Watches, Stories, and Gear: The Wristwatch Handbook, How Recaps Changed Television, 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 its 100th anniversary, and to honor that momentous occasion the storied Swiss brand is bringing back numerous iconic watches from its back catalog. One such revival is the new Commander Shade. It’s the latest member to join a family of watches first launched in 1959, but it pulls direct inspiration from a watch Mido released in 1979. The eye is immediately drawn to the ’70s-inspired smoked and sunray satin-finished dial, which features applied indexes (polished and coated with black varnish), Super-LumiNova, and a day-date aperture at three o’clock. 

The case measures a classic 37 millimeters across, and an acrylic crystal (hot-stamped with Mido’s logo) really amplifies the vintage vibe of the piece. Powering the watch is an ETA 2836-2 automatic caliber, a reliable Swiss-made workhorse. The watch is paired with a Milanese mesh metal bracelet.

To learn more about the Mido Commander Shade, visit Mido.

Watches

The Worn & Wound Podcast Ep.52: Ryan Schmidt, Author of “The Wristwatch Handbook”

If you’re a lover of watches, The Wristwatch Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Mechanical Watches is a must-have for your coffee table. On this episode of The Worn & Wound Podcast, we talked the book’s author, Ryan Schmidt. 

You can listen to the full episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tales From a Vintage Collector: the Case of the Mido Powerwind “Rainbow” Diver 1000

“For me, collecting watches isn’t just a hobby. It’s a full-on obsession that, at times, gets close to the kind of single-minded mania that gets people locked up in rooms with soft walls. Even if I walk past a drug store, I’ll peer in the window to see if there’s anything that ticks.

Sometimes, the story behind a watch can be as interesting as the watch itself. In fact, I often say that I collect as many stories as I do watches. Some of these tales can be stranger than fiction, but real life is often far, far stranger than any story you’ll ever read. Here’s one such story about a Mido Powerwind Rainbow Diver.”

Click here to read more. 

Stories

The Ringer: “Previously On: How Recaps Changed the Way We Watch Television”

“The recap, as it’s now known, starts from a simple, user-friendly premise: What if, instead of simply telling viewers whether or not they should spend their time on a show before it even airs, a writer tracked a program’s ups and downs for the people who’d already made that commitment? It’s an intuitive idea—deceptively so, given the recap’s enormous impact on how we watch, discuss, and think about television. Before the recap, TV criticism was wedded to the limitations of print: one-sided, wed to production deadlines, with finite real estate. After, recaps took on the character of the platform that hosted them: reactive, expansive, and democratic, collapsing the line between writer and reader, or even critic and artist, into something much blurrier than it was before.”

Click here to read more. 

Wired: “The Explosive Race to Totally Reinvent the Smartphone Battery”

“If you’re reading this on your smartphone, you’re holding a bomb. Beneath a protective screen, lithium—a metal so volatile that it can ignite on contact with water—is being taken apart and reassembled in the intense chemical reaction that powers much of the modern world.

“Lithium is in our phones and tablets, our laptops and smartwatches. It’s in our e-cigarettes and our electric cars. It is light, soft and energy dense, which makes it perfect for portable electronics. But, as consumer technology has grown more powerful, lithium-ion batteries have struggled to keep up. And now, just as the world has been gripped by its addiction to lithium, researchers around the world are scrambling to reinvent the batteries powering our world.”

Click here to read more.

Gear

Taylor Stitch – Telegraph Jacket and Pants in Charcoal Herringbone (pre-order)

The Telegraph Suit from Taylor Stitch is the brand’s take on a casual suit designed to be dressed up or down. It’s largely unstructured and half-lined in chambray, so it won’t feel too stuffy if you’re not used to wearing suits. The jacket and pants are currently being crowd-funded via the Taylor Stitch website at a reduced price, with delivery slated for October (just in time for the cool weather).

Suit—$228; Pants—$138. Back it here

Proof – 72-Hour Merino Tee

The 72-Hour Merino Tee from Proof is the ultimate adventurer’s t-shirt. Made from Global Merino’s ultra-durable Rapt wool fabric, the 72-hour Merino Tee is hard-wearing, comfortable in numerous weather conditions, and naturally odor-resistant. The shirt is available in three classic, versatile colors: Navy, Steel, and Black.

$68—Shop here