> ## 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. # Longines Spruces Up The Spirit, Formex Goes Flying, And New Watches From Marathon, Chopard And Breguet - URL: https://www.itsabouttime.email/longines-spruces-up-the-spirit-formex-goes-flying-and-new-watches-from-marathon-chopard-and-breguet/ - Published: 2026-09-24T16:03:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-24T16:03:01.000Z - Author: Vuk Radic - Tags: Daily newsletter Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It's funny how similar the Marathon x W.O.E and the CWC x TGN collaborations are. And I know which one I prefer more. In case you just got one of these emails and don't know where I've been for the past month, [you can read the whole story here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/where-did-its-about-time-disappear/). --- ****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/ Longines Gives The Spirit Pilot And Spirit Pilot Flyback A Matte Blue Dial ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/09/LonginesSpiritPilot_L3.809.4.93.6_L3.721.4.93.6_1-1.jpg) Longines launched the Spirit collection in 2020, and it has since become the brand's main contemporary line. Last year's Spirit Pilot and Spirit Pilot Flyback were a major moment for the collection: smaller, cleaner and more committed to the aviation theme than the Spirits that came before. For 2026 both get a small update in the form of matte blue dials, while the Flyback also gets a matching blue ceramic bezel. The Spirit Pilot is 39mm wide and 11.5mm thick in brushed and polished steel, with a lug-to-lug of 47.4mm. There's a sapphire crystal on top, a screw down caseback out back, a screw-down crown on the right side and you get 100 meters of water resistance. The Flyback measures 39.5mm wide and 13.4mm thick on the same 47.4mm lug-to-lug, with a box-shaped sapphire crystal and a bidirectional bezel with a blue ceramic countdown insert. Water resistance is 100 meters. These are pretty good dimensions for both variants. The new blue dials are pretty handsome. Applied rhodium-plated Arabic numerals and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova, a railroad minute track runs around the perimeter, and an inner ring of rhomboid markers counts off five-second intervals, echoed by the rhomboid tip on the seconds hand. There's no date. The Flyback keeps its two sub-dials, running seconds at nine and a 30-minute counter at three, with silver colored hands. The Spirit Pilot uses the Longines-exclusive calibre L888.4, an evolution of the ETA 2892, beating at 3.5Hz with 72 hours of power reserve, a silicon hairspring and COSC certification. The Flyback uses the hand-wound calibre L792.4, based on the Valjoux 7750 but reworked with a column wheel and flyback function, running at 4Hz with 68 hours of reserve, a silicon hairspring and COSC certification, visible through a sapphire caseback. Both come on either a steel bracelet with a micro-adjustable double folding clasp or a blue rubber strap with a pin buckle and quick-release system. The Longines Spirit Pilot Blue is priced at €2,600 on rubber and €2,950 on the bracelet, while the Spirit Pilot Flyback Blue is priced at €5,050 on rubber and €5,400 on the bracelet. Both are available now as part of the permanent collection. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/longines-gives-the-spirit-pilot-and-spirit-pilot-flyback-a-matte-blue-dial/) and the watches [on the Longines website](https://www.longines.com/watches/spirit?ref=itsabouttime.email) (when they show up some time this week). ### 2/ Formex Turns Its Titanium Field Watch Into a Pilot's Watch With the New AirField ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/09/Formex-AirField-1-1.jpg) Formex is very well known for making sensible tool watches at honest prices, so the newly released AirField comes as no surprise. It takes the Field Automatic, a watch that I really fancy, keeps the case, and swaps the dial, hands, and movement. That sounds like a bit of a shortcut, but field and pilot watches have always been close cousins, separated mostly by their dials, so the conversion makes more sense than it first appears. Nothing changes on the outside. The case is sandblasted grade 2 titanium with a 900Hv hardened coating, which should stop it picking up the desk scratches bare titanium, especially the softer grade 2, is known for. It measures 40mm wide and 10.5mm thick, with a 20mm lug width and a lug-to-lug of 48mm. On top is a flat sapphire crystal, out back is a screw-down caseback, and the screw-down crown brings water resistance to 150 meters. The dial now has a grain texture, in four colors: Desert Sand, Horizon Blue, Jet Black, and Tarmac Grey. The recessed stencil Arabic numerals are carried over from the Field, and they are filled with Grade A Super-LumiNova. Surrounding the dial is a sloped chapter ring and there's a beveled date window at six o'clock. Brand new is the handset, a traditional pilot's set whose seconds hand ends in a small airplane counterweight. It's the one playful touch on an otherwise serious dial. Inside is the Sellita SW200-2 Power+, which Formex has been working through its catalog. It runs at 4Hz with a 65-hour power reserve, a big step up from the roughly 38 hours of the standard SW200\. Straps come in two flavors: a wrap-around velcro in blue, black, khaki green, or sand, or a Bolgheri leather in black, leone brown, caraffa brown, blue, or violet, paired with Formex's carbon fiber deployant clasp with micro-adjustment. The Formex AirField Automatic 40mm is a non-limited model, priced at $1,060 on velcro and $1,200 on leather with the deployant clasp. See [way more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/formex-turns-its-titanium-field-watch-into-a-pilots-watch-with-the-new-airfield/) and the watches [on the Formex website](https://formexwatch.com/watches/air-field-automatic-tarmac-grey-40-mm/?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 3/ Marathon And Watches Of Espionage Do The Iconic SAR In Titanium ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/09/Marathon-x-WOE-SAR1-1.jpg) Marathon is one of the few brands whose military credentials are current rather than archival. The SAR was built to Canadian government search-and-rescue specifications and is still issued to Canadian and American forces, the US Marine Corps included. Until now every SAR has been made out of steel. Now, they're make a titanium version for the first time, and it's done in partnership with Watches of Espionage, the former CIA case officer's account turned lifestyle brand, in its first collaboration. If any of this sounds a bit familiar, it could be that it reminds you, as it does me, of The Grey Nato's first collaboration. They teamed up with CWC to make their first titanium watch. However, I will be a bit snide and mention that TGN was pretty restrained in their collaboration and didn't put their name on the dial. Watches of Espionage did, but they also did a lot of good things with this watch. The case is Grade 5 titanium, 39mm wide at the case and 41mm across the bezel, 14mm thick, water resistant to 300 meters with a screw-down crown and caseback. Fourteen millimeters on a 39mm case is chunky, but nobody buys a SAR looking for a small watch. The caseback has the W.O.E. spade, the "Use Your Tools" motto and a block of government-issue style engraving. It's a bit of cosplay, but harmless cosplay. The knurled crown is also signed with the W.O.E. spade. The matte black dial swaps printed markers for applied indices borrowed from the 2001 SAR, which gives it more depth than the current production model. Hands and indices are filled with an upgraded version of Marathon's MaraGlo, which W.O.E. says matches Super-LumiNova X2 for brightness and glows longer. A red "WOE" sits above six o'clock, and the first four minutes of the minute track are red, a nod to the four-minute window CIA officers used for clandestine source meetings. The watch also drops the date aperture, as well as the cyclops on the sapphire crystal above it. Inside is the Sellita SW200-2B, replacing the SW200-1 used in the standard SAR Automatic. That means no date and a power reserve of 65 hours instead of 41, a meaningful upgrade. The watch ships on a black FKM rubber strap with a Grade 5 titanium pin buckle and two lengths of tail, one long enough to go over a dive suit. The Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR is limited to 200 examples, priced at $2,250\. Preorders open today, September 24, at 2:00 PM EST, with deliveries expected in January. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/marathon-and-watches-of-espionage-do-the-iconic-sar-in-titanium/) and the watch [on the W.O.E. website](https://www.watchesofespionage.com/?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 4/ Chopard Brings Back The '76 Happy Diamonds And '93 Happy Sport For 50 Years Of Loose Diamonds ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/09/chopard-loose-diamonds-1-1.jpeg) I don't cover nearly as enough women's watches as I should. So let's fix this today with one of my favorite women's watches of all time. I had no idea, but this watch was first introduced in 1976\. The watch was the Happy Diamonds made by Chopard and it features unset stones in small gold capsules that move freely between sapphire crystals. I was mesmerized with this watch when I first saw it as a kid. Now, 50 years later, Chopard is bringing this concept back with a recreation of the 1976 Happy Diamonds and the 1993 Happy Sport, the steel version of the iconic watch. The Happy Diamonds Heritage keeps the original cushion case in 18k ethical yellow gold and comes in the same two sizes as 1976: 34mm and 24mm. The crown has an onyx cabochon, matching the dial. Surprisingly, there's some water resistance, but it's 30 meters. Happy Sport The First comes in 26mm and 33mm, in Chopard's Lucent Steel or two-tone yellow gold and steel. On the Heritage, the dial is polished black onyx with 21 loose diamonds in the 34mm and nine in the 24mm. The Happy Sport sticks to its early-'90s recipe: silver grained dial, blue Roman numerals, railway minute track, and blued sword hands, with seven moving diamonds in the 33mm and five in the 26mm. The 34mm Heritage runs on Chopard's hand-wound calibre 10.01-C, a 15.7mm-wide movement introduced in 2024, beating at 3Hz with 45 hours of power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback. The 24mm is quartz, as is every Happy Sport, which is just fine here. The Heritage comes on black alligator with a yellow gold buckle. The Happy Sport gets the original pebble-link bracelet back, redesigned and now made in-house, with rounded links that drape like jewelry. The Chopard Happy Diamonds Heritage is available now in 34mm for $48,400 and 24mm for $24,000\. Happy Sport The First starts at $6,660 for the 26mm in Lucent Steel and $7,140 for the 33mm, with two-tone versions at $11,400 and $13,200 and the 26mm in solid gold at $44,800\. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/chopard-brings-back-the-76-happy-diamonds-and-93-happy-sport-for-50-years-of-loose-diamonds/) and the watches [on the Chopard website](https://www.itsabouttime.email/chopard-brings-back-the-76-happy-diamonds-and-93-happy-sport-for-50-years-of-loose-diamonds/). ### 5/ Breguet Rebuilds the Marine 5517 And Marine Chronograph 5527 To Match Their Origins ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/09/BREGUET_MARINE_1-1.jpg) Despite the extremely classical looks, the Marine is qualified as a sports watch for Breguet. It draws its roots traces back to Abraham-Louis Breguet's appointment as watchmaker to the French Royal Navy under Louis XVIII, but the current generation, which has been around for almost 10 years, always felt a bit off, with lumed Roman numerals, a signal-flag seconds hand and a lack of brand coherence. Well, Breguet just fixed all of that with a time-and-date 5517 and the Marine Chronograph 5527. The cases haven't changed from the previous generation, which is a bit of a curiosity when you see how much the watches have changed. The 5517 is 40mm wide, 11.5mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 47.7mm. The 5527 is 42.3mm wide, 13.9mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 50.7mm. Both are available in titanium, 18k white gold or 18k rose gold, with the deeply fluted caseband, wave-shaped crown guards and single central lug that define the collection. You get sapphire crystal front and back, and a screw down crown gives you 100 meters of water resistance. While they missed the opportunity to improve the large cases, they did not miss on the dials. Breguet swapped the old wave guilloché for a hand-engraved pattern called Quai de l'Horloge, first used for the brand's 250th anniversary, then coated it in translucent lacquer and encircled it with a satin chapter ring. The lumed Roman numerals are gone, replaced by applied Breguet numerals in 18k gold, and the logo is now an applied gold element too. You lose lume on the markers, keeping it only on the hands. The date moves to 6 o'clock on both wathces. On the 5517, the titanium version gets smoked dark blue with rose gold accents, white gold gets ice blue, rose gold gets black dials. The chronograph changes more: the lopsided three-register layout becomes two equal registers for running seconds and elapsed minutes, the date moves from 4:30 to 6, and each dial fades darker toward the edge. Grey to black on titanium, blue to navy on rose gold, ice blue to mid-blue on white gold. The 5517 uses Breguet's calibre 777A, an in-house automatic with an inverted in-line lever escapement and silicon hairspring, beating at 4Hz with 55 hours of power reserve. The 5527 uses the in-house calibre 582QA, a cam-operated flyback chronograph, also beating at 4Hz with 48 hours of reserve. Both get bridges striped like ship's decking and a rudder-shaped rotor. Every version comes on either a rubber strap embossed with the Quai de l'Horloge pattern or a bracelet in the case metal. The Breguet Marine 5517 is priced at CHF 20,000 in titanium on rubber, CHF 22,700 on the titanium bracelet, CHF 37,000 in gold on rubber and CHF 60,800 on the gold bracelet. The Marine Chronograph 5527 is priced at CHF 25,000 in titanium on rubber, CHF 27,700 on the titanium bracelet, CHF 45,000 in gold on rubber and CHF 71,100 on the gold bracelet. Both join the permanent collection. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/breguet-rebuilds-the-marine-5517-and-marine-chronograph-5527-to-match-their-origins/) and the watches [on the Breguet website](https://www.breguet.com/en/marine-collection-new-light?ref=itsabouttime.email). --- ****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 Bamford London GMT Forged Carbon](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/the-versatile-traveler-watch-bamford-london-gmt-forged-carbon-review/?ref=itsabouttime.email) - [Hands on with the Sylvain Pinaud Tourbillon](https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-sylvain-pinaud-tourbillon?ref=itsabouttime.email) --- ## ⏲️End links - In the new print issue of Esses, a quarterly print magazine covering motorsports and the culture around it, Duncan Fyfe writes about the most bizarre Formula One video game ever made. Centered around Gerhard Berger, a former racing driver from Austria who competed in F1 from 1984 to 1997, Gerhard Berger’s Formula 1 Quiz is a quirky video game from 1993 that raises more questions than it asks. Fyfe digs into the mystery, investigating the quiz’s grammatically awkward questions and the game’s developer, [Austria Soft, whose existence is questionable](https://esses.com/stories/who-can-solve-gerhard-bergers-f1-quiz?ref=itsabouttime.email). - “Taste is a new core skill,” OpenAI President Greg Brockman declared earlier this year—one voice in a growing chorus of pronouncements about the centrality of judgment and preference in an economy built on artificial intelligence. And yet taste itself is largely undefined by many of its loudest proponents. Celine Nguyen considers the historic relationship between automation and taste; the “seemingly irrelevant, unimportant” inputs that shape our critical perceptions; and the perils of wielding taste like a cudgel. A striking, [insightful blend of criticism and personal essay](https://asteriskmag.com/issues/15/why-we-like-things?ref=itsabouttime.email). - Joël Kyaviro is a professional cyclist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who has risen above government instability, war, violence, poverty, and Ebola, overcoming every “tack in his path” to become the first rider from the DRC to win a Union Cycliste International race. What’s more, he’s used his success to get the next generation of kids interested in the sport by founding Tumaini Academy, “[a cycling program aimed at transcending war by getting Goméen kids on bikes and in school](https://nowvoyagermag.com/reporting/revolutions?ref=itsabouttime.email).” --- 👀Watch this This will most likely be the greatest documentary film ever made. If you never click on these videos I post here, trust me, click on this one. --- 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.