On repeat: new single from The War on Drugs

I can’t stop listening to “Who’s That”, the new single from The War on Drugs (ie the fantastic rock band out of Philadelphia, USA).

Not only is the song itself gorgeous, its release suggests a new studio album is on its way – which is super exciting news because the band hasn’t released one of those since 2021!

Their last release was the live album, Live Drugs Again, in late 2024 – for which YouTube gave me a ‘Top Listener’ badge in January 2025 :)

Graphic showing top-listern badges received on YouTube Music. These include badges for Elderbrook, St. Vincent, The War on Drugs, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna, and Charli xcx.

Here’s hoping they release a new album soon and then come back to tour in Australia in 2027. *crosses fingers*

In the meantime, I guess I’ll just keep listening to this song over and over again!

Why the Sinn 903 and not the Breitling Navitimer?

For my fiftieth birthday I got a Sinn 903 St II chronograph (AU $5,600) instead of saving up for several years till I could afford a Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 (AU $13,890).

(Read my previous post if you want to know why I picked that specific watch and not one of the other mechanical chronographs I’d shortlisted.)

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches from two separate brands that look almost identical. Text below these watches reads, “Sinn 903 St II” and “Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41”.

I made that decision because the latest Sinn 903 series of watches (ie the mark-two models released from 2024 onwards) suit me better than watches from the modern Breitling Navitimer line up (ie the ones that use the B01 movement and were released from 2009 onwards).

This is for three reasons:

  1. Modern tool watch. The Sinn 903 St II watches are proper modern tool watches while current-day Breitling Navitimers have specs that are similar to modern field or dress watches. For my fiftieth birthday I wanted a practical, relatively hard-wearing tool watch and the Sinn 903 fit the bill.

  2. Cost per wear. Breitling Navitimers are blingy and expensive looking, which means I wouldn’t want to wear one all the time. Of course they don’t just look expensive, they are expensive, which means their cost-per-wear is too high for me.

  3. Brand association. Breitling has a fantastic history and the Navitimer is a historic series of watches, but Sinn has its own reputation of building seriously tough tool watches for the modern age. The Sinn 903 mark-two series is also more historically accurate in its design – meaning it looks more like the Navitimer versions I saw advertised, and subsequently fell in love with, in the 1980s. This combination of being historically accurate in terms of design but incredibly modern in terms of manufacture was a win-win for me.

Of course I’m not going to just leave it there :) Let’s talk about each of these reasons in a little more detail so I can explain why the Sinn 903 was the better watch for me.

Modern tool watch for aviators

The Breitling Navitimer was launched in 1952, and if you’ve read my previous post, you’ll know that Sinn purchased the Navitimer design from Breitling when the latter went bankrupt in 1979 due to the influx of lower-cost, but much more accurate quartz watches [1]. Sinn also bought Breitling’s Navitimer watch parts and machinery, but not the Navitimer brand name itself.

The rest of Breitling was purchased by Ernest Schneider who, over the 1980s, revised, refreshed, and rebuilt the Breitling brand.

What’s relevant to our discussion is that, from this point forwards, the Navitimer design evolved along two separate paths.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of three wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Sinn 903 St II (2024, 41mm case)”; “Breitling Navitimer Mk8 Ref. 806 (1968, 40.2mm case)”; and “Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41 (2011, 41mm case)”.

Breitling Navitimer: a modern luxury watch

Under Schneider’s leadership, Breitling moved from the tool watch space to the luxury watch space, and so its Navitimers were evolved into luxury watches – starting with the ‘Old Navitimer’ model launched in 1986 which had a gold bracelet option.

Here’s how the these watches evolved at Breitling:

  • Standard Navitimers dials were simplified, with the time scale – ie the inner-most scale on the original dial – removed to make the dial cleaner.

Graphic showing the cropped promotional photos of two wristwatches along with some annotations. The annotation on one watch reads, “Time scale on the Sinn 903 St II” and this points to said time scale printed on this watch’s dial. The annotation on the second watch reads, “No time scale on the Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41” and this points to a blank space on the watch dial where the time scale would have been.

  • Luxury elements were introduced. These included gold cases and bracelets; moon-phase complications; perpetual calendar movements; and collaborative special editions.

  • Standard-model cases became thinner (13.6mm vs 14.5mm for the 903s) but larger case sizes were now on offer: 43mm and 46mm in diameter, instead of just the 41mm original.

  • The water resistance rating of these watches, however, was kept at 30m. In the modern era of watchmaking, the only watches with 30-50m of water resistance are dress watches, “everyday” watches, and some lower-end field watches. Modern tool watches like dive, field, and aviation watches have at least 100m of water resistance across pretty much their entire price range.

Sinn 903: a modern tool watch

Sinn, the German watch manufacturer founded in 1961 as an aviation watch brand, has a different ethos, with a focus on “functionality, reliability, and technical prowess”. The 903 series evolved accordingly, while staying true to its 1970s-era design.

Here’s how these watches evolved (or didn’t) at Sinn:

  • Dials layouts weren’t changed from the 1970s versions (ie all the scales are still there) and cases sizes were kept at 41mm.

  • Instead of luxury elements being added, the construction of the watch was brought up to modern tool-watch manufacturing standards. The 903 II series, for example, was engineered to have a whopping 200m of water resistance! This is obviously overkill, but it is a very on-brand flex from Sinn.

Tool watch vs luxury watch

Modern Sinn 903s are tool watches, just like they were in the 1970s. Today they’re slightly anachronistic tool watches for the modern day GPS-connected, smartphone-carrying pilot, but they are very much watches that are built to modern tool-watch standards – which is what I was after. [2]

Modern Breitling Navitimers are luxury watches, though they still work as tool watches. I think these watches are fantastic, and I would love to own one, but when you’re after a robust tool watch, this isn’t the watch for you.

Cost per wear calculation

With its complex visual presence and highly-polished case, the Navitimer is a shiny, blingy, and unmistakeably expensive luxury watch. I can totally rock that look, but only on occasion. Shiny, blingy, and unmistakeably expensive isn’t my usual style, so this isn’t something I’d want to wear all the time.

The 903 on the other hand, has a combination satin/polished case (instead of an all-polished case) and that makes it look less blingy. Yes, this is a pretty thick watch – meaning it does have a certain wrist presence – but being a little less eye-catching than a Navitimer means I’m comfortable wearing it more often.

Close-up photo of a man’s wrist, on which he is wearing a mechanical watch. The man is seated at his desk at work. The watch has black dial, cream coloured hands, and three white coloured sub-dials. This watch is a chronograph so it has two pushers on the side that are used to start and reset the chronograph function.

Given all that, the cost-per-wear calculation for a Navitimer just doesn’t add up. And because a new 903 costs 40% of what new Navitimer costs, the cost-per-wear calculation for the 903s does add up.

Does this mean I’ll never buy a luxury watch because of the cost-per-wear factor? Nope. If someone was to give me twenty thousand dollars right now to spend on watches for myself, I’d buy an Omega Speedmaster first…and then I’d go buy the Sinn 903 :) A brand new Navitimer just isn’t the first luxury watch I’d buy. [3]

Brand association trade-off

While the Sinn 903 might not be as refined or historically significant as the Breitling Navitimer, it more than makes up for this by being a robust and understated (though still gorgeous) timepiece that I can see myself wearing all the time.

Meaning, as a tool-watch guy, in a head-to-head comparison, the Sinn 903 series works better for me than the current Navitimer offerings from Breitling.

Also, with its more complicated, more historically-faithful dial layout, the Sinn 903 is closer to the Navitimers I fell in love with when I saw them advertised in glossy magazines in the 1980s. Sinn’s 903s are modernised, beefed-up versions of those older watches, and so they’re the ones I wanted to go with.

