TAG Heuer And Hodinkee Pay Tribute To The Most Iconic Sailing Watch; Sternglas Perfects Their Fan-Favorite Watch; Junghans Has Two New Ladies Watches; And The AP RO Offshore's Summer Release

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Enjoy the newsletter today, and have a nice weekend. Looking at releases, there likely won’t be one on Monday. Also, it was a bit of a busy week so I’m behind on the Patreon posts. Expect a lot of them today.

And speaking of Patreon, thank you everyone. I think we might make it without having to go for ads if this continues, we’re almost halfway there!

In this issue:

• TAG Heuer And Hodinkee Release The Carrera Seafarer, A Tribute To The Best Of Sailing And Tidegraph Watches

• Sternglas Perfects Their Fan-Favorite Watch, The Naos Pro Automatik With A Slimmer Case

• Junghans Has Two New Pretty Ladies Watches In Subdued Pastel Colors

• Audemars Piguet Introduces Royal Oak Offshore In Two Sizes And Summery Colors

Today’s reading time: 11 minutes and 13 seconds

👂What’s new

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TAG Heuer And Hodinkee Release The Carrera Seafarer, A Tribute To The Best Of Sailing And Tidegraph Watches

Hodinkee has had their asses handed to them over the past few years, and we really shouldn’t feel too sorry for them because their fall from grace is the result of them digging their own grave. What I don’t like about the whole Hodinkee saga is the absolute massive online pile-on to see who can kick them the hardest while they are down, forgetting that Hodinkee is the most important modern watch publication, one that brought watches to millions of new people and defined the test for an entire generation of collectors. And there’s no denying that. They jumped the shark too many times, sure, had some very questionable collaborations and subjected everything to their retail business. But two things are important to point out. They know they messed up and are trying to fix this by shutting down their retail division to focus more on stories. And more importantly, they seem to have been on quite a roll with their collaborations lately. Their latest release is their third collaboration with TAG Heuer, with the first being an interesting Carrera “Dato” and the second being the spectacular “Skipper” Carrera. The third is the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Seafarer x Hodinkee, something truly special.

The new watch from TAG Heuer and Hodinkee is a direct reference to some of the most stunning sailing watches of all time, those made by Heuer for Abercrombie & Fitch. The Seafarer. The exact watch they are referencing is the 1968 Heuer Seafarer reference 2446C, also sold as the Mareographe, with other variants sold co-branded through Abercrombie and Fitch. The Abercrombie Seafarers were not just iconic watches, they were integral to the creation of the regatta watch, one that helps the wearer time the start of a sailing race.

And while the original was an absolute legend, the new version takes on the format of a future legend for TAG Heuer, the Carrera “Glassbox”. This 42mm wide, 14mm wide stainless steel case has a lug-to-lug of 48.6mm and is special for its use of a dramatic domed sapphire crystal that not only extends to the very edge of the case, but also includes an internal bezel that’s covered by the crystal, giving the watch a fishbowl look. You still get the sharp lugs, vintage pushers and a brushed finish. But you’ll also notice a new flat pusher protruding out the 3 o’clock position with the word Tide engraved on it. More on that later.

The dial is a direct reference to the Ref. 2446C Seafarer, with a black base and accents in multiple shades of blue in the silver-backed and azurage treated sub-dials. At the 3 o’clock you’ll find the chronograph minutes which have three sky blue regatta timer-style painted segments. At 6 o’clock is the running seconds sub-dial and at 9 o’clock you’ll find the tide indicator subdial, with segments in navy blue, sky blue, and striped black against a crisp white backdrop.

So, what’s up with that sub-dial and pusher at 9 o’clock? That’s the tidal indicator, very similar to the same function found on the old Abercrombie models. The arrow in the indicator makes a full rotation every 59 days, exactly twice the duration of the 29-1⁄2 day lunar cycle, which allows it to accurately track the tides. Blue sections indicate high tide, white sections indicate low tide and you adjust the complication to a local tide table with the pusher on the side. Very cool.

All of this is powered by the in-house TH20-13 automatic chronograph movement which has a column wheel and vertical clutch chronograph actuation system. It beats at 28,800bph and has an 80 hour power reserve. Decorations include Côtes de Genève across the bridges, a polished column wheel, and a brushed skeleton rotor shaped like the Heuer shield emblem. The watch comes on a black rubber strap with a deployant clasp.

I’ve always found the TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox to be pretty decent value for money. You get one of the best looking chronographs on the market for about $6,500. That’s not cheap, but it’s not egregious. Now, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Seafarer x Hodinkee will run you a lot more, but most likely due to its limited nature (only 968 pieces will be made, of which 125 will be sold through Hodinkee’s shop and the rest through TAG Heuer) and the fact that it requires a new module to power the tide complication. The price is set at $7,950. However, if you miss this release, or think it’s too expensive, do consider the fact that TAG released a non-limited version of the Skipper Carrera a few months after doing a limited edition with Hodinkee, and at at a much lower price. So do keep this in mind. See more on Hodinkee (the landing page for the model is actually pretty cool, with a lot of info on the Abercrombie watches).

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Sternglas Perfects Their Fan-Favorite Watch, The Naos Pro Automatik With A Slimmer Case

I’ve known that Sternglas makes pretty great looking Bauhaus-inspired affordable watches for a while. But I just wasn’t in a Bauhaus-y mood for years. This all changed a few months ago when Sternglas released the Hamburg Chrono Regatta; still with a Bauhaus minimalist look, but with a full on regatta color scheme. I got it in for review and was instantly smitten. Since then I’ve been keeping a close eye on the brand and have slowly become more and more into Bauhaus watches. That’s the power of a great watch. Their latest release, however, is not a brand new watch. No, they took their Naos Automatik, a long time fan-favorite, and gave it a major work-over to perfect by making it easier to wear and use, naming it the Naos Pro Automatik.

The case of the Naos Pro only looks to be the same. In fact, it’s heavily reworked. Sure, you still get the same fully round look with short lugs, a brushed finish and an almost invisible polished bezel, but the dimensions are new. It still measures 38mm across, but the thickness has been significantly reduced from 12mm to 9mm. Additionally, the lug-to-lug has also changed a bit. The regular Naos measures 43mm tall, while the Pro comes in at 42.4mm. This will be a breeze to wear. Water resistance is still a pretty unimpressive 50 meters, but this is definitely more of a architect’s office watch than one that’s at home under water. Also, Sternglas increased the size of the crown due to customer demand in order to make it easier to use.

The dial, as you would expect, keeps it super minimal. The Pro took on requests from the community on the dial as well, with cleaner indices, larger numbers and thicker lines. The dial can be had in one of two configurations — an anthracite base that has creamy lume dots at the quarter hour positions and a red seconds hand; or an alabaster color with white lume dots and a black seconds hand.

Inside is the Miyota 9015 automatic movement, a step up from the Miyota 8215 that’s in the regular Naos Automatic. We know this movement very well, with its 4Hz beat rate and a power reserve of 42 hours. Interestingly, Sternglas is offering a Gilt finish on the movement, with a black PVD rotor featuring a gold STERNGLAS engraving. However, this will be available only on the first 400 alabaster models and 300 anthracite models. The watches can be had on a selection of black or brown leather straps, as well as a stainless steel bracelet for an additional €50.

Sternglas really makes great watches and their quartz and mecaquartz pieces are so affordable they could, at times, be considered impulse buys. Their automatic movement powered watches are, naturally, a bit more expensive, but still very competitively priced. The Naos Pro Automatik is priced at €699, but the website is showing a discount to €679 at the moment. See more on the Sternglas website.

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Junghans Has Two New Pretty Ladies Watches In Subdued Pastel Colors

This will be a bit inside baseball, but it will paint a picture as to how this newsletter comes together. I get a whole bunch of emails from brands with new releases, while also keeping an eye out on social media to see if there are any new releases. I then keep list in a notepad to track all the releases and plan what will be written about on which day. Every now and again, I have to push releases because there’s something more urgent, more important to write about, and I hate to admit it, some of these releases just get lost in the mess. This is exactly what happened to these two new Junghans releases. I had them on the list more than a month ago, but they were pushed and pushed until they dropped off the list and I forgot about them. And you all loved the last two Junghans releases I wrote about, which bugged me because I knew that I missed something from them, but couldn’t remember what it was. Thankfully, Monochrome watches mentioned these two watches - the Meister Damen Automatic and the Meister Fein Kleine - reminding me of what I missed. I’m glad they did, as these are two great looking women’s watches.

Starting off with the new Meister Damen Automatic, you get a 33mm wide and 9.8mm thick stainless steel case, fully round and with almost no bezel to hold down the domed sapphire crystal. But it’s not just the crystal that’s domed, Junghans also domes the dial. The base of the dial is silver plated, given a sunray-brushed finish, over which you get a pretty wild print of bamboo leaves. You get printed stick indices at 3, 9 and 12 o’clock, rendered in pink, while the hands are dauphine shaped. At 6 o’clock is the Hunghans logo printed in pink and inside is the automatic calibre J840.1, which beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. I couldn't find much info on that movement, but that beat rate and power reserve are suspiciously similar to an ETA 2824 clone. The watch comes on a pink ostrich leather (god, I love ostrich leather) strap and it’s priced at €1,440. See more about it on the Junghans website.

Next, there’s the Meister Fein Kleine Automatic, which looks very much like the Meister Damen, with the fully round look, but you’ll instantly see that it’s larger at 35mm wide and 10.1mm thick, but also with much stubbier lugs. The dial has a matte grey/dark taupe finish, with stick markers for the hours and, once again, the Junghans logo aligned vertically at 6 o’clock. Inside is a similar movement they call the calibre J800.1, which has the same power reserve, but also adds a date window at the 3 o’clock position. The watch comes on a pink leather strap and it’s priced at €1,190. See more on the Junghans website.

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Audemars Piguet Introduces Royal Oak Offshore In Two Sizes And Summery Colors

I remember being a kid in the late 90s and early 00s in Croatia when every single low-level criminal and accidental entrepreneur had only one watch on their wrist - the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore. A lot of these dudes wanted to exude an artificial toughness so they worked on their arms to stuff into white t-shirts that were three sizes too small. But working on their biceps usually led to huge upper arms and tiny wrists. They all thought they looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. In reality, they looked like children with fat suits. It was a wonderful time of excess, but it also soured the taste for RO Offshores. They truly were worn by the worst people I have ever met. And it seemed for a while that AP has also stopped putting so much into the model, perhaps for the same reasons. However, over the past few years, I’ve been eyeing them with a new interest. I’ve been looking at the three new Offshore releases for quite some time now, and I’m pretty sure these are perfect examples of excess. In the best possible way.

Let’s start with a watch that looks very familiar — the Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding 43mm 15605SK.OO.A350CA.01 (oh my, do something with those references). It was actually announced around the time of Watches and Wonders but its only now released. The 43mm wide and 14.4mm thick stainless steel case is topped with the familiar octagonal bezel which now gets a blue rubber coating. This is matched to a gradient blue dial with the recognisable Méga Tapisserie pattern and white gold hardware. Water resistance is 100 meters and inside is the in-house caliber 4302 automatic that has a 70 hour power reserve. The rubber strap matches the blue rubber bezel. The watch is priced at CHF 23,800 and you can see it here.

Moving on to something a bit wilder, the Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 43mm 26420ST.OO.A828CR.01. You get the same stainless steel case, this time with a steel bezel, but with the addition of the pushers on the side. What’s wild here is the same Méga Tapisserie which gets a brown gradient dial with panda style sub dials. Brown watches are not unusual in themselves, but paired with such a huge case and a pretty wild brown alligator strap, and you get something that really looks like it dropped out of 1997. Again, in the best possible way. Inside is the 4401 automatic movement which also gets 70 hours of power reserve. You can get it for CHF 36,300. See more here.

And lastly, a supposedly subdued offering, but nothing of the sort. It’s the Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding 37mm 77605OK.OO.A101CA.01. AS the name suggests, this is a smaller Offshore, presumably meant for women. But while most brands give their female-centric watches a size between 30 and 34mm, the Offshore measures in at 37mm wide and 12.1mm thick. The case is made out of 18k pink gold with a grey rubber-coated bezel on top. The dial has a smaller pattern and an ivory color, matched to pink gold hardware. Inside is the AP caliber 5900, which uses a Vaucher base and offers 60 hours of power reserve. But the most interesting aspect of the watch just might be the rubber strap that has a mosaic pattern on it and with a pink gold clasp. Price is set at CHF 41,100 and you can see more of the watch on the AP website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Q Timex 1975 Enigma Reissue

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Hands-On with the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold 'Lumen'

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A review of the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor No Date Golden Siena

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Beaufort Pulsatimer Is A Brawny Blend Of Retro Delights And Tool Vibes

The Beaufort Pulsatimer’s dial has a distinctive vintage touch and feels dressy for its beefed-up case, which measures a not-insubstantial 13.8mm thick (11.9mm without sapphire). I get it if you see the copper-toned brushed dial and expect a thin vintage number. That is what I expected too. But, like the solid build of Grand Seikos, the case is there to ensure solidity, and the Sellita SW510 M BH b isn’t a particularly slim caliber. It also usually powers 41–43mm watches, so Beaufort has done an excellent job fitting it into the 39mm Pulsatimer.

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

• A brilliant American financier and his wife build a lavish mansion in the jungles of Costa Rica, set up a wildlife preserve, and appear to slowly, steadily lose their minds. A spiral of handguns, angry locals, armed guards, uncut diamonds, abduction plots, and a bedroom blazing with 550 Tiffany lamps ends with a body and a compelling mystery.

• There’s a lot of AI predictions floating around, some claiming that it will destroy the world, while others believe it will save us. I believe both are wrong, but on a more important note, on the back of the meteoric rise of AI, OpenAI’s Sam Altman is becoming one of the most powerful people on Earth. That’s not such a great thing.

• The killing of Catherine Edwards, in Beaumont, long remained unsolved. Then came Othram, a start-up whose breakthroughs in DNA technology are helping identify bodies and solve decades-old murders and rapes.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

A bit over ten years ago, an outfit out of California changed the Porsche world forever. Since then, Singer has not only become the most successful restorer of Porsche models, it also thrust the relatively niche approach of restomodding into the forefront with pretty much every single classic car in the world now getting a restomod version. But Singer is unwavering in their march forward, now taking on the legendary 911 Turbo.

💵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 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