FRIDAY WIND DOWN: Zach gets het up about watch clasps…
Zach BlassIf you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen I recently received my Kurono SEIJI watch. If you are unfamiliar with the watch you can check out my initial coverage here, although in the coming weeks I will be sure to do an owner’s review. For some context, the watch was initially launched with the idea it would only be sold to female, or female-identifying, collectors to open the doors to a more diverse set of collectors. It has this really neat Tiffany-adjacent lacquered celadon blue dial, and it is paired on a full white leather strap with pin/buckle system – and this is where the prompt for my FWD monologue begins.
Some have said the white is a more feminine pairing, the manufacturer themselves insinuating that were men to own the watch there may be an inclination to swap the strap out. I personally don’t have a gripe with the white, nor have any fear of what that says about my masculinity. But I am looking to find a different strap to pair it with. Why? Because, for me, the white strap gives it a linen-shirt/Ibiza summer vibe, while here in NYC we are only a month or so away from an inevitably cold winter. So as I peruse strap options, one thing I’ve noticed is that some strap manufacturers offer an option to purchase a deployant clasp with your strap. After a momentary consideration, I dismiss this idea entirely and here’s why.
Deployant clasps are a great solution to securing a strap to your wrist, and I concede it is a more luxurious solution as well. But it is not my solution, in fact they actually give me anxiety when it comes to fit. One of my biggest complaints about folding clasps, whether bracelets or deployant clasps, is the length of the folding arm. Not all clasps are necessarily the same size, but more often then not what I find is that the length of the typical folding arm does not cater to my smaller wrist.
I am a known bracelet lover, but it doesn’t mean I don’t face problems with them. As an example, part of the reason I was content trading my Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight was the fact that the folding arm of the clasp was wider than the lug-to-lug span of the watch. This meant that the watch could only situate itself on my wrist a little too tight or a bit too loose. Other watches, and their clasps, have this problem as well – creating a sort of trapezoidal fit on the arm where I have to make them tight on the top and bottom in order for them not to slide up and down on my wrist This is due to the fixed length it creates as the links have to conform around the metal of the folding arm rather than the wrist itself.
This ties into my deployant debacle as I hunt for a new aftermarket leather strap. Part of the appeal of rubber or leather straps for me, when I elect to use them, is that they can really conform around my wrist – the flexible material not beholden to levels of articulation. So, why would I want to complicate the fit if it is totally unnecessary? I also don’t know if it is worth adding a few millimetres of height below the wrist, as I also like my leather/dressier pieces to have the slimmest profile possible. Would I rule out a deployant clasp completely for the SEIJI? No, but I would definitely not order one without testing it in the metal first.
That is my hot take on deployant clasps.
Hope you all have a great weekend,
Zach
Watch meme of the week: @watchumor reflects on the good ol’ days long gone
View this post on Instagram
It still amazes me how less horologically inclined people are often surprised when they hear that watches can cost more used than they do new. It is a concept that is not foreign to sneakers and amazingly even video game consoles nowadays. So why would watches be any different? That being said I will never forget how I felt when I heard Paul Newman Daytona’s traded for thousands of dollars in the ’90’s. Boy, do I wish I had a time machine…
Wrist shot of the week: Dr. Roger Smith OBE reflects on his undertaking of the George Daniels Anniversary Series
View this post on Instagram
I mean, the caption really speaks for itself. Roger Smith writes: “It’s almost ten years since I accepted the order from George to make the Daniels Anniversary wristwatch series and we are still completing it 😎. Who said watchmaking was easy 😅.” It really stresses the difference between hand-finished and hand-made. To be clear, the series was introduced to honour the 35th anniversary of his invention: the Co-Axial escapement (now industrialised by Omega). A total of 35 watches will make up the series, which began in 2008 and was commissioned to Daniels’ protege Roger Smith in 2012.
Recommended listening: Scottish Watches celebrates their 300th episode with Evelyne and Alexia Genta
First things first, a huge congratulations to the guys over at Scottish Watches. Hitting the 300 episode mark is a huge deal, and I am glad to have made my own debut on the show on episode #284. To celebrate the milestone, Scottish Watches took some time to chat with a legendary family in the watch and jewellry industry – the Gentas. In conversation with Evelyne (Gerald’s wife and business partner) and Alexia (Gerald’s daughter), the 300th episode of the Scottish Watches podcast gives a ton of insight into the world of Gerald Genta, his personality, his designs, and much more with never-before told stories directly from his family. You’ll have to give it a listen here.
Our favorite Time+Tide coverage of the week:
Don’t Miss This: Our team debates the best watches under $1,000 USD and from $1K-3K USD
Recently we began our “Don’t Miss This” series, where the team is challenged to nominate a watch, within or under a given price point, that they believe serves as a gateway benchmark for a collectors’ hunt within that price bracket. Head over here to see the watches we picked under $1000 USD, and from $1,000 – $3,000 USD.
The story behind our Night Surfer – a Zenith Defy Classic Skeleton with five new offerings and limited to 100 pieces
This week we unveiled our limited-edition collaboration with Zenith: the Zenith Defy Classic Skeleton “Night Surfer” Time+Tide Edition. Click here to learn more about the backstory of the watch, check-out our hands-on review, or head straight on over to the product page in our very own Time+Tide Shop to enquire or purchase.
VIDEO: The TAG Heuer Carrera Twin-Time 41 is a clean and versatile traveller’s GMT
As things open up around the globe, it’s nice to have a GMT watch that can allow you to detach from the digital world – tracking time across the earth the good old-fashioned way. Sound appealing? Then you might want to check our video review of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Twin-Time 41 – an entry-level GMT watch for the TAG Heuer Carrera Collection.