Tudor's Black Bay 54 With A Textured Light Blue Dial; The Fifty Fathoms In A Size Everyone Wants; Farer Brings Back The Aqua Compressor; BA111OD Embraces The Summer; Two New Chopard Mille Miglias

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. It’s pretty clear that we are not only in the height of summer release season, I’m also starting to doubt the claims that the industry is in a lul… We’re getting some great watches.

In this issue:

• Tudor Releases The Black Bay 54 Lagoon Blue Edition With A Textured Light Blue Dial

• Blancpain Finally Delivers The Fifty Fathoms In A Size Everyone Has Been Asking For

• Farer Brings Back The Aqua Compressor Collection with New Movement And Great Colors

• BA111OD Fully Embraces All The Colors For Their Summer-Ready Chapter 7

• Chopard Refines Its Racing-Inspired Lineup With Two New Mille Miglia Watches

👂What’s new

1/

Tudor Releases The Black Bay 54 Lagoon Blue Edition With A Textured Light Blue Dial

When you are a small independent watch brand, speaking to a small group of customers, it’s quite easy to be adventurous in your designs. You ask your buyers and they tell you how far you can take experimentations with color, for example. And they will be vocal, too. You’re also able to be much quicker in your decisions, so even if a watch doesn’t work out, you can pivot and come out with something else. When, on the other hand, you’re a giant conglomerate with hundreds of employees, dozens of millions in revenue and thousands of watches sold across all continents, you’re less prone to risk. A new model is a huge investment and if you make the wrong call, it can cost you dearly. And that will often lead to critiques of a watch brand being boring. That applies to pretty much every large watch brand, except for Tudor. Just look at the stuff they’ve been doing lately. They’ve filled out the Black Bay collection so that it’s available in all sizes from 37mm to 43mm, played with the FXD releases and even the chronograph releases. They embrace colors, materials and vibes like the best of the small brands. I mean, just look at the Flamingo Blue and Pink Chronos. Their latest release that fits this operating procedure is a new take on the Black Bay 54, the Lagoon Blue which not only gets a really nice shade of light blue, it has a wonderful sandy texture.

Based on the regular Black Bay 54, the stainless steel case measures 37mm wide, 11.24mm thick and has a 46mm lug-to-lug. The case is brushed, with polished bevels, and on top is a domed sapphire crystal. Surrounding the crystal is a brand new bezel that looks amazing — it has a mirror-polished steel insert with a tone-on-tone 60-minute scale engraved into the insert with a textured surface inside. The crown screws down, which gives you 200 meters of water resistance.

Carrying on from the flair of a polished bezel insert is a brand new dial that has a sand-like texture and a wonderful shade of light blue Tudor is calling Lagoon Blue. The rest remains pretty much the same, with polished Snowflake hands, applied markers, both filled with white Super-LumiNova. At the periphery of the dial is a dark blue printed minute track.

Inside, there are no changes. It’s the calibre MT5400, the same one you can find in other Black Bay watches. It beats at 4Hz and has a 70 hour power reserve. The movement is COSC certified, which means that it’s accurate to -2/+4 seconds per day. The watch comes only on one bracelet option, the best one — the 5-link Jubilee, matching the finish of the case and closed with a clasp that has the T-Fit micro-adjustment system.

Tudor doesn’t say whether the Black Bay 54 Lagoon Blue is a limited edition, but I assume that like all the other bright dial versions, it might be difficult to get. Price is set at €4,240, and I’ll just add that I love this new version of Tudor. See more on the Tudor website.

2/

Blancpain Finally Delivers The Fifty Fathoms In A Size Everyone Has Been Asking For

For years — decades even — people have been begging Blancpain to release a Fifty Fathoms diver in a size that will fit smaller wrists. Well, the wait is over, as we just got the first 38mm version of the Fifty Fathoms. But it might not be exactly what people have been expecting, as they are aiming for women as their primary customers for these watches, with mother-of-pearl dégradé dials and a playful shade of pink on one of the models.

The new, smaller, Fifty Fathoms can be had in two case materials, 18k red gold or grade 23 titanium. The new cases measure 38.2mm wide and 12mm thick. On top of both you’ll find domed sapphire unidirectional luminous timing bezels — black with green lumed markings on the gold case and light pink with darker pink on the titanium version. The gold case has a polished finish, while the titanium has a brushed one. Both versions have 300 meters of water resistance.

Both dials feature Arabic numeral markers at 12, 3, 6, and 9 filled with lume, just like the indices. The gold case gets a black mother-of-pearl dial, while the pink has a pink MOP dial, which has a much wilder look. Both dials have a gradient to a darker shade of black or pink as you get closer to the periphery. Both versions have lumed hands, with a red tip on the seconds hand.

