December 9, 2025 • 18 mins
Hey Watch Fans,
We look closely at 2 Esquire Lists High-End and Low-End Lists.
Also a quick talk about the Hamilton collabortation and AVI-8
6 Men's Dive Watches You Can Buy Now for Under L500 (from tough tissot to a L63 Casio)
by Barry Samaha published Nov 21/25 at Esquire
What to Know (and want) in watches this December 2025
by Ruby Stephens Dec 2/25 at Esquire
Like WatchFanatics.ca on Facebook
Follow David @watchfanaticdavid on Instagram
AND
Please check out Carol at
IG: @spassense
We look closely at 2 Esquire Lists High-End and Low-End Lists.
Also a quick talk about the Hamilton collabortation and AVI-8
6 Men's Dive Watches You Can Buy Now for Under L500 (from tough tissot to a L63 Casio)
by Barry Samaha published Nov 21/25 at Esquire
What to Know (and want) in watches this December 2025
by Ruby Stephens Dec 2/25 at Esquire
Like WatchFanatics.ca on Facebook
Follow David @watchfanaticdavid on Instagram
AND
Please check out Carol at
IG: @spassense
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Well, you're listening to watch fanatics podcasts. Here we talk
about watches, either myself or with my two watch collecting friends. Subscribe,
like and give us a five star rating if you
feel appropriate. Enjoy the show. Hi everyone, welcome back, and
(00:27):
today I would like to talk about a few things.
I have two lists from Esquire that would be interesting
to look into. Also, I quickly want to talk about
another collaboration. Well, there's a collaboration one of the lists
in the Esquire articles, but also another collaboration with the
(00:48):
topic everyone knows I enjoy, and it's video games, and
that's with Hamilton. We'll briefly talk about what they've just done,
which takes me back to a story that I spoke
to someone that AV eight's about and the troubles they've
had with their collaborations, especially specifically video games. But let's
(01:09):
get into Esquire watch collectors. I speak for myself, of course,
we like deals and we like finding deals, not that
we ever act on them, but it's just knowing that
some of these deals out there makes this hobby accessible. Also,
as collectors, sometimes we are often asked about our recommendations,
(01:34):
and sometimes it's recommendations that have to be practical and
their recommendations that are for the general public, not fanatics
like us. So the first article I would like to
talk about is one written in November twenty one, twenty
twenty five, by Barry Samaha, and it's called six Men's
(01:57):
dive Watches you can buy now for under five hundred pounds,
from a tough Tiso to a sixty three pound Casio.
And what they do at Esquire, which they do well,
is at a price where you can purchase this watch
right now. So the very first watch is the Casio
(02:19):
stainless Steel Forts Dive and it is on a rubber strap,
has a PEPSI bezel date at three o'clock. The second
hand is red. Yeah, that shares you know, a common
DNA with all the other dive watches when we talk
(02:42):
about the dial that is. But I've seen this one
in person and I gotta say it feels like it
hits higher than sixty seven pounds. And if you're recommending
a dive watch for a beginner a diver or aquatic
sports enthusiasts, can't go wrong. Can't go wrong with this one.
(03:07):
The next watch that Squire talks about is the TIMEX
Navvy Ocean. It has a twelve hour bezel, which of
course is great for second time zones, and that has
a date window at three o'clock. White dial, black number indices,
easy to read. On the inner dial, they have the
(03:28):
twenty four hour. It's one hundred and twenty nine pounds
at times UK, so you know, depending where you are,
you convert it still under five hundred pounds. The third
watch they talk about is the Orient Mayko two dainless
steel diving watch. They found it at one hundred and
(03:51):
ninety nine pounds at Amazon. It is a coin edge bezel.
It's a black dial. The second hand is red. Accent
ours are silver and they stand out on that black
dot really well. What I like about it and what
some people will like about it, it's got a day
(04:12):
and date window at three o'clock. You know that price
one hundred and ninety nine pounds at Amazon. You got
to stain the steel bracelet, day and date function, rotating bezel.
Orient has some pedigree, so hey can't go wrong either
(04:34):
for yourself if you're looking for a deal or someone
else that's looking to get into watches. Our next watch
is the Boulevard Marine Star and it's at h Samuels
for three hundred and forty nine pounds. And I like
this because the bezel is angular, which makes it easier
(04:55):
to rotate, just slightly but still easier. The dial is
a black pattern dial, which makes the hour markers pop
even more, the hands of the watch pop even more.
So it really adds to the legibility. And it's a
name that a lot of people are familiar with, so
(05:16):
if you're recommending it to a new watch person, I'm
sure they will not be disappointed. Another name we're familiar
with is this Sistant Pro Master automatic dive watch, found
that Amazon for two hundred and fifty seven pounds. The
example they have here is a nice green dial with
(05:37):
green bezel. But what I like about sisin it has
the crown at the eight o'clock position, makes it stand
out more, makes it such a more unique time piece.
I think for some people a talking point. But you
know you're getting an automatic watch. Here, you're getting a
(05:59):
steel bracelet. The minute hand is red, the second hand
is accents red. It makes it very legible and a
little bit more functional. And then, last, but not least,
is the tso C Star one thousand Chronograph dive Watch
(06:19):
four hundred and ninety four dollars at Bloomingdale's, six hundred
and twenty five dollars at Nordstrum and four hundred and
forty nine dollars at Walmart and Tiso is synonymous with
Swiss made, so new buyers will be attracted to that,
or season collectors are also attracted to that. It has
(06:43):
the subdial at ten o'clock, two o'clock and six o'clock,
a gradient blue black dial, nice rotating bezel which is
very legible and when you're diving, that's what you want
to be legible. It's not the time, but the bezel.
(07:04):
The bezel's in the hands, so that Tisso has done
very well here. That's it, in a nutshell, six great
little intro dive watches. I think everyone can say our
value also would be great to recommend to someone new
into a hobby. The other article that I want to
(07:26):
talk about that Esquire did in Australia just came out
today December tewond by Ruby Stevens and it's titled what
to Know and Want and Watches This December twenty twenty five.
We're off the bat. There is a collaboration we should
discuss and it's their first watch, the Carrera so Tag
(07:52):
Hoyer and Hiroshi Fujiwara have collaborated again the third collaboration
for their new Career Chronograph, and it's simple elegance. It's
black dial, silver hands for the time date at twelve
(08:14):
o'clock and the sub dials at nine, three and six position.
The subdial hands are silver two. They really pop clear
case back limited to five hundred, and as a watch,
it's simple, it's elegant. The Krera tag Hoyer logo jumps out,
so there's a little bit of a flex there. For me,
(08:39):
the magic of this watch is in its bracelet. It's
their variation of Beads of Rice bracelet and it has
this black PVD center link all the way through. Very cool,
stands out. This is for me, the selling feature of
(08:59):
the watch. Go check it out online. I can't describe
this bracelet, but I think it's beautiful. It stands out
and it's not obnoxious. Their second watch in this article
is the blank Punk Grond double Sonary, and the hands
are finished in gold and they're only producing two of
(09:22):
these per year. The case itself, I'm not sure if
it's celt gold colded gold, it's rose gold skeletal dial.
The dial itself is two toned. It's really nice accents
with rose gold as well as flat black. It really
(09:43):
stands out elegant, comes on a leather strap and it
boasts that it's the first wristwatch capable of playing two
distinct melodies. The first melody the traditional Westminster chime and
here's the kicker. The second melody is a composition created
(10:05):
by Eric Singer of Kiss. And that's pretty cool. You
have not only two melodies on a watch here, but
one composed by the infamous Kiss. How crazy is that?
What the heck happened there? Blanc poonk good for you
blown away after reading that this is definitely on the dream.
(10:29):
Which gorgeous watch to go watch on YouTube? The black
ponk Grand double Sonery. You'll be amazed. The last watch
they mentioned on here is a watch from show Pard.
I'm a fan of show Pard and it's their new
luc Grand Strike. It is a white gold case. They're
(10:55):
boasting sound that's on matched. They say it's clear, bright,
and impossibly pure, and that's because they use sapphire crystal gongs.
It is a skeletal dial, so you can see the
mechanisms as it chimes, which brings me to point with
skeletal dials. Sometimes I'm not a huge fan of skeleido
(11:19):
dials because I sometimes think it's too busy and we
all know the movement of watch and clear case backs
do the same thing. But what I like about these
watches with chimes and tones and sound is that you
can see the mechanisms hammer and create that nice little chime.
(11:42):
I think when it comes to skeleidal watches, this is
a perfect application of a skeletal dial. Again, that's just me,
but that's you know. That's the two lists from Esquires.
I don't know what you want to make of it,
but I hope it helps you. I enjoy these lists,
(12:03):
I really do, and I've done a bunch with GQ,
but it's fun to play around with Esquire articles. We'll
see what happens in the near future. Which ones pop
up on my algorithm, We'll see. Before I go on
to talk about the Hamilton collaboration, I want to talk
about AV eight. I did an episode on the AV
(12:26):
eight tribute to the nineteen forty two Capcom video game.
Of course, AVI eight did a fantastic job but at
the Torono Time p show, I did speak to a
representative of AVI eight and we were talking about collaborations.
I believe they have another collaboration with nineteen forty two
coming out if it isn't out already, since I spoke
(12:49):
with them. But what I found fascinating it took them
over a year to actually produce the watch because of licensing.
The people at Capcon were worried their watch would glorify
the violence of the video game, but they had to
convince them that their company doesn't glorify violence, and that
(13:13):
they're glorifying the love for a classic arcade game. Not
only that it falls into their whole theme of watches,
which are pilot related watches or aeronautical themed watches. I
found that funny because video games did get dealt bad
(13:33):
press in the eighties because of violence, but it's clearly
not here in the AV eight watch. But I'm surprised
forty years later that video games are still worried about
the image of being too violent, or at least some video games.
There are some video games that embrace the violence, embrace combat,
(13:56):
and maybe saying that, we segue into the Hamilton collaboration
and Hamilton has collaborated with Call of Duty. I like Hamilton.
I don't have a Hamilton. I've always thought i'd get
a Hamilton Ventura, but my nephew got one, and I
(14:16):
don't want the same watch as he does, so I
might have to look for a different Hamilton altogether. This
might be the watch. Who knows Hamilton do amazing collaborations.
In my opinion, famous ones and their presence in Hollywood
in media, I think is unmatched. Another franchise, Call of Duty,
(14:40):
which I'm very impressed with. They do many collaborations and
they've been around for a very long time. You know.
The one that jumps out is they had a Call
of Duty Jeep collaboration and that created quite a buzz
with video game and Jeep enthusiasts. And here Call of
(15:01):
Duty has collaborated with Hamilton. Now it is a Khaki
Field automatic watch, thirty eight millimeters, black dial, stainless steel case,
red accent on the second hand a date window at
three o'clock. It has the H ten automatic movement, eighty
(15:25):
hours power reserve, and it's limited to five thousand pieces.
Now what makes this special is the case back is
engraved with the Call of Duty insignia, which if you're
a fan of the game, very cool. It's packaged uniquely too.
(15:45):
It's coming in a weather proof case, which is similar
you see in gun cases or high end photography cases.
And being Hamilton and the field Watch, they use the
Nivopron balanced spring, which is an alloy used to produce
balanced springs to resist magnetic fields. Right, it's not just
(16:09):
simply field watches that this is an actual field watch
that you can use with accuracy. And the strap is
an army green canvas. I mean ninety dollars and this
is Canadian. I would prefer better strap option, but being
(16:31):
called of Duty and field Watch, the military green is appropriate.
This is a video game that I've lost many hours
to when I stopped playing because it was such a
huge time suck. But if I were playing, and if
(16:52):
I were to start to play again, I would definitely
buy this watch. They are still in stock at Hamilton,
but don't be surprised if it disappears quickly over the
holiday season. And I say that because I drive a
Jeep and I was looking at a Call of Duty jeep.
(17:13):
I mean I waited too long and it's sold out
right away, so I missed my window there. But they're
also very hard to find on the used market. So
I imagine if you have a watch like this, you're gonna
want to keep because your love for Hamilton or the game,
but it's going to be hard to find on secondary
(17:35):
market because most of these people who do buy it
love the game, love the watch, and they're gonna hold
on to it. They're not gonna flip it. You might
have some flippers out there, but I mean, you're not
going to get at the price of one and ninety dollars.
It's going to be much more higher. So my recommendation
(17:59):
is if you want it, get it now. It might
not be in stock for very long and it'll be
hard to find at a reasonable price in the used market.
I'm so happy Hamilton did this, but at the same time,
I wish they didn't because now it's just another watch
(18:19):
I want to buy. And for those who don't like
video games, I'm sorry. I always take it here. I
hope your day goes well. We'll talk soon. That's it
for now. Have a good day.
Well, you're listening to watch fanatics podcasts. Here we talk
about watches, either myself or with my two watch collecting friends. Subscribe,
like and give us a five star rating if you
feel appropriate. Enjoy the show. Hi everyone, welcome back, and
(00:27):
today I would like to talk about a few things.
I have two lists from Esquire that would be interesting
to look into. Also, I quickly want to talk about
another collaboration. Well, there's a collaboration one of the lists
in the Esquire articles, but also another collaboration with the
(00:48):
topic everyone knows I enjoy, and it's video games, and
that's with Hamilton. We'll briefly talk about what they've just done,
which takes me back to a story that I spoke
to someone that AV eight's about and the troubles they've
had with their collaborations, especially specifically video games. But let's
(01:09):
get into Esquire watch collectors. I speak for myself, of course,
we like deals and we like finding deals, not that
we ever act on them, but it's just knowing that
some of these deals out there makes this hobby accessible. Also,
as collectors, sometimes we are often asked about our recommendations,
(01:34):
and sometimes it's recommendations that have to be practical and
their recommendations that are for the general public, not fanatics
like us. So the first article I would like to
talk about is one written in November twenty one, twenty
twenty five, by Barry Samaha, and it's called six Men's
(01:57):
dive Watches you can buy now for under five hundred pounds,
from a tough Tiso to a sixty three pound Casio.
And what they do at Esquire, which they do well,
is at a price where you can purchase this watch
right now. So the very first watch is the Casio
(02:19):
stainless Steel Forts Dive and it is on a rubber strap,
has a PEPSI bezel date at three o'clock. The second
hand is red. Yeah, that shares you know, a common
DNA with all the other dive watches when we talk
(02:42):
about the dial that is. But I've seen this one
in person and I gotta say it feels like it
hits higher than sixty seven pounds. And if you're recommending
a dive watch for a beginner a diver or aquatic
sports enthusiasts, can't go wrong. Can't go wrong with this one.
(03:07):
The next watch that Squire talks about is the TIMEX
Navvy Ocean. It has a twelve hour bezel, which of
course is great for second time zones, and that has
a date window at three o'clock. White dial, black number indices,
easy to read. On the inner dial, they have the
(03:28):
twenty four hour. It's one hundred and twenty nine pounds
at times UK, so you know, depending where you are,
you convert it still under five hundred pounds. The third
watch they talk about is the Orient Mayko two dainless
steel diving watch. They found it at one hundred and
(03:51):
ninety nine pounds at Amazon. It is a coin edge bezel.
It's a black dial. The second hand is red. Accent
ours are silver and they stand out on that black
dot really well. What I like about it and what
some people will like about it, it's got a day
(04:12):
and date window at three o'clock. You know that price
one hundred and ninety nine pounds at Amazon. You got
to stain the steel bracelet, day and date function, rotating bezel.
Orient has some pedigree, so hey can't go wrong either
(04:34):
for yourself if you're looking for a deal or someone
else that's looking to get into watches. Our next watch
is the Boulevard Marine Star and it's at h Samuels
for three hundred and forty nine pounds. And I like
this because the bezel is angular, which makes it easier
(04:55):
to rotate, just slightly but still easier. The dial is
a black pattern dial, which makes the hour markers pop
even more, the hands of the watch pop even more.
So it really adds to the legibility. And it's a
name that a lot of people are familiar with, so
(05:16):
if you're recommending it to a new watch person, I'm
sure they will not be disappointed. Another name we're familiar
with is this Sistant Pro Master automatic dive watch, found
that Amazon for two hundred and fifty seven pounds. The
example they have here is a nice green dial with
(05:37):
green bezel. But what I like about sisin it has
the crown at the eight o'clock position, makes it stand
out more, makes it such a more unique time piece.
I think for some people a talking point. But you
know you're getting an automatic watch. Here, you're getting a
(05:59):
steel bracelet. The minute hand is red, the second hand
is accents red. It makes it very legible and a
little bit more functional. And then, last, but not least,
is the tso C Star one thousand Chronograph dive Watch
(06:19):
four hundred and ninety four dollars at Bloomingdale's, six hundred
and twenty five dollars at Nordstrum and four hundred and
forty nine dollars at Walmart and Tiso is synonymous with
Swiss made, so new buyers will be attracted to that,
or season collectors are also attracted to that. It has
(06:43):
the subdial at ten o'clock, two o'clock and six o'clock,
a gradient blue black dial, nice rotating bezel which is
very legible and when you're diving, that's what you want
to be legible. It's not the time, but the bezel.
(07:04):
The bezel's in the hands, so that Tisso has done
very well here. That's it, in a nutshell, six great
little intro dive watches. I think everyone can say our
value also would be great to recommend to someone new
into a hobby. The other article that I want to
(07:26):
talk about that Esquire did in Australia just came out
today December tewond by Ruby Stevens and it's titled what
to Know and Want and Watches This December twenty twenty five.
We're off the bat. There is a collaboration we should
discuss and it's their first watch, the Carrera so Tag
(07:52):
Hoyer and Hiroshi Fujiwara have collaborated again the third collaboration
for their new Career Chronograph, and it's simple elegance. It's
black dial, silver hands for the time date at twelve
(08:14):
o'clock and the sub dials at nine, three and six position.
The subdial hands are silver two. They really pop clear
case back limited to five hundred, and as a watch,
it's simple, it's elegant. The Krera tag Hoyer logo jumps out,
so there's a little bit of a flex there. For me,
(08:39):
the magic of this watch is in its bracelet. It's
their variation of Beads of Rice bracelet and it has
this black PVD center link all the way through. Very cool,
stands out. This is for me, the selling feature of
(08:59):
the watch. Go check it out online. I can't describe
this bracelet, but I think it's beautiful. It stands out
and it's not obnoxious. Their second watch in this article
is the blank Punk Grond double Sonary, and the hands
are finished in gold and they're only producing two of
(09:22):
these per year. The case itself, I'm not sure if
it's celt gold colded gold, it's rose gold skeletal dial.
The dial itself is two toned. It's really nice accents
with rose gold as well as flat black. It really
(09:43):
stands out elegant, comes on a leather strap and it
boasts that it's the first wristwatch capable of playing two
distinct melodies. The first melody the traditional Westminster chime and
here's the kicker. The second melody is a composition created
(10:05):
by Eric Singer of Kiss. And that's pretty cool. You
have not only two melodies on a watch here, but
one composed by the infamous Kiss. How crazy is that?
What the heck happened there? Blanc poonk good for you
blown away after reading that this is definitely on the dream.
(10:29):
Which gorgeous watch to go watch on YouTube? The black
ponk Grand double Sonery. You'll be amazed. The last watch
they mentioned on here is a watch from show Pard.
I'm a fan of show Pard and it's their new
luc Grand Strike. It is a white gold case. They're
(10:55):
boasting sound that's on matched. They say it's clear, bright,
and impossibly pure, and that's because they use sapphire crystal gongs.
It is a skeletal dial, so you can see the
mechanisms as it chimes, which brings me to point with
skeletal dials. Sometimes I'm not a huge fan of skeleido
(11:19):
dials because I sometimes think it's too busy and we
all know the movement of watch and clear case backs
do the same thing. But what I like about these
watches with chimes and tones and sound is that you
can see the mechanisms hammer and create that nice little chime.
(11:42):
I think when it comes to skeleidal watches, this is
a perfect application of a skeletal dial. Again, that's just me,
but that's you know. That's the two lists from Esquires.
I don't know what you want to make of it,
but I hope it helps you. I enjoy these lists,
(12:03):
I really do, and I've done a bunch with GQ,
but it's fun to play around with Esquire articles. We'll
see what happens in the near future. Which ones pop
up on my algorithm, We'll see. Before I go on
to talk about the Hamilton collaboration, I want to talk
about AV eight. I did an episode on the AV
(12:26):
eight tribute to the nineteen forty two Capcom video game.
Of course, AVI eight did a fantastic job but at
the Torono Time p show, I did speak to a
representative of AVI eight and we were talking about collaborations.
I believe they have another collaboration with nineteen forty two
coming out if it isn't out already, since I spoke
(12:49):
with them. But what I found fascinating it took them
over a year to actually produce the watch because of licensing.
The people at Capcon were worried their watch would glorify
the violence of the video game, but they had to
convince them that their company doesn't glorify violence, and that
(13:13):
they're glorifying the love for a classic arcade game. Not
only that it falls into their whole theme of watches,
which are pilot related watches or aeronautical themed watches. I
found that funny because video games did get dealt bad
(13:33):
press in the eighties because of violence, but it's clearly
not here in the AV eight watch. But I'm surprised
forty years later that video games are still worried about
the image of being too violent, or at least some video games.
There are some video games that embrace the violence, embrace combat,
(13:56):
and maybe saying that, we segue into the Hamilton collaboration
and Hamilton has collaborated with Call of Duty. I like Hamilton.
I don't have a Hamilton. I've always thought i'd get
a Hamilton Ventura, but my nephew got one, and I
(14:16):
don't want the same watch as he does, so I
might have to look for a different Hamilton altogether. This
might be the watch. Who knows Hamilton do amazing collaborations.
In my opinion, famous ones and their presence in Hollywood
in media, I think is unmatched. Another franchise, Call of Duty,
(14:40):
which I'm very impressed with. They do many collaborations and
they've been around for a very long time. You know.
The one that jumps out is they had a Call
of Duty Jeep collaboration and that created quite a buzz
with video game and Jeep enthusiasts. And here Call of
(15:01):
Duty has collaborated with Hamilton. Now it is a Khaki
Field automatic watch, thirty eight millimeters, black dial, stainless steel case,
red accent on the second hand a date window at
three o'clock. It has the H ten automatic movement, eighty
(15:25):
hours power reserve, and it's limited to five thousand pieces.
Now what makes this special is the case back is
engraved with the Call of Duty insignia, which if you're
a fan of the game, very cool. It's packaged uniquely too.
(15:45):
It's coming in a weather proof case, which is similar
you see in gun cases or high end photography cases.
And being Hamilton and the field Watch, they use the
Nivopron balanced spring, which is an alloy used to produce
balanced springs to resist magnetic fields. Right, it's not just
(16:09):
simply field watches that this is an actual field watch
that you can use with accuracy. And the strap is
an army green canvas. I mean ninety dollars and this
is Canadian. I would prefer better strap option, but being
(16:31):
called of Duty and field Watch, the military green is appropriate.
This is a video game that I've lost many hours
to when I stopped playing because it was such a
huge time suck. But if I were playing, and if
(16:52):
I were to start to play again, I would definitely
buy this watch. They are still in stock at Hamilton,
but don't be surprised if it disappears quickly over the
holiday season. And I say that because I drive a
Jeep and I was looking at a Call of Duty jeep.
(17:13):
I mean I waited too long and it's sold out
right away, so I missed my window there. But they're
also very hard to find on the used market. So
I imagine if you have a watch like this, you're gonna
want to keep because your love for Hamilton or the game,
but it's going to be hard to find on secondary
(17:35):
market because most of these people who do buy it
love the game, love the watch, and they're gonna hold
on to it. They're not gonna flip it. You might
have some flippers out there, but I mean, you're not
going to get at the price of one and ninety dollars.
It's going to be much more higher. So my recommendation
(17:59):
is if you want it, get it now. It might
not be in stock for very long and it'll be
hard to find at a reasonable price in the used market.
I'm so happy Hamilton did this, but at the same time,
I wish they didn't because now it's just another watch
(18:19):
I want to buy. And for those who don't like
video games, I'm sorry. I always take it here. I
hope your day goes well. We'll talk soon. That's it
for now. Have a good day.
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