Oh, my God. It is so heavy.
It, it's a heavy one.
Oh, my.
I will not wear this while I'm getting on the scale.
Let's get into it.
Welcome to Three on Three.
Thank you both so much for being here.
I'm Nora Taylor, deputy editor of Hodinkee.
Tell us who you are.
I'm Brynn Wallner.
I'm the founder of Dimepiece, a platform dedicated to all things women and watches.
I'm Malaika Crawford.
I'm a stylist and jewelry and watch editor of Highsnobiety.
So for this Three on Three, we are talking watches that mean success --
the watch that we'll get when we feel like we've made it in our career, when we are,
you know, the best versions of ourselves --
the watch that really makes you feel like you did it.
So, Brynn, what is your success watch?
My success is a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse, reference 3546.
It's 18 karat gold all the way; 18 karat gold case, 18 karat gold dial.
It does have black Roman numerals which, usually, the ellipse doesn't have Roman numerals.
And yeah, it has the Calatrava cross stamped on the crown, which is really nice.
It's on a Hodinkee leather strap.
Oooh.
Do you know what the color is called, of the strap?
Tell me.
The scorpion.
Oooh.
Scorpio prevails.
Yeah.
As always.
Wait, what's your sign?
Scorpio. Yeah.
Oooh.
And what's yours?
The crowd goes-
The crowd goes wild!
We gotta go...
I'm a Taurus.
Got it, makes sense.
Oh right, we've talked about this.
You're both Taurus?
Mhm. And Scorpios are the opposite.
But I'm outnumbered. I'm outnumbered.
No, no, no. It's good.
Are we compatible?
Mhm.
Cool.
Yes. You're in a Taurus sandwich right now.
- Lucky you. - Woo!
I feel like this is the first time that there has been astrology talk on Hodinkee.
(laughing) Yes!
- We're breaking all sorts of barriers today. - Breaking all the barriers!
Welcome to history.
I brought a 2018 Santos de Cartier.
Everything's 18 karat yellow.
We've got the trademark of the Santos -- it's eight screws,
and it's echoed in that metallic bracelet.
What's different about this 2018 Santos is that the bezel isn't just like, screwed on
to the case.
It kind of like has this cool shape where it slopes down into the lug so that it looks
more like an integrated bracelet.
So it's kind of a little curvier.
We've got a nice clean white dial.
The traditional Cartier Roman numerals, the train track minutes; it's very, very classic.
And then we've got the, like, offset of the polished bezel with the brushed gold on the case.
Excellent.
And I am also entering the boardroom with my Vacheron Constantin Patrimony --
blue dial, blue strap, rose gold, 36 millimeter, the Maltese cross in rose gold.
One thing I love about it as I think it's only eight millimeters thick
and then with the open case back with the movement that you can see.
No numerals, these beautiful rounded minute markers which are really nice.
And then, just the tiniest of date apertures at the bottom.
I could stare at it and just kind of zone out.
I think we're all just totally in love with our own watches.
It's like a love story.
What about the way that your watch looks or feels or the vibe that you get says success
to you?
Brynn, how did you land on the ellipse?
I kind of was drawn in initially by the shape.
In 1968 when Patek Philippe designed this watch, the quartz revolution was looming and they knew
that they had to differentiate themselves.
It's considered an art object as well as a watch and I mean, that artistry really comes
from the fact that
it is designed with the divine proportion in mind, the golden ratio.
This is an ancient Greek thing, but we see it in art, we see it in nature -- immediately,
you're struck by the beauty of it.
This is not a traditional ellipse.
The lugs are visible and in a classic ellipse the lugs are actually hidden,
but with the lugs, you can interchange the straps really easily.
So if I'm working, I'm typing away, you know, things get worn down
and I want something that's like, you know, easy to kind of live with.
This watch I feel like really kind of, you know, embodies that sense, that independence,
that-
I like, the fact that it's not so expensive.
I think this retails around $7,500.
Like, this is totally something I could buy on my own and wear every day and feel really
confident and secure in it to reflect kind of the mood of my work.
Speaking of typing away and inconvenience...
