“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a roundup of our favorite content, watch or otherwise, from around the internet. Here, we support other creators, explore interesting content that inspires us, and put a spotlight on causes we believe in. Oh, and any gear we happen to be digging on this week. We love gear.
Share your story ideas or interesting finds with us by emailing our Managing Editor at [email protected].
If you live in New York City, there’s a good chance you experienced a rude awakening on Monday morning, with ear splitting thunder that accompanied a strong electrical storm. While a normal facet of spring weather, this particular storm was markedly different in intensity, and created an early morning flurry of activity on social media as New Yorkers tried to figure out what was going on. Gothamist has answers, and it turns out the weather phenomenon the city experienced this week is known as “thermal inversion,” and occurs when a layer of warm air traps cold air directly below it – a reversal of what normally occurs in our atmosphere during a storm. This essentially contains the sound of thunder within that lower layer, creating a much louder noise than what you’d experience in a typical storm. It’s pretty interesting science, and thankfully happens rarely enough that it’s a genuine surprise when it does take place.
There’s a long, great tradition of biopics based on the lives of the biggest stars in music. Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and Freddie Mercury have all gotten the big screen treatment in recent memory, for example. But this week, we got a trailer for what might be the most anticipated music biopic of them all. That’s right folks, we got our first look at WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story. Does the accordion playing parody artist need the in-depth life story treatment? I mean, why not? Weird Al, as the trailer points out as it teases its subject in the opening frames, is one of the most objectively successful musicians of his generation. But what really has us excited to see more is the complete transformation of Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, in the starring role. Could this be a trainwreck? Yeah, there’s no denying that’s a possibility. But we can’t wait to see it.
Does anyone else feel like Game of Thrones just ended? Maybe because the consensus that’s building around the final season is one of near universal disappointment, our perspective on the long running fantasy epic is a bit out of whack. But it’s a bit jarring to realize that in a matter of a few short months, HBO will debut House of the Dragon, the first (and surely in this age of IP ruling everything, not the last) spin-off series based in the GoT universe. This one is a prequel set 300 years before the events of the original series, and charts the story of the Targaryen civil war. Yes, there are both dragons and a lot of blonde hair, and you get to see both in the new trailer that hit this week. House of the Dragon premieres in August.
Watch collectors who maintain a hope of finding something extremely rare or valuable for next to nothing at a thrift store or yard sale will appreciate this story from the New York Times. A Texas antiques dealer spotted a bust for $34.99 at a Texas Goodwill store, and snatched it up on a hunch that it might be just a bit more valuable. After contacting a few of the big auction houses, it turns out she was right – her Goodwill find was actually a 2,000 year old Roman relic. That’s a fascinating story in and of itself, but what’s really interesting is what happened next, and why this antiques dealer wasn’t able to cash in on her find.
We’re pretty big fans of MB&F around here, and obviously focus mostly on the insanely creative watches that Max Büsser and his team come up with. But MB&F does more than create avant-garde timepieces for the wrist. Most enthusiasts are likely aware of their many collaborations with clockmaker L’Epée, which could most easily be described as whimsical desktop versions of MB&F’s most creative time-telling ideas. But did you know that MB&F has also collaborated with Reuge on high end music boxes? These beautiful objects, like MB&F clocks and watches, are completely mechanical, and have the same space-age, high-tech aesthetic as Max’s most enduring creations. The latest MB&F x Reuge collaboration is the Music Machine 1 Reloaded, a new version of a music box that was originally released back in 2013. The body of the new music box is meant to look like a spaceship, and naturally it plays both the Star Trek and Star Wars themes on demand. Not practical at all, but quite amazing.
Bulova has made a lot of good looking divers over the decades and this 1965 666ft model is one of the best. This model came in both black and the rarer silver dial, and was also sometimes branded with the ‘Snorkel’ name. This silver dialed example is in excellent condition, with the original explorer style dial and hands looking superb. The steel case looks unpolished, and the dive bezel is in killer shape. The bezels on these are usually quite worn, so this is a rare find. The top hat style acrylic crystal is original, with the correct date magnifier on the underside. It also has the correct original signed crown. The JB Champion bracelet is the correct style, but this may be a replacement as the buckle should be signed but isn’t. The seller states the bracelet is quite short, so most people will need to find an extra link or two. Still, this is a scarce and beautiful Bulova diver in great shape, one not to be missed!
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