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  • Grand Seiko Focuses On Spring Drive and Hi-Beat With New Blue-Hued Releases; Doxa's Destro SUB 300T And Green Dials; A Space Battle On A Mr Jones; New HYT T1, Angelus And Whole Lot Of Bulgari

Grand Seiko Focuses On Spring Drive and Hi-Beat With New Blue-Hued Releases; Doxa's Destro SUB 300T And Green Dials; A Space Battle On A Mr Jones; New HYT T1, Angelus And Whole Lot Of Bulgari

We kick off Seiko week with Seiko and Grand Seiko watches leading for the next few days

Author

Vuk Radic
September 03, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 23 minutes

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Get ready, this is going to be a week chock full of Grand Seiko and Seiko releases. I’m not kidding, every single day until the end of the week will have one major release from the two brands. But this is how they do it when they announce their seasonal releases. Bear with me for a Seiko-week.

For now, It’s About Time is a fully reader supported publication. If you like this, want to continue getting it and want even more of my writing, I would love if you could hop on over to Patreon and subscribe. You give me $6 a month, I give you 5 additional longform posts per week which include an overview of interesting watches for sale, early access to reviews (it’s the Seiko x Giugiaro SCED035 "Ripley"), a basic watch school, a look back at a forgotten watch, and a weekend read that looks at the history of horology.

In this issue:

  • Grand Seiko’s Latest Releases Take On A Very Icy Look And A Beautiful Deep Turquoise Dial

  • Doxa Introduces Sea Emerald Green To A Bunch Of Collections, Adds Destro Version To SUB 300T

  • Mr Jones Has A Space Battle With A Tentacled Monster Happening On Their New Watch

  • New Colorways Of The HYT T1 Series Millésime Are Very Much Inspired By Winemaking

  • Angelus Introduces A Titanium Version Of The Chronodate With A Silver Dial And Pointer Date

  • Bulgari Introduces Trio Of Minute Repeaters And An Aluminium GMT Made With Fender

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 55 seconds

👂What’s new

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Whether you love them, hate them or are rather indifferent to them (this guy right here!), Grand Seiko has perfected the art of slowly evolving their watches, instead of pulling off radical moves. And if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. So, today we have two new Grand Seiko watches, the first of which is part of the Evolution 9, which is supposed to be their vision of the future for the brand. Only, the Atera Valley SLGA025 looks very much like the rest of Grand Seiko watches, but with a titanium case, a really beautiful dial and 9R Spring Drive movement. On the other hand, we have a new Heritage Icefall SBGH347 which revives the original design of the watch that introduced the 9S Hi-Beat movement with an ice-blue dial.

Let’s start with the Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Atera Valley SLGA025, which brings a lot of familiarity to the new release as it uses the recently redesigned case for the Evolution 9 collection. Made out of what Grand Seiko calls High-Intensity Titanium, which is supposed to be an equivalent to Grade 5 titanium, the case measures 40mm wide, 11.8mm thick and has a lug to-lug measurement of 48mm. It should also be noted that the watch has a slightly larger than usual lug-width of 22mm. You get sapphire crystals on top and bottom and water resistance is 100 meters.

Then, there’s the dial, which is really pretty. But that’s to be expected. It gets a deep turquoise color, with a deeply scratched texture that’s supposed to be inspired by a valley and a river located South of Shiojiri, where all Grand Seiko Spring Drive watches are made at Shinshu Watch Studio. A place called Atera Valley.

Inside is the Spring Drive Calibre 9RA2. This is an improvement of the previous 9R6 movement with a much longer power reserve of five days thanks to dual barrels, a faster date mechanism and even better accuracy which is rated at just +/- 0.5 seconds per day or 10 seconds per month. It features a power indicator, but thankfully it’s hidden on the back. The watch comes on a titanium three link bracelet.

The Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Atera Valley SLGA025 is available now for a price of €11,100. See more of it on the Grand Seiko website.

Then, we have the Grand Seiko Heritage Hi-Beat Icefall SBGH347. Like I said, it’s brining back the case used in 1998 for the first 9S movement, which means it measures 37mm wide, 13.3mm thick and with a 44.6mm lug-to-lug. It’s made out of Grand Seiko’s Ever-Brilliant Steel, which is a bit of a mystery, and on top is a double domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 100 meters. The dial is, of course, striking. Grand Seiko has a story for this one as well. It’s inspired by icefalls that can be seen on Mt. Iwate in winter. To mimic the frozen falling water, the dial has a pronounced vertical brushing and the dial gets an ice blue color.

Inside is the calibre 9S85 a hi-beat movement that beats at 5Hz and has a 55 hour power reserve. It’s also quite accurate, rated at +5/-3 seconds per day. The watch comes on a three link bracelet that’s also made out of Ever-Brilliant Steel and with no micro adjustment in the clasp.

The Grand Seiko Heritage Hi-Beat 37mm Icefall SBGH347 will go on sale in October at a price of €6,900. See more here.

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Doxa had a good time at Geneva Watch Days. Nothing revolutionary, once again, but something that will make people who were waiting for these watches happy. We have a new setup for the SUB 300T, one that’s meant for left-handed wearers, and a proliferation of their great looking Sea Emerald Green to a lot of their collections.

Let’s start with the SUB 300T Aristera. This is a watch that hasn’t changed much since it was introduced in 1996. And for the most part this one is no different. It still comes in a helmet shaped case that measures 42.50mm x 44.50mm, made out of stainless steel, and with a ridged unidirectional bezel on top that will be easy to twist even with the thickest diving gloves. The SUB 300T is not only Doxa’s flagship diver, it is also one of the most legendary dive watches in history. That’s why the 1,200 meter water resistance is no surprise.

Now, new for this Aristera model is the position of the crown. Instead of the traditional 3 o’clock position of the case, this one moves the crown to 9 o’clock. This is made to suit people who wear their watches on the right hand, but is also often worn on the left hand by people who don’t want the crown digging or catching onto their hand. The watch keeps the legendary bright orange dial. Inside you’ll find the same Sellita SW 200-1-based movement like the regular-cronw edition. The watch comes on a bead-of-rice steel bracelet with an additional NATO strap.

Interestingly, the Doxa SUB 300T Professional Aristera is a limited edition and only 300 will be made. Curious choice, but OK. Price is €2,490, which is quite the up-charge from the €1,990 of the regular edition. See more of the watch on Doxa’s website.

Then, there’s a new color for a whole bunch of watches. A couple of months ago, Doxa introduced the SUB200T, which was a surprisingly small version of the 300T, a very welcome update. It was also the first Doxa watch that used the Sea Emerald Green color on its dial, which proved to be quite the popular color. So popular, in fact, that Doxa is adding it into their pretty legendary color palate that didn’t change for decades.

The new colour now also becomes available in the SUB 200, the SUB 300, the SUB 300T, the SUB 600T and the SUB 300 Carbon. All are finished with a sunburst finish. As far as hardware, there are no rules. Some have polished steel hands and markers, others opt for blackened shades. Each model also becomes available on a matching green NATO-style strap, along with rubber or steel straps and bracelets that come as a primary option. See the entire collection and prices on the website.

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Mr Jones Has A Space Battle With A Tentacled Monster Happening On Their New Watch

OK, so by now we know that Mr Jones are the absolute masters at creating what can only be described as art watches. Watches that don’t necessarily do a good job at telling the time, but are incredibly beautiful, while keeping costs funny low. What we don’t point out as much, and we should, is how incredibly diverse their lineup is, from absolute minimalist design watches to very maximalists painting, like that crazy watch they did of a bee on a flower. Their new watch introduces a new genere to the brand — illustrated science fiction battles. The new watch, the spectacular Monster Melter 3000, will melt your brain.

Let’s get the less important stuff out of the way first. The watch comes in that instantly recognisable Mr Jones case with a round body and spindly lugs. It measures 37mm wide with a 46mm lug to lug and has a 50 meter water resistance. Inside is a single jewel quartz movement. The watch is mounted on a 18mm wide strap, in this case it’s a very nice shade of brown.

The new dial has been illustrated by Onorio D'Epiro and I just can’t shake the feeling that Mr. D'Epiro has spent as much time watching Futurama as I have. Because that monster that’s front and centre on the dial looks very much like it was plucked out of an episode of the legendary cartoon. It’s a wild monster with six eyes and many tentacles, that looks like it’s floating in space. It’s surrounded by a floating astronaut engaged in battle with it, and it’s that astronaut and a severed tentacle that are used as the hour and minute hands. That’s pretty amazing. The illustration is done in fluorescent ink and with a glittering airbrush effect.

The Monster Melter 3000 is going to be a limited edition, one that’s timed. It will launch tomorrow, Wednesday 4th September, morning at 8AM British Standard Time and will be on sale for 12 hours until 8PM. It’s priced at £225 / $275 / €275. The watch is not up on the Mr Jones website yet, but will be soon so check it out here.

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So many things have to come together perfectly to create a great wine. The soil has to be rich and tasty, the temperature and humidity just right. The winemaker needs to be knowledgeable to not mess all of that up, choosing just the right moment to pick the grapes and turn them into liquid perfection. And very rarely, when all of these things line up just right and the wine is perfect, then the French call this millésime, a great vintage. And this is the name of the new collection of HYT T1 Series watches, noted for their closed dial and more manageable size. But even more interestingly, it gets three new dial colors — brown, green and purple, the three colors that are strongly linked with winemaking.

Remember when I said that the HYT T1 was a more managable size than other HYT models? Well, that was partially true. It is the smallest HYT watch. But it’s also 45.3mm wide and a wild 17.2mm thick, with very dramatic scallops and hollowed flanks. The watch doesn’t have lugs, so at least the lug-to-lug measurement is 46.3 is very manageable. There’s a reason for that huge size, as it has to house their fluid time display. The three dial versions each get their own case material — plain titanium, DLC coated titanium or a combination of DLC coated titanium and rose gold. On top is a domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The three new dial colors are brown, green and purple, all with a vertical satin finish. The finish and color are kind of a big deal, as they are available only on the T1, since other HYT models have openworked dials. All thre dials also have a glass tube on the perimeter which is used for HTY’s signature way of telling time with a column of fluid. Depending on the dial, the colour of the fluid changes; the chocolate and green dials have red fluid, while the purple has black fluid. The minutes are indicated by a large centrally mounted hand.

Inside is the manual-winding calibre HYT 501-CM, a fascinating movement that has special bellows that push fluids to show the time. The movement beats at 4Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watches come on a rubber strap matching the dial colour, with an additional black rubber strap.

These three watches are limited editions, but they’re not limited in number. They’re limited in time when they will be sold. But unlike the Mr Jones above which will be available only for 12 hours, these three watches will be on sale until April 2025, after which they won’t be available any more. The T1 Titanium Green and Titanium Purple are priced at CHF 50,000, while the T1 Gold Titanium Chocolate retails for CHF 66,000, both without tax. See more on the HYT website.

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It might not be a household name today, but Angelus has been making watches since 1891. Anglus today makes contemporary, well-made sports watches but from time to time they dip back into their rich history for inspiration. For example, the Angelus Chronodate, introduced in 2022, is a direct tribute to the 1942 Chronodate model - a bi-compax chronograph featuring a central pointer date. At this year’s Geneva Watch Days Angelus introduced a new version of the Chronodate, one that comes in titanium and with a silver-black dial.

The size of the new titanium case remains the same as the previous stainless steel — 42.5mm wide and 14.25mm thick. It’s equally as elegant, as it is sporty. The titanium is satin-brushed and it has cutouts on the sides which show the carbon-fibre composite container for the movement. The carbon continues on the crown as well as the oversized black carbon composite pushers with red markings. On top of the watch is a a very aggressive bezel with twelve notches and a box sapphire crystal. Water resistance is just 30 meters.

The base of the dial has a sunray brushed finish and is colored silver. On that you’ll find two snailed, black and recessed subdials — 30 minute counter at 3 o’clock and running seconds at 9 o’clock — as well a applied Arabic numerals. Around the perimeter of the dial is a silver track for the dates, with a centrally mounted hand with a red arrow tip pointing to the correct date. The hands are syringe style and filled with lume.

Inside is the La Joux-Perret calibre A500, based on the Valjoux 7750. The column-wheel chronograph beats at 4Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. It’s wound with a tungsten rotor. The watch can be had on either flat link titanium bracelet or on a black rubber strap.

The Chronodate Titanium Magnetic Silver Edition joins the regular collection and is priced at CHF 23,000 on rubber and CHF 25,100 on the bracelet. See more on the Angelus website.

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I have no space to spare with this one, because Bulgari introduced three chiming watches that would easily fill an issue of the newsletter on their own, so let’s get to it. What we have here are four new watches from Bulgari introduced at Geneva Watch Days, one a Aluminium GMT made with the Fender guitar maker, and the other three are just incredible minute repeaters that just get more complicated the further up the release chain you go.

Let’s start with the simplest, the Bulgari Aluminium GMT made with Fender to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the legendary Stratocaster guitar. Made out of aluminium and titanium, as the name would suggest, the watch measures 40mm wide and 9.7mm thick. On top is brown rubber bezel with the double Bvlgari logo and the watch comes on a matching rubber strap with articulated aluminium links. To match the iconic look of the Startocaster, the watch gets a light brown gradient dial, with a white and dark brown 24-hour GMT scale on the periphery. You get the traditional oversized Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock and the rest of the indices are styled to look like the frets of a Stratocaster. Inside is the BVL calibre 192, based on the Sellita SW 330, which beats at 4Hz and has a 50 hour power reserve.

But more important and more interesting are the new minute repeaters. Lets start with the simplest of the three, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater in full carbon. This is a continuation of the 2018 model that was the thinnest minute repeater ever made. In fact, it’s very much the same watch, with more being made than the original 50 and aesthetic updates to the pushers. It comes in a 40mm wide multi-layered Carbon Thin Ply case that’s only 6.85mm thick. Think of that for a second — a chiming minute repeater that’s thinner than most dress watches on the market. You still get a fully carbon dial with cutouts for the indexes and a small seconds at six o’clock.

Moving on up in complexity, we have the Octa Roma Carillon Tourbillon. Housed in a satin-polished rose gold case that measures 44mm wide and 12.6mm thick and has titanium mid-case. The carillon in the name hints that this is a carillon repeater, one that has three instead of the traditional two gongs and hammers. The dial is rendered with a matte sandblasted DLC finish, with a heavily open-worked appearance that shows the hammers and gongs as well as an exposed tourbillon bridge. Inside is the modified BVL428 manual-winding movement with a 75-hour power reserve.

And last, and most complicated, is the Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon. Being a Grande Sonnerie, it gets four hammers and gongs, for the most impressive sound. But a grand sonnerie has a couple of more tricks up its sleeve. It can be set to automatically chime the hours and quarters as they pass, and repeats the hour every hour. As a grande sonnerie, the quarters are chimed with all four gongs and hammers, giving it a bit of a musical phrasing instead of simple "dings." In petite sonnerie mode, only the hours will sound. This watch comes in a 45mm wide and 11.85mm thick satin-polished titanium case, and it’s powered by the manually-winding BVV 800 caliber.

As far as prices and availability is concerned, it gets more eye watering the more complex it gets. The Bulgari Aluminium GMT x Fender is limited to 1,200 pieces and it’s priced at €4,600. The carbon Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater is not limited and retails for CHF 219,000, the Octa Roma Carillon Tourbillon is limited to 30 pieces and priced at CHF 326,000, while the Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon is limited to just 5 pieces and priced at an eye-watering CHF 859,000. Check the watches out on the Bulgari website.

🫳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

However, rather than having physical hands display the minutes and seconds, the center section of the Äonic Automat’s dial is occupied by a rotating disc that has an orange-shaped minute hand painted on its surface, along with an arc-shaped cutout that reveals another disc that tracks the running seconds. The central disc rotates once per hour, with its painted hand indicating the minutes against the outer track, and since the disc itself rotates, the location of the running seconds aperture is constantly changing throughout the day.

⏲️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

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

The juxtaposition of this video is just incredible. The semi-stoner attitude and the completely normal looking 90s house, combined with several tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear that’s required to climb the highest mountain in the world. It’s pretty funny. Also, I always wondered what you need for an Everest summit.

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