Timepieces, Two-Buck Chuck, & TGP

1,000 words.

A conversation about watch brand I’d never heard of lead to an interesting discovery about TGP.

My longtime rally buddy, Kris M., has been getting into watches lately. Or should I say timepieces. His approach is interesting in that it reflects his race car building, amateur radio, design, and EDC backgrounds.

On Instagram, he shares pictures of his collection out on the town, as most do—but as a gearhead like us—he also takes pictures of works in progress, too. He knows how to rebuild fancy watches, if not the really fancy ones.

I’ve liked most of his pictures on Instagram. As a result, I’m kinda drowning in watch ads these days. Not Rolex, Omega, or Tag-Heuer, but all these random brands I’ve never heard of which I can only presume are hastily cashing in on a hot, emerging market.

Naturally, when one of those ads inevitably goes full Kylie Minogue and serves up something I can’t get out of my head—and I’m struggling with the thought of asking for a $200 watch for my birthday—from a brand I’ve never heard of—I’m reaching out to Kris for advice.

The watch, by the way, is a Vaer Heritage.

[ And since my research efforts suggest Vaer founders Ryan and Raegan are next level hustlers who know how to use Google alerts—OMGHI2U. ]

Kris likened the watch thing to the wine thing. Classic metaphor—talking about something you don’t know very well in terms of something you do know well, ya know?

Then again, I don’t know much about wine.

I’ll grab a bottle now and then, but I’m generally buying based on the label. (I know. I know. #philistine) Even so, I’m not buying a bottle of Two-buck chuck at the Flying J truckstop—because a $2 bottle of wine evokes images of stale, grape fanta with liquid smoke. Right or wrong, it’s not appealing, ya know?

That said, the $15 bottle of Lefty Red Blend at Sprout’s grocery store is my kind of wine. It’s more expensive than a beer, incredibly drinkable, and, well, I’m a lefty, so as long as I feel like it can trace itself back to an actual vineyard somewhere, it ticks all the boxes I have for wine these days.

I went to Kris because he’s my resident expert when it comes to watches. I know how he builds his rally cars. I know how he builds his amateur radio tech stack. I know how he approaches brand and design.

His response was basically—

It’s not the $20 plastic Timex in your closet. It’s also not a $4,000 Rolex. You could spend a little less. You could spend a lot more. At the end of the day, it’s a design that speaks to you. The specs are decent. If it ticks the boxes you have for what a timepiece should be, you should just get it and feel good about it.

Suffice to say, all I want for my 42nd birthday this year is a Vaer Heritage Dark.

The TGP discovery comes from this kernel of truth—if it ticks the boxes, you should just get it and feel good about it.

The closer you get to a subject, the more nuanced your language around it. Think: watches vs. timepieces, RVs vs. coaches, red wine vs. Chateau Margaux 1787, enthusiast vs. gearhead.

Which is to say, there will likely be plenty of places where TGP could be more powerful, more refined—more bourgeoisie?—but we’re going to work on ticking the boxes for gearheads like us.

There are prettier websites and fancier forums out there. Just like the guys at Vaer, there’s a small team here trying to put a high quality product together at an affordable price point that gearheads like us feel good about taking with us wherever we go.

A picture’s worth 1,000 words, but a metaphor is worth 1,000 pictures.

(This post was only 653 words, by the way.)