Casio Releases First Mechanical Watch, With A Huge Misstep; Bremont's Steel Supermarine 500m; A New Cuervo y Sobrinos; Depancel’s Allure D[r]iver Calendar; A Sensational Type 3 Laventure; A New VC

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. The first mechanical Casio should have been a huge deal, right? But I haven’t seen a release fall as flat as this in a while. Looks good, priced well, but I would argue that the movement is just incredibly lazy.

In this issue:

• Casio Releases Long Awaited First Mechanical Watch, But Is As Good As Their Iconic Quartz Options?

• Bremont Gives The Supermarine 500m A Regular Stainless Steel Case

• Cuervo y Sobrinos Pays Tribute To Emilio Carranza, The Mexican Aviation Pioneer

• Depancel’s Allure D[r]iver Calendar Mashes A Triple Calendar With Vintage Nautical Racing Style

• Laventure Takes Inspiration From The 1980s And Marine Chronometers For Their Sensational Type 3

• Vacheron Constantin Introduces Piece Unique Les Cabinotiers Temporis Duo Grand Complication Openface

👂What’s new

1/

Casio Releases Long Awaited First Mechanical Watch, But Is As Good As Their Iconic Quartz Options?

Casio makes absolutely legendary watches. The F-91W is perhaps the best bang for your buck in the watch world and a must in every collection. The entire G-Shock line revolutionized watches. Not to mention stuff like the AE1200 Worldtimer and the iconic Databank which put a calculator on your wrist. And they’ve been doing so since 1974. And in over 50 years, they haven’t made a single mechanical watch. Every single one has been some variation of quartz. So, one would expect that the first mechanical Casio watch would be a tectonic shift, right? Well, I, and a lot of other folks, are not so sure. This is the new Casio Edifice EFK-100, the first-ever mechanical Casio watch and it’s quite something.

There are five Edifice EFK-100 options available at launch, four in steel cases and one in a case made out of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and stainless steel. They also come in two sizes: the full stainless steel versions measure 39mm wide, 12.5mm thick and have a rather compact 43.5mm lug-to-lug, while the carbon version is a millimeter wider at 40mm, has the same 12.5mm thickness and a 45mm lug-to-lug. Despite being an affordable watch, it’s topped with an AR coated sapphire crystal, which you don’t really see from the majors at this price point. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The four steel versions are differentiated by their dials. The EFK-100CD-1AJF comes with a forged carbon dial, just like the EFK-100XPB-1AJF which has the carbon case, but the rest of the steel cases have textured dials that mimic forged carbon with the process of electroforming. The EFK-100D-2AJF gets a blue dial, the EFK-100D-3AJF gets a green dial and the EFK-100D-7AJF gets a white dial. All of the dials have applied indices and skeletonized hands with lumed inserts at the tip. At 6 o’clock is a simple date aperture with white discs on all the versions except for the carbon cased one which has a black date disc.

All of this is very cool and promising. But there’s one major issue, and that’s hiding inside. Casio doesn’t say what movement they’re using inside, but to show off that they are using a mechanical movement for the first time, the watches have a transparent caseback. Which means that you can just read the caliber reference for yourself. Casio is using the Seiko NH35 movement. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. The NH35 is used by dozens upon dozens of microbrands. It’s a robust movement, but a bit long in the tooth, beating at 3Hz, with a 40 hour power reserve and a pretty horrible accuracy of -35 and +45 seconds per day. Sure, accuracy results are often better in practice, and brands like Nodus regulate the NH35 to almost perfection, but it’s still a great option for microbrands. Not for a brand like Casio, especially when they’re introducing their first mechanical watch ever. Should they have developed their own movement? I would say yes. If they were going to outsource it, should they have opted for something better than an NH35. For sure. The watches come on stainless steel integrated bracelets closed with a folding clasp.

The new Casio Edifice EFK-100 collection goes on sale in August, at a pretty good price. The steel versions are priced at $340, while the carbon case one at $515. See more on the Casio website.

2/

Bremont Gives The Supermarine 500m A Regular Stainless Steel Case

After a really rough attempt at a total revamping of the company, Bremont is now slowly taking small steps backwards to show fans that they’re actually not giving up on the heritage that put them on the map. Last year, they upped their Supermarine watch in both size (43mm) and depth rating (500 meters), but it come only came in a green ceramic case, limited to a few hundred pieces and priced quite aggressively in the higher four figure range. That wasn’t a one-off, however, Bremont is now releasing a steel version of the Supermarine 500m.

The Supermarine 500m is obviously meant to be the top of the line marine tool watch and it reflects it in its size. The 904L steel case measures 43mm wide and 12.98mm thick. On top is a domed sapphire crystal with a unidirectional bezel surrounding it with a matte black ceramic insert that has a 60 minute scale done in relief. It’s quite the capable watch, with a helium escape valve and a chunky crown guard. Water resistance, as the name suggests, is 500 meters.

The black dial gets a really cool wave pattern, not an engraved one but rather a 3D one that has a lot of peaks and valleys sweeping across the surface. The hour makers, including the arrow marker at 12, look familiar from previous Bremont watches and are done in white Super-LumiNova, the same one you’ll find on the sword shaped hands. At 3 o’clock is a date aperture and the flange has orange minute markers at 60, 15 and 45.

Inside, you’ll find the calibre BB64AH which is essentially a rebranded Sellita SW300-1A. It beats at 4Hz and has a 56 hour power reserve. The watch can be had on either a steel bracelet with polished and satin-brushed links and a micro-adjust clasp, a black chevron rubber strap or a grey and black woven NATO-style fabric strap.

The new Bremont Supermarine 500m is part of the regular collection and can be bought now for €4,900 on the rubber or fabric, and €5,200 on the steel bracelet. See more on the Bremont website.

3/

Cuervo y Sobrinos Pays Tribute To Emilio Carranza, The Mexican Aviation Pioneer

Imagine this. There’s a small repair shop in Havana, Cuba that fixes local watches and clocks. They’re growing slowly but steadily, and have become an importer of watches like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Rolex to Cuba, where customers include people like Caruso, Gary Cooper, Hemingway and Einstein. Pretty soon they start making their own watches but they didn’t survive the quartz crisis. In the 1990s, the brand was revived and it’s now based in Capolago, Switzerland and has carved a niche with models that lean heavily on vintage design cues and a touch of Cuban flamboyance. These are very interesting, very niche watches. I used to feature their new releases all the time, but in the last year or so, I kind of lost track of them. Nice to see them back, this time with the Chronograph Emilio Carranza, their take on a pilot’s chronograph, one being a tribute to one of Mexico’s aviation pioneers.

The new Chronograph Emilio Carranza comes in a striking case, and not just for its size. And it’s quite large, like most pilot’s chronographs. The steel case measures 44mm wide and 13.8mm thick. While the case is fully round and rather unremarkable, except for the quite interesting pushers on the right side that kind of step down towards the edges, it’s actually the lugs that are the standout feature of the watch — they’re oversized, with a very dramatic scallop cut into it and are screwed into the case. Out back is a caseback with an engraved portrait of Emilio Carranza, his plane and his birth and death years, 1905 — 1928. Oh, yeah, he died in a plane crash in New Jersey at the age of 22. Water resistance is 30 meters.

The dial takes on a lot of stylized aviation inspirations. The black base gets oversized Arabic numerals with cream lume inside. The same lume can be found on the cathedral-style hands. At 12 is a 30 minute counter, at 6 is the 12 hour counter and at 3 o’clock is the Cuervo Y Sobrinos logo. But very cool touch on the dial is an illustration of Carranza’s aircraft at 9 o’clock, with a bright red propeller that acts as a small seconds indicator. That’s very cool.

The setup of the dial certainly looks familiar. That’s because the watch is powered by the Valjoux 7750, an automatic that beats at 4Hz and has a 48 hour power reserve. The rotor is decorated with a fan decoration and 3N colored Cuervo Y Sobrinos emblem, despite the fact that you can’t see the movement. The watch comes on a vintage-style brown leather strap.

The new Cuervo y Sobrinos Chronograph Emilio Carranza doesn’t seem to be a limited edition and it’s available now, priced at CHF 4,250. See more on the Cuervo y Sobrinos website.

4/

Depancel’s Allure D[r]iver Calendar Mashes A Triple Calendar With Vintage Nautical Racing Style

I’m loving what Depancel is doing. They take their inspiration from automobiles and motorsport, equally comfortable in emulating 1950s classic styling as they are with groovy 1980s outlandish designs. And they manage to pull it all of in a hugely broad price range, from sub €500 mecaquartz watches, all the way to €3,000 chronographs. They have something for everyone. Their latest release is the Allure D[r]iver Calendar which mashes together their signature racing inspiration with a nautical style — think speedboat racing — and a triple calendar we don’t get to see every day.

The watch is based on their existing Allure model, with a cushion-shaped steel case that has brushed surfaces and broad polished facets that give the watch a slightly angular look. The case measures 39mm wide and 13.5mm thick. On top is a sapphire crystal, surrounded by a bi-directional bezel with a serrated edge that has aluminium inserts and a 12 hour scale. The crown screws down and has an anodised insert, giving you 100 meters of water resistance.

Two colorways are available. The black dial is paired with a red and black bezel, while the blue dial gets an all blue bezel. Both versions have polished applied hour markers and polished hands, but the black version gets white lume inside them and the blue gets tan lume. Both versions also have a bright red central seconds hand with a white tip. At 6 o’clock is a date aperture, the first part of the triple calendar, while the two sub-dials show the month and the day of the week.

Now, kind of surprisingly, you’ll find the Miyota 9122 automatic inside. I was sure, with that triple calendar layout, that this was some obscure quartz movement we don’t get to see very often. But no, it’s a Miyota 9 series. Which means that it beats at 4Hz and has a 40 hour power reserve. Very cool. The watches can be had on either a stainless steel bracelet with Y-shaped links, closed with a butterfly deployant clasp, or a FKM rubber strap.

The new Depancel Allure D[r]iver Calendar is available now and is part of the regular collection. Price is set at €855 on rubber and €895 on steel. See more on the Depancel website.

5/

Laventure Takes Inspiration From The 1980s And Marine Chronometers For Their Sensational Marine Type 3

I look at watches all day every day. Follow thousands of accounts on Instagram. Get hundreds of press releases. And yet… Even I manage to miss a brand. Laventure has been around since 2017 and has made some pretty good looking watches, all inspired, as the name suggests, by adventure on land, sea and in the air. And it took me until 2024 to discover them. Since, I’ve become a hardcore fan. It all started with a very successful Kickstarter campaign and evolved into a well thought out collection. The owner, Clément Gaud, is very proud of the fact that all parts of the watch are actually Swiss made, as I saw confirmed in a WhatsApp group by Max Busser who confirmed that MB&F and Laventure share a Swiss casemaker. For Laventure’s latest release, Gaud takes inspiration from marine chronometers and the 1980s. This is the new Laventure Marine Type 3, and I’m in love with it.

The Marine Type 3 is equally as unusual as it look familiar. It’s a hugely chunky case, but only in appearance because it’s not large at all. Machined from Grade 23 Titanium, a purer variant of Grade 5, the watches measure 38mm wide, just 8.9mm thick (11.2mm with the crystal) and has a 46.2mm lug-to-lug measurement. The entire case gets a stonewashed finish which softens sharp edges, increases surface hardness, durability, corrosion resistance and wear resistance, while keeping a really nice grey color. The bottom part of the case holds the super short and angled lugs, while on top is an oversized, flat and broad fixed bezel that has 60 has marks engraved into it, filled with black lacquer, but with no numerals, just the words MARINE TYPE 3 and CHRONOMETRE engraved alongside them. The bezel surrounds a box-style plexiglas crystal. Now, before you start tearing your hair out, there are several reasons why plexi is used. First, it looks better, with a warm appearance. Second, it’s more useful on a tool watch — it can scratch, sure, but when hit it won’t shatter. And third, a factor I never considered — it’s way more environmentally friendly. Not only is it made locally in Switzerland, whereas most sapphire crystals are made in china, sapphire crystal is the watch component with the highest environmental impact.

Seeing how the bezel is so broad, the dial is actually quite small. There are two versions of the dial, a white and a black version, both with pad printed logo, numerals and graduations. On the black the printing is printed in Super-LumiNova, while on the white version the base is done in a ceramic-based resin that’s infused with Super-LumiNova, making the entire dial lumed. The dial has a sandwich construction, even though you never see the bottom plate. That’s made out of soft iron which, together with the encircling ring and non-magnetic cover, creates a Faraday cage, blocking magnetic fields and protecting the movement.

Inside, Laventure keeps it simple. It’s the SW300-1 b, which is modified by Sellita for Laventure. The 4Hz beat rate and 56 hour power reserve remains the same, the movement gets a gilded 3N circular-grained pearl pattern plate, bridges engraved with Côtes de Genève and Laventure engravings. The movement is also COSC Certified, meaning you get precision of -4/+6 seconds per day. The watches come on a PFKM rubber strap with a great pattern on the outside, tapering towards the Grade 23 Titanium buckle. You also get a secondary elastic textile strap and both come in a choice of five colors.

The new Laventure Marine Type 3 is limited to 100 pieces in each color and priced at CHF 4,200. Deliveries are expected in Q4 of this year. See more on the Laventure website.

6/

Vacheron Constantin Introduces Piece Unique Les Cabinotiers Temporis Duo Grand Complication Openface

When you’re one of the most prestigious watchmakers in the world, you get to flex your muscles every now and again. And when you’re a brand that’s celebrating 270 years, you really get to show off what you can do. And that’s exactly what Vacheron Constantin is doing to celebrate their 270th anniversary. At Watches and Wonders, they introduced the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication, the most complicated wristwatch in the world with 41 different complications. A month later, we got the Overseas Grand Complication Openface, a stunning open dial limited edition. But now, VC is pushing things to the extreme, with a piece unique called Cabinotiers Temporis Duo Grand Complication Openface, a single-pusher split-seconds chronograph, minute repeater with a centripetal regulator and tourbillon regulator, all with an open dial.

Not everything is known about the watch, but there’s enough to drool over. It comes in a 45mm wide 5N pink gold case, with sapphire crystals on top and bottom. On the left side of the case is a lever that activates the chiming complication, while on the right side are rather sporty rectangular pushers. And that’s pretty much everything we know about the case.

There’s also not much more to the dial. The base of the dial is a 0.5mm-thick sapphire disc, giving you full movement of the crazy movement inside. The hour and minutes are tracked on a sub-dial at 9 o’clock, with a white base and silver applied markers and Arabic numerals. At 6 o’clock is a tourbillon that counts the seconds and at 2 o’clock is another sub-dial that serves as a 30 minute totalizer, again on a white base, but now with green numerals. Mounted centrally, the watch has twin green chrono seconds hands for the split-second chronograph.

As the dial suggests, this is all about that movement inside. It’s the in-house 2757 S, a single-pusher split-second chronograph with a minute repeater and a tourbillon regulator with a spherical hairspring. It beats at 3Hz and has a 50 hour power reserve with the chronograph engaged. There’s a couple of very cool touches in this movement. For example, they use aluminum for the elapsed-seconds hands and lube-free silicon to maximize poer reserve. It also has the split-seconds chronograph plate with an in-depth arrangement of its components to enhance efficiency while keeping things thin. Also, some of the wheels are made from titanium or electroformed in nickel-phosphorus and feature a VC-unique toothing profile, which prevents jitter of the seconds hand. The tourbillon features spherical hairspring which causes the spring to expand and contract concentrically, enhancing isochronism.

This being a hyper-complicated piece unique, that’s pretty much all you need to know. Price hasn’t been revealed.

⏲️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

• Approaching the age his dad was when he died at Daytona, a second-generation legend went looking for answers. A great portrait of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

• A wannabe hip-hop mogul and a onetime porn-video recruiter turned Obamacare into a lucrative get-rich-quick scheme—with an assist from Bain Capital.

• What if there were a perfect way to kill a fish? To make it suffer less, taste better, and extend its shelf life so significantly that more people might enjoy more kinds of fish all over the world? Andrew Tsui knows just such a way.

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