TAG Heuer Says Goodbye to Zandvoort With Full Orange Formula 1 Solargraph; Timex Reimagines the '80s Watch With the Retroware; Jacques Bianchi Goes Enamel Dial; Cartier Updates The Tank Américaine

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Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. We’re starting to scrape the bottom of the release well, so you might start seeing some skipped issues, but I’ve seen some stuff coming out in September and that will be a really good month.

In this issue

• TAG Heuer Says Goodbye to The Dutch Grand Prix With Full Orange Formula 1 Solargraph

• Timex Reimagines the '80s Digital Sport Watch With the Retroware

• Jacques Bianchi Reinterprets Its Marseille Tide Gauge With An Enamel Dial

• Cartier Updates Their Skinny Watch With The Tank Américaine Squelette & Tank Américaine Art Déco

👂What’s new

1/

TAG Heuer Says Goodbye to The Dutch Grand Prix With Full Orange Formula 1 Solargraph

While it holds immense importance in the history of racing, over the last few years, the Dutch track of Zandvoort has become even more important than before. If you’ve seen it over the past few seasons, you would have seen that the stands don't just hold fans of the local boy Max Verstappen, but rather a solid wall of orange that moves as one. So, it’s quite sad to hear that on August 23rd that circuit hosts its last Formula 1 weekend. At least for now. But to say goodby, TAG Heuer is paying homage to the track with a fully orange Formula 1 Solargraph, very similar to the orange Formula 1 in the 1990s.

The case is 38mm wide and 9.9mm thick, made out of sand-blasted stainless steel, with a lug-to-lug of 45.2mm and with 100 meters of water resistance. The bezel is made out TAG Heuer's bio-polyamide resin in an extremely loud orange, paired with white text for the 60 minute scale. The caseback has a checkered engraving and the TAG Heuer logo.

The dial is opaline gray with orange and red printing and red lacquered hands, a near-copy of the 1990s original down to the color split. The markers are applied now rather than printed, and the old "Professional 200 Meters Quartz" text has given way to "Formula 1 Solargraph Swiss Made." The orange minute track and bezel are fantastic contrasts to the grey dial.

Inside is the TH50-00, a solar quartz movement from La Joux-Perret that charges through the dial. One minute of light buys a day of run time; a full charge takes 40 hours and lasts about ten months. The strap version comes on matching orange rubber, but you can also get it on a three-row steel bracelet, sold online only.

The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Zandvoort Limited Edition is available now, limited to 1,500 on strap and priced at €2,100, while the steel bracelet is limited to 1,000 and priced at €2,200. See more on the TAG Heuer website.

2/

Timex Reimagines the '80s Digital Sport Watch With the Retroware

Timex occupies a specific role in this world we inhabit: the palate cleanser you reach for when the six-figure releases start blurring together. The new Retroware Digital is the perfect example of that. It isn't a reissue, which sets it apart from the brand's Q Timex and T80 revivals, both of which faithfully recreate watches that actually existed. This one is a fresh reference that borrows the swagger of mid-'80s digital sport watches without copying any single model.

The case is 46mm wide, made out of blue or grey resin, which keeps it featherlight and easier to wear. The integrated strap and virtual lack of lugs also help a lot with that 46mm not feeling too large. Water resistance is rated to 50 meters.

The display is where things get very groovy. Oversized curved numerals dominate the readout, almost like a 1985 designer's guess at what the future would look like. It's an odd, appealing place for a new watch to live. Functionally it does the expected digital work: chronograph, alarm, timer, and a full calendar. The Indiglo backlight returns, one of the pleasures of owning a Timex after dark.

Power comes from a battery-driven quartz module, unnamed as is often the case with Timex. Both versions ship on color-matched resin straps, one blue and one grey-green, fitted with quick-release spring bars you can swap without tools.

The Timex Retroware Digital is available now, priced at €139. See more on the Timex website.

3/

Jacques Bianchi Reinterprets Its Marseille Tide Gauge With An Enamel Dial

A marégraphe, or a tide gauge, does exactly what it says on the label — it gauges the hight of a tide. While they are now mostly sensor based, for centuries these devices were simple floats and sticks. And often, they were housed in dedicated buildings to eliminate as much environmental impact as possible. One such building is the Marégraphe de Marseille, a truly iconic building not just for Marseille, but all of France. Built in 1883, this structure was used to determine the origin of altitudes in mainland France, marking the fundamental reference point for the French leveling network. A year ago, the very charming French brand Jacques Bianchi partnered up with the Marégraphe de Marseille to release a watch, the brand's first non-destro diver. The Marégraphe II reverses that decision, returning the crown to the left side of the case, while adding one of the prettiest enamel dials I’ve ever seen.

The case is steel, 42mm wide, with 20mm lugs. While the case is still quite curvy, the lines appear tauter than the original, the chamfers more defined, and the bezel now has a slight bevel. The crown moves back to the left side of the case, so this is a destro built for the right wrist. The caseback is engraved "Marégraphe de Marseille." Water resistance is 200 meters.

The dial is the showstopper here. It is built from 20 layers of enamel, translucent enough to show a wave pattern underneath, all done in a dark blue, almost black at some points. It looks fantastic. The indices are individually machined and applied, a first for the brand. Hands are lumed.

Inside is the Swiss-made Soprod P024 automatic, an hours, minutes, seconds and date movement regulated to run within -4/+6 seconds per day. It comes on an FKM rubber strap with a second parachute-style strap included.

The Marégraphe II is limited to 300 numbered pieces, each numbered on the caseback. Price is set at €1,395. See more on the Jacques Bianchi website.

4/

Cartier Updates Their Skinny Watch With The Tank Américaine Squelette & Tank Américaine Art Déco

The Américaine is the tall, stretched cousin in the Tank family, and while it just might be my impression, I don’t think it has the fan base it should have. While people go crazy over the Tank, I’ve always thought the Américaine was a much more impressive watch. If for nothing, than for its quirkiness. And the two models that Cartier recently released, the Tank Américaine Squelette & Tank Américaine Art Déco show exactly how quirky it can get.

Both share a case measuring 44.4mm by 24.4mm and 8.24mm thick, with sapphire crystals front and back and 30 meters of water resistance. The Skeleton can be had in either platinum or in rose gold; while the Art Deco is platinum only, both with a satin finish and an octagonal crown set with a faceted ruby.

The Skeleton puts the hand-wound 1988 MC calibre on full display, its bridges shaped almost like Roman numerals arcing along the curved profile of the case. It’s a very dramatic case and depending on the case material the internal chapter ring that holds the minute markers comes in either silver or gold. The Art Deco fully embraces its name. A vertical grid runs toward a central vanishing point, with a burgundy gradient color that looks so classy, especially with sunray brushing, opaline and satin finishes.

The Skeleton's 1988 MC is hand-wound; the Art Deco's 1899 MC is automatic, named for the year Cartier settled into 13 rue de la Paix. Both beat at 21,600 vph, with some forty hours of power reserve. Both watches come with alligator leather straps that have quick release spring bars and matching material buckles.

The Tank Américaine Skeleton is priced at €55,000, the Art Deco at €27,900, both available now. See more on the Cartier 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

• There is no better thing to write about than something as unusual as a dog surfing competition. In the hands of a decent question-asker and a better writer, what looks like one of those stereotypical local news call-ins becomes an incredibly tense piece of politics and intrigue.

• After her son disappeared, Isabel Miranda de Wallace swore she would bring the culprits to justice. She became a national hero. But did she go too far?

• For decades, workers at a nuclear facility in Kentucky were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. Management assured them nothing was wrong. Then four friends risked everything to reveal the truth.

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Vuk