Omega Introduces America's Cup Planet Ocean Deep Black, Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Goes Platinum, Citizen's New Promaster Altichron, John Lennon's Lost Patek Is Found, New From Vacheron And Charlie Paris

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Today is an expensive day, with that Lange and Vacheron, but the Citizen and Charlie Paris really do make up for it and bring down the average.

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In this issue:

• Omega Introduces America’s Cup Themed Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black ETNZ Edition

• A. Lange & Söhne Updates Their Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar With A Platinum Case

• Citizen Introduces New Promaster Altichron That Can Measure Heights Up To 10 Kilometres

• The Classic Dress Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Gets A Deep Green Dial In A Pink Gold Case

• Charlie Paris Introduce A Brand New GMT To Their Concordia Diver Collection

• The Most Legendary Watch Of All Time, John Lennon’s Lost Patek Philippe 2499, Has Been Found. What Happens Now?

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 57 seconds

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👂What’s new

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Omega Introduces America’s Cup Themed Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black ETNZ Edition

In almost exactly one year, the Te Rehutai yacht yacht representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will face of against a yacht representing the yacht club that wins the Challenger Selection Series to see who will win the famed America’s Cup. Along with The Ocean Race, the America’s Cup is at the very top of prestigious regattas of the world and is sorrounded by tens of millions of sponsors dollars. One of the more prominent sponsors, one backing the Te Rehutai, is Omega and in preparation for the race, they just launched the new all-ceramic Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Co-Axial Master Chronometer Chronograph Deep Black ETNZ Edition.

This is the second America’s Cup release we saw this year, following the spectacular watches Tudor made in collaboration with the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team. It’s a beastly watch with a width of 45.5mm, thickness of 19mm and a lug-to-lug of 52.4mm. Made entirely of black ceramic it should be plenty scratch resistant and light. However, while ceramic is highly scratch resistant, it is known to shatter, so don’t abuse it too much on your sailboat.

The look of the watch is inspired by the colors of the Emirates Team New Zealand, also known as ETNZ, which are black an turquoise. You will find the pops of turquoise on the brushed black ceramic pushers, the helium escape valve, and the crown. It’s also prominently featured on the matte black dial, especially on the bright pre-race countdown indicator at three o’clock that has a big hand and bold chapter ring. As it should, since you use this to time when you start the race.

The turquoise theme continues on the case back with the Emirates Team New Zealand logo featuring a turquoise fern and white text. And because of the Naiad-locked case back, the logo will always face the right way. Inside the watch is Omega’s automatic chronograph caliber 9900. It features Omega’s Co-Axial escapement, is resistant to magnetic fields of up to 15,000 gauss, and has a rhodium-plated finish with Geneva waves and runs at 28,800 vph. Power reserve is 60 hours and the watch is accurate between 0 and +5 seconds a day and is a METAS-certified Master Chronometer.

The watch is delivered with four straps, which does not happen that often. The one it will be photographed most is a black and turquoise textured rubber strap with matching turquoise stitching and a black ceramic clasp. Along with that you will get

This is a special edition watch, it will be delivered in limited quantities. However, I could not locate an exact number how many will be made. You can buy it now at a price of CHF 11,700 excluding taxes.

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A. Lange & Söhne Updates Their Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar With A Platinum Case

In 2021 A. Lange & Söhne introduced the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in two versions. One was a pink-gold model with a dark grey dial and the other was the super limited white gold with salmon dial that was made in only 150 pieces. But people knew there was a better version just around the corner, because that was the playbook Lange followed before. And here it is, A. Lange & Söhne just introduced the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in a platinum case and black dial.

The design is, as expected, the same as the 2021 versions, meaning that it has a 41.9mm wide case with relatively plain but prominent lugs. The big difference, of course, comes from the material used and here it is the most prestigious of metals, platinum. The second major update to the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Platinum is the black dial. The original models were grey or salmon and this one is much more bold, despite it’s lack of color. It’s dark and sleek, especially with the contrasting finishes of the grained subdials. The black colour also emphasises the rich colour of the moonphase located towards the bottom left of the display. Along with the moonphase, you also get an offset hour and minute display and a big date on the left side just above a retrograde days of the week indicator. At the very bottom is the leap year indicator alongside the indicator for the peripheral months ring.

Inside the watch is the brand’s Calibre L021.3, an automatic movement with a 50-hour power reserve. The finishing is, as you would expect, immaculate, with an intricately engraved golden rotor and Glashütte stripes on the plate.

Like the vast majority of A. Lange & Söhne Perpetual Calendars, the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Platinum is a boutique exclusive and price is available on request. See more of the watch on their website.

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Citizen Introduces New Promaster Altichron That Can Measure Heights Up To 10 Kilometres

There are tool watches and then there are tool watches. Sure, the Rolex Explorer II is a great tool watch and it will stand up to a lot of abuse. But would you really risk smashing it on a rock if you slip? If you do venture out for a more intense hike, you might look for something a bit more budget sensible and a bit more rugged. Something like a G-Shock. Or, the new Citizen Promater Altichron, a super-rugged field watch that was made for climbing mountains. Like, really high mountains.

The Altichron in the name is a reference to the altitude sensor in the watch which will help you with your climbing. And there’s pretty much no limit to the mountain you can climb, as it measure up to 32,800 feet, or 10,000 meters. Considering that Mt. Everest is 29,000 feet or 8,849 meters, you see why there is no limit. The sensor works both ways, btw, meaning you can measure depths below sea level to 300 meters of depth. The altitude meter is read via an inner dial for the first 900 meters above sea level, and then via a subdial at 9:00 for higher altitudes.

The Altichron is also equipped with an electronic compass that shows your heading via a gauge around the dial’s perimeter. Sure, you can get all of these functions on a very capable Garmin, but this watch is special because it displays nearly all off the information in an analogue way, with gagues and oversized hands and huge Arabic numerals.

Considering the fact that you have to display all of this information somewhere, it’s pretty obvious this will be a large watch. And it is. 46.7mm wide and 16.4mm thick, but it should be light-ish as it’s made from Citizen’s Super Titanium. The case gets a dark DLC finish, which contrasts with the dial. Inside the watch is Citizen’s Cal. J280, which is an Eco-Drive caliber that will run for 11 months on a full charge. Accuracy is rated to 15 seconds +/- per month. It also comes on a blue nylon strap, completing the rugged look.

The watch will go on sale this month and retail for $995. I’ve never climbed mountains in any significant manner or wanted a rugged Citizen. But this one has me thinking about it, despite how ridiculous it is… See the watch on Citizen’s website.

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The Classic Dress Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Gets A Deep Green Dial In A Pink Gold Case

The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle just might be the perfect dress watch. It’s subtle, elegant and understated, while being stunningly beautiful. And now VC is making it even better, with a pink gold manual winding version with a fantastic green sunburst dial.

The pink gold case measures 38mm wide and 7.77mm thick with polished surfaces. It also has all the details of other Traditionnelle models. It has a round stepped case, straight lugs, a slender bezel and fluted caseback, railway-style minutes track, applied baton markers and elegant tapering Dauphine hands. This Manual-Winding model is simple, with just hours, minutes and small seconds.

The pink gold gives the perfect contrast to the green dial and its sunburst textured finish. To match the pink gold case, the faceted indices and hands are crafted in 18k rose gold. With its snailed interior and peripheral railway track, the small seconds counter is placed at 6 o’clock and indicated by a rose gold hand.

Inside the watch is the in-house manual-winding calibre 4400 AS with finishings that include hand-bevelled bridges decorated with Côtes de Genève and circular graining on the base plate. It’s super thin at 2.8mm, and beats at 28,800vph while delivering a power reserve of 65 hours. The watch comes on a green alligator strap with a calf lining and green stitching, along with a rose gold pin buckle.

The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Manual-Winding with green dial will be available exclusively in China for one month, after which it will be available to teh rest of the world. The watch is priced at CHF 23,700 and while this is a pretty high price is it just me or does this seem not as crazy as you would expect when you see the watch? Look at it some more on the Vacheron Constantin website.

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Charlie Paris Introduce A Brand New GMT To Their Concordia Diver Collection

I can’t wait to see what trend is coming after the GMT as it seems we are hitting peak multi-time-zone watch releases and the next big thing is just around the corner. Pretty much everyone has come out with a GMT, so it’s getting increasingly hard to get excited about a new release, but this brand new Charlie Paris Concordia GMT with 300 meters of water resistance, powered by a Soprod C125 calibre is not half bad.

Charlie Paris is known for their affordable watches with great design. They also have one of my least favorite logos of any watch. No, really, I love the entire brand. My only issue is the bird logo - it’s too bright, too large and gives me cheap fashion watch vibes. But I can live with it, as their watches are really something great. Especially this lates one, which is a revamp of the design of their most popular adventure watch, the Concordia.

