Afleveringen
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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
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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
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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S01E17: Japan, Part Two, The Indies: Hajime Asaoka, Naoya Hida, Masahiro Kikuno, Kurono Tokyo, & Kuoe
Note: A reference is made when talking about Kuoe and Smiths. This was recorded prior to the passing of Eddie. RIP brother.
Description:
In Episode 17 of What’s on Your Riste?, Watchovski explores the quiet apex of Japanese watchmaking: the independent makers operating outside the institutional system, often alone, producing some of the most extraordinary watches in modern horology.
From Hajime Asaoka teaching himself watchmaking with George Daniels’s book and machines bought on eBay… to Masahiro Kikuno going from military rifle technician to one of the world’s most respected independent watchmakers… to Naoya Hida spending nearly three decades inside Swiss luxury before launching the dress watches he always wished existed — this episode dives deep into the people, philosophy, and craftsmanship shaping Japan’s indie watch renaissance.
Plus: Kurono Tokyo, Kuoe Kyoto, the AHCI, Wadokei temporal hour watches, mokume-gane dials, and the direct lineage from George Daniels to modern Japanese independent horology.
If you love independent watchmaking, quiet luxury, craftsmanship, and the stories behind mechanical watches, this is one of the most important episodes of the series so far.
Keywords:
Hajime Asaoka, Naoya Hida, Masahiro Kikuno, Kurono Tokyo, Kuoe, Kuoe Kyoto, Kenji Uchimura, AHCI, Japanese watchmaking, Japanese independent watchmaking, independent watchmakers, indie watches, George Daniels, Roger W Smith, Philippe Dufour, Rexhep Rexhepi, F.P. Journe, haute horlogerie, luxury watches, mechanical watches, horology, watch collecting, watch podcast, watch enthusiast, watch collector, Tsunami watch, Project T, Wadokei, mokume-gane, Hiko Mizuno, WOSTEP, Type 1 watch, Type 2 watch, Valjoux 23, vintage inspired watches, Japanese microbrands, Kurono, Kuoe Old Smith, Royal Smith, Tokyo watchmaker, Kyoto watches, artisan watchmaking, handcrafted watches, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, quiet luxury, collector watches, independent horology, British watchmaking teaser, Daniels method, watchmaking history
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S01E16: Japan, Part One — The Country That Quietly Won the Engineering War (Seiko, Grand Seiko, Citizen and Casio)
Description:
For decades, Switzerland has dominated the story of luxury watchmaking. But what if Japan quietly won the engineering war while the West wasn’t paying attention?
In this episode of What’s on Your Riste?, Watchovski dives deep into the extraordinary rise of Japanese horology — from Seiko’s shocking performance at the Neuchâtel and Geneva Observatory competitions in the 1960s, to the invention of Spring Drive, one of the most technically fascinating movement architectures ever created.
We explore the origins of Grand Seiko, the legendary Snowflake dial, the tragic and inspiring story of Yoshikazu Akahane, and the hidden world of Credor’s Micro Artist Studio — where some of the finest watch finishing on Earth is happening in near secrecy in the mountains of Nagano.
Plus: Citizen’s astonishing Caliber 0100, Casio Oceanus, King Seiko, Orient, and why Japanese watchmaking deserves to be viewed not as an alternative to Swiss horology — but as a parallel tradition entirely.
This is Part One of a two-part journey into Japan’s watchmaking culture, engineering philosophy, and quiet pursuit of perfection.
Keywords:
Japan watches, Japanese watchmaking, Grand Seiko, Seiko, Credor, Citizen, Casio Oceanus, Spring Drive, Yoshikazu Akahane, Snowflake SBGA211, Seiko Observatory Trials, Neuchâtel Observatory, Geneva Observatory, Japanese horology, luxury watches, independent watchmaking, Credor Eichi II, Micro Artist Studio, Philippe Dufour, Citizen Caliber 0100, Eco Drive, King Seiko, Orient Star, mechanical watches, haute horlogerie, Swiss watches, watch collecting, horology, watch podcast, Watchovski, What’s on Your Riste, Spring Drive history, Grand Seiko Snowflake, Seiko history, Japanese engineering, watch enthusiast, luxury timepieces, automatic watches, watchmaking history, Seiko vs Swiss, quiet luxury, high horology, independent watches, precision watchmaking, titanium watches, GS Snowflake, Zaratsu polishing, Seiko Epson, Shinshu Watch Studio, Shizukuishi, watch collectors, mechanical engineering, Japanese craftsmanship
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Episode 15: "American Watchmaking — The Industry That Died and Is Being Rebuilt"
You can find a ton of info on more American brands here:
https://americanwatchmakingdirectory.org
Description:
America was once the watchmaking capital of the world (Waltham, Elgin, Hamilton, Gruen)
producing over 100 million pocket watches between 1850 and 1950, inventing the railroad-grade
accuracy standard, and teaching American production methods to European manufacturers.
Then, across the second half of the twentieth century, the industry almost entirely collapsed.
Hamilton's last movement rolled off the Lancaster, Pennsylvania line in 1969. The next
American-made mechanical movement wouldn't appear for 38 years.
This episode traces both the collapse and the quiet, determined rebuild; through five brands
working at very different levels and price points. Vortic Watch Company in Fort Collins,
Colorado, restores antique American pocket watch movements from Illinois, Elgin, Waltham,
Ball, Hamilton, and Hamilton and converts them into wristwatches using cases made in their
own Colorado facility...the most direct possible bridge between the original American
watchmaking industry and the present. Cincinnati Watch Company, founded in 2018 by Rick
Bell and Mark Stegman with WOSTEP-certified co-owner watchmaker Jordan Ficklin, is the first
brand to assemble watches in Cincinnati since Gruen closed in 1958. Weiss Watch Company,
founded in Los Angeles in 2013 by WOSTEP-trained Cameron Weiss, makes the Caliber 1003 in-
house — machined, hand-jeweled, plated, and finished in California. RGM Watch Company,
founded in 1992 by Roland G. Murphy in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, produced the first American-
made mechanical movement in 38 years with the 2007/2008 Caliber 801, and then the first
American tourbillon with the Pennsylvania Tourbillon. And J.N. Shapiro Watches, run by former
school principal Joshua Shapiro in Inglewood, California, released the Resurgence in 2023... a
watch with 148 of 180 components made in their California workshop, meeting the FTC's all or
virtually all standard for the first time since 1969. Plus: the 2015 Hodinkee article by Nicholas
Manousos, the FTC investigation into the American watch industry's use of Made in USA, and
what the reckoning ultimately produced.
Keywords:American watchmaking, Made in USA watches, American horology, Vortic Watch Company, Cincinnati Watch Company, Weiss Watch Company, RGM Watches, J.N. Shapiro, American luxury watches, American pocket watches, Waltham Watch Company, Elgin watches, Hamilton watches, Gruen watches, railroad grade watches, mechanical watches, independent watchmaking, in house movement, American made movement, Swiss watches vs American watches, FTC Made in USA, Nicholas Manousos, Hodinkee, watch collecting, horology podcast, luxury watch podcast, watch enthusiast, watchmaking history, vintage pocket watches, handmade watches, guilloché dial, engine turned dial, tourbillon, Caliber 801, Weiss Caliber 1003, J.N. Shapiro Resurgence, Pennsylvania Tourbillon, WOSTEP, AWCI, haute horlogerie, independent watch brands, watch industry history, American manufacturing, wristwatch history, watch restoration, antique pocket watches, horological history, luxury mechanical watches, microbrand watches, Watchovski, What’s On Your Riste
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*This one is for my watch brother from another mother in Idaho*
Description
Bonus Episode: Bonus Episode for Nate: “Between the Words:" Mühle-Glashütte and Lip (of Besançon)
…I goofed with the “lip” and “nose” line, you’ll catch it, but I don’t want to re-record, so here we are…I’ve accepted my imperfections, you should not ;)
Let’s get into it…in 3rd person because is sounds fancier.
A listener once told Watchovski that he keeps listening because he can hear what the show isn’t saying. So this bonus episode follows that thread into two watches whose deepest meaning lives in silence.
First, Mühle-Glashütte... the quiet one in Germany’s loudest watchmaking town. A family-run maker that could talk endlessly about pedigree, but instead points toward the sea, search-and-rescue crews, and watches built for the people who come for you when things go wrong.
Then, Lip ... the great French watchmaker whose most immortal moment came not from a complication, a celebrity wrist, or a luxury campaign, but from the workers who occupied the factory in 1973, restarted production themselves, and declared: we make them, we sell them, we pay ourselves.
One silence is humble. One silence is radical. Both point to the same truth: the watch was never really about the wrist that wears it.
A very sincere tip of the hat to Nate from Idaho, whose suggestion gave this episode its shape — and who clearly knows how to listen between the words.
Keywords:
Mühle-Glashütte, Muhle Glashutte, Lip watches, What’s On Your Riste, Watchovski, Between the Words, watch podcast, horology podcast, German watches, French watches, Glashütte, Besançon, Mühle S.A.R. Rescue-Timer, SAR Rescue Timer, German Maritime Search and Rescue Service, woodpecker-neck regulation, tool watches, family-owned watch brand, Lip Mach 2000, Roger Tallon, Lip R27, electric watches, 1973 Lip factory occupation, French labor history, watchmaking history, vintage watches, independent watchmaking, underappreciated watch brands, watch culture, horology, mechanical watches, meaningful watches, watches with stories, Nate from Idaho, WatchCrunch
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Episode 14: “A Reset Button — The Tool Watch Episode”
Special Thanks to Vuk Radic at ItsAboutTime (https://www.itsabouttime.email)….check out his amazing watch newsletter!!! Solid, up to date new releases and awesome “Easter Eggs” he throws in on every update. One of the few Newsletters I sign up for and I encourage listeners to do the same!
Ok, about this week…
After a four-episode philosophical arc on the deep end of independent watchmaking—Rolex, the Renaud & Papi diaspora, Rexhep Rexhepi, and more—Watchovski hits the reset button.
Six full brand segments climb from $50 to $4,000+ through the world of actual tool watches:
* G-Shock — the watch that made the category, including the 5610 Square, the GW-M5610 Solar Atomic, and the GA-2100 “Casioak.”
* Citizen Promaster — carrying on the Eco-Drive solar tradition, including the BN0150 “Fugu” and the Aqualand.
* Seiko Prospex — featuring the SKX, Turtle, Monster, Sumo, and the modern SPB-series.
* Marathon Watch Company — the Canadian defense contractor behind the GSAR and MSAR, known for genuine tritium tubes and currently supplying watches to U.S. and Canadian military forces.
* CWC (Cabot Watch Company) — the British Ministry of Defence supplier that replaced the Rolex MilSub for the Royal Navy in 1980, with the SBS Diver still issued to British special forces today.
* Sinn Spezialuhren — the apex of German engineering, featuring Tegiment Technology, Ar-Dehumidifying Technology, the 856 daily wearer, the U-series submarine steel divers, and the UX GSG 9, issued to German federal counter-terror operators.
Plus honorable mentions for the Tudor Pelagos FXD (commissioned by the French Marine Nationale), Damasko, and the Hamilton Khaki Field.
The Thesis:
Tool watches are the reset button. The watches you don’t take off. The watches
whose value lives in what they let you stop thinking about. Not lesser watchmaking...
different watchmaking, in service of a different relationship to time.
Keywords:
Mentioned in this episode: Casio G-Shock DW-5610, GW-M5610, GA-2100 (“Casioak”),
Kikuo Ibe, Citizen Promaster BN0150 (“Fugu”), Aqualand, Skyhawk, Eco-Drive, Seiko
SKX007/009, SRP777 (“Turtle”), Seiko Monster, Sumo, Samurai, SPB-series, 6R movements,
Marathon GSAR/MSAR/Navigator/JSAR, tritium H3 gas tubes, CWC SBS Diver, CWC G10,
Royal Navy MilSub history, Sinn 556, 856, U1, U50, UX GSG 9, Tegiment Technology, Ar-
Dehumidifying Technology, Helmut Sinn (callback to Ep 9), Lothar Schmidt, Tudor Pelagos
FXD, French Marine Nationale, Damasko, Hamilton Khaki Field H-50.
Subscribe. Tell a friend. Wear something good — whatever good means to you
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What's up @Dumihed (Mike) on WatchCrunch, this episode is for you dude!
Bonus Episode (Season 1, secret Episode 22): “The Mighty Middle”
Spotify Description:
A man at a watch meetup apologized for his Hamilton, and this episode is the forty-five-minute rebuttal.
A fast, joyful tour of twenty mid-tier brands that punch absurdly above their weight: Longines, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Frédérique Constant, Alpina, Oris, Nomos, Sinn, Damasko, Formex, Stowa, Marathon, Doxa, Kurono Tokyo, anOrdain, Furlan Marri, Baltic, Yema, and Raketa.
Real history, real engineering, honest prices, and one superpower per brand.
Tour route, not a ranking.
Never say “just.”
Bonus episode.
Keywords:
best value watches, mid-tier watch brands, Longines, Certina, Mido, Hamilton Khaki Field, Frédérique Constant, Alpina, Oris Calibre 400, Nomos Glashütte, Sinn, Damasko, Formex, Stowa flieger, Marathon GSAR, Doxa SUB 300, Kurono Tokyo, anOrdain enamel, Furlan Marri, Baltic watches, Yema, Raketa, affordable mechanical watches, watch podcast, watches under 2000
A twenty-brand tour of mid-tier watchmaking that punches above its weight.
Tour route, not a ranking.
Riste's Extended Show Notes...i.e. The Brands and Models Mentioned:
Longines — Spirit Zulu Time, Legend Diver, HydroConquest, Ultra Chron, Master CollectionCertina — DS Action Diver, DS PH200MMido — Ocean Star, including COSC Caliber 80 versions; Ocean Star Tribute; Multifort; BaroncelliHamilton — Khaki Field Mechanical, Ventura, MurphFrédérique Constant — Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, Classic Worldtimer Manufacture, Slimline MoonphaseAlpina — Alpiner 4, Startimer PilotOris — Aquis Calibre 400, ProPilot X, Divers Sixty-Five, Big Crown Pointer Date, Carl Brashear editionsNomos — Tangente, Orion, Metro, Club CampusSinn — 556, 104, U50Damasko — DA36, DA38, DC56Formex — Essence Chronometer, ReefStowa — Flieger Classic 40, Marine, AnteaMarathon — GSAR, MSAR, NavigatorDoxa — SUB 300, SUB 300T, Professional, SharkhunterKurono Tokyo — Chronograph 2, Mori, CalendrieranOrdain — Model 1, Model 2Furlan Marri — Mr. Grey, mechanical sector-dial lineBaltic — Aquascaphe, Hermétique, Tricompax, MR01Yema — Superman, Rallygraf, SpacegrafRaketa — Big Zero, 24-hour polar watches -
Dropped Early for you Ethan! Hello to you all in Walla Walla dude!!!
Season 1 Episode 13 (Akrivia and Rexhep Rexhepi)
Title: Rexhep Rexhepi: The Refugee Who Became the Most-Watched Watchmaker Alive
Description:
Episode 13 of What’s on Your Riste? tells the extraordinary story of Rexhep Rexhepi; the Kosovan refugee who became one of the most respected watchmakers alive. From fleeing war at age twelve to earning a coveted apprenticeship at Patek Philippe, then working under François-Paul Journe before founding Akrivia at just twenty five, this episode explores the philosophy, discipline, and artistry behind modern independent watchmaking.
We dive deep into the legendary Chronomètre Contemporain (RRCC), Philippe Dufour’s praise of Rexhep’s work, the meaning of truly quiet luxury, and why some collectors believe Akrivia represents the apex of modern horology. This is the climax of the Rolex → Renaud & Papi → Rexhep trilogy...and a meditation on what it means to wear a watch nobody else recognizes, but you understand completely.
KEYWORDS:
Rexhep Rexhepi, Akrivia, Independent watchmaking, Luxury watches, Haute horlogerie, Watch collecting, Swiss watches, Chronomètre Contemporain, RRCC, RRCC II, Philippe Dufour, F.P. Journe, François-Paul Journe, Patek Philippe, Geneva watchmaking, Only Watch, Watch podcast, Horology, Watch enthusiast, Luxury timepieces, Mechanical watches, Grand feu enamel, Bombé finishing, Jean-Pierre Hagmann, Watchmaking history, Independent watch brands, Rolex vs independents, Quiet luxury, Collector watches, High horology, Watch community, Geneva watchmakers, Tourbillon, Deadbeat seconds, Watch collectors, The Hour Glass, Michael Tay, Kari Voutilainen, George Daniels, Modern watchmaking, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski
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It’s the late 1990s. Le Locle, Switzerland. A small workshop in a town most Americans
couldn’t find on a map.
Inside that workshop, working on grand complications... minute repeaters, tourbillons,
perpetual calendars... there are a handful of young watchmakers sitting at adjacent
benches. Some are in their twenties. Some are in their thirties. Most of them are broke. Not
one of them is famous.
In about twenty years, the watches built by the people in that one workshop will sell for the
price of a house. The price of three houses. The price of an apartment building.
And almost every brand you’d consider the names of modern independent watchmaking...
almost every single one... will trace its origin to that single room.
Keywords: Renaud & Papi, Patek, Rolex, Greubel Forsey, the Grönefelds, Pequignet
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Episode 11: So Your Friend Wants a Rolex
What do you say when your friend tells you they want a Rolex? In this episode, Watchovski has an honest, respectful conversation about Rolex, collecting, and the danger of letting other people’s taste shape your own watch journey. From the Submariner 14060M and Sea-Dweller 16600 to the Omega Seamaster Peter Blake, this episode explores why great watches still may not be your watches.
We talk about Rolex admiration, collector pressure, the difference between informing and redirecting, and why sometimes the best advice is simple: help your friend get the watch they actually want. Plus, a tease for Episode 12 on the Renaud & Papi diaspora and the future of independent watchmaking.
Keywords:
Rolex, Rolex Submariner, Rolex 14060M, Rolex Sea-Dweller, Rolex 16600, Rolex GMT-Master II, Rolex Pepsi, Rolex 16710, Rolex Explorer, Rolex 116000, Omega Seamaster, Omega Peter Blake, Omega 2254.50, Omega 2264.50, Steel Reef, watch collecting, watch collector, luxury watches, mechanical watches, Swiss watches, Rolex buying advice, first Rolex, should I buy a Rolex, authorized dealer, Rolex AD, watch enthusiast, independent watchmaking, microbrands, Grand Seiko, Tudor, Czapek, watch podcast, horology podcast, What’s on Your Riste, Watchovski, Renaud and Papi, Audemars Piguet, Greubel Forsey, Grönefeld, Pequignet, eudaimonia, hedonia, collector mistakes, watch community
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Description
A bonus episode of What's on Your Riste? — but this one isn't for watch people. It's for the people who love them anyway.
The partners who've rolled their eyes at the Christmas present. The parents who've been politely confused for two decades. The siblings, the friends, the coworkers who've sat through one too many monologues about lug width and movement finishing and finally asked, with real exasperation, why are you like this?
In about forty-five minutes, we try to answer honestly. The art — what it means that someone hand-polishes a piece of metal you'll never see. The history — three hundred years of an unbroken chain that began with a self-taught carpenter trying to keep sailors from drowning. The psychology — why collecting is one of the oldest things humans do, and what Aristotle figured out about pleasure that explains the whole hobby. The photographs you'll be in forever, and what gets to be on your wrist in them.
And the part almost nobody on the outside knows about: the community. A text group of people who would, statistically, disagree about almost everything else — different countries, generations, religions, politics — sitting down every day, for years, to pay attention to the same small beautiful object together. The watches are the excuse. The people are the point.
No prior knowledge required. No jargon without translation. Just us, trying to explain ourselves, gently, to the people who've asked.
Send this to the person in your life who keeps wondering. We made it for them.
Keywords:
watch collecting, why watches, watch hobby, mechanical watches, wristwatch, non-watch people, explaining the hobby, watch community, watch enthusiasts, horology for beginners, shokunin, craftsmanship, heirloom watches, wedding watch, eudaimonia, hedonia, Aristotle pleasure, Patek Philippe generations, luxury watch culture, watch text group, watch meetups, collecting psychology, John Harrison marine chronometer, Omega Speedmaster moon, hand-finished movements, guilloché, patina, wrist presence, grail watch, watch podcast bonus episode, what's on your riste, watchovski, what's on you riste
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Episode 10 — Description
Hedonia & Eudaimonia: Why Some Watches Make You Happy, and Others Make You You
Aristotle laid out the framework 2,400 years ago. Watchovski applies it to your wrist.
Today's episode is the philosophy episode the watch community has been quietly circling for years without naming. Two ancient Greek words... hedonia (short-term pleasure, joy, the dopamine hit) and eudaimonia (deeper meaning, identity, human flourishing) ... explain almost every watch decision you'll ever make.
Why a Studio Underd0g Watermel0n is a perfectly legitimate purchase. Why a watch you inherited carries a weight no review can capture. Why a collection made of only fun pieces eventually feels empty; and why a collection made of only meaningful pieces becomes a shrine you're afraid to wear. Plus the sneaky third trap most collectors fall into: mistaking someone else's eudaimonia for their own... buying watches because other collectors told you they "should" be meaningful, and waiting for the meaning to arrive on your wrist while it stubbornly refuses.
Includes a listener prompt: which watches in your collection live where on the spectrum, and which direction are they moving? Send your stories for a future community episode.
Coming next: Episode 11 : So Your Friend Wants a Rolex.
Keywords:watch collecting · hedonia · eudaimonia · Aristotle · watch philosophy · collector vs speculator · meaningful watches;why we buy watches · Studio Underd0g · Mr. Jones Watches · independent watchmaking · watch psychology · luxury watch buying decision · watch collecting framework · how to choose a watch; what makes a watch meaningful · watch as identity · should I buy this watch · hobby philosophy watches · how to build a watch collection · why I sold my watch · watch collector mistakes
watch collecting podcast 2026
SEO Keywords (Spotify)
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Another Episode of Watch Stories!
There is a small village in central Germany called Kalbe.
You have not heard of it. There’s no real reason you would have. Seventy-five hundred
people live there. There is no famous restaurant. The most prominent landmark is the ruins
of a ninth-century castle. The town doesn’t show up on any tourism map.
And in a modest two-story house with a pointed gable, on a quiet street, with a small creek
running through the property and apple and plum trees in the yard...there is a workshop.
Nine people work there. They make somewhere between one hundred and twenty and one
hundred and eighty watches per year. Total.
You have probably never heard of them either.
This is the story of why that’s a problem.
Keywords: Independent Watchmaking, Germany, Kalbe, Dornbluth, Dornblueth & Sohn, Unitas
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What if I told you that one of the founders of Patek Philippe — the Patek Philippe, the most
prestigious watch brand in the world — got pushed out, in a bitter falling-out, one hundred
and eighty years ago — and that his original brand was completely forgotten for over a
century — and that ten years ago, a small team in Geneva resurrected his name and started
making watches again, and most people in this hobby still have no idea who he is?
That’s our episode today.
This is the story of Czapek — CHAP-eck — the watchmaker who founded Patek, and the
modern brand bringing his name back from the dead.
Keywords: Czapek, Patek, Independent Watchmaking, Collective Horology, Oster, SXH5
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This episode is going to make some of you uncomfortable. It’s going to ask you to look at
your collection ...your beautiful, considered, lovingly curated collection... and think about it
the way someone trying to take it would think about it.
That is not a fun mental exercise.
This is the conversation I wish someone had with me before I lost everything.
Keywords: Storage, Collections, Break In, Theft, Robbery, Security, Incurance for Watch Collections
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The Vintage-ish Episode... Omega, Ardath, Cartier, Piaget, Chopard & GP
Keywords: how to buy vintage watches, Frankenwatch, vintage Cartier Pasha Seatimer, Omega 2279 pre-321, vintage Piaget, vintage Girard-Perregaux, service dial vs original
How to Buy Vintage Watches Without Getting Burned: Frankenwatches, Service Dials, and the 10-Point Checklist
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Let's have fun this week!
Mr. Jones Watches, Studio Underd0g & Zelos are covered this week...and a special fashion watch ;)...teased for episode 6...
Keywords: Studio Underd0g review, Studio Underdog watermelon, Zelos Hammerhead, Mr. Jones watches London, microbrand watches 2026, fun watches under $1000
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(Audio sucks at the start, (before music) sorry, re-recorded once I realized the episode didn't work without covering the horribel part...so I included it this time).
Last episode, I told you we'd talk about the watch that started it for me.
I want to be honest with you up front. This episode is going to be different. It's going to be more personal than I planned. There are some things I haven't really talked about publicly before, and I'm going to talk about them today — because I don't think this story works without them.
So. Take a breath. Pour something. Settle in.
This is the story of the watches that made me...
Keywords: vintage Zenith 143-6 Yugoslavian Air Force, Smiths Everest cream dial, Grand Seiko SBGF009 quartz, watch community stories, watches with sentimental meaning
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