Sangamon watches have a new model on sale right now, for $139 you get one of 100 pieces of this tribute to the 761st Tank Battalion, who saw action in WWII.
40mm case size, mineral crystal, two spare straps included. Nice caseback graphic as well.
Here’s the word from Sangamon;
The 761st Tank Battalion Collection is inspired by the first African-American tanker unit in American history. The engraved backside of the watch depicts the historic Sherman tank used by the 761st Tank Battalion in WWII as they advanced across Europe. This is a limited edition model of only 100 watches.
The 761st Tank Battalion Collection is part of the Freedom Series.
Watch a short documentary about the Black Panthers here.
The Freedom Series honors American heroes who fought for the pursuit of liberty. The Freedom Series conveys admiration to our warriors and inspires us to be brave like the courageous freedom fighters that came before us.
Stella of NYC are all fired up for the Wind Up Watch Fair, which kicks off on Oct 22 for 3 days in New York City.
Here’s the word from Stella;
We are just days away from one of the largest consumer watch events in America, happening right in our hometown of NYC! The Windup Watch Fair is back and better than ever with a three-day-long event that unites watch brands and consumers in a lively and engaging environment.
Whether you are a seasoned collector or a first-time buyer, come by and say hello, see the FELIX in person, and join us in celebrating exceptional watches from some of the coolest brands on the market. We will have all Stella models on hand for review, including our new bracelet available soon!
Don’t miss the biggest event of the year for watch enthusiasts and dont forget to ask about our show specials!
The Fair is located at Chelsea Market and you can see watches from Oris, Seiko, Yema, Spinnaker, Benrus, Ball, Hamilton, Casio and more. It closes at 7pm on Friday and Saturday and 5pm on Sunday.
The Bangalore Watch Company in India is celebrating the journey being taken by this global superpower into space. India may still lag behind Elon Musk or China, but it is learning fast and plans manned flights within a few years.
So BWC has a watch to mark the space program in the shape of the Apogee. Not the name NWC mag would have chosen, but then Seiko kinda beat everyone to it with Astron. The Apogee is an automatic, 40mm, with a Sellita movement inside. There is a choice of fume dials too.
Here’s the word from BWC;
Fumé dials are a rarity, you’ll find yourself peering into this dial often. This matte fumé pattern starts with a deep-green colour graduating towards the outer edge and turning black. This makes for excellent light-play on the dial in different lighting conditions, making for an entertaining watch to wear.
The lightweight case is unmissable. It is machined from a single block of Grade 2 Titanium, and finished with a uniform micro-bead-blasted finishing for that avant-garde appearance.
With a 100 meters water-tight case and a Swiss automatic movement, the Apogee checks several boxes for a sporty, futuristic watch with an incredible backstory that is sure to become the conversation piece of your group.
Pontiac Memomatic. Spotted at the LocalTime online store.
Verdict;
What we love about this watch is the 1970s styling which is so reminiscent of a Sorna, Sicura, Damas, Pontiac or even a 50s Blancpain. All those old school twin crown watches had a bold dial design with lume placed at each hour marker and often featured 24 hour chapter rings too.
The titanium case gives it a modern, almost kitchen worktop surface sheen, that updates the concept effectively. At £660 or so, plus import duties, this isn’t too expensive either. On pre-order for December.
Italy has a great aviation history so it’s no surprise that Hamilton wanted to celebrate it. For example Piaggio built the first bomber with a pressurised cockpit for high altitude work back in 1919. Then there’s the incredible story of Umberto Nobile’s adventure in an airship, and subsequent rescue, as he journeyed to the North Pole back in the 1920s – well worth reading if you have the time.
So the Khaki Take-Off is a quirky, supersized pilot watch that celebrates daring aviators, with splashes of industrial yellow on its chunky 46mm wide case. From some angles it kinda looks like a De Walt tool box, no offence Hamilton…
The watch celebrates Dario Costa’s low level flight through a tunnel, which is obviously a kinda tricky stunt to do, and you can see the Red Bull YT video here;
This is very much a dashboard type, tool watch and you can in fact clip it onto your dashboard, as well as wear it on your wrist. Inside you get the H31 automatic movement, which powers other Khaki models.
The Take-Off has 60 hours of power reserve, plus those distinctive Bullhead style pushers mounted at the top of the case. It has a kind of rally driver appeal, although NWC mag thinks that you could get something equally quirky for a great deal less cash.
Yeah, the price of this Swiss beauty is £2645 which is expensive for a Hamilton and given the rapid depreciation of most Hamilton watches we have to recommend you consider a Citizen Chrono Racer Bullhead at about £500, or perhaps a Mondia Bolide quartz, which has bullhead pushers and striking styling. Only £199 online.
Junghans has revived a rather good idea from the 50s – a tricolour power reserve indicator.
Yes, a natty green-amber-red, traffic lights style power reserve indicator has been grafted neatly onto its Meister Gangreserve model. No, that isn’t a quasi-religious cult on Game of Thrones, it’s the actual name of the watch. This is a limited edition by the way, just 160 pieces, retails at £1690.
Here’s the word from Junghans.
An index-style, colour-coded indicator on the dial is a particularly well-defined and smartly discreet representation of the amount of power still available to the movement on the Meister Gangreserve Edition 160 from Junghans.
This classic archetype, albeit with a new and subtle concept, is utilised in three of the Edition models, each limited to just 160 units in celebration of this anniversary year. Mechanical watches with coloured segments in an opening on the dial at the 6 o’clock position, provided to indicate when winding was once again required, were unveiled by Junghans as far back as the 1950s.
Exquisitely elegant colouring
The Meister Gangreserve Edition 160 is available in three different design variants, each expressing the elegance of the watch series in its own individual fashion: the charm of the stainless steel model is its fine silver-plated dial and metal bracelet conceived especially for the Meister line. At the same time, both versions of leather strap are simply enchanting either as a combination of warm gold hue with light brown, or an appealing interaction of night blue and cognac.
Harmoniously blending with the overall appearance of the timepiece, the colouring of the power reserve complication is specially adapted for each of the three variants. Discreetly integrated as an index-style aperture at six o’clock, it coordinates seamlessly with the dial arrangement typical of the Meister line, with accentuated main indices and pointed hands.
The model with stainless steel bracelet shows the power reserve in the universally recognised colours of a traffic light system – namely red, amber and green. In both leather strap versions, the power reserve display and the dial are coloured identically when the watch is fully wound.
From all but completely indiscernible, the power reserve display then begins to glow ever brighter as the available power diminishes: Up until the remaining power reserve is reduced to fifty percent, the aperture in the dial transitions through ever more intense shades of grey, before the red signal colour used in the original design becomes ever more apparent to indicate a pending, complete depletion of energy.
With the dial revealing the fascinating progression of time, a transparent panel on the back of the case grants a view of the embellished self-winding movement of the Meister power reserve. In addition, the engraved limitation number serves as validation that every copy of this anniversary model is an exclusive collector’s item.
There are lots of 300m dive watches on the market. Some from mainstream Swiss brands can cost you over £3000 and they look beautiful too. Then there are hundreds of Indie watch brands, all using the fantastic CAD tech available now, so you can basically manufacture stuff on demand.
Horizon is a new brand based in the Ukraine and the enthusiasts driving this Nautilus project have ticked the right boxes for us here at NWC mag. Lovely detail work and the overall styling reminds us of a ships chronometer from a century ago.
Price on pre-order starts at $349, which is cheap for something this well specced we think. Sapphire crystal, 300m depth, 42mm steel or bronze case options, two choices on Super luminova as well. Big coin edged bezel, plus coin edge winding crown.
Dial has a sort of two-tone, parchment effect, that adds visual appeal.
Inside the workhorse Seiko NH35 will give you no problems at all, famed for reliability.
Dial colours include a stunning green, cardinal red and a Aegean blue, which is our fave. There is also the left-field salmon option, which seems to be in fashion this year. The project is well funded already with 60K raised, so it’s definitely going ahead.
Undone sent NWC mag this Kevin Lyons chronograph to review and it has a real quality feel to it.
Often with quartz watches, the devil is in the detail and sometimes you feel a bit let down, like you bought a £150 Daniel Wellington and discovered it feels exactly like a £50 Sekonda.
But this watch comes in a rather natty pencil case style tin, which fits in with the artist theme nicely, plus a dated gurantee card and protective padding inside.
Once you have unboxed, the first impression you get from the Undone chronograph is one of weight. This is a chunky watch and it feels solid and well made, beuatifully finished in black. Although at just 46g, it’s actually about half the weight of many other chronograph watches, it feels substantial, with a very nice positive action to the chrono pushers too.
Protective seal is still on by the way.
The crystal is slightly domed and hardened K1 glass, which is heat-treated for a bit more resistance to knocks and scratches. The 316 grade steel case has a black PVD coating and an eye-catching Undone logo graphic on the back.
Inside you find the trusty Seiko VK64 meca-quartz engine, so you have no doubt about reliable time-keeping on this baby. It was set a few days ago and naturally, it’s still spot on today. This is your ideal everyday watch, unless you want to collect the set of Kev Lyons Monsters of course and tuck them away in a drawer.
But we say watches are for wearing here at NWC mag and this is a practical, durable number, with that dependable Seiko power unit.
The VK64 can be found inside all kinds of chronographs, from Vostok, Christopher Ward, Yema and many more. There is a good reason for that popularity and it’s this simple; the mechanical chrono functions just keep on working – for years. No expensive servicing, no sweat. That uber-reliability is appealing for lots of watch fans.
You can choose between six different slogans and Monsters on the dial, so we went for Always on Time because yeah, it’s an aspiration…if not always a reality.
Kevin has a distinctive style, which reminds us of the late Bob Godfrey, who created Roobarb & Custard cartoons for the BBC back in the 70s, plus Henry’s Cat. It’s visually friendly, light-hearted and ultimately captures the joy of life.
Roobarb n Custard. Great fun.
So this watch makes you feel good when you glance down and check the time. It also feels built to last like a VW Arteon or Bergeon watch tool. There’s a tachymetre scale on the bezel, so if you need to calculate that time/speed/distance thing on your next transatlantic flight, or watching British Superbikes next season, then this timepiece has it covered.
The strap is Cordura by the way, with an Undone embossed buckle.
The Undone Kevin Lyons Monsters edition costs £297 and offers something that’s striking, collectable and also makes a great tool watch for everyday use.
Timex has a partnership deal with The James Brand, which sees the Expedition North get an eco-friendly strap made from recycled plastic, plus a solar movement – so no battery changes. Well not for a decade most likely. Not to mention a titanium case.
It retails in the US for $349 but is currently out of stock. Not available in the UK yet by the way.
Here’s the press info;
Timex is expanding upon its heritage in the outdoor watch segment by adding new styles to its much-loved Expedition franchise. Having first introduced the collection in the late 80s, the newest Expedition North line brings together quality craftsmanship and an outdoor design, boasting ergonomic, functional capabilities and a rugged aesthetic, alongside premium materials and sustainable manufacturing processes.
In fact, Expedition North marks a new era for Timex, forging the path to a greener future by implementing an eco-conscious approach to watch design. Of note, each watch is outfitted with straps made from 100% Recycled Plastic Fabric and zero-water Ecco® DriTan™ Leather. Our solar-powered movements can be recharged by any light source, while our hand-wound movements allow consumers to forgo the batteries altogether.
Tide-Temp-Compass: Releasing in 2022, this timepiece is built for the long haul. The bidirectional center hand reflects local tide and temperature conditions to always point its wearer in the right direction.
Field Post 41 Solar: With luminescent hands and dial markings powered by light, the sun works overtime to make this watch legible in the dark.
Field Post 36 Solar: Take what you love about the Field Post 41 Solar, and scale it all down to a slightly retro profile. The Field Post 36 Solar harkens back to military-issue watches from decades past.
Field Post 38 Mechanical: Featuring a hand-wound mechanical movement and anti-reflective sapphire crystal, the Field Post 38 does more than look the part.
The highlight of the Expedition North collection, however, is the timepiece crafted in collaboration with The James Brand—a style that is similarly guided by our commitment to preserving Earth’s wild spaces. Designed around both brands’ pledge to deliver on modern minimalism, true craftsmanship and attention to detail, the new Timex x The James Brand wristwatch is crafted with an adventurous lifestyle in mind, while simultaneously embodying the kind of tradition you can wear every day.
“Partnering with The James Brand allowed us to apply our mutual appreciation for craftsmanship and functionality to a piece that honors our respective passions for watchmaking and everyday carry essentials” notes Giorgio Galli, Chief Executive Creative Director of Timex Group. “The resulting watch is not only the pinnacle style of our newest Expedition North collection, but also the embodiment of the future we have in store for outdoor watch design.”
Portland, Oregon-based Ryan Coulter, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of The James Brand, states that one of the brand’s main objectives is to “elevate traditional tools, like the pocketknife, from the tactical realm and into a space in which they carry some form of emotional currency.” He continues, “Our collaboration with Timex tells an integrated story—one that’s centered around strengthening the connective tissue between the product and the wearer.”
Lightweight and built-to-last, The James Brand x Timex Expedition North collaboration accomplishes this and more, featuring a 41mm titanium case that packs a sturdy 21-jewel automatic movement, classic Timex dial layout, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, and Super-LumiNova® C3 luminescent infill on the hands and dial—neatly packaged and 200 meters water resistant. The result guarantees all-around functionality, whether you consider yourself a budding explorer or epic adventurer.
For more information about Timex x The James Brand, as well as the full Timex Expedition North, please see HERE. Both Timex x James Brand and Expedition North are available for purchase on Timex.com.
Is a TAG watch cool or not? That’s a tough one, because a Monaco in Gulf colours, or even the blue dial, is a winner. Some of the Carrera models also look the business, as do the fume dial Autavias, with their vintage 70s racing driver vibe remixed for the modern era perfectly. But then, there’s the quartz stuff..and that smartwatch thing. Hmm.
But the Aquaracer has its fans, and for good reason; this is a dive watch you can wear with a suit and it looks distinctive, quality and reasonably fresh. Here’s the word from TAG;
INTRODUCING THE NIGHT DIVER
Following the launch of the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer
Professional 300 series during Watches and Wonders Geneva in April, TAG Heuer announces three additions to the go-anywhere family of watches, including a new iteration of a TAG Heuer icon, the all-black, lume-dialled TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver.
TAG Heuer enthusiasts will recognise the name “Night Diver”, which was first introduced in the mid-1980s. Loved by active, style-conscious watch buyers who push their limits, exploring nature and
going beyond the edge, it became one of the most celebrated sports watches of its era.
Today’s TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 collection picks up this story. TAG Heuer’s design, engineering and heritage teams worked together to deliver a faithful update to a much-loved watch,
retaining and improving signature details such as the famous 12-sided bezel and the dial’s horizontal engraved lines to produce a refined, highly versatile modern classic.
So there are now 11 references in the new Aquaracer line-up. All three new models are non-limited and go into the core collection, each with a 43 mm stainless steel case and rubber strap equipped with TAG Heuer’s innovative adjustable folding clasp.
The new black and blue versions pick up on the bracelet models introduced at Watches and Wonders: both are colour-themed with matching black or blue dials, ceramic bezel inserts and rubber straps.
The standout model of the release is the black DLC-coated Night Diver, joining the TAG Heuer AquaracerProfessional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 as the collection’s hero pieces.
Its stainless-steel case, bezel, crown, caseback and clasp are all coated in matt black diamond-like carbon, known as DLC, a high- performance, hard-wearing finish designed for use in extreme conditions. The bezel insert is highly resistant black ceramic.
EXTRA LUME
The Night Diver’s other signature feature is its fully luminescent dial, which is coated in green SuperLumiNova® to deliver exceptional glow-in-the-dark performance. To ensure ultimate legibility in extreme low-light conditions, the watch’s minute and central seconds hands are filled with blue lume to contrast with the green of the dial.
The hour hand and octagonal hour markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are filled with green lume, and the remaining octagonal hour markers are all edged with black lacquer. The triangle on the unidirectional rotating bezel at 12, which is crucial to accurately and safely measure dive times, is also filled with striking blue lume to match the blue of the minute and central seconds hands.
FUNCTIONALITY
There’s a unidirectional rotating bezel, a screw-down crown, water resistance to at least 200 metres, luminous markings, a scratch-resistant crystal and a double safety clasp.
The 12 sides of the bezel are all faceted for grip, the crown is protected to prevent accidental damage and there’s a magnifying glass over the date, which is integrated into the underside of the sapphire crystal, making it smooth to the touch.
UK Prices start at £2250.
VERDICT; What we like about the Aquaracer 300m dive models is that you are getting much the same spec as the Omega Seamaster, but without the £3500-£4500 price tag. Forgive the pun. It’s a versatile watch, and at 43mm suits most wrists. You will always find someone wants to buy it from you pre-owned as well, and often for a decent percentage of the original RRP.
The many-sided bezel also adds a little difference, a bit of visual appeal, because so many dive watches – and all their homages – essentially look the same; round case 40-44mm, uni bezel with big lume numbers, cyclops and a screwdown protected crown. Sometimes a detail like the 12-sided feature makes you, the owner, stand out from the crowd. That’s a good thing we reckon.
The Braun watch brand has a Sale on right now and you can get the all-black chronograph for £275, which is half price. This is a high spec quartz watch, with a one-piece case construction and sapphire crystal. Here’s the press blurb;
The case of this Braun analogue watch is carved of one single block of steel. This one-piece’ construction eliminates the need for a case-back and in turn removes the element of potential leakage.
The Swiss movement is mounted into the case from the top before being covered and sealed by the sapphire crystal. This allowed the Braun designers to taper the bottom part of the watch more elegantly and attach the band lugs in such a way that would not be possible with conventional watch construction.
The simple screwdown battery cover means that replacing the battery is easy-peasy too – a definite bonus.
We also spotted a classic three hand ladies Braun for just £24. Considering the build quality that is a bargain.
