2024 State Of The Collection- Rolex, Seiko, Breguet, Omega, Breitling, Casio, Squale & More Watches

Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, you filthy mammals. I'll be on Isla Nublar, relaxing on a beach with a cocktail, earning 20%. Toodlepip. Que meraviglia, ragazzi! Que meraviglia! You know a watch is good when you want to buy it instantly. Okay, hi guys and welcome to the show. Today it is the 2024 State of the Collection. Crazy, crazy I know. A couple of rules before I get into it. Obviously I'm not including any watches I designed, co-designed or had anything to do with because obviously we'd be, you know, we'd be here all day. It's in the dozens now, so yeah, not including those. There's also my grandfather GHW's Charles Frodsham. Bit of a tongue twister that one. I'm not including that. It's a pocket watch. Immensely important, influential, sentimentally significant, all the rest of it. But, you know, it's not something I wear and it's too priceless to be in my State of the Collection. That, as always, is in the bank vault. Right, I'll do a quick wristwatch check. As I'm recording all my watches, I thought I'd wear the Hanhart. This is the Aquasphere, the watch of the year. If a watch YouTuber is not talking about this watch, then they are doing you a disservice because it's amazing. But also beyond, if you like it or not, it's still a momentous part of horological German watch history there. I will review it next year, so I'm just enjoying it before I have to send it back. I'm actually delaying the review so I can spend more time with it. Anyway, I'll discuss at the end my collecting goals, all that good stuff. Yeah, chucks away. Let's get into it. Where should we start? I've got my notes. Let's just get a few heavyweights out of the way, shall we? The Actron and the Flightmaster. I need to put new batteries in. Discontinued. An end of an era, certainly. On the NDC, the real McCoy. Still absolutely adore this. I need to put new batteries in. They're not going anywhere. The Actron, obviously. It's a momentous piece of American history. Astronauts would not have got to the moon without the timing mechanism from the tuning fork technology. And of course, such an iconic New York brand. Forgive me, I'm not familiar. I can't remember what strap this is. I do recall it's from Holben's, but forgive me, I can't remember for the life of me what brand that is. The Cartier Santos. The Galby. Two-tone. Bit of 80s Gordon Gekko loveliness with the moon phase. Just such an easy piece to wear. Grab and go. And I purchased this before the Santos hype. Of course, such a historic piece. Wonderful legacy of design. And relatively unchanged considering this, what is it, almost 100 years now. Maybe it is 100 years. I can't remember. I've done a whole video about it. I should know. The old Fleming. There it is. The Explorer. I ended up getting rid of my Submariners instead and keeping this. I just can't get rid of this. It's 10 years now. Owned it. It is an older, you know, with the unloomed. I forget the reference number, but it's not going anywhere. Honor Collareb. Venezia. Really cool combo. This one was from Holben's. Just an intrinsic part of the channel. Another watch that, when I originally bought it, nobody wanted anything to do with the Explorer. It was the unwanted Rolex. And of course, now everybody worships the Explorer. Because Rolex has turned into a ghastly, bling-bling, monstrosity, unobtainium. Rather déclassé, shall I say. Not the honest tool watch. Was the hype my fault? I don't know. Maybe. But yeah, so crazy. Nobody wanted them and you could get them for a really, really great deal. Ah, this is my most worn watch of 2024. The Panerai Luminor 40. This is the oldest with the Valjoux inside. I've got it on a strap code. Not the best straps in the world. I love this design. Very comfortable. But the silicon definitely, compared to the FMK or FKM, I can never remember. Definitely a step down in quality. But I like this design. If they did a FKM version of this, this would be absolutely perfect. Big, bold. I just love it. C'è scritto qui Firenze. My favourite place on earth where I met my wife and where I studied. I will go back again. You know, so wearing this on that momentous voyage. Voyage. I don't know why. It was a voyage. Seeing behind the scenes at the Panerai store was just amazing. The private museum. Unfortunately I couldn't film. It was off limits. But I really, really have gravitated towards this brand. Instantly mi fa pensare di Firenze. Il Duomo. Tutto l'arte di Firenze. Il Bistecca. Mangiando bene. Quando stavo studiando a scuola. Tutto questo roba qui. Passeggiattini in Giardino dei Boboli con mi moglie. You know, all of this stuff. Right, the two Breitlings. Let's bring them in. Going through a bit of a renaissance with the 90s, early 2000s Breitlings. There they are. They certainly don't make them like this anymore. Just love the winged logo. This is the second generation with the backlight