23 episodes

The Analog Explorer is a journey with fellow enthusiasts and the #watchfam to discover their passions with watches and beyond. As a professional photographer, hiker, and recreational diver based in the Pacific Northwest, host AJ Barse shares his drive for exploration through interviews and discussions with analog enthusiasts, collectors, creative watchmakers, and others who celebrate the impact and art of horology. The most universally limited resource is time; and the Analog Explorer reminds us all of the need to Fac Tempus Ad Explorandum i.e. "Make the Time To Explore." Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/analogexplorer/support

Analog Explorer AJ Barse

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 4 Ratings

The Analog Explorer is a journey with fellow enthusiasts and the #watchfam to discover their passions with watches and beyond. As a professional photographer, hiker, and recreational diver based in the Pacific Northwest, host AJ Barse shares his drive for exploration through interviews and discussions with analog enthusiasts, collectors, creative watchmakers, and others who celebrate the impact and art of horology. The most universally limited resource is time; and the Analog Explorer reminds us all of the need to Fac Tempus Ad Explorandum i.e. "Make the Time To Explore." Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/analogexplorer/support

    AE 22 | Cristina Mittermeier - Photography Made Under Pressure

    AE 22 | Cristina Mittermeier - Photography Made Under Pressure

    For full notes, photos, and video links, subscribe to Analog Explorer on Substack -

    https://analogexplorer.substack.com/p/ae-22-cristina-mittermeier-mitty



    In my career as a professional photographer, several artists come to mind who have inspired me as an artist. However, one in particular stands out both for her work with indigenous peoples worldwide and for her underwater environmental photography; Cristina Mittermeier. She is an award-winning wildlife and conservation photographer, a marine biologist, a renowned portrait photographer, co-founder of SeaLegacy, and a mom. And if that isn’t enough, she is also secretly a friend of ours in the #watchfam as an explorer supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative.



    For more including full notes, photos, and links, subscribe or support to Analog Explorer on Substack - ⁠https://analogexplorer.substack.com/p/ae-22-cristina-mittermeier-mitty⁠


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    Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/analogexplorer/support

    • 51 min
    AE 21 | Shooting for the Moon | Monolith and Barrelhand

    AE 21 | Shooting for the Moon | Monolith and Barrelhand

    For full notes, photos, and video links, subscribe to Analog Explorer on Substack - https://open.substack.com/pub/analogexplorer/p/ae-21-shooting-for-the-moon-monolith



    🛸 Back on the mic is the engineering and 3d printing visionary Karel Bachand, founder of Barrelhand Watches. You might remember him from AE 15, where he discussed the fusion of 3D printing and cutting-edge watch design. But this time, all systems are finally ready to lift off with the project he teased at the end of that episode; the Monolith.

    Barrelhand was kind enough to include me months ago as a beta tester of the Monolith right here on planet Earth here in the PNW. After weeks of wearing it and providing feedback, it was incredible to be able to look behind the scenes as this project progressed. But even after that prototype that was on my wrist, which I’m glad I can finally share with you now, they still continued to improve upon what was already out of this world in design. As you’ll hear, they made it even lighter (20%) and more robust than the prototype I had on my wrist! It was already the lightest automatic watch, in a 38mm case, I had ever felt. Being made from an alloy as light as aluminum, stronger than titanium, and, of course, 3d printed.



    For more including full notes, photos, and links, subscribe or support to Analog Explorer on Substack - https://open.substack.com/pub/analogexplorer/p/ae-21-shooting-for-the-moon-monolith


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    • 1 hr 1 min
    AE. 20 | Jason Heaton

    AE. 20 | Jason Heaton

    For full notes, photos, and video links subscribe to Analog Explorer on Substack - https://analogexplorer.substack.com/p/ae-20-jason-heaton

    Jason Heaton has carved out a distinctive niche for himself in the #watchfam. He and his wife, Gishani, are an adventuresome traveling duo. Diving around the world to photograph and write about some of the most horologically heavy-hitting dive watches that the world, and the deep, have ever seen.
    Jason’s writing has been featured in print and online in Outside magazine, Gear Patrol, Men’s Journal, and Hodinkee just to name a few. His passion for diving and dive watches was recognized by the New York Times in 2017, bestowing upon him the title as the world’s "test pilot for undersea timepieces."
    In his writing, Jason’s experience comes through as an avid outdoor enthusiast. His newsletter on Substack, Swimpruf, is an ongoing ‘dispatch’ of his adventures, his Land Rover, and stories around his watches. He also co-hosts the popular podcast, The Grey NATO, with James Stacey, where they share about “adventure, diving, driving, gear…and most certainly, watches.“
    On the Analog Explorer, we dive into (pun very much intended) watches, diving, and how adventure found Jason and formed his writing career. As a world traveler who has taken over 200 timepieces down with him on over 500 dives, we touch on diving trends and where gear might go in the future.
    Since the pandemic, Jason has expanded his writing into fiction. First, with his novel "Depth Charge" (2021), and now his new novel, "Sweetwater" (2023). As a fan of his two novels, our chat turned to the watches that showed up in the adventure series and why he paired them to their characters. We also explore what some of the real life inspirations were for his characters and locations.

    For more including full notes, photos, and links subscribe or support to Analog Explorer on Substack - ⁠https://analogexplorer.substack.com/p/ae-20-jason-heaton⁠

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    • 1 hr 4 min
    AE. 19 | Typsim Watches

    AE. 19 | Typsim Watches

    For full notes, photos, and video links subscribe to Analog Explorer on Substack 

    Typsim Watches. Designs inspired from the past, tested in the PNW, and made to age with time with its wearer.

    While meeting up with my fellow watch enthusiasts at RedBar Seattle, I was able to catchup with Matt Zinski. Matt is a classically trained architect, founder of Typsim Watches based in Seattle, Washington, and a friend of ours in the #watchfam.

    On the episode we chat about Typsim's start, it’s watch models, including a diver watch not yet released, the newly announced a field watch (The Guide), and I get to pick his brain as to what he has in store for his Seattle watch brand.

    See Substack post for the full notes including images and links.

    https://open.substack.com/pub/analogexplorer/p/ae-19-typsim-watches?r=8z6az&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web






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    • 33 min
    AE. 18 | "Bezel Action"

    AE. 18 | "Bezel Action"

    Looking at the history and alternative methods of measuring time with and without a complication in a mechanical movement.

    For full notes, photos, and video links subscribe to Analog Explorer on Substack, and as always with a AE x ZT collab-episode, there will be an extended conversation version on the Zulu Time Podcast feed.

    There has been a lot of buzz surrounding affordable GMT complications in microbrand watches. On the mic is long-time Analog Explorer alumni  ⁠Dan⁠ ( @Timely_Moments ) from the ⁠Zulu Time Podcast⁠, and in this collaborative episode, we explore how the bezel surrounding GMT movements can enhance their functionality. We cover a brief history of the evolution of bezels and what they measure. And we put out our conjecture that perhaps we may see a revival of simpler bezel designs that allow for different timing options without the added expense and complexity of a mechanical 4-hand movement.


    Show notes available | https://analogexplorer.substack.com/p/ae-18-bezel-action




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    • 54 min
    AE. 17 | The Antiquarian Horologist - Brittany Nicole Cox

    AE. 17 | The Antiquarian Horologist - Brittany Nicole Cox

    For full notes, photos, and video links subscribe to Analog Explorer on Substack 

    https://analogexplorer.substack.com/p/ae-17-the-antiquarian-horologist

    The rise of artificial intelligence has captured society's attention yet again, with machines now able to simulate human intelligence and behavior. It's like magic inside a box or a ghost in a machine. But have we seen this before? Could there have been an Analog Artificial Intelligence? In this episode, I delve into the world of mechina-intelligence through the gears and springs of automata. I chat with Brittany "Nico" Cox, an Antiquarian Horologist and owner of Memoria Technica in Vashon Island here in Washington State, who specializes in the conservation and restoration of antique automata, complicated clocks and watches, and singing bird objects. Discover more in the full show notes on Substack.






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    Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/analogexplorer/support

    • 40 min

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