Watches, Stories, and Gear: Private Label Bathyscaphes, Time Bandits, and More

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a weekly roundup of some our favorite watch content from Worn & Wound, great stories from around the web, and cool gear that we’ve got our eye on.

This week’s installment is brought to you by Mido Watches. In 2018, Mido is celebrating 100 years of exceptional watchmaking.

Mido’s Multifort series made its debut back in 1934, and the Multifort Escape is based on a later model introduced in the ‘40s. With the Multifort Escape Horween Special Edition, Mido molds that inspiration to create a wholly modern timepiece.

It measures 44 millimeters across, and the stainless steel case is finished with an aged and sandblasted black PVD treatment, giving the watch a striking look. The dial features vertical Geneva stripes, a defining feature of the Multifort series. Under some lights, these stripes disappear, and under others, they pop.

The watch is powered by the Caliber 80, an automatic movement based on the ETA 2824, but modified to feature up to 80 hours of power reserve.

As the name suggests, Horween leather is a big part of the package here. The Multifort Escape Horween SE comes with two straps made from Horween leather: one in brown calfskin and the other in black actual football calfskin, the same material provided by the Horween Leather Company for the manufacturing of professional footballs for over 75 years. This partnership accentuates Mido’s connection with football, which started with its sponsorships of the athletics programs at Stanford University, University of Texas and University of Southern California. The Mido Multifort Escape Horween Special Edition is available for $1,090. Click here to learn more.

Watches

Affordable Vintage: A Tale of Two Private Label Bathyscaphes

“The great thing about private label watches is the value proposition they offer—they can sometimes be acquired for a fraction of the price of a watch with the original name on the dial, and they are often rarer as well. And I’m nothing if not a price-conscious watch guy with an eye towards rarity.

Some may be surprised to know that the manufacturer Blancpain also engaged in this practice. This is a company that really needs no introduction and is integral to the history of horology. Their Fifty Fathoms model, introduced in 1953, is generally regarded as the first dive wristwatch and has become legendary in the world of watch collecting. At 40mm and up (depending on the model), the Fifty Fathoms was an immediate success in the water.”

Click here to read more.

Timex X Todd Snyder Peanuts Collection

Timex and Todd Snyder have teamed up once again to create a capsule collection of Peanuts-inspired timepieces. The four watches—featuring Linus, Charlie Brown, and two with Snoopy—are an updated take on the original Timex Peanuts watches from the 1970s, which Snyder saw and fell in love with at the Timex archives in Waterbury, CT. Todd Snyder

Stories

“The Time Bandits of Southern California” via GQ

“Just four days earlier, a man built like one of the robbers had visited Gearys, posing as a customer. Employees noticed his outlandish outfit—a checked blazer and long denim shorts—and the way he used his phone to film the case that held the priciest watches. Now the store’s assistant manager, Daniel Arce, was lying facedown next to that same case as the robbers attacked it with hammers. Arce said a prayer as splinters of glass flew everywhere. I’m going to die, he thought.”

Click here to read more.

“How the Battle for ‘Lord of the Rings’ Nearly Broke a Director” via The Hollywood Reporter

“Mick Jagger as Frodo. A Led Zeppelin soundtrack. Battles on the field and behind the scenes before a three-film saga went bust. Forty years after his animated classic The Lord of the Rings hit theaters Nov. 15, 1978, these are some of the things on director Ralph Bakshi’s mind during a candid conversation about what happened, and what could have been.”

Click here to read more.

Gear

Huckberry – Paz Cord Trucker by Outerknown

Riffing on a classic design and fabric, the Paz Cord Trucker blends durable hemp with cotton, and garment dyes it for a lived-in look and feel to create a jacket that looks like you’ve owned it for years—and just in time for fall.

$198—shop here

Huckberry – Vale Elk Gloves by Hestra

Hestra has been making gloves for over 80 years, so they pretty much know what they’re doing. The Scandinavian company uses local elk leather, polyester lining, foam insulation, and a ribbed knit to ensure your hands stay nice and toasty, no matter how brutal the weather gets.

$130—shop here

Featured Image: Johnny Dombrowski for GQ