Watches, Stories, & Gear: Crystal Pepsi, Voltswagen, and Easter Eggs

“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 new Zodiac X Topper Fine Jewelers Sea Wolf GMT ‘Crystal’ Limited Edition.

Zodiac X Topper Fine Jewelers Sea Wolf GMT ‘Crystal’ 

Zodiac has once again teamed up with California based retailer Topper Fine Jewelers in the release of a new Sea Wolf GMT ‘Crystal’ edition. The new GMT is inspired by fashion at the height of the jet-set golden age, presented with a clean silver sunburst dial and iconic red and blue split bezel with which to track a second time zone.   

Presented in a wearable 40mm steel case with a mixture of brushed and polished finishing, this is a watch that will fit into your whole wardrobe with ease. The Zodiac Sea Wolf GMT ‘Crystal’ is powered by the Swiss-made Soprod C125 automatic movement, and will be limited to just 182 pieces. Get yours exclusively from Topper Fine Jewelers right here.

Understanding Watch Restoration

This week via A Collected Man, we enjoyed this extensive dive into a controversial subject in the watch world: restoration. Anyone who has spent any time looking seriously at vintage watches knows what a loaded term that is, and that a watch that’s “restored” is by definition not “original,” and therefore less desirable to most collectors. But it’s more complicated than that, and sometimes restoration can be desirable, or even sought after, and this article does a nice job of going through the positives and negatives of a professional restoration, what to look out for, and how the market at large responds to restored watches. Definitely worth a read if you have an interest in vintage watches and could use some perspective on navigating an increasingly complex landscape.

Volkswagen Gets With The Times and Becomes Voltswagen

We know, 66 is an unusual age to change your name, but we’ve always been young at heart. Introducing Voltswagen. Similar to Volkswagen, but with a renewed focus on electric driving. Starting with our all-new, all-electric SUV the ID.4 – available today. #Voltswagen #ID4 pic.twitter.com/pKQKlZDCQ7

— Volkswagen (@VW) March 30, 2021

Did you get fooled this week on April 1? It’s getting increasingly hard for big corporations to pull a fast one on their customers on April Fools Day, as people really have their guard up, and expect wild and crazy headlines. So we like to think that Volkswagen, forward thinking company that they strive to be, thought to themselves, “Hey, I bet we could fool more people if we just ran our prank a few days early!” In news that was reported as real by major outlets on March 30, it appeared that the German automaker was ready to literally change their name to “Voltswagen” in an effort to drive home their commitment to electric vehicles. Well, they were mocked incessantly, and hours after the news hit the wires VW admitted it was all a big marketing stunt, and the fallout has not cast Volkswagen in a friendly light. It turns out the media doesn’t, in fact, like being lied to. Lesson learned? You’d think that after Dieselgate VW would be a little more careful, but April Fools Day is quite the temptress. More at The Verge right here.

A Jacket With Lume To Rival That of Your Watch

This is a fun one for lume fans. From the folks who brought you the Garbage Watch comes the Solar Charged Jacket. Vollebak has created a jacket that allows you to “write” on it in such a way that in darkness it can be lit up with a luminescent effect of your own design. It’s erasable and repeatable, and just a lot of fun. It looks like a completely normal jacket in daylight (and has performance features you’d expect of a quality jacket of this type) but after a day of “charging” it in the sun, you become a sort of moving, electric green, beacon. More information on Vollebak’s website here.

Windows 95 Just Keeps Giving

It’s never too late to find easter eggs. Happened to notice what looks like a never before seen easter egg in Windows 95’s / IE4’s Internet Mail. You have to open its About window, select one of the files, and type MORTIMER. Names of the program’s developers will start scrolling. pic.twitter.com/13ZCdCyBUg

— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) March 26, 2021

More than 25 years after its initial release, Windows 95 may have given up its last secret this week when an easter egg was found by Albacore. “It’s never too late to find easter eggs. Happened to notice what looks like a never before seen easter egg in Windows 95’s / IE4’s Internet Mail. You have to open its About window, select one of the files, and type MORTIMER. Names of the program’s developers will start scrolling.” Albacore tweeted, along with a video of the trick in action. He’s found even more in the meantime and his account is worth a follow if you find as much nostalgia as we do in such things.

Top Gear Set To Honor Sabine Schmitz

Following the tragic passing of racer and TV personality, Sabine Schmitz, the BBC’s Top Gear will air a tribute this weekend to commemorate her personality, accomplishments, and frequent (brilliant) appearances on the show. Sabine succumb to cancer earlier this year at the age of 51, but her influence on the sport will last generations. Known as ‘The Queen of the Nürburgring’ Sabine won the 24 hour race at the famous track in 1996 and 1997 for Scheid Motorsport, becoming the first woman to do so in the process. She won the hearts of many though through her many appearances on Top Gear, going toe to toe with Jeremy Clarkson and famously coaching him to a sub 10 minute lap in a Jaguar S-Type Diesel (a feat she proceeded to nearly best in a diesel Ford Transit van, in traffic).  Be sure to catch the tribute this Sunday, which will feature Sabine’s partner Klaus and her family.