The Timex Marlin Chronos Are Glassboxes On A Budget; Favre Leuba's 70s Inspired Chief Chrono In BRG And Dune; Paulin Introduces Their Fist Diver; Greubel Forsey Refreshes The Nano Foudroyante EWT

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Timex, I’m not sure what to think of your watches…

The Laco giveaway is going on until Monday, so don’t miss out. The rules are simple:

If you want to participate in the Laco giveaway, just scroll down to the end of the newsletter where you’ll find a large share button. Use that to invite your friends to subscribe to the newsletter and every referral gets you a ticket to enter the raffle. The more subscribers you bring, the higher the chance of winning is.

In this issue

• The New Timex Marlin Chronographs Are The Glassbox On A Budget You’ve Been Looking For

• Favre Leuba Releases 70s Inspired Chief Chronograph In British Racing Green And Dune

• Paulin Introduces Their Fist Diver, The Mara, And It’s Exactly What You Would Imagine

• Greubel Forsey Refreshes The Nano Foudroyante EWT With A White Gold Case And Blue Details

• Your Chance To Win This Absolute Bomb Of A Watch From Laco

👂What’s new

1/

The New Timex Marlin Chronographs Are The Glassbox On A Budget You’ve Been Looking For

In January of last year, Timex released one of my favorites in their recent barrage of vintage re-releases. It was the really funky 60s retro-futuristic piece called the Timex Marlin Jet Automatic and it came with a Miyota 8-series mechanical movement, an incredibly stunning acrylic crystal and a spectacular price. It, of course, sold out instantly. Just a few days ago I wrote about the new Marlin GMT watches, but I completely missed what else they had released. Now, we’re getting something very similar to the Jet Automatic, with the same dial and crystal setup, but two major downsides. These are the new Marlin Jet Quartz Chronographs.

The case that the Marlin Jet Quartz Chronograph comes in is the exact same one that the Automatic came in. That means that it’s made out of stainless steel, with a brushed finish and curved lugs. Dimensions are slightly larger at 40mm wide, 13.5mm thick and with at 47mm lug-to-lug. I wish they could have brought down the thickness a bit, with this being a quartz—powered watch. But I won’t care much about the thickness when I see that incredible superdome Hesalite crystal on top. That crystal is just fantastic as it slopes over the bezel that has a tachymeter scale printed on it, making it look like the TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox. Briliant.

There are two dials to choose from — either a dark, dark, dark brown one or a stark silver. And I can’t decide which I like more. The dial has a lot of depth to it, as it’s shaped like a convex bowl with cutouts in the edge for the applied indices and a subtle frosted finish. The hands, like the indices, have a black-filled line and no lume. When it comes to the sub-dials, this is where I find the first downside, as the dial at 3 o’clock houses the supremely useless 24 hour indicator. At 6 o’clock is a date aperture with a white date disc inside.

Powering the watch is an unnamed quartz chronograph (I assume it’s a mecaquartz of some kind) movement, which might be a dealbreaker, but I really don’t mind. The brown dial version comes on a brown leather strap, while the silver one comes on a stainless steel bracelet.

The new Timex Marlin Jet Quartz Chronograph is available now, priced at €279 for the brown one and €299 for the silver one. Now, that’s kind of disappointing, because the Miyota-powered Marlin Jet Automatic was priced at €289 last year. But hey, what can you do. See more on the Timex website.

2/

Favre Leuba Releases 70s Inspired Chief Chronograph In British Racing Green And Dune

It’s easy to forget how devastating the quartz crisis was for the Swiss watch industry. One of the companies that came and went from the forefront of Swiss watchmaking is Favre Leuba, which has actually been around since 1737. The quartz crisis forced the founding family to sell the company in 1985, only to be revived a few years later and stumble again. Last year, for the third time, Favre Leuba announced that they are making another go at it, when they introduced three new collections and 22 new watches, all priced in between CHF 2,000 and CHF 5,000. Among these was a pretty classic chronograph, inspired by 1970s watches, that came in some pretty basic colors like blue, black and an icy blue. Now, Favre Leuba is giving the Chief Chronograph collection the dials it deserves — a great Dune colorway and an even better British Racing Green.

The Chief Chronograph comes in a very vintage inspired case, cushion-shaped stainless steel case that measures 41mm wide and 14mm thick. The surfaces get a brushed finish with polished bevels. There are sapphire crystals on top and bottom, as well as polished rectangular pushers on the side that flow to follow the shape of the case. Water resistance is 100 meters.

Then, we have the new dials, on which a lot is going on, in the best possible way. Moving from the outside in, you get a tachymeter scale, a minute scale, applied hour makers and a ribbed contour pattern before you get to the sunburst main dial and the circular brushed sub-dials at 3 (30 minute totalizer) and 9 (running seconds) o’clock. The two colors are really great. British racing green is paired with cream accents on the minute scale and sub-dial counters. The Dune goes for a more tone-on-tone color, with slightly different shades of brown on the dial than on the details.

Inside, you’ll find the calibre FLC02, which is actually a decorated automatic winding La Joux-Perret L112 calibre. This integrated column-wheel chronograph is derived from the 7750 architecture. It ticks at 28,800vph and its power reserve is of 60 hours. The movement features Geneva stripes, perlage, and thermally blued screws on the main caliber and is topped by a skeletonized rotor adorned with a spiral-brushed colimaçonnage and sunburst soleillage. The watches can be had on either an integrated, two-link, steel bracelet featuring brushed and polished finishes or on a color matched FKM strap.

The new Favre Leuba Chief Chronograph with the BRG and Dune colorways are available now, as part of the regular collection. Price is set at €5,000 on rubber and €5,100 on steel. See more on the Favre Leuba website.

3/

Paulin Introduces Their Fist Diver, The Mara, And It’s Exactly What You Would Imagine

The Scottish watch industry is going through a bit of a renaissance these past few years. And at the crest of the new wave sit anOrdain, known for their beautiful and affordable enamel dial pieces, and their sister brand Paulin, known for their quirky, bold, designs, and great prices. Paulin is one of those brands that are instantly recognizable, even without branding on the dial. They do this with their uniform fonts, great use of color and stubby hands. Now, they’re deviating from their usual small and fun watches into their first tool watch. This is the new Paulin Mara, their first diver.

The case of the Mara look familiar, but different. That’s because they used their existing case design from the Modul and beefed it up significantly. The stainless steel case now measures 39.7mm wide and 13.5mm thick, with a significant 48mm lug-to-lug. The barrel shaped case has a brushed finish with sharp facets and polished details. On top is a huge double domed sapphire crystal that takes up about 3mm of the thickness. That’s surrounded by a 120-click unidirectional bezel that has one of my favorite bezel features — a domed sapphire insert that makes it look almost like it’s bakelite. On the Mara, you can get it in either grey or blue. The guarded crown screws down and gives you 300 meters of water resistance.

There are two dials to choose from and they both carry on Paulin’s design language. The choice boils down to color, either black or blue. At 12 and 6 o’clock you’ll find Arabic numerals in Paulin’s signature font, and the rest of the markers are triangles, squares and circles, all printed in Super-LumiNova. While the Mara doesn’t use the familiar Modul hands, they are still very unique — short and wide, pill shaped, with subtle pops of color. Fantastic look!

Inside, you’ll find the familiar La Joux-Perret G101 in the soigné grade. It beats at 4Hz, has a great 68 hour power reserve and is easy to service. The watches come with two straps, a custom-moulded HNBR rubber strap and a Tide fabric strap, made from recycled fishing nets, which is lined with Italian Alcantara and hand-stitched in Glasgow by anOrdain’s seamstress.

The new Paulin Mara goes on sale today, 22 August 2025 at 4 PM BST, and will be a permanent part of the collection. Price is set at £1,200, without tax. See more on the Paulin website.

4/

Greubel Forsey Refreshes The Nano Foudroyante EWT With A White Gold Case And Blue Details

Greubel Forsey is a watchmaker that prides itself in its inventions. So much so that they advertise their breakthroughs as “Fundamental Inventions”. These are improvements in movement technology, tourbillon operation and more esoteric complications like foudroyante, a hand that completes a full rotation in one second to display fractions of a second. And it was the Nano Foudroyante EWT that they called their 10th Fundamental Invention, just as they were celebrating their 20th anniversary last year. There were a lot of interesting things about that watch — the mechanism’s energy was managed at the nanojoule scale, it was also a flying tourbillon and manual wind flyback. That was limited to 11 pieces and sold out instantly. Now, we’re getting a new version of the watch, one in white gold with beautiful blue details.

First, the case. The original Nano Foudroyante EWT from last year was actually quite the big deal because it broke from Greubel Forsey tradition of putting out large watches. It came in a 37.9mm wide and 10.5mm thick case and the same dimensions are kept on this version as well. Now made out of white gold, replacing the original combination of white gold and tantalum, the case has a brushed finish with a couple of polished details. I love brushed white gold. On top is a high-domed sapphire crystal, out back is a flat sapphire crystal. On the side you’ll find a slightly oversized crown because it integrates the pusher, while at 2 o’clock you’ll find the mode selector pusher. Water resistance is 30 meters.

The gold dial is now finished in rhodium with a blue minute track, while the hands are rendered in blued steel with matching cannon pinions. The dial setup is interesting, with recessed small seconds at 9, a chronograph counter at 8 and a large opening between 4 and 6 for the tourbillon mechanism that also holds the foudroyante. It’s very simple, but very impressive.

But even more impressive is what you find inside. It’s a manually wound in house movement that features a flyback chronograph with flying tourbillon escapement and embedded Nano-foudroyante mechanism. It beats at 21,600vph and has a 42 hour power reserve. It’s also masterfully decorated, with gold chatons, hammers bridges, bevelled edges, straight brushing, polished screws and others. The watch comes on a blue textured rubber strap.

Unlike the previous version which was limited to 11 pieces, this new Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante in White Gold gets a more generous run of 22 pieces. Price is set at CHF 465,000, without tax. See more on the Greubel Forsey website.

5/

Your Chance To Win This Absolute Bomb Of A Watch From Laco

Here we go. Like I promised you last month, I’m teaming up with Laco to celebrate their 100th year anniversary. As part of their celebration, they showed a very special watch, the Laco Frieda. There’s only one catch. You can’t buy one. Instead, Laco is giving away 100 pieces of this special edition watch in their “100 Years – 100 Days – 100 Watches” campaign. And you can get one here. The rules are simple — scroll down to the end of the newsletter, where you’ll find a referral window that says “Share It’s About Time”. Invite your friends to subscribe to the newsletter and for every subscriber you bring, you’ll get a “ticket” that enters you in a draw to win the watch.

This is the first time I’m doing a giveaway with this referral program, so if there are any hiccups and something doesn’t work, let me know and we’ll sort it out asap. The giveaway is open until August 25th, after which I’ll use a random email selector to find the winner and Laco will ship your brand new watch to you! Good luck.

Now, for a bit of info on thw atch. Laco typically names its models after cities or geographical features, but this model breaks tradition. For a good reason, as it’s named after the co-founder, Frieda Lacher. It’s a familiar watch but with a dial that makes it extremely beautiful. The watch comes in a stainless steel case that measure 39mm wide, 11.55mm thick and with a 46.5mm lug-to-lug. The case has a beautiful matte finish and on the side, you’ll find an engraving that reads “Laco 1925-2025”, while the caseback has an engraving of its unique number out of 100. On the opposite side you’ll find the signature deeply grooved onion-shaped crown. Water resistance is 50 meters.

Then, there’s the dial. It’s a classic Type A flieger, which has just the minute track along the edge of the dial and big numerals for the hours. The minute track and numerals are printed in white lume, while the sword-shaped hands are done in black, with white lume inside. But the star here is the base of the dial. Rendered in Laco’s signature red color, it has a sandy texture which makes it very special.

Inside, you’ll find the Laco S2 movement, which is essentially the Miyota 82S0. The movement beats at 21,600vph and has a 42 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a grey leather strap with red stitching.

Again, scroll down to the end of the email where you’ll find the share button and get to sharing!

⏲️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 band of aging British criminals, long retired from their high-stakes pasts, shocked London with the audacious 2015 Hatton Garden heist—an expertly planned burglary that netted up to $300 million in jewels and cash. Defying infirmities and modern security, their “perfect crime” unraveled under relentless surveillance, revealing a ragtag crew outsmarted by digital detectives and the relentless Flying Squad.

• Matt McCabe’s journey to becoming a London taxi driver captures a unique rite of passage—the grueling “Knowledge” test, one of the world’s toughest navigational challenges. For years, McCabe memorized tens of thousands of streets and landmarks, weaving through London’s labyrinth to earn his green badge and join a centuries-old tradition amid the rise of GPS and ride-share disruption.

• In northeastern Thailand’s Isan region, insects are a dietary staple—eaten like chips and celebrated by local markets and chefs alike. Facing global food security and environmental concerns, entomophagy gains renewed attention as a sustainable, nutrient-rich alternative. As innovative chefs craft gourmet dishes from bugs, Thailand emerges as a pioneer in the edible insect revolution destined for wider acceptance.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

It’s Friday, so do allow me to bug you with some more Queens of the Stone Age

Thanks for reading,
Vuk