Grand Seiko Puts Icefall Dial Into Titanium Case; IWC Welcomes Chinese Year Of The Snake; Yema Brings Back The Wristmaster Slim; Panerai's All-Black Sandblasted Ceramic Luminor GMT; And A Hublot

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Interestingly, it seems that it’s the high end brands that are making best use of the Christmas time. I would expect a lot of stocking-stuffer-priced watches to come out in December. But this is the second day of expensive watches in a row. But who knows, maybe people stuff stockings with €130k Hublots…

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In this issue:

• Grand Seiko Gives The Familiar Icefall Dial A New Titanium Case With The SBGH349

• IWC Welcomes The Chinese Year Of The Snake With A Red And Gold Portofino Automatic Moon Phase

• Yema Brings Back The Wristmaster Slim With The CMM.20 Micro-Rotor And Three New Dials

• Panerai Introduces An All-Black Sandblasted Luminor GMT Power Reserve Ceramica PAM01674

• Hublot Teams Up With Artist Samuel Ross Again For The Lightweight Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A

👂What’s new

1/

Grand Seiko Gives The Familiar Icefall Dial A New Titanium Case With The SBGH349

A perfectly executed and very interesting dial is pretty much the backbone of the entire Grand Seiko company. Release after release has used the same handful of cases with radically different dials inside of them. One such release came a couple of months ago in the form of the SBGH347 which paid homage to the original mechanical 9S series from 1998 with a beautiful dial that earned the “Icefall” nickname, as it was styled after the frozen waterfalls of… well, it’s Grand Seiko, of course it’s styled after some natural phenomena near their factory. And now, their latest release, gets the exact same Icefall dial, but in a new titanium case. This is the SBGH349.

Even though they might share a dial, and even style of case, they are actually very much different. While the SBGH347 was made out of Ever-Brilliant Steel, this new one uses the brand’s proprietary High-Intensity Titanium which can be polished like grade 5 titanium, while being twice as hard as regular titanium. The titanium also gives the watch a different look with a darker appearance. The dimensions also change. While the previous release came in at 37mm, the new one measures 40mm wide and 13mm thick. That might sound large, but the fairly reasonable 46.1mm lug-to-lug and the light material must make for an easy wear. But other than that you still get the broad lugs, large polished bevels and a polished bezel, all, of course, Zaratsu. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial, like I said, is well known and inspired by the texture and color of the frozen Nanataki waterfall near Mt. Iwate and the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi, where the brand’s mechanical watches are manufactured. It has a very light shade of blue, made even more attractive with an irregular vertical pattern. The applied markers are applied and polished, the sharp hands are faceted and at 3 o’clock you’ll find a framed date aperture with a white date disc inside.

Inside is the calibre 9S85, an automatic beating at 5Hz and with a 55 hour power reserve. Accuracy is rated at +5/-3 seconds per day. The watch comes on a 3-link brushed and polished bracelet that’s made out of the same titanium. Closed with a folding clasp, there’s no micro-adjust here.

The new 40mm Grand Seiko Icefall SBGH349 Titanium is part of the permanent collection and goes on sale January 1st. Price is set at €8,000. See more on the Grand Seiko website.

2/

IWC Welcomes The Chinese Year Of The Snake With A Red And Gold Portofino Automatic Moon Phase

Like I announced yesterday in the piece on the incredible Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar 2025, we are entering the time of year where brands get in line and introduce their timepieces that are styled after the upcoming animal of the Lunar New Year. The first one I noticed was the Blancpain, with IWC coming in at a very low seconds. Their contribution is the Portofino with a beautiful dial and a moonphase complication.

While the previous release honoring the Lunar New Year was a Portugieser Chronograph that was styled after a dragon, the new one comes as a Portofino styled after a snake, as 2025 will be the Year of the Snake. The watch comes in a stainless steel case that measures 37.1mm wide and 11.3mm thick. On top is a sloping, fixed, and unmarked bezel, fully polished, and out back is a sapphire caseback. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial comes in a beautiful shade of red, a color that symbolizes the vibrant color of fire, typically used to welcome the Lunar New Year in China. This is contrasted with yellow gold-plated hands and markers. At 12 o’clock is an aperture for the moon phase, with a slightly darker red disc inside with a gold moon and stars.

Inside is the calibre 32800, an automatic movement that beats at 4Hz, with a 5 day power reserve. You can see the movement through the caseback, which you’ll want to do since the gold-plated rotor is designed to look like a snake. Very cool. The watch comes with a black leather strap and a burgundy calfskin strap.

The new Portofino Automatic Moon Phase 37 Year of the Snake is limited to 500 pieces and it’s priced at $9,700. See more on the IWC website.

3/

Yema Brings Back The Wristmaster Slim With The CMM.20 Micro-Rotor And Three New Dials

Yema has had a couple of great releases in December. So many, in fact, that I had to spread them out over two weeks just so they don’t get overlapped. Last week I wrote about the incredible Wristmaster Slim CMM.20 Limited Edition with a strikingly beautiful finish and this week I introduced you to the Yema Superman CMM.10 with four gilt dials. But what got lost in all of the releases was actually the best one of them all, the Wristmaster Slim CMM.20. Yes, it’s the same thing as the the limited edition, but without the brushed black finish, but with the same great case, movement and interesting dials.

The proportions of this watch are pretty fantastic. The untreated stainless steel watch measures 39mm wide, just 9mm thick, and with a 43.5mm lug-to-lug. The L2L is short due to the fact that the watch has no lugs, thanks to the integrated bracelet. On top is the signature bezel with a slight octagonal shape and six internal scallops. The entire case has vertical brushing with polished bevels. Water resistance is 100 meters.

There are three versions of the dial, all of which share the same details. All three have deep horizontal grooves cut into it, with a painted minute scale on the periphery, applied hour markers, and polished and faceted Alpha-style hands. At noon, you get the 12 numeral in the same polished silver, while the seconds hand is painted in white Super-LumiNova BWG9, the same lume that’s on the hour and minute hands. The differences are the colors which are blue, tan and yellow, all of which look very nice.

Inside, you get the Oliver Mory-designed manufacture CMM.20. It’s wound with a tungsten micro-rotor, beating at 4Hz and with a pretty great 70-hour power reserve. It’s also quite accurate at -3/+7 seconds per day. The watch comes on an integrated bracelet with the same vertical brushing and polished bevels.

The new Wristmaster Slim CMM.20 is part of the regular collection, available now, with deliveries on orders expected within eight days. Price is set at €2.249. See more on the Yema website.

4/

Panerai Introduces An All-Black Sandblasted Luminor GMT Power Reserve Ceramica PAM01674

Panerai watches are at their best when they keep things as simple as possible. By adding features and messing with the original formula, things get a bit dicey for them. Well, here’s one that mixes the two approaches — a slightly busy dial with an all-black case. This is the new Panerai Luminor GMT Power Reserve Ceramica PAM01674.

The watch comes in a 44mm wide case that has the iconic flip-open crown guard, broad bezel and domed sapphire crystal. But unlike other Luminor materials, this one doesn’t come in steel. Instead, it’s made out of black ceramic, with a rough sandblasted finish. This change of material comes with a huge downside — a lower water resistance. For a legendary dive watch, 100 meters is just not good enough, especially since the steel versions are rated at a minimum of 300 meters.

The dial continues the black theme. The base of the dial is matte black, with the iconic sandwich construction. The upper layer has cut-out Arabic numerals and indices, while the lower layer is painted in grey Super-LumiNova that glows green in the dark. The same grey lume can be found on the black hands. There’s an additional arrow-tipped hand used for the second time zone, while the dial has a small seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock and a power reserve indicator at 5.

Inside is the Calibre P.9012, an automatic movement with a GMT complication, a Glucydur balance and Incabloc anti-shock protection. It beats at 4Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a chunky black ceramic bracelet that matches the finish on the case.

The new Panerai Luminor GMT Power Reserve Ceramica PAM01674 is available now and priced at €19,500. See more on the Panerai website.

5/

Hublot Teams Up With Artist Samuel Ross Again For The Lightweight Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A

Hublot is very well known for their collaborations with extremely popular artists. Very often, these artists have made a name for themselves more as marketers than skilled artists that have something to say. Kind of ironic, that is, especially when you know that Hublot is accused of the same thing. But that aside, two years ago Hublot released a collection with artist and designer Samuel Ross that looked unlike anything else that Hublot made. Hublot has been known for their huge, bold and distinctive watches and yet, Ross seemed to be able to make them even crazier with a lot of skeletonization, honeycomb patterns and bright orange colors. A year ago they did the same in lime green. And now, we get the third Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross, in blue.

The shape case largely remains unchanged, with the hollowed hexagonal elements inside the lugs and on the flanks and honeycomb patterns all over. While the previous version had the side bumpers made entirely out of micro-blasted titanium (and the one before that out of orange polymer), this one is made out of frosted grey carbon. The rest of the case is made out of titanium, with satin finishes and shiny microblasted surfaces. It looks like a large watch because it is large, measuring in at 44mm wide and 13.75mm thick. Water resistance is only 30 meters, but I guess that has something to do with the hundreds of holes drilled into the case.

Like the previous version, a flat sapphire crystal forms the lower surface of the watch, although sitting right under the crystal is a honeycomb-pattern titanium plate that occupies the entirety of the caseback and matches the skeletonized structure that forms the integrated lugs and the sides of the case. In addition to functioning as the baseplate for the movement, the skeletonized plate also serves as a backdrop for the various movement components that appear to float above it on the dial side of the watch. New for this edition is the addition of blue on the dial, with three (of the six) circular and luminous hour markers painted in the color. You can see the tourbillon with a 60-second regulator suspended at 6 o’clock and the Hublot-branded micro-rotor at noon.

The movement you can see through the dial is the in-house calibre HUB6035 which beats at 4Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watch comes with both a blue and a black rubber strap.

The new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Carbon SR_A by Samuel Ross is limited to 50 pieces and priced at €149,000. See more on the Hublot website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the quartz Timex Deepwater Reef

2/

Hands on with the Luminox Pacific Diver Automatic 3100 Series

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The French brand Elgé is revived with the great looking French-made Chamonix

The watch’s personality comes from the dial, however. A properly mid-century design that is more reminiscent of skin divers than field watches, in this context, it has the over-lumed appeal of a bezel-less diver. The hour index features large, even numerals alternating with long rectangles, all in heavily built-up old-radium lume with white outlines. The typography is particularly appealing, with an open six and tiny serifs at the corners, which are also present on the rectangles. This is a cool hold-over detail from the vintage pieces. Encircling the hour index is a minutes/seconds track with proportionally large lumed rectangles, also with serifs, at intervals of five.

Read the whole review on Worn & Wound

⏲️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

• The Jealousy List is perhaps the best list published all year. It’s Bloomberg Businessweek publishing list of the best articles of the year published in other publications that they are jealous of. Brilliant concept! Also, a spectacular list of great writing.

• Much as the CEO of Apple Tim Cook seems awestruck by AI and his just-released Apple Intelligence, he’s more convinced that the tech giant’s health apps will define the company’s legacy. In this piece by Steven Levy, Cook explains why he believes Apple will save lives.

• Our culture has become obsessed with “blue zones,” where people purportedly live longer. I have a friend who became obsessed with the idea that he could squeeze out a few more years out of life by becoming vegetarian, like much of the people in the blue zones. But does the underlying research stand up to scrutiny? Looks like not so much, the whole thing might be a scientific ruse.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I could listen to Werner Herzog talk literally about anything. But him talking about professional wrestling is just delightful. Also the way he says “here comes Honey Boo Boo” is spectacular.

-Vuk