Ultimately, what I’m doing is making a brand-association trade-off: a modern, seriously robust tool watch over a modern, luxury tool watch. Both are great; I just wanted the former.

To sum up

When I was presented with the choice of saving up to get a modern Navitimer in the future or to get a Sinn 903 now – a watch that’s an even tool-watch-ier version of a 1970s-era Navitimer – I chose the latter.

Having made my choice and, as the brand new owner of this most fantastic of watches, I have absolutely no regrets :)

Very close-up photo of half of a watch dial of the Sinn 903 St II.

[1] The rest of the world calls this the “quartz revolution” in watchmaking while the Swiss watch industry calls it the “quartz crisis”. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[2] If you want a truly modern tool watch for pilots, you should look at getting an aviation-focused Garmin watch, like the D2 Mach 2, D2 Air X15, or MARQ Aviator. Or you should get a Casio G-Shock GRAVITYMASTER from its ‘Master of G: Air’ line of watches.

[3] I might still buy a Breitling in the future, but it’ll be a pre-owned one and it might not be a Navitimer. Also, buying a luxury watch (whether first- or second-hand) is not something I’m even going to think about till I’m in my sixties!

A chronograph for turning 50

tl;dr After a great deal of research, for my 50th birthday I asked for and received a Sinn 903 St II wristwatch. This mechanical chronograph is a modern evolution of a 1970s-model Breitling Navitimer, but one that was developed and manufactured by the German watchmaker Sinn.

Birthdays, particularly notable birthdays, are a good time to ask for (or buy for yourself) something special that you want but don’t need. For me that special thing is wristwatches and, happily, I’ve asked for and received several over the years.

(My family and friends are awesome.)

A special watch every five years

When I turned 40 in 2016, Nadia and my friends got together and bought me a Seagull 1963 Airforce. This is a dress watch (at least by current standards) with a basic mechanical chronograph complication that was built for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force in 1963.

Close-up photo of a man wearing a relatively small, stainless steel mechanical watch on his wrist on a brown leather strap. The watch has a cream coloured dial, gold coloured applied numerals, blue-coloured hours/minutes hands, and a red-coloured chronograph seconds-hand.

To celebrate turning 45 in 2021, I wanted to get a nice dive watch that could also be a GADA watch (GADA = Go Anywhere, Do Anything). The watch I went with was the 60th Anniversary Oris Divers 65 with a black-and-blue dial. I love this watch and have worn it more than any other watch in the last five years.

Close-up photo of a man wearing a stainless steel mechanical watch on his wrist on a blue-and-black woven cloth strap. The watch has black and deep-blue coloured dial, cream coloured numerals in a retro 1960s typeface, and silver coloured hands.

Now it’s 2026 and I’m turning 50, and this year I wanted to get a nicer mechanical chronograph. This didn’t have to be a GADA watch, but I did want it to be a genuine tool watch and perhaps even a flex watch.

Deciding which chronograph to get

The only mechanical chronograph I own – the Seagull 1963 Airforce that I got for my fortieth – is one I don’t wear much these days because it’s a light-coloured dress watch and I’m usually in dark-coloured casual clothes. [1]

Also, the watch itself is quite basic. It may be shiny and pretty, but:

  • its styling isn’t particularly sophisticated;

  • its production is mass-market;

  • it’s powered by the the Chinese-made ST1901 movement, the cheapest mechanical chronograph movement available; and

  • it’s not even a particularly useful chronograph because, as a dress watch, its legibility-at-a-glance is severely limited.

What I was after now was a mechanical chronograph with:

  • a nicer, more functional, more tool-watch-ey design;

  • much nicer styling, manufacture, and finishing; and

  • a better chronograph movement, like the Japanese-made Seiko 8R48 or the Swiss-made ETA/Valjoux 7753.

So that’s what I went looking for.

Screenshot from the Time & Tide web store showing a grid of chronograph wristwatches that are available.

Creating a longlist

I started my research broadly, by looking at all the chronographs that are out there [2]. I didn’t focus on price, though I did stop looking at anything that cost more than $15k. Watches that cost more than $15k when new weren’t going to be affordable to me even on the secondary market.

All prices mentioned here are in Australian dollars, by the way.

Looking without shortlisting let me figure out what I liked, what I didn’t like, and what I’d have to settle for in a chronograph – like watches that are 14mm thick (or more) where I normally wear watches in the 10-12mm thickness range.

Through this browsing I was able to set a minimum price above which the design and functionality I wanted became readily available. This came to roughly $3k.

Next I created approximate price bands based on functionality, design, aesthetics, and brand premium:

  • Basic chronographs, $3-4k: Basic mechanical chronograph functionality; wide range of design aesthetics; relatively low water resistance (only 30-50m in many cases). Brands like Hamilton, Baltic, Tissot, and Junghans are represented here.

  • Enthusiast/tool-watch chronographs, $4-5k: Better movements (eg column-wheel chronographs, longer power reserves); higher grade construction (eg 100m water resistance); higher brand premiums; and better finishing. Here you’ll start to see brands like Sinn, Seiko, and Hanhart; as well as some Longines models on the secondary market.

  • Quasi-luxury chronographs, $5-6k: Higher grade construction (eg 200m water resistance, open case back); better finishing; and even higher brand premiums. This is where we get into Longines and where we also find some higher-tier Sinn models and some Oris models that are on sale.

  • Higher tier quasi-luxury chronographs, $6-10k: Better movements (eg even longer power reserves); less bulky (eg smaller diameter, thinner); better finishing; and still higher brand premiums. This is where you’ll find higher-tier Longines models and where brands like Oris, Frederique Constant, and Baume & Mercier come into the picture.

  • Entry-level luxury chronographs, $10k-15k: Even better finishing; even higher brand premiums; additional chronograph functionality (eg fly-back chronograph movements). This is when you get to proper “luxury” brands like Omega, Breitling, Zenith, Tudor, and Tag Heuer.

Finally, based on these price bands and my budget, I set my maximum price for a new or pre-owned watch. This came to roughly $6k, with a little wiggle room if needed.

Shortlisting criteria

Based on my preferences and what I learned from my initial research, I came up with a list of requirements that I could use to create my shortlist:

Movement type: Mechanical chronograph of any construction (ie column or cam wheel; vertical or horizontal clutch).

Size: 38–42mm in diameter; as thin as possible.

Price range: AU $3,000 to $6,000.

Sub-dial configuration: Bicompax or tricompax – I think bicompax sub-dials look cooler but the tricompax configuration is more functional.

Graphic showing promotional photos of two black-dial, stainless steel wristwatches side by side. Text next to the first watch reads, “Bicompax sub-dial configuration” and “Omega Speedmaster ‘57”. This watch has two sub-dials. Text next to the second watch reads, “Tricompax sub-dial configuration” and “Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional”. This watch has three sub-dials.

Dial design: Ideally, contrasting sub-dials in a panda configuration or a reverse-panda configuration – though other dial-colour configurations would do if the design is really good (like the Omega Speedmasters in the graphic above).

Graphic showing three things: the photo of a panda’s face and the promotional photos of two stainless steel wristwatches. Text next to the panda reads, “Panda” and “Panda in China”. Text next to the first watch reads, “Panda dial” and “Tudor Black Bay Chrono”. The design of this watch resembles the panda’s face in that it has a white dial and two horizontally-oriented, black sub-dials that represent the panda’s eyes. Text next to the second watch reads, “Reverse-panda dial” and “Tudor Black Bay Chrono”. This watch has a black dial and two horizontally oriented, white sub-dials.

Style: Aviation and field styles watches over dive and dress styles watches – think more Omega Speedmaster, Zenith Chronomaster, and Breitling Navitimer and less Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph, Baltic Scalegraph, and Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope.

Graphic showing two groups of three wristwatches each. Text above the first group reads, “YES: aviation, field style”. Text below this group reads, “L-R: Omega Speedmaster; Zenith Chronomaster; Breitling Navitimer”. Text above the first group reads, “NO: dive, dress style”. Text below this group reads, “L-R: Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph; Baltic Scalegraph; Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope”.

Inspiration: Watches that draw inspiration from, broadly reference, or make me feel how I feel when I look at my dream chronographs.

My dream chronographs

Graphic showing the promotional photos of five wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph; Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional; TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph; Zenith Chronomaster Original Automatic; and A. Lange & Söhne Datograph”.

I have five dream chronographs:

The first three of those watches got imprinted on me when I saw them in magazines as a kid in the 1980s – advertising works, folks! – and the last two I fell in love with when I properly got into wristwatches (because I could now afford nicer ones) about sixteen years ago.

Will I ever buy any of my dream chronographs? Yes! My plan is to get the Omega Speedmaster for my 60th birthday, but I don’t think I’ll get any of the others. Why?

  • The Breitling Navitimer is probably my grail watch, but it is very shiny and I’m not sure its something I’ll wear often – which, for me, defeats the purpose of buying an expensive watch.

  • The TAG Heuer Monaco is super cool, but it doesn’t match my usual style – meaning I’d only want to wear it with certain outfits. So, again, I don’t see the point in buying a luxury watch if I’m not going to wear it all, or at least most, of the time.

  • The Zenith Chronomaster is fantastic, but I suspect (hope?) the Speedmaster will have already scratched my tricompax chronograph itch.

  • Unless I win the lottery, and probably not even then, I don’t think I’ll ever buy the Lange Datograph!

Creating a shortlist

Graphic showing the promotional photos of six wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Tissot Telemeter 1938; Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H; Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono; Seiko Prospex Speedtimer; Longines Avigation Big Eye; and Sinn 903 St II”.

In the end, these were the six watches that made it to my shortlist (in increasing order of price):

Let’s look at them one by one.

Tissot Telemeter 1938

If you’re wondering after all my talk of requirements and preferences how this style of watch of made it through my shortlisting criteria, the answer is simple: I adore pulsometer watches! Or, more generally, I love watches with spiral or contrasting-colour scales printed on the dial or the crystal.

Pulsometer watches have been around since the early 1700s and the coolest recent release in that style was the 2015 limited edition Longines Pulsometer Chronograph. I would love to get my hands on this watch, but it isn’t available anywhere.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of a wristwatches with text below it that reads, “Longines Pulsometer Chronograph”.

Probably the nicest pulsometer watches available right now are the Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope series. My favourite is the version with blue spiral track, though the panda version with the red spiral track is cool too.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope”.

All this to say that, when the white-dial Tissot Telemeter 1938 ($3,500) came up in my research, it went straight onto my shortlist. The black-dial version is pretty cool too.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Tissot Telemeter 1938”.

I checked out both these watches in Tissot’s Melbourne boutique. Sadly, they felt a little unwieldy on my wrist. Also, the black-dial version, while gorgeous, isn’t super legible and is therefore not practical as a chronograph (even though it’d be great as a dress watch). I guess this is a case of watches looking cooler in photos than they are in the metal – at least as far as my current taste in watches and my current watch-buying objectives are concerned.

STATUS: Removed from the shortlist.

Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H

I fell in love with Hamilton’s Intra-Matic Chronograph series many years ago. In fact, when I decided I was going to get a nice mechanical chronograph for my fiftieth birthday, these were the watches I thought of first.

While I love the automatic, panda version from this series, my favourite is the black-dial, manual-wind, reverse panda: the Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H ($3,650).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H” and “Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Auto Chrono”.

Funnily enough, it was only while writing this post that I consciously realised that, even though they’re parsecs apart in quality, looks-wise the reverse-panda Intra-Matic for me scratches the same itch as the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph!

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Hamilton American Classic Intra-Matic Chronograph H” and “A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down”.

Time & Tide, our local Hamilton authorised dealer (AD) didn’t have the reverse-panda version in stock, but I did check out the blue-dial version, which is also super cool.

Status: Black-dial version moved to the top of the shortlist.

Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono

I think it’s obvious why the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono ($3,650) made it to my shortlist: its converter dial is reminiscent of the Breitling Navitimer.

The black-dial version of this watch is cool, but I think the blue-dial version is cooler.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Hamilton Khaki Aviation Converter Auto Chrono”.

I have over the years considered getting one of the quartz-based flight chronographs that pay homage to the Navitimer and Speedmaster: watches like the Citizen Promaster Sky or the Islander Calverton Flight Chronograph (which itself was inspired by the discontinued Seiko Flightmaster).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches. Text below these reads, “Citizen Promaster Sky” and “Islander Calverton Flight Chronograph”.

I never got around to buying one of these though, so this could be my chance to get something in that style but with a mechanical movement.

Sadly, when I tried on this watch at my local AD, it didn’t work. Yes, the watch fit physically on my wrist, it just didn’t have the presence or vibe that I connected with. Oh well.

Status: Removed from the shortlist.

Seiko Prospex Speedtimer

The Seiko Speedtimer has a long history. Released in 1970 as the world’s second automatic chronograph (after the Zenith El Primero in 1969) a slightly newer version of this watch even made it into space in 1973 with American astronaut William Pogue.

Seiko didn’t do much with the Speedtimer during the quartz era, but they revived it in 2021 and have since released a bunch of mechanical and solar-quartz versions.

The black-dial version of the Seiko Prospex Speedtimer ($3,900) is my favourite, but the white-dial version is pretty cool too. And there are many other dial-colour variations to choose from.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches, one with a black dial and one with a white dial, with text below them that reads, “Seiko Prospex Speedtimer”.

People also love this watch because versions of it scratch the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional and Rolex Cosmograph Daytona itch for a fraction of the price – specifically the SRQ055 and SSC911 shown in the graphic below.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of four wristwatches in two pairs, with some resemblance between the watches that have been paired. Text below the first pair reads, “Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional” and “Seiko Prospex Speedtimer”. Text below the first pair reads, “Rolex Cosmograph Daytona” and “Seiko Prospex Speedtimer”.

I checked out these Speedtimers at two local ADs – and I looked at both the 39mm and 42mm diameter versions – but ultimately decided that, if I was going to get one, I’d get a solar-quartz version ($1,150, but currently on sale for $851) at some point in the future.

Status: Eliminated from the shortlist. (Well, at least from my current birthday shortlist.)

Longines Avigation Big Eye

I was very curious about this watch when I first heard about it. Its design feels like that of a flieger-style aviation watch (which is a style I love) merged with the Omega Speedmaster (which is another style I love) but with the added twist of the 3 o’clock sub-dial being larger than the others – hence the “big eye” name.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of three wristwatches in a mathematical equation. Text below these reads, “Stowa Flieger Classic” plus “Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional” equals the “Longines Avigation Big Eye”.

I initially didn’t shortlist this watch because I thought it was out of my price range, but then I realised I was looking at the blue-dial titanium version ($6,500) and not the black-dial, stainless steel Longines Avigation Big Eye ($5,075 full price, but was on a 30%-off sale).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches, one with a black dial and one with a blue/black gradient dial, with text below them that reads, “Longines Avigation Big Eye”.

The black-dial version wasn’t in stock at my local AD or the Melbourne Longines flagship store, but the flagship store did have the titanium, blue-dial version which I got to check out.

Sadly, this watch just didn’t grab me.

Yes, there is a lot going for it: it is gorgeous, very well-executed, and runs on a high-grade chronograph movement. It was also on a 30%-off, end-of-financial-year sale when I saw it, which is probably the best price I’ll ever get for it.

The problem is that I already own two watches that have the same flieger / aircraft instrument panel look. These are the Stowa Flieger Classic 40 Baumuster B and the Techné GosHawk (Techné being a brand created by a former Longines watch designer).

Graphic showing the promotional photos of three wristwatches with text below them that reads, “Stowa Flieger Classic 40 Baumuster B”, “Techné GosHawk”, and “Longines Avigation Big Eye”.

I wanted a special watch for my fiftieth birthday, not one that’s in the same style as two watches I already own. So, disappointingly, I had to let this one go.

This is not to say I don’t think this watch is cool – it is cool, and I can totally see myself wearing it and loving it – but it’s just not the right watch for me right now.

Status: Moved to second place on my shortlist, but with the knowledge that I’m not going to buy it this time around.

Sinn 903 St II

The final watch on my shortlist was the Sinn 903 St II ($5,600). And while its blue-dial version is cool, I think its OG black-dial version is cooler.

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches, one with a black dial and one with a blue dial, with text below them that reads, “Sinn 903 St II” and “Sinn 903 St BE II”.

“But Ameel,” you exclaim, “the Sinn 903 looks just like the Breitling Navitimer! Isn’t this design just a blatant rip-off of the watch you love so much?”

Graphic showing the promotional photos of two wristwatches from two separate brands that look almost identical. Text below these watches reads, “Sinn 903 St II” and “Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41”.

My reply would be a rather irritating, “You’re not wrong; but you’re not right either.”

I’ll let Brice Goulard, writing in Monochrome, explain:

Before you start commenting on the fact that this watch is a copy of the Breitling Navitimer, let me explain why you’d be right on one side, but also why Sinn has the legitimacy to do so.

Some might not know the story behind the creation of the Sinn 903 and why it is so close to a Navitimer in both design and technical specs. The story is that, back in the late 1970s, Breitling (like many other brands) was in a difficult situation due to the quartz crisis.

Parts of Breitling were liquidated in 1979 and the rights to the Navitimer were sold to the highest bidder. This resulted in Sinn, but also Ollech & Wajs, acquiring not only the design and rights to produce a watch identical to the Navitimer (the name remained the property of Sicura, then returned to Breitling) but also stocks of parts, such as cases and dials.

Sinn obtained the rights and parts of the Navitimer 806 and 809 and then produced watches under its own name with the reference 903…a model that has been in the collection for over 45 years.

So, yes, this is the Breitling Navitimer design but, no, it’s not a rip-off because Sinn legitimately owns this design as well.

Now before I started this round of research, I hadn’t seriously considered buying the Sinn 903 for two reasons:

  1. There is no Sinn AD in Australia

  2. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Sinn 903 because the only way to rotate the slide-rule bezel was through an additional crown at the 10 o’clock position

Happily, while doing my research I learned two new things:

  1. There is now one (1) Sinn AD in Australia: Define Watches up in Noosa, Queensland

  2. In June 2024 Sinn released the 903 St II, and this upgraded version has a directly-operated slide-rule bezel along with a whole host of other minor upgrades

Woohoo!

Still, I had a problem: this watch was all the way up in Noosa, which meant I wouldn’t be able to get any hands-on time with it pre-acquisition.

So I did the next-best thing: I went into the local Breitling flagship store and checked out the 41mm version of the Navitimer :) I figured if that worked well on my wrist, then the Sinn 903 would too. Happily, it did! And I could totally picture myself wearing a slightly thicker, more tool-watch-like version of that watch very comfortably on my wrist. [3]

Status: Moved to the top of the shortlist, with the Hamilton Intra-Matic pushed down into second place and the Longines Big Eye pushed further down into third place.

Honourable mentions

Graphic showing the promotional photos of five wristwatches. Text below these watches reads, “Baltic Scalegraph Classic Panda; Sinn 356 Pilot; Junghans Telemeter; Longines Master Collection Chrono Moonphase; Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph”.

Before I tell you which watch I ultimately got – as if you haven’t figured it out already – here are six honourable mentions that I want to, well, mention but not go on about:

  • If I wasn’t actively trying to avoid 1930s/40s-style watches (opting instead of 1960s/70s-style watches) I would have shortlisted the Baltic Scalegraph Classic Panda ($2,670). Also, I think it was the 1930s styling of the Tissot Telemeter 1938 chronographs that stopped me from connecting with them when I checked them out in the store.

  • The Sinn 356 Pilot ($3,550) is cool but, like I said when I talked about the Longines Avigation Big Eye earlier, I already have two flieger style watches so I didn’t shortlist this one.

  • When I’m ready to buy a telemeter watch (since I probably won’t be able to find an affordable pulsometer watch) I’ll likely get the lovely Junghans Telemeter ($4,300).

  • The Longines Master Collection Chrono Moonphase ($6,400) was outside of my budget but a great-condition version of it became available on the secondary market ($3,900) so I had to go take a look. Unfortunately, this particular watch was on display at the AD’s Sydney store and I wasn’t going to consider it without seeing it in the metal first.

  • The Oris Divers Sixty-Five Chronograph ($6,800) is great, and I might have found a version on sale that was under my budget, but I already have an Oris Divers Sixty-Five and there was no point doubling up.

Making a decision

By this point I’d pretty much decided that the Sinn 903 was the watch I was going to get.

Screenshot of the Sinn Catalogue 2025-26 showing the ‘Series 903’ watch that is described as “The navigation chronograph”. The screenshot shows the blue-dial and black-dial versions of the watch on one page and text about this series of watches on the second page.

“But why was the Sinn 903 even in consideration?” you might ask. “If you love the Breitling Navitimer so much, wouldn’t it have been better to wait till you’d saved enough money to buy the ‘real thing’?”

Normally, I would agree with that sentiment. If you’re pining for the “real thing”, there’s a decent chance you won’t be satisfied with a less costly substitute – whether that’s a replica, an homage, or something heavily inspired by what you really want.

However, this argument doesn’t work here because the Sinn 903 isn’t a substitute, it is the real thing – it’s just a version that’s built and sold by a different manufacturer.

Yes, the Sinn brand doesn’t have the same historical associations that the Breitling brand does, but as far as watches go, I actually prefer the Sinn 903 over the Breitling Navitimer. Also, I very much love the associations that the Sinn brand does have. I’ll explain all this in my next post because this post is already too long.

The real decision I needed to make was about something else.

Which version of the 903?

The Sinn Series 903 comes in two editions (standard and anniversary) and in five dial colours (black, anthracite, dark blue, green, and sunburst blue). I was pretty sure I wanted to get the standard black-dial version, but before committing to that decision I called up the folks at Define Watches to have a chat.

I wanted to ask about the standard dark-blue-dial version of this watch because, while I love a good blue dial, the blue of that dial needs to be a really good shade. My Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary Edition, for example, has a gorgeous, deep-blue outer dial that I adore, and this shade of blue matches, complements, or nicely contrasts with the colours of pretty much every outfit I own [4].

Close-up photo of a man wearing a stainless steel mechanical watch on his wrist on a blue-and-black woven cloth strap. The watch has black and deep-blue coloured dial, cream coloured numerals in a retro 1960s typeface, and silver coloured hands.

The person I talked to at Define Watches was Peter Petzold, one of the two co-owners, and he told me the blue of the Sinn 903 St II B E’s dial is dark blue, and that too a shade of dark blue that looks black in some light. That was great news.

I then watched a lot of YouTube videos that showed-off this dial colour in high resolution, and I came away impressed.

But even after all that investigation and exploration, I decided to go with the OG black-dial version. Why? Partly because it is the more historically accurate dial colour but mostly because this is the dial colour I fell in love with in the 1980s :)

The fact that this dial colour will never clash with any of the clothes I wear was just a bonus.

How do I feel about my decision?

I feel fantastic! And doubly so since Nadia gave me the watch on my birthday morning and I got to see it in the metal.

Looking at this watch on a screen and wearing it on my wrist are two completely different experiences, and the latter is better than I even imagined it would be.

Close-up photo of a man wearing a mechanical watch on his wrist. The watch has black dial, silver hands filled with a luminous material, and three white coloured sub-dials. This watch is a chronograph so it has two pushers on the side that are used to start and reset the chronograph function. The watch bezel is a slide rule that lets the wearer perform mathematical calculations. The man is wearing a button-down shirt with a navy-blue check, the cuff of which is covering one slice of the watch.

I was concerned, for example, that the watch would be too heavy, too bulky, or too thick. It is none of those things. It does have weight and it does sit taller on my wrist than most of my other watches, but by no means does it feel heavy or look bulky on my wrist. It also doesn’t look too blingy, which is important to me. (More on that in my next post.)

Instead, this watch fits perfectly on my wrist – both in terms of its physical size and its wrist-presence – and the gorgeous, black, vintage-style leather strap I got with it is super comfortable and holds the watch snugly at exactly where I normally wear watches.

Another cool thing that I hadn’t fully appreciated till I wore this watch was that its dial has a subtle sunburst finish that makes the dial look more dynamic than a plain matte black dial would have looked.

Close-up animated GIF of a man wearing a mechanical watch on his wrist. The watch has black dial, cream coloured hands, and three white coloured sub-dials. The man is standing outside on a sunny day and is twisting his arm towards and away from the camera, which highlights the sunburst pattern on the black dial of the watch.

I’ve only had this watch for two days, but it already fits perfectly with my entire wardrobe and is spot-on for my lifestyle.

Yes, I think I made a really good decision.

So what next?

What’s next is that, in my fifty-first year on this planet, I get to wear this most fantastic watch pretty much all the time!

Close-up photo of a man wearing a mechanical watch on his wrist while seated in the driver’s seat of a parked car. The watch has black dial, cream coloured hands, and three white coloured sub-dials. This watch is a chronograph so it has two pushers on the side that are used to start and reset the chronograph function.

And who knows, maybe I’ll get the Hamilton Intra-Matic that was in second place on my shortlist for my fifty-fifth birthday :)

[1] These days I wear mostly dark and casual clothes but, ten years ago, when I got the Seagull 1963 Airforce watch, with its champagne-coloured dial and dress-watch looks, my work “uniform” used to be khakis with a navy blue check shirt. In other words, this watch was a great fit for the old Ameel – like in the casual-Friday photo from 2019, below – but its colours clash with how the new Ameel dresses every day.

Selfie of a man standing in front of the floor-to-wall window of an office building that overlooks the city. The man is grinning and giving the camera a thumbs-up. He is wearing a textured maroon dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up. On his left wrist he is wearing a small silver watch with a cream-coloured dial: the Seagull 1963 Airforce.

[2] As part of my chronography research, I read or watched all these round-ups from Teddy Baldassarre:

[3] While at the Breitling boutique, I also tried on the 43mm Navitimer and, surprisingly, I think this size looked better on my 19cm/7.5in-diameter wrist than the 41mm version did. What can I say? Breitling watches are fucking cool.

[4] These days I mostly wear black, dark grey, navy blue, maroon, and khaki clothes, with accents in red, orange, yellow, and white. My Oris Divers Sixty-Five 60th Anniversary Edition watch goes with all of these colours, as does my new Sinn 903 St II :)

Collage of four photos, each focusing on a bald man with a salt-and-pepper beard who is wearing glasses. In two of the photos a woman is hugging this man and leaning her head on his chest. In the photos the man is wearing, respectively, a black t-shirt, a dark grey t-shirt, a grey-and-black hoodie, and a navy blue suit.

Arial and Helvetica alternatives – follow-up

I have a quick update to last year’s ‘Arial and Helvetica alternatives’ post.

I am adding a fifth typeface to the four free ones I recommended in the ‘Slightly different from Arial and Helvetica’ section.

My free favourites [updated]

These are my four five free recommendations:

  • Inter (and Inter Display) from Rasmus Andersson – also available from Google Fonts, though there these are called Inter and Inter Tight, respectively

  • Public Sans from USWDS – currently supports only the Latin writing system

  • Officer Sans Free from HvD FONTS – also has a paid version (more font weights + condensed versions)

  • Nebula Sans from Nebula – currently supports only the Latin writing system

  • [NEW] Nacelle from Dot Colon – currently supports only the Latin writing system, but it does come in thin, ultra-light, light, regular, semi-bold, bold, heavy, and black weights

Introducing Nacelle

My new recommendation, Nacelle, is a bit like Unica: the typeface that combines the strengths of Univers and Helvetica. Meaning this typeface is a little friendlier and a tad less neutral than Helvetica. For example, Nacelle has:

  • feet on the lowercase ‘l’ that makes it easier to distinguish from the uppercase ‘I’ and

  • circular tittles (ie dots) on the lowercase ‘i’ and ‘j’ instead of the square ones in Helvetica.

Nacelle was released in 2022 (as an update to Sora Sagano’s earlier typeface, Aileron) but I only really looked into it this week.

It is a cool typeface that I am happy to recommend as a more interesting alternative to Helvetica – though only if you’re going to be writing in English, since it has just a limited Latin writing system character set.

FYI, the text used in the comparison-graphic above is from the opening sentences of The Rook by Daniel O’Malley.

My favourite condensed typefaces (August 2026)

Quick update to my December 2025 favourite typefaces list.

I frequently find myself wanting to use a condensed typeface (or just a slightly narrower typeface) in my infographics, charts, graphs, and tables. So I made a list of my favourite condensed typefaces :)

Condensed typefaces

(For an explanation of the categories I’ve divided these typefaces into, read my ‘How I think about typefaces’ post.)

Now those are the condensed typefaces I use most often in graphics and tables, but here are a three more that I also use in headings:

Finally, here are two honourable mentions that you might find useful if you’re looking for a neutral typeface that is also condensed:

FYI, you’ll always find the my most up-to-date list of favourites on the ‘Typography’ page on this website.

[Photo walk] Local footy match

We’ve had a couple of sunny days in Melbourne so I’ve managed to take two nice walks around the northern suburbs this weekend.

Yesterday I took a quiet walk through a cemetery but today my environment was much more lively because I walked by a community footy ground when there was a local Youth Footy match on. (Oak Park FC v Maribyrnong Park FC, fyi.)

My Fujifilm camera isn’t designed for taking high-speed sports photos – and I am certainly not a sports photographer! [1] – but I took a few shots of the action as I walked by and I was generally pleased with the results.

Forwards waiting for the play to come to their end of the ground

Photo of a two teenage footy players from opposing teams waiting next to each other at one end of a local Aussie Rules football ground. They are both watching the play at the other end of the ground.

Running after the ball as it bounces forward

Photo of a group of teenage footy players from opposing teams converging on a bouncing football that’s near one of the goals. This game is being played on a local Aussie Rules football ground on a sunny day.

Catching the ball and getting ready to pass it forward

Photo of a group of teenage footy players from opposing teams running towards one of the players who has just caught the bouncing football in her hands. This game is being played on a local Aussie Rules football ground on a sunny day.

Getting tackled before she could make the pass

Photo of a group of teenage footy players mid-tackle on a local Aussie Rules football ground on a sunny day. One of the players has the ball and is attempting to pass it to her teammate, but she has been grabbed by a player from the opposing team and her handball-pass is being blocked by another opposing player.