aerospace. I did a whole deep dive on them. A fascinating, fascinating story. The standard Valjoux Navitimer. Older model, but I love it. It has its faults with the date, but it's just such a bargain on the used market. Both of them. No, this one was from Long Island, I think. And then this one was from Japan. I prefer the older Breitling. Before they became kind of more mainstream, they cleaned up their act. This was the Breitling of, as I discussed in that video, the un-PC Breitling, shall we say. I'm going to obviously intercut a whole bunch of ain't it cool clips here. I had pin-up girls in the store for their artwork. Totally different kind of Breitling. Ain't it cool? And yeah, this has really changed my whole perception of any digi. So useful. It wakes me up with the alarm. Use the dual time zone, the calendar. It's the closest I ever want to get to a smartwatch without it being connected and all the insidious things that the Apple Watch. And I use it, you know, as a beater. But so thin because of the titanium that it works kind of casually. I mean, this really should be the bond watch. If you think about it, I should mention this is the FKM rubber strap, the waffle. I've had this on. You'll see it's on several different watches. Remarkably, a step up from the Panerai there. Silicon's nice. It's soft, very comfortable, but not. You'll see it's like already kind of gets discolored and from showering and stuff. It's so different, such a different material. And as you see, attracts lint like crazy. Okay, so what's next? My GMT Master 2. Always brings me Buona Fortuna when I'm traveling. This is my go-to travel watch. But I have to say GMTs, if you're like me, you've got family and overseas, different time zones or you do business within the United States even. Incredibly useful. I typically have it on London time and then local time. I haven't worn it for a while. This is an aftermarket, cheapo Jubilee. It's not real Rolex, but it came on an Oyster. But I just love Jubilees, you know, the jingly-jangly, all that good stuff. Completely the antithesis of the Rolex sports watch. The Universal Genève. Look at that blue. Gorgeous. Gorgeous with the integrated bracelet. There's so much I've said about this incredible piece. Integral to the later Ellipse. Inspired it. The engineer that did the micro-rotor obviously got poached by Patek and basically did the same design again for Patek, which is the caliber 240 and became the backbone of modern Patek. Saved the brand during the post-courts crisis. And it all goes back to this. The design, obviously, by Gerald Genta. The only Gerald Genta designed watch I have. Well, maybe I've got others that are certainly inspired by him, but just look at that. Gorgeous. I still want an Ellipse, but, you know, why should I have the homage to this when I have the original, right? That's going to trigger some people. But, you know, it's the truth. It's the truth. Let's put it out a little bit there. Ah, talking of Genta, very fitting. The Nevada Grentian. It's funny when I talked about this recently, somebody wrote in the comments, oh, it's just the, they just make copies of other watches. Well, yes, this is a copy of their own watch from 1977, hence F77. But I think with this meteorite dial and this titanium, it just elevates, incredibly comfortable. I'm still waiting for the strap. I wish they'd do the strap. Don't know why it's always sold out. I might get an aftermarket. I might just make it myself, you know, because I'd love this on a rubber strap. I love Nevada Grentian. Definitely my micro brand of last year. They're still doing big moves. They had a blacked out version, I think. Very, very cool indeed. I almost went for their Antarctic, I think it is, which I reviewed. I should know. I reviewed it. But yeah, that meteorite dial, part of the stone dial trend, certainly. And as a former Royal Oak owner, I can tell you it doesn't feel or wear anything like a Royal Oak. Certainly deeply inspired by Genta, as a lot of brands were in the 70s. But this brings its own personality to the proceedings. What's next? Well, the antithesis again, the last G-Shock left standing. I had three G-Shocks at the beginning of the year. Bought this back, and this is by far my favorite G-Shock, the Mudman G9000. Seriously, the most robust, toughest G-Shock you can buy for under $500. Check out the video. I always thought, oh, mud resistant. How can that make a watch tougher? But actually, the button design, it's an incredibly interesting bit of technology that G-Shock have done, combined with obviously the three 10s, the initial key concept. This way, way excels that. But I love the five button setup because you got the light there, which is just fantastic. And then if I reset it, this is incredibly useful for cardio. Hold on, I'll set it up. There we go. And then if you set it to go, you get a five second. There you go. There you see it. Off to the races. Very useful for cardio, running, all kinds of stuff. And then because you got multiple stopwatches, everything you need. The only thing is the strap does overhang a bit, so I actually cut mine. I know I'm going to upset some people, but now this just fits incredibly well. There's only a little bit of overhang because otherwise it comes up on this side. So I don't care. You know, I did try the strap adapters from J and K, but it just protruded too much on this side while on the, on the sides. So I went back to the original strap and I just cut it and that works for me. So super, super, super useful. My favorite G-Shock, definitely my favorite G-Shock, not my favorite Casio, but my favorite G-Shock. Okay, next we're still kind of in the same area with the forged carbon from Squalene. I think I have three limited edition Squalene in my collection of watches that I've designed or co-designed or had something to do with, which I'm not including obviously in this video. I did get rid of the Azzurro, and of course I instantly regret it. I was trying to scale down the collection, but the forged carbon, and I keep getting this wrong. This is actually the second gen, not the first gen. I've referred to it incorrectly in the past. The first gen actually had the striping. The first brand to do a 500-meter capable diver in forged carbon. Again, we got the Squalene master style case. I just felt it was too, not similar because it's not like the Azzurro, but it was, you know, I had too much brand overlap. I wear it more during the summer. I've changed out the strap. I put the Riscani Watch Club rubber strap. This is the FMK, the same as, where is it, on the Aerospace, and I swapped out the buckle. So I put the actual Squalene PVD buckle on it just to match it, and super, super comfortable, great for summer. Not so much in the winter. In the winter, I've been actually wearing the Aerospace a little bit more, and it's so different for Squalene. It's much more modern, contemporary, macho. It lacks the sexiness the Azzurro has. So I think probably I might go for the Kosk Azzurro next year. I don't know. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. Now, we couldn't get more different than this little dressy Amiga Deville. A wonderful kind of overlooked part of the Amiga story. The caliber inside is fascinating because you see it's got no crown. It's got a pusher that you hold down to set the time. Beautiful ellipse design. It has this kind of sunburst brown dial. Came on the strap. I don't even know what the strap is, but it suits it perfectly, so I just kept it. The ideal grab-and-go dress watch, really. Supremely elegant, classy, understated. Time only, so you don't even notice the seconds are gone. Overlooked, forgotten-about era of Amiga doing interesting concepts with quartz and really utilizing quartz technology. The best way to use quartz is probably in a dress watch, you know, because it allows it to be so slender. Next year is the 30th anniversary of the Seamaster and Bond collaboration, so I'm contemplating going back to the Seamaster 300, I think. What's next? Ah, the grail, the grail, the grail. There it is, there it is. Oh, look at that. Absolutely pure class. Pulchritudinous perfection. Pops of the kind of two-tone. It's great for me, two-tone, because it matches my signet ring and it still works, but I don't want it to be too flashy. I was considering the rose gold for about a year, I have to confess. I actually decided to go with the tradition over a year ago. Yeah, it was like October 2023 that it just finally clicked, and it wasn't until April, I think, I was still in Philly, of this year that I made it public that I was going to get a tradition. I pulled the trigger not so long ago, so let's put it down there. I love the fact that this is my number forever, and I'm in the official book along with all the other From New owners of Breguet. You know, that's just incredible. You could search back and there's like Churchill and Napoleon and the Queen of Naples and Queen Victoria, and then there's just little old me, you know, a Z-list YouTuber and part-time watch designer, and there's me with my Breguet. He bought what? Before moi? This rotter with a Breguet? They just sell them to anybody these days. I might have to pop over to New York for a quick visit. I will return to Stardust with this piece. That is mine until the end. The Day-Date, another momentous watch for me. I purchased this to celebrate a successful finishing contract of work I did in Philadelphia. Fantastic chapter of my life. That was a massive success for me. So, yeah, the Day-Date. I mean, what better way to celebrate career successes than with a solid gold Rolex? I know, a bit of a cliché. Sono italiano, cosa devo dire. The double quick set, linen dial. A little bit more restrained. I am considering maybe upgrading this to one with an Italian day wheel for obvious reasons. If I can find the Day-Date, the Tudor Day-Date, or Date-Day, I should say, prints with an Italian day wheel, I'll get that instead. The Mission Impossible. Oh, love this piece, love this piece. My happy place watch. When you absolutely, positively got to feel great about life and you got to grab one watch that does it all, this is the one. This is the strap from the Calculator watch. This combo just works marvelously well. Super, super comfortable. And, of course, it's perforated and it just integrates and follows the aesthetic of this 90s Halo helmet-esque watch perfectly. This is another watch, a bit like the Panerai and the Ellipse. That I always discredited as, not discredited, I always kind of wrote them off as being funny looking. I didn't really, I wasn't really into them. And then you wear them, you experience them. As I always say, experience is the best education. You grow to love these things and they change your whole perception. Amazing. I'm stockpiling them. I'm petrified that they're going to be discontinued. What's next? The Willard. This I bought brand new from Moya. Moya Fine Jewelers. Shout out to them. I borrowed it for a review and ended up pulling the trigger. I just love the story behind it. I love that era of Seiko diver design. I love Apocalypse Now, obviously. More inclined to cheer on the bad guy. You know, that's just me. You know, I'm always rooting for the villain in every Bond movie, but to no avail. That's just my personality. But so it's unusual that I go for the Hero's Watch. Well, I guess the Bond Seamaster, that's a Hero's Watch as well. But yeah, just fantastically comfortable, practical, legible history. It ticks all the boxes. So the only one that it doesn't take is value. I do think it's kind of overpriced, but you can always get a good deal. And actually Moya, shout out to Derek. He doesn't treat me like any differently or any more or less special than everybody else. And yeah, so he gave me a good, a fair price. And I think actually what I paid for it is about right. Where should I put this? I'm running out of space now. And last but not least, another rebuy. The Tissot Gennaro. Incredible piece of history. The 1930s Art Deco Telemeter Watch. This is actually a 90s reissue. Way ahead of its time, 37mm. I've put it on a Coloureb. This is the ostrich strap. This actually was from Holborn's. I definitely remember getting this. Beautiful strap. The colour really compliments it, I think. And I'll do another video on this. I explored, I discovered a rabbit hole of amazing information. It's called Gennaro because it's a nod to that famous transatlantic voyage that Italo Balbo did. An era that has been largely cancelled for various reasons because of the regime that Balbo was involved in pre-World War II. So they went for a neutral name of Gennaro because that was the final destination. But he wore the original 1930s telemeter watches like this. That this obviously takes inspiration from. And then I discovered it was a predecessor. Because at that time, Tissot was collaborating with Amiga. They were pooling their resources. If you look at it, you can kind of see it's the predecessor of the Speedmaster. A lot of the design language was born here. It evolved over the decades. Both brands kind of did different things. But you can certainly see how this Tissot inspired the later Amiga Speedmaster. A wonderful untold bit of history. A horological history. I'm going to do another video. But if you missed the first video, I'll leave a link somewhere. Yeah, quite an eclectic mix. Certainly not what I expected. There we go. There they all are. All together, all together. Yeah, very, very happy. So we have 18 pieces remaining. I'm trying to get to 12. I don't think I'll get there. I am still trying to consolidate my collection. Next year, maybe. There are a few I kind of want to let go. Just having fun enjoying them. And still a few collecting golds. Which I'll do a separate review. Not review. A separate video next year. The 30th anniversary of Seamaster and Bond getting together. Revisit that. A few more pieces I've got my eye on. No major, major super-duper high-end stuff. Because I'm very content with my grail. Famous last words. You never know. New releases that you just get swept up in. Kind of like the F77. That was something I didn't plan on. Next year will be the launch of Gentry Labs. Which I'm extremely excited about. Check out this video if you missed it. It's not a watch brand. It's something a little bit more special than that. I'm going to take a little break from YouTube for a few weeks. I have some freelance editing work. Watch-related. But nothing you'll see on this channel. But stuff that I do for my day job. That I've got to finish. More live shows. More independent, real reviews. Hands-on stuff. More factory tours. More travel. And occasionally some gentlemanly commentary. All of that good stuff. So a lot more to come. Anyway guys. I'm going to leave it there. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful holiday season. Have a great new year. Onwards and upwards. Thank you so much for the support. And I'll catch you next year. Ciao.