Watch microbrands and major manufacturers alike came through big time in October — and we have all the details on every release worth knowing about. Plus:

The 10 Best Watches of the Past Month

October has become an exciting time in the watch industry. With WatchTime New York and the WindUp Watch Fair taking place in Manhattan and Dubai Watch Week events happening in various locations around the world, brands large and small are increasingly releasing new wares, limited editions and accessories throughout the month. Looking for a colorful, sub-$1,000 everyday watch? Try the Paulin Modul D or E. What about a gem-set, tourbillon-equipped avant-garde masterpiece made in collaboration with a major contemporary artist? Then the Hublot MP-15 Takashi Murakami Tourbillon Sapphire Rainbow is just the ticket. Indeed, from affordable microbrand watches at WindUp to boutique editions from major manufacturers, October’s crop of new watches has it all.

The Drinking Culture of Scotland

Yearly events around drinking: Burns Night

On January 25, people celebrate the poet Robert Burns and enjoy haggis, Scotch, poetry and music. If his most famous poems (“Scots Wha Hae,” “A Red, Red Rose,” “Tam o’ Shanter”) don’t ring a bell, one song might. “You know that song you hear at New Year’s, ‘Auld Lang Syne’? The most sung song in the English language? Robert Burns wrote it,” says Andrew Weir, a long-time Burns Night performer, drinks professional and Braveheart actor, who now hosts Burns Distilled every year in New York. “Every year on the 25th of January, we celebrate this guy’s work in a way that we don’t with Shakespeare or Wordsworth or Tennessee Williams or Oscar Wilde. This doesn’t exist for other figures of literature.”

Iconic drinking establishments: The Horseshoe Bar

When you’re in Glasgow, The Horseshoe Bar is known for having the longest continuous bar in Europe. Located on Byres Road, Tennent’s Bar is a 140-year-old pub that’s also a good place to watch sports. The Scotia is the city’s oldest pub and features live music (plus, it’s dog-friendly). Lismore, Park Bar and Ben Nevis are three renowned whisky bars on the west end, while The Pot Still features more than 1,000 whiskies. And for cocktail fans, hit up Panda & Sons, a wonderfully inventive speakeasy.

Rule for drinking like a Scot: Take your whisky neat.

It’s not an “on the rocks” culture.

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In Praise of the Traditional American Sack Suit

BY MIKE CONKLIN

Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend a very nice whiskey tasting and dinner hosted by a brand I like very much at an extremely upscale private club in Manhattan. As I was leaving my office for the event, a co-worker asked where I was going, and when I told him, he said, and that’s what you’re wearing?

Now, because you must be wondering, here is what I was wearing: these slightly cropped, fairly wide-leg pants and a well-fitting, very soft button-up, both from Madewell, along with my favorite new chore coat of the year, the French Moleskin Work Jacket from Le Mont St Michel, in forest green. For shoes, I wore these Grant Stone Plain Toe Dune Chromexcel bluchers, which I’ve had for years and recommend to people all the time.

I knew that I was leaning more toward classic workwear than the tailored looks I now feared would dominate the room. They didn’t, though. Because we are in the year 2024, most of the men in attendance were wearing what looked like technical office pants and quarter-zips over non-iron button-downs.