Seiko Adds Subtle Arita Porcelain Dial To Presage; Rado Has A Yellow True Square; CW Releases Red Bel Canto; Cherkas Is A New Sci-Fi Watch; JLC's New Blue Dial; And A Great Laurent Ferrier

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. What an interesting lineup today - a little bit of everything. From a very expensive Seiko, to a brand new brand that has a very interesting look. But my favorite has to be that crazy Laurent Ferrier.

In this issue:

• Seiko Gives The Presage Line A Subtle Arita Porcelain Dial With The Craftsmanship SPB445

• Rado Is Still Not Done With Adding Summer-Ready Colors To The True Square Skeleton

• Christopher Ward Teams Up With Andrew Morgan To Create A Very, Very C1 Red Bel Canto

• New Brand Cherkas Introduces Retro Sci-Fi Inspired Module One

• Jaeger-LeCoultre Adds A Blue Dial For The Master Control Chronograph Calendar

• Laurent Ferrier Works With Artist Hervé Di Rosa To Create An Incredible Classic Micro-Rotor

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 48 seconds

👂What’s new

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Seiko Gives The Presage Line A Subtle Arita Porcelain Dial With The Craftsmanship SPB445

There are a huge number of ways one could criticise Seiko - be it their often outdated movements, or the recent hike in price, or their lack of better bracelets… But one thing you can not criticise them for are the dials. This is especially true in the Presage line and even more so in the Presage Craftsmanship Series, in which Seiko applies traditional Japanese techniques to produce dials that are often seen on much more expensive watches. The Presage Craftsmanship Series already saw Shippo enamel and Urushi lacquer dials, and now it gets a new one made out of Arita Porcelain. This is the Seiko Presage Craftsmanship Series SPB445.

Other than the new dial, this is still a regular Presage watch. This means that it comes in a stainless steel case that’s on the large size with a diameter of 40.6mm and thickness of 12.5mm. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal (thanks Seiko), surrounded by a fixed and minimalist bezel. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Now, on to the dial. Arita is a small town located on the Japanese island of Kyushu, known for its enamel and porcelain products. While enamel and porcelain are similar, they are made with different processes and have a different end result. Enamel is usually painted on a metal base and then baked. On the other hand, the porcelain dials for this Presage are made by Master craftsman Hiroyuki Hashiguchi and his colleagues in Arita by molding a clay based material into the shape of the dial. The dial is then dried, baked, hand glazed, and baked again. The second firing gives the dial a subtle blue tint. A third bake is made after the holes for the hands are made.

Enamel dials have a beautiful shine to them, but this porcelain one is much softer and creamier, which works perfectly with the imprinted chapter ring. The off white color is paired with blue bar indices and blue hands and there’s a slightly bizarre 24-hour sub-dial at 6 o’clock.

Inside is the relatively new 6R5H which beats at 21,600vph and has a 72 hour power reserve. Seiko claims accuracy of -15/+25 seconds per day. The watch comes on a 5-link steel bracelet with folding clasp.

The new Seiko Presage Craftsmanship Series Arita Porcelain Dial SPB445 is part of the regular collection and is priced at €2,000. See more on the Seiko website.

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Rado Is Still Not Done With Adding Summer-Ready Colors To The True Square Skeleton

Almost exactly a month ago to the day, Rado introduced two new watches in their “High-Tech Ceramic” - we get it, it’s high tech! - collection in which they showed off how well their proprietary material handles color. It was a beautiful shade of blue and it looked like a nice summery addition to the collection. Only, Rado is not done with summer colors, despite the scorching temperatures in the Northern hemisphere. They just announced a brand new color of the True Square Skeleton, and it’s a super bright yellow.

On the outside, it pretty much the same watch we’ve seen before, coming in an interesting square case that measures 38mm wide, 9.7mm thick and thanks to the square shape and almost integrated lugs, a very good lug-to-lug measurement of 44.2m. The case is made out of ceramic which, while brittle, has an exceptional resistance to scratches and it can be mixed with dies to create incredibly vivid colors. And you can see it in play here with the yellow, which joins the blue, white, black and grey that are already in the collection. Having a tough case means you get sapphire crystals on top and bottom and you get 50 meters of water resistance. The dial is openworked with yellow sandblasted element and a completely visible silver baseplate with deliberate striping.

The watch is powered by the Rado calibre R808, which just a rebranded Powermatic 80. Makes sense, seeing as how the Swatch Group owns Rado. This means you get a movement with a anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring that beats at 21,600vph and has a 80 hour power reserve. Unlike other True Square ceramic models, this one doesn’t come on a fully ceramic bracelet, but rather on a very nice looking ribbed yellow rubber strap that closes with a clasp that’s covered by the same yellow ceramic.

The new yellow Rado True Square Skeleton is part of the regular Rado collection and priced at €2,750. The watch is very new, so it’s still not on the brand’s website, but keep an eye on it and it will show up soon.

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Christopher Ward Teams Up With Andrew Morgan To Create A Very, Very C1 Red Bel Canto

You might not necessarily recognise the name Andrew Morgan, but if you were to hear his voice, you would almost certainly know who he is. Known as Mr. Talking Hands for his calming overhead videos he made for Watchfinder in which we only knew him for his hands and soothing voice. Quite recently, Morgan left Watchfinder to start his own YouTube channel called, not surprisingly, Andrew Morgan Watches. And with his own brand, Morgan has started branching out beside videos. His latest project is a collaboration with Christopher Ward. This is the wonderful Christopher Ward x Andrew Morgan Watches C1 Bel Canto The Red One.

On the outside, this remains the C1 Bel Canto we have seen before. It comes in a grade 5 titanium case that measures 41mm wide, 13mm thick and has a decent lug-to-lug of 48mm. On top is a hugely domed sapphire crystal that shows off the intricate mechanisms on the dial side. The crown to set the time is positioned at 2 o’clock, while at 4 you’ll find the button to activate the Bel Canto’s party trick, the chiming mechanism. Despite looking like a hugely complicated watch that should be babied, you still get 30 meters of water resistance.

The Bel Canto came in a number of regular colors - blue, salmon, black and purple - and a couple of limited editions, but for the Morgan edition it gets an incredible sunray brushed red dial that shimmers from almost black to a bright red. The color is applied to the dial plate, and on top of it you see a number of exposed gears, a floating chapter ring and truss-like supports with polished anglage. At the bottom lies the sound-making mechanism. A hammer on the left, actuated by a snail cam just below the center of the dial, visible through a keyhole cutout, strikes on the hour, every hour, unless turned off. At 12 o’clock is a floating mini-dial that tells the time.

One of the major perks that made the C1 Bel Canto incredibly popular when it came out was the price. It isn’t a cheap watch, no, but it is an incredibly cheap chiming watch, as these complications often go for mid five figures. The C1 keeps the price low thanks to the movement inside. It’s the humble but reliable Sellita SW200-1. On top of that, CW adds their manufacture FS01 chiming module, keeping things simple. The watch can be had on a Delugs white rubber CTS strap, a Delugs grey alcantara Signature strap, or on Christopher Ward’s Bader bracelet.

Preorders for the new Christopher Ward x Andrew Morgan Watches C1 Bel Canto The Red One open on June 27th on 3pm GMT and close on July 3rd at 5pm GMT. While technically not a limited edition, The Red One will be available only during this order window and all placed orders will be fulfilled. Deliveries are expected in December of this year. Price is set at £3,195. See more on the Christopher Ward website.

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New Brand Cherkas Introduces Retro Sci-Fi Inspired Module One

Not only is 2024 shaping up to be a year of new watch brands (I can think of at least four brands that launched to a lot of fanfare in the past two or three months), but it’s also a year of new brands making strangely shaped watches. And you know what? I like it, even when I don’t like the watches. More shape diversity is always a welcome trend. The latest watch to cover both trends - a new brand and a different shape - is the Cherkas Module One which looks almost to be inspired by soviet-era sci-fi, which would make sense as the brand was founded by Vasily Kuybar, born in the USSR and fascinated by aerospace.

Like I said, it’s an unusual case made out of bead-blasted grade 5 titanium and measuring 38mm wide, 13mm thick and with a 46mm lug-to-lug. The square stance of the watch isn’t that unusual. What is unusual is the very domed sapphire crystal that protrudes from the floating bezel that covers the entire square of the case, leaving a gap between it and the solid caseback. It’s difficult to explain, do check out more photos on their website as it’s truly something different. On top and bottom are angular one-piece integrated lugs, with a crown between the two top lugs. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is extremely sparse, with just two hands to tell the time. Actually, that’s not true. Cherkas offers two dials, one with the brand logo and one without. But seeing as how the logo and brand name are huge at 6 o’clock, I would say that most people will opt for the no-logo version. Good on Cherkas for offering this. Other than that, the matte black dial has a sandwich construction, with cutouts for the simple indices and green glowing Super-LumiNova underneath. Cherkas calls the hands apogee-shaped, I’m not 100% sure why, but I am sure that they look fantastic, with a broad shape, curved tip and a blue glowing stripe of lume.

Inside, Cherkas doesn’t complicate things and chooses the well known and reliable Sellita SW300-1 which beats at 28,800vph and has a 42 hour poer reserve. The watch comes on a nylon strap to fit the 24mm wide lugs and it closes with a titanium buckle and Velcro fastener.

The Cherkas Module One is limited to 300 pieces and sells for €2,550. Preorders are open now and deliveries are expected Q2 2025. See more on the Cherkas website.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre Adds A Blue Dial For The Master Control Chronograph Calendar

After a slew of incredible releases this year (a couple of Polaris, the haute horology Duometres, a Master Grande Tradition…), Jaeger-LeCoultre is still putting out watches, just not making a big deal about the releases. And that’s OK, not every release needs to be a huge deal. Like, for example this dial update to the Chronograph Calendar which now comes in a beautiful blue.

The watch comes in a 40mm wide and 12.05mm thick stainless steel case with brushed sides and a polished smooth bezel and lugs. With that polished approach and broad pushers on the side, along with the chronograph function, the new Master Control Chronograph Calendar is an interesting combination of dressy and sporty.

The dial gets two shades of blue to create a very dynamic approach - there’s a deeply brushed dark blue central disc that holds the sub-dials, surrounded by a light blue minute track that’s connected to the disc with sharp triangular faceted and polished indices. On the outside of the minute track is a pulsometer, again in a darker shade of blue. At 12 o’clock is a day and month display, a 30-minute timer at 3, the date and moonphase at 6 and a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock.

Inside is the calibre 759, an automatic movement with a 65 hour power reserve and a rose gold rotor. Through the caseback you can see the Côtes de Genève finishing and the intricate skeletonization of that gold rotor. The watch comes on either a flat link stainless steel bracelet or a blue leather strap.

The new blue Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar joins regular production and is priced at $17,500 on leather and $19,100 on the stainless steel bracelet. See more on the JLC website.

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Laurent Ferrier Works With Artist Hervé Di Rosa To Create An Incredible Classic Micro-Rotor

Stop reading this right now, open up a browser window and google artist Hervé Di Rosa. He is equal parts Keith Haring, Basqiat and the best of Belgian comic book artists, with a touch of influence from R. Crumb and Gilbert Shelton. His work really is delightfully amazing. Di Rosa has now teamed up with his friend Laurent Ferrier to create a special edition Classic Micro-Rotor with an incredible hand-engraved dial.

The watch comes in the familiar case of the Classic series which measures 40mm wide and 12.9mm thick, with a hugely domed sapphire crystal. This one is made out of stainless steel and has an ultra smooth and polished finish. On the side is a prominent onion crown and on top is a fixed smooth bezel.

But the case is here just to carry that incredible dial. The inspiration comes from a bas-relief art piece in Iroko wood, made in Foumban, Cameroon, which inspired Di Rosa to create a piece called Dirosapocalypse. The dial features a star-shaped character with twelve arms called “Ah! Ah! Ah!”, said to be “the master of time and reproduces himself throughout eternity”. The figure is hand-engraved onto a white gold dial and the twelve arms form the hour markers.

Inside is the FBN 229.01 automatic micro-rotor movement which beats at 21,600vph and has a power reserve of 72 hours. The watch comes on a green nubuck green leather strap with pin buckle.

Only five examples of this hand-engraved watch will ever be made and the price is set at CHF 80,000, without tax. See more on the Laurent Ferrier website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the RZE Urbanist

2/

Hands on with the Baltic Hermetique Tourer

3/

A review of the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Skeleton Label Noir

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Ollech & Wajs OW M-52B AF celebrates the birthday of the plane known as the Big Ugly Fat F*****

There are key details worth mentioning. First, the dial is matte black with white printed details, such as the plane and round indexes. The rectangular indexes at 3, 9, and 12 o’clock are applied and have a creamier tone of Super-LumiNova. Interestingly, the large hands use white luminous material. Second, the dial has diagonal wording emanating from the center that evokes the original B-905. Finally, note the red-numeral date wheel, which references the original B-905 model.

Read the whole review on Fratello

⏲️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

• Watch straps made out of recycled plastic are a huge deal, with brands competing who will make more of them. Well, as it turns out, recycling plastic is a dangerous waste of time.

• This is a joyous account of the singular experience of dining at La Piraña Lechonera, a restaurant run by chef Angel Jimenez. Open on summer weekends, La Piraña is as much about the atmosphere as the food—and is run in a style that most capitalist ventures would balk at. There is noise, smells, and grease aplenty in Abe Beam’s great piece.

• Judith Jones was one of the great editors of the 20th Century. She helped “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” find its way into print and later worked with writers such as John Updike and Sylvia Plath. But her work with cookbook authors—particularly the greatest food writer of them all, M.F.K. Fisher, and also Julia Child, James Beard and Claudia Roden—is how she is best remembered. Sara Franklin’s new biography of Jones, The Editor, is a keeper, as is this winning personal essay about Franklin’s relationship with Jones. Just lovely—and it makes you hungry, to boot.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Vice correspondent Seb Walker examines the spectacular rise and fall of WeWork, and delves into the world of venture capitalists willing to gamble billions on the next big startup.

💵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