Oris Marks The Year Of The Snake With A Special Skeletonized ProPilot X; Holthinrichs Releases Spectacular Lumed Concrete Dial; A Fiery New Chronoswiss; And The Best Sports Watches Of 2024

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It’s obvious we are in late December, as there are so few releases. This is to be expected. What I didn’t expect is for Holthinrichs to release one of my favorite watches of the year. A concrete dial that glows in the dark?! That’s just… wow.

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In this issue:

• Oris Marks The Year Of The Snake With A Special Skeletonized Version Of The ProPilot X

• Holthinrichs Teams Up With The Horology Club For A Signature Ornament With A Lumed Concrete Dial

• The Latest Chronoswiss Delphis Comes In A Very Fiery Case

• The Best Sports Watches Of 2024, As Chosen By Me

👂What’s new

1/

Oris Marks The Year Of The Snake With A Special Skeletonized Version Of The ProPilot X

If I’m not mistaken, all of the watches we’ve seen so far marking the upcoming Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, have been some kind of red and gold combination. Interestingly, Oris is marking the same occasion, but with a radically different watch — one that leaves behind tradition and embraces a more futuristic, high-tech approach. This is the new Oris ProPilot X Year of the Snake with striking cutouts and a teal color to the dial.

The new Oris release is based on the ProPilot X Calibre 115, which has been around since 2019. This means that its case is made out of brushed titanium and measures 44mm wide. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal which is surrounded by the instantly recognizable bezel that’s fluted at an angle. Out back is a display caseback that has Year of the Snake engravings on its edge. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Other than the color, the dial is also very familiar from existing versions. It’s radically skeletonized, with a chapter ring on the edge holding the lumed indices. All the indices and bridges are rendered in a color that Oris calls green, but looks way more teal. At 7:30 is a running seconds sub-dial, while at 3 is a power reserve indicator that’s shaped like a golden slithering snake. You know, because of the Year of the Snake. The hands remain the same as the regular watch — titanium with a lume insert.

Inside is the calibre 115, a hand-wound movement that beats at 21,600vph and features a 10 day power reserve thanks to the huge single barrel that dominates the view from both the front and back of the watch. The watch comes on a matching titanium bracelet that closes with a folding clasp.

The new Oris ProPilot X Year of the Snake is limited to 88 pieces and priced at €8,200, a €200 premium over the regular ProPilot X Calibre 115. See more on the Oris website.

2/

Holthinrichs Teams Up With The Horology Club For A Signature Ornament With A Lumed Concrete Dial

For decades, we’ve been promised a future in which 3D printing would revolutionize the world. All I’ve seen it do so far is print little ducks that a buddy of mine leaves all around my house. But then, there are watch brands like Holthinrichs, a young Dutch watchmaker, that is using crazy 3D printing tech to create their cases. They’ve had a really good year this year, and their latest release is exactly up my alley. They teamed up with Hong Kong based The Horology Club for a collaboration that reflects Hong Kong’s urban skyline with a pretty spectacular concrete dial. A very special type of concrete I love concrete. This is the Holthinrichs x The Horology Club Signature Ornament Concrete Jungle

The watch is based on Holthinrichs’ entry-level collection, the Signature Series, and comes in a choice of two cases — a Signature Ornament CNC-machined titanium case with polished, brushed and grained surfaces and a Signature LAB case in titanium that’s 3D printed with openworked lugs. While they have different approaches to manufacture, both versions have pretty much perfect proportions at 38.5mm wide, 9.85mm thick and with a 46mm lug-to-lug.

The case is beautiful, both of them are, but the dial is driving me crazy. First of all, it’s made out of concrete, which is already insanely cool. I was just talking to someone the other day how concrete is not used enough in watches (and I have an idea how to remedy this). But on top of that, the concrete is infused with luminescent material. So, when in the dark, the entire dial emits a green glow. How awesome is that. Make sure to click through the link at the bottom of this writeup to see all the photos. The numerals are moulded into the dial and look like hieroglyphs, but are in fact oracle bone script, the oldest form of Chinese writing dating to the 2nd millennium BC.

Inside is an effort to keep this watch at least somewhat affordable. They use the pretty ubiquitous, easily sourceable and servicable Sellita SW-300 which beats at 4Hz and has a 50 hour power reserve. But it’s not left plain. Instead, it’s equipped with a pretty elaborate Art Nouveau-inspired rose gold-plated rotor. The Signature Ornament LAB series comes on a green interchangeable strap, while the Signature Ornament comes on a grey Nubuck strap.

The 3D printed Signature Ornament LAB series is limited to 50 pieces and priced at €5,600, while the Signature Ornament is a time-limited release priced at €3,850. Both of those prices are without tax. The watches go on sale tomorrow, December 20th at 10am Central European Time and deliveries are expected in April 2025. See more on The Horology Club website.

3/

The Latest Chronoswiss Delphis Comes In A Very Fiery Case

The watches that Chronoswiss makes are definitely not for everyone. They are highly decorated and often quite loud, but if you like one of them, you will likely fall in love with all of them. And it seems that their Delphis model, released only in 2023, is quickly becoming their favorite canvas for playing with colors. And there’s been a bunch of them, including the one released a couple of months ago — the Delphis Sub Zero in a bright blue case that is inspired by glaciers. Well, now we’re getting the exact opposite of that, the Chronoswiss Delphis Firestarter.

The Delphis case hasn’t changed from the base model. It still measures 42mm wide and 14.5mm thick, made out a new material they call Titanium Core Nano Shell. It’s has a titanium core that is permanently bonded on a nano level with a high-end composite shell on the outside, which gives it the incredible red shine. All 17 parts of the case, including the bezel, lugs and crown have the same red finish with a metallic look. Speaking of the crown, it’s very large and onion-shaped. Like many Chronoswiss watches, it comes with elegant fluted rings at the top and bottom of the case band. There are sapphire crystals on top and bottom and water resistance is 100 meters.

Red details continue on the dial as well. There’s the very characteristic Delphis crescent-shaped upper dial which gets the retrograde minutes track and jumping hour window at noon, and that gets five layers of red grand feu enamel. The bottom part of the dial has a black base with two openworked matte black bridges. The bottom bridge holds the small seconds sub-dial which features a red and aluminum emblem that instantly reminded me of the Umbrella Corporation logo from Resident Evil.

Inside is the automatic C. 6004 which has been developed by La Joux-Perret. It beats at 28,800vph and has a 55 hour power reserve. The rotor is openworked and made out of tungsten, while the rest of the movement has ruthenium-plated components. The watch comes on a red rubber strap.

The Chronoswiss Delphis Firestarter is limited to 50 pieces and priced at €41,800. See more on the Chronoswiss website.

4/

The Best Sports Watches Of 2024, As Chosen By Me

The best-lists chosen by me continue. This category is even more vague than yesterday. It’s simply sports watches. These can be divers, chronographs, even field watches. Basically, anything that would go well with any amount of physical activity. And in the end, I’m putting this list together, so it’s all about what I feel are sports watches! Here we go:

• Aquastar Revives The Benthos 500 With A Central Minutes Monopusher Chronograph

  • Perhaps my second favorite dive watch complication of the year. My absolute favorite one is so obscenely expensive, I just couldn’t include it here. Check the next section for that… But back to the Benthos 500 — a spectacular way to track time handled by a single minute hand and a single pusher. Read more about it here.

• The Legendary 80s Icon Chronosport UDT Is Back, Built By Momentum And With A Pretty Interesting Story

  • I was hoping that 2024 would have been a bigger year for quartz movements, but even more so for ana-digi watches. I’m still waiting for someone to develop a modular ana-digi movement that would fit in a range of watches. While waiting for that, the Chronosport UDT is just perfection — a cool watch at an unbeatable price. Read more about it here.

• Doxa Teams Up With Topper Jewelers For A Sensational Lume Dial Sub 300 “Great White”

  • Released just a few days ago, this is easily the best looking Doxa released in decades. That lumed dial is hauntingly beautiful. Read about it here.

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

  • Also released at the tail end of the year, this is a spectacular take on the Vulcain Cricket Nautical. I can’t stand fauxtina usually, but it works just wonderfully here. Read about it here.

• Zenith Brings A Silver and Orange Color Combo To The Very Aggressive Defy Extreme Divers Watch

  • Despite a bunch of criticism from various parts of the internet, I think Zenith had a spectacular year. They did this year what TAG Heuer managed to do last year. And this very radical diver (along with their other watch on this list) is exactly what they should be focusing on. Read about it here.

• Micromilspec Debuts Their Fantastic Looking New Milgraph GMT Chronograph

  • Micromilspec is a very cool brand that’s been working mostly for military and first responder units. Their first civilian-issue watch is something that will stand up to a lot of knocks and bangs. Read about it here.

• Ollech & Wajs Makes The Watch Made For The Air Force of the National Gendarmerie Available To All

  • I had to choose one Ollech & Wajs, and I don’t regret it being this one. Read about it here.

• Tudor Teams Up With The French Aéronautique Navale For The Pretty Fantastic Pelagos FXD GMT

  • Tudor also had a bunch of cool releases, and this is by far my favorite. An FXD with GMT… Yeah, I’m getting that. Read about it here.

• Omega Announces Aqua Terra Titanium Ultra-Light On Duplantis’ World Record Breaking Wrist

  • Is there a better sports watch of the year than an actual sports watch that was created for an Olympian that crushed a bunch of records. Read about it here.

• Doxa Releases Second Clive Cussler Themed Watch With The New SUB 300T Sharkhunter

  • This Doxa is all cosplay, but cosplay I very much adore! It’s completely ridiculous. In the best possible way. Read about it here.

• Oris Listens To Fans, Releases 38mm Divers Sixty-Five With The Calibre 400 And No Date

  • I had to include at least one Oris on this list, and a smaller Divers Sixty-Five with a Calibre 400 is exactly what the people wanted. Read about it here.

• The New Certina DS Super PH1000M STC Edition Saves Turtles While Being A Great Deal

  • A sleeper release that you should look at again. Great price, great looks, great performance. Read about it here.

• Doxa Introduces The New 200T, Their Classic Doxa Diver Now In 39mm And With A Huge Number Of Options

  • Another fan favorite — a smaller take on the helmet-shaped iconic Doxa diver. It’s already turning into a great canvas for the brand. Read about it here.

• Tudor Surprises With A Pink Black Bay Chrono In Partnership With Inter Miami CF

  • I wasn’t that crazy about this watch when it came out. But you know who was? Everybody else. The wait-list for it was massive. And then a friend of mine got one and I got it. It’s a beautiful watch. Read about it here.

• Hanhart Takes Inspiration From Germany’s Naval Aviation Squadrons For The New Fly Navy Aerosphere

  • This thing will easily fly under the radar, but stop for a second and check it out. It’s a looker. Read about it here.

• Timex Blows It Out Of The Water With Their First ISO Dive Watch Collection, The Deepwater Reef 200

  • Timex was all over the affordable category, but they rightfully earned a spot on this list as well. This is a really well designed, robust, and fairly priced diver. Read about it here.

• Fortis Presents Their Candidate For The First Watch Worn On Mars, The AMADEE-24 Mars Analog Mission Timer

  • Another watch that kind of went under the radar, but I kept going back to it. I like it so very much. Read about it here.

• Sinn Adds A Lume-Dialed Limited Edition And Three Oil-Filled Models To It’s Fantastic U50 Lineup

  • Hey, can it really be a list of sports watches without a Sinn, can it. And I’m happy I managed to do two releases in one. I love lume-dials, but oil filled watches are even better. Read about them here.

• Fears and Topper Jewelers’ LE Dedicated To Northern California Winters, Especially The Snow One, Is Beautiful

  • These watches came out in January, so I almost forgot about them. But they are kind of important to me, as they completely changed my mind on Fears watches. Read about them here.

• Zenith Debuts Stunning Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar With Moonphase, Paying Tribute To A Rare Prototype

  • Let’s close this out with a stunning trio of Zeniths. The Chronomaster Triple Calendar gets a new complete calendar caliber and perhaps the best vintage throwback of the year. Read about them here.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the Piaget Polo 79

2/

Hands on with the Ressence Type 9 In Gray

3/

A review of the Bulgari Serpenti Tadao Ando marquetry dial

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

With the ZM11, Leica shows watchmaking isn’t a random exercise: it speaks to the genesis of their business

For those familiar with the brand, Leica explains that where the ZM 1 and ZM 2 were designed to be akin to their flagship M series of cameras, the ZM 11 aligns more with SL and Q series cameras. For those that aren’t, the ZM 11 is Leica’s take on a sports watch where the ZM 1 and 2 are more like dressy statement pieces. Anyway, the ZM 11 measures 41mm in diameter and 13mm in thickness, though the case is pretty much all thin bezel and big dial, with the integrated lugs jutting down at a 45-degree angle. It’s also water-resistant to 100 metres, reflecting its sportier positioning.

Read the whole review on Time + Tide

⏲️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

• They missed their cruise ship. That was only the beginning. Nine stranded passengers made a mad dash across Africa to meet back up with their boat.

• Muhammad Ali. John Coltrane. DMX. Mike Tyson. Each a man, each a symbol of something larger than himself. For Emergence, Roger Reeves situates these icons in repose—sleep, domesticity, interiority, and mindfulness—and unpacks the rebellion inherent in their rest. A lovely, loving tribute.

• A great collection of the most read stories from the New Yorker. There’s enough stuff here to have you reading until the new year, much like the Vanity Fair collection yesterday.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Recently a photo album was leaked online with never before seen pictures of the Sultan of Brunei’s incredible car collection. We’ve known for decades now that he and his extravagant brother have spent hundreds of millions on cars, and we’ve seen some of them, but now we have them all. And they’re even better than we imagined.

-Vuk