A Look Back At The Watch Releases Of 2024 - Part I | Hodinkee Radio

welcome back to another episode of hinki radio today's episode of the show is sponsored by our friends at Brook Lotti the award-winning whiskey from Isa who we have partnered with here at hinki for the last couple of years stay tuned for an update later in the show on what we're up to this season hey it's me James Stacy back at the helm of another episode of hinki radio today we thought it would be fun to look back at 2024 this is actually going to be sort of a two-part series which we're pretty excited about the first one I'm joined by tantan Wang our editor and mikica Crawford our style editor and the goal today like I said is just basically to look back on the last year do a little bit of like a retrospective I'm going to do the same sort of episode again with uh Mark and Rich which you will see in part two but I I really enjoy this time of year because you do get to kind of look back and go like oh that did happen in 2024 or oh I entirely forgot about that or I was so tired when that happened I ignored it and sometimes you find some new moments and sometimes you get to discover that people went a lot deeper than you thought I always enjoy uh kind of how all of watch media kind of starts to look back at the year um right around November and uh in December and we're recording this just before American Thanksgiving so should be in a pretty good mood we've almost got a couple days off here and uh it's always fun to do more hinky radio so welcome tantan welcome Malica how we doing doing pretty good I'm hungry I'm ready for some Thanksgiving food yeah oh oh yeah and then a good nap it's one of my favorite naps of the year to be clear I do rank naps and it's it's it's a it's a top player major are you a chunky cranberry sauce guy or the smooth one from the can kind of guy I'm kind of uh indifferent to Cranberry sauce I'll I mean I'll dabble but I don't think I have an opinion on on the the viscosity or Texture there in Co cool how about you uh I'm chunky cranberry sauce all the way but I know that's how peanut butter so may maybe I got to give it a better run think so underrated cranberry sauce don't really care to be honest what what's the what's the anchor of your Thanksgiving plate well to to be fair I'm not really a um an expert on Thanksgiving just given my sort of background and birthplace um but I do I do like a little bit of I'm gonna just say that I prefer an English Sunday race to Thanksgiving dinner and I think that's fair for me to say I'll be honest Yorkshire p in kind of thing anytime I see Yorkshire pudd in I'm not upset like I you can't be a Sunday race with a giant York pudding and layers of gravy and rast potatoes you just can't it's the only thing we can do it's our national dish so I've got a question for you if is this sacrilege I have a buddy also of uh uh English descent and he would make for fun he would he used to I used to live down the street from him and he would make entire like muffin tins of Yorkshire puddings each one with gravy a little bit of roast beef a little bit a scoop of mashed potatoes and like some horseradish and we used to really go to town on those that's absolutely classic I you have two sounds delicious yeah love that okay Co really good cool well this is what people came here for for sure uh you know an in-depth discussion of roast beef technology and and you know whether whether or not uh Thanksgiving can hold a candle to the the uh English supper uh so yeah I I like it that's good but no let's let's try and dial it in here a little bit uh as we start sort of our end of year series uh we'll have lots of stories like we always do and kind of look backs and think pieces and the rest of it but I did want to kick it off with a nice little chat about what 2024 was because I think it was a pretty strange year in watches it was really bizarre and I was just I admitted on this call and I'm just going to say it publicly that post watches and wonders I sort of blacked out this year I feel with new releases I can barely remember any of them I think that's fair look I I think let let's start as broadly as we possibly can in your mind does does did 2024 have a theme like 2024 was the year of the mini mini so really smaller stuff um for me it was the year of the mini because that's what I paid attention to and then I also made a list of everything that was mini and it was quite long um I got AP Royal o mini CTI P KC mini American mini Lin mini BB bulgary bulgary mini um that were just a lot of minis um so that's where I'm at but obviously you guys might be at a different head space to I did I did have a note in prep for this that it seemed like the the mini Trend might actually be an interesting piece of like cardier is so popular right now that they're actually propping up other brands lines that haven't been that popular like I think you look at the the Lin dolita which I think is quite a a really good watch but a quiet watch it's not a watch that like garnered a lot of insane enthusiasm from collectors but I think it's having a moment and I think it's because like card's moment has become so big that it's starting to like bleed into anything that could be comparable this okay this is quite a hot take and I'm not I'm not here to diss anybody but like nobody is calling out the elephant in the room here of the burner on the success of that watch is like obviously trickle down from like cier crash Mania I'm not saying it's a derivative I'm just saying I think you're right in that Ker's influence is just so widespread like I I don't think we're at the the Apex of this concept but think about it like 60s Rolex suddenly got crazy like it was always popular and there were always people who liked it like cardier but it got insanely popular like what 2010 and then it just nobody could see the top of where it was going and it spawned so many vintage Submariner similar watches like an entire industry of micro brand watches that were you know may maybe maybe they looked a little bit just enough like a like a comx or just enough like a milsub or just enough like like some other reference and and I think we might be on the starting wave of seeing that from the world of cardia and like with the with the uh burner on being an example for sure I'm maybe maybe maybe we're not there yet I feel like we're on our way there tan what do you figure with these watches these sort of the the we'll call it the cardier effect if you will yeah I mean it's one of those things where I feel like this year I think this ties into my answer about just 2024 in general like I it feels like sort of like a cautionary year I think are sort of stuck in this middle space where they're not sure whether or not I mean we've seen sales like Drop pretty dramatically from a lot of the sort of publicly um you know traded groups out there and I think Brands aren't sure whether or not to kind of take this moment to introduce Bonkers stuff to try to you know Revitalize um their assortment or sort of play it safe and kind of keep drilling down on the stuff that works right and so for me this kind of mini thing is cool because it it kind of feels like a little bit in between a lot of the the sort of smaller stuff are riffs on kind of Main Stays and icons but then you have the twist is the sort of smaller size which then appeals to a whole new sort of clientele so I think for me that's a way that I feel like brands are responding this year in in trying to kind of play it safe um yet sort of you know have some really cool story to to say um so yeah I think for me it's uncertainty yeah um do you think small is playing it safe Minnie do we think Minnie is playing it safe I don't think so but I think at the same time it's one of those things where because cardier has done it already because I think we already like we already saw the trend start in previous years that it's definitely not the most Innovative thing this year right it's not the thing no I've decided where I stand on men and scho watches um because why not just let everybody know how I feel um I it's a podcast it's a podcast and you know I can't keep my mouth shut so uh I think the men in small watches thing kind of gets on my nerves to be honest but I think it's is it too too much of an effect oh it's just like okay we get it how small are we talking honestly like I think it would be below 33 I think I think 33 and above like I think you could do a 33 to 36 dress watch and it's not really a big deal yeah um I'm wearing a 36 mil watch now I have a 335 from Seiko a line that they make in Japan which is awesome the uh yeah the Dolce they make a little tiny it looks a little bit like a grand SEO has this gorgeous dial and I picked one up uh from Japan a little while ago and they're they're just really fun to wear it's like six millimeters thick it's really cool that's so cool yeah um yeah like a like a dawn Draper 1950s dress watch slip under like slip under the C but like me wearing my wife's 26 mm pant there too far yeah I just we need two bracelets I think but like we just say like I just can't I just unless you're like the kind of guy that really has the Ste you know but I was talking to my friend about this and we were just like it's cool when you're kind of wearing an elegant outfit so if you're wearing a suit or like something she can put together sure wear a teeny tiny but if just like wearing some fullon like fit and you're trying to be like a fit God like the small watch thing just gets on my nerves so in contrast what um if you are a fit God what should be on your wrist well like a sub I think that's kind of cool just like yeah mikica Crawford recommending a sub that's that's new like where like I don't know where like a lean into the kind of sportiness because I like the contrast does that make sense yeah if you I don't know it's just like if you're if you're a big guy and you got a big wrist wear a big watch I don't know yeah I like that hot takes there go hot takes not so hot again special thanks to our partners at Brook latty for the support of hinky radio this holiday season we've partnered with Brook latty on a special giveaway that you can learn all about in the link in the article below or in the notes for this episode you might be surprised at what you see and you most definitely don't want to miss it and now back to the show so I want to I want us to to imagine back to the the Fantastical realm of watches and wonders 2024 which I I think the we all we all said it on various podcast and and and other pieces of feedback uh that it felt like a slow year like maybe a building year or a quiet year and I don't know like you look back at the year and there there was definitely some stuff that came out um but I would agree like if you compare 4 to 23 definitely a quieter year for especially Rolex and we're definitely going to do some episodes that'll come out later in December about 2025 and and what we're kind of hoping thinking will show up and that sort of thing but do you think the the sort of feeling of it being a down year lived out through the whole year or did we start kind of down and and Trend upwards as far as hype interest you know big releases that sort of thing um I don't I honestly don't feel I mean just you know based on pure gut feeling like mikica said it just like it hasn't felt like this year I can just immediately go to a time and place and I was like this is this is where that moment happened right I think like aside from aside from maybe controversy let's say like with moments like the cubus stuff like that like and and to be clear right there have been extremely solid launches this year but I think in the sort of sphere where I think this year we're also seeing a phenomenon where really solid launches are actually attainable right like people can actually go into a store and buy them you're no longer you no longer have this like artificial scarcity mentality where you're like oh these are just like crazy concept ideas that I'm seeing you know and I'll never see them again and if I do I'll be so lucky that I must buy it like no we're in a time where you know I think one of not to jump the gun but you know one of the best releases this year was the white dial Moon watch right like I bought one of those think it's a fantastic watch it's a first speed master that I've truly like aligned with and I could just buy it right that's such a different feeling and I think consumers are responding accordingly as well where they're like well if things like this I can start buying you know maybe I don't need to snap up everything in a in a frenzy and I think brands are realizing that now and and they have to kind of take a step back so I think it's all it's all time a little bit yeah and you know looking over the notes and trying to prep for this I did kind of get the feeling that Omega had a quietly killer year they kept their head down and they came out with a handful of watches that people are actually excited about that you can buy and I think enthusiasts when Omega threads the needle so to speak enthusiasts get really excited because you can buy it you might have to wait look a what if you walk into a big retailer now and ask for the the white Dallas Speedy you might have to wait a little bit but not years yeah MH and you're not going to pay a bunch of ADM like everyone just like you will get this watch like the response is always you will get it it's not oh maybe we'll consider you maybe it's like just wait just be patient and you'll get it yeah it was a it was like a kind of a subtle cool year for Omega we get a little bit more into it but I did want to get mica's take on whether or not the year stayed low or kind of sneaky had some of these hits like the white dial Speedy I feel like this year is giving Norm core like I agree like a little bit back Basics almost I agree honestly which I'm here for it because it's like a pallet cleanse and it's also a reflection of these quite turbulent times in the economy and politically I think we're just keeping it safe I would say it's like that in other Industries too like everything feels a bit Norm core but I reckon when things get Norm core and like I need to stop saying that word when things or maybe Define it just so just in case people don't understand like how that how watches would relate to Normcore Normcore is just like kind of the basic you know in terms of let me think like fashion wise it would be like a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt yeah it's like Gap in the late 90s yeah it's like a pair of you know New Balance sneakers and like there's nothing wrong with that and actually some it's Jerry Seinfeld and sometimes you can lean into that and it's kind of cool in its own way right just like I'm slowly being one over don't tell anybody this but I'm slowly being one over by the speed master by the moon watch yeah which I think is like the definitive Norm Core watch oh yeah um because all all men love it I'm sorry and I don't really know that many women who love it but all men love that watch it's so crazy to me yeah no I I kind of agree with that because I always sort of fell on the outskirts because the speed master was a thing that was sort of and you know to you know hinki had a large part of this this speed master is shoved down your throat as sort of my God 247 you must love this and and here's my qualifying statement I bought an 1861 I did not jive with it I sold it after a year I bought the 3861 because I was like this is the perfect Moon watch right this is everything I wanted the modern one it is I mean on paper it is on paper it is it checks all the boxes just didn't drive with it and then the white dial one I sold that one white dial one came out and I was like this one's a keeper and so for me like I went through that whole thing and it kind of I felt almost guilty admitting that just like I didn't get the standard Moon watch so it's it's good to know that there are people out there that get it James loves it no I've been a long long time outlier that it doesn't work on my wrist I've bored I like the Vintage stuff is quite fun because if they genuinely feel like like when you get a chance to see an old 's chair like a like a a true late 60 Speedy with some age on it is a gorgeous thing it just it is and it is like looking at piece of mid-century Perfection as far as design but I'm one I mean I'm pretty obviously not a huge chronograph guy to begin with I like I've watch I like gmts for the most part like for the dayto day and that's where Speedy shines it's as an everyday watch they're gorgeous they look really good they're so well made these days Great Tech in the movement all that kind of stuff and I think the white one definitely speaks to me I'm a sucker for a white dial for sure and they do a really like Omega makes an incredible dial they're just really good at it on on even on on a otherwise you know maybe run of the mill sports watch which Omega should be good at making they can still add some excitement via the dial and I think they do a good job there and then look I'm I'm a sucker for the gold ones changes the whole thing for me see I'm not into the gold I'm not into the gold no not the green dial okay hear me out because because I no because I don't think Omega is a luxury product Oh who okay yeah and I like just as I don't think people are going to hate this but this is my opinion I don't think Rolex is a luxury product like because they make it's it's a question of being too many are made or uh not just that but like just the DNA of like it's a sports watch it's supposed to be a utilitarian okay um it's like you know that was always you know yes it's a luxury product but it comes in like at a price point right unless we're talking about leemon and all of that 1908 stuff which is them doing something different but like I mean Omega does a ton of stuff up into the 40s 50s 60s platinums and white gold like the core product like you know Rolex professional and then you know C Masters speed Masters like that to me is yes it's a nice product and it's a little bit expensive but it's not like quote unquote luxury it's not protect Philip it's not Urology um and so to me the speed master as the definitive Norm Core watch like that is how I see a Stam as steel speed master and I don't really see anything beyond that um but that's just my take like and I could see how someone would be into that sure uh green dial gold yeah I mean I I like that one with the the champagne dial the black sub dials on the rubber especially but I would that it's that bra on the bracelet is something else the the modern tapered bracelet which I know is also done in steel on the white uh is just that that bracelet is excellent can I ask you if if someone was like here's a gold speed master and here's a gold Daya I mean what are you picking um it would depend on which really I'm picking a Daytona I think for me the speed master is one of those things where like that moonshine gold is so beautiful but it's one of those things where I'm almost like happy to just look at you know and happy to wear and try on from someone else but it's never something that I'm like that's something I like I need and that's like a hard balance I think to strike in a product another definitive Norm Core watch is the Rolex Explorer one which I wear almost every day great watch um yeah great watch I feel like I'm really leaning into those kinds of sort of just Staples very kind of easy to wear class design too crazy I'm into it so Mica to you Rolex is defined by the professional line that's the sort of I mean that's what you see on on everyone's wrist so then in in that kind of context would you say like so like the day date that's like a luxury product being made by a brand that's not necessarily like majority luxury or defined by a luxury image Rolex is ubiquitous for sure but like to me when you say the word luxury it I'm in a totally different headspace like yes the day dat is a luxury product for sure a gold a full gold watch is like a luxury watch but like rolex's brand identity obviously is very linked to the day date but like in my mind what you see everywhere is like a sub or you know a the GMT like that's the ubiquity product products that are like Downstream of mid-century excellence yes yeah for sure midcentury Excellence like that like can do like yeah we we can do it we can you know new new ways of making cities new ways of making cars new ways of Mak and it was this this great time and suddenly 53 pops off and we got a lot of interesting watches kind of kind of hitting the scene but I we've definitely derivated which I love but yes sorry let's let's no let's just turn it back to um what were some of either your favorite releases or if everyone's comfortable I'm I'm genuinely interested and I think the audience would too what did you buy this year that you liked tantan mentioned the white Speedy yeah I I was lucky enough to get a couple of things this year some of them actually like genuinely new I thought it was a fun year for sport watching tell tell us about your um your baby that you just bought there because that's the most interesting one to me sure I think this is a this is definitely a move for me so where should I start this story uh for those of you who aren't aware just a couple days before we recorded this or really a day before before we recorded this I took over as EIC editor-in Chief at hinki and obviously it would be insane to not get a watch to to Mark the occasion and it's hinky so you know I I briefly talked to tantan about longa ones and then realized I'd like to buy a house here in Toronto so not a longa one um but I I did it's hinky and I thought like a vintage Rolex is almost certainly the move it's part of like the DNA of why hinky started and I own and love and really I love it so much that it's kind of it pads down my interest in having more Rolexes but I have an Explorer too that I adore a 16570 I wear it a ton um and I wanted something that if you guys understand and when I say the watch I think but maybe you two will agree or disagree I wanted the character of that watch but something actually almost dressy and then at UBS our colleague Rich foran asked asked me and our whole panel in front of the a big crowd like what was the last watch you bought that wasn't a sport watch and like I was could not remember I had to go back and it was like a a late 50s chronograph Swiss uh was probably the last thing that I bought which the little rose gold chronograph which I wear and I enjoy but yeah I mostly buy sport watches so bearing the lead here but I was able to ask my buddy James lamon at Analog shift for this rather lovely 16001 linen incredible so this is from the early 70s I think they said they told me 73 it's got drilled lugs it's got a sigma dial so you get white gold markers that sort of thing and it's not a watch that I talk a ton about but for my wife and I it's one that's always been on like the co- by radar because perfect watch to share I'll buy a second bracelet so we have bracelets in two sizes and then uh when it when it hands down I have two daughters so a 36mm watch that could be worn with anything is a much nicer thing to hand down than one of my 200 dive watches you know what I mean like hang on that is quite romantic buying two bra knew oh it's the mov oh my I'm I'm just wow that's and then you can get the you can get the clasp engraved with an initial and then you know which bracelet which oh wait it's a really nice move especially with a watch that's got drilled L like in 20 seconds like she can pick the watch up throw her bracelet on it and keep going what a gentleman Mr Stacy you are I suppose but that that's what I got that's what I got to celebrate the the new role and and I really like it and I'm I'm excited to get it engraved and and right now it hasn't really left my wrist uh but it is just it is just on the actual fancy side of the way I wear my watches with the with the sigma dial and but I like the deeply monochromatic like as far as the 16 the four-digit date just go this is my favorite reference uh I've just been a fan for a long time so very lucky to have gotten that but obviously not even remotely a watch close to this uh year or a decade or you know this Century for that matter um you know just to kick it off what I what I did buy this year and from The Moment I Saw I knew I was buying one and I think this is also like tantan goes down this route where you see a watch and you go like no that's that's mine not today not tomorrow but soon was the my doxa sub2 200 which for a $1,500 watch find me one that's more fun that's all I'm asking are there better better could you get can you get a great dive watch for 600 bucks right now absolutely so you don't have to spend, 1500 but I don't think you can have more fun or again buy a watch that could be worn by basically any wrist it's 39 I would say it wears like 37 I brought the diving star which is bright yellow is super fun I love that I have a an auto dromo which I also bought this year the group C in bright yellow uh oh I love that kind of fun yellow's a if if they hit the color right yellow's a really fun D color I'm desperate for a yellow op to be honest I've alwaysed those yeah yellow ones it's so good but I I honestly I'm quite conservative about my watch purchases like I sorry but I'm more of a I've been buying clothes and Bs not watches well I mean if not adding to the collection then what did you see that you actually liked this year you and I did a little photo shoot with a pretty wild Chanel and then otherwise you know I've I've seen your I've edited photos of your wrist with just C and C and C so they must have had a year to you know what watch I love and that I would 100% wear and that I really vouch for is the MS uh cup like the sports watch they made for women because I haven't seen anybody Mak a sport watch that I truly believe is not a derivative of something else um and I think they are so clever the way that they do their typography and the sort of subtle shapes that they use and it's all very well put together as one would expect Ms to be and I know tant's a an MS watch guy you can appreciate yeah everything like everything just feels so deliberate on all of their designs which is just so hard to honestly say in this industry I think that's always been my bone to pick with people is that like so many of the most watches honestly get 90% of the way there and there's always a few things that either let me down personally or just don't seem right and they consider things from a design perspective to the nth degree um and yeah I love it I think they're just confident in their execution as well and I think it's a thoughtfulness you meet the you meet the people from the brand and they like you we think about this and we can get into it with some of the other watches that came out this year but more and more we see a as you get a certain level of Enthusiast they see the whole checkbox of a watch in their mind and you got to check every single one to make one that somebody wants to buy and I feel like aaz does a really good job of thinking of how what what the checklist is for their buyer and nailing it and I think other brands get really close on one thing and then give up on and like Miss on a color or something like that well for sure I think MZ also obviously knows its customer very well um and then in addition to that the reason why I thought the cut was so cool was because it was kind of like their attempt at going Beyond maybe their traditional reach when it comes to watch watches for women it was like okay maybe we can like have a play on this like ubiquitous Sports design um and kind of go a little bit further a field I think they're trying to bring in people who are like outside of the M as customer Zone which is cool and I think they just do things with such confidence that like you just sort of believe it you believe the vision for sure T how about you what uh what kind of hit your radar this year and whether you bought or didn't what what are you excited about yeah I mean obviously we already touched on the wi domond watch I think that thing is just still going strong it's it's unabashedly modern Omega which is what I think they really need to lean into totally um I think for me I mean the most significant I've bought a few pieces I sold a few pieces this year but the one that you know sometimes you get pieces that you're like this is just never leaving right um for me it's the the hobing Irwin piece unique that I did great story I talked about that on the first episode that I was in a few weeks ago but um I mean obviously also pretty significant in terms of timing because I basically just joined the editorial team around that time so it was a great way to sort of bring that story into my first piece um but you know I think that sort of the reason why that sticks to me so much is that it sort of ties into that General theme this year right where I think this year I've really enjoyed buying the stuff that doesn't feel like it's from this year like it's it's more of that like Timeless stuff it's not like oh I need to get it because the only time when this feels special on my wrist is because it just came out that's why it feels cool no like this is the stuff that actually feels more calculated more deliberate and like as a consumer exactly as a consumer I think I almost feel stronger in my choices because you there's no sort of fomo aspect right to to a customer that's like I just need to get this now I did actually I did buy one watch this year I forgot it was um a Vashon uh cocktail watch I think I wore it not too long ago on the pod that's sort of it's very small but the bracelet is very like solid and structured so it kind of Wears Like a bangle and then it has like tiny little diamonds around the dial and it's from the 50s um so it's amazing and I love it um and I like to I think I'm more of a go all in on one as opposed to like buy lots of little which you're a by lots of little guy James oh I I definitely am uh yeah what what else did I get this year that I really enjoyed well that group C Auto drum was really fun super fun if if you like a digital watch I I enjoy digital watches to some extent and then in the same vein digital uh that the reissue or redesign of the um chronosport UDT which is now done by momentum it's like a $350 watch and I just it's just so much fun if you like 80 action movies and like the the the the history of the Chronos Sport and that like this a very nerdy watch to be fair and and I you know momentum's a Canadian brand they're run by great people they make a really solid product that just doesn't cost that much money so you can have a lot of fun with it and I you know sure I think if if you're into quote like actual collecting it's vintage Vashon it's long of once it's that kind of stuff but I I got to be honest I just chase a buzz through this game all the time and that I got I got a real good one from that UDT that's a really fun little watch you know the biggest Buzz that I've gotten this year has actually been um so unimatic did a collaboration recently with the Museum of Modern Art MMA oh this is this is their second collaboration so the first one they did was like their Modello Uno diver with like the colors of their like three different ticket color schemes um but this one this year they did three models and I it's very Loosely based off the disle sort of art movement it's just I mean all they've really taken from it is the use of primary cers um but it's done in a way that's just like primary colors I feel like in watches are so and Mica you'll probably agree with me like sometimes it's so overdone like to the point where it just like looks absolutely terrible um you know I think it's always done with the intention of being Whimsical and childlike but it just like looks looks like sometimes right and I think the way they did it with restraint is just really really cool and they did three different models where there are just like three different combinations of like what hands use like the different primary colors and they kind of rotate through but like I saw that and I've just like I guess this my this is my moonwatch moment this year where I like I saw that and I just like ran to to MoMA like the MoMA design store and I was like can I see this watch they didn't even have them out they had to like dig through the back and like open every single box with all three for me to compare but like that what color did you decide on so on mine the minute hand is yellow the hour hand is red and then the sort of uh there's like a phantom seconds hand where the tip is actually all white to blend in with the white dial but that's blue um and so for me when I like looked at all three the waiting of the color scheme felt felt the best on this one but that thing is yeah you just like when you talked about that momentum I was like yeah in in in a similar vein maybe even something that kind of sits right between the the MoMA ematics and the UDT I picked up the an ocean of storm uh Blan Pon scuba 50 and like sure the this to be fair scuba 50 was a 2023 thing I think November 2023 about a year ago um and I but I got the ocean of storm did come out in 2024 and I picked one up while we were in uh Geneva for watches and wonders and like I wore it a bunch for the summer that's a really fun watch for 400 bucks and I like I think we like at a certain price it's got to be fun because you're not making an investment and you're definitely not making an investment on a a system 51 I I like them I enjoy them we we've done several great collabs with Swatch um but I think I think you know there's different classes of these sorts of things and these things have to be fun and I think Swatch still absolutely Nails the fun they did uh tantan they did more of the Herring stuff this year which you covered for us and and I think was really cool I think one of the things I like is post pandemic craziness we still have the ability to have fun at a lot of price points you don't have to have Rolex money to feel like you're part of it and and I think that's one of now that I've had a few years to like absorb the whole Moon Swatch thing and it started to calm down this year for sure not entirely it's still crazy you can buy some of them online now all of that kind of stuff but I think looking back on it there there's something really interesting about the fact that they were able to like light a fire at a price point that just was kind of stalling out cuz Seiko had taken the SEO 5 up to three four $500 and I think it left this sort of vacuum where Swatch and not just with moon Swatch or scuba 50 but Swatch in general started dropping you know cool multicolored sort of 80s chronographs like the Lama reissue one the naon stuff yeah I think that the neon stuff is cool yeah and we got to have fun at every price point cuz like it doesn't matter if you spend 50 Grand it better be fun it better be fun at 5 grand it better be fun at 500 should be fun actually I wear a Swatch and weirdly I Got a Baby G pink and and blue this summer like one of the jelly like one of the jelly ones like transparent yes they kindly they kindly sent me all three colors and um I actually wore them like they're great vacation watches I really like I really like that colorful kind of plastic Vibe when I'm on vacation just lean to like you know you know the vibe John May shocks for me like that baby blue one Perfect Vacation watch like yeah oh my god I've been wearing a lot of timx eight laps oh I got a whole collection going now if if you guys haven't caught them timx Japan does their own like four or five colorways you can buy it through Japan they will ship it to you I as like the Abu Garcia is the one I'm really really hot on which is the it's an eight laap but the entire cases made out of loom so the whole case go oh right did you send that to yeah okay I'm really into this too I just really R it's like $97 on sale it's so much fun it's kind of like a rule where just like I can't go into a discussion without mentioning lunga at least once I think James can't go into a discussion and not mention that one watch which is an inred fun I'm just having a good time with it and like I said like I I do I do think like you have to make sure you're having a good time with this because it can this industry and the media everybody takes it all really seriously and that's because some of it's so expensive and you don't want to spend $150,000 on a watch and two years later realize you want to spend 150 on something else and your first 150 is worth 70 nobody likes that feeling doesn't matter if it's watches art cars houses whatever but I just I do like I do like highlighting that you can you can spend relatively small amounts of money in this world and still have a real good time get yourself indl oh yeah anything that glows in the dark I'm pumped about let's go and the case case and the screen let's go so much fun but yeah and then other otherwise like what what else kind of stands out for you guys did you have any like favorite really high-end sort of stuff um long longa went hard this year longa went hard and like I say this knowing that I'm fully well biased in in sort of loving the brand but I think they just like kicked because they just kept doing what they're good at they didn't try to do anything insanely out of the box um and you know that's being a little dismissive of the crazy stuff they released but like it's still stuff that you're like they stuck to what their core competencies for sure exactly and like they celebrated a few anniversaries this year that I think in my opinion they just did extremely well like there's there's no better fan service to a group of collectors that's been done better in the past few years I think for me and the the you know the price tagwise the star of the show obviously was during watches and wonders that was the uh the datagraph for petual T be on Lumen right but like to me that's not even the thing that won I think like the two things that won for me are the dgraph HST right the yellow gold sort of homage to the the yellow jacket and then the longa one in Onyx right that's just like a crazy bit of subtlety that explains just like what drives people to that brand um so for I think they just had such winning moments this year and I don't you know it's they don't do it with that much fanfare right in context of you know when AP CA collaboration comes out there's a lot more discussion on it when the the Platinum longa one with an nonyx style comes out not as much right it's very fervent within the sort of Niche collector groups but not sort of within the broader discussion I think uh I wish it got more recognition it's very quiet yeah it's quiet but don't you think that is like the epitome of luxury anyway like it's so great like that is to me like the top end of yeah modern watch collecting that's another brand that that knows exactly what their actual buyers want not just people who love the brand like me from afar I'll have one one day if I'm lucky if I'm successful whatever but just even like you can you can appreciate longa for what they are but if you're a collector it really feels like that brand speaks to people who actually buy their watches and when you meet the people who run the brand they're obsessed with their customers they're really really good at it okay I cannot finish this podcast without bringing this up let's do it uh oh the AAP calls collab I just don't know what to think I think these these things are meant to be divisive they're meant to have these conversations about for sure like think I think this is much less um controversial in my mind than the uh the Marvel ones okay which like I did not get and people love which about a lesson learned right I understand the Marvel I like kind of I I yeah I don't understand this sorry so Mica I feel like I mean we've we've already texted briefly about this but I mean I think I hold the polar opposite view where I mean and this is the guy that you know like I I love everything Marvel I love everything you know pop culture but like the the like the torban they felt a little maybe shoehorned in as in it was just literally like okay do a character and place it in a turbon concept like for me the thing that won me over with the cause is that this watch feels just so much more from the ground up as a singular piece it doesn't feel like too like like a company and a licensing team came together and sort of was like how do we make this work no like this call like this expression like it it just works so well in the concept form like it's that like really like sort of metallic sort of heavy set and like that new peripheral like time display like it all just makes more sense to me and it feels more intentional on the cause for sure I think that makes sense if we're like analyzing product I think if we're analyzing concept uhhuh I see I see I'm not on board sorry and you know everybody knows I'm a big AP fan this one for me left me just dumb struck because cultural relevance if you're playing that card then yes Marvel again like is ubiquitous hands down uh Travis got despite what some of our readers may think also ubiquitous I get it it's like you're taking the most popular thing and like you know doing that cause I want to say like are we like a little bit late to cause kind of strange to me do you think do you think like do you think the fact that like the public knows cause now most because of like the uniclo stuff do you think that hurts it I just think Co is a very like like the ike pod or however you say it that to me makes sense but that was like not this year that was like when it was a moment and I think the problem sometimes with the Swiss Brands is that they you know I guess it takes a long time to develop a watch but they're a little bit late to the game sometimes so that's why the ubiquitous stuff works so well right because it will always be in the cannon whereas the stuff that's super trendy like it watches aren't fast enough so like either you're going to be ahead and take a risk or you're going to be late culturally anyway and and I know on the press release that they basically said the brand said like it took them two years to do this so like but even two years ago I mean cool this would have been sick in 2012 I understand from a product position perspective I just from a AP sort of doing a really hard play on you know culture I feel like they missed a little bit with this one as as far as a watch goes I I think it's quite cool um but I obviously like I'm not deeply dialed into the world of art or the timing of you know causes Peak popularity and that sort of thing uh I I think that this strategy of them taking the concept and applying totally nonat uh impetus and inspiration is a really cool way of making a 100 interesting watches for 100 people who can you imagine how special it must be if you love black panther and you were able to get one or if you love cause and probably own some of his art otherwise and you're able to get one of these like that makes sense to me even if I'm not the buyer for it can I just argue this then because maybe I don't have a problem with the watch maybe I have a problem with the marketing if you're going to be so splashy with the marketing then it better be like something that is ubiquitous like Marvel or Travis Scott or whatever that's just my two sent sorry no I think I think that that's what we're looking for we're looking to talk about what we thought of the watches and sort of the watch space in 2024 collabs were a huge part of this I think this is a topic that's going to come up in part two with Rich and Mark and then probably I you know collabs is something we're already hearing about from brands for next year obviously you can't give details but there'll be lots to talk about in our futur looking episod EP which will come out a little later uh this month so uh for this episode of hinky radio thank you so much for listening and tantan and Malica thank you so much for joining me this has been really fun looking back at 2024