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- Two New Christopher Ward Watches to Benefit Charities, Smaller Divers from Delma, 70s Sports Watch From Czapek and 60s Chronos From Depancel
Two New Christopher Ward Watches to Benefit Charities, Smaller Divers from Delma, 70s Sports Watch From Czapek and 60s Chronos From Depancel
The polarizing and affordable CW benefits Snow Leopards and Oceans
It's About Time
March 17, 2023
Hey friends, what do you call a watch that's always late? A waste of time! But you can count on our watch newsletter, It’s About Time, to always be punctual.
In this issue:
Two new CWs to benefit charity
A lighter and smaller diver is a batter diver
Czapek & Cie Launches Antarctique Titanium Dark Sector
The Depancel Legend 60s Is a French Take On Racing Chronos
And… invite your friends to win a Tiffany PRX
Today’s reading time: 6 minutes and 9 seconds
We’re starting off with a bang! We’re giving away TWO of this year’s hottest watches:
THE TIFFANY PRX!
This is the PRX Powermatic 80 we’re giving away. Not this one obviously. But one just like it.
That’s right! You’ve read about them, you’ve seen the videos and now you can own your own Tissot PRX with the Powermatic 80 movement and the light blue dial. All you have to do is forward this email to five of your friends and get them to click on the button below to subscribe. Both you and one of your friends will be eligible to win one of the watches
We only have two conditions when entering this giveaway - invite 5 of your friends to subscribe and live somewhere were you can buy the PRX online, so we can do this for you and ship it to your address. That’s it!
👂What’s new
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Christopher Ward is adding two new watches to their Sealander line is, the C63 SH21 Blue Marine and Snow Leopard. Both models are based on CW’s in-house caliber SH21, and that’s a big deal.
CW is a polarizing brand. Some love criticizing their price, their quality or their design, while others will champion these three things. However, there’s one thing you can’t really deny - the fact that since 2014 they have had an in-house caliber, something that not many very young and accessible watch brands have. And many good things have been said about the SH21 caliber. In the new C63 models it comes with a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock, a running seconds sub-register at 6 o’clock, and a date at 3 o’clock. It is also COSC certified and delivers 120 hours of power reserve.
Another cool thing about the C63 SH21 models is that they have partnered with charities for their two models. The Blue Marine model was made in collaboration with the Blue Marine Foundation (BMF). Five percent of the sale price of each Blue Marine will go to BMF to support its efforts to remove plastic from the oceans. The Snow Leopard, was made in collaboration with the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF). Five percent of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to DSWF to support the foundation’s efforts to protect snow leopard populations in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.
The case diameter of the new watches is 41mm, 48.2mm lug to lug and 13.01mm thick. Both models feature the brand’s iconic arrow handset and applied multifaceted hour markers and come with a stainless steel bracelet with screwed links and a toolless micro-adjust clasp. The Blue Marine has a teal-blue dial with an engraved irregular wave pattern, while the Snow Leopard has a white dial with what seems like irregular patterns representing snowflakes or paw prints.
Both are for sale starting today on Christopher Ward’s website and retail for £1,595 / €2,095 / US$1,925.
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Delma has built up a reputation for being a maker of robust and accessible sports and tool watches, with one of their most popular collections being the Shell Star. Remember yesterday when I said the 70s are making a strong comeback? Well, the Shell Star is a dive watch firmly rooted in the 70s with its case design and colors.
Now they’re introducing a new variant to join the steel and bronze cases they already have - the Shell Star Titanium limited edition. One of the main gripes many have had with the Shell Star was its size - 44mm - which with the addition of the helmet-shaped case and protruding crown guards made it huge on hand. The new titanium version shrinks down to 41mm, topped with a unidirectional rotating bezel finished with a black ceramic insert. It’s still a thick boy at 13.6mm, but it only weighs 136 grams.
The dial for the new Shell Star Titanium follows suit with previous models and has a sandy texture in black, blue or orange. The sword-shaped hour and minute hands are finished in white with Super-LumiNova inserts and are paired with an orange central seconds hand. And it’s powered by the Sellita SW 200-1 automatic movement.
Too bad the smaller Shell Star will be limited to just 499 pieces, but you can get them for $1,890.
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Back in 2020, Czapek & Cie launched its Antarctique collection, which is the Geneva-based brand’s version of an integrated bracelet sports model. After iterating with several colorways and configurations, their new model is a time-only monochromatic watch in titanium.
The new Czapek & Cie Antarctique Titanium Dark Sector features an angular tonneau-shaped case that measures 40.5mm in diameter by 10.6mm-thick, with brushed and polished surfaces. While the case looks the same as all the other Atarctique models, the use of titanium gives this watch a completley new look. The dial is anthracite gray surface with two rows of segmented concentric rings that sit just inside the perimeter of the printed minute track. The rings are segmented at the voids serve as hour markers. Powering the watch is the brand’s Cal. SXH5 automatic movement, which has been completely designed in-house.
The price might be a bit steep at $36,000, especially since it is considerably more than what Czapek was asking for original date-displaying stainless steel models back when they made their debut appearances. W total production for the new watch will not be capped at a specific number of examples, Czapek has stated that the Antarctique Titanium Dark Sector will have a limited yearly production of 100 pieces.
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Depancel, a young French watch company, seems to have a thing for racing cars. I say it seems so because all of the watches they have made so far are car themed and are very striking. New to their collection is this Legend 60s Chronograph, the first hand-wound chronograph by Depancel.
It’s compact at 39mm, kinda thick at 13mm and comes in a stainless steel case that’s a mix of polished and brushed surfaces. On the right-hand side are traditional mushroom-style pushers for the chronograph, and a decorated pull-out crown. On the opposite side, there’s a plaque with the individual number for the watch. It’s all very typical of the style of chronographs from the 1960s, which is to be expected given the name of the watch.
The dial comes in two configurations, a Panda-style silver dial with black sub-register or a black-with-silver Reverse Panda-style dial. Both have a vertically brushed finish and the hands are sword-shaped. On the inside is a hand-wound Seagull ST1901 chronograph movement. Based on the historic Venus 175 calibre, this is produced in China and is regularly found in mechanical watches priced below the EUR 1,000 mark.
The Depancel Legend 60s Chronograph is limited to 240 individually numbered pieces during the pre-order campaign. It comes on a micro-perforated leather strap in brown (for the silver dial) or black (for the black dial), finished with either a pin buckle or a folding clasp (at a EUR 25 premium). Alternatively, Depancel also offers a very retro Beads-of-Rice bracelet (at a premium of EUR 100). The price is set at EUR 650.
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The independent watch brand Louis Moinet has always had a passion for space exploration and the universe, which has reflected in many of their watches. They carry this passion to the new Space One Chronograph. Atypical, and full of character, it’s not going to remain unnoticed.
The Louis Moinet Space One comes in a case with familiar traits. It relies on the brand’s signature shape, with a complex bezel adorned with 6 screws, and a combination of colour and finishes that give a lot of depth. It’s a huge watch at 46mm diameter and a 16.20mm height. Being made out of titanium helps to offset this size so it weighs only 102 grams.
There’s some interesting things happening on the dial. The counters are made using blue-tinted fragments of the Armanty meteorite, a meteorite weighing more than 50 tons, which was discovered in several regions of China in recent years. Then, in the centre, you’ll discover a ruby chaton created using the Verneuil method.
Then, there’s the display. Overall, it’s a classic two-register chronograph, with small seconds at 9 o’clock, central seconds and 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock for the chronograph. Then you’ll discover a date that is originally placed in a circular aperture at 7 o’clock and an indicator between 4 and 6 o’clock. This is a chronograph function indicator, which activates when the chronograph is actuated, showing if it’s started, paused or in reset (off) mode.
Inside the case is the calibre LM30, a proprietary movement based on the architecture of the automatic cam-lever Valjoux chronograph, but deeply modified for the occasion – monopusher, function indicator.
The watch comes on a glossy blue alligator strap in a limited edition of three times 28 pieces (in silver, dark blue and black). It is priced at CHF 21,500 excluding taxes.
🫳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
There are a handful of watchmakers out there who repeatedly create interesting and imaginative watches that embrace the fun of creative designs. Isotope watches is one of them. Have you ever heard of a watch being styled after the ubiquitous EXIT sign? Even if you find it relatively funny, you might check it out at £840.
⏲️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
Have You ever wondered how Philippe Dufour became the quintessential independent watchmaker? Oracle of Time has the answer
Hodinkee has an interesting overview of a lesser known Patek Philippe Calatrava that’s coming up for auction
The world of antiquities and their provenance is shady and murky with many leading museums having in their collections questionable works of art. Go read this piece in New York Magazine to see how “Tomb raiders, crooked art dealers, and museum curators fed Michael Steinhardt’s addiction to antiquities”.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
Nico Leonard is up there when it comes to the most charismatic people in the watch world. Go relax on this Friday with his overview of watches in famous movies.
😉Famous faces
Celebrities are just like us 😄
💵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: Rolex Explorer I 39 mm Mark I, ref. 214270. Great condition, no box or papers. €7250, OBO. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch
For sale: Longines Heritage Skin Diver, box and papers. €1400. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch
Want to sell your watch to a community of passionate horologists? Reach out to us and we’ll put your ad up. $15 per listing without photos, $25 with photos. 10 available slots per day, discounts for multiple slots.
We’re starting off with a bang! We’re giving away TWO of this year’s hottest watches:
THE TIFFANY PRX!
This is the PRX Powermatic 80 we’re giving away. Not this one obviously. But one just like it.