Welcome to this Watch live. Hi, I'm Lydia Winters.
And I'm Vu Bui. And today, we're going to talk
about aesthetics versus specifications.
It's a showdown. They're not in competition.
Aren't they? Well, well.
Maybe they are. Are they a couple?
They're a good pair. Yeah, hand in hand aesthetics
and specifications. But one of them is clearly
superior and everyone knows it so.
I was gonna say it depends on the person, but you said that in
a different way. True.
Yeah, we have a question from Trish at Watch Girl Life.
Hi Lydia and Boo. This is Trish AKA Watch Girl
Life. I just have a quick question.
How do you balance the subjective elements of watches
around personal taste and style with objective factors like
technical specs? When choosing a watch, are you
more down the aesthetic path or you look at technical specs
first? Hope you're well.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Trish.
If you don't follow Trish on Instagram, she is an incredible
photographer. Watch Girl Life.
Well, I think as with many of these things, it's a balance of
both, At least for me it is. I I think they are both very
important and OK, this is my hot take.
OK. OK.
In my mind, there are people, I probably most people would say,
oh, it's a blend of both that that that's what I that's.
Pretty fair. Believe, people would say.
But I do think there are people who would say one or the other,
like, no, I'm really only about the aesthetic or oh, I'm really
about the specifications. And I think those people are
lying. Or wrong maybe.
Lying to themselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I didn't mean that they were lying to us.
No, I meant. They were lying to.
Themselves. OK, Why?
OK, they're just wrong. OK, why well?
We'll go through that I I I have a case for that and it it a.
Case size or a case? Look a case.
Speck Speck puns from Lydia Winters.
Always. So people are drawn to different
things like that's we we know that, right?
Like people are they're into different things for different
reasons. And it's very rare to find two
people who are just like, Oh yeah, we are exactly the same,
and we like exactly the same things for the same reasons.
So I thought it'd be good for us to talk specifically about what
draws us to watches and like. But I, I, I've phrased at least
the first thing is a question for you.
Like what aesthetics do you think are the most important to
you? Yes, I think color, I think like
brushed verse polished surfaces, but that is also a.
So yeah, I have a little bit of like is it a, is it a spec or is
it. Yeah, they kind of blend a bit.
But I would also say, like, I love like different features and
the look like, I care a lot about what the numerals look
like, The font of the numerals, where the font plays, the
actual, yeah, the design. Like then that's very aesthetic.
That's like design, design and like some of the heritage
watches, like I don't care as much if they if they feel
exactly like the original, but it's more of like do I like the
feeling of the current one. Like is it?
Is it like a heritage vibe that you enjoy?
Yeah, I do really like it, like the BB50, the tutor BB 54, like
I just feel that it it really matches my style.
So that's the other thing is like for me the important
aesthetic is, does it match my, like Lydia style?
And well, I would say that you have many different styles too.
Yes, but. Do I see it fitting?
Yeah. Do I see good?
Good. That's why I have so many
watches. Perfect.
Just do the occasion. Just to match the many looks of
Lydia Winters, I I mean even to me like.
So as I thought about this, I thought, OK, you've got your
your your specs things and you've got your aesthetics
things, but as you just said. They really, they spend a lot.
Together, because I started to think, OK, well, let's just
think about what what makes a tool watch a tool watch?
And you would think, oh, that's specs.
But I'm here to argue that as I thought through what people
think about and argue about when it comes to tool watches, it is
mostly aesthetic. What?
OK, so most watches these days I believe are pretty durable.
Like the movements themselves, they have shock protection.
All of those technologies have even permeated very lower cost
movements and watches, and so as long as you have just most
watches, they they can survive going hiking.
You know many. Of the things that we're doing,
except. Maybe.
Real extremes, which most like most of us, aren't doing.
The really. Big.
Extremes. The big extremes.
So for most of us, like what a tool watch really is, is a set
of aesthetics. It's more brushed surfaces, less
polished. That's true.
Right, like there there's certain things that makes.
Now there are specifications as well that make something more
tool watchy. I mean we talked about the Rolex
Explorer in 2 Tone and how that really made people upset like
that. It wasn't true to, but it is a
bit more wasn't true to the aesthetics because again, it's
like. It's slightly cold.
Is yeah. It's a little heavier, more,
more scratchy and a little more scratch.
Scratch can be scratched. Scratchable.
But it's still as durable.
So I guess then you're like, oh, if you care about the weight,
then that would be. Then that makes sense and I
thought the same thing because it was like, well, the Rolex
Chinelli had the same exact movement as the Rolex Explorer
And you know, I wouldn't say that the case they were only 50m
water resistant, but again it's that Rolex 50 meters where they
say 50 meters means you can do the thing.
So to me, a Chinelli from a can it withstand perspective is
probably up there with most other tool watches.
That's true. But it does it look toolish?
No. So then if that can be the case
so easily with with with such easy examples that just popped
in my head, then then I really do believe that tool watch is
just an aesthetic. Yeah, I mean this blending of
what is an aesthetic versus what is a spec that that actually
because I would have probably answered this question as like I
care about aesthetics really not much about specs.
But then when I started thinking about it, I was like well
actually case size and watch thickness are really important
to me. And those are factors which do
determine if I'll even go try on a watch even though I have tried
on watches that are much larger than I want or maybe smaller
than I want. But it's still.
It is a defining part of when, like the package of the watch
that might make you feel like this watch is for me, or oh,
that watch is beautiful, but it's not for me.
And that first impression can also go really far in whether
you want it or not. So you're talking about the
specs that they they affect the aesthetics, like the size of a
watch makes a huge difference, and and also that ends up being
so personal to you because the size of a watch on your wrist
may look amazing on someone else.
But. Exactly, but and also so like
watch thickness. Again, I would say that I don't
care very much about movements or I'm, I'm not like bothered.
Yeah, you don't think. Much about indifferent to
movements? Like you think you are.
Yeah, I think I am, except then when I was thinking about the
fact that aesthetically the thickness is.
It's important to you. Yeah, like, I want to make sure
the watch feels really sleek, looks nice, that is affected by
the movement. So again, you're back to this
like aesthetics, the aesthetics and specifications they are.
So yeah, they are so intertwined.
They really are. I mean, and then you have
certain specs that affect things like comfort, right?
So as I love to whine about, not all watches with a bracelet,
have a quick adjustable clasp and.
To me that and if you see that that's not in the
specifications, you're like you're out.
There now. And for that reason.
I I will admit like my new Grand Seiko, I I have bought watches
without quick adjustment because sometimes you like there's so
many factors. But now you're saying, well it's
because it's Titanium, so it's not as.
Again, it's like you're using you're using specs to justify
that you aesthetically love this watch and just wanted it.
But but but I will admit that I aesthetically wanted to watch.
But I will also say that even though this is a supposed deal
killer of mine, it did not kill this deal and I went and and
then I did also justify it by saying yes it it weighs over 30%
less than my steel watches. Therefore, therefore.
It doesn't flop around as much, therefore the perfect fit is a
little less important, but I still want.
You're loosey goosey with this. OK.
So I thought about like what are certain because when I think
about specs, yeah you've got case size.
You've got water resistance, you've got is it a screw down
crown or not you've got the bracelet or strap what what all
of those things. But I usually tend to go towards
movements which must be something that I care about.
I don't think movements are the end all be all, but there are a
few movements that I'm like yeah, I've talked about wanting
watches with these movements for quite a while.
So like Rolex has the 4130, that's the movement in most of
the Daytonas or it where it was they they've updated it.
But like I've heard multiple watchmakers and I've spoken to
watchmakers who just talk about how great that movement is.
But also something you mentioned earlier like a, it is an
automatic chronograph movement and the Daytona is a nice slim
watch with 100 meters of water resistance.
So like it allows you to have a chronograph and very slim.
Most automatic chronographs are thick.
Yeah, exactly. So the Daytona would have like
aesthetically I love it, but if that specification was different
then I probably it would be like a deal breaker.
I think if that was 15mm thick you probably would not be into
it. Nomos has the 6160 movement
which is in the Metro update. I like or.
I want one of these because it's got a really innovative date
mechanism. So like one of the annoying
things about quick set date is it only goes in One Direction.
Well, this one goes in both. Oh, that's cool.
So like if you have to go from, you know if your watch is on the
2nd and today is the first you have to go through the whole
month right? But with this, you could just go
backwards and it also fixes the problem that you sometimes
forget about, which is that you should not change the date
between, you know, around 10:00 PM and and sorry, yeah, 10:00 PM
and 2:00 AM because that's when the mechanism is changing and
you could grind gears and all of this stuff.
I definitely they have occasionally created a.
Mechanism that gets around that. So I'm like I've never done
that, but I want it. I want it because they put the
effort into into making it or like I I really want a Grand
Seiko Spring Dr. 9 RA Two. It's like their newer Spring Dr.
movement. It's in the white Birch that
everyone loves. It's a five day power reserve.
That's 120 hours. I don't know why they say five
day. I feel like 120 hours sounds so
much more cool when everyone else is like 43 hours 72 hours.
Oh, I think five, I think 5 days.
So much more useful. Yeah.
To be. It sounds like way more than
120. If you were like, how many days
is 120 hours? I don't think I would
immediately survive, OK? OK, OK, but OK, so this this
movement also has like better accuracy.
And then I like do we need? So I love accuracy, don't need
it, don't need it. Not at this level, but my new
Grand Seiko I have. I said it 14 days ago, so it's
been 2 weeks and right now it's running plus .5 seconds.
That's amazing. Not per day.
That's for that whole two week. Period.
Or at least I think that's amazing.
That's a loosey goosey I have. No, no it is.
Really amazing. Run by a mainspring, this is a
mechanical watch and it's only regulated using electromagnetic.
OK, I'm not getting into it, but it's amazingly accurate.
The new spring Dr. movement is even more accurate because it's
also temperature regulated. So it, like measures the
temperature like 500 times a day and is like, oh, because it's
hotter. I know that's going to affect
how fast the quartz crystal oscillates.
That's pretty cool. That is really cool.
Again, don't need it, but I love these things.
And the last one I'll talk about, and it's not really
specific to the New Moon Watch, but one of the reasons I sold my
1861 Movement Moonwatch was because the 3861 came out and it
was meta certified and I was like, that's what I want.
Yeah, the Omega Speedmaster. The Omega Speedmaster
Professional Moonwatch I think meta certification is great.
It basically is just a a set of specs that they have to test to
and the the one is that I think is so great in modern times or
at least we're told it is, is that it's almost anti magnetic.
Yeah, all these phones and headphones and everything has
magnets in. It these days, which you know,
didn't used to be the case, I don't know if it's that big of a
problem because I don't ever have magnet problems with my
watches. You know, I've had one watch be
magnetized ever, right? I have no idea.
If any of mine are and, I'm not bothered.
By it, you'd probably never notice if one of your watches
was running in one or two minutes fast today.
I don't think so. I don't genuinely.
But yeah, so I I think there are, even for someone like
myself who I would say I'm aesthetic first, the specs still
really matter. And they they they go towards
this complete package of what a watch is.
And part of it is how does it look.
But to me, aesthetics will always win because I would take
a watch that is beautiful, that I love the look on my wrist,
that has what I considered terrible specs.
I I would wear that, but I would not wear a watch that I think is
horribly ugly. Yeah, that's.
Chasing specifications. It's like not only just a like,
primary, secondary thing like it.
It is like a deal killer. Yeah, it is a deal killer.
I agree. I mean, when you bring up the
moon watch too, it feels like it's been changed so many times.
Yeah, but it has the history, which is more of the aesthetics
than, you know, like. No, but it is.
I think you're right. So the if you think about what
makes the moon watch like this historical watch hits mostly the
look because so many things have changed on that watch.
The movement has changed. The bracelet has changed.
You know the now it's got a sapphire because then the.
Technical specifications are updated, but yet the reason you
kind of want it is the. Aesthetic.
And it's because of the aesthetic.
So they can't change the aesthetic too much.
Otherwise it will feel like a different watch.
And then that historical connection is much less
prevalent. So I I Yeah, Even even people
who love watches for their historical significance, it's
still very aesthetic driven. Yeah, because they look like
those watches, but they aren't those watches.
Yeah. And I mean, I think either way
is fine, but I do agree that it's probably, especially since
I found this, they much more rely on each other than you
think. It is an overlap, maybe more
than you have originally thought.
Because for me that is definitely what happened.
I would have been all aesthetic, no care towards specification,
but they really go together. Yeah, you realize, like specs
matter. They do matter a little, a
little. Bit.
A little bit, just a. Little, No, they they matter.
Whatever you like. It's good, yeah.
But we'd love to know where you fall on this aesthetics.
I guess now we're saying and specs, not versus specs.
FedEx. No, no, please.
No. Bye.