Watches, Stories, & Gear: The Future of Mystery Ranch, a Trio of New Polerouters, and Doxa’s New Cufflinks

“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].

The Return of the Universal Geneve Polerouter

Things are stirring at Universal Geneve. Just a few weeks ago in this very column, we brought you news of the reformed brand’s exhaustive new website, which features a ton of info on UG’s history, and seems purpose built to be a home for the new collections when they arrive sometime in the next year or so, give or take. This week, another new development: the introduction of three apparent one-off versions of the classic Polerouter. As reported in Revolution and elsewhere, the release marks the 70th anniversary of the first SAS polar flight (for which the collection is named) and features a trio of meticulously recreated Polerouters. Unfortunately, these are not meant for the public at large – a stainless steel version with gilt accents and a gorgeous red gold edition with a black dial are both going straight to the UG archives. A white gold version with a blue dial and matching white gold bracelet is set to be auctioned next year at Phillips, with proceeds going toward Geneva’s CFP Arts school, which focuses on teaching students traditional watchmaking skills. We’re not sure exactly what this news might signify for the first commercially available UG watches under the brand’s new ownership (if anything at all) but it’s fun news to clock nevertheless. 

The New Mission: Impossible Movie Gets a Trailer 

Last year’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning was always conceived as a massive two part action spectacle, so when it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger (almost literally) it wasn’t too surprising. But it’s kept anticipation high for the next installment, which is set to premiere in May of next year. We got the first teaser trailer for the new film, whose official title is Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, earlier this week, and it looks like it has everything you’d want in a Mission: Impossible film, including Tom Cruise running, Tom Cruise flying a plane, and Tom Cruise hanging off the side of a plane. We also get, as a bonus, Tom Cruise diving, and, perhaps, the actual end of a franchise that has kept us entertained for, literally, decades.

The Yacht Rock Doc

The Mission: Impossible trailer wasn’t the only one to get us excited this week. Moving to the opposite end of the energy spectrum, we saw a first look at the latest documentary in the HBO/The Ringer’s “Music Box” series, Yacht Rock: A Documentary. This one appears to be exactly what it says on the tin, which is to say it’s an exploration of a very particular niche in pop/rock music culture that has, kind of weirdly, become more popular in recent years than its heyday in the 70s and 80s. Often maligned for being, well, kind of dull, yacht rock has been reclaimed by a new generation. We hope this documentary examines the why behind that very strange phenomenon. 

Doxa Cufflinks 

Sometimes we see a new product and can only ask, “Who is this for?” With the new cufflinks from Doxa, however, we know the answer: people who are fully committed to wearing their dive watch with a tux, James Bond style. OK, maybe they have slightly broader appeal than that. Cufflinks are so infrequently used in our current era of dressing casual literally all the time because we’re mostly working from home anyway that they’ve become an opportunity to get a little weird and show a bit of personality when you do need to dress more formally. Think of them in the same way you might a pair of fun, colorful dress socks, but a little closer to the wrist. 

Anyway, the new Doxa SUB Cufflinks are being tagged as the first in a new line of Doxa accessories. They feature what the brand describes as a bayonet mechanism that allows you to change the polished colored discs on the cufflink surface, which of course resemble a Doxa dial in all the bright shades you’d expect. The cufflinks can be purchased in a complete set priced at $1,280, or in individual pairs at a coset of $330 each. More information here

The Future of Mystery Ranch

Gear Junkie has a great story about the recent rumors that YETI, who purchased the Mystery Ranch brand earlier this year for a reported $36 million, is planning to sunset the much loved bag brand. YETI’s response to the rumors, which have been brewing for months and recently gained further traction via the Rock Fight podcast, left more questions than answers, indicating plans to unveil Mystery Ranch “inspired” bags in the new year. YETI has experienced significant recent growth, and has a history of rebranding companies they acquire, which has led to some skepticism in the community over Mystery Ranch’s future. This story is a great explainer of the relevant history of the two brands and what might come next.