Seiko's Speedtimer Gets Right Shade Of Lavender; Union Glashütte Inspired By Mercedes; Bamford's Perfect Summer Colors; Autodromo Brings Back Monoposto; Breva's Titanium Secret; Matte Gold Bulgari

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It’s super hot here and I’m not ready for it to be summer, so no big words from me today. Enjoy the issue.

In this issue:

• Seiko Gives Their Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronograph SSC955 Just The Right Shade Of Lavender

• The New Union Glashütte Noramis Date Deutschland Klassik Is Inspired By Classic Mercedes Wheels

• Bamford London’s Summer Colors On Their GMT Are About As Good As They Can Get

• Autodromo Brings Back The Iconic Monoposto For The Second Time

• Breva Introduces A Titanium Version Of The Lake Como-Inspired Segreto Di Lario

• The Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Looks Just As Sharp In Matte Yellow Gold

👂What’s new

1/

Seiko Gives Their Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronograph SSC955 Just The Right Shade Of Lavender

Late last year, Seiko introduced in short succession a duo of fantastic Prospex Speedtimers. First was the SSC937, an EU exclusive, and the globally available SSC953. They came in a beautiful blue and stunning red dial respectively and I think I argued at the time that the Prospex Speedtimer might be a really cool and unexpected platform for Seiko to be more courageous with. Well, it seems that that might be happening. The blue was great, the red was better, and now we’re getting the SSC955, created for this year’s World Athletics Championships in Japan, that gets a really, really nice shade of lavender for the dial

And just like the blue and red versions, Seiko is using the smaller of the chronograph cases here. That means the steel case measures 39mm wide, 13.3mm wide and with a very decent 45.5mm lug-to-lug measurement. It has circular-brushed top surfaces and a high-polished case band, with a fixed stainless steel bezel that has a black coating on it, with a tachymeter scale engraved into it. The crystal is sapphire and the lugs curve down slightly. The caseback has a logo of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 and an engraving of the unique limited number. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Seiko calls the color chosen for the dial Edo purple, as an homage to Tokyo. The same shade of purple is used by the World Athletics Championships, so it very much makes sense. Around the perimeter is a black minute track and in the middle are three sub-dials. Speaking of, those sub-dials - running seconds at 9 o’clock, a 60-minute chronograph register at 6 o’clock, and a 24-hour (AM/PM) indicator at 3 o’clock - are solar cells that charge the watch. A neat trick is hidden in the 6 o’clock subdial which also serves as the power reserve indicator, with an “E” for empty and an “F” for fully charged, if the chronograph is not running. The indices are faceted, black and applied next to a white minute/seconds track. The hour and minute hands, as well as the central chrono hand, are matte black and filled with Lumibrite. The only thing spoiling the great look of this watch is the date aperture with a white date wheel at a bit after 4 o’clock.

Inside is the solar-powered quartz V192 movement. Sure, a mechanical movement might have been much more attractive, but can you really complaing that much? You get 6 months of power reserve in complete darkness, accuracy of + / - 15 seconds per month and is super durable. The watch comes on a three-row stainless steel bracelet with polished center links and brushed outer links.

The new Seiko Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronograph SSC955 goes on sale in August and is limited to 6,000 pieces. Price is set at €770. See more on the Seiko website.

2/

The New Union Glashütte Noramis Date Deutschland Klassik Is Inspired By Classic Mercedes Wheels

Glashütte is an amazing place. The population of the german town is just under 6,700 people. And yet, there are 10 active watchmakers there at the moment. One of them is Union Glashütte. While not a powerhouse of the town, the Swatch Group brand makes some very nice looking retro-inspired watches. About two years ago, they put out an interesting watch in partnership with the ADAC Deutschland Klassik rally, inspired by the legendary Fuchs wheel that became synonymous with vintage Porsche. A year later, they did another release, only now inspired by the absolutely iconic BBS RS multi-part wheel. And this year, for the Noramis Date Limited Edition Deutschland Klassik 2025, we get another wheel inspired watch, this one with one of my favorite wheels, the Gullideckel, or the manhole cover rim that was used on 1980s legends from Mercedes Benz.

The watch is based on the regular Noramis Date, meanign that it comes in a 40mm wide and 10.4mm thick polished and brushed steel case that has a 47.8 mm lug-to-lug. On top is a box sapphire crystal and you have a choice of either a sapphire caseback or a steel one with an engraving of the silhouette of Germany. Water resistance is 100 meters.

To replicate the Gullideckel, the white dial gets rectangular cutouts around the periphery, with a black railway-style minute track on the very edge of the dial. In the center of the dial are five small screws that stand in for wheel nuts. The hands are lance shaped, black, with white lumed tips. At 6 is a date aperture. I love this thing.

Inside is the calibre UNG-07.S1, based on the ETA 2892. It beats at 2.5Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black calfskin strap featuring contrast stitching and diamond-pattern embossing like you would find on vintage leather seats.

The Union Glashütte Noramis Date Deutschland Klassik 2025 is limited to 200 pieces and priced at €2,780, the same as last year’s edition. See more on the Union Glashütte website.

3/

Bamford London’s Summer Colors On Their GMT Are About As Good As They Can Get

I don’t know how it is where you are, but things are getting pretty scorching here in Croatia. We’re in the middle of a heat wave, and I’m very much on the lookout for good summer watches. And here’s one from a source I wasn’t exactly expecting. Bamford London just released a quartet of their very cool GMT watches in wide range of color gradients, all inspired by places around the world in which you would want to spend this summer.

The case isn’t changed much. It keeps the classic cushion shape with short lugs and a twin crown setup — on at 3 o’clock to set the time and one cut into the case at 10 o’clock used to operate the internal bezel. The case is made out of stainless steel, measuring 40mm wide, 11.7mm thick and with a short 46.5mm lug-to-lug. On top is a domed sapphire crystal with a thin bezel around it, and water resistance is 100 meters.

Now, all of the dials of these four GMT models are white, with black outlined applied markers. The only color comes in the form of a printed minute track which matches the wild colors on the internal bezels. The GMT +1 Casablanca model has a gradient from neon pink to sun-soaked yellow; the GMT +2 Mediterranean has a gradient from navy into a lighter blue; the GMT -4 Miami transitions from a pastel pink into a bold, vibrant fuchsia; while the GMT -5 Tulum goes from light blue to a mango orange. The Tulum is certainly my favorite, but it’s a hard pick since all of the colors are so good. The hour and minute hands have both of the gradient colors in them and the GMT hands are white with colored triangles on top.

Inside, you’ll find the trusty Sellita SW330-2 movement which beats at 4Hz and has a 56 hour power reserve. The watches come on two-tone color-matched recycled polyester straps for a really perfect summer watch.

The new Bamford London GMT collection is available now and they don’t seem to be limited. Price is set at about €1,420 (with today’s conversion rate), without taxes. See more on the Bamford London website.

4/

Autodromo Brings Back The Iconic Monoposto For The Second Time

Autodromo has built a small empire with their homages to the history of the automotive industry. Taking inspiration from the best decades of racing, they’ve made some great watches. Way back in 2012, they’ve made a simple three-hander with wire lugs and simple dials called the Monoposto. Since then, the brand has discontinued the model. However, earlier this year, they partnered with Mobil 1 to bring back a very limited edition of Monoposto models. I guess those went over well because Autodromo is now bringing the Monoposto back without any partners. Still as a limited edition, but with some really nice colors.

The Monoposto a stainless steel case measure quite large at 43mm wide and 11mm thick. The large size is based in history, as it’s styled after the oversized dashboard gauges of 1950s ‘monopostos’ or single seater racing cars. Also, it wears much better than the dimensions would suggest since it has super-short wire lugs giving you a L2L of just 46mm. The case has a polished finish and on top is a heavily domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters.

There are two dial options — Azzuro, which is a beautiful sky blue, and Moss Green, which is exactly what the name says. The Azzuro is paired with a yellow and the Moss green with a bright red stripe painted on the underside of the crystal which was a characteristic of the Monoposto model and symbolized the redline of an engine. Around the periphery is a railway track minute scale that spans from 1 to 11 o’clock, mimicking old tachymeters.

Inside is the familiar Miyota 9039 movement which beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. You can see the movement through the transparent caseback, but there’s not much to see. The watches come on hand made brown Italian buffalo leather straps.

The new Monoposto Azzuro and Moss Green watches are limited to 150 pieces each and priced at €950. See more on the Autodromo website.

5/

Breva Introduces A Titanium Version Of The Lake Como-Inspired Segreto Di Lario

Breva isn’t necessarily a new brand. But it also is. The company took a ten-year-long hiatus, only to come out with a brand new model earlier this year. The Segreto di Lario, or the Secret of Lake Como, was a great hit in April in Geneva, during Watches and Wonders. Not even three months later, we’re getting a new version of the Segreto di Lario, this time in a titanium case, as opposed to rose gold of the launch edition, and with two dials to choose from.

The case shape and size remains the same. It’s made out of brushed and polished grade 5 titanium, measuring 41mm wide and a svelte 11.1mm thick. It’s still cushion shaped, with short-ish lugs, and sapphire crystals on top and bottom. On top it’s a box-shaped crystal with a thin bezel around it, and out back is a flat one held down with four screws. Water resistance is 50 meters.

There are also two new dials — the vertically brushed copper coloured version and the flat slate grey one. The lower part of the dial is cut off and shows off a rhodium-plated section with Côtes de Genève. The way of displaying time remains identical as the original, with thin central hands for the hours and minutes, a retrograde seconds display at 12 o’clock and the split power reserve display which gives the dial a very unique look. The left part of the power display shows the power reserve for the first 6 days, while the right side shows the power reserve for the seventh day.

Inside, there’s no changes. You still get the movement developed by Chronode on the C101 platform which is modified to show the double power reserves. The movement beats at 3Hz, has twin barrels for a 7 day power reserve, and it’s decorated with Geneva stripes, an engraved compass rose on one of the two barrels, polished screw heads and bevelled angles. The watch comes on a black or brown alligator leather strap or a taupe suede leather strap, all closed with a grade 5 titanium pin buckle.

The new titanium Breva Segreto di Lario is technically not a limited edition, even though production will be low. Price is set at CHF 46,000, without taxes. See more on the Breva website.

6/

The Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Looks Just As Sharp In Matte Yellow Gold

When Bulgari launched the Octo Finissimo Automatic in 2018, they were available in three different materials — steel, titanium and pink gold. I was instantly smitten with them and if I were to buy one, it would surely be the titanium version. Up until now, that is, as Bulgari is releasing the Octo Finissimo Automatic in yellow gold, with the same matte finish and a matching dial. Oh boy.

The dimensions of the case are mostly the same. That is, the case measures 40mm wide and it’s a bit thicker than the original release. While that came in at an incredible 5.15mm thick, this version measures 6.4mm — still incredibly thin. But with that added thickness, the watch becomes much more useful in everyday life, because now you get a screw-down crown and 100m water-resistance. The case is made out of yellow gold with a fully sandblasted finish which creates an incredible matte finish, and is a slightly more subtle gold than the rose gold from 2018, but still flashy enough.

The dial continues the theme and is also made out of sandblasted gold, giving the entire watch a monochromatic look. This is even more accentuated with blackened hands, black markers and black Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock. Between 7 and 8 o’clock is a black track for the small seconds and small black hand. The hands are lumed with yellow colored lume. The only text on the dial is the black Bulgari logo at 12 and a tiny Swiss made at 6.

Inside is the ultra-thin BVL 138 automatic movement developed and manufactured at the Bulgari manufacturer in Le Sentier. The movement is wound by a platinum 950 micro-rotor, beats at 3Hz and you get 60 hours of power reserve. Continuing the monochromatic look of the watch, the watch comes on a sandblasted gold single-link bracelet.

The new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic in Sandblasted Yellow Gold is available now, as part of the regular collection and it’s priced at €51,500. See more on the Bulgari 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

• When a “purchasing group” won a ninety-five-million-dollar jackpot, the victory caused a scandal in a state where opposition to legal gambling remains widespread.

• The fate of most eastern block countries can be boiled down to ridiculous metaphors. And this one might be my favorite — a flash flood that killed hundreds of animals at the Tbilisi Zoo explains the failure of post-Soviet Georgia.

• Cormorants have made a comeback in the Toronto Islands, but not everyone is happy about these “goth” purveyors of puke and tree-thwarting guano. “In 1990, there were six cormorant nests at Tommy Thompson Park; by 2007 there were 4,699,” writes Alexandra Kimball for The Local. Population control, which sadly includes cormorant culls, has allowed the tree canopy to rebound and at-risk plant species to gain a foothold, but cormorant consensus has been difficult to find. Can nonviolent cormorant coexistence be achieved?

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OK, I recommended one Vice video and now YouTube is swamping with their videos. And I don’t mind

Thanks for reading,
Vuk