Seiko Unveils Three New Presages With Handmade Enamel Or Urushi Dials, VC Overseas 35mm Gets Pink Gold And Gold Dial, Circula Introduces DiveSport Titanium, New From Balmont And Louis Moinet

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. You might have noticed a bunch of gibberish in the title of yesterday’s lead article. That’s what you get when you leave a three-year-old alone with your computer just before you send out the newsletter… Back to watches: guess who’s back? It’s Seiko, for the seventh time in two weeks…

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In this issue:

• Seiko Unveils Three New Presage Watches With Handmade Enamel or Urushi Dials

• Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding 35mm Line Adds A New Pink Gold Model With A Gold Dial

• The DiveSport Titanium Is A New And Very Robust Sports Diver From Circula

• New Brand Balmont Launches With Collection Of Adventure Inspired Accessible Watches

• The Louis Moinet Jules Verne Tourbillon “To The Moon” Puts An Actual Piece Of The Moon On Your Wrist

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 17 seconds

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👂What’s new

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Seiko Unveils Three New Presage Watches With Handmade Enamel or Urushi Dials

I swear, I’ll just rename this newsletter the Seiko daily digest. There have been six Seiko and Grand Seiko releases in the past two weeks. Yeah, it’s a lot. But I just can’t ignore them - every watch they release is interesting in one way or another. Take, for example, the latest three watches announced today - the SPB403, SPB405, SPB407. These are the Presage models you know and love, but this time with spectacular handcrafted enamel and Urushi lacquer dials.

These three Presage watches follow the dressy aesthetic of the entire line, but are also part of the Presage Craftsmanship Series, which pays tribute to Japan’s traditional métiers d’art. If there’s one thing one could criticise about the Presage line, it’ the slightly larger size for a dressy watch at 40.2mm. The steel case these three watches come come in at 12.1mm thick for the white enamel dial and 11.6mm for the Urushi lacquer models. They use the newer style Presage case with refined angles and straight and bevelled lugs and a 100 meter water resistance.

The white enamel dial of the Presage SPB403 was developed by master craftsman Mitsuru Yokosawa, with characteristic dimpling of the enamel around the date aperture at 3 o’clock and the hole for the hands. The applied indices are metal grey bars, while the hour, minute and seconds hands are rendered in blue. The black SPB405 and green dial SPB407 are crafted by lacquer master Isshu Tamura using the ancient art of Urushi lacquer. Both the green and black dials have golden-coloured central seconds hand.

Inside all three watches and visible through the sapphire caseback is the new calibre 6R55. Still featuring 24 jewels and maintaining the same 3Hz frequency, it shares the same architecture but has an increased power reserve of 3 days or 72 hours. The black SPB405 and white SPB403 come on a newly developed five-row stainless steel bracelet with mirror-polished flanks and central links to match the sides of the lugs and bezel. The green Urushi SPB407 dial is fitted with a casual brown leather strap with a triple-folding clasp.

The green SPB407 will be available exclusively at Seiko Boutiques, and the white enamel and black Urushi models will be available at Seiko Boutiques and retail stores worldwide from October 2023, all part of the regular collection and not limited. The white enamel dial SPB403 with steel bracelet retails at €1,500, the black Urushi dial with bracelet retails at €1,750 and the green Urushi dial SPB407 with a leather strap retails for €1,800. See more on the Seiko website.

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Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding 35mm Line Adds A New Pink Gold Model With A Gold Dial

Back in March at Watches & Wonders, Vacheron Constantin brought a major update to their Overseas luxury sports watch line. Adding to their already large lineup of watches, they introduced a 34.5mm and a 35mm wide version of the watch. And while we hate to say it, as we should all believe that watches are unisex, these were watches intended for women. Now they’re expanding this smaller offering with what has to be their shiniest model - the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding 4605V/200R-B968 with a golden dial and a diamond-set bezel.

The tonneau pink gold case comes in at 35mm wide and 9.3mm thick. Just like all other Overseas models, this one also has a six-sided bezel designed to resemble the brand’s Maltese Cross logo. And in that bezel are 90 briliant cut diamonds. The surface of the case is vertically brushed, while the plinth has circular brushing to contrast with the mirror-polished gleam of the bezel. The finishings are reflected on the integrated pink gold bracelet which has brushed surfaces and hand-polished bevels.

While previous 35mm variants came in a blue and a spectacular pink dial, this new one comes with a sunburst satin-brushed finished golden dial. The watch has 18k pink gold applied markers and since this is a sports watch, you’ll get Super-LumiNova on the markers and the hour and minute hands.

Inside the watch is Vacheron’s in-house calibre 1088/1 that has a thickness of just 3.83mm. It runs at a 4Hz frequency, has a 40 hour power reserve and a soft iron casing ring for anti-magnetic protection, as well as a 22k gold rotor decorated with a compass rose. The watch comes with three strap options - the mentioned integrated 18k pink gold bracelet, or white calfskin leather with tone-on-tone stitching and a white rubber strap, both of which come with a pink gold interchangeable buckle system.

The watch retails for €63,500. You can see more about it on the Vacheron website.

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The DiveSport Titanium Is A New And Very Robust Sports Diver From Circula

The family.owned German brand Circula has built up a small cult following with their GMT, field and light divers in both the skin and supercompressor style. Now, they’re introducing a much more capable diver, one with 500 meters of water resistance, called the DiveSport Titanium.

As the name would suggest, the DiveSport Titanium is made out of grade 2 titanium with a sandblasted finishing. The case measures 42mm wide and 13.4mm thick, with a screw-down crown that helps with the 500 meters of water resistance and it has a unidirectional rotating diver’s bezel which can be finished with a clear titanium insert, a black DLC-coated titanium insert or a Petrol Blue aluminium insert.

The DiveSport offers a range of captivating dials. The sand textured dials in black and grey exude sophistication, while the scratch pattern dials in petrol and yellow add a vibrant touch. The hands and hour markers are filled with Super-LumiNova BGW9 and C3 X1. Interestingly, this watch, like all other Circula’s have been created in collaboration with watch enthusiasts who get to vote on various aspects of the design and production. More than 1,000 people voted on the design.

The watch is powered by the tried-and-trusted caliber Sellita SW200-1 in Elaboré quality. It has a power reserve of at least 38 hours, although Circula states it typically runs for 41 hours. To be able to set your watch precisely, the seconds hand stops as you pull out the crown. The accuracy is rated to -5 / +7 seconds of deviation per day. The watch comes on either a matte brushed titanium bracelet or a black rubber strap, both with quick release pins.

The new Circula DiveSport Titanium is available to order now, with the first deliveries scheduled starting around mid-September. The price ranges from €949 on the rubber strap to €1,129 on the titanium bracelet. See more on the Circula website.

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New Brand Balmont Launches With Collection Of Adventure Inspired Accessible Watches

Three friends, founder of Vasco Watches Benjamin Chamfeuil, founder of online watch shop Horel and Parlons Montre Youtube channel Aurélien Cram, ; and founder of blog lepetitpoussoir.fr Ludovic Barrois just came together and decided to launch a new watch brand - Balmont - and to offer adventure-themed instrument watches at a really good price.

The brand is launching with two collections, the BDX and the LAX. Starting off with the BDX, this is a collection of four watches that come in stainless steel cases measuring 40mm wide and 12mm thick with a lug-to-lug of 48mm. You get a screw down crown and a screw down transparent caseback that give you 200 meters of water resistance, drilled lugs and a sapphire crystal with an AR coating.

The BDX collection comes in four dial variants - there’s a solid white and solid black that get a ceramic coating, and a silver and grey dial that get sunray brushing. The markers are applied and painted in Super-LumiNova, just like the hands and other for the logo at 12 o’clock and model name at 6 o’clock, it’s a fairly simple affair.

Then there’s the LAX collection, which premiers with the 100-piece limited model called the LAX001. And while the BDX watches are super simple, this one goes all out with a black ceramic-coated dial with riveted markers in a classic California style, all of which are filled with cream-toned Super-LumiNova, and the dial has a gilt effect on its printings and railroad minute track.

Inside all five models is the Swiss-made Soprod P024, an alternative to the ETA 2824 and Sellita SW200. It runs at a 4Hz frequency and gets 38h of power reserve. The version in the Balmont watches has a -7/+7 second/day accuracy. All watches come on a leather strap, colour depending on the dial, with an additional washable black fabric strap.

Balmont wants to stand behind their promise of adventure with just a slightly gimmicky initiative that’s actually really fun if you’re not a cynic like me. Every year they will bury or submerge an airtight time capsule. A mission briefing analysing the topography, climate, fauna and flora, will be delivered in each watch box with the precise GPS coordinates of the capsule and whoever finds it will get an ultra-limited, one-per-year watch. So far they have missions planned out until 2028, along with the locations: Mission Alpha in 2024, cold mountains. Mission Beta in 2025, a hot desert. Mission Gamma in 2026, a desert island. Mission Delta in 2027, the jungle. Mission Epsilon in 2028, a salt desert.

Pre-orders start late September 2023, with deliveries expected in April 2024. These watches are offered at a price of €790, a fair rate for micro brands of this caliber. See more on the Balmont website.

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The Louis Moinet Jules Verne Tourbillon “To The Moon” Puts An Actual Piece Of The Moon On Your Wrist

The Omega Speedmaster might be the most famous watch worn on the moon, but what if there was a watch that allowed you to wear a piece of the moon on your wrist. There is, but to be honest, this is not a first, but it’s still fun - the new Louis Moinet Jules Verne Tourbillon “To The Moon” will do exactly that, put the moon on your wrist, but also allow you to personalize your watch with whatever you want.

The “To the Moon” Jules Verne is one of three exotic haute horlogerie creations just introduced by Louis Moinet and it comes with a unique stone disc cut from a lunar meteorite embedded into the center of the dial. A lunar meteorite is just what you think it is. When a meteorite strikes the Moon it shoots out thousands of pieces of rock into space. And some of these rocks end up on Earth, waiting to be sliced up into slivers to be placed into watches like the Jules Verne.

The central disc of these Jules Verne tourbillons will be set in a peripheral guilloché. This rigorous craft involves carefully producing enchanting motifs by engraving gentle grooves on a metallic surface. The guillocheur then applies a translucent green varnish to the surface, which adds depth and brilliance to the decoration.

This will, of course, be a super limited edition, as Louis Moinet only has eight pieces of the lunar meteorite to embed into watches. And since these are cuts from an actual piece of moon rock, every watch will have a unique look.

The Jules Verne Tourbillon measures 40.7mm across and is executed in 18K rose gold. The case features rather unique open-worked lugs with a 20mm spacing. Inside ticks an in-house caliber with an off-center flying tourbillion, visible through the dial. The hand-wound caliber is outfitted with twin barrels in a volte-face configuration. This means they are stacked on top of each other and simultaneously unwind in opposite directions. The resulting power reserve is 96 hours.

While this version features a lunar meteorite, Louis Moinet has announced that there will be two other versions, one with an opal and one with a lapis lazuli at the center of the dial.

Two of the moon meteorite versions have already been sold, meaning that there are only six more to go around. The price is on request only. And while that might mean hundreds of thousands of Euros, it most likely is as retail prices for other Louis Moinet tourbillons start at CHF 150,000+. You can see more on the Louis Moinet website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands-On With The Byrne Gyro Dial Zero

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A review of the Horage Supersede Date

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Open Gear Purple Haze Brings a lot of novelty to this classic style of enthusiast timepiece

Aside from being CVD-coated purple in color, the Flying Regulator Open Gear steel watch case is 41mm wide, 13.85mm thick, and has a 50mm long lug-to-lug distance. There is a slightly domed sapphire crystal over the dial as well as a sapphire crystal on the caseback with a view of the movement. The case is also water resistant to 100 meters and uses slightly odd-sized 21mm wide straps. In fact, the odd size of the strap may be why this limited-edition watch’s only non-purple part is the black leather and textile strap. Read the whole review on A Blog to Watch

⏲️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

• The CIA claimed that any story linking it to the 1980s crack cocaine explosion was conspiratorial slander. But the evidence of its complicity is all there in the congressional record. The Jacobin looks at what we really know about their involvement.

• Fifty years ago, a military coup violently ended Chile’s political experiment with socialism, and with it the nation’s technological experiment with cybernetic management. This is an absolutely fascinating excerpt from a book on how Chile intended to implement cybernetic socialism. No idea what it actually is, or if it would have worked, but it’s like something from a Neal Stephenson novel.

• Chaos, comedy, and ‘crying rooms’: Inside Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’. Sixteen current and former staffers reveal how Fallon’s erratic behavior spoiled their dream of working on The Tonight Show. I love these looks behind-the-scene articles.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

OK, yeah, I know I posted a trailer for the new Godzilla movie the other day… but I really like Kaiju movies. However, this is not a movie… I had no idea that Apple TV had been working on a series based on the Monarch company, a fictional company in the Godzilla monster universe. Watch the trailer, but keep repeating to yourself: this is not a summer blockbuster, this is a television show. How crazy is that?

💵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: 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

• FOR SALE: Longines Heritage Skin Diver, box and papers. €1400. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

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