I don?t know about the rest of you, but this year, filled as it?s been with limited edition collaborations, hype watches, instant sellouts, and the social media vitriol that goes along with all of it, has worn me out. It seems like every new release gets filtered through the lens of availability, status, value, and a bunch of other things that don?t really mean much once you actually have a watch on your wrist. It?s a little stressful, and it takes a lot of the fun out of the hobby if you can remember a time when this kind of behavior was a rarity, and not the norm. 

As if right on cue, into this objectively less than great environment comes Delft Watch Works. If you haven?t already, I invite you to check out my post from a few months back introducing the watch you see here, the Oostpoort, the brand?s debut. I had a sense writing about it before I had a chance to see it in the metal that there was something charming and unpretentious happening here, and I?m gratified to report that I think I was basically right on the money in my early assessment. Getting the chance to wear this watch around and live with it for a few weeks reminds me of a simpler time in the micro-brand world, when completely new discoveries like this were  common, and watch collectors on a budget didn?t have to worry about things like DNS attacks spoiling the launch of a new watch, or squabbles between brands and their clients spilling onto social media in a public way. These are dark times, folks.Â...