G-Shock Embraces Modding Community With Fabric Strap And Magnets; Junghans Releases Rare Diver; Kollokium's First Public Projekt 02; A Magnificent New Otsuka Lotec; CvdK Teams Up With Revolution

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I cannot describe the love-hate relationship I have with Otsuka Lotec. They are absolutely sensational, and yet, so incredibly difficult to buy. The duality of watch.

In this issue

• G-Shock Embraces The Modding Community With The New 5600MNC With Fabric Strap And Magnetic Clasp

• Junghans Releases The Aquaris Series, A Rare Diver From The Brand

• Kollokium Releases First Projekt 02 Available To The Public With A Dark Topographic Dial

• Of Course Otsuka Lotec’s Take On The Jump Hour Is The Best One Imaginable

• Christiaan van der Klaauw Teams Up With Revolution For A Silicon Version Of The Grand Planetarium Eccentric

👂What’s new

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G-Shock Embraces The Modding Community With The New 5600MNC With Fabric Strap And Magnetic Clasp

Choosing a favorite G-Shock is a very personal thing. There are so many different models that they can fit pretty much every preference. But when that’s not enough, there’s always the G-Shock community to fill a need. For example, my favorite G-Shock, the 5600 model, came only on a resin strap. It fit the watch perfectly, being practically indestructible. But for many people, me included, they are not exactly comfortable. So modders came along, creating adapters for the chunky case to accept various regular straps, including my favorite — a fabric strap. Well, Casio saw that there is serious demand for these mods and they decided to do it themselves. This is the new DW-5600MNC collection, the iconic square 5600 with a fabric strap and a very cool magnetic Fidloc clasp.

The base of the watch is very well known, as it’s the legendary DW-5600. It measures 48.9mm wide, 13.4mm thick and 42.8mm tall. It’s a beefy watch, build out of resin, rubber and plastic to be shock-resistant, water-resistant to 200 meters, and it comes with multi-time-zone time telling, count down timers and stopwatches. There are three colors available — two models come in black cases and one in a grey. One of the black models, the DW-5600MNC-1 comes in a completely blacked out version, with an inverted display. The grey case DW-5600MNC-7A8 gets a grey surround for the display.

Since this is a 5600, you get all the expected tech, like their Tough Solar and Super Illuminator which charges the watch and illuminates it. You get a 48-city world timer, a 1/100-second stopwatch, a countdown timer, daily and hourly alarms and time signals, and both 12 and 24-hour time formatting.

The one major change are the new fabric straps equipped with magnetic Fidloc clasps that should be strong enough to not unclasp in daily wear, but simple enough to flick open with light pressure. The DW-5600MNC-1 comes with an all black strap, the grey DW-5600MNC-7A8 gets a grey and lime green strap, and the DW-5600MNC-8A2 gets a black, blue and orange strap.

The new DW-5600MNC collection should be already on sale in Japan, but I assume they will go international soon. Price is set at JPY 19,800, which translates to about €108. See more on the G-Shock website.

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Junghans Releases The Aquaris Series, A Rare Diver From The Brand

Junghans is, perhaps, best known for their Max Bill line of super-minimalist watches. Or, perhaps, their slightly less minimalist oversized pilot’s chronographs. But one thing I like them for, is their line of sports watches that draw inspiration from the best of decades, the Seventies. Using a very similar and sporty case with twin crowns, they are now releasing the Aquaris series — two new Aquaris Diver models and two Aquaris Sport models. This is a rare sport model from Junghans, and that’s pretty cool.

The case of the Aquaris looks familiar from other Junghans Sport models, with its cushion shape and compressor style. It’s huge, and I’m not kidding. I’m not sure you’re ready to hear how big it is. Especially since it doesn’t look that unwieldily in photos. The steel case measures 46.9mm wide and 14.5mm thick. That’s quite a statement in a world that’s moving to smaller watches. On top is a sapphire crystal and out back is a solid caseback. On the side are two crowns, with the top one used to rotate the unidirectional internal bezel and the bottom one used to set the time. The one benefit of the huge size is the water resistance — 500 meters. But that could be achieved with a smaller case as well.

The dials all have the same setup, just with different colors and finishes. The Diver sub-collection has a matte dark grey dial with the first 15 minutes on the diving scale done in either green or orange. You get applied markers and hands, all filled with X1 lume glowing green. The Aquaris Sport duo has sunray brushed dial done in bright red or blue.

Inside is an interesting movement, the Junghans calibre J830. This is an automatic movement that supposedly based on the Grand Seiko 9S51, and made by GS for Junghans. It has a proprietary gear-train bridge, rotor, and balance cock, beats at 4Hz and has a 48 hour power reserve. The watches come on a satin finished stainless steel bracelet and a diver’s clasp that has two extension systems — a 22mm on-the-fly adjustment, and a 26mm diver extension. All watches also come with additional rubber straps.

The new Junghans Aquaris collection is available now, priced at €2,690 for the Aquaris Sport watches and €2,790 for the Aquaris Diver duo. See more on the Junghans website.

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Kollokium Releases First Projekt 02 Available To The Public With A Dark Topographic Dial

Kollokium, a watch brand established by Manuel Emch, Barth Nussbaumer and Amr Sindi, sits very comfortably in my top 10 watch brands at this moment. The Projekt 01 is a wild neo-brutalist watch with a tall crystal that gives you a sideways look into the very unique dial made up of pins with lumed tips arranged in different heights to act as markers. It’s a fantastic watch and it came in a large number of colored lume options. But it was clear, with this team behind it, that Projekt 02 was going to be even better. And oh boy, was it. They showed the new and wild topographical dial made up from stacked plates a couple of months ago with the Friends, Family, Fools & Flippers edition not available to the public. Now, we’re getting the first Projekt 02 available to the public with the same basic look, but a dark tint.

The Projekt 02 continues the cool brutalist style of the Projekt 1, but in a much slimmer package. It’s still made out of die-cast 316L steel, which gives it a wonderful texture from the casting process and it is a solid monoblock case. It measures 39.5mm wide and has a super interesting thickness. In total, it measures 12.4mm thick, but a lot of that thickness is taken up by the very tall box-style sapphire crystal that, once again, lets you see the dial from the side. Without that crystal, the case measures just 5.9mm thick, and since the transparent crystal won’t add much to the visual weight of the case, this will look good on wrist. The caseback has the stats of the watch engraved in a funky circular pattern, and on the flank you’ll find the designation of the watch — K,P–n°02. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial is… quite something. It’s made out of 67 individual plates spread across nine layers, stacked in a way to create a topographical model look. But that’s not all. Each layer is hand painted with a lacquer infused with Super-LumiNova, with each layer getting a darker shade. The highest peak have a light grey, going all the way to a very dark at the bottom. The seconds hand is done in a bright lime finish.

Inside, you’ll find the ever-more-popular La Joux-Perret G101, an automatic movement beating at 4Hz, with a 68 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black single-piece elastic textile strap.

The new Projekt 02, is limited to 299 pieces, with early access going on sale on March 13 and general sales starting on March 16. Price is set at CHF 3,666.66, without tax. See more on the Kollokium website.

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Of Course Otsuka Lotec’s Take On The Jump Hour Is The Best One Imaginable

Over the past several years, very few brands have gotten the wild amount of attention, praise and desire as the Japanese indie brand Otsuka Lotec, headed by watchmaker Jiro Katayama. Otsuka Lotec became instantly recognizable for their industrial and quirky style, unlike anything else in the industry, but also frustratingly unavailable outside of Japan, leading to huge markups on the secondary market. However, even with the markups, Otsuka Lotec watches, which were intentioned to be affordable takes on original watchmaking, were priced fairly for watches that are mind blowing. Each watch is better than the last, and it shows what’s possible when you take established horological norms and you apply your style to them. Now, we get the Otsuka Lotec take on a very popular complication these days — the jump hour. This is the new Otsuka Lotec № 8.

While the previously released № 9 was their escape into high-end watchmaking with the tourbillon, this one brings it back to the classic OL watches, while still very unique. This one takes an unusual rectangular shape, with wild sloping lugs that are partially integrated into the case and a straight-grained steel. While the watch looks thick in profile, it’s only 10.8mm thick, 31m wide and 48mm long. On top is a wonderful curved sapphire crystal that flows over the right side of the case, giving you a better view of the internals. The crown sits at 4 o’clock, with its signature knurled finish and mechanical look.

Just like so many Otsuka Lotec models, this one doesn’t have a dial and hands. Oh, no. Time telling is relegated to the left side of the dial, looking almost like a part of a large machine, with the large brushed hand looking like a knob you would turn to switch something on or off. That sits on a brushed silver surface, engraved with the 12 hour scale also done like markings on a control panel. On the right is a retrograde minute function, with a smaller indicator and an opening to see part of the movement. On top is a tiny disc that indicates the running seconds, but not in 60 second increments, but rather 90 second ones. Because why not.

Best of all, this insane display is based on the humble Miyota 90S5. It keeps the 4Hz beat rate, but the highly complex in-house display module uses a lot of power, dropping the power reserve to 32 hours. The watch comes on a 24mm black rubber strap.

The new Otsuka Lotec № 8 will be a pain to get, as you’ll have to join a raffle that opens on March 23 at 5PM Japan Time. Additionally, only people with Japanese shipping addresses and credit cards will be able to apply. Price is set at JPY 990,000 or about €5,383. See more on the Otsuka Lotec website.

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Christiaan van der Klaauw Teams Up With Revolution For A Silicon Version Of The Grand Planetarium Eccentric

I wasn’t a fan of Christiaan van der Klaauw (CvdK) watches. I didn’t dislike them, they just never tugged at my heartstrings. It happens. Only, as it turns out, I was horribly wrong. It wasn’t until I got my hands on one for a couple of weeks, did I realise how amazingly cool the pieces are. And that watch was the very nice, but comparatively simple Ariadne. Where they completely blew my mind was with the Grand Planetarium Eccentric, a radical take on a planetarium watch. There are wristwatches out there that feature planetariums, so this is not a new thing. What is radical is the fact that the Grand Planetarium Eccentric Manufacture shows all eight planets, showing in real time their eccentric orbits. And that’s just incredible. Now, CvdK is teaming up with Revolution, the magazine, for a very special edition that has an oxidized silicon dial that has an incredible color.

You would think that something as complex as this would have at least a 55mm diameter (looking at you, Jacob), but no. The CvdK actually comes in at a reasonable size. The case measures 44mm wide and just 14.3mm thick. Just, I say? Yes, just. There are brands out there that can’t get a chronograph movement under 15mm, and these folks built an entire planetarium under 15mm. It is machined out of 316L stainless steel, and then subjected to low-temperature carbon diffusion, a process that raises surface hardness to roughly 1,200 Vickers. It’s then bead blasted, giving it a grey matte finish.

While previous versions came with Aventurine glass dials that just made sense for a planet-themed dial, this one goes deep into space with a very special dial. It’s made from nine separate pieces of oxidized silicon which gives it an iridescent surface that shifts between deep blue and violet depending on how the light strikes it. Time is indicated by thin Breguet-style hands that have moon-like bumps at the top, while the rotating sun logo in the centre shows the seconds. The planets are painted by hand in Super-LumiNova, just like the raised colored segments on the paths themselves. Around the perimeter is also a zodiac scale, read via a blue triangular indicator positioned opposite Earth. The indicator reveals the portion of the zodiac in which the Sun appears from Earth at any given time of the year. The wearer can read not only where Earth sits in its orbit, but also which region of the sky the Sun currently occupies. The constellation directly behind the Sun is hidden in daylight, but the one opposite it becomes visible in the night sky. The zodiac scale also provides a rough but functional indication of the current month.

Then, there’s the beauty of the planetarium complication. It mimics the orbits of Mercury (87.97 days), Venus (224.70 days), Earth (365.24 days), Mars (686.98 days), Jupiter (11.86 years), Saturn (29.46 years), and this could have been found on other planetarium watches, including those from CvdK. But the last two planets, Uranus and Neputne are often left out because of their incredible long orbits. Uranus takes 84.02 years, while Neptune takes 164.8 years. And CvdK managed to build this into the watch, meaning you will have a small planet on your dial which makes a full circle once every 164 years. That’s incredibly cool.

To do this, the movement features a staggering number of gears, with a total of 3,338 teeth. Those are powered by an in-house self-winding manufacture movement, wound by a skeletonized rose-gold-plated brass rotor shaped like the CVDK logo with a rhodium-plated tungsten weight on the outer edge of the rotor, running at 3Hz, with a power reserve of 60 hours. The watch comes on a black canvas leather strap with purple stitched lining.

The new Christiaan van der Klaauw x Revolution The Grand Planetarium Eccentric Si14 is available now and extremely limited as only 6 pieces will be made. The good news is this is much, much more affordable than the rose gold and platinum previous versions, which were €208,000 and €227,000, respectively. This one will set you back €157.000. See more on the Revolution 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

• Who killed Frankie Little Jr.? In a follow-up to a 2022 Rolling Stone story, Brenna Ehrlich meets with Richard Jones, a retired journalist who became obsessed with Little’s case and developed a theory: that Little was killed by Samuel Dixon, a convicted serial killer who remains incarcerated and has largely escaped public attention.

• American journalist Danny Fenster was in Myanmar during the 2021 coup. “I’d wanted to learn from journalists standing up to unimaginable repression,” he writes, but when he arrived in the country, he felt inexperienced and out of place. For a while, Fenster watched events unfold around him on his phone, until he was detained while attempting to board a flight out of the country. Co-created with cartoonist and graphic memoirist Amy Kurzweil, this collaboration at The Verge is a visually engaging and immersive digital reading experience.

• At Texas Monthly, Jeffrey McWhorter shares a different sort of city itinerary: a photo essay documenting a walk across Dallas, from its southernmost border to its northernmost tip. “I’ve always been determined to scrape back the city’s metropolitan veneer and find adventure right here in the in-between spaces of my beloved hometown,” he writes. McWhorter walked 52 miles over two days, and met 231 people. His photographs paint a vibrant portrait of the city, and reveal the connections with strangers—neighbors, really—that he made along the way.

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One video you have to watch today

Harry is, without a doubt, the best car reviewer working today. This thing is perfection. Both the video and the car.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk