Omega Introduces Fully Platinum Speedy 321; Bulova's Bronze MIL-SHIPS Pair; A Maximalist MeisterSinger; The New Vostra Brand From RZE Team; MB&F Turns Bulgari Serpenti Into A Horological Machine

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. While this platinum Omega suddenly appeared very near the top of the end-game watch list, it will take some time to get there. In the meantime, the MIL-SHIPS Bulova is a pretty great watch.

In this issue:

• Omega Quietly Introduces A Fully Platinum Speedmaster Calibre 321, What Could Be The Most Expensive Speedy

• Bulova Continues 150 Year Celebration With A Bronze Pair Of MIL-SHIPS

• MeisterSinger Keeps The One Hand But Ditches Minimalism With A Grey Pangaea Day Date 365

• The Team Behind RZE Launches Another Very Affordable Sports Watch Brand

• MB&F Turns The Bulgari Serpenti Into A Horological Machine

👂What’s new

1/

Omega Quietly Introduces A Fully Platinum Speedmaster Calibre 321, What Could Be The Most Expensive Speedy

I never did the math, but there are many thousands of watch releases per year. I usually do 250 issues per year, each with five new releases, adding up to 1,250 watch released. And I can’t cover every single release. So that’s quite a lot of watches that come out every year. Naturally, this means I miss a few important releases. Thankfully, we have online magazines like Monochrome to catch what I miss. For example, they noticed that Omega has released what just might be their most prestigious watch, the Speedmaster Calibre 321 in platinum and gold. Based on the iconic Calibre 321 that Omega revived in 2019, this is technically the most expensive Speedmaster you can buy today. But, as Monochrome notices, not the most expensive ever made — that honor goest to the €578,000 Speedmaster Chrono Chime with a movement co-developed with Blancpain, featuring a split-second chronograph and a repeater device that can chime the elapsed times recorded by the chronograph.

OK, to be fully fair, we have seen this exact platinum Calibre 321 Speedy before, back in 2019 when Omega brought back the 321. Only, it was available on leather exclusively. This thing is all platinum. Can’t imagine how much it weighs. On the outside, this is still a very classic Moonwatch case. You still get the lyre lugs, the asymmetric construction and familiar dimensions — 42mm wide, 13.4mm thick and with a 47.6mm lug-to-lug. What is new is the material used. This is not pure platinum, but rather a blend of platinum (Pt950) and gold (Au20). There are sapphire crystals on top and bottom and the bezel has a black ceramic insert with the white enamel tachymeter scale. Water resistance remains at 50 meters, although, I imagine this is not much a watch for swimming.

The dial is also virtually unchanged. A black base gets hands, applied markers and the Omega logo done in polished white gold, while the three sub-dials (30 minute totalizer, 12 hour totalizer and running seconds) are all made out of lunar meteorite and framed in white gold rings.

Inside, as the name would suggest, is the Calibre 321, an identical reproduction of the vintage Omega chronograph movement, the same one that was used in all the Apollo watches. It’s a column-wheel and horizontal clutch chrono which beats at 2.5Hz and with a 55 hour power reserve. The movement is decorated to look like the old movements, but to do so they coat the entire movement in Sedna gold PVD. And here we get to the major new update, the pretty wild bracelet made out of the same platinum and gold alloy. It also has the same flat link look as the other Calibre 321 watches.

The new Omega Speedmaster Calibre 321 in platinum is available now and priced at €105,700, including tax. See more on the Omega website.

2/

Bulova Continues 150 Year Celebration With A Bronze Pair Of MIL-SHIPS

Despite them still having quite an inconvenient strategy of separating their business by regions, making it difficult to share information (try clicking on the link below and see how far that gets you…), Bulova has been on quite the run of cool watches. Most recently, they released the Hybrid Ceramic Snorkel collection, which just might be the summer watch of the year. I assume we will get a bunch more cool watches this year, since Bulova is celebrating its 150th anniversary. And one of the first celebratory releases is a duo of special MIL-SHIPS watches that come in a really nice shade of bronze.

The MIL-SHIPS watch from Bulova is actually a recreation of a watch Bulova made in the 1950s, following the U.S. Navy MIL-SHIPS-W-2181 standard for dive watches. The contract for the standard was won by Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms, but later Allen V. Tornek, a major importer of watches to the U.S., teamed up with Blancpain to create the Tornek-Rayville TR-900 which would take advantage of the U.S. law that prefers local brands. Bulova only managed to deliver a couple of prototypes to the Navy and has since remained a cult watch, only to be revived a few years ago as the ultimately cool military diver.

The two new versions come in CuSn8 bronze cases, making them an allow of copper and tin. Bulova is a bit shy about dimensions, but if it matches the size of the previous steel versions, then it measures 41mm wide, 14.5mm thick and with a 50mm lug-to-lug. That thickness stands out the most, but it’s mostly due to the hugely domed retro crystal on top. Surrounding the crystal is a bronze bezel which can here be had with either a blue or green aluminum insert. Water resistance is 200 meters.

The dial is just as flat and matte as the black version. You can get the dial in either a blue or green color, matching the bezel insert, but both of them have painted on lumed markers, the Bulova logo and the moisture indicator. That’s the small piece of paper above 6 o’clock that changes color if it’s ever exposed to water — a part of the government requirement. The hands are cathedral-style, which is not something you see often on dive watches.

Inside, you’ll find the Miyota 83S0, an industrial, workhorse movement found in quite a lot of Bulova models. It beats at 21,600vph and has a very decent 60 hour power reserve. The watches come on 18mm wide rubber color matched rubber straps that have a textile central section.

There’s not much info on when these watches go on sale or how limited they are, but we know that the price will be $1,195. See more on the Bulova website.

3/

MeisterSinger Keeps The One Hand But Ditches Minimalism With A Grey Pangaea Day Date 365

I love it when new MeisterSinger watches come out, as it’s always fun to see how many complications they can implement while keeping things super minimalist and using just one hand to tell the time. The one hand thing has kind of been their schtick and I like it. But then there’s the Pangaea Day Date 365, with a bunch of information, different fonts and multiple rotating discs, along with the one hand. We’ve seen this watch before — I believe white only — but now we’re getting it in a very shiny grey.

The watch comes in the same case that was used for the previous Pangea models, meaning it’s stainless steel, 40mm wide and 10.5mm thick. The case is fully polished and on top is a domed sapphire crystal. On the side is an oversized tapering crown that doesn’t screw down, limiting water resistance to 50 meters.

The 365 collection is MeisterSinger’s take on vintage-style and has been applied to the majority of their models. And it’s best evident on the dial. The base of the dial is new, sunray brushed and colored in a light grey, with light orange details on the hour markers. The day and date are shown with the two rings that are recessed from the dial and fully exposed. All of the fonts, including the logo, have a vintage feel to them.

Inside, you won’t find a unique movement. Instead, it’s a simple but reliable Sellita SW-220. This automatic movement beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The central rotor is customized with the MeisterSinger logo. The watch can be had on a number of leather straps or a Milanese bracelet.

The new MeisterSinger Pangaea Day Date 365 Grey is available now and priced between €2,580 and €2,630, depending on the strap you choose. See more on the MeisterSinger website.

4/

The Team Behind RZE Launches Another Very Affordable Sports Watch Brand

I hardly ever write about watches on Kickstarter. It’s far too risky a proposition, as I have no intentions of being part of any shenanigans. I’m not saying that all watch projects on Kickstarter end up as scams, but I’ve seen enough to not participate in the process. However, sometimes we get a well known team behind a Kickstarter, which gives us at least some assurance that all will be well. And this is one of those cases where I don’t mind writing about a Kickstarter campaign but a warning is still in order — make your own decision before you put any money in. What we have launching soon is the Vostra Vector, a integrated bracelet sports chronograph that comes at a great price, launched by the folks behind RZE, an already successful outdoor watch brand.

But while RZE watches are best known for their affordable titanium cases, the Vector opts for a microblasted 316L stainless steel to keep the price even lower. It’s a very classic integrated sports watch, with a rounded asymmetric case with sharp angles on top and bottom, pronounced facets and a familiar looking 12-sided bezel on top. You get sapphire crystal on top, a screw down crown, flat pushers and 100 meters of water resistance. All things you expect from a modern watch, but perhaps not at this price.

There are three dial colors to choose from — Electro Yellow, Frigate Grey and Atomic Blue. All of them are very well thought out color combinations. Atomic Blue has a slight gradient from lighter to darker blue, with contrasting orange details. Electro Yellow has red contrasting details, while Frigate Grey is the most conservative one with turquoise details. There are two contrast-painted sub-dials — a 60 minute totalizer at 9 and the dreaded 24-hour indicator at 3 o’clock — while at 6 o’clock you’ll find the running seconds hand with minimalist markers and a date aperture.

That 24-hour indicator is an instant tell what’s inside — the Seiko VK63. This, of course, means that you get the reliability and practicality of a quartz movement to tell the time and the smooth engagement and sweep of a mechanical chronograph movement. The watches come on flat-link bracelets with the same microblasted finish and closed with a butterfly deployant clasp. Unfortunately, it seems that there won’t be any micro-adjust here, but I could be wrong. I only have photos to go off.

Regardless of the fact that it doesn’t have micro-adjust, this is still a killer package. If you get it during the Kickstarter campaign, which starts February 14th, the watch will be priced at $199. After the campaign, the price goes up to $279. See more on the Vostra website.

5/

MB&F Turns The Bulgari Serpenti Into A Horological Machine

If you were Bulgari, and already made one of the most uniquely shaped watches in the world, the Serpenti which is shaped like a snake coiling around the wrist of the wearer, how would you turn this icon into something even more unique. While also making it an even special snake to honor the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac which just started. Well, you team up with the mad folks at MB&F to create the Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti Horological Machine. The MB&F Horological Machines are known to be incredibly complex watches that are perhaps more pieces of kinetic art than timepieces. And now the Serpenti gets the same treatment, while being shaped like the head of a snake.

Like most Horological Machines, there’s no traditional watch shape here. The case measures 39mm wide, 18mm thick and with a 53mm length. Like I said, they are shaped like the head of the snake, with large sapphire openings that act like eyes, and rotating hour and minute disks inside. There are three case material options — a titanium with blue disks, rose gold with green discs and a steel with black PVD with red discs.

There’s an additional opening on the top of the watch that shows you the dramatic flying balance wheel, with both of the brands’ logos on the bridges that hold it up. The openings also give you a peek at the movement, which is created by MB&F specially for this watch due to the unique shape of the case. It’s based on the HM10, beating at 2.5Hz and with a 42 hour power reserve. It’s manually wound by one of the large crowns on the flank of the snake’s neck with the other controlling the time setting. The three models come on matching hand-stitched rubber straps with a Velcro system and an ardillon buckle made of the same material as the case.

The new Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti Horological Machine are limited to 33 pieces per colorway and MB&F says they will make between six and eight pieces per month. The titanium and steel PVD are priced at €140,000, while the rose gold version is priced at €161,000. See more on the MB&F 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

• Cryptocurrrency cop Tigran Gambaryan had foiled bitcoin fraud and theft as a special agent for IRS Criminal Investigation, the law enforcement division of the US tax authority. There, he’d pioneered ways to remove the anonymity shrouding Bitcoin trades to unmask criminals and bring them to justice, but he gave it all up to join a private cryptocurrency company called Binance and help them clean up their less-than-stellar record. When Nigerian officials accused Binance of contributing to the devaluation of their currency, the naira, and demanded a $150 million bribe from the company, Gambaryan made a narrow escape to return home to his wife and two children. So why on earth did Gambaryan return, only to be captured and held hostage by the Nigerian government? For Wired, Andy Greenberg unravels the chain of events that put Gambaryan in Nigerian prison and nearly cost him his life.

• Testimony from forensic experts can be the most persuasive evidence presented at trial, but often juries don’t realize that the analysis of hair, fire, and even fingerprints may not be so scientific. And as the story of deputy Keith Pikett, master of the dog-scent lineup, shows, investigations can sometimes lead to the greatest crime of all: putting innocent people behind bars.

• If you like boxing, you know that one of the all time greatest fights happened ten years ago, when Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov went to war. This interview with both of them and a fantastic way of looking back at great fights. I wish there were more of them.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This isn’t a bad video. It’s a fun watch. But I’m using it as a placeholder for a question: how many of you are interested in EDC? I might have something cooking in that area so let me know.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk