Zodiac Releases Fully Lumed Dial Super Sea Wolf; Nivada' Bronze Pac-Man Depthmaster; Depancel Unveils First Auto Chrono Série-R; Moser Brings Back Streamliner Centre Seconds In Green And Purple

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I hope the weather wherever you are is as good as it is here - enjoy the weekend!

In this issue:

• Zodiac Releases Completely Lumed Dial Version Of The Super Sea Wolf In Collaboration With The Legendary Red Bar

• Nivada Grenchen Updates Their Pac-Man-Like Depthmaster With A Bronze Case

• Depancel Unveils First Série-R Watch With an Automatic Chronograph Caliber

• H. Moser & Cie. Brings Back The Streamliner Centre Seconds With Matrix Green And Purple Haze Fumé Dials, As Well As A New Movement

Today’s reading time: 7 minutes and 19 seconds

👂What’s new

1/

Zodiac Releases Completely Lumed Dial Version Of The Super Sea Wolf In Collaboration With The Legendary Red Bar

In a midtown Manhattan bar in 2007, a group of watch collectors came together and formed RedBar, an informal organisation that would put together watch events every so often. It was a way to bring the New York watch community together. What they didn’t expect that almost 20 years later they would have RedBar events all over the globe and get to make watches in collaboration with some of the largest watch brands out there. Their latest release comes in partnership with Zodiac, in the form of a Super Sea Wolf diver with a lumed dial and a very nice nod to Zodiac history.

Being a Super Sea Wolf, you know what to expect here. It’s a big diver that measures 42mm wide, 14.3mm thick and has a 50mm lug-to-lug measurement. Part of the size can be attributed to the fact that Zodiac wants this to be their performing diver, but also to the fact that it’s water resistant to 300 meters and has ISO 6425 certification. On top is a flat sapphire crystal, surrounded by a bezel with a black ceramic insert with a red triangle and glowing pip at 12 o’clock.

The dial is the main attraction of this watch. It’s completely painted in luminous material, including the rehaut, which gives it a pale neon green shade when the lights are on. In the dark, the dial glows bright blue while the geometric applied markers (white in daylight, with a black border), along with the white hash marks on the bezel, glow bright green.

But perhaps even more interesting than the glowing dial is the addition of a red dot at 4:30. Of course, this is a direct nod to the RedBar color, but also a look to 90s Zodiac watches which used to feature these colored dots to denote which tier the watch belonged to in the lineup. Red dots were used for tool watches, while silver ones indicated that these were more dressy dive watches. Then there were the gold dots which were the highest end pieces and could often include gold plated divers. A very cool detail to include in a limited edition.

Inside the watch is the STP1-21 movement, made by STP which is owned by Zodiac’s owner, The Fossil Group. Similar to the Sellita SW200-1, the STP1-11 movement is an ETA 2824-2 clone, which means you get a 4Hz beat rate and about 44 hours of power reserve. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet and a black and red Velcro strap is included.

While the new Zodiac x RedBar Super Sea Wolf Pro-Diver is a limited edition, limited to 200 pieces, it’s not limited to just RedBar members so pretty much anybody can buy it if they are quick enough. Sales start on May 20, but I’m going to have to say that $2,295 is a bit excessive for what you get. See more on the Zodiac website.

2/

Nivada Grenchen Updates Their Pac-Man-Like Depthmaster With A Bronze Case

Brand claims about historical achievements should not be taken at face value. There are still at least three brands claiming they invented the dive watch format and while we are pretty sure that this was Rolex, it won’t stop the other two claiming that they were first. So, when Nivada Grenchen - and not the original NG, but the revived brand that has very little to do with the old Nivada - says that their Depthmaster was the first waterproof diving watch to withstand 1,000 meters, way back in 1965 you can either believe them or not. But it’s clear that they were on the forefront of underwater tech. Today, Nivada Grenchen isn’t as much into development as they are branding, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as they have revived the Depthmaster, along with it’s art deco numerals that make it so special. And now, they’re making a bronze version with the same 1,000m water resistance.

The Depthmaster has a very recognisable cushion shaped case that’s actually smaller than you would expect when seeing it in pictures - 39mm wide, 13mm thick and with a lug-to-lug of 47mm. While the Depthmaster usually comes in a steel case, this one is made out of a copper-aluminium bronze alloy which gets a brushed finish. Nivada, of course, says they’ve done this for more resistance to corrosion, but we all know they did it because it looks very cool. Out back is a stainless steel caseback and since you can go down to 1,000 meters, there’s also a helium escape valve on the left side of the case. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a bezel that has a matte black ceramic insert with bronze-coloured graduations.

The dial is matte black and the indices at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock feature the famous stylised Art Deco numerals that look so much like Pac-Man characters. The numerals and indices are raised from the surface, have a bronze-coloured border and are filled with white Super-LumiNova. The hands also get a brushed bronze finish, but you can hardly see it as they are filled with lume from edge to edge.

Inside is the Soprod P024 automatic, yet another close of the ETA 2824-2. You know the spec then - a beat rate of 28,800vph and a 38 hour power reserve. This being Nivada Grenchen, there’s a bunch of strap to choose from. I counted at least seven, including both rubber and leather.

The new Nivada Depthmaster Bronze doesn’t seem to be a limited edition and pre orders start on May 29th. Price is set at €1,650. See more on the Nivada Grenchen website.

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Depancel Unveils First Série-R Watch With an Automatic Chronograph Caliber

There’s something liberating in setting very strict boundaries to your work. If you were to start a watch brand that makes cool watches, you would have no idea where to start and where to end. If, on the other hand, you decided to make automotive-themed watches, then things get much clearer. Depancel is a brand that did just that - focused on cars and racing, which led them to a whole range of interesting watches. Like, for example, their rectangular Série-R. Now they’re updating the watch with a new tangerine colorway and a new, and interesting, automatic movement.

The case of the Série-R might look familiar, almost like the TAG Heuer Monaco with its slab sides, but there are some obvious differences. First, this is a rectangle, one that’s supposed to mimic the look of a radiator grille (hence the curved top of the case and the straight bottom). Somebody will, however, have to help me out with the size of the watch. Depancel says the size is 40mm x 36mm, which I would interpret as being 36mm wide and 40mm long. But this seems to be a measurement without the lugs, as they state the lug-to-lug to be 48.5mm and the thickness is 13.3mm. The finishing on the steel case is brushed with nicely polished facets and water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial gets an expected tri-compax layout, with a blue base dial with a sunray finish in the interior circular section and vertical ridges outside. This colorway is called Tangerine, so the orange accents - including a thick stripe down the dial’s left side - are expected.

Inside, we get quite a surprise. It’s not just a new movement for Depancel, but also a relative newcomer to the market, the Chinese-made Peacock SL-4801. Peacock launched the movement late last year and it has appeared in several Chinese watches, so I guess this will be one of their first major uses in a western-branded watch. Depancel claims the watches are tested in-house - whatever that means - and pretty much everything I know about it is that it is a vertical clutch column chronograph and has a 60 hour power reserve. A brave choice for Depancel. The watch comes on a blue perforated racing-style leather strap with orange stitching.

The Série-R Chronograph Tangerine is a limited edition of 300 numbered pieces and priced at CHF 995. Pre orders start on June 11. See more on the Depancel website.

 4/

H. Moser & Cie. Brings Back The Streamliner Centre Seconds With Matrix Green And Purple Haze Fumé Dials, As Well As A New Movement

Man… H. Moser & Cie. just can’t disappoint. Back in 2020 they killed it by introducing the Streamliner, a truly original take on the integrated bracelet luxury sports watch at a time when everybody was pretty much making the same thing, and they did with a sleek case and an even more impressive dial. While the first model released was a slightly complicated Flyback Chronograph, people actually fell in love with the Streamliner Centre Seconds with a Matrix Green fumé dial. Ever since that model was discontinued cusomters asked for its return. Well, here it is, the Mark 2 Streamliner Centre Seconds, now in Matrix Green and Purple Haze.

That case of the Streamliner is a work of art. Cushion-shaped and made out of satin brushed steel, it measures 40mm wide and 10.3mm thick. However, everyone reports that the watch wears much smaller, thanks to its lack of lugs and the fact that the case length measurement is 39mm. Attached to the case is a tapering steel bracelet that is vertically brushed and with contrasting polished bevels between each link. It seems that the case hasn’t changed much for the Mark 2.

What has slightly changed is the dial. It now no longer has a prominent logo - it’s now painted onto the dial with transparent lacquer, visible only under certain conditions. The to colors - Matrix Green and Purple Haze - both have a sunburst fumé finish, interrupted only by the applied indices and a printed second scale. The hour, minute and central seconds are flat and have Globolight inserts, which is a ceramic-based material that contains Super-LumiNova.

Inside is a brand new HMC 201 automatic calibre which replaces the HMC 200. Technically, the movement is new to the model, but not the brand, as it’s been used in the Pioneer Centre Seconds. It beats at 21,600vph and thanks to it’s double barrels it gets a 3 day power reserve. The bridges are partially skeletonized and finished in an anthracite color with Moser’s signature double stripes.

Both colorways of the Streamliner Centre Seconds are regular editions and priced the same - CHF 21,900 with taxes. This is a bit of a shame, as the CHF 2,000 increase puts it over the CHF 20,000 range, making it a bit less special. See more on the Moser website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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A review of the Platinum Rolex Perpetual 1908

2/

Hands on with the Seiko Prospex SPB451 and SPB453

3/

A review of the Millesime Automatic Moon Phase 39.5mm

⚙️Watch Worthy

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

The Spinnaker Fleuss Automatic x Seconde/Seconde/ Fifty Phantoms is no longer around, but it’s still extremely cool

The ghost graphics (which remind people of simple video game graphics and what a ghost might have looked like in a Nintendo game) are undeniably fun, and a large one is placed on the automatic rotor on the rear of the watch. Most people will smile when seeing the luminant work on the dial, where Spinnaker cleverly decided to have slightly different lume applications on the ghosts that create a sense of visual depth. Note that the ghost on the automatic rotor is also painted with luminant.

Read the whole review on A Blog To Watch

⏲️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

• Roger Corman died and not a lot of people noticed. It took me, a Corman fan, a couple of days to learn of the news. Which is a shame. Corman was without a doubt the most important person in the U.S. film industry. He introduced Americans to Fellini, Bergman, Truffaut and Kurosawa. He also helped start the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, James Cameron, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern and William Shatner. If he did only that, that would be enough. But he also directed 55 movies and produced 385. So, in honour of the legend, here’s a career interview with Roger Corman, full of previously unpublished stories and reflections on the changing movie industry.

• Brendan Koerner has a long, storied career reporting on stories and characters who feel almost too vivid to be true. For his latest at Wired, though, he turns that formula inside out—and becomes one of the army of hidden support workers who assume the identity of an OnlyFans creator in order to maintain chats with paying subscribers. Hilarious and deeply depressing in nearly equal measure, but never without empathy.

• Joanna Meade moved into an old house in Baltimore’s Roland Park neighborhood. When they removed a wall during a bathroom renovation, they discovered a black tin box hidden among the plumbing. Inside, she found 67 “juicy turn-of-the-century love letters,” all except one postmarked 1920 or 1921. Tim Prudente and Stokely Baksh recount what Meade, her neighbors, and Baltimore Banner staff pieced together from the correspondence.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Continuing on with the Roger Corman eulogy, here’s a supercut of all of his appearances on Letterman’s show and what he had to say on the careers of some of Hollywoods most famous people.

💵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 Ōtsuka 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

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-Vuk