Watches, Stories, & Gear: An Aston Martin Hypercar, a New Season of True Detective, and U2 at the Sphere

“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 [email protected].

We Can’t Stop Watching Videos of U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas

If you were on the internet last weekend – literally any corner of the internet – you were almost certainly flooded with videos of U2 performing at the Sphere in Las Vegas, the new concert venue attached to the Venetian featuring an enormous domed screen behind the stage. Many have been anticipating seeing what the Sphere has to offer for quite some time, but with U2 taking the stage for a Las Vegas residency that will keep them in town for the rest of the year, the public is getting their first taste of what’s possible in the state of the art concert space. It’s a uniquely immersive environment, with the Sphere’s screen taking up your entire field of vision, presenting a photo realistic (or dreamily psychedelic) view of, well, just about anything. The possibilities are truly endless. The Washington Post has a solid collection of some of the best viral videos to emerge from the Sphere’s big opening weekend, but searching for Sphere content on your social media app of choice should provide a steady diet of impressive visuals for months to come.

Jodie Foster Stars in a New Season of True Detective

A favorite pastime among fans of prestige TV is to argue about which season of True Detective is really the best. The obvious answer is season 1, but a compelling case can be made for the Mahershala Ali starring third season, which is gripping in an entirely different way. Season 2 is often maligned, but it has its defenders, and listening to their reasoning is entertaining in its own right. Pretty soon, the fourth season will be hitting HBO, and the first full trailer just hit. We couldn’t be more excited. This season finds Jodie Foster investigating a murder in Alaska, and the clip that was recently shared is appropriately foreboding. Where will this rank in the True Detective hierarchy? We have high hopes.

Aston Martin Reveals the Hypercar Class Valkyrie to Run at Le Mans Next Year

The 2024 24 hour race of LeMans is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated events on the calendar next year, and looks to usher in a new era of World Endurance Championship racing in the process. The new Hypercar class (which has ousted the LMP2 category altogether) will host a bevy of newcomers, including BMW, Lamborghini, Cadillac, and Aston Martin. These teams will join the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, and Toyota. This past week, Aston Martin revealed a first look at their Valkyrie in Hypercar race guise, and it will be looking to tackle the upcoming WEC and IMSA season in full on British style. The car will undoubtedly sound just as good as it looks, rocking a modified version of the Cosworth naturally aspirated 6.5l V12 revving well beyond 10,000rpms. Here’s hoping we’ll see more competitive action next year as Ferrari looks to defend their ‘23 victory. More info here.

Speedmaster Repairs in Space

The Omega Speedmaster boasts plenty of space faring lore within its history, much of it happening within the Apollo program. But it didn’t end there. Back in 2002, astronaut Don Pettit was serving a stint in the International Space Station when he took it upon himself to make repairs to his X-33 Speedmaster, which had a missing crown and button along the case. Pettit was able to make use of the tools at his disposal, with a little creativity and ingenuity, and get the watch back into working spec. In the process, it made NASA rethink their supply chain to the ISS. Wired has the full story including some incredible pictures of the ad-hoc repair job in progress. Does this add to the lore of the venerable Speedmaster? I’m not sure, but it’s nice to see watches like this, particularly the X-33, in use across generations.

Revolution Takes a Deep Dive into a New Sartory Billard Movement 

We love nerding out over cool complications around here, especially when implemented in a unique manner. A new project from Sartory Billard has plenty to delve into on that front, offering a jump hour and minute, and a tourbillon for good measure. There’s plenty of trick engineering here to get these two power-hungry complications working together, which includes simultaneously jumping three separate discs to display the time with the help of a 60 second remontoir. Our friends over at Revolution have taken a deep dive into the engineering at work here, and take a look at the SB08 that will eventually be housing the movement. It’s well worth a read, which gives some context to the watchmaker’s past as well, head on over to Revolution for the full profile.

Martin Scorsese Profiled in GQ Ahead of the Release of his New Film

We’ve shared trailers for Killers of the Flower Moon in this column in the past – it’s easily one of our most highly anticipated movie releases of 2023, and it’s almost here. The film’s director, Martin Scorsese, is arguably the world’s greatest living filmmaker, and he was just profiled by GQ’s Zach Baron in an uncommonly revealing piece that has him reflecting not only on his work, but his life. Scorsese is 80 years old, and seems acutely aware of his own mortality, and it’s fascinating to see him discuss how that impacts his thinking as it relates to filmmaking. This one is a must read for any movie fan. And don’t miss the video included in the profile, which sees Scorsese breaking down some of the most iconic moments he’s put on screen. It’s a reminder that nobody can talk about movies like Martin Scorsese.