Thanks for helping to push me up to Level 7, everyone. Most of all, thanks for making this a fun place to spend time online.

I took a recent trip to Australia, and as a result of getting a ridiculous sunburn, decided to make my jump into the world of hats for some protection going forward. Stopped into a local ha shop and found this fedora for a very reasonable price. My first real foray beyond baseball caps and toques. Although I do kind of regret I didn’t pick up an Akubra while I was there — nothing saying I can’t purchase one from home though. This might become an expensive hobby…

In this episode of The Luxury Dispatch, we explore the Quartz Crisis, a moment in the 1970s when the Swiss watch industry, long seen as an immovable pillar of luxury, came close to collapse. As quartz technology promised greater accuracy and lower costs, centuries of mechanical watchmaking were suddenly thrown into question. Tom Chamberlain is joined by writer and historian Nick Foulkes to examine how this technological shock unfolded, why it caused such deep anxiety in Switzerland, and how brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe chose not to compete on precision alone, but to redefine what a luxury watch could be. From Seiko’s pioneering innovations to the rise of Swatch and the revival of mechanical craftsmanship, this episode looks at how crisis reshaped the industry, and why Swiss watchmaking ultimately survived by changing the rules of the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnDt1Aj1SXk