Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Glassholes, Van Gogh's new ear, exoplanets and more in our weekly look at the web

1. World Cup Tours via Street View In anticipation of next week’s World Cup opening, Google scoured the football-obsessed nation of Brazil for some of the most festive locales, from painted streets to stadiums. The virtual tour is an excellent use of Google’s immersive Street View product. Standing in the center of the pitch offers otherwise inaccessible insight on the scale of what’s to come, …

Cool Hunting Video: Shinola Leather Factory

Continuing their quest to revive American manufacturing, the Detroit brand brings their leather work in-house

During a trip to Detroit’s Shinola headquarters, we got a first-hand look at its recently opened leather factory and design studio—another step in their continued quest to revive American manufacturing. The brand has commenced operations with the making of leather watch straps, right next door to where the popular watches are themselves constructed. This clever move for Shinola will help streamline their manufacturing across products, …

Charged: Ressence Watches

The brand's visionary founder discusses reimagining the mechanics of watchmaking

The world took note when Benoît Mintiens, founder of the Antwerp-based Ressence watches, released the Type 3 watch at Baselworld in 2013. The industrial designer had constructed a watch like no other; the watch face appears to dance across its crystal surface. At first glance, the innovative crown-free timepiece appears to be digital, yet it’s entirely mechanical, with an automatic movement. The stakes in the …