The Panda Bleu

From Czapek -

Courtesy of Czapek

This will be offered exclusively through Oster in Denver through the end of this year, and my understanding is a wider release will follow in 2019.

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -
 
FUNCTIONS
Chronograph, Hours, Minutes & Seconds
Chronograph's Minutes at 3 o'clock
Chronograph's Hours at 9 o'clock
Small seconds at 6 o'clock
Date at 6 o'clock

MOVEMENT
Caliber SXH3: Haute Horlogerie integrated automatic Chronograph movement with a bespoke execution
Power reserve: 65 hours
Frequency: 5 Hz - 36'000 VpH
Column Wheel, Vertical Clutch and Linear Hammer
Golden Rotor with Czapek logo
Diameter: 30mm -13 lines 1/4
Height: 6.95mm
Finish: finely sandblasted and diamond polished anthracite bridges, snailed trottoirs
 
CASE & BRACELET
41.5mm Stainless Steel Case
Sapphire crystal Glass-Box with anti-reflective treatment
Sapphire case back with Anti-reflective treatment on the inner side.
Water Resistance: 50m
Rubber Strap with a steel
deploying buckle
 
DIAL
Handcrafted Guilloché "Résonance" bombé dial in AuPtPdAg
Baton applied indexes with Super Luminova treatment
12 in Arabic numeral with Super Luminova treatment

HANDS
Czapek Modern Rodhium plated steel hands
Hour & Minutes hands with
Super Luminova treatment
Small second hand with red tip

Scoobied

scoobied

scoobied means totally clueless, you may feel like this if youve gon in for your physics exam , and your minds went 100% blank, you are utterly and totally scoobied.

"man i failed that exam, i was totally scoobied"

by Muzzy November 10, 2004

Courtesy of the Urban Dictionary (and Muzzy)

Yesterday's Tempus Fugit mail was a bit, well... I guess the polite way to put it would be unexpected.  And it left me, to quote that other great commentator on watches (Irvine Welsh) feeling scoobied.

Stoic is a new watch brand that has been recently birthed.  And the announcement that I received was so heavily drenched in philosophical references and quotes that it left me confused as to whether I was reading a press release, or the musings of a 3rd year university student.

And it brought forth the inevitable question -

What do low priced watches that bear more than a passing resemblance to other notable brands that have been previously notably paid homage by other mid to low priced brands have in common with noted philosophers of the past?

Well, here is the release in its original form, and I encourage you to draw your own conclusions -

"Nothing is ours, except time."

- Seneca

Stoicism, a way of thinking, a philosophical view founded in Greece 300 BC. The principle? Individual happiness based on temperance and detachment achieved through reason.

"Everything is opinion. And opinion depends on you ",  Marcus Aurelius'.

A philosophy that resonates powerfully in our time.  It is that which feeds our time. In our society, wise is the person who can say at what stage and at what age we reach maturity.  Age dynamics have changed, and there is a transformation of the stages of life that everyone can observe.

Our social markers have changed. That which traditionally separated youth from adulthood no longer applies. The diploma, the first job or moving in with someone: these traditional rites of passage are no longer performing that role. On the other hand, state of mind, curiosity, the quest for meaning, the desire for experiences and contribution, are present. Moreover, this presence can be found across all generations.

An inspiration that becomes today the name of a watch brand.

And I found the quote from Mr. Aurelius particularly poignant in light of two of the three models that have been announced -

Courtesy of Stoic

Look familiar?  Well don't let that put you off!  Here is the info on this particular model, straight from the source -

THE CHRONOGRAPH (#1)
A tribute to the legendary sports chronograph of the 1960’s.
A quartz movement with calendar, adding a 24hour indication in the right-hand side subsidiary dial and a constant centre seconds hand. The Chronograph handset at 6 o’clock and minute recorder at 9 o’clock. With a stainless steel case with sapphire front glass. A solid stainless steel bracelet with double hinged deployment buckle.

And from the main press release itself:

STOIC watches are authentic and sincere. The timeless design, the right proportions, the quality of manufacture can be observed both inside and out, watches adapted to everyday life, faithful to their promise. 

Now while this hasn't quite tumbled down the slippery slope of "resolute aplomb", it opens up a lot of uncomfortable questions that even the stoniest of Stoics might bristle at. 

And it goes beyond THE CHRONOGRAPH.  Another model is a pilot's watch -

THE PILOTS WATCH (#1)

Courrtesy of Stoic

A tribute to the early aviators and military watches of the 1940’s.
Utilitarian in design and construction.
Easily read with strong but simple contrasting numbers and a dark background. A mechanical automatic winding movement with calendar.
Stainless steel case with sapphire front and back glasses. A heavy Italian leather strap with stainless steel, double hinged deployment buckle.

 Here's the thing, a lot of people would love to own a Newman Daytona, a McQueen Submariner, or a Henderson KonTiki ; )

I get it, and as a business model is clearly a good one because people do buy a lot of watches that bear more than a passing resemblance to more expensive and "notable" models.  People like homage watches, and they do buy them.  But it becomes harder and harder for a new brand to clearly articulate who and what they are when they are, essentially, offering something that is already out there in abundance.

So for a first effort, and particularly given the bona fides of one of the people behind Stoic, two out of the first three pieces of the initial offering are more than a bit disappointing.  But in fairness, this is just the start, so let's hope that the subsequent models will be a little more focused on design and originality, and a little less on homage and rhetoric.

But in the interest of keeping things scholarly, allow me to reference yet another great watch commentator, Mr. Kurt Vonnegut:

“To be is to do - Socrates
To do is to be - Sartre
Do Be Do Be Do - Sinatra”

 

Royal HM Pandas

From Arnold & Son -

Courtesy of Arnold & Son

A 40 mm gold case (either rose or white) houses the Royal HM Panda.  Per Arnold & Son, the Pandas inhabiting the dial are the result of patient hand engraving and detail work.  The bamboo tree is hand-painted.

The movement is the A&S 1001 self winding movement.

Courtesy of Arnold & Son

Only 28 of these bijouxs will be made, so no time wasting!