OT: The Podcast

Fun fact, if you scroll all the way back in the episode listings of OT:, you'll see that our very first episode was an interview with Chris Alexander, AKA the Dial Artist . Chris was coming up in the world, riding the wave of the Casioak with his beautifully customised dials, as we, well, we were a humble podcast just starting out. So imagine our surprise when Felix ran into Chris at Watches & Won...

Watches & Wonders might be well in the rear view, but that hasn't stopped us from continuing to tell tales from the great Geneva fair. Today we have a lightning round interview with Anthony Traina and Mark Kauzlarich of Hodinkee fame, and Felix tells us about his visit to the Ulysse Nardin Manufacture, including the Donzé Cadrans dial manufacturing facility. There's also a smattering of Nomos, Bee...

This week we've got part two of our chat with TAG Heuer's Nicholas Biebuyck , where he tells us what he really thinks about the latest Carrera releases and speculates about what sort of watches he'd like to see in the future. Beyond that, we have some thoughts and feelings about recent watch releases, including Lange's unobtanium chronograph, the revival of Gerald Genta, Tudor's talking factory an...

Watches & Wonders 2023 is now behind us, so naturally we've spent a little time reflecting on the good, the not so good and the great. And when we say 'some time' we meant, a seriously sleep deprived Felix and an overworked Andy had an informal chat about what it was like on the ground, some other highlights on the ground, and who's booth was best. As if that wasn't enough, there's also a rapid-fi...

In a move surprising absolutely no one, this week's episode is all about Watches & Wonders 2023 . Felix is on the ground, wheeling, dealing - and serving up the fresh news and hottest takes from the fair!  Recorded earlier this week, Felix and Andy discuss the blue chip releases from the big brands.  Andy gives us the view from afar on the bold moves from Rolex, and the less dramatic Patek novelti...

We've spoken to our share of UK-based watchmakers over the years, and one name that kept popping up was Struthers Watchmaking . So it was somewhat inevitable that we would speak to them at some point. We chatted to Dr Rebecca Struthers , one half of Struthers Watchmaking, about how she ended up as a watchmaker, and more importantly, where she's taking it — specifically the gorgeous and exclusive P...

Today we chat with Giles Ellis , the infectiously passionate founder of Schofield Watches . Ellis has been making his distinctively-cased watches since 2010. Ellis started making watches for the best possible reason — he was looking for a watch he wanted to wear, and nothing on the market at the time was *quite* right, so he made his own. The brand came about organically after that, and Ellis has...

Recently Andy has been raving about a well-sized, vintage-inspired chronograph that's had a firm place on his wrist for the last few weeks: The Antigua from Méraud Watches . So it only made sense to get the founder of this boutique Belgian brand — Stijn Busschaert — on for a chat. Stijn tells us how passion led him to start his own brand, and how a burgeoning new wave of online independents has su...

It's not just the Australian weather that's heating up — things in watchland are getting buzzier than Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie . Andy and Felix have been partying down with Panerai, and Felix finally caught up with the charming and erudite founder of Fears Watches, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill , as well as get the low down on a new kind of dive watch. Beyond that, Louis Vuitton calls on the power of...

After years of low-key stalking, a royal stack of Rolex Midas models was all it took for Felix to invite Anders, AKA @everydaycollector onto the pod. Anders, hailing from sunny Norway has a stunning collection of watches, including the aforementioned Rolex. On top of that, there's vintage Cartier, Royal Oaks, Vacheron Constantin 222s and more. All these watches are incredibly hot right now, but An...

We're officially one-twelfth of the way through the year, and the watch releases are coming thick and fast — just like Andy's love of the new 37mm Royal Oak in yellow gold with a turquoise dial. Honestly, he hasn't been so excited about a watch since Rolex released a watch with a turquoise dial. Maybe it's just turquoise. Aside from AP, there's also the new chonky Speedy hiding impressive innovati...

It's been a long time since UK-born, NYC-residing visual artist and all-around geezer Phil Toledano, AKA Mister Enthusiast, graced OT: — too long, honestly. We started our interview with a clear direction and purpose, to grill him about weird cars, oddball watches and the latest trends in jumpsuits, but our conversation quickly veered very left of centre. Sure, we spoke to Phil about many of these...

As if watches weren't niche enough. Today we dive into the vintage watch ad rabbit hole with Nick Federowicz, better known by his online persona of Ad Patina . Nick makes a living scouring the world for old copies of obscure magazines and finding the nostalgic treasures encased within. Not only do these ads offer a period-correct glimpse of our favourite watches, they shine a light on the world in...

Kim Frank wears many hats. She's a writer, editor and explorer. In fact, she's a fellow at the Explorers Club and was recently the recipient of the Explorers Club Rolex Award. Kim tells us exactly what this is, what it entails and what it's really like to wear a Rolex while working on stories about how Asian elephants co-exist with humans in the Eastern Himalayas. We also learn about her love of o...

Happy New Year, everyone! We're kicking off 2023 in fine form with none other than veteran watch and jewellery writer Victoria Gomelsky . It seems like every other week, one of us is referencing one of Victoria's excellent articles for The New York Times, Robb Report or one of the other excellent titles Victoria writes for. So we pretty much had to get her on, and we are so glad we did. From what...

Today we talk to Aren Bazerkanian , founder of Los Angeles-based watch brand Havid Nagan . The brand's debut watch is the HN000, which features a sporty case with an unusual profile, a stunning dial and a solid Schwarz-Etienne calibre. Bazerkanian's influences range from Franck Muller to LA-architecture as well as watchmaking's traditional masters. Design aside, we talk to Aren about the challenge...

It's December, which means it's time for us to look back on the year that was (and think about the year that will be). So we thought we'd take, as inspiration, a year old Robb Report wrap of industry predictions from the likes of Kelly Yoch, William Massena and more and grade them for how well they turned out. Don't worry; pretty much everyone passed. Not content with that, Felix looks to the futu...

So much of the discussion in the watch space is around the acquisition of new watches. Yet the other untold side of the story is that for every watch bought, another is sold. Mark Cho (The Armoury)  is balancing the scales. He's selling off the bulk of his collection to fund the expansion of his business, The Armoury, and he's doing it through Phillips.  Rather than anonymously consign his watches...

Today we speak to Anthony Traina , one of Hodinkee's freshest editors — a keen-eyed vintage watch aficionado with a love of weird designs and classic Cartier. Of course, many people will know Traina from his phenomenally popular newsletter Rescapement. We chat to Tony about what it's like to leave a stable career in law for the world of watches, championing weird watches and whether or not Franck...

Today's guest, John Buckley , casts a long shadow over the world of vintage Rolex. He's a veteran of the New York watch scene who has seen trends come and hype go, which makes the fact that he's TikTok famous somewhat surprising. Buckley's TikTok's follow him on his visits to the dealers of 47th street and gives you a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing of watches far removed f...

Switzerland might have the Oscars of Watchmaking, but Australia can now lay claim to its own prestigious awards ceremony, the GPOT. These awards promise to usher in a new era of integrity and dignity. The GPOTs are adjudicated by an expert panel of Andy and Felix, which promises to provide an impartial and unbiased evaluation of the most important horological happenings of 2022, from the most surp...

Today we chat with veteran luxury and lifestyle journalist Kristen Shirley , the founder of La Patiala . Kristen's journey into watches starts the best way possible — Baselworld. After a crash course in the fundamentals of fine watchmaking, Shirley was hooked, and eventually developed The Watch Encyclopaedia section of her site. We also chat to Kristen about American taste in watches and how the i...

We enjoyed our chat with Chris Hall so much that we just had to have him back, and we did! Chris chats to us about his exceptionally good Substack, The Fourth Wheel, which provides him with an avenue to share a broader scope of stories and insights about the world of watches. And while the newsletter is great, we thought we'd get his patented 'Fourth Wheel' take on some of the latest releases — in...

What does it say about the state of the luxury watch business when two of the world's pre-eminent Australian-based podcast-hosting watch experts are more into releases from Apple and Google than Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet ? We're not sure, but that doesn't stop us from diving into it. Yes, we talk about the new Patek releases, AKA the Stern family edging well-heeled watch nerds with overpr...

This week, our episode lasts about an hour, and to be honest, we only scratch the surface of the stories our guest, Stan Barrett , has to tell. Not only has Stan lived a remarkable life — a stuntman with over 50 years of experience. He's also a race car driver who, in 1979, strapped into the Budweiser rocket car and broke the speed of sound — becoming the fastest man on the land. But naturally, ou...