Style, Gear, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Style, Gear, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

Watches and Wonders 2024: The Let-Them-Eat-Cake Edition

I sometimes wonder just how much of a broken record I sound like on these Audicles, because the same themes keep popping up over and over, and I’m back again to say that while I understand how and why the luxury watch industry is going in this direction, my hypothesis is that this is detrimental to the long-term health of the business.

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Watches, Style, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Watches, Style, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

How Can the Luxury Watch Industry Prepare For a Downturn?

In my professional life I’ve tried to train myself to remember that insights alone aren’t worth nearly as much as those associated with implications and possible courses of action. With that in mind, in this Audicle I’m going to outline (with some help from a watch industry legend…) what I think various watch industry stakeholders could do if they believe, like I do, that the lights have been turned on and it’s time to leave the party that’s been happening since 2020.

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Gear, Everyday Carry, Style David Vaucher Gear, Everyday Carry, Style David Vaucher

WRC and Luxury Watches Seem to Pair Perfectly, and Yet…

Going forward, I do believe that the watch industry will face a contraction. However, this does not mean the luxury watch industry is going away, but rather that brands will have to be hyper-focused on the return of their marketing spend.

It seems to me that WRC is an untapped market and presents a favorable test-bed for the development of new markets and customers.

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Gear, Style, Watches, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Gear, Style, Watches, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

Working My Way Down to a “One-Watch”, One-and-Done Collection

I have not tried all of the world’s hobbies, but I have a hard time thinking that many of them could be more addictive and bottomless than watch collecting; one day you’re thinking “I’m looking for a nice watch, that’s all I’ll need”, and the next you’re weighing out different GMT options because you’re driving over to your in-laws’ place for the weekend.

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Style, Watches, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Style, Watches, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

WTF Is Blancpain Doing With the 50 Fathoms?

In my opinion, the mismanagement of the mainline Fifty Fathoms (not the Bathyscaphe line) exceeds even the baffling decision by IWC to wait until late last year to join the integrated bracelet sports watch crowd with its own icon, the Ingenieur, and I’m shocked that Blancpain continues to stumble forward with such an important piece of watch history.

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Watches, Gear, Everyday Carry, Style, Guides David Vaucher Watches, Gear, Everyday Carry, Style, Guides David Vaucher

A Comprehensive Guide To the “One-and-Done”, One-Watch-Collection

The truth is that if you love watches, you love, well, watches plural, and it will be very hard to commit to just one watch for the rest of your life. Like Jason (and probably every one of you reading this), I’ve tried many, many times to commit to just the idea of one watch, and every time I’ve failed miserably.

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Watches, Style, Everyday Carry, Gear David Vaucher Watches, Style, Everyday Carry, Gear David Vaucher

Hublot May Finally Be Getting the Respect It Deserves

A common theme in my writing is a frustration at “zombie opinions”, views that are widely shared, stated almost reflexively, without much thought, and that keep stumbling along despite tangible evidence to the contrary.

The view that Hublot produces nothing but horological trash, undeserving of any respect, is one such opinion. It needs to go from “undead” to fully dead, and there is plenty to work with to make that case.

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Watches, Style David Vaucher Watches, Style David Vaucher

If You Think “Fashion Watch” = “Crappy Watch”, Think Again

When we dismiss a watch as a “fashion watch”, we’re making two criticisms at once. First, that the watch is designed to look good for a brief moment in time, in keeping with a trend, after which point it will no longer be needed. Second, because of the fleeting nature of the watch’s looks, it doesn’t have to be made well, so it must inherently be a cheap, disposable object.

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Watches, Style, Gear, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Watches, Style, Gear, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

So Many Watches to Think About, So Little Time…

Even if your “to buy” list of watches is relatively short, don’t you still have a ton of other watches kicking around in your head?

Some may belong to the “if I won the lottery I’d buy this” list, others are perhaps on the “yea this looks beautiful but I live in sweatpants now” list, and others maybe you just think about because they’re interesting.

That’s what I want to cover today: in no particular order, with no sponsorship dollars behind any of the entries, here are several watches that I can’t get out of my head.

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Watches, Gear, Style, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Watches, Gear, Style, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

What Happens When Watch Bloggers Stop Being Polite, and Start Getting “Real”

If you’re looking for something different, please do give The Real Time Show a listen (or two!). If you take the time to do that, I can almost guarantee that you will learn something, and you might even find yourself refreshed by the honest, open thoughts that Alon and Rob share with each other.

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Gear, Style, Watches, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Gear, Style, Watches, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

6 Pilot’s Watches That Don’t Look Like Pilot’s Watches

Unlike the dive watch, the pilot’s watch has not become ubiquitous in the public view, and when a company like IWC tries to sell a Big Pilot based on how authentically designed and functional it is, I feel as if I’m being sold a costume accessory.

If you’re still unconvinced, consider that I also like to wear aviator sunglasses and Schott bomber jackets. These are two items that, like dive watches, have shed almost completely their military origins, but would I ever wear them together?

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Gear, Watches, Style, Everyday Carry David Vaucher Gear, Watches, Style, Everyday Carry David Vaucher

The Treasure Chest - The Tudor North Flag Is the Most Discouraging Watch of the Last Decade

Tudor DID do everything right with its North Flag, and yet this is a model that went nowhere. I’d go so far as to say that there is Tudor “pre-North Flag”, and Tudor “post-North Flag”, and the current trajectory that Tudor is on is almost entirely due to this model not taking off, when in fact it objectively had everything going for it.

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Style, Fragrance David Vaucher Style, Fragrance David Vaucher

Tommy - The “Real American Fragrance” That Started It All For Me

When I first sat down to write this piece I thought it would be relatively straightforward, just a story about something from my childhood that still fills me with great memories. It didn’t take long for all the knowledge I’ve acquired since then to kick in and make me realize that there might be far more to the “Real American Fragrance” than just the juice in the bottle.

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