The One That Got Away - And Came Back Reborn

I am convinced that the Four Noble Truths were originally penned with the watch-obsessed in mind. And although I am a semi-functioning Buddhist, I accept my imperfections, not the least are that I eat meat, and I like shiny things that keep the time.

Enter the MeisterSinger Edition Primatik 365 -

Courtesy of Meister Singer

Clapping eyes on this last month at the Wind-Up show, I was reminded to try and keep control of my longings and desires, or as was written (albeit originally in Sanskrit), Taṇhā. 

The Primatik 365 is a wonderful time machine. The case measures 41.5 mm and is of stainless steel. The movement is Sellita's SW270, which has been modified to suit the needs of MeisterSinger's single handed functionality. It also includes both a date and power reserve function.

But more than anything else, I was captivated by the look and feel of the Primatik 365. It is clearly legible without being spartan. It is colorful and fun without being garish. It is, at least to my eye, very nearly perfect. Your mileage, of course, may vary ; )

It is limited to 100 pieces and is very reasonably priced at just North of $2,500 (if my memory serves me correctly).

So I am going to hit the pause button and ask you to hop in the Way-Back Machine with me. We're heading to those thrilling days of yesteryear, specifically 2003. 

Now at that time, I was living in San Francisco. I had just gone through a fairly major life shift. Wendy and I had moved to the US after 8 + years overseas (Japan, Portugal, Finland, UK), and I had been relieved of my duties at my first big-time job. I then slugged it out as a Starbucks store manager in a pretty ragged-out location which boasted, among other things, a fairly aggressive rat population. I would get up at 4:00 AM, walk across a still (mostly) sleeping downtown San Francisco, and open up the store, each time grateful I had not run across a predator. I would work my (usually) 10 hour shift (don't worry Howard, I'm not going to get litigious about all of that unpaid overtime), and after that I would grab my suit bag, and hot-foot it over to Tourneau. I would take a quick "hooker's shower" in the men's room, slip into my suit, and work the floors of a very small store, and hopefully sell a few watches. I would get home about 9:30 and share an hour of conversation with Wendy before going to bed to get up and do it all over again. 

And then the sun came out again (at least professionally) and I got a job at a college, re-entering my "field". And after a month, I saved up my lunch money and wandered into Seregin's. This was back when they were behind the big Macy's on Union Square. And that is when I became acquainted with a new (to me) German brand, MeisterSinger. They had one model in 3 different colors. I chose the one that this current one is based on -

Courtesy of Meister Singer

Francis Zanneti was working for Paul Seregin back then. And if ever there was someone who would have rocked a watch podcast it was Francis. He was the one who coined the ultimate watch descriptor:

"The Shit That Killed Elvis!".

Francis explained that I was the first person in San Francisco to buy one, and it was likely I might be one of the first owners in the US full-stop. And that watch meant a lot to me. It reminded me that life, inevitably, moves forward. No matter how bad things might get, those moments of failure, of doubt, of fear? They are temporary. As, it would turn out, is watch ownership. A good friend really admired my MeisterSinger. He was going through a bad time, and I was pleased to see my MeisterSinger go to someone in need of a confidence boost.

Flash forward literally 20 years (and I kid you not, nearly down to the day), and we were wrapping up our booth at the Wind-Up show in New York. I am getting wine and beer for our fellow exhibitors and I look up and realize that I am pouring for Rainer Eckert, the Co-CEO of MeisterSinger. Needless to say, I felt compelled to share my MeisterSinger story with him. And thinking back on it, I am reminded that life is a journey, there really is no set destination - and wouldn't it be boring if there was? 

Nothing is permanent in this life, whether we are ready to accept it or not. But we will always have memories, both good and bad. Time will march on, with or without us. So take those moments to reflect back, to look forward, but most importantly? Take time to enjoy the present.

Why You Should LOVE The BR 05

Black Steel & Gold -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross came out with the BR 05 some time ago, and there have been several iterations. With that said, the one that truly stands out for me is the Black Steel & Gold model.

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Way back at the turn of the century, Hublot was sorta' cool, somewhat under the radar, and not so (insert word that describes your feelings here). I sold Hublots at Tourneau and I have to say that I really dug them. And at that time, I sold something like 5 of them in the month of January - which was a lot back then for our little pocket of a store.

What was cool was that it was gold, possibly steel and gold, and an integral rubber strap that smelled pleasantly of vanilla. Nowadays that doesn't seem like such a big deal, every brand is trying to slap something together. But in truth from the mighty Audemars Piguet on down the line, none have really done it justice. Then Bell & Ross dropped their take on a steel/gold case with integrated rubber strap, and in doing so, they dropped the mic.

Now if you absolutely must go "full metal", B&R has you covered -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

But for me, it's gotta' be the rubber strap. As I get ready to hand over the keys to Tempus Fugit, I am struck more and more by visceral memories. I know that sounds somewhat counter intuitive to the practice of writing about inanimate objects. But the BR 05 Steel & Gold with the rubber strap takes me back 19 years ago, when I would work all day managing a Starbucks, then dash to Tourneau and slip into my suit. I didn't need the money, but I loved hanging out and talking about watches - basically getting paid to talk about my hobby. The BR 05 brings back that feeling, that love of something special and out of the ordinary.

Should you be feeling that romantic pull as well, here are the pertinents -

Movement: 

calibre BR-CAL.321. Automatic mechanical.

Functions: 

hours, minutes, seconds and date.

Case: 

40 mm in width. 18 ct rose gold and satin-finished and polished steel. Screw-down crown. Sapphire case-back with a 18 ct rose gold plated 360° oscillating weight.

Dial: 

black sunray. Rose gold gilded applique numerals and indices filled with Super-LumiNova®. 18 k rose gold gilded skeletonised hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®.

Crystal: 

sapphire with anti-reflective coating.

Water-resistance: 

100 metres.

Strap: 

black rubber or bi-material 18 k rose gold and satin-finished and polished steel.

Buckle: 

folding. Satin-finished and polished steel.

Doper Than A Doppio!

The BWD Badgerworks Coffee Edition!

Courtesy of Bamford Watch Department, The Black Badger and TAG Heuer

Where to begin?  If you're like me, you've been percolating away during lockdown. The drip, drip, drip of new watch news bottled up like the clogged porta-filter of a La Marzocco 4-head after the morning rush.  The snark and sarcasm frothing up, ready to pour out, and then...

Courtesy of The Black Badger, Bamford Watch Department and TAG Heuer

The erstwhile James Thompson who is more widely known by his nom de lume -The Black Badger decided to team up with Bamford Watch Department once again and serve up this visceral triple-shot that hit me like a two-by-four of caffeinated goodness this AM.

Courtesy of The Black Badger, Bamford Watch Department and TAG Heuer

This is the BWD X Badgerworks TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 with Tropical Coffee Dial.  And while it might not be everyone's cup of coffee, I have to say that it hits all of the visceral buttons for me.  

A watch, is a watch, is a watch...

Until it isn't.  This isn't... just a watch.  And maybe for me it's a bit more of a personal connection.  Not unlike Mr. Thompson, I once  decamped North America and headed east.  For Wendy and me the destination was Finland, first Turku, and then Helsinki.  And one of the best memories I have is the handful of cafes along the Esplanade. The espresso machines looked as if they might have been hold overs from the Winter War, the counters were aged, the tables highly polished, the atmosphere?  If I could have moved my bed in and they would accept cats?  I never would have left.  

It goes deeper for me, at a time when I'd been cast out of my high flying job in San Francisco, I found a second chance as a Starbucks store manager at one of the few stores that did not have one of the sexy, new fully automated machines.  Yes gentle reader, I could field strip a commercial grade La Marzocco 4-head and re-assemble it blindfolded.  Coffee has been a constant in terms of comfort and security for me.  But hey, enough about Henki-Lore, let's get back to the watch -

Courtesy of The Black Badger, Bamford Watch Department and TAG Heuer

The dial is a riff on the much sought after tropical dial.  Essentially a black dial that has been aged and faded by light until it has taken on more of a brown hue. And while I know there is a certain smug group of bearded fellas who favor tweed jackets and other group-think affectations who will wax lyrical about history, provenance, craft... oh, sorry, dozed off there!  I guess my point is that there is nothing wrong with appreciating the past, but as that other great commentator on the watch business, Barry Hearn would remind us - life moves forward.

I love the adaptation of ground coffee to help create the dial.  It seems so obvious in hindsight, but probably the last thing most would think of.  

To quote another great commentator on watches, Samuel L. Jackson as Jules in Pulp Fiction -

"Mmmm! Goddamn, Jimmie! This is some serious gourmet shit! Usually, me and Vince would be happy with some freeze-dried Taster's Choice right, but he springs this serious GOURMET shit on us!"

Courtesy of The Black Badger, Bamford Watch Department and TAG Heuer

Not just any coffee was used to achieve the dial's finish.  None other than Cafe da Matteo provided the coffee for the dials. If you ever find yourselves in Göteborg post lockdown, check them out - https://damatteo.se

Courtesy of Cafe da Matteo

The watch itself is Tag Heuer's Carrera Calibre 5, but thanks to the Black Badger and Bamford Watch Department, it is so much more!

Available from Bamford Watch Department       

and limited to 20 pieces.

Here are the pertinents -

Technical information: 

Model:  Carrera Calibre 5.

Type:  Automatic Watch

Movement: Tag Heuer Calibre 5 *Sellita SW-220-1)

Power Reserve: 38 Hours.

Case Material: Stainless Steel finished with light grey Military Grade Titanium Coating (MGTC)

Case Diameter: 41mm.

Case Thickness: 13.45mm

Case Back: Stainless Steel with Sapphire Display back.

Water Resistant: 10ATM - 100m.

Some Wish List Items During Lockdown

I thought maybe with all of us home, it might be time to think about how I woulds spruce up Tempus Fugit HQ.

Courtesy of La Marzocco

Needless to say, this is a bit more expensive than your average office coffee machine, but I suspect the espresso must taste awfully good.

A wee bit of Henki-Lore, just after the turn of the century, I was (thankfully) fired from my job of running 4 language schools.  It was a hard time, and it took me a few months to find whatever job I could.  Salvation came in the form of a green apron and a very large La Marzocco espresso machine that had 4 brew heads and a fussy steam source.  I learned to field strip and re-assemble that thing blindfolded.  

Within a year I had found a new job at a college - no more nights and weekends, and 2 weeks after I left, they closed that particular store.  One of my team loved that machine so much that he grabbed a porta-filter as a souvenir.

So although Tempus Fugit with its non-profit status is in no position to make such a purchase right now, it's something to dream about for the future.

Enjoy your watches, and coffee!

Bodega / G-Shock Drop - Full Video

Here it is, raw and not-too-refined ; )

A Christmas Story - No Really!

I have gone on record several times saying that a Patek Philippe is not something you generally find under the Christmas tree.  In fact, I tend to say that about a lot of watches and frankly, if I am being honest, I don't know that I always feel a watch priced over a few hundred dollars is a "realistic" or reasonable Christmas gift.  This is not based on sales data, etc., it is more of a personal feeling that Christmas is, by and large, for sweaters, ties, maybe a nice book on watches... but as Christmas invariably involves multiple gifts, I often question how realistic it is for Mom and Dad or doting spouse to spring for a $3,000 (or more) watch as part of the standard yuletide haul.  And thus I find the ads advising us that Christmas is special and that if we really, really loved someone we would go into credit card debt to prove it, to be at best disingenuous.

But then again, there are events, occasions, milestones that just happen to coincide with Christmas and that (given a reasonable adherence to rational spending) can make for an exception to my "Grinch like" philosophy.

Back in 2000, I was living and working in Finland.  I was lured back to the US after 8 years abroad to manage a group of English as a Second Language schools with the corporate office based in San Francisco.  From the moment I arrived it was a race run at the pace of a sprint, requiring the endurance of a never-ending marathon.  Colleagues openly plotted against each other, mischief and ill will abounded, and my bosses, the two owners encouraged this behavior with unspoken approval for the combatants, and admiration for the most Machiavellian.   For them it was like the Hunger Games - fun to watch young, ambitious boys and girls fight it out and to see how far someone would go to get to the top of the pile to bask in the warmth of their approval.

I lasted a whole 2 years before being informed that my services were no longer needed, and my colleagues informed that I had "left to pursue new opportunities".  And then the internet bubble crashed, and there were no opportunities (new or otherwise) to pursue.  I struggled for 3 months to find any sort of job.  Former competitors called me in for job interviews only to spend the time picking my brain for intel on my former company.   There was no job, just a grand bit of Kabuki Theater for the Desperate.

And then by chance I stumbled into a Starbucks for a soul reviving cup of coffee, and nearly tripped over the table where a recruiting fair was going on.  I was asked to sit down, and four weeks and two interviews later I began working as a Starbucks Manager in Training.  That was July 1, 2002.  5 months later I was given the keys to my own store, a fairly significant raise, and was working with a pretty diverse, dedicated group of people.  

And that Christmas, this was under the tree -

Wendy had seen me admiring it for many weeks, and knew that I had made a modest deposit on it.  And unbeknownst to me, she had been in cahoots with Francis Z. of Seregin's to hide it from me, with Francis spinning an elaborate yarn of how sorry he was, but that the owner hadn't realized that I had made a deposit on it and sold it just the day before!  Francis took some irritation from me (which when the whole story was revealed made me feel pretty sheepish), and the day after Christmas when I came in to thank him for his part, he smiled, shook my hand, and told me to wear it in good health.

On the card that came with it, Wendy told me how proud she was of me, how I had been down but hadn't given up, and that I should wear this and always remember what is possible.

And now 14 years later, I look at the watch on my wrist and know she is right.