Oris Introduces 2025 Hölstein Edition, A ProPilot With All The Lume; Bell & Ross' New Diver; Leica Updates The ZM1 and ZM2 With Green Fumé Dials; Montblanc’s 1858 Split Second Chronograph Burgundy

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. A short and sweet one today. With plenty of lume.

In this issue:

• Oris Introduces The Hölstein Edition 2025, With Plenty Of Lume And An Easter Egg

• Bell & Ross Releases Their New Dive Watch, The BR-03 Diver Lum Outline

• Leica Updates The ZM1 and ZM2 Urban Green Series With Fumé Noir Dials

• Montblanc’s 1858 Split Second Chronograph Burgundy Limited Edition Has A Lot Of Military Inspiration

👂What’s new

1/

Oris Introduces The Hölstein Edition 2025, With Plenty Of Lume And An Easter Egg

Every year on June 1, Oris releases a 250-piece limited edition to celebrate the registration of its company in its hometown of Hölstein, Switzerland, on June 1, 1904. Two years ago, we got the great looking purple dial Aquis, the first without a date. Last year, the release was pitch black Divers Sixty-Five. This year, we’re getting what could be my favorite of the releases — a black cased no-date ProPilot with a fully lumed dial with a cute secret visible only at night.

It’s based on the Big Crown ProPilot we know from before, so a lot will be familiar here. It measures 41mm wide, 11.9mm thick and has a substantial 49mm lug-to-lug. The case is made out of stainless steel but has a black DLC coating, and the same shows up on the iconic fixed fan-like bezel on top. That surrounds a domed sapphire crystal, out back is a screw-down exhibition sapphire case back, and water resistance is 100 meters.

Where things get somewhat different from the regular ProPilot is on the dial side. The base of the dial gets a slightly off-white, maybe the lightest of grays, color, paired with a black minute scale, black Arabic numerals and black hands. There’s no lume in those hands or numerals, but that’s because the entire dial is painted in Super-LumiNova which lights up green in the dark. And only when the lume lights up do you see that Oris included the Oris Bear, their mascot, near 3 and 4 o’clock. Cute. Also of note is that this is supposed to be the first ProPilot with no date aperture.

Inside, you’ll find the Calibre 400, Oris’ in-house movement that beats at 4Hz and has a really nice power reserve of 120 hours. It’s also accurate to -3/+5 seconds per day and comes with a recommended service interval of 10 years. The watch comes on a leather lined black textile strap which closes with a DLC-coated folding clasp.

The new Oris Big Crown ProPilot 2025 Hölstein Edition is limited to 250 pieces, all individually numbered, and it went on sale yesterday, June 1. Price is set at €4,150. See more on the Oris website.

2/

Bell & Ross Releases Their New Dive Watch, The BR-03 Diver Lum Outline

Bell & Ross will not be the first brand you would go for a dive watch. They’ve built their brand on watches that mimic aircraft instruments, so, naturally, their watches are first thought of pilot’s watches. Not the traditional pilot’s watch, of course, but a more avant-garde take on the genre. However, for the past ten-ish years, Bell & Ross has been making quite a capable diver, one that meets ISO 6425 standards. It’s quite understandable that people might haven’t been aware of it, since the BR-03 Diver follows the same design cue of square case and round dial, perfectly blending in with the rest of the collection. A new addition to that line comes in the form of the BR-03 Lum Outline, which comes in a black ceramic case and, just like the Oris, some great use of lume.

The new Bell & Ross comes in a black ceramic case that has a microblasted finish and looks very familiar. It’s a 42mm x 42mm square with rounded corners and exposed screws in the corners, measuring a quite thin 11.2mm. On top is a unidirectional black ceramic bezel, with a 60 minute scale that has a slight green look, thanks to the fact that it is painted on with green Super-LumiNova. On the side are crown guards protecting a screw-down crown that gives you 300 meters of water resistance.

The dial is also very familiar, with a matte black base and a black sloping flange that holds a full minute track. The track, but also pretty much everything else, is done in green Super-LumiNova. More of the green lume can be found on the skeletonized hands and bathtub-shaped hour markers. It looks great in light, but likely even better in the dark. There’s a tiny round date aperture at 4:30, with a black disk that has green numerals inside.

Inside is the BR-CAL.302-1, which is essentially a slightly modified Sellita SW300-1. That means you know the automatic movement quite well, beating at 4Hz, with a 54 hour power reserve. The watch comes with two straps, a black rubber strap and an ultra-resistant synthetic fabric strap.

The new Bell & Ross BR-03 Diver Lum Outline is available now and is limited to 500 pieces. Price is set at €5,500. See more on the Bell & Ross website.

3/

Leica Updates The ZM1 and ZM2 Urban Green Series With Fumé Noir Dials

I’m sure that being the industry leader in one thing — let’s say making cameras — doesn’t translate to making other consumer goods — let’s say watches. But I’m also sure that this applies to every single company in the world, except for Leica. Because for more than 70 years, Leica has been making some of the best and most prestigious cameras in the world. Then, they started making watches. And of course, they were amazing at it. Now, several years into this successful venture, Leica is expanding their complicated hand-wound ZM 1 and 2 models with wonderful green dials, the first production models to include color.

The ZM 1 and ZM 2 are basically the same watch, with the 2 just having an additional GMT function. That means that they both come in stainless steel cases that measure 41mm wide and 14.5mm thick. Both cases keep a quite simple look, but the shape is the only simple thing about it. The ZM 1 features a pusher at 2 and a crown at 3 that looks like a monopusher crown. The ZM 2 adds another crown at 4 that operates the internal GMT bezel. But while things might look simple, they are, in fact, very cool. Instead of pulling out the crown to adjust the time, you push in a shutter release-like red-topped button on the crown, which then releases the crown and hacks the watch. And, when you press in the crown, a small aperture changes from white to red to visually identify that time’s stopped.

The new green dials are gorgeous, with a very quick transition from a forrest green to a black on the edges. The hour indicators and hands are quite simple, but made more interesting with the details on the dial. The reserve indicator features closing blades that indicate remaining power, a tie in to the cameras that made Leica famous. The pusher at 2 o’clock cycles through the date display, with both the same noise and feel as a camera’s shutter release. The AM/PM indicator at 3 o’ of the ZM 2 also resembles a camera dial. It’s all very cool and filled with easter eggs.

Inside, you’ll find the Leica calibre LH-1001 which is a stunningly beautiful manual wind movement that beats at 4Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. It’s a custom built movement from Lehmann Präzision, with grainy and polished finishes. The watches can be had on one of three strap options — a black calf leather strap, an alligator leather strap or a Milanese bracelet closed with a deployant buckle.

The new Leica ZM 1 and ZM 2 Urban Green are available now, priced at €10,800 for the ZM 1 and €14,600 for the ZM 2. See more on the Leica website.

4/

Montblanc’s 1858 Split Second Chronograph Burgundy Limited Edition Has A Lot Of Military Inspiration

Don’t buy watches from companies that make handbags, right? That might have been true a decade ago, but even then, it wouldn’t apply to Montblanc. Sure, they make handbags, but they are most known for their fountain pens. So, it was a bit of a surpirse when they started making watches. It made much more sense in 2007, when Montblanc bought the Minerva manufacture, a famous movement producer that has since become an integral part of Montblanc’s lineup, turning them into a legitimate watchmaker. And it’s been a great run ever since. Montblanc’s latest release takes inspiration from a 1930s military monopusher rattrapante chronograph. This is the new Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph Burgundy Limited Edition.

Being inspired by a 1930s chronograph, one might expect it to be a small-ish watch. Oh, no. The watch it’s inspired by measured 42mm wide, as it housed a pocket watch movement. The modern watch also comes in a significant size, as the modern movement is inspired by Minerva’s pocket watches. The stainless steel case of the new watch measures 44mm wide and 15.2mm thick, with a gold fluted bezel on top, surrounding a box-shaped sapphire crystal. The top and sides of the case are brushed, while the bevels on the side of the case are polished. On the side is a fluted clown with an integrated monopusher, above which you’ll find a rectangular pusher that operates the split seconds. Water resistance is 30 meters.

The dial takes on a lot of 1930s inspiration, as well. A burgundy base gets a sunburst finish, paired with a white base 1000 tachymeter scale and minute scale, as well as black sub-dials — elapsed 30 minutes at 3 and small seconds at 9 o’clock. The dial also has white lumed Arabich hour numerals, as well as white lacquered central chronograph seconds hands. The old Montblanc logo and the Minerva signature are printed on the dial.

Now, for the movement, the main attraction of the watch. It’s the pocket watch-inspired MB 16.31, equipped with two column wheels, one for the chronograph, one for the split seconds, as well as horizontal coupling. It features the signature V-shaped bridge, the trademark arrowhead on the tip of the chronograph hammer, inspired by the goddess Minerva’s spear, and the large balance wheel with 18 screws. The movement beats at a slow 18,000 and has a 50 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a burgundy leather strap with an alligator pattern and a steel triple-folding clasp with fine adjustment.

The new Montblan 1858 Split Second Chronograph Burgundy is limited to 100 pieces and priced at €55,000. See more on the Montblanc 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

• A scientist tried to discredit the theory that ultra-processed foods are killing us. Instead, he overturned his own understanding of obesity and tried to answer why the American diet is so deadly.

• Fifty years ago, eight Americans set off for South America to climb Aconcagua, one of the world’s mightiest mountains. Things quickly went wrong. Two climbers died. Their bodies were left behind. Now, a camera belonging to one of the deceased climbers has emerged from a receding glacier near the summit and one of mountaineering’s most enduring mysteries has been given air and light.

• Against the backdrop of Trump’s anti-DEI agenda, Hollywood is seeing a resurgence in anti-woke conservative programming. Producers say reactionary politics will hurt an industry already in crisis. Welcome to TV’s MAGA era.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I don’t like repeating videos from the same channel too close together, but this is a very good video.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk