A

Welcome to Scottish Watches Podcast. We're in the doghouse this week. Well, we're not really in the doghouse. We've been invited to the doghouse. We haven't quite made it there yet, but. Dave, what are we talking about?

B

Studio Underdog been in the news fair bit over the last few months, but not really for any watch related shenanigans. More to do with of course, what they're doing with regards to building watches in the UK and well, acquiring, taking over, reorganising, however you want to describe it, what is now known as the doghouse, of course, where they're doing all their watchmaking, whether it be repairs and servicing or of course putting together and building up all of their new models. But. Well, they've got a couple of new models out. Well, more than a couple, there's technically two new ones, but it's a new generation. So it's generation two that's also technically a couple. So this is the studio underdog O2 series, Generation 2. Now what have they done? Well, they've slimmed the case down a little bit, which in my opinion didn't necessarily need slimmed down. They have increased the power reserve. This is a good thing. And they've added a couple of new colors. I guess the brand is, well, let's say they're well known for their unique dials in terms of both the design and of course, actually interestingly, especially on the generation two of the series two, the construction of the dials as their time only. Well, field watch, let's call it a field watch. It's not really a field watch, but it's definitely leaning towards a field watch aesthetic and territory. So that reduction in case height, they've come down from 12 millimeters to 11.5 millimeters. The case has actually gone up slightly in diameter, I believe from 37 to 37.5, but you still get a pretty tight 46 mil lug to lug. Where does the power come from? Well, previously they were using the Sellita SW210, but that's been updated to the SW202 Mpower Plus.

A

Is that anything to do with BMW?

B

I was going to say, I think a car brand in Germany might have issues with that.

A

So what does this mean then? Because we know the previous stuff, we've known they've used seagull movements for the chronograph modules. What is the changes with this upgrade here?

B

Well, they've always used a Sellita is my understanding in this series of watches, the seagulls have always been the chronographs in the Series 1, the field watches, have always used Sellita. They've always been a little bit more expensive. Premiums may be the wrong word, just a slightly more rounded package in terms of what the watch is. But of course the Seagull is a great chronograph. It's based on an older Swiss movement and it allows them to do the Series 1s at amazing price points. But this MPower plus variant is there at long last. Zelita got the memo. Update, modernise and make things altogether a bit more well specced. Power reserves up from 42 hours to 63 hours. That is a fairly significant chalk chunk of change in terms of hours that you're getting an almost 50% increase. But they have removed the rotor because of course they're keeping the second generation the same as the first, which is manually wound. The dial design on these watches is, I think one of the big highlights of it. You've got a kind of suspended sapphire disc that sits above a metallic base plate for the dial as well. They've cleaned up the printed minutes track. That's been downsized a little bit as well. You've got a slightly shorter handset on there. The text has been changed above 6 o'. Clock. I think it used to say mechanical hand widening, but it now says assembled in Great Britain. Of course, that's nodding towards what they're doing at the doghouse. They have deleted two of the four colors. They've deleted the full moon and the midnight dials. The new offerings are called Nightshade. That's a sunray brushed purple with a red tinted dial accent. And there's the red lolly.

A

Now I've had a look at this colorway and I think of the new ones, this is my favorite. What do you think?

B

I do like red lolly because I keep thinking red lorry, yellow lorry. Trying to say that and making a mess of it. But yeah, this is pretty cool, this cherry red. It definitely a poppy colour for sure. How have they done this? Well, it's the tinting of that upper sapphire disc that gives these colourways the well popular pink lemonade and Stephanie blue. They are remaining as options, albeit with all the other upgrades. They went on sale July 7th at 3pm British summer time and the US price is $1200. I didn't actually get around to looking up what the UK price is, but I don't think it's changed a huge amount, to be honest, over where they were. It's just been a kind of Iterative update, little bit. Well, refining of things around the edges look great. I think I tend to agree with you. I do like that kind of pink into yellow, that pink lemonade colour. It's very cool, it's very Studio Underdog. But that cherry one, yeah, there's something classy about it. But while still very much being a studio underdog, I guess you've put your cards on the table. I don't need to say which one's your favourite. I'm guessing it's that one. Any thoughts on generally the improvements around the corners?

A

It may come as a bit of a surprise that this is not my favourite series. I like the OG and I also like the collaboration watches, limited edition watches that Studio Underdog have done with Fears. So of these ones, the cherry one, which has got a really nice sunburst effect, probably my favorite of the bunch, but they're not a fan favorite with me and I'm a big fan of the brand. We actually got to see it was one of the Red Bar events in Glasgow before the place that you used for Red Bar then closed. And Rich came up to launch his new series too. And we got a massive head start on it because he then delayed it because he had things he wanted to perfect and he does this all the time. And when he does a changeover and we had him on the show, it was either last year or the year before to talk about the change again, the revitalization of an existing series to make it even better than before. And this is one of these brands that we speak of a little bit like the Freak IX from Ulysse Nardan. They didn't need to do it. Rich doesn't need to do it. They sell famously well without all this behind the scenes stuff. That shows you how great a company he is putting together. And have you been down to Doghouse yet?

B

I have not quite made it that far. I was actually meant to go a few days back but completely ran out of time due to a few other things that came up. But I will be down in London again, I think in a couple of weeks and I'm going to make the effort to get out just outside London to go and see the doghouse and see what they're up to. Because I've spoken to a few folk who have been and they say it's well worth a visit. It's not just any old factory, of course, you wouldn't expect Rich to open any old factory. It's an experience center, it's a showroom, it's their offices and of course it's a working space where they build the watches. Well worth getting into to see it. They've done it in a way to well engage the audience with the brand, which is well what he's very good at, which is marketing.

A

He is phenomenal at it as well as putting the watches together. He gets out to the public through places like ourselves and Hodinkee etc etc and if you're listening to this podcast, you should be a little bit more informed about things. Maybe check out that thing we've got called show notes. Turns out the guy behind the scenes here who's been here for a number of years, since he was age 15 and we didn't know that at the time, well his football team did extremely well. So hopefully he will carry on that tradition of his country folk doing extremely well by doing extremely good show notes with good spelling. So that link will be in your podcast player. It'll also be in the YouTube description right at the top takes you to our website on there tech spec links, product information, high res imagery, everything you need over and above what we're talking about and also appears in the YouTube video. And there's another brand that we have tried to talk about as much as possible. They don't really show that loudly. Hopefully that will change and their dials are to die for. Dave tells about the next releases from Stromany.

B

They're from Northern Europe. As more and more brands seem to be popping up in that neck of the woods and they do something, well, a little bit different. Yes, they have launched their Yan Mayan frozen metal titanium and this is the first watch they've released with a titanium bracelet. It's fair to say that the dial, well it gives reminiscing of frozen snow or ice. That would be my first thoughts when I saw it. Much like that Japanese brand who do a snowflake orientated watch, this seems to be one that's doing it even better. Well, there's three firsts in this watch for Stroud. First we mentioned there's the new titanium bracelet. There's also this all new frosted dial and also PVD coated hands and indices is something they haven't done before. Size wise it's a bit of a weird one. This is 38.7 millimeters in diameter. That's a pretty specific size thickness wise coming in at 11.5 millimeters and that includes the crystal. Now that skullduggery about here's how thick it is. Oh by the way, add another two mil for the crystal. It Comes in either an integrated metal titanium bracelet or they've got the option of a rubber strap. Now, the bracelet is not any old titanium bracelet. It's also in grade five. It's an H link structure with a combination of frosted and polished surfaces. And it also features their micro adjustment clasp. I've also had a play with this in person and it's exceptionally well executed. And it's quick release onto the watch head, which means it's super easy to swap it out. That dial this new textural finish on there as well. It's a frosted galvanic treatment and they've kept it very low key. It's just in this bright white. No temptation to add punchy colors. They're keeping it very clean. Just. Well, I guess let the dial texture do the talking. On this first edition you've got those polished blue PVD coated hands and indices and that's the first time, as I mentioned, that they've used that style of coating on markers. It does take just the edge off that white dial. The white dial is amazing, but white can be quite a cold color and I think that blue just kind of, it leans into the whole ice thing a little bit nicely as far as I'm concerned. Movement wise, La Jepere G101, 68 hours of power reserve. It's been adjusted in four positions so the model they've got is a plus minus seven seconds a day. Accuracy price point wise, 1980 of your pounds and that's in the UK on the titanium bracelet or 1750 on the rubber strap. Please note though, they are excluding taxis, so depending on where you are in the world, you need to add some taxis. Anything from nothing if you're in Hong Kong through to an exorbitant 20% if you're in the United Kingdom. The bracelet, interestingly is also available separately. It's not inexpensive, it's 610 pounds. But to be fair, it's grade five titanium. It can micro adjust it's quick release and it will fit onto any of the previous editions of the watch. So if you got one of the older ones prior to the bracelet being available, fancy the bracelet, you can get your hands on one. I'd say the price they're charging is fair for what it is, but when you can kind of leverage into the whole watch being two grand, it's well about. Well, what's that? Roughly a third give or take of the price of the watch. But. But it's quite a nice bracelet, I have to say. Ricky, you are probably Going to very much like this. I think it's giving the Japanese brand that we talk about who are well known for their dials a bit of a run for their money.

A

You said northern Europe. Whereabouts in northern Europe? Are they anywhere near Belgium? Because I believe that Belgium has just been hit with a 2000% tariff last couple of days.

B

Well, they're a bit further north than the Belgies, but anyway, yeah, they're not very happy I don't think. But anyway, moving along.

A

Well, not moving along. Let's talk about this watch. This is a real bugger for me because we had Rob Nudds on the show recently to talk about the previous limited edition version of this watch. And this is a new colorway. This is a new dial still and it's new. Well, it's not new hands. It's the same hand but as you say, it's got the PVD color to it. And I think this is by a country mile the best looking watch these guys have produced as of yet. And you're right, white and blue. Loving that. We're going to talk about the wrist check later on. Well, shortly. And that will play into this color scheme as well. I think this again it plays into the whole. Two grand is the new one grand. This is titanium. It's got a fantastic dial like you say, working similar to maybe you would see from Grand Seiko at a much lower price point. The bracelet technology is second to none. It is phenomenal what people are actually producing these days from Christopher Ward through to the guys over at Formex, through to yourselves at Araj. Two grand for this is a huge win and I know that everything that it comes with add to the customer experience of getting a watch delivered. It comes in a little capsule. It comes with everything you need inside. It's almost like, I don't know, an astronaut unpacking his toolkit and his food. And we were talking about a movie that they will probably catch up on later on in the show. Yeah, I think this is huge. I think it's going to be a massive success. The only problem is you've got to get in quick with these watches because they're limited, usually limited production takes a long time to get a hold of them and if you're not fast, you last. So I think it's a huge, massive success for these guys yet again.

B

Couldn't agree more. It's not quite my number one. It's up there probably in the top three. But they did a watch with this kind of pink into blue. I think it Was kind of gradiated dial. I think they did it maybe a year, maybe even potentially two years ago. And that one really did catch my eye. I was a big fan of that watch. Many of the watches I've done, to be honest, do catch my eye. They've also done a very cool kind of, well, red dial that. Oh well, that was nice as well. I think I saw that last year in New York. Anyway, anyway, that was a bit like

A

the Moser watch that we really liked. The streamliner that looked like the Terminator's eye.

B

Yeah, exactly. It was that kind of really deep cherry wine red. That's kind of difficult. Burgundy. Burgundy red maybe is the way to describe it. But it had that strong texture to it as well. Yeah, excellent work from these guys. And they've just slowly but surely been incrementally updating the cases, the bracelets and all the different little features of it to make it into a very, very rounded package for give or take £2,000 to two if you add tax to it, etc, etc, depends where you are in the world. But yeah, the money. Excellent value. But what's not excellent value is being given a watch as a present and then having to give it back.

A

Oh, you finally give me a more wedding present from year and a half ago. No, you're talking about something else that we alluded to earlier and that is obviously the foosball. It's still kicking off over in the States, much as Scotland. Don't know anything about that kind of stuff. Yeah, we have the tartan army have probably returned back home as much as Barbara Plumbo keeps meeting them in different airports across the land. And I know a few will probably end up near Chicago because the wind up show is happening and the Dal artists has actually bumped into an old favorite. He was on a plane heading across to Chicago, stopped off somewhere and met up with Federico from Federico Talks Watches. Got a little selfie sent across. We need to get fed back on the show. He is one of the OGs from YouTube land. But the next thing we're going to talk about, you're quite correct. There was an influencer that decided to do a good deed for the Mexican football army, I suppose you could call them, gifted them some cool watches. Then something bad happened and that was nullified. So what exactly was the story here?

B

Well, it's got a bit of a twist in the tail, this one. So what we're going to say is there's an American YouTuber, I believe his channel is called Steve Will do it and he gifted The Mexican football team, some Rolexes. Apparently he says he spent around a million dollars, which is, give or take, £750,000 on Rolex watches for every Mexico player and member of staff. And he presented them to the squad when he met them, well, not that long ago, I think it was the day before Mexico beat Ecuador to put them into the last 32. Now this is the bit of this thing in the tale. FIFA's quote, code of ethics has restrictions on these things. Something about offering and accepting gifts. Their article 21 states things that, well, gifts can only be offered and accepted if they have symbolic or trivial value. And a million pounds worth of Rolex is probably not regarded as trivial value.

A

But I heard if these were Hublot's that been gifted, then there wouldn't be a problem.

B

Well, that's slightly different because, well, the Mexico player decided to return the watches by mutual agreement. I don't think there was a lot of mutual agreement probably going on there and, well, he said he had gifted them on his own initiative. Now, interestingly, FIFA is reportedly investigating how he even got access to the players because Hublot is, well, as Ricky mentioned, furious because, well, they are contractually their team and the squad has now returned every single watch. Who knows? Ethics, apparently, Ricky. Ethics.

A

Ethics, you say? Well, something we're going to tell you to do next is to check us out on YouTube if you're not already doing so. The podcast, podcast comes out twice a week in audio and it's going to start coming out twice a week in video. Yes, things have been moving behind the scenes and we are now up to speed. So as well as your Saturday or Sunday, depending how big an editor is, video content, you'll also get something mid week, not decided exactly which day because it's tricky at the weekend, people seem to have a bit of time to play with. We usually launch on a Saturday around about 10am UK time and then that filters through the rest of the day so folks in other parts of the world can pick up on it. We're looking at maybe a Tuesday night, maybe a Tuesday, maybe a Wednesday night, something like that. So there is a bit of a gap between the first video and the second video, but that will be happening shortly. So you can check us out ottottishwatches on Instagram and then just Google for Scottish watches on the YouTubes. Where we go next?

B

Well, a bit like you being tricky, Ricky. Pre and historic go together to talk about something that's new but old.

A

Ooh, I know what you're talking about. This is A watch we got a bit of a sneaky peek at because we were kicking around at Watchmakers Day. Well, that was back at the start of March, probably around about March 5th, for some reason. That sticks in my mind for no apparent reason at all. And we were down there. I missed it last year because myself and the wife got married. You were there. But we got to see a brand we've been dying to catch up with and they were showing us pebble shaped watch that looked like it had been in the wars. So tell us exactly what the differences are here and who it is we're speaking about.

B

Of course, this is the anoma A1 prehistoric. They're a London based brand. So yes, technically they are a UK brand and that means that of course they can be at events such as British Watchmakers Day. And they've brought out their newest limited edition. They've swapped out or done away with the polished finish for, well, a much more raw textured finish. And this is all about the kind of use of hand tools or chiseling by hand. Now let me see if I can get his name right. Matteo Violet Vianello, I think. That's right. He found this idea for his newest watch. Well, he was standing in a room full of prehistoric tools.

A

What were you doing now?

B

What was I doing? There I am everywhere. I am omnipresent. Bit like history. Anyway, yes. The case itself is A hand chiseled 316L stainless steel case. They all love to quote hours of things, how long they take. Apparently it takes five hours of process to get each of these cases done. And it's undertaken by a gentleman known as Stephen Brunel. He's a French engraver and his work has actually been exhibited at the Louvre. The buckle itself also receives the same hand chiselling treatment. Now the dial carries on the process. Apparently around 600 individual lines are cut by hand into the brass base in a kind of sunburst pattern. It's then finished in a dark anthracite colour that gives this recall of work stone or a flint. Standards are fairly as you would expect for the A1 model. 39 x 38. It's lug less, it's a fairly triangular shape. It's under 10mm thick at 9.45. Runs on a Sellita SW100. You've got 50 meters of water resistance. Comes on a great grained Italian leather strap. There's only going to be 100 pieces of this. Now it says 100 pieces in 2026, so I don't know whether it's 100 total or 100 this year. Who knows. I'm sure we can get some definition on that. Check out the show notes. Price point is going to be just shy of four.

A

Well before you run away and tell us the price point and whatnot, what exactly is an SW100?

B

It is one of their basic's the wrong words but it's basic in that it's a thin movement that they do that well lends itself easily to watches like this which want to keep a fair slim profile. Back to prices just under 4,000 US before duties and taxes. The orders for this opened on July 8th and deliveries are expected within the month of October 2026. Looks really cool. Anoma Doing things a little bit differently. I like this. It reminds me a bit of those kind of hand worked bezels that well G Shock have done on their very high end kind of master watches that are all done by Japanese craftsmen. This one's more rough and textured. It's not quite as delicate as these hand hamm ones that the Japanese do, but similar kind of methodology but with big chunks cut out of it. I think personally looks really cool. I like the look of these watches. I've had a few of them in hand over the period that the brand's been in existence, which is not a huge amount of time. But yeah, looks really cool. I'm sure these hundred will sell out rapidly.

A

They will, but not to me. This is not my favorite of the editions I have seen. It is really good to see things especially ahead of time so we can concoct some stories, some ideas, get ready for them in release and then bring them to the audience ready for sale. But this one, I think it's a textured hammered finish. It just isn't my vibe. I'd prefer something from the previous catalog. The other iterations that are out there and who knows, there may be something else coming down the line. It's a little bit more to my liking, but what is to my liking is the fact that people as in brands listen to the show and then they get in touch. So when I recently said, oh that New Fears watch, that's fantastic. The color scheme's amazing. Love the one I bought. But this one here. Oh you know they're doing some good things things. Turns out they heard that they got in touch and they sent up a watch. So my wrist check today ain't a watch that I own. It's a watch that I have borrowed and it is something blue. So Dave, can you tell what it is yet?

B

I think this may well be a certain Brunswick ES subjugated watch that you've acquired that you're going to have to send back. But you're going to be very unhappy that you have to send it back because you probably like it very much.

A

Well, for once Dave is correct in both counts. First of all, what this watch is, it is indeed a Brunswick Forte Helmsman ES. And this is from the Fears Watch Company, Nicholas Co down there doing great stuff as always. And when I put this on the wrist, which I have left the unboxing until today so I wouldn't have it out and about, scratch it, damage it, etc, cause any problems for it. Because I don't know if this is a press piece, a sample or it has to go back to get a little bit of TLC before being sold to a lucky customer. But this is fabulous. Simona spotted me wearing this and went oh, that suits you and it certainly does. But I ain't going to be buying two fierce watches within the one year. Not when I've got so many to put on the wrist. But if I really was, if I really had the spare pennies, this would be top of the list. This is phenomenal. And the value you get with a Fears watch. I forgot just how much you do get because the packaging, the experience, the unboxing mentioned strom earlier. These guys do it just as well, if not even better. Let me quickly run you through this. It's 40 mil in diameter. It is just a shade under 12 mil thick. It's stainless steel with a screw down crown. Obviously you have got a lot of water resistance on this 200 meters so they tell probably slightly more because I know they over test inside you've got the G101 from Le Juupere beaten at 4 hertz which is 28,800 vibrations per hour and a power reserve of 68 hours. So yes, not 40, not 36, 68 to play with. And it comes on an FKM rubber strap which actually looks like leather. So I'm quite fond of the fact that you can actually get this one weighing ain't going to muck it up. And the price point this is £3,450.

B

Just enough under three and a half grand that you can get yourself something to eat once you're picking up your watch, which is always a win. Great looking watch and the satinizing of that case really makes a huge difference compared to the normal Brunswick which of course has got a more refined dress orientated finish on it. I have the Smaller version of it. And yeah, this definitely leans itself into tool watch territory in terms of aesthetic and indeed the specification. Very waterproof, good power reserve. This is a watch that you can wear on your everyday life. And of course, well, the name helmsman gives it away because you can be on boats in and about the sea and as long as you don't drown, well, even if you do drown, your watch will probably still keep ticking away.

A

And there's no mayonnaise involved in this one either. Right, that's me done. My loaner watch. Wrist check for today. Shame it's a loaner. Has to go back. Dave, what you got in the wrist for us?

B

Well, Dave, as usual, has got something that's, well, not actually on his wrist because he wears his watch on this wrist and the camera is this side, therefore he has to have it off the wrist.

A

Here's an idea, Dave, why don't you move the. The f ing camera to our side?

B

That would be much too simple and I don't want to.

A

So that's why we only have room for one simple thing in this show

B

and that is, Dave, I'd rather be simple than stupid. But anyway, moving along, what am I wearing? I am wearing a Oris. Well, I'm not actually wearing it, I have an Aorus and it's something a bit unusual. It's a 2022. It's one of the older ones and it's one of the Holstein editions and I dragged it out of a box because I found it whilst looking again, as usual, for something else and thought, that's actually just a cool, funky little watch. Now, what is is it? It is the 2022 Holstein Edition. That is the full steel and this is a total number coming in at a minuscule 36.5, albeit it is a slightly chonky boy as well. It has got, of course, well, the bear on the back, because it's the Holstein edition from 2022. It was number 249 of 250. I nearly didn't get one. I remember thinking about it for an age and then eventually decided and they had only a few left. What's going on here, then? Well, it's based on a much older ve Eta movement, where it's a World Timer or a GMT and you can push the buttons to advance back and advance forward. I don't know why I said WorldTimer because it's nothing to do. World Timer, it's a GMT. Two time zones, the main time, of course, central hands and that dial or sub Dial there at three o' clock is the second time zone. But it's called full steel because it comes on a full steel bracelet. But I didn't like it on the full steel bracelet and I have it on a genuine tropic strap which I think works a treat with this watch. But how does it work? Well, you can see if I press positive, I can jump the hour hand forward, or if I press negative, I can jump it backwards. And the date is linked to that hour hand as well. So the date does actually change if I go back past midnight or forward past midnight when you're jumping at plus or minus. And of course you've got that second time zone set there. There's a little day night indicator that's hiding just under the hour hand for that second time zone. And you're running seconds at 9 o'. Clock. Big loomed numerals, little loomed dots above the numerals, big loom on all four of the hands which keeps it very readable. And even the positive and negative symbols are loomed so it's easy to make adjustments in the dark. Screw down crown on there. Yeah, I just think this is a funky little watch that I enjoy when I'm wearing it. It's very small, but because it's got a little bit of chunk to it, especially if you're wearing on the bracelet, it's not quite as small on the wrist as you would expect it to be. Ah, I'm going to wear this one a few times before I put it back in the box where it will disappear for, well, probably the next couple of years until I drag it out again. So that is what David is wearing, not wearing.

