Seiko Kicks Off 145th Anniversary; TAG Heuer Introduces A 41mm Glassbox; Oris Celebrates The Year Of The Fire Horse; Ochs und Junior Turns 20; Hublot's Big Bang Tourbillon Djokovic GOAT Edition

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I told you I have a ton of watches to catch up on — I think we’re sitting at 50ish right now — but I’ve also been writing 6 items every day for a while now, and that’s just one too many. So, from now on, we’re back to the 5-per-day schedule.

Also, I want to point out that there are 8 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

• Seiko Kicks Off 145th Anniversary Celebration With A Diverse Collection Of Gold-Toned Models

• TAG Heuer Introduces A Larger, 41mm, Version Of Their Smash Hit Carrera Glassbox

• Oris Celebrates The Year Of The Fire Horse With A Red Dial And The Calibre 113

• Ochs und junior Kicks of 20th Anniversary Celebration With PVD Coated Settimana Models

• Hublot Releases The Big Bang Tourbillon Novak Djokovic GOAT Edition, A Trilogy That Honors A Legend

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Your Next Watch, Week 64: A Reasonably Priced Patek; An Incredible Movado Bracelet, And The Best Heuer Dial You'll Find Today

👂What’s new

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Seiko Kicks Off 145th Anniversary Celebration With A Diverse Collection Of Gold-Toned Models

Seiko is one of the rare watchmakers whose influence isn’t confined to a single era or technology. From mechanical beginnings to quartz disruption and modern high-tech precision, the brand has repeatedly reshaped itself and the world around them. It all started in 1881, when Kintaro Hattori opened a small shop in Tokyo. What followed was a steady stream of firsts: Japan’s first wristwatch in 1913, the Laurel; the Quartz Astron in 1969; and decades of innovation that earned Seiko a uniquely broad and loyal following. This year, they are celebrating 145 years, which means that we should expect a lot from them. To show off how much they’ve done in this period, they are releasing a four-piece limited-edition collection that includes four very different collection — King Seiko, Prospex, Presage, and Astron — all unified with gold colored details inspired by the engraved motifs found on Hattori’s early pocket watches.

Starting with what is the closest to those original watches, we have the Seiko Presage Craftsmanship Series Enamel Dial 145th Anniversary SPB538. It comes in a gold colored stainless steel case that measures 35mm wide and 12.3mm thick. On the side is a onion crown, on top is a box-shaped sapphire crystal and out back is a solid screw caseback. Water resistance is 50 meters. The dial is done in white enamel with black Roman numerals and gold colored leaf-shaped hands. The best thing about this watch is that the sub-dial is gone, replaced with centrally mounted hands for seconds, minutes and hours. Inside, you’ll find the calibre 6R51 which beats at 21,600vph and has a 72 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a brown leather strap from LWG-certified tanneries. The SPB538 is limited to 1,450 pieces and priced at €2,000. See more on the Seiko website.

Moving on to the King Seiko KS1969 145th Anniversary SJE121, it’s directly inspired by a historical engraving motif used by Kintaro Hattori. The watch is made out of brushed and polished stainless steel, measuring 39.4mm wide and 9.9mm thick. On top is a box-shaped sapphire crystal and water resistance is the same 50 meters. The Hattori inspiration can be found on the dial, which features a grey gradient that darkens towards the edges. It also has a slightly textured surface that mimics the texture that Hattori perfected. The grey is paired with gold colored indices and hands. Inside, you’ll find the calibre 6L35 which helps keep the watch under 10mm, while having a 4Hz beat rate and a 45 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a multi-link bracelet. Only 800 pieces of this watch will be made and price is set at €3,200. See more here.

Moving to a more complicated watch, we have the Seiko Prospex Speedtimer Mechanical Chronograph 145th Anniversary SRQ059, which pays homage to Seiko’s long history with chronographs. The stainless steel case measures 42mm wide and 14.6mm thick, and gets a super hard coating. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal and water resistance is a more capable 100 meters. The dial is done in a stark white color that barely hides an engraved pattern that mimic the engravings of Kintaro Hattori’s earliest pocket watches. You get a tri-compax setup with a date at 4:30. The movement inside is the calibre 8R48, beating at 4Hz with a 45 hour power reserve. It’s an automatic chronograph with a column wheel and vertical clutch architecture. The watch comes on a hardened steel bracelet with a tri-fold clasp. Limited to 700 pieces, it’s priced at €2,700. See more here.

Moving on to the very present, with a view of the future, we have the last of the quartet, the Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time Chronograph 145th Anniversary SSH186. Made out of titanium, with a black super-hard coating, the watch measures 44.1mm wide and 14.4mm thick. On top is a double domed sapphire crystal, surrounded with a bezel that has a sapphire crystal bezel insert with gold UTC markings at 1, 4, and 5, a nod to the 145th anniversary. The dial is black, with gold hands, indices and subdials. Inside is the calibre 5X83 which has a bunch of functions, including solar charging, GPS time setting (and an accuracy of ±15s/month without GPS), perpetual calendar to 2100, 1/20s chronograph, AM/PM dual-time display, automatic DST adjustment and a power save function. The bracelet is also made out of titanium, with a three-fold push-button clasp. The watch is limited to 1,450 pieces, priced at €3,400. See more on the Seiko website.

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TAG Heuer Introduces A Larger, 41mm, Version Of Their Smash Hit Carrera Glassbox

If people online had it their way, a watch over 38mm would never exist. Over the past few years, perhaps since 2020, there’s been this huge push online for smaller watches. Which is a great thing — finally, people with smaller wrists have options! However, this movement was so loud, it led to small brands making just small watches, which often gets them in a bit of trouble. It seems that the small watch market has a limit. And from what every brand I’ve talked to tells me, larger watches always outsell smaller ones. It’s just what people are interest in. So, when a large brand like TAG Heuer gets a hit on their hand, you better believe they will make it in as many sizes as they reasonably can. And the Carrera Glassbox really is a hit for the brand. Now, after releasing the 39mm version and using a 42mm case for select limited editions, TAG Heuer is introducing a new Carrera Glassbox Chronograph in 41mm.

The new case is very familiar from previous versions, while also bringing a new size to the table. However, these are small changes. The case is brushed, with polished surfaces, measuring 41mm wide, 14.17mm thick, with a 47.48mm lug-to-lug. Since this keeps the incredible glassbox sapphire crystal that is heavily domed and extends to the very edges of the case, I assume it will have the same qualities as the smaller version. That means that it will wear much thinner than expected due to a lot of glass up top, but will also look wider than expected since all you see is essentially dial. You also get a sapphire caseback and 100 meters of water resistance.

At launch, there are three dial options for the 41mm glassbox. All of them feature the cool tachymeter scale that’s underneath the crystal and connected to the dial to create wonderfully smooth peaks and valleys. All of them also don’t have a date aperture and have a classic tri-compax recessed subdial setup — 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, running seconds at 6, and a 12-hour counter at 9. The available colors are a circular-brushed Blue with matching azurage sub-dial, a Teal Green with matching sub-dials and a Black, which is the sportiest of the three with chronograph hands and a red outer ring.

Inside, you’ll find the in-house calibre TH20-01. It’s a column-wheel automatic chronograph that beats at 4Hz and has an 80 hour power reserve. The rotor is shaped like the TAG Heuer shield. The watches come on the brand’s seven-row steel bracelet, closed with a butterfly folding clasp

The new TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Chronograph 41mm collection is on sale right now, not limited, and priced at €7,950, regardless of color. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

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Oris Celebrates The Year Of The Fire Horse With A Red Dial And The Calibre 113

Like I said several times, I’m still catching up with watches that were released while I was on break. And this was a big one. Chances are, none of us will see this one live since it’s very limited (and I assume Asia-focused), but it’s still such an interesting watch that I can’t skip over it. At Geneva Watch Days I saw the pretty incredible and colorful Oris Big Crown Calibre 113 with a full business calendar, which marked the return of this interesting movement that was forgotten for a while. Now, it finds its way to the Oris Year of the Fire Horse.

Just like the Big Crown version from a few months ago, this is a large watch. Sure, there’s a lot to pack into this case, but it would be amazing if they could find a way to shrink it down from the existing 43mm wide, 13.1mm thick, with a 50.5mm lug-ro-lug. On top is a domed sapphire crystal, and a flat one in the back to show off the good looking movement. The great thing is that despite the numerous complications, they are all controlled with the crown, with no additional pushers. Water resistance is 50 meters.

Chinese New Year watches get a bit repetitive, as they all combine red and gold on the dials, with the possible inclusion of the zodiac animal of that year. And Oris does the same thing here, but they play it up a bit. The base gets a deep red base that’s complemented with gold applied indexes and pink printing. Around the perimeter you’ll find the 52-week calendar, pointed to with a pink arrow. The day aperture is at 12 o’clock, the date at 6, and the small seconds sit at 9 o’clock. At 3 o’clock is a non-linear power reserve that becomes more precise as the mainspring unwinds. Those sub-dials have an interesting gradient color from an almost yellow to a dark burgundy, with two horses done in pink indicating a full wind (galloping horse) and an empty power reserve (resting horse).

Inside, you’ll find the incredible Oris Calibre 113, a hand-wound in-house movement beating at 21,600vph, with a staggering 240-hour. Sure, a 10 day power reserve is not unusual, but this comes from a single barrel. The movement has a full business calendar, including date, day, month, and week of the year. The watch comes on a dark brown Shell Cordovan leather strap, closed with a steel folding clasp.

The new Oris Artelier Year of the Horse is a limited edition of… you guessed it… 88 pieces because the number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese tradition. Price is set at CHF 6,650. See more on the Oris website.

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Ochs und junior Starts Their 20th Anniversary Celebration With PVD Coated Settimana Models

There is a very special reason why I love ochs und junior watches. And that’s their designer, Ludwig Oechslin. He has this incredible capability of turning hyper-complicated watches into something supremely simple. It’s as if Oechslin said “hold my beer” to the entire industry and started coming up with simple modules bolted onto regular movements to do what others need hundreds of parts to accomplish. For example, their recent moon phase watch adds just 5 parts to a regular movement to create a perfectly accurate moon phase display. But it all started in 2006, when Oechslin founded ochs und junior, which means that they are celebrating 20 years this year. In 2008, they released one of their most important watches, the Settimana, which displayed the 7 days of the week (and had a cool way to do it) with a module that used only four parts. Now, to celebrate, they are applying PVD coatings to the Settimana.

The new watches remain fairly familiar, which means that they are made out of grade 5 titanium, measuring 36mm wide and 10.5mm thick. The brand doesn’t give a lug-to-lug measurement, but the watch has super-short 22mm wide lugs. The lugs are so short, and so widely spaced, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lug-to-lug measurement is 38-39mm. The bezel on top seems to have a satin finish, but the rest of the case is unfinished to the degree of having visible machining marks, something that ochs und junior is known for.

There are two dial options — a black PVD dial with pink hands and weekday dot or a brown PVD dial with gold-coloured indices, hands and weekday dot. That weekday dot refers to the dot used in the weekly indicator. The centre of the dial has eight cutouts, seven dot shaped between 1 and 7 o’clock and one long to connect from 8 to 12 o’clock. Those serve as indicators for the week complication, as a dot moves through the seven openings to show which day we’re at. When it moves past the seventh hole, the dot speeds up to quickly to cover the 8 to 12 o’clock segment.

Inside you’ll find two things — a classic ETA 2824-2 top grade that beats at 4Hz with a 38 hour power reserve, as well as a module made by Oechslin for the week display. It uses only four parts, if you count the dial as part of the module. And they do. Because the rest is a gear with weekday display, a triple function wheel and a transmission wheel. The watches come on Ecopell calf leather or beige textile straps.

The new ochs und junior Settimana PVD models are available for order now, with deliveries expected in two months. Price is set at CHF 2,300 without taxes. See more on the ochs und junior website.

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Hublot Releases The Big Bang Tourbillon Novak Djokovic GOAT Edition, A Trilogy That Honors A Legend

Consider this: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were such dominant tennis players that an entire generation of players didn’t get a chance to reach their peak. The three players have been ranked No.1 for a combined total of 18 years, 11 weeks, with the other two close behind. Andy Murray got close to the three, but not really. During their reign, we didn’t see a single male tennis star emerge. That’s how good they were. And the discussion will always remain: who was the best of the three? We all might have personal preferences, but the numbers solidly stand with Djokovic. A total of 101 titles, 24 Grand Slams, 40 ATP Masters, 2 Olympic medals, 428 weeks as No. 1 in the world and and total overall wins over both Nadal and Federer. He’s also sponsored by Hublot. Over the past year or so, we’ve seen an influx of tennis-themed watches, from Hublot for Djokovic as well, and I’ve been loving all of them. Now, just as Djokovic announced that he will be playing for a couple of more years — while the other two are already retired — Hublot is introducing a trio of Big Bang Tourbillon watches. These are the new Big Bang Tourbillon Novak Djokovic GOAT Edition watches

Say what you will about Hublot, but they are very much on the frontlines of experimenting with what’s possible in material sciences. Take, for example, these watches are made out of Djokovic’s recycled Lacoste polos and Head racquets. The result is a semi-transparent case with marbling in it. The watches are limited to 101 pieces, with each color matching the number of titles on each court that he won — 72 pieces done in blue for his win on hard courts, 21 in orange for the clay wins and just 8 in green, for grass court wins. Inside the transparent case is a container made out of Titaplast, a very cool polymer that can match titanium in strength and has a soft, matte finish, that holds the movement. On top and bottom are crystals made out of Gorilla Glass, which is a glass ceramic hybrid that’s often used on cellphones. The top crystal is held down with a flat bezel that’s held down with six titanium screws, shaped like tennis balls. Water resistance is not great at 30 meters.

There’s no dial, just a transparent sapphire crystal that exposes the entire movement. What the three have in common are the six satin hour markers with lume blocks in them. The same treatment is applied to the skeletonized hands. The watches also have anodised aluminium flanges and tourbillon cages done in blue, orange or green.

Inside is the seen-before manufacture automatic calibre MHUB6035, which beats at 21,600vph and has a 72 hour power reserve. Through the dial you can see the micro-rotor at 12 o’clock and a large tourbillon at 6. The movement has a mainplate designed like the strings of a tennis racquet, engraved with Djokovic’s “ND1” signature. The barrel features yellow-green lacquer and the micro-rotor is made out of 22K red gold. The watch comes on a white calfskin leather strap made to look like racquet grip tape, lined in blue, orange, or green leather, and closed with a Velcro closure. You get an additional rubber strap with a titanium deployant clasp.

The new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Novak Djokovic GOAT Edition is, like I mentioned, limited to 101 pieces. For now. Hublot says that as Djokovic wins more titles, they will add single pieces for every win, in the appropriate color. A cool move. What’s a bit less cool is the price that puts the watches a bit out of my grasp at €115,000. See more on the Hublot website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Your Next Watch, Week 64: A Reasonably Priced Patek; An Incredible Movado Bracelet, And The Best Heuer Dial You'll Find Today

We continue with our exploration of watches we shouldn't spend our money on, but most likely will. 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

• This is extremely pertinent to the situation a lot of my readers find themselves in right now. In the wake of a fatal ICE shootings, protesters are flooding US streets under an unprecedented cloud of surveillance. This piece lays out practical, concrete steps to protect your phone, face, and online footprint—so you can still show up, speak out, and stay as safe as possible.

• As George R. R. Martin publicly laments an “abysmal” relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal, the future of Westeros fractures behind the scenes. This piece unpacks clashing visions, contentious adaptation choices, and what it all means for House of the Dragon’s endgame—and the softer, scruffier Dunk & Egg series waiting in the wings.

• In Chicago conference rooms and Nobel assemblies, scientists charged with timing humanity’s endgame wrestle with dread, data, and doubt. Tracing the evolution of the Doomsday Clock—and the lives of the people who set it—this piece asks what “89 seconds to midnight” really means, who gets to decide, and how we live under that ticking hand.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Instead of watching YouTube videos all weekend, I listened to a lot of music. So I wasn’t sure that I had something to share here. But guess what, the algorithm had my back. You know how much I love Warren Zevon. And the title of this video is right: you’ve never heard Werewolves of London like this.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk