Welcome back to our weekly Saturday feature, Watching the Web, where we highlight interesting watch related posts that we come across on other sites, as well as take a moment to look back at our own popular recent articles. From the wide world of watches, we have a collectors take on a Bugatti watch, a writeup on the resurgence of pocket watches, and an opinion piece on what Instagram is doing to watch collectors. From our own site, we have the Deep Blue DayNight, a three-for AVI-8 review, and some old-school Seikos.
First up from the wider world of watches, we an interview with a friend of mine, William Lerner. Amongst his various facets, he has long encouraged a healthy appreciation for watches. In this interview over at Monochrome, he talks about his Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti Atalante Flyback Chronograph, and the accompanying photos pair the watch up to Bugatti Veyron, both excessive (and discontinued) expressions of luxury.
Next up, we have an article from Rob Nudds over at Borro that is talking about pocket watches. Not the pocket watches that our wrist watches came from, but the current rebirth of the modern pocket watch. Yes, we’ve featured some here (most recently, the Starling Inception), but Nudds instead focuses on what is going on in the high end, from makes such as Urwerk, Roger Dubuis, and Richard Mille. In the article, he puts for an interesting theory on the impact that smart watches could actually have on these luxury pocket watches.
Last, we’ll focus again on the world of collecting. Over at WoundForLife, they have an opinion piece on the current state of the watch collecting world. In it, Isaac Wingold opines on the impact that Instagram has had on collectors and collecting. He argues that the social media platform has actually shifted the mindset from collecting for yourself, to collecting so as to show off the anonymous masses on the internet. Whether or not you agree with what he puts forth, it gives you some food for thought as you progress along your own collecting path.
Now, let’s turn our attention to our own pages. Our top article of the week was about the newly-announced Deep Blue DayNight. There is quite a bit to like about this watch, and I was particularly enamored of the doubling-up of the tritium tubes on the hour hand.
Next up is an older article, wherein I had a sort of review roundup of three different AVI-8 Hawker Harrier II watches. This was an interesting foray into three very different interpretations of what it means to be considered an aviation watch. Sometimes it’s the design cues, sometimes it’s looking like gauges. This is a brand constantly putting out new pieces, so if you’re not familiar with them, our article is a good introduction.
And going even further back into our archives, we had John’s writeup of some classic Seikos (and their movements). This one pops up now and again, and it is a useful primer on what you should know if you’re getting into the world of older Seiko watches.
Did you know that John Biggs’ book, Marie Antionette’s Watch, is free to read with Kindle Unlimited, or you can buy a paperback from Amazon. Oh, and even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can always read via their free apps or their cloud read (check those out here
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Want to help us make a better site for you? Then consider pledging your support for us over on Patreon. There are some compelling funding levels (including site redesigns and removing ads), but really, we just want to ensure we keep this lean ship running and the lights on. You can check out John’s post (and video) about it right here. This is a fun thing we get to do on the side, and we want to keep bringing you the content that you have come to rely on from us, and work to make it even better. As John notes in a follow-up post, we’ve had some donations come in, and for that we are supremely thankful. Unfortunately, things are not hitting the levels we had hoped, and there is a chance our doors may need to close come May. If you want to keep seeing affordable watches reviewed and featured, please consider helping us out!
We are almost done with January, so you only have a little bit of time left to get into our give away for a very sweet watch winder. Matt was able to try it out for a week or so, and now you have the chance of scoring it for yourself. Head over to the contest page and follow the instructions for the two-part entry process.
We also want to put the call out for wrist shots of our reader’s favorite (or at least favorite of the moment) watches. Put together an email of your wrist shot and tell us a little about the watch and why you love it. If you happened to be introduced to it through our site (or won it through a give-away), even better. Just make sure the image is a JPEG and at least 800 pixels wide.
With that, I will wrap up this edition of Watching the Web. As always, if there’s something you think we should be covering, feel free to drop us a line. If you bring something up that we end up writing about, we’ll be sure to tip our hats (electronically, if not literally) in your general direction.
