What the Hell is Aaron Doing? | Series 1

Marcos and Aaron are dressed in gray and brown for the season, Marc's enjoying an Oktoberfest, and the guys waste no time getting to the big news: Aaron's latest acquisition.After letting three or four watches go, Aaron has landed on the Tudor Black Bay 54. Is this the final piece in his collection? He's certainly talking like it is. We're not convinced. Interestingly, the guys have ended up with essentially the same watch, just with subtle differences in size to suit their respective wrists. Marc's Black Bay 58, fitted with a Steel Reef bezel that matches the 54, makes the similarities even more uncanny.The guys chat more about Steel Reef, the Prolost Watches app, and a new venture Marc hopes to launch early next year... one that combines his love of coffee with a big part of his Cuban upbringing. More on that in the weeks and months ahead, but as it turns out, the worlds of coffee and watches have quite a bit in common.

It starts with a headphone check, and the realization that neither of us is exactly on the cutting edge. Aaron finally retires his 18-year-old Bose headphones before they completely disintegrate, while Marc remains comfortably inside the Apple ecosystem.After some pre-season Kentucky basketball, NBA highlights, and thoughts on the simple pleasure of gathering with friends to watch a game, we get around to the wrist check. Both wearing blue this week: Aaron with his Laco and Marc with his Tudor Black Bay 58.But the real question is: What the hell is Aaron doing?Three watches have left his collection in a single week, including some serious heavy hitters. One Grand Seiko sold in just 15 minutes, and somehow Aaron now owns exactly zero Seikos. Yikes! Yes, zero.Picking up where our last episode's two-watch collection conversation left off, we get into the joys, frustrations, and questionable economics of collecting. When is it time to consolidate? How much money should we have tied up in watches we rarely wear? And can we put a price on the "joyful experiences" we've had along the way?They also talk about the appeal of in-house movements, VS revived heritage brands like Benrus and Vertex, and micro brands. They wrap up with a couple of interesting collaborations: Vaer, Topo Designs, Worn & Wound, and Paulin and Hodinkee.A little less collecting, perhaps a little more enjoying. And hopefully, a chance to get together soon, share a drink, and actually watch an entire game.Welcome to Series 1 of What the Hell Is Aaron Doing?

After a short hiatus, Marcos and Aaron are back with a couple of drinks and plenty of watch talk. Marcos recaps his trip to Portugal, the virtues of traveling with just one watch, and the unexpected moment Rachel showed an interest in a Tudor Black Bay. Naturally, a visit to the Tudor boutique was in order. The plan was to find a watch for Rachel. So how did he end up trying on a steel-and-gold Black Bay?Again, Aaron makes the case for Marcos finally embracing steel and gold. They revisit the appeal of smaller watches, but somehow also find themselves talking about the Seiko Tuna and the new Panerais, discuss a few other new releases, and tackle the impossible task of narrowing a collection down to just two watches. 

Marcos and Aaron sit down with Lauren and Lorenzo Ortega, cofounders of Lorier, to talk about building the brand together, their approach to watch design, and their new partnership with Worn & Wound following the acquisition of Lorier.

Marc and Aaron kick things off with Felix heading off to CSU, Marc’s continued inability to leave his Black Bay 58 on one strap for more than five minutes, and Aaron finally finding a 36-ish millimeter, 20mm-lug watch that doesn’t work for him. On the upside, after a solid ten days, he’s now firmly in the “titanium is cool” camp.Then it’s The Blancpain Gambit. The 70th Anniversary Limited Edition Bathyscaphe is a beautiful watch with "one of the great seconds hands", but the leather strap, the price, and memories of the less expensive Hodinkee LE (from 2019) leave the guys scratching their heads. Maybe the answer is simple: it’s just not for them. Marc goes looking for less expensive watches that scratch the same itch, while Aaron figures he’d keep saving for a Fifty Fathoms (or buy a Seiko SJE093).The new Speedmaster 38 gets the “need to see it on the wrist” treatment, although the black, no-date version is the early standout. Aaron may also have found the perfect watch in the upcoming Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Spring Drive U.F.A. SLGB015. There’s just the tiny matter of having to sell everything he owns and then some to get one. Not happening... but it does lead to an interesting exercise for Marc: what in the collection is truly safe, and what could actually go for the right watch?Elsewhere, Aaron brings up the Doxa × Belmont Watches Sub 300 Beta “Frogger” and Ming’s wild new 57.05 “Comet” Worldtimer, including its clever daylight-saving-time trick and some lugs neither of them can get behind.Finally, a mutual friend has managed to lose the “cap” from the crown of his Sinn T50 Goldbronze. That seems decidedly un-Sinn-like. His proposed solution of cutting his own grooves into the crown initially makes everyone gasp, but considering he’s a craftsman who regularly thrashes the watch in the ocean, it also somehow makes perfect sense. Updates to come. Probably.

Marc is back from Kentucky, where he got to see the finishing touches on the new Berea College Visitor Center he helped design, before making the massive road trip to Colorado with his son, who starts his freshman year at Colorado State University this fall.For Wrist Check, Marc is wearing his Seiko Gene Kranz reissue on a Rowing Blazers croquet stripe strap, a combination Gene himself probably wouldn't have approved of. Aaron is sporting yet another new field watch, the Laco Stuttgart PRO 37mm with its sunburst blue dial on the five-link bracelet. It has officially bumped his beloved Vertex from regular wrist duty... at least for now.Despite claiming to be a "bracelet guy," Marc has gone full strap-changing addict after picking up an inexpensive strap-changing tool on Amazon.The guys also revisit the new Lorier and Worn & Wound partnership. While the refreshed core collection sold out in just 13 minutes, that didn't stop a vocal group online from accusing Lorier of "selling out." Marc and Aaron discuss why those criticisms miss the mark, applaud Lorenzo and Lauren for being transparent throughout the process, and explain why the backlash from keyboard warriors was especially frustrating given everything the brand has navigated over the past year.The conversation also turns to the updated Lorier Astra and why it's suddenly climbed Marc's wish list, along with the new Hodinkee × Doxa Army Limited Edition. From there, the discussion shifts to what happens when brands chase broad appeal instead of staying true to their own point of view. That theme surfaces with Seiko's Prospex HBC010 European Limited Edition and its polarizing date window, the latest Longines HydroConquest, and finally Vaer's newest field watch, complete with bets on how long it will take before Aaron inevitably adds one to his collection.

The guys kick things off with a drink check before wandering through World Cup soccer, NBA and college basketball, and the eternal debate over who belongs on the GOAT list. Marc's Oris takes a temporary detour onto a Bark & Jack NATO (don't worry, it'll be back on the bracelet soon), which leads to a conversation about spring bar tools, bracelets, and Marc's realization that he may have been a little too noncommittal about on-the-fly adjustment all along. The guys also give a shoutout to Steel Reef for excellent customer service while working through some QC issues with their link extensions.On the watch front, Marc and Aaron discuss the new Doxa T.Graph II, the return of the Timex × J.Crew collaboration after its one-hour sellout, and the new 40mm Polaris Date from JLC. They also spend some time with a handful of Baltics and new Grand Seikos, prompting Aaron to draw yet another line in the sand over one very specific design detail. Finally, both agree that Lorier finding a home with Worn & Wound feels like a positive move for the brand's future.

Unsurprisingly, Aaron adds another watch to the collection during wrist check before we head east with Marcos for a recent trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City.What starts as a tag-along trip quickly becomes something more. Marc shares highlights from introducing Rachel to New York for the very first time... from bagels, Cuban food, and a city buzzing after the Knicks finally won it all, to an unexpectedly emotional evening at the Broadway production of Buena Vista Social Club.Of course, there were watches along the way. They talk about visits to Time+Tide Watches, Grand Central Watch, and Windup Watch Shop, along with the pieces that stood out most, including the 'Charcoal Rose' Fears Brunswick 38, an unexpected field watch from Studio Underd0g, and a vintage-inspired 34mm field watch from Benrus that Marc is convinced will eventually find its way onto Aaron's wrist.More than anything, though, this episode is about returning to a place that still feels like home, sharing it with someone you love, and appreciating that whether you're in a tiny watch shop, a crowded event, or chatting across a display case, the best part of this hobby is still the people.

The guys catch up after some travel and time spent together celebrating Felix's graduation. Speaking of which, Marc discusses passing along a watch to celebrate the milestone. Aaron reports back from New York City, where the trip somehow resulted in yet another field watch joining the collection (but it's not black!).In this episode's watch roundup, Marc brings up several recent releases that caught his eye, including Tudor's bright yellow Black Bay Chrono, the preppy J.Crew × Timex collaboration, the unexpected Baltic × SpaceOne partnership, and Oris's tribute to baseball legend Lou Gehrig.A conversation about travel, milestones, family, and the memories—and watches—that make them meaningful.

Felix joins Marc and Aaron for a rare three-person episode as graduation season finally comes into view. What starts with a wrist check quickly turns into a field watch conversation after Felix swaps watches to wear the "neo-vintage" Hamilton field watch Marc gave him.The guys talk Hamilton, Benrus, Evora Watches, and the possibility that Aaron’s field watch journey still isn’t complete despite recently acquiring the Vertex M36.There’s also a deeper dive into the new Tudor Monarch and Royal releases, some reflection on senior year winding down, and the realization that for Felix, high school is basically over. All that’s left is one more track meet.The extended family will all be together soon to celebrate graduation, making this one feel a little more personal than usual.