The echo/neutra GMT Tennis Club Is A Looker; Squale's Submarine Watch; Micromilspec Is Not Celebrating Six Years; Bremont's Flagship; The Kudoke 3 In Sky Blue; Arnold & Son's Turquoise Luna Magna

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. We got through another week of sensational watches. I still have some stuff to cover from Dubai, but expect it to cool down as we get closer to the end of the year.

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In this issue

• The echo/neutra 1956 GMT Tennis Club Is One Of The Best Looking Watches Of The Year

• Squale Teams Up With Drass Underwater Technologies For A Very Special DRASS SAVER

• Micromilspec Is Not Celebrating Six Years With New Colorways For The Dualtimer

• Bremont Skeletonizes Their Flagship Altitude Perpetual Calendar GMT Mono-Pusher

• The Latest Kudoke 3 Comes With A Beautifully Textured Sky Blue Dial

• Arnold & Son Release A Turquoise Version Of The Incredible Luna Magna

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Historical Perspectives: Admiral Byrd, Longines, and the Antarctic Night

👂What’s new

1/

The echo/neutra 1956 GMT Tennis Club Is One Of The Best Looking Watches Of The Year

For a couple of years now, the Italian independent brand echo/neutra has been making pretty great sports watches inspired by the Dolomite mountain range. Then late last year, they kind of broke the sports-watch streak and broke the internet along the way, with the release of the Rivanera, a radically angular small dress watch that was an instant hit. That was good, and updated just a few days ago with an even smaller version. But what’s also good is that they are back to their cool sports and tool watches. Just the other week, I wrote about new additions to the 1956 GMT collection in black and tan. But at the same time, they released another version of the 1956 GMT, one that was much spectacular than the duo. This is the new 1956 GMT Tennis Club and I know this is personal, but it’s one of the best looking watches of the year.

You know this case from previous 1956 collections, and it’s about as great as you would expect from a brand that is now well established in the market. Made out of stainless steel, it measures 40mm wide, 11.9mm wide and has a comfortable 46mm lug-to-lug. That’s particularly curious because when you see the watch it looks to have long lugs and cold stick past the wrist. Instead, the lugs are fairly thin and angular, just giving them an illusion of length. On top is an ultra domed sapphire crystal, surrounded by one of the coolest bezels in the industry. They are bidirectional with 48 clicks, with a 24 hour scale rendered on it, split into two colors — a dark blue and a stark white. But the best part of the bezel, the truly vintage inspired one, is a domed sapphire crystal on the bezel that makes the thing look like old bakelite bezels. Water resistance is a decent 100 meters.

The dial comes in a slightly off-white dial, with blue printed beautiful Arabic numerals and minute markers. The hour and minute hands are also blue, treated with lume, while the GMT is rendered in a very bright red with an arrow on top. At 6 o’clock is the logo of the Padova Tennis Club, to which this watch is dedicated.

Inside, you’ll find the trusty Sellita SW330-2 movement which beats at 4Hz and has a 56 hour power reserve. The watches come on blue vintage-style leather strap with red stitching, with an additional blue tropic-style strap or, at an extra cost, a stainless steel bracelet.

The new echo/neutra 1956 GMT Tennis Club is available now. Price is set at a pretty good €1,290 on leather, or at €1,340 if you opt for the additional stainless steel. See more on the echo/neutra website.

2/

Squale Teams Up With Drass Underwater Technologies For A Very Special DRASS SAVER

This isn’t the first time that Squale has teamed up with Drass Underwater Technologies. They first did the DRASS Periscope model, created in 2022 initially for submarine operators and later released to the public. If you’re not familiar with these two names, Squale is a small but beloved Swiss dive watch maker, while Drass Underwater Technologies is an Italian leader in submarine construction and deep-sea technologies. One of Drass’ most popular product is the SAVER submarine rescue system, the most advanced and versatile rescue solution in operation that has been called the Swiss Army knife for underwater emergencies: it integrates a Submarine Rescue Vehicle (SRV), a Submarine Rescue Capsule (SRC), a Submarine Ventilation System (SVS), an operational ROV (up to 600 meters deep), and a Portable Launch & Recovery System, all ready to be deployed anywhere in the world, within hours. The two brands have come together to make a watch inspired by the SAVER rescue system and this is it, the Squale DRASS S.A.V.E.R.

Based on the Squalle Master, this is an overall familiar watch, but with some very cool. additions. The case is made out of stainless steel, with a brushed finish, and measures 41.5mm wide overall, 16mm thick and has a 49mm lug-to-lug. I say the 41.5mm overall width, because that’s measured at the bezel. At the case, it’s 40.5mm wide. At 3 o’clock is a screw-down crown that has a red O-ring that lets you know at a glance whether the crown is screwed down. On the opposite side of the case is the helium escape valve. On top is a flat sapphire crystal surrounded by a unidirectional steel BUND bezel. The BUND comes from “Bundeswehr,” the German Army, referring to watches supplied to the military with specific aesthetic and functional features such as a bezel without markings. Water resistance is exactly what you would expect watch built to accompany rescue submarines — 500 meters.

The dial is pretty much as simple as can get. It’s a black base with a printed minute hand and chunky square hour makers. The dial has the yellow DRASS SAVER logo, with yellow details on the minute and seconds hand. All the lume is done in Super-LumiNova BGW9.

Inside, you’ll the ubiquitous, easily servicable and robust Sellita SW200-1 which beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watch comes with a custom leather strap with yellow stitching and SAVER logo, as well as a black Von Büren Pro rubber strap.

The new Squale DRASS S.A.V.E.R. is available now, priced at €1,490. See more on the Squale website.

3/

Micromilspec Is Not Celebrating Six Years With New Colorways For The Dualtimer

Just as quickly as they took the watch community by storm, Micromilspec is becoming one of my favorite watch brands. They’re doing everything exactly right. Technically, they are celebrating six years of being around, but since they existed for years without ever being available to the public, they’re not making a bid deal out of it. It’s a small celebration, with a new version of the Dualtimer, their first pilot’s watch. Actually, three new versions.

The case of the Dualtimer hasn’t changed, for the most part. It measures 42mm wide and 12.5mm thick, with a barrel shape and sharply sloped short lugs that give it an almost integrated look. It’s the exact same shape and size as the Milgraph case. However, while the Milgraph is made out of titanium, this case is made out of stainless steel that has a fully brushed finish, with chamfered crown guards on the side. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a fluted 24-hour rotating bezel. Now, instead of just a black insert, you get inserts matched to the dial colors. Water resistance is 200 meters.

There are three colors available — Perfect Blue, Perfect Green, and Perfect Sand, and I totally dig that they are all called perfect. The rest remains largely unchanged. You get simple printed hour and minute scale with Arabic numerals. At 12, the numeral is replaced by a triangle, at 3 with a date window that shows the date before and after the current date, and the space between 8 and 10 is taken by a military-style script that holds the logo and a few technical details. The hour and minute hands and main indices glow green, while the GMT hand and bezel have a blue glow, separating the two time zones in the dark.

Inside, you’ll find the Sellita SW330-2, an automatic GMT calibre that beats at 4Hz and has a 56 hour power reserve. This is a caller style GMT, which means that you independently adjust the GMT hand. The watch can be had on either a rubber strap that’s color matched to the dial.

The new Micromilspec Dualtimer Perfect series is available now, production is limited to 23 pieces per year. Price is set at €1,670, the same as the regular edition. See more on the Micromilspec website.

4/

Bremont Skeletonizes Their Flagship Altitude Perpetual Calendar GMT Mono-Pusher

You know what? Even though a lot of their lineup is still not my thing, I have to give credit where credit is due — Bremont is making a fantastic comeback. They shocked the watch world in 2024 at Watches and Wonder when they revamped the entire brand in just a few months after appointing a new CEO. They ditched a lot of watches, introduced brand new lines that were completely different to everything they did before, new cases. Even the logo didn’t go over well with fans of the brand steeped in Birtish heritage. But over the last two years, they’ve been making strides forward to profile the brand a bit sharper. Sure, there are many more things to improve on, but they’ve slowly been working on expanding the new collections, while bringing back their iconic pieces. One of the watches that is getting a new look is what has to be their most exclusive offering — the Altitude Perpetual Calendar GMT Mono-Pusher, which now gets a skeletonized edition for Dubai Watch Week.

On the outside, it’s the same Trip-Tick case that previous versions came in. It’s made out of grade 2 titanium, measuring 42mm wide, a pretty great 12.65mm thick and a 49.63mm lug-to-lug. The case has a brushed case with polished details and a PVD-coated middle case barrel. On top is a domed sapphire crystal, surrounded by a titanium bezel, while out back is an open titanium caseback. On the right side is an oversized fluted crown with an integrated mono pusher and recessed correctors at 2 and 4 o’clock. Water resistance is 100 meters.

What’s new happens on the dial side, where the regular dial has been replaced by an openworked blue plate that shows off parts of the movement. You get a chapter ring on the edge with printed and applied markers. A lot is familiar here — at 12 o’clock is the rotating globe that has a 24-hour day/night ring surrounding it. At 6 o’clock is a radial date scale, the runing seconds are at 9 o’clock using a single blade propeller hand, while at 3 o’clock is the month and leap year indication that uses a two-blade propeller.

The movement you see is the calibre BHC9192 which uses the AMT6900 base, made by Sellita’s high-end AMT manufacturer, and pairs it with an Agenhor module made just for Bremont. Despite the use of a module and a perpetual calendar, and perhaps thanks to the manual winding, the movement is just 6.8mm thick. It beats at 4Hz, has a 50 hour power reserve, and is accurate to -6/+6 seconds per day. Decorations include Côtes de Genève on the bridges and an engraved Wayfinder logo on the mono-pusher lever. The watch comes on a titanium bracelet, with an additional blue patina leather strap.

The new Bremont Skeletonised Altitude Perpetual Calendar GMT Mono-Pusher is available now, priced at €44,400. See more on the Bremont website.

5/

The Latest Kudoke 3 Comes With A Beautifully Textured Sky Blue Dial

There are many independent watchmakers out there that are deserved of our attention and praise. So many. But I kind of try to keep a top 10 list of my personal favorites. And among possibly my top 5 indies, you’ll find Kudoke, the German indie brand led by Stefan Kudoke. The Kudoke 1 and 2 were very cool, but my favorite has to be the Kudoke 3, which splits up the dial into two halves and tells time with a triple-scale hour display. That lower plate of the dial always served as a great canvas for decorations, like it was done in the incredible Kudoke 3 Flakes. The new Kudoke 3 Sky Blue gets a very light blue plate with the slightest of textures.

On the outside, things remain the same. You get the same stainless steel polished case that measures 39mm wide and 10.3mm thick. Well, it’s stainless steel as standard. You can also option it up to a gold case, which would really be something. On top is a sapphire crystal surrounded by a stepped bezel, and on the size is an onion style crown. You won’t go diving with this, but the 50 meter water resistance is welcomed.

The setup of the dial is also the same — the three-scale hour display of Kudoke 3 is applied to the lower silver-plated dial level, while on top is an upper dial plate with a minute rhodium plated ring on the periphery. New is the upper dial plate which now has a frosted sky blue finish. Time is still read via the three-arm hour hand pointing to its triple scale, with each arm of different length. Minutes are told via the blued hand with an infinity symbol tip, pointing to the chapter ring, while the hours are done with the two smaller hands.

Inside, you’ll find the Kudoke Kaliber 1 which is based on the very cool Habring2 A11. it beats at 4Hz and has a 46 hour power reserve. The hand-engraved balance cock is decorated with an infinity symbol, it is also repeated as the counterweight of the minute hand and a 60-minute mark on the minutes ring. The watches comes on a black leather strap.

The new Kudoke 3 Sky Blue is priced, is priced at €11,500. The watch is still not up on the Kudoke website, but keep an eye out for it.

6/

Arnold & Son Release A Turquoise Version Of The Incredible Luna Magna

Arnold & Son is one of those brands that seems way older than it is. Sure, it has some history, but the modern company is just over ten years old. And in that time, they have made some serious, serious watches. Some of the best that money can buy. Among my favorites of theirs is the Luna Magna, which has a huge sphere — 12mm wide — that takes up the whole bottom part of the watch on both sides. Now they’re giving us the Luna Magna in steel with a turquoise dial.

One would expect a watch like this to be made out of a precious metal, but the choice of polished steel is just very interesting. It’s a simple case with a thin band, that measures 44mm wide and 15.9mm thick. On top and bottom you’ll find box-shaped sapphire crystals. I couldn’t find any info on water resistance, but who can really care about that?

This watch will be available only in the Americas, where turquoise is a commonly used stone, so it only makes sense that it is used on this watch, as for centuries it has been a symbol of protection. Turquoise is used for the entire base plate of the dial, with veins running through it, while time is told in an off-centered dial near 12 o’clock. That time dial has an opal white base, blued hands and Roman numerals. At 6 o’clock is the three-dimensional sphere that shows the lunar phases — half of it done in turquoise and the other half in Cacholong opal.

The same sphere can be seen through the caseback, with the in-house A&S1021 calibre forming around it. It’s a manually wound movement, beating at 3Hz with a 90 hour power reserve. At the center of the movement is a secondary display of the moon's phase, which makes for easier adjustment of the current phase. It’s also incredibly accurate when it comes to the lunar phase, as it faithfully respects the duration of a lunation 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds. That means that it would take 122 years for the moon phase to be off a single day. The watch comes on a black alligator leather strap with turquoise stitching and an additional turquoise alligator leather strap with black alligator leather lining.

The new Arnold & Son Luna Magna Steel Turquoise is a limited edition of 18 pieces, priced at $53,400. See more on the Arnold & Son website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Historical Perspectives: Admiral Byrd, Longines, and the Antarctic Night

How a Swiss Watchmaker Helped America’s Greatest Explorer Survive Total Darkness. Read it here. 

⏲️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

• This investigation traces Buddhism's alarming shift from ahimsa's nonviolent ideal to a tool of nationalist extremism in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Monks like Gnanasara incite anti-Muslim riots, exploiting colonial scars, economic envy, and patriarchal power—prioritizing dominance over nirvana—while the silent majority fails to counter the tide.

• In Praise of Bibliomania: In the chaotic bliss of Aldus Manutius's Venetian print shop, Erasmus found paradise amid ink, type, and fellow scholars crafting a boundless library. A frayed Aldine Aristotle later fueled Umberto Eco's obsession, echoing through bibliomaniacs like the author, whose 3,000-volume hoard defies algorithms and mortality—celebrating books as eternal "paper bodies" of knowledge and love.

• Marcel Breuer's Brutalist Whitney Museum, opened in 1966, sparked both acclaim and controversy with its bold, concrete design amid Upper East Side's traditional architecture. How Brutalism Became Both a Utopian Dream and a Dystopian Meme is explored as the building, now Sotheby’s new HQ, continues to embody Brutalism’s complex legacy—balancing monumentality with humanity.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

I was never really good at math, but if I had someone explain it to me like this, I might not have been as bad. Trust me, watch this video. You will not regret it.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk