Everything you need to know about the new podcast A Matter of Time

Russell Sheldrake

Not another watch podcast! Sorry, I missed a word there, really it should say, not just another watch podcast. There is something about the coming together of Andrew McUtchen, Elenor Picciotto, and Kristian Haagen that makes A Matter of Time seem oddly refreshing and different to the now countless talking heads you can find on Spotify and YouTube. The three are friends first and foremost, and getting this trio in front of a camera at the same time seems like it has the ability to stand out.

I recently sat down with the three presenters of the new podcast to get the inside track on what it was like to film, what the standout moments were that we have to look out for in the series, and why they wanted to start this project in the first place. With episode one coming out Sunday, 13th of July at 3pm BST on the Time+Tide YouTube channel, and wherever you listen to your podcasts, this is your official preview of what to expect in this first episode and the rest of the series to come.

Three generations, three nationalities, and three different perspectives on watches, bringing together Andrew, Ele and Kristian will prove to highlight the real differences between them. As shown clearly in the first episode, the trio do not always, in fact, it would seem rarely, agree. As Andrew put it, “a podcast should never be people furiously agreeing with each other, and that is not what happens.” He went on to recall a very rare moment that happened in one of the episodes, “I remember one moment when Ele agreed with me in the whole season, she’s like, actually, I agree with you. That just shows how much diversity of opinion we have.” So don’t come here looking for a lovefest, there’s going to be back-and-forths, disagreements, and opposing points of view. As Kristian put it, “I think they’re going to be very surprised when you see what everybody brings to the table.”

This level of contrasting views comes down to the fact that the three A Matter of Tine hosts seem to be talking as their genuine selves, as Ele put it, “we want people to know who we actually are. I hear so many people telling me, there’s you on Instagram, but you’re just so different in real life.” And it is this level of authenticity that they seem to bring out of each other. Ele even admitted that despite the debates they had, there was still a level of “shy admiration from one to another.”

By this point, if you’ve got this far into the article, I’m assuming you’re familiar with Time+Tide, the three individuals in A Matter of Time and their previous work, so you might be thinking to yourself ‘is this not just going to be a new version of About Effing Time?‘ And that is a fair comment, and so I put it to Andrew, how will these two shows be different? “It’s like friendship groups. There’s a totally different energy depending on the people that are in a small group that you’re talking with. The thing that’s the same is that you will see over the course of the show that there are ties that bind us.” So while Andrew and Marcus behind the camera remain consistent from AET, MoT is set to have a very different feel thanks to the dynamic of the group and what each of them brings to the table.

Thanks to the diversity we have in this show, it means no matter the topic covered there is one person who is able to lead the conversation, as Kristian says, “we would each take turns to be a moderator of the show. And I didn’t know if that was a good idea, but I think that really worked well, that we each took an episode on certain subjects and led the conversations going on like that.” This means that in the episode where they discuss watches that might impress women, Ele very much took the lead, but when discussing if Rolex is overrated, it was time for Kristian and Andrew to step up to the plate.

Doubling down on what makes this podcast standout, Ele talks more about the overrated Rolex episode. “It’s something you could never write, it’s something you can never talk about. It’s something you can never discuss publicly, just because, if you’re doing it in a watch fair, then they’re going to be scared that Rolex is never going to participate. If you do it as a retailer, they’re going to be afraid Rolex is going to take away the brand from them.” So it seems like you are going to get straight talking in this series where they won’t be afraid to tackle topics others are prohibited from.

When I asked who they were aiming this podcast at, who their target audience was, I got a long pause, perhaps showing that they were really making it for themselves in a way. And then Andrew said this, “this is for the people that are genuinely seeking a fresh and different perspective on this thing that we love, because I definitely get watch fatigue I get watch media fatigue. I get watch podcast fatigue.” So, if you count yourself among those who are a bit tired of every other watch podcast out there right now, I’d suggest you have your alarms set for 3PM BST on Sunday 13th of July when the first episode will drop. In this first episode the three of them talk about what they think is the very best first luxury watch you can buy. Subsequent episodes will be released every two weeks on the Time+Tide YouTube channel and wherever you listen to your podcasts.