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The new IWC Ingenieur is the biggest focus, but we also talk about many other topics. We kick it all off with some news about travel, a pair of Jordans worn at a game, a New Era MLB hat, and a visit to the Boca Raton Mall.
Handgelenks Kontrolle is back and Balazs starts off with a look at the new Vulcain Chronograph 1970s. Mike wears his newly received MING 22.01 GMT Gilt, which leads to a discussion about a possible future Balazs acquisition!
We start the main part of this episode by talking about fake watches and Marvels. Balazs are on the scene while Mike writes about some new releases. We discuss the new TAG Heuer Carrera, the Zenith Defy Shadow, and all the Tudor pieces. Then there was the new IWC Ingenieur, which many of the team were disappointed with.
Don’t get us wrong, we love the watch but are a little confused by its marketing strategy. It didn’t feel right to announce the watch’s shortage before its launch, especially for a watch that so many people wanted. We’ll end with some of our favorite watches from the show. Vacheron Constantin, Laurent Ferrier and Rolex all made the list.

The Rolex Datejust 1601 is a staple of this prestigious brand. The fluted white gold bezel, 36mm case, Jubilee bracelet and Cyclops crystal all fit the bill when one envisions a typical Rolex. The ubiquity alone might have deterred me from looking at these models, but one reached out and tugged at my heartstrings.
It’s been close to 18 months now since my love affair with the Datejust vintage watch began. The funny thing is, I used to completely ignore these watches, but I eventually caved in. However, my journey went a bit off track with a focus on some rather unique models. First, I chose a 16030 with a metallic black dial.
Well, the Rolex Datejust 1601 was there, and Eric took it out, but it contained an unfortunate caveat. The watch had been put on hold the night before. That’s right; after sitting quietly on Eric’s website for a few weeks, someone expressed interest before I visited. But how did the watch look? In a word, sublime.
I feel like I’ve been scouring the Internet relatively regularly for the past two years for vintage Datejust models. They are such common watches that 99% of them can be swept under the rug before finding something interesting. Then again, those interesting replica watches usually have some drawbacks.
The Rolex Datejust 1601 (or any Datejust, for that matter) without a luminous dial is not a watch I care about. I like luminescence, even if it’s long gone on older watches. Often, watches without lume can feel too formal and stodgy. However, there is a nice benefit to not having luminescence.
For the same reason that dials without luminescence don’t usually appeal to me, the same is true of white gold fluted bezels. I know the Rolex Datejust 1601 represents the collection, but the fluted bezel also often seems unstable and frankly too “country club” for my tastes. However, in this example, with the dial, polished hands and indexes, the bezel works so well again.

Thankfully, when I opened it, the magic I felt in the short time I had with this watch came back. I sized the bracelet through the clasp and tried it on…, and it’s gorgeous! The comfort of this watch is simply unbeatable. It simply cannot be beaten for comfort. Another noteworthy detail is the lovely case, which is in excellent condition.
A watch like the Rolex Datejust 1601 has a lot going for it due to the condition of its case, bezel and strap. Then, add to that the unusual and incredibly clean dial, and it is a desirable package. The result is a watch that, at the time of this writing, has not left my wrist since the first day of ownership.

So when you look at TAG Heuer’s history, it’s clear that the company is passionate about innovation. But innovation is not always a good thing just for the sake of innovation.
Take, for example, the TAG Heuer dive watch launched in 1978. It was clear that they were trying to capitalize on a market created by Rolex. They are almost identical one-to-one. Replica TAG Heuer produces watches that are similar to other brands but are cheaper, so you need to shell out less money.
Get the luxury look at a lower price with these watch alternatives!
So while we’re big fans of affordable alternatives, this could also have a devastating effect on a brand because consumers are looking at both watches and just saying, “Am I buying a cheaper copycat?”
Another problem for TAG Heuer today may have started with their Formula 1 watches in the 1980s, i.e., their attempt to be everything to everyone. After all, sticking up for every part of the market doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll excel in every part of the market. It’s like casting an extra wide net and trying to catch the best fish, rather than casting a very small net and focusing on the fish you want to catch; just like Rolex has a very small line of fake watches, which Rolex dress watch enthusiasts really like.
So, TAG Heuer has a long and famous history of timepieces and makes really good chronographs. So the argument can be made: “Why don’t they focus on that? Or does the world need another luxury brand to make another plastic watch?”
Ultimately, this “jack-of-all-trades” attitude puts TAG Heuer in a position of being a “jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none.” Customers expect a brand to be consistent in what it offers you.
Look at Apple, for example. They have been consistent with their core audience over the years. Tag Heuer has become a bit forgettable because they are unsure who they want to be.

For any of us, a watch is a personal talisman, an accessory that really moves, conveys expression, and stays on your body despite what you’re wearing. When chosen properly, it provides a sense of completeness that some people get from their car, their handbag, or the blockchain primate in their profile picture. That’s the feeling I need for my watch.
To know what my watch is, I must first train my eyes to look at the watch amulets of the people around me. Take, for example, my partner’s Cartier, a tiny hand-wound tank replica watch with a custom lizard strap and shattered sapphires that’s more a part of her life than an accessory. Or my agent’s gold replica Rolex Day-Date, whose champagne-coloured dial is a portal to the power-broker energy brewing beneath his humorous demeanour. Or Andy Warhol’s onyx Piaget, which I was enchanted by when I rebranded the magazine he founded, Interview, and which captures his unique charm, genius and frivolous depravity. Or my late father’s kaleidoscopic collection of more than 20 Swatch watches, whose spontaneity and easygoing practicality are deeply imprinted in my memory of him.
On my own journey, I knew almost immediately that my watch was an replica Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. It was an instinct that felt almost too obvious – given that it is one of the few most coveted watches in the world – but even after much research into more maverick options, I couldn’t shake its grip.
What I loved most about the Royal Oak, and still do, is its brashness. It’s a quality I appreciate in all forms of creativity, because to be brutal is to sacrifice the polite comforts of the status quo in the service of new ideas. Releasing the world’s most expensive steel mechanical watch in the midst of an existential crisis in the industry – as Audemars Piguet did when the Royal Oak was born in 1972 – is brutal. Designing some exposed bezel screws that resemble the industrial visors of diving helmets for the old-school fine watchmaking market, as RO designer Gérald Genta did, is brutal. Keeping this design alive and relatively unchanged for 50 years while the rest of the world goes through a cultural phenomenon from disco to punk to rock, plus trap music, Y2K, Avatar, boy bands, Xbox, Instagram, Millennial Pink, and squid games, is brutal at best.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
I like the idea of roughing it because they slap things together – in this case, a fancy copy watch with a weird nautical vibe – but the real poetry of the Royal Oak is in the depth of its craftsmanship. It is the most exquisitely handcrafted “industrial-looking” object I have ever seen. Its myriad surface textures sculpt its geometric shapes with remarkable clarity. It has little inside jokes, like how the slots for its screw heads draw a perfectly imaginary circle around the bezel. And then there’s the whole handmade mass of mechanical parts dancing under its sapphire crystal case-back. That’s how you can do something as savage as Mies Van Der Rohe’s Seagram Building or Kanye West’s Yeezus, with a level of execution that makes something transcendent.
When I actually got my Royal Oak-a 41mm ref. When I actually got my Royal Oak-a 41mm model 15500 that looks like a classic 39mm 15202 on my defender’s frame-it flowed so smoothly into my everyday life, especially for a functional piece of jewellery that came at the price of a limo; it was Incredible. I keep it in the box on these fun, semi-remote working days when I’m mostly zooming, answering emails and playing with my kids. When I’m working in the Highsnobiety office, catching up on the fashion calendar, or just meeting people in a place that’s not my den – a hybrid living room – I dutifully wind up and set the 15500 before I have my first cup of coffee. Snapping it on my wrist feels like pushing an imaginary power button that turns on Thom The Editor, an adult. Maybe I’m a little lame myself right now, but smart enough that I don’t care. This is exactly the feeling I was looking for.

As a former International Watch Director at Christie’s, Reardon released here, a website dedicated to providing information and education about vintage Patek Philippe replica watches. While working for Patek Philippe, I was often asked which charities Patek Philippe supported. I honestly could not answer this question and be quietly told that the family and managers around the world preferred to give discreetly and anonymously.
However, the deeper I dug into this question, the more I learned about how Patek Philippe gives back in some expected, and some unexpected, ways. I think the generous donations shared in this article only scratch the surface of how the company gives back to the global community, and it certainly shares some insights into Patek Philippe’s support of philanthropic causes, particularly initiatives related to health and welfare of children around the world.
More publicly, Patek Philippe has produced pieces that have been donated to various charities, which have been sold at auctions around the world for special figures, with every euro or franc going to the charity. I have tried to list all known pieces, but if you know of others, please let me know and I will add them to this list. These watches show not only generosity to charity, but also Patek Philippe’s willingness to explore new designs and unique metals, most notably steel and titanium.
Patek Philippe began creating unique watches in 2007 for Action for Children, a Geneva-based charity whose slogan is “The first human right is the right to a childhood.” 6000T. The copy watch has since appeared at auction three times, most recently at Phillips, where it sold for $240,000. Read more here.
This exceptionally lightweight watch is one of the first known skeletonized watches made by Patek Philippe in this special alloy. This unique watch has a sapphire caseback marked “Children Action 2015” and the blue markers and blue hands on the dial make this watch distinctly different from the regular production 5396.
A unique Children Action charity watch was recently sold a few years ago. The titanium Ref. 5524T received CHF 2.3 million at an auction held by Christie’s in Geneva. Not only is the case unique, but the dial features a previously unseen brushed satin finish.