Watches & Wonders is in full swing, as are the hot takes! Rick wrangles the usual suspects (and some potato-quality internet connections) for an unscripted, no-holds-barred roundup of standout releases, questionable design choices, and horological head-scratchers.

Highlights:

• 🕰️ Rolex Land-Dweller takes center stage—brilliant innovation or Tissot cosplay?

• 💥 The Dynapulse escapement has David calling it a "quantum leap."

• 🍯 Gold rush! Matt swoons over three standout gold watches.

• 🤔 Tag Heuer Solargraph – solar-powered F1 nostalgia or just plastic fantastique?

• 🧮 JLC’s Reverso Minute Repeater – love it, but don’t touch it.

• 💸 IWC goes full tech flex with an 80k perpetual chrono that no one can read.

• 🚽 Bathroom-scale vibes: Bremont and Cartier get dunked on for jump hour designs.

Remember, you never truly own the 8th day… you just look after it for the next generation.”

This week on aBlogtoWatch Weekly, the guys get into the big vocab quickly, with Ripley identifying the routine clap-in as "vestigial." Yeah, like an appendix! But Rick likes it, and traditions die hard, so we don't anticipate the clap-in going anywhere. Rick, David and Ripley are waiting to see whether or not Ariel, fresh back from Thailand, will join. Formula 1 is still top of mind, mere days ahead of Watches & Wonders Geneva.... until Ariel arrives and turns our attention to Pharrell Williams' LEGO movie, which he watched on the plane and features a watch throughline. Somehow, this gets Ariel onto a jag about how "the value of watches has absolutely nothing to do with horological appreciation." And this seems like a reasonable observation and a good reminder. Next up: Is David a part of Team Star Trek or Team Steve Jobs? There's a great deal of pondering about Ariel's recent column regarding the rabbit hole of "sustainability" in the watch industry. He also argues that "efficiency is the enemy of luxury," perhaps a more controversial statement. Take a read, take a listen, and jump into the comments on the article, which are robust. But first, a round of Hit, Miss, Maybe!

This week on aBlogtoWatch Weekly, the team isnow three. Where's Ariel? Rumor has it he's in Thailand, watch capital of....nowhere! We hope he's relaxing at a White Lotus hotel. Ripley is chilling inhis panic room, and Rick is home under the gray Scotland sky. David appears tobe having a normal kind of day. As you might guess, Formula 1 is the talk atthe top of the show, and Ripley and Rick debrief on the standings. Rick pivotsto the news of Frédéric Arnaud leaving LVMH, which leads David to surmise thatcompeting Richemont brands might be getting wise to the problem of"overlords" and cutting out middle management. This slippery slopeleads the guys to the Panerai website and a discussion of price-to-water-resistance ratio, if such a thing exists. Next, suddenly, aguest appears! It's Guy Blaskey of Detrash, a sustainability-focused brand that makes watches out of trash. On to talk of recent hands-on reviews, starting with the MB&F M.A.D. 2green watch, an homage to 1990s club culture. They turn their attention to anew release, the King Seiko Vanac watches, honing in on the excessive thickness of this time-only timepiece series. Hit, Miss, or Maybe? Listen in to find out. Switching gears to our newest game, Judge the Collab,the guys weigh on on the new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic Wotto limited edition.There are vast discrepancies! Listen to find out who your views most alignwith.

This week on ⁠aBlogtoWatch Weekly⁠, all the guys are in a jolly mood. What's in the water? Perhaps spring has sprung, or somesuch, and as Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "In the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love" — only in this case,"love" is possible Watches & Wonders. Anyhoo, the team dives into the latest and greatest (or not altogether wonderful) watch releases, industry insights, and other watch-related thoughts that come to mind. This week, they discuss the ⁠Tudor Pelagos FXD GMT⁠, ⁠Seiko 5 Sports X Moon Eyes SBSA287⁠, ⁠Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech Ocean Commitment 4⁠, ⁠Junghans Mega Futura⁠, and the Hamilton Boulton DeathStranding 2. They pack a lot into an hour! And they even have some fun coming up with the most ridiculous watch name combination ever! I'm not allowed to say what it is, so tune in to find out!

Check out ⁠ABTW on YouTube⁠ to catch upon the latest episodes of ABTWW, Hit, Miss,Maybe, video reviews, and more.

We’dlove to hear from you with feedback or suggestions for future show topics orguests. Advertising opportunities are also available. Comment or contact ⁠[email protected]. ⁠Youcan also send us a WhatsApp message at: +44 7386 690 897.

This week on aBlogtoWatchWeekly, Ariel calls in from a cabin in the woods, David ishome in Budapest sipping a hot beverage, Rick is at the farm office, and atired Ripley appears to be at home in L.A. — all reprobate seals clapping in,says Rick. Host-with-the-most Rick takes time to explore each person's space,perhaps to delay what's coming next. To wit, David has found a Morgan-Stanley2023-2024 report comparing watch brands, which reveals that the top 50 brandsdropped production of watches by more that 2 million between 2023 and 2024 — astat that causes some alarm — for everyone but Ariel, whose interpretation isthat some of these brands are playing with the notion of scarcity as amarketing strategy. Interesting.... What do the others think of this notion?Rick is struck by the fact the Zenith produced on 10,000 watches. "Shouldwe only talk about Rolex?" he ponders. The only brand that surprises Arielis Tudor, which dropped production by nearly 40 percent. Since Tudor doesn'tget as much"free marketing" as Rolex, maybe it needs to do more onthe marketing front. While you all bookmark this report to ponder later, theteam moves on to discuss some recent articles, starting with, speak of thedevil, the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic "Visa Blue" Master Chronometer,which Ariel likes because it's not for everyone — a "Swiss middle fingerto Omega," as he puts it. Next up is the Rolex Day-Date 36 with Roman Numerals, which David has afascination with — specifically, the deconstructed Roman numerals. AudemarsPiguet released an all-black ceramic Royal Oak Offshore, consensus about which seems tobe that, while it's not particularly new and creative, it's really pretty watchthat honors the brand name in refinement, if ambitiously priced. March L.A.B's new watch, whose name is toolong for Rick and Ariel to bother with, has more fonts than Rick can count. Theshow concludes with a riff on a Mission to Uranus. You'll have to listen to the show find out what that's about.

This week on aBlogtoWatchWeekly, Rick reveals that he's now deputy director of theFBI (now that podcast hosts can hold such roles), and Ripley confirms that Rickis a solid enough conspiracy theorist that.... well, it works. Rick thenannounces that this will be an "F1 episode," and it's hard to knowwhat that might mean. One clue is the red robin on which F1 team each teammember likes best. When talk turns to watches, first up is the IWC Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar in Green, and Rickshakes things up by starting with "Judge the Collab." The news isn'tgreat. Back to the F1 theme, we pivot to the eyebrow game of the Aramco team.David then departs for the airport after speed-packing just off-screen.Fiiiiiinally, it's back to watches with a look at the hands-on review of the Tudor Black Bay Chrono "Flamingo Blue" Watch. And there's some hemming and hawing about the new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Bronze Gold and Burgundy Watch.Ripley calls it by recollecting that "the road to hell is paved with goodintentions." Rick closes the show by introducing his new theme song forthe F1 Champions League. Tune in!

This week on aBlogtoWatch Weekly, the guys areall in their respective Brady Bunch-like squares, and speaking of square,SpongeBob SquarePants watches are high horology! This segues quite nicely intoAriel's experience as an attorney specializing in contracts and his articleabout what watch brands need from their owners. In his column, According to Ariel, Ariel discusses why buying a watchbrand isn't about extracting profit but rather thinking about the overall valueof the company — and even the future perceived value. Next up, talk turns tothe Hublot Big Bang Unico, which David says looks like it hasthe bubonic plague. Well, alright, then! Another recent release is Vacheron Constantin's 270th-anniversary watch (don't askabout the 275th anniversary, as VC only celebrates the whole numbers). It wasan innocent question, nonetheless, but the team was in lockstep with theanswer. And then the question comes up: Is the Louis Vuitton Tambour catching on? There's talk ofblue-chip luxury, and the guys muse about the future of the Tambour.Semi-regular Azad joins, and they end with our Rick-invented game, Hit, Miss,Maybe! We wondered if it was coming back, and now we know. Tune infor the fun!

Check out ABTW on YouTube to catch upon the latest episodes of ABTWW, Hit, Miss,Maybe, video reviews, and more.

We’dlove to hear from you with feedback or suggestions for future show topics orguests. Advertising opportunities are also available. Comment or contact [email protected]. Youcan also send us a WhatsApp message at: +44 7386 690 897.

This week onaBlogtoWatchWeekly, the only two usual suspects are Rick and David.Ariel and Ripley are in flight, or fleeing, or otherwise elsewhere. They are,instead, joined by semi-regular, non-suspect Azad and Kevin, and then surpriseguest, Leslie. All of the Euro-men are complaining about the weather ('tis therainy season in the UK, ya know). They get right down to business with adiscussion of the news that Rolex has retired its Carl F. Bucherer brand, andthere are various degrees of lament in the room. Next up, a look at Breitling'srevival of the Gallet brand. The guys muse about how they'll position thesewatches. Then, they discuss Ariel's most recent column in his absence. He asksthe question, "Are Swiss luxury watch brands engaging consumersenough?" The new game, which seems to have taken off, ensues:Judge theCollab. Fun! But where did fan-favoriteHit, Miss, Maybe go?And will it ever return?

This week on aBlogtoWatch

Show Notes To Follow