Tudor Releases Inter Miami FC-Themed Turquoise BB Chronograph; IWC Has New Red Gold Portugieser 40 and 42 Automatics; G-Shocks With Hokusai Paintings; New Bright Cimiers; And A Stunning Parmigiani

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Tudor seems to have carved out a very interesting niche for themselves with these colorful chronographs. And I can’t say I blame them. They look cool and sell like crazy. But where you might call me crazy is calling a CHF 100k watch a good deal. But look at what the Parmigiani Fleurier can do and what it’s made out of and tell me that’s not a bad price.

Also, like I said, we’re starting with ads. If you like this newsletter, I would appreciate it if you could click on an ad that might be interesting to you, it helps me keep writing these. If, however, you can’t stand ads, you can always grab the premium subscription (or here if you prefer Patreon) which removes ads and gets you four-five extra articles per week.

If you would like to get a premium subscription but don’t want to spend any money, you can get three months for free if you share this newsletter with five of your friends and they subscribe. Just check the end of the email for the newly-introduced referral program.

In this issue:

• Tudor Releases Another Inter Miami FC-Themed Watch, This Time In A Very Familiar Shade Of Turquoise

• IWC Kicks Off The Year With New Red Gold Versions of the Updated Portugieser 40 and 42 Automatic

• G-Shock Gives The Iconic DW-5600 Two Instantly Recognizable Hokusai Paintings As Dials

• Cimier Releases Colorful Heritage Chronograph POP Collection

• Parmigiani Adds Rose Gold To Their Tonda PF Xiali Calendar In Honor Of The Lunar New Year

10 Amazon Prime Benefits You Need To Be Using

Amazon Prime offers more than just speedy delivery; it includes unlimited photo storage, free release-date delivery, and early access to lightning deals, among other hidden benefits. Don't miss these 10 hidden perks that can enhance your membership.

Read more

👂What’s new

1/

Tudor Releases Another Inter Miami FC-Themed Watch, This Time In A Very Familiar Shade Of Turquoise

I want to get something off my chest right away — not every single turquoise-like color in the world needs to be compared to Tiffany Blue. I’ve seen every shade under the sun being accused of being a copy of Tiffany Blue, and for the most part the claims are completely wrong. That said, this shade that Tudor is using on the new Tudor Black Bay Chrono Flamingo Blue is very much… well, see for yourself. However, this is not a collaboration with Tiffany. This is a continuation of the extremely popular Black Bay Chrono Pink from last year, and The color comes from the football kits worn by the players of Inter Miami FC. Their home colors are pink with black, their away colors are black with pink, but their third kit colors are this pretty awesome turquoise color.

The Black Bay Chrono Pink was one of the most sought-after watches of 2024, so it only made sense for Tudor to try to repeat the formula. It comes in the same case of the Black Bay chrono, a steel thing with brushed and polished surfaces that measures 41mm wide, 14.2mm thick and has a 49.9mm lug-to-lug. On top is a box style sapphire crystal surrounded with a fixed black aluminium tachymeter scale, just like the previous release. On the side you’ll find a screw-down crown and screwed pushers, which help with the 200 meter water resistance.

The new thing about the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Flamingo Blue is obviously the dial. The bright turquoise is contrasted pretty well with the black sub-dials and printed scale. At 6 o’clock is a date aperture with a white date disc inside. The markers and hands are rhodium-plated and filled with white Super-Luminova. This whole thing looks very good.

Inside, no surprise, is the calibre MT5813, a manufacture movement based on Breitling B01. It beats at 4Hz, has a 70 hour power reserve, features a column wheel and a vertical clutch and is COSC certified. The watch comes on a 5-link jubilee-style steel bracelet that closes with a folding clasp with T-Fit micro-adjustment.

Overall, I very much dig the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Flamingo Blue. It isn’t a limited edition, but the pink one wasn’t either. But still, good luck getting one, as the waitlists are massive. The price is set at €5,930. See more on the Tudor website.

2/

IWC Kicks Off The Year With New Red Gold Versions of the Updated Portugieser 40 and 42 Automatic

Last year, IWC heavily focused on their Portugieser line. Sure, a lot of it was focused on the very high end of the line, with the incredible Portugieser Eternal Calendar which won all the awards and sells for all the money. But now we’re getting something a bit more subdued. And affordable. These are the red gold versions of the 40mm IW3584 and the 42mm IW5017 Portugieser watches.

Starting with the smaller watch, it comes in a red gold case that measures 40.4mm wide and 12.4mm thick. The larger one measures 42.4mm wide and 13mm thick. Both feature double box-shaped sapphire crystals on top and bottom. And while both are not sports watches, they will both have 50 meters of water resistance.

The dials are also somewhat similar. They both feature matte silver dials, with applied gold markers and numerals. The leaf-shaped hands also match the gold of the case. The smaller version has only a sunken small seconds display at 6 o’clock, while the larger version has a few additional functionalities. The small seconds display is moved to 9 o’clock, while at 6 you’ll find a date aperture and at 3 o’clock you’ll find a power reserve indicator that count downs from the full 7 day power reserve.

Inside the small watch you’ll find the calibre 82200, an in-house automatic that beats at 4Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. The 42mm version has the double-barrel calibre 50211. This in-house automatic beats at 4Hz and has a very nice 7-day power reserve. Both watches come on brown alligator leather straps made by Santoni, the 40mm with a pin buckle and the 42mm version with a folding clasp.

The new IWC Portugieser 40 and 42 Automatic are avilable now and priced at €19,000 for the 40mm and €27,000 for the 42mm. See more on the IWC website.

3/

G-Shock Gives The Iconic DW-5600 Two Instantly Recognizable Hokusai Paintings As Dials

The legendary G-Shock DW-5600 is one of the best canvases for collaboration. That’s because ti focuses all of the important information into a small display in the very centre of the watch, giving it a somewhat large canvas around it to customize. Some brands place their iconic designs, others do interesting new illustrations. But the latest G-Shock special edition is decorated with the works of Katsushika Hokusai — one of the most well-known artists of Japan’s Edo Period — featuring two of his most famous paintings.

The base of the watch is very well known, as it’s the legendary DW-5600. It measures 48.9mm wide, 13.4mm thick and 42.8mm tall. It’s a beefy watch, build out of resin, rubber and plastic to be shock-resistant, water-resistant to 200 meters, and it comes with multi-time-zone time telling, count down timers and stopwatches.

But the imporant part are the dials. The surface surrounding the display shows two of Hokusai’s most well known paintings, the iconic “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” and the “Fine Wind, Clear Morning”. Despite sounding like it shouldn’t, it actually works very well.

From what I can gather, both of these are not only limited in number, but also where they will be sold. Right now, they are a Japan-only release, with no word whether they will be made available elsewhere. Hey, at least you have something to look for on your next trip to Japan. But you might be looking second-hand because with limited production numbers and a ￥17,600 JPY (approx. $112) it would go fast. If you want to see more of the watch, you’ll have to browse the Japanese G-Shock website.

4/

Cimier Releases Colorful Heritage Chronograph POP Collection

I’m not much of a pun guy. In fact, I don’t like them at all. But every now and again you run across one that’s so good you can’t hate it. Like I don’t hate the pun in the 711 Hertiage Chronograph name that Cimier gave their chrono which has sub-dials at 7 and 11. It could be that I like the pun because I really like that 7 and 11 sub-dial setup. As well as the very cool tachymeter and a telemeter scales printed on the dial. Now, Cimiar is updating the 711 Hertiage Chronograph with the POP collection which will come in four great bright colors.

On the outside, nothing has changed. It’s still a stainless steel tonneau-shaped case that measures 39.5mm wide, 14.5mm thick and with a 47mm lug-to-lug. On the side are retro-style pump-pushers and on top is a box sapphire crystal. Water resistance is limited to 100 meters, but that’s what you would expect from a chronograph of this calibre.

But then, there’s the dials. Like I said, there are two sub-dial, black on all the dials, along with Arabic numerals, a white telemeter on the flange and a black snailed tachymeter in the centre of the dial. The colors chosen for this collection are tangerine, pink, aqua blue, and lime green, which really are a breath of fresh air to see on chronographs which are traditionally kind of boring (just ignore the bright turquoise chrono at the start of the newsletter).

Inside is the calibre CIM100, which is a slightly modified Valjoux 7750 to get the 7-11 dial layout. It beats at 4Hz and has a 48 hour power reserve and it’s not bad looking with circular graining, rhodium plating, and blued screws. The watches can be had on a steel mesh bracelet, a steel bracelet or calfskin leather straps.

The new Cimier 711 Heritage Chronograph POP Collection is now available for pre order at a price of CHF 2,480. Deliveries are expected to take place in January of this year. See more on the Cimier website.

5/

Parmigiani Adds Rose Gold To Their Tonda PF Xiali Calendar In Honor Of The Lunar New Year

There’s been quite a few releases for the Year of the Snake and there’s still ten or so more days to go for the brands to show what they have. But it will be kind of tough to beat this. Parmigiani Fleurier has paid homage to Chinese New Year in 2023 with the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar that has a red dial. Now, we’re getting basically the same watch, but in wonderful rose gold.

The case of the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar is made out of rose gold and measures 42mm wide and 12.2mm thick. And while the brushed and polished surfaces make things interesting, what’s really nice is the beautifully knurled rose gold bezel on top. There are sapphire crystals on top and bottom, and since this is still a sports watch, it is water resistance to 100 meters.

But what is a Xiali Calendar. To create a calendar watch is complicated on its own. But the Xiali manages to integrate the Chinese Traditional Complete Calendar into the watch. The Chinese calendar, created 5,000 years ago, is a lunisolar system that combines the Moon's phases and the Sun's position, resulting in 12 or 13 months per year. Each month starts with a new moon, and a leap month is added roughly every three years to align with the solar year. It also features a 12-year cycle, with each year associated with a different Chinese zodiac animal. Fit that on a watch… Well, Parmigiani Fleurier did.

The dial of this version has Parmigiani’s signature Grain d’Orge guilloché pattern, painted in a beautiful deep Imperial Red. The indices and skeletonized delta-shaped hands are made out of rose gold, while the sub-dials translate the complicated calendar rather simply. At 12 o’clock the sub-dial shows the year’s name on the periphery, along with the corresponding zodiac animal and element. At 3 you’ll find the day number as well as an aperture showing whether the month is long or short. At 6 is a moon phase indicator and at 9 o’clock is a sub-dial with the month number and includes an aperture to indicate whether an additional intercalary month is included. Aditionally, on the edge on the dial you’ll find the 24 solar terms.

All of this runs off the in-house calibre PF008 which has a 54-hour power reserve and is accurate in a 12-year cycle. That means that every 12 years the entire calendar layout will have to be reset. The movement is finished with Côtes de Genève and has a 22k rose gold openworked rotor. The watch comes on a satin-finished rose gold bracelet.

The new Tonda PF Xiali Calendar is priced at CHF 97,000 and will be released on the Lunar New Year on January 29. See more on the Parmigiani Fleurier website.

⏲️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

• Ariel Sabar takes us on a wild ride, telling the story of a crew of childhood friends from northeastern Pennsylvania who pulled off more than 1,500 burglaries over the decades, including a series of sports-memorabilia heists. Think championship rings, belts, and trophies, all kept in low-security sports museums across the US. At the heart of Sabar’s cinematic feature is Tommy Trotta—a big baseball fan, and an even bigger thief. Sabar writes an engrossing story, based on conversations he had with Trotta last year, as well as police records and other documents.

• A month before the publication of Susan Morrison’s biography Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, a lengthy excerpt appears in The New Yorker. It’s a friendly profile of the show’s creator and leader, but an incisive one; Morrison has seemingly spoken to every living SNL alum, and sketches a portrait of a man who has balanced ego management and emotional withholding on a knife’s edge for 50 years.

• On a night in 1966, at a Lower East Side club called Slugs’ Saloon, a sound engineer recorded an 86-minute set by a jazz quartet whose members had supported modern jazz’s best-known players, including John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Pianist and writer Ethan Iverson uses that recording, recently released under the title Forces of Nature, to re-open the doors of Slugs’ and explore the ways in which free jazz and fusion continued to evolve, long after most listeners had moved on.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

You know how much I like Van Neistat’s unique filmmaking and art style. We’ve seen tons of videos from the L.A. fires, but non quite like this one. It puts you in the heart of a disaster in a way you haven’t exactly seen and seem way too real.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk