Welcome to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where we take the vote to the streets each and every week.? This week we go in a very different direction with the one and only Cartier Santos.Before we class things up, let's focus on last week's subject, the Omega Ploprof.? We featured an all-steel 1200 meter modern Ploprof for your perusal and guess what?? Despite those persistent hipsters, stylemakers and influencers telling you that little watches are back in style, you still like to bring muscle to the party.? It seems that a full 61% of you would rather strap this creature from the black lagoon to your arm versus not.? Maybe that will make Omega rethink its decision to pull its plug on this big ca...
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Christmas is always that perfect time to wear a dress watch. Or better said, the time you realize you really need a dress watch in your collection. Last Christmas, I was actually prepared and instead of wearing my Speedmaster or Submariner, I found myself wearing a dress watch almost the entire holiday period. Of course, you dont just purchase a (dress) watch to wear it during Christmas only, but I can think of more appropriate occasions where you might prefer a more classic watch over a sports watch. Then, there are people like my younger step-brother for example, who wear a dress watch every single day of the year. It is not for me personally, although I do wear my Globemaster a lot, which...
Picture this; you're clutching four aces in a game of Texas hold em poker. It's down to you and a single opponent with all other players either folding or busting out. The only possible hand that could trump you at this point is a straight flush. Your chips are low, and it's all on the table, but your opponent has just pushed. It is not with more chips, but their wristwatch, which they remove from their wrist and gently slide to the middle. It just so happens this is your grail watch, the unicorn, the one that's hard to find, let alone purchase.Your eyes flicker from your hand to the table. You don't have enough chips to match the bet, but you also don't want to split the pot. It's too late ...
Rare Berries: omega GMT-Master BlueberryWhen you're doing a deep dive into specific watches?you often encounter iterations with small variations compared to their root model. Visually and with financial consequences. This episode is about?a watch that?stands out in terms of a specific alternative coloured element: the omega GMT-Master (ref. 1675) variant with a blue bezel, alias the blueberry GMT-Master'. Such a distinctive color and element. It is one single element that instantly made this watch a true rare berry:Accent or Not?I'm truly fascinated by the art of creating accents. How do you let specific elements stand out without taking the spectator as hostage and let him/her forget about ...
Postponed, but not abandoned, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are finally here You read that right, the Tokyo 2020 name remains despite their taking place in 2021. The land of the Rising Sun will host the Summer Olympics for the second time in history, the first being in 1964. Omega will be the official timekeeper for all events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and has been for nearly all editions of the Games dating all the way back to 1932.Tokyo 2020 Olympic GamesStarting today, July 23rd, 339 events in 33 sports will take place in the host country of Japan. Including some new additions to the usual list, like karate, sport climbing, baseball, softball, and skateboarding. All of which, will al...
A Merry Christmas to all our readers who are celebrating This year, we return to where I essentially started with Fratello Watches and that's with a look at a omega. It was three years ago that I wrote about the Submariner 14060M and it's time for a repeat engagement ? with a twist. Yes, this is an examination of a diving omega, but of the deepest of them all: the Sea-Dweller. Kick up your feet, pour a glass and relax, it's time for a Holiday installment of TBT with the vintage omega Sea-Dweller 1665.My mind works in mysterious ways. It mines an extensive backlog of trivial information, often making tangential (read: loose at best) connections between what are essentially disparate subjects...
Panerai ManufactureA few weeks ago, we were invited to visit the Officine Panerai Manufacture in Neuchatel. This manufacture was opened in 2014, but only few media have been invited to have a look in the actual production facility. Officine Panerai has a total of 600 employees world wide, of which 260 are located in this new manufacture in Neuchatel. The Panerai Manufacture is a large building, offering 10.000 square meters for the production of a number of their in-house developed calibers.AmazedBefore I continue my visitors report of the Panerai Manufacture, I have to admit that I was a bit sceptic at first. Sure, Officine Panerai has been making in-house movements since 2005. But to me, i...
The question in that subtitle is directed at Longines. Its not that I dont think 40mm is a good size, but this is just so much better. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of folks out there who are still uncertain about wearing any sub-40mm wristwear. But just dont use the term unisex or even mention the fact that it works on both men and women. In the face of watchfemme and the new wave of 36-38mm sweetness, does that make the new Longines Spirit 37 perfectly pitched at everyone?Just the other day, I had a client meeting in which a woman was wearing a 42mm Explorer II while I was wearing my 37.7mm Serica 4512. Did I feel emasculated? Nope. This is reality, and the fact that brands still m...
Welcome one and all to our new Sunday afternoon Pod-Column, Watching Sports (Or WASP, for short).To celebrate this new Fratello feature, host Rob Nudds welcomes fellow sports fanatic Balazs to the virtual booth. This week, the despicable duo look back on Super Bowl LV and the remarkable achievements of 43-year old Tom Brady, as he guided the Buccs to their second championship while picking up his seventh (seventh) in the process.We talk about team building, Bradys place in both NFL and general sports history, and why the heck the GOAT is wearing an IWC these days?Well be indulging one of our favorite pastimes and picking the perfect watch for several of the leagues biggest stars. What would ...
We thought it would be time to compare the new omega Explorer II Ref. 216570 to the much sought-after vintage Explorer II Freccione' or Steve McQueen'. The Explorer II has always been a watch that sat in the shadow of the GMT-Master and Submariner models. Undeserved in our humble opinion.Is there much to compare? Is the new Explorer II a tribute to the Freccione' (orange hand) or is it a new watch that has been influenced by the very first Explorer II that was introduced in 1971, 40 years ago?Let's start with some history on the Explorer II. Introduced in 1971 as ref.1655, the watch was equipped with an orange hand to be used as a day/night indicator for those who professionally didn't see d...
We just entered the semi-finals of this The Fast And The Fratelli contest, with a wonderful Traxxas Bandit RC car (scale 1:10) at stake. Now it is getting tough, with two Speedmasters racing each other in this round. The Omega Speedmaster Calibre 321 meets our own Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Ultraman edition. RJs Speedmaster Calibre 321 is in the left lane, Balazss Speedy Tuesday Ultraman is in the right. Start your engines.RJ: I was wearing the Speedmaster Calibre 321 yesterday during the F1 GP in Abu Dhabi. It just felt like an appropriate thing to do. I enjoyed watching F1 this season, although some of the decisions were highly questionable. But the racing has become more interesting, for ...
A omega GMT-Master ofcourse!Hannes treats the R-L-X.de forum visitors on these two screenshots from the Discovery channel:The fellow above is Brian Trubshaw, British Concorde Testpilot.Thanks Hannes!If you want over 80 pages of famous (and less famous) omega wearers, click here (you might need to register)....
During the last watch event we attended, Bvlgari introduced to us its Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automatic. According to them, it broke another world record, that of developing an ultra-complicated movement with a thickness of just 3.5mm.Somehow, I feel that this new watch got a bit snowed under by the introduction of the more affordable Bvlgari-Bvlgari Aluminium collection. Of course, watches with a price tag under 5,000 speak a bit more to the public than a watch that is for the lucky few. However, the new Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automatic deserves a proper amount of attention as well.Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automati...
Launched only 15 years ago in 2005, the Hublot Big Bang has since had a tremendous impact on the Swiss watch industry. Now, for the first time, the Big Bang is paired with an integrated bracelet in 3 different materials.Start by Breaking the RulesAround the 1980s, the Swiss were still coming to terms with a luxury sports watch in steel. Not to be outdone, Hublot ruffled more feathers with a gold watch on a rubber strap. What was once a real novelty for the industry, seems fairly commonplace now. But 40 years ago, there was a level of uncertainty for the future of Swiss luxury timepieces. Hublot, a relative newcomer, set-out to shatter centuries-old traditions. More established brands eventua...
Its Speedy Tuesday For today we have again something special for you Speedmaster fans out there. As you probably know, Omega produced a number of mission patch models as part of 50 white suitecases with the Speedmaster Mission collection in 1997 (40 sets) and in 1998 (2x 5 sets). Each suitcase contained 22 Speedmaster Professional mission patch models, 1 57 re-edition (reference 3594.50) as well as a spare Lemania-based caliber 1861 movement. The model we have on Speedy Tuesday today is the Gemini V mission model, also featured in this suitcase.Omega Speedmaster Professional Gemini VThis particular mission patch model commemorates the Gemini 5 flight that was performed by NASA astronauts L...
As a fan of watch design, I have developed a healthy obsession with the first generation Omega Constellation Manhattan. The Constellation Manhattan is Omegas biggest icon introduced in the 1980s. But its also one of the few introduced in the decade of decadence. The seventies is where the true magic of vintage Omega design is for me. Enter another healthy obsession. Its time to take a look at a selection of brilliant releases from the seventies that have crept to the top of my list of vintage wants.I couldnt believe it when I read it, but the 1970s have officially been hailed as the most stylish decade ever. Sure, the 1980s are criticized for a lack of taste (although I feel very much at hom...
A GTG (short for Get Together) organized by a few members of the Vintage omega Forum is always good for a lot of photographs of impressive watches and watch collections. Vintage omega Forum calls these GTGs Passion, because of the passion for vintage omega watches. Looking at the photos, the guys also share passion for cigars, bags and watch boxes.Below youll see a omega ref.6200, a very nice vintage early Submariner without the printing on the dial being a Sub. The gilt dial is very nice on this experimental Submariner. Probably produced around 1955.And this is not a omega, but being an AP fan and all, I though this might be worth posting here. An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept on a mesh...
You probably have read it by now, but Montblanc seems to be the big surprise of the SIHH show in Geneva. Again, as the brand from Hamburg could really enjoy some positive and overwhelming responses during the SIHH in 2014 as well.Let us add some words on Montblanc and its position in the Richemont group or the watch universe in general at the end of this article. First, we speak about this Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, their world timer watch with an in-house developed complication.Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis TerrarumMontblanc surprised everyone this year. Not only with this Montblanc Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum (euh, World Timer) but actually with their entire range of ...
As The Fast And The Fratelli quarter-finals get underway, we see a dangerous number of Speedmasters slicing their way through the competition. Here, it's Balazss Speedmaster Ultraman, which goes toe-to-toe with Nachos humble Hamilton Intra-Matic. But will Ultraman fall to his latest foe? Or will the Intra-Matic lose its Intra-Magic and require a tow back to pit lane? The fate of these two is in your hands So pick wisely and may the best racing chronograph win.We'll start off the Balazss Speedmaster Ultraman, a watch very close to our hearts here at Fratello. As you all likely know, this was the second Speedy Tuesday release, paying tribute to the 1967 Speedmaster known as the Ultraman. A spe...
In our Sunday Morning Showdown, two of our writers go head-to-head in an epic showdown for the ages. Strong opinions and hysterical hyperbole are welcome (so feel free to join in with the fun in the comments section below). And don't forget to let us know which watches you'd like to see torn to shreds/effusively exalted next week. We'll try and feature as many of our readers' choices as we can. Todays showdown continues some unfinished business. In part two of our GMT Wars saga, the Grand Seiko SBGJ237 aims to finish the fight against the omega GMT-Master II Batman.Cast your mind back to May last year. Benny and Bobby faced off in Part One of the fabled GMT Wars. At the time, Rob won with th...