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  • Zenith Launches New Automatic And Big Date Flyback In Blue, Seiko Introduces Two Boozy Cocktail Times, The Behrens Orion One Is Unbelievably Affordable, New From G-Shock And Roger Dubuis

Zenith Launches New Automatic And Big Date Flyback In Blue, Seiko Introduces Two Boozy Cocktail Times, The Behrens Orion One Is Unbelievably Affordable, New From G-Shock And Roger Dubuis

Despite holding the patent for the word Pilot, Zenith really is moving away from traditional pilot's watches

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It's About Time
January 18, 2024

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Sorry this edition is so late, my heat is just killing me. And how could it not. Yesterday the temperature where I live was 2°C (32°F), today it’s 16°C (60°F) and we are supposed to get snow tomorrow. The weather doesn’t mess with me usually, but this is just too much to handle. Anyway, I really like the new Cocktail Times.

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In this issue:

  • Zenith Launches New Zenith Pilot Automatic and Big Date Flyback Blue Boutique Editions With Blue Dials

  • Seiko Introduces Two New Boozy Presage Cocktail Time Star Bar Limited Editions

  • Casio Is Releasing The Ultimate Sports Watch, The Rangeman GPR-H1000

  • You Really Won’t Believe How Affordable The New Great Looking Behrens Orion One Is

  • Roger Dubuis Welcomes The Lunar New Year With The Excalibur Dragon Monotourbillon

Today’s reading time: 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

👂What’s new

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One of the biggest releases last year, one that shocked the watch world, was a complete overhaul of the Zenith Pilot collection. They took their more traditional and well known pilot watches and gave them a much more modern look that almost looked like it was meant to be more of a sports watch. Which is just a tiny bit funny, as Zenith has held the copyright for the term “Pilot” since 1904. They retained that pilot heritage with a ribbed dial that emulated corrugated fuselage of vintage aircraft. Those watches came with black dials and now Zenith is releasing two Boutique Edition Pilot watches, the Automatic and the Big Date Flyback, with blue dials.

Let’s start with the regular Pilot Automatic Boutique Edition. It comes in a 40mm wide stainless steel case that’s brushed and polished, but mostly looks brushed due to it’s wide, flat-top bezel with vertical brushing. The dial comes with the same horizontal groove design, but now in a blue that we have previously see on watches like the Defy Skyline. The numerals and hands are stark white with a date window at 6 o’clock. Just above the date aperture you’ll find the word Pilot, as Zenith is, per the copyright, the only watchmaker that can use this word on the dial. Inside is the El Primero 3620 SC, Zenith’s hi-beat movement. It beats at 36,000vph and has a decent power reserve of 60 hours.

Next up is the Pilot Big Date Flyback, which comes in a slightly larger case that measures 42.5mm wide and has a approximately similar look to the Automatic. It has the same brushed flat-top bezel, but the addition of the broad chronograph pushers on the side give it much more of a presence than the regular Automatic. The Big Date is a chronograph with two subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock and the big date complication at 6 o’clock against the new blue backdrop. Inside is the El Primero 3652 column-wheel chronograph with flyback function and 60-hour power reserve. The rotor of the movement is decorated with a pilot’s artificial horizon, based on the iconic cockpit instrument.

The Pilot Automatic and Pilot Big Date Flyback Boutique Editions come with two straps each – a blue “Cordura” effect rubber strap and a brown calfskin leather strap with a folding clasp. The straps can be easily interchanged using the quick-release system.

Seeing as how these are both Boutique Editions, they can be purchased only from Zenith’s physical and online boutiques worldwide and are priced at CHF 7,500 for the Pilot Automatic and CHF 11,400 for the Pilot Big Date Flyback. See more on the Zenith website.

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Bizarrely, one of the favorite watches I own is the humble Seiko Presage Cocktail Time. Sure, I have more expensive watches I enjoy much more, I have cheaper watches that are more fun to wear and I have watches that hold more sentimental value. Sure the Cocktail Time is a bit too chunky, but just look at the dials in that range and at that price. Now Seiko is introducing a new pair of Cocktail Times, inspired by drinks from the famous Star Bar in Tokyo and they look fantastic.

About two months ago, already Seiko released a duo of Cocktail Times inspired by the Star Bar, but those two came in shades of gold to represent the Beer Julep drink (beer, whisky, gin, sugar syrup, lemon and basil leave) and the Half and Half (a mixture of ale and stout beer). Unike those, which came in the larger Cocktail Time case, the two new models - inspired by drinks by master cocktail maker Hisashi Kishi and the Tokyo sunset - come in two sizes.

First up is the SRPK75 “Purple Sunset”, which comes in the 40.5mm wide and 11.8mm thick stainless steel case and has a 47.5mm lug-to-lug. On top is the controversial Hardlex crystal (which I don’t mid at all) and it has a 50 meter water resistance. The watch is named after the Purple Sunset cocktail from the Star Bar and it has an interesting gradient to the dial. Instead of the colors melting into one another, they have clearly defined layers, just like the cocktail. It starts with a deep purple at the top of the dial and shifts to burgundy at the bottom, with black-gradient dividers and constrasted finely with rose-gold-colored hands and hour markers. Inside the watch is the 4R35 automatic movement which is not particularly impressive, but you do get 41 hours of power reserve. The watch comes on a calfskin strap and a folding push-button clasp.

Next up is the SRE014 “Pinky Twilight”. It comes in a much, much smaller case that measures 30.3mm wide and 10.9mm thick, with a 37mm lug-to-lug. Again with the Hardlex crystal, but it also has a gold coating on the case to match the pink of the dial. The Pinky Twilight has the same gradation on the dial, but now from light pink to yellow on the bottom. The hands and indices match the shade of gold on the case. Since it comes in such a small case, Seiko uses the 2R05 automatic with a date at 3 o’clock and a 40 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a brown 14mm calfskin strap features a plated deployant buckle with a push-button clasp.

Both the SRPK75 Purple Sunset and the SRE014 Pinky Twilight are limited editions, but both will be made in substantial quantities - the former in 9,000 piece and the latter in 5,000. Both go on sale in February with the SRPK75 priced at €570 and the SRE014 priced at €605. See more on the Seiko website.

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The number of watch enthusiasts who want some sort of fitness tracking on their watches is quite large. While there are amazing stealthy options like watches from Sequent, to good fitness tracking you will need a watch like the Apple Watch of one of the offerings from Garmin. And if you want to go off the grid, you will need the top of the line like the Apple Watch Ultra or the Garmin Fenix 7. But not everybody needs all the extra functions of smartwatches and they might want a dedicated adventure watch. Enter G-Shock with the new Rangeman GPR-H1000, an evolution of the bestselling Triple Sensor-equipped Rangeman GW-9400.

The watch is a beast, as you would expect from a G-Shock adventure watch. 60.6mm wide, 20.3mm thick, with a 53.2mm lug-to-lug, but a weight of only 92 grams. G-Shock does this with it’s case that’s made out of bio-based resins, with two large metal side guards to protect the internal components and the buttons. It doesn’t have a sapphire crystal - mineral glass instead - but this hasn’t been a problem for other G-Shocks that can survive a hell of a lot.

As a G-Shock, the watch is fully shock-resistant and water-resistant to 200 meters and it has a GPS to acquire location information, a tide graph, sunrise and sunset times, and moon data. Other features include Bluetooth smartphone link, solar-assisted charging and wired USB charging (required for activity tracking and heavy sensor use, but it should be possible to power basic watch functions with solar power only). The watch has an activity log memory and is capable of tracking nine types of activities, including trekking, running, biking, gym workout, interval timer, pool swimming, open water swimming, trail running, and walking.

The GPR-H1000 series is expected to be released worldwide tomorrow, January 19, and it’s priced at $500. See more on the G-Shock website.

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Even 10 years ago to call a watch Chinese would have meant you are looking down at it, implying that it is of lower quality and not as worth as much. But as people were looking down, several brands were working on building up Chinese watchmaking into a powerhouse that we know it to be today - making impressively designed, extremely well built watches with complications we see in brands that cost tens of thousands, offered for a fraction of the cost. One of these brands was, and still is, Behrens who is now introducing the Orion One Automatic, their most extreme design yet that should cost in the six figures. But somehow doesn’t.

The crazy design starts with the case, which is very clear in it’s inspiration drawn from the craziest of spaceship design in the 60s and 70s. It’s also has a significant wrist presence, but mostly due to this design as it’s really not that large - 38mm wide, 12.6mm thick and has a 40mm lug-to-lug, if you can call it that. These are just fine dimensions for a round watch, but this stainless steel monster has over 40 facets with varying styles of finishing and a shape that could maybe be described as diamond?

Looking at the watch head on, you will notice that it doesn’t display time under the (main) sapphire crystal. Instead, underneath it is an array of overlapping gears and bridges. At the center of this jungle of steel is a hand that represents the running seconds. But right beneath this window is a smaller one that houses twin rotating rolls that display the actual time. The display also includes a date display at the 1:30 position as well as a linear day/night indicator at 12:00. While most watch brands who offer such unconventional ways of telling time have to build their own movements, Behrens uses the Sellita SWB18-200 which beats at 28,800 vph (4Hz) and has a power reserve of 38 hours. Of course, the movement is heavily modified and it shows.

Despite looking like something that would fin in with brands like Urwerk and MB&F, the Orion One is priced fantastically at €3,600. See more on the Behrens website.

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Just a few weeks ago I featured the Roger Dubuis‘ Excalibur which featured an incredible sculpture of the Knights of the Round Table led by King Arthur. It was an over the top watch that is unmatched in the industry. So, if a brand can do that just because they like the legend of King Arthur, what do you think they will do for the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon. They have to go crazy with it, right? Well, they have, with their new Excalibur Dragon Monotourbillon, but I think they could have done more. Let’s see.

Roger Dubuis redesigned the Excalibur line in 2021 and this watch gets that case, meaning you get a 42mm wide and 12.6mm thick pink gold case with a very unique notched bezel and even more unique arched lugs that come in threes on either side. Good luck getting an after market strap on that. The case has vertically brushed surfaces and wide polished bevels.

The skeletonized dial has a tourbillon at 7 o’clock with a star-shaped bridge, while the rest of the dial is dedicated to a very modern interpretation of a dragon. His head is depicted coiling around the barrel as his sinuous body snakes down to the lower dial to slip beneath the flying tourbillon. The body of the dragon is made out of 27 pieces of brass and embellished with black lacquer on the sides and a pink gold treatment on the top, with each of the pieces set on a different level and angle to create a dynamic look. The dragon also appears on the reverse side, metallised on the inside of the caseback’s sapphire crystal.

The time is told through centrally mounted pink gold skeletonized hour and minute hands decorated with satin-brushed finishings and black Super-LumiNova inserts in their tips. The same black Super-LumiNova shows up in the nine V-shaped hour markers that are applied to the brass flange.

Inside is the in-house manual-winding movement called the calibre RD512SQ, skeletonized to show of the flying tourbillon. To ensure stability and lightness, the lower tourbillon cage is made of non-magnetic titanium and the upper cage in mirror-polished cobalt chrome. In turn, the lightweight carriage also improves the power reserve that delivers 72 hours of autonomy. Certified by the coveted Hallmark of Geneva, every component is finished and decorated by hand The watch comes on a black calfskin leather strap that fits the weird lugs.

The Excalibur Dragon Monotoubillon is a limited edition of 28 pieces and retails for CHF 195,000. See more on the Roger Dubuis 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

In theory, one should never judge a book by its cover. But sometimes, one could and should. In the watch world, this analogy equates to judging the quality of a watch by how it feels in the metal — how much it weighs, how the crown operates, and how the bracelet feels and drapes around the wrist. Sometimes, a watch just feels right even before we know what’s ticking inside or how much it retails for. That’s the feeling I got when I first took the Tusenö Shellback V2 out of the box. I was immediately drawn in by its subtle heft and an overall feeling of quality. If you’ve handled a Sinn watch before, you’ll most likely know what I’m talking about here.

⏲️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

This video is completely unreal. No, really, it looks like it has been generated by some AI. But it’s also four years old, before generative AI got so good, and I doubt that National Geographic would trick its viewers like that. So, now that we know this, enjoy 13 minutes of life on another planet.

💵Pre-loved precision

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