Citizen Gives 37mm Tsuyosa Time Slip A Smoky Dial; Hanhart Expands Their Diver Collection; The Union Glashütte Noramis Sachsen Classic Is A Great Racing Chrono; Montblanc's Green Nicolas Rieussec

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. The Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec is a super interesting watch. In fact, the entire Minerva-Montblanc story is fascinating, I think I might expand it for the Friday history articles.

In this issue

• Citizen Gives Their 37mm Tsuyosa Time Slip A Very Smoky, Black Fumé Dial

• Hanhart Continues Expanding Their Diver Collection And It’s Only Getting Better

• The Union Glashütte Noramis Chronograph Sachsen Classic 2025 Is A Great Racing Chrono

• Montblanc Releases A Handsome Green Version Of The Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS: Watches You Might Not Have Seen, Week 44: The Incredible Seiko Think the Earth WN-1

👂What’s new

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Citizen Gives Their 37mm Tsuyosa Time Slip A Very Smoky, Black Fumé Dial

Citizen hit it on the head when they released the Tsuyosa collection. With great proportions, a decent movement and a price that won’t scare the majority of people away, they sold like hotcakes. A few months ago, they made it even better by shrinking down the case from 40mm to 37mm. It seems now that their 37mm model might be their best seller, as they just keep releasing color, after color of that model. And sure, this new release is just a new release of the 37mm Tsuyosa, but it gets incredible an incredible gradient on the dial, as well as beautiful texture.

While the original Tsuyosa collection, which has been around since 2022, sounds like a large watch, it actually wasn’t. Mostly due to the fact that it had a surprisingly short lug-to-lug thanks to an integrated bracelet. It measured just 45mm on a 40mm width. The compact dimensions continue on the smaller version. Still made out of stainless steel, it measures 37mm wide and 11.5mm thick, with a great lug-to-lug of 43mm. Apart from the size, a lot remains the same. You still have the barrel shape, flat sapphire crystal on top, a mineral crystal out back and a recessed crown at 4 o’clock. Water resistance is a bit controversial at 50 meters, but will do fine.

The dial comes in a gradient fumé from a grey with a hint of deep green, to a black on the outside. The entire dial has a grainy texture, which just highlights the color fluctuations. The grey dial is paired with gold-coloured hands, applied indexes and minute markers. It’s a great combination. At 3 o’clock is a date aperture with a cyclops above it.

Inside is the Citizen Calibre 8210 automatic movement which beats at 3Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. It has an accuracy of -20/+40 per day, but like most of these more affordable movements, it performs much better in real life. The watch comes on a three-link tapering stainless steel bracelet that’s closed by a folding clasp with push-button release. Adjustment is possible on the clasp, but it requires a tool.

The new Citizen Tsuyosa 37mm Time Slip is a limited edition, but 8,000 will be made, so you will likely be able to get one if you want it. Price is set at $495. See more on the Citizen website.

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Hanhart Continues Expanding Their Diver Collection And It’s Only Getting Better

The German brand Hanhart is best known for their pilots watches and various aviation-adjacent models. Very rarely — in fact, never in full and unlimited production — have they made classic dive watches. They’ve had the pretty wacky Primus collection that looked nothing like a regular dive watch, as well as the Fly Navy Aerosphere which looks like a diver, goes down to 300 meters, but is a homage to Germany’s Naval Aviation Command — so pilots again — and it is also a very limited edition. That all changed late in 2024, when they introduced their first traditional dive collection, the Aquasphere. Now, we’re getting a new model in the collection, one with a more refined dial. This is the new Aquasphere Ocean Fade.

This is a very traditional diver. You get a stainless steel case, brushed finish, 42mm x 12.95mm x 49mm measurements, as well as a chunky unidirectional, 60-click fluted bezel with a matte blue ceramic insert that’s fully graduated for the first 15 minutes all scream diver. The same can be said for the liberal amounts of Super-LumiNova C1 on all the bezel markings, and the slightly retro domed sapphire crystal. But nothing says hard-core diver like a helium escape valve at 10 o’clock and a water resistance rating of 300 meters.

The dial continues where the first Aquasphere left off, but keeps in line with the Fade part of the name. The color fades from a beautiful blue at the top to deep black at the bottom, mimicking the fade from blue to black as you descend deeper into the waters. The minute track is white, as are the indices that are surrounded with a silver border. All of that white on the indices is also C1 lume. The watch uses the familiar handset from other Hanhart watches, and a red-tipped central seconds hand.

Inside, a bit of a change. While the first Aquasphere models came equipped with a Sellita SW200-1, the new Ocean Fade gets a Soprod SOP P024 automatic. Since both are variations of the ubiquitous ETA 2824, they share the same specs — a 4Hz beat rate and a 38 hour power reserve. The movement has a Glucydur balance and Incabloc shock protection, along with a rotor that’s decorated with the Hanhart logo. Hanhart also regulates the movement to a very pleasant accuracy of 0/+8 seconds per day. The watch can be had on either a stainless steel bracelet that has a folding clasp with fine adjustments, a blue or black rubber strap or on a very cool blue textile strap that closes with a hook and loop closure.

The Hanhart Aquasphere Ocean Fade is available now, as part of the regular collection. Price is set at €1,490 on the hook and loop strap, €1,590 on the rubber strap and €1,690 on the stainless steel bracelet. See more on the Hanhart website.

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The Union Glashütte Noramis Chronograph Sachsen Classic 2025 Is A Great Racing Chrono

If there’s one thing that you can always count on, it’s the fact that Union Glashütte — that slightly lesser known part of the Swatch Group based out of the legendary German watchmaking town of Glashütte — will honour their partnerships with (mostly) car-themed events and release limited editions to mark these occasions. One of these events is the Sachsen Classic in Saxony, an incredible event that’s not as famous as a classic rally as some others in Europe that attract multi-million euros worth of cars. What they do attract is an incredible number of cars even the most ardent classic-car enthusiasts didn’t know even existed. While the 2024 version of this watch featured Gulf colors, the 2025 Union Glashütte Noramis Chronograph Limited Edition Sachsen Classic keeps things much more subtle, taking inspiration from the stunning the one-off 1952 Grosser Werkmeister sports car.

The watch comes in a 42mm wide and 14.45mm thick stainless steel case that has a 50.05mm lug-to-lug, with a lug width of 22mm. It’s an all-around vintage affair, with mushroom pushers — the top one of which has a anodized red stem — a domed sapphire crystal and slightly angular lug ends that give it a bit of an edge. There’s only a sliver of a bezel on top, allowing for a great view of the dial. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is where things get really great, even though it’s a bit of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it thing. The dial mimics the dashboard of the Grosser Werkmeister and gets a fantastic silver base with a perlage finish. These are paried with black sub-dials and red details. The running seconds sub-dial at 9 also integrates the date aperture perfectly.

Inside the watch is the self-winding UNG-27.S2 chronograph movement beating at a frequency of 28,800vph, and a power reserve of approximately 60 hours. Based on a modified Valjoux 7750, this calibre is equipped with a silicon balance spring for enhanced longevity, precision, and resistance to magnetic fields. The watch comes on an interesting double stitched black leather strap.

The Union Glashütte Noramis Chronograph Limited Edition Sachsen Classic 2025 is a limited edition release of 350 pieces and priced at €3,600, which is the exact same price as last year’s edition. See more on the Union Glashütte website.

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Montblanc Releases A Handsome Green Version Of The Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph

Montblanc’s path in watchmaking is a very interesting one. For the first ten years of making watches, it would be fair to describe them almost as fashion watches. Then, in 2007, they bought Minerva, one of the most significant movement manufacturers in the world. With it, Montblanc acquired incredible heritage which they have incorporated into their watches quite deftly. One of their first significant releases that was powered by the Minerva acquisition was the Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph, which was quite something. Not only was it their first in-house movement, it had a great story. Back in the early 19th century, Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec, the namesake of the watch, developed the inking chronograph, a mechanism that had a fixed nib that would release a drop of ink on the two rotating counters, one doing a full revolution in 30 minutes and the other in 60 seconds. This allowed for the precise timing of horse racing. And it’s this machine that served as inspiration for the 2007 Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec chronograph which featured the unique rotating sub-dials, reminiscent of the original invention. Since 2007, the overall design hasn’t changed much, but every so often, Montblanc comes out with a new color. Now, we’re getting a new shade, one that’s very Parisian in its origin — a grey green color.

Being based on a 2007 watch, it means that the watch also keeps the dimensions that were quite popular at the time. It’s large, and there’s no two ways about it. It measures 43mm wide and 15mm thick, excluding quite a large part of the population. The stainless steel case is fully round with chunky lugs. You’ll also notice that on the right side you’ll just find an onion-shaped crown, with no chronograph pushers. Which is strange for a chronograph. The watch has a single pusher, and that’s located at 8 o’clock. You get 50 meters of water resistance.

The dial gets the new grey green color and a Clous de Paris pattern, both of which are a connection with Paris, where the first inking chronograph was tested. It’s a great setup, actually. Time is told with a large sub-dial at 12 o’clock which has cutouts for the hour markers and dots for minutes. It also has an integrated day/night indicator at 9 o’clock and lumed Dauphine-shaped hands. It also has a second time-zone indicator via a skeletonized third hand. Then, you get the two rotating sub-dials below the main dial, which share a diamond-shaped bridge that serves as an indicator. On the left you have a 30 minute counter and on the right is a 60 seconds counter. Below them is a date aperture that has a metal plate surround and a green date disc.

Inside, you’ll find the manufacture calibre MB R200, an automatic integrated chronograph movement with column wheel and vertical clutch. It beats at 4Hz and thanks to the twin barrels you get 72 hours of power reserve. The openworked rotor is decorated with a Clous de Paris pattern and a Montblanc star, and the bridges with Côtes de Genève. The watch comes on a beautiful green calfskin strap with a lining that has a printed map of Paris from 1821 featuring important locations for Rieussec.

The new Montblanc Star Legacy Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph is part of the regular collection and not limited, with the price set at €8,300. See more on the Montblanc website (I can’t find it on the main Montblanc website, but it is on the Canadian one).

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS: Watch School Wednesday: The Mecaquartz Movement, A True Hybrid

From high-tech beginnings to modern microbrand staples. Read it here.

⏲️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

• Using AI in the classroom is fraught, to put it mildly. Can AI help humans learn to read and write more effectively? Instead of doing the work, can AI act as a coach and enhance learning? These are some of the questions that Piers Gelly explored recently as an assistant professor of English at UVA. Instead of banning ChatGPT, Gelly had his students share their attitudes toward the technology and then experimented with what they could learn about reading and writing with the help of the bot.

• Ozzy Osbourne died last week, shortly after performing in his final concert before a global audience of 6 million. Here, John Darnielle, the lead musician of the Mountain Goats—and novelist, activist, and all-around good-seeming dude—opines on Ozzy’s impact. On music, yes, because Ozzy and Black Sabbath created a whole new genre. But also on individual listeners, which Darnielle illustrates with an anecdote from his youth.

• Jeni Gunn is 51 and lives in a rented basement suite on Canada’s Vancouver Island. She’s worked gigs for three decades and, after raising two children as a single parent, her retirement savings fits in a piggy bank on her dresser. Gunn makes enough doing private investigative and crisis planning work most months to cover her basics, but very little more. She’s got to chase her gig employers down to get paid, often for work that’s physically arduous. She often turns down social time with friends, and most other extras because she just can’t afford it as a member of a growing class of Canadian society called the Secretly Poor.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Not to continue my fascination with the new Atelier Wen Ancestra, but the brand is great at making videos. Like this one that shows you how those incredible dials are made.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk