Omega Brings Worldtimer To Planet Ocean For The First Time; Unimatic Makes Best Looking Space Watch; An Engraved ML Aikon; Dior Updates The Cool Chiffre Rouge; Schwarz Etienne's Black Geometry

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I know your immediate reaction to the Omega will be as puzzled as my own. But just keep in mind that we have a mainstream brand that released a watch as insane as this. And then let’s try to figure out who it’s made for.

In this issue:

• Omega Introduces The Worldtimer Complication To The Planet Ocean For The First Time

• Unimatic And Massena LAB Release Perhaps The Best Looking (New) Space Watch, The Modello Uno U1-SPG

• Maurice Lacroix Teams Up With California-Based Artist Wotto For An Engraved And Colorful Aikon

• Dior Updates The Very Cool Red Dial Chiffre Rouge Chronograph

• Schwarz Etienne Adds A Sleek Black Dial To The Striking Geometry Collection

👂What’s new

1/

Omega Introduces The Worldtimer Complication To The Planet Ocean For The First Time

I love Omega. I think I made that perfectly clear in my writing. Sure, I may not care for the Aqua Terra, but I cherish my Speedmaster, they make my favorite ana-digi watches, and even their weird watches are weird in the best possible way. They had a really great run of releases over the past few years, but even as such, they are bound to have some duds. Nothing wrong with that. But there are duds, and then there are watches that will leave you scratching your head, puzzled. Their new release, the new Seamaster Planet Ocean Worldtimer, is exactly such watch. I’m not sure who it’s made for, I’m not sure why it exists, but I might giggle giddily when I see one.

The Planet Ocean range is the most hardcore diving range that Omega makes, upping the water resistance from their regular 300 meters to an opening of 600 meters, all the way up to kilometers of water resistance. And as such, it’s not quite obvious why one would need a Worldtimer function at 6,000 meters under the surface. And as a hardcore diver, the regular Planet Ocean is a large watch. But to fit a Worldtimer inside, they made it even larger. Made out of black ceramic zirconium oxyde, the cases measure 45.5mm wide, a pretty unbelievable thickness of 18.99mm and a lug-to-lug of 52.4mm. Sure, ceramic might help with weight a little bit, but nothing is saving you from that thickness. It still keeps all the aspects of the PO collection, including twisted lyre lugs and a helium escape valve. On top is a domed sapphire crystal, surrounded by a black ceramic bezel that features a laser-ablated diving scale that is polished in positive relief. Water resistance is 600 meters.

Before we get to the worldtimer functionality that makes this different from the rest of the collection, I should note that there are two versions of the watch, one with a grey varnish, polished black PVD-coated hands and indexes filled with Omega’s new grey Super-LumiNova; and the other with turquoise accents with brushed, grey PVD-coated hands and indexes filled with white Super-LumiNova. Starting from the outside, you get a city ring, in two colours (black and grey or turquoise), followed by the hour chapter ring that gets a honeycomb pattern and a black DLC coat and applied markers. Moving further in, you’ll see the 24-hour indication with black and white sections to mark night and day, which surrounds a grade 5 titanium world map viewed from above the North Pole with varnished and laser ablated continents. It’s quite a lot, but it works. There’s also a date aperture at 6 o’clock.

Inside, you’ll find a familiar movement, the Calibre 8938 that Omega uses in the Aqua Terra Worldtimer. It beats at 3.5Hz, has a 60 hour power reserve and is Master Chronometer-certified by METAS. The watches come on black rubber with black or grey rubber lining and turquoise or grey stitching, closed by a foldover clasp in brushed ceramic and ceramised titanium.

The new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Worldtimer is available now, as part of the regular collection. But there’s nothing regular about this watch. I wonder who the customer for this is. Price is set at €16,300. See more on the Omega website.

2/

Unimatic And Massena LAB Release Perhaps The Best Looking (New) Space Watch, The Modello Uno U1-SPG

Just the other day I noted how the Italian indie watch brand Unimatic makes some pretty great watches, but shines best when they collaborate with outside designers to create something very different to their regular designs. I wrote that writing about the Todd Snyder x Unimatic "Modello Tre" chronograph, which was an extremely cool black-case, green-dial chrono, one of the best they’ve done. Well, scratch that, because what they just released really is nice. Made in collaboration with Massena LAB, a design studio led by William Massena, this is the new Modello Uno U1-SPG “NASA Artemis”, that captures the essence of the new mission to the Moon and is one of the best looking NASA-themed watches out there.

Based on the Modello Uno, the watch comes in the chunky stainless steel case we’ve seen before. That means that it measures 41.5mm wide, 13.2mm thick and has a substantial 49mm lug-to-lug. However, it looks nothing like a regular Modello Uno, since it gets a really nice burnt orange Cerakote coating, which is a ceramic-based coating often used in the aerospace industry. The orange is supposed to mimic the color of the SLS rocket used for the Artemis missions that will take us back to the Moon for the first time in decades. On top is a bezel that gets the same Cerakote coating, but now in black, with a black insert that has a fully hashed 60 minute scale with Old Radium lume. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal, which is surrounded by a same burnt orange rehaut. Water resistance is 300 meters.

The dial continues the black theme, interrupted by off-white hour markers. On the periphery of the dial is a 24 hour scale done in the same off-white, and the same color can be found on the hands, the top half of the seconds hand and the arrow tip of the GMT hand. The untreated parts of the hands are all the same matte black and disappear in the dial. There’s no Unimatic branding on the dial, just the worm NASA logo, done in the same old radium lume.

Inside is the automatic Seiko NH34A which beats at 21,600vph and has a 42 hour power reserve. It’s not the most accurate thing in the world with a rating of -20/+40 seconds per day, but Seiko often underestimates their accuracy a lot. The watch comes on a burnt orange nylons trap with Cerakote hardware, with an additional black nylon strap.

The new Unimatic x Massena LAB Modello Uno U1-SPG “NASA Artemis” is available for sale now, but limited to 99 pieces and priced at $1,295. See more on the Massena LAB and Unimatic websites.

3/

Maurice Lacroix Teams Up With California-Based Artist Wotto For An Engraved And Colorful Aikon

Someone with less regard for brand history and a bit more cynicism than me would say that the Maurice Lacroix Aikon is just a budget version of the AP Royal Oak. But just the fact that it has an integrated bracelet, a slightly angular case and a patterned dial don’t make a Royal Oak knock off. The Aikon has carved out an interesting niche for itself in the past wight years, from a fun quartz alternative to high-luxury integrated bracelet sports watches into a huge collection that will now give you pretty much anything you’d like. And now, they’re even taking shots at AP with a bit with an artistic collaboration. But while AP works with a bit overplayed Kaws, ML has teamed up with British-born, California-based Craig Watkins, a.k.a. Wotto. And the result is an Aikon with an illustrated dial and engraved case.

Based on the larger steel Aikon, the watch measures 42mm wide and 11mm thick. I don’t have a lug-to-lug measurement but thanks to the tonneau shape and integrated bracelet, I assume it’s quite compact. On top is a bezel with 6 double claws. An engraved Aikon is not a new thing, as they have done it before with Maori themes. Now, the entire case and bracelet is filled with little illustrations from Wotto, including hearts, skateboarding ghosts, and lightning flashes, almost as hieroglyphs left over from an old civilization.

But it’s not just the case that gets the artist’s treatment. The dial loses the textured dial of the Aikon and replaces it with a smooth gray background which is then filled with Wotto’s signature illustrations that are colored in a gradient from yellow to blue.

Inside is a familiar movement, the calibre ML115. I say familiar, because this is just a rebranded Sellita SW 200-1 which beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. Like I said, the watch comes on the familiar integrated steel bracelet, which now gets a full engraved treatement.

The new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Automatic Wotto is limited to 1,000 pieces and priced at €3,400. See more on the Maurice Lacroix website.

4/

Dior Updates The Very Cool Red Dial Chiffre Rouge Chronograph

When you start getting into watches, people warn you to stay away from outright fashion brands. You don’t want to get a watch from Hugo Boss, Armani or Dior. And for the most part, this is a good idea to stick to. At least until you get more familiarized with the watch industry. Then, you’ll be able to make your own judgment. And you’ll notice that a lot of these fashion brands actually make interesting watches. Like, for example, the Chiffre Rouge collection by Dior. It’s an interesting and very edgy looking collection, with great colors and a great movements inside. Now, Dior has updated the Chiffre Rouge Chronograph for 2025.

The new Dior Chiffre Rouge Chronograph Black Ultramatte Red Dial comes in, as the name suggests, an ultra-matte DLC coated steel case that will take up a lot of room on your wrist with a width of 41mm and a thickness of 14.3mm. It also has a pretty unique asymmetric construction, which includes a polished black bumper on the right side to protect the pushers and crown, and angular lugs that look quite long. More asymmetry can be found on the bezel, which is notched just between 9 and 12 o’clock, as well as on the quite strange cylindrical red pusher at 4 o’clock. It’s not something you see every day, but I like it. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The Chiffre Rouge Chronograph really is a watch one should get if you don’t like traditional looking watches. Not only is the case very different, so is the dial. It has an extreme gradient effect from black on the periphery to red in the centre. And the bas has an embossed Dior cannage pattern that the brand has been using since the middle of the last century. It’s a three-compax setup with two recessed counters (30 minute timer at 3 and running seconds at 9 o’clock) that have snaled interiors, while at 6 you’ll find the 12-hour totaliser that uses the cannage pattern to define its borders. At 4 o’clock you’ll find a circular date aperture.

Inside, you will find a great movement — Zenith’s El Primero high-frequency chronograph that measures down to 1/10th of a second and has a 48 hour power reserve. Dior gets to use this movement since both are part of the LVMH group. The watch comes on a black rubber strap embossed with the same cannage pattern and has a black DLC folding clasp with micro-adjustment. You can also get the rubber straps in other colors.

The Dior Chiffre Rouge Chronograph is limited to 100 pieces and priced at €15,000. See more on the Dior website.

5/

Schwarz Etienne Adds A Sleek Black Dial To The Striking Geometry Collection

If the name Schwarz Etienne sounds familiar but you can’t exactly recall seeing one of their watches, you’re not having issues with your memory. It’s more the fact that you’re recalling some of their movement. You see, Schwarz Etienne is best known as a movement manufacture. But they’re also very good at making watches. As part of their pretty spectacular Geometry series, they are now introducing a dial you could have sworn was already available — black. And you’d be wrong, as the intricate dial came in a number of bright colors (the red being the best), but no black. Despite it not being as wild looking as its predecessors, it’s still very welcome.

The Geometry is mostly a dress watch, one that comes in a polished stainless steel case measuring 39mm wide and 11mm thick. You get straight lugs, a small crown and not much that will take way from the view of the dial. There are sapphire crystals on top and bottom, with a water resistance of 50 meters.

The dial of the Geometry is made out of gold and decorated with a combination of fluted, azuré, and Clous de Paris hand-guilloché sections in varying sizes and visual depths. This makes it look like it was put together out of four quarters of perfectly executed watches that were joined to showcase all the possible dial setups. And then the entire thing is painted a dark black. You get segments of a black minute track all over the dial, while at 6 o’clock is another black detail in the form of a running seconds sub-dial. The hands are lance shaped, made out of brass and rhodium treated.

The movement is, of course, made by Schwarz Etienne, and it’s the automatic calibre ASE 200.02 micro-rotor. It beats at 21,600vph and has a really nice 86 hour power reserve. It’s a great looking watch with black PVD coated sandblasted bridges, polished bevels that contrast with the rhodium plating, and the ratchet wheel is finished with snailed and polished surfaces. The watch comes on an black leather strap with grey stitching.

The Schwarz Etienne Geometry Black is a limited edition of 100 pieces, and it’s priced at CHF 23,800. Check out the Schwarz Etienne website for more, despite the fact that this Black is still not up there.

⏲️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

• How a well-liked Ivy League grad accused of the United Healthcare CEO shooting became one of the most debated murder suspects in recent history. This is the life and misery of Luigi Mangione.

• Neo-Nazi influencers (really?) on the social media platform Telegram created a network of chats and channels where they stoked racist, antisemitic and homophobic hate. They targeted a teen in Slovakia and groomed him for three years. The teen, Juraj Krajčík, ended up killing two people at an LGBTQ bar.

• Fatal crashes. A door blowout. Grounded planes. Wired goes inside the citizen-led, obsessive campaign to hold Boeing accountable and prevent the next disaster.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I don’t know if I ever linked to The Elephant Graveyard before. But you really should check it out. The dude does razor sharp social critique, but completely insane. The production is exquisite, if you are on LSD. His writing is an amalgam of Noam Chomsky, Walter Benjamin and Hunter S. Thompson, but all fueled by schizophrenia and homemade hooch that will blind you.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk