Zenith Releases Grey And Gold Defy Skyline Chronograph; FC Adds An Aventurine Dial; Alpina Shrinks Down The Alpiner; Armin Strom's New Resonance; New Sapphire From ArtyA; Introducing Fabian Pellet

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I love a day like this, when we don’t get anything revolutionary, just really well made, great looking watches. I love that Zenith, but the FC is just spectacular.

In this issue:

• Zenith Releases Beautiful Grey And Gold Defy Skyline Chronograph Boutique Edition

• Frederique Constant Is Not Done With Amazing Watches, Here’s The Classic Tourbillon Aventurine

• Alpina Shrinks Down The Alpiner Extreme And Gives It An Openworked Dial

• Armin Strom Introduces Its Much Smaller Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition

• ArtyA Really Is Perfecting Sapphire Cases With The New Purity Stairway To Heaven HMS Wavy

• Fabian Pellet Breaks Out On His Own With A Spectacular First Watch, The Essential

Today’s reading time: 10 minutes and 20 seconds

👂What’s new

1/

Zenith Releases Beautiful Grey And Gold Defy Skyline Chronograph Boutique Edition

You might find this a bit curious — the Defy Skyline model line from Zenith is only two years old. It’s probably the retro integrated bracelet sports watch look that tricks me into thinking that this sporty model has been around for quite a while. And not only that, the chronograph version of the Defy Skyline was introduced only earlier this year in April. So, this is a super fresh collection for Zenith and it’s obvious they are having a lot of fun with it. Just last week we had the Defy Skyline Tourbillon made with Argentine born artist Felipe Pantone that featured an iridescent look. But also released last week, very quietly, was the first boutique edition for the Defy Skyline Chronograph, one that has a pretty fantastic look.

On the outside, we get the same case as the original Skyline Chronograph. The stainless steel case measures 42mm wide, with a brushed finish. The case is sharp, with polished facets, and has an octagonal shape with a flat, fixed dodecagonal bezel on top. The oversized crown is surrounded by two flat and wide chronograph pushers.

The dial is where things get absolutely fantastic. The base color of the dial is a slate grey that matches the grey of the stainless steel of the case. The entire dial has the Zenith star patter engraved into it and those starts are filled with a rose gold color. It just looks amazing. Especially paired with the rose gold of the hands and applied hour markers. The look is slightly ruined by the 4:30 date opening, but I’ll admit even that looks amazing, with a matching grey date disc and a rose gold surround for the window. The three sub-dials match the color of the base of the dial and have a snailed finish — a small seconds at 9 o’clock, a 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock and a 60-second counter at 3 o’clock. Why a 60 second sub-dial? Well, the central chronograph hand is, as you might have expected, the 1/10th of a second hand.

To show you a measurement of 1/10th of a second, Zenith uses the El Primer 3600 automatic chronograph movement. It’s a hi-beat movement that beats at 5Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. The watch can be had on a stainless steel bracelet with flat links, or on a black rubber strap.

The Zenith Defy Skyline Chronograph Boutique Edition was introduced at the grand opening of ZENITH’s new boutique at TRX in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is available exclusively at ZENITH physical and online boutiques around the world. The watch is not yet on the website and the press release doesn’t mention the price, but from what I gather it should be in line with regular Defy Skyline Chronographs, probably around €14,300. Keep an eye on the Zenith website.

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Frederique Constant Is Not Done With Amazing Watches, Here’s The Classic Tourbillon Aventurine

There seems to be a consensus among readers of this newsletter and the internet at large that Frederique Constant won Geneva Watch Days last week. Despite being priced at a hefty €30,000, everybody instantly fell in love with the white gold FC Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture with a stunning malachite dial. Well, they introduced another watch at GWD, one that I missed. It is the perhaps even more impressive Classic Tourbillon Manufacture with an aventurine dial.

The case of this tourbillon version look very similar to the moonphase, but there is a slight size difference. Also made out of 18k white gold, it measures 39mm wide and 10.99mm thick (they could just round that up…). Of course, it’s fully polished. On top is a convex sapphire crystal and out back is a flat sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 30 meters, which will do for a dress watch.

As for the dial, it’s a solid piece of aventurine. This material is often wrongly described as a special type of stone, which is the wrong in the vast majority of cases. While aventurine stone exists, it’s mostly green and looks nothing like this. What this is a special type of glass that’s infused with copper flakes to give a shimmering look. Since these are hand crafted pieces of glass, no two are ever the same. The dial has a cutout at 6 o’clock for the tourbilon. The silver hour and minute hands are hand polished, while the indices are applied and diamond-cut.

Powering the watch is the FC-980-4 automatic tourbillon movement. Frederique Constant famously makes their movements in-house, and this one is no different. It beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. It also features a silicon escapement wheel and anchor and decent decorations which include hand-beveled chamfers, circular graining, flanks drawing, and mirror polishing. The watch comes on a blue alligator leather strap with a folding buckle.

The new Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture is limited to just 36 pieces and they are priced at €39,995. See it on the FC website.

3/

Alpina Shrinks Down The Alpiner Extreme And Gives It An Openworked Dial

For years, I wasn’t sure about Alpina watches. They reminded me too much of Alpina skis which I used to use when I was a kid, and I found it kind of weird for the same company to make my skis and my watch. I should have known that they were two different companies, but the logos were so similar and I’m a bit slow, so here we are. But I’m changing my mind. I kind of fell in love with the Heritage Automatic Duo they put out recently and I’m warming up to their sportier models. Kind of like the new smaller and openworked Alpiner Extreme Automatic duo they just showed.

The Alpiner is Alpina’s flagship sports watch, a hefty cushion shaped chunk that measures 41mm wide. While fine for me, I assume my smaller-wristed brothers and sisters would have appreciated a smaller size. Well, here we go — the new watch keeps the cushion shape that now measures 39mm wide and 11.5mm thick. Alpina also says the watch is 40.5mm long, but I suspect that is a measurement of just the case, without the lugs. However, the lugs are super short, so it should be wearable. On top is a raised round bezel with six exposed screws, surrounding a flat sapphire crystal. The case has a brushed finish and the crown has a rubber ring in either grey or blue, depending on the color of the dial.

Well, technically, there is no dial to be colored, but there is an inner flange that comes in two colors — grey or blue and this defines the two differences between the models. The openworked dial gives you a great look at the movement. Additionally, you get polished hour and minutes hands filled with lume, with large indices that reach from the flange over the openworked part of the dial, and the Alpine logo can be found at 12 o’clock. Both versions have a red triangle-tipped central seconds hand.

The movement you see through the dial is the automatic calibre AL-520, which is just a Sellita SW200-1 that gets a custom black rotor. You know the movement. It beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The grey watch comes on a great looking integrated steel bracelet, while the blue version comes on a blue textured rubber strap.

The Alpiner Extreme Skeleton Automatic is priced at €2,695 on the stainless steel bracelet and €2,395 on the rubber strap. See more on the Alpina website.

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Armin Strom Introduces Its Much Smaller Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition

If you don’t know what a resonance complication is, I can guarantee that it’s not what you think it is. With a name like resonance, you would expect it to have something with gongs or chiming time, right? No. Resonance is a complication that makes use of a naturally occurring phenomena when two balance wheels are placed close enough together to become synchronised. They then regulate each other, essentially bringing themselves back to a more optimal position, which in turns gives better performance. It’s a difficult thing to pull off, especially in the limited space of a wristwatch. Armin Strom has been experimenting with these complications, but mostly in huge watches. But now, they’ve managed to shrink it down a lot, while also implementing a unique clutch spring mechanism, for the new Dual Time GMT Resonance.

When I say shrink it down a lot, I mean it. Their resonance models include the wildly huge Masterpiece Dual Time Resonance Which measures 59mm wide, 15.9mm thick and have a 54mm lug-to-lug, as well as the more manageable sized resonances that measure 42mm wide, 12mm thick and with a lug-to-lug of 48.57mm. But the new Dual Time GMT Resonance has all that beat. Despite the complicated construction it’s positively tiny at 39mm wide, 9.05mm thick and with a 44.5mm lug-to-lug. You will, however, be reminded that it’s on your wrist, as it’s made out of 18k white gold. On top is a highly domed sapphire that gives you a look at the dial. Or dials.

Underneath the crystal you tell the time with the two sub-dials at the 5 and 7 o’clock positions. The dials have an azurage finish on the outside and grained blue on the inside. They also feature day/night indicators since they can be set independently to keep track of two time zones. But the dials are less the half of the real estate of the dial surface, with the rest dedicated to parts of the movements. You can see the two balance wheels oscillating at the top and a skeletonized ratchet wheel at 6 o’clock.

The movement that powers the watch is the 18th in-house movement from Armin Strom, the new Calibre ARF22. It beats at 3.5Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. This movement uses a slightly untraditional way of creating resonance. While other resoannce movements need to connect the two balance wheels, Armin Strom uses a clutch spring, which makes it much less sensitive to resonance deviations than other movements. It’s also nicely finished with hand-polished screwheads and bevels of the bridges, wheels, and countersinks; feathery côtes de Genève; engraving; and black polishing of its flat steel surfaces. The watch comes with both a matte-gray alligator strap with sky-blue stitching and a light-gray alligator strap with pearl-gray stitching.

The Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition is limited to 25 pieces and, unlike the CHF 200,000 price tag of its larger brothers, this one is priced at almost half the price — CHF 115,000. See more on the Armin Strom website.

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ArtyA Really Is Perfecting Sapphire Cases With The New Purity Stairway To Heaven HMS Wavy

Over the past year or so, I’ve written about ArtyA many, many times. And most of those were watches set in incredible cases completely made out of sapphire crystal - an incredibly laborious and complex manufacturing process - some of which are so advanced they change color depending on the surrounding temperature. And I was sure I’ve seen it all. Well, I haven’t. ArtyA’s new Purity Stairway To Heaven HMS Wavy takes sapphire cases into a new, much simpler, realm.

The case of the new model takes things back to a more simpler time. There are no crazy shapes or color changes, just absolute focus on perfectly executed cuts and facets. The case measures 40mm wide and 13mm thick, with short lugs that, along with full transparency, must make for a good wear. Since this is a fully transparent sapphire watch, there’s no dial to speak of, so the hour and minute track is engraved into the top crystal. But what I always found fascinating with ArtyA sapphire watches is the fact that they are water resistant. You won’t go diving with them, but they can stand 30 meters. Incredible.

A lot of work has been done on the movement, of course, seeing as how it’s on display from every single angle. ArtyA says that this model introduces a new ‘Time Only’ movement and points out that it’s their manufacture movement, but with no word on who makes it. It’s manually wound, to drop the oscillating weight, and at center stage you’ll see the escapement, suspended in mid-air and oscillating at 4Hz. It also has twin barrels, which give it 72 hours of power reserve. The watch comes on a black nubuck strap.

The ArtyA Purity Stairway to Heaven HMS Wavy is limited to just 99 pieces and priced at CHF 44,900. See more on the ArtyA website.

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Fabian Pellet Breaks Out On His Own With A Spectacular First Watch, The Essential

A day when we get a new watch brand is a good day. This one is named after its founder Fabian Pellet. But before you think it’s a kid watchmaker starting up production on what looks like a very mature watch, keep in mind that Pellet was Swiss-educated and began his watch career in 2003 in Breguet, working on minute repeaters and in the Grandes Complications & Restorations department. In 2022 he left Switzerland for Japan and started work on his own watch. And this is it, the Fabian Pellet Essential, a gorgeous piece of watchmaking.

The watch keeps it classy with the case. Made out of fully polished platinum, it measures 39mm across and just 8mm thick, including the sapphire crystals on top and bottom. It’s super simple case with flowing lugs and a slight indent in the case middle. Don’t expect water resistance from a dress watch, but this one will let you wash your hands safely, with 30 meters of water resistance.

The dial is just as simple as the case, with a time only display. But done in the best possible way. The dial is made by Ulysse Nardin’s dial making operation Donzé Cadrans and is made out of two pieces of Grand Feu enamel. There’s a small seconds display at 6 o’clock and the entire dial has a white base with black printed markings and elongated Roman numerals. The wonderfully shaped hands are blued and polished by hand.

The movement is called the calibre FAP 24 and made in-house. It’s made out of German Silver, and it shows when you look at the caseback, where you’re med with the barrel, geartrain and balance wheel covered by unique looking bridges. The movement beats slow, only at 18,000vph and has a 58 hour power reserve. It’s decorated by hand, of course, with Côtes de Genève, sunray brushing and black polishing. The watch comes on a hand-sewn blue alligator leather strap.

If you think you’ve seen limited edition watches before, you haven’t seen a Fabian Pellet. The Essential is limited to just three pieces and all three have been sold already, at a price of CHF 60,000. See more on the Fabian Pellet website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the Praesidus DD-45 “Patina”

2/

Hands-On With The MB&F and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac M.A.D.1 “Time to Love”

3/

A review of the Unimatic Modello Uno And Modello Quattro GMTs

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Spinnaker Dumas GMT Ocean Blue is exactly what you want if you are in the market for an affordable ’70s-style diver-based GMT

The watch features a blue gradient dial, which starts light in the middle and slowly gets darker towards the edges. The lume-filled hour markers sit atop a dark blue ring that encircles the dial. This dark blue ring also holds the minute track, featuring slim white markers for most minutes and bolder, alternating white and blue markers for every five minutes. On the dial, we also find a date window at 6 o’clock and the odd numbers of a 24-hour scale. Because the watch also has a rotating 24-hour bezel, the Dumas GMT can display the time in three time zones simultaneously.

Read the whole review on Fratello

⏲️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

• Daniel Langlois made his fortune revolutionizing VFX in Jurassic Park. But opening a Caribbean resort with his partner, Dominique Marchand, ended in tragedy and violence. A tropical island, a chocolatier, and a brutal double murder — who killed the Hollywood expats?

• I had no idea that the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) had a magazine that published well researched features. And this one is both well researched, written and heartbreaking. It’s a dive into the heartbreaking tragedy of the (alleged) abuse of the Marvel Comics creator by those who swear they loved him. These are the last days of Stan Lee.

• Just the other day Kendrick Lamar announced that he would be performing at the Super Bowl next year. Which reminded me that he will likely humiliate Drake on the biggest stage in the world. You see, Drake has been kind of fading recently and decided to pick a fight with Kendrick for no good reason. What followed was one of the most one-sided rap battles of all time in which Kendrick destroyed Drake so much that Drake kind of disappeared from public life. Hoping that everyone forgot, he has been flooding the internet with content hoping to stage a comeback. Good luck with that.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I’ve been on a Michael Mann binge for a few weeks now. Here’s a good video summing up why they absolutely rule.

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-Vuk