Our Favorite Releases of the Year (So Far…)

 

NEW PODCAST

 With the help of two of my Canadian Friends, we started a podcast!

Time 2 Calibrate Podcast is a about watch WISdom. The Oxford Dictionary defines wisdom as the ability to make sensible decisions and give good advice because of experience and acquired knowledge. Unfortunately, it’s too late for sensible decisions; however, we’re not lacking in experience. As seasoned Canadian Watch Idiot Savants, we invite you to join us semi-weekly as we discuss the world of watches and the insensible decisions we make, so you don’t have to.

Click to listen on Podbean - podcast host

You can also find it here:

iTunes - YouTube Music - Spotify - iHeart - Amazon - or wherever you find your podcasts.

You can follow the hosts on Instagram:

Marc @marctime2watch - Bob @timetogo1978 - Robi @calibre321

Or our other content at:

Time To Go Travel and Timepieces on YouTube (Bob)

The Calibrated Wrist on YouTube (Robi)

thecalibratedwrist.com BLOG (Robi)

Author Marc Levesque on Worn & Wound (Marc)

Inquiries: time2calibrate@gmail.com

Micro-Brand Digest: Exciting New Sports Watches, a Canadian Brand Inspired by Architecture, and a Former Modder Hits Kickstarter

 

Our Favorite Summer Watches

 

Micro-Brand Digest: Italian Divers, Canadian GMTs, and More!

 

Micro-Brand Digest: A Selection of Cool Divers, a Dial Made from a Demolished Bridge, and a Young (Very Young) Watchmaker to Keep an Eye On

 

It's about more than watches, it's about memories!

Watches are meant to be worn. You have probably heard that before and I am very much guilty of repeating that phrase multiple times. It is not to say that a watch cannot be a safe bound collectible, I mean there’s nothing wrong with that. Gerry: No, no, of course not! People's personal watch wearing preferences are nobody's business but their own! However, there’s more to this than just wearing it for the sake of wearing it.

Over the years, I have come to see my watches as talismans of our shared history. At any given moment, if I see an old picture of one of my watches, memories come flooding back. For example, a couple of weeks ago, someone posted a picture of an Omega 2254.50 (the black one that came out right after the Brosnan Bond model) on the Worn & Wound+ Slack Community and I immediately thought of the America’s Cup version (same watch, but with white gold bezel) I wore during the birth of my first child.

Felt like it was just yesterday, timing contractions on my Omega and the anticipation of meeting my little man for the first time. Labor was a lengthy thirty hours and wound up in an emergency c-section. Once the nurse took my son from my arms and I was asked to leave the O-R, I was still in a state of shock. I remember backing out into a side room and falling into a bench frame that was missing the seat. There I was, no one else around, I was stuck and so overjoyed, crying and I looked at my watch. It was 4:30pm on Jan 4^th, 2002. Happiest day of my life.

After this event, I had vowed to have a chronograph, should I ever find myself in the same position again. Timing contractions with a dive bezel was challenging. Fast-forward two years later and I was racing to the hospital with my wife, sporting a Credor Phoenix time only watch. Go figure, the horological Gods were playing a joke on me. Not even a timing bezel this time! Not that I would need one, this time it was only 45-minutes and voila, my second micro-dude was brought into the world.

Even though I do not own either of these watches anymore, the memories associated to them will always make me smile. This is why I started my Instagram page. Not to gather followers, or get watch news, but to catalogue my journey through watches. This way, I could scroll down and as I see my collection ever changing, I can remember the good and bad times I had while wearing those watches. Like the time I found out my father-in-law had cancer, on the same day I received my Omega Planet Ocean 8500. Or when my mother passed away in January of 2018. I was wearing an Omega Seamaster 300 when I was cleaning out her apartment and got a pretty big scratch on its clasp while moving some furniture.  

Our watches follow us everywhere and are worn more consistently than any piece of clothing. Some of us even wear them to sleep and we stare at them incessantly, sometimes without even noticing the time. While I truly admire the craftsmanship, the details, the accuracy, and the precision of watches, it is the memories I have built into them, as life passes by, that I love the most. Allow me to offer one more recent story.

In September of 2019, just as the school year was starting up again, I wanted to take the family on one last small trip to mark the transition from summer break to the grind of the school year. I was trying to find some place not too far away and something he had never done before. That is when Google steered me to Mont-Mégantic dark sky preserve and its observatory at the top of the mountain. I have always been an astronomy fan and I figured the kids would really get a kick of seeing the night sky away from the city’s light pollution.

So, I booked tickets and a quaint bed and breakfast at the base of the mountain. On the Friday at the end of my boys’ first week of school we set off. We picked up the kids from school and started our 3-hour trek to Mont- Mégantic. We did not tell the kids where we were going. They were so excited but were really getting puzzled the further and further we got from Montreal. By the time we had picked up McDonald’s for supper and got within the dark sky preserve they were starting to get worried. Why are there no streetlights and why are some of the house lights red and pointing downwards?

When we got to the base of the mountain, I popped the trunk and told the kids to suit up. All our winter weather gear was in there. The temperature difference from the base to the peak was 10 degrees C and the observatory scope was open to the elements, as the scope’s lenses would/could fog up if there was a temperature difference between the outside and inside. That is when I told them where we were and why we were there. Their eyes lit up and they were so happy. I guess all those years of listening to the Star Talk Podcast with me must have ignited some curiosity.

We got very, very lucky with this trip. Not only was it a clear night with no clouds, but it was also a Moonless night, which meant that we could see even more. It had been a long time since I had seen the sky this way, not since my childhood in the scouts and the rest of my family had never seen the milky way with their own eyes, in the open sky. It was even more impressive than I remember. There was barely any black in the sky, just white dots everywhere.

There was an astronomer there, with a laser pointer, explaining what we were looking at outside. Jupiter, some of its moons and Saturn were easily visible to the naked eye. They have a large telescope outside, on the ground that we could take turns looking through and then inside the observatory, we could climb the stairs and look through the giant scope. It is one thing seeing Saturn and Jupiter online and in books, it is an entirely different experience seeing them through a scope, clearly. We spent hours there.

Much later that night, sitting up in my bed at the B&B, talking with my family about what we had just witnessed. My Omega Railmaster was resting on my lap. I could not help but feel blessed to have shared this incredible experience with my family. The next morning, we visited the even larger research scope at the very top of the mountain, the one reserved for university scientists and then made our way back home.

That Railmaster meant a lot to me, until I was the victim of a Watchuseek.com scam and it wound up in the hands of an Icelandic thief, but that is a story for another day. My point is wear your watches, enjoy them, allow them to accompany you through life’s adventures. Put some scratches and bumps on them. Build in your memories, just like Blake Buettner’s Rolex Submariner reminds him of his son’s sporting events and recently Chris Antzoulis wrote a terrific piece about his friend’s pocket watch and how it got him out of a funk.

Watches are meant to be worn. Wear them!

Chance to bid on Geddy Lee's watches & help a charity!

If you are not familiar with Dan Tanenbaum, perhaps you recognize his Instagram handle @watchpartsmotorcyle. His artwork made of watch parts has been catching my attention for years and when I heard that he was organizing a charity auction I had to find out more. However, first I had to know more about his art.

I directly messaged him on Instagram and asked how it all got started. “I’ve been collecting watches for over twenty years; I was captivated by the intricate movements within these timepieces. I love the sentimental journeys these watches have taken, the significant life events they have witnessed… I couldn't bear the thought of their final resting place being a garbage heap. This is what led me to breathe new life into them, via a different artistic form.”

I figured acquiring all those watch parts would not be easy, so I asked him how he does it. “My quest for parts takes me to numerous antique shows, estate sales, and flea markets. Additionally, various watchmakers send me pieces that are no longer in use or are damaged. It's important to note that no watches are harmed or dismantled for the sake of creating my sculptures.”

If you have seen his sculptures, you must wonder how he makes them look that way. Here is what he had to say. “The primary challenge is that all watch parts are flat, while some of my artwork requires a delicate bend to conform to specific shapes. Preserving the integrity of these watch components while incorporating them into pieces with intricate curves demands strategic bending and manipulation.”

Having satisfied my curiosity, I figured I should finally ask him about his charity auction since that is why I contacted him in the first place. “My twin boys were both diagnosed with Crohn's disease, 18 months apart, and having experienced firsthand the impact of this condition, and wanting to raise not just funds but also awareness, I decided to organize this Charity Watch Auction to support Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. I've been fortunate to gather support from remarkable collectors, brands, and micro brands, including a very generous donation of five remarkable watches from Geddy Lee of Rush, an avid watch collector.”

From Geddy Lee’s vintage Heuer Camaro chronograph, to a MB&F M.A.D. 1, to a brand new donated Zenea Ula Diver, there is something in this auction to please every horological palate. Why not treat yourself and help a great cause? For more details and to bid, follow this link below. The auction is March 10th at 4:00pm Eastern Time.

A MATTER OF TIME - A CHARITY WATCH AUCTION

Typsim 200m - Photo Essay

I was lucky enough to get two chances to handle one of these Typsim 200m retro-dive watches. The first was a prototype, which had been handled many times before it got to me. Unfortunately, as a result, it was slightly damaged and the bracelet did not have enough links to fit my 7.5" wrist.

The second one that was a final production model, which had a few improvement tweaks and a bracelet that could fit a proper Canadian Sasquatch. I think I removed a total of 6 links to make it fit, which was not easy. As much as I adore how supple the bracelet is, this suppleness made it extremely difficult to size the twin screw head links. Mind you I managed without scratching anything. 

Once on wrist, this one really shines. It just melts on there and it is the perfect size for me. Anyway, I did not get a chance to properly review it, but I did take a bunch of pictures. So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more about these super cool watches follow the link below.

TYPSIM

Micro-Brand Digest: Single Hand Watches, Tough Tools, and a New Take on Solar Power

New Monthly Column, where I get to chose 5-6 brands to highlight:

 Stay tune for the next edition coming mid-end of March.