Zenith Pays Tribute To The Americas With Black, Green, Gold Defy Skyline; A Denim-Inspired Seiko 5; Zodiac Adds Stone Dials To Super Sea Wolf; Awake Goes To Vietnam; Bucherer's Vintage Worldtimer

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It seems that we have a lot of serious watches today. The Zenith, the Awake, certainly the Buherer, but even the Zodiac, it’s all very much grown up. But I like it. And a small update to the premium subscription to the newsletter: if you’ve been interested what goes on behind the wall, you can now get a free trial to the Watch Club for two weeks and get a bunch of my other writing for free. Read more about it right below in the newsletter:

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In this issue:

• The New Black, Green And Gold Zenith Defy Skyline Is An Appropriate Tribute To The Americas

• Seiko Teams Up With Amsterdam-Based Denim Shop Denham For A Blue Jeans Inspired Seiko 5 SRPL35

• Zodiac Reaches Deep Into Its Past With Groovy Stone Dials For The Super Sea Wolf

• French Brand Awake Introduces The Son Mài Collection, Their Homage To Vietnam And Métiers D’Art

• Carl F. Bucherer Brings Back Their 1950s Worldtimer With Very Elegant Retro Dials

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 37 seconds

👂What’s new

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The New Black, Green And Gold Zenith Defy Skyline Is An Appropriate Tribute To The Americas

The Defy Skyline collection from Zenith has been around for only two years and in that short while has established itself as a great option in the integrated-bracelet sports watch world that’s just been blazing hot over the past few years. It’s relatively simple form factor has proven to be a really great canvas for collaborations and special editions. I’m not a huge fan of black-cased watches, but this new Zenith Defy Skyline Americas limited edition just might be the best black watch in a long time. Of course, being great means that it’s limited in both number and geography. Bummer

The watch comes in the familiar Defy Skyline case, made ou tof black ceramic and measuring 41mm wide. It has the recognisable 12-sided bezel and a mix of brushed and polished surfaces on the sharp lines and facets that give it a very modern look. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The case is cool, but it’s obviously all about this pretty cool dial. It’s a stunning deep green color with a sunray brushing, that’s made so much cooler with the engraved stars that are the hallmark of the collection have a gold color to them. That gold pairs fantastically with the green of the dial and the black of the case. There’s a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock, a date window at 3 o’clock while the time is indicated with rose gold plated hands that point to rose gold plated faceted hour markers. Even the date window is framed with rose gold.

Inside is a movement we all known and love, the in-house El Primero 3620 which beats at 5Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. The high beat rate allows for the small seconds indicator to one full turn every 10 seconds. The watch comes on a matching black integrated ceramic bracelet, with a quick change system, that allows you to wear it on a provided dark green rubber strap.

From now on it’s all bad news. The Zenith Defy Skyline Americas will be limited to just 100 pieces and will be available only from online boutiques and authorized retailers in North and South America. The one good thing, I suppose, is the fact that the limited edition is priced the same as the regular ceramic version at $15,500. See more on the Zenith website.

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Seiko Teams Up With Amsterdam-Based Denim Shop Denham For A Blue Jeans Inspired Seiko 5 SRPL35

Despite having lived in Amsterdam, this is the first time I hear of Denham, an Amsterdam-based premium denim brand. And for good reason, as it seems that they are a fairly new brand, but one that has established itself as one of the coolest spots in the city. So, along comes Seiko and teams up with Denham for a very tongue-in-cheek, denim-themed, collaboration. This is the Seiko 5 x Denham SRPL35 limited-edition.

On the outside, it’s the Seiko 5 collection that we have known for some time now. It’s made out of stainless steel and measures 42.5mm wide, 13.4mm thick and has a 46mm lug-to-lug. On top is a hardlex crystal surrounded by a indigo-blue unidirectional rotating bezel with minute graduations for the first 20 minutes of the 60 minute scale. You have the 4 o’clock crown, as well as a exhibition caseback with the words “The truth is in the details”, Denham’s scissors logo printed on the glass and the xxxx/2,000 serial number. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial continues the denim theme with its indigo colorway and a few cool deatils. The indices are black instead of the traditional white, with silver surrounds, and the triangular index at 12 o’clock features the Denham’s scissors logo. The hour and arrow minute hands have LumiBrite inserts, while the lollipop seconds hand is red to match the red rivets that Denham uses on their cloathing. There’s a white day/date aperture at 3 o’clock and the entire perimeter of the dial gets a dotted yellow track that mimics denim stitching.

Inside is the well known calibre 4R36 which beats at 3Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a 22mm wide indigo nylon strap with yellow stitching, rounding out the denim theme.

