- TGV has become unwatchable. He has always been smug. I have been called arrogant in my life (I prefer “confident” and “assertive”) and I own it to a degree. So, I think that I know when having an “edge” becomes tiring. Game recognizes game. But he hasn’t had an original thought about the watch industry or individual watches in a while. He has opinions which are presented as facts. “These are my favorite watches, therefore these are the pinnacle of watch collecting,” that sort of thing. Watch how many times he is glancingly self-referential: “as I said in a video seven years ago,” followed by the most trite observation. As Marie Kondo would have me say: Thank you, but you no longer bring me joy.
- Last year I sold off my pin pallet dollar watches and my watches with seven jewel movements. I was going to concentrate on quality and durability. Even as occasional wearers those watches are all ticking time bombs. One day you will wind and set it only to find that it is a brick. I spent more in maintenance in 2025 than I have in at least a decade. Dollar watches are novelties in this day and age. They look like vintage watches should because they are so cheaply made. So, how did I ring in the new year? I bought more pin pallets and seven jewel movements. One was a brick on arrival. One loses a minute a day. Two give me the illusion of accuracy, but for how long? I don’t learn.
(Pretty and inert, at least it has the original bracelet.)
- Wittenauer has disappeared from Bulova’s website. Are they dead or merely resting after a prolonged squawk? Citizen Group has never known what to do with them. Caravelle is the preferred “fashion” brand. Pour one out for a great brand. I hope they remain dead. This industry needs some finality. Once it is gone, it is okay to be gone.
- Which is how I began to rethink Universal Geneve. I was excited when Breitling purchased them. They had existed in a place between life and death, where Eterna, Eloga, and Wakmann still reside. Historical UG was a stylish brand that had its fans. Now they will play their greatest hits forever as a luxury brand above their former station. I will be asked to buy a simulacrum of a classic for fifteen times what its vintage counterpoint costs. I will decline. Nothing new will be created. We don’t need a high-end Nivada Grenchen, forever recycling its back catalog.
- If you find yourself typing the term “neo-vintage” please take a moment to rethink your ability to accurately describe whatever it is that you are applying the term to. I got into an argument once with an architect about the term. “We apply it to building design, why not watches,” was his point. “It is stupid in all contexts” was my witty rejoinder.
(Pin pallet Westclox: the watch of the people.)
- Most microbrands are vanity projects for people with too much money and too little sense. They produce watches that no one needs or wants. This doesn’t apply to the microbrands that I like.
- Has anyone in the watch space ever been memory holed faster than Max? It’s not like he appeared in an Epstein email. He still puts out an occasional video that rigidly adheres to conventional opinion. He sells his unnecessary invention to those that want unsightly fabric folds without the dubious utility of NATO straps. He didn’t give up his day job. Seemed like a nice fellow.
(1978 Timex Mercury Calendar, with the original bracelet, only minor hair pulling.)
- One of my old rules of watch collecting was no vintage Timex. (It did not apply to fully jeweled Timex 21 models, only the evil no jewel pin pallets.) My newish fascination with dark dialed watches and original vintage bracelets made me throw caution to the wind. I am sure that I will be punished. I will deserve it.
The Escapement Room 