[1] The last time I took photos at a local Youth Footy match I didn’t get any good photos of the action. This was over a year ago though, and it’s good to look back and see how I’ve kept improving as a photographer as I’ve gotten more practice.

Albums on repeat: Madonna, Charli XCX

Following on from my ‘Music album long list, 2026’ post from May, there are two albums that came out in July that I’ve been listening to from start to finish all month.

Madonna – Confessions II

Cover image for the Madonna album Confessions II

The first album I’ve had on repeat is Confessions II from Madonna, which is a follow-on to her 2005 Confessions on a Dance Floor.

Confessions I, as I guess we should call it now, I also an album I listened to on repeat when it was released; and ‘Forbidden Love’ and ‘Isaac’ from this are among my all-time favourite tracks of hers.

Confessions II is a gorgeously produced, intricately-layered, intimate-yet-universal concept album that is great to listen to from start to finish – especially since each song transitions so perfectly into the next.

I don’t have any favourite songs from this album yet, but I have had bits from ‘Bring Your Love’, ‘Danceteria’, ‘Love Sensation’, and ‘Love Without Words’ stuck in my head on-and-off all month.

If you want to get a feel for the album, check out ‘Confessions II - The Film’ (14 min), which is basically a six-song music video mash-up.

Charli XCX – Music, Fashion, Film

Cover for the Charli XCX album Music, Fashion, Film

I stopped listening to nothing but Confessions II on my work commute only when Charli XCX released Music, Fashion, Film on 24 July – and now I have that on repeat :)

This album is a super smart follow-up to 2024 Brat because it goes in a completely different direction: more guitars, fewer synths, and a move away from the club sound. Of course you wouldn’t expect anything less from Charli because she is hugely creative and constantly evolves her music from album-to-album.

I think this album is great, and if you think so too, check out its accompanying film: ‘Charli xcx presents Music, Fashion, Film’ (42 mins). Charli is an astute cultural observer and this film explains some of the “why” of this album.

Charli is also someone who invests in making consistently excellent music videos, and I particularly love the one for ‘Camera’ starring the fantastic Vincent Cassel. (There’s also a bit in ‘Charli xcx presents Music, Fashion, Film’ in which she pitches the idea of this music video to Vincent via voice note.)

I highly recommend you give this album a listen.

Other albums

Collage of album covers

Other albums I’ve been listening to over the last couple of months, though not on repeat, have been:

In case you were wondering…

You may have been wondering why I’m suddenly talking a lot more about music on this blog. I feel I don’t talk enough about the things that I love and that I’m enjoying reading, watching, or listening to. So I’m hoping to do more of that going forward.

[Photo walk] Walking around the city and suburbs, part 3

Some more black and white photos from when I’ve been travelling around various parts of the city.

All this month I’ve been using Jonas Schäfer’s darktable styles that mimic Fujifilm’s simulations (in this case, ACROS) to convert the camera-raw images to greyscale before I edit and publish them. This time, however, I used Darktable’s ‘monochrome’ module to do the greyscale conversion and – you know what? – I think it works quite well :)

When the boat is taller than the house

Black and white photo of a tall boat – a mini yacht or cabin cruiser – parked in the front yard of a single-storey house. The boat is on its trailer and is covered with a large tarpaulin. The cabin of the boat has two levels, and so the boat is actually taller than the house that it is parked next to.

Between the goal posts

Black and white photo of an Aussie Rules football pitch for children that is attached to a primary school. The photo has been taken through a chain-link fence.

Give way to trams

Black and white photo looking down at a pedestrian crossing across at a pair of tram tracks that run down the centre of a road. Printed on the asphalt in large, all-capital letters is the phrase, “give way to trams”. Captured in motion-blur in the top-left corner of the photo is a woman carrying a tote bag who is walking across these tram tracks.

Tram tracks on Collins Street in Docklands

Black and white photo taken along the length of a road that has tram tracks running down the centre. This road heads into the city centre and, because it is dark, streetlights, car headlamps, and windows in buildings are all illuminated.

Down the escalators at Southern Cross Station

Black and white photo of a large urban railway station with a dozen tracks terminating under a massive roof. The photo shows trains parked at or leaving from several platforms, with dozens of passengers waiting on these platforms for their trains.

Train at Southern Cross Station

Black and white photo of the front of a Metro-branded train stopped at a large underground railway station.

Mind the (relatively small) gap

Black and white photo of the open doors of a train that stopped at a railway platform. Text painted along the edge of the platform reads, in all-capital letters, “mind the gap”.

Parked outside the industrial showroom

Black and white photo of a car parked directly outside a large, industrial building. The building’s double-storey roller door is open and bright light is spilling out into the dark night, such that the car is almost a silhouette against the brightness.

Train zipping along at a railway crossing – 1

Black and white photo of the front of a train travelling along its tracks as it passes a railway crossing. The photographer has used a slow shutter speed on his camera, so while everything else in the frame looks normal, the train has motion blur.

Train zipping along at a railway crossing – 2

Black and white photo of the middle of a train travelling along its tracks as it passes a railway crossing. The photographer has used a slow shutter speed on his camera, so while everything else in the frame looks normal, the train has motion blur.

Train zipping along at a railway crossing – 3

Black and white photo of the end of a train travelling along its tracks as it passes a railway crossing. The photographer has used a slow shutter speed on his camera, so while everything else in the frame looks normal, the train has motion blur. Since the train only covers half of the frame, in the other half of the frame you can see a line of cars waiting at the railway crossing.

Nadia in black-and-white

I took a couple of photos of Nadia at the Cornish Arms rooftop bar. I’m still getting the hang of editing photos in black-and-white, but I think these ones came out okay.

Nadia at the Cornish Arms rooftop bar

Black and white photo of a middle-aged woman with long hair who is wearing sunglasses and a corduroy jacket over a knit top. The woman is sitting in a rooftop bar with the sun in her eyes, which is why she is also shading her eyes with her hand. She is smiling and talking to someone off camera.

Black and white photo of a middle-aged woman with long hair who is wearing sunglasses and a corduroy jacket over a knit top. The woman is sitting in a rooftop bar with the sun in her eyes, which is why she is also shading her eyes with her hand. She is smiling and talking to someone off camera.

[Photo walk] Around the northern suburbs of Melbourne, part 14

I’ve been taking my camera with me when I got into the office, go shopping, go visit friends, or just go for a walk across the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

Here are some of the photos I’ve taken over the last couple of weeks. (I’m only shooting in black-and-white this July, fyi.)

Underneath a bus shelter, only somewhat protected from the downpour

Black and white photo taken from underneath a bus shelter on a street in an industrial area. It is raining heavily, even though the sun is still shining through a small gap in the clouds.

On Ventura bus #1619

Black and white photo taken from inside a city bus, looking out the front window. The only other person in the bus is the driver.

Tactile directional tile across a walking and cycling path

Black and white photo looking along the length of a walking and cycling path. Cutting across this path are tactile directional tiles that tell people with visual impairment that there is a bus stop or street crossing in the direction of the raised grooves of the tile. Running along the centre of the path are diverging white lines that guide cyclists around the electricity pole that has been erected in the middle of the path.

Tactile warning tiles just before the walking path crosses the road

Black and white photo looking straight down at a walking path onto which plastic tactile warning tiles have been installed. In the bottom of the photo you can see the photographer’s black jeans and white sneakers.

Reflections on a Mazda console

Black and white photo looking through the front passenger side window of a Mazda sedan. Reflected in the window glass is a brick wall and a garage door.

Nicely-spaced murder

Black and white photo of a murder of four crows silhouetted against the cloudy sky while they stand along the edge of a brick building.

High beams at dusk

Black and white photo taken at dusk of a walking path that runs alongside a road. There is traffic on the road, and one of the cars coming towards the photographer has its high beams switched on, which are outshining everything else around them.

Celebrating 20 years in Melbourne

This week marks twenty years since Nadia and I moved to Melbourne to pursue our Masters degrees.

Why Melbourne?

After we got married in Pakistan in 2004, Nadia and I wanted to go overseas to study. When deciding where to go, we picked three cities that were (a) great places to live and (b) had multiple universities that the two of us could apply to.

The cities we picked were:

We decided all this just as the southern-hemisphere university admissions cycle started and, as luck would have it, both of us applied to and got into the University of Melbourne. [1]

This was great because my older sister was living in Melbourne at the time and she had just completed her PhD from the University of Melbourne. Meaning not only did she know the city we’d be moving to, she knew the exact university we’d be going to as well.

With our university acceptances in hand, a guaranteed soft landing in a new country, and the full scholarship I was awarded for my MBA studies, we leapt at the chance to head down under.

So it was that on 12 July 2006, Nadia and I hopped on a one-way flight to a place almost 11,000 kilometers away and in a hemisphere that neither of us had been to before.

Scan of a Thai Airways paper ticket for Ameel Zia Khan, departing Islamabad at 11:10pm on 12 July 2004.

20 years on

We landed in Melbourne on Tuesday, 13 July 2006, and the very first place my sister and a family friend (who was also my sister’s housemate) took us to for lunch was A1 Bakery on Sydney Road in Brunswick.

It was fitting, then, that on 13 July 2026, Nadia and I went back to A1 for lunch to mark the occassion :)

Selfie of a man and woman sitting at a table in a large, warehouse-sized Lebanese bakery. The woman is holding a knife and is in the process of cutting the Lebanese pizzas that are lying on platters on the table between them.

Settling down

Nadia completed her MA and went on to do a PhD from UniMelb as well. I completed my MBA and went into the job market. Nadia did a couple of other things, but eventually made her way back to UniMelb, which is where she now teaches.

I don’t remember exactly when we decided that Melbourne was the place we were going to call home, but a big part of why we decided to stay was the people we met here along the way. Which is why we also marked our twenty years in this city with our friends and family at the Cornish Arms rooftop bar this weekend.

Photo of a rooftop bar on a sunny day, with space that's been set aside for a private function. A sign in front of this reserved area has the Cornish Arms logo and reads, “Nadia and Ameel 20 years in Melbourne, 1-4pm”.

Looking forward

What are our plans for the next twenty years? I have no idea, because Nadia and I plan our lives in four-year increments.

I mean that literally, by the way. Ever since Nadia’s PhD graduation in 2013, when our lives were finally disconnected from the degree-seeking schedule that universities impose on you, we’ve been making and documenting four-year life plans.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. We do have over 26 years left on our mortgage. So, if nothing else, in 2046 we’ll still be paying that off!

But my point is that twenty years is a long time so, instead of planning that far ahead, we’re just going to do what we can and roll with the punches when we can’t. That is life, and we’re looking forward to what the next twenty years in Melbourne will bring us.

[1] Yes, technically I got into Melbourne Business School which, back then, was only half-owned by the University of Melbourne. MBS is now wholly owned by UniMelb.

Crediting typefaces in books

Following on from my post about ‘Typefaces on book copyright pages, check out this recent Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) FAQ titled ‘Citation, Documentation of Sources’:

Q. Do typefaces or fonts used in a book or other document need to be credited? CMOS 4.106 makes me think they should, but maybe I misunderstood something.

Read the FAQ page for the full answer, but the tl;dr is that, no, in most cases font licences don’t require you to credit them in your publications.

Bright yellow cover page of a book titled The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition

Like I said in my earlier post, I do appreciate it when publishers share which typeface(s) they’ve used in their publications – like the University of Chicago Press folks do on the colophon page of the CMOS Online website.

Oh, and in case you don’t know, this website has a colophon page too :) You’ll find that in the footer.

Black-and-white in July

I haven’t done much photography in the last couple of months. I’ve been both busy and unwell, and it has rained a lot in Melbourne.

Now that I am going out more often and taking my camera with me when I do, I’ve decided to keep things interesting by developing a new photography skill. So during all of July I’ll shoot only in black-and-white.

I’ve configured my Fujifilm X-S10 camera to use the ACROS film simulation, which means the camera’s electronic viewfinder shows me everything in black-and-white. And when I import these photos in to darktable, I use Jonas Schäfer’s darktable styles that mimic Fujifilm’s simulations– specifically the ACROS one.

Here, then, is my first batch of black-and-white-only photos.

There’s roadworks happening in a nearby suburb and I wanted to see what photos I could take there, so Nadia and I walked around the area while I took some photos.

Nadia is ready to head out

Black-and-white photo of a woman standing in a hallway leading to the front door of a house. The woman is wearing a bulky waterproof coat and a baseball cap.

Cat in the driveway

Black-and-white photo of a cat standing next to some bushes and bins at the top of a driveway. The cat is looking over its shoulder at the photographer.

Hanging plant baskets on the front porch

Black-and-white photo of the front porch of a house with a tiled roof. Hanging from the edge of the roof are five alternating round and conical woven plant baskets with small plants in them.

Detour to the left

Wide-angle, black-and-white photo of a “detour” sign taken from close to the ground. The sign has been placed on the nature strip next to an intersection that has been closed off using tall wire-fence segments due to roadworks.

Twisted-metal rope

Black-and-white photo of a loop of twisted-metal rope leaning on a “road closed” sign in front of a roadworks site.

End of the detour

Wide-angle, black-and-white photo of a “detour” sign taken from close to the ground. The sign has been placed on the nature strip next to a road running through a residential neighbourhood.

Creative sign from Claudio+Marwan Residential

Black-and-white photo of a large real estate sign erected in front of a house. The sign is almost completely white with plain black, all-capital text on it. This text reads, “Just another sign (to contact us)”. Below this is a QR code and the C+M logo of Claudio+Marwan Residential real estate agents.

Tiny, wonky lighthouse in the garden

Black-and-white photo of a pebbled area at the end of a residential garden. This photo has been taken through the bars of a wrought iron fence. A few cacti and other plants are growing in this area and a couple of calf-high metallic objects have been placed along its edge. The object in the centre of the photo depicts a slightly wonky lighthouse.

Your speed is 41km/h

Black-and-white photo of an LED sign affixed to a pole along a residential street. This sign shows the speed of cars driving along this road. Text painted at the top of this sign reads, “your speed”. At the time of this photo the variable, LED-based part of this sign reads, “41”, meaning the approaching car is driving at 41 kilometres per hour.

You are under the speed limit

Black-and-white photo of an LED sign affixed to a pole along a residential street. This sign shows the speed of cars driving along this road. Text painted at the top of this sign reads, “your speed”. At the time of this photo the variable, LED-based part of this sign shows a smiley face icon, meaning the approaching car is driving under the speed limit.

Telephone and internet wires running underground

Black-and-white photo looking straight down at lines and text that have been spray-painted onto the pavement. These lines indicate where telephone and internet wires are running underground. At the very bottom of the photo frame you can see the photographer's sneakers and jeans.

No roadworks on Sunday afternoon

Black-and-white photo of a fenced-off area of a residential street. Parked within this fenced-off area is an excavator, and there are several precast concrete pipe segments lying along one side of the street.

I’m really enjoying the process of learning this new skill! I’m having to look at things in a different way and adjust my composition to accommodate the lack of colour in my photos. It is challenging and a whole lot of fun :)

Melbourne in winter

There’s always something fun happening in Melbourne. This winter we have a Ferris Wheel at Southbank.

I love Melbourne in winter

Photo taken at night through a rain-splashed window of a Ferris Wheel that’s on the other side of the river from the photographer. A circular sign in the middle of the wheel reads, “I love Melbourne” with a heart icon instead of the word “love”.

Outside Scienceworks

My niece is in town so I took her to see the Pride Month Stargayzing Show at the planetarium at Scienceworks. The show was really fun, and if you’ve never been to a planetarium before, I highly recommend a visit.

I got there a little early and managed to take a few photos outside.

Scienceworks museum in Melbourne

Photo of the front of the Scienceworks building taken on a partly overcast day.

Scienceworks museum members entry

Zoomed-in photo of the museum members entrance of the Scienceworks building. The photo has been taken through the branches of a tree.

1966 Ford Falcon XP outside Scienceworks

Side-on photo of a black muscle car parked on a street in front of a tall chain-link fence in a semi-industrial area.

Ford Falcon outside Scienceworks

Side-on, black-and-white photo of a black muscle car parked on a street in front of a tall chain-link fence in a semi-industrial area.

Bus stop at night

I walked by a bus stop on a night when I had my Fujifilm mirrorless camera with me. The advertisement space of the bus shelter was empty, making the wall look and act like a massive soft box light that illuminated the space around it – with only the yellow street light across the street providing some colour balance. Naturally, I stopped to take a few photos :)

Naked bus stop shelter at night

Black-and-white photo of a bus stop shelter at night. The illuminated wall of the shelter where an advertising poster is supposed to be installed is empty, which makes this wall look like a massive soft-box light.

Blank bus stop shelter

Photo of a bus stop shelter at night. The illuminated wall of the shelter where an advertising poster is supposed to be installed is empty, which makes this wall look like a massive soft-box light. There is motion blur on a car driving by the shelter.

No need to stop when there's no one there

Photo of a bus stop shelter at night. The illuminated wall of the shelter where an advertising poster is supposed to be installed is empty, which makes this wall look like a massive soft-box light. A bus that would otherwise stop here is driving past without slowing down which, in the photo, gives it a motion blur.

No one at the bus top

Black-and-white photo of a bus stop with a bench and a bus shelter. The photo is taken at night and the illuminated wall of the shelter where an advertising poster is supposed to be installed is empty. That makes this wall look like a massive soft-box light.

Naked bus stop shelter

Black-and-white photo of a bus stop shelter at night. The illuminated wall of the shelter where an advertising poster is supposed to be installed is empty, which makes this wall look like a massive soft-box light

Pie and paracetamol

Pie and paracetamol is how I’m making it through work today.

I’m not ill, just tired. It’s week four of the roughly six weeks it takes me to fully get over each bout of post-viral fatigue.

Happily, this time around I was 80% back to normal by week two! That’s fantastic compared to how debilitating this was last year.

Close-up photo of a slice of cherry pie and two paracetamol tablets lying in a take-away cardboard tray.

How lucky are we?

How lucky are we that some artists now proactively release multiple version of their songs.

Like Peter Gabriel who, since his 2023 album i/o, has been releasing “Bright-Side” and “Dark-Side” mixes of all his songs.

And Dua Lipa released regular and extended versions of Radical Optimism in 2024 – though the extended versions were on digital and streaming only.

There have always been multiple versions of songs, of course – album, radio, live, remix, 20th anniversary, etc – but releasing multiple studio versions from the get-go is a new and very cool development.

Album art for the Peter Gabriel song Been Undone

Also, I know Peter Gabriel’s “Been Undone” was released on 3 and 18 January 2026 – the Dark-Side and Bright-Side mixes, respectively – but I think this is going to be my song of the year.

Music album long list, 2026

I love music singles and mixtapes, but at heart I’m an album person. I love listening to entire LPs and EPs from start to finish, over and over again.

Screenshot from the YouTube Music smartphone app showing the badges received by this listening. The most recent badge is from 3 May 2026 and is titled, “Top Listener of U2”. Text below this reads, “You were in the top 0.25% of their audience of 15 million in April 2026”.

Here are the 36 albums I’ve listened to on repeat over the last five years or so, listed in alphabetical order by artist name.

I did listen to lots of other albums, of course. They didn’t make it to this list because I only liked a handful of songs from them.

Take Lady Gaga’s Mayhem (2025), for example. I listened to that from start to finish a few times and then I picked the songs I liked the most (seven of them, it turns out) and added them to my ‘Current’ playlist. But this wasn’t an album I listened to on repeat all the way through.

Same with albums from Aly & AJ, Cannons, The Chemical Brothers, Folk Bitch Trio, FKA Twigs, Kesha, Kita Alexander, London Grammar, Mammoth, Miya Folick, Moby, Neil Finn, Nine Inch Nails & Boyz Noize, Robyn, Rosa Damask, Sabrina Carpenter, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Taylor Swift, Xani, and Zoe Keating, to name a few.

What albums have you had on heavy rotation over the last few years? I’d love to know.

A few thoughts about Easter Lily

Some thoughts on U2’s latest EP, Easter Lily, which I still listen to all the way through several times a week, sometimes several times a day on my commute to work.

Album cover of the U2 EP titled 'Easter Lily'. The artistically glitchy cover depicts a lily (the flower) that is glowing because of the bright light shining on it. This is set against a yellow background on which the flower's shadow can be seen.

‘Song for Hal’

The Edge on lead vocals.

These lines as a reference to death:

Did you hear “forever”?
Was it playing soft and low?
It’s not a song you wanna hear
If you’re not ready to go

The comfort people find in religion, even though I’m not at all religious myself.

‘In a Life’

This song might be about “celebrating friendship”, but it’s about so much more than that.

Larry Mullen Jr’s drumming.

These lines, which are so relevant today:

And when we make the bed out of war
Deafen our children with its roar
Repeat, rewind, replay once more
Never unsee the sights they saw

The anthemic outro with The Edge, once again, on lead vocals.

‘Scars’

The way this song ends with, “You won’t know who I am / The next time we meet” and then transitions seamlessly into ‘Resurrection Song’.

Larry Mullen Jr’s drumming.

‘Resurrection Song’

Larry Mullen Jr’s infectious drum parts.

Adam Clayton’s driving bass parts.

The Edge’s shimmering, tinkling, shining guitar parts.

The emotion in Bono’s vocals, and how they’re raw and not overproduced.

The fantastic dynamics throughout the song structure.

(Yes, this is my favourite song on the album.)

‘Easter Parade’

A beautific, anthemic outro singing a Greek phrase from the Bible that translates to, “Lord have mercy”. I bet no one had that on their Bingo card!

‘COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)’

Who thought that in 2026 U2 would release a 6 minute, 48 second quiet, mostly-vocal song produced by Brian Eno that was “a lullaby for parents of children caught up in war”.

The question mark at the end of the song title.

Bono’s voice, equalised but otherwise raw and unprocessed; and with an occasional chorus effect applied.

“[The] girl of Guadalupe”?

The unexpected stinger/discordant chord at the end of the song/EP that has no musical or commercial reason to be there except that’s what the band/producer wanted (or wanted to leave in).

Thoughts about the whole EP

U2 when they’re being experimental, when they’re not trying to be commercial, when they’re singing about things that matter very deeply to them.

How this EP feels like a more mature version of U2 from their The Unforgettable Fire days.

Everyone has a chance to shine on this EP but, for my money, I think Larry Mullen Jr is the star of this album.

The EP title is a nod to Patti Smith’s 1878 album Easter, which I wouldn’t have otherwise sought out and listened to.