Weekend Round-Up: Roger Federer, Hollywood's Go-To Vintage Maven, and Getting To The Bottom of A Netflix Mystery

Each week, our editors gather their favorite finds from around the internet and recommend them to you right here. These are not articles about watches, but rather outstanding examples of journalism and storytelling covering topics from fashion and art to technology and travel. So go ahead, pour yourself a cup of coffee, put your feet up, and settle in. 52 Fragrances and How to Think About Them - The New York Times One of the most private, as well as one of the most public, art forms is the creation of perfume. Intimate but also profoundly declarative, perfumes have over a period of thousands of years, evolved from relatively simple mixtures of floral extracts and oils, to highly complex compositions which require not only the basic gift of a “nose” but also a mastery of an incredible range of modern and synthetic ingredients (one of the most enduring perfumes of the 20th century – No. 5, by Chanel – which debuted in 1921, would have been impossible without synthetics. The huge variety of modern perfumes can be daunting, and classification schemes can be so elaborate as to confuse rather than enlighten, but the New York Times has assembled a list of 52 important fragrances which fit into just four categories – a semblance of order in the chaotic ferment of the landscape of scent. -Jack Forster, Editor-in-Chief The Scariest Movie Monster - Vimeo What part of our psychology do horror films tap into? This video essay by throughline breaks down what makes for the best movie monster and more importantly, why. The long and short of it is that the best movie monsters have little to do with the actual monster and much more to do with us. Some horror movies are just plain awful and not worth wasting a single second on, but a select few, like the 2018 movie Annihilation go far beyond scaring us with startling monsters. Annihilation asks big picture questions that scare us far more than any ghost or monster possibly could. Check out the video essay for more on the how and why of fear. -Cole Pennington, Editor The NYC Vintage Collection That Hollywood Turns To For Their Period Pieces – New York Post We're no stranger to the joys of vintage. The HODINKEE Shop safe is jam-packed with watches from throughout the 20th century, in all sorts of shapes and sizes. A little larger than our in-office vault, however, is Helen Uffner's private collection of vintage clothing located in Long Island City. Uffner has turned her one-of-a-kind collection into a serious business. When Hollywood costume designers are in need of clothing for period pieces, Uffner is their go-to supplier. This piece that recently ran in the New York Post highlights Uffner, her unique collection, and a few of the stories she's accumulated over the years. My only question is, how many watches does she own? -Logan Baker, Editor HODINKEE shop The Real Story Behind Netflix’s Top 10 Lists - Vulture Thank goodness someone took it upon themselves to solve one of the more pressing low-stakes mysteries of our time: Why is everyone's Netflix Top 10 different? This excellent Vulture piece dives into the famously murky waters of Netflix data and helps make some sense out of why our homepages look the way they do. There's a nice mix of technical information, insider knowledge, and hot gossip to make for a fun and informative read that will help you enter your weekend watching feeling a little more in the know. -Nora Taylor, Deputy Editor Roger Federer on His New Gig: Swiss Tourism Spokesman - The New York Times It's been well over a year since my last trip to Switzerland. Those are a dozen words I didn't expect to string together in one sentence. From about 2005 to 2019, visiting Basel, Geneva, and a handful of other places in the Helvetian Confederation was part of normal life. As countries are opening up, I'm eager to see new places and get back to familiar ones that have been out of reach these last 15 months. That certainly means traveling to Switzerland, and hopefully tacking on a day or two for some sightseeing. With Roger Federer (arguably the most famous Swiss) now signed up as a travel spokesman, it looks like the country is eager to have guests back too. -Jon Bues, Senior Editor All images via linked articles.Let a Tennis legend beckon you to Switzerland