Watches, Stories, & Gear: A 3D Tourbillon, a Huayra R, and Super Resolution

“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.

A 3D Printed Tourbillon That Requires Some Assembly

If you’ve always loved the idea of a tourbillon, but don’t relish the prospect of spending six figures on one from a luxury Swiss brand, this video is for. In this nearly 14 minute clip, watch as a 3-D printed mechanical tourbillon is assembled from start to finish. If you’re at all into mechanical watchmaking, this is undeniably cool to see, and if you’ve got some time to kill and have a capable 3-D printer, you’ll find the instructions linked in the description. It looks like a fun side project for the tourbillon-curious among us.

Brutalist Architecture Coming To Connecticut

We learned through this Wallpaper article that the Armstrong Rubber Building, the iconic Brutalist structure designed by Marcel Breuer, is being turned into a hotel. The building is famous for its dramatic implementation of negative space between the upper and lower floors, which was originally conceived as a way to shield the administrative offices on the top floors from the noise of the research labs below. As is typical of Brutalist architecture, the building’s facade is constructed from concrete panels, which help to regulate temperature indoors, cut down on glare, and create an aesthetic that is like nothing else. The building is well known, but underused in recent years after being bought by Ikea and going through a partial demolition. The prospect of it being turned into a hotel is a promising sign for the building’s long term use, and offers architecture enthusiasts a chance to enjoy the structure in a more intimate way.

A New Approach To The Morning Commute

At a high level, this is a video about an Australian man who decided to walk to work one day. Of course, his office is over 50 miles from his home. And he decided to set out on his journey without any supplies, and to live off of what he found on the road along the way. Why would someone do this? Well, as he points out in this clip, it’s something of a stunt. But the intent is to draw our attention to the things we might miss on a day to day basis as we go about our routines. Worth a watch for anyone who has ever felt mired in the repetitive nature of your daily life – it shows that there’s always something we’re missing, we just have to train ourselves to look for it.

Super Resolution Comes To Photoshop

Adobe is bringing a new feature to Photoshop that has the ability to grant an impressive amount of resolution to your photos. The ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) setting is called ‘Super Resolution’ and its implementation may have you revisiting older photographs shot on lower resolution sensors, giving you the opportunity to retain image quality at large scales. This will be perfect for shots from your old D700 or any other 12 to 16MP cameras, allowing you to go from “hey this looks pretty good on screen” to “hey this looks pretty good on my wall”. Learn more about the tool along with a few examples right here from PetaPixel.

Pagani Huayra Gets The “R” Treatment

The Pagani Huayra may have reached its final form with the release of the new R model, taking the hyper car to not street-legal levels of extreme. The car bristles with wings and diffusers befitting of a track only car, and gets a Mercedes built 6.0 liter V12 producing 850 horsepower at a screaming 9,000 RPM. That’s a very big number made all the more scary considering the car weighs about as much as a Miata. Perhaps just as importantly, the release of this car could signal the impending end of the Huayra, meaning a new model from the Italian brand could be right around the corner, which would be just their third in nearly 30 years. More on this monster from Pagani right here.

eBay Finds: Vintage Enicar

This vintage Enicar Ocean Pearl is a little something different. Nice, unpolished cushion shaped steel case with the original brushed finish is a good size at just over 35mm. The simple silver dial is in good shape, with a little minimal discoloration on the very edges on the left side. The raised Enicar logo below the 12 is super cool. Stick hands and hour markers with traditional date window at 3 round out the look. Acrylic crystal looks good, and has a cyclops magnifier over the date. The best feature though is the caseback, with the killer heavily carved Ocean Pearl logo that has a dolphin leaping out of water over Saturn. Can’t beat it! The watch also has the original signed crown and signed steel bracelet, which is always nice to find.

View auction here.