The Swatch X Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Is Here, Zenith Gives The El Primero Chrono Original Tricolor It's First Black Dial, Seiko Releases An Accessible Retro Style60s GM, New Watches From Kurono And Zeitwinkel

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It was supposed to be a relaxed Thursday, but Swatch decided to show off the Blancpain in preparation for the September 9th release. And boy, did it cause a stir online. What are your thoughts?

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In this issue:

• Swatch And Blancpain Release The Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection, Watches More Controversial Than The MoonSwatch

• For The First Time, Zenith Gives It’s Legendary El Primero Chronomaster Original A Black Tricolor Dial

• Seiko Releases An Accessible Retro GMT To Celebrate 110 Years Of Their First Watch With The Presage Style60’s GMT Limited Edition SSK015

• Cult Japanes Watchmaker Kurono Is Releasing First GMT Complication

• Lesser Known Indie Zeitwinkel Releases MAKS Series With Colourful 3D Dials And In House Movement

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 59 seconds

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It’s Here - Swatch And Blancpain Release The Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection, Watches More Controversial Than The MoonSwatch

Despite much criticism from the online community, the MoonSwatch was an incredible success for the swatch group. This cheap(ish) plastic recreation of one of the most legendary watches of all time, the Omega Speedmaster. The $260 version from Swatch sold a million watches in the first year, despite a botched launch and issues with providing enough supply. The fun-colored Speedmaster versions even led to a significant rise in sales of the regular Speedy - a whopping 50% in the first year. So, not only was it a great money making venture to sell the cheap watch, it also brought significant attention to the expensive watch.

So, it stands to reason, despite much criticism from the online community, that Swatch will do the same thing again. And they did, this time with Blancpain, again following a very similar playbook as with the MoonSwatch. The collaboration with Blancpain takes the legendary diver Fifty Fathoms and uses it as a canvas to create five colorful versions named after the five oceans. Like the MoonSwatch it is made from Bioceramic, which is essentially a type of plastic despite the fancy name.

It’s posing as a real diver - it has a screw-down crown and a unidirectional bezel made from Bioceramic and scratch-resistant glass. However, it is as good as the first Blancpain diver ever made. They actually made a water resistant watch that can go down fifty fathoms, or 91 meters. I have not seen one live yet, but the concern is that the bezel will feel as flimsy as the pushers on the MoonSwatch have. However, I do know people who have played with one, and they say that this watch has a much sturdier construction than the MoonSwatch. There’s no mistaking it for anything other than a plastic watch, but it is supposed to be of much higher quality. It also comes on a NATO-style strap made from recycled fishing nets.

Most important, of course, are the individual colors of each edition - the Arctic Ocean (beige), the Pacific Ocean (orange), the Atlantic Ocean (blue), the Indian Ocean (green) and the Antarctic Ocean (ice white). Some of them have already been received as great (I’m look at you Arctic and Antarctic) while others are divisive.

Swatch explains that the colours of each of these models are inspired by the colours of nudibranchs – a type of colourful sea slug – found in each of the planet’s oceans. Nudibranchs also on the transparent automatic rotors of each of the Swatch x Blancpain models that can be seen through the caseback, while the main plates of their movements feature graphics of the Earth.

The Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean models are modelled on modern Fifty Fathoms references and feature Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 and they have a date window at 4:30 o’clock. The Arctic and Antarctic Ocean models are styled after vintage Blancpain references. They use a retro Blancpain logo and the Arctic has a “No Rad” sign at 6 o’clock like the military issued Blancpains during the Cold War, while the Antarctic features a humidity indicator graphic, another common feature of ’60s Fifty Fathoms models.

There were many concerns that Swatch would put a quartz movement into a Blancpain, something that has never happened before, but this did not happen. Inside the watch is Swatch’s SISTEM51 mechanical automatic movement. Introduced 10 years ago, this movement was a technical marvel as it provided excellent accuracy, a Nivachron anti-magnetic balance spring and an impressive 90-hour power reserve for an incredibly low price.

Ah, the price. These watches will not go on sale until September 9th and when they do they will be available exclusively at selected brick-and-mortar Swatch stores for a price of €390 / £340 / $400. Additionally, while these are not limited editions, Swatch has indicated a limit of one watch per person, per day.

To end with some reactions. I looked at all the popular social networks for reactions and my anecdotal impressions are very funny. People on Facebook seem to like the watch, but think it’s way too expensive. People on Instagram hate it but only because they think scalpers will get to them first and drive up the price initially. People on TikTok love them and ask where can they learn more about Blancpain. People on Reddit have found a new thing to hate with an intense passion, while calling everyone who buys one a corporate shill when they could get something completely different for a different price.

As for me? I like them. I’m still not in love with them, I would like to see them live first (btw. Hodinkee had some hands on with the watches so check that out, the photos are radically different than the press ones). What I really don’t understand is the passionate hate the watches and those who say they would get one are getting online, as I have still not seen a better argument against them other than they are too expensive for plastic watches. Sure, but… Now that Chinese brands can deliver $500 tourbillons with excellent quality, why would anybody buy a Tudor? That argument swings both ways. And watch enthusiasts aren’t really known for making sound financial decisions - we buy what we like and justify it later.

The one thing I could, potentially, hold against the Blancpain collaboration is it’s efforts to greenwash the entire thing. The two brands have pointed out the Bioceramic case, the recycled NATO strap, the recycled glass and the nods to Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment as attempts to be more sustainable, and then used the SISTEM51 which is notoriously unrepairable and when it breaks it renders the watch useless. While this is the case with much some much more expensive movements in much more expensive watches, it’s a bad look if you’re touting the sustainable angle. However, there’s no info just yet on whether there is a possibility of repair or even replacement of the movement (previous SISTEM51 watches were hermetically sealed at the factory.

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For The First Time, Zenith Gives It’s Legendary El Primero Chronomaster Original A Black Tricolor Dial

The original Zenith El Primero, the legendary watch with the first automatic chronograph movement every unveiled to the world, is right up there on the Mount Rushmore of watchmaking. In 1969 three watches were released powered by the El Primero calibre, and of the three the A386 has stuck around the longest, at least it has as a template for the 2021 Chronomaster Original with overt vintage design cues and modern mechanics. And while pretty much every other classic chronograph was offered in both black and white dial versions, the El Primero was never offered in black. Now Zenith is releasing the Chronomaster Original with a matte black dial and the tricolor subdials for the first time ever.

Other than the dial update, this is the same watch as the Chronomaster Original Zenith released in 2021. It measures 38mm wide and 13mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 47mm. There’s a date window at 4:30, a domed crystal, push pumpers and a steel bracelet, as well as a leather strap.

Until now, the traditional El Primero has always featured a creamy white dial with its recognizable tricolor subdials. Now, the matte black dials is accompanied by blue, grey and silver subdials – running seconds at 9 o’clock, 60-second register and 60-min register at 3 and 6 o’clock, respectively. Incorporating a dark stage meant changing the colour of the inner scale from black to white and the external 1/10th of a second scale from white to black.

Inside is the high-beat El Primero 3600 caliber, beating at 5 hertz and featuring a 1/10th second chronograph, meaning that the central chronograph hand completes a rotation around the dial every 10 seconds. The new black-dial Chronomaster Original is offered on both a stainless steel bracelet for $10,000 and calfskin strap for $9,500 and is available immediately via both Zenith boutiques and retailers. See more on the Zenith website.

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Seiko Releases An Accessible Retro GMT To Celebrate 110 Years Of Their First Watch With The Presage Style60’s GMT Limited Edition SSK015

I swear, I think Seiko is messing with us. It’s been a continuous stream of releases, pretty much every other day for the past two weeks, spread out between Grand Seiko and Seiko. And I would love to say I am bored of them, but… This latest one is actually very cool. Seiko is celebrating 110 years since the introduction of their first wristwatch called the Laurel in 1913 and to mark this occasion, they are releasing the new Seiko Presage Style60’s GMT Limited Edition SSK015.

This Style 60s ‘Laurel’ GMT edition is technically joining the Prospex Alpinist ‘Laurel’ GMT (more on that a bit later) as the celebration watch, but I would argue that this could be a superior watch to that Alpinist. This new model is part of the Presage Style60’s collection, released in 2021 and intended to become the brand’s vintage-inspired, slightly elegant offer in a relatively accessible price range. The case is 40.8mm wide and 13mm thick, made from stainless steel.

Replacing the contrasting 24h insert of the 3 standard models, the SSK015 comes with a monotone metallic 24h scale that, however, features two different textures (brushed and honeycomb) to differentiate day and night. It has a vertically brushed dial in white and grey with a red arrow marker at 12 o’clock giving a subtle nod to the Laurel colourway while at the same time feeling like a unique colourway of its own. The sharp triangle hands give off a very 60s vibe.

Inside is the well-known and reliable in-house calibre 4R34. This automatic movement, visible under a transparent back, beats at 3Hz and stores up to 41 hours of energy. This new GMT limited edition is worn on a NATO-style brown leather strap, which echoes the strap found on the 1913 Laurel watch.

The watch will be available from October at a very cool price of €670 and, unfortunately, it will be a limited release of 3,500 pieces. See more on the Seiko website.

There’s some more news from Seiko. Just last week they introduced the first mechanical GMT movements in their Aplinist lines. Turns out, they already have an update to the newly introduced watches (you see what I mean when I say they’re messing with us - they couldn’t release this one with the other Alpinists?). Pictured above is the limited edition SPB409.

It’s exactly the same as the GMTs from last week, so go check out that post, but what makes this limited edition special is the use of a silver-toned brushed dial, with dark-coated markers and blue-coloured hands. All 4 hands are coated with Lumibrite and a date is at 4:30, without the usual magnifier. An important element of the Alpinist, the dial of this SPB409 is framed by a cream inner rotating bezel with a compass scale.

Available in 3,000 pieces as of October 2023, the Seiko Prospex Alpinist GMT Limited Edition SPB409 will be priced at €1,500. See more on the brand’s website.

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Cult Japanes Watchmaker Kurono Is Releasing First GMT Complication

Kurono watches, designed by japanese master watchmaker Hajime Asaoka, have for years gathered a following of hard core enthousiasts. And it’s understandable why. Asaoka’s watches under his own name sell for tens of thousands of dollars, but under the Kurono brand he has brought his high end finishing and incredible dials to a much lower price point while maintaining a lot of precision and attention to detail. Korono has released hit after hit and now, for the first time ever, they are adding a GMT complication with the Kurono GMT 1.

Kurono watches are usually stunningly designed, with superb minimalism and vintage flair. The Kurono GMT 1 follows this philosophy, but I’ll be honest up front - I’m not sure it works for me. It’s a great looking watch, it just rubs me the wrong way and it might be the first miss from Kurono for me. But I’m not really important here, so let’s move on.

The case is 38mm in diameter and high polished all around, and measures 11.7mm thick, including the domed sapphire crystal. Like all Kurono watches, this is an aesthetic object first and foremost, with design flourishes that exist simply to look good, rather than serve any specific functional purpose. The dial features multiple sectors, with a red inner 24 hour scale, and a gray 12 hour scale along the dial’s perimeter. Kurono uses beautiful leaf hands, which are present here as well, along with a smaller red arrow that displays the second time zone.

The most prominent decision, however, is the stainless steel bezel which has a 24 hour scale for tracking a third time zone. It’s also very strongly influenced by Art Deco and has prominent, decorative grooves in its upper half. The concentric lines here are also a direct callback to previous Kurono designs, and everything has been lacquer filled.

Inside the watch is the very familiar Miyota 9075, which allows the wearer to jump the local hour hand, meaning that it’s a “true” GMT movement. It beats at 28,800 vph, 4Hz and has a power reserve of about 42 hours, as well as a date indicator that sits at 3 o’clock.

Kurono says that the GMT 1 will be in limited production, but they do not give an exact number. The price is $2,250, and it goes on sale tomorrow, Friday September 8. Go to Kurono’s website for more.

The retail price for the Kurono GMT 1 (which is described as “limited production” by the brand) is set at $2,250, and it goes on sale worldwide on Friday September 8. More information can be found on Kurono’s website here.

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Lesser Known Indie Zeitwinkel Releases MAKS Series With Colourful 3D Dials And In House Movement

One of the fantastic things about the watch world is that it seems to be infinite. Whenever you think you have a grasp on pretty much everything that’s going on, you discover a new brand. This brand you discover, of course, is not new, but it’s been out there without the two of you ever crossing paths, despite checking watch news every day. Zeitwinkel is such a brand. Started in Switzerland in 2006, I just saw their watches for the first time, and boy, they’re something special. Now they’re releasing their MAKS line of watches, based on an existing model called the 188°, with a 3D pattern dial in fantastic colors.

The case itself is pretty straightforward with a width of 39mm, polished and brushed surfaces, as well as bold lugs. Water resistance is 50 meter, the sapphire crystal gets an AR coating and is surrounded by a fully smooth bezel. You can also see the movement through the back, which is nice since the brand uses an in house movement.

More on the dial later, but first something more impressive - the dial. It comes in four colors Bleu Glacier, Vert de Limon, Rouge Lobélie and Orange d’Édouard and looks spectacular. The small seconds sub-dial is at 6 o’clock and has a snailed pattern. The dial itself is filled with a pattern of tiny Zeitwinkel logos, lasered into the dial to create 3D depth.

Inside the watch is the brand’s in-house ZW0102 automatic movement with 28 jewels, a beat rate of 28,800vph (4Hz) and a 72-hour power reserve. All plates and bridges are made of untreated German silver with hand decorations including chamfering, perlage and Côtes de Genève. The watches come on an embossed alligator pattern leather strap that complement the dial color and have a signed folding clasp.

The Zeitwinkel MAKS series watches are available now at a price of CHF 14,500 (incl. taxes). For more information visit Zeitwinkel’s website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette

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A review of the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 35mm

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Praesidus A-2 Bud & Diz is inspired by the A-11 (World War II) and A-17 (Korean War) watches

They are based on the A-11 and A-17-spec watches used by the US military during World War II and the Korean War, respectively. Praesidus designed them with veterans Bud Anderson (a 101-year-old USAF triple ace of World War II, who later also flew in the Korean and Vietnam wars) and Diz Laird (a World War II US Navy carrier-based fighter pilot, who also served the US Navy in the Korean and Vietnam wars). These limited-edition A-2 models take inspiration from the watches Bud and Diz used, and each pays tribute to one of these men. Bud’s version, for instance, shows a P-51 Mustang on the case back, while Diz’s features a F4F Wildcat. Read the review from Fratello here.

⏲️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

• I really love the Atavist magazine. They publish just one story a month, so you would imagine that the one has to be something truly great. The September story is about fourteen U.S. destroyers that barreled down the California coast in a dense fog—until a wrong turn led to the largest peacetime disaster in American naval history.

• Tom Vanderbilt eloquently describes the joys of downhill biking, a sport that truly forces you to be present in the moment. Determined to push himself further, he seeks out how to get air and truly fly.

• I’m going for a hat-trick with New York Times interactive articles. Three in just as many days, I believe. This last one is about how overuse is draining and damaging aquifers nationwide and America is using up it’s groundwater like there’s no tomorrow.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Have you seen the Bear? If not, this video on one of the tensest scenes on TV, will convince you to go watch it right now. If yes, you’ll appreciate the deep dive into the editing. Also, the legendary Nerdwriter did a video on the same show a month ago, so it’s a must watch as well.

💵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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