Timex Builds Best Tough And Affordable GMT Watch; Seiko Expands Chrono Line; Panerai Releases Another Luna Rossa Watch; Ralph Lauren's New Polo Sport; And More Great Stuff From Carl Suchy & Söhne

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I believe that Timex might be living through their new golden age. They have been putting out banger, after banger, after banger… And I appreciate the fact that they sidestepped the price explosion trend.

In this issue:

• Timex Might Have Built The Best All-Around Tough And Affordable GMT Watch Of The Year

• Seiko Introduces Prospex Speedtimer 1972 and 1973 Mechanical Chronograph in Black and Blue

• Panerai Releases Silver Submersible QuarantaQuattro PAM01681 To Support The Luna Rossa Team

• Ralph Lauren Introduces Modern And Sporty Polo Sport Collection In Bold Colors

• Carl Suchy & Söhne Latest Is A More Modern Watch, The Belvedere Champagne and Bordeaux

Today’s reading time: 9 minutes and 37 seconds

👂What’s new

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Timex Might Have Built The Best All-Around Tough And Affordable GMT Watch Of The Year

People went crazy over Timex’s collaboration with the James Brand that came out earlier this year. It was a great looking titanium watch that brought in the James Brand design sensibilities, a titanium construction and the venerable Miyota 9075 movement. But it had two issues. It was a limited edition that sold out fast. And it was expensive. Sure, at $750 for a titanium watch with a pilot’s GMT it was actually a great deal, but it was also a lot of money for a Timex. So, seeing how popular that was, it seems that Timex decided to make something similar, with a few compromises, and actually put out what might be the best mass produced affordable GMT of the year. This is the Timex Expedition GMT Titanium Automatic.

The case is super interesting. Made out of Grade 2 titanium, it measures 41mm wide and 11.5mm thick, and seems to have a sandblasted finish. The case itself has a very angular construction, with super short lugs and an almost integrated bracelet look. But on top is something instantly recognisable — a bi-directional all-metal bezel with engravings for the 24 hours. It’s very much similar to the bezel on the Rolex Explorer II, Tudor Black Bay Pro, but also the reissue of the Seiko Land Series GMT Navigator Timer SPB411. On top is a sapphire crystal, out back is a transparent caseback and water resistance is fantastic at 200 meters.

The dial keeps things as simple as a field GMT watch should. It’s all black with simple white marking, lozenge shaped for the cardinal positions, a triangle at 12 o’clock and circles for the rest. All are, of course, covered in Super-LumiNova. The 3 o’clock marker is cut short for a simple date aperture with a matching black date wheel. All the text on the dial, and there’s quite a bit of it, is also all white, except for the GMT mark which is yellow. Just as yellow is the GMT hand which has a square lume plot near the halfway point.

One of the compromises Timex made to lower the price was to use a different movement. Instead of the Miyota 9075 which has a pilot’s style GMT, this watch gets what Timex calls a Japanese GMT movement. From what I gather, it’s the Seiko NH34 which beats at 21,600vph and has a 41 hour power reserve. It’s not the most accurate thing in the world with a rating of -20/+40 seconds per day, but Seiko often underestimates their accuracy a lot. They also ditched the all-metal bracelet for a black ventilated silicone strap with quick-release spring bars and a titanium buckle.

The Timex Expedition GMT Titanium Automatic is available now, not limited and priced at €549. Still pricy for what we expect from Timex, but this is going onto my to-buy list. See more on the Timex website.

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Seiko Introduces Prospex Speedtimer 1972 and 1973 Mechanical Chronograph in Black and Blue

Over the past several years, Seiko has been on a great roll of recreating some of their best vintage watches. And you can’t blame them. They have an incredibly rich history to draw from and it’s clear that vintage-inspired watches are a great hit among buyers. And while most of these recreations focused on iconic diving watches, it would be very unfair of them to skip over their contribution to the chronograph. Back in 1969, Seiko introduced the calibre 5179, making it one of three manufacturers, along with Zenith with the El Primero and Heuer/Breitling/Hamilton with the Calibre 11/Chronomatic, to make an automatic chronograph. These movements were used in the Seiko Speedtimer, a name that the brand has been using regularly once again since 2021. But it was last year that hey released the Speedtimer Chronograph SRQ047 and SRQ049, a direct homage to early 1970s models. Now they’re expanding this lineup with two new models, the SRQ051 and SRQ053, with two new dial colors.

This means that most of the specifications remain the same. The tonneau-shaped stainless steel case measures 42mm wide, 14.6mm thick and has a lug-to-lug of just under 50mm. Large, but show me a chronograph that isn’t. The case gets a brushed finish with polished details, and every surface is covered in a hard coating. Out back is a closed caseback while on top you’ll find a sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dials continue with the same setup as the previous versions, which means you get a tri-compax setup in the traditional 3, 6 and 9 positions, holding a running seconds, 12 hour and 30 minut counters. On the perimeter of the dial is a seconds track on a silver base and a tachymeter scale on black. Both also have the date at the 4:30 position, the worst position for a date, but they actually do a good job at integrating them by making them small, circular and color matches. As far as colros are concerned, the SRQ051 comes in a dark blue reversed panda colorway, while the SRQ053 has a black reverse panda colorway.

Inside, you’ll find no surprises. It’s the Seiko calibre 8R48, an automatic chronograph with a vertical clutch and column wheel. It beats at 4Hz and has a 45 hour power reserve. The watches come on vintage-inspired steel bracelets that have a very funky look with two rows of beads running down wither side. I like the look, but not the fact that there is no micro-adjust in the clasp.

The Seiko Speedtimer Chronograph SRQ051 and SRQ053 will be available starting in October and are priced at €2,700. See more on the Seiko website.

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Panerai Releases Silver Submersible QuarantaQuattro PAM01681 To Support The Luna Rossa Team

The America’s Cup is a big deal in the watch world. Omega sponsors the defending Emirates Team New Zealand, Tudor is teamed up with the Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Panerai is working with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing team. And while Omega’s team is a favourite to win this year, both Omega and Tudor approach their collaboration with the America’s Cup in a measured manner. Between the two of them they released a total of three watches dedicated to the race in the past two years. Panerai? Not so much. While there are many things you could criticise Panerai for, I find this onslaught of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli watches perhaps the worst. Just a quick glance at the newsletter archive shows me that Panerai released six Luna Rossa watches this year alone. That’s a bit too much, especially for such a niche race. But the thing is, I kind of like this one.

The Submersible QuarantaQuattro model, as the name would suggest, comes in a 44mm wide case, made out of brushed stainless steel and all silver. On top is a unidirectional rotating bezel that has a black polished ceramic insert. You get tiny numerals on that insert and only for the quarter hour minutes, as well as a minute graduation for the first 15 minutes. There’s a hint of black on the rubberised crown that’s protected with Panerai’s iconic crown protector. But best of all, the Submersible QuarantaQuattro doesn’t cut corners when it comes to water resistance like some other Panerai models. So you get 300 meters of resistance.

I have to say, I love this dial. It’s radially sunray brushed, silver in color and gives a very monochrome look to the entire watch, especially when combined with the silver case, silver hands, silver markers and white lume that fills it all. The only pop of color comes from the red seconds hand at the 9 o’clock position. That red and the black of the bezel are also what connect the watch to the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team, as these are the team colors.

Inside is, perhaps, the most controversial part of the watch, the automatic P.900 movement. 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. This is a five figure watch released in 2024 and a lot has been said for Panerai inexplicably removing hacking from the movement. And then bringing it back for some watches. So who knows if this one hacks or not. It’s also not decorated at all, which is not as important as you get a closed caseback that’s engraved with a drawing of the new Luna Rossa sailing yacht. At least the power reserve is great at 72 hours. The watch comes on a rubber and grey textile strap that has the Luna Rossa red stripe down the middle.

Panerai has experienced a huge jump in price in the past several years. So it’s no surprise that this Submersible QuarantaQuattro Luna Rossa PAM01681 is priced at $12,100. See more on the Panerai website.

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Ralph Lauren Introduces Modern And Sporty Polo Sport Collection In Bold Colors

Fashion watches are a big no-no in the watch enthusiast world. Only, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I wrote on the Patreon about how YSL and Citizen came up with the idea of the fashion watch, with Citizen making high quality watches and YSL designing them. Back then, it was a cool collaboration. But it was soon perverted as brands started slapping their logos onto horribly made Chinese mass-made watches and sold at high premiums in malls. This is what we know as the fashion watch. But recently, there’s been a shift, as a select few fashion brands are putting a lot of weight behind their watchmaking efforts. Dior, Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton are all making interesting strides in horology. And then we have Ralph Lauren. For years they outsourced their production to the Richemont Group which owns, among others include A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Vacheron Constantin, and they made some pretty nice watches. Recently, they brought production back to Ralph Lauren which has led to them creating lines of watches that are pretty competitive in the lower price-tier of the luxury market, and it seems to be a good place for them. Now, they are introducing a new Polo Sport duo which takes on a much more sporty look with decent internals, bright colors and an OK price.

The new Polo Sport collection comes in a stainless steel case that measures 42mm wide and 12.35mm thick. On top is a slightly domed sapphire crystal surrounded by a bezel that has an either green or blue insert made out of anodised aluminium, with 60 minute white numerals and markings. Out back is a closed caseback, while the crown is signed with the Polo horse logo. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial takes on a tri-color setup, the same on both watches. On the edge is a black lacquered chapter ring with white printed hour and minute markers, followed by a yellow ring that leads to a pretty funky thick snailed matte blue centre. I like it. The hands are sword shaped, black lacquered, and treated with a lot of white Super-LumiNova, while the seconds hand is lacquered red with a white lumed top half. The Polo logo sits at the 12 o’clock position.

Inside is a movement that they cheekily call the calibre RL200, but it’s just a Sellita SW200-1. Reliable, easily servicable and beating at 4Hz with a 38 hour power reserve, you know exactly what to expect from this movement. The watches come on either an orange or red rubber strap, embossed with the Polo logo.

The Ralph Lauren Polo Sport is part of the regular collection and priced at €1,700. That’s a bit more than you would expect from a microbrand powered by a SW200, but also a bit less than you would pay for the same movement from an established watch brand. So, right in the middle. See more on the Ralph Lauren website.

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Carl Suchy & Söhne Latest Is A More Modern Watch, The Belvedere Champagne and Bordeaux

I wrote about Carl Suchy & Söhne watches several times. This Austrian watchmaker has impressed everybody with their very elegant and classic looking cases that held some pretty awesome geometric dials. For their latest release, they’re going a bit more modern, a bit more sporty, with an update to their already sporty Belvedere collection. These are the Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere Champagne and Bordeaux, not exactly named after the wine regions in France — although surely could be — but more for the dial colors.

The Belvedere is a relative novelty for the brand, introduced last year as a more sporty alternative. And it’s very evident that this is a different watch for CS&S. It measures 40.8mm wide and 12.3mm thick, made out of brushed stainless steel, with sharp cuts and a broad, fixed and brushed bezel on top that has highly polished bevels. Water resistance is appropriate for a sporty watch and sits at 100 meters.

It’s a mighty fine looking case, but Carl Suchy & Söhne watches have always been known for their dials, and these ones are no different. Both have an intricate web of geometric engraved lines that extend in different directions, creating a rarely seen dynamism in a dial. One comes in a lovely cream color, while the other gets a very special red that looks almost maroon. You get beautiful lozenge shaped hour markers, extremely unique partially skeletonized hands and perhaps the second best execution of a date window you’ll see on a watch.

Inside the watch is the calibre CSS201, an automatic movement based on the Dubois Dépraz DD90010 that beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. The watches come on rubber straps that match the color of the dial.

The Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere Champagne and Belvedere Bordeaux are available now and priced the same as the other Belvedere models, at €7,900. See more on the Carl Suchy & Söhne website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XX

2/

Hands-On with the Singer DiveTrack – The Wildest, Most Overbuilt Dive Watch You've Ever Seen

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A review of the Czapek Antarctique Polar Sky and Flying Diamonds

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The 2024 Dietrich ED-1 focuses on daily comfort and casual elegance with an organic design

Dimensionally, the Dietrich ED-1 hits a sweet spot, coming in at a modest 39mm across, 46mm lug-to-lug, and 11mm thick. As one would expect from those dimensions, the case wears compactly and comfortably. It’s all right in the Goldilocks zone and looks as good on my 7.5” wrist as it does on wrists an inch or two smaller. The stainless steel case of the ED-1, which is water resistant to 100m and includes a screw-down crown, is almost elven in its architecture. It is mostly devoid of sharp creases, and in an era of watch design characterized by sharp angles and stark lines, the ED-1 is a refreshing change of pace — one that feels like a throwback to a different time.

Read the whole review on Worn and Wound

⏲️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

• Reinhold Kulle was an SS member in the elite Death’s Head division and a guard at Gross-Rosen concentration camp. After the war, when Kulle had a final visa interview at the US Consulate in Frankfurt in 1957, he kept those dark details about his past a secret. In this excerpt from Our Nazi: An American Suburb’s Encounter with Evil, Michael Soffer recounts Kulle’s second life in the US as a chief custodian at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Chicago—and what happened when people discovered a respected member of their community was a Nazi.

• It’s no secret that some former NFL players have struggled with memory loss, depression, personality changes, and movement disorders after repeated concussions and sub-concussive hits endured during their playing days. They denied it at first, but the NFL eventually admitted a link between football and degenerative brain disease. For The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Gambacorta reports that now—with many of these players in their 60s and 70s, living with the long-term aftereffects of their playing days—they’re facing an uphill battle trying to navigate the NFL program’s morass of requirements and caveats in order to receive their compensation.

• Hey, remember when NFTs were all the rage and were supposed to change the world? And OpenSea, the largest marketplace for the crypto asset, was supposed to be the place where this change happened. Well to no surprise, insider accounts of the company reveal a chaotic work environment, ever-shifting priorities, and troubles with the SEC.

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Hey, we haven’t had some nice Porsche content in a while. So let’s fix that.

💵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: Here’s a crazy request. One of you is looking to buy the Lotēc No. 7.5. Sure, it’s a big ask, but if any of you have one and want to sell, reach out to and I’ll put you in touch

• SOLD: Well, not really new. It’s a great looking mid-90s Tudor Submariner 75090, offered for sale by a member of the It’s About Time reader crew. I love the way it looks and seems to be in great condition. Check it out over on Chrono24.

• 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

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-Vuk