Orient Star Looks To Night Sky With The New M34 F8 Date Duo; Maurice Lacroix's 1975 Legacy; Stowa Teams Up With ABT; Behrens Teams Up With Chaykin; Vacheron Constantin Creates 12 Zodiac Watches

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Someone really needs to redesign the entire business process over at Orient Star, they deserve so much better with watches that look as good as these.

In this issue:

• Orient Star Looks To The Night Sky For Inspiration With The New M34 F8 Date Pair

• Maurice Lacroix Celebrates 50 Years With A Limited Edition 1975 Legacy Model Duo

• Stowa Teams Up With German Tuner ABT For A Very Dark Chronograph

• Behrens Teams Up With Konstantin Chaykin For A Series Of Super Thin Ace Of Hearts Watches

• Vacheron Constantin Creates Twelve Zodiac Watches With Hand Guilloché Diamond-set Dials

👂What’s new

1/

Orient Star Looks To The Night Sky For Inspiration With The New M34 F8 Date Pair

Yes, I will admit I have been very harsh with Orient Star. While I am aware they make some interesting watches, there are just too many things - the fact that their new releases are shrouded in secrecy, their open-heart models looking cheap, and very high, often unjustified, prices - to annoy me. But sometimes, just sometimes, they put out a new watch that’s not only interesting, but could be considered impressive. Joining their M34 collection are two M34 F8 Date models, one in a bizarrely limited (just 160 pieces) dial inspired by the Perseid meteor shower and the other gets a wonderful green dial that has a hammered-like finish.

The watches come in a 40mm wide, 12.9mm thick, stainless steel case that has a 47.3mm lug-to-lug measurement and a very familiar look if you’re into Japanese steel sports watches. The sharp lugs have some heavy vertical polishing to it, while facets are polished and on top is a plain and thin bezel that holds down the sapphire crystal. You also get a transparent caseback and 100 meters of water resistance.

There was a pretty scary photo published the other day. It was of an unknown object traveling towards our solar system. It’s not immediately scary, a huge blob hurtling towards earth ready to destroy all life. Nothing like that. It takes a few moments to figure out why it’s unsettling: it was obviously taken with a long exposure making all the stars that track across the sky — meaning they are moving alongside us — look like blurs, and in the centre of the frame is a bright light, not streaked. It’s quite obvious that it can only mean that it’s coming right for us. This is the same vibe I’m getting from the black version of this release, which features a really high tech dial. It depicts the Perseid meteor shower, imprinted using nanoparticle metal multilayering technology, a new technique in which ink composed of nanometre-sized ultra-fine metal particles is layer-injected several times onto the dial. The result is a striking looking black dial with star streaking by. The green dial is again inspired by the same Perseid meteor shower, and it features an optical multilayer film technology, developed in-house by Orient Star, which gives the dial a shimmering hammered effect. Both versions have central hour, minute and seconds hands, a date window at 3 o’clock and Orient Star’s power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock.

Inside the watch is their in-house calibre F8N64 automatic movement. It features a silicon escape wheel, has a 60 hour power reserve and Orient claims accuracy of +15 seconds to –5 seconds per day. It also not ugly, with chamfered Geneva stripes on the rotor. Both versions come on a nice looking metal bracelet.

The new Orient Star M34 F8 Date with the black dial is limited to 160 pieces and priced at €3,100, while the green dial is not limited and priced at €2,750. See more on the Orient Star website.

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Maurice Lacroix Celebrates 50 Years With A Limited Edition 1975 Legacy Model Duo

Over the past several years, Maurice Lacroix has been pretty good at making some very interesting sports watches. It was all about the Aikon collection of integrated bracelet watches that came in a myriad of materials, colors and price points. What we haven’t seen much from them are more dressy options. It’s not like they don’t do have them. It’s just that they’ve been focusing on the sportier stuff recently. As it happens, Maurice Lacroix is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and as part of the celebration, earlier this year, they launched the 1975 Collection of elegant, slightly retro, dress watches. Now, they are continuing the celebration with a new take on the 1975, the 1975 Legacy, which introduces complications to the dress watch — a date and a GMT.

The two new watches both share the same 40mm wide stainless steel case which measures 9mm on the Automatic Saignelégier Blue and 10mm on the Automatic GMT Silver Mist. Both have an overall polished finish, with a flat sapphire crystal on top, surrounded by a rounded fixed bezel. On the side you’ll find a small knurled crown at 3 o’clock. Water resistance is a surprisingly high 100 meters.

The Automatic Saignelégier Blue comes with a blue dial that has a textured pattern called the Vagues de Jura, or the Jura Waves, in reference to the peaks of the Jura Mountains that stand above the ML headquarters. This is paired with silver dauphine shaped hands and fairly long applied hour markers, with a date aperture at 3 o’clock. The Automatic GMT Silver Mist comes with an off-white dial which features the same pattern on tis base, but it’s paired with rose gold hardware and has a 24-hour scale around the periphery.

