Louis Erard And Halter Create Unusual Steampunk Regulator; Bell & Ross Is Winter Ready; Bremont Tries Out Pink For The Terra Nova 38; Titoni Revives A Vintage Military Watch; And The Last RM 032

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. These newsletters always have a structure to them. I lead with watches from well established and recognized brands, stuff that will appeal to the widest circle of people, followed by two or three lesser known but still cool watches and ending up with an obscenely expensive watch. I flipped it up today. Not just because the big names are a bit boring, but also because the Louis Erard really is something different, even if it’s not for everyone. What do you think about it?

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In this issue:

• Louis Erard Teams Up With Legendary Watch Designer Vianney Halter For A Steampunk-Like Regulator

• Bell & Ross Is Ready For The Winter With The BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue

• Bremont Tries Out Unexpected Colors With The Very Pink Terra Nova 38

• Titoni Revives The Watch Ordered By The U.S. Army 80 Years Ago With The Airmaster Pilot Chronometer

• Richard Mille Puts An End To The RM 032 With The Last Automatic Flyback Chronograph Ultimate Edition

👂What’s new

1/

Louis Erard Teams Up With Legendary Watch Designer Vianney Halter For A Steampunk-Like Regulator

Once again, Louis Erard shows us that they are best when they are a canvas for spectacular collaborations. While they make really great watches, where they shine the most is working with other designers and using their Régulateur as a canvas. On its own, a regulator is already an interesting watch, as it splits up the time telling into three separate axises — hours at 12, minutes with the full size central hand and running seconds at 6 o’clock. So far, Louis Erard has worked with the like of Massena LAB, Alain Silberstein, Kudoke and the incredible Cédric Johner for some really striking releases. However, their latest release just might be the wildest one yet. It’s done in collaboration with watch designer Vianney Halter, mimicking the almost steampunk design influences of Halter’s and Jeff Barnes’s iconic Antiqua and Classic models. And since Halter and Louis Erard have worked before on regulator watch, this is the Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Chapter II and it’s quite the thing.

Vianney Halter is a rock star in the world of watchmaking who has been bringing his aesthetic to the industry since 1984. He made his first eponymous watch in 1998, and it was a wild thing inspired by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, a sort of steampunk marine chronometer with riveted portholes. He doesn’t make a lot of watches. Since ‘98 he has released 10 or so models and it’s estimated that there are less than 1,000 of his watches out in the world.

The Halter influence starts right away with the case, something other designers have left untouched while focusing on the dial. This stainless steel case measures 43mm wide and 10.95mm thick, with a 49.6mm lug-to-lug. It’s a large watch, but it’s obviously here to make a statement, obvious with its stepped bezel that features 12 polished red-gilt 5N rivets. You’ll also notice that the crown sits a bit crooked, not at 3, but rather at 2 o’clock. That’s because the movement has been slightly tilted from its regular position.

And there’s good reason to tilt the movement. By doing that, it gives the 12, centre and 6 o’clock positions of the time telling indicators a slightly different layout that goes from 11 to 5 o’clock. That, in addition with the different sizes of the sub-dials, gives the dial an extremely different look, almost as if it uses a custom developed movement. There are two versions of the dials, but both share the same core features. They both have a vertical satin-brushed finish on the base, on which you’ll find a minutes chapter ring on the periphery with two plaques that hold the Louis Erard and Vianney Halter names, as well as two applied brushed rings that serve as sub-dial borders with numeral tracks for the hours and seconds.

The two differences refer to the colors the dial can be had in. One gets a red-gilt 5N-plated base with rhodium-plated rings and chapter ring, while the other reverses the colors for a rhodium-plated base with red-gilt chapter and sub-dial rings. Both versions feature heat-blued steel hands.

With these collaborations, Louis Erard throws everything into the design, while keeping the internals simple and affordable. That’s why you get the workhorse Sellita SW266 which beats at 4Hz with a 38 hour power reserve. The watches come on 22mm wide dark brown grained calf leather straps closed with a polished stainless steel pin buckle.

The new Régulateur Louis Erard x Vianney Halter Chapter II watches are available now, with the 5N-plated base version available in boutiques, while the rhodium-plated base is available exclusively from Louis Erard’s website. The watches are limited to 178 pieces each and priced at CHF 4,444. See more on the Louis Erard website.

2/

Bell & Ross Is Ready For The Winter With The BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue

All summer long, I wrote about this summer watch and that summer watch. There was a whole slew of watch brands releasing fun-colored watches that are meant to be enjoyed on a beach, with a cocktail in hand and no worries. And brands went really hard with the summer theme this year. And that got me thinking: what’s up with all the other seasons? Why no spring watches? Or, more importantly, why no winter watches? Sure Grand Seiko will do one certainly, but that’s about it. Well, not really, because the French indie brand Bell & Ross has exactly that — a winter watch. The new BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue looks like it’s made out of shattered ice. At least in part.

On the outside, this remains very much a BR-05. It has the same square and chunky case that meastues 40mm wide and 40mm tall, with a closely integrated bracelet, and a thickness of 10.33mm. The watch still has 4 functional screws and a round aperture for the dial in the middle, while the screw down crown ensures a 100m water resistance.

While the watch uses a very standard flat sapphire crystal, it looks to be completely shattered. And how they did it is very cool. So it’s not the main sapphire crystal that is broken, but rather a sapphire plate that serves as a dial. That has been given a slightly blue shade and a really intricate laser-engraving above and below its surface treatment to mimic the look of cracks in ice. On top of that, white pad printing has been applied to the cracks to make them look even more realistic. This meticulous sapphire dial plate is surrounded by a metallic ice-blue inner flange and topped with blue pill-shaped hour markers and hands, both of which have white lume strips inside them.

The watch is powered by the BR-CAL.322-1 which is a slightly reworked Sellita SW300 which beats at 4Hz and has a 54 hour power reserve. To round out the winter theme, the movement gets a matte sandblasted treatment to make it look frozen. The watch can be had on either a steel bracelet or a white rubber strap.

The new Bell & Ross BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue is limited to 250peices, available now and priced at €7,800 on the rubber strap and €8,300 on the steel bracelet. See more on the Bell & Ross website.

3/

Bremont Tries Out Unexpected Colors With The Very Pink Terra Nova 38

After a lukewarm (at best) reception to the rebranding, introduction of new models and turning away from pretty much everything that built up their brand as a rugged, military-adjacent, quirky British brand, Bremont is trying out if something else will stick. For their latest release, we get a bit of experimentation with the time-only Terra Nova 38 to see how well it handles colors. And boy, did they go all out with this. It’s pink. Bright pink. The kind of pink we have seen many times on watches that bring awareness to breast cancer. Only this one has nothing to do with it.

On the outside, this is the same new Terra Nova 38 introduced just a few months ago. Made out of stainless steel, the tonneau shaped case measures 38mm wide, 10.7mm thick and has a 44mm lug-to-lug. Those are pretty good proportions and the combination of soft curves on the unmarked sloping bezel and sharp short lugs is interesting. On the right side is an oversized crown with the new Bremont Wayfinder logo. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Then, there’s the dial, an extreme departure from the black, grey and white variants of previous versions. This one keeps the matte surface of previous versions, as well as the railroad track on the outside and polished and faceted hour and minute hands. The base of the dial gets a bright shade of pink and instead of painted on numerals, they are made out of solid blocks of white SuperLuminova, which is actually a great look. Despite Bremont shrinking the logo and brand name when compared to previous editions, there’s a lot of text on this dial, with three lines of black text at 6 o’clock.

Inside, no surprises. With the redesign, Bremont gave up on creating their own movements so they’re using the tried and true Sellita SW200. It beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a great looking steel bracelet with Y shaped links.

The new Terra Nova 38 Pink, perhaps the most interesting one they’ve made yet is, of course, a limited edition. Because why not, right. Only 250 pieces will be made. Price is set at €3,600. See more on the Bremont website.

4/

Titoni Revives The Watch Ordered By The U.S. Army 80 Years Ago With The Airmaster Pilot Chronometer

Eighty years ago, in 1945, the US Army Exchange Service/ European Theater of Operation placed an order for 30,000 “Ref. 1187 wristwatches, chromium cases – steel back – waterproof – push pins – screw bottom – silvered dials with luminous Arabic figures – lever movements, 17 jewels, beryllium balance, flat hairsprings, Nivarox II…sweep seconds – strap good heavy grade leather with heavy push pin steel buckles”. This watch was made by the family owned Titoni, a Swiss brand that’s been around since 1919. They still make pretty great watches, including a couple of cool divers. Their latest watch is the Airmaster Pilot Chronometer, a recreation of that original watch ordered by the US Army.

A lot has changed from the original, since I doubt that a lot of people would like a chromium-plated watch these days. Instead, Titoni now uses grad 5 titanium, and the case measures 43mm wide, 13.1mm thick and with a quite substantial 53mm lug-to-lug. The case is brushed with a polished bezel and a couple of other polished details. Water resistance is 100 meters.

While the original came with silvered dials with luminous Arabic numerals, the new version comes in two versions — black or cream white version. These are sandwich dials, with the lower part painted in a beige Super-LumiNova, while the top part has cutouts for the numerals which are very reminiscent of the stencil font that is often linked to military markings. Pilot influences can be seen in the triangle with two dots at noon and a more modern take on the Alpha-style polished hands.

Inside, once again, is the Sellita SW200. You know the 4Hz beat rate and the 38 hour power reserve, but this version comes with chronometer certification. The watches come on thick brown vegetable-tanned leather straps.

The new Airmaster Pilot Chronometer is part of the regular collection and priced at €1,840. The watch is still not up on the Titoni website (you can see it on their Instagram or Facebook), but should be soon.

5/

Richard Mille Puts An End To The RM 032 With The Last Automatic Flyback Chronograph Ultimate Edition

Say what you will about Richard Mille, and there’s really a lot to say about them, but their watches sure have a… sense of spectacle about them. Take, for example, the RM 032 they’re absolutely ridiculous, over-the-top diver. On one hand, it’s crammed full of high-tech materials and super interesting movements. On the other… look at it. The RM 032 has been around since 2011 and Richard Mille is now saying bye to this behemoth of the watch with the Automatic Flyback Chronograph Ultimate Edition.

I think I finally found a watch that would look big on my wrist. The case measures 50mm wide and a whopping 17.8mm thick and they really did throw every single material they could find at it. The case is made out of grade 5 titanium and Carbon TPT, their proprietary carbon composite material. The bezel is also made out of a combination of microblasted DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) grade 5 titanium, Carbon TPT and held down with eight-point-star-shaped screws. Despite the screws, the bezel rotates to be used as a 60 minute timer. On the side are two chunky titanium pushers with yellow rubber covers and the huge crown also gets a yellow rubber grip and a locking mechanism to prevent accidental opens under water. Water resistance is 300 meters.

More of the same on the dial. There’s a bunch of scales here. Starting from the periphery and working inwards you have a tachymeter scale, 60-minute scale, 60-seconds scale, 12-hour scale, months indicator between 4 and 5 o’clock, running indicator at 3 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock, date below 12 o’clock. In addition, the dial is skeletonized, with the bridges in black and details in yellow, blue and teal. None of this will help you easily glance at a dial when diving. On, and on top of all of this, there’s a central chrono seconds hand hidden in there.

Inside is the calibre RMAC2, an automatic movement that beats at 4Hz and has a 55 hour power reserve. The movement features a free-sprung Glucydur balance with 4 setting weights for better shock protection and a variable-geometry rotor that optimizes winding motion based on the user’s activity. The watch comes with a black and a yellow rubber strap.

The new Richard Mille RM 032 Automatic Flyback Chronograph Ultimate Edition is limited to 80 pieces and price is only on request. But seeing how these RM 032s easily sold in excess of €250,000, don’t expect this one to be cheaper. And say what you will, I love this watch. I would never own one, I would struggle to wear one with a straight face, but I just love that it exists. See more on the Richard Mille website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

1/

A review of the Citizen’s “The Citizen” Reference AQ4103-16E

2/

Hands on with the Leica ZM 11 collection

3/

A review of the Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic

⚙️Watch Worthy

A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually like

The Jack Mason made a pivot with the Ellum which, by every definition, is a dress watch

Dress watches should never be an encumbrance. In their native formal settings, the less conspicuous the better for a dress watch, as you’re meant to be focused on the occasion, not what time it is. With that in mind, the Ellum will slip easily under a cuff, but I was just as happy wearing it with a more casual button-down or even a few t-shirts. While the watch is positioned as a dressy supplement to today’s more tool-centric collections, it can easily provide more versatility than waiting for your next nice dinner. That said, the Ellum has a water resistance of 50m, and that always makes me more cautious with a watch.

Read the whole review on A Blog To Watch

⏲️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

• Novelist Rachel Kushner smokes the competition with this dispatch from the drag-racing tracks of America. Her guide is her high-school-age son Remy, an engaged lad with a gearhead whose veins pump nitromethane, who disdains what his parents do for a living. Kushner has done her work on the history of the sport and captures the twitchy excitement of the strip. Nobody has written this expressively about cars for a major magazine since Tom Wolfe.

• People love to collect things—even countries. In this piece, Tim Neville meets Charles Veley, a 58-year-old from Marin County, California, who in 2005 founded an online group called Most Traveled People. Fewer than ten people have seen more of the globe than Veley has, but is this way of traveling an achievement, or a little bit gross?

• As revolutionary new weight-loss drugs turn consumers off ultraprocessed foods, the industry is on the hunt for new products. But the junk food industry is fighting back. Hard. 

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I’m a fan of all sorts of Epstein lore, but I DID NOT expect Wired of all places to produce a video that track the visitors to his island…

-Vuk