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- Seiko Expands King Seiko Collection With Two Non Limited Watches, Bremont’s New Watch Pays Homage To The Most Insane Race Ever And New Depancel Has A New Old Stock Movement From The 60s
Seiko Expands King Seiko Collection With Two Non Limited Watches, Bremont’s New Watch Pays Homage To The Most Insane Race Ever And New Depancel Has A New Old Stock Movement From The 60s
While it's great to get a non-limited King Seiko, they could have done much more at that price
Vuk Radic
May 30, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 19 minutes
Hey friends, welcome to It’s About Time. Tomorrow is the last day of our giveaway, so invite away to boost your chances.
In this issue:
Seiko Expands King Seiko Collection With Two Non Limited Watches
Bremont’s New Watch Pays Homage To The Most Insane Race Ever
New Depancel Has A New Old Stock Movement From The 60s
Vulcain Teams Up With CronotempVs Private Collectors Club
And… invite your friends to win a Seiko Alpinist
Today’s reading time: 7 minutes and 43 seconds
Everybody needs a green faced watch in their life. That’s why we have a new giveaway - it’s the Seiko SPB121J1, aka the Seiko Alpinist in a wonderful shade of green. In fact, we’re giving away two of them!
All you have to do is click the button below and have five of your friends subscribe. Both you and one of your friends will be eligible to win one of the watches
We only have two conditions when entering this giveaway - invite 5 of your friends to subscribe and live somewhere were you can buy the Alpinist, so we can get this for you and ship it to your address. That’s it!
👂What’s new
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The rivalry between King Seiko and Grand Seiko has been strong for years. And for years they battled it out, but Grand won and the King was kind of forgotten. Until fans started asking for it to come back, and Seiko decided to oblige their wishes in 2020 when they started releasing limited numbers of King Seiko recreations. Theses seemed to have been hits for the company, as Seiko now expands the KSK-inspired collection with two slimmer, high-end and non-limited models, the SJE089 and SJE091.
In the 60s, King Seiko watches were deeply respected and they entered numerous chronometry tests, with good results. The most notable of all watches produced by KS was the reference 44-9990, with its hand-wound calibre 44A. Also known as the KSK (KS meaning King Seiko and the K at the end being the acronym for Kisei-Tsuki, stop-seconds in Japanese), it will serve as an inspiration for the comeback of the name.
After a number of limited models, Seiko is now ready to introduce two non-limited models, even though you’ll need a trained eye and a close encounter to differentiate them from a more accessible version from the SPBxxx range. Visually, they are indeed closer to the SPBxxx models and don’t try too hard to recreate the original KSK models, and at the same time, they share their specifications, movement and refinement with the two limited editions previously released.
For the two new models, Seiko has reworked the case to look more like the original 1965 watch and have increased the size a bit from the limited editions - up to 38.6mm from 38.1mm, while slimming it down from 11.4mm to 10.7mm. The finishing on the case is a combination of mirror polished surfaces and hairlines on top areas. The back, screwed and in solid steel, is decorated with the King Seiko emblem, but gone is the nice golden medallion of the two limited editions. Water-resistance is still rated at 50m. You can get the watches with a seven link steel bracelet.
The watch comes with two dial options, a silver and a black. The hands and markers have strong polished bevels on the sides and the dials have been reworked with a more understated and delicate sunray finishing technique that’s closer to the original watch. A small difference can be seen between the two dials; the silver edition has entirely polished hands and markers, while the black edition features a fine hairline finish on top of the hands and markers to heighten the level of contrast with the dial’s dark surface.
Inside is the calibre 6L35, a slimline in-house movement often reserved for the brand’s Presage limited edition. This calibre 6L35 was presented in 2018 as a thinner alternative (3.7mm in height), but also a movement with finer regulation than the other calibre of the brand. Beating at 4Hz with 45 hours of power reserve, it is given for -10/+15 seconds/day.
Launched as part of the permanent collection, the King Seiko SJE089 will be available in July 2023. They will be priced at EUR 3,400.
And these last two sentences are the main issue with the King Seiko. Historically, King Seiko stood for absolute accuracy. To put a -10/+15 seconds/day movement inside, at a price that almost reaches Tudor or a very slightly used (or maybe an even brand new) Grand Seiko, is not a good look and is, honestly, quite disappointing. Especially with their effort to position it as a more high end offering. The calibre 6L35 is not bad. It could just be a bit fine tuned and they would have a great watch.
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Before you continue reading this, go to YouTube and type in the Isle of Man TT. Say that you don’t feel going over to YT, just imagine this - you’re strapped to a motorcycle, practically lying down on the road, speeding through a village on the Isle of Man with your helmet inches from a cottage stone wall. That’s the Isle of Man TT, the fastest and most impressive race in the world. There practically hasn’t been a race in which someone doesn’t die - more than 250 riders have died since 1911, six just last year.
The Official Timing Partner of this insane even is Bremont, who just introduced a new watch dedicated to the race. And it’s not just a new colorway on an already existing watch, Bremont actually created a dedicated watch, which makes sense since they are one of the few large mainstream watchmakers from the UK, making it a logical partner for the Isle of Man. This bond is further enhanced with Bremont’s partnership with Peter Hickman, the fastest man ever to have completed the course at an average speed of 135mph (in 2018). The watch is the Isle of Man TT Limited Edition, a racing-oriented chronograph.
The watch uses Bremont’s layered Trip-Tick construction with its modular architecture. The top of the watch consists of a steel module that integrates the lugs. It frames a central container in stripped steel coated with black PVD. The back is closed by a solid steel element, secured to the case by five screws and decorated with the Isle of Man TT circuit. It’s a powerful and sizeable watch, measuring 43mm in diameter, over 15mm in height and 49mm in length.
Upon deeper consideration of the dial you will see it has all the features of a classic dial. But on first glance, it looks radical as it’s made to look like a speedometer on a bike. The hands rotate at 360°, but the main hour track mimics a gauge, with a sector that runs from 08 to 04, and frames two black-rimmed sub-counters, just like the subsidiary gauges on a sports bike. All elements are gloss-black printed over a matte white base, giving a fresh look to this watch. Red accents on the central hand and chronograph hands bring the desired racing vibe, and the date at 6 o’clock doesn’t even feel out of place in this speedy context.
Powering the watch is an automatic, chronometer-certified movement – calibre BE-50AV, based on the ETA 7750 architecture. It has a comfortable 56h power reserve. The watch is worn on a textured rubber strap, closed by a pin buckle.
Limited to 67 pieces and now available, the Bremont Isle of Man TT is priced at EUR 5,975.
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Alpine, if you are perhaps unfamiliar, is a cult French carmaker most famous for its tiny sports cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s. More recently, under Renault ownership, they have started making sports cars again and while they are supposedly fantastic cars, the old Alpinas, especially the A110, have a cult following. In order to document this cult following, Jürgen Clauss has formed alpineLAB and has since become one of the foremost experts on this particular French sports car brands. You know who else is into french sports cars? Depancel, who have a range of sports cars themed watches. Depancel teamed up with Clauss to create the Depancel Jürgen Clauss Chronograph. What would otherwise be a boring collaboration for a number of highly specialized collectors actually turned into a very interesting watch.
The Alpine A110 from the 60s is most famous for a very bright blue color and it’s that same blue that dominates on this limited edition watch, with a blazing blue sunburst dial, with black chronograph subdials and baby blue accents on the bezel and seconds hand. The bezel insert is quite intriguing, with the first quarter reserved for a pulsometer and the rest a traditional tachymetre. That makes sense for a racing watch for vintage cars, as when timing speed you won’t be likely to exceed 240 km/h too often.
The 43mm diameter may be a big too big for some, but this is a traditional racing chronograph so you can expect it to wear comfortably with the curved lugs. You have two strap options in either a diamond-stamped leather strap with a small French flag stitch, or the full-steel bracelet which will come with the leather as well.
All of this would be normal in any other tribute racing chronograph. Where, however, the Depancel Jürgen Clauss Chronograph differs substantially is on the inside. Depancel have sourced 150 new-old-stock Valjoux 7753 movements of a similar era to the original Alpine A110s, and refurbished them for use as bicompax chronograph calibres. These cam-actuated automatic chronographs were incredibly popular in their era, and many Swiss chronographs still use the same architecture or bases for their movements today. They have a power reserve of 48 hours and beat at 4Hz, plus you can gaze at it through the sapphire caseback with Depancel’s customised rotor.
That’s very cool. The Depancel Jürgen Clauss Chronograph is limited to 150 pieces and can be had for €1,795 on leather or €1,895 for the steel.
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Vulcain is on a roll. Hardly a week passes without them releasing a new watch, a new limited edition or a new collaboration. This seems to be all three, as Vulcain has teamed up with Spain-based private watch collecting club to create the Cricket André “DIDIXEIN” Ditisheim, a limited edition of 47 pieces of a different Cricket to honor André Didisheim, descendant of the founder of Vulcain and Real Madrid football player.
André Didisheim, grandson of Maurice Ditisheim, was as an excellent sportsman and footballer. In 1907, he went to Madrid to learn Spanish because at the time South America was one of the most important markets for Swiss watch manufacture. Didisheim displayed his talent as an attacking midfielder and signed with Madrid FC (now known as Real Madrid FC). While there, his name Didisheim was changed to “Didixein”.
Paying tribute to André Didisheim, the Vulcain x CronotempVs Collectors limited edition Cricket watch has a 39mm diameter case with engraved steel polished case-back. The crown placed at 3:00 can be used to manually wind the watch movement in one direction to set the alarm and in the opposite direction to set the time. The pusher placed at 2:00 sets the alarm with the arrow-shaped hand. Inside is the hand-wound double-barrel Vulcain V-10, an evolution of the original Cricket caliber from 1947, keeps the watch running and the alarm ringing
The vintage themed dial with the touches of gray colour, the dial features Arabic numerals coated with Superluminova. This timepiece is limited to 47 units.
The price of this latest Cricket is €4,300 excluding VAT.
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Independent Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva is obsessed with the Moon. You will see this on all of the watches he has made which have the moon face on it. They are, of course, so much more than just watches with a moon face, but rather small works of watchmaking art. His latest Lunations watch interprets the darker side of the Moon with its black ruthenium-coated plates and bridges.
The Sarpaneva Lunations, recently revisited in the more colourful Harvest Moon edition, now returns with a darker personality. The distinctive shape of Sarpaneva’s case, with its scalloped 6-sided bezel, short lugs and crown at 4 o’clock, is crafted from high-grade Outokumpu supra 316L/4435 steel and has a diameter of 42mm and a thickness of 9.8mm. User-friendliness has also been factored into the equation, and the two-part crown, decorated with Sarpaneva’s moon face and 12 short protruding rays, is used to set and wind the time and adjust the moon’s phases.
An openworked matte black ruthenium-coated plate reveals parts of the inverted movement, including the exposed balance wheel, and features Sarpaneva’s signature moon face at 6 o’clock. The large moon face in relief is laser engraved, filled with a cross-section of optical fibre and finished by hand. The two moons on the reverse side of the case are illuminated with RC Tritec Lumicast to appear white in daylight and emit a blue, orange or purple glow in the dark. As they enact the lunar cycles, the luminous moons cast an eerie glow on the dial’s moon’s face to indicate the precise phase of the Moon.
In a departure from other Sarpaneva Lunations models, the applied and skeletonised chapter ring bearing the indices has been removed, allowing an even better view of the movement. The hour and minute hands can be ordered in pitch black, red gold, flame blue or rhodium coated.
A limited edition of 10 pieces, the Sarpaneva Lunations Black Ruthenium retails for EUR 39,500, excluding taxes. Delivery time is estimated between 4 – 12 months.
🫳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 like
Heralding from Australia, Second Hour has been making a little space for itself on the independent watch market by offering fresh takes on the traditional genre of watches. From divers to field watches and of course, everyday timepieces. The brand’s latest release comprises two new colours and an updated design of their core collection called the Mandala. The name comes from the Buddhist and Hindu circular shape used in the practice of meditation, among other things. On the watch, the term refers to the guilloché dial and its dégradé finish that have made this collection stand out.
⏲️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
Succession ended a few days ago. While everyone is totally blown away, I wasn’t a huge fan. You already know that the show was based on Rupert Murdoch and his family. But how much do you know about them? This piece from Vanity Fair might be the best thing you will read on the Murdochs without it being book length.
One of the best and most heart wrenching articles you will ever read is Tom Junod’s article The Falling Man about an unknown person photographed falling from the burning World Trade Center Building. It’s a horrible read. This new article from the Guardian about a twenty year old mystery of a woman who jumped off an office building in the UK, without anyone knowing who she was is somewhat in the same vein.
Here’s an interesting piece of history I didn’t know: years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan sank a US warship in China.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
I had no idea that the New Yorker made short documentaries. And I’m not talking short videos that go with one of their stories. These are actual short documentaries and the ones I’ve checked out are very very well done. Like this one in which a New York craftsman, leading up to his retirement, trains his young protégé.
💵Pre-loved precision
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Everybody needs a green faced watch in their life. That’s why we have a new giveaway - it’s the Seiko SPB121J1, aka the Seiko Alpinist in a wonderful shade of green. In fact, we’re giving away two of them!
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