Inside the Automatic Saignelégier Blue you’ll find the Calibre ML 115, which is basically just a Sellita SW200. And like all SW200s, it beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The Automatic GMT Silver Mist gets the Calibre ML 165, which is a rebranded Sellita SW330, which beats at the same 4Hz and has a slightly longer power reserve at 42 hours. The watches come on leather straps — blue for the Date and black for the GMT, both with ML logos on the strap.

The new Maurice Lacroix 1975 Legacy watches are available now, limited to 888 pieces for the Automatic Saignelégier Blue, with a price tag of CHF 1,400, and 200 pieces for the Automatic GMT Silver Mist, priced at CHF 1,990. See more on the Maurice Lacroix website. 

3/

Stowa Teams Up With German Tuner ABT For A Very Dark Chronograph

There’s this guy in my neighborhood that pretty much everyone hates. He drives a late 90s Audi A3 that’s more rust than metal and since the last time he did any service on the engine was likely in the late 90s, you mostly can’t see the car because it just exists in a cloud of black smoke. You can hear him, though, since he affixed the cheapest Chines exhaust he can to his POS 90 horspower diesel engine. Not just that, but also a bunch of spoilers, decorations and lights, as if he drove through the Temu automotive section. I genuinely don’t know how he passes annual inspection. The same inspection that threatened to fail me for a scratch on my trunk lid they thought was too close to the light assembly. But most prominent on his car is a nicely polished and shiny — the only shiny thing on the car — ABT badge. ABT is a German tuner that specialized in Audis and Lamborhinis, and while I’m sure they are respected in Germany, if for nothing then for their racing efforts, in the Balkans, the ABT badge — almost always bought counterfeit from China — is a symbol for complete lack of taste. So excuse me if I’m not as excited for this collaboration between the legendary German watch brand Stowa and ABT, the Chrono ABT 24H Limited Edition, honoring the ABT team’s participation in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.

Just as you would expect from a watch made with ABT, it’s big and it’s black. The case gets a black DLC coating, and it measures 44mm wide and 16mm thick, with hollowed-out lugs and a glass bead-blasted finish. On top is a sapphire crystal that’s surrounded by a matching black bezel with an engraved 60 minute scale. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is even more ostentatious than the case. A black matte base gets a printed pattern of slightly more glossy Y patterns that are taken from the styling of modern Lamborghini cars, the same ones that ABT uses in endurance racing. The hands and the hour markers are black, with stark white lume inside them. It’s a bi-compax setup with a running seconds at 9 o’clock and a 30 minute totalizer at 3 o’clock, done in red with the addition of a bright reed central chrono hand. At 6 o’clock is a circular date aperture with a black date disc inside. Above it is the not so subtle ABT 24 logo.

Inside, you’ll find the Sellita SW510 automatic, based on the Valjoux 7750, beating at 4Hz, with a 48 hour power reserve. It’s finished with German ribbing, blued screws and polished and brushed surfaces, and it has a rotor with Stowa’s name and logo. The watch comes on a black rubber strap.

The new Chrono ABT 24H Limited Edition is limited to 50 pieces, priced at €3,490. See more on the Stowa website.

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Behrens Teams Up With Konstantin Chaykin For A Series Of Super Thin Ace Of Hearts Watches

The Russian indie watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin has been very busy over the past few months. Not only has he released a number of his own watches, he also worked on interesting collaborations, most notably with Louis Erard, to bring his watches to a broader audience with prices starting in the mid four figures. Now, he has another collaboration, one with Behrens, the Chinese watch brand known for their incredible and innovative mechanical watches that don’t break the bank. At least not for what their are. The two collaborated on a series of five watches that are based on the very cool Behrens Ultralight, with Chaykin’s signature face inside. This is the new Behrens × Konstantin Chaykin Ace of Hearts collection.

The case of the Ace of Hearts watches takes on a trapezoidal shape that’s a bit difficult to nail in terms of dimensions. But overall, it’s an incredibly compact package that measures 37mm wide, just 7.9mm thick and has a length of 42mm which is kept so short due to the lack of regular lugs — the strap connects directly into the case. There are five materials you can chose form — a grey Grade 5 titanium, an either white or black SPSCF diamond carbon fiber, an advanced lightweight and durable composite that has a woven pattern. The top of the line are the light blue and light pink full-sapphire cases. The watches are also 50 meters water resistant, which is quite cool.

Since the case has a sapphire top and bottom, you can see through the entire dial. All the time telling elements and movement are suspended in the centre of the dial, with Chaykin’s signature face front and center. But Behrens also points out that they also incorporated an homage to the "Pottery Storyteller Beating a Drum," a type of ceramic sculpture from the Chinese Han era known for its expressive and joyful depiction of performers. Time is indicated through two large circular eyes at the top of the dial, while a red, heart-shaped hand representing the “Ace of Hearts” follows a unique, looping path in the shape of lips at the bottom of the dial, indicating the seconds. This animation is powered by Behrens’ patented stone mill mechanism.

The entire watch is run by the in-house Calibre BM07, a manual-wind movement developed by Behrens. You get 46 hours of power reserve, with a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock. The movement has brushed plates, mirror-polished pivots, and chamfered edges. The watches come on fluoroelastomer straps, closed with a Grade 5 titanium clasp.

The entire Ace of Hearts collection is limited, with 600 of the Grade 5 titanium being made, 150 of the two carbon fibers, 80 of the blue sapphire and just 20 of the pink sapphire. Price is set at $8,250 for the titanium, $10,120 for the CF and $14,960 for the sapphire versions. See more on the Behrens website.

 5/

Vacheron Constantin Creates Twelve Zodiac Watches With Hand Guilloché Diamond-set Dials

Call me dismissive, but I don’t understand the zodiac signs and I will quickly jump to judgment if you mention mine or anybody else’s horoscope (despite having been an author of quite a popular zodiac column, but one that was 100% made up). But while I can look at zodiac readings with distain, I can’t exactly complain all that much when Vacheron Constantin uses the zodiac signs. And sure, they’ve been known to use a sign here or there, but I don’t think they’ve ever released a series like this. As part of their 270th anniversary, they are putting out 12 watches called the Métiers d’Art “Tribute to The Celestial” Collection, with hand-decorated dials that you really won’t see anywhere else.

All twelve watches are based on the same case, just with different dials. And that case is made out of 18k white gold, measuring 39mm wide and 10.7mm thick. On top of the case is a flat sapphire crystal surrounded by a bezel that, along with the lugs and crown, has 96 baguette-cut sapphires, looking mighty impressive. Surprisingly, you also get 30 meters of water resistance.

The dials, unique for each of the twelve models, is dedicated to the zodiac signs, rendered entirely by hand. The base is made out of 5N gold, covered with a sunray brushed blue finish, and then hand-guillochéd with the zodiac signs and the constellations that make them up. It’s an incredible look, with diamonds standing in for the stars, and the guilloché taking up the form of triangles with straight lines inside oriented in different directions, making them interact with the light differently, thus taking on different shades of blue. It really looks amazing. The hour markers are blocky bars, the hands are thin and faceted and all of the watches have an aperture at 6 o’clock that shows off the Maltese Cross-shaped tourbillon cage.

Inside, you’ll find the very nice ultra-thin Calibre 2160 which gets a lot of that 5.65mm thinness from the fact that it has a peripheral rotor, which means that the movement is on full display so you get to see the circular-grained mainplate, bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève and hand-beveled tourbillon bar. The movement is hand finished and has the Poinçon de Genève. The watches come on a blue alligator leather with alligator lining, closed by a white gold folding clasp set with 16 baguette-cut sapphires.

The new Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art “Tribute to The Celestial” Collection is available now and while it’s not limited in number, it will be limited in production capacity. Price is listed as on request, but people are reporting that it’s in the €250,000 range. See more on the Vacheron Constantin website.

⏲️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

• Most people know about the sinking of the Titanic, which claimed the lives of 832 passengers when it went down off the coast of Canada in 1912 on its maiden voyage. But why, though, have so few people heard about the Empress of Ireland, which sank just two years later and had an even higher passenger death toll? In this excerpt from her book, Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck, Eve Lazurus recounts the tragedy and tries to verify the surprising story of Gordon Charles Davidson, a passenger who is said to have survived by swimming nearly four miles to shore.

• When a Spanish gynecologist’s 14-year-old daughter becomes the target of AI-generated nude images, a small town erupts in outrage—and exposes the global, profit-driven world of “nudify” apps. As parents fight for justice and a whistleblower reveals the industry’s dark secrets, the unchecked spread of deepfake pornography threatens young women across Europe and beyond.

• Beneath the Atlantic, a legendary 19th-century shipwreck lured Tommy Thompson on a quest for lost gold—and set off a decades-long saga of discovery, obsession, betrayal, and mystery. When the “Ship of Gold” finally gave up its treasure, the real storm was just beginning.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This is a bit of a rough video, both in its quality and its content. It’s a fan-filmed section of Black Sabbath’s last concert. It was a huge deal with so many guests it would double the length of this newsletter if I were to list them. It’s also the last time we’ll get to see Ozzy Osbourne sing. Some may say they shouldn’t have let him sing at all, because his voice broke and he couldn’t get up from his chair, but keep in mind that he’s something like 80 years old, and for more than 40 years he has ingested everything one can smoke, drink, swallow, snort or inject. He did more drugs than the cumulative populations of small countries. Good to see him again.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk