Oris Has New Divers Sixty-Five And Oris Chronograph; Breitling's Perpetual Calendar; Favre Leuba Is Back; Unimatic's Japanese GMT; Moser x Studio Underd0g; And Lange Will Knock You Off Your Feet

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Another late one from me, but that’s only because even more watches came out and catching up is not easy. I’ll use the weekend to sift through everything and we’re back to normal next week.

Also, it’s the end of August. The Patreon is kind of close to covering the cost, but missing by just a bit. I’ll give it a few more days and then see about maybe adding ads to cover the cost of sending the emails, but it’s just a bit short. If you would like to help out, read the red box right below. And just as a teaser of what you might expect to get in the Pateron, here’s the really cool story of why the Bulova Accutron Astronaut was chosen as the official watch for A-12 and SR-71 pilots. I unlocked it for everyone. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this:

In this issue:

• Oris Launches Two New Watches, A Charity Driven Divers Sixty-Five, New Aquis Chronograph

• Breitling Continues 140 Year Celebration With New Perpetual Calendar Movement Trio

• Favre Leuba Is Back For The Third Time With 22 New Watches With A Retro Modern Feel

• Unimatic Releases First Collection With Japanese GMT Movements

• H. Moser & Cie And Studio Underd0g Piss Off The Internet With Their Passion Fruit Collaboration

• A. Lange & Söhne’s Beatutiful Hand-Decorated Datograph Handwerkskunst Limited Edition

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 55 seconds

👂What’s new

1/

Oris Launches Two New Watches, A Charity Driven Divers Sixty-Five, New Aquis Chronograph

2024 so far has been a great year for Oris. Back in April at Watches and Wonders they relased a couple of really nice watches, while using the rest of the year to put out limited edition after limited edition, along with updates to the Aquis and Divers Sixty-Five, which have become their bread and butter. And it’s these two lines that got a slight update at Geneva Watch days. The Divers Sixty-Five gets a charity football makeover, while the Aquis Chronograph gets a slimmer case, but don’t get your hopes up that it’s smaller.

Let’s start with the Divers Sixty-Five, made in collaboration with France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), along with LFP’s charity partner CNAPE (the National Convention of Child Protection Associations). But let’s cover the basics first. It comes in a stainless steel case that measures 38mm wide and 12.6mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 48mm. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal, surrounded by the steel bezel with a sandblasted matte finish and polished numerals, the same that has been used on the recently released Divers Sixty-Five with the Calibre 400 movement. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is what makes this a special edition and I love the look. It comes with a deep blue base, with all the writing done in a child’s handwriting font, with water resistance getting a rainbow of color. This pays homage to the logo of Les Défenseurs de L’Enfance, a children’s soccer tournament hosted by CNAPE, but also looks absolutely fantastic. Inside you won’t get the Caliber 400, but rather the Sellita-derived cal. 733 automatic that beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a three link bracelet.

The Oris Divers Sixty-Five LFP Limited Edition is, as the name would suggest, limited to 1,000 pieces and available for purchase now at a price of €2,500. You can see more on the Oris website.

Then we have the new Aquis Chronograph which, as some have pointed out, is a slimmed down version of the Aquis Chronograph. Which is very funny, as this new, slimmed down, version measures 17mm thick. Let me explain. Chronograph divers are a very rare breed. As are thin divers that have a 300 meter water resistance. And the Aquis Chronograph is both. And the previous version was humungous to accommodate both the automatic chronograph movement and the high water resistance. It came in a 43.50mm wide and 18mm thick case. The new version keeps the same width, but manages to slim down by a millimetre. In normal conditions this is a huge feat. But at 17mm it still a chonker. Really, you should go see the photos of its profile, it’s quite amusing. But charming, in the best possible way. To get down to 300 meters, you get a screw-down crown and screw-down pushers.

Another big change comes on the dial, which now gets a 3-6-9 sub-dial layout instead of the 6-9-12 configuration of the previous model. You get a gradient blue dial, which is matched on the unidirectional bezel on top. The silver bullet-style markers and characteristic Aquis hands are filled with lume. Inside is a nother Sellita-derived movement, the Oris cal. 771, which is an automatic chronograph with 62 hours of power reserve, 30-minute and 12-hour counters, and a date at 6 o’clock. It also comes on a stainless steel bracelet with adjustments in the clasp. The watch is part of the regular collection and retails for €4,400. See it here.

2/

Breitling Continues 140 Year Celebration With New Perpetual Calendar Movement Trio

Perpetual calendars aren’t a new thing for Breitling. They’ve had a few over the years, which often represented the height of what Breitling had to offer. But for a brand that prided itself in innovation, it was a bit of a black eye that their perpetual calendar was based on an ETA movement with a QC model on top. Well, Breitling thought that a fitting way to mark the 140th anniversary of the company was to create their first in-house perpetual calendar movement, the Calibre B19 and three new watches to house it.

A word on the movement first, as it’s shared between the three watches. It shares a base with the Calibre B01 chronograph, but with many improvements. For example, power reserve has been bumped up from 70 hours to 96 hours. To display the perpetual calendar details, Breitling chose to use the chronograph sub-dials, the date and 30-minute totaliser are at 3 o’clock, the month and leap year are at 6 o’clock, day and small seconds at 9 o’clock, moon phases ar at 12 o’clock, with a central chronograph seconds. The movement is, of course, COSC certified. Specially for these three watches that celebrate the 140th anniversary the movement gets a solid-gold rotor decorated with an engraving of Breitling’s historic Montbrillant Manufactory in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Now, the watches Breitling chose to house the new movement in are all pretty well known to us, and the most obvious of them has to be the Premier B19 Datora 42. Made out of rose gold, the case of this Datora measures 42mm wide, 15.6mm thick and with a 50mm lug-to-lug. On top of the case is a smooth fixed bezel that holds down a box-shaped sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 100 meters. The dial gets a black base with gold applied Arabic numerals, gold syringe hands are combined with a gold-toned minute track and a black tachymeter scale. Inside, of course, is the B19, and the watch comes on a black alligator leather strap with a 18k gold folding buckle. Price is set at €55,000. See it on the Breitling site.

Then, there’s the Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43, as iconic as Breitling gets. Once again made out of rose gold, this watch comes in at 43mm wide, 15.62mm thick and has a 49mm lug-to-lug. You still get the internal slide rule bezel in black, that surrounds a gold-coloured sunray-brushed base dial with gold sub-dials. Water ressirance is a bit low at 30 meters, but hey, are you going diving with your rose gold perpetual calendar Breitling Navitimer? If you are, I want to meet you. The watch comes on an alligator leather strap and it’s priced at €55,000. See it here.

And last, we have the Super Chronomat B19 44, which is the sporty option for a perpetual calendar. Also made out of red gold, it measures 44mm wide and 15.35mm thick, with black ceramic rotating bezel with four raised rider tabs at the 15-minute marks. This piece comes with an openworked sapphire dial, which gives you the best view of the new movement. It’s mounted on a rouleaux-inspired rubber strap with an 18k red gold folding clasp and priced, once again, at €55,000. See more of the watch on the Breitling website.

3/

Favre Leuba Is Back For The Third Time With 22 New Watches With A Retro Modern Feel

It’s easy to forget how devastating the quartz crisis was for the Swiss watch industry. Only when you browse eBay and Chrono 24 do you realise that hundreds of companies that made some pretty amazing watches are no more. One of the companies that came and went from the forefront of Swiss watchmaking is Favre Leuba, which has actually been around since 1737. The quartz crisis forced the founding family to sell the company in 1985, only to be revived a few years later and stumble again. Now, for the third time, Favre Leuba is giving it another go, this time under CEO Patrik Hoffman, previously of Ulysse Nardin and WatchBox. At Geneva Watch Days they unveiled their three new collections and 22 new watches with which they will attempt to capture the lower to mid end of the luxury watch market, with prices ranging from CHF 2,250 to CHF 4,375.

Give the Favre Leuba catalogue even a cursory glance and you’ll see that the new leadership has a very rich history from which to take from. And take they will, as we see from these first three collections. But they’re also hinting that they will offer a modern take on the watches as well. The best example of that is the division within the Deep Blue collection. There will be the Revival model which is pictured above all the way on the right and is a faithful recreation of the original skin divers Favre Lauba made. It’s a bit smaller at 39mm, with faux aged lume, and simulated bakelite bezel (it’s sapphire). But they’ll also make the Deep Blue Renaissance which is larger and a bit more modern in its approach. All of the new models will be powered by La Joux-Perret movements and this collection gets the G100

The other two collections are Chief and Sea Sky Chronograph. The Chief takes all the inspiration from 70s, with pillow shaped cases and an option of only a date complication or a chronograph. The Chrono feature a sunray brushed dial, while the Date has a pattern on it made out of the FL logo. The Sea Sky Chronograph is perhaps the most vintage of the bunch, looking very much like a 70s racing chrono that has been all the rage this year.

Now, this is a huge release, but there are 22 watches to cover and I just don’t have the space right here. You can head over to the FL website and see the entire lineup.

4/

Unimatic Releases First Collection With Japanese GMT Movements

The Italian watch brand Unimatic has become best known for their minimalist recreations of field and military watches, capable tools that look like they could take a beating, while packaged in a stylish package at a decent price. But, for a brand that prides itself on its toolness and capability, they made surprisingly few GMT models that would reflect their ethos. Sure, there were a couple of limited editions, but these were powered by Swiss GMT movements and were priced a bit higher than the rest of the Unimatic catalogue. Well, now, Unimatic is releasing (unfortunately, also limited) two new watches, the Modello Uno ref. U1-GMT and Modello Quattro ref. U4-GMT, with a Seiko NH34A GMT movement inside.

The Modello Uno ref. U1-GMT comes in a 40mm wide case with a fully brushed finish and a 120 clicks mono-directional security bezel that has a matte black 24h bezel insert. On top is a 2.5mm thick double domed sapphire and water resistance is rated at 300 meters. The dial has a matte black finish with white Super-LumiNova C1 markers, while the GMT hand is black with a open arrow at the tip also in white lume. Inside is the automatic Seiko NH34A which beats at 21,600vph and has a 41 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 charcoal gray tapered two-piece TPU strap. The Modello Uno ref. U1-GMT is limited to 300 pieces, the price is set at €675 and you can see it here.

The Modello Quattro ref. U4-GMT, also limited to 300 pieces, is very, very similar to the Modello Uno. The case measures 40mm wide and gets a few more facets than the Modello Uno, while also featuring drilled lugs. On top is a fixed silver-colored monoblock bezel with 24h deep acid etch. The sapphire crystal is not domed but rather flat. On the dial side, they seem to be identical, as they are inside with the use of the same movement and even strap. The lack of a rotating bezel lowers the price a bit to €600. See it on the Unimatic website.

5/

H. Moser & Cie And Studio Underd0g Piss Off The Internet With Their Passion Fruit Collaboration

Of all the watches released at Geneva Watch Days, I did not see a collaboration between luxury watchmaker H. Moser & Cie. and micro-darling Studio Underd0g being the most talked about release. In fact, rarely have I seen the Internet so united as they were yesterday with their annoyance at the two brands and their release. And sure, I get it, when I saw Moser x Studio Underd0g, my first thought too was that I would get to own an affordable Moser, kind of like what Swatch did with Omega and Blancpain. But the joke’s on us as they created the exact opposite.

Instead of the two brands working on a single watch that would be priced at either end of the price spectrum they chose, they create two completely separate watches, each based on an existing watch from a brand, sharing the theme of passionfruit on the dial, and sold as a set retailing for $64,900. While the internet complained that Swatch was cheapening Omega and Blancpain selling their name for prices way lower than they offer, I didn’t see much of an argument online to the opposite, that Moser elevated Studio Underd0g to new price highs. I’m only half kidding here, but even I have to acknowledge the fact that Studio Underd0g is known for their affordable approach to watchmaking is a bit of a disappointment for die hard SU fans who would have loved to own a yellow and purple 03Series watch (wait, what? 03Series? more on that later) And while I get the arguments that two watches priced at where they should be i.e. an expensive Moser with this dial and an affordable SU would have been perfect, I also think it’s kind of funny that they did it this way, in light with what we have seen in recent years. I just hope that they don’t stop with the 100 pieces that this set is limited to and they do continue working together on something new that would reflect the strengths of both brands.

As for the watches, Moser is here with their Endeavour Perpetual Calendar which comes in a stainless steel 42mm wide and 12.8mm thick case which is just minimalist enough to let the dial shine. And boy, does it shine. You get central hands, a small seconds at 6, date at 3 and power reserve at 9. The base of the dial is made out of 18k yellow gold base with a chiselled texture onto which sunburst-finished purple lacquer is applied for the outskirts and small seconds dial. The rest gets maracuja grand feu enamel and there’s a minuscule green hand on the central stack that indicates the months. Inside is the calibre HMC 800, an in-house, hand-wound perpetual calendar movement with a seven day power reserve.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing to fans of Studio Underd0g must have been the fact that the brand chose this collaboration to introduce a brand new model, the 03Series, also their first ever monopusher chronograph. For a brand that only has two models, this is a big deal. The 03Series comes in the same stainless steel case at the 01Series, which means it measures 38.5mm wide and 13.6mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 44.5mm. The dial carries on the same themes as seen on the Moser, with the outer minutes and tachymeter scale ring and elapsed minutes counter rendered in purple, a larger portion of the dial done in a textured yellow finish, with a green accent on the small hand of the elapsed minutes counter. Inside you’ll find the hand-wound Sellita SW510 M with a 63 hour power reserve.

Like I said, I can see a bit of humor in selling a Studio Underd0g for $65k, but as my friend just now accurately predicted, this is SU softening the blow among their hard core fans for what is coming — a huge jump in price. There’s no way that they will be able to sell a SW510 powered watch under $1,000. So get read for 03Series to join the club of four figure watches. See more about this collab on the Moser website.

6/

A. Lange & Söhne’s Beatutiful Hand-Decorated Datograph Handwerkskunst Limited Edition

Earlier this year, at Watches & Wonders, A. Lange & Söhne started their celebration for both the 30th anniversary of the brand as well as the 25th anniversary of the Datograph. It was there that they introduced the Datograph Up/Down Limited Edition as well as that incredibly stunning Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Lumen in Honeygold. Well, the celebration continues, as Lange just introduced the Datograph Handwerkskunst that has been meticulously hand decorated.

The case of the Datograph Handwerkskunst is made out of 750 yellow gold and measures 41mm wide. It’s entirely polished, with matching gold pushers and a fluted crown. But we’re not here for the case, and when you say that about such a beautiful case, you know the dial is going to be something else.

The main part of the dial is made out of black rhodium with grey rhodium subdials, all of which has been decorated with tremblage engraving. The effect that tremblage, as the name would suggest, leaves behind is a very fine grain that brands usually achieve through sandblasting. Only, this is done by hand, with the tiniest of chisels. It’s supposed to be incredibly difficult to achieve a uniform appearance with such a technique but look at that dial. They can do it.

You get applied numerals and scales, all made out of the same gold as the case, with incredible chamfers and clever use of relief engraving. The top surfaces are then straight grained in order to catch the light. The same techniques are also used on the central hands and the border of the date window at 12 o’clock.

Inside is the calibre L951.8, a manual-winding movement assembled by hand. It has a 60 hour power reserve and incredible amounts of details. In addition to the chamfered and polished edges, the chronograph levers have black polishing, the German silver three-quarter plate is grained, while the balance cock is engraved with a vine motif.

The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Handwerkskunst is limited to 25 pieces all of which are exclusively offered via A. Lange & Söhne boutiques. Price is on request, but don’t expect it to be in the lower half of six figures. See more on the Lange website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Cartier Tortue diamond-set dress watch

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Hands-On with the H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton

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A review of the Hublot Tourbillon Bi-Axis Retrograde Black Carbon 44mm

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Perrelet Turbine Splash, however, the brand delivers perhaps its wildest, most unapologetically attention-grabbing variant to date

At 44mm wide, the Perrelet Turbine Splash’s carbon fiber and (suspiciously ambiguous) polycarbonate integrated case is anything but subtle on the wrist, but it’s a fun and funky take on the now-commonplace integrated sports watch concept. The basic design is shared with the rest of the carbon Turbine family, and while it may seem streamlined at first glance, it’s deceptively complex. For a start, take the integrated lug assembly. Perrelet’s distinctive three-lug pattern is present and accounted for here, adding some visual mass to the extremities of the case, but beyond the familiar angular shape, there’s more detail to be found here. These are technically, perhaps confusingly, attached lugs as well as integrated lugs, with a flaring, angular design that extends past the case edges to create a sharper silhouette.

Read the whole review on A Blog To Watch

⏲️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’ve spent three decades living intertwined lives at the inconceivably glamorous height of Hollywood. Now, having crossed the threshold of 60, they’re more comfortable than ever throwing bombs, dispensing hard-won wisdom, and, yes, arguing about who had the better mullet in the ’80s. George Clooney and Brad Pitt are Hollywood’s BFFs.

• Over seven seasons on NBC, Columbo put a charming, shambolic gloss on the crime show. Now we’re living in a Columbo-ssaince populated by imitators—Poker Face, for example, and Elsbeth. J.W. McCormack turns a critical eye on the show, explaining why it worked so well but also why the beloved titular character isn’t a hero.

• In the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol, a trio of women with family members who participated in the riot moved to D.C. to seek their own kind of justice.

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If you’re subscired ot the Patreon, you know that I can’t fall asleep. I tried everything but I gave up, filling the time with books and movies. And I stumbled upon Raid 2 on tv, which proves to do a great action movie, all you need a Raid move

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