Citizen's New Promaster Mechanical Diver Is A Great Alternative To Expensive Seiko Divers; Seiko Releases Two New Astrons; Nivada And Ace Collaborate On A Wonderful Polar II; Stowa's Modern Flieger; And Crazy New Genta

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Drama in the It’s About Time offices (my living room)! We got back from a family barbecue late last night and I wanted to do a bit of writing. Open up the computer and find out that my “i” key has gone haywire. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s working overtime, making my every other letter an “i”. A new keyboard is on the way, but I’ll have to work with this broken keyboard for a week, so do excuse any egregious typos.

In this issue:

• Citizen’s New Promaster Mechanical Diver 35th Anniversary Might Be The Perfect Budget Dive Watch In A World Of Expensive Seikos

• Seiko Releases Two New Astron Limited Editions With Starry Light Blue Dials

• Nivada Grenchen And Ace Jewelers Team Up For A Very Refreshing Version Of The Super Antarctic Polar II

• Stowa Takes Inspiration From Their 1942 Baumuster B For The New Flieger Verus 40

• The New Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Is As Polarising As It Can Get

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 25 seconds

👂What’s new

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Citizen’s New Promaster Mechanical Diver 35th Anniversary Might Be The Perfect Budget Dive Watch In A World Of Expensive Seikos

Seiko has caught a lot of flack with the pricing of the high end divers they released over the past year. The recreation of the 62MAS, the new Marinemasters and even the new King Seikos all come in at way over €3,000. For that you get a great watch, but with a bit of an outdated movement and a questionable bracelet. If you want a dive Seiko under €1,000, you’re looking at movements with an accuracy of +45/-35 seconds per day and even more concessions. Enter Citizen, with their solution for the sub-€1,000 dive watch with great specs and classic design, the Citizen Promaster Mechanical Diver. Now, the Mechanical Diver is getting a bit of a makeover to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Promaster collection.

The Promaster Mechanical Diver has a lot going for it. This limited edition is almost identical to the standard one, meaning that it’s based on the newly updated Fujitsubo diver from 2022, which in turn is a modern take on a 1970s diver. In fact, the diver has an interesting backstory, if Citizen is to be trusted. They claim that they modeled the Fujitsubo after a vintage Citizen dive watch that that was lost at sea and washed up on a beach in Australia years later, covered in barnacles but still running.

Being based on the Fujitsubo means that the watch is 41mm wide, 12.3mm thick and made out of Citizen’s Super Titanium alloy which is additionally treated with a Platinum Duratect finish which makes it more scratch resistant. Water resistance is 200 meters. On top is a sapphire crystal, as well as a unidirectional bezel which has a black metal insert, but also a metallic blue bezel ring. Citizen says that the colorway has been inspired by the blue oceans and white sands of Long Reef Beach in Australia, which means that it gets a blue bezel. The markers are large, blocky, applied and filled with lume and there’s a date window at 3 o’clock, one of the advantages this watch has over Seiko divers which are starting to move the date window to the 4:30 position.

Inside the watch is another advantage over seiko, the Cal. 9051 automatic movement, which is based on the Miyota 9015. It beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of 42 hours. Accuracy is rated at -10 to +20 seconds per day. It also comes on a matching titanium bracelet with a clasp that makes it easy to expand. The watch is a limited edition, but limited to 4,500 pieces so it won’t sell out instantly. Best of all, this Citizen is priced at £795 or around €933. Compare this, for example, to the new Seiko Marinemaster that’s made out of steel, has the same 200 meter water resistance, a similarly accurate movement and no quick adjust on the clasp, but sells for €3,400, and the Citizen sounds absolutely fantastic. See more on the Citizen UK website.

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Seiko Releases Two New Astron Limited Editions With Starry Light Blue Dials

Amid a flurry of releases of overhauls to their mechanical lines, I kind of missed the news that Seiko introduced two new Astron models. These watches have a very niche market cut out for them, but one that simply adores solar-powered quartz movements that connect to the GPS network to adjust their local time and come in very futuristic package. Now, Seko s releasing to versions of the Astron, the SSH157 and the SSJ027, very different from each other, but also very similar.

Since they’re so different, let’s start with the SSH157, the one that looks like more of a tradtoinal chronograph. It comes in a much more manageable case than the original Astrons which were over 45mm wide, but it’s not small. It measures 43.3mm wide, 13.4mm thick and has a lug-to-lug measurement of 49.5mm. While not small, it is made out of titanium so it’s easier to wear. On top is a black ceramic bezel that surrounds a double domed sapphire crystal.

The dial has a super interesting 3 dimensional starry texture to it and a very light blue color, which Seiko says mimics the stars in a night sky. The dial also has depth to it, as the texture s placed on a transparent layer so you can see behind it. The dial is a bit cluttered, but they needed the space to accomodate all the functions. There’s a 1/20th of a second sub-dial at 12 o’clock, a second time zone at 6 o’clock and a function selector at 9 o’clock. And Seiko really is insisting on keeping the date function at 4:30. Too bad.