Inside, you’ll find the automatic Blancpain caliber 1153 which beats at 3Hz and has a great power reserve of 100 hours. The watches can be had on a number of various straps and bracelets. The gold case version can be had on either a sail-canvas, tropic rubber, or a fabric NATO-style strap, while the titanium case can be paired with a matching titanium bracelet or a two-tone pink and white fabric strap that looks very much like a strap you get on the Swatch x Blancpain collaboration.

The new 38mm versions of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms are on sale now, with prices starting at CHF 15,500 for the titanium version and CHF 26,100 for the gold version. Despite Blancpain trying to market these watches to women, and likely succeeding with the pink MOP, the black MOP will certainly be a unisex watch. See more on the Blancpain website.

3/

Farer Brings Back The Aqua Compressor Collection with New Movement And Great Colors

The super compressor-style of dive case is a pretty cool thing. The two crowns instantly give you a vintage look that’s not that common. However, the vast majority of two-crown super compressor-style are just that… style. A true super compressor watch, made famous by the Ervin Piquerez SA (EPSA) case manufacturer, is a special type of diver that uses the increasing pressure of water while diving deeper to compress the case against the gaskets, increasing water resistance. And very few modern brands actually construct their cases like this. Off the top of my head, I can name three — Sherpa, Christopher Ward and Farer. Farer has been making the Aqua Compressor Endeavour, a true super compressor case, since 2017 and they are now updating the entire collection with new colors and a new movement.

Also new is the case material, as the stainless steel has been swapped for grade 2 titanium, coming in either a natural titanium finish or a really nice blue PVD coating. The case measures 41mm wide, 12.5mm thick and has short lugs which gives it a 45mm lug-to-lug. The case gets brushed top surfaces and polished sides, and on top is a double domed sapphire crystal. Like any self-respecting super compressor, it features twin crowns at 2 and 4 o’clock, both with signed bronze caps. Water resistance continues to be 300 meters.

There are three new dials on the updated diver — the Endeavour Ocean Blue cased model gets a white, fully lumed, dial, the Hecla Hunter Green gets a grid pattern in green and the classic Endeavour gets a textured black dial. All dials have been upgraded to X2 Super-LumiNova, with the green dial having indices and Arabic numerals made from Lumicast. The black dial has classic applied indices and central hands with lume inserts, while the white dial has navy blue hands and indices with no lume.

There are three dial options for this new generation of Farer Aqua Compressor – white on the Endeavour Ocean Blue model (with the PVD blue case), green with a stamped grid pattern on the Hecla Hunter Green model and textured black on the classic Endeavour model. The seconds hand on all models has an arrowhead tip, while the internal rotating bezels match the dial colours. All dials have been upgraded to X2 Super-LumiNova, with the green dial having indices and Arabic numerals made from Lumicast (a blend of ceramic and X2 Super-LumiNova). The black dial has classic applied indices and central hands with lume inserts. The white dial has navy blue hands and indices with no lume, contrasting well against the full-lumed dial/internal bezel with a subtle wavy pattern.

Inside, you’ll find the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic which beats at 4Hz and has a 68 hour power reserve. It’s also made to the soignée level, which means it’s adjusted in four positions, gets graphite grey coating, Côtes de Genève and a custom rotor. The watches come on color matched rubber straps.

The new Farer Aqua Compressor 2025 Collection is available now and parts of the proceeds will be donated to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, up to £60,000. The Endeavour and Hecla models are priced at €1,375, while the Endeavour Ocean Blue is priced at €1,425. See more on the Farer website.

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BA111OD Fully Embraces All The Colors For Their Summer-Ready Chapter 7

It’s been just two weeks since the last BA111OD release, and at the time I already mentioned that they have upped their rate of releases, which is really good news. BA111OD has made a name for themselves by bringing usually expensive complications to more affordable levels. A sub-10k Swiss-made tourbillon, for example. But while their watches always looked great, nobody would ever call them too-colorful. They kept things subdued and classy. However, now, just in time for summer, the brand is releasing the Chapter 7 Summer Edition 2025, their first step into vibrant colors with their sports watch.

Based on the recently redesigned Chapter 7 Chronometer, which shrunk down their existing Chapter 7 sports watch from 42 to 40mm. The case now measures 40mm wide, 10.5mm thick and with a 47mm lug-to-lug. Speaking of the lugs, they are tiny, as the edges of the case are integrated into the bracelet. On top is a flat sapphire crystal with a 10-sided bezel with a flat top surrounding it. The case has a black PVD coating with vertical brushing with polished edges. An oversized crown sits at 4 o’clock and water resistance is 100 meters.

The dials keep the same look as the previous versions, with interesting guilloché that extends from the top of the dial to the bottom, but in irregular lengths like, water droplets flowing down the dial. The hands and applied markers are black, with white lumed inserts, which is great contrasts to the new colors — pink, yellow and turquoise, which is a combination very close to cyan, magenta and yellow, the three colors used in printing to reproduce all other colors. It’s a very bright look for an otherwise conservative brand. Good for them.

Inside, you’ll find the Soprod P024 that the older versions use, but now the movement is certified chronometer by the Timelab Chronometry Observatory of Geneva, with a tested accuracy of +6/-4 seconds per day. The movement still beats at 4Hz and has a 38 hour power reserve. The watches can be had on either a black integrated steel bracelet or on a color matched rubber strap.

The new BA111OD Chapter 7 Summer Edition is being launched at the upcoming Hands On Horology showcase in Shoreditch, London this weekend on June 14th. Price is set at CHF 840, just 20 more than the regular edition. See more on the BA111OD website.

5/

Chopard Refines Its Racing-Inspired Lineup With Two New Mille Miglia Watches

The automotive and horological worlds are deeply intertwined in sponsorship. The link between TAG Heuer and Formula 1 is undeniable, just like Rolex’s sponsorship of many, many car events. But a more niche watch brand is needed for a more niche race, something that would appeal to the connoisseur. One such race is the legendary Mille Miglia, a race that runs a thousand miles through the beautiful countryside of Italy and its treacherous roads. And for the last 30-something years, their close partner and race timer has been Chopard. Now, Chopard is two new watches in the Mille Miglia collection, a Classic Chronograph dedicated to Stirling Moss and a Mille Miglia GTS Power Control.

Starting with that beautiful chronograph, the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Tribute to Sir Stirling Moss is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Moss’ win of the Mille Miglia in 1955. Based on the smaller Classic Chronograph, released in 2023, the watch is made out of Chopard’s proprietary super-hard and sparkly Lucent steel alloy, measuring 40.5mm wide and 12.8mm thick. On top is a glass-box sapphire crystal, while on the side are piston-style pushers which have knurled ends, mimicking the look of a brake pedal, and a notched crown that looks like a fuel tank cap. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial base gets a silver opaline color with a blue peripheral tachymeter scale, blue outlined numerals and red details, including the tip on the chronograph seconds hand and the 1000 Miglia logo below 12 o’clock. It’s a tri-compax layout, with small seconds at 3 o’clock, a 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock and a 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock. It also has the unfortunate date window at 4:30, but you can’t win them all, obviously.

Inside, you’ll find the ETA A322-11 movement which beats at 4Hz, has a 54 hour power reserve and a COSC certification. The watch comes on a perforated rally-style brown calfskin strap. The new 2025 Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Tribute to Sir Stirling Moss is limited to 70 pieces and priced at €11,100.

Then we have the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control. Also made out of Lucent steel, the watch measures 43mm wide and 11.43mm thick. On top is a thin bezel with a black aluminium insert that has a 60-minute track. It’s a more sporty watch, so the 100 meter water resistance is appreciated.

The dial comes in a really nice shade of salmon, with a sunray brushing. There’s a snailed small seconds counter at 6 o’clock and you get the Mille Miglia logo right next to the date window. Opposite to that, between 8 and 10 o’clock is a fuel gauge-style power reserve indicator. The hour markers are applied and faceted, just like the hands and both are filled with black Super-LumiNova. Inside is the in-house chronometer-certified 01.02-M calibre which gets a 60 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a perforated black calfskin strap with a rubber tyre tread lining. The new Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Power Control is limited to 250 pieces and priced at €7,800. Unfortunately, neither of these two watches is yet shown on the Chopard website, but keep your eyes open for them.

⏲️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

• “I put what I call ordinary people into rather tough situations,” Patricia Highsmith once told an interviewer. “They seek, quite naturally, some way out.” During the fall of 1994, Elena Gosalvez Blanco took a job as caretaker for Highsmith, the acclaimed author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, moving into her idiosyncratic manse in Tegna, Switzerland. For The Yale Review, Blanco details her weeks under Highsmith’s overbearing watch. Highsmith consumes little besides broth and beer, bristles over her young companion’s use of the phone, and insists that the house be kept dark at night, the two women navigating Highsmith’s domain by flashlight.

• Despite fake footage circulated during the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, the iconic Hollywood sign did not burn down—it still stands, overlooking the city. But Hollywood, the industry, has dried up. “What began years ago as a trickle has suddenly become an exodus,” writes Lane Brown in Vulture. “Today, only about a fifth of American movies and shows are filmed in L.A.” The past decade has been especially tough for the film and TV industry, as production has moved to other cities and countries that attract crews with better tax credits. The wildfires in January only worsened the trend, leaving more industry professionals to question “whether it’s worth it to live in a city that’s harder to shoot in and now more frequently on fire.” Can Los Angeles—and California—lure talent back?

• In attempting to learn more about capital punishment and her own beliefs about it, Elizabeth Bruenig has witnessed several executions. She’s written extensively for The Atlantic about why the death penalty is racist and wrong. In getting to know condemned men personally, she has tried to learn about the man behind the crime, not just the act which came to define them in life, and also in death.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Porsche claims this is a road car. Sure it can be registered to be driven on the streets, but this is about as far away from a road car you can get…

Thanks for reading,
Vuk