It’s Friday. It’s six o’clock. It’s time to down tools, pour yourself a drink and look back at what A Prodigal Week it has been. Here’s your bite-sized helping of news and views.
WATCHES
Small is big
We talked about it in our Watches & Wonders podcast, forget green dials, the most welcome trend of 2021 is downsizing. Almost every brand is at it. The Rolex Explorer is back to its 36mm best, IWC is making Pilot’s chronos in a wearable size again, Hell - even Panerai, the Godfather of Girth, has taken its Bronzo back to ‘large human’ size.
With the exception of IWC’s Big Pilot’s - which I maintain should always be gargantuan, that’s the very point of its existence - this shift to more wearable sizes is the best thing to happen to watches in a long time.
I’m eager to see who jumps on the little bandwagon next.
CARS
Electric cars are finally sexy and mainstream
Yes, the new M3/4 was announced this week. And, yes, an optional 4WD system, quicker acceleration and enhanced dynamics all sound lovely. But, as much as I revere it and its ilk, the M3 now feels like a car from a bygone era. It’s hard to get excited about it when the future is, unapologetically, electric.
For years, if you wanted a fun electric car, you had to visit a Tesla showroom. But that meant putting up with shocking panel gaps, cheap looking interiors and waitlists that were laughable. Not for me.
Now, the Germans are catching up and that means we’re finally getting EVs for grown-ups: properly styled, engineered and built. And this week we saw the latest and most important manifestation of this trend. No, I’m not talking about the Mercedes EQS - hugely impressive though that thing is. To me, the week belongs to Audi. Ingolstadt had already blown us away with the e-tron GT but now it’s announced its vision of a much more mainstream model: the A6 e-tron Concept. And it’s typical Audi: Teutonic with a hint of fun.
Handsome, restrained design? Check. Peerless interior? Of course, it’s an Audi. But the real selling point is that, because it’s a mainstream model not a sportscar, Audi has prioritised range over pure performance. That means you can expect to get comfortably more than 400 miles per charge while also - because this is an EV after all - reaching 60mph in under 5 seconds. Which, let’s face it, is plenty fast for most of us.
2023 can’t come soon enough.
GADGETS
Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise!
The big gadget news of the week was Apple’s Spring Loaded event (and you can read my take here). One of the things the event reminded me of was the degree to which most devices - phones, tablets and PCs - are now mature. It’s hard for them to stand out. The innovation, differentiation, and excitement is often in the accessories that make up an ecosystem. These are the little things that glue our digital lives together and make the overall ownership experience a pleasure or, sometimes, a pain.
We’ve seen some interesting new ones this week. Sony already offers one of the best noise-cancelling wireless headphones on the market in the WH-1000XM4; now they’re making a limited edition white version. If earbuds are more your thing but you value premium sound quality, Bowers & Wilkins have announced its PI7 and PI5.
Finally, if like me, you’re conflicted about wearing an Apple Watch because you value its health tracking features but have lots of lovely mechanical things sitting idly in your watch box, you might want to consider Fitbit’s attempt at a premium fitness tracker: the Luxe.
In case you missed it…
⌚️ Watches & Wonders 2021 was a very mixed bag. Eric and I sat down to chew it all over. The result is our first Prodigal Persiflage podcast: some joy, some jolts, a little jousting.
Have a listen >
📱 Apple’s Spring Loaded event didn’t deliver any big surprises but it did impress with the little things.
Read our take >
Welcome to the weekend, folks.