Tissot Is Coming To Conquer Vintage Inspired Watches, New Union Glashütte Is A Great German Diver, Fortis Will Sell 13 Space-Flown Stratoliners And Pöhlmann-Bresan Reworks Legendary Soviet Movement

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Tissot is really killing it. Their watches won’t go down in history as revolutionary, but they sure do have their hand right on the pulse of watch enthusiasts.

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In this issue:

• Tissot Is Coming For Vintage Dress Watches With Three New Models In The Heritage 1938 Collection

• The New Union Glashütte Belisar Date Sport Pro Collection Offers Fans Of German Watchmaking Another Great Diver Option

• Fortis Releases 13 Space-Flown Stratoliner S-41 White Dust Supernova Watches

• Newly Renamed Pöhlmann-Bresan Finely Reworks A Legendary Soviet Movement For Their First Watch

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 1 second

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👂What’s new

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Tissot Is Coming For Vintage Dress Watches With Three New Models In The Heritage 1938 Collection 

It seems that what Tissot is best at is recognizing trends. They figured out pretty early on that integrated bracelet sports watches are all the rage, but most examples are way beyond the budget of the average watch enthusiast. Enter the PRX, a cheap watch that recreates that aesthetic and it was an instant hit. Soon after, Tissot saw the rise in recreations of pre 1960s vintage watches, with an emphasis on 30s Art Deco design, so in 2022 they introduced the Tissot Telemeter 1938. Again, an instant hit, with it’s chronograph function, vintage look and brilliant colors on the dial. Tissot is now expanding this 1938 offering and creating the Tissot Heritage 1938 with three new models - two Tissot Heritage 1938 Chronometers and a Tissot Heritage Small Seconds 1938.

Unlike the Tissot Telemeter 1938, which paid tribute to 1930s sports watches and which was quite large for a vintage-homage at 42mm, the two new Heritage 1938 Chronometers come in at a much better 39mm wide and 11mm thick. The shape is typical of classic watches of the pre-WWII era, with a slight Calatrava inspiration, slim polished bezel frames, but a modern domed sapphire crystal and the see-through crystal. This is a dressy elegant watch, so it’s not surprising that the water resistance is only 50 meters, but Tissot could surely do better.

The two watches both have vintage-inspired logos, with the historic Tissot logo, Arabic numerals and the railroad minute track on the periphery. The two versions of the Chronometer are distinguished by their dial color - one comes in the hyper-popular salmon with black numerals and hands, while the other has a patina-like black dial with faux-aged lume and gold-coloured hands and logos.

The third watch in the collection is the Heritage Small Second 1938, also 39mm wide, but thinner at 9.8mm. The rest of the technical details about the case are pretty much the same. What is different are the functions of the watch - you get a small seconds display at 6 o’clock and a date window at 3. The dial is a textured dark grey, with silver seconds display, date disc and railroad minute track. Instead of being black, the hands and numerals are gold in this version. While the chronometers come with leather brands, this one comes on a Milanese bracelet.

Interestingly, all three of these watches don’t use the Powermatic 80 movement, which has become a staple in the Tissot line, just like with many other Swatch group owned brands. The two Chronometer versions come with one of the most classic movements out there, the automatic ETA 2824 that is chronometer-rated and has 38 hours of power reserve. The two watches can be had on a grey leather strap for the salmon dial or a brown strap for the black dial. The Small Seconds variant comes with the calibre ETA 2895-2, a small seconds version of the 2892 and it has a 42 hour power reserve. A steel mesh bracelet and grey leather strap both come included included.

Both watches, I believe, are fairly priced. The Chronometer sits at EUR 875, while the Small Seconds will set you back EUR 1,025. Tissot has another hit on their hands, right? It might not blow up as much as the PRX, but it will be a great way for people to get a vintage-inspired dress watch. See more on the Tissot website.

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The New Union Glashütte Belisar Date Sport Pro Collection Offers Fans Of German Watchmaking Another Great Diver Option

Despite being owned by the gargantuan Swatch Group, Union Glashütte is still acting like it’s a small, family-owned, independent watchmaker from Glashütte. It makes sense, because the brand has been making watches since 1893 and Swatch did not mess with what works. Today, the brand makes watches very distinctly German and have a number of interesting stuff. Their newest addition is the Belisar Date Sport Pro, a robust dive watch.

I almost linked to the wrong line of watches here since Union Glashütte already makes the Belisar Date Sport, which is a 45mm diver with a water resistance of 200 meters. However, the new line adds the Pro to the name, as well as an additional 100 meters to make up the 300 meter water resistance, and loses 3mm in width to measure 42mm wide and 11.85mm thick, with a 49.12mm lug-to-lug. It also adds crown guards and more prominent notches on the unidirectional rotating bezel, which has a sapphire glass insert that is color matched to the dial, blue or black.

One of the distinguishing features of Union Glashütte’s Belisar collection models is the protective screw-down case flanks in either black DLC-coated steel or polished stainless steel. The blue dial model on a stainless steel bracelet has screwed-on steel flanks while the black model, available on a steel bracelet or a black rubber strap has contrasting black DLC-coated flanks and crown guards. The case and bracelet feature brushed surfaces and polished accents on the crown, bezel and steel flanks.

The dial has applied indices, treated with Super-LumiNova. The hour marker at 3 o’clock is truncated to accommodate the date window with a white background and black numerals, and the dial is protected by a sapphire crystal with a non-reflective coating on both sides.

Inside the watch is the brand’s UNG-07.S1 automatic movement that’s also found in the Noramis Date. It has a silicon balance spring to protect it from magnetic fields, temperature fluctuations and shocks. Decorated with Glashütte stripes and cut-out letters spelling UNION, the rotor delivers energy to the barrel providing up to 60 hours of power reserve.

You can buy the watch right now. The black dial model on a black rubber strap retails for EUR 2,750, and the blue and black dials with a stainless steel bracelet retail for EUR 2,850. Check out more on their website.

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Fortis Releases 13 Space-Flown Stratoliner S-41 White Dust Supernova Watches

Founded in 1912 by Walter Vogt in Grenchen, Switzerland, Fortis is known for manufacturing rugged, functional watches with a forte for pilot and cosmonaut watches. Over the years the brand’s popularity waned a bit, loosing the charm they had, and sales dropped. From what was publicly known, the brand was about to go under forever, but then Jupp Philipp stepped in and acquired the brand in 2020, with full intention to restore it to its past glory of great tool watches that can handle anything. One such example is the Stratoliner S-41 White Dust Supernova, 13 of which have been to space, and will now be offered to the public. At leats to those who manage to pass the selection process.

Fortis has a longstanding history with space, with its watches being used in outer space (and, famously, once used by a Russian cosmonaut as a hammer). And Philipp is now drawing everybody’s attention to this link - over the last couple of years, Fortis has put its most recent model through its paces in the stratosphere and outer space. In late 2021, Fortis sent watches up on a stratospheric balloon to test the capabilities of the WERK 17 movement. A year later, Fortis teamed up with the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) to launch 13 special Stratoliner watches aboard a research rocket. The rocket mission was the final test to ensure that the Stratoliner and WERK 17 movement were genuinely space-proof. And they were. These are the watches that are now going on sale.

The watch itself is a variation of the regular collection Fortis Stratoliner, which the brand introduced in May 2022. The White Dust Supernova features an 18K gold bezel inlay, an 18K gold case back inlay, and gold PVD hour, minute, and central chronograph hands. Additionally, the dial has gold luminous markings. Since the watches have been strapped to a rocked (although, in a protective case) and launched into space, they come with a few scratches or blemishes on them. But hey, it makes up for a better story than the clasp scratch on a desk-surfers Speedmaster.

Fortis says that they have had had serious demand for the watch, and wanting to avoid the chance of flippers getting their hands on one by using bots to be the first to purchase the watch on the website, they instead decided on a more controversial process of buying - interested buyers will have to fill out an application to be considered a potential buyer. “The selection process is meticulously curated by Jupp himself, ensuring that each Stratoliner Supernova finds its rightful owner, an individual who appreciates its rare essence and cosmic lineage but above all, someone who will use it, cherish it and create memories with it”, Fortis says on their website.

If you are selected to buy one of the 13, you will be expected to pay EUR 8,450 which is not that bad, considering the regular Stratoliner, without all the added gold and that have not been in space will set you back about EUR 5,300. Learn more about the whole project on the Fortis website.

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Newly Renamed Pöhlmann-Bresan Finely Reworks A Legendary Soviet Movement For Their First Watch

At the beginning of this year, a new brand in German watchmaking popped up. Called Junge Uhrmacher, they announced a watch called the Prestige, featuring what looked like a fairly simple movement done at the highest of levels. Some things have changed since then. The brand is no longer called Junge Uhrmacher (and with the name goes the awkward JUNGE logo on the dial) - it’s been renamed to Pöhlmann-Bresan - and they have released some more info on their first watch.

Let’s do the regular stuff first. It has a 40 mm wide steel case, standing 12.2 mm tall on the wrist, and measuring 48.8 mm lug-to-lug. You can get it in two colours, night grey and night blue. On the back is an edge-to-edge display case back, and that’s where the interesting stuff is happening. Founders Lukas Pöhlmann and Josef Bresan have always liked the unusual bridge architecture of the LIP-designed and subsequently produced under licence in the Soviet Union Pobeda cal. 2608 movement.

Thanks to the central seconds hand wheel being set directly above the centre wheel of the gear train, the bridges are uncommonly high. This double-layered effect means that incredible visual depth can be achieved if the train bridge is appropriately skeletonised. Generally, Soviet movements were always considered inferior to Swiss or German ones, mostly due to the quality of materials. While this is, for the most part, a myth, the major difference between the movements came in the finishing, with Soviet movements often appearing unrefined.

Why, then, would a new haute horology brand choose a Soviet movement for it’S base. Well, Pöhlmann-Bresan has stripped the Pobeda cal. 2608 back to the bare bones and refinished every component to an exceptional standard. Looking at the original movement next to the utterly transformed JU26-01, it is barely possible to imagine they were once identical. Pöhlmann-Bresan has entirely redesigned and newly manufactured the balance cock and regulatory system, upgraded the balance wheel itself to include 14k yellow gold eccentric adjusting screws, added a seconds hacking function, remodelled the barrel bridge, opened up the train bridge, and treated every plate to a new industrial surface finish with high-polished, hand-applied anglage.

Only 24 pieces of each colorway will be made and Pöhlmann-Bresan is quick to point out that they are aware their status as a brand new brand and such intense modifications to a plain movement does not convey much confidence for future owners and the longevity of the watch. However, they say they have enough surplus components and full movements to ensure the pieces can be serviced and kept in good order for decades to come.

The watches are priced at EUR 16,750, which is a very interesting price point, as one would expect to pay much more for so much work by hand (it takes over 200 hours to make a single watch). See more on their website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Ball Engineer II Moon Calendar

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The Panerai Radiomir Quaranta In 40mm – the most wearable Panerai ever

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A review of the The Horage Lensman 2 Brian Griffin Edition

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Oliver Gallaugher Deep Space will turn some heads

Trying to innovate a watch case, especially in a luxury price bracket, can go badly quite quickly. Breaking out of the patterns we’ve all grown accustomed to risks alienating customers, but playing it safe can be seen as lazy. The Deep Space firmly hits the nail on a head with a stainless steel case that doesn’t stray too far from expectations, but also offers some intriguing finishes. The side profile makes for a slick view, as the 10.5mm thickness is mostly taken up by sandblasted flanks and bands of high polish. This alternation between reflective and matte surfaces is usually achieved through brushing, but the use of blasting removes the sporty aspect of lateral lines and embraces a kind of static chaos.

⏲️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

• All three stories today are older ones, but I just discovered them. First off, I’ve been baking a lot of bread lately. It’s weird, but it’s very beneficial to my mental health when everything gets very crazy. So this story of Bill Buford, who moved to Lyon and got a job in a bakery which revealed so much he had to know about life in France, very much resonated with me.

• The Boeing 737 Max was supposed to be a great plane that would move Boing into the future. Until a failure of one of the parts caused two 737 Max crashes within months of each other. What followed was a litany of lies, fraud and major human error that cost hundreds of lives and billions of dollars.

• When Grantland does a special feature on their website, it’s usually well researched, filled with snappy writing and presented like nothing you’ve seen before. But this piece on the Gracie family and the advent of modern Jiu Jitsu is like nothing you’ve seen before. It’s almost a book in website form.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Do you know what an outlaw Porsche is? Well, the best way to learn what one is by seeing one in action. Like in this one in the video, built by Rico Customs from the Netherlands.

💵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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