Tissot Blings Out 35mm PRX With Gold PVD And Ice Blue Variants, Christopher Ward Updates Sealander Line With Great Colors, Ochs Und Junior Rocks Again And Ba1110d Brings GMT To Cheapest Swiss-Made Tourbillon

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. The summer months are really getting to the manufacturers - we skipped another Wednesday due to very few releases. But these four rock!

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In this issue:

• Tissot Blings Out The 35mm PRX With A Completely Gold Colored Or The Extremely Wanted Icy Blue Variant

• Christopher Ward Updates The C63 Sealander Collection With A Dragonfly Blue GMT And Mulberry Red Automatic 36mm

• Ochs Und Junior Puts A Race-Inspired Dial Into Their Ochs Line Due Ore

• Ba1110d Unveils Chapter 4.6 GMT Tourbillon 1920 Limited Edition, Brings Travel Functions To Cheapest Swiss-Made Tourbillon

Today’s reading time: 7 minutes and 1 second

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👂What’s new

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Tissot Blings Out The 35mm PRX With A Completely Gold Colored Or The Extremely Wanted Icy Blue Variant

It seems that the PRX has reached it’s peak and are just a step away from jumping the shark. In fact, they may have already jumped it, but we can’t be so sure. For months it was lauded online as the perfect entry watch - a stylish, affordable, mass produced thing that came in many sizes, finishes and movements. Yeah, it wasn’t much of a movement, but it did it’s job. However, it seems that the hype was too much and it’s now turning. There7s some rumblings online against it.

However, it’s still a nice entry watch, especially if you’re looking for a sports watch with an integrated bracelet. Yes, you could go micro brand, but if you just want a simple and nice looking thing on your wrist. Especially if you have a smaller wrist, as Tissot introduced the 35mm mechanically powered PRX just a month or two ago. Now, they’re expanding the lineup with a blingy yellow gold PVD coated version and an ice blue version.

This is, of course, nothing new. The ice blue is perhaps the most popular color of the 40mm Powermatic 80 PRX, and this is just a shrunk down, 35mm version. Everything is the exact same, but in a smaller package. But what will likely be a more popular version is the yellow-gold PVD PRX 35. With it’s smaller size and very loud yellow gold color, this Tissot has very vintage-flavored bling.

Structurally, the PRX 35mm ice blue is identical to its black, white, green and dark blue siblings. That means it has a 35mm diameter case in stainless steel with a tonneau shape and flat, brushed surfaces leading into an integrated bracelet. It’s inspired by the original integrated sports watch design of the PRX from 1978. Despite its smaller size, the 35mm version is just as robust as its larger counterpart with 100m water resistance.

The Tissot PRX Powermatic, 80 35mm in ice blue and PVD yellow gold are available now. The ice blue is priced at €745. The gold version comes in at €875. Even this is precisely as you would have expected, in line with the rest of the collection. You can see more on the Tissot website.

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Christopher Ward Updates The C63 Sealander Collection With A Dragonfly Blue GMT And Mulberry Red Automatic 36mm

Christopher Ward sent out an email on Saturday, teasing an update to their C63 collection. It was accompanied by an interesting graphic that had pastel blue and pink colors. So, it stood to reason that the new Sealander versions would sport the two pastel shades, in line with the rising popularity of pastels, especially blue, from brands as diverse as Tissot, Oris and Audemars Piguet. But what they released was so radically not pastel, that I dig it. Especially the 36mm Automatic Mulberry Red. But the 39mm GMT Dragonfly Blue is not bad either.

These are the 36mm Automatic and 39mm GMT C63 Sealander you most likely know. Starting off with the automatic, it measures 36mm wide, 42.87mm from lug to lug and 10.75mm thick. It is powered by a Sellita SW200-1 caliber which ticks at 28,800 BPH (4Hz) and comes with 38 hours of power reserve. The GMT measures 39mm wide, 45.8mm from lug to lug and 11.85mm thick. It is powered by a Sellita SW330-2 ticking at 28,800 BPH (4Hz) with 56 hours of power reserve

Christopher Ward uses color in a great way, so the Mulberry Red looks fantastic. It has a deep red sunray finish with applied markers filled with white lume that glows blue. There’s a date window at 6 o’clock and it would have been even better if they color matched the date ring to the dial. Like they did on the Dragonfly Blue - just look at how much better the dial looks when it’s an unbroken sea of color.

These new Sealander models come with a new bracelet design. Most sports models from CW come with a three-link bracelet that was upgraded last year. The new bracelet is called the Consort and it has mora of a Jubilee look with alternating brushed and polished links. It comes fitted with a butterfly clasp.

Both models are part of the permanent collection and can be bought from the CW website now. The pricing is not that bad. The 36mm Automatic Mulberry Red starts at €890 on a strap and will set you back €1,090 on the Consort bracelet. The Dragonfly Blue starts at €1,165 on a strap and goes for €1,365 on the bracelet. This puts it very close in price to the PRX I mentioned above, so, maybe, if you’re going for the PRX, save up a bit more and get the much more exciting Mulberry Red? See the watches for yourself on the Christopher Ward website.

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Ochs Und Junior Puts A Race-Inspired Dial Into Their Ochs Line Due Ore

I adore strange, bold and unique watches. Perhaps my absolute favorite, or at least well situated in the top five, watch is the Ressence Type 3. But right there alongside it is any watch from Ochs Und Junior. The brand was started by legendary watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin. Ironically, designed the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei wristwatch, mentioned in 1989 in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most complex watch ever made. But Ochs Und Junior is the complete opposite of complex. Oechslin is now well known for his minimalist approach to watchmaking and using as few parts as possible to execute complex movement complications. For example his moonphase uses a regular ETA 2824-2 with a epicyclic gear system that uses just 5 parts that will take 3,478.27 years before its calculation will be off by 1 day.

Another super simple approach to a complication is Ochs Und Junior’s dual time zone watch that uses openings in the dial and a number disk beneath it which shows the hour of the second time zone, while the hour hand then displays both time zones simultaneously. It’s simple, unique and intuitive. When you see it it makes perfect sense and you wonder why anybody would use any other way to display the time. Now this Ochs Line Due Ore gets a new, stunning, green dial.

Outside of the new dial, everything else is the same. You get a two-part Grade 5 titanium case that’s 42mm wide and 10.4mm thick. Because it’s titanium, it also weighs nothing - 62 grams, with the strap. The crown is also titanium and water resistance is rated at 100 metres. A sapphire crystal protects the dial and this version of the watch is fitted with an Ecopell brown “Terra” leather strap and titanium buckle.

The British racing green dial features a circular brushed pattern that matches the second hour disk underneath. Although unconventional, reading the second time zone is straightforward. If it’s ahead (let’s say 3 hours), you simply rotate the disk until it’s 3 hours ahead in the 12 o’clock aperture. The hour hand then coordinates with the proper numbers around the dial. You do the opposite if the second time zone is behind you. The hands and numbers are coated with Super-LumiNova.

Powering the watch is, again, a modified ETA 2824-2 as the 31-tooth date disk is replaced by a 48-tooth time zone disk. It has 25 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) and has a 38-hour power reserve.

What I appreciate most about Ochs Und Junior is their pricing. They have some unobtainable watches that creep up into the tens of thousands. Then they have their more regular lines that will set you back five or six thousand, but you will be able to customize them, adding to the price. But the Ochs Line Due Ore in British Racing Green is part of their more affordable line that cannot be customized. It will set you back CHF 3,500 with taxes or CHF 3,230 without. It think that’s a bargain for a watch that is low-production, looks great and has an impressive movement modification, along with a great story. Check out their website for more.

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Ba1110d Unveils Chapter 4.6 GMT Tourbillon 1920 Limited Edition, Brings Travel Functions To Cheapest Swiss-Made Tourbillon 

OK, the title is a bit of a lie. The Chapter 4.6 GMT Tourbillon made by Ba1110d is not the cheapest Swiss-made tourbillon. It, in fact, retails for CHF 7,500. While you won’t find many, if any at all, Swiss-made tourbillons at such a low price, I mention it being the cheapest because it is based on the actual cheapest Swiss-made tourbillon. Made by Ba1110d in 2021, the Chapter 4 came in at under CHF 4,000, which was absolutely unbelievable, and now the brand is

From the folks who bring you the least expensive Swiss made tourbillon, Ba1110d releases a new model combining their tourbillon with a GMT feature, bringing travel functionality to the watch. Taking up the brand’s codes, the Chapter 4.6 GMT Tourbillon 1920 Limited Edition is nonetheless more classic than its predecessors, which are often very avant-garde watches. It has a pared-down dial revealing only its tourbillon and GMT function, in a choice of colours and shape inspired by the Morgan car, a modern(ish), vintage-inspired, roadster.

It has a 44mm case in raw grade 5 titanium, with the crown positioned at 4 o’clock. It is inspired by the curves and colours of a metallic green Morgan Plus 6, which I have a sneaking suspicion is owned by the owner of Ba1110d. The dial is now a luscious cream hue, with a pearlescent finish, and not skeletonised like the other models. Hands remain Dauphine styled with faceted arrowhead appliqués for the indices. The tourbillon is displayed in an aperture at about 7 o’clock, and a GMT hour dial appears to counter balance it at 1 o’clock.

It’s powered by a hand-wound mechanical movement with a 105-hour power reserve developed by the brilliant watch designer Olivier Mory. While remaining classical, they also opt for some high tech solutions like incorporating NFC technology in the watch’s sapphire crystal, with features such as a concierge service and a personalised user experience. It also comes on deep green crocodile-style leather strap with its folding clasp.

Then there’s the price. Even Horage, who are probably their closest Swiss competitor now pitch their Lensman 1 Tourbillon at close to CHF 9k. So the Ba1110d Chapter 4.6 still represents excellent value, despite being their most expensive offering to date. But even as such, the Ba1110d Chapter 4.6 GMT Tourbillon 1920 Limited Edition has a retail price of CHF 7,500. It’s limited to 30 pieces and a special Années Folles evening will be held in December 2023 at the Villa Castellane to celebrate the delivery of the pieces. There’s also a contest for the buyers to get a weekend with the Morgan Plus 6. See more on the Ba1110d website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Timex World Time

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A review of the Superb F.P. Journe Astronomic Souveraine

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Hands-On With The Isotope Hydrium Pro Nordblad Limited Edition

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

From emperors to astronauts — the colourful history of Raketa

In the following years, Raketa enjoyed a similar success as Pobeda had, and also featured on the wrists of Russian polar explorers in 1969. They produced the official watches of the Soviet Olympic Games in 1980, and though the collapse of the Soviet Union and tough years of privatisation followed, Raketa was reorganised as a contemporary company in 2011. They have always been champions of in-house production, including Russia’s first automatic movement to be produced in the 21st century. They also manufactured the largest mechanical movement in the world in a children’s store, with a span of 7 metres and weighing 4.5 tons. When the factory celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2021, and Raketa relaunched the Imperial Peterhof Factory brand with watches displaying precious stones to honour its history.

⏲️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

• How can you not be fascinated with competitive eating? It’s a crazy world. Sit down at the table and allow Jamie Loftus to serve you up a platter full of fascinating and admirable characters who are using their profile to advance meaningful causes

• This excerpt on the life of a modern drug smuggler is all you need before you click away to the article: “It would be more noble to say that I smuggled drugs out of economic desperation, but that’s not true. I liked the rush. I also liked the people I dealt with, and the exposure to the human condition. Even after 25 years in journalism, I never knew humanity the way I did working at a strip club and moving product. In the dark, you see people close up. You learn who has a good soul and whose is muddy. You have to trust your gut. People will show themselves to you and it’s important that you listen”

• Britney Spears does not have it easy. First she was placed in a conservatorship. Then she was released, but started acting weird online. Now, some of her fandom latched on to a new theory: What if she had never been freed at all.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

A week or two ago I shared a video on the last firewatches in the U.S. Firewatches have a similar vibe to mountain shelters. These tiny buildings have fascinating stories and architecture. So here’s Patagoina’s great movie about the final season of the original 119-year-old Le Refuge de la Charpoua.

💵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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