> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.itsabouttime.email/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A Wonderful Grand Seiko You Likely Won't Be Able To Buy; And New From Bell & Ross, Louis Erard, Habring And GP - URL: https://www.itsabouttime.email/a-wonderful-grand-seiko-you-likely-wont-be-able-to-buy-and-new-from-bell-ross-louis-erard-habring-and-gp/ - Published: 2026-10-30T16:49:03.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T16:49:03.000Z - Author: Vuk Radic - Tags: Daily newsletter Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. OK, check this out. You know I love the guys from The Real Time Show. And if you remember, last year they released a watch with Straum that I called the [prettiest watch of the year](https://www.itsabouttime.email/straum-and-the-real-time-show-release-prettiest-watch-of-the-year-benrus-brings-back-ultra-deep-mr-j/). And really, it was a sensational release that was available only for a very short time. If you missed out, you missed out. Well, they're back with the same watch, only now available on a brand new titanium bracelet. It goes on sale very soon. But, you, the readers of It's About Time have exclusive and early access. Give [this link a click](https://straum.co/collections/early-access?access=iat&ref=itsabouttime.email) and you can buy this sensational watch before anybody else and make sure you get your hands on one. **THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!** Ever since I moved to this new platform, deliverability of emails has been so-so. Some are delivered to a lot of inboxes, some are routed to people's promotions tabs. In case you haven't been getting your emails, check the promotions or junk folders and move it to the primary. That way you'll always get it. --- ****Help me RUN It's About Time** I write this newsletter on my own, and paid subscribers are what keep it running. If you'd like to support it, you'll also get The Caseback, a weekend magazine with longer writing, every Sunday. ****The paid subscription is discounted for just a few more days, so get it now.** [Support IAT ](https://www.itsabouttime.email/annual-its-about-time-is-back-discount) --- ## 👂What’s new ### 1/ Grand Seiko Gives The Omiwatari A Harbor Gray Dial And It Will Be Near Impossible To Get ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/Grand-Seiko-Elegance-SBGY045-GS9-Club-1-1.jpg) The SBGY007 Omiwatari has been one of Grand Seiko’s most loved dress watches since it came out a couple of years ago. It pairs a slim case with the hand-wound Spring Drive calibre 9R31, and its white dial had a really nice texture. Now, the new SBGY045 keeps that case and movement and swaps in a minatonezu dial, a gray with blue and green in it, but good luck getting one. Not only is it limited to 600 pieces, not only is it available only to people who already own a Grand Seiko, but you also have to be a member of the GS9 Club, the brand’s owners-only community. You join by registering a watch bought from a boutique or authorized dealer, which gets you invitations to member events and access to releases like this one. Grand Seiko has made regional club exclusives before. This is the first one offered to members worldwide. The case is shared with the SBGY007: 38.5mm wide, 10.2mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 43.7mm. It’s made out of steel, Zaratsu-polished on the upper surfaces and brushed on the flanks, with a thin polished bevel along the edge of each lug. On top is a dual-domed sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coated, and the screw-in back has a sapphire window engraved “GS9 Club” and “1 of 600”. Water resistance is listed only as splash resistant, with magnetic resistance of 4,800 A/m. The color is minatonezu, a gray with blue and green in it. The name goes back to the Edo period, when sumptuary laws kept commoners out of bright colors and dyers answered with dozens of muted browns and grays, a palette called shijūhatcha hyakunezumi. Grand Seiko starts with a matte base and lays a thick, glassy coating over it, so the dial has the depth of enamel without being enamel. The indices are faceted tapering batons. At 9, you get an applied gold-tone Arabic numeral with a gold dot next to it, matching the GS logo. Inside is the in-house calibre 9R31, a hand-wound Spring Drive with 30 jewels. Spring Drive takes power from a mainspring and regulates speed with a quartz-controlled glide wheel. Power reserve is 72 hours, with a power reserve indicator on the movement side, and Grand Seiko rates it to ±15 seconds monthly. Through the back you see heat-blued screws, diamond-cut bevels and a hairline-brushed bridge. Two 19mm calfskin straps come in the box, one chocolate brown and one light gray, each with a steel folding clasp. The Grand Seiko SBGY045 is limited to 600 pieces and priced at €9,500\. While this is only available to GS9 Club members, not all members will get to buy one. They'll have to enter a lottery through the regional GS9 Club websites (EU, US, UK). Grand Seiko says deliveries start in February 2027\. See more on the Club members enter a lottery for the right to buy one through the regional GS9 Club websites (EU, US, UK), where new members can also join by registering an existing Grand Seiko with proof of purchase. Grand Seiko says deliveries start in February 2027\. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/grand-seiko-gives-the-omiwatari-a-harbor-gray-dial-and-it-will-be-near-impossible-to-get/) and the watch [on the GS9 Club website](https://grandseikogs9club.com/?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 2/ Bell & Ross Rebuilds the BR-05 Chrono Dial Around a Speed-Skiing Record ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/BR05_CHRONO_SNOW_ROCKET_1-1.jpg) The BR-05 is Bell & Ross’s integrated-bracelet sports watch, a round bezel set into a squared-off case, and the chronograph version has shown us that it's a somewhat decent canvas for a collaboration or special edition. Like, for example, this new BR-05 Chrono Snow Rocket. It's made for Simon Billy, the French skier who reached 255.50km/h going downhill in 2023, setting a world record. It's also not just a color update, it changes just enough on the dial to make this look completely different. The steel case is familiar, measuring 42mm wide and 14.25mm thick, with brushed and polished surfaces. Guards protect the screw-down crown, there’s sapphire crystals front and back with anti-reflective coating on the front, and you get 100 meters of water resistance. The thickness comes from the 7750-type movement, often plagues other models that use the same movement, but over 14mm is a tough pill to swallow. All the real changes are on the dial. The base is matte white, and the red is taken from Billy’s race suit. The applied numerals are red and italic, replacing the mix of Arabic numerals and indices on other BR-05 Chronos, and the italic gives it a sense of speed. The red hour and minute hands are shaped like the long skis used in the sport and filled with Super-LumiNova BGW9, which glows blue. The date has moved from between four and five o’clock down to six, so the layout is now symmetrical: running seconds on the left, a 30-minute counter on the right, date below. There's also a tachymeter on the inner flange. Inside is the BR-CAL.326, an automatic chronograph that's essentially the Sellita SW510\. It beats at 4Hz with 60 hours of power reserve, and there’s a red skier outline on the sapphire caseback. You can choose between a grooved rubber strap in red or a steel bracelet with brushed and polished links. The Bell & Ross BR-05 Chrono Snow Rocket (ref. BR05C-KL-ST) is limited to 250 pieces. It's priced at €6,900 on rubber and €7,400 on the bracelet. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/bell-ross-rebuilds-the-br-05-chrono-dial-around-a-speed-skiing-record/) and the watch [on the Bell & Ross website](https://bellross.com/en-eur/products/br-05-chrono-snow-rocket-steel-bracelet?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 3/ Louis Erard and Vianney Halter Split the Time Across Two Movements in the Futur Antérieur ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/Louis-Erard-Vianney-Halter-1-1.jpg) The new Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Futur Antérieur runs on a pair of automatic movements. One powers the hours and minutes, the other powers a central seconds hand on a dial of its own, and each sits behind a riveted porthole. If you don’t know Halter, he is one of the original modern independents, a French watchmaker working in Switzerland who also helped design Harry Winston’s Opus 3\. The porthole look of the Futur Antérieur is directly inspired by his legendary Antiqua, a riveted steel perpetual calendar from the late 1990s that still defines his work. Louis Erard has built much of its recent reputation on affordable collaborations with independents like Halter, Alain Silberstein and Konstantin Chaykin. Earlier LE - Halter put his design language onto Louis Erard’s regulator. This one borrows the Antiqua’s actual layout, in a case Louis Erard built for just for this release. The steel case is new for Louis Erard and built from 67 components. It is 38mm wide with a lug-to-lug of 44mm and 8.85mm thick. Those are pretty unbelievable numbers. Not just because it looks absolutely massive in pictures, but also because it houses two movements. Each dial gets a raised bezel with 12 yellow-gilt 1N rivets and a sapphire crystal over it. There are two Halter-style crowns as well, each with six more rivets. The top metal surface is circular brushed, the flanks vertically brushed, the edges polished. Water resistance is 50 meters, and a solid steel back carries the edition number. Both dials have a grained center inside an applied ring with circular brushing and a polished chamfer, with black printed markings. The Gold version uses yellow-gilt dials, the Silver uses rhodium plating. Halter’s blued steel hands appear on both and look best against the silver. Because the seconds come from a separate movement, that hand has no mechanical link to the minute hand, and the two will drift apart over time. Both movements are the Sellita calibre SW100, a small 17.2mm automatic running at 4Hz with at least 38 hours of power reserve, typically closer to 42\. One is set up with a single hand, the other with two. Louis Erard decorates both movement and fits a Côtes de Genève rotor engraved with its logo, though the solid back means you’ll never see any of it. The straps are made out of ostrich leather, black on the Gold and blue on the Silver, with calf lining, a 20mm to 18mm taper, quick-release bars and a signed steel pin buckle. The Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Futur Antérieur Gold and Silver are each limited to 178 pieces, priced at CHF 4,950 before tax. A Duo Set with both watches in a wooden box is also available, limited to 78 sets at CHF 9,900\. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/louis-erard-and-vianney-halter-split-the-time-across-two-movements-in-the-futur-anterieur/) and the watches [on the Louis Erard website](https://www.louiserard.com/products/louis-erard-x-vianney-halter-futur-anterieur-duo-set?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 4/ Habring² Teams Up With SJX To Add a Perpetual Calendar to the Monopusher Chrono Felix ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/Habring-x-SJX-Chrono-Felix-Perpetual-Star-1-1.jpg) Habring² is the two-person workshop of Richard and Maria Habring in Völkermarkt, Austria, and it makes some of the most interesting watches in independent watchmaking. They're simple but complicated and all together very delightful. SJX is the Singapore watch publication run by journalist Su Jiaxian. The two have already collaborated on the Erwin “Star”, a dead-beat seconds watch with star indices, and the Chrono Felix “Medicus”, a monopusher chronograph. This Habring² x SJX Chrono Felix Perpetual “Star” is the third and final watch in the series takes the stars from the first and the monopusher from the second, then adds a perpetual calendar, and at $28,500 it will set you back a fraction of what the big houses charge for the same combination. The steel case is 38.5mm wide and 13mm thick, with polished and brushed finishes. Those are excellent numbers for a chronograph QP. 13mm might be on the thicker side for a watch in general, but a bezel that steps down three times hides much of the height, and if you look at the 4 o'clock position on the bezel you'll see recessed correctors for the perpetual calendar. Great work on that. Sure, you'll need a stylus to set the calendar, but that's the price of using a module rather than an integrated movement. There are sapphire crystals on both sides, domed and anti-reflective up front, and water resistance is not spectacular at 30 meters. But come on, a hand-built chronograph with a perpetual calendar. What more could you want? The dial is glossy black lacquer, and every printed or applied element on it is gold colored. That includes the moon disc, which would usually be blue, with a tone-on-tone frosted moon on top. The sub-dials are matte with concentric rings and sit slightly recessed. Eight applied gold stars are used as hour markers. The layout is as follows: moon phase and 30-minute counter at 12, day at three, month and leap year at six, date at nine. On paper it should be too much. In practice it looks fantastic. Inside is the hand-wound calibre A11CP. The A11 chronograph base started life as a Valjoux 7750, but Habring² has replaced most of its parts with components made in-house or by independent suppliers, and it is a far better movement for it. On top sits a Dubois-Depraz perpetual calendar module, adapted to work with the monopusher and to let the crown handle the day correction, so there’s one fewer corrector in the case. It beats at 4Hz with 48 hours of power reserve, and the steel chronograph levers are finished by Pöhlmann-Bresan, visible through the caseback. The strap is brown calfskin with an aged look and a steel pin buckle stamped with a star. The Habring² x SJX Chrono Felix Perpetual “Star” will only be made in 30 pieces, each numbered on the caseback and sold exclusively through SJX, priced at $28,500 before tax. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/habring2-teams-up-with-sjx-to-add-a-perpetual-calendar-to-the-monopusher-chrono-felix/) and the watch [on the SJX website](https://watchesbysjx.com/2026/10/habring2-sjx-cfp-star.html?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 5/ Girard-Perregaux Brings Back the Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges for Good ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/Laureato-Fifty-Three-Gold-Bridges-1-1.jpg) Last year’s Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges was a numbered release shown at Dubai Watch Week, a side project to the time-and-date Laureato Fifty that marked the collection’s 50th birthday. Looks like it was a pretty popular watch, because Girard-Perregaux is now making it a permanent staple in the regular catalogue. Well, with a few changes. Now the bridges, markers and hands are rose gold where the original was all white metal. The case is 41mm wide and 10.85mm thick, with a steel middle and caseback under an octagonal white gold bezel. Flat surfaces are brushed, the side bevels polished, and there’s sapphire crystals front and back. Water resistance goes up from 30 to 50 meters. Still low for a sports watch, but a major improvement. There isn’t much of a dial. You look straight into the movement: barrel and micro-rotor up top, gear train through the middle, tourbillon at six, all held by three horizontal Neo Bridges, now solid rose gold. A brushed sloped flange carries applied rose gold markers with Super-LumiNova, and the pencil hands match. Inside is the in-house calibre GP9620-2856, with 303 parts, 33 jewels, 21,600 vph and 55 hours of power reserve. The platinum micro-rotor sits under the barrel, so nothing blocks the view from the back, where the three-bridge layout is repeated. The tourbillon cage is titanium in GP’s lyre shape and has a small hand for running seconds. GP says they have 418 hand-polished bevels and 362 inner angles across the calibre. It comes on an integrated steel bracelet with a triple-folding clasp and up to 4mm of fine adjustment. This new Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges has the reference number 99112-58-3619-1CM and is available now at a pretty hefty €178,000\. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/girard-perregaux-brings-back-the-laureato-fifty-three-gold-bridges-for-good/) and the watch [on the Girard-Perregaux website](https://www.girard-perregaux.com/watches/laureato/99112-58-3619-1cm?ref=itsabouttime.email). --- ### Just Because: Here Are Some Nice Haloween Watches ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/Monster_Melter-lifestyle_2.jpg-copy-1.png) Spooky season is coming to an end tomorrow, that doesn't mean that we can't wear some [Halloween themed watches](https://www.itsabouttime.email/just-because-here-are-some-nice-haloween-watches/). --- ### IAT REVIEW: The Circula Facet 38 And Facet 41 And Who Really Decides How Big Our Watches Are ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/10/circula_1-1.jpg) Online, everyone wants smaller watches, but in stores people buy bigger ones. Circula’s two Facets show why both sizes deserve to exist. [Read the review here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/iat-review-the-circula-facet-38-and-facet-41-and-who-really-decides-how-big-our-watches-are/). --- ****Help me RUN It's About Time** I write this newsletter on my own, and paid subscribers are what keep it running. If you'd like to support it, you'll also get The Caseback, a weekend magazine with longer writing, every Sunday. ****The paid subscription is discounted for just a few more days, so get it now.** [Support IAT ](https://www.itsabouttime.email/annual-its-about-time-is-back-discount) --- ## ⚙️Watch Worthy - [A review of the Tissot PRX Quartz Chronograph](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/hands-on-the-tissot-prx-quartz-chronograph-watch-is-a-long-overdue-value-leader/?ref=itsabouttime.email) - [Hands on with the Sinn U50](https://www.fratellowatches.com/a-long-overdue-encounter-with-the-impressive-sinn-u50-dive-watch/?ref=itsabouttime.email) --- ## ⏲️End links - There’s a generational shift happening in the funeral industry: Over the past four decades, female enrollment in mortuary programs has increased from 5 percent to roughly 75 percent of recent graduating classes. But why? For the Los Angeles Review of Books, Andie Eisen examines this trend, speaking with three women working in the deathcare field. Some were drawn in by a fascination with death or a formative funeral experience; others by a calling to a higher purpose and a desire to bring intimacy and care to a [field long seen as impersonal, commercial, and male-dominated](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/death-industry-mortuary-programs-women-andie-eisen-quarterly/?src=longreads&ref=itsabouttime.email). - Do you know what BPC‑157 is? This cryptically named peptide is, according to its proponents, a miracle cure for all sorts of illnesses and injuries. Tom Bartlett remains firmly in the skeptical camp as he investigates exactly what research backs up the BPC‑157 claims. Almost all the studies prove to have a link to Croatian pharmacologist Predrag Sikirić—who is all too happy to meet Bartlett and exalt BPC‑157\. But once you know what this is, the question remains: [Would you take it?](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/12/predrag-sikiric-peptide-science/689032/?ref=itsabouttime.email) --- ## 👀Watch this I love this guy. I've been obsessed with Alpine shelters for a while and I just wanted to tell you that they're very cool dwellings and you should watch these videos. --- Thanks for reading Vuk P.S. If you have any questions, suggestions, gripes or anything else, just reply to this email. It comes straight to me and I try responding to everyone.