Omega's Winter Olympics Ceramic Seamaster; TAG's Split-Seconds Carrera; Oris Saves The Finless Porpoise; Awake’s Very Red Son Mài; A Green Nodus Sector Deep Pioneer; An Incredible MB&F Chronograph

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. We’re still catching up with releases, and will for a couple of more days. Some fun stuff is in the backlog!

Also, I want to point out that there are 9 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

• Omega Releases A White Ceramic Seamaster Diver 300M For The Milano Cortina 2026

• TAG Heuer Moves Their Incredible Split-Seconds Chronograph From The Monaco To The Carrera

• Oris Benefits The Endangered Yangtze Finless Porpoise With The New Aquis Date Yangtze Jiangtun LE

• Awake’s New Son Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Red Is Very, Very Red

• Nodus Adds A Green Gradient Dial To Their Sector Deep Pioneer Adventure Watch

• The New MB&F LM Sequential Flyback EVO Really Is Something Unbelievable

👂What’s new

1/

Omega Releases A White Ceramic Seamaster Diver 300M For The Milano Cortina 2026

It hasn’t even been two years since we got a slew of fantastic watches from Omega in their capacity as the sponsor of the Olympic Games. But that was the Summer Games in Paris. In a couple of weeks, the 2026 Olympic Winter Games will start in Milano Cortina, Italy, and we’ve been getting some great Winter Games watches for a couple of months now. The latest in this line is the new Seamaster Diver 300M in white ceramic, perfect for winter sports.

This is not the first ceramic Seamaster Diver 300M, as Omega already made the Seamaster Diver 300M Ceramic and Titanium in black ceramic. That makes this a familiar watch. Compared to steel versions of the Seamaster Diver 300M, the ceramic version grows to 43.5mm wide, with a thickness of 14.47mm and with a 51.5mm lug-to-lug. So, quite the watch. Omega uses a combination of polished and brushed ceramics, which is also the case here, with select elements — like the crown, helium escape valve, and bezel — made out of titanium. The bezel also has a white ceramic ring with a laser-ablated diving scale in positive relief. Water resistance is 300 meters.

The dial continues the white theme. It’s also made out of white ceramic and instead of the engraved wave pattern that other Seamaster Diver 300M models have, it has a laser-engraved frosting to link it to winter sports. The frosting has a 26 pattern done in the form of ski tracks visible only under certain lighting. All the printing on the dial is done in dark blue, with a gradient blue varnished seconds hand, while the hands are rhodium-plated and filled with white lume, just like the hour markers.

Inside, another familiar. It’s the Calibre 8806 which has been used in several previous versions of the Seamaster. It’s, of course, METAS Master Certified Chronometer, beats at 25,200vph and has a 55 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a integrated white rubber strap with a grade 5 titanium buckle.

The new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Milano Cortina 2026 is a special, non-limited edition. Price is set at €10,400. See more on the Omega website.

2/

TAG Heuer Moves Their Incredible Split-Seconds Chronograph From The Monaco To The Carrera

Love it or hate it, the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph, despite its fairly pedestrian name, is one of TAG Heuer’s most advanced watches. It was introduced in 2024 at Watches and Wonders, after a similar watch created for the Only Watch auction drew a huge amount of attention. It is a wildly expensive watch that brings a lot of high-tech to an otherwise fairly familiar watch. However, one of the issues with that watch is the fact that the Monaco is a huge watch, not really suited for many wrists out there. During LVMH Watch Week, TAG Heuer offered a solution to that problem by putting the advanced movement into a Carrera Glassbox. This is the new TAG Heuer Carrera Split-Seconds Chronograph.

On the outside, this is a familiar watch. It’s still large at 42mm wide and 15.17mm thick, but the facts that it’s made out of grade 5 titanium and has the highly domed Glassbox sapphire crystal contribute to its wearability. At least when compared to the Monaco. The case has a satin-brushed finish with polished details, on top is the beautiful Glassbox sapphire crystal that extends all the way to the edges of the case. On the right side of the case are sloping rectangular chronograph pushers, and at 9 o’clock is a cleverly hidden pusher for the split-seconds mechanism. Water resistance is not great at 30 meters.

While most Glassbox models have spectacular dial colors, this one has a transparent sapphire one, showing off the movement inside. The same has been on the Monaco model. It’s a bit of a strange move, as the movement is not skeletonized, so you don’t get to see much. You get three subdials, 30 minutes at 3 o’clock, 12 hours at 9 o’clock and running seconds at 6, painted onto the sapphire dial. Around the edge is an anthracite flange with a tachymeter scale, the indices are rhodium-plated and the hour and minutes hands are filled with white lume and open-worked. The central chronograph hand is done in white and the split-seconds hand in red lacquer.

This is not the exact same movement as the one in the Monaco. That’s the Calibre TH81-00 and this is the TH81-01, but this is just due to the fact that the -00 movement is square to fit the Monace, while the -01 is circular for the respective watches. It’s made by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, largely constructed out of titanium, beats at 36,000vph and has a 65 hour power reserve. The movement is finished with hand-bevelled edges, black-polished screws, and TAG Heuer’s hand-engraved checkered-flag motif across the plates. The watch comes on a black rubber strap embossed with a textile pattern and red stitching, closed with a titanium folding clasp.

The new Carrera Split-Seconds Chronograph goes on sale in June 2026 and will not be limited. Price is set at CHF 110,000. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

3/

Oris Benefits The Endangered Yangtze Finless Porpoise With The New Aquis Date Yangtze Jiangtun LE

Oris is building quite the reputation for marine conservation initiatives. They’re doing that through their Change for the Better movement through which they donate portions of proceedings of limited and special edition models to help coral preservation, restoration of harbours and the removal of plastic from oceans. The latest in this line is a limited edition Aquis Date that’s made with the Chinese Changjiang Conservation Foundation to help conserve the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise. This specific porpoise is heavily endangered and in 2017, it was estimated that only 1,012 specimens remained. The efforts of the Chinese Changjiang Conservation Foundation brought this number up to 1,249, so it’s a worthy effort.

The edition is based on the 43.5mm Aquis Date, so you know the basics here. The stainless steel case measures, well, 43.5mm wide, 13.1mm thick, with a 51mm lug-to-lug. The case has a brushed finish, the bezel has a black ceramic insert with a 60 minute scale and out back is an engraving of a Yangtze finless porpoise swimming. Water resistance, as expected, is 300 meters.

The dial is made from mother-of-pearl that has a beautiful teal color, which has a sheen to it that’s supposed to mimic the surface of the Yangtze River. The notoriously difficult to work with MoP also has a wave pattern engraved into it, which is quite the feat but while you would expect this to represent the waves of the river, it actually represents the sound waves of the finless porpoise’s high-frequency ultrasonic clicks used for echolocation. The dial has shield-shaped hour markers and Alpha hands, as you would expect from an Aquis Date, and there’s a date window at 6 o’clock with a white date disc inside.

Inside, you’ll find the Oris calibre 733, which is not their in-house movement, but rather the movement based on the Sellita SW 200. It’s nothing special, but it does its job, beating at 4Hz, with a 41 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet with a steel folding clasp.

The new Oris Aquis Date Yangtze Jiangtun Limited Edition is limited to 1,249, standing for the current number of existing porpoises. Price is set at CHF 2,550. See more on the Oris website.

4/

Awake’s New Son Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Red Is Very, Very Red

I have an extremely soft spot for the French brand Awake. They have a great story. For years, they made limited edition watches. All of their releases were special projects that very often included collaborations, there were a lot of space-themed watches and all of them were pretty cool. Then, late last year, Awake introduced their first permanent collection called the Son Mài. It is a beautifully elegant watch that features incredible Vietnamese sanded lacquer dials. Now, we’re getting a new take on this dial manufacturing that for the first time places a pure silver leaf tinted with copper pigments over the dial. This is the new Son Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Red.

The case of the watch remains virtually unchanged, made out of recycled stainless steel, and measuring 39mm wide and 11.8mm thick, including the crystal. Without the crystal, the thickness drops down to 10.9mm. On top is a rounded bezel, surrounding the sapphire crystal, the side of the case is brushed, and you get polished surfaces on top of the lugs, with a wide polished chamfer stretching down the edge od the case. Water resistance is 50 meters.

This new model fully embraces the Asian heritage of the lacquer technique with a very red base, the color of luck in many Asian cultures. The creation of these dials is a 15-hour process that starts with sap from the Rhus Verniciflua tree in northern Vietnam, whose exceptionally brilliant natural lacquer forms the base of each dial. Pigments are applied in multiple layers in different shades, sanded by hand to reveal parts of the buried layers. On top, for the first time, you’ll find pure silver leaf tinted with copper pigments, reversing the traditional sequence to let light interact directly with the material. It’s quite a looker. On top of that dial you get the signature hands and applied markers. However, instead of just painting them with lume, the hands and indices are made out of solid blocks of SuperLuminova BGW9, which is then capped with a faceted, polished steel overlay. That gives them both a backglow, which is just beautiful.

Inside is the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement, an alternative to the ubiquitous but increasingly hard to source ETA 2824, and the Sellita SW200. However, it has a much better power reserve than those two at 68 hours, and the same beat rate of 4Hz. The movement is decorated with Geneva stripes and a customised tungsten rotor. The watches come on red suede calfskin strap handmade in France by Maison Bouveret with a rubberised calf lining.

The Awake Son Mài Frosted Leaf Royal Red is available for order now, limited to 100 pieces. Price is set at €2,200, without tax. See more on the Awake website.

5/

Nodus Adds A Green Gradient Dial To Their Sector Deep Pioneer Adventure Watch

Last year, Nodus released an even more capable version of their already incredible Sector Deep. It was the Nodus Sector Deep Pioneer which paired the chunky case and 500 meter water resistance of the regular Sector Deep, with GMT functionality and a more adventure-forward package. Now, building on the same platform, we get a new colorway for the model. It’s called the Ranger and it’s not the Ranger Green you would expect. It’s a really cool gradient of olive and metallic greens.

The Sector Deep Pioneer is technically identical to the original Sector Deep. It comes in a matte stainless steel case that measures 38mm wide, 13.6mm thick, and with the 47mm lug-to-lug. On top of the case is a black DLC coated bezel that measures 4mm wider than the case, overhanging it. The bezel is a story in itself, operating in 120 clicks, and using ball bearings instead of click springs, and it’s different to the original Sector Deep — instead of a combination 60 minute scale on the outer ring and 12-hour scale on the inner ring, this new one gets the 60 minute scale on the outside and a compass scale on the inner one, since the hour scale has been moved to the dial. All of the scales on the dial are lumed, and Nodus is very good at lume. Water resistance remains at 500 meters.

While the previous two Nodus Sector Deep Pioneer models came with a black dial with red accents and a blue dial with light blue accents. This new one also builds on that with a gradient green from a light lime on top to a dark forrest green at the bottom. You get chunky hour markers that glow a bright blue at night, paired with broad arrow hands. The GMT hand that points to the 24-hour GMT scale around the centre of the dial is skeletonized and done in a gold color.

Inside, you will find the NH34 which is essentially the GMT version of the NH35 found in the standard model. It has a 41-hour power reserve and Nodus regulates the movement to get accuracy of +/- 10 seconds. The watch comes on one of the best bracelets at this price point, with the brand’s iconic tool less micro-adjustable clasp.

The new Nodus Sector Deep Pioneer Ranger is available now, with shipping starting tomorrow January 23. The price is set at $625, which is a fantastic price point. See more on the Nodus website.

6/

The New MB&F LM Sequential Flyback EVO Really Is Something Unbelievable

We already know that MB&F doesn’t know how to make a conventional watch. And I mean that in the best possible way. They will look at an idea for a watch and ask: what’s the most extravagant, intricate and beautifully unhinged way that we can make one. This happened in 2022, when they introduced their first chronograph, the LM Sequential EVO, which was actually two chronographs in one. I mean, it was just so over the top you have to love it, even if you would never wear one. That was followed up with a regular LM Sequential that featured a flyback function. Now, the LM Sequential Flyback is placed into their EVO case, which means a more sporty construction for a wild watch that features two independent column-wheel chronographs linked to the same oscillator, four timing modes and a flyback function. I dare you not to love it.

The EVO collection for MB&F designates a more rugged case, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a G-Shock. It features the FlexRing shock absorber positioned between the case and the movement to protect the mechanism, has a screw-down crown and a more sportier look with hollowed-out, sandblasted lugs. The case is made out of titanium and measures 44mm wide and 18.2mm thick. Sure, that’s massive, but a lot of that height is taken up by the highly domed sapphire crystal that’s needed for the wild movement/dial construction. Water resistance is 80 meters.

Technically, the dial and movement remains somewhat the same, as the novelty here is the case. New is the black and white rendition of the double chronograph counters (60 seconds at 9 and 3 o’clock and 30 minutes at 11 and 1 o’clock), while above the counters you can still see the incredible flying balance wheel. The black hours and minutes disc is tilted towards you, with plenty of lume everywhere.

Then, we have the pretty wild movement. From what I gather, the movement doesn’t have a name. What we know is that this is an in-house movement developed for MB&F by watchmaker Stephen McDonnell. It’s a manually wound movement that has twin barrels that give you 72 hours of power reserve, beating at 3Hz. Those barrels power a fully integrated dual chronograph with flyback, two column wheels and Twinverter switch allowing multiple timing modes. What does that mean? Well, the two chronographs each have their set of start and reset buttons, but there’s also a fifth button at 9 o’clock that the brand calls the Twinverter, allowing you to control both chronographs, inverting the current running state of each at once, letting you start, stop or swap them in a single push. It can be used in independent mode, simultaneous or split-second mode, cumulative mode, sequential or lap-timer mode and flyback mode. The watch comes on a white rubber strap.

The new MB&F LM Sequential Flyback Evo is available now, priced at a pretty impressive €181,000. See more on the MB&F 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

• For The Bitter Southerner, Mike Kane brings us a gothic, savor-y true crime story about the life and death of America’s first game warden. Kane and photographer Teague Kennedy brave mosquitos and crocodiles to retrace the steps of Guy Bradley, who was paid $35 a month in the early 1900s to deter and arrest poachers bent on harvesting the beautiful plumage of wading birds in the Florida Everglades. Illegal hunters prized the feathers, which were sold to milliners making hats for wealthy women in the Gilded Age.

• In this piece at The Dial, Francesco Pacifico writes about Rome, tourism, empire, global capitalism, and the American travelers that fuel this machine—walking around, “discovering” neighborhoods, and finding meaning in foreign places and overseas cultures on their own time. This is super sharp, funny, and depressing all at once.

• Will pronghorns survive a new wave of climate-driven changes the way they did 12,000 years ago—and will we? That’s the question Emilene Ostlind poses in her piece for High Country News, part of their Conservation Beyond Boundaries project. In this blend of science writing and conservation reporting, Ostlind shows how the key to pronghorn survival has long been their small size and adaptability—but fears that, in the rapidly changing West, even that may no longer be enough.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Tiny Desk Concert is kicking ass lately. I mean, there are maybe two or three bands that are more appropriate to have on at this point in time than John Fogerty. Well played.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk