Description:

A bonus episode, and a single watch. Riste tells the story of a vintage Zenith Yugoslavian Air Force chronograph, cal. 143-6, powered by an Excelsior Park movement. Why a 1940s wartime caliber ended up in a watch ordered in 1954 for the pilots of Tito's non-aligned Yugoslavia. Why the production date of a movement and the issue date of a watch are almost never the same thing. Why the screw-down caseback tells you more than the dial does. And the personal story underneath all of it: a dial handed down by a great- uncle who fixed watches for love and never money, a promise to make it whole, a 2023 break-in, and a stranger who heard the story and finished what family started.

Keywords:

Mentioned in this episode: Zenith, Excelsior Park, the Yugoslav Air Force, the Tito–Stalin split of 1948, Pilot

Contact: [email protected]

S02E02: “Make a Living, Not a Killing:" The paid-shill economy, the man who became the warning label, and why this show stays independent

Description:

Riste is not exactly in a cuddly mood for this one.

This episode starts in crypto, walks through the rise and collapse of BitBoy, and then brings the whole thing home to watches: the paid-shill economy, undisclosed promotions, fake “honest reviews,” and the quiet little grift of turning an audience’s trust into someone else’s marketing budget.

The point is not that creators should never make money. Make a living. Feed your kids. Take the sponsorship if it fits. But tell the truth about the check. Because the second a paid placement starts pretending to be independent enthusiasm, the audience stops being a community and becomes exit liquidity.

This is a character episode wearing a crypto episode’s clothes — about disclosure, independence, the value of your time, and why What’s on Your Riste? would rather stay small than sell you a fake opinion with a nice watch on its wrist.

No sponsors. No affiliate links. No clever fine print.

Keywords:

watches, watch podcast, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, Riste, Make a Living Not a Killing, BitBoy, Ben Armstrong, crypto, crypto influencers, paid shills, undisclosed sponsorships, watch media, watch YouTube, watch collecting, horology, independent watch media, paid promotion, affiliate links, disclosure, sponsorship ethics, creator economy, influencer marketing, exit liquidity, watch reviews, honest reviews, watch community, independent creators, watch enthusiasm, The Bitcoin Heir Next Door, character, money and morality, hobby culture, collecting culture, watch journalism, luxury watches, microbrands, independent watchmaking

Special thanks to Brandon at: https://horologybythesea.com/ for the corrections and support!!!

Contact: [email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/ristepodcast/ or @RistePodcast on Instragram (but I'm better with email).

Episode Title

S02E24: Habring² Follow-Up and my Case for Indies: Velvet Ropes, Purchase History and Bleeding on Shirts (Bonus Ep)

Description

This one opens with an apology. After an earlier episode on Habring², listener Brandon of Horology by the Sea wrote in with corrections and context too good to keep to myself, so we set the record straight on Maria and Richard Habring: why the name is written the way it is, why her name comes first at Richard's insistence, why the workshop moved to Styria, and why Richard would rather chase the next challenge than sell yesterday's glory.

From there we get into the machine. Ferrari allocations. Rolex and Patek purchase history. Birkin pre-spend. Invite-only credit cards, private clubs, selective universities, the rope outside the club and the bottle that buys the table. Then the psychology of why all of it works on us, from the scarcity heuristic and reactance to the old initiation research that explains why suffering to get in makes us love what we find on the other side.

Then the turn, because this is a hopeful episode. The big houses that will simply sell you the watch, Omega, Blancpain, Oris, Grand Seiko, Tudor, and why that openness is admirable rather than ordinary. And finally the difference between two kinds of scarcity: the kind a brand manufactures to keep you grateful, and the honest arithmetic of two people and a bench. One door wants your submission. The other wants your friendship.

Song referenced, not reproduced: "You're So Last Summer" by Taking Back Sunday (Tell All Your Friends, 2002), written by John Nolan. No sponsors. No affiliate links. As always.

Keywords / Tags

Habring2, Maria Habring, Richard Habring, rattrapante, split seconds, Styria, independent watchmaking, watch podcast, horology podcast, Horology by the Sea, scarcity, artificial scarcity, gatekeeping, velvet rope, purchase history, waiting list, allocation, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Nautilus, Aquanaut, Ferrari allocation, Hermes Birkin, luxury psychology, Robert Cialdini, reactance, effort justification, Aronson and Mills, sunk cost, loss aversion, FOMO, status signaling, Omega Speedmaster, MoonSwatch, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Oris, Grand Seiko, Tudor, authorized dealer, Taking Back Sunday, John Nolan, watch collecting, Watchovski, What's on Your Riste

Email: [email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/ristepodcast/

Description

Welcome back - we missed you!

Season 2 begins with a deep dive into one of the best hidden stories in independent watchmaking.

Before Habring² existed, Richard Habring was already changing modern watchmaking from behind the scenes. As a young engineer at IWC Schaffhausen under legendary industry figure Günter Blümlein, he solved one of horology’s hardest problems: making the split-seconds chronograph affordable for ordinary enthusiasts.

His name wasn’t on the dial.

Then he and Maria Habring made a decision that changed everything. They walked away from the safe, prestigious, invisible path and founded Habring² in a small Austrian town few collectors had ever heard of — building watches slowly, honestly, and entirely on their own terms.

This episode explores:

• ​Richard Habring’s revolutionary affordable rattrapante mechanism
• ​The 20-year wait to legally use his own invention again
• ​The emotional magic of the deadbeat seconds “Erwin”
• ​Austria’s first series-produced manufacture movement, the A11
• ​Why Habring² may be the most quietly authentic independent watchmaker working today
• ​And why the little superscript “²” matters far more than you think

This isn’t just a story about watches. It’s a story about partnership, obscurity, craftsmanship, patience, and what happens when two people decide to put their own name on the line.

Keywords:

Habring2, Habring², Richard Habring, Maria Habring, independent watchmaking, indie watches, luxury watches, watch podcast, horology, mechanical watches, Austrian watchmaking, IWC, IWC Schaffhausen, Günter Blümlein, rattrapante, split seconds chronograph, Doppelchronograph, deadbeat seconds, jumping seconds, seconde morte, Erwin watch, Felix watch, A11 movement, manufacture movement, Valjoux 7750, watch collectors, microbrand watches, haute horology, Swiss watches, Austrian watches, watch enthusiast, independent horology, watchmaking history, luxury podcast, watch collector podcast, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, GPHG, Il Destriero Scafusia, Deep One, Völkermarkt, Carinthia, handmade watches, small batch watchmaking, artisanal watchmaking, mechanical chronograph, watch community, hidden gem watches, sleeper watch brands, Dornblüth, Grönefeld, Journe, F.P. Journe, Czapek, watch culture, enthusiast watches, boutique watch brands; LosNTime (Thanks again Carlos follow him at: https://www.youtube.com/@LosNTime )

THE INTERMISSION

(and a super not-legal, like totally not legal or binding apology to your friends and family for this show)

Description:

Between Season 1 and Season 2, What’s on Your Riste? takes a loose, loving, slightly legally questionable pause to talk about the side of watch collecting nobody puts in the magazines: the little lies. The package that is “just a strap.” The watch that was “basically a trade.” The grail that will definitely be the last one. Probably.

In this intermission special, Watchovski offers a formal apology to all significant others, introduces the first edition of the Watch-to-English Dictionary, reads letters from the other side of the household, and finds the bigger truth underneath all the collecting comedy: we do not hide these things because we are ashamed of the watch. We hide them because we are a little shy about how much we love something, and how much it costs to love it out loud.

No brands required. Bring your spouse.

Keywords:

watch collecting, watch podcast, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, horology, watch collectors, collector humor, watch addiction, luxury watches, independent watchmaking, watch straps, just a strap, Chrono24, WatchRecon, WatchCharts, grail watch, watch collecting jokes, watch spouse, significant others, watch community, mechanical watches, watch buying, watch enthusiast, collector rationalization, watch-to-English dictionary, Season 1 intermission, Season 2 intermission

Season 1: Episode 20 THE FINALE

The Season 1 finale of What's on Your Riste?

Description:

Twenty episodes. An honest accounting of what the season built — from the rabbit-hole opener of Episode 1 to the personal turn of Episode 3, through the four-episode philosophical arc at the heart of the season, across five countries, from G-Shock to F.P. Journe, from hedonia to eudaimonia, from the watches that make you happy to the watches that make you you.

What the show got right. What it didn't finish. And what's promised for Season 2: Philippe Dufour, the guilloché craft episode, Roger W. Smith's full episode, the brother's watch when Riste is ready.

Then: a listener Q&A. Do you have a grail watch? Why skip the big brands? What did making twenty episodes actually teach you? And will this show ever go behind a paywall? Four questions, answered directly and honestly.

Then: listener mail. The letters and stories and confessions from the community — the hedonia and eudaimonia inventories, the Rolex stories, the British watchmaking memories — read on air, responded to with care.

This is the episode where the host steps back, looks at what was built, and talks directly to the people who showed up for all of it.

Season 2 is coming!!!!

Keywords:

watch podcast season finale, what's on your riste, watchovski, whatsonyourriste, season 1 finale, watch collecting, watch community, mechanical watches, horology podcast, watch podcast, grail watch, eudaimonia hedonia watches, F.P. Journe, Rexhep Rexhepi, Philippe Dufour, Voutilainen, guilloché, Dornblüth, Czapek, British watchmaking, American watchmaking, Japan watchmaking, independent watchmakers, watch philosophy, listener mail, watch podcast Q&A, free watch podcast, watch hobby, wristwatch collecting, watch enthusiasts, season 2 preview, watch podcast community, indie watchmakers, haute horlogerie, watch finishing, movement craft

Description:

Episode 19 is the episode What’s on Your Riste? has been building toward since Episode 13: a full deep dive into François-Paul Journe... the most important living independent watchmaker in modern horology.

From his beginnings in Marseille and the restoration workshop of his uncle in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, to building his first hand-made tourbillon over seven years, to founding F.P. Journe in Geneva in 1999, this episode traces the life, philosophy, and technical genius of the man behind some of the most revered watches ever made.

We explore the Tourbillon Souverain, the rose gold movement revolution, the astonishing Chronomètre à Résonance, the Octa collection, the Centigraphe, and the invention-first philosophy behind invenit et fecit...AKA “invented and made.”

This is also the connective tissue episode of the entire season: George Daniels, Philippe Dufour, Rexhep Rexhepi, independent watchmaking, restoration craft, and the idea that the most meaningful watches are physical expressions of obsession, discipline, and imagination.

If you’ve ever wondered why serious collectors speak about Journe with near-religious reverence, this is the episode.

Keywords:

F.P. Journe, François-Paul Journe, independent watchmaking, haute horlogerie, luxury watches, mechanical watches, horology, watch collecting, watch podcast, watch enthusiast, watch collector, Chronomètre à Résonance, Tourbillon Souverain, Chronomètre Souverain, Octa, Octa Lune, Octa Calendrier, Octa UTC, Centigraphe Souverain, Sonnerie Souveraine, Linesport, resonance watch, remontoir d’égalité, tourbillon, George Daniels, Rexhep Rexhepi, Philippe Dufour, Abraham-Louis Breguet, Christiaan Huygens, Antide Janvier, Swiss watches, Geneva watchmaking, independent horology, handcrafted watches, rose gold movement, invenit et fecit, watchmaking history, collector watches, quiet luxury, watch community, Swiss independent watches, Journe resonance, FP Journe resonance, Roger W Smith, Akrivia, Asprey, vintage watches, luxury timepieces, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, modern horology, mechanical artistry, high horology

*This episode is dedicated to Nick Meijer - THANK YOU for the support and suggestions!!!*

TITLE

The Guardian of the El Primero: Charles Vermot and the Movement Hidden Behind a Wall

DESCRIPTION

Zenith’s El Primero should not exist.

During the quartz crisis, the American owners of Zenith ordered the company’s mechanical tooling destroyed, including the presses, dies, plans, and machinery needed to produce the legendary El Primero automatic chronograph movement.

One watchmaker refused.

Charles Vermot secretly carried nine crates of equipment and meticulously organized technical drawings into an attic above the Zenith workshops. He sealed everything behind a wall, returned to his bench, and spent the next nine years assembling quartz watches while the mechanical movement he loved waited silently above his head.

Then the industry changed its mind.

When Zenith needed the El Primero again, Vermot raised his hand, opened the wall, and revealed that everything required to restart production had survived. The movement he saved would return to life, help revive Zenith, and eventually power the celebrated Rolex Daytona reference 16520.

This is the story of the race to create the automatic chronograph, the iconic Zenith A386, the quartz crisis, the birth of the “Zenith Daytona,” and the humble watchmaker who agreed to look wrong for nine years so he could be right forever.

KEYWORDS

Zenith, Zenith El Primero, El Primero, Charles Vermot, The Guardian of the El Primero, Zenith watch history, El Primero history, Zenith A386, A386, automatic chronograph, first automatic chronograph, high beat movement, 36000 vibrations per hour, 36000 vph, column wheel chronograph, integrated chronograph, caliber 3019 PHC, quartz crisis, Swiss watch industry, mechanical watch revival, Le Locle, Swiss watchmaking, horology, watchmaking history, watchmaker, hidden watch movement, hidden attic, Zenith attic, nine crates, Zenith Radio, Dixi, Paul Castella, Ebel chronograph, Rolex Daytona, Zenith Daytona, Rolex Daytona 16520, reference 16520, automatic Daytona, Rolex chronograph history, Seiko 6139, Chronomatic, Calibre 11, Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton, Buren, Dubois Depraz, Movado, vintage Zenith, vintage chronograph, iconic chronographs, luxury watch history, watch collecting, watch collectors, watch podcast, horology podcast, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, Nick Meijer, DailyWatch, 360watch, Kristian Haagen, GPHG Academy

NOTE: This content of this recording was created prior to the learning the unfortunately news that Eddie Platts of Smiths/Timefactors had passed away. Eddie, you were an absolute legend in the space, and you will be greatly missed. To Eddie's family, to Dave and everyone at Timefactors, UK., we love you all.

RIP brother.

https://www.timefactors.com/blogs/news/eddie-platts-1949-2016

*Side note: the Isle of Man is included here as a result of Roger Smith’s origin country*

S01E18: The Country That Invented the Marine Chronometer and Then Forgot It Had: British Watchmaking (George Daniels, Roger W. Smith, Chrisopher Ward, Fears, Garrick, & Smiths)

Description:

Episode 18 explores the extraordinary rise, collapse, and quiet revival of British watchmaking — the country that gave the world the marine chronometer, the lever escapement, and the co-axial escapement… then somehow faded from the center of horology.

From John Harrison solving the longitude problem in 1759 with the legendary H4, to George Daniels reinventing complete hand-built watchmaking in the twentieth century, to Roger W. Smith carrying that tradition forward today on the Isle of Man using tools dating back to the 1820s — this episode traces one of the most important and overlooked stories in modern watch culture.

Plus: Christopher Ward and the Bel Canto’s historic GPHG win, the craftsmanship of Fears and Garrick, the complicated modern story of Bremont, the legacy of Smiths and Timefactors, and why British watchmaking remains one of the most stubbornly authentic corners of the hobby.

This is an episode about invention, craftsmanship, obsession, and the people who kept building watches even when almost nobody asked them to.

Keywords:

British watchmaking, Roger W Smith, George Daniels, John Harrison, Thomas Mudge, marine chronometer, longitude problem, Harrison H4, Daniels Method, co-axial escapement, lever escapement, independent watchmaking, British horology, Isle of Man, Christopher Ward, Bel Canto, GPHG, Petite Aiguille, Fears watches, Garrick watches, Andreas Strehler, Bremont, Smiths Everest, Timefactors, Pete Speake, Charles Frodsham, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, David Brailsford, Simon Michlmayr, Mike France, Peter Ellis, Davide Cerrato, Nick English, Giles English, luxury watches, mechanical watches, haute horlogerie, watch collecting, watch enthusiast, watch podcast, horology, independent watches, British luxury, handmade watches, watchmaking history, tool watches, chronometer, Rolex, Omega co-axial, F.P. Journe, Rexhep Rexhepi, Akrivia, Swiss watches, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, quiet luxury, collector watches

Description:

A listener (Nate, hello to the folks in Boise, ID) wrote in with a question his friends all think is silly: he refuses to buy any modern Swatch Group watch because Powermatic 80 movements are reportedly swapped rather than serviced, and he wants watches he can actually pass down to his son. This bonus episode takes that question seriously, start to finish.

First, what's really inside a Powermatic 80; the ETA 2824 architecture underneath, the eighty-hour power reserve, and which grades get a polymer escapement, which get Nivachron, and which get a silicon hairspring and a chronometer certificate. Then the service question, with a hard line drawn between what we know for certain and what's only strongly reported: the parts pipeline that flows one direction toward the factory, and the movement swap that reportedly happens at the entry level.

Then the plot twist most people haven't heard. Exchange servicing goes way upmarket...Tudor's in-house Kenissi calibers are reportedly swapped too, while the old ETA-based Tudors still get the white-glove teardown. Seiko reportedly does the same at the entry level. The line our listener drew around one corporation, the practice doesn't respect at all.

And finally, the grandfather's axe: why every heirloom watch is already full of replaced parts, why originality was never about the atoms, and where to redraw the line if repairability by human hands is one of your values. The feeling is legitimate. The boundary is just in the wrong place.

To the listener: you're not being silly. You're a philosopher ;)

I'm Watchovski. Wear something good.

Keywords:

What's on Your Riste, watch podcast, Watchovski, Powermatic 80, ETA 2824, ETA C07, Swatch Group, Tissot, Certina, Mido, Rado, Hamilton, Longines, Blancpain, Omega, Nicolas Hayek, Sistem51, movement swap, exchange servicing, watch servicing, watch repair, parts supply, Tudor, Kenissi, Seiko, Sellita, Miyota, Habring, heirloom watches, passing down watches, Ship of Theseus, grandfather's axe, originality, mechanical watches, serviceability, watch collecting