The new Seiko 5 x Denham SRPL35 is limited, but you know that means something else in the Seiko world — 2,000 pieces will be made and they go on sale in Nobember. Price is set at €450. See more on the Seiko website.

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Zodiac Reaches Deep Into Its Past With Groovy Stone Dials For The Super Sea Wolf

Trends are most certainly circular because all of a sudden, the past two years have seen a huge influx of stone dials on watches that harken back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. And you know what brand ruled in the 60s and 70s with their incredibly cool and colorful divers? Yeah, it was Zodiac! Now, they are jumping back on the stone dial train with two new Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Stone Dial models, one with malachite and the other with lapis lazuli.

The Super Sea Wolf is a significant dive watch — 40mm wide, 14mm thick and quite long at 49mm from lug to lug. Sure, the lugs angle down making it wrap around your wrist, but there’s no getting around the sheer size. It has sharp lugs, with polished surfaces strewn about at just the right amount. On top are sapphire crystals surrounded by glossy ceramic bezels. The lapis lazuli has an untreated case with a blue bezel, while the malachite goes all black, including a black DLC coating on the case and bracelet.

The two watches share a bit of the dial charactersistics — they both have fully square polished hands (with a green minute hand on the malachite version), square indices with polished or black surrounds and the prominent Zodiac sign and text up top. All of the indices and hands are heavily lumed. The malachite version gets a really beautiful shade of green stone, with lines running from one side to the other in a slight curve. The lapis lazuli, on the other hand, is much more understated and subdued, almost as if you’re looking out into the night sky. Both of these will vary from watch to watch, of course, as they are cut out of natural stone.

Zodiac is now part of the Fossil Group, which also owns the Swiss Technology Production (STP) movement factory, so it only makes sense that the new and updated STP1-21 is included into these watches. The movements beat at 4Hz and have a mediocre 40 hour power reserve. It is, however, decently accurate at -0/+15 seconds per day. The watches come on case-matching jubilee-style bracelets that close with a butterfly clasp with limited adjustability.

Making stone dials is expensive and difficult, so it makes sense that these watches are limited editions. But plenty will be made — 300 pieces of each stone. Price is set at $2,095 for the lapis lazuli and $2,295 for the malachite. See more on the Zodiac website.

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French Brand Awake Introduces The Son Mài Collection, Their Homage To Vietnam And Métiers D’Art

This is interesting. I’ve written about Awake watches several times, and I very much liked their approach to modern watchmaking and space-inspired watches. What I didn’t realise is that these were all limited run watches and that Awake didn’t actually have a permanent collection. Well, they’re fixing that now, but in a completely different way than what you would expect from Awake. This is the new Son Mài, its first permanent collection made special with Vietnamese sanded lacquer dials and silver leaf gilding.

The new collection gets an all new case that Awake never used before. It’s made out of recycled stainless steel and measures 39mm wide, 11.8mm thick with the crystal and a fairly compact 45.6mm from lug to lug. On top is domed sapphire crystal that’s surrounded by a rounded of bezel that is highly polished, along with the tops of the lugs. The rest of the case is brushed, with a polished chamfer stretching from lug to lug. Water resistance is 50 meters.

According to company lore, the founder of Awake Lilian Thibault discovered Son Mài, the ancient Vietnamese art of lacquer, on a trip to Vietnam in 2008 and this is the first time the technique has been used in a watch. The dials get a base coat of lacquer, which is sanded and polished to produce a smooth surface. The silver leaf is applied to this base, followed by airbrushed naturally coloured pigments. A dozen coats of lacquer are applied and then sanded and polished to produce a smooth surface. Each of these dials takes between 10 and 15 hours to complete. And you can get them in four colors — Amethyst, Lava, Emerald and Outre Bleu, each getting a unique pattern thanks to the silver leaf. Awake also took a page out of the Farer book and made backlit indices. What I mean is they made the indices and hands out of Super-LumiNova BGW9, covering them wit faceted steel caps. That way the lume doesn’t shine towards the viewer, but rather underneath the silver caps of the hands and indices. Very cool.

Inside is the increasingly more popular La Joux-Perret G101 which beats at 4Hz and has a much more modern power reserve of 68 hours when compared to competitors from Sellita and the like. It features three centrally located hands and a customised rotor with a bead-blasted centre that reads La Joux-Perret Pour Awake. All of the watches come on grey nubuck rubber-lined straps.

The Son Mài collection is available for pre-order now, with deliveries begining in December of this year. The first 50 pieces in each color will be numbered and price is set at €1,950, without tax. See more on the Awake website.

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Carl F. Bucherer Brings Back Their 1950s Worldtimer With Very Elegant Retro Dials

OK, by now it’s obvious that we can breathe a sigh of relief that Rolex will not be messing with Carl F. Bucherer. When the watch giant bought Carl F. Bucherer there was a fear that Rolex would drop the watch brand but keep the retail network. If the previous releases didn’t convince you that Carl F. Bucherer is here to stay, perhaps this pretty spectacular Heritage Worldtimer will.

The new timepiece from Carl F. Bucherer comes in a very retro-inspired case, which makes sense since it’s based on a Worldtimer that Bucherer made in the 1950s. It keeps elegant look with a diameter of 39mm and a thickness of just 10.25mm, which is pretty great for a Worldtimer complication. There are two material options: stainless steel or rose gold. All of the watches get two crowns, one at 3 and one at 9 o’clock, which give a off a very nice symmetrical, and vintage, look. Water resistance is not great at 30 meters, but this is very much a dress piece.

The dials also take a lot of inspiration from the 1950s. The rose gold Heritage Worldtimer features a dial with the sunray-brushed silver central part and engraved, rose gold-plated hour indices. Surrounding this section is a matte silver outer ring for the 24-hour scale, and a matte rhodium city ring. The stainless steel come in two options: one with a sunray-brushed silver dial, engraved silver markings, a matte silver 24-hour outer ring, and a matte rhodium city ring, or a version with a black dial, rhodium-plated indices and matching black rings for both the 24-hour scale and cities.

Inside is the calibre CFB A2020 which is wound by the brands sensationally cool peripheral rotor which allows you to see the whole movement while keeping things thin. The movement is COSC certified and has a 55 hour power reserve. You use the crown at 9 o’clock to move the internal bezel with the city ring to match up with the 24-hour time on the fixed inner ring, which then tells you the times all around the world. The gold watch comes on a black wool strap, while the stainless steel versions can be had with either a black textile strap with a stainless steel pin lock folding clasp or a stainless steel bracelet with a folding clasp.

The Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Worldtimer is now available. The stainless steel version is part of the permanent collection, while the 18k rose gold variant will be made in only 88 pieces. The price is actually not that bad. The steel version on strap is priced at €7,500, while the bracelet will bump it up to €7,900. The gold version is pricier, of course, at €14,800. See more on the Carl F. Bucherer website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Versus The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical

2/

Hands-On with the Ming 37.02 Minimalist

3/

A review of the Electricianz x Label Noir

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Galvin Loimu Frozen Salmon explores heightened salmon sophistication

Loimu, translated from the Finnish of founder Susan Galvin’s youth, means “blaze”. Checking out the dial of the Loimu Frozen Salmon, it’s easy to see how the model earned that name. Much of the dial is taken up by an embossed pattern reminiscent of guilloché, with an offset waviness that creates a highly dynamic shine. Rather than a simple sunburst finish, this pattern almost becomes an optical illusion of depth as it moves on your wrist. The pinkish, coppery hues are blown out towards the centre by a stark highlight, making it far more vibrant than most salmon dials. Also, there’s something delightfully Nordic about a frozen or smoked salmon dial.

Read the whole review on Time + Tide

⏲️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

• Steve Bannon, a self-declared general of global populists, wants to break the world order. And he’s tapped into something much bigger than Trumpism. I thought Bannon was forgotten, but it seems that he has big plans for after the election, regardless of who wins. Crazy Steve!

• I’m sure you’re familiar with the fact (or at least the meme) that McDonalds ice cream machines never work. Well, one couple built a device to fix McDonald’s notoriously broken soft-serve machines. And after a lot of secret codes, legal threats and betrayal, the fast-food giant froze them out. A very wild story.

• Have you ever wondered what animals known about death? The question isn’t whether other creatures share our concept of mortality; it’s whether any living being truly grasps what it means to die. This is a fascinating exploration.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Jamming a Ferrari engine into a 1977 Jeep Wagoneer sounds pretty much like the best idea of all time. A better engine than the one chosen by Bill Harrah, a legendary car collector and casino mogul, would have been better, but this will do in a pinch.

💵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: Here’s a crazy request. One of you is looking to buy the Lotēc No. 7.5. Sure, it’s a big ask, but if any of you have one and want to sell, reach out to and I’ll put you in touch

• SOLD: Well, not really new. It’s a great looking mid-90s Tudor Submariner 75090, offered for sale by a member of the It’s About Time reader crew. I love the way it looks and seems to be in great condition. Check it out over on Chrono24.

• 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

-Vuk