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- Seiko Adds Night Vision Sumo, Turtle Diver And Speedtimer To Black Series, Maurice Lacroix Launches Black And Blue Aikon PVD, Bell & Ross Has A Wild Dragon Tribute, New From Farer And Ulysse Nardin
Seiko Adds Night Vision Sumo, Turtle Diver And Speedtimer To Black Series, Maurice Lacroix Launches Black And Blue Aikon PVD, Bell & Ross Has A Wild Dragon Tribute, New From Farer And Ulysse Nardin
The Bell & Ross might just be the one Year of the Dragon watch to rule them all
Vuk Radic
January 15, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 18 minutes
Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It’s raining cats and dogs in Zagreb, so it’s perfect weather for a blacked out Seiko.
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In this issue:
Seiko Adds Three New Black Series Watches, The Night Vision Sumo, Turtle Diver and Solar Speedtimer Chronograph
Maurice Lacroix Launches Aikon PVD Limited Editions in Metallic Black and Blue
Bell & Ross Offers One Of The Wildest Tributes To The Year Of The Dragon With The BR 05 Artline Dragon
Farer Gives Their Stunning Lander IV GMT The Eastern Arabic Numerals Treatment
Ulysse Nardin Celebrates Lunar New Year With The Blast Tourbillon Dragon
Today’s reading time: 7 minutes
👂What’s new
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The Black Series from Seiko is not particularly new. Different for their hard-coated cases, black dials, and green lume, the Black Series came around in 2018 as a limited edition of the Seiko Turtle. Since then a number of models have gotten the black treatment, usually in threes, and now we’re getting three new models that vary a new name - Night Vision. These are the Night Vision Sumo, Night Vision Turtle Diver and Night Vision Solar Speedtimer Chronograph. And while black-coated watches are often quite controversial, this line fits perfectly into Seiko’s ethos of offering a watch for pretty much everybody.
First up is the Seiko SRPK43 King Turtle. It comes in the well known King Turtle case that measures 45mm wide, 13.2mm thick and has a 47.7mm lug-to-lug, only the case is now rendered in steel with a black hard coating. It’s a diver from the Prospex line so you get 200 meters of water resistance and a sapphire crystal on top. It has a matte black dial, green-lumed indices and hands and a day-date indicator. Inside is the tried-and-true-but-not-particularly-accurate 4R36 automatic movement with a 41-hour power reserve. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet with the same dark coating.
Then there’s the SSC923 Solar Speedtimer which comes in a 41.4mm wide, 13mm thick and with a 45.9mm lug-to-lug stainless steel case with the same dark coating. Water resistance is 100 meters and the watch is powered by the V192 solar-powered chronograph movement. You get 6 months of power reserve, a date function 60-minute and 24-hour counters, and a power reserve indicator. It comes on a great looking nylon strap with a folding buckle.
Lastly, there’s the SPB433 Sumo. 45mm wide, 13.4mm thick and with a 52.6mm lug-to-lug, you get the same black treated case, a stainless steel bracelet, a black ceramic bezel and, again, a sapphire crystal. People are finally getting what they wanted so long for Seiko, and it would be great to see more sapphire crystal covered watches from them. Unlike the King Turtle and Solar Speedtimer which have matte black dials, the Sumo has a wonderful textured dial with the same green lumed indices and hands. Inside the sumo is 6R35 automatic movement with a 70-hour power reserve.
All three watches will be available in stores in Februray, with the SRPK43 King Turtle and SSC923 Solar Speedtimer coming in as non limited models and the SPB433 Sumo limited to 3,500 pieces. The the SSC923 is priced at €700, the SRPK43 at €780 and the SPB433 at €1,300. See more on the Seiko website.
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I’ll be very honest and say that I never really got Maurice Lacroix. Sure, they had some great watches in the Masterpiece line at fantastic prices, but overall they never moved it. Then last year the ML Aikon Benzilla tickled me in a funny way. It was affordable, it had amazing design and a very fun look. That made me keep an eye on the Aikon line and little by little, I started digging the Aikon. ML’s version of Genta-style 70s integrated bracelet sports watches, the Aikon is now getting two PVD limited editions - one black and one a fantastic blue.
This new Aikon duo comes in two sizes - the black version comes in at 42mm, while the blue measures 39mm wide. The colors are rendered in a metallic finish, a slight departure from the overall very matte impression that the Aikon line usually has. The metallic finish is achieved with a PVD coating and it covers the entire round case in stainless steel with a large flat bezel decorated with six claws. Both dials are rendered in a very beautiful fumé Clous de Paris, making it look very much like the Royal Oak.
Inside is the ML115 automatic calibre, which is nothing that special. It’s essentially a rebranded Sellita SW200. It’s a robust and easily servicable movement that keeps good time. The movement beats at 28,800vph and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watches come on a color-matched rubber strap.
Both Aikon PVD models are limited to 888 pieces each and retail for €2,600. That’s not exactly cheap, especially for a SW200 movement, but I think it can work as a nice limited edition. Especially if you really like it. I would usually say see more on the ML website, but they haven’t updated it yet to include the new PVD Aikons.
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OK, I warned you before that you can expect A LOT of dragon-themed watches in preparation for the celebration of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon, which begins on February 10. This watch is one of two just in today’s newsletter, so it really is ramping up. This watch is, also, one of the most extreme examples of a tribute to the Year of the Dragon. This watch is the Bell & Ross BR05 Artline Dragon with an incredible dragon design laser engraved into the case and bracelet.
The new Artline Dragon comes in the familiar BR 05 case that measures 40mm wide and 10.33mm thick and with a very square profile. The watch still has 4 functional screws and a round aperture for the dial in the middle, while the screw down crown ensures a 100m water resistance.
But there’s really not much more familiar about this watch as it’s very unique. Almost like a full tattoo sleeve, the BR 05 Artline Dragon gets a laser engraved dragon motif across the entire bracelet and case. The dial showcases the dragon head, with its scales, claws and teeth meticulously laser engraved. The watch features satin-finished, rhodium-plated, skeletonised hour and minute hands, filled with black lacquer and with a wavy shape.
Inside the watch is the BR-CAL.321 automatic movement which is based on the Sellita SW300-1 A. The movement beats at 28.800vph and has a 54 hour power reserve and a date function at 3 o’clock.
The BR 05 Artline Dragon is limited to just 99 pieces and is available for pre-order right now. Bell & Ross says deliveries are expected in mid-January, which is now, so you can go and get one if you like it. Price is set at €8,200. See more on the Bell & Ross website.
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I’ve said it so many times before that I’m really boring myself already, but I’ll say it again - there is no other watch brand, at any price point, that’s better at handling color than Farer. I don’t know how they do it, but every single one of their watch has absolute perfect color blocking and matching. And they offer these watches at truly affordable prices for something that looks this good. Not whey have a very small, but impactful, update to their already stunning Lander IV GMT watch. They are giving it Eastern Arabic numerals.
This version of the Lander comes in the larger of the two cases that the model has, but it’s still very wearable. The stainless steel case measures 39.5mm wide, 10.8mm thick and has a 45mm lug-to-lug. The case has a polished finish with brushed lug tops. There’s a tiny, almost invisible, bezel on top and ti surrounds a boxed sapphire crystal domed glass. Water resistance is rated at a comfortable 100 meters.
The dial is very familiar. It comes in a sea green sunray finish with triple steps. On the very outer edge is a gun metal silver rim with a second track and a 24 hour track for the GMT hand to point to. According to Farer, the Eastern Arabic numerals are rendered in ghost white, 14 times over-printed with Super-LumiNova and outlined in astronaut silver. The hands are also rendered in what they call astronaut silver, with a burnt orange second hand and a “British pillarbox red GMT hand”.
Inside is the Sellita SW330-2 Top Grade movement. It beats at 28,800 vph and has a power reserve of 56 hours. It features hours, minutes, sweep second, a 24hr hand and a date function at 3 o’clock. That date disk is, of course, color matched to the dial. The Top Grade is the middle of the three grades the SW330 can be had and it means that it has a glucydur balance wheel, it’s adjusted in 5 positions at an average rate of +/-4 seconds/day. The watch comes on a tan St Venere leather strap but, like all Farer watches, can be had on just about any type of strap.
The initial batch of Lander IV GMT Eastern Arabic Edition is limited to just 50 pieces and you can chose your allocation number when you order. Price is set at €1,475 which is a great price for a watch like this. See more on the Farer website.
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This was supposed to be the only Lunar New Year watch of today’s newsletter but then the Bell & Ross threw a wrench in the plan. But while as extravagant in design as the B&R, this piece occupies the exact opposite end of the spectrum as the Bell & Ross. This is the Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon, a watch that turned the entire dial into a beautiful sculpture of a dragon, with a pearl mounted on the Tourbillon.
Based on the regular Blast Tourbillon, this UN comes in a 45mm wide case with very short lugs. It’s made out of 18k 5N gold with black DLC-coated titanium sections on the bezel, sides and lugs. It’s a round case, but with very sharp angles on the sides adds a lot of dynamism.
But the main attraction, of course, is the dial. Well, there is no dial. Instead of just painting a dragon on a regular dial, UN created a sculpture of a dragon that twists between the openworked dial’s struts that make up the characteristic X structure of the dial. It really does look amazing, and it’s made even better with deep reds and yellows the dragon is painted with. A large pearl has been placed at the centre of the tourbillon cage, with the dragon trying to grab it.
Powering the watch is the Ulysse Nardin Calibre UN-172, a movement that UN intended to be skeletonised. There’s the flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock and a platinum micro-rotor at 12. The movement beats at 18,000vph and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watch comes with two strap options: a black alligator strap and a velvety rubber strap
The Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon is limited to 88 pieces and it’s priced at $100,600. See more on the UN website.
🫳On hand
Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon
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⚙️Watch Worthy
A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually likewatches
We must, of course, address the question of aesthetics, arguably the selling point of this watch, next to the strong cost-of-entertainment ratio. Clearly, one better have a taste for ultra-modern, arguably sci-fi-inspired looks, or at least not be immediately turned off by them, but even if you just tolerate the design, you’ll likely find the CIGA Design Series X Eye of Horus watch to be fun on the wrist. It has odd cutouts on all four sides of the bezel which, together with the thin profile and what looks like an eject marker over 12 o’clock, creates the illusion that there is an additional device or something that could be attached to it.
⏲️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
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the TV show that started the second Golden Age of Television - The Sopranos. If you won’t be rewatching it this year, at least read this oral history of the show. Sure, it’s 10 years old now, but it’s full of incredible stories. These two short pieces point out how the Sopranos started as a comedy about a mother and how it wasn’t really a show about the mob, but rather America. Time magazine asks whether TV is so broken we will never get a show like this ever again and the NYT puts New Jersey form the show side by side with present day Jersey.
Micheal Mann is as polarising a director as you can get. Sure, everyone loves Heat, how can you not. But can you stand Collateral, Miami Vice and Ali? I know I love them. While not an obvious choice, Mann would surely make my top 15 directors of all time. I love everything the man does (also, make sure to check out his lesser known movies - Manhunter, The Keep and Thief). However, everything I’ve seen on his latest movie, Ferrari, hasn’t been fantastic so I’m kind of scared to see it. If you like him as much as I do, check out this interview on Ferrari.
While under house arrest, Sam Bankman-Fried met with internet personality Tiffany Fong more than ten times hoping she'd tell his side of the story. Did his plan backfire? This is the crypto whistleblower at the center of the Sam Bankman-Fried storm.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
You know I avoid posting watch videos here, but I’ll take any excuse to post a video of one of my top 10 watches, the Seamaster Ploprof. Just look at it, there’s nothing like it out there. Can’t wait to buy one.
💵Pre-loved precision
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