Yema's Full MOP NavyGraph; Underd0g And Massena Team Up On Champagne And Caviar; Bell & Ross' Compass GMT; Awake's New Fragment Dials; Nodus's Black DLC Pilot; A Moritz Grossmann Tourbillon Duo

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Dealing with the horrible pain from the pinched nerve means two things: it’s very difficult to concentrate on writing, and I have to spend a lot of time in doctors’ offices. That’s why I skipped a few issues this week and I feel bad about it. So, here’s a very rare, very special edition of the newsletter that comes out on a Saturday. I hope you don’t mind me interrupting your weekend.

In this issue

• Yema Gives Their Micro-Rotor Equipped NavyGraph A Full Mother-Of-Pearl Treatment

• Studio Underd0g And Massena Lab Team Up On A Champagne And Caviar 03Series Monopusher

• Bell & Ross Turns Their BR-03 GMT Compass Into A Navigational Tool

• Awake Releases Incredible New Fragment Dials To Their Son Mai Collection

• Nodus Updates The Sector II Pilot With A Full Black DLC Case And Bright Green Details

• Moritz Grossmann Introduces A Titanium And White Gold With Tremblage Tourbillon

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Watches You Might Not Have Seen, Week 55: When Swiss Watchmaking Got Weird With The Kelek Jump Hour Chronograph

👂What’s new

1/

Yema Gives Their Micro-Rotor Equipped NavyGraph A Full Mother-Of-Pearl Treatment

I can’t even begin to tell you how many people were confused when I told them that Yema, the french brand, was not an upstart microbrand. While a lot of watch fans have learned of Yema from their major moves over the past 10 years, they have been making watches since the 1940s. In the 1950s, they were among the first brands that made a diver with 100 meters of water resistance. In the 60s, Yema was the biggest watch exporter in France, selling more than 500,000 watches per year. Twenty years later, they nearly dissapeared thanks to the quartz crisis. In the past decade or so they’ve been making their way back and they’re on track to their former glory. And a significant part of that comeback plan was the development of their own movements. They have a fantastic lineup of in-house movements set up and are currently working on bringing back some Sellita-powered watches into the fray to help reduce costs. However, when they do an in-house powered watch, they do tend to go all out. Like for example with this recent release, powered by the micro-rotor calibre CMM.20, and featuring not just one mother-of-pearl dial, not just two different colored MOP dials, but also MOP bezels. Very cool.

The Navygraf could be considered a light version of the much more hardcore Superman, but that might be underselling this very nice watch. The dimensions of the Navygraf are spot on - 39mm wide, 11m thick with the pronounced double-dome sapphire crystal and a very nice lug-to-lug of 46mm. It’s a more blocky watch than the Superman and it loses the bezel lock of the larger watch which could be seen as a positive as you need to unscrew the crown on the Superman to adjust the bezel. These new versions, as I noted, come with MOP bezels, which is really not something you see every day. The bezel is available in aqua blue mother-of-pearl or a darker Tahitian mother-of-pearl alternative, placed under a sapphire crystal and featuring white markings every 5 minutes. Not exactly the most dive-capable, but still nice. WAter resistance is 200 meters.

The dials continue the MOP theme, featuring again the choice of aqua blue mother-of-pearl or a darker Tahitian mother-of-pearl. Those are paired with applied circular indices with rectangles and arrows at 15-minute intervals, as well as the Superman handset with an arrow-tipped minute hand, all treated with white Super-LumiNova.

Inside is the mentioned CMM.20 micro-rotor movement. Assembled by Yema, the tungsten micro-rotor winds the movement up to 70 hours of power reserve at a beat rate of 28,800vph. It’s also quite accurate with a rating of -3/+7 seconds per day. You can see the deep black mainplate and rotor through the caseback. The watches are available on either black FKM rubber strap or a steel bracelets.

The new Yema Navygraf Pearl CMM.20 is available now, with the blue dial being limited to 200 pieces. The blue MOP version is priced at €2,299 on steel and €2,049 on rubber, while the Tahitian MOP dial is priced at €2,249 on steel and €1,990 on rubber. See more on the Yema website.

2/

Studio Underd0g And Massena Lab Team Up On A Champagne And Caviar 03Series Monopusher

Studio Underd0g always stood for affordable watches that have very groovy designs. So, when they teamed up with H. Moser & Cie., or when they released the 03Series which was priced three times more than their usual releases, a lot of people were displeased, called them sellouts to the affordable spectrum of the market. I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but their latest release, a collaboration with William Massena of Massena LAB might be poking a bit of fun at exactly those critics. Because, is there anything more out of touch from the general public than sipping champagne and eating caviar? And that’s exactly what this watch is. It’s the Studio Underd0g x Massena LAB 03SERIES Champagne and Caviar.

The case remains unchanged, which means that it’s very similar to the much cheaper 01Series — a fully round steel case with very short lugs and no bezel to speak of, with a double-domed sapphire crystal that extends from edge to edge. The case measures 38.5mm wide, 13.6mm thick and has a 44.5mm lug-to-lug, great dimensions for a chrono. However, you will notice something off — the lack of a second pusher for the chronograph. That’s because this is a monopusher movement, which is both rare and cool.

The dial is where the majority of the collaboration happens. The base of the dial gets a slight texture and a champagne color, surrounded by a dark green ring that houses the tiny tachymeter. The big-eye 30-minute sub dial at 3 o’clock has an inkish green pattern of tiny spheres, looking just like spheres of caviar. The dial is double signed Studio Underd0g and Massena LAB, and there’s an additional cool detail to note — the counterweight on the central chronograph hand is shaped like a champagne bottle.

Inside, you’ll find the Swiss Sellita SW510 which is based on the cam-operated architecture of the venerable Valjoux 7750. It’s a monopusher, beats at 4Hz and has a pretty good power reserve of 63 hours. It’s additionally decorated with a ruthenium coating on the bridge that covers the majority of the visible movement. The watch comes on a black pebble grained Epsom Calfskin strap made by The Strap Tailor.

The new Studio Underd0g x Massena LAB 03SERIES Champagne and Caviar is limited to 200 pieces and goes on sale on November 11th at 3pm GMT. Price is set at €1,800. See more on the Studio Underd0g website.

3/

Bell & Ross Turns Their BR-03 GMT Compass Into A Navigational Tool

I swear, every time that I hear that Bell & Ross releases a new square aircraft instrument-inspired case, I ask myself why. I mean, there’s only so many colorways that you can pull off before things become gimmicky. And yet…. Bell & Ross manages to squeeze out every last ounce of creativity from these watches. Love that. While their latest release was a wild fully-lumed case, this one is a bit more reserved, but still cool. This is the new B3-03 GMT Compass.

You know everything you need to know about this case. It’s made out of stainless steel, with functional screws in each of the corners, measuring 42mm each way. This version is slightly thicker, as it houses the GMT movement, but not huge at 12.3mm. On top is a bidirectional rotating bezel with a blue (for the daytime) and black (for the nighttime) anodised aluminium ring with a 24-hour scale. Water resistance remains 100 meters.

Then we have the dial, where there’s a lot of interesting solutions to a GMT and compass complication. There’s also a lot of hands on the dial. You have the black hour hand with a white arrow-shaped tip, the same colorway that can be found on the baton minute hand. The central seconds hand is white and dark blue, which extends to across the entire dial. Then, we have the diamond-shaped, openworked, GMT hand in red and white, pointing to the 24-hour scale on the bezel. There’s also a date aperture at 4:30. The base of the dial is black, with a white flange surrounding it that holds the compass scale. According to Bell & Ross, you use the GMT hand as the compass hand. Lay the watch flat and parallel to the ground. Next, set the GMT hand to solar time, then point the red hand towards the Sun; the direction is indicated on the graduated scale.

Inside, you’ll find the BR-CAL.303, which is a slightly modified Sellita SW-330-2, an automatic movement that beats at 4Hz and has a 42 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black rubber strap closed with a pin buckle, and you get an additional black synthetic fabric strap.

The new Bell & Ross BR-03 GMT Compass is limited to 500 pieces and priced at €4,900. See more on the Bell & Ross website.

