Baltic's Unique Stone Dials On The Prismic; A Moonswatch You Can Only Buy When It Snows In Switzerland; Hanhart Teams Up With TGV; First Papar Diver; A Complicated ML; Awesome Breguet Innovations

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I can’t believe how much I like the insane idea of only selling watches when it snows in Switzerland, but here we are.

In this issue

• Baltic Adds Wonderfully Unique Stone Dials To The Prismic Collection

• This Moonswatch Mission To Earthphase Moonshine Gold Can Only Be Bought When It Snows In Switzerland

• Hanhart Teams Up With The Urban Gentry For The Red Lion Mk II Limited Edition

• The Funky Papar Watch Brand Releases First Diver, The Cenote

• Maurice Lacroix Goes Higher Horology With The Maurice Lacroix Aikonic Master Triple Retrograde

• Breguet Introduces Major Advancement With Contactless Escapement Using Magnets

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Your Next Watch, Week 61: The Classiest Rolex; And Incredible IWC Porsche Designed; Neil Armstrong's Watch; And A Classy Tudor

👂What’s new

1/

Baltic Adds Wonderfully Unique Stone Dials To The Prismic Collection

The Baltic Prismic has been around for a couple of years now and have grown it to a pretty respectable collection. I’ve had one in for review and liked it quite a bit. It has a sharp and well made case, a pretty nice bracelet and those dials that look equally at home in the 1920 as they do in the future, with a ton of facets and light play, were just fantastic. It’s pretty clear that 2025 has been the year of stone dials, but I’ve complained to anyone who would listen that the stones used are a bit boring. I mean, we can only see so many malachites and tiger eyes before they become boring. Well, this is where Baltic comes in. First, they introduced their stone dials last year, kind of as the trend was starting. But more importantly, they used Green Jade, Lapis Lazuli, and Red Agate. These weren’t very often used back then, but are more common today. So, for their new stone dial collection, Baltic moves the goalpost so far that I have never even heard of these stones. And they look amazing.

A lot remains the same with these watches. The case is exaclty the same, measuring 36mm wide, just 9,2mm thick (an even svelter 7,4mm without the double domed crystal) and has a lug-to-lug of 44mm. The bezel, lugs and caseback are made of stainless steel and are embedded onto a Grade 5 titanium case with a slight grainy finish. Water resistance of 30 meters is not ideal, but what can we do.

The dials are available in four different stones — Pietersite, Pink Albite, Bloodstone or Dumortierite. Like I said, I have no idea what these stones are, but they are all stunning. Dumortierite is a wonderful navy stone with milky white inclusions; Bloodstone has a wonderfully deep green base with red and orange dots; Pink Albite is, well, a pink base with curving white striations; and best of all Pietersite, which I have no idea how to describe. It’s a chaotic mix of browns, yellows, oranges, whites and blues. And they vary wildly. Some can be all blue, others all brown or a mix of all the colors. It’s an incredible look. Because you get stone dials you don’t get the guilloché pattern, but you do get to keep the applied and polished indexes which have an almost pyramid-like shape and the sharp polished dauphine hands. The running seconds display at 6 o’clock remains, but now with no border to it, just barely-there markings for every 5 seconds.

Inside, no changes. The watch is still powered by the hand-wound Peseux 7001 caliber which beats at 21,600 vph and has a decent power reserve of 42 hours. It’s decently decorated with diamond polished bevels, Côtes de Genève on the bridges, soleillage of ratchet and crown wheel, blued screws and beading of the main plate balance wheel. The watches come on the genius braided mesh stainless steel bracelet or Italian calf leather straps.

But best of all, this new Baltic Prismic Stone collection is not limited. How about that? You really don’t see that every day. The watches go on sale right now, with deliveries starting tomorrow. Prices vary a lot, depending on the stone and strap combinations. Prices start at €1,300 for the Pink Albite, Bloodstone or Dumortierite on a leather strap, go up to €1,360 for the same stones on metal bracelet, which makes the Pietersite the outlier. That one is priced at €1,450 on leather and €1,510 on metal. See more on the Baltic website.

2/

This Moonswatch Mission To Earthphase Moonshine Gold Can Only Be Bought When It Snows In Switzerland

It is quite well documented in this newsletter that I like making fun of the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch. Not the watch itself, because I deeply believe it is the most important watch release of this decade. I had an issue with how they sold them. In its first year, demand was so high they just sold whatever they could, wherever they could. But then, in its second year, they released 11 versions of the watch, all the exact same color, just with slightly different central chronograph hands done in gold, all inspired by folk names for full moons. The differences were so minuscule, you would have to zoom in photos to see them. That was just dumb. They made up for it with new great colors and the introduction of the very cool Mission to Earthphase – Moonshine Gold. Now, they’re introducing the latest model, the Moonswatch Mission To Earthphase Moonshine Gold "Cold Moon", and it has another gimmicky sales model. But this one is so hilariously wild, I have to love it. You see, you can buy the Moonswatch Mission To Earthphase Moonshine Gold "Cold Moon" anywhere in the world, but only when it snows in Switzerland.

Built on the already known Moonphase model, this new variant comes in a 42mm wide and slightly thicker than normal (13.75mm) case made out of white Bioceramic, a material that is made up of two-thirds zirconium oxide ceramic powder, with one-third biosourced material derived from castor oil. Sounds fancy, but feels a lot like plastic. This version gets a white bezel with a blue tachymetre scale on it. On top is the domed plastic crystal and water resistance is 30 meters.

The dial is also very familiar, as we’ve seen it before. The base of the dial is a matte white, with the complications we’ve seen before. At 2 o’clock is the moonphase indicator with the double moons done in gold (with one having an outline of a snowflake, but not just any snowflake — each gets a unique shape, which is just an insan undertaking), at 6 o’clock is the running seconds and at 9 o’clock is the earthphase indicator — a very cool complication which shows the phase of the Earth as viewed from the Moon. Beneath that indicator is an illustration of Snoopy and Woodstock, sitting on the surface of the Moon. The major difference here are the new blue hands that get a frosted look, with the same frosted texture being used on the blue parts of the indicators.

As with previous versions, Swatch doesn’t say what movement is inside, but it’s most likely to be a variation of the ETA Caliber G10.962 quartz chronograph moonphase movement. The watch comes on a white Velcro strap with wite Bioceramic hardware.

First of all, I love the look of the Moonswatch Mission To Earthphase Moonshine Gold "Cold Moon". I think it genuinely looks cool. But like I said so many times, I’m a sucker for a good gimmick. And there are two here. First is each watch getting a unique laser engravedsnowflake, which is an unheard of undertaking at such a mass scale. The second is the sale model. The Mission to Earthphase - Moonshine Gold is goes on sale this Thursday, December 4th, and will be available until March 20th of next year, which is the last day of winter. And the only time you can buy one, in many global Swatch stores, but only when it snows anywhere in Switzerland. I can’t help it, but I love it. Price is set at €385, the same as the other Moonswatch Mission To Earthphase Moonshine Gold models. See more on the Swatch website.

3/

Hanhart Teams Up With The Urban Gentry For The Red Lion Mk II Limited Edition

One day, Hanhart asked what if the legendary 417 ES, once created for army pilots, had a successor with enhanced functions? The good thing is that they could actually explore what that would mean. They teamed up with The Urban Gentry to create the Red Lion Mk II, which takes the historic 417 ES and develops a modern version of the watch.

Based on the iconic 417 ES, this chronograph has some pretty good proportions. The stainless steel case has satin finishes and polished details, and measures 39mm wide, 13.6mm thick, with a 46mm lug-to-lug. On top is a domed sapphire crystal surrounded by a new bi-directional steel fluted bezel with an engraved 12 hour bezel that can be used to track a second time zone. On the side is an oversized crown, with the iconic red pusher below it made out of HyCeram, a hybrid ceramic material. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial has all the familiar aspects of the 417 ES. the base is matte black dial with large white Arabic numerals which, just like the syringe-style hands, are filled with C1 lume. The two sub-dials at 3 and 9 o’clock have snailed finishes, with the one at 3 o’clock being an oversized Big-Eye. At 6 o’clock is an opening for the date aperture and on the top is the historical Hanhart logo.

Inside, you’ll find the AMT5100M, made by Sellita’s high-end division, AMT. It’s a hand-wound chronograph with a column wheel and a flyback function. It beats at 28,800vph and has a 58 hour power reserve. The movement is also regulated in-house to 0 to +8 seconds per day. The watch can be had on either a 3-link brushed steel bracelet or on a black FKM rubber strap.

The new Hanhart x Gentry Labs Red Lion Mk II Limited Edition is, well, limited to 200 pieces, with prices set at €2,790 on rubber and €2,990 on steel. See more on the Hanhart website.

4/

The Funky Papar Watch Brand Releases First Diver, The Cenote

I try to keep up with as many releases as possible, but nobody is perfect. So I miss watch releases sometimes. In most cases I can get over it and let bygones be bygones. But then I see watches like the new Papar Cenote that’s so good, I have to write about it even two months after it was first shown. The good news is that the watch, made by the relatively new Papar — best known for their very cool cases — is still on pre-sale for a lower price than retails. So let’s dig in.

While the cases are not radical in their design, Papar uses a few very clever tricks to make their watches look like nothing else on the market. The case is made out titanium and has an octagonal shape, but not one you would expect. The result is a fairly slab sided case that has sharp points at 12 and 6 o’clock. Super interesting. They measure 40mm wide, 10.9mm thick and have a 47mm lug-to-lug, which are fair measurements for a dive watch. There are two case options, one that has a rose gold PVD coating and the other that has no coating for a more raw look. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a unidirectional bezel with a ceramic insert that has graduations for the first 15 minutes and after that only cardinal points. Water resistance is 200 meters.

The dial is even cooler than the case. It’s a sandwich dial with cutouts for the indices and a crescent moon on the 12 o’clock position. The hour and minute hands are sharp triangles, but the very cool thing is the fact that the indices change color over the course of the month. Have you ever seen that before? So cool. There are two dial colors available. The rose gold PVD case comes with a gloss black dial and bezel insert, with the indices change from white to pink. The untreated case gets a matte blue bezel insert which is sensationally paired with a beige dial that has indices that change from white to blue. Love this look!

Inside, you’ll find the very well known Miyota 9015, which beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The watches come on sailcloth straps in either black or blue with titanium buckles that match the finish of the case.

The new Papar Cenote is still on pre-order, with each limited to 100 pieces. The price is set at $895, and when the pre-order window closes the price will go up to $995. See more on the Papar website.

5/

Maurice Lacroix Goes Higher Horology With The Maurice Lacroix Aikonic Master Triple Retrograde

Someone with less regard for brand history and a bit more cynicism than me would say that the Maurice Lacroix Aikon is just a budget version of the AP Royal Oak. But just the fact that it has an integrated bracelet, a slightly angular case and a patterned dial don’t make a Royal Oak knock off. The Aikon has carved out an interesting niche for itself in the past seven or eight years, from a fun quartz alternative to high-luxury integrated bracelet sports watches into a huge collection that will now give you pretty much anything you’d like. And some things you wouldn’t expect. Something like the new Aikonic Master Triple Retrograde with a sporty case of the relatively new Aikonic, with three retrograde indications.

Based on the new Aikonic, which is already very similar to the established Aikon, the case is made out of stainless steel and measures 43mm wide and 13mm thick. On top is a flat sapphire crystal with a black brushed ceramic bezel that has the iconic (Aikonic?) six claws that hold it down. A ceramic coating is also used on the black crown. From real-life pictures I’ve seen around the internet, the black ceramic has a lot of blue in it. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial matches the dark bezel with a dark grey vertically brushed finish, with four openings that reveal parts of the movements, with three of them featuring retrograde indications. You get three hour markers, applied at 8, 9 and 10 o’clock, very simple central hour and minute hands filled with lume. There’s a regular small seconds at 9 o’clock, while the other two sub-dials are all retrograde — a 24-scale GMT indication at 12 o’clock, days of the week at 3 o’clock and the month at 6 o’clock. All of these use blued hands.

Inside, you’ll see some interesting stuff. ML uses a regular Sellita SW 200 base, onto which they place an in-house developed and assembled module ML291 that gives it the retrograde indications. Impressive that they fit all of that in 13mm. The movement beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The movement is decorated with Geneva stripes and polished bevels, with the ML logo on the bridges. The watch comes on a black rubber strap with a textured insert that uses the brand’s new ML Easy Change tool-free quick release system.

The new Aikonic Master Triple Retrograde is part of the regular collection and is priced at CHF 6,450. See more on the Maurice Lacroix website.

6/

Breguet Introduces Major Advancement With Contactless Escapement Using Magnets

For a second there, it seemed that the age of great innovation in watches is over. I mean, sure, brands can make incremental moves forward, but there don’t seem to be huge changes introduced. Take, for example, Breguet — not the brand, the person, Abraham-Louis Breguet. He’s the inventor of the tourbillon, the constant­-force escapement, the natural escapement, the shock absorber and many, many more. Sure, that was in the 18th century when there was so much too be discovered and invented. These days we are more in the evolution phase of watchmaking, where we get incremental changes to watches since there’s not much to invent. Don’t get me wrong, we still get some cool stuff from brands, and today is exactly such a day. But adding to the surprise factor of a significant invention is the fact that it comes from Breguet, which hasn’t been all that innovative in their latter yers. But this year they're celebrating their 250th anniversary and are pulling out all the guns. This is the new Breguet Experimentale 1 — obviously the first in line of special R&D watches — which introduces not just a wild 10Hz high-frequency tourbillon, but also a very interesting constant force escapement that doesn’t need contact to work as it’s all based on magnets. This is going to get funky.

I was going to say let’s start with the boring stuff, like the case, but it’s anything but. It’s based on the Marine collection, but thoroughly modern, with sharp angles and great facets. The case is made out of 18K Breguet gold and measures 43.5mm wide and 13.3mm thick. The lugs are made out of three parts, the two regular side parts and a central module that holds the strap. The lugs are hollowed out and have sandblasted, blued and satin-brushed finishes. The side keeps a bit of tradition by including a fluted case middle. On top is a box-style sapphire crystal, out back is a flat sapphire crystal and water resistance is a respectable 100 meters.

The dial keeps the mix of tradition and modernity. It’s inspired by the regulator-style pocket watch No. 3448 setup, but with a sapphire dial that sits on four gold feet and exposes a lot of the movement, as well as the bridges that are either left in untreated Breguet gold or satin-brushed with hand-applied polished bevels, and coated in navy blue. At 12 o’clock, you’ll see the huge new 10Hz tourbillon that holds a plaque that reads Experimentale 1 and has a blued hands indicating the seconds. The minutes ring intersects with the tourbillon and are pointed to with classic open-tipped Breguet hands. At 6 o’clock is a small dial for the hour indication.

All of the innovations are packed into their new in-house movement called the Calibre 7250. and there’s a lot to cover here, but i’ll try to pack it in as tightly as possible. First, it’s made out of 18K Breguet gold, with a matte finish and plenty of traditional finishings. It features a patented twin barrel system which has two series-coupled levels, each consisting of a double spring separated by a sapphire spacer, which deliver 72 hours of power reserve. Building up on a lot of experience with using magnets to eliminate positional error and increase shock resistance, while allowing for faster beat rates, this movement uses a new and unprecedented 10Hz high-frequency tourbillon, and a constant force and magnetic escapement to solve inconsistencies in power delivery, the effect of gravity and shock resistance. This newly developed device involves two escape wheels, each equipped with a magnetic track, at the centre of which beats a pallet lever with likewise magnetic pallets. The idea is to take cues from constant-force escapements. Below a certain operating torque, the tourbillon stops very quickly, while above this threshold, the balance oscillates at its maximum amplitude. This new escapement also makes it possible to decouple the impulses transmitted to the balance from the rotation of the escape wheel and hence from the rest of the gear train. But also having the tourbillon beat so fast, it is more stable and accurate, with the watch being accurate to -/+ 1 second per day. The watch comes on an integrated blue rubber strap that closes with an 18k Breguet gold pin buckle.

The new Breguet Experimentale 1 is, of course, limited to 75 pieces and priced at CHF 320,000. I don’t doubt that they are likely already sold out. See more on the Breguet website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Your Next Watch, Week 61: The Classiest Rolex; And Incredible IWC Porsche Designed; Neil Armstrong's Watch; And A Classy Tudor

We continue with our exploration of watches we shouldn't spend our money on, but most likely will. Read it here.

⏲️End links

A bunch of links that might or might not have something to do with watches. One thing’s for sure - they’re interesting

• Ray Flynn, master thief, turned the Social Register—Blue Book of America's old-money elite—into his hit list, ransacking hundreds of Greenwich mansions for Tiffany lamps, diamond bracelets, and suitcase-sized oils. Guided by art-dealer fences, his crew dodged cops for years until FBI surveillance caught them red-handed. Flynn's confession cracked 103 cases worth $40 million today, revealing a career built on challenge, not glory.​​

• In Praise of Bibliomania: In the chaotic bliss of Aldus Manutius's Venetian print shop, Erasmus found paradise amid ink, type, and fellow scholars crafting a boundless library. A frayed Aldine Aristotle later fueled Umberto Eco's obsession, echoing through bibliomaniacs like the author, whose 3,000-volume hoard defies algorithms and mortality—celebrating books as eternal "paper bodies" of knowledge and love.

• Marcel Breuer's Brutalist Whitney Museum, opened in 1966, sparked both acclaim and controversy with its bold, concrete design amid Upper East Side's traditional architecture. How Brutalism Became Both a Utopian Dream and a Dystopian Meme is explored as the building, now Sotheby’s new HQ, continues to embody Brutalism’s complex legacy—balancing monumentality with humanity.

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Vuk