Longines Releases Adventure-Themed Green HydroConquest 41mm, Bausele Goes Very Black With The Black Pearl, AVI-8 Pays Homage To The Best Video Game Ever, And New Watches From Linde Werdelin And Spinnaker

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It’s Monday and I’m still debating whether to cut down on the number of issues over the summer when there are fewer releases. So, if you don’t get this tomorrow, that’s what happened 😃 

Also, invite your friends or fill out the survey to enter the giveaway. We’re giving away four Seiko 5 Sports SKX ‘Midi’ in a color of your choice.

In this issue:

• Longines Will Take You On A Classy Adventure With The New HydroConquest 41mm

• Linde Werdelin Debuts a New Oktopus with a Very Interesting Moon Phase Complication

• AVI-8 Releases Limited Edition Flyboy Spectacularly Dedicated To The Cult Capcom “1942” Video Game

• The New Bausele Sydney Diver Black Pearl Is A Very Black, Very Cool Collaborative Dive Watch

• The New Limited Spinnaker Bradner Automatic Bascom Is Just Different And Just Affordable Enough To Be A Great Daily Beater

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 1 second

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👂What’s new

1/

Longines Will Take You On A Classy Adventure With The New HydroConquest 41mm

Longines is slowly becoming the watchmaker with the most complete and accessible lineup out there. Sure, nobody can do it all and Longines is missing out on the highest of ends of horology. But everything else? They have it well covered and they’re only working to introduce more. They have great chronographs, elegant, vintage-inspired dress watches, field watches, retro dive watches… They have it all. They also have a great collection of modern dive and sports watches in the HydroConquest. Now they’re introducing a new model, with a vintage color scheme and modern looks, inspired by adventure - the HydroConquest 41mm.

This is a great looking watch with an attractive combination of colors and textures. It’s based on the mid-size 41mm version of the regular HydroConquest, but with major changes. The case is identical to all other editions, with large lugs and crown guards, a unidirectional bezel with a 60-minute scale, an anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal, a deeply engraved solid steel back, a screw-down crown and a 300m water-resistance.

What changes are the colours and some of the textures. First, the ceramic bezel is green with a cream-coloured, patina-like diving scale. Then, contrary to all other references, the dial gets a black colour and, for the first time for a HydroConquest, a finely grained texture. Matching the bezel, all elements of the dial – applied numerals, markers and hands – are filled with cream-coloured Super-LumiNova. Even the date, printed on a black disc, is done in this vintage cream tone. .

Inside is the automatic calibre L888.3 (a refined ETA 2892 base), it incorporates a silicon hairspring and boasts a solid 72h power reserve. The watch comes on a decent solid 3-link steel bracelet with folding clasp and diving extension, but you can also mount it on a stunning green textile NATO strap which matches the watch perfectly.

This new Longines HydroConquest 41mm are priced, regardless of whether you get it on a NATO or a bracelet, at EUR 1,950, which is the usual price for this collection. I’m more and more, especially in this colorway, inclined to say this is the best value for money in watches you can get now. See more on the Longines website.

2/

Linde Werdelin Debuts a New Oktopus with a Very Interesting Moon Phase Complication

I cannot repeat this enough: one of the main reasons I love writing these updates is discovering new brands. Take, for example, Linde Werdelin. Yesterday, I had no idea they even existed. Today, I’m in love. The love is a heartbroken one, as you’ll see by the end of this writeup, when you’re smacked in the face by the price. But man, are these watches amazing.

To be 100% fair, I knew Linde Werdelin existed, I just never paid much attention to them, which was a mistake. It’s a luxury Swiss-Danish watchmaker founded in 2002 by Morten Linde and Jorn Werdelin and specializes in crafting limited and numbered series of watches and instruments. Their lates watch is a new version of their Oktopus model, the Oktopus Moon 3DTP White Black Ink, which gives a monochromatic of their moon complication with space age carbon materials.

This Oktopus is hugely oversized - 44mm wide and 15mm thick. Which makes sense, as it’s obviously meant to be a statement piece. It’s completely made out of a composite material which is a three dimensional, thin ply carbon (3D, TP, naturally). Linde Werdelin says this material differs from other carbon composite materials or forged carbon in that it uses a technique of layering ultra thin layers of carbon atop one another to achieve the desired strength while remaining very light. This technique apparently also allows for maximum design flexibility, and lets Linde Werdelin do its thing with the case shape of the Oktopus, which is a complex 8-sided structure with broad facets at the top of the case, adjacent to the white ceramic bezel.

The skeletonized “black ink” dial is composed of a total of five layers, with a prominent, and fully lumed, moon phase display running on a sub-layer around the dial’s perimeter. It’s a nontraditional execution of perhaps the most traditional complication in watchmaking. In spite of the dial’s skeletonization and the additional information being brought to the fore by the moon phase display, everything remains surprisingly legible. This is thanks in large part to the oversized Arabic numerals at 12, 3, and 9 and the broad titanium hands that immediately help you to localize the current time at a glance, at least in an approximate if not completely precise manner.

