New Gold TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Is Peak Vintage Racing Cool, Fortis Releases Bold Flieger F-43 With Fratello, Lorier Makes Your 80s Action Star Dreams Come True, New Pieces From Micromilspec and Parmigiani

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Have you ever wanted to cut down a jungle with a gatling gun? Who hasn’t? Lorier is trying to give you just a taste of this with their Hydra Zulu, styled after action movies of the 80s. Not only is it cool, it’s incredible value for your money. Keep an eye out for this release.

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In this issue:

• The New 18k Gold TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Is An Incredibly Cool Throwback To Peak Formula 1 In The 70s

• Fortis And Fratello Work Together To Create The Very Bold, Very Brown Flieger F-43 Bicompax

• Lorier Releases The Hydra Zulu Inspired By Action Movies Of The 1980s And Is Amazing Value For Money

• Micromilspec’s New Watch Is Inspired By The Instruments The Norwegian Air Force Has In Their Planes

• Parmigiani Updates The Smaller And More Elegant 36mm Fleurier

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 29 seconds

👂What’s new

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The New 18k Gold TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Is An Incredibly Cool Throwback To Peak Formula 1 In The 70s

Brands love celebrating big anniversaries for their models. Mostly it’s a 20th or 30th anniversary. Occasionally they get up to 50. But at 60 or 70, that’s really impressive. But even at such a high number, the anniversary celebrations are somewhat lacklustre, with a limited edition or two and a nice graphic on the brand’s website. TAG Heuer, on the other hand, decided to go all out. 2023 is the 60th anniversary of the Carrera and TAG used this celebration to completely revamp their entire image. They came out with the Carrera Glassbox which is just stunning, they reached deep into their history for models like the Skipper and had some amazing collaborations, like the recent work with Team Ikuzawa and Porsche for the Glassbox with the very weird chronograph movement.

Now, this celebration is coming to it’s crescendo. TAG Heuer is releasing the Carrera Chronograph Glassbox Gold Edition, an incredible gold piece that pays homage to TAG and Heuer’s incredible connection with Formula 1.

The 70s were the golden age (see what I did there?) for both Heuer and Formula 1, with Heuer being a sponsor to many teams. And at the time, there is no more famous Heuer model than the solid gold Calibre 11 Heuer Carrera. The Calibre 11 is just one of many gold Heuers that Jack Heuer liked to give to Formula 1 race winners gold Carreras throughout the decade. These gold Carreras have become the stuff of legends in the vintage Heuer community (speaking of old Heuers, seeing as how TAG is reaching into their history for a number of recreations, the sixth edition I write for Patreon subscribers will feature a look at what other watches they should remake).

The new Glassbox Gold Edition features an 1K 3N yellow gold case that measures 39mm in diameter with brushed finishing and polished gold chronograph pushers. As a Glassbox model it has the signature curved sapphire crystal and it looks particularly crisp on this model, especially with its seamless connection to the equally gold dial.

The gold dial gets vertical brushing, surrounded by a golden tachymeter. It’s all very soft in this particular shade of gold. The yellow tone is accented by the black subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock, which look fabulous with their delicate snailing. Unfortunately, the date window at 6 o’clock is not color matched, but that's the only one thing you can complain about.

Inside the watch is the Heuer 02 Calibre TH20-00, an automatic chronograph that has central hours, minutes and chronograph seconds, 12-hour subdial, 30-minute subdial, small seconds subdial and date. You also get 80 hours of power reserve and the movement is decorated with Côtes de Genève finishing and partially skeletonised rotor. The watch comes on a delightfully retro racing perforated leather strap.

The regular steel Glassbox Carrera is priced at CHF 6,300, which is significantly less than the new Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Glassbox Gold which is priced at CHF 21,000. A chunk of change, and it would be an amazing deal if it came with a gold bracelet, but even as such, I think it’s worth it. Also, this will be a regular model and not limited. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

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Fortis And Fratello Work Together To Create The Very Bold, Very Brown Flieger F-43 Bicompax

It seems that every single watch media outlet out there is teaming up with a watch brand to create special editions. These are very convenient partnerships for both sides, understandably, but very often they can feel uninspired and routine. But then there are brands like Zodiac whose recent collaboration with Worn & Wound was just incredibly different, with all the black light tricks and 90s inspiration. On that path of very well thought out collaborations is this new one between Fortis and Fratello for the custom Fortis Flieger F-43 Bicompax which has an incredible brown color scheme.

Like all good pilot’s watches, the Flieger chronograph is a substantial watch and measures 43mm wide, 15 mm thick and has a 55mm lug-to-lug. While this sounds pretty large, the photos I’ve seen of it on wrists don’t make it look excessively huge. But your experience will, of course, vary. The watch has a sapphire crystal from which a bidirectional rotating bezel slopes up to a coin edge.

However, that dial… That’s a thing of beauty. Finished in a light brown color and with vertical brushing, it looks like a solid piece of wood. Around the outer edge of the dial is a contrasting black minute track with large luminous indexes. The black is matched on the bi-compax layout of the chronograph sub-dials at 3 and 9 o’clock with a snailed finish. The hands are sword shaped with lume inside them, while the seconds hand is lacquered in bright orange for three-quarters of its length. The orange also shows up on the outer perimeter, between 11 and 1 o’clock, as well as the outline for the 30-minute chronograph counter and the date window at 6 o’clock.

Inside is the Fortis Calibre UW-51 which already comes in the F-43. This movement is based on the Sellita SW510, beats at 28,800vhp and has a power reserve of 48 hours. The watch comes on a hybrid FKM rubber and fabric strap that matches the dial and looks amazing.

The Flieger F-43 Fratello Capsule Edition is not a limited edition but rather an exclusive capsule edition that’s only available through Fratello’s shop. Orders open on October 25 and the watch is priced at €2,980 excluding taxes. The first 25 are available for shipping immediately, with a second batch of 25 available two weeks after the launch. Further batches of 50 watches will take about six months to be built and shipped. See more on Fratello’s website.

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Lorier Releases The Hydra Zulu Inspired By Action Movies Of The 1980s And Is Amazing Value For Money 

Arnold Schwarzenegger wore a Seiko H558-5009 in Predator, Tom Cruise wore an Orfina Porsche Design Chronograph in Top Gun and Timothy Dalton wore a Tag Heuer Ref. 980.031N in the James Bond picture The Living Daylights. The 1980s was a decade of over-the-top action, dueling fighter jets, big guns and bulging biceps. Action heroes were at the height of their bravado, and they had the watches to match. These three watches are listed on the Lorier website as the direct influence for their latest release - the Hydra Zulu.

Lorier is a small brand based in NYC operated by the husband and wife team of Lorenzo and Lauren Ortega who have been making amazing enthusiast-loved rugged watches at amazing prices. This Zulu variant, based on the third iteration of the Lorier Hydra, comes in a 41mm wide, 14.6mm thick and with a lug-to-lug of 46mm. Instead of the untreated stainless steel case of the SIII, with the Zulu you get a black DLC coating which right on character. Or, as Lorier puts it on their website: “nothing says '80s Action Hero quite like a black tool watch. Just like the movies they were featured in, they were loud, brash, and badass”.

The watch is covered with a very domed Hesalite crystal, also very much in character, and Lorier dispels any worries about it’s durability by providing you with a Polywatch tube and polishing cloth to keep it looking like new. You also have 200 meters of water resistance. The first decorated caseback in the collection, the Zulu's features a depiction of the mythical Hydra, inspired by symbols painted on the shields of Ancient Greek Hoplites.

The dial is simple and black, with fauxtina lume on the hour markers, an aperture at 6 o’clock for the color matched date window and it’s surrounded by a light green 24-hour track for the GMT hand to track a second time zone. Most of the watch is slathered in lume and Lorier played an awesome trick here. They use two different luminous compounds to separate time zones: light orange Superluminova for local and dive times, and green C3 to track a second time zone.

Inside the watch is the very familiar Miyota 9075, which allows the wearer to jump the local hour hand, meaning that it’s a “true” GMT movement. It beats at 28,800 vph, 4Hz and has a power reserve of about 42 hours, as well as a date indicator that sits at 3 o’clock. The watch comes on a very distinct rubber strap from Bonetto Cinturini.

The Hydra - Zulu Special Edition will be in stock Friday, November 10, at 11 AM US Eastern Time. Price is pretty incredible, like most Lorier watches - $599. This is spectacular value for money, especially if you value the over-the-topness of 80s action stars and want to feel like one at least a tiny bit. See more about the watch on the Lorier website.

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Micromilspec’s New Watch Is Inspired By The Instruments The Norwegian Air Force Has In Their Planes

You can’t exactly buy MICROMILSPEC watches. Since 2019 they have been making watches in Norway for military and first responders, mostly in Norway, the U.S. and Canada. Pretty much the only way you are getting your hands on one is if you commission special project from them for your team, or if you meet some of the strict requirements they put on their customers. For example, their last watch, one made for the U.S. Space Force, was made in two variants - one that could only be purchased by Space Force members and another that was available for civilians, but only those who have a U.S. shipping address.

Now they have a new model available to the public, one that will be a bit easier to purchase for people around the world. If they can get one of the 100 limited pieces. The watch is called the HERCULES and it is built in partnership with the Norwegian Air Force’s 335 Squadron. The watch is named after the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the legendary transport plane.

The watch comes in a micro-blasted stainless steel with a matte black PVD finish case that measures 42mm wide and 12.5mm thick. The dial is a black two-part sandwich dial with green details, infused with Super-LumiNova, which is made to mimic the heads-up display of a plane like the Hercules.

Inside is the self-winding Sellita SW200 mechanical movement, with a power reserve of 38 hours. It’s robust and very available, so pretty much any watchmaker should be able to service it. The watch comes on either a black PVD bracelet, a leather strap or a rubber strap.

The MICROMILSPEC Hercules will be limited to 100 pieces and is on sale right now. Prices start at $1,500 for the version on the rubber strap and go up to $1,700 for a bundle that gives you all three strap options. See more on the MICROMILSPEC website.

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Parmigiani Updates The Smaller And More Elegant 36mm Fleurier

In the past several years, Parmigiani has been focusing most of their efforts on the Tonda PF collection, cranking out variant after variant, complication after complication. Finally, they’re offering something new, but don’t expect a revolutionary new collection. It’s just a slight update to the Fleurier line in the 36mm case, which now comes in a new two-tone steel and gold model and a fancier version with a rich ruby-coloured dial and diamond indices.

This 36mm version comes in smaller than the original 40mm, but gains a bit in thickness - from 7.8mm of the original to 8.6mm of the 36mm version. It’s not a huge increase and it still comes in very slim. The 36mm version also loses the date window when compared to the 40mm.

The new model now gets a two-tone rose gold and stainless steel case, with rose gold appearing on the knurled bezel and as the second vertical brushed link on the 5-link bracelet to move your eye through the shape of the watch. This two-tone version comes with a sandy grey dial decorated with a hand-guilloché barleycorn pattern.

The second 36mm Tonda PF Automatic comes in an 18k rose gold case with a beautiful plum colored hand-guilloché dial set with 12 baguette-cut diamond indices. It comes with a matching plum alligator strap.

Both models are powered by an automatic in-house movement calibre PF770 designed specifically to fit inside the 36mm case. Equipped with a central 22k gold skeletonised rotor, the movement is still exceptionally slim (3.9mm) and delivers a power reserve of 60 hours.

The Tonda PF Automatic in rose gold with diamond indices and an integrated rose gold bracelet retails for CHF 52,900 or CHF 37,000 on the alligator strap, while the two-tone sells for CHF 24,000. See more on the Parmigiani website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands-On With The New Fortis Novonaut N-42 Collection

2/

A review of the Louis Vuitton x Akrivia LVRR-01 Chronograph á Sonnerie

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

Up Close And Personal With The Minimalist Kurono Tokyo Grand Urushi Aoyama Edition

When you buy a new car, a point comes when know when you’ve made the right choice. After the honeymoon period, if you glance back after parking, it’s love. I’ll still have a second glance when I put this watch away for the night. The slim, perfect 37mm case has much to do with that. It is a soft wrist presence, and the chameleonic orange-brown flash in the sunlight only makes me love its vibe more. When paired with a dark overshirt or suit jacket, its dapper looks never fail to draw comments. Do I need to know the exact minute of the hour? No. I can gauge it closely enough, and the zen of the dial is addictive. It gives the urushi the space to shine, literally. Read the whole story on Fratello.

⏲️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

• Have you ever wondered why the hour and minute are divided into 60 subsections and why a day has 24 hours? It turns out it all has to do with the very early ways of counting and how ancient people kept track of numbers around them.

• Hackers from the 'ACG' group popped champagne and bought sports cars. Then the group and its associates ushered in a bold new era of crime where anything is possible.

• Robert Konashewych was a young police officer with expensive tastes, two girlfriends and a mountain of debt. Heinz Sommerfeld was recently deceased with a large unclaimed estate. Problem, meet solution,

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Bowl of Salmon does some great videos. And great video is just what the new Studio Underd0g watches need, so I’ll shut up and you watch.

💵Pre-loved precision

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