Weekend Round Up: WindUp is back, a Jimmy John’s Daytona, and Tudor availability

It’s Labor Day weekend and we’re looking forward to fall weather and, of course, shifting our watch collecting focuses away from bright colors and fun, rugged watches to perhaps something more refined and more dressed up (even if we all haven’t fallen out of our comfort-first dressing mentality born from the pandemic).

In the news:

Photo by Fashion Network

The WindUp Watch Fair (New York City edition) is back: One of the events that we most look forward to attending is Worn & Wound’s free gathering of watch brands and collectors. Worn & Wound has always made accessibility to the watch hobby one of their guiding principles and their small convention has been a really fun gathering of indie brands and bigger indies like Oris. We see old friends and enjoy morning cappuccinos and late dinners in Manhattan. This year WindUp is back October 22-24 at Chelsea Market. Visit their site to view vaccine requirements for entry. We hope to see you there. 

Photo by Hodinkee

Another "low-brow" Rolex collab/tie-in: We’ve covered our mixed opinions on the Rolex Dominos Pizza branded Air-King and Oyster Perpetual models, but Hodinkee surprised us with their inclusion of a gold Daytona with the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s logo engraved on the caseback in their pre-owned store. The watch sold for $30K, which some commenters assessed as a bargain in our crazy world where steel Daytonas can fetch prices higher than a gold version.

Photo by William Barthman Jewelers

Are popular Tudor watch models now easier to purchase? Anecdotally, we’ve heard from our friends and our virtual friends on watch forums that it’s been easier to purchase (or at least a much shorter wait time for) popular Tudor models from an authorized dealer. For a while in 2021 finding a Black Bay 58 on bracelet or the new Black Bay Chronograph has been difficult with grey market dealers able to sell them at over retail. We’re speculating that this may be Rolex’s genius plot to build up Tudor while at the same time cultivating the exclusivity of owning a Rolex. “Sir, we do not have any Submariners, but may I show you some beautiful Tudor dive watches that you can walk out of our store on your wrist today?”

Photo by Fratello Watches

Is ceramic trending? IWC introduced a new pilot’s watch in a blue ceramic case at 41mm. And while it’s not a new material for the brand, using the color blue (albeit a limited edition) may be an indicator that more future offerings will come in ceramic cases. It seems like more and more brands have embraced ceramic or carbon cased watches. Of course the Black Bay with its METAS certification was our surprise favorite among recent new releases. From Bulgari to Audemars Piguet to Rado to Longines, ceramic offerings are quite common these days, but we’ve noticed that more companies seem to be embracing the material. This is an intriguing watch case material as it’s lighter and more scratch resistant than steel, but could potentially shatter with a hard impact.

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