If you’re surprised to see this in your inbox, that makes two of us.
The last email from The Prodigal Guide reached you a small eternity ago. The internet, as ever, found a way to fill the silence — TikTok and Instagram are now riddled with ‘influencers’, turning up for the opening of an envelope and relentlessly arguing about whether the Submariner is overrated. (It is, and it isn’t.) While that was going on, I was doing something marginally more useful.
I built an app for you.
It’s called The Watch League, and it’s a Prodigal idea executed with our usual degree of nonchalance. So, yes, you might find the occasional bug but please bear with us.
You swipe right on watches you like, left on the ones you don’t, leave a word of justification for your fellow horology hussies, and the community’s collective taste soon decides which watches actually deserve to be cared about. It’s a live, rolling, democratically-determined ranking of every watch that matters — and a fair few that don’t.
Think Tinder, but for things that won’t break your heart.
There are nine sub-leagues. The Major League for haute horlogerie. The Mile High League for pilot watches. The Minor League for things you buy your kids. One overall ranking sits above them all. Watches climb. Watches get relegated. Vintage Pateks lose to MoonSwatches. It can be brutal. But it’s also, frankly, a lot of fun. A that’s what we’ve always been about here at The Guide.
It’s free. iOS only for now. And the rankings are decided entirely by people who care, so the more of you who download it, the more honest it all becomes.
After you’ve played around with the watches that are already there, could I ask you to nominate one watch? The one you think is criminally absent. The one your mate scoffed at. The one you’d actually wear to your own funeral. Oh, and I’d love to hear how you get on. Just hit reply on this email and let me know.
I’ll be back next week with the early standings. There are already some surprises.
Until then, wear your watches in very good health,
— Andrew
P.S. The app has a little website for people who want to learn more: thewatchleague.app. This weekend, please do me a favour and forward it to the most opinionated watch nerd you know.