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- Hamilton Shrinks The Rugged Frogman And Slaps A Green Dial On The Scuba Auto, The New G-Shock MR-G Is A Chunky Boy With A Crazy Price, Bremont Honors King Charles And Gets Legendary CEO Of Black Bay Fame
Hamilton Shrinks The Rugged Frogman And Slaps A Green Dial On The Scuba Auto, The New G-Shock MR-G Is A Chunky Boy With A Crazy Price, Bremont Honors King Charles And Gets Legendary CEO Of Black Bay Fame
What's the best course of action when you make a cool diver that's too big for everyone? Make it smaller!
Vuk Radic
May 02, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes
Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time, the fastest way to get all of your daily watch news. Let’s get right to it.
In this issue:
Hamilton shrinks the Frogman gives the Scuba Auto A Green Dial
The new G-Shock MR-G is a chunky boy with a crazy price
Oak & Oscar Now Makes An Olmsted 38 Without A Date
Bremont honors king Charles and gets new legenday CEO
And… invite your friends to win a Seiko Alpinist
Today’s reading time: 6 minutes and 38 seconds
Everybody needs a green faced watch in their life. That’s why we have a new giveaway - it’s the Seiko SPB121J1, aka the Seiko Alpinist in a wonderful shade of green. In fact, we’re giving away two of them!
All you have to do is click the button below and have five of your friends subscribe. Both you and one of your friends will be eligible to win one of the watches
We only have two conditions when entering this giveaway - invite 5 of your friends to subscribe and live somewhere were you can buy the Alpinist, so we can get this for you and ship it to your address. That’s it!
👂What’s new
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Hamilton’s rugged diving watch, the Frogman, has been used by the US Navy’s underwater demolition teams, which would later become the SEALs, since the 1949s when it was first introduced. The watch was reintroduced in 2022 as a chunky 46mm diver. Now, Hamilton expands the Frogman Auto with four new models in more compact 41mm cases.
The four new 41mm models are mirror images of the four Khaki Navy Frogman divers released last year, except for the all-black PVD-coated stealth model that has been cut from the roster. It’s a substantially smaller watch and gets a bit thinner, as well - from 13.58mm of the 46mm to 13.09mm. It is water resistant to 300 meters and like the 46mm gets a unidirectional rotating bezel with polished numerals and markings in relief and the inverted triangle with a luminous dot at noon.
Hamilton introduces a new khaki green dial colour to the mix complementing the three black dial models. All the dials are matte and have a granular surface with large applied indices and an Arabic numeral at noon, all treated with Super-LumiNova. As Hamilton explains, the split Arabic numeral 12 is a nod to military aesthetics.
Like the 46mm version, the 41mm is powered by the calibre H-10, also known as the Powermatic. The three models with black bezels come with khaki or black wavy rubber straps. The model with the silver bezel comes with a stainless steel bracelet.
The new 41mm watches do not replace the 46mm but join it, and the MSRP is EUR 1,295, the same price as the larger version.
But this wasn’t the only update to the Hamilton diving lineup announced yesterday afternoon. They are also making changes to the 43mm Scuba Auto with a gradient green dial.
The Scuba Auto has been thoroughly updated back in 2021, when they increased the size to 43mm and introduced new materials and textures, while dropping the date window. Not much is changing for this new update, as the green gradient dial is joining the black, blue and white dials.
The Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba Auto Green ref. H82525160 joins the other 43mm models, complementing the less water-resistant and date-bearing 40mm models. The price is set at EUR 1,095 – the same as last year’s white dial model.
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The G-Shock watches have for years been an entry into watches for most of us. They are affordable enough for parents to give to their kids, and also tough enough to withstand the life a child leads. But the G-Shock has a broad range of watches, on top of which sits the MR-G series which feature advanced internal modules paired with finely finished full-metal cases. The latest release from Casio for 2023 is an ultra-premium rendition of the Frogman, taking the model’s classic asymmetric silhouette and presenting it in a full-titanium package with a completely analog display. Stick around to the end to see the price - this is not your kid’s plastic G-Shock.
Measuring 49.7mm-wide by 18.6mm-thick, the case of the new Casio G-Shock MR-G Frogman MRGBF1000R1A is just ridiculously large, but since it’s supposed to be worn over a wetsuit while diving, I guess it has to be large. It’s made entirely of titanium with a black DLC coating, and any connections in the metal are bridged with flouro rubber to get the shock resistance the G-Shock series is famous for. The watch gets 200 meters of water resistance, and the Frogman series are ISO certified, and since they are specifically designed for scuba diving, their buttons remain fully operational while underwater.
While the original Frogman was a completely digital watch, the new MRGBF1000R1A gets a full-analog display, with multi-function hands and sub-dials responsible for tracking all of its various operations. While a fully analog display might sound slightly cumbersome for a feature-packed dive watch, Casio’s Frogman models offer a number of tricks to facilitate their operation while underwater. For example, when set to diving mode, the hour and minute hands will stack on top of each other and move in unison to increase legibility while tracking elapsed time.
Powering the new Casio G-Shock MR-G Frogman MRGBF1000R1A is Module No. 5702, which is one of the brand’s premium movements. It’s solar powered, radio controlled, has Bluetooth, functions like a stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm, automatic calendar, dual time zone display, world timer, and a LED backlight. To help with diving, it has a tide graph and a dedicated diving mode that tracks submersion and surface times with the ability to store up to 30 records.
Here comes the kicker - the price. The new Casio G-Shock MR-G Frogman MRGBF1000R1A is priced at $5,000. I mean… LOL?
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After almost four years with no new models outside of a few limited colorways, Oak & Oscar is putting out a new variant of a watch - the no-date version of the Olmsted 38.
The new no-date Olmsted retains all of the Olmsted classic features - the sandwich-style numerals, the “7” with a line through it and for the first time it’s cleaner without a date wheel. It’s also very wearable with a 38mm stainless case and 10.8mm thickness. Inside, the Olmsted 38 uses either an ETA 2892-A2 or Sellita SW300-1. It’s visible via a screw-in case back. The screw-down crown should be nice to use because the date stop has been eliminated and it helps get the 100m of water resistance. Additionally, if you choose to order the watch on a bracelet, it now comes with a quick-adjust clasp.
The Oak & Oscar Olmsted 38 “No Date” is currently available via the brand’s website and is available in all four dial colors you could get the date version - green, white, navy and grey. If you get it on a bracelet, it will set you back $1,725, while the version on the Horween leather strap is $1,525, same as with date models.
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On Saturday, Charles III will be crowned King. While the concept of monarchy is losing it’s weight in today’s world, it is still a very rare event. The last coronation in the UK was held in 1952, over 70 years ago. To mark this occasion, Bremont has announced it will be producing a limited run of 50 MBII watches. This Bremont classic will feature a regal splash of purple on its seconds hand and a specially engraved case back.
Bremont’s MB line has a cult following among watch and aviation enthusiasts, as the MB stands for Martin-Baker, the global leader in fighter ejection seats. The first version of the MB, the MBI was not available to the public and could only be purchased by pilots who have ejected from an aircraft using a Martin-Baker seat. How cool is that? The MBII and MBIII versions were later released to the public.
There are other subtle changes to the royal-themed MBII other than the purple seconds hand - the 43mm Trip-Tick case features an uncoated knurled titanium barrel, which is DLC-coated aluminum in the regular edition.
The retail price will be £4,495 / €4,825, a slight markup for this special run of just 50 pieces. Bremont has also created an enameled Bremont Challenge coin, which will be included as a gift with all watch purchases through May while stocks last.
Bremont has another bit of news - they appointed a new CEO today. Davide Cerrato is an industry veteran with a background in design. He has worked for Panerai, Montblanc and HYT, but is perhaps best known for his role in Tudor, where he has instrumental to the reboot of the brand. His designs include the original Tudor Black Bay and Monte Carlo, as well as the Montblanc 1858 and Minerva lines. He could do wonders at Bremont.
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I’m going to assume that everyone has the same love-hate relationship with Brellum as I do. They do everything amazingly - they are an indie watchmaker, they sell only directly to customers, cap production to 299 pieces per year and all of their watches are mechanical and COSC-certified pilot and racing chronographs. Then, there’s the one thing that ruins it all for me - the logo. Tell me the logo doesn’t look like a fashion watch you would find in a department store?
The new Brellum Pandial LE.4 DD Emerald Green is, as indicated by its name, the fourth limited edition based on the classic Pandial Duobox watch and it comes in an emerald green. It follows the Blue Panda LE.1, the Black-and-White LE.2, and the Black DLC-Coated LE.3. Except for the colour scheme, it uses the same classic racing chronograph recipe with a cool design and a healthy dose of features.
The stainless steel case is large; it measures 43mm across and is 15.90mm thick- something you can expect with an automatic Valjoux inside. Compared to other brand models, the Brellum Pandial differs thanks to its external bezel. Fixed and equipped with an aluminium insert, it features a tachymeter scale, giving it a racing vibe.
The watch comes on a steel bracelet and a green leather strap. Limited to 23 pieces, this new edition is available directly from the brand and retails for EUR 3,390 including taxes and worldwide shipping.
🫳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
Bringing an idea to reality is a daunting task, and when it comes to watches, presents its own unique series of challenges. Brisbane-based Atmoss, and its founder Warrick Bettany, faced them all, culminating in the launch of the Atmoss SR-01 Everyday Pilot’s Watch, the brand’s first-ever release. The SR-01 was born of a desire to simplify the idea of a watch for pilots, all while including a tool that was once crucial for them – a slide rule.
⏲️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
Kevin Blatt is a celebrity fixer who’s a master at shepherding compromising material off the internet or into the hands of the highest bidder.
You might have seen the Netflix documentary Voyeur about the pervy owner of a motel who used to spy on his guests. It all started with this masterfully written article by Gay Talese, one of the best writers of our time.
I love blurbs that tease a good story. Like this one: “In full gear, the soldiers waded into a dark swamp, the water high and rising, the night approaching. They were all dying to be U.S. Army Rangers, but by the next day, some of them would just be dead”. How could you not want to read it right away.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
There’s something very captivating about a watch being restored. Put it on the big screen just before you go to sleep.
💵Pre-loved precision
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Everybody needs a green faced watch in their life. That’s why we have a new giveaway - it’s the Seiko SPB121J1, aka the Seiko Alpinist in a wonderful shade of green. In fact, we’re giving away two of them!
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