Watches, Stories & Gear: The Hyperloop Gets Passengers, Arecibo Goes Offline & Netflix Misses

“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.

8 Netflix Movies That Didn’t Land

The sheer volume of Netflix original movies of middling to outright poor quality has been the stuff of parody for quite some time, but it seems that the recent release of Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy to the streaming service has inspired HuffPost to make a somewhat authoritative list of the worst of the worst. Hillbilly Elegy, which was thought to be an Oscar contender until the world realized it’s apparently very bad, makes the list here, as do a bunch of other movies with considerably less lofty goals. Readers, have you seen any of the films listed here? Has HuffPost gotten it wrong? We love a hidden gem, so if The Wrong Missy or The Last Thing He Wanted are actually, in spite of all available data, any good at all, be sure to let us know in the comments.

Accuttron Collaborated With Esterbrook On Pen

American penmaker Esterbrook has teamed up with Accutron to launch a series of special edition pens marking an important anniversary for both brands. Accutron is celebrating the 60th anniversary of their first electric watch, and as we’ve covered here on the site is back this year with a flurry of new releases looking both forward and to the past. Esterbrook, in a link with the watchmaker, is acknowledging the anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s speech, written with an Esterbrook pen, that set the course for the NASA missions would land us on the moon (with Accutron tech used along the way). We’re all for finding links between historic American companies, so are very much looking forward to seeing what comes of this collaboration between two brands that produced very different products that were both “modern instruments of the analog.” More information can be found here.

Hyperloop Gets Its First Passengers

Remember Hyperloop? The Elon Musk invention has the potential to revolutionize travel, sending commuters through a low resistance vacuum tube at hundreds of miles per hour, suspended by magnets. Someone would just have to build it. There are a few companies working on Hyperloop systems at the moment, and one of them, Virgin Hyperloop, just took a huge step forward in the process by putting actual living, breathing human beings through a test run. Happily, they are still living, breathing human beings even now that the test has been completed, so we’re clearly headed in the right direction. Was this a Wright Brothers moment? Time will tell, but if there was ever a time when people were itching to get anywhere but where they are now, even at frightening speeds, the end of 2020 would have to be it. Radio station WBUR has a story on the recent test right here.

Arecibo Collapses

Shortly after its decommission was announced, the Arecibo radio telescope suffered a catastrophic structural collapse, scattering pieces of its dish along the Puerto Rican ground below it. The 305 meter dish was the centerpiece of the observatory, and had been in operation since 1963. In November, a main cable snapped, breaking the surface of the dish and causing its decommission, and on December 1st, the platform over the dish gave way and collapsed into the dish itself. There were no injuries, but the event marks the end of what is perhaps the most recognizable scientific instrument on the planet. Having appeared in movies like Goldeneye and Contact, the observatory had found a place in pop culture that was fueled by the curiosity of the work being done there. Arecibo helped scientists make landmark discoveries, from the fist binary pulsar in 1974 to the first repeating Fast Radio Burst (FRB) in 2016. In 1974, the radio receiver was put into transmit mode, sending the ‘Arecibo Message’ toward the M13 star cluster, and with the help of scientists like Carl Sagan, has spurred our imagination of what it might hear back. We’re still waiting for a response, but in the meantime let’s pour one out for Arecibo.

Independent Watchmakers That Should Be On Your Radar

You may have noticed our admiration for independent watchmaking here at Worn & Wound, from the large to the small this is a scene we are passionate about. At the upper echelons of the hobby, there is some truly incredible work being done by the likes of Roger W. Smith and Philippe Dufour – but there are many more craftspersons doing their thing that may not quite get as much attention as they deserve. A Collected Man brings a light to these watchmakers that you may not be familiar with, along with why you definitely should be. While their work may fall outside the realm of attainability for many of us, their craft can and should heighten the passion we all share for the hobby, and hopefully provide a new perspective that will benefit our collecting habits regardless of where our budgets may fall.

eBay Finds: Vintage Speedmaster 145.022

It’s not often you see a legit, excellent condition vintage Omega Speedmaster turn up on eBay, yet here we have one! This ref 145.022 69 is a gorgeous example from 1969. It’s a sort of transitional model with the pre-moon caseback and printed logo dial with the venerable hand wind caliber 861 movement. The case appears unpolished with nice sharp edges on the classic bombe lugs and the caseback engraving is nice and clear. The original black dial is excellent with original lume, as are the hands. The seller states the movement was just serviced in September of this year and comes with a warranty (although truth be told I always take statements like this with a grain of salt). The crystal has been replaced with an OEM Omega signed crystal, and the original is included, which is a nice touch. The Omega Speedmaster is THE iconic vintage watch, probably the single most named watch if you ask a vintage watch collector which one watch is a MUST have in any collection. These don’t show up for auction on eBay often as they are usually listed at an exorbitant ‘buy it now’ price. I’m not one to usually recommend a Speedmaster be bought on eBay, but the seller has stellar feedback and a history of selling high end vintage watches. If I were in the market for a vintage Speedmaster, I would definitely be bidding on this bad boy!

View auction here.