IWC Introduces First Ever Fully Luminous Dial Pilot, Geneva Watch Days Starts With New And Amazing Watches From Doxa, Thee Pieces From Oris, New Frederique Constant And Laurent Ferier

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Geneva Watch Days has started and you can’t imagine the amount of watches that have been introduced today. I tried to cut down the number, while also including a couple of non-GWD pieces, so expect much more tomorrow.

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In this issue:

• IWC Introduces First Ever Pilot's Watch With A Fully Luminous Dial

• The Very Mean Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter Is A Pitch Black Diver That Has The Same Issues Of All-Black Watches But Is Still Cool

• Oris Teams Up With Bracenet For New Environmentally Friendly Aquis Date Collection

• Joining The Club Of Ridiculously Water Resistant Watches, The Oris AquisPro Can Go Down To 4000 Meters

• New Artelier S Collection Is The Dress Oris You Didn’t Know You Wanted

• New Frederique Constant Classic Power Reserve Big Date Manufacture Comes With Three Great Complications And A Wild Range Of Prices

• The New Automotive-Inspired Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto 40 Is Very 70s Cool

• MoonSwatch Continues With Their Full Moon Nonsense, But At Least It’s On A Neptune Version Now

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 59 seconds

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👂What’s new

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IWC Introduces First Ever Pilot's Watch With A Fully Luminous Dial

Geneva Watch Days is starting today it’s all going to be about high horology and a couple of major brands that have not fallen under a larger corporate umbrella. But before we get there, IWC has managed to sneak in a surprise release, just on the eve of the event. Lumed dials have been having a bit of a moment as of late, and now IWC is getting in on the action, with their first pilot’s watch with a fully lumed dial treatment, the Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 Black Aces.

This is a very familiar watch with a 41mm wide case that is 11.4mm thick. It’s case is black ceramic and is just a smidge larger than IWC’s signature pilot’s watch, the Mark XX. While I’m no fan of black cases, this black ceramic not only looks nice, it’s a really good contrast for the fully white dial. IWC points out that to make this dial they mix SuperLumiNova pigments with a binder, cast into a circular mold, and hardened to a ceramic-like durability. That solid disc is then fixed onto the soft-iron dial, before black printing is applied. According to them, the dial should have a greenish light for more than 23 hours.

This is a great looking watch, but the Black Aces patch at 6 o’clock is sure to bring up controversy. While it might be a selling point for aviation nerds, not everyone likes the branding of something they may be unfamiliar with being so prominent. That’s why most brands choose to put collaboration logos on the caseback. But if you were interested what the logo stands for, the Black Aces is the latest in an ongoing series of watches that IWC has made in partnership with US Navy squadrons as part of their Professional Pilot’s Watches Program. The watch is inspired by the actual watch that Strike Fighter Squadron 41, known as the Black Aces, has commissioned from IWC. This squadron has roots that date back to 1950, and is based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California

From all available information, this is joining the regular IWC lineup and will not be limited. You can get it now exclusively from the IWC website and it’s priced at $6,800. See more on IWC.com.

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The Very Mean Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter Is A Pitch Black Diver That Has The Same Issues Of All-Black Watches But Is Still Cool

Geneva Watch Days, the event started by Breitling, Bvlgari, De Bethune, Gérald Genta, H. Moser & Cie., MB&F, Ulysse Nardin, and Urwerk in 2020 after Baselworld and Watches and Wonders were canceled due to the pandemic, has started and brands are coming out strong with their offerings. Everything from here on out (well, almost everything, more on that later) are watches introduced at GWD. And first up is a new Doxa, a pitch black SUB 300β Sharkhunter.

Black watches are often a hit and miss affair and very few brands can actually make a fully black watch without making it look like an unnecessary gimmick or an afterthought. Now Doxa is giving it a go and while it looks amazing it also faces a lot of the same issues of the other black watches. At its core, the Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter is still a SUB 300. That means the 42.5mm cushion case almost wears like a square watch due to it’s short(ish) 44.5mm lug-to-lug length. The watch still has 300 meters water resistance, but is made even more practical by reducing the thickness of the watch from 13.4mm to 11.95mm.

They managed to slim it down with a new matte black ceramic case. The bezel and crown are solid 18k 3N gold, while the shining applied indices on the dial are plated, while the bezel insert has Doxa’s patented depth and time design which allows divers to surface without the need for decompression stops. Unfortunately, that’s also pitch black, so you won’t be able to see a thing on it, a common issue with black watches. The black dial has a super-rough texture which echoes the stippled nature of the FKM rubber strap – almost like fresh asphalt. The dial printing and the date display have been totally blacked out, making them also quite hard to read. The Super-LumiNova is creamy in color to better match the tone of the gold details, and is the only thing that makes it easier to see what time it is.

Inside the watch is the COSC-certified Sellita SW200. You get a 38-hour power reserve with a smooth, 4Hz beat rate. The version used for the Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter is COSC-certified for accuracy within -4/+6 per day.

The Doxa SUB 300β Sharkhunter will be available from October 2023 at any Doxa retailer and online, with a price tag of €7,250. See more on the Doxa website.

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Oris Teams Up With Bracenet For New Environmentally Friendly Aquis Date Collection

It seems to me that watch brands not only make much more commitment to be environmentally friendly, but also turn these commitments into actions. This is especially true in brands that make diving watches - I guess seeing the impact man has on nature first hand while your watches are being used makes you act. Last year Oris announced they will be reducing their carbon emissions by 10% a year for three years. Now at Geneva Watch Days they introduced a new environmentally-conscious collaboration with Bracenet to create two Aquis Date watches with upcycled dials made of "ghost nets" - nets that are lost at sea and leave a terrible impact on ocean life in their wake - and other used fishing nets.

Oris uses this waste plastic, often green, blue and white in color and melts it down to harden into a thin sheet of material. That sheet is then cut to size, planed, and sanded down to 0.3mm thick with no additives, fillers, or glues used in the process. This process makes every dial unique and they then are placed into a Oris Aquis Date stainless steel case in 43.5mm or 36.5mm, both with 300m of water resistance, stainless steel bracelets, display caseback, and uni-directional bezel.

The watch is powered by the Oris 733, based on the Sellita SW200-1, with central hours, minutes, and seconds, a date window at 6:00, instantaneous date, stop-second, and 38 hours of power reserve.

You can buy the Oris X Bracenet Aquis Date starting in September and it is priced at CHF 2,350 for both sizes, which is a CHF 50 premium over the regular Oris 733 powered watch. Check them out on the Oris website.

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Joining The Club Of Ridiculously Water Resistant Watches, The Oris AquisPro Can Go Down To 4000 Meters

Whenever a brand introduces a watch that has an unbelievable depth rating, like the Rolex Deepsea Challenge, the Omega Ultra Deep, or the newly relaunched Ploprof, people inevitably ask the same question - why? Why build a watch that can reach kilometres below the ocean surface when only a handful of people dove below 300 meters and going much deeper than that would guarantee injury, if not death? Even with a pressurised suit, we can’t go below 600 meters without a lot of submarine around us. So why? Because they can. These watches are meant to be exercises in excessive engineering and Oris is joining the club with the AquisPro 4000m.

As the name suggests, it should be just fine at a depth of 4 kilometres underneath the ocean surface. For perspective, the Titanic lies at 3.8 kilometres. And to do that, it needs a lot of heft behind it. The titanium case measures 49.5mm wide, 23.4mm thick, and 55mm lug to lug. The watch carries on the general good design of Oris divers, with a light-blue color scheme that on the gradient blue wave dial and it has a ceramic insert on it’s overly over-engineered locking bezel.

Since this is a premium offering from Oris, they deliver it with their in-house Caliber 400 movement. With a full five days of power reserve, the 400 ticks at 4 Hz and offers time and date, the latter showing in an aperture at six o'clock with white text on a black wheel. Of note is that I have seen some reports of unreliability of this movement online, but take it with a grain of salt as it is al anecdotal.

There’s no need for this watch to exist, but it does. Because it’s completely ridiculous. Oris knows they won’t sell many of them as the number of wrists that can accommodate a 50mm watch is small. But it’s good to know they can build something like this if necessary. If, however, you plan on straping a watch on the outside of the submarine on your next visit to the Titanic, you will have to part with CHF 5,700, which is not an egregious price. Check out the watch on the brand’s website.

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New Artelier S Collection Is The Dress Oris You Didn’t Know You Wanted

I promise, this is the last Oris for today, but the brand really geared up for Geneva Watch Days. Compared to their colorful Cotton Candy divers (including the crazy 4000m) and bold watches like the Kermit, their latest collection, the Artelier S, is bringing things down to earth and are a much more subdued and elegant couple of watches. An almost dress watch from, perhaps, your favorite sports brand.

While the Artelier collection has been part of the Oris offering for some time, the Artelier S comes in a smaller 38mm case in stainless steel. The dressy aesthetic comes from the dial, which is minimal and refined, almost like something you would get from Junghans or Nomos. It has thin hands, small indexes and the only decoration is the brand logo at 12 o’clock. This is a great thing because the dial gets a sunray brushed finish in a traditional black or an incredibly nice green.

Inside is the Oris Calibre 733 automatic, the Sellita SW200-1 movement I mentioned above. It comes on a super soft calf leather strap in either black or brown with a steel folding clasp with the Oris signature.

The price is decent at CHF 1 900. Find out more details at Oris.

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New Frederique Constant Classic Power Reserve Big Date Manufacture Comes With Three Great Complications And A Wild Range Of Prices

At Geneva Watch days Frederique Constant introduced their 31st in-house calibre with three complications. This new automatic calibre FC-735 debuts inside the Classic Power Reserve Big Date Manufacure and the three complications are a big date, a moon phase and a power reserve indicator. It’s a great new watch from a great brand and it comes in three wildly different materials with wildly different prices.

The case they use for the new movement is from its Classic family, which means that it measures 40mm wide and 12.19mm thick, with a fully polished finish. A dial with three complications sounds like it could be too crowded, but this one looks elegant with the big date located between 2 and 3 o’clock, the power reserve indicator is slightly recessed and placed on the left side of the dial while the moon phase indicator is at 6 o’clock with a silvery moon and stars set against a light blue sky. The slim applied hour markers and hands are diamond faceted and hand polished.

The watch comes in four variations: a limited edition of 35 platinum pieces with a dark blue meteorite dial and a matching matte navy blue alligator strap, a 350-piece edition in rose gold with a sun-brushed grey dial and a matte brown alligator strap, a non-limited edition in steel with a blue sun-brushed dial and a matte blue alligator strap and a non-limited edition in steel with a silver sun-brushed dial and a matte blue alligator strap.

The open caseback reveals the inner workings of the new automatic FC-735 Manufacture calibre with its openworked rotor and decorative perlage and Côtes de Genève finishings. Beating at a frequency of 28,800vph, the movement delivers a power reserve of 50 hours.

Pricing is, like I said, crazy on this model. The platinum version retails for EUR 25,995, the rose gold for EUR 17,995 and the non-limited steel models retail for EUR 4,795. While it’s crazy to say that a 26k watch is a good deal, it actually doesn’t sound that bad for such a limited model with an in house movement and platinum case. Where things get really crazy is the steel version - EUR 4,795 is a bargain for a watch like this. Check out the brand website for more details.

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The New Automotive-Inspired Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto 40 Is Very 70s Cool

Laurent Ferrier’s history is deeply linked to automotive racing. The man the brand is named after has raced cars before becoming a indie watchmaker, back in the 70s, and this is very evident in the latest watch from the brand, the Sport Auto 40. It looks like it was just taken off the wrist of a racer at Le Mans in 1973.

The watch is housed in a grade 5 titanium case that measures 41.5mm wide and 12.7mm thick, with an integrated titanium bracelet. The reason why it looks like it was taken off a race car drivers wrist in the 70s is because it’s actually inspired by just such a thing. in 1979, Ferrier entered the 24 Hour of Le Mans with friends François Servanin and François Trisconi, in the Porsche 935 Turbo No. 40, placing third overall. The dial color, lume, and accents are all inspired by the livery of that Porsche 935 Turbo No. 40.

The watch is powered by a stunningly beautiful caliber LF270.01 micro-rotor movement with 72 hours of power reserve. The micro-rotor has a 950 platinum oscillating weight. A movement like this is something only a small, specialized atelier like Laurent Ferrier’s can achieve.

The watch is available only on the Laurent Ferrier website and is limited (appropriately) to 40 pieces for CHF 51,000. More on the Laurent Ferrier website.

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MoonSwatch Continues With Their Full Moon Nonsense, But At Least It’s On A Neptune Version Now

I promised I wouldn’t report on any new regarding the MoonSwatch if Swatch continued with their completely baffling strategy of releasing watches with a gold chrono hand based on when the moon was full. Not only that, they still have shortages of regular MoonSwatch models all over the place, with scalpers buying up all the stock.

Instead of fixing that issue, Swatch has been releasing the exact same Mission to Moonshine Gold based on the black Mission to the Moon model but with a Moonshine Gold chronograph seconds hand. And they insist on releasing these only on the night of the full moon, claiming that the gold of the chrono hand has been poured on the previous full moon or something like that. Who cares, it’s making me angry just to type this out.

Swatch hasn’t gotten any smarter about things, but at least their new release, which will only be available on the full moon of August 30th, will not be another boring black one. They are basing this one on the Mission to Neptune, the rarest of all the MoonSwatches because Swatch had to stop production after color started rubbing off on the wearer’s skin. This watch will be available in Swatch boutiques in 86 cities. If you really want a MoonSwatch and can get this one at retail (should be around $300), I would say this is the one to get. See if there’s a store near you.

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⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Argos Odyssey is an affordable and thoughtful everyday watch

There is a lot to see on the dial of the Argos Odyssey. Starting with the two elements that make it legible – the dauphine hands and applied markers. The hour and minute hands are polished and come with a rather large application of lume, while the second hand, also polished, showcases a red arrow tip – Argos’ inspiration here is of a compass needle. The polished hour markers are a mix of Arabics and indices, with numerals at the 3, 9, and 12 positions, and batons everywhere else. Instead of an hour marker at the 6, Argos opted for a framed date aperture with a white disc and black printed numerals.

⏲️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

• Huey P. Newton has been mythologized and maligned since his murder 34 years ago. His family and friends offer an intimate look inside his life and mind. This is the story of the misunderstood visionary behind the Black Panther Party

• If you like watches, you probably know John Mayer as one of the best collectors in the world who even has a Rolex fan-named after him. He also had a pretty huge music career. He became an international superstar only to fall of from the scene suddenly. He, and the Grateful Dead, have gone through a renaissance in their careers. The Grateful Dead is gone and Dead & Company is done touring, but the legacies will never die.

• When vinyl started to pick up in popularity about 10, 15 years ago I wasn’t exactly on board with the idea, but I understood that some people prefered the sound and ritual of playing a record. What I really don’t understand is Gen Z doubling down on collecting CDs. Can someone tell me why?

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I’ve been aware of Matty Matheson for years, back when he started cooking on the Vice channel. In the past two years he has exploded into pop culture with his role in the incredible TV show The Bear. I’ve casually followed him for his intense approach to everything, but I had NO IDEA he had an entire side business creating custom choppers. Blew my mind

💵Pre-loved precision

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• FOR SALE: Longines Heritage Skin Diver, box and papers. €1400. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

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