Nivada Grenchen Releases Extremely Cool Chronoking Racing; A Mido For Día de Muertos; New Bell & Ross BR-X3; Gaga Laboratorio Exposes The Labormatic Luce; New Sartory-Billards; A Green Armin Strom

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. What a bunch of cool watches today!

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In this issue

• Nivada Grenchen Updates Their Supremely Cool Interchangeable Bezel Chronoking Racing Collection

• Mido Pays Tribute To Día de Muertos Once Again With A Ghostly Transparent Dial

• Bell & Ross Introduces A More Technical Collection, The New BR-X3

• Gaga Laboratorio Teams Up With Wei Koh To Expose Its Insides With The New Labormatic Luce

• Sartory-Billard Releases The SB04-E Small Bang With Ancestral Japanese Raden Dials

• Armin Strom Renders Their Dress Watch, The Tribute 1, In A Great Shade Of Green

• SPECIAL FEATURE: The Serica 1174 Parade: Minimalism, Revival, and the New Shape of Watch Authenticity

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS: The Environmental Reality of Sapphire Crystal Watchmaking

👂What’s new

1/

Nivada Grenchen Updates Their Supremely Cool Interchangeable Bezel Chronoking Racing Collection

You know darn well that you looked longingly at your watch at least several times in your life and thought: “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could swap out these bezels? It would be like owning 10 watches in one.” I know I did. There were a few brands and a few models that tried doing interchangeable bezels, but it never stuck. Mostly because it wasn’t very intuitive to use and often ended up with bezel-less watches as they would pop-off mid wear and disappear into the ether. But you know who did it, did it recently, and did it successfully? Nivada Grenchen did! A year ago, or so, they introduced two versions of their Chronomaster model and one Chronoking, each delivered with five different bezels that you could hot-swap on the go. The Chronomaster came with a mechanical movement, but I was very smitten with the Chronoking, an affordable, colorful and cool mecaquarz-powered chrono. It seems that others liked the Chronoking as well, as Nivada Grenchen is now releasing a followup, the Chronoking Mecaquarz Racing, with some very cool upgrades.

The case of the Chronoking Racing remains the same as the one on the regular Chronoking. That means that it’s made out of stainless steel, with a brushed and polished finish, and measures 38mm wide, 13.4mm thick and has a 46.5mm lug-to-lug. It’s a very vintage-inspired case, with faceted lugs and a puston style pusher at 4 o’clock and a wider pusher at 2 o’clock that has a colored strip down the middle done in the contrasting color used on the central seconds hand. On top is the interchangeable bezel, which now gets a significant upgrade — while the previous version had a smooth turn, this new one has 60 clicks to it and it solves the only possible criticism of the previous one. The watch comes with five tachymeter bezels in light blue, a fantastic green, a black, orange and red. You can also purchase a GMT bezel set in the same five colors. Water resistance is 100 meters.

While the regular Chronoking came with a fairly basic but great looking vintage-inspired dial, the Racing variant comes with five possible dials that will suit any mood. There are two black versions to choose from, a textured black with white rings on the sub dials and a red central seconds hand, or a forged carbon one with black snailed sub-dials that have yellow, orange and blue details and an orange central hand. The blue and the green dials have black sub-dials with orange and red accents, respectively. The last variant is the white dial with blue details.

Inside the watch is the Seiko Mecha-Quartz caliber SII VK63, meaning that it combines a quartz movement for the regular timekeeping and a mechanical chronograph. The watches can be had on black rubber tropic-style strap or a black racing-style leather strap.

The new Nivada Grenchen Chronoking Racing is available now, with four being part of the regular collection and the carbon dial being limited to 500 pieces. Price is set to €640 on all of them, and that’s just great. I think I’ll have to get that green one, I’m very much in love with it. See more on the Nivada Grenchen website.

2/

Mido Pays Tribute To Día de Muertos Once Again With A Ghostly Transparent Dial

While the majority of their releases are a sea of relatively conservative watches, we should all stand up and applaud Mido when they allow the designers to go crazy. You might not like all of their wild designs, like you might not like this new release, but it’s undeniable that they are a good thing for the brand. It makes it feel fresh and unpredictable. Since 2020, Mido has been paying tribute to one of Mexico’s oldest celebrations. This year, they are repeating the success of last year’s homage to the Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead. This is the new Commander Gradient Catrines.

While the previous Day of the Dead version cam in the larger Commander case with a black PVD coat, this new one uses the much more accessible and smaller version of the Commander. That means that the brushed and polished steel case now measures 40mm wide and 10.8mm thick. It’s topped with a polished bezel and a domed sapphire crystal. Out back is a transparent caseback and water resistance is 50 meters.

But who cares about the case when you have a dial this wild. The base of the dial is black, with a very slight transparency to it, showing you the insides and date disc. The dial is then painted with the instantly recognizable Mexican style skull, surrounded by roses. All of this is rendered in red, blue, green, purple, yellow, pink and orange, and all of the colors are actually shades of lume. You get the same colors on the applied hour markers and hands, while at 3 o’clock is a date aperture.

Inside the watch, no surprises. It’s the MIDO automatic Caliber 80, which beats at 21,600vph and has an 80 hour power reserve. Yeah, you recognised that right — it’s the Powermatic 80. The movement features a decorated with Côtes de Genève and engraved with the Mido logo. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet with an additional two straps — an orange tropic-style rubber and a black leather with teal stitching.

The new Mido Commander Gradient Catrines Special Edition doesn’t seem to be a limited edition and price is set at CHF 1,070. See more on the Mido website.

3/

Bell & Ross Introduces A More Technical Collection, The New BR-X3

You will have to do a lot of searching to find a somewhat conventional Bell & Ross. Sure, they make a couple of regular round pieces, but their entire company is built on strange watches, mostly recreating flight instruments on your wrist. And these square and bold watches are the tame stuff. Because they often dip into experimental materials and odd sizes that make them look pretty wild. They’re also known for their experimental watch lines, which include the BR-X1, the BR-X2 and the BR-X5. You might have noticed that there are some numbers missing in that sequence. Well, no more, as Bell & Ross is introducing the BR-X3, an evolution of their technical watches.

And it really is an evolution, not a brand new watch. It’s obvious from the case that measures 41mm by 41mm, 13mm thick, and is available in two variants — Black Titanium or Blue Steel. As the names suggest, the cases are made out of either micro-blasted grade 2 titanium or satin-finished and polished. On top of both are circular bezels, with a blue ring on the steel and black on the titanium version. The case has the signature screws in each corner, the crown has guards and water resistance is 100 meters.

Both versions have multi-part dials that give a lot of depth. Just like previous BR-X watches, this one has an x-shaped design on the dial. The titanium version comes with a matte black base, while the steel version gets a blue sunray base, both topped with a x-shaped segment that frames the date window at 3 o’clock with three visible dates and the power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. On the titanium version, that construction is matte grey, while on the steel version it’s rhodium plated. To that construction, they apply the hour markers which are filled with green glowing Super-LumiNova X1, just like the skeletonized hands.

Inside, you’ll find the BR-Cal.323. It’s a manufacture movement made for Bell & Ross by Kenissi and it beats at 4Hz, with a 70 hour power reserve. It’s also COSC certified, which is a cool addition. The watches come on a black or blue perforated rubber strap.

The new Bell & Ross BR-X3 is available now as part of the regular collection. Price is… ambitious, to say the least. The steel version is priced at €7,400, while the titanium one will set you back €8,400. That’s serious territory. See more on the Bell & Ross website.

4/

Gaga Laboratorio Teams Up With Wei Koh To Expose Its Insides With The New Labormatic Luce

One of my favorite watches last year was the duo from Gagà Laboratorio. Founded as a spin-off from the Italian brand Gagà Milano, known for creating wild looking watches, Gagà Laboratorio was so incredibly cool I fell in love with it instantly. Headed by founder Ruben Tomella and legendary tattoo artist Mo Coppoletta and their first two watches are an ode to fantastic design, Italian life (the term Gagà refers to the Dandy or gentlemen-like lifestyle of Italians in the 1920s and 1930s) with a bit of art-deco mixed in. It was so unique it quickly earned a nickname for the style it was creating — gagaism. I reviewed it pretty early on in the life of the brand, and loved it. Now, Gagà Laboratorio is teaming up with Wei Koh from Revolution Magazine for a stunning transparent and stone dial take on the already unusual watch.

The case is very similar to what we’ve seen before. It’s made out of seven parts, measuring 42mm wide and 13.3mm wide, the crown sits at noon and the lugs are unlike any you’ve seen before, curved, stepped and flared. While previous versions had anthracite, black and silver finishings on the case, this one comes with a really nice shade of blue PVD on the lateral case and crown.

The most significant changes happen on the dial, even though the overall design of the dial technically remains the same. Just like previous editions, this one also has a dial split up into five segments, with the fifth segment being the opening at 12 o’clock acting as the digital display for the hours. Towards the centre of the dial is a darkened sapphire disc with an opening that hovers over the current minutes. But the major change here is that the entire top part of the dial doesn’t have colors. Instead, it’s a series of transparent covers that gives you a full look at the inside discs. The discs are the other big change, as they are now made out of blue lapis stone, while still having the cool Gagà numerals. At the centre, you still get the Gagà Laboratorio logo rotating to show the running seconds.

Despite its seemingly incredible complexity, it’s all powered by a relatively normal La Joux-Perret G100, the same one used by the previous versions. It’s a cool movement with a 4Hz beat rate and a great power reserve of 68 hours. Decorations include Côtes de Genève, perlage and a partially openworked rotor. The watch comes on a handmade blue Safiano leather strap.

The new Gagà Laboratorio Labormatic Luce is available now, and it’s limited to 100 pieces. Price is set at CHF 4,300, without tax. See more on the Gagà Laboratorio website.

5/

Sartory-Billard Releases The SB04-E Small Bang With Ancestral Japanese Raden Dials

A cursory glance at the Sartory Billard website will show you that they make a wide variety of watches, most of which are a combination of retro-avant-garde styles and centuries old craftsmanship. Pretty much every single one of their watches is show stopper, something that needs to be deeply examined to understand all of its nuances. Most of them are bespoke pieces that can be customized to your exact liking. But they also have the Editions Collection, which would be best described as their prêt-à-porter collection. These are available right away, at much lower prices. And the latest two watches in the collection are the SB04-E “Small Bang” with dials made by master artisan Tatsuya Todo in the ancestral Japanese Raden craft.

The SB04-E is the continuation of the discontinued SB04 model and you can see it. The case for both of these watches are made out stainless steel and measure 39.5mm wide and 10.3mm thick. The base of the case is brushed with polished bevels and polished bezel. On top is a sapphire crystal and water resistance is 100 meters.

But it’s obvious that these watches are very much about those cool dials. And you really won’t see many like them. Raden is the Japanese craft of inserting mother of pearl into wood to create patterns or images. Here, Todo uses ultra-thin mother-of-pearl to make it look like an explosion of light. Each fragment of mother-of-pearl is hand-cut and inlaid into the lacquer surface and they come in either green or a blue/purple shade. Above that sits a ring that holds the applied hour and printed minute railway markers. Beyond that are more mother-of-pearl particles that almost hover in space.

Inside, you’ll find the La Joux-Perret G101, which is becoming an increasingly more popular alternative to the ETA 2824 clones. It’s an interesting movement that beats at 4Hz and has a much more modern power reserve of 68 hours, while the ETAs and Sellitas hover at about 38 hours. The watches come on a stainless-steel bracelet with alternating brushed and polished links as well as an integrated rubber strap.

The new SB04-E “Small Bang” is a limited edition of 10 pieces per color and available only through Martin Pulli retailers. Price is set at €9,950. See more on the Sartory Billard website.

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Armin Strom Renders Their Dress Watch, The Tribute 1, In A Great Shade Of Green

If you could expect one thing from Armin Strom, then it would be for them to make fantastically complicated and wild looking watches. It’s evident from all the wild watches of theirs that I have been writing about over the past few months. And yet, one of their more popular models, introduced in 2021, is the Tribute 1, a surprisingly simple, much smaller, watch that still carried on the Armin Strom design language but in an almost dressy package. This latest iteration of the Tribute 1, comes in a very sweet shade of green.

While most Armin Strom watches are really imposing on the wrist and call out for attention, the Tribute 1 measures just 38mm wide and 9.38mm thick, with a 44.35mm lug-to-lug. The stainless steel case has a brushed finish, with sapphire crystals on top and bottom. Water resistance is 100 meters.

While much more subdued, dare one say almost dressy, version of an Armin Strom, it still keeps the recognizable details of the brand - an offset dial, barrel, and larger dial plate. The new dial has a frosted and green dial base, with an off-centered green-toned dial in the top left that’s used to tell the time. This smaller dial has a a grain d’orge guilloché pattern and Roman numerals, pointed to with polished, rhodium-plated hands.

Inside the watches is the brand’s in-house movement called the AMW21, with 21 standing for 21-jewels. The regulating system contains a flat hairspring with a variable-inertia balance wheel and brass barrel bridge. The 100-hour power reserve results from the large barrel that’s visible on the dial, and the movement ticks away at a 3.5Hz (25,200vph) frequency. Just like in every other Armin Strom timepiece, this movement has hand finishing throughout, with hand-bevelled bridges with polished and matte surfaces, black-polished screws, Geneva stripes and circular graining. The watch comes on a green Alcantara strap, closed with a steel folding clasp.

The new Tribute 1 Sandstein is limited to 50 pieces and priced at CHF 22,000. See more on the Armin Strom website.

SPECIAL FEATURE: The Serica 6190 Field Chronometer: Crafting Legacy Through Adventure and Precision

The dawn breaks over a rugged ridge, a spill of amber light softening the sharp contours of an ancient forest and the narrow path threading between wild ferns and moss. A solitary figure kneels on dew-misted grass, fingers deft and steady closing the flap of a weathered journal. On her wrist sits a modest yet compelling timepiece, its matte enamel dial catching the early light, luminous markers glowing faintly after a night beneath the stars. The watch is the Serica 6190 Field Chronometer.

This watch, with its crisp edges and purposeful design, is a living artifact of contemporary culture’s intricate dance with heritage, exploration, and craft. In the quiet of that morning wilderness, it stands at a crossroads where three powerful but distinct cultural threads converge today: the adventurous spirit demanding raw, self-defining experiences; the indelible imprint of military heritage shaping ideals and aesthetics; and a vigorous revival of craftsmanship deeply skeptical of the disposable, digital age.

Adventure culture is far more than just thrill-seeking or travel; it is a way of knowing oneself and the world, an ethos that indicts the mundane and celebrates the unknown. Its roots extend into the human psyche’s quest for meaning through challenge and transformation. Once the realm of heroic explorers and elite adventurers, today’s adventure culture has democratized, propelled by global connectivity, social media, and growing environmental consciousness. More people than ever seek experiences that transcend tourism, pursuing a deeper engagement with nature and themselves—a phenomenon that scholars have described as involving “cross-boundary learners who discover new selves through serendipitous encounters.” This is not mere escapism but a cultural imperative to live fully, authentically, and consciously.

The accessibility of adventure today owes much to technological advances and shifting societal values. High-performance gear once reserved for specialists now reaches broad audiences, while micro-adventures in urban or semi-remote settings supplement longer expeditions. The rise of “coolcations,” where experience supplants excess, and social media platforms showcasing raw, unfiltered personal narratives have embedded adventure deeply within contemporary identity and aspiration. Adventure culture is increasingly seen as a lens on life, a way to cultivate resilience and presence.

Read the rest of this essay here.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS: Your Next Watch, Week 54: Two Cool Omegas, A Bulova I Haven't Seen Before; A Groovy Hamilton; And A Jaw Dropper Of A Election Chronograph

We continue with our exploration of watches we shouldn't spend our money on, but most likely will. Read it here. 

⏲️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

• Nicole A. Parke, a self-styled billionaire philanthropist, appeared as a savior during Los Angeles’ devastating wildfires—promising $100 million in relief. But investigations revealed her empire was built on illusion, not assets. With a history of default judgments, unpaid bills, and duped investors, Parke’s story exposes the seductive dangers of image-driven fraud in crisis and celebrity circles.

• Through vivid river-bend memories and family tragedy, this memoir uncovers generational loss, life at California’s edge, and the complicated love between a stepfather and daughter bound by adventure and violence. The search for truth and reconciliation traces a wild stretch of the Salmon River, where grief, forgiveness, and the passage of time transform what we inherit and who we become.

• In this unsettling story, Maggie Harrison Dupré shares accounts from people who say ChatGPT played a role in their breakups. They describe partners who leaned on the chatbot for relationship advice and then pulled away from them emotionally; spouses who used its outputs against them during fights; and loved ones who stopped communicating in their own words, replacing messages with AI-generated slop about their feelings. A bleak read on how the tool is creeping into intimate relationships.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This is a very cool take on a vintage trailer.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk