Bell & Ross Gets Great Alpine Livery For F1 Watch, Shinola Turns April Fool's’ Joke Into Reality, Nodus Makes The Perfect Summer Beater, Hublot Tries To Be Subtle And Garrick Reintroduces the Regulator

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. There’s a heat wave starting over here and I think that Nodus would be a great watch to survive it with.

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In this issue:

• Bell & Ross Partners Up With The Alpine Formula 1 Team For A New And Great Looking BR 05

• Shinola Turns April Fool's’ Joke Into Reality With Charming Runlate Watch

• Nodus Updates Their Sector Sport Watch With New, Summer, Colors

• Hublot Tries To Be More Subtle With A Monochromatic Spirit Of Big Bang Essential Grey

• Garrick Introduces Regulator MK 2, Another Customizable Ode To British Watchmaking

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 1 second

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👂What’s new

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Bell & Ross Partners Up With The Alpine Formula 1 Team For A New And Great Looking BR 05

I recently wrote about the Bremont sponsorship of the Williams F1 team. I always considered Bremont to be a fairly successful watchmaker that surely makes several millions of dollars per year. But I had no idea they were doing so good they could sponsor an F1 team, especially since it costs at leat $1 million to sponsor a team. And for that you don’t get a lot. Especially not as much as Bremont is getting.

So F1 sponsorships have become a fun way to me to gauge how well a company is doing. Am I surprised that Rolex can drop $50 million per year to be the official timing partner of the organization? Absolutely not. Am I surprised that Bell & Ross is sponsoring an F1 team? Yep! I know that Bell & Ross is not a small watchmaker. They are a respectable independent brand from France. But I had no idea they had ti that good. Fantastic for them.

Being french, it only made sense they paired up with a French F1 team. That’s what they did in 2016, when they started working with the Renault Sport Formula 1 team which later changed their name to BWT Alpine F1 Team. Every year, Bell & Ross announces one or multiple limited editions celebrating the partnership between the two, and this year is no exception. New for the 2023 season is the Bell & Ross BR 05 Chrono A523, which is the first Alpine F1-inspired BR 05 model.

It’s still the BR 05 Chrono you know, with a rounded square steel case that is 42mm wide and 14.25 thick and a screwed down bezel. Most of the changes happen on the dial, where the watch sports hints of the Alpine livery. The matte black base dial has a blue tachymeter flange on the outer periphery, and blued hands for the chronograph. The applied indices, as well as the hands for the running time, are finished in white with Super-LumiNova. The date is in the unfortunate 4:30 postion, but with a circular cutout and a matching black face it’s not as horrible. The counterweight of the chronograph seconds hands is in the shape of the Apline logo.

This BR 05 Chrono, like others, is powered by BR-CAL.326 movement, which is based on the Sellita SW300-1a, and ti runs at 28,800vph with a power reserve of 60 hours. It displays central hours and minutes, with a small seconds subdial at 9. The chronograph function uses a central seconds hand and a 30-minute counter at 3. The watches come on a stainless steel integrated bracelet or a black and blue calfskin leather strap.

The new Bell & Ross BR 05 Chrono A523 is limited to 500 pieces. It’s on presale now and delivery should happen at the end of July. The prices are EUR 6,990 with the leather strap or EUR 7,500 with the steel bracelet. You can see more on Bell '& Ross’ website.

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Shinola Turns April Fool's’ Joke Into Reality With Charming Runlate Watch

I would be hard pressed to find a brand that takes on more heat in the watch world than Shinloa. I can think of, perhaps, Panerai for their movement deception shenanigans and, of course, Hublot. The contempt for Shinloa stems for the contempt the watch world has for it’s owner, Tom Kartsotis, or, as an article from Inc.com described him: “the entrepreneur who made hundreds of millions of dollars peddling watches built in Asia, and who, perhaps, will make hundreds of millions more peddling watches built in America”. But that whole plan failed when he was forced by the FTC to stop using the designation that Shinloa watches were built in the U.S. because, as it turned out, not a single part of a Shinloa watch was build in the U.S.

Since then, Shinloa has been trying to build back their reputation. And tell you what… this latest move? They’re close. Back in April, Shinola posted a photo of a non-existent watch on its Instagram account as a playful April Fools’ joke. Named the Runlate, the hypothetical timepiece was a rendition of its flagship Runwell model that swapped out each one of the hour markers for the word “LATE” on its dial. It was a fun and playful watch in the vein of Mr. Jones, but not as inventive. The reaction to the watch on Instagram was so intense, that Shinola is actually putting the watch into production. However, they’re messing this up as well, since they will make only 100 pieces. 100 watches that could have been a huge hit for them.

In essence, this is just their classic 41mm Runwell model, a circular stainless watch that’s an inoffensive 10.1mm thick. It features a double domed sapphire crystal above its dial, a solid screw-on caseback engraved with each watch’s serial number, and a signed pumpkin-shaped crown at 3 o’clock that screws down to get 50 meters of water resistance. The dial is also just fine - white with black text and orange accents, as well as a seconds subdial at 6.

Inside the watch is the brand’s Argonite 1069 high-accuracy quartz movement, which they say they hand-assemble in Detroit using Swiss and other imported components, but you decide how much you want to believe. Especially since we know that the Argonite 1069 movement is essentially just Shinola’s version of a familiar Ronda quartz caliber design.

A major issue for this watch is the fact that they are only 100, but an even bigger one might be the price - $595. That’s just a bit too much for a quartz driven novelty watch. For that price you’re entering microbrand territory with reliable mechanical movements. Or you could spend less than half that for a much cooler Mr. Jones. But Shinola was so close!

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Nodus Updates Their Sector Sport Watch With New, Summer, Colors

Speaking of better watches you could get in the $500 range… The Los Angeles based Nodus makes some truly incredible watches. And for a microbrand, their lineup is very nicely though through. They have a diver, a field watch and pilot’s watch. And then in late 2021 they introduced the Sector Sport, a no nonsense tool watch. It was very attractive at the time not just for it’s incredible price, but also for it’s fantastic construction and great dial colors - salmon and a very light turquoise, both with a sunburst pattern. Now, Nodus is introducing new, summery, colors to the Sector Sport.

In the mid-20th century, watch manufacturing technology was steadily progressing with improved waterproof case designs and higher-accuracy movements. Thus, wrist watches began to be more commonly used in exploration and other general sporting activities. The formula for these watches was simple: durable steel cases with plain fixed bezels, simple dial layout with no complications, and a waterproof construction. Simply put, these watches were meant to be able to go anywhere and do anything.

And this is what Nodus does with the Sector Sport. It’s housed in a 38mm stainless steel case that measures 47mm lug to lug and is 12.5mm thick, making it a great size for a sports watch. The bezel of the Sport is fixed and the watch has a large, knurled 7mm crown. Both the crown and caseback and screwed down which gives it a 100m water resistance.

The two new colors of the watch are Marigold, a shimmering, almost metallic, hue of yellow-gold, and frost, an icy white. The indices are applied and stick quite far of the surface of the dial, giving them a fantastic 3d look, and the numerals have a fantastic font. Bordered in black, the indices and numerals are filled with Swiss Super-LumiNova.

A lot of microbrands can make a fantastic watch, but then they stumble on a seemingly simple thing like the strap or bracelet. Deliver the watch on a subpar bracelet and you ruin the entire thing. Nodus obviously knows this, because they ship it on a steel H-link bracelet with their proprietary NodeX™ clasp which allows for super simple micro adjustments, which many more expensive watches fail to deliver. Word is they also include an additional high quality branded quick release leather strap in the box, which I just can’t believe they can do for this price.

Inside the watch is the robust & easily serviceable NH35 movement regulated to +/- 10 seconds per day. While many will find fault with this movement, keep in mind not only the price of the watch, but also the fact that the NH35 is easily servicable anywhere in the world.

And here’s the kicker. These Nodus Sector Sport watches cost only $475. This has to be the best bang for your buck watch of the year if you’re in the market for a great sports watch. Shipping starts July 14th. You can get yours from the brand’s website.

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Hublot Tries To Be More Subtle With A Monochromatic Spirit Of Big Bang Essential Grey

Furthermore, speaking of watches that take on heat, here’s Hublot with a new model. While the rest of the watch world is diligently working on adding as much and as unique colors as they can to their cases, dials and straps, along comes Hublot with their idea of a summer watch - the limited fully grey titanium Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Essential Grey.

Just reading the title to the announcement of this watch got me briefly thinking - could Hublot actually make an understated or subtle watch? No. No they couldn’t. Despite the lack of colour, it’s still a very expressive watch with lots of angles, facets, alternating textures and details, as found on the titanium bezel, crown and pushers, and a tonneau titanium case that has a polished and satin finish.

The Big Bang Essential Grey doesn’t have a dial. You see the skeletonized movement right behind the hands and the chronograph indicators. The issue with this, of course, is that Hublot decided to make everything grey, so good luck telling the time.

The movement you see is the HUB4700, but this is not Hublot’s in house movement, but rather a skeletonized version of Zenith’s El Primero automatic high-frequency column-wheel chronograph. When fully wound by the skeletonized central rotor, finished with Hublot’s H-shaped logo, of course, it holds up to 50 hours of power reserve.

This piece is limited too 100 pieces and comes with a black and silver lined rubber strap on a folding buckle and an additional grey fabric strap with a Velcro and black ceramic buckle closing system. It will set you back EUR 25,200. I have no doubt that all 100 are already sold out, but if you would like to see more about it, hop on over to Hublot.

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Garrick Introduces Regulator MK 2, Another Customizable Ode To British Watchmaking

You could be forgiven if you have never heard about Garrick Watchmakers. But now that you have, you likely won’t forget their name. The British watchmaker makes some of the most interesting, most advanced and most personalized watches you can actually afford. Now they’re back with an update to their Regulator, called the Regulator MK 2, which puts their distinct design language inspired by nautical themes and classical British watchmaking into one of the oldest time telling formats there is, but in a contemporary way.

Garrick introduced their first regulator in 2018, roughly five years after the brand was launched. The regulator format dates back to the 18th century and is most often associated with watchmakers who used regulator clocks to gauge the accuracy and rate stability of the timepieces they were working on. With hours, minutes, and seconds each on a separate axis, it becomes easier to see at a glance how a watch is performing against a “standard” timekeeper.

This separation is implemented by the Garrick regulator, also creating a very legible display, but with so many customizable options it’s almost impossible to describe the watch. The basis remains the same - a running seconds subdial at 10:00, the hours at 3:00, minutes read from a long central hand pointing to the dial’s perimeter and at 6:00 you’ll find the free-sprung Garrick Trinity balance, viewed through an aperture. Everything else is up to you.

The dials, made in-house by Garrick, can be had with frosted or engine turned finishes in virtually any color you can imagine. The hands can be heat blued, grained, or polished depending on preference, and the movement has a frosted finish that can be completed in gold, silver, rhodium, or black.

The case is made from steel is 42mm wide. Garrick has experimented as of late with smaller cases based on customer feedback and demand, but they went back to this to create a statement piece that can house a dial that has to be shown off. Interestingly, you also get 100 meters of water resistance, which is not something you would expect on a watch of this caliber.

Garrick says that production will be limited to 10 pieces per year for the Regulator MK 2, and prices start at £9,995 for watches with frosted dials, and £10,995 for watches with engine turned dials. More information can be found on Garrick’s website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Citizen NJ015 Automatic Tsuyosa

2/

Hands-on with the Lebond Siza Black Edition — the magic of architecture in a watch

3/

The elegant & pragmatic Certina DS Action Day-Date in blue

⚙️Watch Worthy

A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually like

GoS Watches Introduces The 2nd Edition Of The Sarek

The 2nd-gen Sarek begins with a smaller size, dropping down from 43mm in diameter to 41.5mm. The height is kept relatively the same, despite the fact there is a thicker movement inside. The exterior shell of the Sarek Trollius is not made out of folded Damascus steel but follows suit with the previous Trollius edition of the Sarek. This means it has elliptical scallops in the caseband with handmade and -applied gold decorative rivets. The bezel shows the familiar leaf engraving, which is also found on the outer edge of the caseback. There are plenty more details to be discovered, such as the shortened, reshaped and engraved lugs, the fully handmade crown, and the special engraving on the centre section of the caseback.

⏲️Wait a minute

A bunch of links that might or might not have something to do with watches. One thing’s for sure - they’re interesting

• I always wanted to visit Antartica. So do, it turns out, thousands of others. Sara Clemence is ruthless in this piece, questioning the privilege and indulgence of the people who travel to the one place on earth that still belongs to nature, just because they can. The self-important justifications of these tourists will leave you feeling even more frustrated with the human race. Clemence is right: Don’t go.

• Inspired to enlist in the U.S. Marines after 9/11, sniper Grady Kurpasi volunteered to fight for Ukraine after the Russians invaded the country. He disappeared on April 26th, 2022 after encountering enemy fire. Back in the United States, his wife Heeson refused to believe that Grady had been killed in action. But for nearly a year, the mystery remained: Where was Grady Kurpasi?

• Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. The term was coined by Mark Dery, who was many years later a teacher of mine and now a friend. Dery introduced me to many Afrofuturist writers, including Samuel R. Delany. I became an instant fan and this piece from the New Yorker is a great look back at how Delany reimagined Sci-Fi, sex and the city.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Endless - a short story about human limits" is a 30 minute film about Sebastian "Seb" Breuer who won the 700km long gravel race "Badlands" 2022 and now wants to build on this success in his next races, Across Andes in Chile and the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco. It is the story of defeats and the way back. The ups and downs of a longdistance race that pushes to your physical and mental limits. Endless is meant to motivate you to leave everyday life behind, overcome your limits and simply go out and have an adventure.

💵Pre-loved precision

Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us 

• LOOKING TO BUY: One of our readers is looking to purchase three very specific watches: an Islander ISL-133 Mother of Pearl, a Sinn 556 Mother of Pearl or a Zelos 300m GMT Mosaic Mother of Pearl. If you’re selling any of these, reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

• FOR SALE: Longines Heritage Skin Diver, box and papers. €1400. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

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