FRIDAY WIND DOWN: June 19th, 2015

Felix Scholz

This week, the (very) loose narrative thread holding the Wind Down together is Chris Pratt – wait, no it isn’t. I meant MONSTERS. You can see where I got confused because Jurassic World features giant dinosaurs and Chris Pratt. It could happen to anyone.

What happened?

At the just wrapped E3 electronics expo (think Baselworld with more cosplay). Bethsheda announced Fallout 4, a post-apocalyptic RPG. So far this has zero to do with watches, but work with me here. Not being overly familiar with the oeuvre of Fallout, I wasn’t aware that your character has a wearable sleeve/watch gizmo called a Pip-Boy that makes TW Steel look subtle. Turns out that as a marketing gimmick for the latest game you can get a real life, monster sized Pip-Boy, that you can hook up to your phone. I can see the Panerai guys getting on board with this. Now, let’s talk about strap options…

What actually mattered?

In 2012 microbrand Benarus released a dive watch called the Megalodon. Named after an (thankfully) extinct shark that cracked the 20-metre length and weighed in at over 100 tons. Chris Pratt could totally take it though.

The watch lived up to its namesake; it was a 49mm beast that was rated to 2500 meters of depth. Total overkill. Like many microbrand watches, the Megalodon was only produced for a short time in small numbers, but it managed to achieve a cult status; and is still spoken about in semi-mythic terms on the more hard-core forums as a benchmark ultra-deep dive watch.

Well, it’s back. Benarus are reviving their toothy design through Kickstarter, and they’ve already well exceeded their goals. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…

Which brings us to Chris Pratt

You know how Chris Pratt is managing to control these vicious raptors? No, it has nothing to do with CGI or even animatronics. These prehistoric predators are dazzled by how good Pratt looks on a red carpet wearing a red gold Panerai GMT. Can’t blame them.

The week in numbers

10: The level of Andrew’s watch model game in our Yacht-master shoot #workit #duckface

4: The number of times friend of Tudor Vincent Fantauzzo has won the Archibald People’s Choice prize.

629: the number of our Instagram followers who think that the Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue doesn’t look half bad on a suede NATO. Unlike some other watch/NATO combos we could mention.

1: The number of times Felix got called pretentious on Instagram.