#welcome back to another installment of me posting the most nonsense thing imaginable

[offline-nobody]

how magical mountain would react to you coming out as trans:

gem: awww, im so proud of you!! im also trans

scar: heck yeah!! i’m also trans, wanna see? (takes off shirt)

grian: glad you finally figured it out, i’m also trans- scar, put your shirt back on

impulse: congrats on figuring yourself out!! i’m also trans

skizz: love that for you!! i’m also trans

mumbo: oh gosh, um congratulations? are you meant to congratulate someone on coming out? i don’t know, but congrats anyway? im also trans by the way

joel: i’m transer

[evilelitest2]

100 Days of Trump, Day 41: Bowling for Columbine and an actual personal message

Welcome back to 100 Days of Trump, where I recommend 100 works to help understand WTF happened in 2016.  

Ok, our last Michael Moore recommendation, this is the only film he has done which I have ironically liked the whole time (except for that fucking cartoon ugg), because it isn’t Moore just talking shit about conservatives in an obvious way, he is taking a much deeper examination of WTF happened at Columbine and asking deeper questions, which is unlike the man, seriously I really dislike Moore as a person but that is neither here nor there. And unlike every other one of these, I am going to talk about my personal experience for once, I don’t really use this Tumblr to talk about me, so this is a bit rare but for once I think my personal experience is pertinent.  

 Columbine was one of those inexplicable crimes, utterly pointless, obscene cruel, and totally pointless, and it makes American just in a state of shock, how could something this horrible happen?  What the fuck is wrong with us as a country that two kids go into a school and just start shooting.  And when something like this happens, something so out of the blue, we start asking questions about who is responsible, who is to blame, what is wrong with our country that this occurred.   I grew up in a post columbine world with public schools that were all nervous that me and my peers might go on a killing spree any day now, and I remember how desensitized we all were to the notion of killing, there were shooting drills every few months, and hiding in a dark corner of my class room morbidly joking about whether a shot gun could get through the walls and kill us was just part of the American High School experience.  And then the Virginia Tech shooting happened, and the entire school was put into an gym and forced to endure this fucking inane presentation by a group called Rachel’s Challenge.  Rachel Scott was the first women shot by the Columbine shooters, very religious and she has been made into this fucking martyr, who remembered god even as she was gunned down, and then of course they found some diary entry she wrote about how people should be nice to each other and how wouldn’t it be nice if people weren’t horrible all the time.  These guys are like the actual adults in Series of Unfortunate Events

Look its here, see how much you can tolerate and then imagine a Lemony Snicket response

And it was the most inane fucking shit I’ve ever seen, the entire school, only days after the Virginia Tech Massacre got to watch in detail all of the Columbine shootings, listen to the recordings, see these interviews with the victims, and everybody was asked to sign “Rachel’s Challenge” this big fucking banner pledging to stop being mean to people at school, and to this fucking day I remember being the only person from my grade who didn’t sign the fucking thing.  And for one day, one day, everybody walked around with tears in their eyes and it was this nice moment is kindness and everybody pretending they cared.  Day after, right back to normal, down to the confederate flag truck in the parking lot and the sexual harassment in the hallways, not a single fucking thing changed, including security eyeing us.  Because that is all these simplistic, feel good, pat ourselves on the fucking back solutions ever do, its nothing but a way for people to spin a national tragedy into a pat kitsch sentimental feel good message that throws all of the problems under the rug, and allows this fundamentalist Christian group in all but name seep into our public schools, Fuck Rachel’s Challenge and fuck the entire notion of martyrdom.  Like, can we only understand human evil through a teenage diary entry?  This is a problem I have with the Ann Frank Society btw, That day has instilled me a contempt for death, because its nothing more than taking somebody and making them into a fucking poster.  I”m not anti religion, i’m not anti Christian, I actually rather like Christianity, I’m anti pat sentimentalism, i’m anti Kistch, and I’m against taking horrible events and spinning them into something good.  Columbine wasn’t Triumph over Tragedy, it was Tragedy from start to finish.   

Weirdly enough i’m reminded of this scene from Breaking Bad  and yes, I am saying things like Rachel’s Challenge have more to do with causing discontentment in schools than stopping them...after all in my Breaking Bad installment I talked about that as well

    And in Rachel’s Challenge we see part of the larger problem with Columbine, everybody wants a nice simple easy fucking answer, uncomplicated, comforting, and above all dismissable, if we only got ride of X then shit like this wouldn't happen, above all don’t look at this and wonder “Huh, maybe this is tied to long standing systemic problems deep within our society’s core that we haven’t dealt with”.  And that is why I like this documentary it isn’t about Columbine its about the response to Columbine, the way America freaked out, found an easy scapegoat and moved on, above all don’t think about it.  That is where the title comes from, when it came to all of the random shit blamed for the massacre, nobody went for bowling even though that is what the shooters did right before the massacre.  

 More is basically saying that this isn’t a problem we can just pin on a thing and forget about it....well at least he is saying that in the documentary, later he pinned it all on prescription drugs, but i’m not recommending Moore (I am really not recommending Moore) I am recommending the film, because it is about how there is something much deeper wrong with American than a single thing the shooters liked.  More doesn’t say what he thinks caused the massacre (in the documentary at least, Death of the Artist people), but that in looking at the reaction, we see an America which is just constantly terrified of everything and looking for easy answers.  And Americans are always fucking scared, we are in this endless loop of being terrified of Terrorism, or crime, of natural disasters, of immigrants of everything.  Which is why when Crime rates are at a historic low people vote for a man saying they are high, when illegal immigration is not only at an all time low but also not a major contributor to violence people are scared, when not a single refugee has committed a terrorist attack on America people are scared of women and children, this is a country of cowards.  And when something happens that scare us, we just turn to some sort of security blanket and somebody to blame.   And when people are scared, they turn to somebody in power who will protect them.  You know, like what M was talking about

And btw, this is where that Marilyn Manson clip comes from.

Blame violent movies, blame violent videos games, if we just say its true, it will go away.  And ironically enough, when gamers started to get scared, they did the exact same behavior, blame feminists, blame progressives, blame minorities and don’t worry, the fucking Alt Right will protect you.  Actually this happened with Rock and Roll too

Sadly youtube doesn’t the clip about  how much this fear mongering is aimed at black men but you get the idea, fear and simplistic thinking are all coming out in response to this massacre and guess what?  None of it worked, the security measures, the talking about violent media, did any of it prevent future massacres?  No of course not, now school shootings are just something that happens, its just part of America now, ever few years a bunch of kids get shot, we just live with that.    And we have a crazy fucking psycho militia culture who feed off this culture of fear and use it to justify their own domestic terrorism, like what we talked about with Assassins.  

Moore doesn’t even blame guns, not directly, cause that would be the same thing, he points out that Canada has more guns than the us % wise.  No, instead he talks about gun culture, particularly by the NRA, which is much more of a problem, the whole notion that “Only a gun can protect you” bullshit macho nonsense, guns as a security blanket.  I’m not even the biggest advocate of Gun control, but the NRA’s entire way of viewing guns (a way tied very much to making money btw) is ghoulish, and encourages this culture of fear, and when people are scared all the time, Trump comes off as appealing.  

Huh, mixing macho violent culture with a culture of loneliness, alienation and a gun fetish, when did I talk about that before

But the part that spoke to me the most was this clip when I was a teenager, by the South Park guys.  

Because my town was also a boring miserable dreary world without culture, hope, or inspiration, constant dehumanization, going to these copy/paste dreaming utilitarian factory buildings with people you hate and are utterly dehumanized.  A lot like Veronica Mars, there is something deeply wrong with our high school long before the shooting.  Hey you know...just like Donald Trump.  Also another country with weird shit happening all the time, Russia.  

Also a good link on the misconceptions about Columbine can be found here

The problems in America are deeper than just the shooting, every shooting is a symptom of something much deeper than what is obvious, and Trump is the Columbine of politics, Trump is the thing that should make us all question “Wow, how did America get here”.  Again I talked about this in the Watchmen installment.  

[wristwatchjournal]

The Collector’s Series – Frank and his Vintage Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ 5402ST

Today, we’ll get straight to the point and speak frankly and honestly. Frank, Founder and Managing Director of MONOCHROME, whom I’ve known for more than seven years now, is probably one of the most upfront and straightforward people I’ve ever met: Frank is a man who says what he thinks. And today we’ll talk about one of his most beloved watches, one that he’s owned for years and that I’ve always wanted to feature in our ‘Collector’s Series’, his handsome Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ 5402ST. And because this watch is such an icon, it doesn’t really need an introduction anymore. Instead, we’ll be looking at what really matters, the collecting side of things, the market, the fuzz around the watch…

Today the ‘Collector’s Series’ goes wild and I’m happy to have Frank on board for this new instalment. Fasten your seatbelts and let’s get to it!

Brice Goulard – No need to present this model anymore… It is a true icon. So let’s talk about your own watch, Frank. I know you’ve had it for a while now. What’s the story behind it?

Frank Geelen – We have to go back to my early days of collecting and running MONOCHROME. Online at forums, I had seen the occasional Royal Oak and I liked it, however, it was simply far out of reach, budget-wise. But I also had no idea of what it would be on the wrist and most retailers of high-end watches were simply not very welcoming. It felt like there was a balloting committee to decide whether they would allow you to come in, to try on the watch, or even to be worth a second look from the salesperson. Most images of the Royal Oak were the official PR shots and that didn’t really show the watch in its natural habitat, i.e. the wrist. Fast forward a few years…

A friend of mine, Robert-Jan from Fratello, owned a ref. 15300 and although I kind of liked the watch (from a distance), there was always something that just didn’t do it for me. I handled the watch on several occasions, tried it briefly on my wrist. Of course, I had read a lot about the Royal Oak, or at least quite a bit, as information was not as ‘available’ as it is today on the world wide web! So I knew about the model’s history, how it was designed (on a napkin during Baselworld, they say) and I had seen quite a few photos of Royal Oaks. I guess like many, I wondered why it was so incredibly expensive. And how it would look on my wrist. Somehow I could not really connect to the 15300. When RJ sold the 15300, he bought a 15202ST and in 2011 I got to borrow his watch for a few days.

This was a pre-2012 reference 15202ST and I have to admit, the spark was still not there. It was too angular, too ‘rough’, and although I ‘kind of’ liked it, it certainly was no head over heels or anything close to the motivation that is required to drop 15k on the table (or around 12k for a pre-owned one, at that time).

The following year, in January 2012, Audemars Piguet introduced a revamped version of the ref. 15202ST during the SIHH in Geneva. I tried it on my wrist for a photoshoot and I fell for it. Head over heels! And immediately I understood what made me like the new version so much more than the previous version. The markers were thinner and longer, the clous de Paris (hobnail) dial featured a much finer pattern, called petit tapisserie. This softened up the watch’s design and I loved it.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15202ST – photographed during SHII 2012

I wanted one, but I know the price was much more than what I could afford. So upon my return, immediately after the 2012 SIHH, I started searching for an old 5402ST, as that one also featured the long and thin hour markers and a petit tapisserie that was even finer than on the latest 15202ST. I soon found one that A) matched my budget, B) looked good and C) the dealers seemed trustworthy. So that was it, I spent more than I had ever spent on a watch before, and a few days later I received my Royal Oak. It was a D series, it was in very good condition, with the correct bracelet and clasp, original crown and well, it all looked very good. I was over the moon with my new watch!

What do you love so much about the Royal Oak, especially this vintage 5402ST version?

The design is so balanced, so perfect, and displays an admirable middle ground between masculine lines and shapes, and some softer shapes. The case and bracelet are, of course, quite masculine and also quite shiny. Although my old 5402ST is not that shiny anymore and the sharp edges have softened up over the years.

But still, the case and bracelet of the Royal Oak are very masculine, sharp, almost edgy. But the petit tapisserie of the 5402, which is even more “petit” than the tapisserie on the current 15202, looks very good and somehow softens the looks of the watch. A different dial, and there have been quite a few over the course of several decades, is very determinative for the Royal Oak’s looks, in my humble opinion. The sleek and long applied hour markers match the design perfectly. It’s harmonious, balanced, masculine yet not too “hard” or angular.

And at least as important, I love the thinness of this watch! The bracelet is thinner than later versions, the case too. Because of this thinness, it just feels so good on the wrist.

How does that compare to the modern equivalent, the 15202ST?

When my son was born I wore the 5402 not as much as before. Those little hands try to grab anything and the old 5402 is thin and all of a sudden it started to feel fragile on my wrist. So I started saving pennies for a new 15202ST as it was introduced in 2012. The dial is different, the case and bracelet are thicker, the clasp is easier to open and close, but they managed to grasp the essence of the old 5402ST in the new 15202ST.

Although I was highly surprised when, in 2012, I found out that the dial was blue because, so I was told by Octavio Garcia, the designer, the original also had a blue dial. Now maybe I’m colour-blind, but I can’t see blue in the dial of my 5402ST. The blue looks good, no it looks great, so no worries, I am enjoying the various tones of blue a lot. The best thing is that the 15202ST does not feel fragile, so I’m wearing it a lot and I’m not scared that my son will grab it and accidentally break something.

It feels like a modern version of the 5402, although in terms of modernity, I could have imagined a few ‘modern’ features. A fine-adjustment in the clasp to make the bracelet a bit longer or shorter, for instance, would have been appreciated hugely! Or a quick release system like on Vacheron’s Overseas is something I also really like, as I would love to be able to wear my 15202ST on a rubber band too. Anyways, I’m still very pleased with the watch and I wear, and enjoy, it a lot.

A-Series, B-Series, C-Series, D-Series… At the risk of shocking some collectors, is it necessary to only focus on the earliest models? Aren’t the later 5402ST, such as yours, as rewarding?

You know my opinion on this. I think it’s BS. Hence the reason why we hardly cover the next record-setting rare Rolex. If you like a watch, you like a watch. I cannot relate to this sort of collecting; some watches are more sought-after because it has a misprint dial or a very rare “underline” or a “dot over 90” bezel or… Most of these now-sought-after watches were far from collectable a few decades ago, but the collecting world somehow found ways to distinguish one old Rolex Submariner from another, while both have the same reference and look identical to most collectors. All of a sudden a broken dial is called a spiderweb dial, a faded dial is ‘tropical’ and a dial with spots is called a leopard dial. To me, this is so much nonsense. But people found a way to have a watch that they believe is more special than another one. And others found a way to ‘age’ a watch in such a way that it becomes more collectable and they can make a pleasant profit. It’s a murky world and I prefer to stay away from it.

That’s also why I keep being surprised to see 5402 C-series popping up with so-called “AP at 6” dials. These dials featured the AP logo on the lower end of the dial like it is on the new post-2012 ref. 15202ST. The inspiration for this post-2012 dial comes from the dials on 5402 A-series. From what I learned about these dials, these were also used on some B series, so seeing these dials on C series and even D series…. Makes you wonder! But since collectors prefer to focus on collectability or investments, they are missing out on the beauty of such a remarkably nice watch and of the joy of wearing it. Personally, I don’t care whether it’s an A, B, C or D series. It’s the looks of the 5402 that I fell in love with.

We can’t skip the topic of market value when it comes to the Royal Oak. What’s your take on the current situation and the speculative bubble?

When I bought my 5402 the prices started around 10k and a new pre-owned model was more expensive than the old 5402. I just checked Chrono24 and the cheapest 5402ST is priced at 38,500 EUR, there’s one at 39,500 and the next is 44,800 EUR. Prices have quadrupled over the past eight years. Although prices are quite steep, I can understand this price development.

I have more problems with the price of the new 15202ST on the pre-owned or grey market, as prices are at least 10,000 EUR higher than the retail price. Patek’s Nautilus is even more insane and the prices are double of the retail price. Similar problems with various Rolex sports models (Daytona, Sub, GMT Master Pepsi and Batman) and to me this ruins the fun of collecting. With such prices, we enter a different game, the speculation game and to me, that’s a negative sentiment.

What would you recommend to aspiring collectors who are thinking of buying a vintage Royal Oak? And are there any alternatives?

First of all, make sure you get enough wrist time with the watch you want to buy. This is key. When your wrist is smaller than 16 centimetres, you might not like how it sits on the wrist. Study the market, be patient, know the seller; the latter is very important! If you like the old Royal Oak Jumbo, something that I can understand very well, then I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

Alternatives are around, for people with a smaller wrist there are the 36mm diameter options from AP and there are also some older versions with the petit tapisserie dial and sleek, long hour markers. But since we’re talking vintage, there simply are not many alternatives, unless you are prepared to go for a newer watch. In that case, I’d suggest the 15202ST and good alternatives from other brands (for luxury sports watches) are the VC Overseas and the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo, especially now the water resistance has been increased to 100m.

Last but not least… Is it for sale?

No. Well, if someone offers 10 times the price I paid (7.5k), then I’m prepared to let it go. Since that won’t happen anytime soon, I will be enjoying my lovely 5402ST.

The post The Collector’s Series – Frank and his Vintage Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ 5402ST appeared first on Wristwatch Journal.

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