IWC Brings Titanium To The Mark XX Pilot’s Watch; Louis Errad Teams Up Again With Horophile; Nivada Grenchen Has A Blue Non-PacMan Depthmaster; Porsche Design Celebrates 50 Years Of The Turbo

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I like the titanium IWC, but I much prefer the incredibly cool Mellow Yellow Saab version this one was supposedly based on. I’m telling you, the 1990s are making a comeback

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In this issue:

• IWC Brings Titanium To The Mark XX Pilot’s Watch With Patrouille Suisse Collaboration

• Louis Errad Teams Up Once Again With Horophile For The Green Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis

• Nivada Grenchen Gives The Non-PacMan Depthmaster A Deep Blue Colorway

• Porsche Design Celebrates 50 Years Of The 911 Turbo With Three New Watches

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 8 seconds

👂What’s new

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IWC Brings Titanium To The Mark XX Pilot’s Watch With Patrouille Suisse Collaboration

Titanium and modern pilot’s watches go hand in hand. Just off the top of my head, I can think of the Omega X33, the Breitling Aerospace, the Longines Majetek, several versions of Hamilton pilot’s watches, several smaller brands and, of course, the IWC Big Pilot all come in titanium, a material that has been instrumental to the development of modern aviation. But there was one very popular pilot’s watch that quite suspiciously didn’t have a titanium version — the IWC Pilot Mark XX. Well, that changes today with the quiet introduction of the Mark XX in titanium that pays tribute to the Patrouille Suisse, the aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.

The story of titanium on the Mark watches is a very interesting one. While they used titanium widely on their Big Pilot’s, IWC has never really made the Dirty Dozen-derived Mark series in titanium. It seems that IWC reserves titanium on their Pilot’s watches for special pieces. One of these was the Mellow Yellow Mark XII Saab Limited edition which some online have instantly said is the spiritual predecessor of this Patrouille Suisse edition. And it’s easy to see why, with both taking on monochrome colorways and single pops of color.

Being a Mark XX, the dimensions of the case remain the same. It’s 40mm wide, 10.6mm thick and has a 49mm lug-to-lug measurement. However, instead of steel, the case is made out of matte blasted titanium, which can be found on the case, bezel and caseback. On the caseback you’ll find an engraving of three planes in formation flight as well as the dedication “Tribute to Patrouille Suisse”. On top you’ll find a convex sapphire crystal which has been secured against displacement by sudden drop in air pressure, a scenario that could happen to pilots.

The matte of the titanium is reflected and contrasted in the dial, which gets a sunray brushed grey finish. The rest remans pretty much the same with oversize Arabic numerals coated with lume, the traditional triangle with two dots at 12 o’clock. The seconds hand gets a red tip as a nod to the Patrouille Suisse and their bright red planes.

Inside the watch is the calibre 32111, a manufacture automatic movement that beats at 4Hz and has a great 5-day power reserve. The watch comes on a black textile strap with IWC’s proprietary easy swap system if you want to change the look.

The IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XX Patrouille Suisse, of course, is a limited edition and only 250 will be made. The watch is priced at €7,000. Seeing how the Mellow Yellow Saab IWC is extremely desirable now, this could be a potential future classic. See more on the IWC website.

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Louis Errad Teams Up Once Again With Horophile For The Green Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis

Last year, at the Geneva Watch Days show, Swiss watch brand Louis Erard teamed up with Swiss-based watch influencer known as The Horophile (aka Amr Sindi) to create a truly beautiful Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile with a slate-grey, salmon or tobacco dial. And would you look at that, Geneva Watch Days is around the corner once again and we have a new Petite Seconde Metropolis Louis Erard x The Horophile. This time in a stunning green.

On the outside, hardly anything has changed. The classic 39mm stainless steel case of the Petite Seconde was chosen for the “collection within the collection”. This is a fully polished steel case made out of three parts measures 39mm wide, 12.82mm thick and has a 45.9mm lug-to-lug, meaning it should fit most wrists easily. On top is a domed sapphire crystal and out back you’ll find a transparent caseback. Water resistance is 50 meters. It’s all very demure on the case

The dial, on the other hand, is where the design shines. The inspiration is Art Deco with a contemporary twist, a style Louis Erard head Manuel Emch and Sindi refer to as Neo Deco. The font of the numerals is double traced and very Art Deco, while the center of the dial is decorated with concentric grooves. The classic small seconds counter of the Petite Seconde is also reinterpreted here with strict minimalism – no indices, and a single dot at noon. The “Empire” hands enhance the Art Deco spirit of the watch and look like a 1930s New York skyscraper like the Empire State Building or the Chrysler building, with a stepped shape. All of this in a beautiful shade of green, with silver hardware.

Inside is nothing special — the elaboré grade Sellita SW261-1, a version of the SW-200, with an openworked rotor and black lacquered LE logo. The movement beats at 28,800vph and has a 38 hour power reserve. It’s not a sophisticated movement, nor a very beautiful one, but it does the job and is easily servicable, while keeping cost low. The watch comes on a beige grained calfskin strap with a pin closure.

The biggest issue with these Louis Erard x The Horophile collaborations is the limited number. Only 59 will be made and they will sell out very fast with a price of CHF 2,300. See more on the Louis Erard website.

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Nivada Grenchen Gives The Non-PacMan Depthmaster A Deep Blue Colorway

When we talk about the Depthmaster, we immediately think of the "Pac-Man" with its 6 & 9 digits strikingly resembling the graphics of the famous video game. Others have also called it the "Baby-Panerai." And Nivada Grenchen’s revival of the iconic dive watch has brought a ton of interest with every release, and Nivada knows it. They have created numerous Pac-Man versions but one of their most popular releases was the Depthmaster that ditched the Pac-Man graphics for more traditional squares with a vintage cream colored lume and gave the whole thing a green colorway. Well, it was so successful that Nivada’s bringing it back, now in a deep blue.

On the case side, not much has changed. The Depthmaster has a very recognisable cushion shaped case that’s actually smaller than you would expect when seeing it in pictures - 39mm wide, 13mm thick and with a lug-to-lug of 47mm. The case is made out of stainless steel with heavily brushed surfaces with a flat sapphire crystal on top and 1,000 meters of water resistance. Instead of the all-metal bezel that’s common on the Pac-Man, this version gets a more traditional blue bezel insert with minute graduations for the first 30 minutes. All the markings are done in a cream color, but I wish they would have chosen a more adventurous font as a callback to the Pac-Man dials.

Speaking of the dial, it now comes in a midnight blue color, with cream colored square and rectangular indices, as well as a triangular marker at 12 o'clock. The hands are Mercedes-like and also filled with the cream colored lume. The entire seconds hand is also fully lumed, which is not something you see every day.

Inside is the Soprod P024 automatic, yet another clone of the ETA 2824-2. You know the spec then - a beat rate of 28,800vph and a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a blue tropic rubber strap.

The new Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster Blue is a limited edition of only 150 pieces, which is really a shame. It’s priced at $995, without tax. See more on the Nivada Grenchen website.

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Porsche Design Celebrates 50 Years Of The 911 Turbo With Three New Watches

If Porsche is the best at anything in the world, then it would be extracting money from their customers. Which is saying a lot, seeing as how they already make some of the best cars we have ever seen. And yet, the extraction part is something they excel at. They will celebrate every single anniversary, release multiple limited editions and even come up with an entire RS division in which they can sell cars that have racing suspensions and fully certified roll cages to dentists who will drive them the office and back for way more money than they would have spent on a GTS that would have served them just as well, and not crushed their spine in a motorsports seat. Well, now Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of its most important models, the Turbo. And while they already have a bunch of limited edition cars, Porsche Design has joined in on the celebration with three new watches, the Chronograph 1 50 Years 911 Turbo Edition and two new dials for the Porsche Design Chronograph 911 Turbo 50 Years.

Let’s start with the Chronograph 1, which has also celebrated it’s 50th anniversary recently, having been designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche in 1972. This 50th anniversary Turbo version comes in the same 40.8mm wide and 15.5mm thick titanium case that gets a black titanium carbide coating. The dial remains largely the same as the original, while inside you’ll find the Concepto-developed, COSC-certified WERK 01.240 which gets a special rotor shaped like a classic Fuchs rim. You get a black bracelet with the watch, but you’ll want to wear it on the rather cool beige fabric strap that has a rubber Turbo badge.

Then there’s the Porsche Design Chronograph 911 Turbo 50 Years, which has a completely different look to the retro Chronograph 1. Also made out of titanium, the case has a tonneau shape, but is actually a round center with radically skeletonized lugs that now look like spider legs that hold it to the strap. The case is 42mm wide and 14.9mm thick, and I assume that it has a pretty large lug-to-lug with those lugs, but I can’t find that info.

The watch comes with two dial options, both of which have a circularly brushed black base. One has white numerals, while the other has green numerals to mimic the look of the dials on the car. At 9 o’clock, a semi-circle cut-out reveals spinning blades like an x-ray into an actual turbocharger, along with the Turbo 50 text. Inside is the WERK 01.200 which is based on the architecture of an ETA 7750 and beats at 4Hz and has a 48 hour power reserve.

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 50 Years 911 Turbo Edition is limited to 500 pieces, while you won’t find the Chronograph 911 Turbo 50 Years on the website. That’s because it’s only available to those who have purchased the new 911 Turbo 50 Years car. The Chronograph 1 will set you back $12,000, while the Chronograph 911 will ask for $12,553 on top of the $261,100 base price tag of the 911 Turbo 50 Years. See more on the Porsche Design website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Meisterstück 100 Years

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Hands-On With The 50thAnniversary Casiotron TRN-50SS And G-Shock GMW-B5000SS

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A review of the Gerald Charles Maestro 9.0 Roman Tourbillon

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Unimatic Modello Uno Toolwatch UT-1 blends the brand’s signature style with an even more purpose-built feel

Like the case, the Unimatic Modello Uno Toolwatch UT-1’s dial takes the brand’s established design cues in an even more utilitarian, function-first direction. To this end, the Modello Uno’s familiar diver-style indices are replaced with crisp, high-visibility Arabic numerals, while the ladder-style straight sword hands and bold outer minutes scale remain the same. Couple this with dial text centered at 6 o’clock and balanced signal orange accents, and the end result is a modern military-inflected, semi-sterile look with immense legibility from almost any angle. It may not have as much character as the dive-style Modello Uno, but it’s deeply capable and attractive in its own way.

Read the whole review on A Blog To Watch

⏲️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

• During a stay in Italy, Judith Sanders learns how to shop for groceries in Rome, savoring the sights, sounds, and customs and learning how to make purchases by listening to Italian shoppers. In this essay, she reflects on the deeply satisfying meals she was able to prepare, made with simple and delicious ingredients bought locally. This is what food should be.

• We think of whistleblowers as those people brave enough to call out corruption or wrongdoing at their place of work. We don’t think of them as people are compensated for their efforts—or consider the possibility that this could present a seven- or eight-figure incoming stream for an enterprising freelancer. Enter: the pseudonymous Richard Overum, the subject of a highly entertaining feature by Gordy Megroz. While he sounds like a con man (whom he understandably needs to share a skillset with), the reporting doesn’t lie. Read it now, before the inevitable film adaptation gets underway.

• For Harper’s, Jasper Craven examines the ever-expanding role of private security in the country at large—reinforcing his reporting with a six-month stint for a firm in New York City, where security guards outnumber NYPD officers by a factor of three to one. Spoiler alert: the vetting process is even worse than you think it is.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I really don’t understand how Vice, who has gone bankrupt, can still pull of documentaries that are as good as this. The cocaine industry in Peru is outgrowing its traditional region of production—the VRAEM—and expanding into other areas of the country like the Amazon lowlands and the Brazilian border. This is creating a new wave of violence for indigenous tribes who are refusing to work with the cartel.

💵Pre-loved precision

Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us

• LOOKING TO BUY: Here’s a crazy request. One of you is looking to buy the Lotēc No. 7.5. Sure, it’s a big ask, but if any of you have one and want to sell, reach out to and I’ll put you in touch

• 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