The Chopard Desert Race Is A Rugged Take On The Racing Chrono; Tudor, Bulgari, TAG and Baltic Shine In Our Complete Guide To Only Watch; Panerai And Brabus Make A Watch Scream On Your Wrist And Awake Makes A Meatball

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. This was supposed to be the largest edition of this newsletter ever published. But it was too much even for me, and I love long newsletters! That’s why I published the complete guide to Only Watch auction as a separate post, make sure to check it out.

The Hamilton giveaway was a hit. The winners have been contacted, I’ll announce their names once I get the word it’s OK to do so. Alas, here’s a new giveaway. Our last one in which we give away multiple watches. Hopefully we’ll have something new and great for next month. But for now, we’re giving away four Seiko 5 Sports SKX ‘Midi’ in a color of your choice! You know them, you live them. Invite your friends or fill out the survey to enter.

In this issue:

• The New Chopard Desert Race Made With Bamford Is A Beautiful and Rugged Modern Sports Watch

• The Complete Guide To All The Spectacular Only Watch Auction Pieces

• Two Of The Loudest Brands In The World, Panerai And Brabus, Team Up (Again) To Make A Watch That Screams On Your Wrist

• seconde/seconde/ Turns The Already Classy Maen Manhattan 37 Into The Perfect Watch For Cocktail Hour

• Awake Concept Continues Space Themed Watch Releases With NASA Logo Inspired Mission To Earth Meatball LE

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 9 seconds

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👂What’s new

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The New Chopard Desert Race Made With Bamford Is A Beautiful and Rugged Modern Sports Watch

Chopard’s link with car racing is strong. They just recently introduced a whole slew of special and limited editions that mark their connection with the legendary Mille Miglia race which they have been sponsoring for more than 3 decades. And seeing as how these are some of the more popular Chopard models, it’s nice to see that the company is adding more watches to this lineup. They have teamed up with George Bamford, who imagined an off-road cousin of the Mille Miglia and created a fantastic watch called the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Bamford Edition Desert Race.

The base of the watch is the 43mm Mille Miglia GTS Power Control that debuted in 2015, but it’s very recongizable as a watch that has been modified by Bamford, a lover of textures and combinations of dark and bright colors. 43mm wide and 11.3mm thick, the case is made of bead blasted titanium with a titanium bezel that has a black aluminium insert with orange numbers. The dial is a anthracite color with a very textured, almost asphalt-like, surface and bright orange details on the oversized Arabic numerals at 12 and 6, the digits on the date wheel, the 5-minute intervals on the flange, the Bamford inscription and the ‘empty’ section of the fuel gauge/power reserve indicator.

The watch comes on a woven rubber strap and gets 100m water resistance thanks to a screw-down caseback with eight black PVD-treated screws and a tinted crystal with an orange gasket. This is a seriously capable watch. Bamford is a racing fan and he recently entered the Norra 1000 rally in Mexico where he wore the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Bamford Edition Desert Race while driving a Meyers Manx buggy for all 1000 miles.

The ‘Desert Racer’ is powered by Chopard’s automatic COSC chronometer-certified calibre 01.08-C.movement. Beating at a frequency of 4Hz/28,800vph, the movement delivers a power reserve of 60 hours.

This is, by far, Chopard’s prettiest watch. I’m totally smitten, but unfortunately, it is limited to just 50 pieces. And they’ll set you back EUR 11,200. See more at Bamford Watch Dept.

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The Complete Guide To All The Spectacular Only Watch Auction Pieces

Only Watch is a huge deal in the world of watches. You are completely forgiven if you haven’t heard of it, as it’s a charity event that happens only every other year and this is only it’s tenth edition this year. Started in 2005 it was a way to raise funds for research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Since then, it has become a milestone event in the watch world, as pretty much every relevant name in the industry contributes a unique timepiece - hence the name Only Watch - to be auctioned off. And they bring some crazy pieces - in 2019, a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A sold for CHF 31 million.

The last auction raised CHF 30 million with only 53 watches for sale. This year, there are 62 watches going up for auction and I was about to do something crazy - put together a list of all 62 of them, with photos, descriptions and auction estimates. I actually did it, but then this newsletter ended up being the length of 5 regular issues, so I ditched the plan. I know Only Watch is not for everyone. That’s why I published the list separately, so I don’t bore you to death here, but feel free to click here to see every single entry into the Only Watch 2023 auction.

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Two Of The Loudest Brands In The World, Panerai And Brabus, Team Up (Again) To Make A Watch That Screams On Your Wrist

The partnership between Panerai and Brabus just makes so much sense. Picture a man who wears a 47mm carbon fiber and titanium monster watch on their wrist. It’s huge and gaudy. It’s not a practical watch. Not particularly beautiful. But it does have presence and just hollers “look at me”! Now, imagine a man who drives a Brabus G 800. It’s huge and gaudy. It’s not a practical car. Not particularly beautiful. But it does have presence and it literally hollers “look at me” every time you turn over the 800 horsepower engine. You imagined the same guy, right? Well that guy just got a new watch he can buy - the 47mm Panerai × Brabus Submersible S Titanio Dive Watch GMT.

Brabus and Panerai have been working together for some time now. And in terms of design, the new Panerai Submersible S BRABUS eTitanio PAM01403 is essentially the same watch as the limited-edition Submersible S BRABUS Black Ops Edition that they released a couple of years ago. But now it features a case that is crafted from eTitanio, which is a 100% recycled titanium powder derived from pre-consumer scraps.

Powering the new Submersible S Titanio is the P.4001/S automatic caliber with date, GMT hand, and an AM/PM indicator. It’s a simple movement, which you wouldn’t say looking at the dial, which has also been carried over from the Black Ops. It’s skeletonized, has red highlights and optical polar date window, which consists of a clear calendar disc with a polarized lens over the aperture at 3 o’clock. That means that the transparent disk is only visible through the optic, instead of mucking up the entire skeleton dial.

Another hidden feature is the zero-reset function when setting the time. Instead of normal hacking seconds, where you wait for the hand to reach zero seconds to pull the crown, setting the time automatically resets the pointer to that position. The only good things about the huge size od the watch and the aggressively skeletonize dial is the fact that you get to see all of these interesting mechanisms at work. You also get 300 meters of water resistance and a hybrid black rubber and leather strap

It’s a limited edition and only 177 will be made, paying homage to the year Brabus was founded - 1977. Did you expect a watch made by Panerai and Brabus to be cheap? Yeah, it’s not. If you want one, it will set you back $51,000. Feel free to click over to their webiste for more.

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seconde/seconde/ Turns The Already Classy Maen Manhattan 37 Into The Perfect Watch For Cocktail Hour

seconde/seconde/ is a brand run by Romaric André, a former financial auditor who has in recent year profiled himself as one of the leading vintage watch customizers, known especially for replacing hands with those of his own design. He has worked with a whole slew of brands, including Vulcain, Nivada Grenchen, Louis Erard, Bamford and H. Moser & Cie, creating watches that take the original and update it with fun. For his latest vandalism seconde/seconde/ has teamed up with microbrand Maen to work on their architecturally inspired Manhattan model.

The Art Deco watch is a fairly serious affair, with it’s geometric case and usually subdued colors. So seconde/seconde/ took that as a challenge. First was the color, chosen to represent the color of a good Manhattan cocktail. And in place of a seconds hand is an impaled marachino cherry. It’s not just the vibrant colour, either – vertically adorned with a Côtes de Genève motif, the magenta hues spill over the fan-like streaks and troughs to really make the dial come alive.

Along with an individually numbered caseback engraving, the Manhattan 37% - a name referencing the alcohol content of a Manhattan - also reminds you rewind responsibly, though the Sellita SW200 within shouldn’t trouble you too much. It’s a tried-and-true performer, here in its élaboré grade, meaning adjustment in three positions as opposed to two and tighter accuracy standards when compared to the standard grade. The automatic winding and 38-hour power reserve are unchanged.

Maen x seconde/seconde/ Manhattan 37% was made in only 37 pieces, and, as expected, they all sold out instantly. No wonder, as you could get a great seconde/seconde/ for €937,37 without VAT. Learn more about this gem you missed out on on Maen’s website.

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Awake Concept Continues Space Themed Watch Releases With NASA Logo Inspired Mission To Earth Meatball LE

For the past couple of years the French microbrand has been making some very interesting space-themed watches. They have been running with a collection called Mission to Earth for a year now, and it’s been split up into chapters, each dealing with a specific aspect of space. This latest one is called the Awake Concept Mission To Earth Meatball Limited Edition, after the famous NASA logo which was affectionately named the Meatball by Navy pilots.

Despite being a young brand, Awake watches look very refined. Take, for example, the case of the 40mm watch which is made out of 70% recycled titanium and looks fantastic. And it seems that every detail about this watch has been thought through. NASA’s Meatball logo is engraved on the case side, while an “astronaut fish” is embossed on the outside of the exhibition back to symbolize 100 metres of water resistance. The screw-down crown is engraved with L (Lock) and O (Open), representing the umbilical connectors on Apollo 11 space suits. The 20mm white strap has a Velcro fastener, Meatball logo and US flag with “Mission to Earth” underneath, all referencing A7L space suits. There’s also NFC tech integrated in the sapphire crystal, allowing you to tap your phone to your watch to get a variety of space-related experiences, like exclusive NASA broadcasts from the International Space Station and an immersive look at asteroids throughout the galaxy.

Awake claims that the space theme continues on the dial with an outer ring under the indices resembling rover tracks on the moon, hour and minute hands inspired by the oblong shape of rockets and large applied indices at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock that represent the ISS Cupola – the panoramic observation deck. I’m not very convinced by this reasoning, but it still looks great. The centre portion of the dial is a sandblasted matte blue and there’s a red aluminium flange just below the crystal that shows a countdown before launch and has MISSION TO EARTH printed on it.

Inside the watch is a Miyota 9039 automatic with a custom rotor featuring NASA’s colour logo at the centre, a space engraving underneath and “DARE MIGHTY THINGS” at the bottom. The movement has central hours, minutes and hacking seconds, as well as a 42 hour power reserve.

This is also a limited edition watch, but unlike the above mentioned Maen it’s limited to a more generous 250 peices and there are still some for sale on the Awake website. Yours for EUR 825.

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The New ArtyA AquaSaphir Is A Very Weird, Fully Sapphire Cased, Summer Watch You Should Know About

ArtyA has been around since 2010, when Yvan Arpa founded it in Geneva. For many this will be the first time you are hearing about this brand. Those who know it, on the other hand, they will tell you that the brand is actually quite diversified, with 12 collections and has been making sapphire cased watches for almost ten years. And just in time for summer, they’re releasing four new references with a very cool function - the new AquaSaphir is the first sapphite crystal cased watch that is rated to 60 meters water resistance.

All four of the new references come in a 41mm sapphire case and use the same movement. The differences are mostly in color. Two come in a transparent sapphire crystal which is, arguably, less interesting, while two come in with a spectacularly summery cyan NanoSaphir bezel, with two dial variants – the first with an enamel gradient cyan to white dial, and the other in a meteorite dial.

The movement is not exactly described in detail, but the brand says that it has been “exclusive made in Switzerland”, suggesting that this is produced by a contractor who is not named. The movement looks good, with a play of materials and finishings ranging from rose gold, to NAC and Côtes de Genève. It is also COSC certified.

Now, to the price. It’s not a cheap watch at EUR 30,900 for the versions with the transparent sapphire and EUR 40,900 for the NanoSaphir bezel. However, this watch is the perfect alternative to the only other brand that consistently releases sapphire cases - Hublot. However, with a Hublot you’d have to live with owning a Hublot and their cheapest sapphire Big Bang starts at CHF 65k. So the ArtyA are practically a bargain.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands-On with the blacked-out Sinn 856 S 

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A review of the newly released Citizen Series 8 GMT

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Since we have the Chopart Mille Miglia Desert Racer up there in the news, here’s a hands on with the regular Mille Miglia

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

IFL Watches G-Shock Take Colorful To The Next Level

If you have kept your eyes open over the last few years, you have probably seen some crazy timepieces from IFL Watches. This young brand from Stockholm takes regular watches and transforms them into colorful timepieces that are one of a kind. And as you may know, the brand is also no stranger to customizing G-Shock’s popular “CasiOak” models. In the next step with G-Shock’s popular model line, IFLW now introduces the CasiOak Jelly Splash Limited Editions. These smaller CasiOak watches come with extravagant dials and candy-inspired names. Who is ready for summer?

⏲️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

• In a decrepit house in São Paulo lives a woman who many people call a bruxa (the witch). As a blockbuster Brazilian podcast recently revealed, Margarida Maria Vicente de Azevedo Bonetti is wanted by U.S. authorities for her treatment of a maid named Hilda Rosa dos Santos, whom Margarida and her husband more or less enslaved in the Washington, D.C. area. This is a crazy story.

• Another true crime gem for today. When Susan Woods was killed, everyone in the town of Stephen ville thought they knew who killed her. But the truth was much more complicated and it left the real culprit free to prey on others, including one victim who was ignored for two decades. I love these stories from Texas Monthly.

• Now that we have two great true crime stories, it’s time to read this piece from the Atlantic titled: “The gross spectacle of murder fandom”. It’s a hard look what happens when true crime fanatics obsess over a real life tragedy.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I was about to post this video something like two weeks ago when it came out. Thought it was a great look into the notorious Russian paramilitary, but decided against it because I avoid posting stuff about the Ukraine war. However, after Wagner tried to coup Putin the other day, you might be interested in knowing who these people are.

💵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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