TAG Heuer Releases A Formula 1 Watch To Mark The Indy 500; Timex And Aston Martin Team Up; Ralph Lauren Goes Full Preppy; Havid Nagan Releases Smaller HN02; Daniel Roth's Extra-Plat In Titanium

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Don’t know about you, but I had a great weekend roasting in the sun. In fact, it was such a roast I can barely live in my own scorched skin. Wear sunscreen, kids. Please.

In this issue

• TAG Heuer Releases A Formula 1 Watch To Mark The Indianapolis 500

• Timex And Aston Martin Team Up For A Very Aggressive Race Watch

• Ralph Lauren Goes Full Preppy With The New Polo Bear Heritage Watch

• Havid Nagan Releases The HN02, A Smaller, Sharper Watch From A Brand You Should Keep Your Eye On

• Daniel Roth Now Makes Their Super Thin Extra-Plat In Titanium

👂What’s new

1/

TAG Heuer Releases A Formula 1 Watch To Mark The Indianapolis 500

In addition to taking over full sponsorship of Formula 1, TAG Heuer has been the official timekeeper of the Indianapolis 500 since 2004, and has released 17 limited editions to mark the occasion. Most have been Carreras or Autavias dressed for the occasion. This year they've done something a bit more interesting, and let the Indy 500 into their Formula 1 collection. The Indianapolis 500 is considered one of the most entertaining live races in the world, so it’s super interesting to see it paired up with something so F1 coded. Is there space for a future collaboration?

This watch is built on the existing Formula 1 Solargraph, which means that it measures 38mm wide and 9.9mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 45.2mm. While the majority of the F1 collection is made out of Polylight bio-polyamide case (a.k.a. plastic, but durable plastic), this one is made out of brushed steel. What is made out of Polylight is the black bi-directional bezel with brown accent detail. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is black opaline, clean and uncluttered for the most part, with circular indices and TAG shield icons at 6, 9, and 12 o'clock. Indianapolis Motor Speedway's flying tire logo sits at 6 o'clock. The outer minutes track comes in a warm tobacco brown that ties to the bezel detail, a red seconds hand adds a dash of urgency, and there's a date window at 3 o'clock. The brick pattern referencing the Speedway's nickname, which typically appears on the dial, has been moved to the numbered caseback, which is cool.

Inside is the Calibre TH50-00, TAG's light-powered Solargraph movement, introduced last year, which needs about one minute of exposure to natural or artificial light to charge for a full day and holds power for up to 10 months on a full charge. The watch ships on a classic three-link steel bracelet with a folding clasp.

The TAG Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph x Indy 500 is limited to 1,110 pieces, reflecting the 110th running of the race. It's priced at $2,250 and available now. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

2/

Timex And Aston Martin Team Up For A Very Aggressive Race Watch

Speaking of race-inspired watches, Aston Martin has teamed up with another watchmaker. Previously, we’ve seen them work with Breitling and Girard Perregaux, all of which were appropriately priced. Now, however, they’ve working with a more price accessible brand, one that’s been on quite a roll of collaborations — Timex. This is the new Aston martin TKS collection and it’s interesting.

The flagship TKS comes in a 42mm stainless steel case with an IP Podium Green treatment, matched to a coordinating bracelet. Water resistance is 100 meters. The crystal is described as sapphire-coated mineral glass. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what that is.

The dial takes its visual cues from a car instrument cluster: layered construction, recessed sub-dials at 3 and 9 o'clock, and a hexagonal 24-hour indicator. A lime green stripe runs down the center of the dial and continues across the bracelet, without any color, and the hands and applied markers are faceted to suggest machined metal parts. It's a busy layout, but I can see how people might find it attractive.

The movement is a multifunctional Japanese quartz — no calibre specified in the press release, but I’m looking at that 24 hour indicator with a side eye. The collection includes several case variations: silver case with Bertelli Green strap, gunmetal case with blue silicone, and IP Black bracelet editions alongside the flagship Podium Green. Timex also offers a companion TKS2 bracelet in braided nappa leather with wing-engraved steel buckle hardware.

The Timex × Aston Martin TKS collection starts at $240 and tops out at $350. The leather TKS2 bracelet accessory is $110. See more on the Timex website.

3/

Ralph Lauren Goes Full Preppy With The New Polo Bear Heritage Watch

Ralph Lauren is one of my guilty pleasures in the fashion watch arena. And I use fashion watch here not in a derogatory way, as you might read online when referring to brands like Boss or Armani, that license their name to no-name watch manufacturers cranking out $10 watches that sell for multiple hundreds. Ralph Lauren is one of those fashion brands that take their watches seriously. While certainly not on the level of a Louis Vuitton, RL has for years made watches in partnership with Richemont and have recently brought production back under their own control. And among their watches, my favorites have always been the Polo Bear ones. This new version, the Preppy Bear, leans hard into the collegiate character: navy blazer, repp tie, khakis. It's a character watch, unambiguously, and whether it works depends almost entirely on whether you find Ralph Lauren's whole aesthetic charming or insufferable.

The case is 42mm wide and 10.7mm thick in polished stainless steel, with a curved sapphire crystal on top and a closed caseback out back. Not much to this case. Water resistance is 50 meters — appropriate for a watch that spends more time on campus than in the ocean. The crown carries the Pony logo, which is a nice touch.

The dial base is off-white lacquer, and the printed Polo Bear sits at center, rendered slightly in three dimensions rather than printed flat. Black Arabic numerals and a printed minute track ring the outer edge, with shiny black lacquered hands for hour, minutes, and seconds. The bear is detailed — blazer, tie, sweater, the works.

Inside is a Sellita-based movement badged as the RL200 calibre, running at 28,800 vph with roughly 50 hours of power reserve. The watch ships with an interchangeable regimental stripe silk strap on brown Alsavel lining, 20mm at the lug, with a polished stainless pin buckle, entirely in keeping with the preppy brief.

The Ralph Lauren Preppy Bear Watch (ref. 472P23213001) is priced at CHF 1,650 and will be available from Spring 2026 at select Ralph Lauren stores. Keep an eye out on the Ralph Lauren website to see when it pops up.

4/

Havid Nagan Releases The HN02, A Smaller, Sharper Watch From A Brand You Should Keep Your Eye On

Aren Bazerkanian launched Havid Nagan in 2022 with the HN00, a watch that was pretty clear on what it wants to be: architectural cases, layered surfaces, and a refusal to look like anything else on the market. The HN01 Lucine followed with a moonphase and the same bold geometry. Both were over 40mm and while they weren’t huge, they weren’t exactly on trend for smaller watches. Well, here we go, that’s been fixed with the HN02, a watch that keeps the same funky design language, but now in a more comfortable case.

The HN02 measures 38mm wide and 9mm thick, in Grade 5 titanium with a three-part case construction mixing brushed and polished surfaces. The biggest visual change from earlier models is the lugs: gone is the aggressive geometry of the HN00 and HN01, and it’s hooded lug, replaced with longer, more traditional lugs that flow naturally and make strap swaps straightforward. A DLC-treated version is available for those who want a darker finish. Water resistance sits at 50 meters.

Describing the dial is a project. The centerpiece is a flinqué enamel display — hand-engraved guilloché beneath translucent grand feu enamel — in either an Azure or Ember gradient, each requiring multiple high-temperature firings where any flaw means starting over. Three-dimensional indices and arrowhead hands sit above this surface. Around the periphery, a sapphire layer carries the minutes track, with polished spheres marking five-minute intervals. A subseconds dial sits at six. Encircling the central display is a three-part brass plate with a hammered silver finish. Below all of this, the movement's front plate glows in a warm galvanised gold. It sounds chaotic, but it’s almost understated and quite beautiful.

The movement is the AMT6600, previously used in the Classic One but reworked here with hammered bridges, polished anglage, and that same gold-galvanised mainplate visible through the display. It beats at 28,800vph and delivers around 62 hours of power reserve, with COSC certification. The watch ships on a leather strap suited to the redesigned lugs.

The HN02 is limited to 42 pieces across both dial variants and both case finishes, with deliveries beginning in Q3 2026. Orders require a 50% deposit. Price is set at $18,000. See more on the Havid Nagan website.

5/

Daniel Roth Now Makes Their Super Thin Extra-Plat In Titanium

The Daniel Roth revival under La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton has been methodical to a fault: first the Tourbillon in yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum, now the Extra-Plat following the same sequence. Yellow gold came first, rose gold followed, and this platinum edition closes the trilogy. It’s a subtle update, but the watch itself is subtle in the best way possible.

The case retains its double-ellipse shape, measuring 38.6mm long, 35.5mm wide, 7.7mm thick. Sure, that adds just a bit more thickness to the original C107 Extra-Plat, but it’s still a slim dress watch. Platinum adds noticeable heft relative to the earlier editions but also a cooler, denser quality to the case finish. You get sapphire crystals front and back, and 30 meters of water resistance.

While the yellow gold edition wore Clous de Paris guilloché; this one, like the rose gold, uses pinstripe guilloché (guilloché en ligne) — done in-house at La Fabrique du Temps. The chapter ring is rendered in silver to match the case, with black typography and a filet sauté border. Black gold hands point to the hours and minutes with no running seconds, and the whole thing has a cool monochromatic look.

The calibre DR002 is hand-wound, developed by Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, running at 4Hz with a free-sprung balance wheel and 65 hours of power reserve. The finishing carries over from the Tourbillon's DR001 aesthetic: hand-polished bevels with bercé profile, black polished steel parts, thin Geneva stripes, perlage, polished countersinks. The watch comes on a light-tan leather strap.

The Daniel Roth Extra-Plat Platinum is priced at CHF 65,000, and that’s without taxes, available now. This is not a numbered limited edition, but it is constrained by production capacity. See more on the Daniel Roth website.

⏲️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

• OpenAI’s Sora allowed you to deepfake yourself. Users started to remember things that never happened.

• For The Baffler‘s excellent collection of essays on “the profession that doesn’t exist”, Bertrand Cooper recounts his time investigating insurance claims, seeking out possible scams while being closely monitored by his own employers. Cooper pairs stories of his claim investigations with a detailed accounting of his own circumstances, from the family scammers he observed as a child to the debt that stalks him through job searches. The result is an extraordinary study of the power of financial stability and what it enables—from health and care to writing.

• Jordan Michelman comes to Costco membership in midlife, embracing a devotion he once associated mainly with his father. As he wanders the warehouse, toggling between food‑snob skepticism and genuine delight in bulk staples, he reflects on how Costco shadows each stage of life and gathers a startling cross‑section of America under one fluorescent roof.

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Thanks for reading,
Vuk