It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock and gloriously ☀️ here in London. Time to down tools, pour yourself a glass of rosé and look back at what A Prodigal Week it has been.
Drink in hand? Let me offer you some canapés of news and views…
CARS
Heroic and healthy feast
Two years ago, Aston Martin showed us the striking AM-RB 003 concept. Now the final production version has arrived: it is simply the Valhalla, a hybrid with terrifying performance which, while it looks every inch the supercar, is also still very much an Aston Martin.
It’s a 937-horsepower hybrid beast, with a top speed of 217 miles per hour and the ability to go from 0 to 62mph in under 2.5 seconds. It does this by pairing a 740-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine with a pair of electric motors and by leveraging active aerodynamics at the front of the car and with the rear spoiler as well as tunnels underneath the car that can direct the air — tricks Aston Martin developed on the Valhalla’s predecessor, the Valkyrie.
How long before we get Bond into an EV?
Also worth your time
Porsche 911 GT3 Touring 2021 reviewed: “There are few, if any, more rewarding, engaging or intense experiences for those in pursuit of the thrill of driving.”
Mercedes-Benz AMG SL’s screen previewed: “The company said it designed the 11.9-inch portrait touchscreen to help fight glare but it’s also clearly a flashy parlor trick that seems to say, ‘Hey, we did something different from Tesla’.”
Prince Charles’s six-month old Tesla put up for sale: “Charles might be letting go of the Tesla so he can be faithful to the carmaker with deep ties to the royal family: Range Rover.”
GADGETS
Eternal flame
Sony was Apple long before Apple was. Indeed, Steve Jobs made no secret of his admiration for the Japanese conglomerate and its mastery of consumer tech. In the last few decades though, Sony stumbled. It lost its lead in audio, sold its Vaio computer line and even let its Bravia TVs languish. Today, it’s really only the top name in a few very specific fields - gaming and noise cancelling headphones spring to mind.
But don't ever count Sony out. Innovation still burns bright at its Tokyo HQ. And in some ways, the company is more interesting now that it’s something of an underdog because it seems unafraid to push some truly far-out concepts in an effort to catch our attention again: Aibo the robot dog, the gloriously ultra-wide Xperia smartphones and this, the LSPX-S3 smart speaker. That’s right, it’s a speaker, not a lantern. The Verge reports:
The LSPX-S3is a $349 wireless Bluetooth speaker that vibrates a glass tube to act as a tweeter, which Sony says allows it to send sound in all directions around it. There’s also a light inside the glass with 32 different brightness levels, allowing the speaker to act as a bedside lamp or candle-replacement on the dinner table.
May Sony’s ‘try harder’ madness continue to bring us quirky, loveable tech like this.
Also worth your time
Apple MagSafe battery pack announced: “Overpriced and underpowered.”
Lossless audio for Apple HomePod confirmed: “It looks like it’ll be available in September with iOS 15.”
Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad reviewed: “It’s easily the best keyboard accessory for the iPad Air and iPad Pro, at least if you’re looking for a laptop-like experience.”
WATCHES
Back to basics
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that nestling quietly at number six on My List is a Zenith Chronomaster Revival A386 Manufacture Edition. Which is why I was so excited to see Zenith release the Chronomaster Original this week. I love it because, just like the Revival, it seeks to recreate the perfection of the classic A386 of 1969, one of the first watches to be powered by the El Primero movement (which, I’m sure you know, went on to power the Rolex Daytona too.)
Friend of The Guide Robin Smithinbank has written it up for British GQ:
The form’s signature is its dial with the tricolour overlapping subdials, lifted from those first pieces of more than half a century ago. There’s a natty white on black “reverse panda” variant, too, given an extra vintage twist by its beige lume. Also carried over to all five references are a bubble-edged crystal, a trapezoid date window and the prominent red central chronograph seconds hand – vintage licks that give the watch its unmistakable personality.
It’s not quite enough to dislodge the Revival Manufacture Edition from my list (I love the scarcity of that and the all-blue sub-dials) but it’s wonderful to have a back to basics version of the Chronomaster in the permanent collection again.
Also worth your time
Super Mario and Tag Heuer collaboration horrifically unveiled: “The watch is said to use a ‘gamification rewards system’ with greetings from Mario and Mushroom Kingdom-themed animations.”
Casio Ripley wore in Alien reissued: “Renamed the A100 series, the watch has been updated with a metallic case and strap and includes a gold option and one with an inverted LCD display.”
IWC (less) Big Pilot considered: “It isn’t a Big Pilot. I want my Big Pilot to be sensational, unconventional, demonstrative, and with a very specific display.”
Don’t miss…
👀 A glimpse inside the watch industry with Robin Swithinbank. It’s a first for Persiflage: in this episode we have a guest, one who actually knows what he’s talking about. Which brands are responding well to digital? Should authorised dealers be worried? Who are the standout execs? What happens next?
Join us to find out >
🏎 Do you have to be mad to take your car on a race track? Eric and I go head to head on this in a new episode of Persiflage. I point out all of the risks, he cares only for the rewards.
Have a listen >
👨🏻💻 Apple’s keynote at WWDC 2021 was a disappointment to those of us who had convinced ourselves that we would see the new MacBook Pro - but was full of clever, incremental software improvements that are much more than the sum of their parts.
Read the highlights >
Welcome to the weekend, folks. 🍸