Daylight Saving Time and an Underrated 'Complication'
Your 2026 Watch Calendar, clever numerals, and Unpolished's first YouTube video.
Happy Daylight Saving Time to those in the States, the first unofficial arrival of spring (others include the Masters, Watches & Wonders, and baseball Opening Day).
I grew up in Indiana, which oddly didn’t follow Daylight Saving Time until 2006. Nowadays, it feels like making DST permanent might be the one issue we could all get behind. The Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, but it’s been stuck since. That’s in part because politicians have a long memory: We tried permanent DST in 1974, and it went so badly it was repealed after just one winter (turns out no one wanted their kids waiting for a bus in pitch-black at 8:30 a.m.).
Meanwhile, no state can make DST permanent on its own because of the Uniform Time Act. One politician has even proposed half-daylight saving time, shifting clocks 30 minutes twice a year. Bold, but a cause that could probably find a backer from Adrda Labs, which recently introduced its GMT that cleverly keeps track of 30- and 45-minute zones.
More conventionally, there are a few watches that have a crown position allowing you to independently jump the hour hand by an hour without disturbing the minute or seconds. Surely these owners get excited about springing forward for Daylight Saving Time:
The Ming 17.09, which has a modified Sellita SW330-2 GMT caliber
The old quartz Omega Seamaster 300 “GoldenEye” (ref. 2541.80). If you’re looking for other Omegas with this movement, search for Omega “Time Zone Function.”
It’s basically a simplified flyer GMT without the extra hand—an underrated “complication,” in my opinion. If a bipartisan consensus on time seems unlikely, at least you can wear a watch that makes political indecision easier to track.
WATCH CALENDAR 2026
I’ll be at the Original Miami Beach Antique Show, happening March 26-30. That Saturday, I’m moderating a panel at 3 p.m. with Tania Edwards (of Collectability), Mike Nouveau (of @mikenouveau), and Morgan Cardet (of Matt Bain). Hopefully I’ll see some of you there! Get tickets here.
It reminded me to put together the annual Great Big Watch Calendar of 2026. There are so many events/meetups/auctions/loose hangs, I’ve aggregated what I know in one calendar. Let me know what I missed:
Beyond Miami, I plan to attend at least Watches & Wonders in April and the unofficial New York Watch Week in October. One question I often get:
Should I, a collector, attend Watches & Wonders? Probably only if a brand invites you, or if it serves as a jumping-off point to visit other watchmakers and manufacturers in Switzerland. You won’t get hands on with many (or any) watches at the show otherwise. It’s geared towards retailers and media—the first four days are for industry. But it’s becoming slightly more friendly to enthusiasts. Anyone can buy tickets to the show’s final three days, and Watches & Wonders is promising more public programming throughout the city in 2026. Tickets are still available.
Geneva Watch Days, NY Watch Week, and Dubai Watch Week (biennial) are more collector-focused.
More events, auctions, and tips on which ones collectors should attend (or not) in the Great Big Watch Calendar.
UNPOLISHED STORE
The Unpolished Matte Calfskin Strap has a matte finish that sits neatly between between dressy and distressed. More durable and dressed-up than nubuck or suede, but not as dressed-up as traditional calfskin. It works on everything from a Patek Philippe Calatrava to a vintage Sub. Made in the U.S. using French Calfskin. Gold-colored buckles also now available!
Now $100 in the Unpolished Store:
The Roundup
🎰 Watches Are Sports Now. I wrote about prediction markets, Kalshi x Bezel, and financial nihilism. In a ringing endorsement, kingflum said it has “Wayyyyy more numbers than I ever expected to read on Unpolished. Love it :)”:
“The only way a company like Kalshi can justify its massive valuation is to financialize culture.”
🔫 You can buy Pierce Brosnan’s ‘Bond’ Omega Seamaster (kind of). Also from the newsletter: A prop from Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond, an idea for a modern Rolex Tru-Beat, and would you rather be Berneron or Brette
Correction: In Thursday’s newsletter, I said that Berneron has delivered 48 Mirages—that’s incorrect. He’s delivered 72, which means ~8% have come to the secondary market.
⏰ Stop Waking up to your iPhone Alarm. Cool alarm clocks for collectors—a guide for the design-obsessed. For some reason, this fun piece from last May has gotten a second life in the past few weeks:
“iPhone alarms suck. In 2022, I moved away from mine so I could give myself 30 minutes each morning before getting sucked into the daily vortex known as the modern human condition.
More than that, I love the idea of turning your back on modern technology, if only for a blissful morning, to improve your life. That’s the appeal of watches, after all—anti-tech tech. Who says it has to stop at wristwatches?”
🤓 A closer look at J.N. Shapiro’s numeral design. From their designer, Lee Yuen-Rapati. The numerals have curved strokes, asymmetry, and leaf-shaped “serifs” that feel playful, matching Shapiro’s guilloche.
🤦♀️ Astor & Banks says it had to pause delivery of its Terra Scout GMT thanks to Scout Motors. I get wanting to protect your IP, but so many of these lawsuits are so dumb. A tough break, especially as Scout is busy fighting off a new class-action lawsuit from its own dealer network over its direct sales model.
🥵 Eric Ku shows some excellent vintage Pateks in this video with Fourtane, including a special 3940 we saw in this newsletter just last week.
📚 Cam Wolf, who covers watches for GQ, has a deal to write a book called A History of Watches in 17 Timepieces. “Using the most iconic wristwatch designs as a framework—from the Cartier Tank to the Apple Watch—to trace the evolution of watches from tools, to luxury items, to objects of culture, and the obsessive world of collectors that has risen up.” A solid premise for a book—as long as that’s the only time it uses the word “iconic!” Congrats Cam.
❗️ Founding Members: If you haven’t yet, here are instructions for ordering your copy of the 2025 Rewind Magazine. If you’re an annual subscriber and want to upgrade, I sent you an email last Monday with a private link.
Finally, I published my first YouTube: 7 Watch Predictions for 2026
Watch below, and subscribe to the Unpolished Watch channel. It’s a video format of my earlier 2026 predictions. For now, you can expect a new video every few weeks. And I got a new camera, so quality will only get better—I expect we’ll be doing “tier rankings” and hating on Hublot in no time!
Thanks to Isaiah Williams, who’s editing the videos and has also made the last few podcast episodes sound better:
Thanks for reading (and watching),
Tony
Get in touch:
tony[at]unpolishedwatches.com
Leave a comment or tap the heart, my favorite:
Totally agree about the most useful complication! Basically a functional GMT without a polluted dial or bezel. For DST and for vacations, the most practical for sure.
What is this… taking my name in vain I see 😂