Allen and Jon both ride Ducati Panigale V2s, and therefore have much to talk about. But they don't talk all that much about motorcycles, instead focusing on Jon's family's history at Cartier and Tiffany, Italian espresso machines, and the indie watch scene.
Welcome to "How Watches Work," a series of episodes dedicated to understanding the devices behind the dial. In this introductory episode, David Flett walks Allen through a history of mechanical timekeeping going back over 5000 years and sweeping up to modern times.
Greg knows his Star Wars, Speedmasters and NASA history inside out. Greg's rebuttal to Allen's deconstruction of "Grand American Space Narratives" via the Swiss watch industry opens up new ways of thinking about the Omega Speedmaster, humanity's role in space, and much more.
Allen finally takes on this horological masterpiece, which he's never really felt anything for at all - perhaps until now. From musicological analysis of Phillip Glass's minimalist music to deconstructing nationalist narratives, this episode doesn't critique Omega's branding of the Speedmaster as much as it critiques modern branding entirely.
Allen takes us on a downhill journey back to his days as a ski-punk while rocking an Explorer II Polar White in Vail, CO. It's a tale of personal rediscovery aided by a badass tool watch.
Following up on Episode 51, Allen turns a cultural-history lens onto the Quartz Crisis for a look at how quartz watches fit into the broader context of the 20th Century. Using his formal essay format, Allen contextualizes The Quartz Crisis as just one of many technological disruptions that ultimately culminated in the so-called Digital Revolution of the 21st Century.
Pedro comes on to discuss his new-found acceptance of some quartz watches, and he and Allen end up discussing the Quartz Crisis from many different angles. Notably not reaching consensus on key topics, this conversation leads to some rather interesting questions about how and why electronic watches disrupted the watch industry in the 1970s. The Quartz Crisis Part 2 will be a formal essay by Allen inspired by this discussion.
Evolutionary theory suggests that we are drawn to certain people and not others based on hardwired aesthetic judgements wrought over some five-million years. Allen suggests that similar hardwired aesthetics are at play when we judge "wrist presence," and goes on to suggest that tool watches categorically fail to achieve this elusive quality. A deep dive into Cartier and Rolex in the early 20th Century shows how very different impulses in creating the wrist watch, the former elegant, the latter n...
We see so many recreations of vintage watches issued to commemorate moments in history, people, wars, accomplishments, and so on. A certain line of WWII pilot's watch recreations present difficult questions about memorializing the Hitler's Nazi regime. Israeli paratrooper and military watch expert Oren Hartov joins Allen in an open dialogue which explores numerous angles on what will always be a tricky subject.
The Calibre 400 is not the first of Oris' in-house modern movements, but it is their first work-horse automatic winding movement of the modern era. Designed from the ground-up according to Oris' value-focused ethos, this movement is highly efficient, packs a 5-day power reserve, is robustly anti-magnetic, and happens to look a bit like the Oris Bear. VJ gives us an in-depth consideration of this innovation.
Seiko famously had two factories working simultaneously in both collaboration and competition to produce the most accurate watches in the world in order to beat the Swiss at their own game. David and Pedro had done deep research into this topic and come up with new intel that's fascinating in its own right, and very relevant for collectors of Seikos and all watches.
With the diving behind them, the BTD Crew that dove Lake George is unpacking both their gear and their thoughts about the experience. Allen reads an essay he wrote about SCUBA diving in search of outbreaks of the invasive species Eurasian Milfoil, and he muses on everything from bringing climate change deniers together with environmentalists to how much better the Oris Divers 65 was than his dive computer.
Sponsored by Oris and in partnership with The Lake George Association, the BTD crew is headed out to document invasive species in this iconic American fresh water treasure nestled in the Adirondack Mountains. Allen and Shelley will be making 6 dives over two days to photograph Eurasian Milfoil, a plant that threatens fresh water ecosystems throughout the USA. In this episode, Greg and Allen discuss the mission, their preparation, their gear - including watches - and the concept of mission-based ...
Allen and David discuss their simultaneous breakthroughs in their personal collections, with David going deep on very specific vintage Seikos and Allen finally admitting that the Cartier Tank is his favorite watch of all time, and thus worthy of his full attention. David's keen distinction between watches one wears (the rotation) and those one collects (the collection) clarifies and focuses the whole endeavor of owning watches.
As Elvis once said, "Let's get way way gone for a change." Patina is an observable effect of entropy, or the ongoing disordering of the universe. Allen worms his way into this topic and comes out the other side concluding that patina is - not metaphorically, but actually - poetry. This episode offers a wild ride through quantum gravitational theory, information theory, phenomenonology, poetics, philosophy, and, of course, horology.
Allen's interview with Martha Roesler of The Coral Restoration Foundation covers the science of reefs, how recreational SCUBA divers can help them, how Oris has been supporting the CRF, and much more. Allen revamps his call to listeners to come together and make a trek to Florida to help plant corals, and the Oris x Beyond The Dial Essay Contest is announced.
Why do we focus on having just one personal style? Why do we fracture our communities endlessly into smaller and smaller tribes? How do our personal aesthetics signal tribal membership? Why is carbon fiber so divisive among watch wonks? Allen ponders these questions and more as his love for all things Italian, fast, and matchy-matchy surges after years of suppression.
Men's style writer and historian, Pedro Mendes, talks with Allen about watches, men's style, environmentalism, racial tension, gender, and so much more. You'll also get some amazing leads on where to look for your next bit of lifetime-lasting tailored garb.
N. American CEO of ORIS Watches, VJ Geronimo, visits Allen at BTD HQ for a spirited discussion about the history of Oris, the company's environmental conservation efforts, the new Divers 65 made in collaboration with Japan's Momotaro Jeans...and much more. VJ's passion is contagious, and the rich history of Oris is fascinating.
What started as a cute aphorism has grown into a socio-economic theory. Allen works his way through the assumptions that make up this theory, drawing on personal memory, Marxist and Anarchist failures, Pan-Indigenous Environmentalism, and, of course, horological love. The goal? Nothing short of transforming Late Capitalism through our built-in human love of Beauty.
On the surface, owning a watch isn't a complex thing. Dig a little deeper into our motives for owning any given watch, and things get complicated fast. Allen explores the mental gymnastics involved in picking out your next watch, and he explores everything from the study of human motives, to why so many watch nerds hate on Invictas, and more.
Why do watch aficionados hate on refinished dials so vehemently? How can these otherwise astute folks miss the incredible artistry involved in refinishing dials, and the layered narratives (or mysteries!) that so often accompany a refinished dial. Allen takes listeners into the future, when the refinished dials of the 20th Century become museum pieces in their own right, and he examines why it is refinished dials tend to degrade a watch both socially and in monetary value today.
Allen falls into the bizarre and powerful orbit of beautifully aged vintage Rolex steel sport watches, those nearly unobtainable, very expensive timepieces that form an elite class of collectibles. From within this orbit, our host attempts to decode what's happening beyond the event horizon of Rolex by focusing his cultural studies and anthropological lenses at the center of the horological galaxy. Here lies a long and ponderous episode that uses warp drive to travel far into the watch space, bo...
Allen delivers his longest written piece about a watch here on the podcast. The watch is the Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA, and the story is part memoir, part explorer's diary, and part contemplation on the state of the world. A special thanks to Bob's Watches for providing the Rolex DEEPSEA for Allen's use on his strange mission.
Allen sits down with vintage Seiko expert David Flett for a highly informative dive into this snarly, but wonderful, collecting category. Whether you're looking to build a massive collection of old Seikos or want to snatch up your first vintage Japanese piece, this is the episode for you. And if you're not into Seiko, David's advice on vetting watches and their sellers is golden for those interested in any brand's vintage pieces.
Allen sits down with Edouard Maylan, CEO of H. Moser Watches for a candid conversation about how this historically significant Swiss watch brand has become one of the most pioneering watch houses operating today. The watches are avant-garde, but they get there by employing traditional watchmaking techniques (fume dials, in-house movements, traditional cases) in new ways. Being edgy and traditional simultaneously, Moser has captured the watch collecting community's hearts under Maylan's leadershi...
Allen takes a deep dive into the phenomenological perspective and clarifies how it can actually operate as a way to examine watches by performing subjective reports on four watches, a Nomos Club, a vintage Seiko Weekdater, an Aquadive Bathescaphe, and a Moser Streamliner. By looking at how quantum gravitational theorists have shown that time doesn't exist, but is instead a subjective phenomenon - that is: a product of our minds - Allen then explores the fluid ways we perceive time, and how watch...
Allen sits down with Longines' CEO Walter von Känel for a candid interview about the struggle against counterfeiters, dealing with the gray market, closing the in-house manufacture and adopting ETA, as well as Mr. von Känel's personal journey from being the son of poor dairy farmers in exile during WWII to the head of one of Switzerland's largest watch houses.
If you're flipping watches constantly and wondering how to slow that down, Allen's got a method for picking out keepers and avoiding flippers. The method grew out of a talk Allen gave at a Gear Patrol event about creating the perfect three-watch collection. He wanders into Spiritual Materialism, a developing theory he's been tinkering with for about a year.
Have you tried to settle in on just one or a few watches and find yourself bored? Are you more interested in the hunt for the new timepiece than in a long-term relationship? Allen confesses to growing bored with his carefully curated 3-watch collection and to how he began to quell that boredom by fooling around on the side. This infidelity includes springing for his first Nomos!
