🌟 Editor's Note

We’re back, people.

As usual I’m anything but consistent but you know what, when the content is this good, I’m sure you’ll forgive me.

We’re starting off 2026 with a brand new episode of The Subdial Show. I’ve changed the look and format a little since the first episode and it’s exciting to see it evolve episode to episode. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!

I spoke to the wonderfully charming Charles Tremblay, CEO of Charles Simon and the conversation was incredible. We spoke about his background teaching at NASA (sorry what!?), pursuing a career in engineering and starting Charles Simon. We cover high-quality luggage, the challenges of brand recognition and the function-first design approach. We even chat about Formula 1 and the engineering extreems neccesary to be successfull. I loved speaking with Charles, and if you like geeking out on engineering details, you will too!

Along with the the channel on youtube (please subscribe), the show is also available anywhere you listen to podcasts. So that means Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the random fringe players too. Just search The Subdial Show and look out for the image below.

This may be early, but to make this thing awesome (and financially sustainable), I’m working on building a community on Patreon with behind-the-scenes content, private webinars with my guests and early access to all written/audio/video content. It’s by no means ready to be publicly launched, but I wanted to extend the invite to all of you here to join early and help me build out the community. Eventually, it will be a monthly contribution to be a part of it, but for the first 50 people, it’s free. Click the link below. I’ll be in the group chat on patreon keen to speak with you all about what would be valuable in an online watch enthusiast community. Looking forward to it!

In the meantime, can’t wait to whisper into your ears while you commute. XX

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter :)
Mitch x

Métiers d’Art For Michel - The Parmigiani Fleurier La Ravenale

I rarely show my wife watches these days.

Like a cat bringing a dead bird into the house, my horological enthusiasm is generally met with exasperation and eye rolls. At worst, I get, ‘I don’t care about watches, stop annoying me’, and at best I get ‘that’s nice honey’, as she continues to scroll TikTok. It’s disappointing to say the least. I would much rather ‘So cool!’, or ‘You have excellent taste!’, or the best response of all, ‘Oh wow I think you should buy that’. A man can only dream.

On a whim, however, last week I walked up to her, shoved my phone in between her face and her feed and said, ‘Look at this’.
“Oh, I really like this one” she said back.

I quickly checked if hell had frozen over… nope, this was really happening.

On the screen was the latest in Parmigiani Fleurier’s Objet d’Art Collection, La Ravenale. In my excitement for some attention I went on to explain what it was, who made it and why I liked it.

‘Oh that's the brand that sounds like cheese?, you know, Parmigiana?’
Yes, yes, that's the one… I almost asked her not to disrespect my beloved Parmigiani Fleurier, but in my infinite wisdom, I decided to restrain myself and take the win. She had liked a watch I showed her, and that was good enough for me.

Did You Know? 👨‍🎨 Leonardo Da Vinci allegedly spent twelve years on the Mona Lisa’s lips. Talk about lip service…..

Cya in the next one,

Mitch x