Austin Rogers is a New Yorker by way of Ohio, and goes by @rehaut on Instagram. He’s also scuba certified and an aspiring mountaineer—he’s tried to summit Mount Baker three times but has encountered some truly terrible luck. Each time, he’s had a Rolex Explorer on his wrist.
The first video of Austin’s I saw had him tossing a few Doxas into a hazy lake to find out whether orange really is the most visible color underwater.
Austin describes himself as “maybe the most credulous watch buyer”—as a diver and climber, he uses his watches, and he’s got lots of opinions on them. We talk about grade 2 vs. grade 5 titanium, and whether choosing grade 2 is cutting a corner; the watches he’d titaniumize (Submariner, Explorer II, a shrunken Sky-Dweller, the Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin) and the ones he wouldn’t; why the “Omega’s catalog is too bloated” critique doesn’t land for him; the baby Ultra Deep he’d build if he got the keys to the factory; which Tudors from the 2013-onward rebirth era could be collectible in 20 years— North Flag, smiley dials, early FXDs, the double-signed stuff; the Submarinerization of the Longines HydroConquest and whether Longines had any option; his Grand Seiko problem; the Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR] he regularly thinks about selling everything else for; boomerang watches; and why he keeps buying the nicest new-old-stock neo-vintage on the market and then eating an enormous loss on it.
“I like to think of it as a service that I’m offering,” Austin says.
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Show Notes
Weekend Edition: Let’s lighten up and talk titanium, Hodinkee
The Tudor North Flag, with Tudor’s first in-house movement, SJX
Rowing Blazers Tudor Black Bay 58, Loupe This
Photoshopping Vintage Rolex Watches That Never Existing, Hodinkee
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Pick up a 3 Canvas Strap Bundle for $169, a 10% off the single-strap price ($157 member price!)
Shop the new Textured Taupe, made of high-quality Epsom leather.
