The New IWC Woodland Timezoner and Smaller Mojave Look Great, Studio Underd0g Goes For Another Home Run, Louis Erard Teams Up With Silberstein Again, New Watches From Frederique Constant And H. Moser

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I included the IWC Woodland Timezoner because I have to cover the major releases from major brands. By the end of the article I was completely in love with it. Unfortunately, I’m not spending 18k for a watch right now, so, a question to you: does anybody else offer a similar world timer mechanism?

Also, I recently published the inaugural sixth edition of the newsletter. It was all about the sterile secret watches of MACV-SOG. If you want to tell me what to write about next, subscribe to the Pateron and let me know.

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In this issue:

• The Funky IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Gets Woodland Green Treatment And Mojave Comes To The Pilot’s Chronograph 41

• Studio Underd0g Releases Their Second Collection, More Grown Up And Much More Subdued

• Louis Erard Teams Up With Alain Silberstein Join Up Again For A Trio Of Deceivingly Simple Pieces

• Frederique Constant’s Platinum Classic Tourbillon Meteorite Manufacture Is Great Value For Money, Despite It’s High Price

• H. Moser & Cie Make A Trio Of Shiny Watches For Bucherer

Today’s reading time: 11 minutes and 6 seconds

👂What’s new

1/

The Funky IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Gets Woodland Green Treatment And Mojave Comes To The Pilot’s Chronograph 41

Among the otherwise quite unvaried offering from the IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s collection, there’s one watch that truly stands out the moment you see it. It’s the relatively new Pilot’s Watch Timezoner, introduced only a couple of years ago as a travel watch. After a steel and blue ‘Le Petit Prince‘ and the all-black Ceratanium, the Pilot’s Watch Timezoner now becomes part of the Colours of TOP GUN collection with a Woodland forest-green ceramic version.

The Pilot’s Watch Timezoner is a bizarre watch, but if you like it, there are very few watches that compete with it. It comes in a 46mm wide case that is now made out of a deep green ceramic, topped with a black Ceratanium rotating bezel. Set in the bezel is a green ceramic insert that has city names that represent the 24 time zones engraved into it. As you might notice, there is no third GMT hand. That’s because the rotating bezel has a trick to it. You push down on it to unlock the mechanism and by twisting the bezel to align the city of choice with the 12 o’clock position, the hour hand, the 24-hour disc and date wheel move back and forth accordingly. It’s actually one of my favorite world timer mechanisms.

The matte green of the case continues on the dial and it’s contrasted with lighter green indices and markings which are filled with lume. The hour and minute hands are black with a light green insert, while the seconds hand is all light green. The arched window at 12 o’clock shows a 24-hour ring, and there’s a colour-matched date at 3 o’clock

Inside the watch is IWC’s in-house calibre 82760. It beats at 28,800vph and has a a power reserve of 60 hours. It has a Pellaton winding system for increased efficiency and reduced wear, thanks to ceramic components. The watch comes on a green rubber strap with textile inlay.

The IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s Watch Timezoner TOP GUN Woodland is part of the permanent collection and won’t be limited. You can buy it now for CHF 18,000, just like the all-black Ceratanium edition. Yeah, that’s a lot of money, but it’s a unique piece. Speaking of uniqueness, educate me here - is there a world timer that uses the same mechanism of a locked bezel that jumps the hour hand to the selected city? I would love to own one for a bit less money. In the meantime, see more about this watch on IWC’s website.

But why do one release in a day, when you can have two pretty major releases? This one is also a part of the ‘Colours of TOP GUN‘ collection which gives amazing ceramic clors to the (Big) Pilot’s Watch collection. And perhaps the most popular of the bunch has been the sand beige Mojave Desert variant. However, at 46 and 44.5mm, it was way out of reach for many wrists. Now, IWC is introducing a 41mm version of the Mojave Desert IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 TOP GUN.

You know what to expect from this watch. It come sin a beige ceramic case that now measures 41mm wide and has titanium pushers and crown. The sapphire crystal on top is protected against sudden drops in air pressure, and a soft-iron inner case protects the movement against magnetism.

The dial remains a matte brown with beige indices and markings while the hands are brown with beige inlays. Everything is slathered in lume, while the subdials show running seconds, chronograph 30-minutes and 12-hour counter.

Inside the watch is the same Calibre 69380 as in the 44.5mm edition. It runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and has a 46 hour power reserve. The rotor is fitted with a pawl-winding system, which winds the movement in both directions. The watch comes on a sand-coloured rubber strap with a textile inlay.

While the 44.5mm version was limited to 500 pieces this new 41mm is part of the regular collection and will not be limited. The IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 TOP GUN retails for CHF 12,000. See more on the IWC website.

2/

Studio Underdog Releases Their Second Collection, More Grown Up And Much More Subdued

Very few microbrand watches managed to pull of what Studio Underd0g did when they launched just a couple of years ago. Their colorful chronographs became an instant hit not just among hard-core collectors but also in the general watch population. And it’s clear why the moment you see them - Studio Underd0g watches are completely original, have a very clear design language and use color unlike any other brand out there (other than maybe Farer?). And their second collection just might have been the most expected watch collection in the watch world. It’s here now, the 02Series Field Watch, and reactions seem to be mixed.

According to Studio Underd0g, the 02Series Field Watch is their vision of what a microbrand might have delivered as a response to a hypothetical brief by the British ministry of defence in 1945 for a watch suited to the battlefield. It’s as simple as a field watch should be, but also incorporates unexpected colors, just like a Studio Underd0g watch should. The immediate reaction online has been a lack of enthusiasm of bright and different color combinations, save for their Pink Lem0nade shade, but it’s clear that this is a more grown-up, more subdued and restrained, while also showing you colors you haven’t seen on a watch before.

The watch comes in a 37mm wide and 12mm thick stainless steel with a closed caseback. Cover the dial and it looks like any other field watch - a round case with brushed surfaces and a highly polished bezel. The domed sapphire crystal enhances the retro flair.

But the main attraction, of course, are the dials. Not just the numerous dial options, but also the two dials that come in every watch. The 02Series Field Watch has a base layers that is painted with seven layers of custom Super-LumiNova, on top of which sits a 1mm thick clear sapphire disc where the Arabic numerals and minute track are printed. The two are pinned together on either side of the hands with visible pins. I adore it when designers print their numerals on the crystal, as it gives incredible depth to the dial, and this is a different approach that looks pretty great.

There are four colour variations for the 02Series Field Watch. There’s the Steffany Blue (02BLB), the Pink Lem0nade (02FSBE), the Full Mo0n (02BEBR) and the Midnight (02BKG). The Pink Lem0nade has instantly profiled itself as the favorite of the bunch and it has some pretty advanced tech in it - the dial is painted in a pink-to-yellow luminous gradient, which is an industry first. The Steffany Blue is their parody of tiffany or aqua blue across the watch industry, which I’m not sure is that good of a gag, while I would argue that the subtle and perhaps boring Full Mo0n and Midnight, a creamy white and anthracite black dial, might be traditional, but with their crazy lume (the Full Mo0n is fully luminous, while the Midnight has a non-luminous dial, just luminous numerals) they just might be what a more casual watch enthusiast might like.

The previous collection from Studio Underd0g came with a cheap Chinese Seagull ST-1901 movement, which was sometimes a hit against the brand, but now they equipped it with a much more robust and familiar movement, the manual winding Sellita SW210-1. It beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve and it’s one of those workhorse movements. The watches come on either Epsom Calfskin or suede straps provided by UK company The Strap Tailor. A slightly boring choice, but with quick-release spring bars it’s an easy fix.

A lot has already been said about the price of these new watches. The original series sells for €540, while the new one is priced at €850. That’s quite a jump and quite a price, but with the respected Swiss movement and more complicated production method, I see how they got up there in price. And after being a bit disappointed by it at first, I changed my mind - I think it’s a decent value. At €750, it would be an absolute winner.

The pre-order window opens on November 1 for a period of nine hours. All orders placed during that window are guaranteed to be filled, with the first 500 watches ready to be delivered before Christmas of this year. Delivery timeframes for additional watches sold during the pre-order window will be determined based on the total quantity of orders received. See more on the Studio Underd0g website.

3/

Louis Erard Teams Up With Alain Silberstein Join Up Again For A Trio Of Deceivingly Simple Pieces

I will never get tired of singing praises to Louis Erard. They take high-end horological concepts and bring it down to extremely affordable prices, while making sure that the watches look absolutely amazing - be they super simple and elegant or avant-garde piece that should demand 10x the price they are selling for. They are also known for their amazing collaborations, and among their favorite collaborators is French designer Alain Silberstein whose pieces for Louis Erard from 2021 and 2022 sold out expressly. Now they’re teaming up again for a trio of colourful watches, inclucing a regulator display tourbillon, not something you see every day. Especially at this price.

The watches come in a very interesting case. It measures 40mm wide, 11.8mm thick and featuring a microblasted Grade 2 titanium frame fixed on a vertical sidebar called “brancard” in polished Grade 5 titanium and flanked by a signature conical crown stamped with the Louis Erard symbol.

While the collection is a trio, you will only be able to purchase two models on their own in a limited edition of 178 pieces, while the tourbillon is only available as part of a triptych box, limited to 78 pieces.

Starting off the collection is the La Semaine Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki réf. 75357TT06.BTT89 which features a Smiley weekly calendar on an olive dial. This is one of Silberstein’s staples and is in essence a calendar display where very day is represented with it’s own face and mood. It’s powered by a modified Sellita SW220-1 .

Next up is Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki réf. 85358TT06.BTT89 which has an olive dial with a large white arrow hand for the central minutes, a red triangle for the hours at 12 o'clock, and a small yellow serpentine hand for the seconds at 6 o'clock, making it a regulator display. It’s powered by a self-winding regulator-type Sellita SW266-1 .

The third watch is the Le Régulateur Tourbillon Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Khaki ref. 89356TT06.BTT89, Louis Erard’s first tourbillon which has been combined with a regulator display here. It’s powered by the BCP T02 tourbillon regulator movement which is made by the Swiss atelier of Olivier Mory of BCP Tourbillons in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It beats at 3Hz and has a power reserve of 100 hours.

All three watches come on olive straps made out of nylon and have a microblasted grade 2 titanium hook-and-loop fastener system for quick adjustments. The two watches you can buy individually can be purchased for CHF4,000 each and as mentioned are limited to 178 pieces. The box of all three watches which includes the tourbillon watch is limited to 78 pieces and sells for CHF22,222 (meaning that the tourbillon is priced at CHF14,222, which is a great price). See more on the Louis Erard website.

4/

Frederique Constant’s Platinum Classic Tourbillon Meteorite Manufacture Is Great Value For Money, Despite It’s High Price

Perhaps the best known brand for their very accessible luxury is Frederique Constant. They continuously make watches that look like they should cost in the mid-5 figures and sell them under €10.000. But every now and again they will go all out and show how high-end they can get. Like with their Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture. But even that watch sells for much less than you would expect from a Tourbillon. Now, they’re going a step furhter with the Classic Tourbillon Meteorite Manufacture made out of platinum.

The case measures a relatively elegant 39mm wide and 11mm thick, made out of 950 platinum with an entirely polished finish. It’s a simple case with straight lugs, thin bezel and pumpkin-shaped crown. The case, of course, doesn’t matter as much (despite being made out of platinum), as all you’ll stare at is the dial.

Made out of a thin slice of the Gibeon meteorite, it’s covered by a coat of ruthenium for protection and added shine. The straight lines of the meteorite are perfeclty complimented by the thin markers and lance-shaped hands. There’s also a cutout at 6 o’clock for the tourbillon.

Inside the watch is the calibre FC-980 which has been used on previous Classic Tourbillon Manufactures, but with much more advanced decorations. The movement is fitted with a silicon escapement wheel and anchor, runs at 4Hz and displays a small seconds above the one-minute tourbillon. The entire movement is decorated by hand, the main bridge features a texture reproducing the aspect of a meteorite – it is hand-chamfered, hammered and finished with charbonnage on the frame. Then, the edges are beaded and grained, and parts are decorated on both sides. The screws are black-polished, and the lower plate is hand-hammered. Finally, the rotor also features bevelling.

The Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Meteorite Manufacture will be limited to just 35 pieces and it is far from the price most FC watches command - it retails for €42,995. It’s a hell of a lot of money, but try finding another meteor-dialed platinum watch for less. See more on the FC website.

5/

H. Moser & Cie Make A Trio Of Shiny Watches For Bucherer

Despite the recent acquisition by Rolex, it looks like not much has changed with the famous retailer Bucherer. The retailer is known for collaborating on special editions with various manufacturers, and many feared that the Rolex acquisition might put an end to it. Don’t fear, because they just announced a collaboration with H. Moser & Cie for a trio of watches based on the Pioneer and Endeavour Concept models.

First up is the Pioneer Tourbillon Concept Aventurine, which comes in a rose gold and black DLC-finished titanium case. It has a midnight-blue aventurine which is as simple as it can get with no markings. The only things breaking up the night sky of the dial are the opening at 6 o’clock for the tourbillon and the pink gold hour and minute leaf-shaped hands. It’s powered by H. Moser & Cie’s in house Calibre HMC 804 movement with at 3 day power reserve and is attempting to be sporty with a rubber strap. Limited to 18 pieces, it will set you back €75,000.

Next up is the Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aventurine. Again in a pink gold case that measures 40mm, it has a slider on the left side of the case which activates the chiming mechanism which can be seen on the outer perimeter of the dial. Speaking of the dial, it is also a midnight-blue aventurine one with zero markings, a tourbillon opening and leaf hands. This one is very limited, at just 2 pieces and a price of €381,000.

And last, there is the Endeavour Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Aventurine & Diamonds, which is a take on the minute repeater but with, you guessed it, diamonds. Instead of rose gold you get a white gold case, along with the same chiming mechanism visible around the midnight-blue aventurine dial. But this one is a bit bigger at 43mm in order to more easily accommodate the 85 baguette-cut diamonds around the dial. A piece unique, it will set you back €448,000.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Leica ZM 11

2/

A review of the Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph in red

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

Timeless makes watches that combine avante-garde styling and classic designs and the HMS 003 proves it

The lugs on the HMS are a modernized version of the wire lugs you’d find on an early wristwatch. They offer an organic shape, with a polished 4N pink gold ring separating them from the case. The case itself features horizontal brushing, while the sides of the bezel and caseback are polished, adding some brightwork to the case profile. A brown calf leather two-stitch strap secures the watch to the wrist, together with a polished, single-fold two-button deployant. Once strapped on, the HMS takes command of your wrist. At 41.5mm wide and 12.8mm thick, it’s not a huge watch, but the thin bezel makes the dial look large. In addition, the straight case sides make it visually thicker, while the thick white chapter ring also gives the dial area a visual punch. 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 decades, spending on the future put the United States ahead of all others. What would it take to revive that spirit? I love essays like this one from the New York Times as it reminds you how much the US has slipped from it’s hay day and asks is there even a possibility of bringing it back.

• OK, this is a creepy one. Have you ever been to the Museum of Natural History in New York? Well, you might not have known that you were sharing the building with 12,000 bodies. That’s a hell of a lot of human remains for a museum to own and it’s especially shady that the museum refuses to tell anyone who the people were.

• While the 12,000 bodies in a museum might weird you out a bit, this next title will make your skin crawl. I’m warning you, if you are squeamish, do not read on. This is the title from the Guardian piece I am linking to: “The elephant I was riding threw me, then rolled over me like a steamroller. All my bones broke at once”. All my bones broke at once must be one of the most unsettling sentences I ever read.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Like I said the other day, summer ended suddenly and it’s now cold and wet. My favorite weather. Mostly because I get to take out my Barbour coat. If you’re unfamiliar with these jackets, please look them up as they are the most perfect outerwear for rain you could imagine, made out of heavy duty waxed canvas. It’s status in the UK is absolutely legendary and when I wore my in London there were numerous attempts from people to buy it off me because of the fantastic patina it has.

It’s actually not mine, it’s my dad’s but good luck to him getting it back. I’m not sure any more, but I’m pretty sure that the jacket might be older than I am. Back in the 80s, my dad worked in movies and at the time a bunch of foreign productions would find their way to Yugoslavia for the amazing locations, low costs and competent crews. Dad used to work on these productions as an assistant director. And it was on one such production that he bought a blue Barbour Border jacket off the back of a British crew member.

As you would expect from a jacket that is at least 35 years old, it’s full of tiny cuts and scrapes, tears that tell a story. Every year I take it out I think it will, sooner or later end up back with Barbour for a refurbish, just like the jacket in the video I linked. But it’s still not time. All it needs is a fresh coat of wax every year. Oh, and that smell of a waxed Barbour? It’s the best smell in the world.

💵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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