The Time 4A Pint Podcast

For episode 63 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast, I got together with Toronto based Justin Mastine-Frost. Outgoing editor in chief of watchuseek.com and fitrated.com, and brand new Director of Digital Content for Sharp Magazine, Canada’s foremost luxury publication.

Justin and I first got to hang out in November of 2020, when he and fellow guest Aldis Hodge  joined me and Mat for our 15th Virtual GTG (which you can check out on YouTube). Justin was not messing about that day, and brought some serious horological heat, in the form of an Arnold and Son Nebula.

Which as anyone who’s scrolled through Justin’s Instagram account will tell you, is just one fascinating piece in a hugely varied collection that spans high end to affordable, and mainstream to independent.

I had no idea what Justin was going to bring along today, but I knew that whatever it was, it would be interesting. And colourful. Or grey. Or both. You can find pictures and reference numbers of all the watches that we talked about on the Time 4A Pint website.

If you like what you hear, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you love what you hear, please buy me a virtual pint to say thanks.

For episode 62 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast, I got together with fellow talkative Englishman, and pathological contrarian, Phil Toledano. Who you may know from Instagram as Mister Enthusiast. The topics we covered were many and varied. Including, but not limited to: buying and maintaining group B rally cars, ram raids, Vietnam era pilot’s helmets, the joy of putting your kid’s face onto plates, pillows, and tote bags, how weird and wonderful it is to be a Dad, Birman cats, Mr Frumples the dog, great TV Shows we’re currently watching, the Jaguar XJ220, running a lifestyle clothing brand, watch sausage parties, how instagram can be a rather dull unimaginative echo chamber, turning Rolexes into art, collecting Patek’s from the 70s, buying the things that you really like, and the importance of a test tube filled with oil. These intro’s are getting weirder aren’t they?

You can find pictures and reference numbers of all the watches that we talked about on the Time 4A Pint website.

If you like what you hear, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you love what you hear, please buy me a virtual pint to say thanks.

For episode 61 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast, I got together with nomadic Irishman, and owner of Brooklyn’s Iona Bar, Victor Boyd, who you may know from Instagram, as PapillonVic.

We talked about buying Rolex Submariners for £295, working in high end restaurants in London and Paris and opening one in Manhattan, selling an entire collection to pay the bills when the world changed on September 11, and starting over in Brooklyn with a very cool neighbourhood bar called Iona. Diving with watches, changing beer barrels with watches, buying vintage, meeting independents, and being tipped off to a spectacularly uncommon, and tough as nails JLC by a former NFL player.

There is a lot going on in this episode.

So grab your headphones, pour yourself a drink that is time-of-day appropriate, and enjoy. You can find pictures and reference numbers of all the watches that we talked about on the Time 4A Pint website.

If you like what you hear, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you love what you hear, please buy me a virtual pint to say thanks.

For episode 60 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast, I got together with Portobello Road based watch dealer, and fellow fan of odd horology, Josh Rogers.

We talked about how the trade has changed in the last 10 years, the weird and wonderful things that wander in off the Portobello Road, keyboard warriors and Omega cross hairs, impulse purchases in French Flea markets, buying a new stainless steel Rolex at retail, and our shared fondness for quirky and often unloved timepieces.

Watches featured in this episode:

• Chopard L.U.C Regluator Quattro 18K White Gold ref. 171910-1001

• Seiko Sportura Kinetic SNL015 7L22 OAd0

• Omega Deville Saint Honoré ref. BC751.8358E / 551.8358 / 142.8358

• IWC Portugieser Annual Calendar ref. IW503502

• Omega Seamaster Automatic 165.002

• Omega Seamaster Automatic Day Date calibre 1020 ref. 166.0216

• Bulova Accutron “Sputnik” calibre 218.1

• 2020 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust 41mm “Wimbledon” ref. 126334

• Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Grande Date ref. 240.8.15

 

You can find pictures and reference numbers of all the watches that we talked about, along with lots of helpful show notes on the Time 4A Pint website. Want to support the show? Buy me a virtual pint for just £1 at https://ko-fi.com/time4apint

For episode 58 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast, I got together with New York Times best selling Author, and spectacular watch nerd, Gary Shteyngart.

Born in Leningrad in 1972, Gary moved to New York at the age of 7. Which is where he was last week, when we jumped on a long distance line to talk about seven of the watches from his collection, angry people on the internet, and his most recent novel, Lake Success. You can find pictures and reference numbers of all the watches that we talked about, along with lots of helpful show notes on the Time 4A Pint website. Want to support the show? Buy me a virtual pint for just £1 at https://ko-fi.com/time4apint

For episode 57 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast,  I got together with Tokyo based Eric Skier, also known as "Jewpanese Dude".  Originally from the United States, Eric has been living in Japan since 1991. He is a 5th degree blackbelt in Kendo, who enjoys living a simple life, with friends, family, a cold beer or three, and some better than decent food. We talked about his love for fine timepieces. Hunting out rarities in Japan. The risk of buying broken and obscure watches. 10 of the wonderful pieces in his personal collection, and two of the many that he’s helped pick up for friends:

• Omega Speedmaster Professional Speedy Tuesday “Ultraman” - reference 311.12.42.30.01.001

• Omega Speedmaster Professional “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary - reference 310.32.42.50.02.001

• Omega Speedmaster X-33 Gen 2 - reference 3291.50

• Universal Genève Space-Compax - reference 885104/01

• Universal Genève Aero-Compax - reference 22703/4

• Breitling Navitimer 806, 1959 re-edition - reference AB0910371B1X1

• Breitling AVI 765, 1953 re-edition - reference AB0920131B1X1

• Breitling SuperOcean 2005

• 1969 Weekly Auto Orient King Diver

• 1977 Citizen Quartz Crystron 150m diver - DV730V/2150-11

• Heuer Quartz 200m Professional - 980.007

• Modified Casio G-Shock GA-2100 - a.k.a CasiOak

You can find pictures of them, along with some helpful show notes at https://www.time4apint.com/podcast/the-time-4a-pint-podcast-episode-57 Want to support the show? Buy me a virtual pint for just £1 at https://ko-fi.com/time4apint

This week I got together with Kathleen McGivney, the New York based CEO of RedBar Group - the world’s largest watch enthusiast community. Kathleen is one of the most friendly and welcoming people in the watch collecting hobby. Has an extensive, eclectic, and ever changing collection of horological gems. And will, if asked, provide you with all the information you could ever need, on the subject of Radium, its uses, and why eating, licking or ingesting it in any way is a terrible idea.

We talked about Redbar. The wonderful weirdness of going back to in-person events. And 8 of the watches from her personal collection:

• Brew Retrograph “Teal”

• Méraud Bonaire “Graphite Grey”

• Ming 17.01 “Anthracite”

• Swatch Tresor Magique (SAZ101)

• Hamilton Otis “Reverso”

• Universal Geneve Polerouter

• Arnold & Son HM Perpetual Moon - Piece Unique

• Schon “The Dot” - Piece Unique

You can find pictures of them, along with some helpful show notes at https://www.time4apint.com/podcast/the-time-4a-pint-podcast-episode-56 Want to support the show? Buy me a virtual pint for just £1 at https://ko-fi.com/time4apint

For Episode 55 of the Time 4A Pint Podcast, I jumped on a long distance line with Suguru “Sug” Nishioka, to talk about family, diving, the 90s, and how important it is to find a watch that’s the right size for you.

Watches featured in this episode:

• 2020 HODINKEE x Casio “6900 by John Mayer” LE Casio G-Shock DW6900JM20-8CR

• 1995 Seiko SUS Chronograph 7T27-7A40

• 2021 Synchron Military Black PVD coated diver

• 1995 Sinn 244 Ti

• 1967 Rolex 1016 Explorer

• 2020 Rolex 114200 Oyster Perpetual 34

• 2019 IWC Pilot 36 IW324010

• 2011 Grand Seiko SBGW033

• 2021 Chrono Tokyo “Chronograph 1”

You can find pictures of them, along with some helpful show notes at https://www.time4apint.com/podcast/the-time-4a-pint-podcast-episode-55 Want to support the show? Buy me a virtual pint for just £1 at https://ko-fi.com/time4apint

This very special edition of the Time 4A Pint podcast is all about mens health, and the role that Movember plays in helping to improve it through funding research and some amazing charitable organisations. Sticking to the tried and tested Time 4A Pint formula, I got together with people who know what they’re talking about, and asked them lots of questions about the importance of growing a mo to save a bro. Steff Webb, Community Fundraising Manager at Movember took me through the how, what, why, when and where of the Movember Foundation - from beginning to present day. Shedding light on how the foundation works, what you can do to get involved, and importantly what the money raised from moustaches, moving, and mo-ing your own way, goes into. Bobby Bansal joined me to talk about his balls. Starting with an eye watering story about connecting them with the crossbar of his bicycle, and culminating with him having testicular cancer twice, and not only living to tell the tale, but doing so in front of large groups of lads, and laughing about it.

Elvin Box is a prostate cancer survivor who pulled no punches in sharing his story from PSA test to surgery and beyond. A hard conversation, and a tough listen, that could help you spot the signs of prostate problems early. James Mace is a mental health advocate, who has experienced more than his share of grief, and with the help of those around him pulled through, and gone on to help others. The big takeaways from this conversation are that it is important to keep talking, everyone goes through tough times, and that as a friend, listening and being supportive are sometimes the very best things you can do.

When this episode aired in 2020, listeners had the chance to win my 2019 Oris Chronoris Movember Edition, and a copy of Flores Delores and the Oris Chronoris signed by Barbara Palumbo. The raffle for these wonderful goodies raised more than £10,000 for Movember, and was won by a chap called Stuart, in the USA.

Credit to https://soundcloud.com/cityfires for the use of https://soundcloud.com/cityfires/map-of-time-creative-commons

Much of the watch collecting hobby, is about enablement. One or more collectors, gently nudging another towards functions, styles, heritage, brands, and models that they might find interesting. Sometimes this happens face to face, over one too many pints of winkles old peculiar, sometimes it happens on forums through friendly discussion and heated debate, and more and more, the subtle power of an Instagram friend’s beautifully shot photographs, shoulder the responsibility for an unplanned horological purchase. Sometimes, however, enablement happens in total isolation, through heavy google searching, a conviction that “bi-metallic 1000m water resistant mechanical alarm watches from the 1970s” are totally underrated, and an ill advised late night session on a popular auction platform. Today’s show is not about those late night eBay purchases. Mostly because I don’t own any of them. Any more. But is is about enablement - specifically me being enabled into the world of SCUBA diving by long-time diver, friend of the show, the man behind team Watchnerd, and today’s guest, Mat. A quick warning for listeners with a sensitive disposition, this weeks show contains stories of dive watches being used for diving. Who knew that was a thing? Head to https://www.time4apint.com/podcast/the-time-4a-pint-podcast-episode-53 for pictures and show notes. If you're enjoying the Time 4A Pint Podcast and would like to support the creation of new episodes, you can buy me a virtual pint on Ko-Fi, and help to keep the conversations flowing - https://ko-fi.com/time4apint Credit to https://soundcloud.com/cityfires for the use of https://soundcloud.com/cityfires/map-of-time-creative-commons