Insights E22 - The Enduring Allure of Luminescence

FromBeyond The Dial

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Insights E22 - The Enduring Allure of Luminescence

FromBeyond The Dial

ratings:

Length:

64 minutes

Released:

Apr 16, 2021

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

In this essay-style episode, Allen takes a journey through the history of glow-in-the-dark materials, drawing a personal narrative spanning five decades alongside a technological and psycho-evolutionary analysis of luminescence.

Released:

Apr 16, 2021

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (77)

A podcast about watches, how they work, and why they fascinate us.

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Insights E1 - Academic Perspectives on Watches: Host Allen Farmelo discusses various conceptual frameworks that we can use in attempting to understand watches. These include a mechanical perspective, cultural, social, historical, design, phenomenological, and (out on a limb here) New Age. This... by Beyond The Dial
50 min listen
Conversations E1 - Oren Hartov, Expert on IDF Watches: In this episode, Allen talks with Watch Desk Editor at Gear Patrol Magazine, Oren Hartov. They discuss the ins and outs of working in a bustling news room, the history of Israeli military watches, escaping the Nazis, making music, and a number of... by Beyond The Dial
64 min listen
Welcome to Beyond The Dial: Your host Allen Farmelo says hello and gives a short introduction and guide to Beyond The Dial. by Beyond The Dial
4 min listen
Conversations E3 - Demystifying Watch Service (with Steve Kivel): Grand Central Watch's 3rd generation leader, Steve Kivel, has turned his family's business into a high-tech service center with seven full-time watchmakers working full-time in a brand new state of the art facility. Allen and Steve sit down to discuss... by Beyond The Dial
55 min listen
Insights E5 - "Tool" Being the Operative Word: When watches are truly designed as tools and do their job without kowtowing to fashion trends, our aesthetically fussy attitudes can give way to a far more grounded affection for the designs. Many watches, old and new, are considered from this... by Beyond The Dial
52 min listen
Insights E4 - The End of 'Microbrands': Allen goes after the notion of "microbrands" and calls for a change of thinking around the role of independent watch brands of all sizes. He discusses independent record labels as an analogous notion, gets into the importance of regionalism and... by Beyond The Dial
57 min listen
Conversations E6 - Getting Funky With H. Moser Watches CEO Edouard Meylan: Allen sits down with Edouard Maylan, CEO of H. Moser Watches for a candid conversation about how this historically significant Swiss watch brand has become one of the most pioneering watch houses operating today. The watches are avant-garde, but they... by Beyond The Dial
51 min listen
Conversations E4 - Gary Shteyngart on Watches as Literary Devices: Allen sits down with best selling novelist Gary Shteyngart to talk about how watches have figured into Gary's writing. From his New Yorker article called "Confessions of a Watch Geek" to his novel Lake Success Gary has used watches as literary... by Beyond The Dial
64 min listen
Insights E3 - Just a Rolex Datejust for a Month: In Episode 4, Allen is visited by a fox while record his account of a one-watch experiment. Unexpected results include feeling great about the one watch even though his time in it was hellish, and realizing that his personal collecting habits need to... by Beyond The Dial
45 min listen
Insights E7 - Apocalypse Later: Zen Dystopias & The Apple Watch: Why do mechanical watches seem so calming and down to earth? Why does the Apple Watch seem so intrusive? In this episode, we travel in time to consider old and new technologies up against each other, and how a mechanical watch once felt oppressive,... by Beyond The Dial
39 min listen
Insights E2 - Why Watch Diameter and Wrist Circumference Don't Matter: Allen ponders how watch diameter and wrist circumference became the main measurements of watches when, in fact, those two dimensions hardly matter when it comes to how a watch works on your wrist. He recommends a few different strategies for... by Beyond The Dial
39 min listen
Insights E8 - Embracing Mortality With A Grand Seiko: Allen's birthday watch is a Grand Seiko Limited Edition SGBH269, a watch that explores the turning of the seasons from Spring to Fall, just as Allen is turning to the autumn of his life. This episode is a meditation on mortality, nature, dying,... by Beyond The Dial
51 min listen
Insights E6 - "Women's Watches Suck," a man said.: A colleague once told Allen that women's watches don't get as much coverage because, "Women's watches suck." Let's complicate the topic of gendered watches, and let's get past some of our ingrained attitudes about what makes a watch right for a man or... by Beyond The Dial
57 min listen
Conversations E5 - Longines CEO on Busting Bandits, Closing The In-House Manufacture, & His Journey From Exile to Executive: Allen sits down with Longines' CEO Walter von Känel for a candid interview about the struggle against counterfeiters, dealing with the gray market, closing the in-house manufacture and adopting ETA, as well as Mr. von Känel's personal journey from... by Beyond The Dial
34 min listen
Insights E9 - Whiskey, Weed & Watches: How do booze and pot affect your perception of time? Your sense perceptions? Your impulsivity? Find out as your host, Allen, brings his personal experiences up alongside phenomenology and medical research to form a theory of how... by Beyond The Dial
45 min listen
Field Reports E2 - Ferraris, Ducatis & Hublots in Tuscany by Beyond The Dial
53 min listen
Insights E12 - How to Pick Out Watches You'll Keep Forever: If you're flipping watches constantly and wondering how to slow that down, Allen's got a method for picking out keepers and avoiding flippers. The method grew out of a talk Allen gave at a Gear Patrol event about creating the perfect three-watch... by Beyond The Dial
61 min listen
Conversations E7 - Vintage Seiko Expert David Flett: Allen sits down with vintage Seiko expert David Flett for a highly informative dive into this snarly, but wonderful, collecting category. Whether you're looking to build a massive collection of old Seikos or want to snatch up your first vintage... by Beyond The Dial
82 min listen
Insights E13 - How a Watch's Design Affects Our Perception of Time: Allen takes a deep dive into the phenomenological perspective and clarifies how it can actually operate as a way to examine watches by performing subjective reports on four watches, a Nomos Club, a vintage Seiko Weekdater, an Aquadive Bathescaphe, and... by Beyond The Dial
71 min listen
Conversations E2 - Badass Tool Watches on Badass Women (w Cait Bazemore): Allen's colleague Cait Bazemore comes on for a lively discussion of the emerging trend of women wearing more complex mechanical tool watches, and how the watch industry is shedding it's old-school attitudes toward so-called lady's watches. From Serena... by Beyond The Dial
63 min listen
Field Reports E1 - Press Trippin' With Longines: Allen's account of his trip to the Longines factory in Switzerland starts with an explanation of how one ends up on such a trip in the first place. He then recounts hanging with Longines' CEO Walter von Känel (a.k.a. The Chef), a dream like factory... by Beyond The Dial
52 min listen
Insights E16 - Spiritual Materialism: How Watches Take On Significance and Meaning: On the surface, owning a watch isn't a complex thing. Dig a little deeper into our motives for owning any given watch, and things get complicated fast. Allen explores the mental gymnastics involved in picking out your next watch, and he explores... by Beyond The Dial
79 min listen
Insights E10 - The Omega Cal 321 & The Quest for Authenticity: Why are we so excited about a recreation of a vintage movement like the Omega 321? Has digital social media and the ensuing crisis of truth prompted some of us to seek analog expressions of our authentic selves? Can a mechanical watch help us maintain... by Beyond The Dial
42 min listen
Conversations E13 - Defending NASA & The Omega Speedmaster (w Greg Bedrosian): Greg knows his Star Wars, Speedmasters and NASA history inside out. Greg's rebuttal to Allen's deconstruction of "Grand American Space Narratives" via the Swiss watch industry opens up new ways of thinking about the Omega Speedmaster, humanity's role... by Beyond The Dial
66 min listen
Insights E11 - Horological Polygamy & The Unholy Trinity: Have you tried to settle in on just one or a few watches and find yourself bored? Are you more interested in the hunt for the new timepiece than in a long-term relationship? Allen confesses to growing bored with his carefully curated 3-watch... by Beyond The Dial
35 min listen
Conversations E9 - Pedro Mendes on Watches, Wardrobe & The Aesthetic Revolution: Men's style writer and historian, Pedro Mendes, talks with Allen about watches, men's style, environmentalism, racial tension, gender, and so much more. You'll also get some amazing leads on where to look for your next bit of lifetime-lasting tailored... by Beyond The Dial
75 min listen
Conversations E8 - ORIS Deep Dive with VJ Geronimo: N. American CEO of ORIS Watches, VJ Geronimo, visits Allen at BTD HQ for a spirited discussion about the history of Oris, the company's environmental conservation efforts, the new Divers 65 made in collaboration with Japan's Momotaro Jeans...and much... by Beyond The Dial
69 min listen
Field Reports 6 - Mission Lake George (Allen Reflects on a Successful Mission): With the diving behind them, the BTD Crew that dove Lake George is unpacking both their gear and their thoughts about the experience. Allen reads an essay he wrote about SCUBA diving in search of outbreaks of the invasive species Eurasian Milfoil, and... by Beyond The Dial
51 min listen
Conversations E10 - Coral Restoration Foundation's Martha Roesler on Reviving The Carysfort Reef: Allen's interview with Martha Roesler of The Coral Restoration Foundation covers the science of reefs, how recreational SCUBA divers can help them, how Oris has been supporting the CRF, and much more. Allen revamps his call to listeners to come... by Beyond The Dial
57 min listen
Insights E18 - Divergent Aesthetic Arrows & Sub-Cultural Tribalism: Why do we focus on having just one personal style? Why do we fracture our communities endlessly into smaller and smaller tribes? How do our personal aesthetics signal tribal membership? Why is carbon fiber so divisive among watch wonks? Allen ponders... by Beyond The Dial
64 min listen
$Insights E18 - Divergent Aesthetic Arrows & Sub-Cultural Tribalism: Why do we focus on having just one personal style? Why do we fracture our communities endlessly into smaller and smaller tribes? How do our personal aesthetics signal tribal membership? Why is carbon fiber so divisive among watch wonks? Allen ponders...$

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Through The Looking Glass - On Watches & Philosophy (The Final Episode): Farewell, and thank you all for listening. The Aesthetic Revolution Will Be Beautiful! by Beyond The Dial
123 min listen
Conversations - E19 - Rikki from Scottish Watches: Allen and Rikki lament and celebrate the current world of watches in equal measure, covering the rise of fashion and red-carpet nonsense to the role of modern materials in high horlogy. by Beyond The Dial
64 min listen
I Fell Into The Rolex Black Hole: Allen could no longer resist the forces of gravity at the center of the horological universe, and now he is broadcasting from the within the Rolex Black Hole. He has sold off swaths of his collection and aquired two five-digit Rollies. An unexpected... by Beyond The Dial
48 min listen
SWATCH's BIOCERAMIC - THE UNVARNISH FACTS (AND OPINIONS): Is SWATCH's BIOCERAMIC anything more than a petroleum-based plastic? Find out in this episode as Allen shares his investigation into this divisive material, its history, its current context, its chemical makeup, and even an email about it from a... by Beyond The Dial
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Insights E35 - How "In-House" Obscures The Quality of Movements (& Insults Our Intelligence): A watch movement made to exacting standards by a robot on Mars working for a third-party alien corporation might turn out beautiful, precise, complicated and fascinating. Barring production on a more distant planet, no movement could be further from... by Beyond The Dial
21 min listen
Insights E34 - For Exhibition Only - Rolex Without Watches: Has Rolex evolved into a brand that's For Exhibition Only" And what if Rolex no longer made physical watches? Could this be the future of global luxury brands in the centuries to come? by Beyond The Dial
24 min listen
Field Reports E9 - Bremont's Authenticity Soars In An Old Plane: Allen went to the UK for the launch of Bremont's first serially produced watches with their in-house movement, but what Allen got was a ride in an old plane that showed him the unique authenticity at the center of the brand set on reviving British... by Beyond The Dial
61 min listen
Conversations E18 - Walt Odets On His Five Favorite Watches: Walt has some very classy timepieces, all of a type: smaller, understated, and often highly complicated. Allen and Walt talk through five of Walt's most favorite watches, plus a sixth that came to Walt as a very pleasant surprise. by Beyond The Dial
72 min listen
Insights E33- From Horological Silence Into The Noisy Watch Space - A Personal History of Watch Collecting (1990-2020): In this essay-style episode, Allen drags the historical lens across the watch space from 1990-2020, showing how what was once a lonely nerd's hobby grew into a fashionable social activity. by Beyond The Dial
37 min listen
Insights E32 - A Tentative Critique of the Post-Pandemic Watch Culture: In this insight essay, Allen admits to feeling a little disillusioned with the broader watch culture and tried to identify why it feels different to him since COVID pandemic lockdowns and the rapid expansion of interest in watches. Special interest is... by Beyond The Dial
19 min listen
Insights E31 - Iteration Inundation - The Endless Stream of New(s) Watches: It's gotten overwhelming, all the new releases. Allen talks about how the digital medial environment, including the socials, has put undue stress on watch brands to always be releasing something new. and he has some ideas for how to deal with it. by Beyond The Dial
36 min listen
How Watches Work E6 - Complicated Chronographs - Flybacks, Split-Seconds, Ultra-Fast, & More: David takes Allen deeper into the world of mechanical chronographs, covering all the major complications from early flybacks to the latest in mechanical chronograph technology. by Beyond The Dial
56 min listen
How Watches Work E5 - Understanding Mechanical Chronographs: David takes Allen inside the fascinating world of mechanical chronographs, and Allen finally "gets it." Vertical vs. horizontal clutches, column wheel vs. cam actuators, reset functions, and much more are covered here, leaving the listener with... by Beyond The Dial
65 min listen
Insights E30 - "In-House" - How An Overused Term Lost Its Meaning & How To Fix It: Allen expands on his written essay on this always confusing and sometimes contentious topic. "In-House" refers to a movement built....Where exactly? By whom? It's hard to know anymore because brands have use the term in marketing so loosely that no... by Beyond The Dial
44 min listen
Insights E29 - The Watch Collector / Enthusiast Dichotomy & Its Discontents: Allen upends our current way of diving up the watch community into collectors, enthusiasts and consumers and suggests that we'd be far better off describing different levels of horological experience. Not to be missed for the die-hards, in this... by Beyond The Dial
44 min listen
Conversations E17 - Bulova's 20th Century Mechanical Prowess (w Michael Benavente and Colin de Tonnac): Allen speaks with Michael Benavente of Bulova and Colin de Tonnac of Semper & Adhuc about the history of Bulova as a mechanical watchmaker. There's a lot to learn here. For example, did you know that Bulova once employed more Swiss mechanical... by Beyond The Dial
62 min listen
How Watches Work E4 - Servicing Mechanical Movements: David and Allen walk through the sometimes dubious topic of having your mechanical watch serviced. David explains how it all has to happen as Allen warns of scammers and how to beat them. You'll learn about timegrapher results, especially amplitude,... by Beyond The Dial
57 min listen
How Watches Work E3 - Movements As Torque Managers: David Flett schools Allen about what torque is and how it operates and is managed within a watch movement. Philosophical ponderance eventually finds its way, of course, but applied physics to horology remains the main story here. by Beyond The Dial
71 min listen
How Watches Work E2 - Gears & The Going Train: In this second installment of the How They Work series, David Flett joins Allen and leads him through the gears that make your mechanical watches work, generally known as "the going train." By the end they've imagined complications that track time on... by Beyond The Dial
63 min listen
Insights E28 - Quantum Leaps in Collecting Watches: Allen explores his new directions for his own budding collection of Vacheron Constantin watches, centering on a near disaster of a purchase due to his unbridled impetuousness. Two friends saved him from repeating past mistakes. by Beyond The Dial
43 min listen
Insights E28 - Falling Back In Love With Vacheron Constantin: Allen sold his 50th Birthday Grand Seiko, and now he's run out and bought a sweet 33mm platinum 1984 Vacheron Constantin Historique and a Unimatic U4, which he feels embodies Milanese Brutalism. Find out why he's in The Horological Flow State. by Beyond The Dial
53 min listen
Insights E27 - Why I Sold My 50th Birthday Grand Seiko At Age 51: Allen explores his decision to sell his BIG 50th BIRTHDAY WATCH just one year later. This one is all about aligning one's true passion with one's budget, or lack thereof. And Allen explores how modern watch marketing can come between an owner and his... by Beyond The Dial
63 min listen
Field Reports E8 - The Alsta x BTD Motoscaphe 120: Allen goes into the ideas behind the Alsta Motoscaphe 120, one of a very few purpose built motorcycling watches. Not branded to match this or that bike, nor just a clever facelift, the Motoscaphe 120 is the culmination of Allen spending the last 30... by Beyond The Dial
63 min listen
Insights E26 - Eccentricity, Ostentation, Wealth & Watches: Why do the rich get away with all kinds of bizarre quirky behavior while the rest of us are made to look silly when we express our little kinks? The answer is complicated, and when we bring watches into the picture, it only gets more... by Beyond The Dial
42 min listen
Conversations E16 - Walt Odets, The Original Watch Blogger: Walt Odets is, by most accounts, the first person to blog about watches, thus creating a template for how watch journalism evolved over the past 20 years. His work, however, never resembled modern watch journalism; his was critical, mechanically... by Beyond The Dial
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Insights E25 - Horological Hedonism & The Aesthetic Revolution by Beyond The Dial
43 min listen
Insights E24 - Large Watches - A Case Study Featuring the Moser Pioneer Centre Seconds Limited Edition in Mad Red: Allen breaks form on his approach to the hands-on review while exploring how Moser creates what is, in his opinion, one of the most beautiful watches currently being produced. by Beyond The Dial
33 min listen
Insights E23 - Rolex vs. Gen X: Can irony reconcile the cynical Gen X world view with a luxury hobby? Does the Swiss watch industry sell us "Vintage Nationalism" along with our watches? Did Jean-Claude Biver leverage anti-establishment tendencies with his anti-electronic rhetoric of... by Beyond The Dial
45 min listen
Conversations E15 - From Singapore to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, New York, London & Beyond (w LungLung & Dainel of The Waiting List): Daniel and Lung Lung from The Waiting List podcast join Allen and James for a 2-hour conversation about how unique regional cultural experiences shape our attitudes toward watches and each other. Expect a lot of laughter and surprises as... by Beyond The Dial
135 min listen
Conversations E14 - Ducatis, Watches & Espresso Machines (with Jon Ferrer of Brew Watches): Allen and Jon both ride Ducati Panigale V2s, and therefore have much to talk about. But they don't talk all that much about motorcycles, instead focusing on Jon's family's history at Cartier and Tiffany, Italian espresso machines, and the indie watch... by Beyond The Dial
105 min listen

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Insights E22 - The Enduring Allure of Luminescence

Insights E22 - The Enduring Allure of Luminescence

Description

Titles in the series (77)

More Episodes from Beyond The Dial