What I'd Buy Myself

Okay, one thing you gentle readers might not be aware of is the effort put forth by marketing and pr departments to put watches in front of you in so-called holiday shopping guides.  And for the past 9 years I've had to politely decline to construct such a thing.  

But despite what some of my peers would have you believe, I am not Krampus, the Grinch or Scrooge.  So I thought, rather than serve up what gets forwarded to me, I'd do the digging and let you know what I personally would buy for myself.

First up would be the Chronoswiss Chronograph Skeleton.

Courtesy of Chronoswiss

Now they do make an absolutely beautiful gold version, but I have to remind myself that I am a former English teacher currently managing a non-profit Adult Education program to help immigrants get established in the US.  Translation?  I have to live within the reality of my means ; )

Chronoswiss is a brand that I have a lot of time for.  John Keil of Watch Gauge fame put in some serious work for them, and the current team is a nice bunch as well.  Moreover?  They aren't trying to be anyone other than themselves.  

So that's the first up.  Stay tuned!

District Time! Washington DC's Watch Show

Now point of full-disclosure, I do work with or represent a few of the brands that will be participating in District Time next Saturday and Sunday.

What brands will be there?

Attra
AVeritas
Ardor & Forge
Balticus
Bertucci 
Boldr
Caliper
Collins
Direnzo
EMG
Gavox
Groupo Gamma
Hager
Hemel
HKED
ISOfrane
Kingsbury 
Lesablier
McDowell Time
Minase
Minuteman
Nodus
NTH
Ocean Crawler
Origin
Patton
Raketa
Roebuck
Sartory Billard
Siduna
Straton
Traska
Tsao Baltimore


And quite a few others!

The New Romantics

You will notice a new section on the Tempus Fugit site - The New Romantics

It will start getting populated over the next few days, and is meant to be an additional resource for smaller, independent brands to discuss, share, promote and yes, even sell their watches.  

Now, unlike my more well-heeled (somewhat slipperier) colleagues who "painstakingly curate" "exclusive collections", the New Romantics section is something (I hope) a little more straight-forward and will not rely so heavily upon slippery language.

These are brands that are actually owned by actual people who are actually working on unique ideas.  These will be brands at several price points, and while some are more expensive than others, the concept is not about "exclusivity" or any other douchy hyperbole that some other blogs-now-retailers might spew. 

In many cases, the brands will have direct links that you, the customer can go through to make your purchase directly from the brand.  In some other instances, you will can also be directly connected to the authorized retail partner.  

Most importantly, I will be working hand in hand with the brands to assist with after service, etc.

It will be a part of Tempus Fugit, but it has it's own little home.  And this will be a "curation free" zone.  The simple criteria are:
1.  I have personally met the owners, and are the type of people I'd enjoy having a beer with (and most I have).
2.  I have personally tried the watch, strap, etc. and feel that it is a good product at a fair price.
3.  The product, whatever it may be, is interesting to me, and I hope it will be to you as well.

As mentioned before, I do work with some brands as a consultant and that will be clearly disclosed and all of those brands will be clearly identified.

Why I Bought It - The Gorillia Fastback RS White

So it seems it is going to be a "Gorilla - heavy" few days here at Tempus Fugit ; )

I have been somewhat beguiled by the Gorilla Fastback ever since I clapped eyes on it at last year's (2017) BaselWorld.  It was a fun watch with some very serious, very genuine design bona-fides.

And the limited edition introductory piece came and went before I could even blink, but another model would come to vie for my attention. 

The Fastback is available in the white you see above, and two black versions, one with a very cool acid green pairing, the other with a camouflage strap.  The white, however, has always stayed with me.  

The size and the shape of the Gorilla is a little bit out of my usual wheelhouse, and I suppose in a way that is part of the appeal.

A lot of what is great about the Gorilla is not really "knowable" until you have one on your wrist.  At that point, it is almost a moment of "conversion".  If you were on the fence at all, you will likely be in at that point ; )

The Gorilla benefits from a seemingly random confluence of cool things:

2 very talented designers with a very strong background in high end watches - Lukas Gopp and Octavio Garcia.

A very, very cool design.

A legitimate mechanical watch with a more affordable, Japanese self-winding movement.

A very affordable entry point at $880.

In the US, a very dynamic retail partner who introduced the Gorilla Collection to the US market place with their online store, Watch Gauge.

And it was Watch Gauge where I was able to purchase my very own Gorilla Fastback, and it sits happily on my wrist as I write this post.

Ultimately, a watch is not something we need in this day in age.  It is something that speaks to us on a different level.  And thank goodness their are interesting options out there like Gorilla, and there are retail partners like Watch Gauge dedicated to offering those somewhat less obvious, but certainly more interesting options.

Enjoy your watches!

A White Gorilla

This was, for once, a very enjoyable BaselWorld.  It brought a lot of new things to the watch world's attention, but for me personally it prodded me to dig a bit deeper into what some of the new brands were doing.  

You may recall reading about Lukas Gopp and Octavio Garcia (probably coolest first name I've heard in years) venture, Gorilla watches last year -

http://www.tempusfugit.watch/2017/04/the-fastback.html

Here in the US they are well represented by Watch Gauge
and I encourage you to check them out, because they are super-dope!

And yes, even we who write about this stuff are not immune to their charms.  So in terms of what is available right now, I have to say that the RS White has stung me with visceral dart.  It is nothing I can rationally, calmly explain.  It has attached itself to my psyche on a much more emotional level.  With a Rolex GMT you can reason out the interest - history, perceived value, popularity.  But with some watches, and the Gorilla is certainly among them, you are captivated by something far stronger than rationale.  Something speaks to you.  It often speaks in a language or tone that is not immediately clear to everyone else.  But isn't that what makes life interesting?  And this watch speaks to me loudly and clearly -

Courtesy of Gorilla

Desire is a funny thing.  Sometimes you just need to accept and embrace it ; )

A 44 mm case crafted of forged carbon, anodized aluminum,
titanium, ceramic, and steel with a Miyota 8215 under the hood and rated to be safe and dry down to 100 meters.  

A New Idea - and a Good One!

Earlier this week, Watch Gauge launched and their concept has been the talk of the watch blogosphere since then.

And what is the concept?  Actually a pretty refreshing one!  Rather than bombard the potential watch buyer with hundreds of choices of watches at discount prices, they instead prefer to introduce one new model at a time.  And I think that when you get right down to it, this the ideal way to be introduced to interesting watches that are not likely to be found swimming in the mainstream.  And this is what makes Watch Gauge unique, their focus on the smaller, microbrands.  

The first brand featured is one close to my heart -

Gorilla!

So do yourself a favorite and check them out - there are going to be some great watches coming in the future.

                                        WATCH GAUGE