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- Sinn Updates The U50 Lineup With Full-Lume Dial And Oil-Filled Models, Tissot Teams Up With Damian Lillard For PRX LE, Sudio Underd0g's Updated 02Series And New BA111OD CHPTR_Δ
Sinn Updates The U50 Lineup With Full-Lume Dial And Oil-Filled Models, Tissot Teams Up With Damian Lillard For PRX LE, Sudio Underd0g's Updated 02Series And New BA111OD CHPTR_Δ
A fan favorite from a cult brand just got even better - nothing can beat out a lumed dial
It's About Time
February 16, 2024
Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Have you ever tried writing a newsletter with a dog that just ate something he shouldn’t have and is now trying to redecorate your persian carpet? Well I have, this one. So excuses that it’s a bit late and a bit short, we will be back to our regular scheduled programming next week, there’s some amazing stuff in the pipeline.
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In this issue:
Sinn Adds A Lume-Dialed Limited Edition And Three Oil-Filled Models To It’s Fantastic U50 Lineup
Tissot Unveils Their New PRX, Made In Collaboration With NBA Star Damian Lillard
Studio Underd0g Joins British Watchmakers’ Day Celebration With A Very Limited Edition 02Series
Masters Of Affordable Luxury Watches BA111OD Release CHPTR_Δ AGIL
Today’s reading time: 7 minutes and 12 seconds
👂What’s new
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Despite being introduced only in 2020, the Sinn U50 line not only seems like it has been around for quite a while, but it’s also growing into one of the German brand’s most popular models. And it’s clear why - the U50 combined all the best Sinn technologies including Tegimented submarine steel, into a smaller and more wearable package. Fans welcomed the smaller case size of the U50, but also its tech and rugged looks. Now they’re introducing three new U50’s versions feature the brand’s Hydro technology and a really nice limited-edition U50 with a luminous dial.
Starting with the three new U50 Hydro models, they come in three variants - the Sinn U50 Hydro, the U50 Hydro S and the U50 Hydro SDR. They’re basically the same watch, with several important differences, but the same shape. The cases are made out of German submarine steel, treated with Tegiment technology for scratch resistance, that measure 41mm wide and 11.8mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 47mm.
Sinn obsessives, and I know you’re out there, will instantly notice the 0.6mm of added thickness compared to the regular U50. This is due to Sinn using their Hydro technology, meaning that the cases are filled with oil. I adore oil-filled watches for their incredibly cool look. But there are, of course, other benefits to this tech - it prevents light from breaking up inside the watch, making the dial perfectly readable from any angle without distortion or reflection, but it also makes the internals resistant to compression. This means that while the regular U50 has a 500 meter water resistance, these Hydro technology ones are water resistant to a ridiculous 5,000 meters.
On to the three versions. First up is the basic U50 Hydro which has a bead-blasted stainless steel case and bezel with a 60-minute scale with red minute markers. The deep blackness of the dial is accentuated by the oil in the watch, you get white markers and white sword-style hour and minute hands, as well as a bright red seconds hand. This watch comes on either a bead-blasted bracelet with a folding clasp or a variety of silicone or leather straps. It’s not clear whether the bracelet comes with Sinn’s new clasp with toolless micro-adjustment.
Next up is the U50 Hydro S, basically the same watch as the Hydro, but covered in a black hard coating on both the case and bezel. The black bezel gets a red and white 60-minute scale. Everything else remains pretty much the same, but with a black Tegimented bracelet. And lastly, there’s the U50 Hydro SDR, which is a mix of the two. It comes with a bead-blasted stainless steel case but with a black bezel.
All three of these models come with one more major change from the original. While the regular U50 is powered by the Sellita SW300, due to it being oil filled, Sinn had to swap out the mechanical for a quartz movement. Inside is the Ronda 715Li movement - antimagnetic to 1,000 gauss, has a 60-month battery life with an end-of-life indicator, and is functionally reliable from -20°C to +60°C.
Sinn has another addition to the U50 line called the U50 S L, continuing their tradition of cool dials (mother-of-pearl, for one) in their black treated models. This one comes with an incredibly cool lumed dial. Sinn goes into detail how they make it and it’s very cool. First, luminous paint gets cast into a mold where it hardens into one solid layer. Then it’s fused to a ceramic component for stability and joined to a metallic dial base. Once combined, the dial then receives its ultra-legible printed black markings. The lume glows blue in the dark. Since it’s not oil-filled you get the old dimensions back (41mm wide, 11.2mm thick, 47mm lug-to-lug) and inside is the Sellita SW300-1 that beats at 28,800vph and has a 42 hour power reserve.
All of the new Sinn models are available for purchase now at a wide range of prices. The Sinn U50 Hydro will set you back €2,150 on a leather strap, €2,360 on a silicon strap, and €2,375 on the stainless steel bracelet. The Sinn U50 Hydro S will be €2,550 on a leather strap, €2,870 on a silicone strap, and €3,010 on the black Tegimented steel bracelet. The SDR is priced at €2,240 on a leather strap, €2,450 on a silicone strap, and €2,465 on the stainless steel bracelet. And lastly, the U50 S L will be limited to 500 pieces and will sell for €2,790 on a leather strap, €3,110 on silicone and €3,250 on the bracelet. See more on the Sinn website.
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I’m not a huge basketball fan, so do excuse my ignorance. While I understand that Nikola Jokic might be the best player since Jordan, among one of the best is Damian Lillard, an 8-time all-star currently playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s a popular player known for his Dame Time celebration where he taps his wrist after particularly good plays. So it only makes sense that he teamed up with a popular watch brand - Tissot, to create a limited edition of their most popular model, the PRX. Taking on a bold black and gold design, this is the new Tissot PRX Damian Lillard Special Edition.
Basketball players are, understandably, huge people, so it only makes sense that Lillard’s watch is based on the largest PRX, the 40mm one. And in this case he chose to use the gold PVD version of the watch, with a black dial. However, instead of the black square waffle pattern, the dial has a pattern made out of the number 0, Lillard’s jersey number.
There are mode Damian Lillard touches to the watch. The seconds hand features his monogram as the counterwight. The flange of the watch has a series of inscriptions - top left is Damian’s nickname Dame, in the top right is Time, a nod to his signature celebration, in the bottom right is his family’s initials DDKK and lastly in the bottom left is YKWTII which stands for ‘you know what time it is’. Continuing the Lillard theme, you’ll find an depiction of him doing the Dame Time celebration on the caseback crystal.
Inside is the Swatch group’s Powermatic 80 calibre, an updated ETA 2824. It beats at 21,600vph and has an 80 hour power reserve. It features a Nivachron anti-magnetic hairspring for enhanced reliability. The watch comes on a PVD gold-coated single-link integrated steel bracelet.
The Tissot PRX Damian Lillard Special Edition is not a limited edition and it is priced at CHF 730. It’s a very specific watch for a niche audience, but I’m sure it will find its fans easily. See more on the Tissot website.
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The British watchmaking industry has a long and proud history with both large and small watchmakers currently making some amazing pieces. To pay homage to this history, the Alliance of British Watch & Clock Makers is putting on British Watchmakers’ Day, a special celebration of all British watches, planned for March. And a number of respected watchmakers are pitching in to the celebration with limited and special edition pieces. Studio Underd0g is one of those watchmakers as they have just announced a very limited edition of their new and very popular 02Series field watch.
The watch comes in a 37mm wide and 12mm thick stainless steel with a closed caseback. Cover the dial and it looks like any other field watch - a round case with brushed surfaces and a highly polished bezel. The domed sapphire crystal enhances the retro flair.
Then there’s the dial, more on the subdued end of the color spectrum, and a new colorway joining the existing four. Actually, it’s a mashup of already existing colorways, as it uses the cream dial of the Full Mo0n and the black hands with orange lume of the Steffany Blue. Sounds like not much of a change, but it actually looks amazing.
Inside is the Sellita SW210-1 manual winding movement with 42-hour power reserve. That solid caseback has an engraving of a jellyfish and around the edge it reads “Assembled in Great Britain”.
This British Watchmakers’ Day Studio Underd0g 02Series will be made in only 25 pieces and it’s priced at £800. The only way to buy one is to attend the British Watchmakers’ Day on March 9. See more pictures of the watch on the brand Instagram and more info on British Watchmakers’ Day here.
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Right there on the homepage of BA111OD is this promise: “Unleashing Swiss watchmaking at groundbreaking prices”. This “democratisation of an industry” is a promise seen so many times, especially in modern startups that it has become an empty phrase. And more often than not, they mean the exact opposite as no democratisation is even being attempted. With BA111OD, this is definitely not the case. Setting aside the fact that they make the cheapest Swiss-made tourbillon, I have been completely obsessed with their CHPTR_Δ which gives you a display of time that you would expect on multi-dozen-thousands-of-€ watches for under €3,000. Now they’re releasing a new version, the CHPTR_Δ AGIL (pronounced Chapter Delta Agil) in a very limited quantity and it looks great.
The only regular looking part of this watch might be the black case of the watch which measures 44mm wide. Short lugs and a rose gold colored crown at 4 o’clock are all very tame. But that’s where things get crazy.
Made with renowned La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaker Olivier Mory, the dial is unlike any other and offers a new interpretation of time. There’s a circular minute display and a hypocycloidal hour display, symbolized by a triangle in the foreground of the dial. If you’re asking what “hypocycloidal hour display” iI honestly can’t explain it to you. Rather than simply rotating a hand around a central axis, the movement was designed to "roll" a satellite hour wheel around a fixed central hour wheel. When a wheel is rotated around another wheel, the trajectory described by any point on this satellite wheel is a cycloid.
The dial is made out of black satin matte steel, with multiple levels and laser engraving, on top of which you’ll find a faceted triangle in polished steel with 5N PVD treatment and a white dot that points to the time.
Inside is a movement that uses the Soprod M100 as it’s base, on which BA111OD places their manufacture module 09310 with hypocycloidal time reading. It has a power reserve of 42 hours. The watch comes on a black rubber strap with easy-clip system
The new BA111OD CHPTR_Δ AGIL is limited to 111 pieces and available for purchase now. At the time of writing, there are only 29 left and I assume they will sell soon, since the watch was only introduced less than 24 hours ago. No wonder, since the price is €3.550, a bargain for such a complicated watch. See more on the BA111OD website.
🫳On hand
Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon
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⚙️Real Time Reviews
A new segment in which we feature reviews from real users reviewing their personal watches
Years ago, I fell in love with this particular Seiko Chronograph, reference 5717. Before then, I wasn't a huge fan of Seiko because I honestly wasn't aware of the diversity of models that the brand produced in the 60s/70s. I had Omega's Chronostop in mind as THE reference for such a watch, but I wasn't ready to buy one.
I remember browsing the web when I stumbled upon this model that absolutely stunned me! I asked myself: What is this thing? After some research, I realized that it was a derivative of the limited-edition chronograph that Seiko had made for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. I did look for the historical model, but the prices were well above the 300 € that I ended up paying for this watch from my memory.
⏲️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
I still remember the first time I tried David Chang’s pork ramen in Momofuku. It, along with the burger in the Spotted Pig, was one of those meals that broke my brain, so this profile of “Ramen Lord” Mike Satinover, a man who became obsessed with creating the perfect bowl of noodles after falling in love with the dish in high school made so much sense to me. One part precision, one part love, one part pure devotion, Satinover’s noodles have become renowned in Chicago since Akahoshi Ramen opened in Logan Square just a few short months ago.
Being a pet food taster at Waltham Petcare Science Institute sounds like a pretty sweet gig. As Vivian Ho writes, each day the dogs and cats there “eat two meals, and from there, teams of behaviourists, statisticians and nutritionists study how they respond to the food.” I had no idea pet food was studied so deeply. Interspersing her piece with tales of her own (toothless) cat, Florence Meowmalade, Ho creates a delightful read.
Are you watching the new season of True Detective? If not, you should be. While the show might be verging on the supernatural, there is nothing unreal about the gruesome story of what happened to a native Alaskan girl found murdered. Stories like those happen in real life often, just like this indigenous teen in Washington who disappeared amid clear signs of danger. It took more than a year before police started investigating.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
Despite going bankrupt, Vice is still cranking out fantastic content. While not on the level of the Vice videos of the early 2010s, it’s really, really close.
Meet Atlanta’s most unlikely heroes, the Boot Girls. Masked vigilantes by day, sugar babies by night, the Boot Girls zip around town armed with plastic ghost keys, taking parking boots off your car for a small fee. A welcome service for a parking enforcement industry that’s been described as “predatory” by residents, city officials, and even state senators.
Here’s how it works: private companies patrol garages, booting cars for what—at times—seems like minor infractions. Parking anywhere can feel like a game of financial roulette, since boot companies charge $75 to unlock your car, and that doubles each subsequent day.
In this VICE profile, they embed with the Boot Girls, documenting their rise from hustlers to patron saints of Atlanta's parking lots.
💵Pre-loved precision
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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.
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-Vuk