Happy October. A couple strays:
I’m intrigued by the new Hamilton American Classics, based on Art Deco models like the Meadowbrook. Manual wind, good size options (30x30 or 34x34), drawing on an era of its history that’s been ignored for way too long. Starting at $995.
This Armin Strom Tribute Au750 with a matching rose gold case, guilloche dial, and bridges has to be the prettiest release of the week. Definitely Breguet vibes—it reminds me of last year’s 7225 or 7235—but still looks modern like an Armin Strom. CHF69k, limited to just 8 pieces.
In today’s newsletter: The latest podcast on the state of microbrands; trying out a new format with a 500-word review on the Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar; the best of September from Unpolished.
🎧 Unpolished Podcast
Am I buying microbrands all wrong? (w/ Zach Kazan, Worn & Wound)
On this week’s pod: Zach Kazan, the managing editor of Worn & Wound, someone who’s covered microbrands as closely as anyone for the last decade.
A couple of weeks before Windup New York, I wanted to talk about the state of microbrands. It feels like we’re in another boom time. While I enjoy and appreciate what many are doing, I also view some of it skeptically: there are so many brands out there, and new ones every single day.
Zach and I discuss whether “microbrand” still means anything, this microbrand moment compared to Kickstarter 1.0 (c. 2015), Serica, Halios, Ming, Moser, and whether we’re due for another shakeout.
Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS:
The podcast was back in force in September, publishing three other episodes:
I think the cadence of 1 podcast + 1 newsletter each week makes sense, but if you’re a paid subscriber, let me know if it’s working for you.
Unpolished Store
In the Unpolished Store, we introduced the newest strap in September: Textured Taupe. Featuring a grainy, pebble-textured Epsom leather in neutral taupe, it goes with any watch you can imagine. Epsom is known for being lightweight, durable, and resistant to scratches and moisture.
Available with 18–20mm lug width—$99 member price. Shop the entire range of Unpolished straps:
September Highlights
Besides the podcast, Unpolished published eight issues in September. A few highlights:
Gallet and the wanderlust problem
The most popular issue was my take on Gallet’s relaunch:
“Those old Gallet chronographs were good because they were specific. The Flying Officer was a clever bit of 1930s engineering, hacked out of a rotating bezel. Eventually, the world caught up—the GMT hand, then quartz, then the phone in your pocket.
Gallet spent its first 150 years making instruments for those who knew where they wanted to go, or what they wanted to measure. Now, it makes watches for ‘wanderlust.’”
Here’s the full article:
Inside Nomos Glashütte
My photo report from Nomos Glashütte generated the most new subscribers—a look inside its manufacturing and watchmaking facilities in Germany:
“Nomos is impressive because it did the hard part, the part that’s not all sexy designs and stone dials. While its designs are consistently, sometimes frustratingly Bauhaus, last year’s Club Sport Worldtimer feels like the first time it’s successfully adapted its distinct aesthetic to a modern sports watch that feels different while still being totally Nomos.
It is, I hope, what some of the latest generation of ‘microbrands’ aspire to.
Btw, Nomos introduced another edition of its hit Club Sport Worldtimer this week. I dig it in photos. My problem with the standard, non-limited offerings has been the sunburst dials—too many sunburst dials!—but Nomos is calling this an “enamel” black. It even looks glossy in photos. In addition to this spring’s white dial, it’s made the Worldtimer even better:
Check the full Unpolished archive online. You might’ve missed my Quick Study on the Lange & Söhne 1815 Up/Down—a look at every reference ever made after the release of the new limited-edition “pandas”:
500-Word Review
How much should a perpetual calendar cost?
On the Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar
In early September, Fears released its first really complicated watch, the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar. It costs $28,500.
Much of the feedback seems to have been: how dare they? As in: how could Fears—a Bristol brand whose rebirth is about as old as the Apple Watch—have the audacity to charge Jaeger-LeCoultre prices for JLC complications?
It’s a nice perpetual calendar, but the common critique is that it uses a Sellita movement and Dubois-Depraz calendar module. Yeah, Fears added a gold rotor and its own custom finishing, but:
It’s the same bones Montblanc used in a $12k perpetual calendar 10+ years ago.
Just this week, RGM released a perpetual calendar using the same foundation (ETA 2892 + DD module), though that’s $39,900.
I had Fears managing director Nicholas Bowman-Scargill on the podcast earlier this year, and perhaps we should’ve known something like this was coming.