4/

Awake Releases Incredible New Fragment Dials To Their Son Mai Collection

I have an extremely soft spot for the French brand Awake. They have a great story. For years, they made limited edition watches. All of their releases were special projects that very often included collaborations, there were a lot of space-themed watches and all of them were pretty cool. Then, late last year, Awake introduced their first permanent collection called the Son Mài. It is a beautifully elegant watch that features incredible Vietnamese sanded lacquer dials. Now, we’re getting a new take on it called the Fragments, combining Vietnamese lacquer, natural mother-of-pearl and the ancient Japanese art of Raden.

The case of the watch remains virtually unchanged, made out of recycled stainless steel, and measuring 39mm wide and 11.8mm thick, including the crystal. Without the crystal, the thickness drops down to 10.9mm. On top is a rounded bezel, surrounding the sapphire crystal, the side of the case is brushed, and you get polished surfaces on top of the lugs, with a wide polished chamfer stretching down the edge od the case. Water resistance is 50 meters.

BUt then we have the dials. Some of the best they’ve ever done. They are made by hand placing a mosaic of nacre fragments, fixed in place with layers of natural lacquer made from the sap of Vietnam-native Rhus verniciflua trees. Those are then toned with organic pigments, which result in three colors — Green, Blue and Pink. That Pink is screaming “BUY ME” right into my ear. On top of the dials you get their signature hands and applied markers. However, instead of just painting them with lume, the hands and indices are made out of solid blocks of SuperLuminova BGW9, which is then capped with a faceted, polished steel overlay. That gives them both a backglow, which is just beautiful.

Inside is the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement, an alternative to the ubiquitous but increasingly hard to source ETA 2824, and the Sellita SW200. However, it has a much better power reserve than those two at 68 hours, and the same beat rate of 4Hz. The movement is decorated with Geneva stripes and a customised tungsten rotor. The watches come on straps made by Maison Jean Rousseau and they are matte black calfskin, lined in alcantara.

The Awake Son Mai Fragments collection is available for pre-order now, with each colorway limited to 100 pieces. The first 50 pieces of each ordered will be delivered by the end of November and the rest in early 2026. Price is set at €2,250, without tax. See more on the Awake website.

5/

Nodus Updates The Sector II Pilot With A Full Black DLC Case And Bright Green Details

The Los Angeles-based Nodus watches has been around a bit over seven years and in that time they have managed to build up quite the cult following. And it’s easy to see why. They make spectacular looking watches, well built and with some very cool features, at prices that are truly affordable. And among their many loved watches is the Sector line. Based on a similar overall package, Nodus has made a great diver in the Sector Deep, a slightly different pilot’s watch in the Sector Pilot, a sports watch with the Sector Sport and a cool GMT with the, you guessed it, the Sector GMT. As of late, they have updated the platform with a much slimmer and sleeker Sector II. Recently we saw the Sector II Pilot in three versions and now we’re getting a full black DLC version.

Nodus is quite proud of the new dimensions of their new Sector Pilot, and they have reason to be as this is one of the thinnest Seiko NH-based designs ever made. The steel case measures 38mm wide, 11.7mm thick, with a 47mm lug-to-lug. The case and bezel get a black DLC coating. On top is a new box-shaped crystal which allows them to move the crystal much closer to the dial, slimming down the watch. It also has a very familiar, but heavily updated bezel. It’s oversized to the case, measuring 40mm wide to be easier to grip. It also has a new 120-click uni-directional piston system and a 60 minute countdown timer. The case shape and bracelet endlinks have also been re-designed for a better fit. Water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial looks familiar, with an all black base and sector setup that has a heavily grained central disc with white crosshairs, surrounded by a raised disc that holds applied numerals with a great font. The hour and minute hands are white, filled with lume, while the seconds hand features an arrow tip and is neon green. You also get green details at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The most striking thing is the position of the day and date indicator, both at 6 o’clock, with the day display curving around one of the sectors. I love that detail.

The movement inside hasn’t changed, it’s still the Seiko NH36. It beats at 3Hz and has a 41 hour power reserve. It’s an ubiquitous movement, very popular among budget watch brands and not particularly well known for its accuracy. That’s why Nodus takes it and regulates it to +/- 10 seconds per day, which is great. The watch comes on the brand’s Pentalink bracelet which, you guessed it, has 5 links and tapers from 20mm to 16mm. It’s, of course, paired with the NodeX clasp which allows for one-button adjustment and is also DLC coated black.

The new DLC Sector II Pilot is available now, priced at $625. See more on the Nodus website.

6/

Moritz Grossmann Introduces A Titanium And White Gold With Tremblage Tourbillon

Located in the same town of Glashütte as Union Glashütte, Moritz Grossman is a brand that was revived in 2008 by Christine Hutter from a watchmaking manufacture that died out in 1855 when its eponymous founder died. Since its relaunch, Mortiz Grossmann has been making very germanic watches, reserved in their style, but advanced in construction. Also, fascinating in their adherence to their vision. Back in 2013, they introduced the calibre 103.0, their most advanced watch to date, their first in-house tourbillon, notable for its three-minute rotation and flying architecture. Now, we’re getting two new versions of that Tourbillon model, with two different approaches. One is housed in a titanium case, while the other comes in a white gold case with a tremblage dial.

The two watches share dimensions and construction details, but obviously differ in material. The cases measure 44mm wide and 13.9mm thick and feature a three-part construction in either 18k white gold or titanium, which has quite a dark look. On front and back are sapphire crystals with AR coatings, surrounded by very thin bezels. Water resistance is 30 meters.

The two dials are strikingly different. The Titanium version comes with a silver dial that has a hand made fine grain d’orge guilloché pattern, with the hours shown at the 3 o’clock sub-dial and the seconds at 9 o’clock, both recessed fro the dial. At 6 o’clock is a massive aperture for the flying tourbillon that rotates once every three minutes. All of the hands are annealed to a brown-violet color. The white gold version has a salmon colored dial that is finished in the tremblage technique, which gives it a matte grain. The Arabic numerals and the minute track are white, with polished steel hands. It has the same setup as the Titanium, which means the off-centre hours at 3, small seconds at 9 o’clock, a central minutes hand and a huge tourbillon aperture at 6.

Inside both watches is the mentioned Calibre 103.0, developed and finished in-house. It beast at 18,000vph, has a 72 hours power reserve and has a bunch of cool features. it has a Nivarox 1 balance spring and a Gustav Gerstenberger terminal curve, as well as a patented stop seconds mechanism, featuring a human-hair brush on the balance rim, and the manual winder with a pusher that separates hand-setting from activation. Deorations are a plenty, with the movement having untreated German silver plates and bridges with wide Glashütte ribbing, polished bevels, and hand engraving on the plate and tourbillon cock. The titanium version comes on a black alligator strap, closed with a titanium butterfly clasp, while the gold version also comes on a black alligator strap with a white-gold folding clasp.

These watches are very limited and very expensive. The Tourbillon Titanium is limited to 12 pieces and priced at €165,700, while the Tourbillon Tremblage is limited to 8 pieces priced at €207,900. See more on the Moritz Grossman website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Watches You Might Not Have Seen, Week 55: When Swiss Watchmaking Got Weird With The Kelek Jump Hour Chronograph

A pioneering 1970s complication that defied convention with digital discs and chronograph chaos. 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

• Exploring the eerie world of ghost hunting with David Olsen and his Chicago Paranormal Investigators, this narrative captures the tension between skepticism and belief. Equipped with high-tech gear and keen senses, the team investigates haunted sites—seeking encounters with the unknown, while reflecting on why the search for ghosts resonates with our innate human desire for connection beyond death.

• In the chilling “perfect crime” of Poland, a businessman’s brutal murder in 2000 remains unsolved. Detective Jacek Wroblewski’s breakthrough came from a sinister clue—a novel written by prime suspect Krystian Bala that eerily mirrored the crime. This gripping true-crime tale weaves literature, philosophy, and violence into a haunting investigation of truth and fiction.

• Aaron Greenspan’s journey from tech innovator to crypto and Tesla critic is marked by fierce battles and financial ruin. Once a Harvard coder with early social network designs, he lost millions betting against today's tech giants, yet persists in exposing controversial truths through litigation and his legal transparency platform PlainSite, driven by an obsessive quest for accountability.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

It’s cool that we’re getting all of these musical biopics, I guess, but is a Michael Jackson biopic really the way to go? A bit of singing, a bit of stardom, a bit dancing, a bit of child molestation. Sounds like a good night out…

Thanks for reading,
Vuk