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  • Jaeger-LeCoultre Unveils Made-To-Order Reverso Year of the Dragon, Orient Launches Beautiful Forrest Green Dial, Squale Teams Up With seconde/seconde/ For A Nifty Shark Theme, New From Laco And GoS

Jaeger-LeCoultre Unveils Made-To-Order Reverso Year of the Dragon, Orient Launches Beautiful Forrest Green Dial, Squale Teams Up With seconde/seconde/ For A Nifty Shark Theme, New From Laco And GoS

While many believe that seconde/seconde/ is jumping the shark, his use of a shark is just briliant

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It's About Time
December 07, 2023

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Sorry, this edition is very late. That’s what you get when your favorite newsletter is written by just one guy who has a kid with the stomach flu for the first time in her life. But better late than never.

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In this issue:

  • Jaeger-LeCoultre Unveils A New Made-To-Order Reverso Tribute for the Year of the Dragon

  • Orient Launches a UK-Exclusive Classic and Simple Reference With Forrest Green Dial

  • Laco Continues Very Early 100th Anniversary Celebration With Edition 98 Which Represents 98 Years Of Watchmaking

  • Squale Teams Up With seconde/seconde/ For An Expected But Still Very Cool Diver With A Bite Taken Out Of It

  • Indie Watchmaker Patrik Sjögren’s GoS Releases Fantastic Winter-Themed Sarek Frost

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 10 seconds

👂What’s new

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In the past year or so, Jaeger-LeCoultre has seen some criticism levied against it. They have increased prices in what’s probably the highest rate among mainstream luxury watch brands and some of their designs are feeling a bit less inspired than just a couple of years ago. However, JLC really knows how to prove why they are one of the most important watchmakers out there. Just a few weeks ago they introduced the Hokusai Reverso Tribute with incredible renderings of Hokusai paintings. Now, they’re paying homage to the upcoming Lunar New Year, the year of the dragon, with the Reverso Tribute Enamel Dragon.

JLC has been making watches that pay tribute to the Lunar New Year for some time, but they seriously upped their game last year when they released the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Enamel "Tiger." This was a stunning tribute to the opening of a new boutique in Shanghai, and it featured an enamel dial and caseback featuring grande feu enamel and hand engraving with the image of a tiger on the back. It was a challenging feat that asked an engraver to engrave on a layer of enamel, making it much more difficult. The image of the leaping tiger on the caseback was made using a technique called modeled engraving, in which different-sized chisels are used to remove material, step by step.

This year, not much has changed other than the animal for the upcoming year. The watch comes in the familiar Reverso Tribute 18K pink gold Art Deco-inspired rectangular shape. The time-telling side, just like the reverse side, feature Grand Feu enamel in a high-gloss finish. On the time side you get faceted applied hour markers, chemin de fer minutes track, and Dauphin-shaped hands in matching pink gold. The reverse side gets a dragon engraved by the same modeled engraving technique, but this one is even more complex than the tiger as it takes 80 versus 55 hours.

Inside the watch is the in-house Calibre 822, a manually wound movement that has a power reserve of 45 hours. It comes on a black alligator strap.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Dragon, just like the Tiger before it, is available only on a made-to-order basis. No pricing is given, and the watch is not shown on the JLC website, but if the Tiger is anything to go on, expect this piece to cost more than €90,000. Keep an eye out on the Jaeger-LeCoultre to see if they put it up for more photos.

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I will never stop complaining about Orient and their complete distain for telling people when, where and how they release new watches. No, really. It’s horrible. They will send out a press release only for you to see that this model has been on sale for months. You will walk by a store window and see a spectacular piece that just doesn’t and has never existed on their website (which is a complete disaster). So, while I will continue complaining about it, I’m also just learning to live with Orient and their craziness, and I’ll just write about what I think are new watches. So, do keep in mind that all about this (supposedly) new Orient could also be very wrong.

What you see here is a new release from Orient with a spectacular forest green dial. This is supposed to be exclusive colorway for the UK market, but not can you not find it on the Orient UK website, if you google it’s reference number (RN-AK0703E), you will find that this watch was possibly already sold in Japan. And maybe even the United States…

This watch is part of Orient’s Classic and Simple Style series, one with a retro look, and it comes in a 40.5mm wide polished stainless steel. The model’s iconic dial has the same o’clock date window, an off-center 24-hour indicator at the 5 o’clock position, as well as the 10 o’clock subdial to indicate the day of the week. The green dial is contrasted with rose gold colored Roman numerals and hands, while the chapter ring and sundial marking are rendered in white.

Inside the watch is Orient’s Japan-made F6B22 caliber, an automatic, and mechanical in-house movement that provides the piece with up to 40 hours of power reserve. The watch comes on a dark brown alligator-style leather strap.

I’m not sure where or when you can buy it, because Orient will hide that information from it’s customers, but the price is set at £288 (about $363). To quote a watch friend, maybe that’s why the price is so low - they just don’t have anyone in their marketing department. Too bad, because it’s a great looking watch. You can head on over to the Orient UK website, but I’m not sure what you’ll find there.

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The German watch industry is just as diverse as that of Switzerland, and yet, we tend to associate them most with pilot’s watches. I mean, it comes as no surprise, as they really have perfected this format. And among the very top of pilot’s watches is Laco, the German manufacturer that sometimes gets unfairly overshadowed by the larger Sinn. But Laco has been making watches for almost 100 years and is now preparing to celebrate this anniversary. In fact, they have been celebrating the past three years with Editions 95, 96 and 97. Now, Laco is releasing the Edition 98, a luminous bi-compax chronograph that is a homage to the aviation pioneers of the 1930s and 1940s. You know you can expect Edition 99 before the 100 year anniversary in 2025.

The Edition 98 comes in a polished and satin-finished stainless steel case that measures 43mm wide, 14mm thick and has a substantial 51.5mm lug-to-lug. It’s a large watch, sure, but it makes sense being a pilot’s chronograph. On top is a double-domed AR-coated sapphire crystal and water resistance is 100 meters. The large conical crown has a raised “98” for obvious reasons.

This watch is part of the Laco chronograph collection and as a bicompax and the most expensive one in the collection, it’s the flagship. And it stands out from the rest with generous amounts of lume. The dial is black, with indices and numerals painted with Superluminova. The subdials at 3 and 9 o'clock are inlaid with the same lume, making for great night shots, while the thermally blued stainless steel hands also have Superluminova.

Inside is the Sellita SW510BH b, with the elabore level of finishing, the lowest offered from Sellita. This is a variation of the Valjoux 7750 and it beats at 28,800 vph, with a power reserve of 56 hours. The watch comes on a black leather strap with steel rivets

You can get the watch right now, and as far as I can tell, it’s not limited. Price is set at €2.950. See more on the Laco website.

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This has definitely been THE year for seconde/seconde/ or Romaric André, a former financial auditor who has made a name for himself by vandalising extremely expensive watches, replacing the hands on vintage Pateks with 8-bit swords. He has teamed up with brands ranging from everyday Timex to Atelier Wen on the other end. In fact, it could be said that he has had way too many collaborations and people could be getting a bit sick of his work. He has had some major misses in all the collaborations and it’s getting increasingly easy to dislike him, but this latest one is not a miss. While maybe a bit predictable, it’s absolutely fantastic.

seconde/seconde/ has teamed up with legendary, albeit under appreciated, dive watch brand Squale. Not only are their watches known as capable divers, they also have one of the best logos in the industry - an arching shark whose body spells out the Squale name. The watch the two have collaborated on is called the Squale 1521 “Watch Your Hand” and I think you see where this is going.

But to start with the outside. The 1521 comes in a 42mm wide polished stainless steel case with dramatically angled lugs and a 4 o’clock crown. On top is a 120-click unidirectional bezel with a black aluminium insert and 60-minute scale, a flat sapphire crystal and it has a screw-in crown and caseback to get you 500 meters of water resistance.

The dial remains the same matte black with large hour markers with luminous coating. But here is where seconde/seconde/ has done his customization - he moved the logo from the 6 o’clock position to poke it’s head just a bit over the imagined waterline between 9 and 3. The shark broke the surface to take a big chunk out of the hour hand. In addition to the hour hand, more fun touches include the offset position of the squale or the orange S letter in 50 ATMOS, alluding to seconde/seconde/.

Inside is the Sellita SW200-1, an automatic movement with 4Hz frequency and 38h power reserve. The watch comes on a Milanese steel mesh bracelet closed by a folding clasp.

Seeing as how quickly previous seconde/seconde/ editions sold out this year (just look at the numerous Timex watches and the Spinnaker ghost watch), I was expecting this one to go just as quick, seeing as how only 100 pieces were made. Alas, I was wrong. Maybe people don’t like it as much, maybe the marketing was wrong, or the price (€1,021) is a bit too high, but if you like it as much as I do, despite it being a bit corny, there are still some for sale. See more on the Squale website.

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If you’re not familiar with GoS, here’s a quick overview. It’s a Swedish brand started more than a decade ago as a collaboration between master bladesmith Johan Gustafsson and master watchmaker Patrik Sjögren. Since then Gustafsson left the company but what remains the same are the incredible dials made out of hand-forged Damascus steel, now made by another Swedish master bladesmith - Conny Persson, as well as their dedication to Scandinavian craft tradition. Now, they’re introducing a new watch perfect for the winter that is upon us, the GoS Sarek Frost.

Interestingly, the Sarek Frost is one of the rare GoS watches that doesn’t use an abundance of Damascus steel as imagined by the brand. It comes in a 41.5mm wide and 11mm thick stainless steel case with scallops in the caseband that resemble ancient Viking bracelets. The Viking influence is seen on the crown, which is shaped like a sword, and on top is a domed sapphire crystal and a smooth bezel (which can be exchanged for a Damascus steel one if you miss the material on the GoS).

But it’s obviously all about the dial. According to Sjögren, the inspiration comes from the look and feel of a frosted window pane. There are two version, both sunray brushed, a darker Midnight Blue and a lighter Ice Blue. The index ring is made of 12 segments of sapphire crystal set on a metal base. Each one is polished and finished with solid white Super-LumiNova underneath. To enhance the wintery look, ice crystals are printed on the dial. The handcrafted hands are spear-shaped for the hours and minutes, with a needle-like seconds hands.

Inside the watch is the LJP-G101 automatic movement made by La Joux-Perret. While not a clone, it is most similar to the Miyota 9039 and beats at 28,800vph with a power reserve of 65 hours. The same movement is used in watches from anOrdain and Furlan Marri. The rotor is made out Tungsten and is finished with a gold Triskele medallion. The watch comes on a Salmon leather strap.

The GoS Sarek Frost is limited to 100 pieces and retails for $9,500, without VAT. If you opt for the Damascus steel bezel, be read to add $1,000 more to that price. See more on the GoS website.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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⚙️Watch Worthy

A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually like

The visual appeal of that ceramic outer ring is never more impactful than when the Impetus CeramTech is worn on the rubber strap. Even if an ice-white strap is usually too bold for me, it suits the watch perfectly. Once again, this brings attention to the strong lug shape and continues the alternating color theme. One of my few requirements for a sports watch is looking good on rubber, and the Impetus CeramTech feels good too. I appreciate that the rubber strap can conform to any wrist shape, providing additional friction to keep the watch in place. As you’ll note, the lug dimensions and fixings restrict strap options to those available from Titoni. The black DLC-coated bracelet enhances the dark and stealthy aspects of the watch, but in my opinion, that’s at the expense of comfort and the overall aesthetic balance.

⏲️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

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

Ken Block was a legend even before the world learned his name from rallying and his incredible Gymkhana videos. Way back in 1994 he was already a successful marketer and instead of working for others he teamed up with two friends to form DC Shoes. After selling the company for millions threw himself into cars, becoming a rally driver and starting Hoonigan, an automotive-themed apparel brand. In order to promote this business, Block started making his Gymkhana videos, in which he powerslid cars in the most unexpected of locations in a choreography of mayhem. Early this year, BLock died in a snowmobiling accident but Hoonigan just put out his last video, the Elecrikhana where he slides an electric car, meaning much more smoke.

💵Pre-loved precision

Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us 

  • SOLD: Well, not really new. It’s a great looking mid-90s Tudor Submariner 75090, offered for sale by a member of the It’s About Time reader crew. I love the way it looks and seems to be in great condition. Check it out over on Chrono24.

  • LOOKING TO BUY: One of our readers is looking to purchase three very specific watches: an Islander ISL-133 Mother of Pearl, a Sinn 556 Mother of Pearl or a Zelos 300m GMT Mosaic Mother of Pearl. If you’re selling any of these, reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

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