Beyond The Dial

Latest Episodes:

Insights E5 - "Tool" Being the Operative Word Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

When watches are truly designed as tools and do their job without kowtowing to fashion trends, our aesthetically fussy attitudes can give way to a far more grounded affection for the designs. Many watches, old and new, are considered from this functional perspective.

Insights E4 - The End of 'Microbrands' Aug 30, 2019

Show notes

Allen goes after the notion of "microbrands" and calls for a change of thinking around the role of independent watch brands of all sizes. He discusses independent record labels as an analogous notion, gets into the importance of regionalism and diversity, talks us through a number of examples of regionally-oriented indie watch brands, and reviews two indie dive watches, one from Greece, and one from Croatia.

Insights E3 - Just a Rolex Datejust for a Month Aug 27, 2019

Show notes

In Episode 4, Allen is visited by a fox while record his account of a one-watch experiment. Unexpected results include feeling great about the one watch even though his time in it was hellish, and realizing that his personal collecting habits need to follow a wholly different set of concerns than those that govern his work writing professionally about watches. A lovely listener essay closes out the episode.

Insights E2 - Why Watch Diameter and Wrist Circumference Don't Matter Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

Allen ponders how watch diameter and wrist circumference became the main measurements of watches when, in fact, those two dimensions hardly matter when it comes to how a watch works on your wrist. He recommends a few different strategies for estimating how a watch will fit. This episode's listener essay inspires a contemplation of journalistic integrity in the age of so-called advertorial content, and Allen reads from The Rake magazine's editor Wei Koh's thoughts on the matter.

Conversations E1 - Oren Hartov, Expert on IDF Watches Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Allen talks with Watch Desk Editor at Gear Patrol Magazine, Oren Hartov. They discuss the ins and outs of working in a bustling news room, the history of Israeli military watches, escaping the Nazis, making music, and a number of fascinating stories about Oren's family's watches going back five generations.

Insights E1 - Academic Perspectives on Watches Jul 12, 2019

Show notes

Host Allen Farmelo discusses various conceptual frameworks that we can use in attempting to understand watches. These include a mechanical perspective, cultural, social, historical, design, phenomenological, and (out on a limb here) New Age. This overview provides a set of possible frameworks that the ensuing episodes will use interchangeably. Think of this as the Metasode.

SHOW NOTES

The Mechanical PerspectiveJens Koch's Article in Watch Time about the Rolex DEEPSEA

The Social & Cultural Perspectives Allen's Article at Worn & Wound about the Bell & Ross Areonavale 41mm

The Historical PerspectiveJack Forester's Article on the Omega Moon Watch 50th Anniversary Edition at Hodinkee

The DesignPerspectiveZach Weiss Video Essay on the Christopher Ward C-60 Trident Pro V3 at Worn & Wound

Welcome to Beyond The Dial Jul 01, 2019

Show notes

Your host Allen Farmelo says hello and gives a short introduction and guide to Beyond The Dial.