Dialled In with Iwan Roberts: 10to2 Sit Down with Iwan to Review the Latest & Greatest Watches
We are very fortunate to be able to welcome Iwan Roberts to our HQ based in Norwich, which so happens to be the place Iwan has decided to call home after concluding his professional footballing career at Norwich City FC.
For those who don’t know, or who may be too young to remember, what is your background?
“I’ve lived all over having played for Gillingham, Watford & Leicester, with the world feeling a big place after growing up in a small Welsh village with less than 3000 people, but I have been in Norfolk even since retiring from football. It might be the end of the line, but it’s a gorgeous place to be”.
Whilst we can’t disagree, what about the football?
“I played for Norwich City FC for 7 years, from 1997 to 2004. I scored just under 100 goals spanning around 300 games”
Iwan was renowned for being the big man up top, and whilst being very modest in his past achievements, was a key player in the 2004 Championship win, securing Norwich promotion to the Premier League. These days Iwan, who speaks fluent Welsh can be found commentating on Wales games across the world with the BBC and Sky.
Whilst professional football is Iwan’s background, he has a passion and arguably a sickness, as he shares our love for watches. Iwan sat down with us to talk through our curated list of some of the greatest recent releases, covering a breadth of models from plenty of different brands.
Wrist check – from collector to admirer
Before we start off, it would be amiss to not ask what you are wearing on your wrist today?
“I’m not sure how to approach this, but I have an…Apple Watch Ultra on the wrist. It is pretty much all I wear now. I love watches, and my collection in recent years has been passed down throughout the family – I don’t have the watches Hucks has!”
Whilst Darren Huckerby’s collection was frankly incredible, Iwan’s enthusiasm mirrors these heights.
“I’ve had a couple stolen in the past, and the values of watches have kept climbing to new heights. I had a lovely TAG Heuer purchased in the states, got it back here and it was stolen in a gym. Then I had a Rolex Submariner, the green ‘Kermit’ also nicked out of a locker in a hotel!” – It’s not all bad fortune though. “One of my favourites I have now given to my son, was a Panerai that I purchased in San Diego to celebrate the promotion. I first saw one on Ryan Gigg’s wrist, and I was so drawn to it due to its unique design”
Talk about some rotten bad luck. The watches were covered by insurance (and a long legal battle…), the sentimental value of the timepieces was almost priceless. Rather than continue to invest and wear new watches, Iwan steered his interests into a more research-based approach, admiring them from a difference without being sucked into sizeable purchases.
Battle of the 2024 releases
Now the dust has settled on 2024, we wanted to look at our standout releases from the prior year and extract our favourite watches from two categories.
We had to do some manipulation on the groupings to get the watches to align, so we settled on the following two categories
- Battle of the dive watches
- Battle of the chronographs
Battle of the dive watches
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 42mm Titanium
Historically one of the most important diver watches to have been created. Purposefully built in the 1950s, Blancpain decided to use 2024 to give us something with more mass appeal, steering away from their recent egregious models which were misshaped: too big, too small, strange release quantities, you get the drift.
- Inhouse movement
- 5-day power reserve
- Material – Gold or Steel
“I’ve never really been interested in Blancpain, and this model reminds me a lot of an Omega aesthetic. I’m struggling to understand the pricing point here. Pushing £15,000 is just too much. I like the bezel, but it’s not standing out to me”
In terms of personal preference, this was going to be a tough sell to Iwan, as predominately gold or steel watches are his chosen metal. Our thoughts? The Blancpain is a great watch, but the date located between the 4 & 5-hour markers delivers unnecessary asymmetry. The brand itself has been a little lost over recent years, but this feels like a step in the right direction… if they can sort the absurd pricing structure out.
Omega Seamaster No-Date 300m
We recently wrote a journal entry on the Omega Seamaster no date 300m release here. It took Omega over 4 months to official release the next entry into a rather bloated line-up of Seamaster’s, but this one stood out to us due to its clean, symmetrical dial and almost timeless appearance.
What are your overall thoughts on this Seamaster, the Seamaster line in general and opinion on Omega?
“For starters I am not a fan of the Milanese bracelet, and I think I prefer the date functionality on the existing Omega seamster models. I have never been onboard with the visible helium escape valve on the side of the watch. Nice watch, but not for me”
If you had a choice, would you go for a Rolex Submariner over the Omega Seamaster? And if so, why?
“I just don’t think I would go for an Omega. The recent price increase has put models such as the Seamaster into my personal variance of considering the Rolex Submariner. Of course this applies to watches being readily available, but they are slowly getting easy to come by and I personally prefer the cleaner lines of the Submariner. For the price, it feels like you get a lot for your money”
It does highlight the sheer brand power and marketing leverage Rolex have, and are able to instil into consumer behaviour. The Omega Seamster is a fantastic alternative to the Rolex Submariner, and whilst the price of the no-date variant coming in at over £6,000 (making us questions the less functionality for more money aspect), in person – it would be a tougher choice if you covered up the dial text for a blind wrist wearing comparison.
Panerai Submersible Quaranta Quattro Luna Rossa edition – Ti Ceramitech
I wasn’t sure whether to pull out the Tudor Black Bay Monochrome, since everyone loved that at Watches and Wonders, but then we would have had in my mind, two very similar offerings of the Omega and Tudor. Therefore, I wanted to pick something a little rogue and unheard of – The Panerai Submersible Ti Ceramitech
We are well aware of the chequered decade Panerai have had, after their enormous popularity in the early 2000’s thanks to Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger sporting various models in blockbuster films. The watch market was different back then, with bigger, bolder models being the choice for many compared to vintage, petite 34-36mm options from the vast majority of competing brands. Panerai got themselves into a spot of bother when profit greed started to bring corner-cutting techniques such as: Non-finished movements, downgrade in movements & parts and punchy prises rises to say the least.
“I absolutely love this. The face, the hands, the strap – everything is complementary. I feel slightly biased based on the previous Panerai I owned, but it did feel Panerai had a great year in 2024”
These last two years, it feels Panerai have started to change their trajectory back up, as we are really liking some on their innovations. A glow in the dark mechanical watch anyone? The £100,000 Panerai Elux Lab-ID has you covered.
Getting back on track, Iwan started to open up multiple windows on an iPad to virtually spin this watch around, analysing from all angles to see what the Panerai Sub Luna Rossa had to offer.
The Ti-Ceramitech case material, which merges the lightness of titanium, with ceramics resilience. The blue hue that is a byproduct or the patented material looks incredible. Would you go for this or a more traditional look?
“It’s missing the sapphire case back that I would look to have on a Panerai. If I were purchasing a new Panerai today, It would be a tough choice between the Submersible or the Luminor. A Radiomir is a little too dressy and plain for me”
Panerai’s are the larger than life offering, but they wear surprisingly well with small lugs, and on a rubber strap they sit really well on the wrist. Don’t discount them because of current pop-watch culture, and wear what you love – big, small, obscure or simple, it does not matter!
Battle of the chronographs
Now we have covered the deep divers of 2024, Iwan and I turn to the chronometers that stood out over the year.
White Omega Speedmaster
Another watch-type, another Omega! The white-faced Omega Speedmaster was a smash hit release in 2024, with Omega giving fans what they have wanted to quite some time. The Speedmaster has plenty of variations,but those with a white face are few and far between. “Whilst this is a new colour, it feels so familiar. I like it”. For £7,600, this punchy offering from Omega was one of the most loved models that wet our appetites last year.
“It is a lot of watch for the money, and the sapphire caseback means we can see that stunning movement. If I had to pick, money no object, I would pick a Rolex Daytona still. Similar comments to the Seamaster, Omega’s don’t gravitate towards me. However, this white Omega Speedmaster could just do it”
Studio UnderD0g Series 3 – Salmon Chronograph
We keep shouting about our love for this British microbrand, with 10to2’s own Steve recently purchasing the Midnight Field watch from the 02 Series. In 2024, the brand released the Series 03, which was an extension to their big hitting 01 Series (you know, the Watermelon watches that took the watch world by storm), bringing an upgrade movement and different dial design.
“This colour is unique, I haven’t heard of Studio UnderD0g. It’s in your face offensive, but a good offensive”. Iwan wanted to know more of the background of this watch, and what price point it is competing in.
The Salmon dial was a little bit controversial, as it was the 2nd time the brand punched above the £1000 mark, following on from their Project Passion launch we saw Studio Underd0g and Moser partner up to release 2 watches in collaboration. We’ve all become accustomed to the plush colourways of the Watermelon, Goofy Panda, Min Choc chip & Desert Sky, but the Salmon added an element of sophistication whilst keeping the fun at heart.
Is this something you could see yourself wearing?
“You know what, the more I look at it, if it had a different strap then absolutely. I’ve just had a quick look and that WaterMel0n design is punchy. For a fun choice, I can see the appeal”.
I think we’ve cracked him. Sticking on the creative and design thread, we wanted to know what Studio Underd0g Iwan would design, keeping their general theme and design philosophy. “It’s obvious isn’t it? Yellow and Green. It might not be food related, but a watch which has a canary theme would be perfect – perhaps a neutral strap, but bold colours across the dial. I would wear it to every Norwich game” – I wonder if we can put a special request into Richard at Studio UnderD0g…
Tudor Black Bay Chrono Blue
It was quite tough to choose the last spot for the chronograph group, as we have loved so many over the last year. It was a toss-up between: The H.Moser & Cie, when they recently teamed up with Massena Lab to release the Endeavour Chronograph Compax, oozing the vintage vibe of classic Breitling’s. The Vegas-limited edition TAG Heuer Monaco skeleton (but we didn’t want to limit ourselves to two pink watches in one article), or the pre-existing Tudor Black Bay Chrono spruced up with a limited blue variant.
It was close, but we have gone for the Tudor Black bay Chrono Blue.
“I am getting vintage Daytona vibes. At £5,000, it feels expensive but that is the trend with modern watches. I’d prefer the chronograph on an oyster bracelet. Putting these watches together, it’s made me realise that there are relatively few differences in the grand scheme of things”.
The standout of the Tudor Chronograph range is that the watch is solid, with a aluminium bezel accompanied by a tachymeter, if a chronograph is what you are after, then this could be the best package. The only downside is the thickness of this watch. This new colourway did not reinvent anything, but it felt Tudor plugged the blue-shaped hole and we are excited to see what 2025 has lined up for the range.
Wild…one card – Norqain Wild One Skeleton 42mm Gecko
Wrapping up the discussion, before picking out our favourite from each category and then crowning 10to2’s ultimate winner of the, not best, but most stand-out watch of 2024 with Iwan Robert’s assistance, I wanted to add a watch that did not fit any category, but I felt had a place of the stars of 2024.
The Gecko has made the 2024 list under the provision that the green is damn good looking. Norqain have been the up and coming market distributors in recent years, with the Wild One being spotted on some famous wrists.
Green has been a popular colour choice in the watch world over recent years, are you a fan? And when looking at the Norqain Wild One, what is your opinion on Skeleton watches/dials, and if you like/disklike them, why is that?
“This is completely different from everything on the whole list, I give you that. Just looking through Norqain, I can see they do plenty of colourways”.
In 2024, Norqain also released the Wild One of 1, a configurator which enables consumers to mix and match colours, movements and materials to create up to 3.5 million different configurations that are sure to not be seen on other wrists.
“You have opened my eyes today and taught me something new today about watches. I would never have cast my eyes over these, but it’s going to make the morning research take even longer!”
That has been quite the deep dive into our top picks of 2024. Keeping it to the 6 watches we have covered across 2 different categories, some watches clearly stood out, whilst others did not quite hit the goal for Iwan.
“If I had to pick one from that list and ultimately my favourite watch release of 2024, it has got to be the Panerai. It’s so different to everything else, and the new case material shows that the innovation is burning away in the background” His least favourite? The Blancpain. “It’s too much money and feels it has lost its way in what it is trying to be”.
Talking to Iwan, sensing his passion and enthusiasm, coupled with a giant grin throughout the conversation made it hit home that watches can be a great escape for us all to enjoy. Truth be told, there are no bad watches in this list, and modern-day releases are more subjective than objective to what makes it a standout.
Undertaking our first review of releases spanning a calendar year, we are proud to say that the Panerai Submersible is our crowned favourite. This is closely followed by the white-dialled Omega Speedmaster, and the 3rd place position having bags of cheekiness with the Studio Underd0g Salmon Chronograph.
Thank you for your time here at 10to2! Before we wrap up for the day, is there anything you have your eye on for 2025?
“If money was no object, I have always had an itching for another Rolex Submariner. If I was being bold, I’d love to have a blue bezel, white-gold model known as ‘the Smurf’” Reference number 126619LB is a sleeper in the Rolex range, and that blue certainly pops!“
Iwan assures us he will continue to watch from the side lines, and for now will stick to the commentating on football…and watches!
