American sportswear and athleisure brand ASRV recently teased an upcoming G-Shock DW-6900 collaboration with two videos posted on Instagram (embedded below). The first video depicts a DW-6900 with a distinctive red backlight embedded in an asteroid. The second video shows a man training outdoors with the watch and displays the “1.30.25” date. The watch has […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
2023 already feels like a lifetime ago but it really had some stellar watch releases compared to what felt like a somewhat lacklustre 2024. Case in point, 2023 saw the release of the OW 8001 by Ollech & Wajs that to my mind at least caused a new level of growth and interest in the brand. Two years later we have a follow up to that launch, dubbed the Ollech & Wajs OW 8001 ‘Tundra’.
In some ways this is not a brand new watch as the inception of the ‘Tundra’ actually came fairly soon after the launch of the OW 8001. Ollech & Wajs produce quite a large number of closed collaborations, which is to say collaboration watches that are not sold publicly and that are not widely publicised. In fact, they’re not allowed to talk about many of their military collabs until they’re declassified, such as the Department.000 watches. The OW 8001 ‘Tundra’ was not a military watch, instead starting its life as a limited edition in partnership with MIR, the Norwegian Architectural Design Collective.
The new watch is not a 1-to-1 re-release of that collaborative watch, instead being tweaked for public release. It has a moss green fumé dial that shifts through smoky tones, starting light in the centre and fading to almost black around the circumference. It’s inspired by the mossy terrain and low scrubland brush found on the Norwegian tundra – hence the name. It retains the strong, blocky shapes of the original OW 8001’s handset and baton hour markers.
Here though, those shapes have been expanded out to the bezel as a replacement to the previous 60-minute scale with Arabic numerals. It gives a much more structural look to the piece, which is unsurprising given it was born out of an architecture collaboration. It also makes a lot more sense as an artistic, design-led feature considering that the bezel is fixed – it was one of the perplexing features of the original that it ostensibly had a timer bezel that you couldn’t use as a timer.
Beyond the updated bezel, it has the same 39.5mm x 12.7mm case with integrated bracelet. The broad, flat surfaces of the design also play into the blocky style of the piece, which results in quite a brutalist aesthetic. You can again see why this model above all others in the OW range appealed to architects. While it doesn’t have a particularly strong dive watch vibe, the case can go toe-to-toe with them thanks to a 300m water resistance rating.
The relatively high specs continue on the inside as it houses the bespoke OW Soprod Newton Precision P092 COSC chronometer movement. It’s an automatic movement with a 44-hour power reserve and of course the accuracy and reliability are within chronometer requirements ensuring a high level of operation. It’s visible through the exhibition caseback where you can admire the no-nonsense rotor with Zurich 1956 engraving.
The OW 8001 ‘Tundra’ is priced at £1,730, which is the same as the previous edition. I really like the new architectural and Nordic influences applied to the solid framework of the 8001. Its sporty-dive watch capabilities make it the ideal canvas for a touch more design expression without compromising the integrity of the piece.
More details at Ollech & Wajs.
Oracle Time
We like to think that changes in watches happen because of some horological breakthrough or because the industry as a whole decides to change – for example, look at how, ten years ago, everyone decided that all watches had to be 40mm diameter or bigger. Or how a few years ago, everyone was suddenly introducing thin watches. But often, change comes from the most unexpected source; for example, the most exotic Rolex watches happened because of French post-WW2 economic turmoil. A collection of mysterious French-made Rolex cases worth investigating.
Let me explain, in the 12 years after 1946, there were 21 changes of government. In essence, the country was the most unstable in Europe and there were frequent devaluations of the Franc. This posed a problem because France was a firm believer in the Gold Standard, that a country’s currency should be backed by its gold reserves. After WW1, this became the rule and the US Dollar, the Pound Sterling and the French Franc were readily convertible into gold. However, during the 1930s and the Great Depression both Britain and the US abandoned the Gold Standard, but the French held on for as long as possible.
When French citizens saw their currency being constantly devalued, which happened almost annually, they turned their savings into gold and put it under the mattress. This left the government without sufficient gold to meet its reserves, so they instituted a ban on the private purchasing of gold. Gold could only be bought from the Bank of France by licensed jewellers or other industrial users of the metal. Imports of finished gold products were also banned, as this was an obvious way around the prohibition.
Swiss watch brands faced a dilemma; they had French clients who craved gold watches, but they were only allowed to purchase French-made watches, as these had French gold cases. The answer was to have watch movements imported into the country and then house them in gold cases made in France.
However, there were very few industrial case makers in France, so Rolex et. al turned to France’s pool of jewellery talent. Boucheron, Cartier, Chaumet, Clerc, Van Cleef & Arpels were all based in Paris and had nearly a millennium of experience between them, making everything from simple wedding bands to imperial regalia and everything imaginable in between. So hand-made watch cases were no great problem – indeed, many are to this day renowned watch designers in their own right. And so emerged Rolex’s French-made cases.
Every Swiss firm from Omega and IWC to Rolex and Patek followed this route; however, there is a huge difference between a factory-made case produced in the hundreds, if not thousands and a hand-made one built in a jeweller’s atelier. A factory-made case needs to be easy to manufacture, to be able to be reproduced in volume and to use the minimum amount of gold, as the manufacturing costs are minimal once the tooling has been made, but the cost of the gold used is a significant part of the cost.
Whereas the major cost in a jeweller-made case is the wages of the skilled craftsman who constructs the case from scratch, this is why factory-made cases seem almost flimsy when compared to these jeweller-made ones. The other factor worth taking into account is the design, these French jewellers were artists in precious metal, they weren’t particularly interested in making simple rectangles or circular cases with just a little bit of design in the lugs; no, they treated each watch case as a blank canvas and tried to outdo each other in design before handing the design over to the artiste who would physically create the case.
When it comes to Rolex’s French-made cases what that means is rather than sticking to recognisable designs like the Oyster Perpetual, the jewellers ran free with Avant Garde abandon. Rectangular timepieces with what can be described as early examples of integrated lugs with wide, flat, angular surfaces. Or a similar example but with curvy gadroon decoration instead of angular. A square cased piece of vintage Art Deco design with ziggurat levels of layering to the golden case. Each more or less unique with their own character as per the whims of each jeweller. Although that’s not to say there weren’t also the occasional conventional design.
The absolute scarcity of these pieces and the lack of a manufacturer’s stamp inside the caseback means that there is almost no market for them, which – in my opinion – is nothing short of a tragedy.
Image credit: James Dowling
Oracle Time
The world of watches created via collaboration is constantly expanding. Though not all collaborations are equal, they’re a sliding scale of involvement and creativity from various parties. From simple co-signed dials to long-term partnerships, what quantifies a ‘true collaborative effort’ remains up for debate, but I’ll go ahead and say it: Ulysse Nardin has just proven that the zenith of collaboration is positively thriving with the announcement of the Ulysse Nardin Blast [Amoureuxpeintre].
Known for challenging watchmaking conventions, Ulysse Nardin kicks off 2025 with an inquisitively mysterious riff of the radical Blast X, creating a limited edition of 29 pieces with the assistance and creative vision of a vanguard fashion designer.
Amoureuxpeintre – or Vsevolod Sever Cherepanov, to those close to him – is a true creative multidisciplinarian. His mindset and principles centre around simplicity that invites deeper inquiry, with his skills previously being harnessed by Nike, streetwear meets luxury fashion house Alyx, and like-minded innovators such as 424 and Nemen. He has further broadened his creative endeavours by entering the world of interiors, product design, and photography. From where I’m sitting, his passion for unique, unorthodox, yet modest design seems tailor-made for a like-minded visionary in Ulysse Nardin, and their curiosity-inducing creation speaks for itself.
When exploring the details of this simple yet artistic Blast, careful consideration lies in every facet. Rendered in an anthracite PVD-coated titanium case with a sandblasted finish, this piece starts life as a Blast Skeleton X, yet its 42mm case favours a muted stealth appearance.
The frosted sapphire crystal is the star of the show here, adorned with the brand’s signature in black typography, a set of semi-skeletonised grey-lumed anthracite hands, and a subtle hash marker rehaut which transitions to a fumé effect. It’s a thought-provoking crystal as the blurry, almost misty properties convey a sense of unusual depth while cleverly revealing the calibre at its heart. However, it doesn’t highlight the mechanics in full 4K clarity. Instead, it hints and teases at the inner workings, giving a sense of distance to the movement.
It’s a dial that invites frequent wrist checks due to its ability to give the false impression that the harder you look, the more in focus everything will be. The effect is quite genius, causing the eye not to impulsively look straight to the rectangular upper bridge and calibre architecture behind but consciously gaze through the crystal as if it were thick, low-hanging fog. Any reason a watch can justify staring at it in greater detail and context is always a positive. This effect took two years of development alone.
It’s the same story through the caseback, revealing a repeat of this blurred crystal and additional hints at the Calibre UN-371. This manually wound calibre is a reworked UN-171 boasting 96-hours (that’s four days) of autonomy and is achieved through a gear train balance wheel (3Hz), escapement wheel, anchor, and balance spring, all complete in silicon to benefit from both tribology and resistance to magnetic field.
The astute among you have likely noticed that this watch has fully captured my attention. As our industry’s mainstream master of the avant-garde, Ulysse Nardin has built a contemporary legacy by not shying away from challenging conventions. With the Blast [Amoureuxpeintre], they continue to embody this philosophy through a partnership with a visionary who is articulating and shaping the current state of contemporary fashion and design.
Despite being desperately keen to avoid clichés, this collaboration is a match made in heaven, and it took three years of development to get to this point. Still, Ulysse Nardin will only produce 29 examples, precisely as exclusive as a watch that calls itself a ‘limited edition’ should be. Seeing ‘XXXX/3,000’ on the caseback of a watch takes away from the whole notion of limited editions feeling, well, limited. Plus the £28,210 price tag only heightens that exclusivity.
Taking a step back and speaking more broadly, I want to see more of this level of collaboration in watchmaking. Fresh external perspectives, mindsets, principles, beliefs, and ideas coming into our ancestral world to be nurtured through a proficient maison are incredibly compelling propositions in 2025. Especially when the collaborators are esteemed designers in their respective fields. Such as when Hublot teamed up with Samuel Ross.
Don’t take this as my public statement of any distaste for collaboration between parties within the world of watches—there is room for everyone – yet it must be said that pieces like the Blast [Amoureuxpeintre] inject an inquisitiveness that can draw new eyes to horology while simultaneously refreshing the enthusiasm of those already deeply embedded in watch collecting.
Watches with a strong design focus are steering the conversation and driving demand in today’s post-hype watch landscape. The audacious Blast [Amoureuxpeintre] could well be Ulysse Nardin’s strongest and most exciting response to this new wave.
More details at Ulysse Nardin.
Oracle Time
I recently bought an early 1970s Nidor, a relatively unknown brand that disappeared a while ago. It has a long, narrow rectangular shape that wraps around the wrist and an angular bezel with four steps. The design reminds me of early modernist architecture, like a building from 20th-century New York. It has a sculptural quality that resonates with my taste and sensibilities.
I collect natural objects like rocks, eroded glass, and seashells — reminders of nature’s beauty over time and a source of inspiration. I also collect early 20th-century French furniture, particularly pieces by Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, and Pierre Jeanneret. I admire how they redefined furniture design by merging artisanal and industrial approaches to create objects that are innovative, pure, and timeless.
I’ve become increasingly drawn to hand-blown glass, especially with my mother’s family roots in Venice, close to Murano. It’s new territory for me, but I find myself captivated by glass’s ability to freeze movement in time, while appearing fragile enough to shatter with a touch.
I recently came across the work of Jules Lobgeois, a French sculptor who combines wood and textured steel in ways that feel organic and fresh. His mix of materials and natural forms is quite inspiring.
Inspiration can come from anywhere—beach stones, art, architecture, or even random books. For instance, I recently saw an exhibition at the Pompidou on Surrealism, which explored the creative potential of the unconscious mind. It reminded me of the power in combining elements that don’t intuitively fit together but create an unexpected energy when combined.
In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki had a big impact on my sense of aesthetics. The book reflects on the beauty of subtlety and imperfection in Japanese culture, celebrating dim lighting, natural materials, and the richness of shadows. Tanizaki contrasts this with Western ideals of brightness and symmetry, exploring how darkness and texture can create depth, mystery, and warmth. It sparked my appreciation for understated beauty and inspired my love for materials like lacquer, which age with character.
Charlotte Perriand & her work
Charlotte Perriand, for her innovative spirit and her ability to draw from diverse influences.
Returning to Paris, where I’m from, and spending the weekend exploring its streets, cafés, galleries, and restaurants.
Jalapeño peppers — I seem to add them to everything.
There’s a quote by André Gide: “one doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a long time.” I love the idea that to find anything new, you have to let go of conventions, even if it feels isolating at times.
I’m looking forward to sharing Anoma’s vision with a wider audience and continuing creative projects that spark my curiosity and keep discovery at the heart of what I do.
Oracle Time
After the resounding success of the inaugural British Watchmakers’ Day last year hosted by the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, it’s no surprise that the show is back again for 2025. If you managed to attend last year, you’ll know the coolest aspect of the event is that each of the exhibiting brands rock up with British Watchmakers’ Day limited edition watches exclusively available at the show. With the 2025 edition just around the corner, taking place on March 8th, we’re starting to see a handful of those limited editions be announced, such as the Beaucroft x Penfold Limited Edition for British Watchmakers’ Day 2025.
Penfold is the alias of Bristol-based artist Tim Gresham, who is known for his striking use of abstract shape and colour to create motion and emotion. It has long been the ambition of Beaucroft to work with him on a project and the Watchmakers’ Day limited edition offered the perfect opportunity. Regarding the project, Penfold said, “When Matt [Herd, Beaucroft Co-Founder,] first spoke to me about designing a watch for Beaucroft I initially had something wild and loud in my head. After playing around with ideas and compositions I found myself stripping back the elements and letting the watch speak for itself”
The result is a dial both elegant and dynamic. It has a matte white base to simulate a blank canvas, on top of which sits an airbrushed gradient bar with sharp shadow beneath. Accenting the bar is an engraved Beaucroft logo and an off-centre black dot. There’s an interesting interplay between the straight, rigid lines of the bar and the curved surfaces of the dot and the fact that the watch itself is round.
Speaking of, the watch’s case measures 39.5mm in diameter with a thickness of 11.7mm in stainless steel. It has a mixture of brushed, polished and bead blasted finishing across the smooth bezel, case sides and angular lugs. It’s a pretty robust case too with 200m water resistance and an extra-hard coating to provide improved scratch resistance. Ideal for daily wear with an extra dose of artistic flair courtesy of that dial.
Powering the piece is an industry staple accessible movement, the Miyota 9039 with 42-hour power reserve and regulated to +/-10 second per day accuracy. It’s one of the most widely used calibre around and helps brands keep prices reasonable while also being reliable. The Beaucroft x Penfold Limited Edition for British Watchmakers’ Day 2025 is priced at £649 and only 75 pieces are available. They will be offered first exclusively to attendees of the British Watchmakers’ Day on March 8th with any unsold pieces available online from 9am on March 9th.
More details at Beaucroft.
Oracle Time
Panerai have been working alongside adventurer Mike Horn for over two decades and in that time they’ve collaborated on plenty of watches together. It was only last November they released the Panerai Submersible GMT Titanio Mike Horn Experience Edition which comes with a trip to Bhutan included. Speaking of trips with Panerai, they’re offering an Oracle Time reader a free trip to Watches & Wonders 2025, make sure to sign up before January 31st for a chance to win. But for now, let’s talk about the new Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Mike Horn Edition PAM01676.
Kicking things off, the watch is a pretty standard rendition of the steel Submersible QuarantaQuattro in the signature colours of the Mike Horn special editions. That means it has a 44mm diameter cushion case with the signature crown protection lock at 3 o’clock. It also has a ceramic insert bezel with uni-directional rotation that makes it nice and scratch resistant while you’re calculating your immersion time. Scratches are somewhat inevitable on a dive watch due to the hostile environments of the sea and beaches, full of nasty rocks and sand that are basically unavoidable, so any extra scratch resistance is welcome.
The core colours here are blue and yellow. As mentioned, these are colours common to virtually all Panerai Mike Horn watches. Blue is representative of their shared love of the seas and yellow makes sense as a high contrast colour to blue, making it nice and legible even in low light conditions. Another Swiss brand, Doxa, famously tested a lot of colours for dive watches to find the most legible and they settled on orange, but yellow achieves essentially the same thing. Plus, in the deep dark of the ocean, most colours fade to brown or grey at best anyway. At least without a torch to light them up. The yellow accents are found on the watch name, 300m water resistance marking and small seconds subdial.
I really like the use of small seconds subdials on dive watches. The smaller diameter of the subdial means it’s easier to see that the hand is moving, which is proof that the watch is still working as intended and that the movement is running. That’s why you’ll often see small second counters on dive watches referred to as running seconds. When you’re relying on your watch to keep you safe, you want to be certain it’s operating normally.
While we’re still focusing on legibility, the Submersible QuarantaQuattro Mike Horn Edition PAM01676 is fitted with the classic dive watch array of applied hour markers coated with lume. Panerai are more famous for their sandwich dial designs but here safety and practicality win out over style. Which is as it should be for a professional instrument. Beneath the surface of the dial is the P.900 calibre, a Panerai staple with 3-day power reserve.
As for price, the Mike Horn edition is £10,300, which is right around the price of the other ceramic bezel Submersible QuarantaQuattros. At its core this is an alternative colour scheme for the watch but it’s a scheme that really works with the eye-catching yellow paired with the serene blue. Also, one last reminder to take part in the Oracle Time x Panerai competition to win a ticket to Watches & Wonders 2025.
More details at Panerai.
Oracle Time
Back in the autumn of last year Richard Mille announced they would be discontinuing the RM 032 with a swan song edition, which would remove the final circular case design from production. What that meant at the time is that once the 32 disappeared, it would be tonneau or bust when it comes to Richard Mille’s watches. However, before the age of tonneau supremacy could even begin, RM have announced the revival of a different non-tonneau model, the RM 016, with a new edition called the Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat.
Jumping right to the case, it’s rectangular. Specifically, it measures 36mm x 45.65mm, making it 10% smaller than the previous RM 016, improving its wearability. Which is a good thing too because it still carries a lot of wrist presence thanks to the long flanks and integrated strap, which makes the whole piece look like a continuous block of material. It’s as if an Apple watch has been genetically enlarged and turned mechanical – if that idea sounds like fun to you, check out the H. Moser Swiss Alp.
The case itself is available in a choice of two materials. There’s the titanium edition with its sleek metallic surfaces or the terracotta quartz TPT edition. Quartz TPT is a silicon composite material that’s both incredibly tough and lightweight, great for dramatic cases like this. The terracotta colour is a little hit and miss, on the one hand I like the architectural vibe it gives to the piece, like a Boston Brownstone Mansion, on the other it’s a little hard to get excited about the colour of a brick.
However, while the case is the thing that first draws you into this watch, what really captivates is the dial. It’s a fully skeletonised display that reveals the new CRMA9 Calibre that was developed specially for this watch. What’s interesting about it is the regularity of the skeletonization, as each small window through the plate is rectangular or square. It makes for a striking and unique appearance, like an angular maze.
Describing the hour markers of this watch is incredibly difficult. Each numeral is made up of two parts, a traditional Arabic numeral index and a twisting line that runs around the edge of the dial, passing through each of the numerals. For example, at 12 o’clock, the 1 is entirely made of the line while the top part of the 2 is a traditional numeral but the horizontal line at the bottom is again the twisting line. 2 and 5 o’clock are in fact only made up of the line. It feels like someone’s played a game of Tron across the display, which makes me wish we had bright neon colours instead of the grey and brown we do have.
Digging into the CRMA9 Calibre a bit more, it has a 50-hour power reserve with a baseplate and bridges made from titanium. It’s wound by a new platinum rotor with titanium weight elements that has a similar architectural angularity to it as the rest of the watch. It looks like a sci-fi steering wheel from a spaceship.
I think without question this is one of the most interesting watches Richard Mille have produced in a while, certainly since the RM UP-01. It’s a crazy mix of ultra-modern and futuristic design presented in a very traditional, grounded set of colours. It runs the full gamut from architectural foundations to sci-fi oddity in a nonsensical way. It’s not committed to being any one thing and I kind of love it for that. As with virtually all RMs, it’s price on request.
More details at Richard Mille.
Oracle Time
Back in the autumn we took a look at the top Scandinavian brands you should know about, exploring how Scandinavian design and horology intertwine. However, there’s one Norwegian brand who slipped through the net and are definitely worth a closer look, ÁIGI. They’re fascinated by Norway and the Arctic’s relationship with light and science, using it as inspiration for their timepieces. This concept is perfectly expressed in the new ÁIGI Satellite Ground Station II. Plus, who doesn’t love a bit of Nordic charm and this watch oozes with it right down to the brand’s name ÁIGI, which means ‘time’ in the language of the indigenous Sámi people of Scandinavian.
As the inclusion of II in the name suggests, this is the second Satellite Ground Station series they’ve produced following the popularity of the first. The new watches, of which there are four designs, build on and develop the core concepts of the original series. First let’s break down the other part of the watch’s name. A satellite ground station is the Earthbound counterpart to satellites in space, sending and receiving information and instructions to and from spacecraft. Norway’s positioning at the top of the world makes it a prime location for scientific research bases, as well as satellite and radar arrays.
Why is this relevant? Well, the dial of the ÁIGI Satellite Ground Station II is based these arrays. The black and blue dial editions have a tessellating pyramid pattern that’s inspired by radomes, the spherical structures made of the same pyramidic shapes that protect radar and satellite equipment. The gold and white models instead have a concave dial with radial engraved lines leading to each of the hour markers, a representation of the satellite dish itself. I actually prefer the subtler design of the satellite dish pair, perhaps because it reminds me a little of the Nivada Grenchen Antarctic Spider style dial design, which is another polar inspired timepiece though dedicated to the other end of the planet.
As for the case, it’s based on 1980s integrated bracelet design. Which means it has a wide, flat bezel with notches at the cardinal positions giving it a faintly industrial look. Rather than being an actual integrated bracelet design though, ÁIGI have recreated the same aesthetic using traditional lugs that are angular with brushed surfaces. It makes it more versatile than an actual integrated watch as you can change the straps depending on the occasion. The case itself is well-proportioned at 39mm diameter and 10.2mm thickness, nice measurements for a sports watch. It also has 100m water resistance and a chemically hardened surface so it should be well-suited to everyday adventures.
Beneath the dial of the ÁIGI Satellite Ground Station II is the Miyota 9039 premium automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve. It’s a well-respected movement used by a huge number of brands for good reason, its -10/+30 seconds per day accuracy and perfectly reasonable power reserve are great value considering the price point it’s typically available at. Speaking of price, the blue, black and white editions are all $479 (approx. £390) and the gold version, which has a gold-plated dial, is $499 (approx. £400).
All four colours are also limited editions of 500 pieces, making them fairly exclusive but not restrictive. Between the sporty cases, dials inspired by cutting-edge scientific technology and great value, there’s a lot to fall in love with here.
More details at ÁIGI.
Oracle Time
Casio America released the Casio MWA300H chronograph series, which was previously released in Asia (MWA-300H) in December. The three debut watches have a full analog display with a large case, stainless steel bezel, and resin band. Although the dial looks similar in appearance to the upscale G-Shock GMC-B2100, this is more of a pure chronograph […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog