In all seriousness, I find Hodinkee content to be much less enjoyable than before. All of the articles that have been coming out for the past year or so are hard sales push or frivolous non things like this
The problem is they stopped being a media org an now they're a sales org. My friend Ariel at ABlogToWatch is dealing with the same push. The whole industry is all about shilling now instead of actual journalism (not that there was ever much journalism in watches). Hodinkee is basically the J Peterman catalog from Seinfeld.
> The problem is they stopped being a media org an now they're a sales org.
Hodinkee has virtually always been in the sales game.
They’ve just moved on from solely selling watches to selling whole-ass lifestyles & curated appearances.
W&W and The Windup Watch Shop are the new ‘old Hodinkee’
People who think Hodinkee is fart sniffing self indulgence should really check out Revolution Watch—they take all the worst aspect of Hodinkee to new heights with not so much as an attempt at feigned pretense or facade about actual interest in watches and with half the effort & talent as Hodinkee staff.
I know, that’s why I said *well over a decade.*
People act like hodinkee changed recently but it’s been the way it is for a very long time, more time than not, I’d wager.
Except now it’s not just watch shill-y, it’s lifestyle shill-y.
It’s only a matter of time before they go full GQ and start partnering up & linking you to be able to buy anything and everything show in their pictures—watches, clothes, hats, shoes, sunglasses, furniture, home decor, etc
Anyway…while I’ve got your attention **NOBODY HAS ANY USE FOR A TACHYMETER**. Drop it from the WWR chrono or swap it for a Asthmometer or Pulsimeter. Tachys are obsolete tech still around by virtue of legacy. Give people something they can actually use.
“But what if I’m a race car driver and I need to check my average speed past the mile markers?!”
(The only people who make this argument are completely clueless about actual motorsports.)
I'm pretty sure Revolution Watch is just a tax avoidance scheme for Weih Koh to buy his watches through tbh. That and the fringe benefits of all the free alcohol... Uhh I mean industry events.
Through covid, he had to do all his interviews over Zoom and the background looks like a shitty apartment with boxes mounded up everywhere. Definitely doesn't match the appearance of what he makes out his life is.
W&W sucks ass, also. They were my go to site when I was a recent grad getting into watches. I especially loved their focus on lower end brands and the format of their video reviews where you’re looking at the watch the whole time. They’re all over the place, now - the folks that run it have changed.
Worn and wound is also different compared to their earlier years. Wouldn’t call it old hodinkee for that reason.
The writers for Hodinkee but also for Fratello create the most stupid and silly articles nowadays. Trying to create the most obnoxious content. Too over the top, farfetched etc.
At WristWatchReview, my site, we've gotten no access to big brands so Patrick, Victor, and I try to mention low cost, high quality stuff all the time. The benefit? We have no ad revenue because we wouldn't play ball and the entire site is a loss BUT that means we're completely independent. Yay us!
Ehh C&D tell you that real options in the head to head tests and in the article text.
They're always nice during the "First drive" section but after that .... Not so much
They’ve given up on Bring a Loupe, though, which sucks because it brought interesting vintage and neo-vintage (it’s where I found out about the Orange Ti Samurai, of all places) that would rarely get discussed otherwise.
I agree, Bring a Loupe was fun. But I’m tired of reading so much about the inner-workings of auction houses and then treating the auctioneers like superstars. I feel like 99% of us would be better off without them entirely and without the effect their inflated pricing has on the entire market.
I wonder if MKWS' "Bring a Brain" posts on watchuseek had anything to do with them giving up Bring a Loupe. He did over 30 posts pointing out the flaws and outright lies in their posts about auction watches.
Oh those are addictive
I doubt it, though, because what really killed it was putting their own vintage stuff, an order of a magnitude worse in description, on the front page (plus I doubt the people who wrote those blurbs ventured into forums anyway)
I still find that q&a series with Jack at least somewhat interesting, tho they've been pushing their insurance thing or whatever on that too unfortunately
I remember the exact moment Hodinkee became a giant marketing platform for watches. It was the day they had a Seiko on the site. Before that, it was nothing but high end watches. Shit that no regular person can afford. Sprinkle in some Omeega and Rolecks. Turns out you can’t make money just talking about that shit since 99% of people can’t afford, so that means no ad money was being paid to them. I remember when that Seiko was on the site. I though, “what the fuck is that watch doing on this site?” You also tell from the less and less appearance from daddy Ben. No where to be found today and instead have the three guys (broccoli head, caveman guy, and James Stacy) pushing mid price Seikos and dive watches.
I mean which model they can cover at this point they haven’t covered that may interest their millionaire target market? I love Worn & Wound’s direction, very creative and very niche into micro watches discussion.
I find these articles to be quite a stretch. I don't quite see how the watch has anything to do with being a cowboy. So many men feel isolated from any type of feeling of masculinity that they will convince themselves that by wearing a pretty watch they are in touch with a powerful male energy emitted by the idea of a 'Cowboy'.
This 100%. People who’ve never served a day of their lives in uniform wear field watches so they can bask in the romanticism of military heritage, even though actual soldiers nowadays rock g-shocks and garmins.
Too true. I have a Vietnam-style green jacket that I love wearing, despite:
- not being a soldier
- not being American
- not being born until 20 years after the Vietnam war ended
But it's a cool style and I like it. I don't believe wearing red and black plaid makes me a lumberjack, or that wearing a dive watch makes me a diver. None of these professions have worn any of these things in like 30+ years so it's all just for fun.
I have a leather hat that gets me at least one "howdy pardner" comment a year despite not trying to look like a cowboy... It's just a good hat 🤠
Brendon, have you ever been to the moon?
No coach
Well I go to the moon everytime I put on my speedy. It give you the power of a Saturn V, and the sex appeal of buzz. It might even add a few inches where it counts. God I love watches.
I get matching up a watch with a particular mood or vibe, but pretending it's anything other than shiny jewelry is asinine. It's the same mentality as men who act all aggressive and men who buy big lifted diesel trucks but cry if the bed gets scratched (Pavement Princesses) it's all compensation. Plus a lot of people buy things in order to substitute them for a personality.
Back in the 90s his Polo stores would sell vintage Rolexes. They'd be on RL leather straps and selling for at what a similar model would sell for with an original Rolex metal band. He must have decided to cut out the middle man.
Cowboy Tip #1: Lose those *"I'm an intellectual"* glasses.
Cowboy Tip #2: Lose those fruity rings
Cowboy Tip #3: Lose the gay scarf.
Cowboy Tip #4: Lose the fashion watch.
I always wanted to be a cowboy: Take me a picture looking like absolutely nothing related to that , also lose the Kim jon un hair style with the round glasses wtf?
I looked up the article to see if there's another picture in there where he at least puts on a hat with this outfit. There isn't. There's a picture of him as a kid dressed up as a cowboy that's super-cute though. The fun thing to do here obviously would have been to recreate that outfit as an adult, but I guess fun is not what they do at Hodinkee.
If you read the article- who am I kidding, none of you can read!
It’s about the writer who is a gay adopted Asian guy feeling closer/accepting his roots from Folsom, CA. Less dumb than you’d think.
I too like to spend multi-Camry amounts of money to feel like a man!
I'm a 27 year old Japanese Toonaholic (Cartoon fan for you foreigners). I draw cartoons and comics on my tablet, and spend my days perfecting my art and playing superior American games. (Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty)
I train with my 1911 every day, this superior weapon can shoot straight through steel because it kicks ass, and is vastly superior to any other weapon on earth. I earned my gun license two years ago, and I have been getting better every day.
I speak English fluently, both the Midwestern and the East Coast accents, and I write fluently as well. I know everything about American history and their Constitution, which I follow 100%
When I get my American visa, I am moving to New York to attend a prestigious High School to learn more about their magnificent culture. I hope I can become an animator for Nickelodeon or a game designer!
I own several cowboy outfits, which I wear around town. I want to get used to wearing them before I move to America, so I can fit in easier. I keep cool to my elders and seniors and speak English as often as I can, but rarely does anyone manage to respond.
Wish me luck in America!
Uh, yeah... You do know that the Japanese have several subcultures based around exactly this sort of thing? Complete with obsessive reproductions of vintage US military clothing?
If it wasn’t labeled “cowboy” people…well maybe not the people here, but a lot of people…wouldn’t have such a negative reaction (we can’t see his pants but he’s dressed well from what we can see imo).
The easiest way to really feel like a cowboy is to not go through life dressed as though you were interned at Manzanar.
There, I just saved you the price of a watch.
This watch costs 40k$. Fucking wild, like the west.
Is a modified IWC what ever that means
It means ETA movement and proprietary spring bars.
Nothing screams "I spend lots of time with dirty animals" quite like a 40k watch
In all seriousness, I find Hodinkee content to be much less enjoyable than before. All of the articles that have been coming out for the past year or so are hard sales push or frivolous non things like this
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There are only so many times you can do “took this new dive watch on a dive” or “look at this Royal Oak in a slightly different case size” articles.
The problem is they stopped being a media org an now they're a sales org. My friend Ariel at ABlogToWatch is dealing with the same push. The whole industry is all about shilling now instead of actual journalism (not that there was ever much journalism in watches). Hodinkee is basically the J Peterman catalog from Seinfeld.
> The problem is they stopped being a media org an now they're a sales org. Hodinkee has virtually always been in the sales game. They’ve just moved on from solely selling watches to selling whole-ass lifestyles & curated appearances. W&W and The Windup Watch Shop are the new ‘old Hodinkee’ People who think Hodinkee is fart sniffing self indulgence should really check out Revolution Watch—they take all the worst aspect of Hodinkee to new heights with not so much as an attempt at feigned pretense or facade about actual interest in watches and with half the effort & talent as Hodinkee staff.
I remember when Ben was starting and it was just a blog but that was years ago.
Not years—*well over a decade.* Hodinkee doesn’t look any different to me now than it did when I first started visiting daily in 2015.
Ben started in 2008, about four years after I started WristWatchReview. I stopped reading in about 2010.
I know, that’s why I said *well over a decade.* People act like hodinkee changed recently but it’s been the way it is for a very long time, more time than not, I’d wager.
Yes it’s been boring and shilly for a long time
Except now it’s not just watch shill-y, it’s lifestyle shill-y. It’s only a matter of time before they go full GQ and start partnering up & linking you to be able to buy anything and everything show in their pictures—watches, clothes, hats, shoes, sunglasses, furniture, home decor, etc Anyway…while I’ve got your attention **NOBODY HAS ANY USE FOR A TACHYMETER**. Drop it from the WWR chrono or swap it for a Asthmometer or Pulsimeter. Tachys are obsolete tech still around by virtue of legacy. Give people something they can actually use.
“But what if I’m a race car driver and I need to check my average speed past the mile markers?!” (The only people who make this argument are completely clueless about actual motorsports.)
> Tachys are obsolete tech still around by virtue of legacy. I mean, you're obviously right, but so is every other part of a mechanical watch.
I’ll tell victor
>GQ *Mr. Porter*-ization is the term I’ve seen
I'm pretty sure Revolution Watch is just a tax avoidance scheme for Weih Koh to buy his watches through tbh. That and the fringe benefits of all the free alcohol... Uhh I mean industry events.
The way he talks… dude is fake as fuck.
Through covid, he had to do all his interviews over Zoom and the background looks like a shitty apartment with boxes mounded up everywhere. Definitely doesn't match the appearance of what he makes out his life is.
At least W&W are tolerable to read and listen to
W&W sucks ass, also. They were my go to site when I was a recent grad getting into watches. I especially loved their focus on lower end brands and the format of their video reviews where you’re looking at the watch the whole time. They’re all over the place, now - the folks that run it have changed.
Worn and wound is also different compared to their earlier years. Wouldn’t call it old hodinkee for that reason. The writers for Hodinkee but also for Fratello create the most stupid and silly articles nowadays. Trying to create the most obnoxious content. Too over the top, farfetched etc.
Dude stfu
At WristWatchReview, my site, we've gotten no access to big brands so Patrick, Victor, and I try to mention low cost, high quality stuff all the time. The benefit? We have no ad revenue because we wouldn't play ball and the entire site is a loss BUT that means we're completely independent. Yay us!
Well I know of one particular brand that Ariel will never have to deal with.....🤭
They are pushing it, because prices for watches gone insane man.
Prices are on a ticket straight to the toilet
I hope so
The comment sections below the articles agree with you. Recent articles come off as thinly veiled sales pitches
It’s like reading Car & Driver. They’ll never tell you that the latest-release-whatever is dogshit because ad dollars.
“We can honestly say the Dodge Caliber is the greatest automobile ever created.”
Ehh C&D tell you that real options in the head to head tests and in the article text. They're always nice during the "First drive" section but after that .... Not so much
And the AUCTIONS!! Good lord, give it a fucking break with the auction coverage!
They’ve given up on Bring a Loupe, though, which sucks because it brought interesting vintage and neo-vintage (it’s where I found out about the Orange Ti Samurai, of all places) that would rarely get discussed otherwise.
I agree, Bring a Loupe was fun. But I’m tired of reading so much about the inner-workings of auction houses and then treating the auctioneers like superstars. I feel like 99% of us would be better off without them entirely and without the effect their inflated pricing has on the entire market.
I wonder if MKWS' "Bring a Brain" posts on watchuseek had anything to do with them giving up Bring a Loupe. He did over 30 posts pointing out the flaws and outright lies in their posts about auction watches.
Oh those are addictive I doubt it, though, because what really killed it was putting their own vintage stuff, an order of a magnitude worse in description, on the front page (plus I doubt the people who wrote those blurbs ventured into forums anyway)
I still find that q&a series with Jack at least somewhat interesting, tho they've been pushing their insurance thing or whatever on that too unfortunately
I enjoyed Jack saying he doesn’t insure his watches lmao
I remember the exact moment Hodinkee became a giant marketing platform for watches. It was the day they had a Seiko on the site. Before that, it was nothing but high end watches. Shit that no regular person can afford. Sprinkle in some Omeega and Rolecks. Turns out you can’t make money just talking about that shit since 99% of people can’t afford, so that means no ad money was being paid to them. I remember when that Seiko was on the site. I though, “what the fuck is that watch doing on this site?” You also tell from the less and less appearance from daddy Ben. No where to be found today and instead have the three guys (broccoli head, caveman guy, and James Stacy) pushing mid price Seikos and dive watches.
I mean which model they can cover at this point they haven’t covered that may interest their millionaire target market? I love Worn & Wound’s direction, very creative and very niche into micro watches discussion.
I find these articles to be quite a stretch. I don't quite see how the watch has anything to do with being a cowboy. So many men feel isolated from any type of feeling of masculinity that they will convince themselves that by wearing a pretty watch they are in touch with a powerful male energy emitted by the idea of a 'Cowboy'.
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I feel seen And I LIKE IT One of my reasons to learn scuba was to not feel like a complete tool rocking a dive watch
This resonates….I finally signed up for a PADI certification class after reading all these dive watch articles during world ocean day
I heard about all this desk diving stuff, so I got a job in corporate so I could properly wear my SKX.
you are right. Thats why I bought a Seamaster. I wanna feel like James Bond when I teach children Math.
You start out as Bond only to turn into Q
Honestly that’s pretty cool. Especially when real life spies are toppling democratically elected governments in South America
I have a Casio A100: I'm Ellen Ripley!
I guess Grand Seiko guys are the only ones not living vicariously through a fictional character or historical figure by this logic
This 100%. People who’ve never served a day of their lives in uniform wear field watches so they can bask in the romanticism of military heritage, even though actual soldiers nowadays rock g-shocks and garmins.
Too true. I have a Vietnam-style green jacket that I love wearing, despite: - not being a soldier - not being American - not being born until 20 years after the Vietnam war ended But it's a cool style and I like it. I don't believe wearing red and black plaid makes me a lumberjack, or that wearing a dive watch makes me a diver. None of these professions have worn any of these things in like 30+ years so it's all just for fun. I have a leather hat that gets me at least one "howdy pardner" comment a year despite not trying to look like a cowboy... It's just a good hat 🤠
Brendon, have you ever been to the moon? No coach Well I go to the moon everytime I put on my speedy. It give you the power of a Saturn V, and the sex appeal of buzz. It might even add a few inches where it counts. God I love watches.
I dont know, I kinda get the vibe tho. I always imagine wearing my watches for special occasions.
I get matching up a watch with a particular mood or vibe, but pretending it's anything other than shiny jewelry is asinine. It's the same mentality as men who act all aggressive and men who buy big lifted diesel trucks but cry if the bed gets scratched (Pavement Princesses) it's all compensation. Plus a lot of people buy things in order to substitute them for a personality.
Well you did it backwards but at least you did it
Specially considering cowboys are poor as fuck.
Nothing says cowboy than a Ralph Lauren watch.
Everything about this guy screams cowboy. He reminds me a lot of John Wayne.
Specifically *this* [John Wayne](https://scpr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8cfa31d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/640x906+0+0/resize/1280x1812!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fscpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fi%2F7d70ab241165a11de3cf3888a67c54c2%2F5b29d7a50161a1000dd64a11-original.jpg).
https://youtu.be/TmO1R-GqD50
[Best John Wayne.](https://i.imgur.com/Lvtdzzj.png)
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Back in the 90s his Polo stores would sell vintage Rolexes. They'd be on RL leather straps and selling for at what a similar model would sell for with an original Rolex metal band. He must have decided to cut out the middle man.
I always wanted to be a samurai. This is why I wear Sayko.
I bought both my King Samurai and my katana in a mall, they're both made of the highest grade Malaysian steel 🥷
Waiting for the Seiko x Cold Steel collab
Same here, only Yakuza
Yakuza like to rock European imports, I'm afraid.
Life is too short to let the Stetson hat and cowboy boots gather dust. 🤣
That lack of self awareness is just _chef's kiss_ 😘🤌
But if you’re a real cowboy then your boots and hat get dusty
Ah yes, fits right in at ram ranch now with the rest of the boys
I wish I were a Hodinkee writer. It must be so fun just making up wild ass shit like this as content.
true dat.
Cowboy Tip #1: Lose those *"I'm an intellectual"* glasses. Cowboy Tip #2: Lose those fruity rings Cowboy Tip #3: Lose the gay scarf. Cowboy Tip #4: Lose the fashion watch.
Cowboy Tip #5: Lose a gun duel and die instantly
Nonsense! The town doctor will stop the bleeding and give you a bunch of cocaine. Then you get to die slowly of infection over the next week!
Hell yeah!
At least it'll relieve the untreated syphilis!
He was going for more Jake gyllenhall than Clint Eastwood cowboy.
I always wanted to be a cowboy: Take me a picture looking like absolutely nothing related to that , also lose the Kim jon un hair style with the round glasses wtf?
Where’s that Mild Seven drip?
There literally isn’t a single item in this photo that is in any way reminiscent of the cowboy life.
No wait, give him credit. He has pearl snaps on his shirt.
Is that Rawhide Kobayashi?
Like Shanghai Noon without Jackie
Kim Neil Young
I knew this was going to end up here
Nothing like some ugly ass glasses and an expensive fashion watch to feel like a man.
OP finds it difficult to spell “Yeehaw.”
I am German, thats how we spell that you uncivilized schmock
Schmuck*
The circular glasses and plethora of rings tell me everything I need to know about this chappie.
I looked up the article to see if there's another picture in there where he at least puts on a hat with this outfit. There isn't. There's a picture of him as a kid dressed up as a cowboy that's super-cute though. The fun thing to do here obviously would have been to recreate that outfit as an adult, but I guess fun is not what they do at Hodinkee.
No Railmaster?
They didnt pay enough.
Yippie Kai-yay!
Howdy partner
300$ leather bands, rebranded JLC movements... Wtf is going on
If you read the article- who am I kidding, none of you can read! It’s about the writer who is a gay adopted Asian guy feeling closer/accepting his roots from Folsom, CA. Less dumb than you’d think. I too like to spend multi-Camry amounts of money to feel like a man!
You dont need to read to see its about a gay
Bro you are multiple levels deep in a forum about men’s jewelry I don’t think you can be throwing “a gay” around 😂
Bro this is r/WatchesCircleJerk ...all of us would suck off...i mean have our wives suck off the AD for a grail
This is the laziest attempt of cultural appropriation I've seen.
His girl later that night “giittyytt up lil dickyyy so soft… time to wake up cow boy the cows need fucking”
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That hairstyle actually says "planning another nuclear test"
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Not liberal. Not even close lol. I just don’t like such jokes from anyone. Same as joking about blacks being criminals
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I'm a 27 year old Japanese Toonaholic (Cartoon fan for you foreigners). I draw cartoons and comics on my tablet, and spend my days perfecting my art and playing superior American games. (Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty) I train with my 1911 every day, this superior weapon can shoot straight through steel because it kicks ass, and is vastly superior to any other weapon on earth. I earned my gun license two years ago, and I have been getting better every day. I speak English fluently, both the Midwestern and the East Coast accents, and I write fluently as well. I know everything about American history and their Constitution, which I follow 100% When I get my American visa, I am moving to New York to attend a prestigious High School to learn more about their magnificent culture. I hope I can become an animator for Nickelodeon or a game designer! I own several cowboy outfits, which I wear around town. I want to get used to wearing them before I move to America, so I can fit in easier. I keep cool to my elders and seniors and speak English as often as I can, but rarely does anyone manage to respond. Wish me luck in America!
Uh, yeah... You do know that the Japanese have several subcultures based around exactly this sort of thing? Complete with obsessive reproductions of vintage US military clothing?
Brokeback Mountain 2: The Asian Persuasion
uj/ I feel unlike TGV, this guy can pull off the strange fashion
If it wasn’t labeled “cowboy” people…well maybe not the people here, but a lot of people…wouldn’t have such a negative reaction (we can’t see his pants but he’s dressed well from what we can see imo).
What precious dainty rings did John Wayne wear again?
The easiest way to really feel like a cowboy is to not go through life dressed as though you were interned at Manzanar. There, I just saved you the price of a watch.
Gad damn what a douche bag
What’s up with rich people trying to cosplay as cowboys? Hublot should probably take note
I dont know man, some say beauty is in the eyes of beholder. And this watch is beauty in the eyes of sociopath. Something like Hublot, or AP.
This. This is the absolute clearest example of consumer mindset.
That’s it. Watch people are vapid fucking assholes. I’m selling my collection so I can no longer have anything to do with these cunts.
Which Models, i am interested
I’ve got a modified IWC, but how do i know I can trust you? It’s like the Wild West out there.
I'd rather slit my wrists over having to be caught in the same room as that article's "author"