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- Longines Doubles Down On Time Zones With A Dressy Gold GMT, Arcanaut Launches Spectacular Experimental Line, Ollech & Ways Pays Homage To Vietnam War Pilots, New From FC And Nubeo
Longines Doubles Down On Time Zones With A Dressy Gold GMT, Arcanaut Launches Spectacular Experimental Line, Ollech & Ways Pays Homage To Vietnam War Pilots, New From FC And Nubeo
We're back for the first time in 2024 and there are exciting things coming
Vuk Radic
January 08, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 18 minutes
Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I hope you missed me. I know I missed you! At first I was going to take only a week off, but then the combination of getting the flu and the watch industry taking a breather, the break stretched out to two weeks. But now we’re back and there’s some exciting things coming!
If you like this newsletter, you might consider supporting it. You can do so in two ways. Forward it to someone you know loves watches and ask them to subscribe, or you can directly support it through Patreon.
In this issue:
New Longines Master Collection GMT Shows The Multi Time Zone Is Here To Stay In 2024, But Now More Elegant
Arcanaut Launches New Experimental Line And It Really Is Something Special
Frederique Constant Adds New Dial Colors To The Beautiful Highlife Automatic COSC 39mm
Ollech & Wajs Pays Homage To Their Most Iconic Watch, Custom Made For Airmen In The Vietnam War
Nubeo Introduces A New Collection Of Very Familiar And Yet Very Different Divers With Great Colors
Today’s reading time: 7 minutes and 45 seconds
👂What’s new
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2023 was a year of a few very distinct trends. Funky colors, limited editions and an increasingly larger offering of smaller watches were all at the top of the list of most popular features. But surely, the most dominant trend has been the proliferation of GMT models in brands ranging from dirt-cheap microbrands to multi-dozen-thousand euro watches from the most respected of watchmakers. But nearly all of them have been very sports oriented. In 2024, Longines is continuing their releases of GMT watches, but now with a brand new one that’s no longer a sports watch - the new Longines Master Collection GMT Gold limited edition is an elegant GMT.
Longines has been very well known for their sporty GMT watches, be it the Hydroconquest GMT or the very popular Spirit Zulu Time. But the Master is something else entirely - timeless and refined. The new GMT comes in a familiar 40mm wide and 10.4mm thick case that is completely polished and comes in two variants - 2N 18k yellow gold and 5N 18k rose gold. Both versions have prominently domed bezels that are completely smooth. Sapphire crystals can be found on both sides and the crown is just pushed in, limiting the water resistance to just 30 meters.
The dial is just as classy as the case. Both versions come with the same frosted silver finish on the dial, while the applied Roman numerals match the gold material used on the case. The inner flange has a 24-hour scale printed on it and a black GMT hand points to it.
It’s powered by the L844.5, and ETA movement made for Longines. It beats at 3.5Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. Since this is the same movement that the Hydroconquest GMT and the Spirit Zulu Time in both 39mm and 41mm version uses, you get a traveller’s style GMT complication, meaning that you adjust the local hour hand independently. The watch comes on an anthracite-grey alligator leather with "soft touch" finish and a pin buckle that matches the material of the case.
The Longines Master Collection GMT is limited to 500 pieces per material and it’s priced substantially higher than other Longines GMT models at €16,500. However, considering it’s made out of gold, it makes sense. See more on the Longines website.
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Taking a break over Christmas and New Year was a great thing. Not only did I get a chance to spend much more time with the family, there also wasn’t much news in the watch industry, However, just a few days after I started the break, the folks over at Arcanaut introduced two new watches under a new category for them - Experimental watches. Now, if you have seen any Arcanaut watches before, you might be scratching your head with the question: “aren’t all their watches experimental?” Well, yeah, a brand that makes dials out of Fordite and has their in-house material wizard Black Badger come up with new ways of processing Scandinavian mussel shells to create a wonderfully purple new dial is always on the verge of experimental watchmaking. So, when they say they’re making something out there, you can bet it’s something incredible - these are the Bonehead and Tiger Sharc, incredible watches from an incredible company.
The one bad thing about my break is that I couldn’t tell you about them sooner, as they’re sold out. But it’s still worth giving them space to see how crazy they are. Fist up is the incredible Bonehead. It’s name comes from the pattern on the dial which resembles the internal structure of bone when seen under a microscope. But that wasn’t enough for Arcanaut, so they made the dial fully lumed. The mentioned Black Badger is material expert James Thompson who made this dial by combining electric blue discs of lume, aerospace grade aluminum foam, and industrial resin and it looks like nothing else out there.
The other watch in the Experimental series is the Tiger Sharc, a watch that defiantly puts all its emphasis on the case, which is made out of a zirconium titanium composite. It looks like Damascus, but Arcanaut claims it’s less visually chaotic and the wave in the dial evokes the Japanese technique of “mokume gane.” While the case is incredible, the dial is no slouch either, as it’s made out of a solid piece of sterling silver.
Both of these watches also have a lumed “Glowpatch” affixed to the caseback, a first for Arcanaut. The lumed disc is protected under a layer of sapphire, with the Bonehead coming with a funky skull illustration and the Tiger Sharc with a mean shark face.
The Tiger Sharc and Bonehead are both limited editions of just 33 pieces and, unfortunately, both sold out pretty fast. Both are priced at €4,350 without tax and we can just hope for more crazy watches from the crew at Arcanaut. See more on their website.
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It was only in 2020 that Frederique Constant decided to revamp their Highlife collection. I mention this as it seems that these relatively affordable, great looking integrated bracelet sports watches have been around for much longer. It just shows how timeless the design of both the funky case and the wonderful dial are. Just a few weeks ago, FC added two new dials to their Highlife model - a deep blue and dark green.
These new dials are part of their Highlife Automatic COSC family, which come in two sizes - 41mm and 39mm. However, the two new colors come in the smaller 39mm diameter case that’s 10.34mm thick. The case has a beautiful tonneau-shap with half-moon facets at either end and has a brushed finish with polished accents. Being a sports watch, the 100 meter water resistance is expected.
The two new colors are just lovely. The blue looks almost black in some shots, while the dark forest green tone is on par with much more expensive pieces. Both colors are engraved with the Highlife signature globe, while the baton hour and minute hands and the hour markers are treated with Super-LumiNova.
Inside is automatic calibre FC-303, which is Frederique Constant’s version of the familiar and robust Sellita SW200-1. The movement beats at 28,800vph and has a power reserve of 38 hours. While the SW200-1 is a great movement on it’s own, this one has been upgraded to COSC chronometer-certification standards. The watches come with two straps - an integrated H-shaped stainless steel bracelet with a folding buckle or a color matched textured rubber strap with a pin buckle.
The new Frederique Constant Highlife Automatic COSC 39mm models are priced at €1,995 and can be purchased now. See more on the Frederique Constant website.
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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 (more about OWs role in the Vietnam war is coming soon to Patreon subscribers). 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. Now, marking the 70th anniversary of the first B-52 flight, OW is releasing a recreation of the original watch called the M-52B AF.
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 luminous beige markings and a serrated edge.
Most similar to the 1966 version is the dial, which features the silhouette of the B-52 bomber in the centre. 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.
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 an extra CHF 126 for a stainless steel mesh bracelet.
I absolutely adore this watch. Not just for it’s incredible history, but also the very bold look and fantastic price. The Ollech & Wajs M-52B AF is priced at CHF 1,256 and only 56 pieces will be made, so I assume it will go quickly. To reserve a numbered edition, pre-orders open on 12 January 2024 at 12:00 CET. See more on the OW website.
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The democratisation of watch design and production has led us to a place where we can really have brands for every single niche interest. Take, for example, Nubeo, a brand that makes very interesting, very intensely designed watches, inspired by the deep sea and space, for not a lot of money. Their latest collection is a very capable group of divers named after the Ventana remotely operated vehicle, a legendary scientific submersible that can go down to 1700 meters. While the Ventana watch can’t really match the depth of the submersible it does go down to 1000 meters. It looks very much like the Seiko Tuna, but cranks the design all the way up.
It comes in a 50mm wide case and like the Tuna it has no lugs, making it easily wearable despite the size. All of the Ventana variants feature a deep wave patterned dial, with a helium escape valve at 9 o’clock, extra-large hands and indices, along with the oversize bezel pip. The watch comes in four colors. Basalt Grey has a black/grey half-half split bezel, a grey strap and 1000m depth rating in orange print on the dial, matching the tip of the second hand. Classic black has a red/blue Pepsi colored bezel and comes on a black strap, with the 1000m rating is printed in red, which also matches the tip of the second hand. Electric Lime has an intense green case, green bezel insert and green chapter ring, a white strap and the 1000m rating is printed in orange. The best might be Dark Magma, with a red case, black bezel insert with red markings, a red chapter ring, red surrounds on the hour markets and deep red hands.
Inside is the Seiko NH35 movement, a cheap but easily repairable (although not extremely accurate) movement. All four come on a thick silicon strap.
Each colorway of the Nubeo Ventana is limited to 400 pieces and each one is priced at $1,500. While I very much like the look of these watches, I’m not so sure I like the price, especially with such a cheap movement inside. It would be a home run in the $500 price range. At three times the price? Not for me. See more on the Nubeo webiste.
🫳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 likewatches
The Helicoprion name comes from an extinct genus of shark-like fish, which had a spiral of teeth in its lower jaw – the teeth increasing in size as it spiraled outwards. This creature, along with Heinrich’s latest watch, has also been dubbed the “Buzzsaw” due to the similar circular tooth configuration seen on the blade of a circular saw. While the Universal Genève reference also saw each tooth shifting to a darker or lighter shade as they increased in size, the Heinrich Helicoprion dial markings are presented in a single color as the teeth grow between each hour (or five minute) index.
⏲️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
While we were away, a lot has happened with the pedophile Jefferey Epstein case. The court has released a bunch of documents from the trial, which included a list of all the visitors to his island. But a while back, Leland Nally from Mother Jones did one of the most brilliant pieces of journalism - he got his hands on Epstein’s black book with contacts of all of his friends and called them to discuss their problematic friend. Speaking of Epstein, go back and read this legendary article from Vanity Fair in which we’re introduced to the mysterious finance guy for the first time. It’s funny to read all the fawning now that we know all that we know.
Scott Ostler’s profile on Matt Hutchinson, a curious and determined Bay Area detective with a knack for solving decades-long cold cases in his free time, is a great read. In the seven years Hutchinson has been part of the robbery-homicide unit at the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, he has solved eight cold cases—six homicides and two sexual assaults. Thinking out of the box, and also using today’s DNA testing and crime-solving tools, “[h]e has solved more cold cases in three years than any single detective in the last 15”. Not bad for someone off the clock.
Geoengineering doesn’t sound like a great idea. But there’s a group of scientists who claim that we should build a $500 million underwater wall to stop warm water from melting an important glacier. What could go wrong, right?
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
I am the furthest person you can find from a Luddite you can find. But I do have my doubts about the levels of enthusiasm about some technologies. NFTs are not the saviours of the art world, the Tesla Hyperloop is just a tunnel with some LEDs and you really shouldn’t give up all of your personal info to Big Tech. But my biggest doubt is the all-encompassing future of generative writing. While people will tell you with a straight face that ChatGPT can replace writers, it’s pretty clear that this will not happen any time soon. Here’s Stephen Fry reading a letter from Nick Cave on why ChatGPT will never replace writers. Also, just to be clear, this newsletter will never use AI to write any part of it.
💵Pre-loved precision
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