Interview: Waldan Watches President, Andrew Waldan

"These watches are only the beginning," he says of the American-made line he launched to commemorate his father's legacy

Oscar Waldan, the namesake behind Waldan Watches, was a Polish watchmaker trained by a man named Manek, a fellow prisoner at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp during WWII. Oscar, in between apprenticing for Manek, endured unthinkable conditions and torture under the Nazis, until liberated, when he fled to Switzerland. While there, he furthered his passion for watchmaking and maintenance, and formulated a plan to relocate to …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Space gas samples, the dishwasher reimagined, architecture ethics and more in our look around the web

Japan Space Agency JAXA Confirms the Contents of Asteroid Mission “Treasure Box” In 2018 and 2019, Japanese space agency JAXA’s space probe Hayabusa2 spent 16 months following the asteroid Ryugu—and touching down on its surface twice. Hayabusa2 landed in Australia this month and JAXA confirms that its “tamatebako” (or “treasure box”) contained not only dark debris and small rocks but also a gas sample—the first-ever …

HOKA ONE ONE’s Research-Backed TENNINE Hiking Boots

Product developer Hy Rosario explains the unique design and intention

HOKA ONE ONE’s hefty new long-distance hiking boots, the TENNINE HIKE GORE-TEX, emphasize comfort and sustainability in a package unlike anything we’ve seen before. An extended heel feature called HUBBLE smooths the heel-to-toe transition, using your bodyweight to help propel forward. The boots (which HOKA has jokingly called “part hovercraft”) do differ from the tame, tapered look of typical hiking shoes, but every decision that …