For this episode of aBlogtoWatch Weekly, everyone has returned from their recent travels, so it’s back to our usual trio of hosts with Ariel, Rick, and David, who are joined by Sylvain Berneron, the Creative Director at Breitling. To kick off the show, our hosts briefly discuss Ariel’s trip with Norqain and David’s experience at an Omega event last week, where they didn’t show the new Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer but rather only had the novelties that were presented several months ago. From there, it’s a deep dive into stainless steel sports watches as a response to an opinion article written by David, in which he argues that there are simply too many steel sports models when the material itself has inherent shortcomings. Our hosts discuss how the greater meaning of a stainless steel sports watch has changed over the years, along with all of the various pros and cons of the material itself, before Sylvain remarks that stainless steel is a perfectly Swiss material since it’s the perfect compromise between a number of different aesthetic and functional attributes.
After discussing all things related to stainless steel, a question from Rick about strap material choices turns the conversation to titanium. Sylvain offers some insight into the different grades of titanium that are used in watchmaking, how they differ from each other, and why grade 2 is his personal favorite. After discussing two of the most utilitarian metals used in watchmaking, our hosts then take the opportunity to talk about the Norqain Wild ONE, which is a new sports watch that features a case largely not made from metal at all. After breaking down its unique shock-absorbing design and analyzing its placement within the greater industry, our hosts then turn their attention to the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep, and whether or not it is a good thing that it offers an absolutely massive depth rating yet doesn’t look like a piece of highly specialized dive equipment. After Sylvain reveals the specific depth that will more-or-less crush a person and how most of today’s dive watches are already more than capable of surviving it, our hosts wrap up the show by talking about how watches like the Omega Ultra Deep can often serve as ways for brands to showcase their technologies and explore a design language in a manner that often has widespread appeal outside of just the collector and enthusiast space.
Each week, the editors of the timepiece enthusiast publication aBlogtoWatch.com come together to discuss some of the latest new releases and hottest industry stories for the aBlogtoWatch Weekly news podcast program. Listeners can learn more by clicking on any link below to view the articles discussed by the aBlogtoWatch crew in the program.
This episode features Ariel, Rick, and David, plus Sylvain Berneron from Breitling.
Show Notes:
- 03:43 — Omega Unveils The Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer Watch
- 09:20 — Grinding Gears: Do We Really Need This Many Steel Bracelet Sports Watches?
- 29:27 — NORQAIN & Jean-Claude Biver Launch Shock-Absorbent Independence Wild ONE Watches
- 43:13 — Hands-On: Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 6000M Ultra Deep Watch
aBlogtoWatch launched the first-ever podcast about watches back in 2010, and continues to be the most referenced and respected publication for watch enthusiasts, buyers, and collectors in the world. Today, in addition to the website and social media channels, aBlogtoWatch produces the SUPERLATIVE podcast interview program as well as aBlogtoWatch Weekly.
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