Watches, Stories & Gear: Ranking Classic Horror Movies, Testing iPhone 12’s Camera, and A Unique Bulgari

“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.

The Life of Enzo Mari, Father of DIY Furniture

This week, we learned of the passing of Enzo Mari, an Italian industrial designer who shaped the way we interact with the various objects that make up our daily lives as much as any other individual. His work was not only beautiful, but influential, and ahead of its time in the way he used design to deal with political and social challenges. He’s also credited with popularizing “do-it-yourself” furniture designs that paved the way (for better or worse) toward flat-packed, mass produced, inexpensive furniture found in homes all over the world. This remembrance in Fast Company highlights some of his key work.

An Unexpected Use for MiniDiscs

Remember MiniDiscs? Before physical media became a literal thing of the past for almost all of us, the MiniDisc made a heroic run as a stopgap solution between audio cassettes and CDs. Offering much of audio fidelity of a CD, with the recording capabilities of a cassette, the MiniDisc is still an underrated format that seems, in retrospect, to have been the victim of being introduced at the worst possible time, as peer to peer file sharing networks like Napster and others were exploding, and would eventually radically change the way we all listen to music in a very real way. In this piece in Wired, the author recalls how trading MiniDiscs with her brother who lived a half a world away made her feel close to him at a time long before FaceTime or Zoom was in our pocket. This article taps into one of the last gasps of a long tradition of sharing physical media with our friends and loved ones, before streaming and having any song ever recorded available on demand changed the entire proposition of what it means to discover something new.

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Gets The Rake Treatment

The latest limited edition from Revolution and The Rake has been introduced, and it’s starting point is a watch that many have already deemed a modern classic for its complications and design. This version of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT stands out for a few reasons. Perhaps the most obvious is the inclusion of a tachymeter bezel, which immediately gives a timepiece that’s very much a haute horlogerie icon an aggressive, tool watch vibe. It’s a striking addition and surely will generate some furious debate among Bulgari fans. If that weren’t enough, however, the other major change is truly unexpected: a fully lumed dial. Again, this plays up some tool watch tendencies, and introduces a 90s military dynamic to the Octo Finissimo that certainly would have been hard for us to predict. More information at Revolution right here.

Photoshop Introduces new AI Neural Filters

Adobe’s Photoshop has been evolving for many years now, often incrementally adding new features here and there to become the de facto photo editing software the world over. This week, they incorporated one of the product’s biggest features in years with the addition of AI Neural Filters. With this, Photoshop just got a lot smarter, and even took on the ability to artificially age human faces. There are still challenges to overcome with AI recognition, such as skin tone biases, but with the power of machine learning it’s looking to close that gap with the next generation of tools. Read more about these new features from The Verge right here.

Ranking the Classic Monster Movies Ahead of Halloween

As we head into late October the urge to test our mental fortitude with horror movies kicks in. Thankfully, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to the genre, and it can be tough to decide on just the right flick that will provide enough scare without needing to leave all the lights on at bedtime. To strike that balance, we often look to the classics, before the era of shock gruesome horror. Vulture has ranked every classic Universal monster movie from that era, from the OG Invisible man, to Frankenstein, this list will set you on a path of horror movie bliss. If you’re looking for a thrill and shudder at the thought of watching the Saw movies, check out the full list right here.

Testing The iPhone 12 Pro’s Camera In The Wild

Apple shipped their next generation phone hardware to buyers this week and as with every update, questions about the new camera system and software powering it are on the table. Photographer Austin Mann has been putting the new iPhone 12 Pro to the test in Glacier National Park in Montana, and he provides some valuable insights on just what you can expect from the new phones, and how to access the best features on your own. While not perfect, there’s a lot to love here, in particular with the Night Mode. If you jumped on the 12 Pro you’ll want to catch his full review to get the most of your new toy.