At the end of 2020, The New York Times published a story entitled “74 of Our Favorite Facts for 2020,” which contained 74 of the most interesting, striking, or delightful facts that the editors found in articles published by the newspaper in that year.
I found this article incredibly entertaining and educational so I thought to do a similar one using fun facts mined from a year’s worth of posts on Quill & Pad.
Since Quill & Pad also publishes a weekly spirits column written by Ken Gargett in addition to covering the world of watches, some of the funn(i)est facts I found concern wine, champagne, and liquor.
These are in no particular order, just random facts I found interesting, entertaining, and/or educational in 2021. I do hope you enjoy.
Vianney Halter Deep Space Resonance Prototype (photo courtesy Vianney Halter/Guy Lucas de Peslouan)
1. Scientists still do not technically know exactly what gravity is, only what it does as Joshua Munchow reported in Vianney Halter Deep Space Resonance Triple-Axis Tourbillon: Even Gravity Won’t Bring It Down!
Daniel Craig as James Bond: is he drinking Heineken?
2. The makers of the twenty-fifth James Bond film No Time to Die spent £55,000 on 8,400 gallons of Coca-Cola to make a set stickier: it seems that they were having trouble with a bike scene in which the cobblestones were too slippery when Bond actor Daniel Craig had the idea of soaking the cobblestones on which the stunt motorbike was to land with Coke, making them much stickier. Read the entire story by Ken Gargett in Shaken Not Stirred: The Drinking Habits Of 007 James Bond (And Why They Bought 8,400 Gallons Of Coca-Cola For ‘No Time To Die’).
GaryG’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 with turquoise dial
3. The word “Stella” as it is used in watch jargon today originated in Rolex’s 1970s marketing materials. It most likely refers to the maker of the rich-colored lacquers used on the dials (and does not refer to either a woman or stars) as GaryG explains in Why I Bought It: Rolex Stella-Inspired Oyster Perpetual 41 With Turquoise Blue Dial.
Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye (photo courtesy @frombarreltobottle)
4. Rye can be Canadian or American. And in Canada, “rye” does not legally need to have so much as a grain of rye in it as Ken Gargett reports in Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye: World’s Best Whisky Of The Year 2021, But Opinions Are Divided.
Patek Philippe Wax Print in Green Calatrava with cloisonné enamel and guilloché (left) and Medieval Ornaments I Calatrava with cloisonné enamel
5. Patek Philippe produces nearly 62,000 timepieces per year, broadly categorized in the brand’s current collection as simple watches, useful complications, grand complications, casually elegant watches, ladies’ watches, and jewelry watches, writes Nancy Olson in Patek Philippe Shows Off Its Rare Handcrafts.
Madame Elisabeth “Lily” Bollinger
6. Madame Elisabeth Bollinger point blank refused to allow Bollinger to make a rosé, believing that rosé champagne was associated with Paris’ “deeply suspect maisons closes” and “fit only for women with the worst sort of reputation.” Her team had to wait for her passing before the world saw a Bollinger Rosé relates Ken Gargett in Louis Roederer Cristal 2013 And Cristal Rosé 2012: As Good As Champagne Gets.
Mumm Champagne supplied the F1 showers for 15 years
7. Ken Gargett writes in Mumm RSRV R. Lalou 2006 Champagne: A Revelation (With Or Without Usain Bolt) that sprinter Usain Bolt was appointed CEO at Mumm – with CEO standing for “Chief Entertainment Officer.”
Ulysse Collin Les Roises champagne
8. Growers can be considered the “independent watchmakers” of Champagne as Ken Gargett made clear in Ulysse Collin: Grower Champagnes With Serious Elegance.
You may also enjoy:
My Top 5 Watches Of 2021: A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier, Breitling, Omega, And Tudor
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