Mido Drops A Crown For New Multifort 8 Collection; Hamilton's Resident Evil Duo; TAG's Gold And Red Glassbox; Atelier Wen Does Stone Dial The Right Way; Piaget Adds Groovy Two-Tone To The Polo 79

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. That Atelier Wen is driving me crazy. We need less boring stone dials and more stuff like that!

Also, I want to point out that there are a couple of more days to buy the Alpina × TRTS Seastrong Diver Extreme. I reviewed it a couple of weeks ago, if you’re interested. I loved it, despite (or maybe because) the fact it was made by my friends from The Real Time Show.

In this issue

• Mido Drops A Crown For The New Multifort 8 One Crown Collection

• Hamilton Releases Two Watches For The Upcoming Resident Evil Requiem Video Game

• TAG Heuer Celebrates Year Of The Fire Horse With A Perfectly Gold And Red Carrera Glassbox

• Atelier Wen Does A Stone Dial The Right Way With The Pietersite Millesime 2025 Perception

• Piaget Adds A Two-Tone Variant To The Polo 79, Giving It A Very 80s Look

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Watch School Wednesday: Decoding Watch Power Reserves and Their Clever Display Tricks

👂What’s new

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Mido Drops A Crown For The New Multifort 8 One Crown Collection

I’m not even sure that people at Mido are aware of this, but I’m pretty certain that they are on a very healthy trajectory to become the go-to entry level luxury watch of the Swatch Group. Sure, Hamilton will always be the juggernaut of the group and Tissot will appeal to the masses, but Mido is right there with them. And the best part is, they’re doing it with just slightly unconventional watches. But ones that cover every basis — if you need something vintage inspired, they have the Ocean Star. If you would like something a bit unconventional, they have the TV-shaped Multiforts. And since last year, they’ve been digging into the integrated trend with their geometric Multifort 8 Two Crowns. It’s a well thought out watch with a timeless look and good ergonomics. However, what if you want something a bit simpler, while still keeping the classic integrated look, here’s the Multifort 8 One Crown and it does exactly what it says on the label.

The new Multifort 8 One Crown comes in a stainless steel case that measures 40mm wide (although, the Mido website mentions 38.4mm for case length… not sure what measurement that is) and a very svelte 9.9mm thick, with a very comfortable 44.86mm lug-to-lug with an integrated bracelet. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a fixed metal bezel with eight sides cut out of it. The lugs are faceted and there’s a single narrow mid-link to connect the watch to the strap. On the side is a single crown positioned at 3 o’clock and water resistance is 100 meters.

There are two dial color available at launch — blue and black, with horizontal lines cut into them. If you want more colors, you likely won’t have to wait long as Mido updated the Two Crown with new dial colors within 3 or 4 months. A3 3 o’clock is a date aperture, you get applied indices and lumed tri-faceted hour and minute hands.

Inside, unlike the two crown, you’ll see the Powermatic 80, a staple in the Swatch Group. It beats at 3Hz and has an 80 hour power reserve. The movement also has a signed and decorated rotor that has Côtes de Genève. The watches come on metal flat three link bracelets or on a rubber strap that’s available only on the black model.

The new Mido Multifort 8 One Crown is available now, priced at CHF 810 on the rubber strap and CHF 840 on the bracelet. See more on the Mido website.

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Hamilton Releases Two Watches For The Upcoming Resident Evil Requiem Video Game

I’ve been saying for a while that it would be very cool if we got more watch tie-in projects. Give me movie and book inspired watches. Give me video game watches. Sure, every now and again we get one of those, but the most consistent in the release of movie and video game tie-in watches has been Hamilton. And that’s no surprise, since Hamilton watches have appeared in more than 500 movies since 1932. Only recently have they started placing their watches into video games, resulting in limited edition Hamiltons tied with the Far Cry, Call of Duty and Death Stranding franchises. Now, we’re getting the two watches that mark the launch of the new Resident Evil Requiem video game. And just like previous versions, these two watches are actually worn by characters in the game — Leon S. Kennedy, who we first saw in RE2 and who is an agent of Division of Security Operations (DSO), a counterterrorism agency under direct presidential command gets a Khaki Field Auto Chrono and new character Grace Ashcroft, an analyst, gets a stealthy Pan Europ.

Starting with the Pan Europe, it comes in a steel case that measures 42mm wide and 11.9mm thick, with a black PVD coating. On top is a domed sapphire crystal, surrounded by a thin black bezel that has gold numerals on it. Water resistance is 50 meters. The black dial has a circular-brushed finish, applied black indexes with gold colored lume inside them. Surrounding the dial is a gold rehaut that has cutouts for the black indexes. The hands are also black, but with gold lume running down it. Inside is the automatic H-30 which has a day-date function at 3 o’clock and an 80 hour power reserve. More gold can be found in the form of a stipe that goes down the middle of the black leather strap with a crocodile pattern, closed with a folding clasp. Price is set at €1,345.

Then we have Kennedy’s Khaki Field Auto Chrono. Based on the familiar chronograph in the Khaki Field line, this is a large watch that measures 42mm wide and 14.5mm thick, made only slightly smaller visually thanks to the black PVD coating. There’s a lot of tacticool about this watch, including the crown that’s shaped like a scope adjustment knob and pushers styled after cartridges. Water resistance is 100 meters. The black dial has an engraving of a black wing at 9 o’clock, chronograph sub-dials at 6 and 12 o’clock and a day/date aperture at 3. Inside is the H-21 automatic chronograph with a 60 hour power reserve. Price for this one is set at €2,095. Both of these Hamilton Resident Evil Requiem editions are limited to 2,000 pieces each and both go on sale February 27th when the game goes on sale. See more on the Hamilton website.

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TAG Heuer Celebrates Year Of The Fire Horse With A Perfectly Gold And Red Carrera Glassbox

I told you a lot of watches came out while the newsletter was on hiatus, so we’re still catching up on releases. This particular one came out 20 days ago, but we still have another 20 before the celebration of the Lunar New Year kicks off, so it’s technically very early. This new year, which starts on 17 February, will be the year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese zodiac and TAG Heuer is celebrating with a sensationally cool 39mm Carrera Glassbox Chronograph. Perhaps one of the best looking to date.

When TAG Heuer first introduced the Glassbox Carrera, I was blow away just from the pictures. When you see it up close, things get even better, as the incredible domed sapphire crystal that extends from side to side with no bezel just looks impossibly good. This one is packaged in the smaller of the cases, which means that it measures 39mm wide. That’s a good thing because the crystal extending to the edge of the case gives even this smaller watch a large presence on the wrist. On the side are piston-style pushers, out back is an open caseback with an engraved drawing of a galloping horse and water resistance is 100 meters.

But oh my, that dial. This could be one of my top 5 favorite renditions of the Glassbox. The base of the dial is done in a champagne gold, with a black and red tachymetre scale on the periphery. That has cutouts for the rose gold-plated indices, gently matching the gold of the base of the dial. To play on the classic gold and red theme of Chinese traditions, the 30-minute chronograph totaliser at 3 o’clock is snaled and painted a bright, bright red, with gold numerals inside. The same color is used for the date disc at 9 o’clock on which the numeral 7 is replaced by the Chinese character for horse. The hour and minute hands are plated in rose gold and the central chronograph hand is painted a bloody red.

Inside, you’ll find the TH20-07, a variation of their well known column-wheel chronograph that beats at 4Hz and has a 80 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a seven-row beads-of-rice bracelet.

The new Carrera Year of the Fire Horse Chronograph is limited to 250 pieces and the website shows that it’s sold out. But I would certainly hit up stores to see if there are any available. Price is set at €8,100 or CNY 64,400. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

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Atelier Wen Does A Stone Dial The Right Way With The Pietersite Millesime 2025 Perception

Atelier Wen has a good origin story. It is a passion project of two French men who saw that Chinese watchmaking is capable of more than just mass producing movements in a range of price points. Robin Tallendier and Wilfried Buiron looked deeper and saw craftsmanship that they wanted to show to the world. And sure, while they weren’t the only ones to see this, but they turned this passion into a true hit. For a while, they developed their Peception line to perfection, before including even more interesting collection that are even more truthful to the Chinese origin. However now, for a brief moment, we’re going back to the smash-hit Perception with the Millésime series which is made with the community they formed around Atelier Wen in mind. What we have here is the new Millésime 2025 Perception Xuán which has a stone dial. And before you roll your eyes that this is just another stone dial in a long line of stone dial releases from brands small and large, just look at it. When I say I want more stone dial, this is what I want — super interesting stones.

On the outside, this is still the same Perception, here rendered in 904L stainless steel instead of the titanium version that I had played with for a while. That means that the dimensions are the same — 40mm wide, 9,4mm thick, with a 47mm lug-to-lug. The case has a brushed finish with well placed polished details, and on top is a double domed sapphire crystal. On the back is a stone lion motif into a partially open caseback, Atelier Wen’s signature caseback. Water resistance is 100 meters.

But this is obviously all about the new dial. It’s made out of natural pietersite, which is a stone often found in China, featuring deep blacks and blues, with a swirling pattern and specks of gold and brown. It’s stunning to look that and Atelier Wen points out that it’s difficult to work with due to its brittleness so the more handwork and the less machinework is done to them, the stronger the chances of survival are. That means that the holes for the applied hour markers are wire-cut by hand in Zhejiang, before polishing in Guangdong. You still get the signature chapter ring featuring a Chinese huiwen pattern which is lumed, while the hands keep their leaf shape.

Inside, you’ll find the same movement that Atelier Wen uses on other Perception models, the Dandong SL1588A automatic. It beats at 4Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve, with extensive modification for Atelier Wen, including a tungsten rotor and decorations like côtes-de-Genève, perlage and anglage. It’s also regulated to +/- 10 seconds per day in 5 positions. The watch comes on a familiar integrated bracelet that tapers from 22mm to 18mm, closed with a clasp that has an on-the-fly micro-adjustment system.

The new Atelier Wen Millésime Perception 2025 (Xuán) Pietersite goes on sale today and will have an order window open until Februrary 6th. That means that all watches ordered in this period will be delivered, with the first 225 having a delivery date in Q2 2026 and the rest in Q4 2026. Price is set at $3,600, without taxes. See more on the Atelier Web website.

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Piaget Adds A Two-Tone Variant To The Polo 79, Giving It A Very 80s Look

To years ago, Piaget reached back into their archives and revived the Polo 79, a solid gold recreation of an 1980s icon. People loved the size, loved the shape and the throwback of it all, but wondered if Piaget would ever make a version that is not in yellow gold and not priced at €80.000. Only, people were hoping that it would be a steel version that would be priced at a fraction of the gold, but what we got last year was a white gold Polo 79 with an even higher price tag. Maybe this year we’ll get a steel version? Nope, Piaget just introduced a two-tone Polo 79. Not exactly what the people asked for, but it’s one of the best two-tone executions I’ve seen in ages.

The case keeps the same width, 38mm, but grows in thickness to 7.45mm. It also keeps the same construction, with the instantly recognizable gadroons which span not just the dial, but also the dial and bracelet. And it’s those gardoons that Piaget uses to implement the two gold colors. The main part of the case (and dial) is made out of brushed white gold with polished bevels, while the gardoons are made out of polished yellow gold. It looks specatcular! The dial has dots drilled into it to serve as a minute track. Oh, and the dauphine style hands are also made out of yellow gold.

Inside is Piaget's ultra-thin caliber 1200P1, an automatic micro-rotor caliber measuring 2.35mm. It beats at a 3Hz beat rate and has a 44 hour power reserve. The watch comes a beautiful tapered white gold bracelet, with yellow gold gardoons between links and adjustment screws hidden on the inside.

The new Piaget Polo 79 Two Tone is not a limited edition, but will be limited in production and is priced at €98,000. See more on the Piaget website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Watch School Wednesday: Decoding Watch Power Reserves and Their Clever Display Tricks

What power reserve displays reveal about engineering smarts and brand priorities. Read it here. 

⏲️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

• A failed actor's flop sends his heart into fibrillation and sparks a tense call from his billionaire dad. Two decades later, David Ellison—once Larry's Hollywood nepo gamble—now eyes a media empire spanning Paramount and Warner Bros., fueled by Top Gun triumphs and Oracle billions. But can the millennial mogul outmaneuver Netflix and prove he's no mere Ellison proxy?

• Mormon engineers and Vietnam-vet pitchmen hawk bunkers, solar generators, and dubious MREs to anxious families eyeing grid collapse and regime change. Inside Utah’s prepper heartland, rival firms 4Patriots and My Patriot Supply sling energy independence amid roach-riddled kits, fridge-powering flops, and whispered conspiracies—capitalizing on end-times faith in a $300 billion survival racket.

• When a Finnish therapy startup is hacked, 33,000 patients learn their darkest confessions are being ransomed—and have already been dumped online. This investigation follows devastated victims, a brazen teenage troll-turned-“untouchable hacker god,” and a failed justice system to ask: in a digitized world, can our most intimate secrets ever be truly safe?

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Talking Watches is back, and they’re with one of my favorite people in the world, Jean Todt.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk