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- TAG Heuer Shrinks Down Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph Diver To 34mm, Zenith Expands Chronomaster Sport Line, Hublo Continues Orlinski Collaboration, New From Bell & Ross And Hermès
TAG Heuer Shrinks Down Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph Diver To 34mm, Zenith Expands Chronomaster Sport Line, Hublo Continues Orlinski Collaboration, New From Bell & Ross And Hermès
It's so nice to see TAG make not just a diver that can fit slender wrists, but also one that's not all pink with diamonds
It's About Time
January 31, 2024
Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. We’re still dealing with some leftovers announcements from LVMH Watch Week and it’s funny to see that Hublot can make both incredible mechanical masterpieces and gaudy watches with derivative artists.
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In this issue:
TAG Heuer Shrinks Down Their Solar-Powered Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph To 34mm
Zenith Expands The Chronomaster Sport Line With A Permanent Green Version And A Lot Of Gems
Hublot Continues Collaboration With Artist Richard Orlinskli With Pair Of Pop-Art Inspired Tourbillons
Bell & Ross Releases New Addition To BR 03 Collection, The BR 03 Cyber Ceramic
Hermès Unveils a Diamond-Set Arceau Petite Lune Ciel Étoilé
Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 12 seconds
Number of dragon-themed watches this Year (so far, and including today): 18
👂What’s new
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The debate over whether quartz watches should be even considered in the conversation when talking about serious timepieces is a heated one. And say what you will, I’ll say it doesn’t matter. There’s no weaker argument than “a quartz watch is not a real watch”. Go ahead and tell me the Omega X-33, a quartz Grand Seiko or something powered by the Citizen 0100 aren’t real watches. TAG Heuer agrees with this sentiment that all movements are valid in their own application. In addition, they love modern technology and have since 2022 putting out a fantastic solar powered Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph. Now, they’re bringing that same solar-powered movement to something that will be greatly appreciated - a smaller diving watch, one that could easily fit a female wrist, but also without doing the whole “shrink and pink” thing when brands make ladies watches.
The new 34mm TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph keeps largely the same look as the rest of the lineup made up of 40mm diving watches. But the new size comes in a 34mm wide, 9.7mm thick stainless steel case that has a 40.6mm lug-to-lug, brushed finish and high-polished bevels on the lugs. On top is a flat sapphire crystal and out back is a solid screwed casebacks. There’s a substantial change to the bezel compared to the rest of the line, as it has a slightly more bold and ornate appearance, with largely polished surfaces and raised trapezoid-shaped tabs between the ten-minute markers.
The dials are semi-transparent to allow for solar charging, but you would never guess it by looking at the watch. There are five different references, all of them very interesting. The most traditional features a blue sunray brushed dial with a teal colored seconds hand that has become a signature of the collection. Then there’s the reference that completely embraces the teal with a teal dial that has a shimmering finish. The remaining three all have mother of pearl dials, one the regular MOP dial, one with the MOP dial with diamond hour markers and one with the MOP dial, diamond hour markers and a diamond set bezel.
Inside is the Caliber TH50-01 solar-powered quartz movement which is made by La Joux-Perret. According to TAG, you need two minutes of light, natural or artificial, to run the watch for a day and 40 hours of sunlight is enough for 10 months of darkness. The watches come on a stainless steel bracelet that has a three-link design with brushed sides and polished center links.
The new 34mm TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph ar available for purchase now at a price that is lower than the 40mm version. The regular dark blue and teal versions will set you back $2,150, the MOP dial version $2,350, the one with the MOP dial and diamond hours $2,950 and the most expensive version with the diamond bezel costs $5,000. I have to say I love this watch. Not just because I like nifty quartz movements on high-end watches, but also because it offers a small diver, something that is very difficult to find, while at the same time not trying to go over the top with it being “feminine”, whatever that means in the eyes of watch brands. See more on the TAG Heuer website.
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It’s not been three years since Zenith introduced the Chronomaster Sport in 2021 as a serious update to the El Primero, equipped with the calibre 3600, that embraced modern materials and a range of colors. Over the years, Zenith released a number of colors of the Chronomaster Sport, all of them with the familiar tricolour subdials – blue, anthracite, and light grey – reminiscent of the original 1969 A386 El Primero chronograph. Then last year they released the Chronomaster Sport Aaron Rodgers Limited Edition without the colored subdials and people loved the green but wanted the subdials back. Well, Zenith is now releasing exactly that - a green bezel version with the blue, anthracite, and light grey subdials - along with a pretty out there all-gold, gem-set version, a first for the Chronomaster Sport.
Starting off with the green version, it comes in two references, one with a steel bracelet and one with a matching strap. It comes in the familiar 41mm wide stainless steel case with a prominent green ceramic bezel which has the 1/10th of a second readout the movement has become so well known for. It’s the same shade of green as the Aaron Rodgers, but with the historic subdial colors.
More interesting, however, is the gem-set version that comes in an all gold 41mm wide case. The watch has a gold colored meteorite dial with diamond hour markers and the blue, anthracite, and light grey subdials. It also has a bezel that is set with four dozen sapphires that echo this color pattern, gradually going from a rich and saturated blue through dark gray to light gray. This means you lose the markings on the bezel, but if you love factory set gem watches, this one just might be fantastic.
Inside both versions is the El Primero 3600 which uses the 36,000vph (5Hz) operating frequency to display time with a tenth of a second accuracy and a buttery smooth seconds hand. Yet, despite this higher operating frequency, Zenith manages to squeeze out 60 hours of power reserve from the watch.
The Zenith Chronomaster Sport watches with a green bezel are priced at CHF 10,400 on the rubber strap and CHF 10,900 on the steel bracelet, while the gem-set, all-gold piece is priced at CHF 98,000. See more on the Zenith website.
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The other day I showed you the Hublot MP-10, an incredible piece of horological and technological development which proved that it was a bit too easy to make fun of Hublot, as they can really make some great watches. Today, we’re making a step back. Hublot is continuing their collaboration with pop artist Richard Orlinski with a duo of tourbillon watches that remind us why we love to poke fun at Hublot. The Yellow Magic and Sky Blue editions of the Hublot Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski are great looking watches, but they just might be too little for too much, with not a lot of susbtance. Kind of like Orlinski’s derivative and extremely boring art.
Hublot has been working with Orlinski since 2019 and the collaboration has focused on the Classic Fusion line. This means these two watches also come in the Classic Fusion 45mm wide cases that are 10.6mm thick. However, instead of the regular Classic Fusion round steel rendition, these Orlinski models come in two colored ceramic cases, one bright yellow and the other baby blue, with facets and edges that make it a unique case.
The Yellow Magic comes, quite expectedly, in yellow, with a yellow ceramic bezel that has six H-shaped black-plated titanium screws, a black-plated crown, and black PVD skeleton bridges. The manually wound HUB6021 movement is skeletonized and there’s no traditional dial so you can see straight through the watch as well as the tourbillon that’s situated at 6 o’clock. . There are applied yellow hour indices and the hour and minute hands are equally as yellow. At 8 o’clock is a 5-day power reserve with a, sigh, yellow scale and hand. The watch comes on a yellow rubber strap.
The Sky Blue is a bit different. There are no black details on it, and pretty much all that is black on Yellow Magic - bridges, screws, crown - is rendered in silver and rhodium-plated. The same treatment is found on the indices and hands. The strap it comes on is rubber and baby blue.
The Yellow Magic and Sky Blue editions of the Hublot Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski will be produced in a limited series of 30 pieces each. The price will be €99,000. See more on the Hublot website.
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One of the many reasons why I love Bell & Ross, despite they not being the favorite brand of many watch enthusiasts, is their very wide breath of models. While you imagine that they make one watch, those inspired by aeronautical instruments, the truth is they have a bunch of lines, from regular round divers to stuff that’s found in their BR 03 Cyber line, in which they put out some amazing avant-garde stuff. Their latest release is the BR 03 Cyber Ceramic with a very cyberpunk look.
You still get the same iconic BR 03 case that measures 42 x 43.7 mm, but with a huge twist to it. There’s no more round bezel on top of the case. Instead you get two pieces of black ceramic with the top acting as a bezel that has 8 sides and a very dramatic sloping shape. There are no lugs to speak of and the rubber strap comes into a cutout in the case.
The dial doesn’t exactly exist, as the watch is almost completely open worked. What you do get is a series of faceted bridges that are rendered in a matte black, just like the case. The crystal protecting the dial is also 8 sided and chamfered on the sides giving a box like appearance to the dial. It’s all very busy and a bit messy, hard to read especially with the skeletonized hands that disappear on the dial, but do you really care what the time with a watch this extravagant?
Through the movement you can see the BR-CAL.383, which is a manufacture movement made for them (I haven’t found out by who) and was first used in the BR 03 Cyber Rainbow they entered into Only Watch 2023 which was canceled due to very dubious financial dealings. The movement is automatic winding with black skeletonised main plate and bridges. The rotor is also in black. It beats at 28,800 vph and has a 48-hour power reserve.
The BR 03 Cyber Ceramic is available for order now and will set you back €13,600. That’s a lot of money but with it’s futuristic looks and high-tech materials, it could compete with watches that are five or six times the price. See more on the Bell & Ross website.
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You don’t exactly go to Hermès for a high-end movement. That doesn’t mean they make sub-par watches, far from it. It’s just that they focus more on the aesthetics of their pieces. And that they do fantastically, at the top of the game. Like, for example, in the Arceau family and the latest Petite Lune moon phase model called the Ciel Étoilé. That means starry night sky, and considering the beautiful dial and diamonds, you can see why.
The watch comes in the well known 38mm wide Arceau case that has the signature asymmetrical stirrup-shaped lugs, super short on the bottom and longer on top, which harkens to the equestrian roots of Hermès. The case is made out of stainless steel, bringing down the price of the piece, which then shoots back up with 70 brilliant-cut diamonds set on the thin bezel. The crown is set with a rose-cut diamond.
The dial is just incredible. The mother-of-pearl base provides incredible texture for the deep blue lacquer that’s applied on top. It’s also a gradient dial which is lighter near the moon phase aperture at 10 o’clock and darker towards the opposite sides. There are more diamonds of varying sizes placed over the dial to act as the stars in the night sky and to keep everything clean, there are no hour markers, just rhodium-plated leaf-shaped hands.
Inside is the automatic movement H1837 made in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture in 2012. It beats at 28,800vph and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The movement is decorated with a circular-grained and snailed mainplate with a sprinkling of ‘H’ motifs on the satin-brushed bridges and rotor. The watch comes on a blue alligator strap.
The Hermès Arceau Petite Lune Ciel Étoilé is priced at CHF 15,810, which doesn’t sound as horrible as it could be with all those diamonds. See more on the Hermès 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 likewatches
Undone outfitted this watch with almost all the dive watch trimmings. You get a grade 2 titanium case, double-domed sapphire crystals, screw-down crowns, a 120-click bezel, an insanely high 500m water resistance, and a helium release valve (HRV) at 10 o’clock. That HRV has a prominent crown that matches the primary at 3 o’clock in its size, knurled edge, and faceted guards. They are distinguished by an engraved “He” (for helium, of course) on the one and a raised “U” on the other.
⏲️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
Let me ask you: HOW IS THIS NOT A MOVIE?! 40 years ago a team of top American climbers participated in a botched CIA operation that lost a Plutonium powered spying device high in the Himalaya. Here is Pete Takeda’s account of that bizarre expedition and its attempt to uncover the truth.
I’ll say it again, I’ll never get over how amazing the interactive stories New York Times produces. Just look at this story from 2012 which turned an investigation of an unfortunate avalanche into one of the best digital projects I have ver seen.
This is definitely not a traditional longread that I usually post here, mostly because it’s not that long. But even this short text and the incredible pictures are worth a look. It’s the account of how a handful of Lockheed Skunkworks engineers tackled the daunting task of transporting the A-12, the precursor of the SR-71, a super secret spy plane, from their building in California all the way to Area 51 for testing. They had to do that on public streets during the height of the Cold War, an incredible story.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
As I was watching Apple introduce the Vision Pro I was very skeptical that it would be a good device, thinking they were taking a wrong path because who wants VR? As the presentation went on, they blew me away with what Apple does best - the tiny details that make their devices just superior to everything else - and I started thinking that I can envision a number of people who would love using the Vision Pro. However, I knew this was just the early-adopter enthusiasm and I knew that The Verge would do a review on it when it became available that would show it for what it really is. It still looks magical. Until it’s not, like they said. Bonus points, I know the guy who filmed the review. Cool dude.
💵Pre-loved precision
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-Vuk