Watches, Stories, & Gear: Best Products of 2020, Hidden Treasures from Porsche, and Big Plans From Disney

“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 offers home goods.

Box Sets In A Streaming Era

As you finish up (or start?) your holiday shopping this season, something that you’re probably not thinking about picking up as a gift is the old fashioned CD boxed set. You remember the boxed set. These collections of CDs were a staple of 80s and 90s physical media, offering artists and record labels a chance to package a bunch of hits together, with some rarities thrown in, in a luxurious package for true fans to dive into. The size and weight (figuratively and literally) of a boxed set was often seen as a signifier of an artist’s importance, and there was a time when a release like Bob Dylan’s Biograph or a collection of live recordings from Bruce Springsteen was seen as a cultural event. And if accumulating a bunch of discs on a shelf ever meant something to you, the boxed set was always a prize – a visual reminder in a sea of slim jewel cases that this artist means something. Unsurprisingly, in the age of streaming, the boxed set itself doesn’t mean what it used to, and in this Ringer piece writer Elizabeth Nelson explores the boxed set phenomenon and contextualizes its place in a music landscape where every song you can imagine is at your fingertips, on demand.

Outside Online’s Best Reads of 2020

Outside Online is one of our favorite publications, and in this year when so many were stuck inside and unable to effectively explore the world around them, their content just hit a little different. Their editorial team has done the job of rounding up some of their best long-form work from the past year in one convenient place, and we highly recommend checking it out. There’s a lot of great stuff here, including an account of what it was really like to appear on the hit show Naked and Afraid, the story of a couple of guys who dropped everything to build a cabin in the middle of the woods, and one writer’s experience of living alone on a tiny island off the coast of Maine in a strange pandemic summer. This year’s best Outside Online pieces capture a sense of adventure, for sure, but also isolation and the peculiar experience of living through 2020.

Gear Patrol’s Annual List of the Year’s Best 100 Products

With the year winding down it’s time to take stock of the year in products. Our friends at Gear Patrol have just released their annual take on the 100 best products of the year, and it covers everything from tech, to food & drink. If you’re scrambling to get all those last minute gifts ordered, or just need something special for yourself, this list is a great source of inspiration. There’s even a section on watches which features some of our favorites from the likes of Sinn, Longines, and Ollech & Wajs. Immerse yourself in the full list over at GP right here.

Disney Previews Ambitious Plans for 2021

Disney is giving us a look at some of their up and coming projects, including what we can expect to see in our Disney+ browsers come 2021. Apparently, vanquishing Thanos was only the beginning of new chapter of Marvel stories, in both series and cinematic format, as there are plenty on the horizon that will feature everyone from Loki, to Wanda Maximoff, to the wacky antics of the Guardians of the Galaxy. If you’re not a Marvel fan there’s plenty else to get excited about, including a slew of Star Wars productions and even some new stuff from Pixar, including their next film, Lightyear. Browse the full menu of content organized by The Verge and let us know what you’re looking forward to.

Porsche Gives Glimpse of Unreleased Concept Cars

Porsche has designed and continued to hone one of the most recognizable silhouettes of all time, but it turns out there’s a lot that goes on in their design studios that never gets the chance. Porsche has recently taken the lid off some of their concept work that, for some reason or another, never saw the light of day. All of them are clearly concepts, but it’s hard not to imagine what some of them could have become. From the brutal 919 Street to the quirky “Renndienst” there’s something here for car fans of all stripes. Best of all, there was a Safari 911 concept in 2012 within the 991 family that we would very much like to see picked up within the 992 generation. Catch all of the reveals from Porsche as outlined by Road & Track right here, and more from Porsche here. 

eBay Finds: Vintage Eloga With Unusual Dial

Here we have the polar opposite of last week’s pick (an iconic vintage 1969 Omega Speedmaster), a midsize three hand watch from a company you’ve probably never heard of. And therein lies the beauty of vintage watches, so many to choose from; something for everyone! This little 32mm steel cased Eloga (misspelled in the listing title) has an amazing look with its wild geometric pattern textured dial and lume filled arrow hands. The second hand has a red arrow tip that really pops. The case looks unpolished, and the dial looks perfect, this gem appears to have been sitting in someone’s sock drawer for decades. Eloga is one of innumerable “no-name” brands that popped up over the decades and disappeared into the ether just as quickly. What this watch lacks in name-recognition, it more than makes up for in vintage style. Seller states it runs well, so it should be a strap away from looking good on your wrist. View listing here.