> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.itsabouttime.email/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # TAG Heuer And Time+Tide Bring Back The Sundowner, But Is It Better? And New Watches From Seiko, CW, Czapek And Petermann Bédat - URL: https://www.itsabouttime.email/tag-heuer-and-time-tide-bring-back-the-sundowner-but-is-it-better-and-new-watches-from-seiko-cw-czapek-and-petermann-bedat/ - Published: 2026-11-13T16:22:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-13T16:22:02.000Z - Author: Vuk Radic - Tags: Daily newsletter Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Have a great weekend everybody! --- ****Help me RUN It's About Time** I write this newsletter on my own, and paid subscribers are what keep it running. If you'd like to support it, you'll also get The Caseback, a weekend magazine with longer writing, every Sunday. [Support IAT ](https://www.itsabouttime.email/#/portal/signup) --- ## 👂What’s new ### 1/ TAG Heuer And Time+Tide Bring Back The Sundowner, Now With An Automatic. But Is It Better? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/11/TAG-Heuer-Sundowner-II-Time-Tide-2026-1-1.jpg) The first TAG Heuer Sundowner made in collaboration with Time+Tide was one of my favorite watches since I started writing this newsletter. I was truly in love with it. It was sporty, it was tough and gruff, it came with a very cool quartz movement. It came super close, maybe the closest ever in my book, to being the perfect expensive quartz watch. TAG and T+T are now bringing back the Sundowner and they have, seemingly, listened to the people. When the original came out, there were plenty of people out there who said they loved the look and would buy one instantly, if only it was an automatic instead of a quartz. Well, here you go, the new Sundowner with a COSC-certified automatic and quite a few caveats. The case is still sandblasted grade 2 titanium, but it has grown to 42mm wide and 12mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 48mm. The first one was 40mm wide and 11mm thick. Water resistance goes from 200 meters to 300 meters. The 12-sided bezel now has a ceramic insert in gray with rose-colored markings, which is OK, I guess, but doesn't hold a candle up to the sensational rough bare titanium of the previous version. The crystal is sapphire, and the titanium caseback has the Time+Tide logo in relief and the edition number. The dial is black with a sunray-brushed finish. A wave pattern replaces the horizontal grooves, and the applied octagonal indices and the hands are 5N gold-plated and lumed. The date window is gone. The Time+Tide logo is still at 6 o’clock, which I said last time we could do without, but with the date removed it actually looks decent. Inside is the TAG Heuer calibre TH31-01, an automatic that runs at 4Hz, and has an 80-hour power reserve. It hacks and can be hand-wound. The green NATO is gone. It's replaced by a black rubber strap with curved ends that you can cut to fit, or a three-link sandblasted titanium bracelet. Both use a titanium folding clasp with toolless micro-adjustment. The TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 × Time+Tide Sundowner II went on sale yesterday with the titanium bracelet limited to 50 pieces, priced at $5,750, and the rubber strap variant limited to 450 pieces, priced at $5,100\. The all titanium variant is all sold out, but the rubber strap version is still available. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/tag-heuer-and-time-tide-bring-back-the-sundowner-now-with-an-automatic-but-is-it-better/) and the watch [on the Time+Tide website](https://timeandtidewatches.com/sundowner-ii/?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 2/ Seiko Moves The Astron GPS Chronograph To A 3-6-9 Layout In Two Black Titanium LEs ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/11/Seiko-Astron-GPS-Solar-Dual-Time-Chronograph-2026-Limited-Editions-1-1.jpg) The Astron is Seiko’s GPS solar line. The watches charge from light and set their time and time zone from satellite signals. Until now the chronograph versions used the calibre 5X83, which put its sub-dials at 6, 9 and 12 o’clock and always had a somewhat unique look. The new calibre 5X63 moves them to 3, 6 and 9, and that changes the entire attitude of the watch. Thankfully, or not, the dials remain just as weird to keep the quirky nature of the Strons. These are the new green HAB009 and burgundy HAB010. Both cases are made out of titanium with a black super-hard coating, 43.4mm wide and 12.4mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 50mm. This is the updated Astron case, with an octagonal bezel built from two parts and faceted along its sides. On top is a sapphire crystal with Seiko’s super-clear coating, the case back screws in, and water resistance is 100 meters. It is a big watch, but titanium keeps the weight down. Seiko says the dials are meant to look like a crystal sitting inside black rock, with the case as the rock. The concept is thin, but the textured green and burgundy surfaces look good against the black sub-dials, date window and UTC ring. The green gets yellow gold-tone indices, hands and sub-dial frames, and the burgundy gets rose gold-tone ones. The indices are new and filled with more LumiBrite than before. The crown and pushers are gold-tone as well, which might be more gold than a black watch needs. The 5X63 is an in-house solar quartz calibre with GPS tracking. It changes time zone by itself across 38 zones, handles daylight saving on its own and tells you on the dial when it has lost reception. Without a satellite fix it stays within ±15 seconds a month. You also get a second time zone, a chronograph that is accurate to 1/20th of a second and a perpetual calendar good through 2100\. The three-row titanium bracelet has polished links down the middle, a push-button folding clasp and Seiko’s Easy Adjust system. A black leather strap certified by the Leather Working Group comes in the box, and the two swap without tools. The Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time Chronograph 2026 Limited Editions will be made in 1,500 pieces each, priced at €3,200\. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/seiko-moves-the-astron-gps-chronograph-to-a-3-6-9-layout-in-two-black-titanium-les/) and the watches [on the Seiko website](https://www.seikowatches.com/in-en/products/astron/hab010j1?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 3/ Mr Jones Helps Christopher Ward Make They Best Bel Canto ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/11/Christopher-Ward-Mr-Jones-C1-Bel-Canto-Lucia-1-1.jpg) I think my views on Christopher Ward have been known for quite some time, well before the neo-toothed YouTuber decided to do his whole crash out. And for this entire time, I maintained that the best watch they make, the one that actually stands way above everything else they do, is the Bel Canto. It truly is unlike anything else they make, a wonderfully chiming mechanism right there to see and almost touch, at a pretty unbeatable price. Now, however, it gets its best variant to date, and that's thanks to the genius designers over at Mr Jones. Not ones to skip over a good pun or a joke staring you right in the face, they ran with the fact that people have been saying that the chime mechanism on a Bel Canto looks like a bird in flight and they actually made it into a bird. The case is made out of grade 5 titanium, 41mm wide and 14.31mm thick, with a domed box sapphire crystal and a custom engraving on the caseback. Water resistance is 30 meters, which is fine for a dress-leaning watch like this one. Titanium keeps that thickness from feeling heavy on the wrist. The dial is what it's all about. It's a brass scene printed in 19 colours by Mr Jones, and the subject is Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor, in which the heroine goes mad and sings about it. The chime hammer at 6 o’clock is now a songbird with a gold-plated outline, which gives it a cloisonné look. Around it are a flowering bush and a small bug that turns with the 4 o’clock pusher to show whether the chime is on. The hour and minute dial at 12 is orange, a setting sun. Inside is Christopher Ward calibre FS01, built on the Sellita SW200-2 Power+, running at 28,800vph, with their proprietary chiming module bolted on. The power reserve is 65 hours, up from 38 on earlier Bel Cantos, and that's a very welcome upgrade. The chime sounds on the hour when switched on. The watch can be had on a leather strap or a bracelet. The new Christopher Ward + Mr Jones Bel Canto Lucia is on pre order now and shouldn't be limited, from what I gather. Price is set at €5,159\. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/mr-jones-helps-christopher-ward-make-they-best-bel-canto/) and the watch [on the Christopher Ward website](https://www.christopherward.com/watches/c1-bel-canto-lucia/C01-41APT5-T00O0-MC.html?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 4/ Czapek Goes Racing With The Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Lightning Chronograph ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/11/Czapek-FDC-Lightning-1-1.jpeg) Czapek isn't a stranger to sports watches. In fact, they have the Faubourg de Cracovie collection which is a very straightforward and sporty chronograph. And since chronographs are so heavily linked to racing, it only makes sense that Czapek would experiment with a motorsport-themed chrono as well. This is exactly what the new Czapek Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Lightning is. It's the first Czapek styled for motorsport. The colors come from the helmet of Jacopo Mazza, a young Swiss GT driver: a black dial with silver and red accents. The case is stainless steel, polished and brushed, 41.5mm wide with a lug-to-lug of 49mm. The caseband is hollowed out so the crown protectors can sit flush with the integrated chronograph pushers, which keeps the profile smooth. The crystal is a vintage-style glassbox sapphire with anti-reflective coating, and the caseback is sapphire crystal too. Water resistance is 50 meters, which is OK, but could always be better. The dial is made with Metalem, Czapek's long time collaborator, and is incredibly well done. The base is made out of Alloy 401, which is gold, platinum and palladium, with a hand-guilloché cut pattern and a deep black finish. The Crossroads pattern is straight, widely spaced lines that look like tire tread. The tachymeter on the flange is done in a red gradient, lighter at the top and darker at the base, separated from the dial by a silver minutes/seconds track. The two snailed silver sub-dials sit at 9 o’clock (12-hour counter) and 3 o’clock (30-minute counter), with circular-brushed frames. Small seconds markers are printed straight onto the black dial at 6 o’clock, so the guilloché isn’t interrupted, with a date window color-matched beside them. All three sub-dial hands are red lacquer, and so is the tip of the central chronograph seconds hand. The baton indices and the hour and minute hands are filled with Super-LumiNova. Inside is calibre SXH3, an integrated automatic chronograph built by Vaucher to Czapek’s specifications. It has a column wheel and vertical clutch, runs at 5Hz (36,000vph) to time to 1/10th of a second, and has a 65-hour power reserve. It’s COSC-certified and measures 30mm by 6.95mm. The bridges are anthracite, sandblasted and diamond-polished, and the openworked rotor is pink gold. Two straps are available, in Alcantara and calfskin, both on deployant clasps. The Czapek Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Lightning is limited to 18 pieces and it's priced at €34,600, excluding tax. See [more photos here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/czapek-goes-racing-with-the-faubourg-de-cracovie-crossroads-lightning-chronograph/) and the watch [on the Czapek website](https://www.czapek.com/shop/fdc-crossroads-lightning-9034?ref=itsabouttime.email). ### 5/ Petermann Bédat Reference 2914 Strips the 2941 Down to a Monopusher Chronograph ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/98/15/981552fd-1b67-4d3c-8ad7-fc38a52bf9fb/content/images/2026/11/peterman-bedat-2914-1-1.jpg) You know we're talking serious watches when the new Petermann Bédat Reference 2914 is considered the affordable chronograph, at CHF 180,000 excluding taxes. Well, that's because the big boy, the 240k Reference 2941 is a wonderful split-seconds chronograph that went only to a select few collectors. The 2914 is, obviously, not a cheap watch, but it is just as stunning as the 2941\. If not more, now that it's been given a more compact case. The case is made out of 950 platinum, 36.5mm wide and 11.6mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 45.8mm. The 2941 measured 38.6mm and 13mm, so this is a real step down in size. The lugs are soldered on, the bezel is polished and concave, and the box-shaped sapphire crystal has anti-reflective treatment. The caseback is now a snap-on sapphire. You also get 30 meters of water resistance, but if you need more, I really want to meet you, the person that will get a CHF 200.000 chronograph wet. The dial is sapphire, made with the dial maker Comblémine, with laser engraving across the center that leaves a semi-opaque finish over the German silver plates underneath. The layout is sector-style, with applied gold numerals at 12 and 6 and smaller markers around the edge. Black rings frame the dial and the subdials, which keeps everything easy to read. The hands are gold and steel, finished by hand, with black-polished bevels. It is a very good dial. Inside is calibre 234, an in-house, hand-wound, column-wheel monopusher with a horizontal clutch and jumping minutes. It descends from the 2941’s calibre 202, minus the split-seconds work, with a modified reset and column-wheel hook and a redesigned going train of hand-bevelled solid gold wheels. It has 339 parts, 21 jewels, a 30mm diameter and a Breguet overcoil balance beating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, with a 56-hour power reserve. The finishing through the caseback is what you expect from them: broad Geneva stripes, arrow-tailed steel parts, oversized jewels. The strap is alligator on 18mm lugs with a platinum pin buckle. A 10-row metal bracelet is in development. It is limited to 20 watches in platinum at CHF 180,000 excluding taxes, with other materials promised later. Getting an allocation will be harder than paying for it. See [more photos ](https://www.itsabouttime.email/petermann-bedat-reference-2914-strips-the-2941-down-to-a-monopusher-chronograph/)[here](https://www.itsabouttime.email/petermann-bedat-reference-2914-strips-the-2941-down-to-a-monopusher-chronograph/) and the watch [on the Petermann Bédat website](https://petermann-bedat.com/references/reference-2914/?ref=itsabouttime.email). --- ****Help me RUN It's About Time** I write this newsletter on my own, and paid subscribers are what keep it running. If you'd like to support it, you'll also get The Caseback, a weekend magazine with longer writing, every Sunday. [Support IAT ](https://www.itsabouttime.email/#/portal/signup) --- ## ⚙️Watch Worthy - [A review of the Rado DiaStar Original Skeleton Watches](https://www.fratellowatches.com/hands-on-with-two-rado-diastar-original-skeleton-watches/?ref=itsabouttime.email) - [Hands on with the Christopher Ward C1 Jump Hour XV](https://www.ablogtowatch.com/christopher-ward-c1-jump-hour-xv-watch-review-15-years-of-the-jj01/?ref=itsabouttime.email) --- ## ⏲️End links - When Sam Anderson becomes captivated by a livestream of two bald eagles raising their chicks above California’s Big Bear Lake, he decides to take a trip to see them in person. But what begins as a nature excursion takes an unexpected turn as he encounters eccentric locals, bird enthusiasts, and a town consumed by its feathered celebrities. A fascinating cast of characters, [feathered and otherwise](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/11/magazine/eagle-cam-big-bear-lake.html/?ref=itsabouttime.email). - That it’s been 10 years since A Tribe Called Quest dropped its masterful final album, We got it from Here … Thank You 4 Your service—18 years after its previous outing!—is shock enough. That beloved member Phife Dawg has been gone just as long only adds to the shock. The album wasn’t recorded in mourning, but now, there is no listening without grief. For POW, a continuing beacon of hip-hop coverage and criticism, Matthew Ritchie contends with the album’s impact, and how it [remains a testament to loss and love like few others in the rap canon](https://www.powmag.net/p/a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service-ten-years?ref=itsabouttime.email). - Nursing an identity as a runner for decades despite participation that felt torturous and intermittent, Chris Onstad reveals his on-again, off-again relationship with the sport. In this piece for The Baffler, soaked in sweat and equal parts hyperbole and self-deprecation, Onstad explains how walking [became his gateway drug to running during the pandemic](https://thebaffler.com/salvos/sweat-gets-in-your-eyes-onstad?ref=itsabouttime.email). --- ## 👀Watch this Man, for a moment there I was getting sick of restomods. Now, I'm glad they're here. Just look at this thing! --- Thanks for reading Vuk P.S. If you have any questions, suggestions, gripes or anything else, just reply to this email. It comes straight to me and I try responding to everyone.