Yesterday, April 26, 2017, the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) released a white paper on “Fine Watchmaking”. In short, the white paper was created to promote what they’re calling “Fine Watchmaking”, and they defined 4 market segments and 7 areas of expertise by which 46 “independent international experts” used to judge brands against. These people make up what they’re calling the “Cultural Council”. For a watch to be qualified it must score at least 60% where 65% of the score is objective and 35% is subjective.

In total, 86 brands were judged, 68 made the cut, and only 28 were so good they became partners.

This past March there was an auction for an old Tudor Submariner. This watch is unique because it is the only reference Submariner made by either Rolex or Tudor that has a manual wound movement. The other thing that is interesting about this particular example is that it really does appear to be completely original and untouched, but also in really amazing condition. As you will see in the photos, it definitely looks old and has signs of aging, but the case is still really crisp and its original finish is mostly there, even the bezel insert wasn’t changed and the lume is still untouched.

We'll write more about Baselworld 2017 and the new watches being introduced. But for now, here is a small preview as many brands have given "sneak peeks" in various forms.

Tudor was quick introducing a Black Bay Chrono and a Black Bay Steel Date. While the Chrono was a miss, the Date and the movement inside is not.

Every year we have our "new year's resolutions", but given the holiday season has just ended, which is always filled with the standard commercialism and retail therapy, I thought it might be worthwhile to give my perspective on the subject. Specifically when we refer to a certain type of spending as "materialism" - this ties in nicely with the watch world, since 2016 was officially the worst year on record since the early 80's!

First, what is materialism?

It has now become common knowledge that this past year has been one of the worst on record for the watch industry. Data released by Bloomberg and the FHS (Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH) show that sales have dropped over 45% between 2015 and 2016, and the level of Switzerland’s watch exports dropped 11 percent during the first 10 months of the year.

I am literally beside myself when I browse around online, or happen to stumble upon conversations regarding watches by so called “experts”. The amount of junk thats out there dressed up as fact, when in reality is nothing more than some self-perpetuation prophecy designed to mold and shape public opinion in a particular direction is sickening.

It’s as if over time everything has been turned on its head. What used to be considered important is now less so and vice versa. A whole new formula has been created and passed around, which is then used by those receiving this “advice” against their own interests.

At Spazz.com we call those responsible Horological Douchebags (“HDs”). They don’t want you to think for yourself using logic, but rather they want you to trust them blindly. They’ve “been there”, so they "know of the mistakes" they don’t want you to make (wink wink).

But you still have a brain, don’t you?

It's been a while since I have posted anything, but that doesn't mean I haven't kept busy or that you haven't made inquiries. I have and you have, and thank you!

And seeing that Baselworld 2015 has ended, I figured this would be a great time to resume with actually posting something.

Actually, one of the reasons why I felt a need to post about Baselworld this year is because I need to vent my frustrations.

This year, without a doubt, the them of the show was some kind of perverse identity crisis among many brands.

Even Patek Philippe, one of my favorite brands was not immune to a certain level of "issues", who accompanied the usual suspects: Rolex, Tudor, Omega, etc.