Farer Introduces New Integra Collection With Fantastic Dials; TAG Heuer Releases A Trippy Osaka Expo Carrera Glassbox; A White Micromilspec Milgraph; A Strange But Beautiful Moser x Azuki Collab

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. A lot of colorful watches today, with Farer and Moser going head to head. I know who wins for me. Also, the Laco giveaway is going on for another 7 days, the rules are simple:

If you want to participate in the Laco giveaway, the rules are simple. Just scroll down to the end of the newsletter where you’ll find a large share button. Use that to invite your friends to subscribe to the newsletter and every referral gets you a ticket to enter the raffle. The more subscribers you bring, the higher the chance of winning is.

In this issue

• Farer Introduces The New Integra Collection, Their Take On The Integrated Bracelet

• TAG Heuer Releases A Trippy Dial For The 2025 Osaka Expo Carrera Glassbox

• Micromilspec Brings A White Dial To Their Fantastic Milgraph GMT Chronograph

• The Collaboration Between H. Moser & Cie. And Web 3 Anime Brand Azuki Is Strange, But Very Beautiful

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS: Historical Perspectives: Breaking Boundaries - Frieda Lacher’s Role in Shaping Laco’s Horological Heritage

👂What’s new

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Farer Introduces The New Integra Collection, Their Take On The Integrated Bracelet

We already know that Farer has mastered watch colors. Very few brands have such a mastery of mixing shades we’ve never seen before, with such success. But their dials and colors can, for a second, distract from the cases the watches come in. Which is an oversight, as it’s evident that their cases are just as interesting as their dials. And sure, while integrated bracelet sports watches are everywhere now, Farer is now introducing a new collection called the Integra, their take on the integrated bracelet sports watch. And I’m digging it. A lot.

Starting with the new stainless steel case, it has an interesting barrel-like shape. It is brushed all over, including on the broad flat bezel on top, with a sharp, sharp polished facet between the bezel and the case. The dimensions are also amazing. It measures 38.5mm wide and 10.3mm thick, which is pretty standard, but it also has a 42mm lug-to-lug, which is fantastic. That short length comes mostly from the fact that there are no lugs due to the integrated bracelet construction. On top is a sapphire crystal with multiple anti-reflective coatings, while out back you’ll find an exhibition case back.

There are four dials at launch of the collection and they all have latin names that refer to their colors. First, there’s the Tenebris, which has a dark blue hue, joined by the Cuprum which has a salmon color. These two have a central sunray section, an outer grained section, as well as applied silver Arabic numerals and indices, surrounded by a brushed metallic chapter ring with etched minute track.. The Virdis, on the other hand, is made out of beautiful green malachite, while the Perlarum is made out of white mother-of-pearl. Both of these versions have X2 Super-LumiNova on the hour/minute hands and Arabic numerals/indices. But for extra dramatic flare, the perlarum has the indices and numerals made out of the luminous Lumicast material, painted black on top to give a backlight effect. This is what they really do best.

Inside, you’ll find the Sellita SW300-1 in its Top Grade configuration. It beats at 4Hz and has a 56 hour power reserve. The movement gets a fully circular rotor with cutouts that match the links on the bracelet and they are vapour-coated in the same color as the dial. Then, there’s the bracelet. It’s a beauty. First, it tapers from 24mm to 16mm. Second, the links use screws for easy sizing and the center links are polished. Third, while the bracelet has a hidden butterfly clasp, it also has a new micro-adjust system that gives you 3mm on each side, with a simple pull. Very cool. You also get rubber bracelets for each — green and black for the Virdis and Perlarum, and blue and brown for the Tenebris and Cuprum, respectively.

The new Farer Integra collection is available for pre order now, with deliveries expected in late September. The pricing is pretty great as well, with the Tenebris and Cuprum models priced at €1,695 and the Viridis and Perlarum models priced at €1,825. See more on the Farer website.

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TAG Heuer Releases A Trippy Dial For The 2025 Osaka Expo Carrera Glassbox

By now you know I am madly in love with the TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox watches. Such a simple change — just pushing the crystal all the way to the edge, with a tachymetre bezel underneath it — created an instant classic. We’ve seen dozens of variants, each cooler than the other, but this latest one is a bit special. It’s really difficult to find much info on it, as it’s a Japanese market release. But there’s a good reason why it’s meant to be sold only in Japan. And that’s because that this is the Expo 2025 Osaka Limited Edition, with a dial you won’t easily forget.

Starting with the case, which is a bit familiar, it’s made out of stainless steel case, with classically styled lugs and familiar pushers flanking the crown. It’s overall brushed, with a few nice polished details. The watch measures 39mm wide and 13.86mm thick. While not huge, the Glassbox wears larger due to its immense dial opening on top. That’s thanks to the glassbox crystal construction which extends all the way to the edge of the watch, with the tachymetre scale sitting underneath that crystal and forming a single unit with the dial. It’s an incredibly cool look. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Then, we have the dial. While the basics look familiar — three slightly sunken sub-dials with light grey backgrounds which hold the 30 minute and 12 hour totalizers (with red hands) at 3 and 9, and a running seconds (with a white hand) at 6 o’clock — the rest is freaking cool. The stark white base gets numerous blobs of red and white paint, which are the colors of the Osaka Expo. It’s really a unique look and I dig it a lot. Oh, and there’s a date aperture at 12 o’clock.

Inside, you’ll find the calibre TH20-00, an automatic column wheel chronograph which has an 80 hour power reserve. Decorations include Côtes de Genève on the bridges and an openworked shield-shaped rotor. The watch comes on a white calfskin strap.

Getting one of these TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Expo 2025 Osaka Limited Editions is going to be really difficult. Only 125 pieces will be made, they can be purchased only online and only in Japan. So, good luck! Price is set at ¥1.089.000, which is about €6,300. See more on the Japanese TAG Heuer website.

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Micromilspec Brings A White Dial To Their Fantastic Milgraph GMT Chronograph

For years, the Norwegian microbrand Micromilspec wasn’t in the public eye. Mostly because they made special watches for military regiments, each with their own special features and looks. Only last year, after 40 successful military and first responder partnerships, Micromilspec launched the pretty cool Milgraph GMT Chronograph, their first civilian watch. And of course that, and every one after it, sold out very quick. And it’s impossible to keep in stock. They used the same platform a couple of months ago when they introduced the Micromilspec x Black Badger Project Sabotage Milgraph, which had a whole wild Sci-Fi story behind it. It also had a white dial with a bunch of orange details. It was obvious the moment everyone saw it that the Milgraph looked stunning in white. Micromilspec thinks the same because we’re now getting a white Milgraph and it’s fantastic.

The case you see here is the familiar case we’ve seen on the Milgraph before. That means that it’s made out microblasted Grade 5 titanium and it measures 42mm wide and 15mm thick. Interestingly, despite having minimal lugs for an almost integrated bracelet look, it has a rather long lug-to-lug measurement of 50.3mm. The crown and pushers for the chronograph are moved to the left side, but with a military-inspired watch this is less to fit people who wear their watches on the right hand and more to do with the crown not digging into your hand while doing military things. On top is a flat sapphire crystal surrounded by a bezel with an elapsed time scale that matches the case material and has what Micromilspec calls QuadGrip — four indents to help rotate the bezel. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is familiar, but all different because it’s now matte white instead of matte black. While the Black Badger collaboration had a lot of orange accents, this one has just a few — on the GMT hand and on the tip of the chronograph hand. The three sub-dials are used for the running seconds, 12-hour counter and 30-minute counter. Interestingly, the sub-dials don’t have any numerals, which would make it hard to guess which is which, but each is marked with a tag next to the dial for easy identification. They also vary in size in accordance to the importance of information they show.

Inside is the La Joux-Perret calibre L121, a column-wheel-operated automatic chronograph movement with a 60-hour power reserve. It beats at 4Hz and is fairly accurate at ±4 seconds per day. The watch comes on either an orange, white or black rubber strap, closed with a titanium pin buckle.

Unfortunately, Micromilspec doesn’t make a lot of watches each year, and this one is no different. Only 75 will be made in 2025 and the price is set at €3,500. See more on the Micromilspec website.

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The Collaboration Between H. Moser & Cie. And Web 3 Anime Brand Azuki Is Strange, But Very Beautiful

I was 100% sure that the Web3 wave was over. Do you remember the stories we heard of Web3 and the blockchain five years ago? I know this must be my personal experience, but I can’t help but bust out laughing these days when I read them. Web3 was going to revolutionize the world, grifters promised it was more important than the Internet and everything got a Web3 label. I recently found a newsletter publisher that covers various sports and cultural events who managed to raise over a million dollar in funding promising to become the future of Web3 news. They publish a regular newsletter on sports, they just pasted on every Web3 buzzword and got all the investments. I was sure that this wave was over, but it seems that I was wrong. There are still people living for this idea.

One such brand is Azuki, something that I would describe as an anime project with a bunch of animated shows, content and collectibles. Azuki describe themselves as a “web3 project at the intersection of art, technology, and internet culture that has evolved into a global community of artists and builders shaping original characters, stories, and experiences together”. Sure, I guess. Now, Azuki is pairing up with the most surprising watch brand they could pair with. While I would expect a G-Shock or Seiko collab, I could never guess they could ever team up with H. Moser & Cie. And yet, here we are, with a collaboration between Azuki, the Web3 anime project, and Moser on eight watches — four Pioneer Centre Seconds and Pioneer Tourbillon X Azuki. This is pretty crazy, but I’ll be damned… I love the look!

So, the eight models made with Azuki are based on the Moser Pioneer, four Centre Seconds and Tourbillon, which all share the same case. It’s made out of titanium, measuring 40mm wide and 11.4mm thick, if you include the domed sapphire crystal. Without the crystal, the case is quite svelte at 10.8mm. It’s a great looking case with a brushed finish, scalloped sides and a unidirectional bezel on top with a grey ceramic insert that has a 60 minute scale. Out back is a transparent caseback, the crown screws down and water resistance is 120 meters.

Then, we have the dials. Moser is known for making some of the most beautiful dials in the industry. And these might be some of their best. Whether it’s the Centre Seconds or the Tourbillon, they all have the same bases and they are inspired by the four elements — Earth, Water, Fire and Lightning (instead of wind, which could have also worked). Earth gets a fume dial blending form orange to brown on the edges, with a hobnail pattern, Water has a light blue to dark blue fume dial with a water ripple pattern engraved, Fire has an orange fume dial that darkens towards the edges with an intricate spiraling pattern and LIghtning has a light blue to dark blue fume dial with a textured pattern. They all look really, really good. The markers on all of them are made out of Globolight, a lume block material, the same one that makes up the top half of the hands. The only difference between the eight dials is that the four Tourbillons have a pretty dramatic opening for the, well, tourbillon at 6 o’clock.

Inside, you’ll find two movement. The Centre Seconds version has the automatic calibre HMC 200 which beats at 21,600vph and has a 72 hour power reserve, while the tourbillon has the HMC 804, which also beats at 21,600vph and has a a same 72 hour power reserve. The watches come on metal h-shaped bracelets.

The new H. Moser & Cie Pioneer Centre Seconds and Pioneer Tourbillon X Azuki are limited to 24 pieces each. Price is set at $25,000 for the Centre Seconds and $75,000 for the Tourbillon. See more on the Azuki website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS: Your Next Watch, Week 51: An IWC I'm Lusting Over; A Cool 70s JLC; Something I've Never Seen Before, And A Couple Of Gold Gems

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

• Read this piece to see Dan Kois become reluctantly charmed by Chili’s, in his exploration of how this restaurant is making a huge comeback—with the help of influencers and the “hot mozz.” While taken aback by the brand’s fans, or “Chiliheads,” who describe a “fried appetizer iteration in the kinds of awestruck tones usually reserved for, like, the discovery of penicillin,” Kois, after consuming a lot of melted cheese, sees the appeal of the “mid” restaurant. Culminating in a Chili’s trip with some Gen Z teens, Kois reflects on the joy of going out together for some (cheap) food and hanging out in person, even if you might film the cheese pull for TikTok.

• Excessive heat. Flash floods. Freak tornadoes. On Mauritius, people and wildlife are struggling to survive the island’s extreme weather conditions. And while government officials acknowledge the climate crisis, they’re limited by Mauritius’ weak economy. In this piece at The Dial—originally part of the essay collection Portrait of an Island on Fire—Mauritian writer Ariel Saramandi writes a poignant and urgent essay about a neglected corner of the world.

• What are the products of our perpetual proximity to violence, even during times of peace? Theo Lipsky, a captain in the US Army, considers the soldiers who thumb their phones, distracted, while guarding explosives for a war that has not arrived, and may not. With some assistance from Kierkegaard, Lipsky seizes on the “great spiritual movements” accessible to the individuals in this singular position, without romanticizing the forces—including indifference—that place them there.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Gordon Murray will forever go down in history as the creator of the best car ever made, the McLaren F1. In the past several years he has been hell-bent of recreating this glory with cars like the T.50 and T.33. Well, it seems like he decided that play time is over and it’s time to really remake the McLaren F1. Just look at this thing! It’s identical. And just as cool.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk