Raymond Weil Releases Four Beautiful Millesime Moon Phase Watches; New Depancel Automatic Allure Chrono; Vaer Expands R1 Line; And Speake-Marin's Monochromatic Ripples Infinity Date

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Ok, I mentioned Watches and Wonders yesterday, but we are now really in the lead up to the biggest show of the year. How do we know it? Well, because brands are starting to announce their W&W releases, and things are getting pretty interesting. I love the Raymond Weil. A lot.

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In this issue:

• Raymond Weil Builds On GPHG 2023 Win With A Quartet Of New Millesime Moon Phase Watches

• Depancel Follows Up The Manual Wound Allure Chronograph With An Automatic Version And New Dials

• Vaer Expands Their R1 Line With A Bunch Of New Watches, Including Race And Dive Inspired Models

• Speake-Marin Introduces A Mirror-Like Monochromatic Version Of The Ripples Infinity Date

Today’s reading time: 6 minutes and 39 seconds

👂What’s new

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Raymond Weil Builds On GPHG 2023 Win With A Quartet Of New Millesime Moon Phase Watches

A clear fan favorite at last year’s Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, the most prominent award in the watch world, was the Raymond Weil Millésime Small Seconds. The watch ended up winning the Challenge Watch Prize and it was clear why - it was a simple dress watch, a throwback to the high point of sector watches. Raymond Weil, a brand that makes a whole range of watches - from bizarrely unattractive skeleton pieces to stunners like the Millésime collection - saw this success from last year and is now building on it with a quartet of new Millésime Automatic Moon Phase pieces in 35 and 39.5mm sizes.

The release of these four watches is also the first official announcement of new watches that will be shown at Watches and Wonders, the biggest watch show of the year that starts on April 9th, so details like pricing might still change a bit. The four new watches come in two case sizes, a smaller 35mm wide and 9.98mm thick version that is intended for women, although it can function as a unisex watch, and a larger 39.5mm wide and 10.05mm thick. All four are made out of stainless steel, with a combination of deeply brushed and highly polished surfaces, and with two untreated and two getting a rose gold PVD finish. On top of all four is a simple and thin fixed bezel, with thin and long lugs attaching the fully round case to the straps. Additionally, the silver collored smaller version has diamonds set in the lugs totalling 0.26 ct. On top of all four is a glassbox sapphire crystal and all four have 50 meters of water resistance.

The dials of all four models build on the elegant sector dial of the Millésime Automatic we have already seen. Being a sector dial, we get three distinct sectors to it - on the very edge is a railroad track style minute track, followed by a simple baton on the 39.5mm and simple numerals on the 35mm for the hour track, and an embossed crosshairs in the central section. Instead of the small seconds that blew everyone away at the GPHG, this watch gets a beautiful moonphase complication with a stylised art deco moon drawing. The smaller version in steel comes with a denim blue dial, while the rose gold gets a silver dial. The larger watches come with a silver dial on the rose gold PVD version and a midnight blue on the silver case version.

Inside all four watches is the RW4280 automatic movement, based on the Sellita SW280-1. It’s a known moon phase movement built on the reliable and easily servicable SW200 movement from Sellita. It beats at 28,800bph and has a relatively short 38 hour power reserve. The watches come on a selection of blue, black and grey genuine leather straps.

The Raymond Weil Millésime Automatic Moon Phase will be announced at Watches and Wonders, but won’t go on sale until October, which is quite a lead time. And while Raymond Weil doesn’t state the prices on their website just yet, it seems that they will be quite fairly priced at CHF 2,125 for the 39.5mm steel model, CHF 2,225 for the two rose gold PVD models and CHF 2,450 for the diamond set 35mm version. See more on the Raymond Weil website.

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Depancel Follows Up The Manual Wound Allure Chronograph With An Automatic Version And New Dials

Ask 10 people what they think about the 1970s and nine will say that was a drab decade, everything painted brown, boring and forgettable. And all nine would be wrong. I would be the one remaining guy who would convince you that the 70s were the best. The 60s were all groovy and colorfuly, yeah, but the 70s brought everything down a bit with amazing architecture, some of the best art since the 50s and movies and music that broke out of the status quo and brought new, angry and rebellious energy. Even the racing was more exciting than ever before, with huge rivalries flaring up and drivers becoming superstars. People like James Hunt, Niki Lauda and Mario Andretti were revered and racing got its own style. This is the feel that Depancel is capturing with a new automatic version of their Allure Chronograph.

This is a big and burly sports chrono, there’s no two ways about it. It measures 43mm wide, 15mm thick and has a 48.5mm lug-to-lug. Made out of stainless steel, it will be a presence on your wrist, but it will also look really nice with a mix of brushed surfaces and polished accents. The crown has an orange decorative ring and pushers are mushroom-style. On top is a box-shaped sapphire crystal, surrounded by a fixed black bezel that has a silver-and-orange tachymeter scale.

The dials come in two colors, a silver or a blue, with a tri-compax subdial setup. The central section of the dial has a cross-hatched pattern, sorrounded by a sector for the hour markers that are lumed and surrounded by polished sorrounds. The chronograph indications have orange hands and details on both colors and there’s a date window at 4:30.

Inside is the Sellita SW510 automatic chronograph movement, which beats at 28,800pbh and has a 62 hour power reserve. The finishing is what you would expect from the Sellita SW510, with the addition on a custom rotor that is made to look like a brake disc and an engraved Depancel logo. The watch comes on either a blue or black leather strap with orange stitching.

The Depancel Allure Automatic Chronograph is not limited in production and the price is set at €2,400. See more on the Depancel website.

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Vaer Expands Their R1 Line With A Bunch Of New Watches, Including Race And Dive Inspired Models

After years of building up a very recognisable look, mostly based on time-only pieces, the Los Angeles-based microbrand Vaer has expanded into proper chronos last year with their American-assembled R1 collection which is equally as vintage inspired as it is a recognisable Vaer. Now the brand is expanding this successful collection with a bunch of new pieces called the R1 Rally, R1 Tactical, and R1 Ocean Racer, each telling their own story.

The R1 Rally and R1 Tactical models both feature stainless steel cases with fixed bezels measuring 40mm wide, while the R1 Ocean Racer comes in two sizes, either a 38mm or 42mm case. The R1 Rally and R1 Tactical share a case, with the tactical getting a matte black PVD finish, and the R1 Ocean Racer gets a slightly different case that is very similar to what can be found among the rest of the brand’s divers. It has a unidirectional rotating bezel, along with a twisting lug profile. All four have a domed sapphire crystal on top and 100 meters of water resistance.

The Vaer R1 Rally Chronograph is available with the option of either a black or off-white dial, both with squircicle subdials with accents in red, blue and yellow. The R1 Tactical only gets a black dial that has green accented registers. Both the R1 Rally and R1 Tactical feature tachymeter scales printed along the periphery of their dials. The R1 Ocean Racer gets a black or cream dial, with applied hour markers with recessed registers and great use of red, blue, yellow and light blue accents.

Inside all of R1 Chronograph’s is the Seiko Epson VK-63 meca-quartz movement, which is the variation of this popular caliber series that features three registers consisting of a 60-minute totalizer, running seconds indicator, and a 24-hour display. There’s a choice of straps - a black tropic rubber and khaki nylon two-piece come with every watch, but you can also add a FKM rubber waffle strap, a Horween leather strap, Vaer’s standard stainless steel bracelet, or the new premium bracelet that includes a more refined clasp a quick extension system.

While the lineup might seem like a lot, and I didn’t really go into too much detail, Vaer keeps pricing incredibly simple. Every single one of these watches costs exactly the same - $399. Prices do go up if you choose an additional strap, but I appreciate that it’s so simple. See more on the Vaer website.

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Speake-Marin Introduces A Mirror-Like Monochromatic Version Of The Ripples Infinity Date

There’s something about Speake-Marin‘s heart-shaped hour hand that has made me feel uneasy. I have no idea why, it’s just never sat well for me. And for that reason, I could never truly appreciate their watches, despite them being not just great looking but sometimes just downright stunning. However, their latest release, a part of the Ripples collection, Speake-Marin‘s effort to jump on the integrated bracelet sports watch bandwagon, is giving me second thoughts about the brand. I love the silver monochromatic look of this one. This is the new Speake-Marin Ripples Infinity Date.

The new watch uses the same case as the rest of the Ripples series, meaning it’s made out of stainless steel measuring 40.3mm wide and 9.2mm thick. The case envelopes the crown, and on top is a fixed and mark-less square-circle bezel. Being a sports watch, the watch has a deep brushed finish with polished profiles. On top is a sapphire crystal. However, being a sports watch, one would maybe expect a bit more water resistance than 50 meters.

Things get different on the dial, which is a brass base with rhodium-plating. It has 12 ridges stamped into it, with a hand applied satin finish and color. The hour markers are applied batons and you get the same hands as all the other Speake-Marin watches: heart-shaped for the hour and double feuille for the minutes. The hands are also rhodium plated, blending them with the dial and giving the watch an overall monochrome look, interrupted only by the ripples, the date window at 6 o’clock and the small seconds subdial at 2 o’clock that has a sunray finish.

Inside is the calibre SMA03-TD, an automatic movement made by Le Cercle des Horlogers. It beats at 28,800bph and has a decent 52-hour power reserve. Out back is a sapphire crystal so you get to see the decorations which include Côtes de Genêve stripes, perlage, anglage and a tungsten micro-rotor which is hand engraved. The watch comes on an integrated three-row stainless steel bracelet.

The Speake-Marin Ripples Infinity Date price is CHF 23,900, without taxes. See more on the Speake-Marin website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Omega Railmaster

2/

Hands-On With The Omega × Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch Misson To The Moonphase

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A review of the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF in rose gold

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The new Draken Peregrine shows how far microbrands have come in 6 years

The original Draken Peregrine was released by the New Zealand company in 2018, and although it was well-received on Kickstarter at the time, it clearly hadn’t found its footing in hindsight. The 44mm case was fairly bulky at 15.25mm thick. The bezel was fairly bland and the lugs disappeared into nothing, but the option to have a stainless steel or black DLC-coated case was pretty nice. The new case is leagues ahead. The 42mm diameter is still powerfully present but more comfortable to wear at 12.75mm thick. The lugs are angled a bit more acutely, and the bezel is nicely chamfered for greater visual depth. The lug-to-lug distance has also come down from 52mm to 49mm.

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

• Across the street from my parent’s house is a garage we could easily call the garage of shame. Or the garage of wonders. Depending on your comfort level when it comes to hoarding. There’s a whole lot of stuff in there. Rare toys, vinyl records, movies, books, comics, art… But there are also hundreds and hundreds of VHS tapes, despite the fact that we haven’t watched a movie on VHS in decades. These are largely movies recorded off of TV by my dad, and there’s some pretty wild stuff there. While it might be strange to hold on to this, consider the fact that Martin Scorsese has just donated over 50 storage boxes of tapes to the University of Colorado Boulder’s main library that show a devoted interest in recording films and shows from the '80s to the 2000s. Shame he hasn’t donated this to his and mine alma mater NYU, so that I could stop by and check out what kind of weird stuff Marty taped off of public access TV at four in the morning. The Guardian has a look into a tiny bit of the collection.

• What a bizarre world we live in when the wife of El Chapo, the most ruthless of drug lords, gets a profile in Elle magazine, complete with a photo shoot. But it’s an interesting read, there’s no denying it.

• On a June afternoon in 2018, a man named Mickey Barreto checked into the New Yorker Hotel. He was assigned Room 2565, a double-bed accommodation with a view of Midtown Manhattan almost entirely obscured by an exterior wall. For a one-night stay, he paid $200.57. But he did not check out the next morning. Instead, he made the once-grand hotel his full-time residence for the next five years, without ever paying another cent. In a city where every inch of real estate is picked over and priced out, and where affordable apartments are among the rarest of commodities, Mr. Barreto had perhaps the best housing deal in New York City history. Now, that deal could land him in prison.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

New York City is not a car city. It’s crowded, parking is extremely expensive, traffic is horrible. It’s just not a car city. Only, when it is a car city, then it goes hard as a car city. Some of the best car stories can be found in NYC, like the story of this relatively humble 911.

💵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 Ōtsuka 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