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  • G-Shock Celebrates 40 Years With A Frosted Gold Version, Isotope Partners with NASA, Norqain Unvelis Five New Watches and Piaget Shrinks the Polo

G-Shock Celebrates 40 Years With A Frosted Gold Version, Isotope Partners with NASA, Norqain Unvelis Five New Watches and Piaget Shrinks the Polo

One of the most important watches of our time is turning 40 and going fancy

Author

Vuk Radic
April 17, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes

Hey friends, It’s About Time is back for a Monday edition, and there’s huge news - we have a new G-Shock! Can’t wait to get it on hand.

In this issue:

  • Casio celebrates 40 years of THE watch

  • Isotope teams up with NASA

  • Norqain celebrates five years

  • Piaget shrinks the Polo date

  • And… Franck Muller unveils dozens of watches for WPHH 2023

Today’s reading time: 6 minutes and 17 seconds

👂What’s new

1/ 

There’s a lot of anniversaries this year, but this one must be the most important one - exactly 40 years ago Casio introduced the G-Shock. To celebrate this, Casio is introducing three 40th Anniversary Recrystallized watches, two full-metal variations alongside a third model with a bio-based resin bezel and strap that looks very much like the first G-Shock. The two metal models undergo what Casio fancily calls a recrystallization process.

While Casio won’t tell anyone what the recrystallization process actually means, the watches end up looking like they were bead blasted giving them a sparkly look. You know, like a budget version of the frosted Audemars Piguet.

The two full-metal G-Shock 40th Anniversary Recrystallized watches follow the same format as previous GMWB5000 models, and they feature stainless steel cases that measure 43.2mm in diameter by 13mm thick. Available in either stainless steel (ref. GMWB5000PS-1) or with a yellow gold finish (ref. GMWB5000PG-9), the bezel and bracelet of the GMWB5000PS-1 are further treated with titanium carbide, which provides them with their flat light gray color, while the same components on the ref. GMWB5000PG-9 are gold ion plated to give the bezel and bracelet a warm metallic yellow hue.

There’s also a change inside - the watches get the Module No. 3539 which has a stopwatch, alarm, countdown timer, world time feature, and electronic LED backlight, as well as being solar-powered and offers radio-controlled timekeeping (Multiband 6) and the ability to synchronize with your smartphone via Bluetooth, While the gold one is fitted with a standard gray LCD screen, the stainless steel receives an inverted black LCD display for greater.

The third watch that makes up the new trio of G-Shock 40th Anniversary Recrystallized series is the ref. DW5040PG-1, which is nicknamed the PROJECT TEAM “Tough” model. Unlike the two full-metal watches, the ref. DW5040PG-1 features a black bio-based resin bezel and strap to emulate the appearance of the very first G-Shock watch from 1983.

Prices are all over the place - the plastic watch costs $300, while the stainless and gold models each cost $870.

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Just days after we mentioned the very cool Isotope Hydrium Pro Nordblad Limited Edition made with renowned ice diver Johanna Nordblad, Isotope announces a new collaboration - this time with Nasa.

The Isotope Hydrium NASA is styled after the heat shield on a NASA capsule returning to earth. The high heat of reentry creates a distressed texture on the outside of the module. To mimic that texture, Isotope equipped the stainless steel case with a polymer-ceramic coating called Cerakote, giving the micro-blasted cases a unique look. It measures 40mm wide, 48mm long, and 12.9mm thick.

The white dial features a railroad track that incorporates hours and minutes. The track is placed on the periphery of the dial, leaving a large open space in the center. The dark blue railroad track matches the blue box-shaped hands and the outline of the brand’s signature Lacrima logo. The dial gets even cooler when you figure out that all that free space on it is filled with lume, making it glow like crazy.

Inside is the Swiss-made Landeron movement with a power reserve of 40 hours. The watch comes with a special strap designed by Nick Mankey Designs and featuring the NASA logo. It also comes with a second quick-release gray FKM strap so you can switch things up nicely.

Unfortunately, Isotope will make only 200 pieces of this watch, and it’s still available for pre order at a price of €1,025, excluding VAT.

3/

Norqain is an interesting brand. It’s seems they came out of nowhere, as if nobody heard about them five years ago, and yet, here they are, practically everywhere - partnering up with the New York Marathon, teaming up with charities saving wild animals… There’s a reason you haven’t heard about them five years ago. Because they are only now celebrating their fifth birthday and to do so, they’re releasing five new models. Keep in mind, this is a brand that has put out more than 50 models and variants in five years.

The new watches breakdown as follows: we have two new Independence Skeleton references in 42mm cases, one DLC coated, the other with blue accents; two Independence 40mm pieces, one with a brown gradient dial, the other with a green gradient dial; and a new reference aimed at the female market, an Independence 40mm with a mint mother-of-pearl dial and diamond accents.

The Independence Skeleton watches are follow ups to earlier skeleton releases dating back over the last two years. The retail price for the DLC coated watch is $4,790 on a bracelet, and the variant with blue accents is $4,290. The retail price for ladies piece is $6,250, and the brown and green gradient dial references come in at $2,990.

In five years, Norqain has managed one more thing that many other brands have not - they’re introducing a new bracelet with a clasp that allows for 9mm on the fly micro-adjustments.

4/

Yeah, the Piaget Polo looks like a PP Nautilus dupe from a bit of distance. But get a bit closer, and it still looks like an off-Nautilus. This tiny issue aside, it’s actually a nice watch. And now Piaget steps in line with a slew of other brands and shrinks their most popular sports watches, introducing the Piaget Polo Date 36mm.

The watch is basically the same as the 42mm version, just shrunk down quite a bit. Inside is one of Piaget’s core movement platforms, the 500P1 automatic and the watch comes on a navy blue calf leather deployant strap.

MSRP for the Piaget Polo Date 36mm stands at $11,000. That’s a lot of money. But still cheaper than a Nautilus.

5/

For the World Presentation of Haute Horology, Franck Muller has unveiled a lot of watches. As in, dozens. The brand’s novelties for 2023 span thirteen different collections, with each one consisting of multiple different colorways and configurations.

A Blog To Watch has put together an overview of what they believe to be the five best watches introduced. Up first is the Franck Muller Curvex CX Giga Tourbillon. It’s a tonneau case available in either stainless steel or solid gold, a sizable 20mm tourbillon and a movement with four barrels that provide a generous 4-day power reserve. Prices for the new Franck Muller Curvex CX Giga Tourbillon start out at approximately $220,00 and increase from there depending on materials, configuration, and the presence of diamonds.

The Vanguard New Tone Skeleton is housed in a carbon fiber cases, with an open-worked movement. The bridges of the skeletonized movement are all finished with iridescent metal oxide coatings (known as Spectracoat). Retail prices for the full-size versions are set at $56,400, and just as you might expect, the smaller models are slightly less expensive, while the various gem-set references cost a premium compared to their standard counterparts.

The Curvex CX Piano is the opposite of other FM watches and goes very minimalist. The watch showcases a gloss black dial that has been finished with 20 coats of translucent lacquer to provide it with a perfectly smooth, jet-black surface and to show off all the blackness, Franck Muller has decided to not apply any hour markers or indices. Retail prices for the new Franck Muller Curvex CX Piano collection start out at $9,400 for the stainless steel models.

Inspired by the world of high-tech sports cars, the Franck Muller Curvex CX Flash Grand Central Tourbillon offers a thoroughly contemporary take on the brand’s signature aesthetic. It’s all about modern alloys and carbon-composite materials, and they feature brightly colored indexes in place of the usual Arabic numerals. Retail starts at $123,900.

Also, as an extension to its fan-favorite Vanguard collection, Franck Muller has added new Damascus steel models to the lineup for 2023. While the actual watches themselves are largely the same as the existing models from the series, the real update here is all about the Damascus steel. Prices start at $24,200.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The UR-112 Aggregat is the kind of truly wild-looking piece of haute horology we've come to expect from the brand's founders, designer Martin Frei and master watchmaker Felix Baumgartner. It was inspired by things like vintage Bugattis and, believe it or not, chicken grills on the coast of Oman, but before we get into this specific watch, let's delve a little into the brand's origins which are just as fascinating as their watches.

⏲️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

  • Over the weekend I listened to Lex Friedman’s interview with Max Tegmark on why we should slow down AI development. AI investor Ian Hogarth agrees with this sentiment. Are we going to listen to these warnings?

  • It’s the dead of night, and the USS Fitzgerald is on a secret mission to the South China Sea. The sailors on the $1.8 billion destroyer are young, tired and poorly trained. Disaster strikes at 1:30:34 a.m. What a great read.

  • A modern Robin Hood story: the strippers who stole from (mostly) rich, (usually) disgusting men and gave to, well, themselves.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This video has nothing to do with watches. It’s not even watch adjacent. But it just might be the best video published on YouTube this year. I won’t spoil anything, I’ll just say it is a portrait of France. Find 6 minutes and 40 seconds and watch it. You won’t regret it.

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