Timex Brings Back The 1990s With JFK Jr’s Sailing Watch; Fortis Introduces Flieger Werk 7; Retro Colors For The Union Glashütte Belisar Chrono; Moritz Grossmann Teams Up With Painter Max Frintrop

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Sorry for the late one today, I’m still getting back on track from Watches and Wonders, even weeks out. But it will get better, I promise!

In this issue:

• Timex Brings Back The 1990s With JFK Jr’s Favorite Sailing Watch — The Intrepid

• Fortis Slides The Manufacture Werk 7 Movement Into The Flieger In Two Sizes And With A Black Case

• Union Glashütte Updates The Belisar Chronograph With A Very Retro Colorway

• Moritz Grossmann Teams Up With Painter Max Frintrop For 16 Unique Pieces With Pieces Of Floor In Them

👂What’s new

1/

Timex Brings Back The 1990s With JFK Jr’s Favorite Sailing Watch — The Intrepid

Either I was right or it’s one of those situations in which a broken clock is right twice a day, but I’ve been saying for some time that we should expect a bit comeback of 1990s style in watches. And who better to usher this trend in than the king of 90s watches, Timex. They’ve been on a roll recently re-releasing some of their most iconic 50s, 60s and 70s watches, so it was only a matter of time before they reached the decade I have the most nostalgia for, having grown up in it. This is the new 1995 Intrepid Reissue, based on a sailing watch Timex made in, well, 1995. The watch was made famous by John F. Kennedy Jr., who wore this watch on his sailboat and off, often contrasting with a suit.

When Timex says “reissue” they mean it, as the 1995 Intrepid Reissue looks very much like the original. It comes in a stainless steel case that measures 41mm wide and 11mm thick, with a fully brushed finish, as you would expect from a sports watch. There’s a recessed crown at 4 o’clock, but what sticks out most, literally, is the oversized green button at 9 o’clock which lights up the dial with Timex’s Indigo. On top is a unidirectional bezel with six raised claws for better grip, featuring a black slide rule insert that’s made for nautical conversions. It should also be noted that it’s mineral glass on top, but that’s in line with 1990s Timex. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial comes in a stark white, with a multi-layered construction. The outer discs holds the black hour markers, while the inner sunken disc holds black Arabic double-digits for the minutes. There’s an additional flange around the periphery that holds a black seconds track with green highlights that match the button on the side.

Inside, you’ll find an unnamed quartz movement, but that’s exactly what this throwback watch needs. It ticks and will tick for years, without any input from the owner. And the watch comes on a black rubber strap.

The new 1995 Intrepid Reissue is available now and priced at €219. See more on the Timex website.

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Fortis Slides The Manufacture Werk 7 Movement Into The Flieger In Two Sizes And With A Black Case

Fortis is one of those brands I really enjoy writing about. Mostly because I don’t get to mention them as often as I would like, but when I do, it’s usually a very good watch. Their latest release is just as pleasurable to write about. It’s the new Fortis Flieger that comes in two sizes, the F-39 and the F-41, both in black DLC cases and, most importantly, with a manufacture Werk 7 movement developed with La Joux-Perret.

The flieger format is a very played out one. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, and if you’re going for a classic flieger, there’s only two or three brands you should be looking at when buying yours. But at the same time, modern takes on the pilot’s watch are few and far between. However, the Fortis Flieger is exactly that — a tool built for the modern (fighter) pilot. But really it is, because it was designed with the help of the Swiss Air Force. And as such, it’s all aimed at function, which is evident in their rather oversized case. Like I said, there are two sizes — 41mm wide and 39mm wide. The thickness for both is the same, 12.5mm. But then we have the lugs. As you can see even in the pictures, they are thin and long. On the shorter version, the lug-to-lug sits at 50mm, while on the larger it stretches out to a significant 52mm. All of the watches have black DLC coatings and feature a sloped bidirectional 24-click black DLC-coated bezel with a 12-hour scale in white to indicate another time zone.

The dials are as simple as can be. They come in either black or moss green, with both having a black ring on the periphery that holds the luminous hour markers and white printed minute track. There’s a date aperture at 3 o’clock with a black date disc inside. Additionally, there are contrasting details in Fortis’ signature fluor orange in several locations on the dial.

Then, we have the Werk 7. The Flieger previously used the Sellita SW200-based UW-30 movement, so this is a major improvement. It has variable-inertia regulation, which allows for small adjustments by moving small weights on the balance wheel rather than changing the length of the hairspring. It beats at 4Hz and has a 70 hour power reserve. The movement has a gunmetal finish and a customized rotor, which you can see through the caseback. Te watches come on a black hybrid strap, fabric on top and rubber on bottom.

The new Fortis Fliegers with the new Werk 7 movement are available now and they are all priced at €4,100, regardless of size and color. See more on the Fortis website.

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Union Glashütte Updates The Belisar Chronograph With A Very Retro Colorway

I very much appreciate how Union Glashütte is approaching their collections. Whether it’s something dress-like or something sporty, they carry themselves with a very distinct air of Germaness about them. And I love it. I most love their Belisar Chronographs which are very much inspired by 1970s racing chronographs. The latest colorway of this watch brings it even more to the past, in the best possible way.

OK, while the inspiration comes from the 1970s, the dimensions are very much from the early 2000s. The new Belisar Chronograph Speedster comes in a stainless steel case that measures 44mm wide, 15.01mm thick and 52.9mm long. It’s massive and there’s no two ways about it. On top is a domed sapphire crystal , surrounded by an unmarked polished bezel. On the side are pump-style chronograph pushers, and a very significant diamond-shaped crown. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial keeps ti simple, with a black track on the periphery that holds both a tachymeter and pulsometer scale, combined with a grey base dial. These are interrupted by three matte black sub-dials, framed with silver rings and the sub-dial at 6 also incorporates the date aperture. The grey and black is contrasted by red accents on the sub-dials, central chronograph, and pulsometer scale.

Inside the watch is the UNG.27.S1 automatic movement, based on the Valjoux 7750. However, Uninon claims they buy the movement in pieces, assemble it themselves and manufacture some of their own components. You get a silicon balance spring and a 65 hour power reserve. It’s decorated with Côtes de Genève and perlage. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet with a quick-change system.

This new Union Glashütte Belisar Chronograph is part of the regular collection and priced at €3,100. See more on the Union Glashütte website.

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Moritz Grossmann Teams Up With Painter Max Frintrop For 16 Unique Pieces With Pieces Of Floor In Them

Located in the same town of Glashütte as Union Glashütte, Moritz Grossman is a brand that was revived in 2008 by Christine Hutter from a watchmaking manufacture that died out in 1855 when its eponymous founder died. Since its relaunch, Mortiz Grossmann has been making very germanic watches, reserved in their style, but advanced in construction. Well, it’s not all black and white dials at Moritz Grossman. They have just teamed up with contemporary artist Max Frintrop for a series of sixteen piece unique watches with not Frintrop’s art inside them, but actual pieces of his floor. It will make sense in a second.

The watch comes in a familiar Benu case from Moritz Grossman, made out of three parts and measuring 41mm wide and 11.35mm thick. You can have them in either stainless steel or 18k rose gold (eight of each will be made), with a matching crown and movement restart pusher at 4 o’clock. On top is a sapphire crystal and out back is another crystal with an engraving of Max Frintrop’s signature.

There are 16 different dials here, and each is a thin, half-millimetre layer of dried paint, removed from Frintrop’s floor. The artist is known for his paintings that are created by splashing paint on canvas, and a lot of this paint ends up on the floor, hardening into a solid layer. This makes the dial have an incredible 3D texture. And I have to admit, I like these dials more than Frintrop’s actual art. Sorry! On top of that you get hand-made gold or polished steel lance-shaped hour and minute hands, but other than that, there’s nothing more to the dials.

Inside is the in-house, manual-winding calibre 100.1 that is meticulously beautiful. Through the back you can see the German silver 2/3 plate with broad horizontal ribbing, polished gold chatons with white sapphires, the three-band snailing on the ratchet wheel and the Grossmann slow-beating 2.5Hz balance. You get a 42 hour power reserve. And here we get to the very cool crown and pusher. Pull out the crown and it stops the mechanism. But as soon as you let go of the crown it springs back to the 0 position. No matter, you can now use ti to set the time. Once you are done, press the pusher underneath the crown and it will restart the movement. Very cool. The watches come on kudu leather straps in various colors with pin buckles in case-matching material.

The eight steel watches are priced at €39,500, while the gold ones are priced at €55,400. See more on the Moritz Grossmann website.

⏲️Wait a minute

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👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

What a treat this is. The Gorillaz put out a full live performance from 2006 up on their YouTube channel. I’ve been listening to it all weekend.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk