The lethargic days of summer are now fully in the rearview after a somewhat sleepy September. October 2024 was chock full of headlines from the watch world, the biggest of which was Patek breaking out its first new collection in a quarter-century. It ignited a firestorm that our friends at Horlonomics and Fratello counterbalanced, explaining why the customer (and the brand!) isn’t always right. Closer to home, the ABTW team reported live from Dresden on a very strange NOMOS while eBay found the spotlight twice with a new collab and a big change to seller fees in Europe. Finally, New York lived up to its nickname, giving no rest to the weary with headlines from Windup 2024, as well as Manhattan’s very own Hodinkee. Read on!
Is “Cubitisgate” a Financial Nothingburger?
In what was easily the biggest headline of the month — and possibly the whole year — Patek Phillipe announced its first new collection in 25 years. To say its chunky size and somewhat unrefined appearance was controversial would be an understatement, with vociferous opinions emanating from Patek loyalists and the peanut gallery alike. Thierry Stern, the brand’s president, didn’t exactly douse the flames when he remarked during an interview with Swiss publication, Handelszeitung, that “The haters are mostly people who have never had a Patek and never will.” But does the vitriol around the Cubitus spell doom for Patek? Hardly. Brendan Cunningham, professor of Economics at Connecticut State University explains, “We should never forget that retail buyers are not [Patek’s] customers.” With authorized dealers worldwide clamoring for more allocation, Patek will have no trouble selling the Cubitus. Even if it’s a stinker, at the end of the day, that’s a problem for AD’s — not so much for Patek.
Source: Horolonomics
New Release: Omega Speedmaster Anniversary Series “First Omega in Space” Watch
In October 1962, Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, wore his personal Omega Speedmaster CK2998 aboard the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. He couldn’t have known it at the time, but he was kicking off what would become a multi-billion dollar heritage for the already respected Swiss watch brand. Since then, versions of the “First Omega in Space” have come and gone with the most recent iteration being quietly retired from Omega’s catalog in 2020. Having celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Moonwatch in 2024 and with the 70th anniversary of the Speedmaster coming in 2025, there’s no better time to slot in a revival of the “First Omega in Space” with the deep-blue dial version announced this month. Paired with a flat-link bracelet found on the Speedy ’57, it’s another winning release from Omega.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
LVMH Scores 10-Year Sponsorship Deal with Formula 1, Pushing Rolex Out
Always fertile grounds for watch news, this month, the world of Formula 1 proved fruitful yet again with the announcement that LVMH will take over from Rolex as the official timekeeper for at least the next decade. Also, other non-watch brands from the LVMH portfolio will begin appearing trackside and beyond, including Champagnes from Moët & Chandon (perfect for spraying around on podiums) and various luxury products from Louis Vuitton. The deal starts next season, and while it hasn’t been officially announced, odds are that former official sponsor TAG Heuer’s logo will be chosen to emblazon the F1 world next year.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Hands-On Debut: NOMOS Tangente 2Date Watch
In the immortal words of Paul Rudd in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, “The less you do, the more you do.” This month, NOMOS added a new watch to the oft-imitated Tangente lineup that certainly does a lot. In the general watch discourse, the new in-house movement was overshadowed by the pairing of a traditional date window at 6 o’clock with the brand’s more signature sandwich-style outer date ring, giving it (appropriately) the name 2Date. No, it doesn’t show two different dates, but the same one twice. As aBlogtoWatch Senior Editor Sean Lorentzen explains, “Is it strictly necessary, or even practical? No, but in practice, the two date displays give two slightly different effects on the wrist…. The outer date ring, though, is more about tracking the overall progression of the month. It’s a clean, graphic way of reminding oneself how close the next paycheck, rent payment, or other monthly milestone might be.” When considered that way, the 2Date makes a lot more sense.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Watches of Switzerland Group Acquires Hodinkee
These past few months, it has grown harder to ignore the headlines around watch website Hodinkee. Founded as a blog in 2008, the site evolved into a timepiece tastemaker before entering the retail game in 2017. Four years later, through its acquisition of Crown & Caliber, Hodinkee began selling pre-owned watches (famous for thin margins) at exactly the worst time, just when inventory was the most expensive, and prices began falling. Like many firms (both watch-centric and non-horological, alike) hard times meant evolving in order to survive. So this month’s announcement by founder Ben Clymer that Hodinkee would be acquired by watch retail giant Watches of Switzerland was big news. Hodinkee has shown an ability to adapt in the past. What will this next chapter hold?
Source: Watch Collecting Lifestyle
Hands-On: Zodiac x eBay Super Sea Wolf Limited-Edition Watch Designed by Ariel Adams
aBlogtoWatch founder Ariel Adams is no stranger to watch design. Specifically, he’s no stranger to designing Super Sea Wolf watches in conjunction with Zodiac. Having helped create the Aquamarine Dream in 2021 and 2023’s Pineapple Dream, Adams’ latest collaboration brings eBay fully into the fold. Celebrating the e-commerce platform’s foundational role in helping watch fans build collections, the 300-piece limited edition employs eBay’s four primary brand colors, satisfyingly divided between the 12 hour markers. The best feature? A countdown bezel that’s a clear reminder of eBay’s nail-biting auctions, both those won and lost.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Windup Watch Fair New York 2024: The Largest Windup Ever
Ask anyone in attendance at this year’s Windup Watch Fair in NYC, and one of the first comments will likely be about the size of the show, both in terms of vendors and attendance. With around 150 brands showcasing their wares, it’s likely the largest retail watch event in the world. While tent-pole shows like Geneva Watch Days and Watches & Wonders are surely bigger, they are geared primarily toward industry insiders — not end-users. Skyler Nielsen-Sorensen over at the Everest Bands blog gives a first-hand account of the sights and sounds of the largest Windup event yet.
Source: Everest Bands
New Release: Alterum Worldtimer Watch
The best ideas are often the simplest. With newcomer brand Alterum’s Worldtimer, that maxim is on full display. Joining such esteemed brands as Ressence and Trilobe in using flat planar discs to tell time, the freshman timepiece is deceptively simple in its appearance yet appreciable by watchmakers for its complexity. Forgoing traditional hands requires some tricky engineering, and Justin Walters’ workshop manages to pull it off in style. Each of the four visible discs spins, meaning there’s no fixed place to put traditional dial markers. How to get around this problem? Print them on the underside of the crystal. Very creative.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Stop the Snark: Earned Dogmatism and the Dunning-Kruger Effect in Watches
It’s easy to dismiss those with critical opinions as simply “haters.” Just see the Cubitus fracas (above) to see direct proof. It’s much harder to balance the cognitive dissonance that a critic might be both right and wrong simultaneously. What are brands to do? Thomas Van Straaten leans on his background as a consumer behavior consultant to explain the role the Earned Dogmatism Hypothesis might play. Applied to watches, the EDH would say that in any group, the person deemed to be “most expert” about timepieces is more likely to hold dogmatic beliefs about them. Things get even more squirrely when introducing the Duning-Kruger Effect, wherein “lesser performers tend to overestimate their performance.” In plain terms, self-proclaimed watch nerds may not know as much as we think. It’s all very compelling and a worthy exploration of just why the comment section is so toxic when it comes to watches.
Source: Fratello Watches
Ariel’s Thoughts: eBay’s Removal of UK and Germany Private Seller Fees and How it Affects the Market
In October, eBay announced it was removing fees for sellers in the UK and Germany. Ariel Adams explores how this changes the calculus for both buyers and sellers in Europe and beyond, what this means for eBay, and what it might mean for the e-commerce platform’s largest market: the United States. It all seems part of a larger strategy of coming home to eBay’s peer-to-peer roots and away from the dark days of drop-shipped plastic junk, listed through loopholes by unscrupulous sellers in countries with unfair shipping advantages. For anyone who’s sold a watch before forking over 15% to eBay, the potential for lower (or zero?) fees sounds almost too good to be true. Will the costs shift to the buyer? We’ll see how the experiment plays out.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Watch Pun From Hermès’ “Flagship” Watch
Credit where credit is due: this watch is downright funny. Rendering the brand’s iconic flagship Paris boutique as an actual ship, replete with rigging and billowing sails, October’s Slim d’Hermès release is that rare instance when a big brand can laugh at itself a little bit. This sort of self-aware watchmaking is usually reserved for microbrands (and Moser), but the French fashion house has shown it’s not all stuffy stores and Birkin waiting lists. Kudos, Hermès.
Source: It’s About Time