(laughing)
This is like the acrylic nail-
This is the acrylic nail of watches.
This is quite literally the Wall Street watch.
I don't know if anyone here has seen that movie.
Gordon Gekko.
Greed is good, yeah.
And I did not pick this watch thinking about that reference.
But for me, the overall aesthetic that I'm drawn into is probably the fact that it's a
giant gold brick.
The crown guard is really cool on this iteration with that nice little Cartier blue sapphire
on the crown.
We love a little jewel in our watch.
What's cool about this guy is that it was the first pilots watch, so there's a lot of
history behind it.
Let's talk about the Santos and sort of why it is an important watch.
Yeah, let's do a deep dive.
1904: Louis Cartier's friend, Alberto Santos Du Mont, was a Brazilian pilot.
He's kind of going to his high society functions in this little airship and doing all these races
but he has his problem in that he has to keep taking his pocket watch out of his pocket
to read the time.
And he had an accident and was very worried and safety-concerned so said, "Hey, Louis,
please can you figure this out?"
Louis Cartier goes away, has a think about it.
Let me take one of our pocket watches and put it on a leather strap.
But that's pretty unconventional for the time, right? Because that was no real men's wristwatch tradition.
I think ladies were really owning that space, albeit kind of a different type of space.
They were what we call "montre-bracelet," which quite literally means "watch bracelet."
And Louis Cartier develops this watch and his friend, Alberto, wears it in 1904.
Alberto is kind of like the first watch influencer.
So then, let's fast forward to about 1978.
The CEO at the time it came out with the Santos de Cartier, no longer the Santos Du Mont,
and put it on an all-metal bracelet.
So it was like a sportier feel, but it came out originally in two-tone.
So you really, that was the birth of an icon.
- That was a great explanation. Yeah. - I love that.
I picked this watch in particular because I felt like there was a lot of history behind it.
I think looking at something and knowing that there's so much more to the object,
the history and just what it means to me.
Maybe I bought it at a particular point in time where I feel like I deserved, deserved
it or something momentous happened to me.
What about you, Nora?
How did you land on Vacheron?
Vacheron as a brand, I think, says success to me in a certain way because it feels like
before I got into watches,
I didn't know it that well.
I like the craftsmanship that goes into it.
I like the Maltese cross.
I think it's just like, very sexy and European.
But also, I just love how this watch just comes alive when you see it in person.
For me, I would be typing away ever so gently, but like sipping a small cappuccino.
Oh!
Love that.
Yeah.
Going for like a very chic, powerful vibe.
With that one, when I was holding it earlier, you can feel the movement.
Uh-huh.
It very much feels like a living piece.
It does. It's got a heartbeat.
Yeah, Connected to you.
Like, you power it.
It is a very symbiotic relationship.
It is both a like, confidence generator in the fact that
it looks really beautiful and might catch someone's attention, it might telegraph a
certain taste to folks.
But it is also that reminder of the emotions you went through when you bought it,
the marker you set for yourself when you bought it;
the, if I do this, then I will reward myself with this watch.
Brynn, tell me about what's going on inside your watch.
Figuratively or literally?
Inside, she's feeling powerful, but if we're talking literally, the movement is 1216263,
and it's also a manual wound caliber 23.300.
Nice.
Yes.
And why did you pick a manual wind?
I picked manual just because if I'm thinking I'm a businesswoman, I'm doing my daily success routine,
I would say that it starts with kind of the ritual of winding the watch, like getting
into the zone, kind of taking the time.
And yeah, it just felt right to have a manual wound for this.
Quartz, you know.
I'm a businesswoman.
Mhm. (laughing)
No quartz at the top.
Malaika, what is on the inside of your watch?
Mine is an in-house movement.
It's the 1847 MC caliber.
It's an automatic movement and it was developed I think in 2015.
Came out in the Clé de Cartier.
And I think theoretically, or in a more abstract sense, what's going on inside my watch is
pure power.
Oooh.
Yeah.
It is radiating outward.
I want to say that when I put this watch on for the first time,
not to be aggressive, but I felt like I could punch someone in the face.
Ohh!
I love that for you.
Good, because if somebody tries to rob you with a big gold watch...
Which they might, on the streets of New York, let's be honest.
Times are tough.
You'll have to get it off me first.
Mine is more of a graceful slap, I would say.
Inside of this little beauty is a caliber 2450 which is also an in-house movement.
Also automatic.
Love that. Love it.
I want to see yours on.
Yeah.
I mean, how do they wear?
How does yours wear?
I feel like mine wears a bit smaller because it is from the 70s.
I think yours is so chic and sophisticated.
Yeah.
And it looks great.
Stop.
It really sings when you put it on.
Like, it really is just like, it needs to be on a wrist.
Yeah.
Context.
Context, context.
Beautiful, beautiful.
Yours is amazing.
I mean, I think my thing is kind of, jewelry, in case you hadn't noticed.
And I'm like, always adorned in yellow gold, so I just, I naturally gravitated towards
the yellow.
It is really heavy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh my god.
It looks very at home on your wrist though.
It wears surprisingly well.
So that's what I thought was so cool about it because
I'm actually a huge advocater of the ladies watch and I wear a baby Rolex.
A girl after my own heart.
And I was sort of concerned that was going to be kind of insane-looking.
But this, somehow, I don't know.
Like, the size of it just really works.
It's like, big, but it's not insane.
Not full Tony Soprano.
It's not full Tony Soprano.
For my skin tone, I think rose gold actually blends in a bit better.
I think it adds a nice soft shine to it.
And again, the blue is just, I think, a nice surprising touch that isn't garish, but pretty
subtle.
And it's 36 millimeters, which I think is the sweet spot.
Should we tradezies?
- Oh my god, yes. - Let's tradezies, I'm down.
Let me just present this disclaimer of I feel a certain type of way about rose gold.
I've just always had this, like, really strong aversion to rose.
But I did notice with your watch that it's like a really subtle pink gold --
like, a really nice hue so I'm kind of desperate to try yours on.
Here you go.
Oh, baby's first rose gold.
- Yeah. (laughing) - Here you go.
- Baby's first rose gold. - Oh, my God.
It is so heavy.
It's, it's a heavy one.
Oh, my.
I will not wear this while I'm getting on the scale.
(laughing)
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
How are we feeling?
Oh my God, another great ref!
Oh, my God.
Do you know what?
Pretty obsessed.
Oh, we have a convert.
Yeah, yeah. I'm-
She's rose-pilled.
Yeah. (laughing)
That is one step too far I think.
Exposed!
Exposed.
I'm loving this on you with the navy.
Yeah.
Ok. Yes. How does it feel?
(laughing)
I mean, I can't get over the weight.
It's really heavy.
Gold.
But I'm willing to make that sacrifice.
No, I love it.
No, it's a good kind of weight.
I mean, there's a reason why you chose this as your success watch.
It has presence.
I love this.
You do?
It makes me want to put on something incredibly tailored.
Yeah!
There's something about putting on a vintage watch where it just feels a little,
I feel, you know, imbued with a sense of history.
I think it's kind of cool that we all chose different brands.
I felt a bit of a sentimental feeling about the Cartier, which is why.
Tell us more.
So the first ever watch I owned was given to me by my grandmother for my 18th birthday,
and it was a Tank.
And my granny's French, and she's kind of like my, my little icon.
Do you think your granny would rock the Santos?
You've got to see a picture of my granny.
She actually would.
But she'd probably be wearing this stainless steel because she's all decked out in silver.
So she's silver and I'm gold.
All right.
Time to take it off your wrist.
We've got one more round.
She looks good.
Yeah.
I feel ready to make some decisions.
Do you know, this is cute, but I feel like-
You're not loving it?
No, I love it.
I think it's like the most elegant piece of design ever,
and I was so jealous when you chose it, but I think it belongs on you wrist.
Yeah, yeah.
Like, I think we all chose the right watches. Yeah.
Friends, this was a great time.
I know.
Thanks so much for hanging out.
I'll see you next time when we become even more successful.
Yes.
Yeah, with diamonds!
Follow up!