Tudor Pulls A Major Surprise With Carbon Pelagos FXD And New FXD Chrono, New Carl F. Bucherer’s Is A Perfect 60s Watch For Today, Delma Adds A Summery Version Of A GMT And Squale Introduces Military Designed TitaniumMaster

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. That Tudor really took me for a spin. So much so that I’m late today.

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In this issue:

• Tudor Pulls A Major Surprise With Carbon 43mm Pelagos FXD Chrono And 42mm Pelagos FXD Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition Models

• The New Nuit Fantastique Limited Edition Is Perhaps Trilobe’s Most Attractive Watch Yet

• Carl F. Bucherer’s New Heritage Chronometer Celebration Is A Perfect 60s Watch Brought Into The Present

• Delma Adds A Summery Version Of A GMT To Their Santiago Line

• Squale Introduces The Very Capable, Military Designed, TitaniumMaster × Palombari Comsubin

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 9 seconds

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Tudor Pulls A Major Surprise With Carbon 43mm Pelagos FXD Chrono And 42mm Pelagos FXD Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition Models

Despite what we might tell ourselves, the watch world is a boring one. Most of the brands, especially the majors, are more in favour of slow evolution, instead of sudden moves. While you might get a complete surprise from an independent or a micro brand, TAG, Rolex, IWC, JLC and Tudor will often only offer gradual updates to existing watches or it will be known that they are preparing for something major.

Then along comes Tudor and breaks our minds on a random Thursday afternoon in June. Nobody expected that Tudor will be evolving their Pelagos FDX line, a very well received titanium watch. And certainly nobody expected FDX watches to get carbon cases. Or a chronograph. It’s a wild move and it’s the most tech-forward evolution of the Pelagos since the model was introduced. There are the Carbon 43mm Pelagos FXD Chrono And 42mm Pelagos FXD made in partnership with Alinghi Red Bull Racing, an America's Cup yacht racing team.

The two new models get black carbon composite cases, with the time only model measuring 42mm and the first chronograph in a Pelagos line measuring 43mm. Both have matte blue dials with red accents to match the Red Bull colors that the Alinghi sailing team is using on their spectacular yacht. Both get matching 120-click bi-directional titanium bezels set with carbon inserts that have fully-luminous 60-minute countdown scales.

Inside the watches are two different movements, obviously. The time only model gets the Tudor MT5602, which you can find in the standard FDX, while the chrono model gets the MT5813 which the brand has successfully used in Black Bay Chronos. Both movements are COSC-certified chronometers, have 70 hours of power reserve, and beat at 4Hz. The chronograph also has a date complication with a window at 6 o’clock. The watches come on a one-piece blue and red fabric strap with velcro closure.

This almost became the best watch Tudor makes. I adore the color, the sportiness and ruggedness. It even has a great price. The time-only model costs $3,675, while the chronograph has a price tag of $5,075. It will be an unlimited release. My only issue lies in the Red Bull branding. While I have nothing against the energy drink maker, I don’t think I could live with the rehaut having a “Alinghi Red Bull Racing” text on it. I love the stainless steel case back featuring an engraving for the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team. It’s just this one tiny piece that keeps the time only from being my favorite watch this year.

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The New Nuit Fantastique Limited Edition Is Perhaps Trilobe’s Most Attractive Watch Yet

Trilobe is a relatively new brand. Founded by Gautier Massonneau, ever since it’s launch it has approached design from a more architectural than a traditional watchmaking standpoint. Their watches use a three-part system for timekeeping, dividing hours, minutes, and seconds into distinct eccentric geared discs, all in perpetual motion. It took Trilobe years to develop their flagship Nuit Fantastique collection which was shown in 2021. In 2022, the Nuit Fantastique took home the coveted Petite Aiguille award at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève.

Now Trilobe is releasing a new watch in collaboration with Hodinkee. Only 30 pieces have been made and all sold out immediately. But it’s no surprise, as this might be Trilobe’s prettiest watch to date. Using the Trilobe "trefoil" logo as an hour pointer, the hours are indicated on a rotating ring surrounding the outside of the dial, so the active hour is always shown at the 12 o'clock position. Minutes are shown in a small digital aperture that is set atop a larger circular subdial that functions as the seconds display. All three elements are in constant motion and offer an abstracted time display that is as useful as it is charming.

The dial is completely new for this edition, with two distinct guilloche patterns, only the second time that Trilobe has used this technique on their dial. In order to accentuate the prominence of the captivating guilloche patterns on the dial, a decision was made to omit the Trilobe name while retaining the logo, which serves a dual purpose as the hour marker.

The Trilobe Nuit Fantastique Limited Edition For Hodinkee measures just 38.5mm in diameter and 9.2mm thick. The case is made from lightweight Grade 5 titanium. Powering this watch is a self-winding mechanical movement with a micro-rotor, called the X-Centric Calibre. The X-Centric Calibre is designed and created by Trilobe and manufactured by hand in Switzerland's storied La Chaux-de-Fonds by Le Cercle des Horlogers.

All 30 pieces have already been sold out, but you can still find out more about them at Hodinkee. What’s most depressing about this watch is it’s price. It offers amenities seen on watches that cost 10x its price, and yet, the Trilobe Nuit Fantastique Limited Edition For Hodinkee sold for $13,000.

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Carl F. Bucherer’s New Heritage Chronometer Celebration Is A Perfect 60s Watch Brought Into The Present

The legendary, stilly family-owned, watchmaker Carl F. Bucherer is celebrating their 135th anniversary this year. And to celebrate it they are not looking towards the future, but rather to the past. I don’t particularly mind this, since they are going back to their 1960s cataloge, pulling out some major inspiration and producing what seems to be a perfect time and date vintage watch you can wear today without worrying you’ll break something or damage it in water. It comes in stainless steel and gold and it’s called the Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Chronometer Celebration.

The stainless steel or 18k rose gold case measures 39mm in diameter and 8.45mm in height. While I pointed out that his is a modernization of a vintage watch that won’t get damaged by water, don’t get too adventurous. Water resistance is only 30m, but that’s better than the unknown water resistance of a vintage price. You get a sapphire crystal and a solid caseback with the Bucherer family crest on it.

Both case materials are available with a silver dial, and then there’s a black dial exclusively for the stainless steel one, and a very 1960s gradient brown dial exclusively for the gold variant. The finishing of the dials is exactly the same, apart from the differences in the rhodium-plated versus gold-plated hands and indices. The indices are filled with black lacquer and Super-LumiNova, as are the hands. The central seconds hand has a red triangular tip. At three, a window reveals the date disc in white with black digits.

Inside the watch is the Calibre CFB 1965, which is based on the reliable Sellita SW300 automatic movement. That’s a shame, since Carl F. Bucherer is known for its peripheral rotor technology, and at the price point of this watch it would have been very cool to see an in house movement. You can get the watch on a steel or 18k gold mesh bracelet.

Pricing is a bit confusing. All of the steel watches are limited to 188 pieces and retail for EUR 5,900. The gold is limited to 88 pieces and this retails for EUR 19,900. Despite it being gold, that’s a lot of money for an outsourced movement.

And while CFB is known for its peripheral rotor technology, using outsourced movement is perfectly fine of course, as it keeps the watches serviceable by most watchmakers. The movement runs at a rate of 28,800vph and has a running time of 42 hours. For more information, visit their website.

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Delma Adds A Summery Version Of A GMT To Their Santiago Line

Based in Lengnau and operating in the accessible watch segment, Delma is an independent family-owned watch brand with a solid tradition of crafting dive watches. They have built up a reputation for being a maker of robust and accessible sports and tool watches. One of their more popular collections is the very capable diver, the Shell Star. But look at the rest of Delma’s catalogue and you’ll find an array of interesting pieces. Joining them is the new Santiago GMT Meridian automatic.

This is not the first time that Delma has put a GMT complication into their Santiago line, but this Meridian variant is, as Delma put it themselves, perfect for the summer holiday. Especially if you will be crossing timezones. The watch is not very small at 43mm wide and 13.3 thick, but it should work as a summer sports watch that is allowed to be a bit bigger. The unidirectional GMT bezel has a two-tone anodized aluminum ring with Arabic numerals. The bezel can be had in blue and black, green and black or red and blue combinations.

The dial has a carbon weave pattern which comes in four dial options - black, blue, green and white. The watch has sword-shaped hour and minute hands, red-tipped seconds hand, and a distinctive red GMT hand. At 3 o’clock is a magnified date window. All versions, regardless of the color, come on a 5-link bracelet in polished and brushed solid stainless-steel.

The watches are available now and can be had for $1,850. For more, head on over to Delma’s website.

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Squale Introduces The Very Capable, Military Designed, TitaniumMaster × Palombari Comsubin

Think of the Comando Raggruppamento Subacquei e Incursori Teseo Tesei, or Comsubin for short, as the Navy SEALs of Italy. That’s because they are exactly that, a special operations unit belonging to the Italian Navy. Italian military divers have had a great history with watches, as they have been wearing Panerai’s since the 1930s. So here comes Squale, a Swiss watchmaker with strong Italian links, to develop a watch with and for the Comsubin - the The Squale Master × Palombari Comsubin.

Rarely do I start off one of these texts with how limited the watch will be, but here it’s important for the whole story. Only 500 pieces of the The Squale Master × Palombari Comsubin will be made and only 420 will be sold to the public. The remaining 80 will be bought by Comsubin to be worn during service, which includes underwater search and rescue as well as diffusing conventional and improvised underwater explosives.

Since Comsubin divers are trained in specialized suits to dive to 300 meters, as well as being trained parachutists, they needed a watch that could survive all that. Squale claims they have developed one. It has all the features one needs for deep dives - titanium case, helium escape valve and a unidirectional bezel with a lumed triangle for the 60-minute marker. Extra BGW9 lume has been applied pretty much everywhere and the minute hand is executed in orange to ensure legibility and a clear distinction between it and the hour hand.

The case measures just under 42mm wide and 16mm thick. It’s huge, but this chunky titanium case and a thick sapphire crystal on top and a solid titanium case back, ensure a crazy depth rating of 1200 meters. Inside the Squale Master × Palombari Comsubin ticks the common Sellita SW200-1 in its Elaboré execution. The blue dial features the Palombari del Comsubin logo at 6 and the date at 3 o’clock. Speaking of the color, the color scheme reflects the uniforms of the Comsubin, and the company that makes their uniforms has produced an leather and fabric strap (to accompany the tropic strap it comes on) for the watch with a fantastic blue camo pattern of the unit.

The Squale Master × Palombari Comsubin is priced at €1,990 and is available on the Squale website now.

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A Fantastic Interview With F. P. Journe On His Ambitions To Grow And When A New Watch Can Be Expected

My favorite watch from this years Watches and Wonders was the F.F.C., a wonderful automata from F. P. Journe that displays time through a fist that flips its fingers on the dial. It’s a wonderful watch and turned me into a true lover of F. P. Journe, a brand I was familiar with, but not completely enamoured.

Here, then, is a great weekend read for you. Pascal Brand, who recently joined Monochrome watches, sat down with Journe himself to discuss how this manufacture will navigate the hyper competitive world of haute horology.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the Seiko 5 Sports SRPK17 55th Anniversary Limited Edition

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A review of the great looking Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

Reservoir’s first foray into diver’s watches is just as weird as their regular watches

Consistent with other Reservoir models, the Hydrosphere features a jumping hour display, positioned in the lower portion of the dial. The hour value is presented in black on a white disc and enlarged via a magnified lens. A lone hand follows an arcing trajectory from 8 o’clock to 4 o’clock, indicating the minutes from ’00’ to ’60’. The minute hand is white with a black border. When the minute hand reaches ’60’ it returns to ’00’ with breathtaking alacrity. A prerequisite of any diver’s watch is that the minute hand should be clearly distinguishable from the hour hand. By employing a jumping hour display, Reservoir has delivered a superb means of delineating the hours from the minutes.

⏲️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

• Back when I went to school, almost 15 years ago, the legendary film critic A. O. Scott used to pop in every so often into our film classes to talk movies. He was particularly fond of showing up in our Revisionist western class taught by an incredible guy and one of the best film scholars I have ever met, Bill Simon. Scott liked anti-westerns - we share a love for McCabe and Mrs. Miller and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - so it’s no surprise that he is a big fan of Cormac McCarthy. You have to read Scotts homage to the recently deceased author.

• This part of the newsletter is intended for longform recommendations that have nothing to do with watches. But I guess you didn’t expect I would go this long - this will take you about 45 minutes to read. Thankfully, the weekend is here, so enjoy this story of a guy who promised to save a century of priceless sports photos, but ended up becoming the Madoff of memorabilia.

• OK, we’re off the rails here. I don’t even know where to start with this one. It’s a supremely fun article on a group of moms that have started a mommy war in their bizarre circle of doll collectors. Listen, we collect watches so there’s a high probability we also collect some weird stuff. But I hope none of us here collect completely lifelike silicone babies. And then go to war over them…

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

You know why I like Watchfinder & Co. so much? It’s because we pretty much align in almost everything. He can’t stop thinking about these 5 watches. And I completely agree.

💵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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