I am a big fan of watches, especially those that are unique. And I can't think of any more unique watches than these wooden watches from
WeWood. I'm not sure how waterproof these watches are, I probably wouldn't take them diving, or even in the shower, but they are beautiful, sustainable, hypo-allergenic, and free of toxic chemicals. They are made from reclaimed wooden flooring and for each watch purchased, a tree is planted. You can't get any better than that. And they aren't priced out of reach for your average joe watch collector at only $119 each. My favorite is the
Black Crono (pictured above, center), crafted from ebony, "a tree that the greeks called 'fruit of the gods' and it was used as an antidote for poisons. Even today it is believed that this wood is able to ward off evil spirits." Sounds pretty good to me!
Update: I got my Black Crono yesterday and it is pretty damn sweet! I like all but two things about it. Those being: 1) the clasp is really difficult to open. It is nice that it stays closed so tightly, I am not afraid of it falling off of my wrist, but it would also be nice if I didn't have to use a screwdriver to pry it open when I want to take it off. And 2) the analog and digital times are not at all in sync. The analog is slightly faster than the digital, so they get a little off from each other as the day goes by. This is annoying and, after a while, I can see them being very far off from one another. I keep having to reset the digital time to be aligned to the analog side. Maybe I will just keep the digital side set to the stopwatch and not use it for telling time. Other than those two things, I really like the watch. It looks beautiful, it is light and fits my wrist well, and I really like the blue indiglo light. I would give it a 7.5 out of 10 on my scale of coolness.
Alright, here is one reason I wish I stilled lived in LA. Not that I could afford one of them, but I think that Derringer Cycles makes probably the coolest bikes I have ever seen! Based on board track racer bikes from around the turn of the 20th century, these bikes feature a 4-stroke gas engine along with their regular pedal power. With the size and weight of these bikes, they can get up to 180 miles per gallon. That's nearly 360 miles on the 1.8 gallon tank. And they have pedals, in case you would rather use human power than gas power. With all of the hills here in Chapel Hill, the gas engine would come in real handy. Each Derringer is custom built for it's owner. Rather than stocking them, they prefer to consult with a customer first, then build one that reflects their personal taste and style. So they don't come cheap! I'm not sure how much their custom-built bikes cost, there are no prices on their website, but they have made a special Limited Ed. model for Equinox Fitness Clubs that'll run ya' $2300! And that one doesn't even have an engine in it. I like the brown one pictured above, with it's matching engine color and very useful saddlebags, or the spicy pumpkin orange one, with it's classic white tires, pictured below. Those would be real nice to ride to work in the lovely fall weather. I wonder if they ship from LA to NC?
