Seiko And Ohtani Release Two Divers; A Cool California Dial Twist From Serica; Hanhart's Titanium 417; Depancel Celebrates F2 And F3 Partnership; A Ruby Dial Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Kind of a slow day today, but I’m very much a fan of that titanium Hanhart. A reminder that you have a day to join the It’s About Time F1 fantasy league.

In this issue

• Seiko Pays Homage To Shohei Ohtani With Two Limited Edition Prospex Divers

• The New Serica Ref. 6190 TDM Has A Very Cool Take On A California Dial With Thai Numerals

• Hanhart Does Their 417 Pilot’s Chronograph In Two Sizes Of Titanium Cases And Sand Colored Dials

• Depancel Celebrates Iconic French F2 And F3 Team DAMS Lucas Oil Partnership With New Série R01

• The Very Cool Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Gets A Ruby Stone Dial

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Watches You Might Not Have Seen, Week 66: The Audacious Design of the Wittnauer Futurama Jump Hour

👂What’s new

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Seiko Pays Homage To Shohei Ohtani With Two Limited Edition Prospex Divers

I know nothing about baseball. Despite my American friends trying to get me into the game several times, it’s just a completely incomprehensible mess. So, when I learn of a baseball player, it must mean that they are a pretty impressive player. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Derek Jeter and Shohei Ohtani. That’s about where my knowledge stops. It’s Ohtani that people are saying will be, or maybe already even is, the greatest player of all time. Ohtani was born in Japan and famously needs an interpreter, so it makes sense that Ohtani would pair up with another Japanese legend — Seiko. And this is not the first time that the two came together. Early last year, Seiko released a duo Prospex GMT divers in the colors of the Dodgers, Ohtani’s team. Now, Seiko is releasing a duo of Prospex Diver’s 1965 Heritage models with Ohtani, the SBDC222 and the SBDC224.

The cases here are very familiar, having already appeared in dozens of other iterations, but with a slight tweak. Like other Prospex Diver’s 1965 Heritage models, it measures 40mm wide, 13mm thick, with a 46.4mm lug-to-lug. It’s made out of stainless steel, with a bezel that is gold-plated, just like the crown. Speaking of the crown, it’s engraved with “17” to nod at his jersey number, and the caseback is inscribed with “SHOHEI OHTANI LIMITED EDITION” and an individual serial number. The insert on the bezel is done in a bright Dodgers blue with a white dive scale inside, and that surrounds a domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is the same at 300 meters.

The main difference between the two watches are the dials. The SBDC222 comes with a grey dial and the SBDC224 gets a blue dial, both of which come from the Dodgers’ visiting uniform. Both dials have vertical grooves on them, alongside gold hands and indexes filled with lume. At 4:30 is a circular date aperture that shows a white date disc on the grey dial and a blue date disc on the blue dial.

Inside, you’ll find the 6R55 automatic movement that beats at 3Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a three-link stainless steel bracelet that has the same hardening coat as the case does and it’s closed with a folding clasp with dive extension that’s engraved with Ohtani’s signature.

The new Prospex Diver’s 1965 Heritage Shohei Ohtani SBDC222 and SBDC224 will go on sale in April, limited to 1,700 pieces in each color, priced at ¥286,000. That’s about $1,800. Yeah, this is a Japanese exclusive, but I assume there won’t be much issue getting this in other parts of the world. See more on the Seiko Japan website.

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The New Serica Ref. 6190 TDM Has A Very Cool Take On A California Dial With Thai Numerals

For years now, the French independent brand Serica has been creating something pretty special. They somehow manage to create retro designed watches unlike anything you’ve seen before, almost if they exist in a parallel universe and are referencing historical watches on a slightly different timeline. And for years, all of their watches so far have been rugged tool watches — divers, field watches and GMTs. They stepped away from the genre for just a second to introduce the Parade, their spectacular dress watch. But since then, we’ve been getting more of these rugged pieces, to great response. New now is the Serica Ref. 6190 TDM, their iconic field watch with a very interesting take on a California dial, using Thai numerals.

The 6190 is Serica’s take on the field watch, and it’s one of my absolute favorites on the market. It’s a stainless steel case that measures 37.7mm wide, 10.4mm thick and has a 46.5mm lug-to-lug. It has wonderful twisted lugs, a double domed sapphire crystal, surrounded by a broad brushed bezel that has a polished sloped edge and a discreet crown on the right side. Water resistance is 200 meters.

The new dial is a continuation of a California dial. If you’re unsure as to what the California dial is, legend says it was developed for Panerai dive watches. To make it legible at a glance, the top half would use Roman numerals, while the lower half would use Arabic numerals. This is the same principle that Serica uses here, with Roman numerals on the top half, but in a very fun twist, they use Thai numerals on the bottom half. The numerals are done in Super-LumiNova C3, while the hands are white and also filled with lume.

Inside, you’ll find the SoProd M100 automatic movement and you’ll have a tough time finding such a thin automatic watch at any price point, let alone one this low. The movement beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve and has Côtes de Genève finishing. The watch comes on Serica’s fantastic stainless steel Bonklip bracelet.

The new Serica Ref. 6190 TDM will be twice limited — only 100 pieces will be made, and they will be available for the Thai domestic market, hence the name. Price is set at €1,190. The watch is still not on the Serica website, but that could be because I’m not in Thailand.

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Hanhart Does Their 417 Pilot’s Chronograph In Two Sizes Of Titanium Cases And Sand Colored Dials

Starting off as a maker of Swiss stopwatches and moving to Germany in 1902 to start making watches, Hanhart has made some of the most significant military watches in German history, finding their place on the wrist of German pilots and naval officers for decades. In the 50s they made the 417, the first pilot’s chronograph for the German Armed Forces, but only a few years before it was retired. Recently, Hanhart revived the 417, which quickly became one of their better selling watches. And it’s clear why. it’a looker. Now, however, they might have released the best variant of the 417, the 417 TI Desert Pilot Flyback with, you guessed it, a titanium case (in two sizes) and a really cool sand colored dial.

The steel 417 comes in two sizes — 42mm and 39mm, and Hanhart gives us this new titanium version in both of those sizes. The larger one measures 42mm wide, 13.6mm thick, with a 49mm lug-to-lug, while the smaller one comes in at 39mm wide, 13.6mm thick, with a 46mm lug-to-lug. The case and fluted rotating bezel, which still has the iconic red hash at 12, are made out of grade 5 titanium, with a sandblasted finish. The watches have an anti-magnetic inner case, and on top is a heavily domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 100 meters, which is great considering the vintage piston-style pushers that operate the chronograph.

The dial has a lot of similarities to previous versions, including the bi-compax layout of the original, numerals, fonts, hands and markers. The hardware here is now done in all black, as are the numerals, and the pencil-shaped hands are filled with sand colored Super-LumiNova. According to Hanhart themselves, the luminescence is weak due to the black colour of the numerals and the sand colour of the hands. The base of the dial gets a matte sand color, which seems to be a pretty hot color this year.

Inside both watches is the Sellita AMT5100 M, made by Sellita’s AMT division dedicated to premium movements. It’s based on the SW510, manually wound, beating at 4Hz, with a 58 hour power reserve. The movement is regulated by Hanhart to give you accuracy of 0 to +8 seconds per day.

Inside is the Sellita SW510M, a familiar, robust and easily servicable manually winding movement which beats at 28,800vph and has a decent power reserve of 58 hours. The watch comes on a brown calfskin strap with white stitching or on a metal bracelet. You get a choice of sand colored or black rubber straps closed with a titanium pin buvkle.

The new Hanhart 417 TI Desert Pilot Flyback 39 and 42 watches are available now and seem to be part of the regular collection. Price is set at €2,990 for either size. See more on the Hanhart website.

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Depancel Celebrates Iconic French F2 And F3 Team DAMS Lucas Oil Partnership With New Série R01

Following the success of the French indie brand Depancel has been quite the pleasure. From a brand that makes quirky square watches that drew inspiration from the best of automotive design, to now a brand that is sponsoring the DAMS Lucas Oil, an iconic French Formula 2 and Formula 3 team. To celebrate that partnership, Depancel is releasing the limited edition Série R01 Depancel × DAMS Lucas Oil.

The case of the Série-R might look familiar, almost like the TAG Heuer Monaco with its slab sides, but there are some obvious differences. First, this is a rectangle, one that’s supposed to mimic the look of a radiator grille (hence the curved top of the case and the straight bottom). The dimensions are interesting. Depancel says the size is 43mm x 36mm, which I would interpret as being 36mm wide and 43mm long. But this is a measurement without the lugs, as they state the lug-to-lug to be 50mm and the thickness is 12.9mm, including the glass. The finishing on the steel case is brushed with nicely polished facets and a beautiful rectangular sapphire crystal sits on top. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial gets the familiar Série-R tri-compax layout, but with a few key changes. You get two sub dial at 3 (the month indicator) and 9 o’clock (the day indicator), and there’s a date aperture at 6 o’clock. The base of the dial gets a sunray brushed blue base, with a light blue, white and red stripe down the dial on the left side. Above the date aperture is the DAMS Lucas Oil logo.

Inside, you’ll find the Miyota 9122, which is not a movement we see all that often, which is a shame because it’s super interesting to have this calendar setup. It still beats at 4hz and has 40 hours of power reserve, just like all 9-series Miyota movements. The watches come on a choice of an FKM rubber strap or bull leather strap, both done in blue.

The new Depancel Série R01 Depancel × DAMS Lucas Oil is limited to 200 pieces and priced at €850. See more on the Depancel website.

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The Very Cool Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Gets A Ruby Stone Dial

The resonance in the name of the new watch from Armin Strom, the Mirrored Force Resonance doesn’t refer to a sound a watch might make, like in a chiming watch. But any confusion might be excused because resonance is a term originally derived from the field of acoustics. It occurs when two close vibrating frequencies synchronize, mutually absorbing each other’s energy and eventually arriving at the same frequency. It is also one of the most elusive phenomena in watchmaking, one that Armin Strom is very well known for making use of. It was Armin Strom co-founders Serge Michel and master watchmaker Claude Greisler who invented a way of connecting two independent balance wheels to have them synchronize, as a way of protecting from gravity, temperature and motion disruptions. This system was first introduced in 2016, and further refined with the Mirrored Force Resonance in 2022. Now, following an icy-blue dial version, and a black guilloché dial version, and a retro futuristic version, it’s getting a stone dial.

The watch comes in a stainless steel case that measures 43mm wide, 11.5mm thick, with a 49.60mm lug-to-lug. The case has polished tops of lugs, beautiful polished facets and a polished plain fixed bezel, while the sides of the watch have a vertically brushed finish. On top is a domed sapphire crystal that extends all the way to the edges, while out back is a flat sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial keeps the same setup with the offset dial for the hours and minutes and the resonance mechanism, two balance wheels oscillating in opposite directions, connected by Armin Strom’s patented resonance clutch spring on the left side of the dial. On the right side of the dial is a smaller time dial that’s made out of a slice of real ruby that shimmers from pink to red. The dial also has a white railroad track with white-printed Roman numerals for the hours, pointed to with skeletonised hour and minute hands. The two sub dials also feature ruby tracks.

Visible from front and back is the manually wound Caliber ARF21, which beats at 3.5Hz and has a 48 hour power reserve. It has two independent oscillators, each equipped with its own balance wheel and hairspring, synchronized via the brand’s patented clutch spring. To show this off, the movement has twin seconds counters, which can be reset with the pusher at 2. You will then get to witness them synchronize once again. The watch comes on a grey Alcantara strap.

The new Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Ruby is limited to just five pieces and priced at CHF 82,000, without tax. See more on the Armin Strom website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Watches You Might Not Have Seen, Week 66: The Audacious Design of the Wittnauer Futurama Jump Hour

How Wittnauer turned time into 1970s Sci-Fi theater. Read it here. 

⏲️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

• In Trump’s kaleidoscopic America, Jeffrey Epstein’s files shatter into a grim mosaic: corrupt elites, lenient justice, predatory power. The scandal suggests that everything awful we’ve ever believed is true. Millions of documents expose a global web of enablers—from princes to presidents—while victims cry foul and the hive mind spins dark theories. Are we living in the age of Jeffrey Epstein?

• Kids spear a Musk piñata on Boca Chica Beach as Starbase votes to incorporate—SpaceX’s 500 employees handing the world’s richest man a rocket-fueled fiefdom. Launches shatter windows, scorch wildlife, and choke bays, but jobs flow amid eminent-domain threats. Locals split: pioneer dream or predatory takeover?

• Lidar peels back Guatemala’s jungle canopy, revealing a Maya lowlands teeming with 16 million souls—five times Rome’s density—in sprawling urban webs of canals, terraces, and causeways. Far from collapse, resilient innovators thrived for millennia, their descendants now demanding sovereignty amid genocide scars and land grabs.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t had time to keep up with new music. Oh, what a mistake that has been. Gorillaz released a new album and this is the best thing since Demon Days. The variety of features that Albarn can get onto one album is incredible. You have Black Thought from the Roots, Mos Def, Trueno, Johnny Marr from the Smiths, Paul Simonon from the Clash, the IDLES, the Sparks… If that wasn’t enough, how about Omar Souleyman, a legendary Syrian crooner, and Asha Bhosle, a 92-year old iconic Indian singer who left a deep mark in Bollywood and was the subject of the Brimful of Asha song? Still not impressed? You also get spots from the actor Dennis Hopper, Tony Allen who was musical director of Fela Kuti’s band and legendary D12 rap group member Proof. And those three have all been dead for years! It’s an absolute banger of an album and the song Orange County is easily in the top 5 songs Gorillaz have ever done.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk