yeah, I would guarantee. Guarantee Giles's clubber is always going to be top draw. He is the coolest man in watchmaking.

[Scarlett Baker]

Can we also give a little shout out to Isotope, please?

[Rob Nudds]

Jose literally shouted it. Yeah, of course. Let's talk about Isotope.

[Scarlett Baker]

I mean, I. I can't really recall a watch. I mean, please correct me here, where I've seen the United. Oh, my God. What's the Union Jack? The United Jack. What's that?

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, gosh.

[Scarlett Baker]

What is that?

[Rob Nudds]

Are you even British babes, Like, for real.

[Scarlett Baker]

I'm just trying to be Swiss. Yes, the Union Jack. Have you seen any watches with the Union Jack on the dial?

[Rob Nudds]

Well, let's think there is definitely another one in this. In this collection from Christopher Ward, separate.

[Scarlett Baker]

To these launches, like, previously. Is it something.

[Rob Nudds]

Not counting. Not counting a swatch.

[Scarlett Baker]

No.

[Rob Nudds]

I guess not. Really.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, it's not really something I've seen. And I love that they've kind of just. Just totally distorted the flag. I think it looks really cool. I appreciate these teaser images. I like that they've actually showed me what's around the corner. But, yeah, I think it's brilliant. And also I like the fact that it's kind of our take on Metih dart. I think it's. I also think you just can't really get your head around Metihada until you actually see it in the flesh and understand how complicated it is. And, you know, it's complicated enough to have a steady hand to assemble a watch. And I say that from experience. And pinging loads of movement screws across the room when I tried to put them in the watch one time. We don't talk about that. That was a bad day. Well, it was a great day in terms of learning how crap I am at watchmaking. But, yeah, like, just to me, Meti ada is insanity. Like, how do you achieve this? And I just think it's a. Like, I like the fact that they leaned in to the. To the event, to the title British Watchmakers Day, and really kind of about to give a hideous pun here, but flying the flag for. For UK watchmaking, I like it.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, it certainly is striking.

[Scarlett Baker]

You didn't listen to a word I just said.

[Rob Nudds]

I did. I did, yeah. I really did. You were talking about meteor. Da. But then what sort of Confused me, if I'm being totally frank, is like. Yeah, it's not one thing, is it? You know, I mean, it's. It can be all sorts. It can be micro painting, it can be stone setting, it can be enameling. It's just like the top level of.

[Scarlett Baker]

They're calling it micro marketry as well. So there's a lot going on.

[Rob Nudds]

There's a huge amount of levels within it as well, isn't there?

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

You know, it's not just one thing.

[Scarlett Baker]

I also just really love the isotope logo.

[Rob Nudds]

What, the lacrosse stick.

[Scarlett Baker]

Like, it looked to me like the little. Yes, but it looks like a little head as well to me, I think.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, Well, I don't know. I. I see a lacrosse stick, but I guess. And I know it's not. That's just how I remember it because it changed, didn't it?

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah. It's like a skull but without the details on it in a way. And I liked it. They've still kept that in there, but it kind of takes you a while to notice it.

[Rob Nudds]

Interesting. Never thought about it like that. I do see it differently now.

[Scarlett Baker]

Thank you.

[Rob Nudds]

Right. Now, you did mention another one to me before we started that perhaps you'd like to talk about a bit. And that was from Marlowe.

[Scarlett Baker]

Marlowe Watch Company, the Morale 310. A decade in Time. The first thing I actually saw, other than the fact that it's vibrant as hell, was the strap with a little etched message that says, time well spent. And I really like the fact that they've kind of been a bit poetic and cute about the fact that it's their 10th anniversary timepiece. And I like the fact that it's. It's titled A Decade in Time as well. I really like it when a watch has a good name and not just like regarded by its sort of technical features in the name, if that makes sense. Yeah, you know, like the so and so coaxial tourbillon. Whatever. I like it when they go to that extra length of giving it a name. This beautiful sky blue dial works so well with the yellow. My dad will especially love this because he's a Leeds United fan. And it's very much speaking to the colors of Leeds, but it is also for the flags of Sweden, as I'm reading now, and the Isle of Skye in Scotland, but it is also also Leeds United. Flag. Flag. Fuck me.

[Rob Nudds]

Let's be frank. It's definitely more San Diego Chargers or LA Charges, as I know and now than it is Leeds United in terms of that blue.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah. But am I am I. Am I wrong there? Am I chatting?

[Rob Nudds]

Well, it's just Leeds badges. Like. Like royal blue.

[Scarlett Baker]

Dark. Erisa is darker. Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

And same as a flag of Sweden. Like, if they were going for that shade, they missed it by a mile. But in the right direction because it's absolutely gorgeous. It is beautiful. Powder blue and yellow was a really summery combo. The. The total polish on the case is surprising to me as well, because you don't often see a dive watch of this. These proportions, like with full polish, like on the crown, guards as well on the crown and it really pops. There's loads of nice details here. Like the Cardinal hour markers 12, 3, 6 and 9 are a nice shape. They're kind of like a. What do you call it, Like a pointed teardrop. The hands are massive legible triple chevrons. Really cool. I haven't seen hands like that before.

[Scarlett Baker]

They don't overtake any kind of. For me, they don't take up too much space on the dial. Like, it all kind of works in harmony, even though you've got lots of different colors, different types and, you know, there is a lot going on in this watch. I hope I haven't deterred anyone from buying it by saying it's at least united watch. But also for me, the genre of divers watches, I don't find it particularly sexy. Personally, this genre, I think you find a lot of it's quite much for muchness. And for me, the function, functionality a lot of the time supersedes the design. But this one, I'll throw myself in the sea in this one. Like, this is great. Like, I feel like it's a diver's watch that looks cool and the likelihood of me actually diving in this is probably slim to none. More because I don't even know how to dive, let alone do a deep dive into the ocean. But yeah, it's got that design quality to it as well as the functionality and I really like that. And as you say, the finishing on the crown guards too. Looks. Looks really cute and I like the extra details. I like that he's also done half the bezel in yellow, half of it in blue.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah. And the bezel engraving as well. Let's not sleep on that. That's really nicely done. It looks to be some kind of. I would guess it's sort of like a baker, like base with the numbers in yellow and blue recessed and then topped with adorned. I would assume either mineral or plexi or sapphire crystal or. I don't know, it just. It looks gorgeous. It's a little bubble of happiness. It's chunky and compact in the same time.

[Scarlett Baker]

Do you know what I think when I look at this watch? I can just tell it's gonna have a really nice click to it with that bezel.

[Rob Nudds]

Can you also like just take a moment to like study that seconds hand and like the real crispness of the curve, the curvature of the paint that's been applied to it. How like satisfying that is like. That does not look like a cheap hand to produce.

[Scarlett Baker]

No. Also there's like some, some. There's some serious depth to the actual dial as well, isn't there, the more you look at it.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh yeah, yeah. I mean we've only got a couple of images of it right now. We've not had it in our hands so we don't know exactly what the profile of the watch is going to be. But there is one image from just slightly to the side and it looks like we've got a box sapphire as well. So you've got the, the domed bezel, whatever material it is. In fact now looking at it from the side, it looks like it doesn't have like a transparent top, that it is actually just solid. Yeah, maybe Bakelite or something along those lines. But it's really cute, it's really nice. And then you've got the. Yeah, the box sapphire which adds even more height and depth to it. And you've got what look like wire lugs but they're far from wiry. They are chunky little monkeys. And the strap, I didn't know if you know this but the back end of the strap, the tail end of it is actually red like the fold over that goes through the velcro bit. Yeah, it's so it picks out the time well spent woven message on the strap and then the back end is red so it's really popping. It is the ultimate summer watch.

[Scarlett Baker]

I would love to know how long they were working on this. I only just noticed the 20, 2015, 2025 at the 6 o'clock as well.

[Rob Nudds]

That is nice, isn't it?

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, of course that was very subtle. I would also, if you don't mind, like to give an honorable mention to another name, which I think is great, which is The Christopher Ward C1 moon phase mission to Maidenhead.

[Rob Nudds]

That is a cool one. But just before we leave Marlowe, two things to say to people that are interested. It's limited to 100 pieces and I didn't know this but they've all been assembled by their in house watchmaker Alison Eardley. So there aren't a huge amount of female watchmakers in the British scene. So just a shout out to Alison there and great job. So let's go on to Christopher Ward.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, this is from Sweden to Maidenhead. Can we please talk about the name first? It's genius. I just really enjoy it when you. Particularly if we look at a brand like Christopher Ward that, you know, had the recognition and the accolade from gphg, which, you know, to a lot of brands is the ultimate success for them to, you know, have that credibility and then go into a watch like this, where you have a literal astronaut cartoon on the dial with the moonface holding a Union Jack. And I'm like. I kind of look at it and I'm like, what? But in the best kind of way. I also like the fact that with the dial as well. Is it Aventurine dial we're looking at here?

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yes, it is. You know, this sort of fade of the Union Jack in that as well. I really like it. I wish it had had a metal bracelet. I know, but just in terms of the imagery. But then I understand the sort of harmonizing of the red and the blue. I think it's really funky.

[Rob Nudds]

25 individually numbered pieces available to purchase at the event. And interestingly, all the profits from this model will go to the Alliance.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know I keep banging on about the name, but, like, it's obviously riffing on a very famous Mission two that we've all been talking about the past couple of years. And I'm like, it's very brave. And I write that I rate the bravery. Don't be scared of the conglomerates is what Christopher Ward is saying with this watch.

[Rob Nudds]

Right? Yeah. Christopher Ward is bold enough and has, I think, a good enough standing in the industry to get away with it. And it is. Just tell me in cheek. I mean, like, Omega's gonna care. What would they do even if they did?

[Scarlett Baker]

You know, I thought we weren't gonna name names.

[Rob Nudds]

That's just your policy. Okay. There's obviously one more. Well, yeah, two more. But, you know, two more that we need to talk about. We'll start with the solo effort from Fears, your favorite complication.

[Scarlett Baker]

It is so can't get my head around dragging hours, but bloody love a jumping hour. I really, really like this edition that they just bought out, which is the 40.5 jump hour Edwardian edition in the Brunswick model. It very much makes me think about some kind of collaboration between Chanel and Edwardian spirit, because it reminds me of The Monsieur Chanel watch that came out sort of has that similar negative space on the dial, which I really like, where the jumping out is. Is really prioritized for the viewer to see on their wrist. I think Fears. I think it's very clear how everybody feels about fears. They're an incredible brand. Nicholas has, in my opinion, had a very hard job of taking a brand that's imbued with so much heritage and task to make that modern without veering away from. From, you know, the legacy, but still maintaining that essence as well. And I think he's done that beautifully with this watch, and I think he does that throughout all of his collections. To be honest, I would definitely buy this. And I just think it's the total opposite of the. The Marlowe Watch Company 1 we were just looking at, because that's. That's by far maximalism and a watch at its finest. And this is, you know, very pure, very sleek, very clean. Like, the finishing looks great on it. I really, as I said, I love the negative space that's sort of happening on the dial. And it's just a beautiful approach to British watchmaking, is what I think when I see this watch. And I like the fact that you have fierce England sort of really pride of place on that dial. I think it's one I would be very happy to add to my collection.

[Rob Nudds]

For me, this is possibly the best Fears ever. I think that it just does everything superbly. The case is still in silver. Let's not forget that. That is, for me, absolutely on point for a British brand mining its heritage with respect and still eye on the future. The bright white lacquer dial, it's not enamel, it's lacquer is crisp, clean, unapologetically sparse. And I guess when we talk about the Edwardian period, we talk about Edward VII family. And he was a dapper dresser, a man whose legacy is affected and still affects British tailoring to this day. I could very much see this on his wrist. It's a kingly option. Yeah, for sure. It's gorgeous, you know.

[Scarlett Baker]

Asmr.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah.

[Scarlett Baker]

And you know, when you. You watch something or you see something, it's like, really appealing, and it just kind of, like your shoulders dip and you become relaxed. I'm going to sound like a freak for saying this, but onion crowns make me feel like that. I see an onion crown and I just feel like it makes sense. It's just. It fits so well with the case shape of this watch. Do you know what I mean? Is that just me? Am I the Only person that feels at ease when I see an onion crown.

[Rob Nudds]

I was. I was trying so hard not to crack up. When you're like, I honestly, I was gearing up like it is.

[Scarlett Baker]

Do you not get that ASMR feeling? Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

Like, when you look. I was like, oh, my God, Scarlett. I was about right. I was about to do the whole, like, you know, magnanimous, like, diplomatic. Yes. Well, you know, however anybody feels when they look at a watch is acceptable, you don't have to apologize for it. And the ASMR thing. Yeah, I got it. You know, in fact, we were talking the other day in the content group for trts about actually having a TRTS ASMR watch channel. You know, where people, like, buckle up watches and wind them and set the hands. It would work, wouldn't it, really? I'm surprised. Surprised. No one's done it yet. But when you went right down into the details of the onion crown, that just got me. I don't know why.

[Scarlett Baker]

Like, you know, also the. The irony is I hate onion, but I really like onion crowns.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, this gets better and better. It.

[Scarlett Baker]

I don't know, it just. It's. It's kind of like the shape of a little sea urchin, actually, isn't it as well?

[Rob Nudds]

You know, I don't know if you're gonna be able to pull this one back, but I. You know, you're probably not alone. So, listeners, if you too, get a sense of well being whenever glancing upon an onion crown, then please let us know that Scarlett's not alone.

[Scarlett Baker]

I've never gonna be allowed on this.

[Rob Nudds]

Podcast to go far from it. This is excellent content, you know, at the expense of your reputation or, you know, I know, freedom. You know, we might have to lock you up for this, but, yeah, great. This diamond. Diamond, yeah. Diamond set. Onion cry is an exceptional onion crown and just a little bit of class. You know, if you told me that there was going to be a diamond set into a crown, I'd be like, no. Unless it's Cartier or someone like that, then I just wouldn't be interested. But they've just done it so subtly, with so much restraint and so refined. It's gorgeous. There's only going to be 10 of these pieces made. They will only be available at the event. Do not miss it. If you want it, the price is £5,450 British pounds, and that includes VAT. It comes on an absolutely beautiful maple red alcantara handmade strap that's a type of leather, and I can't say Enough about it. And I suppose this would easily be my number one pick were it not for.

[Scarlett Baker]

Oh, let me segue. I've got the best segue.

[Rob Nudds]

Go ahead.

[Scarlett Baker]

From one onion to another. That was shocking, wasn't it?

[Rob Nudds]

Now we had two years of. Two years of real credibility on this show until you popped up. Oh, bunch. Bunch of onion fancies. A bunch of onion fancies. That's what we are.

[Scarlett Baker]

Like this watch. Holy shit. It's. It's so. I've gone mad. I've actually lost it. I am obsessed. I love the gimlet. The Fears studio underdog gimlet. I also, I don't know if you saw that when they announced it. Did you see Nicholas's stories on Instagram of him having, of, like, sharing his journey with Richard? Of like, the gimlets that they'd had together in the planning of it? And then on. On the, the day it came out, Nicholas posted him having a gimlet. And then all of a sudden it was like, and I seem to be having another gimlet and yet another one, which is exactly how they should have celebrated it because this is a epic watch. Discuss.

[Rob Nudds]

Okay, discuss. Well, there's. There's no pushback on my. On my side. It's incredible. It's not just incredible for the watch, it's incredible for the proposition. And we'll get to that in a minute because it's headline news, basically, of how you can obtain one of these, what it's going to cost you, and how many of you are going to have a chance of getting one. For anyone that doesn't know, because I have to admit, I count myself, I counted myself amongst this number prior to Googling it. I didn't know what a gimlet was. What? Yeah, I thought it sounded a bit kinky. I thought it was like, you know, like a tiny gimp or something, which, weirdly enough, I didn't question at all. I was like, oh, tiny gimp. Okay, fair enough. I would have bought it anyway. The gimlet is a cocktail made of gin and lime cordial. A 1928 description of the drink was gin and a spot of lime.

[Scarlett Baker]

Stunning.

[Rob Nudds]

There we go. And a description in the 1953 Raymond Chandler novel the Longer by stated that a real gimlet is half gin and half roses, lime juice and nothing else. This does seem like an appropriate drink. Seeing the pictures of it on Google now makes me very thirsty indeed. And it makes me thirst for the watch even more. It is stunning. Okay, so let's just break down what it looks like for people that haven't seen it yet, if you haven't seen it yet, go straight to Google and have a look because it's great. What we have is effectively a Brunswick case, stainless steel that's appears to be brushed or matte finished at least. It has an onion crown sans. Sans diamond, I suppose. So your shoulders are drooping and knees quivering, I'm sure at the moment. And the dial, it's a Brunswick typeface, but it is the Studio Underdog Series two execution. So it's a lower level of lume. And in this case we have a vertical fade from a darker green to pale, very pale green, almost white. And then on top of that we have a layer of sapphire which creates an incredible visual depth and makes the numbers which are pad printed onto that sapphire appear to float above the dial and the two posts. The two screws which you will see along the horizontal axis of the dial as you would with a Series 2 from Studio Underdog, are sort of dark anthracite. I guess it's just black coated and they do not, not interrupt this dial at all. When I first saw them on the series two, I thought they got in way a bit. Then I saw it in real life and I started to like get a feeling for it and I saw the special edition they did last year, which I still kind of regret not buying because it was a beautiful colorway of like a taupe dial with orange hands and on a green fabric strap which was just superb, a superb combination, really sensitively managed color choice. And this year with this model, any misgivings I may have had at some point about those screws and posts has evaporated. I can't believe it. I can't believe the value proposition of this because. Shall I tell them? Shall I tell them?

[Scarlett Baker]

Drumroll, Drum roll.

[Rob Nudds]

All right, remember this, okay? A standard Brunswick from fears costs 2,450 quid roughly. I'm in Europe so my conversion is a bit out on the website, but it's around two and a half grand. Okay, this.

[Scarlett Baker]

Tell me, tell me.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh God. This special edition. Oh God. It's only going to be available on the day. There's more of these pieces than there are any other piece in this catalog of special models made for the BWD. 200 of them. They will go in a heartbeat. Now I bet that they are gonna split the allocation. 100 pieces to the morning, 100 pieces to the afternoon. That's what Mitch did last year with his special series two. It was a smart move. But what it means is the queues are going to be round the block. So I'm sorry, if you thought you could have a lie in and rock up later on in the day and pick up one of these. No chance. Like, if you want. If you're in the first session, you're gonna have to be there early and if you're in the second session, you probably have to be there around the start of the first session to just get a chance of being near the front of the queue because the retail price of this beautiful little gimp is twelve hundred pounds.

[Scarlett Baker]

Stunning. That's like. That's just nuts.

[Rob Nudds]

Explain it to me, Scarlett. It's half the price of a regular Brunswick.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know. It doesn't make sense in the best kind of way. Yeah. Do you know what this is? Do you know what this collaboration must have been?

[Rob Nudds]

What?

[Scarlett Baker]

Thirsty work.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh, my God. How long been on that for.

[Scarlett Baker]

For about five minutes.

[Rob Nudds]

Hell, five minutes. Oh, my God.

[Scarlett Baker]

OK. Diet. It's. It's so, like. Like, it's 1200 pound. For, like, what I'm really intrigued to know, are they going to be selling it with Studio Underdog or are they going to be selling it with Fizz?

[Rob Nudds]

I'm going to guess that they're going to do it on the Studio Underdog stand because Fears has got its own special as well. And that'll be gone in the heartbeat. Ten pieces.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

But do you know what I really love about this? What? Well, tell me the list.

[Scarlett Baker]

Well, obviously the crown. I. I just love how the shadow falls of the hands on the dial as well. Like, and if you kind of look how the sun has fallen and it sort of gives just to know everybody. We're looking at the. The photo they've released of it so far on the wrist, it almost looks like the reflection of sort of ice in a cocktail, if you know what I mean. Like, looking at the bottom of the glass, which I really like, it's just beautiful and it's the perfect shade of green. And like, the fade that they've done is. Is. It's just really sleek, really crisp. And as I say, it's nice to have a brand that's built on so much heritage and a brand that, you know, relatively new still. And, you know, Studio Underdog and Richard have had insane success over the past couple of years, but it's still very much a new brand. To have two polar opposite brands come together. And also, you know, the friendship that they've. The two of them have formed, I think it's really nice and I Think it just really speaks to how British watchmaking should be, like, collaborative because, you know, there aren't as many of us out there as there are in, you know, Switzerland and other markets. And I just really, really, I think it's such a beautiful. On a way to. Beautiful way to honor where we're at with British watchmaking.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh my God.

[Scarlett Baker]

Are you crying?

[Rob Nudds]

Well, actually, yeah, I'm sort of weeping from multiple locations. There's. Geez, I made a mistake. It's not 1200 quid.

[Scarlett Baker]

I thought it was a thousand.

[Rob Nudds]

It is a thousand.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah. I wasn't going to call you out on that because I thought you had Google in front of you, but yeah, I know. Nuts. You've just saved 200 quid in the process. Go and buy it.

[Rob Nudds]

Oh my God. Oh my. I must have had a different currency on and not realized. Oh, my days. It's a grand. I mean, okay, I've. I've got specs in front of me because I could. I just. I'm looking for the reason, like, I'm looking for how. How. This is not true. Like I say, this is a gift. This is a gift to the industry. It's just unbelievable. Whoever goes, like, not only is it a good price for a studio underdog, it's an insane price for affairs. You get to carry the names of two of the most beloved and respected brands around on your wrist for an absolute song. Let me look at these specs here. What do we got? Okay, reference. The gimlet case. Dimensions 38 millimeters by 12. 9.7 excluding crystal additional dimensions, 20 millimeter lug width 43.5. Lug to lug. That's a nice compact. Oh, it's gonna wear like a dream as well.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know.

[Rob Nudds]

Two part case construction, screw down case back, and an onion crown for the ladies. 316L stainless steel case, sapphire crystal, 100 meters water resistance. It's an absolute banger. It can go anywhere. It's got a cylinder in it. It's a manual winding SW210 1. Where's the weak spot?

[Scarlett Baker]

I can't find it. I can't see it. I've got a group chat with a couple of UK retailers and as soon as they announced it, literally everyone was piling in the screenshots being like, oh my fucking God, like, need to get there early to get this. It's gonna be a battle to get this one. It really is.

[Rob Nudds]

It is.

[Scarlett Baker]

Maybe I'll see you there.

[Rob Nudds]

I'm just messaging Nicholas now.

[Scarlett Baker]

Stop. Stop using your connection.

[Rob Nudds]

Be fair you know, last year I was at the studio underdog booth when I had one of the series two left and I said, I want it, but I feel like it would be better that it went to somebody else. You know, I don't need to feel any closer to the brands than I already do. And, you know, acquiring something extremely limited, extremely sought after can forge a lifelong connection between a consumer and a brand. And so, like these pieces, although they're lovely products for the consumer to own and to where they're incredible community builders for the brand itself. And I was like, look, it's a bit, it's a bit selfish of me to take one out of a very small pool of pieces. And so I didn't, and I hope it didn't come across like I was just making excuses as to why I didn't want to buy it. It was a genuine, genuine thought and feeling. This year, though, I'm not, I just don't think I can resist because it's just, it's two, it's two in one. Like, I don't actually own a watch from either brand, despite. Richard sent me a couple of studio underdogs when I was working for Fratello, but I gave them to newer team members because they didn't have any watches yet. And I was like, well, this, you know, this is a brand that you want to, you know, be on board with. And plus, like, I've been lucky enough to be following Rich since the very first press release went out. And I always felt like very proud of the fact that, oh, yeah, we just picked up that story because we thought the watches were cool. We thought he was a really nice guy and we ran with it and it became what it became. Obviously we had no idea, idea that it would blow up to where it did. And along that way I thought, well, I don't need a watch for myself because it's better that the people that, you know, part of the community have them. But this one, I just, I just, I love it. I, I, I really, really, really love it. And it, the, the story is so good and both these guys are like, so important.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah.

[Rob Nudds]

In the industry, but also in my experience of the industry as well. And I've spent, after years of not knowing Nicholas, I've spent several events with him this year and actually gonna go down to his birthday party on. Well, when is it? Next week, I think in Bristol. So, you know, maybe I'll buy him a couple of gimlets then and try and tap him up for one.

[Scarlett Baker]

But no, I mean, Said the man who doesn't know what a gimlet is. You don't deserve this watch.

[Rob Nudds]

I didn't know what a gimlet was. That's true. Yeah. But I'm open to learning. I also learned how to pronounce neologism.

[Scarlett Baker]

We like to learn a lot on the TRTS show.

[Rob Nudds]

It's nothing if it's not educational, that's for sure.

[Scarlett Baker]

Yeah, exactly.

[Rob Nudds]

So, okay, right. So forgive me for getting the price wrong initially. I still don't believe the original price that I misquoted. And I really don't believe the actual price of 1,000 pounds, including VAT, for just one of the nicest watches.

[Scarlett Baker]

You don't even need to enter the lottery for this watch. Go. Go get it.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm just. I'm gobsmacked. Like, you know the stats. Like, last year we had 1300 visitors to the British Watchmakers Day. And you gotta think, you know, the majority of these people, and I mean the majority, because this, as far as luxury watches go, this is bonkers affordable.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know.

[Rob Nudds]

People are going to be killing each other to get their hands on this. How are they going to do it? It's gonna be a crush.

[Scarlett Baker]

I know. I mean, I saw both of them at Time and Tides event that they did with Toledono and Chan, and the press release had just come through like, two days before under the embargo. And I just went up to them and I was like, guys, oh, my God. So effing cool. Yeah, I think it's gonna be a real hero of. Of the show if it. If it isn't already.

[Rob Nudds]

Yeah. Okay. Well, I think, to be honest, we're not going to be topping that news today, so we should wrap up the show because I'm sure the listeners can hear our disbelief and wonder at this proposition. And if any of you are keen to come down to the British Watchmakers Day, then get yourself a ticket. Get on the train or plane or bus or boat, however the hell you want to get there, and bring a tent is what I'd say, and pitch.

[Scarlett Baker]

It outside, come say hi and come and talk to me about onion crowns.

[Rob Nudds]

Hopefully Scarlet will be rocking her new chopard by that point. And maybe I'll be rocking and knocking back a gimlet or two.

[Scarlett Baker]

Well, 17 on that note. And I'm actually gonna go off to the pub now, so I'm gonna see if they can try and come up with some bootleg gimlet version, because it probably won't be that nice from the pub. And, yeah, I'm gonna dream about this watch tonight.

[Rob Nudds]

I mean, every pub in Britain's got roses lime cordial behind the bar, so you should be onto a winner. Just send me a picture of it later. We'll put it in the Banter Channel. If you'd like to join the Banter Channel, of course you can just get in touch with us via the usual handles. We're just going to say send us a message herealtime show on Instagram or via email, either Rob Alon or David herealtime Show. Or you can send us a message via the contact form on the official website www.therealtime.show. if you want to follow Scarlett, you can find her on Instagram at Scarlindheshire, which is S C A R L I N T H E S H I R E. Well done. All right, we will be back soon with more top quality watch content, but probably not with a watch as exciting and as good value as the gimlet. But until then, stay safe and keep on ticking.

[Scarlett Baker]

Cheers.

[Rob Nudds]

Bacon's not a vegetable.