Watches, Stories, & Gear: Mortal Kombat, Mars Rovers, & A New GT3

“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.

Calculating The Cost Of Enjoying Your Wine

The question of value is something that we all think about a lot in the watch hobby. Watches, after all, offer little real utility for most people who walk around with a cell phone in their pocket that can give them the correct time at a glance, and on demand. When considering value, you have to factor in your enjoyment of whatever it is you’re buying (or already bought), and that’s something of an abstract idea. Or maybe not? This short article from The Spectator caught our eye for the way its author suggests we break down the value of a luxury item (a bottle of wine, a video game, a watch) through a “cost per entertainment hour” formula. Give it a read, and if it allows justification in your mind for that next big watch purpose, you have simple arithmetic to thank.

Martin Scorsese Gives Hot Take On Cinema Vs Content

You might recall that legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese ruffled some feathers back in 2019 when he asserted that that ultra successful Marvel movies were not cinema in the classical sense. He compared them to amusement park rides, film Twitter exploded, and lines were drawn in the sand. This week, Scorsese was briefly trending on Twitter once again, as he’s written a long essay for Harper’s that covers similar ground, but never actually mentions Marvel specifically. For Scorsese, the issue here is that large corporations who control the many streaming services that have become available to movie fans treat movies as pure content, rather than the vital art he sees them as. He argues that the business of putting moving images in front of eyeballs as often as possible means that classic cinema is no more important to the media companies that hold the rights to those films than silly YouTube clips, commercials, or summer blockbusters. Scorsese has certainly lined himself up as the chief defender of classic film, and this is a provocative and worthwhile read for anyone who thinks of themselves as a movie fan.

New Mortal Kombat Movie Gets A (Gruesum) Trailer 

Speaking of “cinema vs. content,” the first full trailer for the new Mortal Kombat movie dropped this week, and while we don’t expect it to make a lot of critic’s top ten lists at year end, it hits a very specific nostalgia note for anyone who came of age playing video games in the 90s. There’s something about seeing these 2021 versions of Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Raiden, and others that brings back the best memories of sitting in your friend’s basement smashing cheat codes for hours. Yes, we’re also wondering what happened to Johnny Cage, but for now we’re willing to give the folks behind this Mortal Kombat reboot the benefit of the doubt.

NASA’s Perseverance Successfully Lands On Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover completed its nearly 6 month journey to Mars this week, making a successful landing in Mars’ Jezero Crater late Thursday afternoon. Perseverance joins Sojourner, Spirit & Opportunity, and Curiosity, becoming the 5th rover on the red planet, each managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The newest rover will focus on searching for signs of ancient life as well as collecting samples of rock and regolith for a possible return to Earth. Plus, there’s something called the Mars Helicopter, a tech demo, that hitched a ride and should make an appearance soon. See the reaction to the successful landing, along with some of the first images relayed from Perseverance right here.

Meet the New Porsche 911 GT3 (992)

The long wait for the first GT road car to hit the 992 generation of 911 is finally over with the reveal of the new GT3 this week. Porsche looks to improve on the already pretty great 991.2 GT3 largely by trimming some of the fat (bye bye back seats), and burrowing the suspension bits from the RSR race car. That means a front double wishbone setup replaces the MacPherson struts found on prior generations. So, while the power remains about the same (502hp), the net effect of the other upgrades comes into dramatic focus with a Nurburgring lap time about 17 seconds faster than the 991 GT3. Most importantly, however, the new GT3 will be offered with a manual transmission alongside the PDK right out the gates this time. Now, what do you suppose the RS variant will be like? Porsche.

eBay Finds: Vintage Seiko 

If you’re looking for ‘bang for your buck’, look no further than this killer vintage Seiko 66-7109. These are about 35mm wide, the seller’s statement of 37mm must include the crown. The steel case looks unpolished with nice sharp edges. The blue ‘bullseye’ style dial is what sets this gem apart, with a nice vibrant blue color and contrasting steel markers and little lume dots. Best of all it comes on the original and correct beads of rice bracelet! This is powered by the robust and reliable manual wind caliber 66 movement. This is a great piece, and the bracelet alone is worth the price of admission.

View auction here.