Burlingame & Park

What makes a great dive watch? How much water resistance do you really need? How exactly does a helium release valve work and do I really need one? We all love dive watches, but these are the questions that we hear regularly, and who better to answer them than *actual* friend of the pod, none other than author, adventurer, and diver Jason Heaton? Indeed – grab your mask and fins, and settle in, th...

So what's the deal with rainbow watches? This week, on the heels of a very cool new Breitling Superocean Rainbow launch, the boys peel back all the layers on this techinicolor trend, before checking in with all the newest arrivals to topperjewelers.com. You'll also not want to miss our June 29th event with author and diver Jason Heaton –  this event will fill up, so RSVP here to get yourse...

We couldn't have called it, but after a relatively quiet start to the summer, all it took was one #SpeedyTuesday to set things abuzz. This week on Burlingame & Park, the boys are reflecting on what's turned into the busiest product launch week since Watches & Wonders, with new releases from Omega, Singer, Breitling, King Seiko, Oris, G-Shock, and more — and best of all, many of the...

After a one-week hiatus, the boys are all back under one roof – Zach is back from Copenhagen, Russ is back from jort-skiing Palisades on the second-to-last weekend of the season, and Rob has returned from a journey through Omega's epic new manufactory – y'know, the solar-powered campus designed by renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, wherein a state-of-the-art robot tirelessly sorts ov...

Two guests in one show? You better believe it – buckle up for a very special episode of Burlingame & Park, where we rescue our very good friend Joe Kirk from the Topper First Look mob to talk about his role as Brand Curator, and the most complicated dial Grand Seiko has ever made. Then a few short days later, we welcome our pal and Fears Managing Director Nicholas Bowman-Scargill back into Bur...

You win some, you lose some. And somewhere between splitting the boys between time zones we ran into some technical difficulties in getting all of our Watches & Wonders thoughts transcribed, but fret not — all was not lost, and we are here with a very special episode that was recorded partially in Geneva, and partially back in Burlingame, with the boys sharing their initial reactions, and doli...

Wait, why not? Tap in and let the boys explain. Instead of dusting off the crystal ball, Rob, Russ, and Zach are taking a closer look at a few recent arrivals to the store, including one of the hottest modern Speedmasters ever: the Apollo 8, and the many differences that comprise its recent update, the über-cool Mark II. That's not the only cool new Omega in the store though, so listen on for...

Burlingame and Park officially turns one year old this week, and for this special birthday episode, the boys are embarking upon a deep dive on the legendary Blancpain Fifty Fathoms to go hands-on with the new, hotly anticipated 42.3mm 5010 Fifty Fathoms, taking all its crucial measurements, sharing on-wrist impressions, and speculating on the future of this mighty dive watch. We also explore the m...

How does a chunk of iron that once hurtled through space over a million years ago end up as a tiny sliver in the dial of a modern Omega Constellation watch? This week, the boys of Burlingame are taking a deep dive into meteorite dials – where they come from, how they're made, and just what we love about them. However, along the way, we gladly digress with a conversation on subtleties in case d...

Spoiler alert : we have.  The boys are back in Burlingame, and this week, we partake in a spot of Wikipedia vandalism, and each tell a story that we might once have been too ashamed to share. We also share the origins behind our obsession with the "California dial" – a timely conversation with our Fears Topper Editions, and the Bremont x Bamford collaborative sequel which both just dropp...

The boys are back, and this week they're split between three towns, led by Russ on the ground in Miami at LVMH Watch Week with Romain Marietta, Chief Product Officer for Zenith. Romain has been with Zenith for 16 years and counting – it's where his career began, so there are few people that know this brand quite like he does. We go over all of the Le Locle maker's newest launches, incl...

The boys are back! We're kicking off our inaugural 2024 recording with a very special guest, and an equally special Topper Edition: the launch of our Fears Series II Capsule, codename "Project Shovel" by our good friend Nicholas Bowman-Scargill. Nicholas will be joining on this episode to take us through the inspiration and development of each of the four watches in the capsule, whic...

Rather than rehash all our favorite watches of 2023 (we recommend Episode 2 for our W&W picks, or Episode 18 for our holiday picks for these highlights), the boys are dusting off the old Topper crystal ball and looking into the future to make predictions and share hopes for what should be another very exciting year in watch releases. We also do a big deep dive into DOXA Watches – the latest br...

We're just a few short days from Christmas, so in this episode, we get a surprise mystery guest dropping by the store to pick up a very special watch, then the boys tap in with their favorite gift picks – one practical choice, and one proper grail. Maybe these are gifts for loved ones, or we're just projecting and we're really just shopping for ourselves this year. And on that note, wh...

We're back! After an extra week pause for the Thanksgiving holiday, the boys are back on the mics for a very special interview with none other than Kikuo Ibe, the inventor and godfather of the G-Shock. Word on the street is that while Mr. Ibe has given plenty of interviews in his native Japan, this is the first time he's been on a podcast in the United States, and we're very lucky to h...

As we get ready for an epic in-store event with G-Shock and its inventor Kikuo Ibe, the boys survey the G-Shock ownership experience as it spans the simple square-cased DW references favored the brand's godfather, and goes all the way up to the epic MR-G watches that you've just got to see IRL to fully appreciate. As always, thanks for listening! And don't forget to RSVP to our upcomin...

Fresh off the heels of a very successful event with our friends at Longines, we thought we'd take a birds-eye view of this wildly underrated Swiss maker to explore how a brand with incredible history, unbeatable value propositions, and exceptional quality still manages to fly under the radar in 2023. ...Or does it? As always, thanks for listening! And don't forget to RSVP to our upcoming e...

We have a very special guest this week – a member of the Topper band, our very own @shespeakswatch (Jay Liu) is joining us in the studio to talk community, kung-fu legend Bruce Lee, and revisit her time in the hallowed halls of the Zenith attic where she re-tells the story of Charles Vermot, the guardian of the El Primero who helped make Zenith the powerhouse maker that it is today. Don't forg...

Spoiler alert: it's Russ. This week, the boys are kicking off Oktoberfest with a very special episode rounding up our top picks from the sleepy German watchmaking town of Glashütte, as we prepare for our 'Watchtoberfest' in-store event with Glashütte Original here at Topper. And don't forget to RSVP for that event right here once you're done with this week's listen. Oh, and...

Feels a little bit like deja-vu, doesn't it? For Episode 12, the boys are reflecting on the last 18 months of the MoonSwatch while checking in with thoughts and impressions of the new Swatch x Blancpain collaboration. These are, of course not watches that are available at Topper, but how do they leave their mark in our space? Oh, and we now have an official email! Shoot us a note: podcast@topp...

Don't worry, he's fine. Just a bruised ego and a cool scooter to get around the store for the time being. For the rest of Episode 11, the boys are sharing their final impressions of the 'Summer Blue' Seamasters, fresh off a visit to La Jolla to see the whole collection in the metal. We also revisit a brief segment with Joe Kirk from Episode 6 (now that we can talk about that US-Exc...

Rob has made no attempt to hide his love for the new Seiko Prospex 62MAS re-issue ref. SJE093 but to be absolutely certain that he hadn't just drank a little too much Kool-Aid, we enlisted the help of our good friend and renowned Seiko expert & collector Erik Strickland to unbox the watch and get his unfiltered reactions, and learn just what makes this landmark re-issue so special for Seik...

Omega's epic 75th Anniversary Seamaster watches are finally landing in-store, and the boys are here to sing the many shades of "Summer Blue" found in the collection. We also discuss in greater depth the new Oris Hank Aaron Limited Edition, as Russ reminisces on seeing Aaron play at Candlestick, and his little league baseball career that never was. As always, thanks for listening!

How is July nearly done already? For Episode 8, the boys are checking in from the epicenter of the WIS empire with nine of their favorite new summer watch arrivals in every color under the sun, each with the specific goal of bringing as much fun to the wrist as possible. As always, thank you for the comments and reviews – it helps us immensely as our neat little pod is starting to land on recommen...

How exactly does a super-collectable collaborative Topper Edition come to life? In this week's episode, Rob, Russ, and Zach chat with a longtime friend and beloved member of the Topper collecting community @watch_diversion to go inside a few of his favorite watches (see below for notes on the specific references pulled from his collection), his collecting philosophy, and how a special one-off...