WATCHES, STORIES & GEAR: A Missing Turbine Semi-Truck, Rediscovering Opus Watches, and In Search of Darkness

“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.

In Search Of Darkness

The 80s gave birth to a certain type of horror movie that has been burned into the consciousness of those of us who grew up during the period, coming of age in that amazing time when home video and premium cable meant an endless stream of age-inappropriate genre flicks. In Search of Darkness is an exhaustive four hour documentary on 80s horror, and it’s an absolutely essential watch if movies like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing, and many others mean something to you. Featuring interviews with a laundry list of actors, directors, producers, effects artists, and more, this is a love letter to a genre that is often unfairly maligned. The clips will bring back memories, and have you making a mental list of old favorites to rewatch, and forgotten gems to check out for the first time. In Search of Darkness, which was financed in part with crowdfunding support through Indiegogo, is currently streaming on Shudder.

Finding Ford’s Giant Turbine Semi-Truck ‘Big Red’

Earlier this week we brought you news of a re-launched Accutron brand, with all new versions of their iconic electronic watch. The new Spaceview 2020 and Accutron DNA are powered using electrostatic energy generated from small turbines, so it’s perhaps fitting that in this week’s Watches, Stories & Gear we’re bringing you an article about a sometimes forgotten piece of automotive history: that brief period of time when it seemed possible that turbine powered cars and trucks would take over American roads. For a variety of reasons, this didn’t happen. But the 1960s did give us the Ford semi-truck featured in this piece in The Drive. If you’re not familiar with this 96 foot long behemoth, writer Peter Holderith is going to give you a primer when you click the link below. But this isn’t just a technical profile – it’s the story of the hunt for this massive vehicle, which somehow, over the course of decades, has gone missing. It’s a true automotive detective story, and will have you wondering how something so physically large and profoundly unusual could essentially vanish. Head over to The Drive for the full story. 

A Look At The First Five Harry Winston Opus Timepieces

Before high-end independent contemporary watchmaking really caught its stride in the mainstream with brands like MB&F and Urwerk, there was the Opus series, by Harry Winston. Leading this project for Harry Winston was none other than Max Busser (the ‘MB’ of MB&F). For each Opus watch, Max would enlist a watchmaker to collaborate with (sound familiar?), and the creations it spawned can be seen as templates for some of the most recognizable watches we see from these watchmakers today. 

Watchonista is currently taking a look back at the series of watches (which currently sits at 13), beginning with the first five. If you’re unfamiliar with the Opus series, or even if it’s just been awhile, it’s worth a read.

Inside the incredibly slow race to reinvent time

If you obsess over the accuracy of your watches, and set them against an atomic clock to keep them as precise as possible, you’ll want to check out the work of metrologist Andrew Ludlow, who maintains one of the world’s most accurate clocks in his offices. If you thought +4/-6 was good, it would take this clock, called Y-b2, around 20 billion years to lose a second. It serves as more than a nifty device by which to set your watch, though – he and other researchers are using it to alter how we think about time entirely. 

Head over to New Scientist (subscription required for full access) to catch this story. Or go to the NIST to read more about the clock, and Ludlow’s work for the institute.

Hamilton Creates Scavenger Hunt Leading Up To Tenet Release

Hamilton has once again teamed up with the production of a Christopher Nolan movie for the release of a watch (which we showed you here), and beginning next week, you’ll be able to participate in a digital scavenger hunt to unlock a code. The code will unlock exclusive content about the watch (without spoiling anything, we hope) eventually leading to a closed microsite with images, videos, and other media detailing the custom made prop watch. 

Stay on top of the game with Hamilton right here, and catch Tenet the movie opening in theaters on September 3rd, and is currently enjoying an 88% Fresh rating from RT.

From the Archives: Reviewing The NOMOS Club Campus

Inspired by the release of the Club Campus LE Pride models this week, we went back to read Brad Homes’ original review of the Club Campus. Even with a white dial, we love this watch and Brad does justice to the small details that elevate this seemingly simple timepiece. If you missed out on a Pride model, this review may have you pining for a regular production variant all the same. Read the full review right here.