32 Comments
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Lotus's avatar

when i saw that photo of seven (!) 403.035s, my first thought was, there goes the mystique of the first-gen platinum dato. the watch that changed the watch-business, and here’s seven of them in the hands of one dealer in miami.

and welcome to the ricoh club tony, leica is for posers.

Tony Traina's avatar

the ricoh is such a fun little camera man

Lotus's avatar

it’s the explorer of cameras.

Adam Golden's avatar

RIP Mignonette:( had a great 12 year run. Ps - thanks for saying more than 3 words to me bro.

Tony Traina's avatar

it closed in the last 48 hours???? 😭😭

Adam Golden's avatar

No seriously. If you went with Scuba Steve and the Canadians, it closed the next day. You had the last supper there.

Small Watches Are Sexier's avatar

Did you take closeup of watches like the Vacheron 4072 chronograph with the Ricoh IIIx? Thx.

Tony Traina's avatar

the ricoh's got a pretty cool macro button that lets you get tight on dials. and it's enough megapixels that you can punch in even more with a crop and get pretty tight.

honestly, i got enough questions on the ricoh for watch photography that i'll do another post showing this. also i've talked to others and i think the iiix (40mm equivalent) is better than the iii (28mm) for watch photography

the lost spring bar's avatar

Envelope watch is 👌

Tom Warburton's avatar

Great show and nice to meet you, Tony!

Matt F Walker's avatar

Mind boggling wealth and watches 🤯

Tony Traina's avatar

yes! removed from reality in many ways

Franco Campanella's avatar

Nice overview Tony. My first OMBAS. I am digesting my thoughts still. Mostly positive, somewhat overwhelming at times. Came away with what I was looking for so that’s a plus. Learned more from actually handling these beautiful objects in 3-D when alot of my pining is in 2-D. I now “get” what makes the Borgel Movado M90/95 special but till it was in my hand, it was harder to conceptualize. Stereognosis may be an under appreciated part of experiencing a watch. Nice job moderating.

Tony Traina's avatar

franco, great to see you there - hope you enjoyed! interesting note from you re movados, want to hear you unpack this more sometime!

Rhodri's avatar

Awesome write up! Lots of love for 90s chronos and QPs. But the dual times of the era like AP 25685 feel like they’re still on the outskirts, are those dial layouts just not hitting the spot like the QPs are?

Rhodri's avatar

I think you are right. I don’t know if it’s exhaustive but there is a summary of the dials here https://www.watchprosite.com/audemars-piguet/audemars-piguet-dual-time/3.1631336.16586191/.

Tony Traina's avatar

these are cool! a dealer had one in Pt that I tried on, basically the same case as the QPs. I think the reality is people are attracted to the watches at the peak of an era first, and then as they get more expensive, look to others. also, there seems to simply be less dial variety in these, so perhaps less to be discovered (I could be wrong?)

Nabil Amdan's avatar

Great photos Tony!

Tony Traina's avatar

thank you nabil! i'll admit, my settings were way off for the first day, went home and watched some more youtube videos, started getting the hang of the ricoh. such a cool little camera

Ken Jacobs's avatar

Great coverage as always Tony. Sorry I missed your panel as I left Friday night. I had 2 great days of shmoozing and shopping. Always fun to attend and pleased with some nice pieces I was able to bring back to LA! For sure some very heavy pieces and a veritable plethora of watch dealers set up. As for dining, Mignotte for sure, every trip to Miami. Also, on Lincoln Mall Road is Isabella's, which is truly a prize whether dining inside or on the patio which offers lots of people watching.

Tony Traina's avatar

ken, bummed to hear i missed you! hope to come through WBAW again soon!

Ken Jacobs's avatar

Please come on by, but plan your LA visit for a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday! :)

VEB's avatar

Tony Traina: Man in the Field

Tony Traina's avatar

i do enjoy writing dispatches like this

Daniel Salahuddin's avatar

awesome write up and insightful photos!!

JohnCote's avatar

Great report and equally great photos Tony. That Breguet numeral Movado is an absolute killer.

Tony Traina's avatar

thanks john, next dispatch: from NAWCC National!

Aaron O.'s avatar

Ah, our Nick Carraway in Miami.

Small Watches Are Sexier's avatar

Grazie Tony, I have the same camera — I upgraded from a GR II, but I haven’t really had the chance to use it properly for watch close-ups yet.

TT - @montresetal's avatar

Awesome reporting Tony, including touching on cameras for the photo geeks. The MoP dials looked fantastic.