The Concordia GMT measures 40mm wide, 47.5mm lug-to-lug, 12.5mm thick and has 20mm lug width. It has elongated, downturned lugs, while the crown has a very funky shape to it with small crown guards. The top of the lugs are brushed, while the sides and chamfers are polished. The crown and caseback screw-down, so the watch easily gives you 300 meters of water resistance.

The Concordia GMT will be offered in four colors: blue, green, chocolate brown, and black. You get pencil-style hour and minute hands and applied hour markers that are rectangular at the three and nine positions and round elsewhere. A date window is at 6 o’clock, and you get a fourth hand and GMT rehaut.

The bezel, for its part, remains almost the same as the previous non-GMT versions. It has a thin profile with a coin edge finish and a count-up scale where the five-minute increments are highlighted by alternating Arabic numerals and hash marks. However, you get a new lumed pip at 12 o’clock.

The most obvious change from the diver is the movement. The Concordia GMT comes with a Soprod C125 which beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) and has 40 hours of power reserve. The movement has become a bit of a staple with microbrand GMTs over the years and have a stated accuracy of -4/+10 seconds per day out of the box. It’s a “caller” GMT, meaning that the GMT hand jumps forward in one-hour increments, as opposed to a true, or traveller, GMT where it is the local hour hand that jumps forward and backward.

Pre-orders for the Charlie Paris Concordia GMT started yesterday and deliveries are expected in November. If you manage to buy it at pre-order, expect to pay €1,195 for the watch on a nylon or leather strap or €1,245 on a steel bracelet. If you wait for full retail prices, expect €1,375 for the nylon or leather strap or €1,425 on a steel bracelet. See more on the Charlie Paris website.

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The Most Legendary Watch Of All Time, John Lennon’s Lost Patek Philippe 2499, Has Been Found. What Happens Now?

Just a few months before he was murdered, John Lennon flashed a Patek Philippe 2499, one of only several hundred ever made, to a photographer. This photograph became one of the most iconic watch-photographs of all time. Not only because it was a cool watch, but because it disappeared after Lennon’s death. For years people have been trying to locate it, estimating that it could be the most valuable wrist-watch in the world, with no luck.

Until now. A Geneva court ruled Yoko Ono is the owner of one of the world's most valuable watches, but that's only the beginning of a story of extortion, theft, and a watch that traveled around the world. Now that the mystery has been solved, will this watch ever see the light of day? I’ve been following this story for a while, and just as I got some time together to write it up, Hodinkee published a fantastic piece on it. So I suggest you just read that, because it is a riveting story.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Citizen Series 8 880 Mechanical GMT

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A review of the Christopher Ward The Twelve

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

Fleux Skin Divers Balance Throwback Inspiration with Modern Vibes

At their core, the FLX001 and FLX002 are approachable skin divers in terms of their literal price, as well as their stature. Both can be had for under $500, and the design is presented in a steel 38mm case (39mm measured from the bezel) that measures 47mm from lug to lug, and 14mm in thickness (12mm if you don’t count the hesalite double-domed crystal). As appealing as the numbers are here, there are plenty of other divers out there that fall into the same realm, so there must be something else that sets these watches apart. And there is, but is it enough to stand out in such a crowded field? Maybe. Read the whole review on the Worn & Wound website.

⏲️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

• John Verzi, a former post office worker, lived in a mobile home park in Las Vegas, spending his days watching TV and nights gambling in casinos. But Verzi had an interesting past: he was a gifted photographer, who for six decades had collected 25,000 autographs and taken more than 12,000 photos, including intimate snapshots of the world’s classiest and most famous celebrities. In 2018, Verzi died in his trailer with his collection. This is the fascinating story of an eccentric man, and the piece includes fantastic photographs of movie stars from Hollywood’s golden era.

• Yesterday, in the video section I posted a video about dinner at the best restaurant on Greenland. Today, a piece on what it means to eat in the best restaurant in the world, Noma. There’s nothing new about writing your way through a tasting menu at one of the world’s most lauded restaurants. There is something new, though, about doing so while also being honest with your preconceptions about the restaurant and its clientele; to do so is to risk coming off like a jackass in the process.

• A lifetime after the Holocaust, a few of its perpetrators somehow remain at large. And the German detectives tasked with bringing them to justice are making a final desperate push to hunt them down.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Vice recently went bankrupt. But they’re still chugging along and they seem to be making videos of the same caliber as they did so many years ago. Like this one, where their reporter is reporting during an actual bank robbery in Lebanon. Bank robbery might be too strong of a word, as it’s a complicated situation for bank customers in Beirut, but there is a guy with a gun and a Molotov cocktail taking money from a bank, so there’s that.

💵Pre-loved precision

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• 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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