Beyond The Dial

Latest Episodes:

Insights E10 - The Omega Cal 321 & The Quest for Authenticity Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

Why are we so excited about a recreation of a vintage movement like the Omega 321? Has digital social media and the ensuing crisis of truth prompted some of us to seek analog expressions of our authentic selves? Can a mechanical watch help us maintain authenticity?

Insights E9 - Whiskey, Weed & Watches Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

How do booze and pot affect your perception of time? Your sense perceptions? Your impulsivity? Find out as your host, Allen, brings his personal experiences up alongside phenomenology and medical research to form a theory of how watches connect us to eternity.

Insights E8 - Embracing Mortality With A Grand Seiko Dec 02, 2019

Show notes

Allen's birthday watch is a Grand Seiko Limited Edition SGBH269, a watch that explores the turning of the seasons from Spring to Fall, just as Allen is turning to the autumn of his life. This episode is a meditation on mortality, nature, dying, living, and being true to your self, all in relation to this fascinating Grand Seiko.

Conversations E4 - Gary Shteyngart on Watches as Literary Devices Nov 25, 2019

Show notes

Allen sits down with best selling novelist Gary Shteyngart to talk about how watches have figured into Gary's writing. From his New Yorker article called "Confessions of a Watch Geek" to his novel Lake Success Gary has used watches as literary devices that become windows into the internal lives of characters both real and fictional. Gary's command of watches as a topic is impeccable, and he is as fluent as anyone in going into "why they're so fascinating."

Conversations E3 - Demystifying Watch Service (with Steve Kivel) Nov 18, 2019

Show notes

Grand Central Watch's 3rd generation leader, Steve Kivel, has turned his family's business into a high-tech service center with seven full-time watchmakers working full-time in a brand new state of the art facility. Allen and Steve sit down to discuss the ins and outs of proper watch servicing, how to vet your watchmaker, and why spending the extra money on proper servicing should be the norm but, alas, is not.

Conversations E2 - Badass Tool Watches on Badass Women (w Cait Bazemore) Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Allen's colleague Cait Bazemore comes on for a lively discussion of the emerging trend of women wearing more complex mechanical tool watches, and how the watch industry is shedding it's old-school attitudes toward so-called lady's watches. From Serena Williams to Cate Blacnhett and Lindsey Vonn, badass women are wearing some seriously badass watches these days.

Field Reports E2 - Ferraris, Ducatis & Hublots in Tuscany Nov 05, 2019

Show notes

Allen returns from a week in Italy having toured Tuscani on a Ducati motorcycle while wearing his Bremont Supermarine, lapped on a race track in a Ferrari, sported Hublots, and having accidentally bumped into the representative for Nims who just climbed 14 of the world's largest mountains as part of the Bremont-sponsored Project Possible. The birthday watch saga continues.

Field Reports E1 - Press Trippin' With Longines Oct 14, 2019

Show notes

Allen's account of his trip to the Longines factory in Switzerland starts with an explanation of how one ends up on such a trip in the first place. He then recounts hanging with Longines' CEO Walter von Känel (a.k.a. The Chef), a dream like factory with shipping robots and worker-determined schedules, and of course some beautiful Longines watches.

Insights E7 - Apocalypse Later: Zen Dystopias & The Apple Watch Sep 21, 2019

Show notes

Why do mechanical watches seem so calming and down to earth? Why does the Apple Watch seem so intrusive? In this episode, we travel in time to consider old and new technologies up against each other, and how a mechanical watch once felt oppressive, and how the Apple Watch may one day seem disconnected and archaic. James Bond and Marlon Brando make a guest appearance via a listener essay at the end.

Insights E6 - "Women's Watches Suck," a man said. Sep 12, 2019

Show notes

A colleague once told Allen that women's watches don't get as much coverage because, "Women's watches suck." Let's complicate the topic of gendered watches, and let's get past some of our ingrained attitudes about what makes a watch right for a man or a woman. Also, the birthday watch gets a break-thru!

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