Seiko Adds GMT To Cocktail Time Collection; Union Glashütte Continues Classic Race Theme; MDM Has A VERY Big Watch; Bucherer's New Maneros; Atelier Holgur's Wonderful Diver; And Crazy New ArtyA

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I wish Atelier Holgur made more watches, because the few that they do make are pretty amazing. Also, my keyboard issues persist so if you see any extra (or missing) letters “i”, I’m sorry.

In this issue:

• Seiko Adds A GMT Complication To The Fantastic Presage Cocktail Collection

• Union Glashütte Continues With Their Vintage Rally Limited Editions With The Pretty Belisar Chronograph Silvretta Classic 2024

• Maurice de Mauriac Introduces A Very Big Version of their Signature Chronograph

• Carl F. Bucherer Expands Its Sporty Manero Collection, Including A New Time-And-Date Manero Urban

• Atelier Holgur Introduces A New And Very Moody Dial For Their Cool Frømand Diver

• ArtyA Creates The Most Fun Summer Watch With 99 Unique Pieces Of The Aqua Carbon Diver

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 25 seconds

👂What’s new

1/

Seiko Adds A GMT Complication To The Fantastic Presage Cocktail Collection 

So much has been said of Seiko and their price strategy in the past few days. The watch public has a feeling that Seiko is moving away from the image of watches that are amazing value for money to a more upmarket price point, without the quality to follow the price increase. However, there are still pockets of great Seiko watches for not a lot of money. The Seiko 5 line aren’t the best watches in the world, but they do come at a decent price. There’s also the Presage Cocktail Time lineup which has always provided dials that shoot way above its mid-three-figure price point. Now, Seiko has decided to make these the Cocktail Time a bit more feature-heavy with the addition of a GMT complication.

Despite featuring great dials, not a lot of people are fans of the sizes of the watches and the use of a Hardlex crystal, both of which are features on the three new GMT models. The case measures 40.5mm wide and 12.8mm thick, with a combination of polished and brushed surfaces. On top is the aforementioned Hardlex crystal which is heavily domed, adding to a vintage look. Water resistance is 50 meters, and if that sounds low, I can tell you from experience that it will stand up to some casual swimming with ease.

Like I said, there are three versions, each with a different coloway inspired by cocktails served at the famous Japanese Star Bar. First up is the SSK037 Skydiving, which takes its name from the rum-lime juice-blue curaçao drink that gives it a pale blue shade on the dial. The SSK039 Rusty Nail has the same gradient brown as the famous drink made out of Scotch whisky and Drambuie with a garnish of lemon peel (hence the yellow GMT hand). And the SSK041 Acacia has a gradient honey yellow dial inspired by a cocktail made from gin, Benedictine and a dash of Kirsch, finished with a garnish of lemon. All three dials have the same deep sunray pattern engraved into them, with an interestingly shaped 24 hour hand that looks like the stem of a cocktail glass. There are applied markers at all the hour positions, with additional Arabic hour markers in between for the 24 hours scale.

Inside all three versions is the somewhat mediocre automatic Calibre 4R34 which is a caller-style GMT, meaning you independently adjust the GMT hand. The movement beats at 3Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve. You can also see the movement through the caseback, but it’s not much of a view. Each of the watches comes on a different bracelet - the SSK037 gets a 5-link stainless steel bracelet, the SSK039 comes on a black leather strap with a folding clasp, while the SSK041 has a brown leather strap.

The three new Seiko Presage Cocktail GMT watches will be made available in July, at a price of €600. See more on the Seiko website.

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Union Glashütte Continues With Their Vintage Rally Limited Editions With The Pretty Belisar Chronograph Silvretta Classic 2024

Just like Union Glashütte is not a hugely famous brand within the Swatch Group, so is the Silvretta Classic is not a hugely famous race. But just like the Silvretta is a wonderfully charming vintage car rally that has taken place in the Austrian and Swiss Alps since 1998, so are UG watches wonderfully charming. Union Glashütte has been a sponsor of the Silvretta for three years and for the fourth year now they are creating a very classic take on their retro Belisar Chronograph, a departure from the slightly more modern take they had last year. The new Belisar Chronograph gets a stunning shade of copper on the dial.

The case of the Belisar Chrono remains largely unchanged here, meaning you get a chunky watch that measures 44mm wide, 15.01mm thick and with an almost 53mm lug-to-lug measurement. You get retro piston-style pushers, a deeply cut crown, as well as vertically brushed surfaces with polished bevels. Water resistance is 100 meters.

New is the copper-coloured sunburst. It looks great in photos, but must be incredible live as it looks like it loves to reflect light. Compared to earlier Belisar models, there are a few updates, including a wider tachymetre scale and a red pulsometer scale. The railway track is replaced with a simpler track with printed indices, while the Arabic numerals are switched out for baton markers. The snailed sub-dials are matte white, with the 30-minute totaliser at 3 o’clock getting a red area like a rev scale on a car. There’s a date aperture in the 6 o’clock sub-dial.

Inside is a modified Valjoux 7753 that UG calls the UNG-27.S1. It’s an automatic cam-operated chronograph with a silicon hairspring. It beats at 28,800vph and has a 65 hour power reserve. The watch comes with two carrying options - a stainless steel bracelet and a rally-style leather strap.

The new Belisar Chronograph Silvretta Classic 2024 is limited to 200 pieces and priced at €3,450. See more on the Union Glashütte website.

3/

Maurice de Mauriac Introduces A Very Big Version of their Signature Chronograph

It might come as a surprise to some that Zürich, the largest city in Switzerland, has only one watch manufacture in it - Maurice de Mauriac. Since 1997, MDM has been a strange, but very welcome, addition to the industry. Relying heavily on a fashion and design-forward approach to watchmaking, Maurice de Mauriac has left a mark on the watch world. Since 2021, the brand is led by twins Massimo and Leonard Dreifuss, and has expanded their offering significantly. For their latest watch, they took inspiration from the unlikeliest of characters - the Swiss wrestler Samir Leuppi who stands 195cm (6’4”) tall and weighs in at 145kg (320lb). Such a large man needs a large watch, and the new Maurice de Mauriac Chrono Modern Big Date Deep Blue is a large watch.

I’m not kidding, it’s huge. The watch, made out of titanium or steel measures 48mm wide and has a lug-to-lug of 56mm. And while Leuppi can pull off the extra large piece, the watch comes in a smaller size, but not by much. The smaller clocks in a 45mm wide and with a lug-to-lug of 53mm. On top of the watch is a heavily knurled bezel, one that MDM has used in the past. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial comes in a very nice shade of blue, with big bold Arabic numerals at the outer minute track and a big date complication at 12:00. The watch is powered by a movement based on a Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement which has been modified for the big date. The watch can be had on a huge number od straps, as MDM is known for their customisation options.

The Maurice de Mauriac Chrono Modern Big Date Deep Blue is a very unique watch, from a very unique company. I can understand pretty much everything about MDM, apart from the price. Get this watch in steel, regardless of size, and expect to pay a pretty substantial price of CHF 7,900, while the titanium version is priced at CHF 8,900. See more on the Maurice de Mauriac website.

 4/

Carl F. Bucherer Expands Its Sporty Manero Collection, Including A New Time-And-Date Manero Urban

The fact that Carl F. Bucherer is continually putting out new watches is just great news for people who were worried that the fact that Rolex purchased the company could negatively effect the watchmaking side of the biggest retailers in the world. This obviously never happened and Carl F. Bucherer is now introducing a number of new models for their sporty Manero collection, including the Manero Flyback and Manero Peripheral lines, as well as a brand new collection called the Urban.

Starting off with the new watch, the Urban is a modern take on the time-and-date GADA watch, although I’m sure that more complications will follow. It comes in a 38mm wide and 11mm thick stainless steel case. Topped with a sapphire crystal, it has a 50 meter water resistance. Underneath the crystal is the new sunray-brushed dial with striped-motif that comes in an opaline white color. Looks lince. Inside is the automatic CFB 1950, based on the ETA2824, which means that it beats at 28,800vph and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a Tide textile strap, vegan leather straps or a steel bracelet and price is CHF 3,950 on the strap and CHF 4,350 on the bracelet.

Perhaps more interesting is the new Manero Flyback, a very classy chronograph, which gets a couple of updates. The 40mm version gets a grey sunray brushed dial, while the 43mm version gets a new 18k rose gold case, with a silver or blue dial, as well as steel models with a silver, black or blue-grey dial with new textile straps. Inside the watch is the CFB 1973 calibre, a column-wheel, integrated flyback chronograph that beats at 4Hz and has a 56 hour power reserve.

Last, there’s the new Manero Peripheral which is powered by the in-house automatic CFB A2050 calibre, which is a somewhat unusual peripheral rotor movement. The watch comes in a 40.6mm wide and 11.2mm thick stainless steel case, and features a new sunray-brushed dials with striped-motif that come in either blue, opaline or anthracite. It comes on a hybrid rubber strap or a 3-link steel bracelet. The price is CHF 7,500 on a strap and CHF 7,900 on a metal bracelet. See more on the Carl F. Bucherer website.

5/

Atelier Holgur Introduces A New And Very Moody Dial For Their Cool Frømand Diver

The watches that Singapore-based, Nordic-influenced, Atelier Holgur puts out are definitely not something that’s expected from a small upstart microbrand. They are much more mature, expertly made, but also much more expensive, than you would think. They made their name with the Frømand dive watch, but this new updated dial on the limited-edition Frømand Edition Fumée Silver Tide really launches the watch into the big leagues.

It comes in a very interesting case, one that’s 40mm wide and 13.5mm thick and made out of Grade 5 Titanium. That’s not the interesting part. What is interesting is the shape of the case, an angular cushion case with well-executed matte and polished details. It also looks to have integrated lugs, but actually hides fixed bars to make it a really capable diver. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a black DLC treated classic dive bezel with a detailed 20-minute highlight. Water resistance is 300 meters.

The Silver Tide variant, according to the brand’s founders, takes inspiration from their night diving experiences, where moonlight reflects off the water with a silvery glow and fades into the black of the ocean, which is why the dial has a bright silvery center that gradually becomes darker until it fades to black. The dial has blocky indices and dagger-like hands, all filled with lume. At 6 o’clock is a recessed sub-seconds register with a raised grained center.

Inside is not a movement you would expect from a microbrand, most of which reach for a Sellita offering. This one is powered by a specially commissioned Schwarz-Etienne ASE 200, a movement used in watches designed by Kari Voutilainen. It has an 80 hour power reserve and is beautiful to look at, with extensive skeletonization, micro-blasted surfaces, hand-beveled edges, and a signed micro-rotor. The watch comes with two straps made out of recycled ocean plastic that use either a pin or a hook-and-loop system to close.

With this pretty advanced movement and a lot of incredible details, this is not a cheap watch. Only eight watches will be made at a price of CHF 11,500. This puts it in pricing competition with watches from JLC, Panerai and, hell, maybe even Blancpain and Rolex. And I think I might be crazy enough to say I prefer this one. See more on the Atelier Holgur website.

6/

ArtyA Creates The Most Fun Summer Watch With 99 Unique Pieces Of The Aqua Carbon Diver

While major brands like to tout their every single achievement in material development, Yvan Arpa quietly pushes what’s possible forward with his brand ArtyA. Be it their incredible dress watches with huge viewing areas for the dial or the absolutely bonkers pieces made out of color-changing sapphire, ArtyA is perhaps the most overlooked gem of material advancements. Now, they’re putting out a perfect summer watch, the Aqua Carbon Diver, an exclusive series of 99 unique pieces made out of colorful carbon.

The watches come in a 43mm wide and 16mm thick case that’s made out of tinted forged carbon. On top is a sapphire crystal, just like on the back, but the one on the back is overlayed with an open shark’s mouth in raised relief. Very cool. The screw-down crown is inspired by a submarine hatch. Water resistance is 300 meters and the entire thing weighs just a hair over 100 grams.

The dial is also made out of tinted forged carbon, a simple affair with a date window at 3 o’clock. The applied indexes and hands are treated with color-matched Super-LumiNova BGW9. Each watch is unique by the case/dial combination it offers: 11 available colours for the case and dial to create only 99 possible, unique variations.

Inside is the “ArtyOn” Swiss Made automatic movement. The brand doesn’t offer too many more details about the movement but it is a base Swiss caliber that operates at 4Hz with about two days of power reserve, and that is decorated for ArtyA with dark-colored bridges and some skeletonization. The watch comes on a rubber strap with a pin buckle, but you can get a leather strap if you want one.

The ArtyA Aqua Carbon Diver is a series limited to 99 unique pieces and priced at €10,500. See more on the ArtyA website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the Sinn T50

2/

Hands on with the CIGA Design Mechanical Watch Tourbillon Chinese Zodiac Year of the Dragon

3/

A review of the Mille Miglia ref. 8915 BRG

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Praesidus C-47 A-11 D-Day is all about that scruffy-looking dial taken right off an airplane door

It is a preserved piece of a C-47 Skytrain, a model used during the war for transport and paratrooper service. Praesidus obtained what was known as the “hamburger” door. There were two means of egress on the C-47: a large hatch in the rear of the fuselage and a small one in the front. That front door was just ahead of one of the props, so if you jumped out of it, you’d be hamburger.

Read the whole review on The Time Bum.

⏲️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

• When a drug kingpin named Microsoft tried to seize control of an encrypted phone company for criminals, he was playing right into its real owners’ hands. Inside the biggest FBI sting operation in history.

• For decades, Wilbert Rideau investigated America’s prison system—from the inside. This is the story of how he managed to publish a magazine from a maximum security prison.

• Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t see things the way you do, claims Esquire in this profile of the actor. He helped launch the Marvel universe. He finally won his Oscar. But even in the small moments, he’s always on the verge of a new revelation.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Classic cars, planes, hangars full of stuff, a mid-century modern house and another home on the ocean in New Port Beach. Some people really do have things figured out.

💵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