Omega's New Trio Of Black-Dialed Aqua Terras At Quite A Price; Bell & Ross Attempts Art Deco; Mr Jones Pays Homage To Gardens; Ochs Und Junior Has A Midsummer Watch; Richard Mille Is Summer Ready

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Not much of a watch release day, and it looks like it could be a slowish week, so don’t be surprised if you miss an email, I just might have to skip a day.

In this issue:

• Omega Releases New Trio Of Black Lacquer-Dialed Seamaster Aqua Terra Watches, But That Price Is Really Something

• Bell & Ross Gives The BR 05 An Art Deco Look With Two Tone Gold Case And Deep Grooves

• Mr Jones Has A New Animated Watch That Pays Homage To British Gardens In The Summer

• It’s Midsummer And Ochs Und Junior Has A Delightful Celebration Of The Moon And Sun

• Richard Mille Is Summer Ready With The RM 65-01 in Pastel Blue and Dark Yellow

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 48 seconds

👂What’s new

1/

Omega Releases New Trio Of Black Lacquer-Dialed Seamaster Aqua Terra Watches, But That Price Is Really Something

Last week Omega introduced the blue and yellow Seamaster Aqua Terra in collaboration with pole vaulting 8-time world record breaker and current Olympic champion Armand “Mondo” Duplantis. I wrote then how I'm not a huge fan of the Aqua Terra and don’t understand the rabid fan base that it has developed, but I could appreciate the incredible diversity it has a model lin. Over three sizes - 34, 38 and 41mm - a number of materials and a whole slew of dial colors, it turns out there are more than 100 versions, in every single shade, of the Aqua Terra, which is just incredible. But you know what’s even more incredible? The fact that they never had a flat black version before. Sure, they had a black colored grooved dial, but never just a plain black. Well, here we are now, Omega is releasing a fully black Seamaster Aqua Terra with a lacquer finish.

This black update comes to all three sizes of the Aqua Terra, which means you can get them in stainless steel cases that measure 41mm x 13.4mm x 48mm, 38mm x 12.3mm x 45.1mm and 34mm x 12mm x 40.5mm, respectively. There’s really not much on the outside that’s new. You still get the fully polished case, twisted lyre lugs, a sapphire crystal on top and on the back, as well as a screw-down crown which helps with the decent 150 meter water resistance.

As for the dials, they lose the collection defining grooved horizontal lines which are supposed to mimic the teak decks of boats. Instead, there’s a glossy lacquered finish, fully black and with lumed hands and markers. The 41mm and 38mm versions feature their traditional trapezoidal framed date window, triangular indexes and broad arrow hands, while the smallest 34mm version has a round window, sailboat-shaped indexes and no minute track.

Inside, more of the same. The 41mm has the automatic Omega 8900, while the two smaller versions carry the automatic Omega 8800. Both have Master Chronometer certification, with the 8900 having a 60 hour power reserve and the 8800 a 55 hour one. All three come on a new 3-link brushed and polished bracelet that is closed by a butterfly clasp which, according to Omega’s website now has a “comfort setting” which would mean that the Aqua Terra could be getting an adjustable clasp, something that I’m fairly certain wasn’t available before.

Now, the kicker. All three new versions of the Seamaster Aqua Terra Black Dial are priced at €7,300. Prices of all watches have been going up for a while, but it seems we are crossing into new territory here. See more on the Omega website.

2/

Bell & Ross Gives The BR 05 An Art Deco Look With Two Tone Gold Case And Deep Grooves

There are about a dozen genres in which one could place Bell & Ross watches, and none of them would be elegant. They make chunky, square, airplane instrument inspired watches that take up a lot of real estate and lean towards the sporty side of things. And B&R leans a lot towards the sporty and experimental side. However, every now and again they try to pull off a more elegant piece. These might not be to everyones taste, but do have a loyal fan base. Now they’re releasing an Art Deco inspired bi-metal BR 05 called the BR 05 Artline Steel & Gold.

On the outside, things only seem familiar. You still get the rounded square case that measures 40mm wide. But on top you get a rose gold bezel with deeply engraved vertical lines that very much resemble the ornate decorations you would find on an Art Deco building. Despite this attempt at dressiness, it still has the prominent angular crown guards, a brushed case (with a polished bezel surround) and 100 meters of water resistance.

To play further into the Art Deco style, Bell & Ross gave the dial a sunray brushed finish and a really nice shade of brown to match the rose gold of the bezel. You get elegant stick hour markers that are almost all lume, and hour and minute hands that take on the same shape with just as much lume. Ther’s a date window at 3 o’clock framed with what looks to be more rose gold.

Inside, nothing special - the calibre BR-CAL.321-1 which is just a lightly modified Sellita SW300-1 which beats at 4Hz and has a 54 hour power reserve. The watch comes on an integrated steel bracelet which has center links made out of the same deeply vertically grooved rose gold.

The BR 05 Artline Steel & Gold is limited to just 99 pieces, as it will certainly be a very niche product with a few die hard fans wanting exactly this. And they will have to pay up for it. Price is set at €12,900. See more on the Bell & Ross website.

3/

Mr Jones Has A New Animated Watch That Pays Homage To British Gardens In The Summer

I live in an apartment on the fourth floor. And while it is super close to the biggest park in the city - an incredible benefit - it’s still an apartment in a socialist-era building. I was never that much into plants. However, my wife got a bit into them and over the past year we’ve been growing a bunch of plants on our small balcony. I sometimes work near the window that faces that balcony and I swear I became friends with the bumblebee that shows up every day to pick up what he can from the lavander flowers that are in bloom now. While nothing like a real garden, it’s refreshingly nice to look out a window and see some flowers and a bumblebee. The British obviously know this as they are world known for their lush gardens that often are intentionally left overgrown in parts to attract the little bees and other critters. And it is exactly gardens (and bees) like these that Mr Jones, the UK-based brand that is best known for their animated dials that don’t exactly focus on telling the time, is encapsulating with their latest release, The Golden Hour featuring a bee made with 24ct gold.

Mr Jones watches are never about the case, so let’s get that out of the way. It comes in a stainless steel case that has a black coating on it and is quite large to accommodate as much of the dial as possible. It measures 45mm wide, 13mm thick and has a 53mm lug-to-lug. Due to the large size, it’s not surprising that the lug width is also substantial at 22mm. On top is sapphire crystal and you get a mineral glass case back. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial was designed by British artist Andy Wilx who says he was inspired by the classic children’s novel, The Secret Garden, when designing the watch. The design is also a nod to the ‘Worker Bee’ motif – most famous in cities like Manchester UK and in countries like France – which honours craftsmanship and work ethic. The base of the dial is made up of a densely packed flower bed that features two moving parts - a large red flower which shows the minutes and a red sundial that indicates the hours. And at the center of the dial is a golden bee that has translucent wings and, according to Mr Jones is covered with 24ct gold leaf.

Previously, Mr Jones has focused almost exclusively on their dials and novel time telling mechanisms, while using quartz or lower-cost mechanical movements. This new one, on the other hand, features the very well known and beloved Sellita SW200 automatic movement which beats at 28,800vph and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black leather strap with gold stitching.

The new Mr Jones Golden Hour is priced at £695, which is a pretty great price point for a SW200 powered watch. See more on the Mr Jones website.

 4/

It’s Midsummer And Ochs Und Junior Has A Delightful Celebration Of The Moon And Sun

There is a very special reason why I love ochs und junior watches. And that’s their designer, Ludwig Oechslin. He has this incredible capability of turning hyper-complicated watches into something supremely simple. It’s as if Oechslin said “hold my beer” to the entire industry and started creating complicated watches that use simple modules with only a few parts to do what others need hundreds of parts to accomplish. For example, their recent moon phase watch adds just 5 parts to a regular movement to create a perfectly accurate moon phase display. And it’s with this ethos and their close connection to the moon and sun that ochs releases the luna sole, a watch with a super simple dial that shows you the sun, moon phase, and the moon’s position in relation to the earth and sun.

While ochs und junior has became quite famous for their incredible customisation options, this new watch comes with pre-determined style choices. The watch comes in a familiar case that ochs used before, made out of grade 5 titanium that’s completely untreated after the machining process. It measures 40mm wide and has almost imposibly short lugs, along with a thickness of just 9mm (which truly is incredible once you know what the movement does). On top is a sapphire crystal and water resistance is rated at 100 meters.

As for the dials, you can have them in one of two colorways - sand-blasted anthracite or white rhodium with subtle rose gold accents. And it’s the same style of other ochs watches with super minimalist hands, even more sparse painted markers and a series of holes cut into the dial which show you the date. At the center of the dial is the sun-moon function and it’s just as crazy as you would expect from Oechslin. There are two overlapping discs which have a sun icon positioned in a large shape the form of half a heard, and a moon icon which is the same size as the sun.

Then, the sun disc completes one rotation every 24 hours around the centre. At 12:00, it is at the top position, and at midnight, it is at the bottom. In the morning, it is at 9:00, and in the evening it is at 3:00. This allows you to determine its position in the sky. Above that disc is the moon which completes one spin every 29.5 days, and the same mechanism shows the phase of the moon. When the moon is opposite the sun, it is fully illuminated, indicating a full moon. When it is directly above the sun, it is outside the heart-shaped area and completely unlit, indicating a new moon. Its position also corresponds to its position in the sky.

Most high end brands will tell you how many hundred of parts they had to use to get a complication like this to work. Not Oechslin. The watch uses a quite basic ETA 2892A2 movement which beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of 42 hours. To get the movement to display the circular date and moon/sun complication, Oechslin constructed a module that has only six additional parts. Six. Six parts to get this thing to work. The watch comes on a grey Ecopell leather strap.

The last several releases from ochs und junior have been creeping up in price lately, but I can’t help feel like this is a really fairly priced watch at CHF 6,000, without taxes. See more on the ochs und junior website (make sure you do, because they have a shot of the six components that make this movement a possibility).

5/

Richard Mille Is Summer Ready With The RM 65-01 in Pastel Blue and Dark Yellow

It’s not exactly summer until we get a summer-themed Richard Mille. Not that we will be able to afford one, it’s just nice to know that the Russian oligarchs will have something to wear on their yachts moored in Monaco. But despite their reputation, it’s genuinely nice to see what RM is up to with new material advancements. While these two new watches are not revolutionary, they do come in two very nice shades of blue and yellow. These are the RM 65-01 Split-Seconds Chronograph in pastel blue and dark yellow Quartz TPT.

Both watches come in the same Quartz TPT case that measures 44.5mm wide, 16.1mm thick and has a 49.94 lug-to-lug. The pastel blue coloway comes with a dark blue crown protector and dial accents as well as orange pushers and chronograph hands, as well as a couple of green and yellow details on the dials. The dark yellow has a light yellow crown protector, a blue pusher and light blue and red details on the dial.

Inside both watches is the RMAC4 automatic movement, which sports a 60-hour power reserve and is equipped with a split-seconds chronograph, 30-minute timer, 12-hour timer, small seconds, date and function selector – all of which can be viewed through the partially skeletonized display. The watches come on black rubber straps.

The RM 65-01 Split-Seconds Chronograph in pastel blue is a regular edition to the collection, while the dark yellow is limited to 120 pieces. Richard Mille, of course, doesn’t give a price, but seeing as how previous editions are priced at around €350,000, expect it to be in this range. See more on the Richard Mille website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the Bremont Terra Nova

2/

Hands-On With The New Rado Anatom Automatic And Its Vintage Predecessor

3/

A review of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold Selfwinding 34mm with Crystal Sand Dials duo

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Doxa Sub 200T shows why you should keep your dive watches wet

Let’s start with the ergonomics. I also had a Doxa Sub 300T and my Sub 300 for comparison. The first thing I noticed is just how slim the Sub 200T is. The combination of a relatively thin bezel and case (unlike the Sub 300T) and the flat crystal (unlike the bulbous one on the Sub 300) makes for a fantastic ergonomic experience underwater. As I was jumping in the ocean and navigating my way underwater in choppy conditions, I had no concerns that I’d somehow bang this Doxa against a rock. This is in contrast to the Sub 200T’s thicker or chunkier bigger brothers.

Read the whole review 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

• A tale of bizarre goings-on in Austin, Texas. If you were blackmailed, would your first choice be to hire a hitman? It was for Erik Maund, which—unsurprisingly—escalated things further. With strong reporting from Katy Vine and Ana Worrel, this story races along to a tragic conclusion that could have easily been avoided.

• Carlos Castaneda became a bestselling writer in the ’70s. Famous around the globe for his Don Juan books, he was (and is) a New Age icon, despite being later called out for fabricating these stories. He then disappeared from the spotlight, bought a compound in Los Angeles, and formed a cult, which consisted of dozens of followers—mostly young women who identified as witches called chacmools, a term for ancient Mexican warrior statues that protected the Toltec gods. Shortly after Castaneda’s death in 1998, six of these women disappeared. For Alta Journal, Geoffrey Gray investigates what happened, tracing their steps and imagining their journeys. It’s a deep dive into Castaneda’s weird world and a twisted tale set against the backdrop of Los Angeles and the California desert.

• The authorities didn’t seem to pay attention to the Gilbert Goons who terrorised a well off community in Arizona until one boy was dead and seven others were charged with murder. Crazy story.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

A year on from the OceanGate sub tragedy, there are still so many unanswered questions. Most fundamentally, why did the strange-looking craft on a mission to the wreck of the Titanic fail so spectacularly? And why, for days on end, was the world wrongly led to believe there was hope for a successful rescue mission? The lack of credible information about what really happened is now becoming increasingly unfathomable, not only for the families of the victims, but also for other undersea explorers like legendary Hollywood director James Cameron who believes that this is a catastrophe that could and should have been avoided.

💵Pre-loved precision

Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us 

• LOOKING TO BUY: Here’s a crazy request. One of you is looking to buy the Lotēc No. 7.5. Sure, it’s a big ask, but if any of you have one and want to sell, reach out to and I’ll put you in touch

• SOLD: Well, not really new. It’s a great looking mid-90s Tudor Submariner 75090, offered for sale by a member of the It’s About Time reader crew. I love the way it looks and seems to be in great condition. Check it out over on Chrono24.

• 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

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-Vuk