Episodes
It's our biggest NWA of the year as the boys unbox #001 of the DOXA Sub 300 'Great White' – our 15th collaborative edition, this time with a beloved and legendary dive watch maker. In this Episode, the boys share the inspiration for this special collaboration (the shark-infested waters surrounding the Farallon Islands), and go deep on the watch's unique design signatures to reveal the concepts behind them. And don't forget to RSVP for DOXA Day, this Saturday, December 7th as we celebrate...
Published 12/06/24
Published 11/15/24
The boys can't seem to get enough of the Topper Biergarten while the weather is still great (make hay while the sun shines, right?), and are back recording outside talking about Burlingame Blue, some new fall arrivals, including an all-important fit check with the incredible new Parmigiani Toric. And be sure to stick around to the end for an exclusive inside scoop on Topper's next collaborative edition! As always, you can reach the boys for questions and comments at...
Published 11/15/24
The boys are back in the Biergarten watching our new mural come to life, and going deep on the complexity and technology powering the Grand Seiko Spring Drive movement. Once again, we're joined by our good pal Joe Kirk, Grand Seiko's Brand Curator who's got plenty of amazing insider insight on just what makes these movements so revolutionary. As always, you can reach the boys for questions and comments at [email protected]. Thanks for your support, and thanks for listening! Follow...
Published 11/01/24
Listen closely, and you might catch the faint whistle of the 3:58 Caltrain arriving at Burlingame Station – that's because this week, we're coming at you from our usual Burlingame home, but under the Northern California sunshine in Topper's brand new Biergarten, courtesy of our friends at Glashütte Original. And speaking of this amazing German maker, we're sitting down with Glashütte Original North American Brand President Stephen Kounas to learn about some incredibly cool easter eggs wrapped...
Published 10/18/24
Many months in the making, our good friend Romain Marietta, Head of Product Design at Zenith finally made the long journey to Burlingame, and naturally, we're thrilled to have him back on the podcast (our first repeating guest) to chat about Zenith's not-so-distant past, its present, and some very exciting hints at its future. And per usual, Romain is not one to stay completely buttoned-up on brand secrets, making this an episode you don't want to miss. As always, you can reach the boys for...
Published 10/04/24
Not to name names, but we *might* have gotten a little out over our skis earlier this summer when discussing the feature set of a certain soon-to-be-launched dive watch, and now that said watch has been released, we're here to set the record straight on a few details of its specifications that we didn't get quite right. (And Rob regrets the error.) As always, you can reach the boys for questions and comments at [email protected]. Thanks for your support, and thanks for...
Published 09/20/24
Long time listener, first time caller – this week on B&P, the boys are checking in with our good pal Evan (owner & host of the delightful You're Terrific YouTube channel) to talk about watch collecting and making YouTube watch reviews, along with his penchant for playing bad music (and curating great music), salsa dancing, and a whole lot more. Rob also tries to get to the bottom of "who is actually terrific?" As always, you can reach the boys for questions and comments at...
Published 09/13/24
We're not sailors, but the boys are all back in California, recording remotely and happy to pretend for a day that we know how a regatta timer works, with the start of the America's Cup about to kick off in Spain. We're also checking in with all of the newest releases from Geneva Watch Days, the formal introduction of the fall launch calendar from all our favorite brands in Switzerland. As always, you can reach the boys for questions and comments at [email protected]. Thanks for...
Published 08/30/24
It's a special one in Burlingame this week, with Rob briefly joining us via telephone from his Olympic sojourn (moments after the historic men's basket ball final, no less), but sitting in his stead is none other than Wesley Smith, our good friend from Standard H who's here to do a live unboxing of his latest watch buy, and talk community building, watch collecting, and a bit about those "secret handshake" watches that always tend to delight those in the know. As always, you can reach the...
Published 08/16/24
With the 2024 Olympic Games going full speed ahead in Paris this week, the boys are tapping in with the world of Omega and the Bienne maker's longstanding relationship with timekeeping the games since 1932. Did you know that Omega isn't just the official timekeeper, but also the manufacturer of virtually all of the instruments used in timing the games? This includes the starter pistols, the scoreboards, and a whole heck of a lot more – tap in for the full story! And though the boys make their...
Published 08/02/24
For the better part of the last decade or so, Oris has quietly carved out a reputation of being a leading independent with a heavy focus on watchmaking innovations driven by science and a startup mentality. Watches like the Aquis Depth Gauge and the ProPilot Altimeter immediately spring to mind, but newer innovations in carbon fiber casemaking and wild dial design are also being pioneered – all special projects being led by Oris Product Engineer Richard 'Ipy' Siegrist. This week on Burlingame...
Published 07/19/24
What makes a great dive watch? How much water resistance do you really need? How exactly does a helium release valve work and do I really need one? We all love dive watches, but these are the questions that we hear regularly, and who better to answer them than *actual* friend of the pod, none other than author, adventurer, and diver Jason Heaton? Indeed – grab your mask and fins, and settle in, this was a delightful interview with one of the nicest guys in the industry, and it leaves no...
Published 07/05/24
So what's the deal with rainbow watches? This week, on the heels of a very cool new Breitling Superocean Rainbow launch, the boys peel back all the layers on this techinicolor trend, before checking in with all the newest arrivals to topperjewelers.com. You'll also not want to miss our June 29th event with author and diver Jason Heaton – this event will fill up, so RSVP here to get yourself on the list! As always, you can reach the boys for questions and comments at...
Published 06/21/24
We couldn't have called it, but after a relatively quiet start to the summer, all it took was one #SpeedyTuesday to set things abuzz. This week on Burlingame & Park, the boys are reflecting on what's turned into the busiest product launch week since Watches & Wonders, with new releases from Omega, Singer, Breitling, King Seiko, Oris, G-Shock, and more — and best of all, many of these watches are already in-store and shipping! As always, you can reach the boys for questions and...
Published 06/08/24
After a one-week hiatus, the boys are all back under one roof – Zach is back from Copenhagen, Russ is back from jort-skiing Palisades on the second-to-last weekend of the season, and Rob has returned from a journey through Omega's epic new manufactory – y'know, the solar-powered campus designed by renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, wherein a state-of-the-art robot tirelessly sorts over 30,000 boxes containing every watch part imaginable and delivers individual components to watchmakers...
Published 05/24/24
Two guests in one show? You better believe it – buckle up for a very special episode of Burlingame & Park, where we rescue our very good friend Joe Kirk from the Topper First Look mob to talk about his role as Brand Curator, and the most complicated dial Grand Seiko has ever made. Then a few short days later, we welcome our pal and Fears Managing Director Nicholas Bowman-Scargill back into Burlingame (this time in the studio) to talk about our latest Fears collab, the Silver Sector Topper...
Published 05/04/24
You win some, you lose some. And somewhere between splitting the boys between time zones we ran into some technical difficulties in getting all of our Watches & Wonders thoughts transcribed, but fret not — all was not lost, and we are here with a very special episode that was recorded partially in Geneva, and partially back in Burlingame, with the boys sharing their initial reactions, and doling out a series of completely official and totally not made-up awards from another epic year at...
Published 04/19/24
Wait, why not? Tap in and let the boys explain. Instead of dusting off the crystal ball, Rob, Russ, and Zach are taking a closer look at a few recent arrivals to the store, including one of the hottest modern Speedmasters ever: the Apollo 8, and the many differences that comprise its recent update, the über-cool Mark II. That's not the only cool new Omega in the store though, so listen on for the full rundown before we cast off for Geneva. As always, thanks for listening – we hugely...
Published 04/05/24
Burlingame and Park officially turns one year old this week, and for this special birthday episode, the boys are embarking upon a deep dive on the legendary Blancpain Fifty Fathoms to go hands-on with the new, hotly anticipated 42.3mm 5010 Fifty Fathoms, taking all its crucial measurements, sharing on-wrist impressions, and speculating on the future of this mighty dive watch. We also explore the many functions of a good dive watch – many of these features being pioneered by Blancpain itself,...
Published 03/22/24
How does a chunk of iron that once hurtled through space over a million years ago end up as a tiny sliver in the dial of a modern Omega Constellation watch? This week, the boys of Burlingame are taking a deep dive into meteorite dials – where they come from, how they're made, and just what we love about them. However, along the way, we gladly digress with a conversation on subtleties in case design from Grand Seiko, share first impressions of the Fears Redcliff in the metal, and a whole lot...
Published 03/08/24
Spoiler alert: we have.  The boys are back in Burlingame, and this week, we partake in a spot of Wikipedia vandalism, and each tell a story that we might once have been too ashamed to share. We also share the origins behind our obsession with the "California dial" – a timely conversation with our Fears Topper Editions, and the Bremont x Bamford collaborative sequel which both just dropped.  We also debate the merits of "Caller" vs. "Traveler" GMT functionality as we check out the new Ball...
Published 02/23/24
The boys are back, and this week they're split between three towns, led by Russ on the ground in Miami at LVMH Watch Week with Romain Marietta, Chief Product Officer for Zenith. Romain has been with Zenith for 16 years and counting – it's where his career began, so there are few people that know this brand quite like he does. We go over all of the Le Locle maker's newest launches, including the endlessly charming Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar, and the brand new titanium Chronomaster...
Published 02/09/24
The boys are back! We're kicking off our inaugural 2024 recording with a very special guest, and an equally special Topper Edition: the launch of our Fears Series II Capsule, codename "Project Shovel" by our good friend Nicholas Bowman-Scargill. Nicholas will be joining on this episode to take us through the inspiration and development of each of the four watches in the capsule, which pivots around a weeklong trip through some of our favorite places in Northern California. So settle in,...
Published 01/19/24
Rather than rehash all our favorite watches of 2023 (we recommend Episode 2 for our W&W picks, or Episode 18 for our holiday picks for these highlights), the boys are dusting off the old Topper crystal ball and looking into the future to make predictions and share hopes for what should be another very exciting year in watch releases. We also do a big deep dive into DOXA Watches – the latest brand to join the Topper stable. As always, thanks for all your incredible support in 2023. This...
Published 12/30/23