TAG Heuer's New Yacht-Timer Carrera Looks Fantastic, Fortis Brings Back Forgotten Space Legend, Timor Recreates Their Dirty Dozen Watch, New Watches From Leica and Biver

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I’m so glad to see that TAG Heuer is getting better with every single release. It is too good of a brand to go down with boring watches.

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In this issue:

• TAG Heuer’s New Collaboration With Rowing Blazers Results In Brilliant Looking Yacht-Timer Carrera

• Fortis Revives The Novonaut N-42, The Slightly Less Known Space Watch

• Once Upon A Time, Timor Made Actual Dirty Dozen Watches. Now They’re Back

• Leica Launches New ZM 11 Watch Collection And It’s Just As Good As Everything Else They Do

• Biver Watches Releases Piece Unique Celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes

👂What’s new

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TAG Heuer’s New Collaboration With Rowing Blazers Results In Brilliant Looking Yacht-Timer Carrera

One one side we have Rowing Blazers, a preppy revival clothing brand started by Jack Carlson. Think of them as a more adventurous, bolder and hipper Ralph Lauren that has taken the relatively subdued preppy style of RL and blown it up for Gen Z and TikTok users. It’s undoubtedly cool and is having it’s moment now, especially with a huge collaboration with Target that has brought the relatively expensive and hard to get Rowing Blazers clothes to millions of people all over America. RB is also known for their very successful and very sought after collaborations with watch brands like Seiko, Tudor and Zodiac.

On the other side we have TAG Heuer, a Swiss watch powerhouse with incredible heritage, but also a watch brand that many have seen to be struggling in the past few years. They lacked a bit in their creative intention, kind of ignored their heritage and overall made watches that are a bit boring. But things have shifted for them incredibly this year. If I did annual awards, which I just might do, TAG Heuer just might win for biggest comeback by a major brand. They experimented with the Monaco, creating great dials you don’t get to see on any other brand, they came out with the Carrera Glassbox which is just stunning, they reached deep into their history for models like the Skipper and had some amazing collaborations, like the recent work with Team Ikuzawa and Porsche for the Glassbox with the very weird chronograph movement.

Now the two brands are coming together for a new and absolutely fantastic collaboration, the “Yacht-Timer” Carrera by Rowing Blazers. Interestingly, TAG and Rowing Blazers didn’t do this collaboration alone, but they also had help from the very prolific Bamford Watch Department and in essence it is a homage to the classic Heuer Yacht-Timer of the 60’s and 70’s which was used by competitive sailors during regattas.

The colorway of the original and it’s use in one of the more preppy sports out there were a perfect match for Rowing Blazers and the new watch recreates this vibe on the new watch, but a bit more subdued. You get a 42mm wide stainless steel classic Carrera. The dial is white with a blue chapter ring on the perimeter and the subdials take a hint from the original - a trio painted a pastel red, blue and green. The TAG Heuer, Carrera and Rowing Blazers text on the dial all appears in a pleasant shade of blue. I guess the RB logo at 6 o’clock could be the only thing you could complain about on the watch, but it’s not that bad. The hands are bright red with yellow lume inside and the central chronograph hand is painted yellow.

Inside the watch is TAG Heuer's Heuer 02 automatic chronograph caliber which runs at a beat rate of 28,800 vph, with an impressive power reserve of up to 80 hours, all stored in a single barrel thanks to a longer-than-usual mainspring. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet and a NATO-style red, white, and blue strap.

The watch is available now via Rowing Blazers with a price tag of $8,900. Only 99 pieces were produced, and they still seem to be some left to buy. Yeah, it’s the most expensive Rowing Blazers collaboration yet, but I think the pairing between TAG and RB is spot on here. See more on the RB website.

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Fortis Revives The Novonaut N-42, The Slightly Less Known Space Watch

Ask a person who knows just a little bit about watches what watch was worn in space and pretty much everyone will know it is the Omega Speedmaster. In part because it was the first watch worn on the Moon, which brings with it a lot of prestige, and in part because Omega turned this into one of the most effective marketing campaigns of the 20th century. Those who know a bit more about watches might point out that space has seen the likes of Bulova, a Seiko Pogue, the Rolex ‘Pepsi’ GMT and more recently the Omega X-33. But I would wander a guess that few people would callo out the “forgotten astronaut watch”, the Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph.

Back in 1994, the Roscosmos (the Russian Space Agency) commisoned for the first time an official watch for their astronauts. This job was given to Fortis who created the Lemania 5100 powered Official Cosmonauts Chronograph. It was the perfect workhorse for astronauts, flying on MIR and ISS missions. It flew, that is, until 2003, when Fortis replaced the model with the B-42 Official Cosmonaut's Chronograph. The new watch got a new movement, the ETA 7750, which also instructed a new 6-9-12 layout of subdials and a date at 3 o’clock.

This space tool watch was left forgotten forgotten for 20 years without major updates. Three years ago, Fortis was purchased by Jupp Philipp who has started of his tenure with a bang. Most of the major lines got updates, there’s a bunch of interesting limited edition releases and now the time has come to update the Fortis Space watch, this time called the Fortis N-42 Novonaut.

It’s a a beefy tool watch that comes in a 42mm wide stainless steel case and 200 meters of water resistance. Fortis is making three versions of the watch. Two are regular production models called the Cobalt Blue and Legacy Edition, with the Cobalt Blue and Legacy Edition getting a matte blue or black, respectively, bi-directional bezel with SuperLuminova inserts. There will also be a limited First Edition with a glossy black bi-directional bezel and orange hour markers. The Cobalt Blue gets a blue dial while the two others have a black dial and all three have a chronograph hand in Berlac Fluor Orange with a SuperLuminova bull's eye. The First Edition also has a little rocket at six o'clock and a unique smoked sapphire crystal case back featuring a rocket as well.

The layout of the dial remains the same, 6-9-12, with a day and date at 3 o’clock, and the watch is now powered by Fortis’ in-house movement they call the WERK 17, a column-wheel chronograph movement they "space tested" in the stratosphere. It has 60 hours of power reserve. The watches come on either a steel bracelet or rubber strap.

All three versions are on sale now, with the First Edition being limited to 100 pieces. The two unlimited versions on steel will set you back $4,590 and $4,270 on a strap. The limited First Edition is priced at $4,860. Also, make sure to check out the Fortis video that introduces this watch, they really make fantastic content for their releases. Or, alternatively, see more on the Fortis website.

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Once Upon A Time, Timor Made Actual Dirty Dozen Watches. Now They’re Back

During World War II, governments of the world had a need to equip huge armies extremely fast. There was no way they were going to do that alone so they put out a call to all companies - step up and manufacture these uniforms, machinery and weapons to our specifications. One of the things that needed manufacturing was a solid, simple and reliable wrist watch for troops that had to meet the three W specifications: wrist, watch, waterproof. Famously, 12 companies did step up and made some of the most legendary field watches of all time. One of these companies was the Timor Watch Company and now they are remaking this legend with the Timor Modern Field 100M.

I can already hear the shouts of joy as people find out that this is a very faithful recreation, at least in size. The Modern Field measures 36.5mm wide, with a 45.5mm lug to lug, an 18mm lug width and a thickness of 12mm. The steel case gets a black PVD coating and water resistance is hinted at in the name - 100 meters.

The dial is as simple as you would expect from a field watch, especially one that is a recreation of a WWII legend. You get large Arabic numerals with a small 24 hour scale in front of it. The chapter ring is divided in 5-minute increments and the handset is simple and pencil shaped. At 6 o’clock is a subdial for running seconds that is only a half-circle.

Inside the watch is a modified Sellita SW260 movement. It is a version of the SW200 movement but with the addition of a small seconds at 6 o’clock. It beats at a rate of 28,800vph and has a power reserve of 38 hours of power reserve. The watch comes on a strap made out of seatbelt nylon.

The Timor Modern Field 100M can be pre ordered now and will ship in summer 2024. The watch is priced at $1,025. See more on the Timor website.

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Leica Launches New ZM 11 Watch Collection And It’s Just As Good As Everything Else They Do

If you didn’t previously know that Leica, the legendary camera company, makes watches, what would you think they put out? If you said a low-quality cash grab on their name, you wouldn’t meet much resistance, as saying “Leica watch” almost seems like saying “Hugo Boss watch”. But you would be dead wrong. Leica makes some extremely interesting watches, that look to have high finishing quality. Now, they are introducing a new collection to their watches, the ZM 11.

These new watches from Leica take a more pared-back approach than the L1 and L2 that put them on the watchmaking map. They’re simple pieces with a very much futuristic vibe and some really nice German engineering. The three watches come in a 41mm stainless steel or titanium case

A total of three different dial color combinations are available - a black and red variant for the limited ZM 11 Titanium Launch Edition; a subtle coffee-black-meets-warm-black colorway for the regular Titanium edition; and a midnight blue-centric version for the Steel option. Each option gets applied hour markers as well as baton handsets, all luminously coated in a complementing color that best suits its corresponding dial. The watches look fantastic in the photos, probably because of the sandwich construction of the dial that allows for a lot of light play on the dial.

Inside all three is Leica’s in-house LA-3001 caliber, which has been created with the help of Swiss movement developer, Chronode. Capable of continuously running up to 60 hours when fully wound, the ZM 11 is also equipped with a 10 ATM water resistance. The watches come on either an integrated steel bracelet or a rubber band and I can’t tell which one looks better but both look fantastic.

The watches will be available at the end of November from select Leica stores worldwide and are priced starting at €6,800 for the steel model on either the rubber or textile strap and range up to €8,150 for the full-titanium version on the bracelet. The red and black launch edition model will be limited to 250 pieces. See more on the Leica website.

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Biver Watches Releases Piece Unique Celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead

Tomorrow, the annual Salón Internacional de Alta Relojería (SIAR), opens it’s doors in Mexico City. The SIAR is the largest watch fair in Latin America and pretty much every significant watchmaker will be there. Including the father-son duo Pierre and Jean-Claude Biver who will be their eponymous Biver Watces and a Mexico-themed piece unique, La Danse du Temps” Carillon Tourbillon.

Biver Watches has teamed up with Mexican artist Joel Niño to pay homage to the dancing skeletons representing the traditional Day of the Dead festivities held in Mexico at the beginning of November, and boy is it a fun piece. This unique watch is based on Biver’s first watch released earlier this year, a minute repeater enhanced with a carillon, regulated by a tourbillon and wound by a micro-rotor, all housed in a 42mm pink gold case.

All the uniqueness comes from the dial. The most traditional figures associated with the Day of the Dead are the calavera or skeleton and the catrina, a female skeleton dressed to the nines with a large hat with feathers. Another popular feature of the celebration is the use of papel picado, brightly coloured tissue paper with cut-out patterns used as festive banners.

These figures are rendered here in absolute simplicity, engraved in rose gold, dancing around the aperture for the tourbillon at 6 o’clock. The skeletons are applied to a domed onyx dial that has a sandblasted motif that recalls papel picado. The watch has curved applied hour markers, dauphine-style hands and a bridge made out of rose gold.

Inside the watch is the calibre JCB.001, developed in collaboration with Le Cercle des Horlogers, that beats at 21,600vph and has a power reserve of 72 hours. The slider on the left side of the case activates the minute repeater with carillon and the entire movement gets fantastic and expected finishings. The watch comes on a pink gold 5 link bracelet.

The Biver Watches “La Danse du Temps” Carillon Tourbillon is a unique piece and the price is, of course, upon request. I would say go to the Biver Watches website to see more, but they haven’t put the watch up there. They have, however, put a couple of the images on their Instagram.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Baltic Hermétique Tourer

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A review of the Piaget Polo Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin 

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The new Reservoir Airfighter Chronograph is just as exciting as the weirder Reservoir offerings

When you first glance at this watch, you want the retrograde dials to be the chronograph indicators, and I’ll admit that the realization that they aren’t does hit with a bit of disappointment. Instead, the 9 o’clock arc displays the running seconds while the 3 o’clock arc displays the date. After a bit of pouting on my end, I realized that this has a clear benefit for the wearer: you always get to see one of the retrograde hands in motion and have to wait 30 seconds at most to see it snap back to 0. If the chronograph subdials — jumping 12-hour display at 6, 30-minute counter at 12 — were in the retrograde positions, you’d have to burn the power reserve for that kind of always-on visual treat. One curious decision was printing the thin internal telemeter bezel in a grey color. The effect is that it’s effectively hidden in many lighting situations, though I can’t imagine this would ever be a real issue, as no one uses a telemeter (which tells you how far away something is using a recorded time). Read the whole story 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

• For 160 years, we spoke about culture as something active, something with velocity, something in continuous forward motion. To audiences in the 20th century, novelty seemed to be a cultural birthright. But a New York Times critic argues that ours is the least innovative century for the arts in 500 years. He also argues that this doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

• It was the halcyon days of social video, eons before TikTok, and one gung-ho idealist had a simple plan to change the world. His Kony 2012 campaign crushed the internet—and nearly crushed him, too.

• The exclamation point: Ernest Hemmingway wasn’t a fan. But Salman Rushdie loves to exclaim! Who is right? Florence Hazrat points out that in this digital age, the exclamation point has become “the textual version of junk food.” Overused, aggressively used, used in repetition. But Hazrat is here to plead the case for the line and dot, giving us five wonderful ways “literature can recuperate the abused exclamation point.” So go forth and express!

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Despite it being mid-October, summer is only now ending here where I live. And that makes me a bit sad. Not because I’ll miss the heat, because I can’t stand that. What I will miss is tomatoes. I know it’s a controversial position, I know how many people can’t stand tomatoes, but tomatoes just might be the perfect food. And there’s that one month at the end of summer when they are perfect. I ate my last homegrown tomato yesterday, so this marks the end of summer for me.

If you happen to have a couple more left over or if you’re not sure whether you like them or not, go watch Babish’s video on the perfect sandwich, the BLT.

💵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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