Christopher Ward's Submission For Watch Of The Summer, The C60 Trident Reef; Oris' New Aquis Date Relief; A Blue Samurai; A Blue Laco; Fruit-Inspired Anatoms; And A Summer Blockbuster From Moser

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Oh boy, summer is definitely here. Not only is becoming unbearably hot outside, we’re getting summer watches by the dozen over here. But you won’t hear me complaining.

In this issue:

• Christopher Ward Submits Their Entry For Watch Of The Summer With The Colorful C60 Trident Reef Series

• Oris Brings Back The Aquis Date Relief, With A Textured Bezel And New Color

• Seiko Adds A Blue Dial To The Prospex Diver Samurai Lineup With The SRPL51

• The Really Nice Kiel.2 Flieger Chronograph Gets An Updated Blue Dial

• Rado Takes Inspiration From Fruit For Their New Summery Anatom Collection

• H. Moser & Cie Introduces Their Summer Blockbuster, The Pioneer Spiced Aqua Collection

👂What’s new

1/

Christopher Ward Submits Their Entry For Watch Of The Summer With The Colorful C60 Trident Reef Series

I’ve had my ups and downs when it comes to what I think of Christopher Ward. I’m actually in a down phase right now. Or rather, I was, because their latest release, their take on a summer watch, just might be one of my favorite watch releases this season. Available in two sizes — 41mm and 44mm — and in five color, this is the new Christopher Ward C60 Trident Reef.

Despite carrying the C60 Trident name, the Reef gets a significantly different case. It’s still the brand’s Light-catcher case, made up of four parts, but there are some very welcomed cases. You have two sizes to choose from — the smaller measures 41mm wide, 11.45mm thick and has a 47.9mm lug-to-lug; while the larger comes in at 44mm wide, the same 11.45mm thick, and has a 51.4mm lug-to-lug. The cases are all made out of steel, with a brushed finish and polished bevels, but the unexpected part happens on the sides, where the watch gets an aluminum protective shroud in the same color as the dial. More aluminum can be found on the bezel insert which is also rendered in the same color as the dial, with an engraved 60 minute scale. Water resistance is 200 meters.

There are five colors available for the new Reef series, and they are called Acro White, Helio Blue, Tuba Orange, Galaxea Black, and Chalice Yellow. Two things of note here — the Acro White gets a sandblasted white ceramic shroud instead of an aluminum and the Chalice Yellow is actually green with yellow details. Now, despite my iffy stance towards CW right now, there might be a deeper reason why I like these watches so much. They are inspired by the work of Franco-Croatian artist Ana Brecevic whose art is very much influenced by the Croatian coast of the Adriatic, the same one I grew up on.

The dials feature textured centers done in the color they are named after, surrounded by a white chapter ring finished in matte lacquer. The applied and lumed indices are outlined in matching dial colors (except for the Acro White version), while the hands get a contrasting minute hand (again, except for the Acro White version).

Inside, you’ll find the ubiquitous Sellita SW200-1 automatic that beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. It comes in the Elaboré grade, has a customized rotor with a twin-flag pattern and CW claims an accuracy of ±20 seconds per day. The watches come on rubber straps that match the color of the contrasting minute hand, and are closed with a steel buckle. You can opt for an upgrade to the brand’s Bader bracelet with a micro-adjustable rachet clasp. I always say get the bracelet and then buy an aftermarket strap, but these watches look so good on rubber and are priced so well, I would say just go for the rubber.

The new Christopher Ward C60 Trident Reef are available for pre-order now and deliveries at the end of July, cutting it a bit close to high-summer season. Now, for the pricing — €895 on the rubber and €1,095 on the bracelet. There was a time, a year or so ago, when SW200-powered watches under €1,000 were all over the place. But with increasing prices of movement and manufacture, there’s only a handful left. And this one being under €895, with such a great look, it’s a no-brainer. See more on the Christopher Ward website.

2/

Oris Brings Back The Aquis Date Relief, With A Textured Bezel And New Color

The Oris Aquis Date collection has established itself as a sort of flagship of the brand. But my favorite version of the watch has always been the Relief collection which featured a metal bezel with numerals in relief and a very cool texture. It’s a great look, but hasn’t been updated in a couple of years. The only way to get one of those was with a deep red dial, which I also liked a lot. But if you wanted a more subdued version of the Relief, you couldn’t get one. Until now. This is the new Oris Aquis Date Relief with a grey dial.

The outside of the watch doesn’t change and it’s still quite large. It’s a stainless steel case that measures 43.5mm wide, 13.1mm thick, with a 51mm lug-to-lug. On top is a double-domed sapphire crystal, while out back is a mineral glass caseback. Surrounding the top crystal is the steel unidirectional rotating bezel with a grained surface and Arabic numerals and markers done in relief. On the right is a screw-down crown that has crew-in guards, taking care of the 300 meter water resistance.

The dial keeps the sunray brushing but ditches the loud red color for a more subued grey color. The applied indices and hour and minute hands are done in silver, with white lume inside. The lollipop seconds hand is done in a matte red color. The date window at 6 o’clock matches the dial colour.

Inside, you’ll find the Oris 733 calibre which isn’t their in-house movement, but rather a slightly modified Sellita SW200-1. The automatic beats at 4Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve and it’s equipped with the signature Oris red rotor. The watch comes on either a red rubber strap or a steel bracelet.

The new Oris Aquis Date Relief is available now, priced at CHF 2,100 on the rubber and CHF 2,300 on the bracelet. See more on the Oris website.

3/

Seiko Adds A Blue Dial To The Prospex Diver Samurai Lineup With The SRPL51

A week ago, I wrote about a couple of green Seiko models made in collaboration with PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Those were based on the 1965 Heritage diver and the Samurai. What I didn’t tell you at the time is that Seiko released an additional Samurai, one with a blue dial and blue bezel. And this is it, the Seiko Prospex Diver 200M Samurai SRPL51.

Recently, Seiko completely redesigned the Samurai to make it more compact and wearable. That means that the matte brushed case measures 41.7mm wide, 12.3mm thick and has a 49.5mm lug-to-lug. The new model keeps the unidirectional bezel, but now gets a blue insert with a white 60 minute scale. Also unchanged is the Hardlex crystal, always a point of contention, as well as the screw down crown which gets you the 200 meter water resistance.

It also uses the new Samurai dial, with applied bullet-style markers filled with white lume. The same lume color can be found on the hands, which are a bit sleeker than the original Samurai. What’s new is the matte black color which looks very good. Seiko still insists on putting the date window at 4:30, but at least the opening is tiny and the date disc is color matched.

Inside is the very expected calibre 4R35. It’s not the best of movements, as we all know. It beats at 21,600vph and has an OK power reserve of 40 hours. Most controversial is the accuracy rating of the movement, which Seiko states between +45/-35 seconds per day, which really isn’t that great. However, in reality, the majority of these movements perform much better. The watch comes on a three-link stainless steel bracelet, closed with a folding clasp that has a diving extension.

The new Seiko Prospex 200M Diver Samurai SRPL51 goes on sale in July, priced at €650. See more on the Seiko website.

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The Really Nice Kiel.2 Flieger Chronograph Gets An Updated Blue Dial

The name Laco will instantly, in most minds, trigger an image of a classic flieger. That’s because Laco is best known for making B-Uhren for the German Luftwaffe in the 1940s, something that they continued to make after the war as well. But Laco also expanded its offering of pilot’s watches, one of them being the Kiel.2 chronograph, easily one of my favorites they make. Sure, you might say it looks familiar, but keep in mind that there’s a reason why a lot of pilot’s watches look similar — military standards. Now, the Kiel.2 chronograph is getting a new, blue, dial.

Being a pilot’s watch, it’s quite the large watch. The brushed stainless steel case measures 43mm wide and 14mm thick, with a double domed sapphire crystal that gets an AR coating on the inside. But, since Laco is well known for its many customization options, you can also add an AR coat on the top of the crystal for an extra €100. On the side are the twin pushers and a diamond shaped crown. Water resistance is 100 meters.

While the case remains the same, the change comes on the dial. Previously, the Kiel.2 was available with either a black or white dial. Now, it gets a sunburst finished blue that is just begging to be worn in the sun. The blue is paired with lumed Arabic numerals, a white minute track and sword-shaped hands with more lume. It’s a tri-compax setup with a 30 minute counter at 12 o’clock, 12 hour counter at 6 o’clock and a running seconds at 9 o’clock. At 3 is the day and date display, and you can choose whether you want the days to be displayed in German or English.

Inside, you’ll find the Sellita SW500 automatic, which has been modified for Laco. It keeps the 4Hz beat rate and 56 hour power reserve. You can choose whether you want the Elaboré grade or the uprated Top Grade. The movement is decorated with Geneva stripes and blue screws and gets a Laco rotor. The watch comes on either a brown leather strap or a five link stainless steel bracelet closed with a folding clasp.

The new Laco Kiel.2 Blau with stainless steel bracelet is available now, while the one on the leather strap can be pre-ordered. Price is set at €2,190 for the leather and €2,290 for the bracelet. See more on the Laco website.

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Rado Takes Inspiration From Fruit For Their New Summery Anatom Collection

Rado watches are a love it or hate kind of thing. And despite their ridiculous insistence to always point out that they are using high-tech ceramics (God forbid they were regular-tech ceramics), I like them. And not just for the ceramics, but also their quirky shapes and sizes. One of the more unusual model lines they have is the Anatom, a sleek little thing which has been made almost exclusively in metal up until a year ago, when they introduced ceramic bezels to the model line. Now, they’re releasing a new summer-themed, fruit-inspired, collection of the Anatom.

While Rado makes a lot of ceramic watches, this not one of them. It’s made out of stainless steel. However, the entire top of the watch is covered by the ceramic bezel, so only the sides and back show a bit of the sandblasted steel, with a black PVD coating, giving it a ceramic look. It also has pretty great proportions — 32.5mm wide, 11.3mm thick and with a lug-to-lug of 46.3mm. If that length worries you, don’t let it, because it curves strongly around your writs.

The dials are where the fruit inspiration comes from. The red is inspired by pink grapefruit, the green draws its color from limes and the yellow from lemons. Each of the colors are intense in the centre, fading to black quickly as it moves towards the edges. All of them feature rhodium-coloured applied hour markers and hands, with lume inserts. The rado logo at 12 rotates, while at 6 you’ll find the date window with a black disc inside.

Inside all three is the Rado 766 calibre which is based on the ETA 2892 and has a pretty great power reserve of 72 hours, along with a Nivachron hairspring. The watches come on FKM rubber strap that match the color of the dial.

The new summer Rado Anatom watches are available now, priced at €3,750. See more on the Rado website.

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H. Moser & Cie Introduces Their Summer Blockbuster, The Pioneer Spiced Aqua Collection

50 years ago, hundreds of thousands of people poured out of movie theaters determined they will never ever enter the ocean again. They just got done watching Jaws, and were rightfully terrified. But what they didn’t know was that they just witness the birth of a brand new genre — the summer blockbuster. And according to H. Moser & Cie. summer isn’t complete without a few blockbusters. That’s why for their latest release, the new Pioneer Spiced Aqua collection, they themed them as summer blockbusters, each with its own poster. They’re kinda cool, check them out here, while I tell you all about the new watches.

The new Pioneer Spiced Aqua collection is all about colors and it’s pretty obvious from first glance. First up, we have the Pioneer Centre Seconds Spice Aqua, which is the only one that has a choice of cases — either an untreated steel or one with a dark grey DLC coating. The case measures 42.8mm wide and 12mm thick, with sapphire crystals on top and bottom and 120 meters of water resistance. Both versions come with a turquoise dial that has a sunburst pattern and a slight gradient to a darker edge. Around the perimeter is a orange flange coated with Super-LumiNova, there is not text on the dial and the hands are painted in the same orange lume as the flange. Inside, you’ll find the in-house automatic calibre HMC 201 that beats at 3Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The steel version comes on a white rubber strap, priced at CHF 14,500 without taxes, and the DLC version gets an orange strap, with a price tag of CHF 16,000, also without taxes. See more here.

Next up is the Pioneer Tourbillon Spiced Aqua, which comes in just one flavor of steel case that measures 40mm wide and 12mm thick. It keeps the 120 meters of water resistance, but it’s on the dial where things get slightly different. It’s a mirror image of the central seconds model when it comes to color, with a sunray brushed orange central part and a turquoise flange that’s lumed, just like the hands. There’s an aperture at 6 o’clock for the tourbillon that’s attached to the HMC 805 automatic with the same 3Hz beat rate and 3 day power reserve. The watch comes on a turquoise rubber strap, priced at CHF 49,900, without taxes. See more on the website.

Last, we have the Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Spiced Aqua which comes in a case that measures 42.8mm wide and a significant 15.3mm thick. But keep in mind that the case measures 11.7mm without the ultra-domed sapphire crystal. Underneath the dome is an openworked dial that lets you see al the bridges of the movement and the flying tourbillon with cylindrical hairspring. The time-telling part of the watch is relegated to a small sub-dial positioned at 12 o’clock, with a fumé orange base and turquoise Globolight inserts for the hour markers and on the hands. The movement you see is the calibre HMC 811, beating at 3Hz with a 74 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a turquoise rubber strap and a price tag of CHF 79,000. See more on the Moser website.

⏲️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

• A 2013 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research reported that CrossFit, while intense, is not particularly dangerous and is considered to be as risky as weight training or preparing for a triathlon. Lazar Ðukić was a 28-year-old CrossFit athlete from Serbia who was a particularly strong swimmer. So why, then, did he drown during an 800-meter swim as part of the 2024 CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, Texas? For Rolling Stone, Calum Marsh reports on what went wrong, and CrossFit’s ham-fisted response.

• Another article about what the rise of AI means for our intellectual lives, but an interesting one. Joshua Rothman takes a decidedly arm’s-length approach here—informed speculation leads the way, with a few data points sprinkled in for texture—but also seems game to confront a future where books are just another fungible text, to be digested in whatever recombinant form suits you best. It’s easy to read this as an admission of defeat; it’s more rewarding to read it as a call to arms.

• Does the world need another profile of Donald Trump? Almost certainly not. And yet the details from Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer’s study of Trump’s cellphone habits have a way of lingering in the mind. The president’s personal number is “broadly circulated.” He picks up calls from unknown numbers, and keeps a photograph of his own face on his lock screen. The Cellphone in Chief is a “portal,” Parker and Scherer write, but it’s also a mirror, a security blanket, and a vulnerability.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

When I get crazy busy, I like nothing more than popping on just a few minutes of Norm Macdonald. It is crazy how funny he was.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk