Show Notes
Hello everyone. Like last week, today’s grab bag is also available as an audio issue. Listen above or find it on Spotify / Apple / RSS. It’s coming a little later because I saw Doechii on the first night of her Swap Tour here in Chicago. She’s awesome. In today’s newsletter: Two ideas for indie watchmakers, when watch design changes behavior, why collectors have such a fetish for “firsts,” my favorite watch from Monaco Legend’s auction this weekend, and how to get banned. To get all of Unpolished’s best takes, become a paid subscriber for $9/mo or $99/year:
AHCI at 40. The AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants) is a non-profit of independent watchmakers founded by Vicent Calabrese and Svend Andersen in 1985. To mark its 40th anniversary, Europa Star ran a great roundtable with 12 of its members, including FP Journe, Philippe Dufour, and the newest, Shona Taine. Interest in indies is still hot, but nowadays watchmakers also have all kinds of opportunities to showcase their work on Instagram or wherever else, and AHCI is looking for ways to stay relevant as an arbiter of real independence. Journe was particularly outspoken, offering two ideas: * 🥇 Grand Prix de l’Academie Awards: This takes the idea of the GPHG, Louis Vuitton Watch Prize, or Cartier Prize for Watchmaking and flips it on its head. Journe suggests the Academy awards and recognizes large brands for achievements in watchmaking. He says that brands might sheepishly accept these awards, but would be delighted by the recognition. “We need to put the Academy back at the summit and reward industrial brands when they do a good job,” Journe adds. * 🦭 Poinçon de l’Academie: Riffing on the Geneva Seal or Qualité Fleurier, Journe suggests a certification for watches that meet criteria set forth by the Academy. For example, to be an Academy member, a watchmaker has to personally develop and make at least 60% of their watch. They’re both good ideas. (1) Maybe the best marketing the Lange Datograph ever got was when we learned Philippe Dufour wears the pink gold version—it’s even called the Dufourgraph. (2) And an Academy Seal could bring some clarity or transparency around who’s actually doing what (or not) in the world of indies. Of course, there’s the old adage that “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure,” so the exact parameters of such a seal would need to be carefully considered, but AHCI’s got the minds for that. Here’s the entire discussion with Europa Star. 💭 When watch design changes your behavior. Jason Fried is a tech founder and also well-known as a watch collector. He recently wrote about when design drives behavior. Sometimes, design is what something looks like; sometimes, it’s how something works. But, Jason says, the most interesting designs change your behavior. Take the Lange 1’s power reserve: Its 72-hour power reserve isn’t linear. It takes just one day for the indicator to hit roughly the halfway point. This makes it seem like the mainspring is unwinding faster, encouraging its owner to wind the watch more frequently. That means it’s less likely to run out of power or hit the low end of its power reserve when watches are typically less accurate. Are there other examples of watch designs that actually change your behavior? The power reserve on the FP Journe Chronometre Souverain might be similar: It’s inverted to show “hours since last wind,” a nod to old marine chronometers and perhaps a subtle nudge to its wearer. PRESENTED BY THE COCONUT GROVE WATCH & JEWELRY SHOW The inaugural Coconut Grove Jewelry & Watch Show, taking place November 14-16, 2025, at The Hangar at Regatta Harbor, will feature a global roster of renowned antique, vintage, and estate dealers. It’s organized by the same folks who put on the Original Miami Beach Antique Show, one of my favorite shows every year. Join fellow watch enthusiasts and uncover exceptional and rare vintage and estate watches that can’t be found anywhere else. This three
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Zach Kazan is the managing editor of Worn & Wound, and he’s covered microbrands as closely as anyone for the last decade. In two weeks, Worn & Wound puts on its Windup Watch Fair in New York (Oct 16–18) with 160+ brands under one roof. I’ll be there, along with some of you, so I wanted to get Zach on to talk about the state of the microbrand. We talk about whether “microbrand” still means anything, and why some brands hate the word (while others embrace it); the boom of a decade ago and the more experimental one happening now; Ming, and the point where a brand stops being micro; pre-orders as interest-free loans; why Zach keeps coming back to watches made by people he knows; the founders who still answer their own DMs and Reddit threads; how Serica and Anoma collect feedback before a launch; Halios, and the case for staying small; the AP x Swatch, the Bulgari x Vianney Halter, and other watches built to be loud for a week; Moser’s move into the main hall at Watches and Wonders, the Streamliner 34, and the $4,900 ana-digi Off-Grid; whether a shakeout is coming; why the Apple Watch isn’t the cool thing to have anymore, and which brand should be saying so; the Gallet relaunch. I also ask which watches from Geneva Watch Days he’s still thinking about, a few weeks later. “It’s all gone from my brain, Tony,” Zach says. * Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS. * Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com
Austin Rogers is a New Yorker by way of Ohio, and goes by @rehaut on Instagram. He’s also scuba certified and an aspiring mountaineer—he’s tried to summit Mount Baker three times but has encountered some truly terrible luck. Each time, he’s had a Rolex Explorer on his wrist. The first video of Austin’s I saw had him tossing a few Doxas into a hazy lake to find out whether orange really is the most visible color underwater. Austin describes himself as “maybe the most credulous watch buyer”—as a diver and climber, he uses his watches, and he’s got lots of opinions on them. We talk about grade 2 vs. grade 5 titanium, and whether choosing grade 2 is cutting a corner; the watches he’d titaniumize (Submariner, Explorer II, a shrunken Sky-Dweller, the Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin) and the ones he wouldn’t; why the “Omega’s catalog is too bloated” critique doesn’t land for him; the baby Ultra Deep he’d build if he got the keys to the factory; which Tudors from the 2013-onward rebirth era could be collectible in 20 years— North Flag, smiley dials, early FXDs, the double-signed stuff; the Submarinerization of the Longines HydroConquest and whether Longines had any option; his Grand Seiko problem; the Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR] he regularly thinks about selling everything else for; boomerang watches; and why he keeps buying the nicest new-old-stock neo-vintage on the market and then eating an enormous loss on it. “I like to think of it as a service that I’m offering,” Austin says. * Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS. * Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors and a top-20 Fashion Substack. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo ($80/year):
Subscribe: https://unpolishedwatches.com/ In December 2025, a surprising watch went viral. It wasn’t from Switzerland, Japan, or any of the traditional watchmaking hubs. It was from India and cost about $42. The brand did no marketing, and it sold out more than 5,000 pieces in just 2 minutes. Maybe you’ve seen the Delhi Watch Company Terra. It’s a unique take on a field watch: monobloc titanium case, a case design inspired by a climbing carabiner, and with a parachute-style strap. Released for DWC’s 5th anniversary, it surprised everyone, and I wanted to get the story behind the Terra. So I reached out to Delhi Watch Company’s founder Anish Dandwani and designer Ishaan Vajpai, the duo behind the Terra. We talk about the Terra, but also a lot more—what’s it like to go viral, how watchmaking is developing in India, what makes it different, and what’s next. This episode is also on YouTube here—the guys share their screen a couple of times to show renders of what they’re working on, so check it out there if you want the full look. Unpolished is a collector-supported newsletter about watches. Join for free or support with a paid subscription. Subscribers get 2 newsletters/week, a 10% discount on all orders from the Unpolished store, $50 off a watch service, community perks, and much more. * Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS * Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com Show Notes * Delhi Watch Company * DWC Terra * Ishaah Vajpai on Instagram * Vincent’s early hands-on review of the Terra, Mainspring Magazine * Inside Titan Watches, Hodinkee * Sebastian Watch Co., artisanal dials made in India * Quest Precision on Instagram shop.unpolishedwatches.com: Shop Unpolished straps, including the new Textured Taupe, made of durable, versatile Epsom leather. Available in 18-20mm:
Jeff Stein is a collector, researcher, scholar, retired lawyer from Atlanta, and the proprietor of On the Dash, the resource for all things Heuer. Since 2003, he’s meticulously documented nearly 600 watches there. In 2016, he was featured in a Talking Watches episode on Hodinkee. Ten years later, he still owns slightly more than half of the 50 or 60 Heuers that were on his kitchen table while filming that episode. Jeff registered on eBay in 1998 and he’s been collecting watches ever since. We talk about his “checklist era” of collecting and upgrading his collection; the personal Heuer grails he’s chasing that no one else is; why community grails like Chronomatics and Seafarers are strong while so many other vintage tool watches have gone soft; an assessment of Heuer collecting over the last few years; what he’d buy if he had $5,000 or $10,000; the TAG Heuer divers that kept the company alive; the $500 S/eL his daughter wears; the Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Sinn, and other watches that Jeff also enjoys. We close with some advice: Know when to sell your watches. “The only way I could have never sold a watch might be if I’d never made a mistake in buying a watch,” Jeff says. Thanks to Jeff for joining the Unpolished Watches Podcast. * Podcast episodes are published on Fridays. Listen here, and subscribe to get future episodes in your feed: Spotify / Apple / RSS. * Unpolished is the newsletter for collectors. Join for free or become a paid subscriber for $8/mo or $80/year: unpolishedwatches.com Show Notes * OntheDash.com; Jeff on Instagram * Jeff Stein’s Talking Watches from 2016 * Absolutely Everything About the Heuer Autavia “Viceroy” Chronograph, On the Dash * Guide to TAG Heuer Dive Watches, On the Dash * Berneron Mirage at LoupeThis * New TAG Heuer Monza Flyback, On the Dash * Sinn EZM1, Unpolished Unpolished Store: shop.unpolishedwatches.com to shop our collection of Canvas and leather straps. Everything has been restocked for the fall. * Pick up a 3 Canvas Strap Bundle for $169, a 10% off the single-strap price ($157 member price!) * Shop the new Textured Taupe, made of high-quality Epsom leather.
It’s almost the end of summer. Before we head back to school and a few of you lucky folks head to Geneva Watch Days, I decided it was time for a Mid-Year Awards Show. I called up Andy Green and Felix Scholz of the O.T.: The Podcast to talk about the releases we’ve seen so far in 2026. We start by discussing trends: The rise of “economy gold,” the second generation of microbrands, outer space is back in a big way, and our most worn watches of the year. Then, we give out some fun awards: Best Watch Under $2,000; the Discourse Award, for generating the most posts per unit of watch actually produced; the Beige Award for most boring release; Best Release of the Year (overall); Most Likely to be a Grail in 20 Years; and the ‘Big Dog’ Award. We also talk plenty about Chanel Blue and the Best Blue Award, craft, value, and if it’s okay to take five years to “develop” a color. Unpolished is a newsletter for collectors and a top-20 Fashion Substack. Join for free or become a member for $8/mo ($80/year):