Omega Adds Gradient Turquoise Dial To Seamaster Aqua Terra; Vulcain Teams Up With Massena LAB For A Sensational Nautical; Brew's New Take On The Metric; Urwerk Has A New UR-230 In White Ceramic

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Just when I thought that we’re entering a Christmas lull in releases, Omega is here, knocking on the door with new releases. Interesting strategy. The AT aside, the Vulcain is a dream watch…

Become A Paid Subscriber, Help Me Publish This Newsletter

If you ever liked an issue of this newsletter and you wanted to help me keep publishing it, you do so by subscribing to the paid version of the newsletter or, you can get the same paid content over at the Patreon. For $6 per month or $60 per year you get about 260 additional posts per year, including exclusive watch overviews, early reviews, watch history insights, and more.

Oh, and if you’re not sure, you can try out the paid subscription with a free trial, no credit card required. Just click here.

Thank you for being here. Your support means everything!

In this issue:

• Omega Adds a Gradient Turquoise Dial To The Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m Shades Collection

• Vulcain Teams Up With Massena LAB For A Sensational Vintage Take On The Cricket Nautical

• Brew Has A New Take On The Metric, It’s The Super Metric With Some Great Colors

• Urwerk Introduces The New UR-230 Polaris Now In White Ceramic

👂What’s new

1/

Omega Adds a Gradient Turquoise Dial To The Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m Shades Collection

Omega doesn’t participate in an official manner in any of the big watch shows where most brands release a bunch of models all at once. That means that they then take a few key weeks in the year and reveal pretty much everything. But it’s usually all within one week. With this being an Olympic year which saw them introduce a whole bunch of new models dedicated to the Olympic Games, this meant that a lot of their other releases were pushed towards the latter part of the year. And what a few weeks it’s been. First, there was the no-date Seamaster Diver 300M duo, followed by the same watch in green and bronze, only to top out with the spectacular Speedmaster Pilot. Well, there was one more release (hopefully the last one this year — I love you Omega, but chill…), but this one was very quiet. It’s a new dial for the Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m Shades collection, this one in a gradient turquoise color and in both the 41mm and 38mm versions. I am pretty notoriously not a fan of the Aqua Terra collection, so don’t mind me as I don’t go crazy over this release.

You know this collection, even though it is slightly different from the regular Aqua Terra collection. It’s less sporty and more dressy, with a fully polished case, a different bracelet and completely untextured dials that come with a sunray-brushed finish and bright colors. Like I said, there are two sizes of the watch available, but they share a couple of basic facts — the dials are turquoise in the centre, fading to a black on the edges. The triangular applied markers, applied logo and hands are coated in dark grey PVD. At 6 o’clock is a date aperture with a dark grey date disc inside. They also have the same 150 meter water resistance, and the same bracelet with rounded links.

They share the looks, but the hardware is ever so different. The larger of the two comes in a stainless steel case that measures 41mm wide, 13.3mm thick and with a 47.9mm lug-to-lug. Inside is the calibre 8900, a co-axial escapement automatic that’s a Master Chronometer, METAS certified with 2 barrels that give you 60 hours of power reserve. The smaller measures in at 38mm wide, 12.4mm thick and with a 44.9mm lug-to-lug. Inside, you get a different movement, the calibre 8800 with the same METAS certification, co-axial escapement, but with a single barrel and 55 hour power reserve.

The new Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m Gradient Turquoise is coming to stores soon at a price of €7,300 for either of the two sizes. See more on the Omega website.

2/

Vulcain Teams Up With Massena LAB For A Sensational Vintage Take On The Cricket Nautical

Massena LAB, a design studio led by William Massena, has built up a name for itself with some pretty sensational vintage-inspired watches. I love pretty much everything they have done. But their latest release just might be absolute perfection. At leas as far as I’m concerned. Massena LAB has teamed up with Vulcain for a wonderful take on the Cricket Nautical, one of my favorite watches of all time. Is it finally time I treat myself everything I’ve done with this newsletter? Maybe…

On the outside, nothing has changed. And that’s just fine. The stainless steel case measure 42mm wide and a whopping 17.5mm thick. “What?”, you may ask yourself… How is this fairly simple dive watch that thick? Well, there’s very good reason for it, especially since the thickness matches the original dive watch with an alarm from Vulcain. The thickness is in large part due to the ultra-domed sapphire crystal on top, but even more so due to the triple case back which acts as a resonance chamber for the mechanical alarm inside. On the right side of the case is a traditional crown to set the time at 3 o’clock, flanked by a pusher for the alarm at 2 and a crown for the rotating dial at 4. Water resistance is 300 meters.

But what is special about this release is the dial that’s been designed by Massena LAB. It’s rendered in an almost tropically faded shade of chocolate brown with a brushed finish. Even better, the hands have been redesigned — baton on the hours, a very cool arrowhead for the minutes, red arrow alarm hand, and lollipop hand for the centre seconds. The hands, as well as the markers on the dial are all rendered in a bit of fauxtina beige lume. Not new for this edition, but still cool on the Vulcain Nautical, is the fact that the entire dial can be rotated to reveal a decompression table underneath which helps divers figure out the lenght of time they need to spend at various depths.

Inside is the Cricket Alarm Calibre V10, a very interesting movement. In a world where everything is power by some sort of an ETA clone, this is pretty much the same movement that’s been around since 1947. It has some very interesting features, like a buzzing hammer system for the alarm, the Exactomatic — a patented device to equalise the friction on the balance-wheel axis in all positions, and a twin barrel architecture. Despite having twin barrels and running at only 2.5Hz, power reserve is only 42 hours. That’s because the other barrel is used for the alarm system. The watch comes on a black rubber strap.

The Vulcain Nautical Legacy Massena LAB is a very limited edition of only 25 pieces. It’s priced at $4,950. Hey, if any of you want to book an ad in the newsletter, let me know. We’ll work a great deal out, because I really want this watch. See more on the Massena LAB website.

3/

Brew Has A New Take On The Metric, It’s The Super Metric With Some Great Colors

I love how Brew is doubling down on what they do best. Centered around the concept of timing the perfect shot of espresso, Brew has released a couple of dozen watches that have deep roots in vintage design. In reality, they only had two models, but with many, many, many color variations. And they do it incredibly well, at a great price. Now, they have a new model. Or do they? Because the new Brew Super Metric Chronograph is very familiar to people who know the Metric collection. But at the same time, a bit different.

The case retains pretty much the same shape of the Metric. It’s a cushion shape with an integrated bracelet, very inspired by 1970s chronographs. The stainless steel case measures 36mm wide, 10.75mm thick, with a 41.5mm length, with brushed surfaces and a flat crystal on top. On the side is a polished crown, flanked by two pushers — one polished and one anodized orange. Water resistance is 50 meters.

Where the watches shine is on the dials. They all share the same rectangle sub-dials with cool positioning — at 6 for the small seconds with a vertical orientation, and at 10 o’clock for the 60-minute timer with a horizontal orientation. They all have vertical lined connecting the two sub-dials, grained finishes on the dial bases and a sloping flange on the preiphery that holds the minute scale. This chronograph seconds scale also has a highlighted portion between 25 and 35 seconds, which is the perfect timing for an Espresso shot.

There are four color options for the new Super Metric. The Burnt Orange is a combination of black, grey and orange; the Royal Blue has dark blue, grey, black and yellow; Electric Blue light blue, orange, yellow, black, grey and white; while the Lumina Yellow uses yellow, orange, dark blue, grey and black colors. They are all pretty good color combinations.

Inside is the Seiko VK68 meca-quartz movement, which combines the best of both worlds. It gives you the precision of quartz to tell the time and the smoothness of a mechanical movement when you start the chronograph. The watches come on integrated steel bracelets.

The Brew Watches Super Metric collection is available right now and priced at €458. See more on the Brew website.

4/

Urwerk Introduces The New UR-230 Polaris Now In White Ceramic

Go look over the Urwerk website and you’ll see how many of their watches are black hunks of metal or composite materials with extremely bright accents on the numerals or movement components. So their new UR-230 Polaris comes as bit of a surprise as it comes in a stark white, and it suits it really nicely.

The case of the new UR-230 Polaris is quite large, measuring 44.81mm wide, 18.38mm thick and 53.55mm long, as you would expect from a UR-230. The big difference is the new color, which is achieved with the use of a very cool ceramic-based composite. Urwerk takes a polymer base and interweaves it with sheets of ceramic and lightweight silver-toned fiberglass plies. The color comes from the resin, which is machined to achieve the final shape, revealing all the layers inside. Very cool. Also, unlike the previous UR-230, it doesn’t have the cover for the crystal — instead, it’s completely opened.

There’s no dial to speak of. Instead, you get a look at the three-armed carrousel that carries rotating hour cubes for the wandering hours complication. The cube that points towards the wearer shows the correct time, and there’s a three-dimensional retrograde hand that sweeps along a dedicated track for the minutes. The hours, markers and automatic winding indicator all have white Super-LumiNova that glows blue. The 60-minute mark and the “Off” position for automatic winding are hand-painted with red lume that glows green.

Inside is the UR-7.30 calibre which beats at 4Hz, with a 48 hour power reserve. The movement has a dual turbine system that minimizes the impact of external shocks and optimizes airflow to the winding mechanism. An adjustable “air brake” also allows fine-tuning of the winding efficiency. The watch comes on a rubber strap with a Velcro closure.

The new Urwerk UR-230 Polaris is available now, limited to 35 pieces. Price is set at CHF 150,000, without tax. See more on the Urwerk website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the new black Omega Seamaster Diver 300M

2/

Hands on with the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain Vertical

3/

A review of the TAG Heuer Monaco Skeletonized Chronograph in black and pink

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Crafter Blue Mechanic Ocean MkII confounds expectations

The Mechanic Ocean MkII actually forms the entry level into Crafter Blue’s watches, but you still get 300 metres of water resistance and features such as a 120-click unidirectional rotating bezel, which is DLC-coated and riveted into place (part of that overall feeling of gratifying solidity that I mentioned earlier). The action of the bezel is a delight, with just the right compromise between give and firmness, while the blue pip at the top gives it a distinctive purposefulness, co-ordinating with the seconds hand and the lume.

Read the whole review on Watch Gecko

⏲️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

• TCL, a Chinese electronics company, is the largest TV manufacturer on Earth. It’s also in the business of creating content and now owns Hollywood’s historic Chinese Theatre. For 404 Media, Jason Koebler recounts his visit to the iconic venue, where he previewed the first short AI-generated films for commercial streaming. Everything—from the movies to TCL’s strategy behind this AI-powered content—was as soul-sucking as you’d expect.

• In this fascinating read that blends ancient history, art, culture, and pigment science, Mark Viales profiles an Indigenous Maya ceramicist in Mexico who has successfully recreated the iconic Maya blue pigment, a color that had disappeared for centuries.

• Imagine: You’re sitting on a bench at a museum, quietly observing a painting. Suddenly, a group of people stroll by and snap pictures of the artwork on their iPhones. They share their photos on Instagram; they scan the QR code on the wall next to the piece; they linger and chat. You’re annoyed by it all, until the next horde of patrons do the same. Is this what museum-going now entails? In The Nation, Francesca Billington talks with Claire Bishop, an art historian and the author of Disordered Attention, about the new ways people interact with art. Doing so with a smartphone in hand is not all bad, says Bishop. In fact, it’s a return to “a premodern form of sociability,” and a more realistic approach to engaging with art. Not sure if you agree? Read their conversation to decide.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

We’re all nerds here, so please enjoy 25 minutes of a nerd talking about pencils.

-Vuk