It’s been a long minute since the last recording. Marc and Aaron have both been buried in projects, including the launch of the new Berea College Student Craft website with full e-commerce, designed by Marc for the Student Craft team. The timing worked out perfectly, as Aaron and his team were recognized with the Cooper Hewitt Award for Product Design. Huge congrats all around.
On the watch front, Aaron has been obsessively regulating his Seiko 5 and getting it to run within one second a day. Marc is in the middle of a second honeymoon with his Black Bay 58, now fitted with a Steel Reef “Silencer” James Bond bezel insert, and he finally adds a long-admired Seiko “Gene Kranz” reissue to the collection after a patient wait from Australia. The guys talk about why this release hits so well, how faithfully Seiko nailed the original design, and why it feels like an easy enthusiast favorite. Seiko, if you’re listening, more reissues please. Yes, the Pogue.
They also get into a new Benrus chronograph and the Bark & Jack collaboration with Christopher Ward. The Adrian Barker designed version is the one they prefer, leading to a broader conversation about design evolution, community reaction, and why Barker does not deserve criticism for standing behind and promoting his own work.
Marc closes the episode reflecting on seeing Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy perform Lifes Rich Pageant live. It was moving to hear songs that have meant so much to him played live, with new life breathed into them.The album title comes from Inspector Clouseau’s line, “But it’s all part of life’s rich pageant, you know?” and that idea tracks well with the show, watches, travel and everything else they end up talking about.
