Watches, Stories, & Gear: Fresh Keycaps, WatchTime NY, & One M.A.D. House

“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].

WatchTime Returns to NYC

This year’s Windup Watch Fair in New York City is right around the corner (less than a week away!) and it once again coincides with WatchTime New York, held annually at Gotham Hall, just a few subway stops away from Windup festivities at the Altman Building. WatchTime is absolutely worth checking out, and combined with Windup it should make for a great weekend of watches in NYC. This year at WatchTime you’ll be able to see a huge variety of brands, some of whom will be bringing watches that are tough to see in person, including MB&F, Breguet, Louis Erard, Greubel Forsey, and many, many others. 

This year, WatchTime has generously offered a special code to Worn & Wound readers to get a free Sunday ticket ($39 value) by entering the code Worn&Wound_Sunday in the  “enter coupon code” field when checking out on the WatchTime website.

KAM Outline Keycaps & GMK Hyperfuse Group Buy

If you spend most of your time sitting in front of a keyboard, you probably deserve a better one. Mechanical keyboard enthusiasts put plenty of time and effort into finding just the right set up, and we’re always on the lookout for new keycap sets to change up the look and personality of our boards. Like a new strap on your favorite watch. Zfrontier has stocked one of the more interesting sets in recent memory, the KAM Outline design which brings a decidedly ‘90s engineering vibe across its various layouts. The traditional base set is available for under $100, and has a broad amount of coverage, including a R2 backspace for placement above the enter key (the superior layout). If that’s not quite your look, TypeMachina is running a buy for one of the all-time great sets, GMK Hyperfuse at the moment. Catch that right here and get ready to be patient.

20MP Sensor In Canister Revives Digital Film

Does the phrase “digital film” cause your head to explode a little? It seems like “fresh frozen jumbo shrimp” style oxymoron at first, but is actually a really interesting concept that will certainly excite a segment of photographers who feel a sense of nostalgia around the film cameras of their youth. The idea is relatively simple: a “digital film” roll with an integrated sensor in a film roll canister that can then be placed in a film camera that would otherwise go unused. PetaPixel has details on “I’m Back Film,” a product that promises to give new life to old cameras.

Héron Marinor Watch Hits Pre-Order

Héron, the Canadian watch brand with a distinctly nautical aesthetic, is back this month the Marinor, a dive watch with classic vintage vibes that they say is virtually scratch proof. Visually, the Marinor owes a lot to the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, but in terms of specs it’s a modern watch through and through. The case and bracelet are made of hardened stainless steel and the watch has a hefty 300 meters of water resistance along with a gorgeous sapphire bezel and oversized, fully lumed hour markers and hands. At 39mm in diameter, the Marinor comes in at a classic, vintage inspired size that should be easy to wear on most wrists. The Marinor’s retail price is $620, but Héron is offering various early-bird options that will save you money off the list price. More info here.

MB&F Flexes Their New M.A.D. House in Geneva

What kind of building would you imagine MB&F watches are made in? Somehow, it just wouldn’t make sense for this most imaginative of the Swiss independents to inhabit a nondescript office in a strip mall. And they don’t. For the last year, MB&F has been operating out of the so-called M.A.D.House, a mansion on the outskirts of Geneva dating to 1907. The structure is magnificent, designed in the Heimatstil style, and naturally features MB&F creations scattered throughout, immediately placing them in both a futuristic and retro-futuristic context. MB&F has shared a video highlighting the space that conjures what will likely be common memories for many – a childhood fascination with that one house in your neighborhood that stands out for its strangeness, constantly wondering what could possibly be going on within those walls. We’re glad to see that MB&F’s headquarters is just as strange and whimsical as their watches.