Yema's New Skin Diver With Sensational Dials And Micro-Rotor; A White Ceramic IWC Mark XX; TrailTrekker Is Back; Chronoswiss Small Seconds; Bovet's Genius DST-Observing World Timer In A New Watch

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Hey! Yema is back, haven’t seen them in a while. And they’re just as good as I remember them.

In this issue:

• Yema Has A New Superman Skin Diver With Sensational Dials And Their Cool Micro-Rotor Movement

• IWC Shrinks Down And Simplifies The IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe

• Nodus And Raven Watches Bring Back The TrailTrekker, Now Set For An Arctic Adventure

• The New Chronoswiss Small Second Blue Orbit and Desert Are Their Simplest Watches You Can Get

• Bovet Brings Their Genius DST-Observing World Timer To More Watches, Now In The Récital 30

👂What’s new

1/

Yema Has A New Superman Skin Diver With Sensational Dials And Their Cool Micro-Rotor Movement

Have you noticed that I haven’t written about Yema in a while? They had a huge year in 2024, with a bunch of new models, huge strides in their own movement manufacture and consolidating model lines so that they make more sense. Well, they’re back to their regular releases and come on… this is the fantastic new Superman Skin Diver, with some great updates, including their proprietary CMM.20 micro-rotor calibre.

The Superman Skin Diver has always been the more compact diver, but that doesn’t mean that it’s small. This new version measures 39.5mm wide, 11.5mm thick and with a 47mm lug-to-lug. It should be noted that the thickness is without the double-domed sapphire crystal on top. On top are unidirectional bezels which now have colored sapphire inserts in black, burgundy and a really, really nice beige color.

Another new thing for the model is the removal of the iconic bezel clamp that locks it in place. It was a super interesting mechanism that prevented bumping the bezel by accident, and gave the watch an interesting look. But there was a major downside to the mechanism — the only way to set the clamp was to unscrew the crown, which is a perilous thing to do near bodies of water. And you mostly adjust the bezel around bodies of water. So you see the issue with that. The new bezel has a much more practical approach — push the bezel down unlock it and rotate it, let it go to lock it.

The dials are even better than the previous Superman Skin Divers. It keeps the signature trapezoid indices with fantastic Arabic numerals in the cardinal positions, but adds some great textures and colors. Just like the bezels, the dials come in black, burgundy and beige. And the beige just steals your heart, as it best shows the new brushed texture of the dial. From what I can tell, the burgundy gets the same brushing, but the black is all flat.

Inside, you’ll find a really lovely movement. It’s the proprietary CMM.20 micro-rotor movement, developed in collaboration with Olivier Mory, and built in Yema’s new factory in Morteau, France, just a few kilometer from the iconic Swiss town of Le Locle. The movement bets at 4Hz and has a 70 hour power reserve. It’s regulated to -3/+7 seconds per day, and it has dark, galvanized bridges, contrasted with a golden balance wheel and a tungsten micro-rotor. The watches come on the beautiful Scales Slim stainless steel bracelet, also called a coffin-link bracelet. It has a double-security folding clasp with a micro-adjustment system.

The new Yema Skin Diver CMM.20 is available now, priced at €2,490. See more on the Yema website.

2/

IWC Shrinks Down And Simplifies The IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe

When I think of ceramic watches, I instantly think of IWC. That’s because they make the absolute best colored ceramic cases. Their Woodland green shade just drives me completely crazy. Although, I wouldn’t turn away a nice Mojave or Oceana watch either. However, the post-Watches and Wonders novelty comes in a stark white Lake Tahoe case and simplifies the watch that was previously available as a chronograph and a perpetual calendar. The new Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe is not exactly what you expect.

Instead of a large ceramic Big Pilot, this new release from IWC is based on the Mark XX. It measures 41mm wide and 11.4mm thick which is slightly larger than the original steel version of the Mark XX (that measures 40×10.8mm). The increase in size is likely due to the more material being used to make the white zirconium oxide ceramic sturdy enough. The watch uses a stainless steel crown, a titanium caseback and inside is a soft-iron inner case for magnetic protection. Water resistance is 100 meters.

You still get a matte black dial with white printed markers and white tracks. The numerals and dots above every hour are painted with generous lume. There are some changes from the steel version, including blackened hands filled with lume and a black date disc that has a small aperture at 3 o’clock.

Inside, you’ll find the automatic calibre 32112, the same movement that the steel version of the Mark XX uses. It beats at 4Hz and has a 120 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a textured white rubber strap, closed by a titanium pin buckle.

The new Pilot’s Watch Automatic 41 TOP GUN Lake Tahoe is available now, not limited, and priced at €9,200. See more on the IWC website.

3/

Nodus And Raven Watches Bring Back The TrailTrekker, Now Set For An Arctic Adventure

A bit over a year ago, two U.S. based indie brands, Nodus from California and Raven from Kansas, teamed up to release one of the most sought-after watches of the year, the TrailTrekker. It was an extremely well build, great looking and fantastically priced GMT that sold out instantly. Now, the two brands are coming back together for the second version of the TrailTrekker, the TrailTrekker Arctic Circle Trail. And it’s just as cool. While the first version took its inspiration from the perilous journey across the midwest to reach the Gold Coast, this new A.C.T. version is inspired by the Arctic Circle Trail that treks through Greenland.

Starting with the case, it takes a lot from the Contrail GMT from Nodus. Made out of stainless steel, it measures 39.5mm wide, 11.8mm thick and has a 46.6mm lug-to-lug. These just seem like the perfect proportions, especially when you consider the fact that the case is only about 10.8mm thick, with the box-shaped sapphire crystal protruding another millimetre on top. While the previous version had a matte gray DLC finish for a stealthy look, the A.C.T. takes on a completely different approach. The case has a combination of fine brushing and a high polish, giving it even more presence. On top is a fully polished black DLC fixed bezel with a 24-hour scale that’s painted in BGW9 for an intense glow at night. The heavily knurled crown gets a black DLC finish and screws down to give you 200 meters of water resistance.

The dial is also the exact opposite of the original. Unlike the sand colored, this new version gets a stark white base. The hour markers are applied and quite large, taking on three different geometric shape. The hour markers are applied and quite large, taking on three different geometric shape. At the center are four hands - three polished silver colored hands telling the local time and a light blue GMT hand that points to the 24 hours scale on the bezel. Since both Nodus and Raven pride themselves with great lume, you should really see the watch in the dark where the Super-LumiNova BGW9 glows a strong blue hue. But both brands are also sticklers for details, which you’ll notice on the date wheel you can see through the aperture at 6 o’clock — the wheel background is fully lumed. Now that’s cool.

Inside is the Miyota Cal. 9075 automatic GMT movement. It was the first accessible third-party movement with a flyer-style GMT, meaning that you independently adjust the local hour hand, and it still dominates the market. While the movement is not extremely accurate from Miyota, Nodus and Raven have decided to regulate this movement to -8/+8 seconds per day, which is pretty darn good at this price point. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet with brushed central links and polished outside ones, and Nodus’s proprietary NodeX extension system that offers five steps of tool-less micro adjustments.

The new TrailTrekker A.C.T. goes on sale today, April 16th at 9 AM PST and like the original, it won’t be a limited edition. And just like the original, it keeps the fantastic $875 price tag. See more on the Nodus website.

4/

The New Chronoswiss Small Second Blue Orbit and Desert Are Their Simplest Watches You Can Get

While early Chronoswiss watches were known to be more traditional, over the past few years they have completely embraced their wild, colorful, often openworked, fluted and onion-crowned style. For Watches and Wonders, however, Chronoswiss has released something much more subdued, the Small Seconds model with two great dials.

Fans of Chronowsiss might notice that this is essentially their Strike Two series but without the horizontal regulator display. That means that you get the same case that measures 40mm wide, 11.5mm thick and is made out of a whopping 17 parts. The case is polished, and the bezel has a fluted ring around the side. On top is a domed sapphire crystal and you still get the signature onion crown on the side, as well as the long, slightly curved and hollowed lugs. Water resistance is 30 meters.

There are two dial options, with both having centrally mounted hour and minute hands, and a small seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock. The colors are Blue Orbit and Desert. Blue Orbit gets a blue CVD-coated, hand-guilloché dial, with silver numerals and hands, and an azuré small seconds sub-dial. The Desert is even better, with a laser engraved textured dial over which Chronoswiss applies ten layers of nano-printing to make it look like actual sand. The numerals and leaf-shaped hands are blued, while the hand-guilloché small seconds sub-dial is white for contrast.

Inside, you’ll find the calibre C.6000, developed in collaboration with La Joux-Perret. It beats at 4Hz, has a 55 hour power reserve. It features a tungsten rotor, has a ruthenium-coated finish, radial Côtes de Genève, and refined engravings. The watches come on calfskin straps.

The new Chronoswiss Small Seconds is available now, with the Desert priced at €8,800 and the Blue Orbit priced at €9,400. See more on the Chronoswiss website.

5/

Bovet Brings Their Genius DST-Observing World Timer To More Watches, Now In The Récital 30

One of the most biggest problem with a world timer is the fact that Daylight Saving Time is not observed by all countries, and even those that do, they start observing it on different dates. And there’s just no way to account for all of these intricacies. Well, no easy way, because Bovet managed to do exactly that with their Récital 28 Prowess 1 which featured not just a tourbillon, but also a roller-based city-indication that lets you account for DST. Now, they are introducing the Récital 30 which is a simplified, and presumably more accessible, approach to the same complication.

The case of the Récital 30 measures 42mm wide and 12.9mm thick and can be had in either titanium or red gold (although, it seems that the red gold version will start production next year). On top is a ultra-domed sapphire crystal and of course you get a transparent caseback since it’s Bovet that pioneered this approach way back in the 19th century. You get a cabochon-set crown and pushers at 2 and 4 to operate the world timer.

Unlike the Récital 28 Prowess 1, the dial of the Récital 30 is much more traditional, with no toubillon visible. It does have the massive time roller display that enables adjustment to any of the four annual UTC periods: UTC Coordinated Universal Time – AST, American Summer Time – EAS, European and American Summer Time – EWT, European Winter Time. This ensures all world time zones, including the 30 minute offset New Delhi zone, to be shown. There are two versions of the watch, both featuring New Delhi outside of the main roller display. New Delhi is marked in black in the Coordinated Universal Time version, with a yellow or red arrow indicator. A colour-matched (yellow or red) additional minutes hand is linked to New Delhi time with its 30-minute offset. The India Collector’s version sets the main hour and minute hands to New Delhi time, coloured in yellow or red, while the world time hours are adjusted accordingly. Meanwhile, the second minutes hand (silver on the titanium version, gold on the 18K red gold version) is linked to global time.

Inside is the R30-70-001 automatic movement which beats at 4Hz and with a pretty great 60 hour power reserve. It’s also super easy to set the world time. The 2 o’clock pusher rotates the rollers by 90 degrees, automatically adjusting all 24 time zones to the correct seasonal period. The 4 o’clock pusher advances the central 24-hour world dial by one hour per press. The watch comes on a rubber strap.

The new Bovet Récital 30 is not limited in number, but is limited in production capacity. Only 30 pieces will be made this year. The price is set at CHF 68,000 for the titanium version and CHF 96,800 for the red gold version. See more on the Bovet 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

• At the age of 16, “Peter Herrmann” was told by his father that everything he knew about him and their lives was a lie: “I am not who you think I am. I am not a German, and I’m not called Rudi. I am a Czech man named Dalibor Valoušek, and I work for the Soviet Union, for the KGB.” His mission as a spy was to work to bring about world peace, he said. That was half a century ago. It turns out, Herrmann’s mother was also a spy. What follows is the never-told story of Herrmann’s recruitment by his father to follow in his parents’ footsteps as a KGB operative.

• What happens when quantum computers can finally crack encryption and break into the world’s best-kept secrets? It’s called Q-Day—the worst holiday maybe ever. The Quantum Apocalypse is coming. Be very afraid.

• The murder, the museum and the monument; how the discovery of a long-lost monument shattered the trust between a Japanese American community and the museum built to preserve their history.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Will Forte is a generational genius.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk