OT: The Podcast

Zoe Abelson, AKA @watchgirloffduty , is one of the internet's best-known watch dealers. With a feed comprising of colourful, quirky watches in often exotic locales, it's easy to assume that being an international watch dealer is a non-stop glamour fest. And while Zoe doesn't exactly disprove the notion, she tells us about the decade of non-stop work in some of the world's most well-respected watch...

The proverbial dust has settled on Watches and Wonders, which, by all accounts was a successful return to form for the watch fair. This week, Andy and Felix talk through the highlights (and some of the more controversial releases) from the comfort of their own homes. Breitling's 70th anniversary relaunch of the Navitimer in the skies of Switzerland kicked affairs off, followed by a flurry of eyebr...

Earlier this week, Breitling took to the skies (literally) to relaunch the iconic Navitimer, a watch that, 70 years ago, defined the pilot's watch with its functionality and purpose. Today though, we chat to the man who masterminded the relaunch, Breitling CEO Georges Kern. Kern has, throughout his long career in the watch business, been a dynamic leader with a strong vision of what a successful w...

Today we chat with Michelle Ciesielski , Head of Residential Research at Knight Frank Australia , about their annual wealth report, which gives us a detailed overview of what Australia's 20k or so ultra-high net worth individuals spend their coin on. Turns out they're spending it on watches, whiskey and other investments of passion more than ever before, and Michelle tells us the investment is pay...

Double trouble this week with the horological/photographic power couple that is Lydia Winters and Vu Bui . With a shared love of watches, photography and videography, it was only a matter of time before these passions combined into a YouTube channel, called (appropriately enough) Winters & Bui. We talk about their plans for the channel, the importance of authenticity and why quality content will a...

Today we chat with veteran footballer and Head coach of Sydney FC, Steve Corica . We chat to Steve about the changing profile of football in Australia, what it's like to make the move from player to coach and how technology and science are changing the game. And given that Edifice is a fresh team sponsor, we chat about the importance of timing and the culture of footballers' watches. In other news...

This week's guest is one of the top five James' we've ever had on the show, vintage expert and the man behind Analog:Shift , James Lamdin . James drops his knowledge about how the vintage landscape has changed since he's been in the game, including what a massive influx of new watch enthusiasts means for the market. From the story behind Analog/Shift - from its inception in 2012 through to its acq...

Jonny Garrett is the founder of William Woods Watches, a brand that — uniquely in the world of watches — makes timepieces inspired by fire services the world over. The brand is named after Jonny's grandfather and is celebrating its fifth birthday this year. We chat to Jonny about the importance of giving back, how up-cycling is integrated into every watch and how William Wood's watch design has ev...

Game, set and Matt. Today's guest is Matt Ebden , one of Australia's best tennis pros, and we speak to him fresh from the 2022 Australian Open, where he and Max Purcell made it to the men's doubles final. Beyond his obvious on-court skills, anyone checking out Ebden's Instagram will notice he's a pretty keen watch enthusiast as well, so it's no surprise that he's got Bremont on board as a sponsor....

This week we keep it local with Nick Kenyon, the editor of Australian site Boss Hunting. But before he was talking yachts, rocks and crocs he was a full-time watch guy, having worked with Felix at Time+Tide. Nick drops knowledge on the current watch market, how the niche influences the mainstream and what the anOrdain Model 2 OT: Edition is like on the wrist. Plus, Felix hypes up 1999 and Andy thr...

No time for guests when we've got so much hard-hitting watch news to digest. First of all, two titans in their respective fields square off: it's Ed Sheeran V Ben Clymer in 50 minutes of civilised watch chat. Then we escalate into the world of bright blue watches, with Zachary Lu being revealed as the (eventual) buyer of the first Tiffany blue Nautilus auctioned off by Phillips for a cool $6 milli...

A lot has changed for The Vamps guitarist James McVey since we chatted to him in 2020. He's managed to get married, and we get to hear the finer details of wedding watches, cars and castles. On top of that, McVey has fallen deeper down the rabbit-hole of watches, discovering microbrands, G-shock and Bremont. As if that wasn't enough, he's also managed to track down his grail Rolex — and is getting...

Think about high-end guilloché and chances are, you think about a chalet-like Maison somewhere in the snowy Swiss hills. The urban sprawl of Los Angeles, California — not so much. Nonetheless, this is where some of the finest engine turning in the world is being created right now — thanks to Joshua Shapiro. We chat with Shapiro about the fine art of engine turning, and what it's like to invent you...

This week we immerse ourselves for an hour in the world of one of the world's hottest (and hardest working) custom jewellers. A lot's changed since we originally chatted to Greg Yuna in mid-2020, but he's still out there, messing up factory watches and making them cooler in the process. Not too long into our interview with iconic NYC jeweller Greg Yuna, he asks to speak freely. "I like fucking the...

This week we look back at one of our (especially Andy's) all-time favourite episodes; our chat with James Cox, the man who sold Paul Newman's Paul Newman … On the 26th of October, 2017, after 12 minutes of bidding, a Rolex Daytona reference 6239 that belonged to legendary actor Paul Newman was sold for $17,752,500 USD (including premiums). It's widely regarded as the most significant watch auction...

For our last episode of 2021, we catch up with a certified viral sensation and verified nice guy, Miles Fisher . We speak to Miles about how he's been spending 2021, including trips to Dubai with Audemars Piguet with a side serving of Dubai Watch Week, and his rigorous collecting philosophy. But even if you don't follow Miles for his snappy watch collection or coffee-related content, you've seen h...

Cara Barrett 's back, and now she's at the helm of one of the coolest kid's watch brands on the block, Parchie . We talk to Cara about what she's been up to since she left Hodinkee, which largely involves getting to grips with the global supply chain, wrangling designers and manufacturers to create a series of cute, colourful timepieces made with small people in mind. Learn about the nuance of vel...

In an OT: first, this episode features the guests outnumbering the hosts. Lung Lung Thun and Daniel Sum from The Waiting List podcast spend some time chatting to Felix about their thoughts on the hypiest of hype watches, the Tifanny-dialled Patek Philippe 5711 and quickly make it very clear that they are never getting one. But beyond this level of hot-take hijinks, we find out how Lung Lung deals...

Hold onto your hats because OT: The Podcast has teamed up with everyone's favourite Glaswegian watchmaker, anOrdain , to make not one but two limited edition watches. Top line, the watch is a 39.5mm version of anOrdain's field watch-inspired model 2, with a stunning vitreous enamel dial in off-white or pink, and a distinctive 3,6,9 layout. But to understand the watch, you need to understand anOrda...

A few months ago we ran an episode of hot takes, where we dialled up the spice with some controversial content from Discord and out very own heads. Well, we're back at with round two. From bezels to watches as cosplay and even Felix throwing shade at the mighty MAD watch, we hold nothing back. Even before the user-generated content gets hot, we've got plenty to talk about, from more Aussie boutiqu...

Today's guest is Alan Bedwell , the antiques expert behind cool curio site Foundwell . We chat to Alan about what it's like growing up in an antique-dealing family and how he ended up looking after Ralph Lauren's antiques, including dog paraphernalia, of all things. From there, Foundwell was formed through a stint at Bergdorf Goodman, and Alan was off to the races. We find out how the scene has ch...

Today we talk to James Lamb , a British independent watchmaker who has taken a decidedly (and deliberately) old-school approach to his debut Origin series. While it's easy to be wowed by the four enamel dials (each inspired by one of the four elements), take a minute to appreciate the amount of skill and care that goes into handcrafting each case from a bar of Argentium silver — from the lathe-wor...

It's that time of the year when everyone starts talking about lots, hammer prices and buyers premiums — yep, Auction season. Many of the major houses all hold significant auctions in Geneva, along with some more special events. One such, being the Pink Dial Project, a charity auction put together by Revolution and supported by other media platforms and held on Eric Ku's Loupe This platform. We cha...

Today we chat to Sarah Hirini, the two-time Olympic gold medal-winning captain of New Zealand's women's national rugby team, the Black Ferns. And as if that wasn't enough, she's also a Tudor ambassador, which puts her alongside Lady Gaga as one of the brand's few female ambassadors. We talk to Sarah about what it's like to represent NZ in the Olympics, how she channels Tudor's born to dare attitud...

Today we chat to one of the founding fathers of Aussie hip hop, the mighty MC Bliss (also known as Jonathan Notley) from Bliss n Eso. We talk about the origins of Bliss n Eso, their latest album The Sun and what makes Aussie hip hop unique, and how it's evolving. Of course, we talk about the special relationship hip hop has to watches, and how G-Shock has remained relevant in a genre known for its...