omega is a name that has truly transcended the watch industry itself. Though it is neither the oldest nor the most prestigious watch manufacture in the world, omega is undoubtedly the most well-renowned. In fact, its nearly impossible to find an adult on this earth who has not heard the name. Due to this legendary reputation, omega watches of both the past and the present almost serve as their own global currency. But it wasnt always this way.While omega has always strived for excellence, the brand didnt set out to make the most expensive, prestigious timepieces in the world. Rather, since its founding over 120 years ago, the brand had one ultimate goal: to make the most functional, reliable...
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The watch industry acts conservatively. Too much innovation is considered risky. Accordingly, many new watch models are, to a certain extent, predictable. As much as we love to be presented with what we hoped for, real surprises make our hearts beat faster. So, lets take a look at those less anticipated novelties that made us sit up and notice. Lets explore the three most surprising new watch models of the recent past.In 2020, watch brands are even more cautious than in 2019. Unemboldening sales numbers have slowed the flow of new models. The closing of facilities due to Corona has nearly stopped the delivery of newly produced watches.That was different in 2019. Remember the riot-like reacti...
Today I bought the Le Mans DVD, with Steve McQueen. This is the movie where the Heuer Monaco was put on the horological map ?? Heuer even produced a version of the Monaco with the colors (red/white/blue) of his racing suit. A while back I posted about a clothing brand called Vintage 55, who makes replicas of his racing clothes.Anyway, for 10 USD you are the man. You can make your own stills with this DVD of the Heuer Monaco. Btw, I recall that Steve McQueen was an avid omega Explorer wearer. You might want to verify in which movie this is thoughWhile I am at it anyway, you might want to order this one as well. This is the movie called Winning, where Paul Newman wears his Daytona. Or not. Tha...
Geneva Watch Days will run from August 30th CSeptember 3rd: Its that time of year again. For the second year in a row, the worlds (or at least Europes) watch media will descend on Geneva for a week of boutique-and-suite-based showcases. All the major brands from last years inaugural run-through are returning, with expectations high of what another travel-lite year might have in store for us. Today, Im going to share my hopes for Jaeger-LeCoultre, Bvlgari, De Bethune, Moser, and Urwerk. Let us know what youd like to see from these brands in the comments below.One year ago, we stepped into the unknown. The Geneva Watch Days event was, in short, a revolution. Being there at the opening ceremony...
Welcome to This Week in Watches for June 20, 2020 the more edition. Weve got more of everything on the eve of Summer so lets get to it!Corum LAB 02First up this week is the Corum LAB 02. If you want more skeleton, this just might be your watch Just remember to bring at least CHF 180,000 because thats where life with this manual wind flying tourbillon (cal CO 300) begins. The massive 45mm case is available in several shades of gold and with or without diamonds. Corum calls out 10 of each style, but they will also allow you to choose colorful gems and other modifications. A power reserve and date function also show on this piece. When I think of older Corum, I think of the Golden Bridge and th...
Its Speedy Tuesday After our in-depth hands-on review of the new Omega Speedmaster 57 Caliber 9300 and introduction of the new Speedmaster Mark II on last weeks Speedy Tuesday, it is time to give some vintage love again. One of our loyal Speedmaster readers and fans, Santosh from the USA contacted us a few months back to tell us he had a non-working Speedmaster LCD caliber 1620 reference 186.0005 (we covered the Speedmaster LCD in the past, here and here). He already had been in touch with a service center, but the movement was just dead and there was no way it could be fixed. Our suggestion was to find a donor watch on eBay or other source of vintage watches and swap the movement(s).Last we...
Balazs and Mike come with the latest episode of Fratello on Air and discuss their favorite vintage dive watches. For a couple of watch crazies who live inland, youll see that they have a lot of live for these beasts of the deep.On an earlier episode, we discussed our most cherished chronographs. Its hard to say which watch genre is our favorite, but theres no doubt that vintage dive watches vie for top spot. There are just so many great models out there. Super Compressors, Submariners, Seamasters, oh my Youll hear about which models we chose and why. Then, we touch on a couple modern stand-ins and even throw out some budget friendly vintage options. You wont want to miss this weeks salty ban...
It is Speedy Tuesday In the past, weve shown you a couple of Speedmasters with Moon Phase complications. There was the first Speedmaster Professional Moon Phase from 1985 that weve covered in August, the Speedmaster Professional Moon Phase Replica or Broad Arrow we did in July, the new Speedmaster Professional Moon Phase Aventurine in September and the platinum skeleton Speedmaster Professional Moon Phase we did in October.One of our readers from Germany, who is a serious Omega (Speedmaster) collector, submitted his trio of Moon Phase Speedmasters to us. We briefly mentioned all three of them in our Speedy Tuesday article in August about the Moon Phase watches (click here), but without prope...
On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 crew landed safely on Earth after some incredibly scary moments onboard the module. The Speedmaster played such an important role on the return trip, that NASA decided to give a Silver Snoopy Award to Omega on October 5th of that same year. Some think the Snoopy cartoon on a Speedmaster is a bit childish, but often, those people dont know why it is there. In this article, well explain how Snoopy ended up on the dial of a Speedmaster.In 1970, NASA astronaut Thomas P. Stafford presented a Silver Snoopy Award to Omega. Not everyone realizes how important this award is. It is an award given by NASA crew to staff or contractors for their special contribution and o...
One of Benzingers specialities are their skeletonized and fully engraved watches; they obviously have no dial (nor do they need one) to best show off all of the details. The owner of this piece related an anecdote he passed it on to a fellow collector, quite well known in horological circles, for his opinion on the finishing. He asked for a loupe and examined the watch then seconds later, replied I cant tell at all, the entire damn thing is engraved!Mechanically, its a fairly standard Unitas movement (aside from the elaborate decoration, of course). Not a lot else to say about this one, other than enjoy the photos. Click images for larger.MT...
Project X Designs is a London based company, specializing in customizing [mainly omega] wrist watches. You can order a regular omega wrist watch on their site, and tick the options to customize it entirely to your wishes. DLC (Diamond Like Carbon is quite popular since a few years, and since omega isnt offering in their own catalogue, Project X Designs can do so for you The DLC wiki sums it up as: The hardest, strongest, and slickest is such a mixture, known as tetrahedral amorphous carbon, or ta-C. For example a coating of only 2??m thickness of ta-C increases the resistance of common (i.e. type 304) stainless steel against abrasive wear; changing its lifetime in such service from one week ...
Minute repeaters represent the very pinnacle of watchmaking along with other major complications like the perpetual calendar. The idea that you can hear time as well as (or instead of) seeing it comes from a period before the first wristwatch was even a thought.Every medieval city had a clock in a church tower (or otherwise), that chimed the time to its citizens. With the new Blast Hourstriker, Ulysse Nardin is trying to upgrade this illustrious complication by combining the old idea with modern materials and technology.Blast HourstrikerUlysse Nardins latest creation is an innovative, striking timepiece that oversteps barriers in sound technology. However, for the brand working with sound is...
In 2021, Omega updated the iconic Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch with the caliber 3861 movement. A very good reason to update our Speedmaster Buyers Guide as well!This guide dates all the way back to 2014, and since then, a lot happened. Not only did we have our own way with Omega and the two Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday watches (in 2017 and 2018), Omega also introduced a number of interesting Speedmaster watches to the collection. What about the Speedmaster Calibre 321 from 2020, or the new Moonwatch Master Chronometer models in gold? Time for us to update this Speedmaster Buyers Guide.In this Speedmaster Buyers Guide, we give you an overview of the most important references of the Speedm...
The treasures are still out there Last week, I wondered for a while if everything Speedmaster-related was skyrocketing (no pun intended) out of reach, but I quickly found out that this is not the case. Yet.Two of my favorite Speedmaster watches are up for grabs (hey, everything is relative these days) for a total of 5,000. I am talking about the Speedmaster X-33 and the Split-Seconds (or Rattrapante). The X-33 reference 3290.50 is even considered to be a Speedmaster Professional, and the Rattrapante reference 3540.50 seems to be sharing a very similar case design. gallery-1 {margin: auto;} gallery-1 .gallery-item {float: left;margin-top: 10px;text-align: center;width: 50%;} gallery-1 img {bo...
Omega Speedmaster Professional Broad Arrow MoonphaseThis week's Speedy Tuesday pick is a Moonwatch with a Moon complication of one of our Italian fans. It all started in 1987 when Omega decided to put a moonphase Speedmaster on the market. In the end, they started up introducing three different Speedmaster models with a Moonphase: Two teutonic' models (1986) and one Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch' (1985) version with a moonphase complication. All three had the famous caliber 861 as a base movement and a moonphase module added to it, also known as the caliber 866 movement.As you can see, a beautiful composition of stainless steel, a silver dial and an 18 carat white gold bezel.Later on, i...
Breitling Navitimer All BlackToday on TBT, we'll take a look at an all-time classic, the Breitling Navitimer All Black. It's a watch that I never thought I'd have a chance of owning, but thanks to fellow Fratello member Gerard, and especially to my wife, I've been fortunate to add a beauty to my collection. It's funny, it was almost a year ago this time that I wrote about another Navitimer that I had sourced: it was a rare transitional reverse panda model purchased from Rene. So, once again, it seems that Autumn is Navitimer season C and with that, let's take a look at a very special chronograph.Adding the Breitling Navitimer All BlackWhen I picked up the aforementioned transitional Navitim...
When it comes to those I surround myself with, I'd guess that I'm like a lot of watch-crazed addicts. I have friends who suffer from the same affliction, friends who are mildly interested in timepieces, and those who truly couldn't give a rip (funny, this latter group is generally comprised of folks who can easily afford a great watch).Those who have slightly more than a passing interest are the ones who often ask me questions about why I am so fascinated by watches and they generally turn into the type of person who asks about what nice watch they should buy when considering their first significant purchase. Sometimes they know the brand or the style/category of watch they want, but often t...
When I was a young watchmaker, the industry seemed enormous. There was so much I didn't know. There were so many options available to me. It seemed impossible at the time to choose. My career and collecting habits could have gone in any direction. And while those habits have evolved over time, I will never forget where they began. They began with a Hamilton Khaki Aviation X-Wind Automatic Chronograph and the honest belief that complexity was king.If you were to open my watch boxes now and assess the fare within, you might well accuse me of being a bit boring. Perhaps a bit safe. Several NOMOS watches, a demure Speedmaster, a selection of dive watches that do not stray too far from any of the...
Earlier this year, during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced their new Polaris collection to the world. Weve been raving about them a number of times, including this hands-on review of the most popular one: the Polaris Memovox. Today, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces us to the new Polaris Geographic WT limited edition, where WT stands for World Time. Of course.Inspired like all the others on the 1968?Memovox Polaris watch, Jaeger-LeCoultre now comes with another practical complication in their Polaris Geographic WT. Ive been a sucker for world timers since years, and the regular Geographic models (be it Master or even Master Compressor) are wat...
Back for their sixth Geneva watch auction season, Aurel Bacs Livia Russo in association with Phillips auction house are on a pretty impressive winning streak. They are returning from a world-record shattering result (for a wristwatch) of $17.8 million when they sold THE omega Paul Newman Paul Newman Daytona in New York at the end of October. I specify wristwatch as to not offend Patek Phillipe's overall record in the watch category with the $24 million reached for the Graves Super complication pocket watch sold in 2014 at Sotheby's Geneva.I was lucky enough to be in New York to witness this historic moment and was amazed by the rest of the overall performance as well. For their first sale i...