Watches, Stories, and Gear: Cyma WWW, “30 Rock” and the EGOT, and More

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a weekly roundup of some of our favorite watch content, 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 the Windup Watch Shop.

Affordable Vintage: Cyma WWW, One of the “Dirty Dozen”

In the early 1940s, the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) published a set of specifications for a wristwatch to be issued to their soldiers. The specifications are commonly referred to as WWW, or Watch Wristlet Waterproof. Twelve companies submitted watches that met the criteria: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger LeCoultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex. These twelve watches together are called the “Dirty Dozen” by military watch collectors. Interestingly, the second World War ended before these great watches could be issued to soldiers for combat duty. Of the twelve brands, the Cyma WWW is one of most popular. 

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Wired – Sci-Fi Author Robert Heinlein Was Basically MacGuyver

Robert Heinlein is a sci-fi icon, author of classics such as Starship Troopers and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. He is also a character in Gregory Benford’s latest book, in which Heinlein is portrayed as a MacGuyver-esque type character, which Benford explains isn’t that far off from reality. 

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The Ringer – Who’s an EGOT?: How “30 Rock” Made a Fake Award Into a Real-Life Goal

There have only been 15 EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winners in all of history, and the idea of EGOT-ing was first coined back in 1984. But the EGOT didn’t really enter the cultural zeitgeist until “30 Rock” brought the idea into the mainstream in 2009. The Ringer explains how.

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FujiFilm – X-T30 Camera

FujiFilm makes wonderful mirrorless APS-C digital cameras, and the X-T30, which is currently available for pre-order, brings some of the best that the brand has to offer (including a sensor just unveiled inside the powerhouse X-T3), and puts it into a compact, affordable package.

$899 – preorder here

Relwen – Knit Jacquard Snap CPO

Shirt jackets are great alternatives to classic jackets. Pulling inspiration from jacquard woven garments and classic CPO jackets, Relwen blends the two to create a great, poly-fill shirt-jac that you can wear even on days when the thermometer dips.

$270 – shop here