A

Right. We've got the wrist checks out of the way. Miz and Cole will be happy with that. And now it's time to change the price point a little bit. We're going to go a little bit more upmarket. Not to say any of the releases so far are down market, but maybe they're a little bit more affordable, a little bit more budget friendly, economical, safe for the pocket and disposal acceptance factor. We're going to now change gears, moving into the territory that we usually catch up with these guys over at Watches and Wonders. We didn't get the chance this time around, which is a bit of a shock. Shame not maybe not, because this watch wasn't released then. They released quite a lot of watches that were a bit similar to maybe in previous years. But the guys over at Parmigiani, they have got something that is in a color I really like. It's a model I really like and the design, I just think it works great. And it's probably the first time I've seen them playing with more vivid colors compared to like the toric and the different ones we've seen over the past few years are more muted shades, pastels, sandy colored things. This has gone completely blue.

B

Well, it's not gone quite completely blue, but they've definitely gone punchier blue. And this of course is an iterative model within a range of models that exist in the range. This is the Parmigiani Tonda PF sports chronograph. This one specifically being the ultracermit mineral blue. So of course you've got this ultracermit ceramic case. The dial itself is in dark grey and you've got this mineral blue in terms of the sub registers. Price point is. Well, let's start there. Definitely at the upper end of things compared to what we've been talking about so far. This episode at 40,400 Swiss francs before tax. And as I mentioned, it is an addition into the sports chronograph line from the Tonda PF family. You've got a composite of ceramic and metal for cermet. And this gives the case a better scratch resistance of course than a steel case. And it gives it a glossier surface than the metal alloys. The case, the fluted bezel, the crown and the pushers are all in this ceramic material. Ultracermit was introduced by Parmigiani back in 2025 and that was in the Tonda PF sports chronograph that had a dark gray dial with dark blue counters. Much more what you probably expect from the brand, a bit more muted. But this latest release with that lighter gray dial and of course these baby powder blue little kind of markers are really lifting it into summer watch territory. It's got of course an in house movement. As you would expect, it's the PF070. It's a high beat movement running at 5 hertz. It's cost certified 65 hours of power reserve. The case itself is 42.5 millimeters, which is not insanely huge for a well ceramic chronograph coming in at 13.3 millimeters thick, 100 meters of water resistance. And when you combine it with the color matched rubber strap, it looks excellent. Really nice summer orientated color palette for a watch that's normally much more reserved in color. I personally think this is a great looking watch. Is it my favorite from Parmigiani? Nope. I'm very much into their Kind of retro pants and some of their other cleaner watches. But for a chronograph with a ceramic case, I think it's looking pretty fun.

A

Well, it's my favorite so far from their range because the colors, they play well together. It's not a dark anthracite, it's not black ceramic. It's an almost mid tone gray. And with the blue and the coin edge bezel and the pushers on the side. I really like this one and I would never plumped for a parmigiani in the past. I can totally respect what they do, understand the design philosophy. We've spoken with everybody from the PR team right the way through to the design folk there and they've always got great stories to tell. Plus in house manufacturer caliber, it's a bit of a win there. But this one with the color scheme, yeah, I think I could definitely wear this. I'm not saying I'm going to buy it, I'm not saying I have the money for it, but this is. Maybe it could be the sign of a new direction because they have been muted, they have been desaturated in the past and I think this is just starting to creep towards the Larry colors that maybe we'll see more of in future.

B

Who knows? Let's hope they do. But I think some of their muted colors also work very well with their design language, so. Well, maybe the answer is a little bit of everything makes everyone happy.

A

Well, something that wasn't muted was your jumper. Last week we got some comments on our YouTube channel about you being covered in, I don't know, some nefarious substances.

B

Yes, indeed. Some comment about dandruff. I don't know. I think I replied with something about no dandruff here, my friend. I use head and shoulders. What I actually have though is a T shirt. And here is the proof that the entire T shirt is actually covered in little luminous flecks. That's actually what's going on. I did actually go and watch because I read the comment and I thought, is he talking about me or is he talking about Ricky? But no, indeed, he was talking about me. No, in fact, it's a T shirt with lots of little flecks of a kind of semi luminous material through the fabric. So I hate to disappoint you. Show us. I have. Show you what?

A

Show us. It loomed up.

B

I don't actually have a lume torch handy, which is of course something that's not very useful when you're someone that's doing a watch podcast. But as a podcast that happens to be on YouTube now, which means you can't actually see us.

A

Did you see my comment?

B

I probably didn't see your comment yet because frankly. Well, I've filtered your comments out. If you're not seeing, I've shadow banned you from comments.

A

Anyway, my comment was pretty much along the lines of you said it was bits of lume and I said the only bits of lume you'll see there is pretty much what CSI would see in your bed sheets.

B

I mean, who knows?

A

Come again?

B

That's exactly correct.

A

That's exactly right. Okay, well, time to move the show forward before we end up in the gutter where we usually end up. And the folks at Ameda, they did the coolest thing ever last year at Geneva Watch Days, which is just around the corner. They were in Boravage, a hotel that's been renovated. A lot of the hotels were being renovated at that moment in time. Time. And instead of moving and covering stuff up and having dust sheets there so they could still do their presentations, they took what they had in front of them and utilized it to its best. They took myself and Dave. We were the first people to go and see them. They took myself and Dave on a little bit of a CIA adventure through the 1960s. It was like watching some spy thriller in the cinema on television. We got taken into a room, it was a bit of an interrogation, there was lights on us, it was a briefcase, it was open up and it was to show us the latest release actually got delayed until March this year. And that was their NASA shuttle style watch. Well, they have decided to up the game yet again. And what have they done this time, Dave?

B

Indeed. So they've now got the Amida Digitrend OS2 Black.

A

Anything to do with IBM?

B

No. Anyway, this is their latest take on the Digitrend collection with this all new OS2 Black Edition. And it's an evolution of the concept which of course started back in 1976. And this brand has brought back to life in such an amazing way. Let's see what it's all about. Limited edition, 150 pieces. It looks very much like a variant of the Open Sapphire that they released back in 2025 where they took the, well, top of the watch, they took that solid hood off and they replaced it with a cut sapphire piece. So you could see on the insides of it. Now in this one, what is going on is it's all about the luminous display. They've actually changed things up a little bit in the watch in Terms of all the numerals, they usually were, if I remember rightly, an orange color. It wasn't lumed but they were quite bright. But of course at night it made it a little more challenging to read. So now you've got this luminous display on those Jumping Hour markers which makes it extremely legible in the dark. Couple of other little tweaks as well. They're still using a Soprod movement but in this case it's the Newton 024 instead of the previous used Newton 092. This is basically a clone of a 28242 with their module on top of the top of it. The pricing has also increased. This has gone up from around 4,500 Swiss francs to nearer 5,500 depending on whether you get it on the bracelet or on the fabric strap. That block of sapphire is machined from a single block. The case is done in a DLC coated 316L steel and you've also got this internal framework that contains. Well, it creates a structured frame that's kind of integrated into the architecture of the Jumping Hour module. And as I mentioned, of course for the first time that Jumping Hour display is fully legible in the dark. I am a big fan of these watches. I like this aesthetic, the style of driver style watch. As many people know. I've got the Girard Perregaux. I've got a couple of them in that ceramic case. It's very similar in many respects to that watch but it's using prismatic lenses with a mechanical movement as opposed to of course a digital movement. Excellent looking watch. I can't quite decide whether I prefer the OG with a non sapphire top on it, but this sapphire, it's a bit like do you get a normal Porsche or do you get one with the glass Targa on it? Not entirely sure. Both cool looking watches. I do think the Lume is going to be a bit of a game changer for all round usability of this watch though. Ricky, prefer this to the NASA one or are you still all about this one?

A

I'm still all about the NASA one because I don't know, it just worked. It worked for me the whole thing. I'm showing something on the video. Yeah. If you're listening to the audio podcast, check the show notes or go in and watch the YouTube video in a couple of days, but that NASA one, that is the daddy for me. Not just because we were involved in such a cool and unique creative process of the way of explaining about it and showcasing it with forged Documents pretend this, that and the other. There was like a Bigfoot classified folio. It was just so well put together. These guys have done amazing things since day one. We got to meet up with them maybe three years ago. It was at Boravage. It may have been Geneva watch days, or it may have been at Watches and Watch Wonders. And they invited us over before they'd even designed the watch. They had prototypes, they hadn't decided exactly how they were going to go with it and they were going to release it later in the year and we had to look at it. And they were very quick to tell us that they had sought the blessing of various different people, including Max Busser, MB and F, because it is a style that is quite reminiscent of things that perhaps MB and F have put together in the past. But the Ameda brand from back in the day, they were one of the linchpins for the styling. So it's good to see that they're not a one trick pony. They're iterating a bit like studio Underdog. They're iterating on different things and it seems to be working. The wheels have not come off. I thought, I really like it. I love the case shape. I love the fact the presentation it comes in is so distinctly 70s orange bulbous. It's like those bubble cars that you saw. It reminds me of Barbarella, the movie, for some reason. Can't think why, but that kind of dome thing that sits in the middle, if you had two of them beside each other on a stock shelf. Yeah, it would definitely remind me of that. Right. Dave, you're gonna have to continue because my mind is wandering elsewhere.

B

Always. Your mind has disappeared and left the room. But, yes, what we're going to talk about now. Well, we're going to talk about the Honorable Merchants Group. You may have heard that phrase. You may also have heard of the individual behind it, and that's Francois Henry, Benny Amis, the previous CEO of Audmar Piguet, and he launched Deepwell Honourable Merchants Group, and it was to announce a group of different companies in lots of different areas that are going to be doing lots of interesting things in the luxury space.

A

Was this the thing that we saw in Dubai at Dubai Watch Week last year, where he came on the stage to talk about this, that and the other, and he had assembled a crack team of boffins from SpaceX, from this place, that place, and they were hounding around him and he was talking about perhaps crazy bicycles and this, that and the other.

B

That's exactly what it was indeed. Indeed. And he did mention that of course he was going to be venturing back into some watchmaking endeavors. And the first of those is a brand new that's called N3W5 or North East west south, but it's pronounced news. As I mentioned, he's a former Audmer Piguet CEO. He was the one responsible for taking them from under a billion turnover to 2 billion turnover. I think that's called a success story. But what's the new enterprise all about? Well, it's a venture that's conceived as a platform for carefully curated luxury products and collaborations spanning multiple product categories. As far as these watches are concerned, they're going to be starting at, in and around 20,000 Swiss francs.

A

Did you think this was going to be a little bit like when Jean Claude Bivert decided to put his name on his own watch and the price in the first one was like astronomical.

B

To be honest, I was entirely unsure what it was going to be. It was either going to be absolute insanity, which this may still well be because we've not actually seen the products yet, or something based in the, the, well, let's say accessible luxury. 20,000 Swiss francs is still a lot of money, but of course it is definitely within a realm of reality that many people may be able to apply themselves to. That is if they don't make five watches and make them hard to get, who knows? Time will tell. So, well, what is going on here? Well, what he's trying to do here is bring together a host of experts in their own specific fields. I'll give you some ideas but show notes will be a friend here. But so for example, the case and the bracelets he's brought together Biwee Multicures, Weathernor for design, he's brought Xavier Casals and multiple other people. For dials, he's brought together LM Cadrans and Metlam for engineering we've got Astro in the Metidar space, we've got a variety of engravers, enamellers, Guillotine for the movement, he's got Alpine Precision and other companies for stone setting packaging. Lots of different specialists in the their own field. They've all been brought together to bring out some watches. He said there'll be two collections, one with a round case, the other featuring a cushion shaped case design. They will debut at Dubai Watch Week 2027. And that is all the information he's given out, which is, well, not a whole lot. But I'm sure if you put all of these people together, I'd like to Think they can come up with something cool. Although there's a phrase that I often take as a warning, which is too many, many cooks spoil the broth. Well, Dubai Watch Week 2027 will reveal all and we will know whether he's got too many cooks involved or whether indeed he's done his usual, pulled off a stroke of genius and brought something completely new to the market that sells out instantaneously. Who knows?

A

He gets a bad rep for various things. But you pinpointed at the beginning there. He did take AP from the doldrums right into the Marvel Cinematic Universe universe, and he did really well out of it and he pushed them in ways. And let's forget code 1159 and the bad PR spin on it, because that's now turned on a watch that people appreciate. They've forgotten that it was promised to be the new Royal Oak. It's his own thing. Let it be its own thing. I think he's going to do well because he's got the backing. He did phenomenally well ap and he tried things that were originally poo pooed that turned out to be fantastic. So, yeah, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's see how things rock and roll. Because who knows what the future may hold and it is time for something new to come into the fold.

B

I think you will hopefully pull off something interesting and unusual, but as I say, time will tell. That's all about watches, isn't it? Talking about time and being a bit, well, off the shelf. One off, indeed. Seiko have been up to some, well, unusual tricks.

A

What the hell is this? I saw this and I don't have a fantastic repertoire of Seiko knowledge because, well, less than 10 years in the, the hobby, they've been doing it for decades and decades. The guys that started the quartz crisis, the guys that won certain, certain awards over in Switzerland, until the Swiss went, yeah, we're not going to do those awards anymore because we keep losing to the Japanese. They've got something here that I have never seen before. I don't know if it's a recreation of something from the past, but it looks like an egg.

B

Well, you're not going to see one because it is a complete one off and it's not commercially available. But this is the Cosmic Watch and it's a special watch that's been made for an individual. Who is that individual, you may ask? He is is Shohei Hotani and he is a Japanese baseball player, I believe. But this latest watch is the Star Time and it's definitely cosmic. It's a disc based display watch that well it can tell the time. That's the elapse for UPS to quote 1 million hours or 114 years. I mentioned you can't buy one, you can't even beg them because they've made it as a piece unique. He is a baseball superstar, Japanese by birth. But now he is a star in America's Major League league playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The engineering behind this module that underpins it consists of five discs and it's well, rather complex. These five concentric discs have the following makeup. The innermost disc indicates the time on a 24 hour scale, I. E. The normal time. You read that against a red line at 12 o'. Clock. Then like all single handed watches, the time indication is well approximate. That 24 hour scale is graduated into 30 minute increments. The larger disks as you go out from there each have a diamond marker at zero. And each of them measures progressively well longer or larger periods of time. It's not a chronograph and this display will run continuously. The first disk measures a thousand hours. The following 10,000, the following 100,000. And the outermost disc measures a million hours. The periods of time that it takes each of these respective disks to complete complete one revolution. So that outer disc will take 114 years to do one revolution. So it's fair to say that, well, you're not going to be watching these discs move. It's going to be so barely detectable in terms of movement that you will spend 114 years to see it go round once. It's pretty cool. It's pretty funky. I'm not entirely sure it's practical but well, why do watches need to be practical? It's mounted into a 42 millimeter case. It's built of their high intensity titanium alloys. 100 meters of water resistance. It's a chonky boy. It's 18 millimeters thick. Price, who knows? No one's ever going to know because well, it's a piece unique, made for someone. In some ways it's just amazing that this thing actually exists. And frankly I think it's pretty cool. But we're never going to see it and we're never going to be able to buy one. But I'm happy it exists.

A

Me too. It's cool to see things like this. And even if we never get to lay hands on them, the fact they exist, the fact that Seiko and other people out there are crazy creating things they don't need to. And that is the whole point of this. It's things we don't need. It's things we love, we desire, we would love to own where we don't need them. Watches we definitely do not need. We actually saw some comments on YouTube in the last video we put out talking about tourbillons and the fact a lot of people do not like them, they don't understand them, they don't want them, they're off with the fact that they appear on watches especially downside. Up until recently Dave didn't really appreciate them dial side, liked them on the back, Laurent Ferry, etc. But it's interesting. So yeah, definitely get involved in the comments. If you're watching us on YouTube, jump in there, leave us some. Don't be too rude because there are filters you may get yourself blocked, we might never get to see them. But the feedback we have been getting over the past few months has been brilliant. And as I say, we're going to be bringing more and more content onto YouTube as well as the audio platforms. And we should obviously tell you if you want to get in touch, drop us an email. Never DM us on Instagram because they just get lost. Too many bots, too much spam, too many messages from far flung places is allegedly talking about this and the other that if we mention on YouTube we may get shadow banned. But this is a point in the show where we're almost at the end. But it's time to find out what we've been up to. And for the past week I haven't really done much. I have been a bit fatigued. The summer has caught up with me. It's been a little bit warm, I've not had much sleep. I have been catching up on things, mainly watching this and the other on YouTube and catching up with the highlights from the football. The World cup is something I don't really have an interest in, but I can definitely sit down and watch the best eight minutes of roughly 100 minutes of this, that and the other. So I've seen some fantastic goals from some fantastic players, I've seen some really boring games and well, that's about it in my front day. What you've been up to?

B

Well, for a change I've been up to a little bit more than you. Well, I'm preparing to get on a plane because I'm heading off to Chicago for the Wind Up Fair and a few other little side events. But I was also down in Southampton because it was the second in outing of the Watch Collectors Club. They were up in Glasgow for their first show of the year and they were down in Southampton and it was again an excellent show. Back in a football stadium. It was in Southampton's ground this time rather than Hampden, the national Scottish football team's ground, but this similar, slightly smaller room. The show ran very well, in fact. Loved it. Great audience. They were kind of again, a bit like Glasgow. Pleased to see someone coming from out with the London boroughs and shires into slight, slightly more far flung places. All that said, it's only an hour and a half in the train from London, so we got the train down on Saturday morning. Great show. The weather was nice and sunny, so that was something that was, well, great because we were locked inside a show, but got to talk to some amazing people.

A

Question for you. Yes, you obviously go across the land. I mean, you were talking about Germany. You've done things over in the Far east, you've done stuff in America and the uk. Do you find the questions from watch buyers, connoisseurs and collectors differs by region, or do they always ask the same thing? And what are the most frequently asked questions?

B

I think it's fair to say that there's, well, I guess a lot of commonality between what they ask can be anything from never heard of your brand? Who are you? What do you do? You know, I think it depends on the level of depth that they've dived into the hole of watches as whether it's just something cursory for them or whether they're really deep in the hole. If they're deep in the hole, the questions tend to be the same because, well, they all commune on the interwebs on whether it's Instagram, Facebook groups or anything else, or YouTube or listening to podcasts. But yeah, lots of listeners to the podcast, well, popped in and said, I recognize your voice. And I'm like, well, I have no idea why. And they're like, oh, I think I might have listened to you regularly. So things like that. Always nice to hear from listeners.

A

What's the craziest question or the craziest thing somebody has come up to you and asked or said when you were

B

at a different event, what's the craziest thing? Do you know, I don't think I've ever been asked any questions that I would regard as completely and utterly crazy, other than can I have a watch for free? Which, of course the answer is absolutely, absolutely, as long as you're in the queue behind me. Because when I get a free watch, you can have a Free watch. So you've got probably a long wait to wait for it outside that. No, everyone's usually pretty respectful and just very pleasant and kind. What else have I been up to other than going to events and work, though? Well, I've been digging out old stuff. You bought a book recently, Ricky, about old. Vintage. Well, vintage now, mobile phones, vintage in the terms of. Well, they were 10, 15, 20 years old. And he's pulling one out. If you're watching, watching this on the YouTube, you'll see an old Motorola Star Tac type event going on there. But. Well, I started digging out old electronics and I think Ricky will appreciate this one. So I will flip to my other camera to let him see. I found a bit of a work of art of a Sony Handycam camcorder

A

that can't be that old because it says HD and it says AVCHD on the front of it.

B

Well, the amazing thing about this is you don't think it's that old, but this is the ripe old age of 18 years old. Currently this year it's 18 years old. It came out in 2008. The thing is, it's made of titanium. The whole case, the structure, except for this part here, of course, but all of the heading body there, the screen is in titanium and it still works beautifully. It even boots up still fully when I pull it up. And the Battery, the original OG battery still has 95 minutes of runtime, which will give many a modern camera a good run for their money. The only slightly challenging thing about it is it runs on those pesky Sony proprietary memory sticks. But I've got a box full of them that all still seem to work. So, yeah, that was something that I dug out, which then got me into a whole world of vintageness. Ricky is pulling old musical based instruments out his pocket. I think we need to do what are you up to? And each week we should do a. Can Ricky or Dave pull the oldest piece of junk that still works out of a cupboard and bore everyone to tears?

A

I don't know if this still works. Right, this is a Diamond Rio MP3 player. I don't think it's the first ever commercial MP3 player, but it's the second. I think the first one was the MP man. And this holds. I think it's 64 megabytes. Not gigabytes, no terabytes megabytes. And the only reason I've got this is obviously because we're in the podcast business and this plays mp3. I'm going to try and get this to boot up. I'll try and put an episode of the podcast on this and see if it works. But yeah, I have got some tat lying about. But anyway, we are at the end of this podcast, like the way the fold Focus came back in the right then. But at the end of this podcast we are. Well, we've got so much on over the next few weeks. We're getting ready to rumble. Geneva Watch days is just around the corner. We're booking the hotels, we're booking the flights we're booking in because the emails have come out from all the brands. Even Simona got some email from Konstantin Chaikin saying there's something happening and she was waking me up, shaking me out of bed, going, get that booked. So we're going to do that. And Dave, if people want to go through the back catalog, if they've got a little bit of time in their hands until the next episode, what we got there?

B

Well, Lillian from Awake was on first show from anyone from Awake. They're on talking all about what they do and of course we've been reviewing many of their watches over the previous months and years. There's Barbara, she's on giving her once every quarter or so, update on what she's been up to, all the events she's been at and her thoughts on many things. And she has many thoughts on things. There's also that episode with ebay and inquiries or inquiries where they talk about the services they're offering to make sure that you're not buying a dodgy watch. We've got Jem from Elliot Brown. She was on talking about everything Elliot Brown have been up to. Of course, we've had Formex, we've had live shows, whether it be in Glasgow or with the guys at Bucherer and, well, tons more, to use a Scottish phrase. In fact, nearly 800 episodes worth. Check out the back catalog, check out the show notes for links to where you can find all those back catalogs or just go into one of your podcasts Podcast, favourite purveyors of podcasts. And you will be able to find us by simply typing in Scottish watches.

A

And that is the end of our show. Thank you for listening. And oh, last thing, if you got this far, maybe you kind of like what we're talking about. You want to hear more? Leave us a review. If you're on YouTube, obviously, like, subscribe, comment, all that jazz. If you're listening to us on Spotify, Apple podcasts or anywhere else, leave us a review. Five stars would be appreciated. And a little paragraph to let us know what you think of it because the more reviews, the more people that listen, the more people that like, the more access we get behind the scenes we can find out more information, bring it to you in a timely manner and we're doing a lot more now. Yeah, we've got the podcast twice a week. We're doing the YouTube stuff but we're starting to make the reels for Instagram. We're chopping things up. When I say we I mean Simona and obviously we're going to make shorts on YouTube. We're just trying to get the content out there as much as possible. With 2 hours of content a week we can definitely diversify, put that into different platforms. We're still going to keep away From Snapchat and TikTok for the moment but if the kids desire it, we might look into that in future. So that is us. Thank you for listening and we'll catch you again soon. Sam.