Inside is the solar-powered caliber 5X83, which is the most advanced Astron movement they have. It has a power reserve of six months when run all the time or two years in power-save mode. The watch comes on a matching titanium three link bracelet and is limited to 1,500 pieces. Price is set at €2,600.

If the SSH157 is too much for you, Seiko is also releasing the SSJ027, which has a much simpler dial, but also a much more extravagant case. Also made out of titanium, with the same scratch proof coating, it’s much more faceted and squared off, measuring 41.2mm wide, 12mm thick and with a 48.6mm lug-to-lug. The dial has the same texture and blue color as the other one, but now only with a three hand time indicator, a date window at 3 and a sub-dial at 8 o’clock that shows the function selector.

Inside is the calibre 3X62 which has the same six month battery life. In fact, it seems to be the same movement, only without a chronograph function. The watch comes on the same titanium bracelet. Also limited to 1,500 pieces and priced at €2,300. See more on the Seiko website.

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Nivada Grenchen And Ace Jewelers Team Up For A Very Refreshing Version Of The Super Antarctic Polar II

Operation Deep Freeze 1 was one of the most important scientific missions of the 20th century. Led in 1955 by experienced South Pole researcher Admiral Richard Bird, 40 nations came together to explore the most unexplored part of our world and they laid the groundwork for the establishment of permanent research stations on Antarctica. Playing a crucial role in the mission was the official watch, the newly released Nivada Grenchen Antarctic became an instant cult classic. Decades later, with the revival of Nivada Grenchen, the Antarctic returned and became an interesting playground for experimentation. So it only made sense when we first saw the collaboration between Nivada and Dutch-based and family owned Ace Jewelers which gave the Antarctic a white dial and orange seconds hand - a great look. The 50 pieces sold out extremely fast so now the two are back with the Polar II, a slightly different, but equally fresh, take on the Antarctic.

Most of the changes come from the dial, which means that the case is largely unchanged. So, you still get the three part case that measures a comfortable 38mm wide, 12mm thick and with a lug-to-lug of 45mm. The finishing is a combination of brushed and polished surfaces, with scalloped lugs and a minimalist bezel that surrounds a double domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Moving on to the dial, it features the same matte white base, with silver colored applied indices - batons for everything other than the large triangles at 3, 6, 9 and 12. The hands for the minute and hour hands are a sword and lollipop, while the seconds hand takes on a new shade. It was orange in the previous collaboration, which I loved, until I saw this new baby blue one which is just perfect!

Inside is the Soprod P024, a clone of the ETA 2824-2, which means you get a lot of the same qualities, namely the 4Hz beat rate and the 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a beads of rice stainless steel bracelet, which is cool, but it seems to me that the watch truly shines on the additional strap you get, a light blue marine-nationale-type fabric strap.

The previous Nivada Grenchen x Ace collaboration sold out quickly with 50 pieces made, so you know this one will go fast with only 25 made. Price is set at €995 without VAT and the watch can be purchased from Ace Jewelers.

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Stowa Takes Inspiration From Their 1942 Baumuster B For The New Flieger Verus 40

The issue of pilot’s watches, especially those who have the B-Uhr configuration and are built by German companies - particularly those that predate World War 2, is a very complicated one. It drags behind it a long and questionable history, as these watches were developed for the Nazi war machine. I wrote about this at length for my Patreon (I unlocked this article so you can check it out here and learn more about the B-Uhr), but the consensus is that it would serve little purpose to hold a modern company accountable for the wrongdoings in the past, provided the company has acknowledged this history. For example, A. Lange & Söhne still refuses to even discuss their work for Nazi party higher-ups and their use of forced Jewish labor. Stowa, for example, has a very suspicious hole between 1938 and 1945 in their otherwise very detailed timeline. It was during this time that Stowa produced the B-Uhr for the German air force and they continue making this style to this day. Regardless of your stance on this issue, you most likely can appreciate these watches. And now Stowa is releasing a 40mm version of their more modern take on the classic B-Uhr. This is the new Flieger Verus 40 with Baumuster B-styled dial.

The Flieger Verus line is Stowa’s more modern take on the Flieger, as it comes in a much more modern case and is already available as a 36mm wide version. This new one comes in a case that measures 40mm wide, just 10.2mm thick and has a glass bead-blasted stainless steel construction. On top is a flat sapphire crystal and water resistance is 50 meters.

While Stowa more often opts for the Type A layout of the flieger, one that has the more traditional clean layout of just one minute and hour track, the Type B splits it up into two tracks, an outer one for the minutes and an inner one for the hours, which allowed navigators to keep easier track of the exact time. Stowa keeps it very classical here, with a black background and large white markers and numerals. The hands are classic sword hands and everything is coated in white Super-Luminova BGW9 lume. Stowa also offers a bit of customisation, so you can choose whether you want to keep the dial clean or add a date display.

Inside, there’s more customisation options. You can choose between two automatic calibres - the Sellita SW200 automatic in either a basic or top grade - or a hand-wound movement - the Sellita SW210 hand-wound, available in top grade. All of these movement beat at 28,800vph and run at either 38 (SW200) or 42 (SW210) hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black leather strap which lacks the classic rivets in this more modern guise.

The new Stowa Flieger Verus 40 Baumuster B comes in three tiers of pricing - €950 for the basic automatic, €1,080 for the top grade automatic and €1,100 for the hand wound version. See more on the Stowa website.

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The New Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Is As Polarising As It Can Get

There’s no denying that Gérald Genta was the most influential watch designer of the 20th century. And while most know him for his takes on the integrated bracelets steel sports watches like the Nautilus and the Royal Oak, what some would now call boring watches, he also had a wild streak within him. The Gefica Safari, his work with Disney, the Octagonal and the Grande Sonnerie are all pretty unusual looking watches. And like any good designer, Genta made hundreds of sketches for watches that never got made. His eponymous brand Gérald Genta has been revived by LVMH last year and there was always a question what the brand might put out first. After a couple of one-off releases, the first capsule collection to come out of the brand is the Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin.

The Oursin is inspired by sketches Genta made out after a family holiday in Corsica, France, in 1994 in which he attempted to catch the look of sea urchins his wife was so enamoured by. (Interestingly, years later, the Croatian microbrand Marnaut would draw inspiration from the sea urchin exoskeleton, which all of us in Croatia grew up diving for all summer as kids, for their dials). Now turned into reality, the Oursin comes with a curved, convex grade 5 titanium case that measures 36.5mm wide and 9.5mm thick. On top is a faceted sapphire crystal shaped into an octagon, Genta’s signature shape. But things get wild when you look at the rest of the case. Each of the three models is studded with 223 beads, each individually threaded and screwed down and comes in a contrasting material to the underlying titanium – white gold, rose gold and diamonds, or yellow gold, with the yellow gold ones shaped into spikes instead of beads. It’s very much a Louboutin spikes shoe.

The white gold beads come on a matte grey titanium base with a dark grey dial with an 8-side guilloché pattern and silver-toned hands. The gold and diamond beads are paired with the same grey case, but this model gets a guilloché dial in pink mother-of-pearl. Last, there’s the yellow gold spikes which are paired with a black DLC-coated case and a flat dial with yellow gold spike hour markers.

Inside all three is the calibre GG-005, based on the Zenith Elite movement, beating at 4Hz and with a power reserve of 50 hours. It has been customised for the Oursin, with the octagonal-shaped rotor and bas-relief beads sculpted along the periphery. The watches come on leather straps that match the dial color.

From what can be gathered, these Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin watches will only be made for a limited time, but not limited in number. Available from October 2024, the prices will range from CHF 19,000 to CHF 29,000. See more on the Gérald Genta website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the new Credor Locomotive

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Hands on with the Isotope Old Radium Black Ink Bronze

3/

A review of the Traser P67 Officer Pro 

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Nordic Marine Instruments Søværn Sports Watch is a great daily wearer

The case is one of my favorite parts of this watch. It appears to be the same mid-case as found on the brand’s first launch, the Østersøen, only now a fixed bezel replaces the rotating one. Notably, the strong, purposeful polished bevels on the upper and lower case flanks and the bezel are pretty aggressive but in a good way. Likewise, the case has smaller internal bezels on the lugs where the bracelet connects to the watch. The design exudes confidence, and that’s something I like to see from microbrands. The transitions between the contrasting polished and brushed finishes are sharp and make this case feel like it comes from a watch several times the price. It’s lofty praise, but the case and bezel are genuinely impressive.

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

• Disney is a global cultural force. But in China, the Chinese population—not the company—sets the trends. At Shanghai Disney Resort, the most beloved character isn’t Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, or princesses like Ariel or Belle or Elsa, but instead LinaBell, a pink fox. For The Dial, Lavender Au writes about the culture of Disney in China, and how, in the ’90s, Disney invested heavily in the country and had big expectations, but ultimately, the formula for success in Asia is much different than in the US. “Disneyland is popular in China,” Au writes, “but not in the way that Disney intended.”

• A century after George Mallory’s disappearance on Everest, why do his words, “Because it’s there,” remain an indelible explanation for the human obsession with high places?

• Three decades after the release of the film, a collective story of its making reveals Forrest Gump still looms large in the lives of the stars and the locals who helped turn a movie no one wanted into an Oscar-winning smash.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

It’s not nice to make fun of sick people. Like, not at all. And yet, making fun of of sick people can be funny. A couple of weeks ago I couldn’t stop laughing when I decided to give a listen to Terrence Howards interview with Joe Rogan. In the first 7 minutes we learned that he remembers being in his mother womb, that he came up with the grand unified theory at 5, rearranged the periodic table of elements by 6 and hold patents that have changed the world, but he just doesn’t have the time to make money off of them. I wanted to link to the interview when I first heard it, but it was more than three hours of incoherent ramblings. Now, a dude put together a much shorter video detailing some of the craziest things. The dude is a bit whiny when the video starts off, but keep with it, it gets better.

💵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 Ōtsuka 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