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  • Orient Adds Dials To The Expanding Bambino 38; Amida Releases Gold And Black Versions Of The Cool Digitrend; Aera Has A New Take On The Dirty Dozen; Habring Adds A Moonphase; And A Wonderful JLC

Orient Adds Dials To The Expanding Bambino 38; Amida Releases Gold And Black Versions Of The Cool Digitrend; Aera Has A New Take On The Dirty Dozen; Habring Adds A Moonphase; And A Wonderful JLC

Every single watch featured today is just fantastic, right?

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Habring² is easily moving to my top 10 watchmakers. I’m going to have to make a trip to their place to see how they manage to make such great watches for so little money. Also, the Black Friday sale is still on so if you want access to articles like this and reviews like this, you can grab a year’s worth of them for 20% off.

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In this issue:

  • Orient Adds New Dial Colors To The Near-Perfect Bambino 38mm

  • Amida Releases New Gold And Black Versions Of The Incredibly Cool Digitrend

  • Aera Introduces The M1 Collection, A Slightly Updated Take On The Classic Dirty Dozen

  • The Habring² Oskar Is A Fantastically Price, In-House Moonphase With A Great Look

  • JLC Marks 10 Years Of The Master Hybris Mechanica Calibre 362 With A Revival Of The Thin Masterpiece

👂What’s new

1/

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, then you must know my love-hate relationship with Orient (and Orient Star). On one hand, they make great looking watches that fit pretty much every scenario, with in-house movements to boot, and sell it at an unbeatable price. On the other, they have the most infuriating business model in which they never tell anybody that they released a new watch and their websites are just a mess of new and old models with no indication what’s happening with the brand. Well, it seems that they have two new versions of the 38mm Orient Bambino, two great dial colors, but, unfortunately, in a limited edition.

OK, technically, this isn’t a 38mm Orient Bambino, because that’s no such thing. This one comes in a stainless steel case that measures 38.4mm wide, 12.5mm thick and with a 44mm lug-to-lug. Those are some pretty good proportions. On top is a domed mineral glass which I wish they would change out for a plexiglass one if they won’t spring for a sapphire. It would have way more character. Water resistance is 30 meters.

What’s new are the two new colors — baby blue and copper with a subtle sunray brushing and a matte finish. But before you say: wait, didn’t Orient release a 38mm version of the Bambino with a copper dial like two months ago? Well, yes and not. Yes, there was a copper-like color. No, it’s not the same shade. This one is a bit darker. What remains unchanged are the applied and faceted silver indices and faceted hands, as well as the minutes track on the periphery. There’s also a date aperture at 3 o’clock with a white date wheel inside.

Inside is the well known and in-house made F6724 automatic. It beats at 3Hz, has a 40 hour power reserve and is rated to +25/-15 seconds per day. Both watches come on the same 20mm brown calf leather strap.

The new colorways of the Orient Bambino 38mm are limited, with the blue dial limited to 6,500 pieces and the copper to 2,500 pieces. Price on both is $330. See more on the Orient website.

2/

The 1960s were a cool time. The world broke away from the conservative 50s, embraced rock and roll, drugs and free love. While fashion and design followed the free spirit of the era, industrial design - at least when it comes to watch design - was still a bit lagging. Well, after the revolutionary summer of 1968, and the murder of Sharon Tate, the 70s turned a dark corner. With increasing insecurity in the world, constant threat of escalating wars and an overall pessimism in the culture and the economy, design started looking towards a possibly brighter future. That’s how we got the space-age stuff full of futuristic, smooth and oddly shaped designs we love today. One of these objects was the Amida Digitrend, a unique driver’s watch which showed a vertical image of horizontal double discs through a optical inverting prism to show the time. Sounds complicated, but it isn’t. Earlier this year, Amida was revived with a modern version of the Digitrend. Now, they are expanding the collection with two new case versions and they’re just as cool.

The original — the one from April, not the one from the 1970s — version came in a brushed and polished silver case which remains in the collection, but now it’s joined by versions that get a black DLC coat and an 4N gold PVD coat. Despite the unusual case shape, the dimensions are very interesting. It’s 39.6mm wide, but just 39mm long, meaning it should fit on pretty much any wrist. And sure, the thickness of 15.6mm at the thickest point is imposing, but it tapers down in a teardrop shape ti just 6mm. I really want to try one on. It’s also decently water resistant at 50 meters.

Of course, there is no dial to this watch, as what you would call the dial, or even a face, on any other watch, in the Digitrend is just a solid wall of steel — silver, black or gold. Time is told on the bottom side of the watch, by twisting your wrist away from you. Here you’ll find a relatively small aperture in the steel, with a display on the left for the jumping hours, the name of the watch in the centre, and the crawling minutes on the right, both of which are framed in white. Through this you see a fantastically funky orange font for the hours and minutes, but you’re actually looking at a optical inverting prism which is reflecting the dual discs which lay flat against your wrist/the movement. It’s also reversing them, as the discs are mirror printed.

Powering all of this is not some exotic in-house movement, but rather the Soprod Newton P092, an automatic movement that beats at 28,800vph and has a 44 hour power reserve. This is paired to a custom module that rotates the time discs. The movement is nicely finished, with rhodium-plating, sand-blasting, Geneva stripes and circular graining while the customized rotor is openworked. The watch can be had on either a stainless steel bracelet that matches the finish of the case or, even better, a very cool charcoal Alcantara strap with an orange calfskin lining.

The stainless steel version was priced at CHF 2,900 when it launched, and that price remains unchanged. You’ll spend CHF 2,900 for the plain stainless steel version on the alcantara strap, while the same model will run you CHF 3,250 on the metal bracelet. The treated versions, however, command a premium and are priced at CHF 3,250 on the alcantara and CHF 3,600 on the steel bracelets. The watches are available now. See more on the Amida website.

3/

The market is flooded with recreations of all sorts of vintage watches. And recreations of the Dirty Dozen, the watches commissioned by the UK Ministry of War from 12 manufacturers at the tail end of World War II, have to be among the most recreated. Some approach the recreation as a 1:1 copy, while others try to modernize the design. The UK-based microbrand Aera that recently introduced a quite interesting take on a classic chronograph are now attempting to breathe new life into a Dirty Dozen-style watch with the new M-1 Field and M-1 Blackbird.

The two M1 watches share a case that has a very round, almost pebble-like, shape with straight and wide lugs. Dimensions are pretty great: 39mm wide, 13.14mm thick and a 47.6mm lug-to-lug. The case has a circular satin brushing, with the Field being untreated and the Blackbird getting a black PVD coat. On top is a domed sapphire crystal, with a rounded unmarked bezel. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dials are even more modern takes on the DD and are identical between the two models. It’s pitch black, dish shaped and with oversized white Arabic numerals painted on with lume. On the edge of the dial is a railway minute track and at 6 o’clock is a small seconds display. Underneath it is the M-1 logo and the only difference between the two models is a blue tip on the seconds hand on the Blackbird.

Inside, no surprises. It’s the Sellita SW216-1, part of the trusty and reliable SW200 family, only manual wound. It beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve that comes with the Elabore grade of the movement, including better accuracy. The watches come on leather straps — a beige grained leather for the Field and a black alcantara for the Blackbird.

The Aera M-1 is available for purchase now, with the M-1 Field priced at £1,450 and the M-1 Blackbird at £1,600. See more on the Aera website.

4/

How can you not be madly in love with Habring² watches. Not only are they one of the rare watchmakers to be based in Austria, and not only are they drop-dead gorgeous, and not only are they largely hand made and in-house developed, they are also surprisingly affordable. Not cheap, but affordable for what they are. They should easily be selling for at least 3x the price. Just look at this Habring² Josef Regulator I wrote about two weeks ago with a in-house developed regulator movement that has a dead-beat seconds hand that sells for under €8,000. Now, they have a new addition to the lineup, the Habring² Oskar with moon phase display, with or without pointer date.

On the outside, the Oskar looks very much like the Felix, their cornerstone model. This means that it’s a classic Calatrava design that measures 38.5mm wide and 10.3mm thick, including the top and bottom sapphire crystals. If you take away the top box-shaped crystal, the thickness falls down to 9mm, which is just cool. Water resistance is sufficient for a dress watch at 30 meters.

The dial is where the Oskar differs from the majority of the collection. For one, it’s the first time that Habring² is implementing a moonphase indicator, which sits at 6 o’clock. It also implements the small-seconds into the same position, moving it from the more traditional 9 o’clock of the Felix. There are three versions of the watch. The classic gets a white lacquered dial with just the two complications, black printed Breguet numerals and tracks, a blue moon disc and blued steel hands. The other two versions, the Oskar II, add a central pointer date, one with a blue galvanized dial with white printings and dark blue moon disc, or a white lacquered dial, blued date hand and golden-brown moon disc.

Like all other Habring² watches, this one features a very cool movement. It’s the Calibre A11Ups, developed in-house and produced by their partners in Austria. It’s hand-wound, beats at 4Hz, has a 48 hour power reserve and features decorations that include polished edges, decorative engravings and perlage. The watches can be had on either a leather strap or a beads-of-rice bracelet.

The new Habring² Oskar Moon Phase is available now and priced at €6,050 for the moon-only version and €6,950 for the moon and pointer date version. See more on the Habring² website.

5/

Ten years ago, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced the Master Hybris Mechanica Calibre 362, a very special watch that was the thinnest minute repeater in the collection at just 7.8mm, equipped with a very special flying tourbillon, all of which needed eight separate patents, including six inventions developed specifically for this watch. Now, JLC is bringing it back in a very limited five-piece edition with a deep midnight-blue sunray dial.

A lot is very similar in this new release. The case is inspired by the ultra-thin pocket watches of the early 20th century, particularly the 1907 couteau (knife) pocket watch and measures 41mm wide and just 7.8mm thick. It’s made out of 18k white gold, with hand-polished bezel, sides, and tapering lugs. Incredibly, this watch is water resistant to 30 meters, an almost unseen thing among minute repeaters made possible by a new mechanism for activating the complication which includes a discreet unlocking button at 8 o’clock and a retractable push-button at 10 o’clock.

The dial stands in perfect contrast to the white gold case with its deep blue sunray brushing. It’s all very traditional, with elongated Dauphine hands, simple baton hour markers and white dots as minute markers. But then come the cutouts. Oh, how cool they are. First, there’s the cutout for the flying tourbillon, important to show off the flying balance wheel which helps reduce the thickness and the patented S-shaped hairspring. There are also dramatic cutouts along the entire periphery of the dial, which show off the peripheral rotor as it spins around.

Inside is the automatic Calibre 362 which beats at 21,600 vph and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The peripheral rotor is made of Platinum 950/1000 and mounted on ceramic ball bearings. That has to be a dream to spin. The movement is visible through the transparent sapphire case-back, showcasing the haute horlogerie finishes such as Côtes de Genève and hand-bevelling. The watch comes on a blue alligator leather strap, with a small-scale alligator lining, closed with a folding clasp.

The Master Hybris Mechanica Calibre 362 is a limited edition of 5 pieces and, of course, the pricing hasn’t been revealed. But I assume it will be eye-watering. See more on the Jaeger-LeCoultre website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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⚙️Watch Worthy

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

Put simply, the JB300 is a classic military diver in the truest sense, while still managing to hold onto a little bit of the dramatic flair we’ve come to expect from a brand that typically decorates their dials with divers and cephalopods. The JB300 draws the bulk of its inspiration from the original JB300, an early ‘90s dive watch issued by the French Army to combat divers. While not an exact 1-to-1 reproduction of that watch, which seems to have been produced in extremely limited quantities (less than 1000 by most counts), the new JB300 is a very close facsimile.

⏲️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

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Apple has had a lot of trouble fitting into the Hollywood system. So much so that their film division is in complete shambles and if their hyper-budgeted F1 movie flops, they’ll be in serious issue. I mean, they won’t, because they’re apple, but you know what I mean. But their TV section is killing it. That’s why it’s so funny they are making what looks to be a great TV show, giving me strong The Player vibes, about killing movies.

💵Pre-loved precision

Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us

  • LOOKING TO BUY: Here’s a crazy request. One of you is looking to buy the Lotēc No. 7.5. Sure, it’s a big ask, but if any of you have one and want to sell, reach out to and I’ll put you in touch

  • SOLD: Well, not really new. It’s a great looking mid-90s Tudor Submariner 75090, offered for sale by a member of the It’s About Time reader crew. I love the way it looks and seems to be in great condition. Check it out over on Chrono24.

  • LOOKING TO BUY: One of our readers is looking to purchase three very specific watches: an Islander ISL-133 Mother of Pearl, a Sinn 556 Mother of Pearl or a Zelos 300m GMT Mosaic Mother of Pearl. If you’re selling any of these, reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

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