Credor Pairs Steel And Porcelain On The Goldfeather; Zenith's Six New Defy Models; Seiko Brings Back Tonneau Presage; A Lot Of New AP Royal Oaks; Urwerk Tracks Ligthspeed With The UR-100V Ceramic

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. A brief one today, and quite relevant as that malachite Royal Oak got quite a lot of publicity this weekend.

In this issue

• Credor Pairs Steel And Porcelain With The Goldfeather Imari Nabeshima GCBY991

• Zenith Releases Five New Defy Models, From Vintage Revival To Hyper-Modern Ceramics

• Seiko Brings Back The Tonneau Case To The Presage Collection With The New SPB537

• AP Updates The Royal Oak With Titanium/BMG/ Openworked And Yellow Gold/Malachite Versions

• Urwerk Tracks A Very Specific Celestial Measurement With The New UR-100V LightSpeed Ceramic

👂What’s new

1/

Credor Pairs Steel And Porcelain With The Goldfeather Imari Nabeshima GCBY991

The Seiko brand name is almost ubiquitous as the Rolex name. It’s instantly recognizable, even by people who know nothing about watches and, unlike Rolex, they were likely owned by at least someone the general public knows. Grand Seiko, on the other hand, is a bit more niche. A step up above Seiko, it’s their more elegant and more expensive brand that’s not as much of a household name. GS is a watch for watch nerds. But then, there’s Credor. A bit of a mystery for even people well versed in the watch world and Seiko’s haute horology brand. Over the past few years, Credor started reinventing itself to become a serious contender in the high end space. What we have here is the Goldfeather GCBY991, a fantastic dress watch with a striking dial.

While previous Goldfeather cases more often appear in gold, this new watch uses stainless steel which works great here. It measures 37.1mm wide and 8.3mm thick, and things are pretty simple. On top is a box-shaped sapphire crystal, surrounded by a simple bezel that has Zaratsu polishing on it. The same finish can be found on the simple lugs. Out back is a see-through caseback and you get 30 meters of water resistance.

The dial is pretty incredible, made out of Imari Nabeshima porcelain, first produced by the Nabeshima clan in Okawachiyama, the “village of secret kilns”. The porcelain on the dial has an incredible cobalt blue that transitions to a white in the middle, and that gradient effect has a pattern of blue feathers and ghost-like transparent feathers. A fantastic look.

Inside, you’ll find the hand-winding 6890 caliber which is just 1.98mm thick. Beating at 3Hz, it has a 37 hour power reserve. You can see it through the caseback and it’s pretty good looking. The watch comes on black crocodile straps with a steel pin buckle.

The new Credor Goldfeather GCBY991 is limited to 60 pieces and goes on sale this month. Price is set at €15,000. See more on the Credor website.

2/

Zenith Releases Five New Defy Models, From Vintage Revival To Hyper-Modern Ceramics

Sometimes watches slip through the cracks and I miss them when they come out. Sometime six watches slip through the cracks. What can you do. During LVMH watch week almost a month ago, Zenith did a whole refresh of their chunkiest collection, the Defy. And there’s six new watches of which five are evolutions of existing models and one is a brand new model in their Revival line, which means that it emulates a look from the 60s. But let’s get going with these.

First up is the Zenith Defy Skyline Skeleton which now comes in a 41mm wide black ceramic case. You can get it on either a black ceramic bracelet, and you get an additional patterned black rubber strap. The crown screws down and you get 100 meters of water resistance. The dial is fully skeletonized and the openworked star-shaped bridges have a gold color, which works well with the black case. Inside, you’ll find the El Primero 3620 SK automatic which beats at 5 Hz, which gives you a 1/10th-of-a-second running indicator at 6 o’clock, completing a turn every 10 seconds. Power reserve is 55 hours. Price is set at $12,800. See the watch here.

The next watch, the Zenith Defy Skyline Chronograph, also comes in a black ceramic case, with the same black ceramic bracelet and rubber strap. It measures 42mm wide and gets you 100 meters of water resistance. Instead of a skeletonized dial, you get a gradient grey dial that’s lighter at the center and the entire base is engraved with Zenith’s four-pointed star motif. The sub-dials are snailed, the hands and applied markers are faceted and lumed, and there’s a date at 4:30. Inside is the El Primero 3600, a column-wheel chronograph movement beating at 5 Hz with a 60-hour power reserve. You also get the very cool 1/10th-of-a-second chronograph, and the movement has a star-shaped rotor. Price is set at $22,600. See the watch here.

Moving up to the big leagues, we have the Defy Skyline Tourbillon Skeleton. The 41mm wide case is made out of solid rose gold with brushed and polished finishes. The bracelet is solid rose gold with a double folding clasp, and Zenith includes a blue rubber strap with a star pattern and a matching gold folding clasp. Water resistance is 100 meters. The dial is an incredible display that has a flange that holds the hour markers, leaving the centre fully open. Then the mainplate is decorated with the Zenith star, and there are blue details all over the decorations. The movement you see is the El Primero 3630 SK automatic. Once again, it beats at 5Hz, with a 50 hour power reserve. The one-minute tourbillon sits at 6 o’clock Decorations include blue PVD on the bridges and mainplate with polished rhodium-plated bevels. This edition is limited to 50 pieces and the price is set at $99,400. See more on the Zenith website.

Then we have two new Defy Skyline models that come in new 36mm wide cases. They both have steel cases, both have the twelve-sided bezel, but while one has a plain steel bezel, the other has it set with 52 VVS brilliant-cut diamonds. Water resistance is still 100 meters and you get the watch on an integrated steel bracelet, with an additional rubber strap. The dials on both versions have sunray finished silver dial with the star pattern we’ve seen many times on the Skyline models. Inside is the cool Elite 670 automatic which beats at 4Hz, with a 50 hour power reserve. Price is set at $9,000 without diamonds and $12,800 with diamonds. See the watch here.

And last, we have the brand new model, the Defy Revival A3643. The Revival is quickly becoming a very popular line for Zenith which brings back iconic 60s designs with a lot of modern improvements. The case is made out of stainless steel, measuring 37mm wide. The watch is octagonal in shape, with their iconic 14-sided bezel on top. It’s a chunky watch, but it gets you 300 meters of water resistance. Zenith says the dial has been recreated through a high-precision scan of the vintage model. The base of the dial is sunray brushed and silver, with two-tier applied hour markers that have a satin-brushed central plane raised above glossy black-lacquered recesses. At 4:30 is a date aperture and the seconds hand has an orange rectangle at the top. Inside is the same Elite 670 automatic which beats at 4Hz with a 50 hour power reserve. The watch comes on the iconic ladder bracelet originally designed for Zenith by Gay Frères in 1969. Price is set at $7,500. See more on the Zenith website.

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Seiko Brings Back The Tonneau Case To The Presage Collection With The New SPB537

Ten years ago, or so, Seiko had a couple of really great looking tonneau-shaped cases, especially in the Presage line. Then, they all disappeared. Which is a shame, because variety is the spice of life. Why just focus on just round watches when there are so many nice shapes out there. Tonneau, for example. Well, Seiko agrees, and they’re bringing back the tonneau shaped to the Presage collection, with the new Seiko Presage Classic Series Craftsmanship Enamel Dial SPB537.

Tonneau shaped cases are difficult to measure, as their dimensions vary from point to point on the watch. But even so, this sounds like a relatively wearable watch at 35.9mm wide, 12.5m thick and with a 46mm lug-to-lug. The most problematic of the dimensions could be the thickness, but that’s offset by the fact that the entire case curves to the shape of the wrist. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal, out back is a transparent caseback and on the side is an oversized crown. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial is rendered in a white enamel, which we’ve seen on many Presage collection watches so we know they’re good. The white base is paired with a black railway minute track and painted Roman numerals, while at 6 o’clock is a recessed sub-dial that doesn’t give you a small seconds as you would expect. No, that would make sense. Instead, you get a 24-hour sub dial that doesn’t show a second time zone in 24 hours. It just shows the time you have on the main hands, but in 24 hour format. Absolutely useless, and not in a fun way. The hands are blued and hand-bent to match the curvature of the dial.

Inside is the not-often-used 6R5H which beats at 21,600vph and has a 72 hour power reserve. Seiko claims accuracy of -15/+25 seconds per day. The rotor is gold colored and has the Seiko logo. The watch comes on a five link stainless steel bracelet, closed with a three-fold clasp.

The new Seiko Presage Classic Craftsmanship Series Enamel Dial SPB537 foes on sale this month, priced at €1,650. See more on the Seiko website.

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AP Updates The Royal Oak With Titanium/BMG/ Openworked And Yellow Gold/Malachite Versions

Audemars Piguet released so many new watches last Tuesday, I am still covering them a week later because I don’t want to drown the newsletter in just AP watches. But it’s time I start merging the stories if we ever want to talk about non-AP watches. So, today, let’s cover the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked in titanium and Bulk Metallic Glass, as well as the new yellow gold Royal Oak with a malachite dial, in two sizes. No time to waste.

Starting with the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked, it keeps the same size case as previous steel and precious metal versions. That means that it measures 39mm wide and a svelte 8.1mm thick. The watch is made out of titanium and Bulk Metallic Glass, a palladium-rich alloy that can be mirror polished, is used for the bezel and caseback. The bezel has the iconic eight screws (bolts, actually) holding it down, surrounding a flat sapphire crystal.

Where things get really interesting is on the dial, or rather the lack of one. The entire central part of the watch is devoted to showcasing the movement. And that movement is a familiar one, as it’s been used on previous versions. You get blackened 18k white gold hour markers and hands, filled with luminescent material, and it’s surrounded by a silver-grey inner bezel with minute markings. The movement is the the calibre 7124 which at just 2.7mm of thickness is thinner than the movement used in closed-dial models, mostly due to the removal of the date mechanism. You get a frequency of 4Hz and a power reserve of 57 hours. The movement has openworked bridges, sharp internal angles and alternating finishes. The watch comes on a familiar integrated bracelet made out of titanium, with BMG studs.

The new Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin Openworked 16204XT is not limited in number, but production will be controlled. Price is set at CHF 121,600. See more here.

Moving on to the malachite versions, they carry on the legacy of one of. the best looking APs ever made — the Royal Oak 37mm in yellow gold with a turquoise dial. This new release comes in two sizes, a larger at 41mm wide and 10.5mm thick, and a smaller one at 37mm wide and 9.3mm thick. They are, however, both made out of 18k yellow gold with satin-brushed and polished finishes. Water resistance is 50 meters. The yellow gold matches fantastically with the very dramatic green malachite dial that has darker and lighter striations through it. The hands and markers are done in the same yellow gold, with lume strips in them.

The larger watch comes with the automatic calibre 4309 which beats at 4Hz and has a 70 hour power reserve, while the smaller one comes with the calibre 5909, beating at 4Hz, with a 60 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a 18k yellow gold bracelets with a triple-blade folding clasp. You might have also noticed that the 37mm version got pretty good publicity over the weekend, seeing as how it was worn by Bad Bunny during the Super Bowl halftime show. Price is set at CHF 59,800 for the smaller version and CHF 64,700 for the larger version.

5/

Urwerk Tracks A Very Specific Celestial Measurement With The New UR-100V LightSpeed Ceramic

Urwerk has a thing for space. Just a few months ago they released their UR-10 Spacemeter which featured three sub dials, none of which offered time tracking that would be useful in the traditional sense. One tracked every 1,000km the Earth travels on its solar orbit, one tracked the Earth’s daily rotation in increments of 500 meters and one combined both trajectories, thus inscribing every 1,000 kilometres of rotation and 64,000 kilometres of solar orbit on two synchronised scales. For their latest release, they’re continuing on the base set up in 2019 with the UR-100 SpaceTime. This is the new UR-100V LightSpeed Ceramic which comes in a white ceramic composite case and has a crazy complication that measures the time it takes a beam of sunlight to reach the eight planets of the solar system.

The case is very much similar to previous UR-100 models in shape and size, measuring 43mm wide, 14.55mm thick, with a 51.73mm lug-to-lug. Where it differs is the material. It’s made out of a composite ceramic material that incorporates glass and carbon fibres to make the ceramic much more resistant to shattering, something that ceramic is known to do. On top is a heavily domed sapphire crystal, while the caseback is made out of titanium with a black DLC treatment. Water resistance is 50 meters.

Moving on to the dial, or rather, the time telling display because there’s no traditional dial here, it’s quite familiar from other Urwerk watches. The whole time telling display is black, and hours are indicated with three revolving satellites, with a red arrow-tipped minutes hand that travels along a 120-degree arched track graduated from 0 to 60. Then we have the cool speed of light indicator that takes up the top part of the display. Here, you get indications for all eight planets of the solar system, with the time that it takes light to reach it from the Sun. You also have a small blue and green hand that travels through the openworked areas of that display.

Inside, you’ll find the automatic calibre UR 12.02 beating at 4Hz with a 48 hour power. reserve. It has an aluminium rotor decorated with rays and circles to mimic the Sun. The watch comes with a black and a white rubber strap, closed with a deployant buckle.

The new UR-100V LightSpeed Ceramic is available now, priced at CHF 67,000 without taxes. See more on the Urwerk website.

⏲️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

• Jesse Green’s New York Times bio notes that he “played oboe (poorly) for many years.” Poorly or not, his working knowledge of the instrument gives his profile of the Laubin oboe company and its would-be savior its finest lines. Oboes, Green writes, “are essentially handmade sculptures that sing.” He’s a pleasure to read on the maddening physics of making them sing, the instrument’s litany of nicknames, and their unwieldy tones. A thoroughly entertaining study of an imperiled precision instrument.

• On the day Jimmy Savile died a national treasure, whispers from his victims broke through online. BBC journalists Liz MacKean and Meirion Jones uncovered harrowing testimonies from abused girls at Duncroft School, battling bosses who dismissed "just the women." Risking careers, they pried open the lid on a predator protected by fame—igniting a reckoning that finally amplified silenced survivors.

• A 23-year-old YouTuber's slop video alleging Somali daycare fraud in Minneapolis ignites federal raids, ICE killings, and a violent occupation. Nick Shirley, algo-tuned outrage merchant, wields influence reaching VP Vance—blurring lines between partisan propaganda, yellow journalism, and modern independent media that feeds the beast it decries. Is this the new mainstream?

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Not a big Ryan Gosling fan so I had pretty low expectations of this, despite it being based on a book by Andy Weir, who wrote the Martian, and who I like quite a lot. Looks like I might be wrong, because this looks like a super fun trailer.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk