Timex Brings Back Giorgio Galli With Titanium And Carbon; Breitling's Six Nations Chronomats; Fears And Studio Underd0g Team Up; Autodromo Re-Releases Monoposto; Panerai's Mike Horn Submersible

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Man, I’m getting really annoyed with limited editions. I know why they exist, I know why we’re getting more and more of them, but when I like that Fears x Studio Underd0g so much, it’s hard not to get annoyed. You know they will disappear in an instant and ten sell for three times on the secondary.

In this issue:

• Timex Brings Back The Giorgio Galli, With The S2Ti in Titanium and Carbon

• Breitling Introduces New Six Nations Chronomat Limited Editions In Two Sizes

• Fears And Studio Underd0g Team Up For British Watchmakers’ Day With A Gimlet-Themed Brunswick

• Autodromo Re-Releases The Monoposto In Partnership With Mobil 1

• Panerai Has A New Watch With Explorer Mike Horn, The New QuarantaQuattro PAM01676

👂What’s new

1/

Timex Brings Back The Giorgio Galli, With The S2Ti in Titanium and Carbon

There’s no denying that Timex had a hell of a year in 2024. A combination of retro inspired pieces and contemporary, well designed, watches, most of which were perfectly priced and with good specs, put them on the map as one of the most prolific makers of great watches. And a lot of that is down to Giorgio Galli, Timex Group’s Creative Director. The dude can’t seem to miss. Or can he? If there’s one thing that Timex could be called out for is the fact that they have a watch called the Giorgio Galli S2. Kind of cringe to name a watch after yourself. But despite the name, the 2023 was a great watch. And the same can be said for its sequel that was just announced, the Timex Giorgio Galli S2Ti.

This watch is pretty far away from the affordable Timex models. While often very cheap, some Timex watches have been known to use low-quality materials. Not the S2Ti. Instead of steel, the case is made out of titanium. It features the same case shape as the previous S2 model, sort of skeletonized on the sides to show off the mid-case. While the previous version featured a titanium mid-case, this one has a forged carbon one, which must make the watch super light. And with a 38mm wide and 12mm thick size, it should be a great wear. On top is a box-style sapphire crystal that pushes all the way to the edge of the case, making it very much look like a Glassbox TAG Heuer. Water resistance is 50 meters.

Then, there’s the dial. It continues the all-grey aesthetic of the case for an overall monochrome look. The dial is made from the same titanium as the case with a satin brushed finish, surrounded by a steel ring hour track. This is contrasted with fully polished hands. Very minimalist. Very futuristic. Ver cool.

Inside, a movement we have grown to know and love from other brands, not so much from Timex. It’s the Sellita SW200, which beats at 4Hz and gives you a 41 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a really cool titanium bracelet which has the same scalloped sides as the case. It also features tool-less link removal system which allows you to pull off links by just pulling on the side links to disassemble the bracelet. The bracelet opens with a hidden butterfly mechanism.

The Timex Giorgio Galli S2Ti is supposed to be the last Timex S series model and it will be limited to 500 pieces. It’s also what I believe the most expensive Timex you can buy right now, at €1,950. Hell of a lot of money, but it’s a hell of a lot of watch. See more on the Timex website.

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Breitling Introduces New Six Nations Chronomat Limited Editions In Two Sizes

Just the other day I wrote about the Seiko Prospex Divers made in collaboration with baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani and I noted in it that I have no desire to learn more about the world of baseball. It does nothing for me. One sport, however, I would like to get into more is rugby. And I might start with the annual Six Nations Championship that kicks off on January 31st in Paris, France. But as I’m trying to learn more about rugby, Breitling is releasing its new collection of watches dedicated to the Championship, for which they serve as an official timing partner. These are the 12 new Six Nations Chronomat limited editions which come in the form of the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 and the Chronomat 32.

Starting with the Chronomat Automatic GMT, it’s the familiar existing model that comes in a stainless steel case that measures 40mm wide, 11.77mm thick and with a 47.4mm lug-to-lug. The watches have a metal bezel on top with numerals at the cardinal positions and the entire watch has a brushed finish. And best of all, they come on the very cool Rouleaux bracelet. Water resistance is 200 meters.

There are six versions of the watches, with every nation in the championship getting its own variant. England has a silver dial with a red GMT hand, Scotland has a dark blue dial with a purple GMT hand, Italy gets a blue dial with a light pink GMT hand, France a navy dial with a red GMT hand, Wales a burgundy dial with a light pink GMT hand and, of course, Ireland gets a green dial with a silver GMT hand. All of these combinations work fantastically together, despite the three blues looking a lot alike.

Inside all six watches is the ETA-based caliber 32. It beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. It’s a caller-style GMT that’s also chronometer certified. The Six Nations Chronomat GMT is limited to 250 pieces per nation and priced at €5,950.

Then we have the six smaller ladies versions. Also made out of stainless steel, they measure 32mm wide, 8.54mm thick and with a 39.4mm lug-to-lug. They come on the same Rouleaux bracelets. The dials feature very similar colors to those of the larger models, just without the contrasting GMT hands. What they do have are 18K yellow gold indexes with diamonds and matching gold-plated hands. Inside these models is the SuperQuartz caliber 77 which is also COSC-certified and has a battery life of 3–4 years. These are even more limited, with 75 pieces per nation made and priced at €4,900. You can see the entire collection on the Breitling website.

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Fears And Studio Underd0g Team Up For British Watchmakers’ Day With A Gimlet-Themed Brunswick

The British watchmaking industry has a long and proud history with both large and small watchmakers currently making some amazing pieces. To pay homage to this history, the Alliance of British Watch & Clock Makers last year launched British Watchmakers’ Day, a special celebration of all British watches. It was a smash success last year and judging by the announcements of new special editions that will be released at this years’ event, this one will be even bigger and better. I will be covering all of these releases, but let’s look at this very unique British collaboration first — Fears Watch Company is teaming up with Studio Underd0g for a special colorway of the Brunswick. Making this collaboration even more special is the fact that Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, who revived his great-great-great-grandfathers Brunswick Watch Company in 2016, has been an early supporter of Richard Benc, the founder of Studio Underd0g. It’s a very British affari.

The watch is based on Fears’ smaller cushion shaped Brunswick. The watch has a very nice size and measures 38mm wide, 12mm thick and with a 43.5mm lug-to-lug. The L2L is great thanks to the short lugs, and on the side is an onion crown. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The collaboration happens on the dial, which has been designed by Studio Underd0g in their signature style. It is named after one of my favorite summer cocktails, the Gimlet which is made with gin and lime cordial. The clear color of the gin and the lime color of the cordial are both found on the base of the dial with a gradient from white at top to lime at the bottom. But of course, the color is actually Super-LumiNova paint, meaning that the dial glows in the dark. On top of that there’s a 1mm-thick sapphire disc, attached with two pins, where they have printed the minutes track, Arabic numerals as well as both the Fears and Studio Underd0g branding, making them look like they float over the dial and cast a shadow on the base.

Inside, you’ll find the manually wound Sellita SW210 which beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a Vert Marquis leather strap made by The Strap Tailor and closed with a pin buckle that has both Studio Underd0g and Fears branding.

The new Fears x Studio Underd0g The Gimlet is limited to 200 pieces and priced at £1,000 with taxes. The watch will be available only during the British Watchmakers’ Day event on March 8th 2025. I wish they made these unlimited because this looks like a perfect summer watch. See more on the Studio Underd0g website.

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Autodromo Re-Releases The Monoposto In Partnership With Mobil 1

Autodromo has built a small empire with their homages to the history of the automotive industry. Taking inspiration from the best decades of racing, they’ve made some great watches. Way back in 2012, they’ve made a simple three-hander with wire lugs and simple dials called the Monoposto. We haven’t seen the Monoposto in years, but now we’re getting it back for the first time. It’s not, however, a regular Monoposto. Instead, it’s made in collaboration with Mobil 1 to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary of their synthetic motor oil. Kind of a weird thing to celebrate, but great on them!

The Monoposto Mobile 1 Edition comes in two case colors, either steel or gold toned, and measure quite large at 43mm wide and 11mm thick. The large size is based in history, as it’s styled after the oversized dashboard gauges of 1950s ‘monopostos’ or single seater racing cars. Also, it wears much better than the dimensions would suggest since it has super-short wire lugs giving you a L2L of just 46mm. Both colors have the same polished case and on top is a domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial has a gloss white finish, with dark blue skeletonized hands and a red seconds hand. Around the periphery is a railway track minute scale that spans from 1 to 11 o’clock, mimicking old tachymeters. This version also loses the red stripe painted on the underside of the crystal which was a characteristic of the Monoposto model and symbolized the redline of an engine. Instead of that, you get a bright red Pegasus logo right above 6 o'clock. That Pegasus logo has been used by Mobil (and its predecessors) for more than 100 years, and is closely linked to Mobil’s influence in the racing world.

Inside is the familiar Miyota 9039 movement which beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. You can see the movement through the transparent caseback, but there’s not much to see. The watches come on hand made Italian buffalo leather straps, blue for the silver case and black for the gold tone one.

The new Monoposto Mobil 1 Edition is limited to 50 pieces, on sale now and priced at $875 for the silver and $975 for the gold tone one. See more on the Autodromo website.

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Panerai Has A New Watch With Explorer Mike Horn, The New QuarantaQuattro PAM01676

Last year, Panerai released a watch with one of their ambassadors, the explorer Mike Horn. It was a beast of a watch, made out of titanium and carbon fibre, measuring 47mm across, and limited to 30 pieces. It also bought you a spot on Horn’s expedition to Bhutan. But it was kind of expensive at $88,400. But what if you really wanted a Mike Horn watch, but didn’t have a small apartment’s worth of money to spend? Panerai has you covered with the release of the new Submersible QuarantaQuattro PAM01676 Mike Horn.

As the name suggests, this watch measures 44mm wide, with a thickness of 13mm and made out of brushed stianless steel. On top is a unidirectional bezel with a blue ceramic insert — with blue kind of being Horn’s — that has a 60-minute scale and a lumed pearl. There’s more blue on the rubber coated crown that’s protected by the flip down locking mechanism. Water resistance is 300 meters, in line with the rest of the Submersible collection.

The dial has a vertically brushed blue dial with yellow accents that appear on the Submersible and 300m/1000ft text, as well as the small seconds hand. Both the circular hour markers and Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 12 o’clock are applied and filled with lume. Also, there’s no date window, unlike the rest of the collection.

Inside, you’ll find the There’s nothing horribly wrong with this movement; it will tell you the time and do so for three days, but it is a movement based on an ancient ValFleurier movement. It’s also faced some controversy with Panerai removing and then (maybe) bringing back hacking. This one has hacking. It beats at 4Hz and has 3 day power reserve. The watch comes with a blue rubber strap and a blue textile strap with rubber details.

The Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Mike Horn Edition PAM01676 is, thankfully, not a limited edition, but it is a pricy one at €12,100. See more on the Panerai website.

⏲️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

• When Lisa Gorman, an heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune, noticed that a grove of her majestic oaks had died, she cast her suspicions on seasonal neighbors who wanted a better view of the harbor. The fight that ensued became a town drama that rages on to this day.

• In this excerpt from her book, The Sun Won’t Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood Kristen Martin explores how orphans were portrayed on TV in the ’90s. Shows like The O.C. and Party of Five intermixed orphanhood with teen drama, playing down grief compared to boyfriend problems. This cultural piece draws on personal experience to make you ponder your nostalgia more deeply.

• Buying children’s book has completely replaced my habit of buying grown-up books. In this article, Katherine Rundell traces the evolution of English-language children’s books from blunt moral instruments to vehicles for more expansive thinking, working in a delightful appreciation of Tove Jansson’s Moomin series and a tidy history of Tolstoy’s works for younger readers.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

My kid is sick, my dog is sick and I’m pretty sure that the wife is sick of me. So let’s listen to some music, eh? To quote the top ranked comment on this video: “Lead singer walked out of 1958, rest of the band from 1974. Somehow it all works.” This is the first time I have heard of the Red Clay Strays, but they’re not bad at all.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk