While these days community building in the enthusiast realm seems increasingly the domain of brand-agnostic organizations, there remain old-school organizations whose members are devoted to the watches of a single maker. One such example is the Journe Society, a small, low-profile group of enthusiast collectors. GaryG sheds some light on the group and its specially commissioned group watch.
Type 20 is a specification by the French Ministry of Defense for the standard-equipment pilot’s watch chronographs. Unlike German pilot’s watch specifications, those for the French Type 20 are not clearly documented but are rather based on common characteristics shared by various manufacturers. Bhanu Chopra explains what makes these watches so sought after and goes through the main models and characteristics.
Now that the year has renewed and we are looking forward to all the 2023 releases, it is a great time to take a look back at 2022, which was a pretty tremendous year for watchmaking. There were so many amazing watches that Joshua Munchow’s “shortlist” that he realized he had to take a different approach.
There aren’t that many rules that GaryG applies to watch collecting, but one rule that he has found critically important is that it’s crucial to handle a watch before buying it. This story however is about how Gary completely violated that rule and nonetheless came away happy with a watch that few people would have guessed he would buy: the 2020-launched Oyster Perpetual 41 from Rolex with a bright turquoise blue dial.
For watch lovers, the name “Paul Newman” is associated first and foremost with Rolex, and in particular with a subset of that brand’s Daytona watches with specific dial characteristics, including a recessed outer seconds track and subdials that feature block-shaped hashmarks and Art Deco-style Arabic numerals. But what does this nickname mean for these references on the vintage market? And what does GaryG think about it?
This is the story of a daily-wear watch, the Tsunami by Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka. It’s not a “beater” as it’s too beautifully made for that description, and some folks justifiably take offense at characterizing a five-figure expenditure in those terms. But it is a watch that GaryG suspects that he will be wearing a lot and in a variety of settings.
From the time GaryG revealed that he’d added a Patek Philippe Reference 5170P chronograph to his collection, he has frequently been asked two questions: how does it compare to his Patek Philippe Reference 5370P split-seconds chronograph and how does it compare to Patek Philippe’s prior flagship chronograph, the platinum-encased Reference 5070P? Find out here!
Joshua Munchow explains why he thinks manual winding watches are for horological connoisseurs and why more complexity isn’t necessarily better in some cases.
A common question in watch servicing/restoration is, “Who does the ‘best’ work?” In a word (or three), what is meant here is superficial case refinishing. And in other words: huge chamfers on Rolex cases, perfectly flat surfaces, and well executed sunburst patterns. And that’s got Ashton Tracy ranting. Find out why here!
One of the reasons that GaryG bought a C By Romain Gauthier Titanium Edition Two is that it fits his shifting lifestyle and watch-wearing habits; as more and more of his time is spent in casual clothing and running various errands, it’s great to have a piece that has a true sporting character yet still packs the punch of a top indie creation.