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  • Richard Mille Teams Up With Nadal For The Fourth Time, Unimatic Releases Titanium Quartz Biking Watch, G-Shock Takes Inspiration From Colorful Glow Of City Skylines, New From MDM and Greubel Forsey

Richard Mille Teams Up With Nadal For The Fourth Time, Unimatic Releases Titanium Quartz Biking Watch, G-Shock Takes Inspiration From Colorful Glow Of City Skylines, New From MDM and Greubel Forsey

Greubel Forsey released an entry-level watch. I'm not sure they know what entry-level means

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It's About Time
December 14, 2023

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Today we have a couple of extremely expensive watches. Weird, but it’s still nice to see what how the extremely rich throw money around.

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In this issue:

  • Richard Mille Teams Up With The Man Who Made Them Famous, Rafael Nadal, For The Fourth Time

  • Unimatic Works With Cycling Gear Maker Maap For Their First Biking-Proof Titanium Quartz Watch

  • G-Shock Takes Inspiration From The Colorful Glow Of A City Skyline At Night For 40th Anniversary MTGB2000

  • Maurice de Mauriac New L1 Red Lightnig Is Very, Very, Red

  • Greubel Forsey’s The Balancier 3 Is Their Entry-Level Watch. I Don’t Think GF Knows What Entry-Level Is…

Today’s reading time: 7 minutes and 15 seconds

👂What’s new

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I will be the first to be completely honest to say I don’t really understand Richard Mille. Sure, I’m not the only one and sure, there’s not much to understand - RM makes watches that are wild in design, with incredible high-tech materials and a gimmick or two to make everybody happy. They bundle this into a prestigious package that they can sell for many hundreds of thousands of dollars. While this premise sounds super fun, I’m not one to buy it. Or, at least, I wasn’t until I saw Rafael Nadal wearing one. Of the tennis holy trinity, Nadal was always my favorite. Federer was the gentleman, Djokovic is the outsider and Nadal was the bad boy. He was the RM of the tennis world. He hit his balls with violence, he was built different - much more muscular - and swung wildly. And on his wrist, while swinging for the fences, was a red and yellow RM watch, which was just crazy to see. If I had hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend frivolously at the time, I would have been the proud owner of a Nadal RM. Now, Richard Mille is releasing the fourth collaboration with the tennis star, the new RM 35-03, a trio of extra-sporty automatic watches.

The RM 35-03 comes in three versions, a Carbon TPT (black for case and case band, shown in many of the included images), blue and white Quartz TPT, and a version in Carbon TPT with white Quartz TPT. Sizing is the same for all three models and comes in at 43.15mm wide, 13.15mm thick, and 49.95mm lug-to-lug. The watches look crazy thick, much thicker than the 13.15mm would suggest, but this is thanks to the tonneau case that has geometric sides without any sloping. Interestingly, despite this being a highly sports-oriented piece, water resistance is only 50 meters. “Oh, like anybody will go diving with a quarter of a million dollar watch,” I hear you mumble. Just wait to see what RM wants you to do with this watch, diving is the least of it.

On the side of the case is a small button marked Sport. If it’s not clear, press it when you’re doing sports. Duh. But what happens then? Well, RM really does have some insane tech in their watches. Usually, vigorous movement causes more wear on the movement. So years ago RM came up with a variable geometry self-winding rotor where the inertia of the rotor can be adjusted so that it winds more vigorously to replenishing the power reserve more quickly if worn by those living a less active lifestyle or more gently to minimize the wear if you are into sports. However, in past watches you had to bring it in to a watchmaker who would open it up and adjust the rotor to one of the two positions.

The RM 35-03 uses that Sport button to adjust a special new butterfly rotor which can take the form of a regular rotor when the button is not engaged or you can press the button, which splits the rotor in half which stops it form spitting as freely. It’s actually crazy. Go to their website and see the animation to see how it works.

If you’re wondering what the other button on the case is, the one marked Selector is, I wondered that as well. Press that and you choose the function fo the Crown, from “W” for winding, “N” for neutral, and “H” for time-setting. Sure, you could do the same with a pull out crown with two positions, but this is just cooler.

All of this functionality is made possible the RMAL2, a fully skeletonized automatic movement that displays hours, minutes, and seconds. The movement's bridges and baseplate are made of grade 5 titanium, it has a beat rate of 4Hz and a power reserve of 55 hours. That power reserve is supported by a double-barrel system that can meter the torque from either barrel for better timekeeping.

The Richard Mille RM 35-03 Automatic Rafael Nadal watches are undoubtedly cool. They also cost $238,000. So there’s that. See more on the RM website.

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Spend enough time on online forums and you will see a number of people asking the same question - what watch should I wear while riding my bike. It could be a motorcycle or a bicycle, both face the same issues: massive vibrations that are delivered right into your wrist. Every watch other than the most high-tech dampened ones will be affected by the constant vibrations and will knock the movement out of whack. So, the best answer when someone asks you what they should wear while riding a bike would be - a quartz one. Melbourne-based cycling apparel brand MAAP knows this, so they have teamed up with Italian watch brand Unimatic to create the perfect watch for bikers, one based on the Unimatic Modello Quattro made out of titanium and with a quartz movement inside.

The limited edition is based on the Unimatic U4 model, with a 40mm-wide and 12.05mm thick sandblasted Grade II titanium case. Its robust construction includes a 360° anti-shock protection system and water resistance up to 300 meters. The anti-shock protection system can be found in the mechanical version as well, but here it gives you double redundancy since the quartz movement itself is inherently shock resistant.

The dial of the collaborative model is super simple, as is often the case with Unimatic watches. A grey base gives a great monochromatic look with the case and strap, and the dial is interupted only by white and bold hour markers and blocky hands, all filled with SuperLuminova that glows blue. The dial also features MAAP branding that stretches from the center to the 11 o’clock with a very heavy slant to it. It looks like it’s fighting against the wind as you’re racing down the street, almost making it easy to read for people who are riding next to you. The watch comes with a custom Shadow Gray MAAP TPU quick-release strap, a classic Olive seatbelt nylon NATO strap and a special UNIMATIC x MAAP case.

The UNIMATIC x MAAP Modello Quattro UT4-T-M is a super limited watch made in only 100 pieces and is currently on sale for $1,145. See more on the MAAP website.

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G-Shock Takes Inspiration From The Colorful Glow Of A City Skyline At Night For 40th Anniversary MTGB2000

So many brands had an amazing year. but a special shout out goes to G-Shock, which has celebrated it’s 40th anniversary. For a brand that’s already making amazing watches, they came out with an impressive lineup of special editions. Now, in the final days of 2023 and the 40th anniversary celebration, they’ve released a new MTGB2000 limited edition, inspired by the colorful glow of city skylines at night.

The MTGB2000’s steel and carbon case is 51mm-wide with 55.1mm lug-to-lug distance and is 15.9mm-thick. The carbon they use in the case is not only multi-layered, but they also use multiple colors of carbon so you get a very subtle rainbow effect on the case. But that’s not the only pop of color. There’s also the bezel which is rendered in rainbow IP. The new model also showcases a multi-color index and hand design by a combination of vapor deposition and inkjet printing.

The watch features the beloved G-Shock quartz movement which includes solar-powered timekeeping with Bluetooth control, a world timer, a calendar and 200 meters of water resistance.

The new MT-G Special: City Illumination is limited to just 600 pieces worldwide and retails for $1,450. See more on the G-Shock website.

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I’ll say it again, I’m not sure what to think bout Zurich-based Maurice de Mauriac. They’re not particularly inspired in design and they are very, very expensive. But there’s also demand for them, because they crank out new models like the best of them. Like, for example, this new watch - the L1 Red Lightning.

The MDM L1 line has been known for their simplest design of all Maurice de Mauriac watches. But this Red Lightning piece cranks up the intensity and gets a 39mm wide (46.6mm lug-to-lug) stainless steel case with a black DLC coating. There’s sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides. The crystal on top is colored red so everything you see on the dial is completely red.

Inside is the automatic La Joux-Perret G100 caliber, ensuring precision with a generous power reserve of 68 hours. You can get the watch on either a white rubber strap, or a Milanese stainless steel bracelet with DLC coating.

The L1 Red Lightning is limited to just 80 pieces and priced at CHF 3,900. I’m still not sure what to think about it. See more on the MDM website.

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Greubel Forsey’s The Balancier 3 Is Their Entry-Level Watch. I Don’t Think GF Knows What Entry-Level Is…

Back in 2004, at Baselworld, a duo of watchmakers, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, showed off their first watch. It was the Double Tourbillon 30° and from that second on, they have been lauded as the masters of the toubillon. It was a previously unseen design - two tourbillon cages that resulted in the greatest accuracy and consistency possible. Greubel Forsey continued creating incredible movements until 2019, when they decided that they wanted to enter the sports watch category with the GMT Sport and later in 2020 the simpler and cheaper Balancier S in 2020. Now, Greubel Forsey is introducing the Balancier 3.

The Balancier 3 comes in a 41.5mm wide titanium Convexe case. However, the bezel of the watch overhangs the case, meaning that it’s actually 43.6mm wide when viewed from the top. The watch is 13.55mm thick and has a very curved construction on both the dial and the caseback. That bezel that overhands has a variable geometry and polished and straight-grained finishes.

The dial is classic Greubel Forsey with the easily recognizable variable geometry on the hour ring with the engraved and lacquered minute track and three-dimensional hour indices. On the dial side you can see the large balance wheel at 5 o’clock while the barrels are positioned at 1 and 10. Since the entire watch is curved to match the wrist, so are the hour and minute hands. At 8 o’clock is the small seconds display. Signature Greubel Forsey finishes, including polished bevels and screws, accentuate the main and minor bridges.

The curved sapphire caseback unveils finely finished, large bridges adorned with typical Greubel Forsey details, including jewels in chatons, yet without the writings. The Balancier 3 comes in either blue or black and with matvhing strap made from non-animal material and rubber secured by a titanium folding clasp. You can also opt for the three-row titanium bracelet.

The Greubel Forsey Balancier 3 is limited to 88 pieces each and is the more affordable offering from GF. However, Greubel Forsey has a different perception of what affordable is. The watch is priced at CHF 160,000. See more on the GF 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

For a watch under €1,000, Maen has got its bracelet game down with this latest release, just like the tougher cousin that I recently reviewed, the Skymaster 38. But this Manhattan offers a different vibe in a market with higher demands on finishing and comfort. And yes, it pretty much nails it. The bracelet seems slightly refined compared to that of the 37mm Manhattan and has little slack. The links have refined bevels that catch the light, making the look as well as the comfort sublime. It’s got a secure click on its logoed butterfly clasp and easy-to-size-up screw-fixed links.

⏲️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

Have you ever wondered what watch James Bond wears when he’s not working? Well, here’s an Esquire video in which Daniel Craig shows us his personal collection. A man of taste.

💵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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