Seiko Releases Marinemaster 600m Saturation, 1965 Heritage, 1968 Heritage GMT; New SpongeBob Spinnakers; Nivada's Icy Super Antarctics; Kurono Tokyo Brings The Best Of Art Deco; And A New Anoma

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Things are back to normal in the It’s About Time office after the fire and it seems that things are back to normal in the watch world. Take from that comment what you will.

In this issue:

• Seiko’s New Prospex 60th Anniversary Marinemaster 600m Saturation, 1965 Heritage, 1968 Heritage GMT

• Spinnaker Is Back With Another Trio Of SpongeBob Watches, Hurry Up If You Want One

• Nivada Grenchen Releases A Duo Of Icy-White Super Antarctic Watches

• Kurono Tokyo Brings The Best Of Art Deco To Their Super-Compact Star Dial

• Anoma Readies The Slate Version Of The Curvy A1 With A Slightly Improved Case

👂What’s new

1/

Seiko’s New Prospex 60th Anniversary Marinemaster 600m Saturation, 1965 Heritage, 1968 Heritage GMT

Seiko is in a bit of a jam these days. They still have a grasp on the lower end of the price range in watches — despite Citizen moving into this territory strongly — but on the other end of the spectrum, they’ve faced a lot of criticism. Where they once made a bunch of really solid and well priced divers, these days their prices have crept up without bringing that much extra value. The movements can still be questionable, and Seiko really knows how to mess up a bracelet. So, in time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their first ever dive watch, Seiko is now releasing the Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver 60th Anniversary, Prospex 1968 Heritage Diver’s GMT 60th Anniversary and the hardcore Prospex Marinemaster ‘Shinkai’ 60th Anniversary 600m Saturation Diver.

Starting with the Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver 60th Anniversary, it’s a tribute to the very first Seiko diver, with the slight h-shape to the blunt lugs, a brushed finish with polished facets. Of course, it comes in a much beefier case, one that measures 40mm wide and 13mm thick. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a dark grey unidirectional dive bezel. The dial looks pretty cool, fully silver with deep grooves that represent waves in an ocean. That’s paired with silver bar indexes, silver hands and a date window at 4:30. Inside, you’ll find the 6R55 automatic movement that beats at 3Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a three-link stainless steel bracelet. The SPB511 is a limited edition, just limited to 6,000 pieces and priced at $1,400. See it on the Seiko website.

Then, we have the Seiko Prospex 1968 Heritage Diver GMT 60th Anniversary, which is very similar to the 1965 Heritage Diver, but also very different. It comes in a different case measuring 42mm wide and 13.3mm thick, with the same brushed and polished finish. The crown on this one is moved to the 4 o’clock position, but water resistance is still firm at 300 meters. On top is a sapphire crystal, surrounded by a blue unidirectional dive bezel. Moving on to the dial, it features the exact same wave pattern on the dial, only now it’s a deep blue, and the entire thing is surrounded by a rehaut that features a 24-hour scale. Since this is a GMT model, it has a fourth hand to indicate the second time zone, and that’s done in bright yellow to stand out from the blue. The watch is powered by the Seiko calibre 6R54 which beats at 3Hz and has the same 72 hour power reserve. The SPB509 also comes on a stainless steel bracelet, is also limited to 6,000 pieces and priced at $1,750. See it here.

Last, we have the Prospex Marinemaster ‘Shinkai’ 60th Anniversary 600m Saturation Diver. This beastly watch ups the size from the other two to 45.4mm wide and 16mm thick. It’s made out of titanium, equipped with a helium release valve and can go down to 600 meters. The bezel on this one is black and features an oversized 60 minute scale. The dial also features a wave pattern, but much less pronounced than the previous two watches, and it comes in a dark blue that has a gradient towards a slightly lighter shade towards the center. The “Shinkai” name comes from the Japanese word for the deep sea, which is why the dial is as dark as it is. Inside, you’ll find the very decent 8L45 movement that beats at 4Hz, has the same 72 hour power reserve and gets much improved accuracy of +10/-5 seconds per day. The SLA081 is a limited edition watch, much more so than the other two, as only 600 will be made. Price is set at $5,600, which some have reported to be the most expensive Prospex you can get today. My cursory google search seems to confirm this fact. See more of the watch on the Seiko website.

2/

Spinnaker Is Back With Another Trio Of SpongeBob Watches, Hurry Up If You Want One

There is zero doubt in my mind that the current string of collaborations between Spinnaker watches and SpongeBob Squarepants will go down in history as one of the best collaborations we will get a chance to see. Sure, they might seem silly and childish at first, but they are so much more. They are well built for their price range, and bring a whole lot of color to an otherwise pretty boring endeavor. If there’s one thing I could complain about, it’s the fact that they are limited editions. And they sell out FAST! Lucky for us, this latest collaboration — I think their fourth? — hasn’t been publicized as much so despite the watches going on sale on Friday, only two models are sold out and there’s still a chance you might get one. This is the new Spinnaker Fleuss Automatic SpongeBob Squarepants Frenemies Limited Edition.

As the name suggests, this watch is based on Spinnaker’s Fleuss model, a first for the SpongeBob collaboration. It’s an oversized dive case made out of brushed steel and measuring 43mm wide, 13mm thick and with a 51mm lug-to-lug. On top is a sapphire crystal that’s surrounded by a really cool sapphire bezel that comes in a variety of colors, depending on the model. Water resistance is 150 meters.

This SpongeBob release has three variants, each featuring one of three characters from the iconic cartoon — we have SpongeBob, Plankton and Sandy this time. SpongeBob gets a blue dial with yellow markers, a yellow and blue bezel; Plankton gets a green dial with orange and yellow markers and two shades of green on the bezel; and Sandy gets an off-white dial with cream markers and two shades of pink on the bezel. All three feature their named characters illustrated at the 5:30 position and the base of the dial features shadowy illustrations from the cartoons. The hands all have a polished bottom part and a color matching tip.

Inside all three you’ll find the Miyota 8245, a fairly basic movement that beats at 21,600 bph and has a 40 hour power reserve. But you sure aren’t buying this watch for its movement. The watches come on nylon straps that imitate canvas — yellow for SpongeBob, green for Plankton and white for Sandy — all with motifs from the shows done in relief.

Like I said, the new Spinnaker SpongeBob collection is almost gone. SpongeBob and Plankton are sold out, but there’s still a chance to get Sandy, hence me including it in the newsletter. Price is set at €372. See more on the Spinnaker website.

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Nivada Grenchen Releases A Duo Of Icy-White Super Antarctic Watches

Despite being founded in 1926, and being one of the legendary Swiss watch manufacturers, Nivada Grenchen has had a tough time during the quartz crisis and went under. Thankfully, in recent years, watch entrepreneur Guillaume Laidet has brought the brand back and is churning out hit after hit, with most of their releases being reissues of old Nivada watches. Some time back, they reintroduced the Super Antarctic, based on the Antarctic model from the 1950s that was used in the Operation Deep Freeze 1 mission to the South Pole in 1955/56. It’s a great watch that came in a variety of colors, but it’s best incarnation were the two collaborations between Nivada and Dutch-based retailer Ace Jewelers in which the Super Antarctic came in a crisp white (with orange and blue seconds hand), just like you would expect from an Antarctic watch. Well, Nivada agrees that that was a good color for the watch, as they are now releasing two non-limited white variants, one in the regular setup and one in the 3-6-9 with aged lume.

The case remains the same as on the majority of the collection, as well as the one used in the collaboration with Ace. It’s made out of stainless steel, with brushed and polished finishes. The case measures a pretty great 38mm wide, if a bit thick at 12mm. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal, while out back you’ll find a gold colored medallion. Water resistance is right where it should be at 100 meters.

New for this duo are the white dials. While they were previously available in white on the Ace collab (in fact, the blue seconds hand is still available if you prefer that), most of the current lineup comes in shades of black and brown. So the matte white base of the dial is a welcome change up. There are two variants of the dial. One gets full indexes and triangle markers at the cardinal positions, paired with stark white lume painted on them and the hands. The other trades the triangles at 3, 6 and 9 for Arabic numerals. On this 3-6-9 version, all the lume is done in a slightly tan color to look like aged lume.

Inside the watches is the automatic Soprod P024 based on the very familiar ETA 2824-2. It operates at 28,800vph, and has a 38-hour power reserve. The watch can be ordered on either a black leather racing strap or on a beads of rice bracelet.

The Nivada Grenchen Super Antarctic White watches are available for order now. The 3-6-9 version ships immediately, while the all-white version starts shipping March 25th. Price is set at $895 on leather and $1,095 on the beads of rice, without taxes and regardless of the model. See more on the Nivada Grenchen website.

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Kurono Tokyo Brings The Best Of Art Deco To Their Super-Compact Star Dial

There’s no denying the power of Kurono Tokyo, a more affordable brand headed by Japanese independent watchmaker Hajime Asaoka who has made a name for himself with high-end watches. Under the Kurono Tokyo name, Asaoka has released a number of very cool chronographs and Urushi lacquered dial models that all sell out isntantly. But also, once a year, Kurono releases a special project watch, always vintage-inspired and always in a tiny case. The special project for this year is the 34mm Star Dial duo with strong Art Deco inspiration.

The case Kurono uses for this special project is essentially the same they used for the quartet of watches released last year. It’s a diminutive Calatrava-style steel case with swooping lugs and a completely polished, measuring just 34mm wide, 9.6mm thick (which sounds super small, but actually might be thick for a diameter this small), and a really short lug-to-lug of 41mm. It has a stepped bezel, surrounding a box-shaped sapphire crystal on top. Water resistance is surprisingly decent at 50 meters.

The, there’s the star dial, a thorough modernization of a vintage style of dial that usually featured two colors and were named for their star-shaped applied markers. Kurono gives us to color options — blue and copper (which looks almost salmon-like), both paired with cream colored chapter ring with a matte finish. The chapter ring holds the star markers and wonderful Art Deco-inspired Arabic numerals at 4 cardinal points. The colored base has a sunray brushed finish, and on the very periphery is a railroad track minute scale. Time is told with syringe-shaped hands that are blue — but not heat blued, rather IP-plated blue — and filled with lume, an interesting choice.

Inside, you’ll find the ubiquitous Miyota 90S5, which beats at 4Hz and has a 40 hour power reserve. It’s far from a fancy movement, but it helps keep cost low. The watches come on black grained calf straps.

The new Kurono Tokyo 34mm Star Dial watches go on sale Thursday, 13th March 2025 at 2PM GMT, priced at US$1,190 without taxes. Only one per customer will be sold, with deliveries expected at the end of March. See more on the Kurono Tokyo website.

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Anoma Readies The Slate Version Of The Curvy A1 With A Slightly Improved Case

Last year was a pretty big year for watches with nontraditional case shapes. A lot of waves were made by brutalist-inspired, sometimes flowy, sometimes rough, but all of them weird. And of those, my favorite was easily the Anoma A1, which came in a somewhat triangular case that looked like a smoothed-over pebble. It was just innovative enough to not look like they were trying too much. And it seems others liked it as much, because it went fast. Now, Anoma is releasing the A1 Slate, with a new color and a few tweaks to the case.

While the shape of the watch might seem to be a lovechild between the Cartier Pebble and the Hamilton Ventura, it actually draws its inspiration from a 1950s table designed by Charlotte Perriand, architect and Le Corbusier collaborator. Cut out of a single block of steel, the watch has a very smooth surface which helps accentuate the flowing shape. Since the watch doesn’t have a traditional shape or lugs, the measurement is listed at 39mm x 38mm and a 9.45mm thickness. The watch is curved so Anoma claims that it wears both thinner and smaller. Both the lugs and the crown are hidden inside the case, making it look like an alien object on your wrist. The Slate version gets some upgrades to the case, but nothing revolutionary — it’s more refined, with tighter tolerances and smarter construction that makes it easier to use.

The dial is just as cool as the case. It matches the shape of the case and while the original came in two tones of blue lacquer, with a brushed finish on the lighter area, the new dial gets both a new color and a new texture. The two colors used are a light and dark grey, and the new texture is a much deeper engraved pattern. The leaf-shaped hands are laser-cut and then curved to match the rounded contours of the case.

To keep costs low, inside you’ll find the Sellita SW100 automatic that beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a grey leather with a shaped steel pin buckle.

The new Anoma A1 Slate went on sale today at 2PM GMT time, and will have a first run of 300 pieces, set to ship in June. Anoma says the A1 Slate will be reproduced in the future. The Slate is still a very cool watch, but this version has one major downside. While the original was outrageously well priced at £1,300, this new version is priced at a significantly higher £1,800 (€2,140), without taxes. See it on the Anoma website.

⏲️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

• Gus Weiss, a shrewd intelligence insider, pulled off an audacious tech hack against the Soviets in the last century. Or did he? This is the secret history of a Cold War mastermind.

• Chad Kassem is on a mission — saving listeners “from bad sound” — at the rural factory where he pores over LPs from some of music’s most important artists.

• The book Unhumans, by Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec, is a fascist manifesto. It argues that the “Great Men of History” should take their cues from homicidal dictators like Augusto Pinochet and Francisco Franco, reject reason and democracy, and ruthlessly annihilate the gangs of communist “unhumans” who are currently threatening to destroy the United States. It explicitly advocates “eye for an eye” justice, promising a new McCarthyism complete with blacklists, along with the immediate banning of all teachers’ unions. And it comes with a warm and supportive blurb from then Ohio senator J.D. Vance, and current Vice President.

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One video you have to watch today

Watches of Espionage on unit watches, what more do you need to know?

Thanks for reading,
Vuk