Citizen Introduces Satellite Wave X, World’s Fastest GPS Watch; G-Shock's Latest NASA Collab; Breitling’s New Endurance Performance Pro Is Made For A Very Niche Audience; And A Cool New Sarpaneva

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Did you know that we’re entering Geneva Watch Days week? Starting on Wednesday, officially, get ready for a bunch of new releases. Also, do you remember the Urwerk from last week that was made with pieces of the SR-71? I liked that so much I wrote about the Blackbird predecessor for the Patreon, and why the pilots of the A-12 chose to wear the Bulova Accutron. The story of those planes is so cool, I unlocked the post for everyone to read if you feel like it.

In this issue:

• Citizen Introduces The Satellite Wave X, The World’s Fastest GPS Watch To Date

• G-Shock’s Latest NASA Collaboration Pays Homage To An Iconic Casio Calculator

• Breitling’s New Endurance Performance Pro Is Made For A Very Niche Audience

• The New Sarpaneva Supermoon Pays Tribute To Their Original Moonphase Korona K3 From 2008

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 18 seconds

👂What’s new

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Citizen Introduces The Satellite Wave X, The World’s Fastest GPS Watch To Date 

Watches are, for the most part, all about tradition and bringing centuries old artisanal practices into a world where mechanical watches are, for the most part, completely obsolete. And yet, we still get major mechanical advancements every year, making mechanical movements simpler, more efficient and more capable. It’s interesting to see these advancements in mechanical movements in a time when quartz powered watches remain largely the same for decades. Sure, the smartwatch might have taken the heat from hyper-capable quartz watches and development might have slowed a bit from the hay-day, but there are still brands out there pushing the tech forward. One of these brands is Citizen and the latest example of improved tech is the Satellite Wave X, the fastest GPS watch ever produced.

But before we get to the regular reporting on the case and details, what is a GPS watch and why should you care if it’s fast. Watches like this quartz powered Citizen are usually very accurate — this one claims an accuracy of +/- 5 seconds per month — but they can be made even more accurate if they connect to the global positioning satellite system and update the time on a regular basis, essentially eliminating any time drift. Why would you care if it’s fast? Well, why not? You already care that a watch is accurate, why not focus on the speed as well. This new Citizen uses the Satellite Wave GPS, which receives signals from satellites in just 3 seconds, making it the fastest in the world.

For a watch this advanced, the case is not as extravagant as you might imagine. Sure, it’s huge at 45.4mm wide and 12.7mm thick, but a bit easier to wear as it’s made out titanium. However, the sharp angles and facets are not as futuristic as they might seem when being described in text. You get an integrated bracelet, which has quite modern looking lat links. On top is a flat sapphire crystal and the watch has 100 meters of water resistance.

The dial is where things get a bit more futuristic. You can get the watch with one of two base colors on the dial — black or blue — and both look pretty good with the hundreds of tiny white dots that make it look like the night sky. Futuristic details can be found on the stepped ring around the inner portion of the dial, which makes it look like an exhaust port of a rocket. Around the perimeter of the dial is a list of cities for the world timer, you also get a date window and days/power reserve/light level indicator.

Inside is the Cal. F150, an EcoDrive movement, which means that it’s powered by light. Like I already said, it’s a very accurate movement that can run +/- 5 seconds per month even if it’s not connected to a satellite network, which it can do in 3 seconds when brought outside. Also, if you don’t take it out of your drawer to charge, it will continue to run for 7 years on a single charge.

The Citizen Satellite Wave X is available now globally and it’s priced at $1,495. See more on the Citizen website.

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G-Shock’s Latest NASA Collaboration Pays Homage To An Iconic Casio Calculator

Casio has had some pretty cool collaborations between their G-Shock sub-brand and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). I’m particularly fond of the white-watch-red-logo 6900 they released some time last year. And while you might think of one or two of their releases, this latest G-Shock NASA GW6900NASA241 is their fifth one. It’s also their most subdued one. And the geekiest one.

Built on the 6900 series, it keeps the same look. A round case that measures 50mm wide and 17.7mm thick, with a 53.3mm lug-to-lug, it comes in all black with a black rubber band. The all black dial features a white NASA logo at the top and very subtle red, yellow, and blue accents, reminiscent of the buttons on the classic calculators. Water resistance is 200 meters.

Inside, of course, is a solar powered movement which has multi-band 6 atomic timekeeping, a 1/100-sec stopwatch, four alarms, and more. The watch also features a blue backlight, which shows off the best easter egg of the collection. Turn the light on, and you’ll see the word "Gravity" and the equation for gravity itself: F = (m₁m₂)/R². The back of the shock-resistant case also has an engraving of the formula for the force of impact.

Casio says this is a limited edition, but doesn’t give a number on how many will be made. Also, they say that the watch will be available via a lottery that opens up on July 22, meaning that I missed the initial release of the watch. Funny thing is, it looks like you never needed to enter a lottery, as the watch is freely available on the G-Shock website, priced at $170. See more here.

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Breitling’s New Endurance Performance Pro Is Made For A Very Niche Audience

The number of people willing to spend almost €4,000 on a quartz watch, regardless of how nice that quartz watch is, is much, much smaller than the number of people that are willing to spend almost €4,000 on a mechanical watch. The number of people who would spend almost €4,000 on a quartz watch that’s branded with the logo of the Ironman, despite it being one of the most popular endurance races in the world, is even smaller. And yet, here comes Breitling with exactly that, an almost €4,000 quartz watch that’s made in partnership with the Ironman race, and Breitling believes there are at least 500 people out there that want one.

The watch is, of course, Breitling’s ultra-capable Endurance Pro, fitted with a quartz movement to be able to withstand a bunch of shock. This one comes in a silver colored titanium case — unlike the regular version that gets a carbon composite case — that measures a hefty 44mm wide, 12.5mm thick, with a lug-to-lug measurement of 52.4mm and a lug width of 22mm. On top is a bidirectional bezel with a compass scale, a sapphire crystal and a rugged and protected rubberized crown in blue. The crown doesn’t screw down, but you get 100 meters of water resistance.

The dial is all black, with a tri-compax setup, pretty much the same you would find on the regular Endurance Pro. The central chronograph hand as well as the hands on the sub-dials are neon yellow, while the chapter ring that surrounds the dial comes in blue and features a pulsometer scale, something that’s actually useful on a sports-oriented watch. The numerals are large, applied and Arabic and there’s a tiny date window at 4:30 that almost completely blends into the watch. In the 6 o’clock sub-dial you’ll find the logo of the Ironman World Championship, which has recently been redesign to reflect the plants of Hawaii, where it is being held.

Inside the watch is Breitling’s Caliber 82, a thermocompensated quartz movement, which features a 30-minute chronograph that is capable of measuring times down to 1/10th of a second. Based on the core architecture of an ETA movement design, the battery-powered Breitling Cal. 82 offers standard chronograph functionality, although it also features a split-timing feature. It’s also a COSC-certified chronometer, which means that it is accurate to within approximately ten seconds per year. The watch comes on a chunky blue rubber strap.

Like I said, the Breitling Ironman Endurance Performance Pro is limited to 500 pieces and it’s available now for a price of €3,950, which is a €500 bump over the carbon composite version. See more on the Breitling website.

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The New Sarpaneva Supermoon Pays Tribute To Their Original Moonphase Korona K3 From 2008

When you think of Scandinavian watchmakers, you might think of clean and minimalist designs. It might, then, come as a surprise to hear that Stepan Sarpaneva is one of the most prominent indie watchmakers from Scandiavia. Because his watches are as far as you can get from clean and minimalist scandi-design. They are complex, highly detailed odes to the Scandinavian nature with very creative applications of lume. But Sarpaneva’s latest release is one of his more subdued creations, with much less lume than usual. The new Sarpaneva Supermoon is a tribute to the original Korona K3 from 2008 with quite a subtle look, but also very characteristically Stepan Sarpaneva.

The Supermoon comes in a case made out of high-grade Outokumpu stainless steel from Finland, and it measures 42mm wide, 11.4mm thick, with a very comfortable 46mm lug-to-lug measurement. You get that short l2l thanks to the super-stubby lugs, that look like organic continuations of the 6-sided case that almost looks like a cog. The case gets a combination of brushed and polished finishes and on top is a domed sapphire crystal. The crown is moved to 4 o’clock and water resistance is 100 meters.

However attractive the case is, pretty much every Sarpaneva watch is all about the dial. Sarpaneva says that the inspiration for the dial comes from blending urban and natural elements, drawing from the intricate ironwork of Helsinki’s pavements. And you can see it, with the intricate grid of the skeletonized dial that gets a DLC coating. The moon of the moonphase keeps the watchmakers trademark, an enigmatic face, and is greatly improved in this version. Made out of white gold, it measures 12mm across and since the dial is skeletonized you can see it peeking through the holes. You also get white gold plated hands.

Inside the watch is the Soprod A10 calibre, which beats at 4Hz and has a 42-hour power reserve. Sarpaneva adds an in-house moon complication to the movement, and does a bunch of decoration. The entire movement is black gold plated and features perlage and Côtes de Genève stripes. The watch comes on a choice of leather straps or an incredible steel bracelet that mimics the look of the case.

The new Sarpaneva Supermoon is limited to just 12 pieces. If you get one, expect to pay €19,000 on leather or €21,500 on the bracelet, both without tax, and deliveries will happen between 4 and 16 weeks from now. See more on the Sarpaneva website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Seiko Prospex SPB451 And SPB453 Divers

2/

Hands-On With The Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Selfwinding Chronograph

3/

A review of the Cartier Tortue Hours/Minutes

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Typsim 200M is happens when 1953 tries again today

Like all true vintage divers with yellowed radium indices, the 200M makes use of a domed acrylic crystal. The bezel insert is the same material. Omega Speedmaster aficionados are already familiar with acrylic (or Hesalite) crystals. But aside from the Speedmaster, not many modern watches use the material. Once synthetic sapphire was rapidly and consistently producible, acrylic watch crystals largely went the way of the dodo. Sapphire offers robust scratch resistance. It also sounds fancy from a marketing standpoint. But acrylic has its charm and purpose, even by today’s standards. Even though it picks up scratches easily, it’s more resistant to shattering than sapphire. And, unlike mineral-based crystal materials, scratches polish out of acrylic as easily as they appear.

Read the whole review on Fratello

⏲️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

• New York City does not sound like a diving paradise, right? Well, it isn’t. But that doesn’t stop hundreds of people to dive in the very murky, very green waters that surround one of the most populated cities in the world. The New York Times has a pretty amazing story on the folks that brave the darkness to find some really interesting stuff.

• I had no idea that the Nazis opened up a bookstore in Los Angeles in 1933 called the Aryan Bookstore. It was much more than a place to buy something. It was the de facto headquarters of American Nazism and Hitler’s attempt to win Americans over to his cause.

• You might have noticed that talk of drunken nights and drug fuelled club outings are becoming a rarer occurrence not just among your friends, but also among people who share a lot of their lives online. Instead, it seems that every single person with more than 10k followers on Instagram has joined the same cult. It’s all about carnivore diets, cold plunges, saunas and journaling at 5 in the morning. Every single one of them. Toronto Life jumps deep to explore the expensive, obsessive, addictive quest for a perfect life.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Hey, when Type 7 puts out a new video, I share said vide. Thems the rules.

💵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: Here’s a crazy request. One of you is looking to buy the Lotēc No. 7.5. Sure, it’s a big ask, but if any of you have one and want to sell, reach out to and I’ll put you in touch

• SOLD: Well, not really new. It’s a great looking mid-90s Tudor Submariner 75090, offered for sale by a member of the It’s About Time reader crew. I love the way it looks and seems to be in great condition. Check it out over on Chrono24.

• 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

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-Vuk