Tissot Surprises With Already Controversial Digital PRX, Geneva Watch Days Continues With Carbon Watches From Girard-Perregaux And Bulgari As Well As New Watches From Ressence, Moser, MB&F and Jacob & Co.

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Geneva Watch Days continues and it’s all about the insanely expensive watches there. A lot of you ask for news about more affordable watches, but don’t shoot the messenger - sometimes all the news there is out there are these out-of-reach pieces.

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In this issue:

• Tissot Surprises With Already Controversial Digital Version Of The PRX

• Girard-Perregaux Introduces The Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech

• H. Moser & Cie. Returns To The Deepest Black With Endeavour Tourbillon Concept and Centre Seconds Vantablack & Red Gold

• The Ressence Type 3 EE Might Be The Best Version Of One Of The Most Attractive Watches In Production

• Bulgari Mixes Carbon In Gold Once Again For The Octo Finissimo Automatic and Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar

• MB&F Unveil HM9 Sapphire Vision in Blue and Green

• The New Jacob & Co. “The World Is Yours” Dual Time Zone Is The Brand’s Most Personal Creation

Today’s reading time: 11 minutes and 34 seconds

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Tissot Surprises With Already Controversial Digital Version Of The PRX

Despite not participating in the Geneva Watch Days, Tissot decided to crash the party and unveiled a completely new version of their integrated bracelet sports watch, the PRX. With this new revision they are riding the very crest of PRX popularity, all the while running the risk of jumping the shark, and decided to introduce a series of retro-inspired Tissot PRX Digital watches. And not even a full day has passed since the announcement and there’s already divisions - while some welcome the addition of a better-built and a bit more serious alternative to a simple Casio digital watch, while other can’t get over the looks which are, to be honest… unique?

The PRX Digital comes in three diverse variations which include an all-gold PVD and a stainless-steel option with either a black or silver dial. All three can be had in 35mm and 40mm diameter case sizes, with the same 11mm thickness as the mechanical version. The case is still 100 meter water resistant and you get the same integrated bracelet as the regular PRX. So, in essence, this is the same watch, but more shiny. The new shininess comes from a mirror-like finish surrounding the large digital display.

And while the digital display looks very simple, it’s simplicity that looks perhaps too simple draws inspiration from 80s digital watches. Despite the simple display, you still get functions that you would expect - a second time zone, day and date, chronograph, timer, alarm functions and a blacklight. The display shows just the time, while all other functions are accessed through the three pushers. All of this is powered by the DGT-2040 movement which is expected to last for four years without a battery change.

While this is a fully metal digital watch, it might be a bit highly priced. The 40mm models of the PRX Digital have a price of €375 for the steel with silver and black dial and €445 for the gold colored version. The 35mm versions have the same price.

The obvious competition to the PRX comes in the form of G-Shock and Casio watches. These range from cheap plastic pieces that you can get for less than €50 to fully metal ones like the very nice A1000D-7EF. This watch is priced at €100, so quite a bit lower than the €375 of the PRX. Sure, the PRX is likely better built and carries with it the cache, for some people, of being a Swiss made watch. However, I’m genuinely confused as to who the target buyer for this is. Why not just get a better looking quartz PRX for the same price. You can see more on the Tissot website.

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Girard-Perregaux Introduces The Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech

Now that the PRX is out of the way, back to Geneva Watch Days announcements. However, I have to warn you - a lot of of the exhibitors at the event are high-end brands. So the price points are going to be up there. Just like the price of the new version of the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph. GP has been known to explore avant-garde, high-performance materials and they are applying this exploration on their new Laureato Absolute 8Tech, crafted from a composite of carbon and titanium.

It’s a big and bold watch, despite it’s black and grey case. It measures 44mm wide and 15.15mm thick, but keeps it very light by using two of the lightest materials that are used in watches. The layers of carbon fibres are intertwined with titanium powder, placed under huge pressure and then meticulously arranged in octagonal contours.

The dial is in essence very simple, despite it’s almost unnoticeable sandwich layer construction, with readable sub-dials dedicated to the chronograph functionality. A sandblasted upper layer gets a gradient grey hue while the lower layer, crafted from titanium, peeks through cut-out sections. These arrow-tipped apertures serve as hour markers with rectangular markings illuminated by a luminous white hue right next to them. The baton style hour and minute hands are coated in grey PVD, along with the same white glowing lume.

Inside the watch is the self-winding Calibre GP03300-1058, similar to its chronograph counterparts within the Laureato Absolute series. The movement is made out of 419 components with all the haute horology finishes, including Côtes de Genève, chamfering, and straight graining. The watch comes on a black rubber strap that has a fabric-like texture and accented by grey stitching and closed by a folding titanium buckle.

The watch will be available for sale in October this year, at a very steep price. The GP Laureato Absolute 8Tech costs €29,300. You can see more at the brand website.

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H. Moser & Cie. Returns To The Deepest Black With Endeavour Tourbillon Concept and Centre Seconds Vantablack & Red Gold

Vantablack is a controversial color. It was, at one time, the darkest black that ever existed, absorbing 99.965% of light, but since then scientists were able to create even darker surfaces. Still, Vantablack remains the only such color that appears out in the world and it’s wild to see anything painted in it as it makes any surface look impossibly two dimensional. However, we don’t particularly like Vantablack since the owner of the color Surrey Nanosystems granted Anish Kapoor exclusive rights to use Vantablack in artistic applications, and that’s just a douche move by both the company and by Kapoor.

Back to watches. H. Moser & Cie. has been using Vantablack since 2018 when they painted their Perpetual Moon Concept in the superblack color and the shade has shown up from time to time on a couple of their models since. At Geneva Watch Days they are introducing two new watches to its Endeavour collection - the Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Vantablack and the Endeavour Centre Seconds Vantablack.

Both watches come in a 40mm 5N red gold case. The Endeavour Centre Seconds is 11.2mm thick with three red gold leaf-shaped hands in the center. The watch is powered by Moser’s calibre HMC 200, an in-house automatic with a bi-directional pawl winding system and double hairspring architecture. Beating at 21,600vph, the engraved gold rotor ensures a robust 3-day power reserve.

The Tourbillon Concept Vantablack is an extension of Moser's Concept line, and like others in the line has an open dial that shows of a one-minute flying tourbillon. This watch is a bit thinner than the Centre Seconds model, coming in at 10.7mm. And judging from the pictures, the opening for the tourbillon looks almost unreal on the deeply black dial. Powering the watch is the HMC 804 automatic manufacture calibre with an in-house double hairspring – the two working together over the balance further compensate for gravitational forces and improve both isochronism and accuracy. The calibre has 28 jewels; it beats at 21,600vph (3Hz) and delivers a 72-hour power reserve

These are fold Moser watches with a Vantablack dial. I hope you didn’t expect them to be cheap. The Endeavour Centre Seconds is priced at $27,600, while the Tourbillon Concept costs $82,500. See more on the H. Moser & Cie website.

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The Ressence Type 3 EE Might Be The Best Version Of One Of The Most Attractive Watches In Production

Do excuse me here, as I’m about to fanboy-out. You see, the Ressence Type 3 just might be my absolute favorite watch of all time, from the first second I saw it, I was mesmirized. I’m not usually sucker for technical advancements. They can impress me, but I don’t obsess over them. I don’t, that is, until I have seen the Type 3, with it’s oil filled dial and magnetic connection between the movement and the gears that rotate the discs that hold the hands. And this year Ressence introduces their best version of the Type 3 yet - one in a super smooth eucalyptus-green color.

The Type 3 was introduced back in 2013 and at the time it was the world’s first first oil-filled mechanical watch. The oil had a created an incredible optical illusion, making it look like the dial was glued to the domed crystal and making it very readable even from extreme angles. At the time some tried to argue that the Type 3 is not that great of a watch because it only uses a regular ETA 2824 movement. However, the amount of modification this movement has gone through is incredible.

In essence, the Type 3 just uses the minute axle of the 2824 to run their own proprietary ROCS (Ressence Orbital Convex System). This is a set module with gears that spin the main and sub discs od the dial, creating a completely rotating and changing dials, unlike any other in the watch business. Another incredible achievement is the fact that the ETA could not run if it were fully submerged in oil, so Ressence separated the movement from the oil-filled chamber on top, but to link up the movements they use magnets. If you have ever had a watch magnetized, you know that magnets and mechanical movements don’t really mix. But Ressence made it work. In addition, as oil tends to change its volume depending on the temperature, the Type 3 also features a bellow system to compensate for those temperature changes.

Their lates version comes in a great green color, but color experimentation is nothing new for Ressence. They have a great brushed blue Type 1° Round and a sage-green Type 8 S. This new Type 3 EE continues with the subdued color scheme. It comes in a 44mm polished Grade 5 titanium case that is 15mm thick and super light at 78 grams. Both the front and back of the watch got that eucalyptus-green treatment, hence the double “E” in the reference and the color has a more matte appearance than the metallic sage green of the Type 8 S.

The watch will be available from October and will cost CHF 38,200. See more on the Ressence website.

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Bulgari Mixes Carbon In Gold Once Again For The Octo Finissimo Automatic and Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar

At this years Geneva Watch Days Girard-Perregaux seems to be going head to head with Bulgari to see who can make the better carbon fibre watch. Or, if you’re not a fan of the material - who can make a tacker carbon fibre watch. But Bulgari has a bit of an advantage - not only have they been making carbon fibre watches since 1993, they have been doing so with their proprietary material called CarbonGold, a mix of high-tech carbon and gold elements.

This year they are applying the material to their time only Octo Finissimo Automatic and to the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar. From a technical perspective, the two watches feature a titanium container for the movement onto which are assembled the carbon composite parts. The specificities of the material and the increased 100m water resistance result in a slightly thicker profile for both watches.

Their high-tech textured anthracite look of carbon is offset by luxurious touches of gold. The crown is pink gold with a ceramic insert, and the dial indexes and the hands are gold plated. A gold plaquette is affixed on the side of the case. Turning both watches over, the movements feature pink gold bridges and a pink-gold plated platinum micro-rotor.

The Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, honored with the prestigious Aiguille d’Or prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2021, marked the Maison’s 7th record for slimness. Its calibre, the self-winding BVL 305 measures only 2.75mm thick. Despite its svelte design, the movement offers a substantial power reserve of 60 hours and the intricate complication of a perpetual calendar, ensuring precise displays of the date, day of the week, and month, while even taking leap years into account through a retrograde indication until 1 March 2100, when the leap year will be omitted following the Gregorian calendar.

The new Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Automatic has a diameter of 40mm and a height of 6.9mm. The time-only watch is powered by the automatic in-house caliber BVL 138, which is only 2.23mm high.

The Octo Finissimo Carbon Gold Automatic retails for $26,800 while the Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Perpetual Calendar is marked at $89,000. See more on the Bulgari website.

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MB&F Unveil HM9 Sapphire Vision in Blue and Green

There is no denying that Max Büsser and the people at MB&F create incredible watches. I appreciate that they have recognized that not everybody would appreciate their full blown watchmaking. That’s why they divided their lineup into two distinct offerings - the Legacy and Horological Machine. All are very complex designs in nature, but the Legacy Machine models utilise more conventional circular cases to bring Max’s madness a bit more down to earth. The Horological Machine, on the other hand, is where they go crazy.

Pretty much every Horological Machine has caused a lot of hubub, but when the brand introduced the SV edition of the HM9, standing for Sapphire Vision, it is clear that the brand has presented its most polarizing watch ever. It looks like nothing else on the market. And now MB&F is bringing the watch back at Geneva Watch Days with two new blue or green limited editions.

At a baseline level, the HM9-SV is one of the craziest pieces of horology that you’ll ever see, with a sweeping, hyper-futuristic design that makes you question whether it even counts as a wristwatch. It has three main chambers made from sapphire crystal supported by gold frames. The shape consists of two large bubbles on either side that connect to the central portion, at the end of which is the vertically situated time display.

As for the new colors, one comes with a PVD movement with a white gold frame while the other has a green PVD movement and yellow gold frame. These two colors look even better than the blue and yellow gold edition of the original. However, it’s important to keep in mind that these are not groundbreaking watches, but rather evolutions of an already radical design.

The HM9-SV Blue and HM9-SV Green are both limited to five pieces. No wonder, because not many people will be able to afford the EUR 440,000 price tag. Explore the watch more on the MB&F website.

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The New Jacob & Co. “The World Is Yours” Dual Time Zone Is The Brand’s Most Personal Creation

People love to poke fun at Jacob & Co. and the brand’s owner Jacob Arabo. Over the years they have created dozens of over-the-top, gaudy, tacky and just plain ugly watches. Sure, they have some amazing watchmaking prowess and incredible bespoke movement architecture, and some of their models could double as art pieces. But at the same time they have created stuff like the Five Time Zone, that thing that plays the Godfather theme song and the gaudy monstrosity they dubbed the Billionaire that they have been trying to pawn of to some unsuspecting rich rube for $20 million.

But at the Geneva Watch Days Jacob & Co. unveiled a suprisingly understated watch (at least for the brand) with a deeply personal story for Arabo, with the addition of high craftsmanship. It’s called the ‘The World Is Yours’ Dual Time Zone and pays pays homage to a family heirloom.

According to Arabo, this watch tells the story of his family which begins in Tachkent, Uzbekistan where Jacob as a 13-year old was gifted a once-famous Wakmann two-time watch by his father Nison Arabov, which started his love affair with watches and brought the family to the U.S.

‘The World Is Yours’ Dual Time Zone is the first timepiece from the new The World Is Yours collection. Against a blue lacquered dial, two sub-dials (at 12 and 6 o’clock) are framed by engravings of the continents, a design cue that resembles the Wakmann that was gifted to Arabo. The dial is curved, making it look more like a globe fitted inside a watch and the engravings of the continents includes topography of mountains. The rose gold caseback shows off the rest of the globe not visible on the dial.

The watch is powered by Jacob & Co.’s self-winding JCAA11 with a power reserve of up to 42 hours for both time zones.

The Jacob & Co. The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone is available now as a limited edition of 999 pcs and it is priced at $57,000. See more on the Jacob & Co. website.

🫳On hand

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⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Guinand Starfighter Pilot II Is A Watch Steeped In Military And German Horology History

Guinand based the design of the Starfighter Pilot II on classic Heuer chronographs from the 1960s — staples of the German Bundeswehr. If you’re a German brand looking for inspiration for a vintage-inspired bicompax chronograph, the old Heuer Bund chronographs are hard to beat. Staying true to the brief, the Starfighter Pilot II features a running sub-seconds at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute register at 3 o’clock. If you need to time periods longer than 30 minutes, that’s where the bi-directional rotating bezel comes in. Use it like a dive bezel or align the triangle to the current hour, and you can easily and precisely track longer periods when combined with the chronograph.

⏲️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

• The body of a hiker had been found in a tent in Florida in the summer of 2018, but scores of amateur detectives, and a few professional ones too, couldn’t figure out who he was. Everyone knew that he had started walking south on the Appalachian Trail from New York a year and a half before. He met hundreds of people on the trail, and seemed to charm them all. They all knew his trail name, but no one could figure out his real one. This is the unsettling truth about the ‘Mostly Harmless’ Hiker

• Naomi Klein on following her ‘doppelganger’ down the conspiracy rabbit hole – and why millions of people have entered an alternative political reality

• In the ’80s, an unlikely man went to Russia and enraged America. No one knew what he was really up to—until now. This is the man from Fifth Avenue.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This video is a pretty nerdy one. Magnus Walker, the Porsche collector that burst onto the scene some 7 years ago when a video about his collection became an international sensation, travels to Norway to drive a road legal 917 recreation. Despite the nerdy nature of the video, keep with it, there are some incredible shots of both Norway and the 917.

💵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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