Watches, Stories, & Gear: New Porsches, Curb Your Enthusiasm, & Snap Physics

“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]

This installment of “Watches, Stories, and Gear” is brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop, which now features an EDC section.

What It’s Like Being A Guest On Curb Your Enthusiasm

Curb Your Enthusiasm is about midway through its latest season, and we’ve already seen some great guest appearances from the likes of Patton Oswalt and Woody Harrelson. The show is well known for inserting celebrity guest stars into unlikely scenarios, and the folks at The Ringer have compiled an exhaustive oral history from many of them recalling their experiences on the show. It’s a must read for any Curb fan, and will surely make you want to revisit favorite episodes from seasons past.

Jonah Hill to Play Jerry Garcia

Some truly bananas casting news came across the transom this week, as it was announced that Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest living American filmmakers, would be directing a movie about the Grateful Dead starring Jonah Hill as Jerry Garcia. News of the casting (and the movie itself) dominated film-Twitter for a period of time this week, and while it might seem like stunt casting at first, upon reflection it has us feeling hopeful that this project might be pretty special. Hill earned an Oscar nomination for his turn as Donnie Azoff in Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street, and Scorsese has had a hand in some great movies covering rock music over his long career (he edited Woodstock, directed The Last Waltz, and has made documentaries about the Rolling Stones and George Harrison). We can almost smell the veggie burritos.

Repair Your Own iPhone from the Comfort of Your Couch

If you’ve ever broken your iPhone, you might have had a not so great experience having it repaired through one of countless outlets that claim to be able to restore your phone factory standards with parts that may or may not have come from Apple directly. It always felt a bit murky if you had to seek out a third party for repair work outside of your warranty period. Now, in a somewhat surprising move, Apple has announced that they’ll begin making genuine iPhone parts available directly to consumers, as well as the tools and instructions needed to complete repairs on your own. The Verge has all the details, as well as the story behind why this move might have come about in the first place.

High Speed Video Captures Physics of Finger Snap

You probably didn’t wake up this morning wondering what ultra-slow motion video of fingers snapping might look like, but here are. Inspired by that one moment in a certain Avengers movie, biophysicist Saad Bhamla of Georgia Tech in Atlanta used a high speed camera to capture the act in slow motion the fine rotation and speed of the maneuver, and specifically how the compressed skin creates a bigger contact patch, something undoubtedly absent when snapping while wearing something like a rigid glove. Just when we thought the rest of the movie was physics compliant. More from Sciencenews here.  

Porsche Finally Takes Lid Off Cayman GT4 RS

Porsche revealed their much anticipated Cayman GT4 RS this week at the LA Auto Show (alongside some pretty sweet Taycan models), and it’s everything enthusiasts were hoping for. 4.0 liter GT3 motor? Check. RWD with torque vectoring? Check. Big wings and vents a plenty? You know it. This one is PDK only, which is fitting given the goal of this one. The GT4 still exists, afterall. Just shy of 500 horsepower are on tap sending power to the rear wheels, meaning a 3.2 second spring to 60, and a nearly 200mph top speed. There’s a lot to love about the latest from the GT team, well, except for the $140,000+ price tag. If you can finagle an allotment, that is. Porsche.

eBay Finds: Vintage Longines

This week we have another vintage gem for you! Spectacular near NOS vintage Longines dress watch in stainless steel complete with original box, papers and strap! The seller doesn’t state the size, but I’d guess this is about 35mm wide. The steel case is in excellent condition, with sharp edges on the thin lugs. The silver dial looks immaculate, and has the classic stylized radial style applied steel numeral hour markers. Classic style stick hands with nice little lume filled sections. A sub-seconds dial at 6 o’clock rounds out the look, along with no date window to preserve the symmetry. Seller states the watch runs well and keeps time, but no pic of the movement as it’s a front loading case. Original signed crown too! Best of all, this comes complete with inner and outer boxes as well as the papers, and it even has original signed strap! Great opportunity to get a full-kit vintage Longines.

View auction here.