Time To Unwind by WatchGecko

We are very excited about our collaboration with Christopher Ward, so we sat down with Mike France and we asked him to share the story behind the company. You can hear how the company started, Mike's watch inspirations, and why Christopher Ward adopted a new logo. Later in the conversation, Mike goes in-depth about the military watch collection of the company and especially the 3 post-war watches...

With the final Daniel Craig Bond movie, No Time To Die, seemingly delayed for eternity, we thought we’d bring some light relief to those listeners getting withdrawal symptoms from the world’s most loved movie franchise! Yes, in this epic episode we chat about all things Bond. There is a lot of ground to cover here, and just as some of Bond’s quick-witted quips are now slightly dubious, so is Anton...

If Omega Speedmasters are your thing, whether a lifelong fan, or new to the Speedy world, this podcast is one not to be missed. There are few watches which generate as much interest or passion as the Speedmaster. Its exploits are, quite simply, unmatched in terms of accompanying intrepid human explorers. In an ongoing series of written and audio features celebrating the history of this watch in sp...

In the follow-on to Part One of our tool watch special, we ask ‘what makes a modern tool watch?’ and discuss how it differs to the tool watches of the past. The guys also give their top choices for tool watches under £5000 and pick a wild card ‘no holds barred’ option for those with an unlimited budget’. Richard reveals the watch that has been his trusty companion in some truly unforgiving environ...

In part one of our tool watches two-parter, Anthony, Richard and Tim delve into the backstory of the now ubiquitous tool watch, try to reach some sort of consensus as to what a tool watch is and highlight some of their original practical uses. As well as discussing some of the iconic tool watches of the past such as the Omega Speedmaster Professional and Rolex explorer, Tim questions the validity...

We were lucky enough to get an interview with Mike France ahead of the launch of the brand new C63 Sealander Collection. Two years in the making, the collection comprises a Sealander GMT, a three-hander with date (dubbed the Sealander Automatic), and a COSC certified Elite model which is made of titanium and features an incredible retractable crown. Trust us, when we say that this is episode you w...

In case you’re not following what’s going on in the watch world, last week saw the biggest event in the industry – Watches and Wonders. Starting on 7 April and running for a whole week, the event saw some of the top watch brands in the world launch their new 2021 models. Amongst those brands participating were Rolex, Tudor, Zenith, Tag Heuer, Jaeger LeCoultre, IWC, and Panerai. With the cream of t...

Chris Vail, the larger than life boss of American microbrand NTH watches, is in the spotlight for our latest episode of Time to Unwind. We get to know the man behind the brand, find out what made him start his own business, and turn up the heat as we discuss the contentious issue of homages! Chris founded NTH watches in 2016, specialising in diver watches and the brand quickly gained a loyal follo...

In our latest podcast we catch up with man of the moment, Raphael Granito, the 32-year old behind Swiss brand Formex.  Established in 1999, Formex has really come to prominence under the leadership of Raphael, who became CEO in 2016. Their recent releases, the Reef diver and the revised Essence have been flying out the door as quick as they can make them and winning over both new fans and the...

In our latest podcast episode, Andrea Maggi from legendary dive watch brand Squale joins podcast host Anthony and fellow brand owner Jon, from Geckota. As well as exciting news about forthcoming releases from the brand, Andrea gives a fascinating insight into the history of the brand and what makes it so special, and the connection between the original owners, the Von Buren family and the Maggi fa...

Podcast regulars Anthony and Ben chat to the one and only Carl Fogarty – a.k.a. ‘Foggy' – about being brand ambassador for one of the most exciting projects we’ve ever undertaken: a limited-edition watch with motorsport at its heart. Carl talks fondly about the time when the legendary Isle of Man TT race was one of the main fixtures in his racing calendar: a circuit that still holds a special plac...

In our first episode of 2021, podcast regulars Tim and James catch up with Joshua Clare-Flagg from Watch It All About (WIAA). They discuss his journey in the watch industry, from writing his first article to being taken seriously as an industry professional. Josh is well known for his blog and reviews with a focus on the affordable end of the market, and more recently his WatchIt! Watch Fair, whic...

In this episode – which comes to you in glorious technicolour – we’re talking about our brand-new watch: the Sierra Zero One Phalanx. We’re delighted with it, and even happier to introduce you to a man who was absolutely instrumental in its creation: Richard Brown. Richard worked for many years with Special Forces units globally, and we’d love to tell you exactly what he did – but then we’d have t...

Here’s the thing. The country’s locking down, people are going to be spending more time at home and so they’re looking for more and better entertainment: watch-related or otherwise. And that’s inspired us to have a bit of a change of direction. As well as just talking into this podcast, we’re now going to start filming it: a bit like our very own, slightly dysfunctional, reality show. Yes, I know...

Today we’ve got some exciting news! Going forward we’re going to try filming our podcasts and uploading them to YouTube. Hopefully, the thought doesn’t put you all off, and offers a fun new twist on the current format. But until then it’s business as usual, and in this episode we talk about a few bits of news that have caught our eye, including some fantastic news from Oris about their new in-hous...

Our special guest today is James Grant from Martin and Co: authorised Rolex dealers for Cheltenham (among other brands sold there). Joining him is our regular guest Neil Duckworth, and proving that it is indeed a small world, Neil and James know each other of old, when they worked together in the past. Now James is an authorised dealer and he tells us what it’s really like to sell some of the most...

Today we’re talking about our first time… buying a watch! It’s been a long time for all of us since we had our first watch, but we all remember it fondly, though for very different reasons. Anthony’s first experience was on the cheap side, with a watch from a Christmas cracker. Whereas Ben didn’t scrimp and started off with a Tag Heuer. Wherever we started, we’ve all experienced many weird and won...

Using chloroform, rope, and a Transit van we’ve managed to find a new recruit not only to our podcast but to our whole company. Say hello to James (“hello James”) because you’ll be hearing a lot more from him in future. He’s going to become our resident watch (and Star Trek) nerd and he’s got two cats and a snake at home. Other fascinating things we learned this week was that Tim got a Blue Peter...

This week, we were privileged to welcome a very special guest to Time To Unwind: Adrian Hailwood. Adrian is a well-known writer, speaker, journalist and watch valuer, and we really appreciate him spending some time with us. He’s got some fascinating insight from the world of watches – and also philosophy – as this week we continue the endless debate about form versus function. In other words, do y...

We’ve all got some nice watches (especially Jon: did you happen to know that he has a Rolex Explorer 1, which apparently he quite likes?) But how can you capture good photos of them? Luckily a few of our presenters at the Time to Unwind podcast have a strong background in photography, and they share a few of their most valuable tips on how to perfectly portray your watch in all its glory. Ben, Tim...

Whatever Rolex announces grabs attention. They could issue a press release about what the chairman had for breakfast, and it would probably make the front page of most watch-related media. We might even make a Swiss-breakfast themed podcast about it (“So tell me Jon, have you ever tasted egg and bacon fondue?”) Imagine then, the frenzy of excitement that followed the announcement of Rolex’s new wa...

Actually, that’s not true. Nobody’s going on a summer holiday apart from Tim, who has just come back from Cornwall. The rest of us have been stuck at work – but it’s still the perfect excuse to talk about holiday watches, inspired by Tim’s exciting tales of Cornish smuggling and surfing (OK, mostly pubs and restaurants). So which watch would you take away – and where to? Listen away to find out –...

Of all motorsport competitors, rally drivers are arguably the ones with the biggest screws loose: firing their cars through forests and gravel tracks at speeds in excess of 100mph, in rain, fog and snow. And we’re delighted to host our very own example this week: Tom Williams, who is sponsored by Geckota and driving on a number of different international rallies this year. At least that was the pl...

So…just how did we get to where we are now? One of the most common questions we’re asked is how to get into this crazy world of watches. We attempt to come up with a few answers that make sense, which was obviously always going to be a challenge. However, Jon tells us how WatchGecko got started, Ben explains how he summons his creative muse to create new watches, and Anthony talks nonsense about w...

Just occasionally, you get a seismic shift in an industry: as is the case right now with electric cars set to take over from the venerable internal combustion engine. But there’s nothing new under the sun that hasn’t been seen before in the world of watches. In 1969, Seiko rocked the industry by introducing the very first quartz watch. With the help of Chris, our very own in-house electric car eva...