Watchlist | 10 Accessible Vintage Picks from Cartier, Rolex, Movado, and More

A TAG Heuer Formula 1 for everyone.

Good morning. In today’s packed Sunday newsletter:

• The Patek Philippe ref. 96 and the return of watches as personal expression

• Rolex patents a new (old) escapement

• A Louis Vuitton watch worthy of the Museum of Failure

• Then, behind the paywall: A stacked Watchlist—Cartier gems, my favorite budget-friendly Rolex and Universal Geneve, and tons of TAG Heuer Formula 1s.

The Unpolished archive is online and the best way to explore old newsletters. If you have the Substack app and haven’t been getting emails, you might need to change an app setting—watch my video here.

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Three Things to Know

Nouveau's Steel Patek 96 on a Gay Freres bracelet; the successor 3796 on my wrist.

The Patek Philippe 96 and the return of watches as personal expression

It’s not that anyone ever forgot about the Patek Philippe Calatrava or the 96, it’s just that we got distracted by other, bigger and shinier watches.”

I wrote a trend piece on the Patek ref. 96 for GQ, speaking to dealer Mike Nouveau and Hodinkee Japan’s Masaharu Wada. Something Masa said resonated with me:

“The diversity of variations is another key factor that makes a watch popular in Japan. This applies to the 96, just as it did to the Rolex Bubbleback.”

When watches were talked about like investments (c. 2021-2022), it was easier to treat those steel sports watches like stocks. They all kind of look the same anyway. But then the market crashed.

Now, a new scene is rising in its place—echoing the old days when collectors wanted Bubblebacks, 96s, and vintage for their uniqueness. Style is about wanting to fit in while also standing out, and watches like the 96 perfectly fit the brief of the moment.

Sure they’re also smaller, more wearable, and often, more accessible. But I’m excited about the return of watches as personal expression. Full article on GQ.

Rolex files a patent for a new (old) escapement

A new patent for Rolex.

Rolex recently filed for a patent that offers improvements to the natural escapement. Breguet invented the natural escapement in the 1700s, so named because two escape wheels deliver impulses directly to the balance.¹ Because of this, a natural escapement theoretically doesn’t need lubrication. But it also has drawbacks: it’s not super robust or compact, and hard to produce at scale (requiring more parts).

Nowadays, the natural escapement is best known in Laurent Ferrier’s Classic Micro-rotor.

So what’s Rolex’s patent? The most obvious difference between Rolex’s patent and a classic natural escapement is that it uses a lever, and impulses from the dual escape wheels are not delivered directly to the balance. Revolution has a thorough technical explanation.

Of the three inventors on the patent, one seems to be a long-time Rolex employee; the other two look to be more recent hires from Patek and Richemont.

Rolex introduced its Chronergy escapement 10 years ago, its refinement of the classic lever. But its primary issue remains: The need for lubrication (some chatter about this pertaining to 32xx calibers also came up in last week’s Q&A).

It’s probably the most common reason a watch comes in for service.

Watchmaking's Crisis – And Comeback

Of course, the patent illustrates Rolex’s never-ending pursuit of mechanical accuracy, longevity, and all that. But there’s also the practical reality: There are not enough watchmakers. Rolex recently opened a training center in Dallas to train more watchmakers.

Meanwhile, it makes sense to also invest in R&D to reduce the need for after-sales service. Sure, it makes for a better watch and client experience. But it also makes business sense.

Put it in the Museum of Failure

This week, the WSJ’s quirky A-Hed column ran a story about the Museum of Failure, dedicated to products that bombed—Segway, Crystal Pepsi, the Pontiac Aztec.

It got me thinking: What’s a watch that belongs in the Museum of Failure?

My first nomination: The Louis Vuitton Monterey.

The Monterey is in the zeitgeist, especially after Louis Vuitton used vintage Monterey IIs in its Paris fashion show to tease an upcoming limited edition.

In 1987, after Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton merged to create LVMH, Louis Vuitton explored new avenues of expression to modernize its image around travel and innovation.

Italian designer Gae Aulenti, famous for the Musée d'Orsay, suggested LV try watches. Louis Vuitton sought a Swiss collaborator, ultimately partnering with IWC's legendary Günter Blümlein to create a two-watch quartz collection:

Louis Vuitton Monterey I and II. Honestly, the I is kind of sick.

• A World Timer limited to 100 gold pieces (Monterey I)

• A ceramic alarm watch, limited to 4,000 pieces (Monterey II)

Ceramic case and quartz movement delays plagued the project. At 15,000 and 7,000 French francs, the watches were also expensive. Once delivered, customers reported all kinds of defects.

Less than a year after launch, LV pulled the Monterey collection from the market. It was a total flop, sending a young Bernard Arnault back to Paris with his tail between his legs.

The past couple of years, the Monterey has been plucked out of obscurity and transformed into the status of enigmatic icon.

P.S. The motivation for the Museum of Failure is pure, not just dunking on failure for its own sake (never fun): Innovation needs failure. All progress is built on learning from past failures and mistakes.

Let me know what watches you think belong in the Museum of Failure.

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The Watchlist

It’s been a while since we’ve done a proper Watchlist, so this week is a mega selection of 10 picks. It’s mostly accessible options from Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Rolex, Seiko, Universal Geneve, and tons of TAG Heuer Formula 1s (happy opening weekend to those who celebrate). You know the rules: low or no reserve auctions from eBay or small auctions—under the radar, in hopes of scoring a deal.