Hamilton Updates Jazzmaster Open Hearts; Stone Dials For Beda’a Angles 37; Nodus Brings Back Their Photo Tool Watch; Icy Blue Pequignet Royale Paris; The Moser-Alpine F1 Duo Is Back, Now In Pink

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. What do we think about open heart watches?

In this issue

• Hamilton Updates The Jazzmaster Open Heart With Twelve New References

• Beda’a Adds Stone Dials To Its Classic Angles 37 Collection

• Nodus Brings Back The Obscura, Their Photography Tool Watch, Now Non-Limited

• Pequignet Gives Their Royale Paris An Icy Blue Dial And Some Fun Complications

• The H. Moser & Cie. Skeleton And Smartwatch Streamliner Duo For Alpine F1 Is Back, Now In Pink

👂What’s new

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Hamilton Updates The Jazzmaster Open Heart With Twelve New References

Open heart watches, those that have a gaping hole in their dial to expose parts of the mechanisms, are a divisive topic. For example, watches on the lower end of the pricing scale, like those from Orient Star can often look a bit cheap and gimmicky with an open dial. But on the other end of the spectrum, a Zenith El Primero with a peek through the dial can look quite nice. Somewhere in the middle are brands like Rado, Seiko and Hamilton, which can fall on either side of that spectrum. One of those brands, Hamilton, is now updating their Jazzmaster Open Heart line with new dials, new straps and in three sizes.

The updates to the Jazzmaster Open Heart collection come in three sizes — 36mm, 40mm and 42mm, so there really can’t be that many complaints that they don’t fit a wide variety of wrist sizes. The thickness ranges from 10mm to a hair over 11mm, and the cases are all made out of steel, with brushed surfaces and polished accents. On top of all the sizes is a sapphire crystal and all of the watches have 50 meters of water resistance.

The dials also look familiar, with their signature apertures that reveals the balance wheel, with a bit of a stylized cutout. The new colors are all rendered in a smoky gradient, with five different colors — silver, gold, deep blue, turquoise, and brown. You get applied indices and faceted hands, both lumed, and available in either silver or gold tone.

Through the dial you can see the calibre H10, which is Hamilton’s version of the Swatch Group’s Powermatic 80, the familiar movement known for its 80 hour power reserve. It’s not a particularly pretty movement, but in combination with the aggressive cutouts, it looks nice. The larger watches come on either a 5-link stainless steel bracelet or a brown calf leather strap, while the smaller one comes on a a stainless steel bracelet with a butterfly buckle.

The new Open Heart Jazzmasters are available now and are not limited in any way. Price is set at CHF 920 for the smaller 36mm version and the larger versions on leather, while the larger watches on the bracelet are priced at CHF 1,075. See more on the Hamilton website.

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Beda’a Adds Stone Dials To Its Classic Angles 37 Collection

When a brand gets a hit on their hands, you can surely expect it to go hard on every possible variant of the watch. And there’s nothing wrong with that. This is exactly what Beda’a, a Qatari independent watch brand, is doing right now with their Angles collection, a very cool angle-cased dress watch. And not just that, they are jumping on the stone dial trend just in time. Interestingly, they’re not doing it with their currently very popular Angles Mecaline collection, which is powered by a mechanical movement. Instead, they are using their original Angles 37 collection which comes with a quartz movement.

The case of the Angles Mecaline remains very recognizable. There’s a lot of stepped layers here, a sharply angled steel case middle topped by an octagonal bezel, with alternating brushed and polished surfaces. This model is thinner than the mechanical version, but not by much. It’s a small watch, 34mm wide, just 5.8mm thick (while the mechanical is 6mm thick) and with a 37mm lug-to-lug, but it doesn’t wear that small. I guess thanks to the many angles. There’s a sapphire crystal on top, a closed caseback and you get 30 meters of water resistance.

There are four stone dials to choose from — malachite, blue aventurine, African hawkeye and tiger’s eye. There are no surprises here, as the dials look exactly what you would expect. There are no hour makers — in fact no markings other than the logo which is done tone-on-tone — and all you get is the pair of dauphine-style hands.

Inside, you’ll find the Ronda 1062.1 Slimtech movement, a Swiss made quartz movement. The watches come on togo leather straps, closed with a pin buckle.

The new Beda’a Angles 37 Stone Dial collection is available now and Beda’a says that these will be a permanent part of the Angles lineup but limited in production. That said, the African Hawk Eye and Tiger Eye are currently out of stock. Price is set at CHF 700. See more on the Beda’a website.

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Nodus Brings Back The Obscura, Their Photography Tool Watch, Now Non-Limited

Almost a year ago, California-based Nodus teamed up with Juan Martinez, founder of the photography meet-up and gear review site Beers And Cameras to release the Obscura, one of the rare watches that’s made with taking photographs in mind. According to Nodus, the concept behind the Obscura was first conceived over five years ago and officially patented in June 2024, and the Obscura is the first watch to bring this complication to market. But more on that later. The problem with the Obscura was that it was a limited edition. Well, now we’re getting the Obscura II, which gives us the same functionality, but as a regular addition to the collection.

The watch is based on the Nodus Sector II models, meaning that the brushed stainless steel case measures 38mm wide, 12mm thick and has a 47mm lug-to-lug. The Obscura II comes in two variants, a silver case and a black PVD case. On top is an oversized rotating bezel with a black PVD coat that measures 40.5mm wide for easier operation and it holds the key to the calculations. The crown gets the same black treatment. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is where we see the most of the change. First, there’s a new dark fumé dial, drawing inspiration from film by incorporating a grainy texture that mimics the silver halide crystals of film grain. They also removed the “B&C” Beers And Cameras logo at 6 o’clock for a cleaner look. The blue-and-white seconds hand takes the pattern from the practice of exposing slide film sprocket holes and the shade from depth-of-field markings on zoom lenses from the 1980s. The orange-colored “+1” markers represent ISO 200 and ISO 800 on the dial.

So, what’s the bidirectional bezel all about? It’s what they call an Exposure Gauge bezel and it’s used to calculate the “Sunny 16 Rule” developed by Juan Martinez which allows you to see the ISO, f-stop and shutter speed triangle on a sunny day, if you don’t have a built-in light meter. So, you twist the bezel to match the lens aperture with the corresponding value on the chapter ring; then find the correct ISO marker on the dial’s chapter ring based on the film speed — ISO 100 or +1 (ISO 200) or ISO 400 or +1 (ISO 800). The chapter ring’s ISO indicator will then point to the corresponding shutter speed on the bezel.

Inside is the familiar TMI (Seiko) NH38 automatic which beats at 3Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve. Nodus regulates the movement in-house and claims an accuracy of +/- 10 seconds per day. The watch comes on a tapering three-link bracelet that closes with their latest Nodus Extension Module clasp which allows for one-button adjustment.

The Nodus Obscura II is available for order now. While the first Obscura was limited to just 100 pieces, this will be available for everyone. Shipping begins late March. Price is set at $650 for the silver version and $725 for the black DLC. See more on the Nodus website.

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Pequignet Gives Their Royale Paris An Icy Blue Dial And Some Fun Complications

It’s my fault that I haven’t been following Pequignet that much over the years. But I’m fixing it now, as I have grown to appreciate this very interesting French watch brand. Not just a brand, but a true manufacturer that makes its own movements. Right now, it seems that Pequignet might be the best bang for your buck in the four digit range you can get. For example, their recently introduced Royale Paris Manual 39.5mm is a beautiful watch at a pretty unbeatable price for an in-house movement. Now, they’re expanding the Royale Paris collection with a very cool ice blue dial and a playful quartet of complications that are very well integrated. This is the new Pequignet Royale Paris Icy Blue.

Interestingly, this case remains the same size as the one with the small seconds, which is quite the feat considering the fact that this adds three more complications to the movement. That measures that the case measures 39.5mm wide, 11.5mm thick, with a 47mm lug-to-lug measurement. With the thin bezel surrounding the domed, box-style sapphire crystal, and elongated lugs, it passes off as a a dress watch. But the almost completely satin finish (and polished bevels) give it a much more interesting, somewhat sporty, look. The crown doesn’t screw down, but you still get 50 meters of water resistance.

The graining of the case is carried onto the dial, which is now a very light blue with a really subtle texture to it. The dial has a wide groove cut around the perimeter, with bevelled indices connecting the two parts of the dial. Above the centrally mounted hands is a day-date, while right below it is a trio of displays — a fluted small seconds subdial at 3:30, a double moon phase at 6 o’clock showing the moon’s phase in Northern and Southern hemispheres, and a power reserve at 8 o’clock. Time is indicated by polished hour and minute hands with TC1 Super-LumiNova inside.

Inside, you’ll find the pretty fantastic Calibre Royal, an automatic beating at 21,600vph, with a 96 hour power reserve. The movement is developed and manufactured in Morteau with components sourced within an 80km radius, and looks great, with a large balance with compensation screws, a decorated oscillating weight and beautiful finishing overall. The watch comes on a grey nubuck leather strap closed with a folding clasp.

The new Pequignet Royale Paris Icy Blue goes on sale in April, priced at a pretty great €8,000. See more on the Pequignet website.

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The H. Moser & Cie. Skeleton And Smartwatch Streamliner Duo For Alpine F1 Is Back, Now In Pink

Last year, as the Formula 1 season was getting heated, H. Moser & Cie. and the Alpine Formula 1 released another collaborative watch. But this wasn’t just a Moser with a new paint job. It was a duo called the Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition and the Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition. Moser claims that each of the two models has been purpose built — the Drivers Edition is built for legibility under race conditions, while the Mechanics edition is a connected tool. The former was a skeletonized dial Streamliner, while the latter was a Moser with a smart-watch module inside. I was openly skeptical of the concept, and even dumb enough to call the display on the smart-watch Aliexpress-level. Then I saw the watches during Geneva Watch Days, and I can say I was wrong. These are an incredibly cool artifact in the sea of F1 collabs, especially since the Alpine F1 team actually uses the Mechanics Edition during the race to deliver vital data to everyone in the box. Very cool. Well, now, ahead of the new season (If you will be following this season and want to make the viewing experience a bit more interesting, how about you join my super simple F1 fantasy league?) the two brands are coming together again to release the Streamliner Alpine Drivers and Mechanics Pink Edition to reflect the new livery of the BWT Alpine Formula One Team.

Since both of these watches are Streamliner models, they come in very similar cases. They both measure 42.3mm wide, with the skeletonized Drivers Edition measuring 14.2mm thick, while the digital Mechanics Edition is, surprisingly, thicker at 14.4mm and both get an untreated steel case with a fine radial brushing on top of the case. A major difference can be seen in the setup of crowns and pushers. The Drivers Edition features a crown at 4 o’clock with a white rubber ring around it, and two pushers at 10 and 2 o’clock. The Mechanics Edition doesn’t come with a traditional crown, instead you get three flat pushers on the right side and a special button on the left marked Sync. Both cases feature the signature cushion shape with no lugs, a domed sapphire crystal and sapphire casbeacks. Both also get 120 meters of water resistance.

Even more differentiation can be found on the dial side. The Drivers Edition features a fully skeletonized dial. Chronograph minutes and seconds are also centrally displayed, so there are no sub-dials. While last year’s edition was a sea of grey, this one gets pink globolight inserts on the hands and as hour markers, giving a bit more legibility. Visible through the dial is the calibre HMC 700, a fully skeletonized column wheel and a two-stage horizontal clutch automatic developed with Agenhor. It beats at 21,600vph and has a a 72 hour power reserve.

Then, there’s the Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition, a connected watch co-developed with Alpine F1 engineers. The Mechanics Edition integrates mechanical and digital systems, offering motorsport-centric functions such as race countdowns, pit alerts, GMT, perpetual calendar, and a split-seconds chronograph. It features a hybrid movement with a one-year power reserve (in time-only mode) and connects via Bluetooth to iOS and Android.

The Streamliner Alpine Drivers and Mechanics Edition is limited to just 50 pieces (while the previous version came in 200 pieces) and comes only as a boxed set of the two watches. Price is set at €74,500. See more on the Moser 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

• While tabloids mocked him as a grandstanding do-gooder, Sean Penn was quietly bankrolling safe houses, hiring ex–special forces, and rehearsing an exfiltration straight out of a thriller. When a Hasidic rice investor vanished into Bolivia’s brutal prisons, the Oscar winner spent a year plotting his escape — by convoy, fake marriage, and a shaved-off past.

• On Colorado Boulevard, Jason Lee’s camera shop looked like another tasteful outpost of New LA: analog film in the fridge, donuts on the counter, the skater-turned–cult actor-turned–photographer holding court. But inside that minimalist hangout, a reporter walks into a collision between privacy and curiosity — over a controversial faith Lee insists he’s left behind, and a profile he’ll fight to bury.

• A black Jaguar, a shaved head, amber eyes like a big cat: in 1990s San Francisco, Anton LaVey, self-made Black Pope and author of The Satanic Bible, holds court from a gloomy Richmond manse. As satanic panic grips America, a reporter shares midnight steaks, pea sermons, and underworld confessions with the misanthrope who insists he merely opened Pandora’s box.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I hesitate a bit posting this interview because LaBeouf is clearly either not doing well or is the greatest actor of all time and will surpass Andy Kaufman in living performance art. But it’s still a fascinating a watch. Just be warned that it’s a rough watch.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk