Blink and You'll Miss It: Make a Donation, Win a Jack Mason Strat-O-Timer
Note: Glamour shot courtesy of the Jack Mason Instagram
@valleykilmers has donated an absolutely gorgeous Jack Mason Strat-O-Timer (Joker Edition, just 100 made) and there's less than 24 hours left to make a donation and be entered to win it! Details at the link below.
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This is going to be a long tangent.
Watches and Wonders 2024 has come and gone. The breathless commentary has finally begun to die down. And, just like last year and every year, I feel oddly let down.
You guys tell me if I'm being unfair.
Patek introduced the Canadian tuxedo of Nautiluses, thereby stripping it of literally the best part of the watch, the bracelet. Meanwhile, PP designers decided that the depth rating for a watch called the Aquanaut was too high and downgraded (sorry "standardized") it from 120M to 30M.
Tudor introduced a Rolex Submariner, the GMT that they should have introduced the first time, and agold BB58 that even Hodinkee has a tough time explaining why anyone should buy given that you can literally buy a new(ish) gold Submariner for about the same price TODAY.
https://youtu.be/_3rfCfin3tU?si=Ie3vieBHHD79XJZk&t=1740
Cartier debuted an illegible dual timer and a watch that works backwards. Whoop-de-friggin-doo.
Rolex, the grand pappy of rebranding literally no changes into innovation, debuted the following.
1) A bedazzled Daytona that no human will ever see
2) A platinum 1908 that no human will actually buy
3) A gold Sea Dweller that Hulk Hogan would struggle to lift. let alone rock
The only thing for normal humans appears to be a GMT Master II with a bezel recycled from the gold one last year and a design recycled from two decades ago.
The watch press, naturally, has been so busy spinning everything that I'm getting motion sickness.
lol.
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I am largely at peace with the fact that watch collecting is a materialistic hobby. We buy these charming little automatons at prices that are altogether disconnected from the actual underlying utility.
And to be clear, I am a buyer of luxury timepieces! I don't mind a bit (or a lot) of gold in my watches. I have a good relationship with my AD born of the fact that I buy lots of thing from them!
But there is a point where I start to question the purpose of the adoring press coverage of an event that seems to be largely centered on either watches that only a select few will end up buying or extremely minimal remixes of existing designs for everyone else. With the world feeling like it sinks further into entropy each day, it just feels a little off key.
Like seriously guys, what are we doing here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTZYqODo7o0
But whenever I feel down on my fellow watch collectors, I put on a charitable auction here on WC. I'm amazed every time.
My father always talks about how there are two types of people in the world: those who run away from the fire and those who run towards it. I know where the following Crunchers stand.
@tanookisuit_ty @Mr.Dee.Bater @jlavoie @Jamair23 @gatorcris @Gardner @Commisar @TimeToDesign @Vinylic @Half_Life @TalkingDugong @AllTheWatches @SpecKTator @Otis_Towns @Ichibunz @celinesimon @TimeIsOnMySide @Magstime @Fieldwalker @guyphil @ensley @jfogler
have collectively donated over $1000 dollars to worthy causes across the world from food security to suicide prevention.
This is the sort of watch community that actually takes the community part seriously. I am honored to share this hobby with each and every one of you.
Peace.
By day, investor and father. By night, Seiko nut. #justgooutsideandtouchgrass
The shark and remora picture is hilarious 😆
What I'm really interested in vis a vi watches is what SWATCH group (Longines and Omega in particular) are up to along with top tier microbrands like Jack Mason, Nodus, Formex, Lorier, Traska, Boldr, SeL, and so many others.
*Am now blushing* ☺️☺️☺️
We can do better. You’ve shown us the way. LFG!
What an awesome result! Congrats on seeing the support from the community. That is something really special.
About your tangent....Although I live and breath JM, I'm a watch fan too and it's an interesting dynamic between an enthusiast and brand owner. I'll first start off by saying, I have the highest of respect for heritage Swiss brands. Without them, this hobby wouldn't drive so much enthusiasm. Like you, however, each year W&W for the most part isn't anything to write home about and that's probably because these companies have been around for so long, it makes no sense to waver too far from what has been working.
This is where the beauty of smaller independent brands come in and I think there is more of a growing appreciation for brands like us from collectors who primarily have stayed in the higher end Swiss segment. Brands like us almost scratch the itch of something you wanted to see from your favorite luxury brand.
This is where I find a lot of enjoyment in designing our own watches. That's not to say that our design brief is based on what the Swiss don't do, but more so it's about finding opportunities and ceasing them being a more nimble company. Manufacturing in watches have become more homogenized where it evens out the playing field a bit when it comes to pound for pound watchmaking.
I'm honestly not sure if I've many any points here and this response has already gone far too long so I'll excuse myself from here...
Hey man, come on! You're not giving Watches & Wonders enough credit. This was earth-shattering horology at its best!!!
Hey man, come on! You're not giving Watches & Wonders enough credit. This was earth-shattering horology at its best!!!
I think my wife would agree! 😜
The shark and remora picture is hilarious 😆
What I'm really interested in vis a vi watches is what SWATCH group (Longines and Omega in particular) are up to along with top tier microbrands like Jack Mason, Nodus, Formex, Lorier, Traska, Boldr, SeL, and so many others.
It was the best meme that I could find for the topic.
I'm not actually against watches and wonders. As a showcase it has its place.
But I think that the stuff that I see covered versus the stuff that I'm interested in it's very different. I suspect that it's very similar for most crunchers.
What an awesome result! Congrats on seeing the support from the community. That is something really special.
About your tangent....Although I live and breath JM, I'm a watch fan too and it's an interesting dynamic between an enthusiast and brand owner. I'll first start off by saying, I have the highest of respect for heritage Swiss brands. Without them, this hobby wouldn't drive so much enthusiasm. Like you, however, each year W&W for the most part isn't anything to write home about and that's probably because these companies have been around for so long, it makes no sense to waver too far from what has been working.
This is where the beauty of smaller independent brands come in and I think there is more of a growing appreciation for brands like us from collectors who primarily have stayed in the higher end Swiss segment. Brands like us almost scratch the itch of something you wanted to see from your favorite luxury brand.
This is where I find a lot of enjoyment in designing our own watches. That's not to say that our design brief is based on what the Swiss don't do, but more so it's about finding opportunities and ceasing them being a more nimble company. Manufacturing in watches have become more homogenized where it evens out the playing field a bit when it comes to pound for pound watchmaking.
I'm honestly not sure if I've many any points here and this response has already gone far too long so I'll excuse myself from here...
My general disquiet with watches and wonders is not even the sameness year after year. It is people claiming that the sameness is in fact novelty.
On the flip side, jt's animating for me to see how much scale has brought life the different design visions of brands of all sizes. I'm always MUCH more excited for Windup than watches and wonders.
Hey man, come on! You're not giving Watches & Wonders enough credit. This was earth-shattering horology at its best!!!
Oddly, this one felt interesting at least! Sapphire case is out there!
Hey man, come on! You're not giving Watches & Wonders enough credit. This was earth-shattering horology at its best!!!
Invicta is filing a lawsuit as we speak
Oh man! Best roast about W&W I’ve read yet!😂🥰.
(“My” GS was spared in the tirade, which probably why I sound so enthusiastic for W&W blood)
I’m now gun shy about any criticism following my…incident, but you’ve done it with eloquence and accuracy that can’t be faulted. 👌🎯
You and @valleykilmers also both deserve a giant slow clap of awesomeness for creating yet another mountain of fundraising - self back-pat plz!
Oh man! Best roast about W&W I’ve read yet!😂🥰.
(“My” GS was spared in the tirade, which probably why I sound so enthusiastic for W&W blood)
I’m now gun shy about any criticism following my…incident, but you’ve done it with eloquence and accuracy that can’t be faulted. 👌🎯
You and @valleykilmers also both deserve a giant slow clap of awesomeness for creating yet another mountain of fundraising - self back-pat plz!
And you were worried about me censoring myself! 😂😂😂
GS is not guiltless. Another Kodo (unobtainium) and another insane chrono GMT (in a different color way though than the lion). But they did do one super important thing that everyone has been asking for for years.
SLGW003, 9SA4, sub 10mm tall. And you're going to be able to get this at a shop without traveling to Bienne and offering your first born to the Wilsdorf foundation. Not cheaply, but do any of us doubt that we won't see these in shops and available in 6-9 months? This is what actual watchmaking progress looks like.
Not gold bracelet on a Tudor no one bought anyway.