Hold onto your hats because OT: The Podcast has teamed up with everyone's favourite Glaswegian watchmaker, anOrdain, to make not one but two limited edition watches. Top line, the watch is a 39.5mm version of anOrdain's field watch-inspired model 2, with a stunning vitreous enamel dial in off-white or pink and a distinctive 3,6,9 layout. But to understand the watch, you need to understand anOrdain. Luckily Lewis Heath is here to explain.

A few months ago we ran an episode of hot takes, where we dialled up the spice with some controversial content from Discord and out very own heads. Well, we’re back at with round two. From bezels to watches as cosplay and even Felix throwing shade at the mighty MAD watch, we hold nothing back. Even before the user-generated content gets hot, we’ve got plenty to talk about, from more Aussie boutiques, a unique Big Pilot for Kennedy, a cheery Minions watch plus Nicholas Cage and his pig. 

Today’s guest is Alan Bedwell, the antiques expert behind cool curio site Foundwell. We chat to Alan about what it’s like growing up in an antique-dealing family and how he ended up looking after Ralph Lauren’s antiques, including dog paraphernalia, of all things. From there, Foundwell was formed through a stint at Bergdorf Goodman, and Alan was off to the races. We find out how the scene has changed over the years (hint, cufflinks aren’t cool right now), as well as his thoughts on why the watch market is white-hot.

Today we talk to James Lamb, a British independent watchmaker who has taken a decidedly (and deliberately) old-school approach to his debut Origin series. With stunning enamel dials and a case made from Argentium silver. Beyond the watch itself, we find out how Lamb went about creating his watch and went against the grain of feeling the need to polish every screw and bridge, instead focusing his skill and effort on the details that really make his watches stand out.

It’s that time of the year when everyone starts talking about lots, hammer prices and buyers premiums — yep, Auction season. Many of the major houses all hold significant auctions in Geneva, along with some more special events. We chat about the Pink Dial Project, Only Watch, a significant Dufour, and an early Omega that achieved an eye-watering record price.

Today we chat to Sarah Hirini, the two-time Olympic gold medal-winning captain of New Zealand’s women’s national rugby team, the Black Ferns. And as if that wasn’t enough, she’s also a Tudor ambassador, which puts her alongside Lady Gaga as one of the brand’s few female ambassadors. We talk to Sarah about what it’s like to represent NZ in the Olympics, how she channels Tudor’s born to dare attitude, and why women’s rugby and professional women’s sports generally are finally getting the attention they deserve.

Today we chat to one of the founding fathers of Aussie hip hop, the mighty MC Bliss (also known as Jonathan Notley) from Bliss n Eso. We talk about the origins of Bliss n Eso, their latest album The Sun and what makes Aussie hip hop unique, and how it’s evolving. Of course, we talk about the special relationship hip hop has to watches, and how G-Shock has remained relevant in a genre known for its love of flex.

This episode is something a little bit different. Several weeks ago, Andy and Felix hosted a very special evening for Cartier — exploring the Maison’s watchmaking collections live in front of a select group of Australian guests. This presentation, which covered of the importance of lines like Tank, Privé and fine watchmaking, explored the history and legacy of these collections as well as some highlight pieces, watches like the Tank Cintrée, through to more modern pieces like the innovative Tank Must Solarbeat.

Today’s guest is Blake Buettner, watch media veteran and Managing Editor of Worn & Wound. Given his day job at the leading value-driven watch site, we naturally spend a lot of time chatting about what a value watch looks like in 2021 and whether or not a watch with four or more zeros in the price tag can be ‘value’. We cover off the state of the micro-brand scene, dive into two of the watch enthusiasts traditional darlings, Seiko and Grand Seiko, and what their rapid growth and changing focus (epitomised by the White Birch) means for the brand.

Seven years ago, Silas Walton founded A Collected Man, and in that time, it has grown into one of the most respected names in high-end and independent watch sales. If you’re in the market something special, be it an upper-tier independent like F. P. Journe, a connoisseur-grade Cartier or investment-level Patek, A Collected Man is the place to go. So whether you’re interested in the rise of independent and neo-vintage watches, or the business of how they’re bought or sold, you’ll want to listen to this.

Today on the pod, we chat to Collective Horology co-founder Gabe Reilly. And we’re speaking to Gabe for a very good reason because Collective has just teamed up with IWC to release the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph C.03, Which Reilly describes as a love letter to IWC. To be fair, he also describes it as that watch you would get if you time-travelled back to IWC in the mid-90s, kidnapped the design team and brought them back to 2021. Thankfully for all involved, no time-shenanigans were involved in this watch.

Adrian Barker (from Bark & Jack) is back! We get the inside story on all the YouTube drama, from increasing collaboration to the poorly planned implosion of the Timepiece Gentlemen, and why so many watch YouTubers are having videos removed. Is it the algorithm or something more sinister? We find out what Adrian thought of the new Vacheron Constantin ‘Everest’ editions, and why he hates Hublot.

Today we talk to Jonathan Ferrer from Brew Watches about balancing growth while staying true to the brand vision, the founding impetus for Brew and how his work as a freelance watch designer informed brand identity. We discuss the importance of coming out of the gate strong with a powerful silhouette. We also get into the nuts and bolts of a small watch business, the importance of social media, how to balance stock and customer expectations, as well as why Brew went all out with the bracelet of the Metric, which is unusually complicated for a $400 watch.

This week we’re excited to have Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men back, and for a very good reason. We’re auctioning off a limited edition SevenFriday x Micah’s Voice T1/02. All funds raised support Stockman’s charity which works to support autistic children. We also talk about Shawn’s latest pickups, from Tudor, AP and Rolex as well as some straight talk on Richard Mille, as inspired by Diddy.

This week we chat to Reinhold Messner. The first man to climb Everest solo, Messner popularised the alpine style of climbing. Felix talks to him about adventure, the environment and the importance of failure. Beyond that we find out why Beyonce, Jay-Z and Diddy have been in the luxury headlines and why Kurono Tokyo got caught up in Instagram drama.

This week’s episode is a two-parter. The main attraction is, of course, Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe. Recorded during Watches & Wonders earlier this year, Mr Guadalupe discusses the difficulties of working with sapphire, and Hublot came to excel in technical case materials. They also talk about the important role art plays to the brand and why collaborations with creatives like Takashi Murakami push watch design forward. Before that, Andy and Felix run down some of the year’s most colourful releases.

In this 100 per cent in-house production of OT:, Andy and Felix look back on the spicy cocktail that was August 2021 and provides some searing insight into the watch headlines. There are good news stories like a near-instant sell out of vintage pocket watches, a wee dram of anOrdain and Andy getting up to speed with the new Masenna Lab. It’s not all so peachy, as issues like quality control over at Ming, as well as (more) drama around a decidedly not-in-house Panerai movement. And then there’s the question of what Chrono24 will do with 100 million euros and what that means for watch collecting.

Pop the bubbles and get ready to party because OT: just clocked in 100 episodes. To celebrate, we’ve pulled out all the stops. We’ve put together some pizza-themed merch, which is as wholesome as you’d expect. But more than that, we offer the first taste of our upcoming watch collaboration, and we can’t wait to tell you more. The main course in today’s celebration, though is Maxime Plescia-Büchi, the founder of Sang Blue, who you likely know from his successful series of Hublot limited editions. Of course, we chat to Maxime about Hublot and what it’s like to tattoo Kanye West, but we also use the opportunity to get his take on watch design.

Inspired by a chat on our community Discord, Andy and Felix dedicate this entire episode to the spiciest of hot takes. Andy takes the heat out of hype watches, while Felix disses one of the most popular complications out there. That’s the great thing about a good hot take, though — it doesn’t need to be particularly rational or even fully formed, just passionate (and preferably spicy). The heat continues thanks to some California Reaper level heat from Discord members who have thoughts about premium prices, date windows and everything in between