While it is a statement piece, it’s not all for showing off - it’s an actual sports watch. It has a water resistance rating of 300 meters and plenty of tech forward materials throughout, beyond the 3DTP used in the case (titanium is used on the caseback, crown, and in the screws holding the bezel in place, in addition to the already mentioned ceramic bezel). It’s kind of hard to determine what the watch is powered by, but the brand themselves say: “a bespoke movement with an in house graphic moonphase complication, which was originally conceived and developed in 2009 together with renowned Danish master watchmaker Svend Andersen of Andersen Geneve”. It beats at 28,800vph (4 Hz) and has a 42 hour power reserve.

You can get the watch right now and it should be part of the permanent collection. The price stings the eyes - € 19,716, but I can’t blame them. It’s a really great watch. See more on the brand’s website.

3/

AVI-8 Releases Limited Edition Flyboy Spectacularly Dedicated To The Cult Capcom “1942” Video Game

Even if you don’t remember it by name, I’m willing to bed you played “1942”. It was an insanely popular arcade video game that was later remade for systems like the NES, GameBoy and Playstation. In it, you fly a Lockheed P-38 Lightning bi-fuselage plane on missions to deliver payloads and evade enemy. It’s an absolute classic, but also among the last video games I would say would make great collaboration material for a watch brand. For any watch brand, that is, other than AVI-8. You see, AVI-8 is made up of a group of incredible aviation nerds that make very affordable plane-themed watches that look great. And their latest watch is a fantastic homage to our favorite flying game - 1942 - done in the most amazing way.

What seems to be the best quality of this collaboration is it’s subtlety. There are no cheesy “1942” logos on the dial. There is no forced branding with “Capcom” written on the face (instead, it is elegantly engraved in an era-appropriate pixel font into the side of the steel case), and there are no overt design cues that tell onlookers you as an adult are trying to be reminded of a video game. It’s a great looking pilot’s watch, with the subtlest of hints that it’s paying homage to a great game.

Tiny applied planes on the dial are a giveaway that this is a 1942 homage, but only if you played it before. The P-38 Lightning is set just above 6 o’clock but almost blends into the textured dial, while the enemy planes are scattered just as inconspicuously around the dial. The applied 12, 6 and 9 markers are applied and designed to look like the font from the video game, and the Lightning shows up again as the counterweight on the seconds hand.

The watch comes in two references. The AV-4104-11 comes in a brushed steel 41mm wide and 12mm thick case that is water resistant to 50 meters. It has a textured blue dial covered by a flat AR-coated sapphire crystal and a tapering metal bracelet with a locking folding deployant. The AV-4104-22 is the exact same watch, but in a black-coated steel case and a black dial. Both of the watches are limited to 300 pieces each.

LIke I said, AVI-8 makes affordable watches, so don’t expect much of the movement inside. It’s great that they didn’t opt for a cheap quartz movement, but rather for a mechanical one. It’s the very well known Seiko SII NH35-DS. Not great, but very familiar.

The watch comes in a fantastic looking box, fit for a limited edition much more expensive than what AVI-8 is asking for. You also get a strap changing tool in it, along with a leather and fabric strap option. The silver reference AV-4104-11 has a retail price of just $365 and the black AV-4104-22 has a retail price of $385 USD. Head on over to the AVI-8 website to see more, and definitely check out the box the watch comes in.

4/ 

The New Bausele Sydney Diver Black Pearl Is A Very Black, Very Cool Collaborative Dive Watch

I recently wrote about the Bausele Sydney Diver: Endless Sunrise, which launched with four new colors, and you guys loved it. Good news! They have a new watch out. It’s the limited edition Bausele Sydney Diver Black Pearl, a pitch black diver inspired by the work of military and first responders that Bausele has created with Luke Eldridge from Frogsquad Straps and Eric Ricioppo, founder and host of Rico’s Watches Podcast.

The Bausele Sydney Diver Black Pearl features a black IP-finished 39.5mm sandblasted stainless steel case that is 11.6mm thick and has a 47mm lug-to-lug length and a 200m water resistance rating. Like other Bausele models, the screw-down crown is filled with sand from Bausele founder Christophe Hoppé’s home beach in Manly, Australia, and this is visible through the crown cap. Tha caseback has a special engraving emphasizing the collaboration of the three parties involved. It also has an engraving with each watch’s unique limited-edition number of the 100 pieces available.

The watch has a sandwich dial with cut out indices that are filled with white Super-LumiNova that glows green. The same treatment is seen on the the sword-style hands and all the markings on the 60-minute dive bezel. On the black dial’s periphery is a minute track executed in white, while the tip of the seconds hand and the text on the lower half of the dial is a nice shade of red.

Inside the watch is the very familiar Sellita SW200-1. As most of you will know, this 26-jewel automatic movement operates at 28,800vph and has a 38-hour power reserve. The Black Pearl also comes with two black straps. The first is a black Parafrog strap courtesy of Frogsquad that comes with hook and loop tabs to strap it on your wrist. The second is a black Tropic-style strap with a black IP stainless steel buckle.

The Bausele Sydney Diver Black Pearl is priced at $1,200. However, Bausele is offering a 20% pre-order discount until the 15th of August, bringing the price to $960 and that seems like a great deal. Check out the Bausele website for more.

5/

The New Limited Spinnaker Bradner Automatic Bascom Is Just Different And Just Affordable Enough To Be A Great Daily Beater

Spinnaker might not be at the very top of microbrands alongside Autodromo, Farer, Cristopher Ward (are they still a micro?), Zelos and Unimatic, but this does not mean they do not deserve a special spot among the micros. What Spinnaker seems to specialize in is taking known watch shapes and genres and giving them a completely new twist, be it through colors, materials or shapes. Their new watch is the Spinnaker Bradner Automatic Bascom Limited Edition, which is a completely new look for a dive watch.

The Bascom Limited Edition features a fully brushed 42mm compressor-style stainless steel case that measures 15mm-thick with a 47.5mm lug width. While it’s not incredibly wide, that 15mm thickness will be a problem to many. I trust that the curved lugs with fitter endlinks help, but not that much. The watch is controled with two anodized aluminum crowns. The bright red one moves the internal bezel, while the blue one sets the time and date. While the 2 o’clock crown doesn’t screw down, the watch has a very weird 180 meters of water resistance

One of the main reasons for that 15mm thickness is the depth of dials and bezels that are underneath the crystal. The bezel has raised pips and the numerals rise a bit higher and have a healthy dose of lume. The handset and applied markers have the same Super-LumiNova as the bezel, with brushed metal surrounds and an hour hand that bulges like a pill. The main dial offers a brooding swirl of greys and is made from forged carbon fiber. That carbon is intermingled with lume, meaning that parts of the dial glow.

Inside is the Seiko NH35, same as the above mentioned AVI-8. You know it to have a 41-hour power reserve at 21,600 vph, but it’s also good to note that this movement is quoted at -20/+40 seconds per day, so don’t expect much.

The Spinnaker Bradner Bascom Limited Edition SP-5111-11 is limited to 200 pieces and individualy numbered, priced at a very affordable $390. There will be two aditional watches, also limited to 200 pieces - a gold Medallion (SP-5111-22) and black Stealth (SP-5111-33) model, both priced at $430. For more information, visit the brand’s website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

Hands-on with the Omega Seamaster 300M Diver 60 Years of James Bond Edition in Canopus gold, a watch for the Bond villains

2/

A review of the Sternglas Hamburg Automatik Edition Neuwerk

3/

A look at the very fun Fossil Star Wars watch collaboration 

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

Direnzo revisit and reworks an early, but important, model for the brand – the DRZ 02

The case lines are interesting, to say the least. Looking directly at the watch, face on, there isn’t much to see in the way of definition or exuberance. The soft lines that run up the left and right flanks are bordered by a polished chamfer, but what remains is an expanse of brushed steel. Even as you pick the watch up to strap it to your wrist though, you know that’s only part of the story. In profile, the elliptical case sides—taking inspiration from vintage Bugatti automobiles—play well against the rather flatter top surface. Those case sides are also slightly concave, which makes wearing the watch a very tactile experience as well as an aesthetic one.

⏲️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

• Tom Cruise just might be the only living actor who is a true superstar. His dedication to making extremely entertaining movies is becoming ridiculous, and none of us are willing to say it, but we are surely all waiting for him to kill himself while performing a stunt. Despite being one of the most famous men on the planet, his private life is notoriously private. So private, in fact, that nobody knows where he lives. Writer Caity Weaver embarks on a journey to find the world’s most elusive movie star

• I’m not a huge country fan, but I have been known to give it a listen every now and then. I’ve been following the recent Jason Aldean controversy, and just as I was reading that, I stumbled on this piece about the culture wars around country and how Nashville is changing. It’s a very niche article, but some of you might like it.

• A gamer himself, Luc Rinaldi brings personal insight into his reporting on the families bringing a lawsuit against Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games. A deftly woven mix of liability law, Fortnite’s history, and a powerful case study.

• I usually do three additional readings, but this is just so good I had to throw it in. The survey I run lets me know a lot about you, so I know that there’s a bunch of you subscribed that are young enough to have grown up without dial up internet. For you, here’s a glimpse into a world of old internet. For the rest of us, here’s a bit of nostalgia. This piece about a guy who got a personal letter from the president of his ISP for being online for a continuous 20 hours will take you back to the 90s.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

The NPR Tiny Desk Concert series is perhaps one of the best concepts to ever grace YouTube. It’s musicians playing a small concert, unplugged, sitting at a desk. And this most recent performance by Cypress Hill is just brilliant.

💵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: 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

• 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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