Hands-On Premiere: Atelier Wen's Purple Titanium Millésime Mù; TAG Heuer Releases Green Carrera Chrono; Alpina Shrinks Alpiner Extreme; Ollech & Wajs Simplifies The B52; A Meteorite In De Bethune

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. This little thing we all kind of started together a bit over a year ago is growing up! I have brands sending me watches for review before they come out. Very cool!

In this issue:

• Hands-On Premiere: Atelier Wen Turns To Their Community For The New Titanium Perception ‘睦 (Mù)’

• TAG Heuer Shows They Are Not Done With The 42mm Carrera Chronograph In A Really Nice Shade Of Green

• Alpina Shrinks Down Their Cool Alpiner Extreme Automatic To A More Manageable 39mm

• Ollech & Wajs Simplifies The Very Cool Vietnam War-Era Field Watch, This Time Made For All Units

• De Bethune Combines Signature Thermal Oxidation Process With A Meteorite Dial On The DB28XS Aérolite

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 7 seconds

👂What’s new

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Hands-On Premiere: Atelier Wen Turns To Their Community For The New Titanium Perception ‘睦 (Mù)’

OK, here’s a first for It’s About Time, so do allow me a few words of self indulgence — What you see here is a bit of a premiere. Atelier Wen sent me their brand new watch, the Perception ‘Millésime’ 睦 (Mù) which is a major move for the company, some time ago to give it a wear before it was officially released. So that’s cool. But what’s cooler is the Perception ‘Millésime’ 睦 (Mù), which has two firsts for Atelier Wen. First, it’s their first non-collaborative limited edition. And second, it’s the start of a new special procjet for Wen that they call Millésime edition, a yearly release that will be community-driven and released in a limited format, as the name would suggest. The French word “Millésime ” is most frequently used in winemaking to denotes a particular year or vintage. Could be the move for them. But let’s get back to the 睦 (Mù), which means amity, kinship or closeness.

The case that the 睦 (Mù) is also the first time that they are using their V2 case in titanium form. V2 just refers to their updated case which has refined the finishings and tolerances to make a better watch. So, the titanium case measures 40mm wide and 9.4mm thick. In real life, the watch feels way smaller than its 40mm profile would suggest. The thinness is just fantastic and it wears more like a 38mm watch at the most. And just like the steel version, you get an overall brushed surface with great looking polishings on the edges and chamfers. It catches the light in the best possible way. On top is a subtly double-domed sapphire crystal while out back you’ll find a hammered texture surrounding a raised stone lion motif. Below it is a half-moon sapphire opening that gives you just a glimpse at the movement and of the tungsten rotor with rhodium plating. Water resistance is 100 meters.

But the dial. Oh the dial. It’s now very well known that Atelier Wen’s dials are made by China’s sole guilloché master craftsman, Cheng Yucai, who, along with his team, hand guillochés an intricate écaille de poisson pattern. The dial then gets a purple PVD coating which looks radically different under different light. Check the review to see more photos under differnt light. It ranges from a pale purple to a vibrant ultraviolet. Contrasting that are applied rhodium-plated indices and rhodium-plated, leaf-shaped hands with pretty plentiful X1 Super-LumiNova. The tips of the minutes and seconds hand are hand bent to match the curve of the dial.

Inside, you’ll fin the same movement that Atelier Wen has been using in other models — the Dandong SL1588A automatic. It’s been modified a lot for Wen, with a tungsten rotor and decorations like côtes-de-Genève, perlage and anglage. The movement beats at 4Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve. It’s also regulated to +/- 10s per day in 5 positions, and tested by the Horological Institute of Light Industry (HRILI). The watch comes on a pretty spectacular integrated bracelet which has individual chamfers on all sides of all links and tapers from 22mm to 18mm. The clasp has a patent-pending, on-the-fly micro-adjustment system which is integrated in a pretty cool medallion on the outside of the clasp. You can also get it on a leather strap.

The Perception ‘Millésime’ 睦 (Mù) is a limited edition, which we don’t like over here, but it’s the best kind of limited edition. Since it’s meant to honor the Atelier Wen community, the watch isn’t limited in number and as many people want to get one will have a chance to do so. Pre orders open today, October 7th and close on October 21st. Any orders placed in this window will be fulfilled. The first 88 orders will get a free leather strap. But there’s more, as they would say. Every purchase of enters you in a raffle that won’t get you the regular titanium Millésime. Instead, three people will get special versions of the watch made out of tantalum. And I speculate that this might be the perfect Atelier Wen, but more on that in the review. The watch retails for €3.268. See more on the Atelier Web website.

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TAG Heuer Shows They Are Not Done With The 42mm Carrera Chronograph In A Really Nice Shade Of Green

It’s been only a year and a couple of months since TAG Heuer introduced the Carrera Glassbox and it was certain from day one that it would be an incredible success. TAG has been putting out one spectacular edition of the Glassbox after another, experimenting with movements and bringing a lot of vintage-inspired class to the sporty collection. But it’s obvious that they are not done with the regular Carrera Chronograph either. For the latest edition of the 42mm Carrera Chronograph, TAG Heuer gives the watch one of the most iconic color combinations in automotive history — green over tan (well, technically, brown here, but you know what I mean). And it’s great looking. The only issue is… it’s both a limited edition and available only in Europe.

The case remains the same, made out of stainless steel and measuring 42mm wide and 14.5mm thick. It sounds like a substantial watch, and it obviously is, but it has a surprisingly short (at least when considering the width) lug-to-lug measurement of 48.2mm The case is brushed on the sides and polished on top. The sapphire crystal on top is slightly domed and out back is flat one. Water resistance is 100 meters, which is always nicely appreciated on a chronograph

But that dial… oh that dial. It’s the same layout as the regular 42mm Carrera Chronograph, meaning that you get two sub-dials at 3 and 9 o’clock, with a running seconds display at 6 o’clock which is made up of just a hand and crosshairs-like lines. And like the regular edition, it has applied baton indexes and a date window at 6 o’clock. But it’s all about the colors. The base of the dial gets a sunray brushed finish and a spectacular shade of green. But even better, the green is contrasted by the brown subdials, but also by the electric yellow central chronograph hand and sub-dial hands.

Inside, you’ll find the TH20-00 movement, which is an updated Heuer 02, a column-wheel chronograph that beats at 4Hz and has a great power reserve of 80 hours. The watch comes on a racing-style perforated brown leather strap with a folding buckle.

So, like I said, two pieces of bad news — the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph European Limited Edition is limited to just 600 pieces and it will only be available in Europe. Oh, and I might be getting jaded, but the €6,200 price tag doesn’t sound as extreme in the post-COVID-price-hike world. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

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Alpina Shrinks Down Their Cool Alpiner Extreme Automatic To A More Manageable 39mm

It seems that Alpina has finally hit its stride as they have had a couple of years of nearly flawless releases. Whether it’s their chunky, hard-core sports watch, the Alpiner Extreme, or something more classic, they’ve been putting out some really amazing watches. But the Alpiner Extreme in particular has gotten some flack for being so large, at 41×42mm. It wasn’t a huge watch, thanks to a very comfortable thickness, but still substantial. Well, Alpina is fixing that with a new size of the Alpiner Extreme that just might become the absolute favorite of the bunch — the 39mm Alpiner Extreme Automatic.

The new stainless steel case measures 39mm wide, has a thickness of 11.5mm and a length (of the case, not the lug-to-lug) of 40.5mm. But I wouldn’t worry that the lug-to-lug is much longer, as it’s fitted with super short, angular, brushed lugs. On top is a flat sapphire crystal surrounded by a round bezel with six exposed screws. The case has a combination of vertical and circular brushing, with a few polished bevels. The screw down crown has a rubber grip which matches one of the three dial colors and water resistance sits at 200 meters.

The dials get slight updates, but retain the Alpiner Extreme feel. There are three colors to choose from — blue and green we’ve seen on the larger models, and a new beige color. They all have the deeply embossed triangle pattern, with applied silver-coloured and hand-polished indices. There’s a date window at 3 o’clock and the central seconds hand has a red triangular counterweight.

Inside is the same AL-525 automatic movement as the larger model, which is a slightly modified Sellita SW200. The modification comes in the form of a black asymmetrical rotor, while the movement keeps its 4Hz beat rate and 38 hour power reserve. The blue and green watches come on three-link stainless steel bracelets, while the beige version can be had on either the bracelet or a beige rubber strap.

And best of all, the new Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic is not a limited edition, but rather a regular addition to the collection with presumably more colors to come. The beige dial on rubber strap retails for €1,695, while the rest of the collection on steel bracelets sell for €1,995. See more on the Alpina website.

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Ollech & Wajs Simplifies The Very Cool Vietnam War-Era Field Watch, This Time Made For All Units

Ollech & Wajs has been around for quite some time. Established in 1956 in Zurich it always made robust Swiss tool watches. As such, it was quite the unlikely watch to show up as one of the most popular watches in the Vietnam war. Between 1965 and 1973, thousands of Ollech & Wajs watches made their way to all major US military bases in the region. These were fantastic divers and GMT watches, but perhaps the most special of the watches delivered to Vietnam was the Ollech & Wajs B-905 US Airforce watch, custom made for airmen in the war and it featured the silhouette of the iconic Boeing B-52 Stratofortress on it’s dial. Earlier this year, OW released a special edition M-52B AF which that paid homage to this legendary watch, with the same Boeing B-52 Stratofortress on the dial. It was a very cool watch, but an illustration of a bomber on the dial might have been a bit much for some. That’s why Ollech & Wajs has introduced the OW M-52 ‘All Units’ (AU), basically the same watch, but without the Airforce link and bomber illustration.

The watch comes in a 39.5mm wide and 12.5mm thick case that takes on the brand’s M-type case with very short lugs, brushed finish and an almost skin-diver appearance. On top is a thickened domed sapphire crystal, which helps with the 300 meter water resistance, and around it is a PVD-coated sloping-edged bidirectional rotating bezel with 12 hour world time markings and a finely serrated edge.

The dial also remains the same as the M-52B AF, save for the large white airplane silhouette that’s gone. The three central hands and the applied rectangular markers at 12, 3 and 9 o’clock feature cream Super-LumiNova that is a bit too close to fauxtina for comfort, but it’s contrasted by the white lume on the circular hour markers. At 6 o’clock is a date aperture which has a white date disc with red numerals.

Inside the watch is the Soprod automatic calibre P024, which is the Soprod equivalent of the ETA 2824 and later the Sellita SW200. It beats at 28,800vph, has a power reserve of 38 hours and is customized with a new rotor that says OW Zurich 1956. The watch comes on a black nylon RAF strap, or you can pay extra for a stainless steel mesh bracelet or a brown leather strap.

From what I gather, the Ollech & Wajs OW M-52 ‘All Units’ will not be a limited edition and will not be numbered. You can reserve one now, with deliveries opening in mid-October and deliveries starting 4 weeks from order. Price is set at CHF 1,356 for the version on the nylon strap, CHF 1,452 on leather and CHF 1,482 on the bracelet. See more on the Ollech & Wajs website.

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De Bethune Combines Signature Thermal Oxidation Process With A Meteorite Dial On The DB28XS Aérolite

When you make watches that seem to be inspired by science fiction, outer space and planetary exploration, it only makes sense that you use an off-this-planet material to make your watch even spacier. This is exactly what pretty much everyone expects from De Bethune, whose watches often resembled a logo used in a very famous Sci-Fi television series. That’s why it makes so much sense that they took pieces of the famous Muonionalusta meteorite and applied to it their magical process of thermal oxidation to achieve a wonderful blue colour and placed it in a black zirconium case. This is the new DB28XS Aerolite.

Being an XS model, this one comes in a rather compact case measuring 38.7mm wide and just 7.4mm thick. The case is no longer made out of titanium. Instead, it’s made out of zirconium. A bit heavier than titanium, it has a matte gunmetal colour. On the sides of the case you get those spectacular and iconic articulated lugs, along with delta-shaped bridge and a crown at noon.

But it’s all about the dial, one made out of a slice of the Mounionalusta, which is one of the oldest known ferrous meteorites on Earth, roughly 4.5 billion years old, it creates an incredible pattern when polished and etched with nitric acid. But the pattern is just half the story, as it’s then oxidised to create the most iridescent tone that ranges from green, through blue to purple. But to take things further, the dials are also guilloched and have hand applied white gold pins of different sizes to evoke twinkling stars. The hours are printed on the black chapter ring, while the hands are made out of pink gold and hand polished.

Inside is the manual-winding calibre DB2005, which beats at 4Hz and has twin barrels that give it a 6-day power reserve. It’s a beautiful movement, with a balance made out of blued titanium with white gold inserts and a a lot of mirror polishing. The watch comes on either an alligator leather strap and a black textile strap with a zirconium pin buckle. DB28XS Aerolite is a limited annual production and retails for CHF 105,000. Without tax. See more on the De Bethune website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Rado Over-Pole

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Hands-On with the MAEN Lunar Classic 36

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A review of the Venezianico Redentore Bellanotte

⚙️I Review A Watch

Exactly what it says on the label — I get a watch, wear it and then review it

The Atelier Wen Perception ‘Millésime’ 2024 睦 (Mù) is a perfect metaphor for how we often see things through the wrong lens

Like it or not, in life, perception is everything. It shapes our world, influences our decisions, and colors our judgments. But what happens when that perception is challenged? What happens when the preconceived notions we cling to are proven wrong? This is the story of how perceptions can mislead us, whether it’s in how we view other cultures or something as seemingly straightforward as a watch. And in the case of Chinese watchmaking, this misperception has been an enduring one, unfairly casting shadows over a deeply rich tradition of craftsmanship. Me getting my hands on the new Atelier Wen Perception ‘Millésime’ 2024 睦 (Mù) is a perfect metaphor for how we often see things through the wrong lens—and how, when we look more closely, we can discover something unexpectedly beautiful.

Read the whole review

⏲️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

• Not every dog is a very good boy, or at least not all the time. Sometimes they bite humans or attack other dogs. When that happens—provided you’re in Massachusetts—there’s only one man to call. Douglass Starr’s profile of attorney Jeremy Cohen proves that law isn’t always a walk in the bark.

• Craig Unger’s career was nearly destroyed when he investigated a possible election conspiracy. Scanning The New York Times and drinking his coffee, he came upon an op-ed detailing a treasonous plot that had sabotaged Jimmy Carter’s reelection efforts a decade earlier—a plot that would become known, somewhat ironically, as the October surprise. Three decades later, he says he’s got the goods.

• Not being American, I’ve always been mystified with the horrible reality of school shooters. I was in high school when I first saw the Michael Moore documentary Bowling for Columbine and I couldn’t understand how something like that happens. Washington Post tries to answer the same questions with interviews with family members, along with a review of private texts and public documents, which open a window on a 14-year-old’s path to alleged gunman at Georgia’s Apalachee High School.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Do you know anyone older than 90? I’ve known a couple of people who lived past 90 and they weren’t doing all too well in their last years. But guess what? Clint Eastwood is 94 years old. And he seems to be putting out at least a movie a year, and this one, Juror #2, seems to be a 90s legal thriller mixed with Mystic Rivers, also an Eastwood movie. How is he doing it?

💵Pre-loved precision

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• 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