Furlan Marri Gives Disco Volante Onyx Dial And Diamonds; Hamilton's Pilot's Chrono Blue; Dennison's Extremely Cool Twin-Display; Singer's Simple Caballero; Renaud Tixier's Stunning Collaboration

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Geneva Watch Days hasn’t officially started yet, and things are pretty wild here. I’ve seen some very interesting watches, can’t wait to show them to you.

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In this issue

• Furlan Marri Gives Their Disco Volante An Onyx Dial With Diamond Markers

• Hamilton Releases The Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph 40mm In Blue

• Dennison Fully Embraces The 1970s With An Extremely Cool Twin-Display Collection

• Singer Releases Their Simplest Watch To Date, The New Caballero

• Renaud Tixier Teams Up With Ateliers Olivier Vaucher For A Stunning Collaboration

👂What’s new

1/

Furlan Marri Gives Their Disco Volante An Onyx Dial With Diamond Markers

The Disco Volante is one of those iconic watch shapes that you wither adore or can’t stand. Meaning “flying saucer” the design has been around since the 1930s, but most that come to mind are very groovy examples from the late 1950s and early 60s. This was the perfect combination of classy Art Deco and futuristic space-age design and it was embraced by everyone - from Movado through Omega and Universal Genève, all the way up to AP (of course, designed by Gerald Genta), Vacheron and Patek Philippe. The proposition was simple - a fully round case, a broad bezel and hidden lugs and crown. It looked almost alien on wrist and was a genre of watches that has since nearly completely disappeared. And it’s the exact genre that small upstart brand Furlan Marri decided to revive last year with the Furlan Marri Disco Volante. Now, they’re updating the Disco Volante with the Disco Diamonds Onyx, and the name gives it away.

On the outside, you get the same case. It measures 38mm in diameter and seeing as how it has hidden lugs, it also means that it’s 38mm tall, which is surely an interesting look on wrist. Combine that with a thickness of 8.95mm and this is destined to be quite a nice wearing watch. On top is a large and stepped bezel that hides the lugs and has a cutout on the right side to house the crown. From photos it seems that there’s a box style sapphire crystal that slightly protrudes from the case. The bezel is fully polished while the case gets a brushed ring. Water resistance is an expected 50 meters.

The dial gets a black onyx base, which is the deepest of blacks. The complex sector markings of the original are gone for a more simple setup that makes room for lab-grown baguette-cut diamonds hour markers. The hands for the hours and minutes have a Super-LumiNova insert, and at 6′ you will find the small seconds sub-dial.

Inside, a familiar movement, the manual-winding Peseux 7001 calibre. It’s a super thin movement that measures just 2.5mm tall, beats at 21,600vph and has a power reserve of 42 hours. Furlan Marri also decorated the movement significantly with Côtes de Genève and hand-finished, diamond-polished bevels, while the crown wheel and screws are mirror-polished and chamfered. The original release came on leather straps, but the biggest update to the new release comes in the form of a period-style woven mesh bracelet that’s just fantastic.

The new Furlan Marri Disco Diamonds Onyx is limited to 100 pieces this year, with possible more production next year and priced at CHF 3,500, which is exactly CHF 1,000 more than the launch edition of the Disco Volante. See more on the Furlan Marri website.

2/

Hamilton Releases The Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph 40mm In Blue

Just the other day I reported on a couple of new Khaki Pilot’s from Hamilton. I missed then the fact that Hamilton updated one more PIlot’s watch at the moment — the Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph 40mm. This is also a very classic recreation of a chronograph made for the British RAF. Now, that watch is getting a new blue sunray dial and it’s quite handsome.

The new Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph comes in the exact same case a the original black version, which means that it’s an asymmetrical shape that has a bulge on the right side to protect the pushers and push-pull crown. The. case is made out of stainless steel an measures 40mm wide, 14.3mm thick and has a 47mm lug-to-lug. On top is a heavily protruding box shaped crystal that gives it a hell of a vintage look, while out back is a solid caseback. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is also almost identical to the old version, only it now comes in a sunray blue finish. You get Arabic numerals with X1 Super-LumiNova and a bi-compax setup with a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and small seconds at 9 o’clock, which is identical to the 1970s model.

Inside, you’ll find the hand-wound calibre H-51-Si cam-lever chronograph, based on the ETA 7753. It beats at 4Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. Of note is that the lugs are 22mm apart and you can get the watch on either a brown leather strap with a pin buckle or a steel mesh bracelet with a folding clasp.

The new Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chronograph is available now, priced at €2,295 on leather and €2,365 on the mesh bracelet. See more on the Hamilton website.

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Dennison Fully Embraces The 1970s With An Extremely Cool Twin-Display Collection

Founded in 1874, Dennison was known for being a casemaker for the likes of Longines, Omega and Rolex. They disappeared for years, and then suddenly reappeared some six months ago. And despite the fact that the modern rendition of Dennison has only been around for a couple of months, they give off a feeling that they have been doing what they do for years. A lot of that comes from the timeless design of the new A.L.D. case that renowned designer Emmanual Gueit designed for Dennison. It’s a simple square piece that has enough character to be interesting, but not too much to take away from the dials, which are varied in the collection. Now, Dennison is pushing their inspiration to the maximum, reviving one of the coolest complications from the quartz era, the twin-display watches. This is the new Dennison ALD Dual Time and it’s hilarious.

The case remains not just familiar, but almost completely unchanged. It still measures 37mm wide, just 6.1mm thick and with a 35.6mm length. The straps are integrated, so that gives it a compact look. On top is a flat sapphire crystal and out back is a snap-on case. There’s also a polished stainless steel version, as well as one with a gold colored PVD coating. However, the one thing that instantly stands out from the original ALD is the fact that it has two crowns, one on each side of the case. More on that later.

There’s more than a handful of dial materials to choose from. And I’m not kidding. First, you have to choose a dial style. The dials made out of aventurine, tiger eye, malachite, and lapis lazuli are paired with a color-matching circular sunken sunburst display that displays the second time zone, while the bloodstone and lapis lazuli or tiger’s eye and black marble are split down the middle, with each time zone getting its own stone as a background. It’s incredibly cool.

Inside, you’ll find the perfect movement for this watch. Or, rather, movements. Inside is a duo of Swiss Ronda quartz movements which are small enough and reliable enough to power this hoot of a watch. There is a number of Epsom calfskin straps to choose from.

The new Dennison ALD Dual Time is available for order now with deliveries expected in the second half of September. The watches are priced at €765. See more on the Dennison website.

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Singer Releases Their Simplest Watch To Date, The New Caballero

If you were to ask what’s one watch from last year that I would do unspeakable things for, it would easily be the Singer Divetrack, one of the coolest dive watches I’ve ever seen. It’s also knocking at €100,000, so it’s not exactly in the budget right now. I mean, it’s not like any Singers will ever be approachable. After all, they share the name with founder Rob Dickinson’s Porsche restomod company that doesn’t sell any cars lower than seven figures. Their latest release, the Heritage Collection chronograph which was paired with a restore NOS Valjoux 236 movement, was about as close as a Singer will get to my budget. Cementing the idea that their prices won’t go much lower is this new Singer Caballero, their first time-only watch.

The Caballero comes in a stainless steel case that measures 39mm wide and 10.5mm thick. The mid case is brushed, the chamfers are polished and on top is a fluted bezel that holds down a heavily domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is not spectacular at 50 meters, but it will do fine in everyday use.

Keeping things simple is the dial, which can be had in either Piano Black, Empire Green or Petrol Blue, with my clear favorite being obviously the Empire Green. Around the perimeter of the dial is a serrated flange done in gold, and to keep things even simpler, there are no indices on the dial. The only thing you’ll find on the dial is an applied Singer logo and four openings in the dial. Those openings show off the rubies of the movement’s barrels. All that’s left on the dial side are the rhodium hands tipped in bright orange, as well as an orange hand.

Inside, you’ll find the Calibre-4 Solotempo, a movement developed by Singer for Singer with some really cool mods. For example, the movements use four barrels arranged in two parallel sets, which allows it to get a six day power reserve. But even more important, during all six days of that reserve, it will deliver the power with a flat torque curve. The watches come on either deep blue leather, khaki textile, or black textile straps.

The new Singer Caballero will be limited in production, but we don’t know how many, as of now. Price is set at CHF 17,500, without tac. See more on the Singer website.

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Renaud Tixier Teams Up With Ateliers Olivier Vaucher For A Stunning Collaboration

Renaud Tixier is a very young indie brand. How young? Well, they released their first watch just last year. Formed by legendary watchmaker Dominique Renaud and young hope Julien Tixier, the brand first released the Monday watch just over a year ago, equipped with a great looking micro-rotor movement and a fairly conservative look. Their new release, however, a collaboration with dial maker Ateliers Olivier Vaucher, is anything but conservative. This is the new Monday Organica.

The original Monday was available in white or rose gold, and in a very traditional round case, but the Organica takes things to a whole new level. The case is made out of platinum and measures a hefty 40.8mm wide, 12.6mm thick, with a 51.3 mm lug-to-lug. But you won’t care how large it is once you see the hand engraved flanks and lugs with an incredible frosted finish. It’s incredible. On top and bottom are sapphire crystals and water resistance is 30 meters.

Then, there’s the dial, made entirely by Ateliers Olivier Vaucher. It combines multi-level hand engraving with translucent layers of grand feu enamel, creating a pattern that is equally geometric as it is organic. It’s made from multiple layers of hand-engraved metal over top of which is a blue grand feu enamel, which is called a flinqué finish. In broad terms the pattern displays a four-pointed cross with intersecting lines and small round shapes.

Inside, you’ll find the caliber RVI2023, based on Renaud’s patented micro-rotor system which enhances efficiency while protecting the mechanism with a disengagement feature in case of shocks. The movement beats at 2.5Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. The micro rotor is made out of platinum and then gold plated. The wathc comes on a choice of blue or black grained calf leather straps.

The new Renaud Tixier Monday Organica is quite limited. Only 7 pieces will be made and price is set at CHF 125,000. See more on the Renaud Tixier 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

• Astrobiology explores the profound question of life beyond Earth by studying the origins, evolution, and potential habitats of living organisms in the cosmos. While we haven’t found extraterrestrial life yet, the field reveals that Earth itself is life in space—offering a lens to better understand our planet and inspiring the search for other worlds where life might exist.

• Ikea’s children’s furniture, trusted by families worldwide, is linked to rampant illegal logging in Siberian forests owned by a powerful Russian politician. Despite “green” FSC certification, years of clearcutting, corruption, and coverups fed tainted wood into global supply chains. As government response lags, experts warn that industry-led sustainability labels mask environmental destruction rather than preventing it.

• On Niihau, Hawaii’s mysterious “Forbidden Island,” the Robinson family’s iron rule maintains a 19th-century way of life free of modern comforts but tightly bound by paternalistic control, conservative values, and secrecy. As military contracts and hunting safaris creep in, a shrinking native population raises questions about the island’s future—and who truly benefits from its isolation.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This is a pretty impressive collection.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk