TAG Heuer Launches Monaco Trio In Time For Monaco GP; Micromilspec Teams Up With Black Badger; BA111OD's Black Onyx Dial Chapter 4 Tourbillon; Hublot Introduces Carbon Cased Square Bang Tourbillon

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. I’m glad to see the Monaco, my favorite Heuer, get some love. But the Micromilspec really knocked it out of the park with the backstory. We need more watches like this.

In this issue:

• TAG Heuer Launches Monaco Gulf, Stopwatch And TH-Titanium Editions In Time For Monaco Grand Prix

• Micromilspec Teams Up With The Black Badger For A Project Sabotage Milgraph

• BA111OD Equips The Chapter 4 Flying Tourbillon With A Black Onyx Dial

• Hublot Introduce Carbon Cased Square Bang Tourbillon 4-Day Power Reserve

👂What’s new

1/

TAG Heuer Launches Monaco Gulf, Stopwatch And TH-Titanium Editions In Time For Monaco Grand Prix

Yeah, here we go. TAG Heuer is shifting into high gear with their relatively new partnership with Formula 1. I knew that they were going to release quite a few F1-themed watches, and in the most cynical way I thought it would be a lot of milking of played out concepts, but I have to say I was wrong. What TAG Heuer is doing with Formula 1 is actually very, very cool. The latest release of the bunch is a trio of Monaco models, made just in time this weekend for the fabled Monaco Grand Prix after which the watch was named. The three Monaco models show three different approaches TAG has towards its watches, especially the Monaco of which a lot is expected this year. We have the Monaco Chronograph x Gulf White Dial, the Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch Black DLC Titanium and the wild Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph in TH Titanium.

Starting with the most conventional of releases, the Monaco Chronograph Gulf White Dial. It’s based on the classic Steve McQueen version with the crown at 9. The square case is made out of grade 2 titanium with a sandblasted finish, measuring 39mm wide, 14.35mm thick and has a 47.5mm lug-to-lug. On top is the very nice square box-style sapphire crystal that’s just so cool. Water resistance is 100 meters. The dial on this watch gets a fine-grained silvery-white base, with the iconic orange and blue Gulf stripes on the right side of the dial and the logo above 6 o’clock. The watch is powered by the Calibre 11 movement, which we’ve seen in other TAG watches and which has a Sellita SW300 base movement with a Dubois-Depraz module on top. It beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. The watch comes with two straps, both very race themed — a white strap made out of Nomex, a fire-resistant textile used for racing suits, and a racing-inspired perforated blue calfskin strap with orange lining. The TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph x Gulf White Dial is limited to 971, a nod to the year in which McQueen’s Le Mans movie that made the Monaco famous came out. Price is set at €9,400. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

Moving on to something a bit more niche, we have the TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Stopwatch, inspired by vintage racing instruments made by Heuer. The case is practically identical to the Gulf version, even made out of grade 2 titanium, but it has a black DLC coating. The dial has a silver opaline base, with a bold black circle in the centre, and black square sub-dials. The silver is outline has a fantastic red minute scale, which is a direct reference to the timing instruments of old. Inside is the same Calibre 11 as the Gulf, whcih means it has the same stats. It comes on a black perforated calfskin strap with a sandblasted black DLC grade-2 titanium folding clasp. The watch is limited to 970 pieces and priced at €9,650. See more here.

And then we have the out-there TH Titanium TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph. The split seconds Monaco models have always been a bit of an experimental platform for the brand, and this one is no different. According to TAG, they’ve spent four years developing a new alloy of titanium that they call TH Titanium. It’s supposed to be specially heat treated which results in a pattern that shifts in light while retaining all the properties of regular titanium. It comes in a slightly bigger case, this one measuring 41mm wide and 15.2mm thick. The dial is just as wild as the case, with a deeply recessed brushed silver plate, x-shaped bridges over it, floating black sub-dials and lime accents everywhere, including the split seconds hands. Inside, you’ll find the automatic TH81-00, mad ein partnership with Vaucher. It’s a high-frequency column-wheel split-second chronograph that will run for 65 hours. The watch comes on a black calfskin strap with a textile pattern.

The new TH Titanium TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph is, surprisingly, part of the regular collection and priced at CHF 145,000. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

2/

Micromilspec Teams Up With The Black Badger For A Project Sabotage Milgraph

For years, the Norwegian microbrand Micromilspec wasn’t in the public eye. Mostly because they made special watches for military regiments, each with their own special features and looks. Only last year, after 40 successful military and first responder partnerships, Micromilspec launched the pretty cool Milgraph GMT Chronograph, their first civilian watch. And of course that, and every one after it, sold out very quick. And it’s impossible to keep in stock. However, we are getting a new model now, but a very special one. Micromilspec has teamed up with James Thompson, a designer that goes by Black Badger and has worked with MB&F, De Bethune, Hautlence and Sarpaneva, as well as being a strong creative force behind Arcanaut, to create the Micromilspec x Black Badger Project Sabotage Milgraph.

Before I get to the regular breakdown of the watch, a word on the presentation of this watch — I love it when a watch spins a whole universe around itself. And this one just hits the nail on the head. The Project Sabotage Milgraph is a main character in the Time Wars. In a galaxy where time is the ultimate currency, the oppressive Chrono Syndicate rules through precision, control, and fear. Enforcing their order is the elite temporal police: the CrownGuard. Their leader? A mythical figure whispered only as The Chrono Sovereign — or, in hushed tones, Grand Psyco. To speak his name is to risk your heartbeat skipping... and your watch grinding to a halt. But one renegade refuses to bow to the tyranny of the tick. Black Badger — the galaxy’s most charming and unpredictable space pirate. Come on… I’m really digging the vibe here, especially since I recently rewatched Akira and am really in the mood for something like this.

The case you see here is the familiar case we’ve seen on the Milgraph before. That means that it’s made out microblasted Grade 5 titanium and it measures 42mm wide and 15mm thick. Interestingly, despite having minimal lugs for an almost integrated bracelet look, it has a rather long lug-to-lug measurement of 50.3mm. The crown and pushers for the chronograph are moved to the left side, but with a military-inspired watch this is less to fit people who wear their watches on the right hand and more to do with the crown not digging into your hand while doing military things. On top is a flat sapphire crystal surrounded by a bezel with an elapsed time scale that matches the case material and has what Micromilspec calls QuadGrip — four indents to help rotate the bezel. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is where everything changes from the original. Instead of a black dial, you get a white matte base with orange accents on the 24-hour scale on the periphery and the sub-dial hands. The three sub-dials are used for the running seconds, 12-hour counter and 30-minute counter. Interestingly, the sub-dials don’t have any numerals, which would make it hard to guess which is which, but each is marked with a tag next to the dial for easy identification. They also vary in size in accordance to the importance of information they show. The Super-LumiNova hour markers and hands were design by Black Badger along with lume specialists RC Tritec to achieve an intense ultramarine colour.

Inside is the La Joux-Perret calibre L121, a column-wheel-operated automatic chronograph movement with a 60-hour power reserve. It beats at 4Hz and is fairly accurate at ±4 seconds per day. The watch comes on either an orange or a white rubber strap, closed with a titanium pin buckle.

The new Micromilspec x Black Badger Project Sabotage Milgraph is, of course, a limited edition of 75 pieces, priced at €3,500. See more on the Micromilspec website.

3/

BA111OD Equips The Chapter 4 Flying Tourbillon With A Black Onyx Dial

BA111OD really is doing a speedrun through releases lately, in the best possible way. In the last two months, they absolutely dominated Watches and Wonders week with a stunningly beautiful Chapter 4 Infinity Flying Tourbillon, followed up with a skeletonized version of the Chapter 4 which brought on a whole new look to the collection. And all the while, they continue with the philosophy of demistifying the pricing structure of Swiss watches, offering stuff like the cheapest Swiss-made tourbillon or the CHPTR_Δ, which brought avant-garde time indications you would expect from the likes of MB&F to the masses. Now, we’re gettin a new Chapter 4, the Onyx Flying Tourbillon.

If you’ve followed BA111OD releases, you’ll instantly recognize it. Made out of stainless steel, it measures 41mm wide. It’s a very elegant case, with a polished finish and welded lugs. It has a box shaped sapphire crystal on top and the crown sitting offset at 4 o’clock. It even has decent water resistance at 50 meters.

This edition of the Chapter 4 takes on a very minimalist approach on the dial. The base is made out of natural black onyx. And that’s pretty much all there is to it. There’s an opening at 7 o’clock to reveal the flying tourbillon with a silver metal outline. You get polished silver hands filled with a bit of Super-Luminova. There are no markers, no logos, just the deep, deep black of the onyx and the silver of the hands and tourbillon cage. Very cool.

Inside, you’ll find the calibre BA.02 manual-winding mechanical movement developed in partnership with Olivier Mory, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The movement beats at 3Hz and has a great power reserve of 120 hours. The watch comes on a black calf leather strap with crocodile-style embossing.

The new BA111OD Chapter 4 Onyx Flying Tourbillon is available for pre-order now, with deliveries expected in six to eight months. Now, that’s quite a wait period, but if you grab it now, you will be able to get it at a launch price of €10.825, which is quite a saving from the regular price of €12.030. See more on the BA111OD website.

Now, the best part, the price. Sure, €11.350 is a lot of money, but this watch is incredible value for that amount of money. This is easily a €30.000 watch. See more on the BA111OD website.

4/

Hublot Introduce Carbon Cased Square Bang Tourbillon 4-Day Power Reserve

Regardless of what you think of Hublot, you can’t deny that they make a statement. Sure, some of them might get a bit repetitive, but then they go and release something like this new Square Bang Tourbillon 4-Day Power Reserve which really doesn’t look like anything else on the market. For better or worse.

The Hublot Square Collection, to no surprise, is comprised of square watches. This first tourbillon for the collection comes in a brand new case measuring 42mm wide and 13.2mm thick, made out of a carbon composite material woven into vertical and horizontal lines. I usually dislike carbon fibre for its too perfect weave, which is happening on this case as well, but here it’s very interesting because the fibers make up a grid that has a lot of depth to it as a feature. Everything is carbon composite here, even the broad flat bezel. There’s a bunch of Hublot’s proprietary H-screws on the bezel, two on either side, one on top and bottom, and more screws next to the strap release button. Water resistance is 30 meters.

Those grid lines on the case that create an illusion on depth are reflected on the dial which is made out of black windows of varying size, overlapping each other. That’s actually a great design element, as it contrasts the circular elements of the movement that you can see through the dial, including the tourbillon. Each of those windows frames or matches four distinct elements visible from the front — the power barrel at 12 o’clock, winding system at 3 o’clock, tourbillon at 6 and power reserve indicator at 9.

The movement that you see through the dial is the calibre MHUB6023, a manual wind tourbillon-equipped movement that beats at 3Hz and has a 96 hour power reserve. That’s quite the accomplishment as tourbillons really like to drain power. The watch comes on a black textured rubber, closed with a ceramic and titanium deployant buckle.

The new Hublot Square Bang Tourbillon 4-Day Power Reserve is part of the regular collection and available now, priced at CHF 96,000. See more on the Hublot 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

• For Slate, a Canadian who calls himself Quattro tells Luke Winkie how he became a professional gambler so proficient at counting cards, he’s making a living playing blackjack in casinos across North America. What’s more, he documents his techniques in YouTube videos so that others can learn how to beat the house, too.

• Every few years, I come back to this article from Vibe magazine that served as inspiration for The Fast and the Furious movie. It’s hilarious to read the article and compare it to what the franchise turned into.

• What do you do when the world is so overwhelming that you can’t see the next step forward? You head to Peru for a week of guided ego death, courtesy of the powerful hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca. For n+1, Sarah Miller chronicles her journey to the center of the self. Spoiler: The self is a slippery beast, and Madre Ayahuasca isn’t interested in easy resolutions.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

This dude was part of a really interesting automotive YouTube channel called Donut. Since leaving, he started his own channel that’s all over the place with choice of topics, and he’s pretty good at doing this.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk