The Citizen Releases Two Washi Paper Dials; Farer Launches Three Hands Series III; Bernhard Watch Co.'s New Set Of Divers; Beda’a Adds A Mechanical Movement; UN's Avant-Garde Freak X Crystalium

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Last one for the week. I’m going to sleep as I haven’t had a break in 15 days! See you next week with some cool releases.

KIND OF IMPORTANT: I’m looking for someone to help me out with building up the ad side of this newsletter. If you think this is you, drop me a note

In this issue

• Citizen Continues Celebrating 30 Years Of The Citizen With Two More Washi Paper Dials

• Farer Launches The Three Hands Series III with Alert, Venture and Aurora Models

• Bernhard Watch Company Has A New Set Of Binnacle Divers In Some Pretty Great Colors

• Beda’a Adds A Mechanical Movement With The Angles Mecaline

• Ulysse Nardin Enjoys A Bit Of Avant-Garde Razzle-Dazzle On The Freak X Crystalium

👂What’s new

1/

Citizen Continues Celebrating 30 Years Of The Citizen With Two More Washi Paper Dials

It’s getting a bit repetitive, but I’ll say it again — Citizen is on one hell of a role. They are covering all the bases, moving into spaces left empty by Seiko, coming out with very modern designs, affordable entry level mechanical models and high end tool watches. But at the top, they have The Citizen collection. Sure, it’s one of the more clumsy naming schemes in the watch world, but think of The Citizen as Citizen’s Grand Seiko. The high-end collection was launched in 1995 and while they make pretty impressive mechanical movements for it, it’s their quartz movements that are truly impressive. They launched with a watch that was accurate to within 5 seconds per year and by 2010, they got the accuracy down to a pretty impossible 1 second per year. Now, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the collection, The Citizen is launching a duo of limited editions with nature-inspired Tosa Washi paper dials and a light-powered Eco-Drive movement.

Both of the watches come in decidedly modern cases with a classic look. A round body, beveled lugs, chamfered edges and an overall brushed surface with polished details make it suitable for everyday wear. As does the size — 38.3mm wide and 12.2mm thick. Both are made out of Citizen’s Super Titanium which gets their Duratect hardness coatings, which is a lot of marketing speak that says it’s a light titanium case that can’t be scratched easy. The AQ4103-16W gets a Duratect Amber Yellow, a new addition to the Duratect line that looks like yellow gold, while the AQ4100-22A has a Duratect Platinum coating, which keeps things silver. Water resistance is 100 meters.

But it’s all about the dials, both of which are made out of washi paper, a naturally produced paper popular in Japanese calligraphy. The AQ4103-16W, or the yellow cased one, comes with a black paper dial infused with gold leaf, while the AQ4100-22A comes with a silver-white dial. You also get beautiful hands with polished bevels, faceted hour markers, a date aperture 3 o’clock and The Citizen Eagle above 6 o’clock.

Inside both watches is the calibre A060, which near the top of the line of Citizen high accuracy quartz movements. It’s accurate to 5 seconds per year and also features a perpetual calendar accurate to the year 2100. It also uses the natural transparency of paper on the dial to let light in and charge the battery. Speaking of the battery, a full charge will get you a run time of 18 months. Both of these watches come on crocodile leather straps, one in black and the other in brown, both with case-matching folding clasps.

The new The Citizen 30th Anniversary limited editions are made in just 400 pieces per watch. The Duratect Platinum is priced at €3,200, while the Duratect Amber Yellow comes in at €3,450. See more on the Citizen website.

2/

Farer Launches The Three Hands Series III with Alert, Venture and Aurora Models

I don’t know if I’m the only one who had this feeling, but the past few releases from Farer just didn’t have that Farer feel. They were fine watches, don’t get me wrong, but it seemed like they were missing a bit of pizzaz. Which means a lot with Farer, seeing how they are the one brand that is so unique in their use of color, they are instantly recognizable. Now, their latest release seems to bring them back to their usual fantastic selves. This is the new Farer Three Hands Series III.

As the name would suggest, this is the third version of their time only watch. And it’s quite an evolution. The case has been completely redesigned. Made out of stainless steel, it measures 39mm wide and 11.8mm thick. On top is a thin stepped bezel that holds an expansive sapphire crystal, giving you a look at the dial inside. Also new is the addition of a screw-down crown which now improves the water resistance to 100 meters.

There are three versions of the Three Hands Series III, all named after historic ships. Alert comes with a dial stamped with a rock fissure pattern before it’s given a fumé gradient deep red color. That’s paired with Arabic numerals printed in Super-LumiNova, pencil shaped hands and a burgundy seconds hand with Farer A tip. Next is the Venture, which also has a slightly more grained texture and the same fumé gradient but now in blue. There are no numerals, just hour numerals made out of lumicast, a lumed ceramic material, paired with black hands with a gold tipped seconds hand. Last, and completely different from the other two, is Aurora which gets a salmon colored dial with a broad sunray guilloché patter, and a sector style display. The numerals here have the best of the Farer treatments — they are Arabic numerals made out lumicast, with a black print on top, making them have an underglow. It’s sensational.

In the watches is the you’ll find the calibre G101 from La Joux-Perret which beats at 4Hz and has a 68 hour power reserve. The watches get a whole range of possible straps to choose from.

The new Farer Three Hands Series III is available for pre-order now, with deliveries starting September 30th. Price is set at €1,180 for all three. See more on the Farer website.

3/

Bernhard Watch Company Has A New Set Of Binnacle Divers In Some Pretty Great Colors

The great thing about watches, about this industry, is its incredible diversity. Here’s Rolex, cranking out a million watches every year. There you’ll find a mater watchmaker crafting watches by hand, one by one. And in the middle, you’ll find thousands of enthusiasts working on bringing their dreams and their ideas of a perfect watch to their customers. Some of these enthusiasts work in companies like Oris, others start their own companies. One of these companies, and a very good example of the enthusiast run company is Bernhardt Watch Company. Started by Fred Amos in his college dorm, Bernhard has been chugging along for 20 years. And it was 20 years ago that they released the Binnacle Diver, the watch that started it all for this small company. Now, they’re brining it back, with a couple of new colors.

This is a very classic diver with some classic proportions. The stainless steel case measures 41mm wide, just 11mm thick and has a 48mm lug-to-lug. That 11mm thickness is even more impressive when you consider the fact that that includes the sapphire crystal and bezel AND you get 300 meters of water resistance. You don’t see those numbers together very often. It’s a really nice looking case, with brushed top surfaces and polished sides, while the 120 click unidirectional bezel on top has a niced scalloped finish for easier grip.

While the case has a lot of classic diver inspiration, the dials, they are quite something else. First of all, it has a sandwich construction with cutouts on the numerals and triangular hour markers, framed in steel, that show off the white underside that is filled with Super-Luminova BGW9. There are three colors to choose from: Midnight gets a black bezel and black dial; Crystal Coast with a turquoise bezel with orange details and a turquoise bezel; and Atlantic Swell gets a light blue bezel, a white outer ring on the dial that holds the markers, and a central part that has a light purple segment with a wave pattern. All of the bezels have sapphire inserts which give them a retro look.

Inside, you’ll find the ubiquitous Miyota 9039 automatic movement which beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. The movement has also been hand-regulated in-house to ±5 seconds per day. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet that has a tool less micro-adjustment clasp.

The new Bernhardt Watch Company Binnacle Diver is available now, priced at €601 for me here in Croatia. See more on the Bernhardt Watch Company website.

4/

Beda’a Adds A Mechanical Movement With The Angles Mecaline

Last week, Geneva saw the entire watch industry converge in one place, ready to see what’s new and what’s coming in the future. Geneva Watch Days, unlike Watches & Wonders in April is a much more intimate show, with less fanfare and a cooler vibe. It’s also the place to discover interesting new brands you might have not heard of before. Brands like Beda’a, a Qatari independent watch brand. I happened to have heard about them before, but I guarantee there were thousands in Geneva who have never heard of them. But after Thursday last week, I guarantee everyone will remember the Beda’a name. We were all caught in a monsoon-like rainstorm on Thursday. Nobody was particularly prepared. Rain jackets were nowhere in sight and umbrellas even more rare. The only umbrellas you did see, their owners happily walking dry in front of the Beau Rivage hotel, were promotional umbrellas handed out by none other than Beda’a. It was a lucky decision to give away umbrellas in Geneva at a time it never rains, but it paid of wonderfully. Everybody learned about Beda’a overnight. But for us who knew them before, they are now updating their Angles collection, a very cool angle-cased dress watch, with a mechanical movement. This is the new Beda’a Angles Mecaline.

The case of the Angles Mecaline remains very recognizable. There’s a lot of stepped layers here, a sharply angled steel case middle topped by an octagonal bezel, with alternating brushed and polished surfaces. This model is thicker than the quartz version, but the proportions are still impressive. It’s a small watch, 34mm wide, just 6mm thick and with a 37mm lug-to-lug, but it doesn’t wear that small. I guess thanks to the many angles. There’s a sapphire crystal on top, a closed caseback and you get 30 meters of water resistance.

There are two dial options to choose from — a black or a taupe grey, both with a glossy finish. Both also have a small seconds display with a semi-matte sunray or circular finish and a railroad track around it. There are no hour makers — in fact no markings other than the logo which is done tone-on-tone — and all you get is the pair of dauphine-style hands.

Inside, you’ll find the ETA 7001 Peseux, a hand wound movement beating at 21,600vph, with a 42 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a Epsom leather strap in black or taupe-grey, matching the dial.

The new Beda’a Angles Mecaline is part of the regular collection and available now. Price is set at $1,456. See more on the Beda’a website.

 5/

Ulysse Nardin Enjoys A Bit Of Avant-Garde Razzle-Dazzle On The Freak X Crystalium

The Ulysse Nardin Freak was made by one of my all time favorite watchmakers, Ludwig Oechslin. It is a really interesting watch that combines major parts of the movement with a a minute hand to give you a truly unique watch, which is a rarity in the industry. It’s also really complicated, which also means that it’s rather expensive. To combat that, UN released the Freak X, a slightly simplified version of the original Freak, making some concessions to bring down the price. Although, it’s not cheap. But it does serve as an interesting canvas for different dial renditions, like the just introduced Freak X Crystalium.

The case measures 43mm wide and 13.38mm thick and features a more traditional crown on the right side, something that the original Freak does not have. It’s made entirely of titanium that is then DLC coated in black. On top is a domed sapphire crystal and water resistance is 50 meters.

Like all other Freak X watches, this one also has the carousel construction that continuously rotates over the mainplate, holding the oversized silicium balance wheel and pointing to the hours and minutes. Here, the mainplate is made from ruthenium, already a super rare metal. But it then undergoes a vapour-deposition crystallisation process that takes several days, crystallizing the metal into fractal-like patterns. That is then PVD coated in rose gold. It’s quite the look. All of the hardware and bridges are done in black, to contrast the golf of the plate.

Powering the watch is the UN-230 calibre with automatic winding, which is actually used to indicate the hours, while the baguette-shaped one-hour carrousel indicates the minutes. The movement beats at 3Hz and has a 72 hour power reserve. The balance wheel has nickel flyweights and micro-blades attached to the minute hand for stability. The watch comes on a textured black rubber strap with rose-gold stitching.

The new Ulysse Nardin Freak X Crystalium is available now, priced at €42,700. See more on the Ulysse Nardin 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

• A reporter recalls a surreal FBI encounter, unraveling her father’s secretive ties to North Korea, government surveillance, and a family life shaped by paranoia and technology. What unfolds isn’t clarity about who he really was, but a meditation on inherited distrust, the impossibility of knowing others, and the modern world’s ever-watchful gaze.

• Twenty-five years ago, on the first day of spring, the members of Gelitin, an Austrian art collective, removed a window from the North Tower of the World Trade Center, extended a narrow balcony, and then emerged, 91 stories above the city. Hardly anyone noticed; the Times didn’t report on the incident until more than a year after, and a friend of the group denied it had taken place. The headline here hardly does justice to Kyle MacNeill’s feature, which is by turns a gripping procedural and a consideration of the fate of an artistic act—a messy, ambitious, controversial one—overwhelmed, a year later, by an atrocity committed at the same site.

• The latest issue of Harper’s offers more tenderhearted stories about more approachable creatures—namely, Tao Lin’s 8,000-word memoir about his three cats. And yet I was enthralled by Nathaniel Rich’s dispatch from the Louisiana Nutria Rodeo, which holds the answer to just about every question one would think to ask about the state’s invasive, Jack Russell-sized rodent. Come for the hunt, to see who bags the biggest rat! Stay for the cook-off, to find out who can improve on Paul Prudhomme’s “nutria popcorn” recipe! But when the Nutria Toss begins, you may want to take a few steps back.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

These Speeed videos are really well done.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk