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Hello, my watch-loving comrades! Welcome to the latest instalment of The Wind Up, Man of Many’s weekly wrap detailing the horological encounters, events, and releases that have caught our attention over the past seven days. I’m Rob, someone who’s recently been exploring the joy of a micro-adjust bracelet, and I’m very happy to be back with you all.
This week has been a big one for the Man of Many team. Those of us who ordered Longines HydroConquests finally took delivery of our new pride and joy after a couple of months waiting. Demand for these watches is high, but I think I speak for us all when we say it was worth the wait. Keep an eye out for next week’s The Wind Up, where I’ll be recruiting my colleagues to help me dissect our wearing experience. In the meantime, this week has also seen me wearing another piece in Timex’s premium Atelier collection. A few weeks ago, I discussed the Timex Atelier Chronograph Automatic M1a Ti, and this week I’ve been trying the Marine M1a. It’s a very different watch, and I’ll be getting into it below.
Read on, and you’ll also find other key releases, as well as a video from my time with Tudor’s wonderfully bold Bumblebee. As always, there’s no time like the present and not a second to waste, so let’s get stuck into the latest edition of Man of Many’s The Wind Up.
On the Wrist: Timex Atelier Marine M1a
This is the second inclusion in The Wind Up from Timex’s high-end Atelier collection, but I’m confident it won’t be the last. Having spent decades as a world-famous brand that produces handsome, reliable, and affordable watches in just about every style under the sun, Timex has made horological style easy to access for a broader range of people. Plus, I’d speculate it has served as a gateway brand for many who would go on to take their watches very seriously indeed.
While it continues to fill both those functions, the watchmaker also branched out last year with the launch of its Atelier collection. An ambitious, Swiss-made line helmed by Timex’s Global Creative Director and Design Director, Giorgio Galli, the move finds the brand surprisingly at home in this higher-end watch space. And while it still catches people off guard when I tell them I’ve had a Swiss-made dive watch from Timex worth AUD$1,800 on my wrist this week, it feels like Galli is building out a genuinely credible premium catalogue. For me, this proper 200-metre diver, executed with real restraint, has just reinforced that impression.
At 41mm and 13mm thick, this isn’t a large watch by modern dive-watch standards, and that’s very much to its credit. It sits low, the lugs curve in nicely, and at 158 grams on the bracelet, it’s exceptionally wearable. The skeletonised case, reinforced with a black IP-coated mid-case, gives the sides a welcome flourish of visual interest where a plain brushed drum would have just looked somewhat drab.
The dial is the primary driver of this watch’s distinct personality. It’s a glossy black enamel affair, realised through a high-temperature firing process, and its inky depths are on full display even under lacklustre indoor light. Paired against the high-polished, Luminova-filled hands and applied markers, it has a tension between its sporty and elegant qualities that I’ve grown very fond of. The unidirectional bezel’s ceramic insert is a nice touch, too. It’s the kind of detail that’s often reserved for watches at a higher price point.
Flip the Marine M1a over, and the exhibition caseback shows off the Swiss-made Catena SA 100, which runs at 28,800vph and boasts 29 jewels and a 36-hour reserve. It’s not a new movement, nor is it one made exclusively for Timex, but at this price, it’s perfectly respectable. Timex’s own accuracy spec of roughly ±10 to 20 seconds a day means it’s not gunning for COSC-certified accuracy.
The self-adjustable steel bracelet is another headline feature, and it earns it. Quick-release spring bars and tool-less link removal make sizing genuinely painless. The butterfly deployant clasp can feel a little stiff, but to be honest, it just leaves me feeling secure that its stubbornness will keep the watch securely in place.
In all, I’m genuinely impressed by the authenticity of what Timex has delivered with the Marine M1a. This is a modern diver with genuine material quality that doesn’t try to be a retro homage or a tool-watch cosplay. For a brand that has spent most of its history serving as an entry point into the watch market, this sees the Atelier line’s credibility continue to grow. Next, I’ll be trying to get my hands on the brand’s new GMT Première M1a.
Timex Atelier Marine M1a Key Specs
- Reference: TW2Y72500
- Case: Stainless steel, skeletonised
- Diameter: 41 mm
- Thickness: 13 mm
- Water resistance: 200 m
- Dial: Black enamel
- Bracelet: Stainless steel, butterfly deployant clasp
- Movement: Swiss-made Catena SA 100 automatic
- Power reserve: 36 hours
- Price: AUD$,1800
On the ‘Gram: TUDOR Black Bay Chrono 39 “Bumblebee”
In Other Watch News…
A Timely Resizing from Panerai
Panerai’s ‘90s Luminor watch cases became an icon for the brand. However, despite downsizing the 47-mm measurements of the military-tool watches that inspired them to a more civilian-friendly 44 mm, they remained large.
In the last week, Panerai unveiled a long-overdue resize, launching three new references that still possess original details like the angular case lines, robust lugs, and that signature curved crown protective bridge, while bringing things down to a far more approachable 42 mm. The result? For the first time in a while, I’ve been wondering what it might be like to have a Panerai on my wrist.
H. Moser & Cie. Goes Digital
To be completely honest, the H. Moser & Cie. Off-Grid was a miss for me. The price of CHF 3,900 (approx. AUD$6,730) might be a bargain for an H. Moser & Cie. effort, but paying that much for what is essentially a digital watch, well, you can leave me out of it.
Plus, I think the thing that bugs me most is that so many of the elements on the dial are curved, and yet the digital screen is rectangular. It’s jarring, where a curved screen would have maintained a consistent aesthetic. Not that I’d likely have the option to buy it anyway. It’s limited to 1,000 pieces per reference, which the brand offered to existing clients before the broader public gets a look in.
Longines Continues Its Pilot Program
Longines’ aviation heritage is one of the pillars on which its legend is built, so after seeing 2026 releases from the maison covering its diver, dress, and chronograph bases, it was only a matter of time before we saw a release with its view fixed on the sky.
Across four references (a pair of Spirit Pilot watches and a pair of Spirit Pilot Flyback chronographs), Longines has given its modern pilot-watch family the blue treatment and backed it up with a pair of COSC-certified movements. These feel like Longines playing it a little safer after some big swings earlier this year, but there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, this is simply a brand refining something it already does very well.
Ulysse Nardin Celebrates 25 Years of the Freak
When it launched 25 years ago, Ulysse Nardin’s Freak was a revolutionary piece of work. Without a conventional dial, hands, or even a crown to manipulate the watch, it was unquestionably deserving of its name.
Now, to mark a quarter of a century since that release, the Swiss maison has launched the new Freak [ONE Blue Enamel] and Freak [ONE Guilloché]. Built on the Freak [ONE] introduced in 2023, each reference is limited to 99 pieces, with the Blue Enamel priced at AUD$138,900 and the Guilloché at AUD$123,700.
At their core, these watches are as unconventional as ever, but I have to commend Ulysse Nardin for the apparent restraint here compared with other Freak releases. For yours truly, that Freak [ONE Guilloché] is particularly appealing.
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