TAG Heuer's Different Moonphase And A Carbon Fiber Duo; Zenith Works With Iconic Furniture Brand; Oris And Bamford Team Up For A Cool ProPilot Altimeter; New From Unimatic, Louis Erard And MB&F

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. This letter is so late that it’s coming on a different date. But Geneva Watch Days has been an absolute hoot. I’m seeing some upcoming stuff that has me spending some serious money by the end of the year. Can’t wait to get to share those with you. Bear with me for one more day of these weird schedules and then we’re back to normal next week.

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In this issue

• TAG Heuer Releases A Very Different Moonphase Collection And A Duo With Carbon Fiber Mainsprings

• Zenith Works With Iconic Swiss Furniture On A Four Color Defy Chronograph Collection

• Oris And Bamford Team Up For Best Looking Hardcore Tool Watch, The ProPilot Altimeter Mission Control

• Unimatic And Massena LAB Are Back At It With An All White NASA Watch

• Louis Erard's Fil d’Or With An Incredible Micromechanical Embroidery Dial

• MB&F Celebrates 20th Anniversary With An Evolution Of Their Classic LM101

👂What’s new

1/

TAG Heuer Releases A Very Different Moonphase Collection And A Duo With Carbon Fiber Mainsprings

I had a really interesting day at TAG Heuer in Geneva. They really did put together an interesting display of their novelties. It’s not a huge display, we’re talking about just five watches in two collections, but the amount of info they convey in a short amount of time is just astounding. So, let’s see what I remember of the details. TAG Heuer is presenting two new collection, the Carrera Astronomer which is all about past influence and a carbon Monaco and Carrera with the really cool TH-Carbonspring that looks towards the future. But let’s start with the retro stuff.

Starting with the TAG Heuer Carrera Astronomer, it’s a modern reinterpretation of the Heuer moon phase watches from the 1940s and 1950s, and a slight nod to the Heuer that John Glenn wore on his wrist as he orbited Earth. The watch comes in a really good looking case that measures 39mm wide, 12.16mm thick, with a 45.2mm lug-to-lug. The stainless steel is brushed and polished, and on top is a domed sapphire crystal. Out back is a closed caseback with a full illustration of an observatory and a telescope looking out at the stars. Water resistance is 100 meters.

When it comes to the dial, the new moon phase display is the most important thing to mention as it’s an interesting way of displaying it. At the centre of the small moon phase display that sits at 6 o’clock is a small disc with double sided arrow pointing to three different ways of telling the phase of the moon. At the bottom are the seven lunar stages written out, while at the top of that circle is a 29.5-day lunar cycle. Last is a dramatic visual illustration of the phases of the moon that extends in an ellipsis towards the centre of the dial, also pointed to by those arrows. There are three versions available. First, we have the silver dial and black flange version, which is the only unlimited version. Then, there’s the version with the rose gold-plated indices, hands and flange, limited to 500 pieces. And last there’s the best one — a silver dial base paired with turquoise Super-LumiNova accents and a black flange. That’s also limited to 100 pieces.

Inside, you’ll find a an improved version of the automatic Calibre 7, based on the Sellita SW385-1. It beats at 4Hz with a 56 hour power reserve. The watches come on either multi-link metal bracelets (two tone gold on the gold colored watch) or on a really nice grey leather strap on the grey version.

The new TAG Heuer Carrera Astronomer will go on sale in October, with prices sat at CHF 4,550 for the classic steel edition, CHF 4,350 for the turquoise-accented limited model, and CHF 6,900 for the rose gold two-tone version. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

Then, we have the Monaco Flyback Chronograph TH-Carbonspring and the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring, two models that take on something that is missing from TAG Heuer — innovation. For these two models, already done in carbon, TAG Heuer developed the world’s first carbon hairspring. And it’s cool.

I’ll try to keep the basics brief. Starting with the Monaco Flyback Chronograph, it comes in a black forged carbon case that measures 39mm wide and 14.1mm thick. The case also has very cool carbon pushers and crown. Water resistance is 100 meters. But the carbon doesn’t stop there, as the dial is also made out of carbon, with a spiral engraving and carbon indexes, paired with black-gold hands. The watch comes on a black rubber strap with a DLC black titanium folding clasp. Then, there’s the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring. It comes in a round black forged carbon case that measures 44mm wide and 15.4mm thick, with a black carbon tachymeter bezel, forged carbon crown and pushers. The dial is also made out of carbon with a spiral engraving, black flange with 60s/min scale, 3 sub-dials, carbon indexes and black-gold hands.

The two watches have very similar movements. In the Monaco, you’ll find the Calibre TH20-60 an automatic COSC certified flyback chrono, while the Carrera gets the Calibre TH20-61, which adds the tourbillon. Both beat at 4Hz, the Monaco has an 80, while the Carrera has a 65 hour power reserve, and both are COSC certified. But most importantly, both are equipped with the TH-Carbonspring oscillator. Developed by TAG Heuer Lab over many years, the TH-Carbonspring provides three big advantages. First, the material is amagnetic. It’s also super light, reducing inertia in a hairspring and increasing performance. And last, it’s shock resistant.

The new Monaco Flyback Chronograph TH-Carbonspring and the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring go on sale in December and the first quarter of 2026, respectively, limited to 50 pieces each. Price is set at CHF 17,000 for the Monaco and CHF 40,000 for the Carrera. See more on the TAG Heuer website, where they break down the TH-Carbonspring in detail.

2/

Zenith Works With Iconic Swiss Furniture On A Four Color Defy Chronograph Collection

I can pretty vividly remember being a kid and visiting someone. Can’t for the life of me remember who, but I assume it had to have been a friend of my parents. What is etched into my mind from that visit is a low credenza, super simple in its construction. It was just a few metal rods and bright red panels connecting them. I still remember it being one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture I’ve ever seen. It was only decades later that I learned that piece was the Swiss design icon USM Modular Furniture, and it remains one of my favorites to this day. So I was glad to see Zenith team up with USM to release a limited edition Defy Chronograph USM in some pretty great colors.

On the outside, nothing has changed, and this remains the still very cool, very vintage inspired Defy Revival case. That means that it’s made out of stainless steel, measuring 37mm wide, and with the very intricate facets on the octagonal mid-case and 14-sided bezel. The variety of angles is emphasized even more with the combination of brushed and polished surfaces. On top is a box-style sapphire crystal, further emphasizing the retro nature of this watch. The crown screws down and you get 100 meters of water resistance.

All of the USM collaboration happens on the dial. While the setup of the dial remains unchanged, the colors are all new and inspired by USM furniture. The colors are: USM Green, Golden Yellow, Gentian Blue and Pure Orange. It’s a tri-compax setup with overlaping silver sub-dials — a 30-minute at 3 o’clock, 12-hour at 6 o’clock and small seconds at 9 o’clock. There’s a date aperture between 4 and 5 o’clock and you get applied markers and rhodium-plated hands.

Inside, you’ll find the El Primero 400 which beats at 5Hz and has a 55 hour power reserve. It’s an automatic chronograph with a column-wheel architecture that derives a lot of its architecture from the 1969 calibre 3019 PHC. Speaking of 1969, the bracelet it comes on is a late 60s Gay Frères–designed ladder bracelet.

The new Defy Chronograph USM is limited to just 60 pieces in each color and comes in a USM Haller watch chest. Price is set at CHF 10,900. See more on the Zenith website.

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Oris And Bamford Team Up For Best Looking Hardcore Tool Watch, The ProPilot Altimeter Mission Control

A lot of tool watches are tool watches just in name. Sure, they might be tougher than your average watch, or may have a functionality that might help you as a tool, but they’re just not actual tool. I somehow feel like tool watches should be borderline unusable as watches. It might be a personal thing, but I want my tool watch to be big, loud and obnoxious if worn anywhere where the tool aspect of the watch is not needed. One such watch is the Oris ProPilot Altimeter. This behemoth of a watch remained extremely serious even after the redesign that shrunk it down in 2023, and I love it for it. Now, Oris has teamed up with Georg Bamford to give the altimeter such a good colorway I will boldly claim this is the best looking tool watch on the market. This is the new Oris x Bamford ProPilot Altimeter "Mission Control."

When I tell you the size of this watch, keep in mind that this is the shrunk down version. It measures 47mm wide and 16.7mm thick. Sure, it’s huge. But not as huge as you may think. It doesn’t look stupid on my wrist. And it helps that the case is a carbon fiber composite, keeping things actually super light. Also making it seem smaller is the black color. The crowns, and there are two of them, are made out of titanium and PVD coated in black. The top crown sets the time and the lower one adjusts the altimeter. More on that later. Out back is a black caseback that has a feet-to-meter conversion chart, which you will need. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial, at least the central part, is rather simple. A black base gets a bright lime green minutes track and bright yellow Arabic numerals, with a date aperture at 3. That central dial hovers in space, over an air pressure indicator, followed on the outside with an altitude scale altitude scale going from 0 to 19,700 feet. There are neon yellow, green and bright red details all over the place and I love the look.

If you want to use the altimeter, you pull out the altimeter crown to the first position, which shows a red ring indicating the altimeter is active. Pull the crown another stop, and rotate the bezel to show the current altitude. The watch will then show the altitude with the red indicator and the air pressure with the yellow indicator.

Inside, you’ll find the Oris Caliber 793, which is based on the Sellita SW300. That means it beats at 4Hz and has a 56-hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black nylon strap.

The new Oris x Bamford ProPilot Altimeter "Mission Control" is available now, limited to 250 pieces. Price is set at CHF 6,700. See more on the Oris website.

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Unimatic And Massena LAB Are Back At It With An All White NASA Watch

Following two quite successful NASA-themed watches, the Modello Uno U1-SPG “NASA Artemis” and Modello Quattro UT4-SPT “NASA Artemis II”, the Italian indie brand Unimatic and Massena LAB, a design studio led by William Massena, are teaming up once again to release the Modello Quattro U4S‐T‐SPW, an all white watch inspired by meteorites.

The Modello Quattro U4S‐T‐SPW comes in a case made out of titanium, but you won’t get to see much of it. That’s because the case is covered in a white Cerakote cote giving it a fully matte finish. THe case measures 40mm wide, 13mm thick and has a 49mm lug-to-lug. On top is a flat sapphire crystal, surrounded by a fixed bezel that has the same white coat, and water resistance is a great 300 meters.

The dial is standard meteorite fare, with a grey color and the instantly recognizable Widmanstätten pattern. Interestingly, there’s nothing printed or applied on the dial, as everything is printed on the underside of the crystal with Super-LumiNova BGW9. That includes the openworked indices and the NASA logo above 6 o’clock. The hour and minute hands are openworked as well, and lumed.

Inside, you’ll find the familiar Sellita SW200-1 b automatic, beating at 4Hz, with a power reserve of 38 hours. The lugs, which are drilled, are 22mm wide and the watch comes with a white nylon two-piece strap and a grey TPU two-piece strap. Both have titanium buckles with white Cerakote.

The new Modello Quattro U4S‐T‐SPW is limited to 60 pieces and there’s just one way to buy them — you’ll have to do it in person, at Geneva Watch Days 2025 from September 4th to the 7th. Price is set at €2,500, without tax. The watch isn’t on the Unimatic website just yet, but it might show up.

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Louis Erard’s Fil d’Or With An Incredible Micromechanical Embroidery Dial

OK, so there are a couple of very cool things about this watch. First, it comes just days after Louis Erard showed a new model which had a fully engraved case. That thing wasn’t my cup of tea, so it goes to show how much variety LE has in their lineup. Cool. It’s also a continuation o Louis Erard’s trend of bringing high concept ideas that other brands would charge fortunes for to the mases. Cool. It’s also a collaboration with Wire Art, a company that repurposes obsolete bonding machines by using them for creative projects. That means that this dial gets a dial made with gold embroidery at a micromechanical level. Cool. This is the new Fil d’Or Louis Erard x Wire Art and it’s so cool.

The case of this watch is not just familiar from previous models in the Noirmont Métiers d’Art collection, it’s also super simple. Made out of stainless steel, it measures 39mm wide, 12.82mm thick and has short lugs for a 45.9mm lug-to-lug. The case is fully polished with a minimalist fixed bezel on top that surrounds the domed sapphire crystal. Water resistance is 50 meters.

But it’s obviously all about the dial. The process of making this dial starts with a base that gets black lacquer. It is laser-engraved with thousands of micro cavities, which are then filled with 24k gold thread, using electroplating using a bonding machine. The thread is assembled in layers to produce a 3D chevron motif and it looks incredible. The sword-shaped hands have satin-brushed surface and diamond-polished angles.

Inside, no surprises — it’s the Sellita SW266-1 élaboré-grade automatic movement. Louis Erard gives it a openworked rotor with their logo in black lacquer. It beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a beige, grained calfskin strap.

The new Fil d’Or Louis Erard x Wire Art is available now, limited to 99 pieces. Price is set at CHF 4,500, without tax. See more on the Louis Erard website.

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MB&F Celebrates 20th Anniversary With An Evolution Of Their Classic LM101

Over the last 20 years, a milestone that the brand is celebrating now, MB&F has made some great looking watches. And a lot of them. And every now and again, the brand decides to give one of their icons a refresh. They mark these releases with the EVO moniker, denoting evolutions in design and engineering. The latest to get this treatment is the LM101, which gets a few choice upgrades and two new dials.

The new LM101 comes in a titanium case that measures 40mm wide and 16.5mm thick, with a lot of that thickness is taken up by the massively domed sapphire crystal that has to protrude so much to house the balance wheel that’s on the dial side. The lug-to-lug measurement of 49mm makes it somewhat wearable, however. Water resistance is 80 meters.

The two new dials get a CVD coat in either salmon or peacock green, with the majority of attention being taken by the mirror polished bridge that holds the suspended balance wheel with Straumann hairspring. At 2 o’clock is a small black dial that indicates the hours and minutes, while a power reserve indicator sits at 6 o'clock with 60-hour track.

Inside, you’ll find a manually wound movement that beats at 2.5Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve — another improvement for the EVO model. The movement has the oversized balance wheel on the dial side and it has their proprietary FlexRing dampener is inserted between the movement and the case to protect from shocks. It’s aesthetics and finishing specifications have been overseen by Kari Voutilainen. The watches come on either a white or grey rubber strap closed with a titanium folding buckle.

The new MB&F LM101 EVO Editions will be made in limited quantities and priced at CHF 62,000, without tax. See more on the MB&F 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

• On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley shot President Reagan and changed American media, celebrity, and violence forever. This gripping narrative traces the tangled lives of Hinckley, Jodie Foster, and Reagan, exploring obsession, fame’s death-drive, and the blurred lines between self and image in the age of screens—culminating in the birth of a culture where everyone can become both spectator and spectacle.

• Jim Acosta’s “interview” with an AI recreation of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, built with his parents’ blessing, thrusts viewers into the surreal and uneasy reality of grief, tech ambition, and ethical crisis. As digital resurrections blur lines between tribute and exploitation, this story captures the disorientation—and resignation—defining our generative AI era.

• John Harkins, deeply steeped in the ice cream trade from childhood, now runs a top-selling ice cream truck business in Scotland, continuing a vibrant, centuries-old tradition. This story explores the enduring charm of ice cream vans, from nostalgic seaside treats and iconic tunes to modern innovations, family dynasties, and the industry's resilient evolution in a changing world.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Haven’t had time for much YouTube lately, but this has been in my to-watch feed for a few days. And I know it won’t let down.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk