Watch videos, podcasts and Instagram

There are lots of social channels in which to learn about vintage watches and keep up with the latest finds.

Most of my time is spent on instagram. Key accounts I follow are:

  • horomariobro: not vintage, but wonderful detailed images of watches from which to learn what separates manufacturers
  • Wind Vintage: vintage pieces available for sale
  • Menta Watches: vintage pieces yes, but also watch for the stories where Adam and Sacha Davidoff talk about watches in an unusually frank way (we expect no less from Adam!)
  • Most pieces are not to my taste (or wallet…), but the information provided from Horology Ancienne is one of the few bright spots on instagram.

There is an increasing number of watch podcasts and video podcasts available and for the most part…let’s just say they aren’t my thing. They are either are rambling, claim to know the answers to everything, try to be funny and fail miserably, are more “lifestyle” oriented, talk about their weekend for the first 30 minutes of their hour podcast, are ill-informed, and/or are self aggrandizing. But I guess that is really what most podcasts are, regardless of topic, right?

Even within any single podcast I pick select specific episodes to listen to or watch, usually for a specific guest for discussion topic. Tip: listen at 1 1/2x speed!
Let me know if I’m missing your favorite.

There are a few podcasts that I think are interesting, and when I do enjoy them it is generally specific episodes where I can listen to individuals (dealers and collectors) talk about collecting. One of the individuals I look for is Eric Wind, who appears in podcasts from time to time. Eric is a great resource, and readily shares his thoughts with the community:

Other recommended episodes:

  • Blamo! episode with Eric Wind
  • A Scottish Watches episode with Jose Pereztroika, known for his Perezcope Instagram page and Perezcope website, where he digs into fake Rolexes, Cartier and others, and often the auction houses from where they come. Jose has an interesting back story, where he discusses starting his own platform in 2015 after being banned from the Paneristi forum. He started with writing a few articles on the Paneristi forum on the Panerai fraud taking place within the community, showing issues with watches to create awareness, particularly one of the watches that was professed to be a piece of history (Odyssey of Panerai 6154, 997583), but as he showed, had a replaced dial along with and hands and movement that were not original. The culmination of that article was showing the original dial in the shop of an Italian dealer no less. So as the result of Jose’s feeling of Paneristi and dealers hiding the truth and shutting down the truth, he decided to start up perezcope.com.
  • time 4A pint with William from Speedmaster 101. Interesting to hear someone who has such deep knowledge float between all original and “built” pieces, and appreciate both.
  • Not vintage, but the Hodinkee episode with Jean-Claude Biver is awesome. Oh to have the passion and energy that he does. Incredible. Keep with it past the first few (crazy) minutes of the episode.

Podcasts, kind of in order of personal preference…

  • The Vintage Watch: Eric Wind heads back to his vintage roots with this podcast – about time! Make vintage great again! I can’t get enough of Eric’s honesty around the stories shared. I’m hopeful that given the podcast is with just Eric and Charlie Dunne, versus Significant Watches, that new episodes of The Vintage Watch are regularly released (and here’s hoping they discuss pieces at auction – somoething that I enjoy about Significant Watches).
  • Significant Watches: nice discussion between 4 guys – Eric Wind and Charlie Dunne (dealers), Tony Traina (reporter/writer), and Gabriel Benador (collector with seemingly unlimited funds to spend on watches, motorcycles or cars).
  • The Waiting List: this I confess I want to stop listening to, but I can’t help myself (I guess consider it like watching The Bachelor or the like)… Three young collectors (2 work as “consultants” at Phillips) with more funds than you have, talking about the Pateks they own and the independents that they are collecting (seemingly all of them). I’m not saying the conversations among the hosts is detached from reality, but well…it’s detached from reality.
  • time 4A pint: a good listen for guests and their vintage timepieces, such as with Eric Wind; Chris Mann also organizes GTGs (in London, unfortunately for us).
  • Calibre Podcast, from Watches of Switzerland. This podcast has a strong lineup of guests and historical overviews of different topics (chronographs, the swiss watchmaking industry, Rolex, pilot watches, etc.
  • Collectability: all about Patek Philippe, from John Reardon.
  • Unwound: 1 hour episodes hosted by two guys – a watchmaker (95% of the talking) and a collector, no guests; provides a nice education in a number of areas, and does touch on vintage; the only ding against this podcast is the heavy focus on Seiko, a byproduct of the watchmaker host having a business (Hub City Vintage) that exclusively refurbishes and sells vintage Seiko.
  • TickTocking: all about modern independents; says straight up that he “doesn’t understand” vintage. I enjoy listening to hear a perspective from someone who was formerly employed by a manufacturer which we don’t see in other podcasts (given it was MB&F, it is specific to a very particular environment, but still…), and try to overlook all of the pretentious comments.
  • Hodinkee Radio: “lifestyle” focus, which isn’t for me (nor the breakdown of an Apple watch by a non-tech blog); I listen if a guest of interest.
  • Worn & Wound: touches upon vintage more than many others, and I enjoy for the guests (more Sinn discussion than I need, though).
  • The Grey Nato: hosted by two watch journalists that have more knowledge than your average podcaster listed here; can spend half of the podcast talking about their weekend or how they packed their bags for Baselword, but I can see appealing to a certain audience. I personally prefer podcasts that spend more time on watches.
  • No BS Watchmaker: ~10-15 minutes episodes with one guy, who has recorded some walking down the street (seriously?). Unique in that from the point of view of a watchmaker (I’m going to bet that he has not been to watchmaking school). Episodes are extremely repetitive – the first 2 minutes will cover everything. This podcast has potential if episodes were cut to 3-4 minutes and the filler words (about 120 per episode) were pared.
  • Watch and Listen: two guys, one of which is the man behind Weiss, up to 3 minutes of ads to kick off the episode (ugh). Some interesting guests. My humor doesn’t quite align, but so it is…
  • Love ‘N Watches: ~40-60 minute episodes from a softspoken couple that would likely bring you a bundt cake to welcome you to the neighborhood (you have to listen to understand – this is a podcast I would send my mom); kind of an introduction to watches and collecting; limited vintage discussion.
  • The Trading Desk
  • Wrist Time
  • Two Broke Watch Snobs: not for me; two guys, no guests, modern focus (though one on vintage watch collecting), different type of humor than mine.
  • It’s about Time with Amit Dev Handa: 10-15 minute episodes; one person with no guests; high-level opinion on pieces and brands.
  • Spending Time with A Blog to Watch: not much new information, and much discussion seems to be on the fly with little to no research performed in advance of recording.

Either no longer updated or rarely with new episodes, but you can find episodes still online:

I rarely watch video podcasts, simply as I find it so much easier to make time for audio-only podcasts while running or in the car. So be forewarned…the content below might stink, might not. I have no idea (feel free to drop me a note to let me know). Most all are focused exclusively on modern timepieces, but analysis/transaction information holds for vintage pieces as well.

A list of video podcasts (roughly in order of personal favorites):

And of course, if you have a favorite that is missing, please let me know).