Already mentioned a few posts earlier (about the SIHH), the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days timepiece with hand made Santoni strap is something to look forward too. Although I am a bit skeptic about the quality / durability of their in-house movements, IWC knows how to design a watch. It seems that almost every model in their catalog is very likable, also by non-watch aficionados. Now, if they can crank up the quality of the caliber 50000 movements a bit (Ive seen too much? 7 days power reserve models with troubles in the last few years), I might be interested in getting one myself as well at some point.The IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days is surely a timepiece that I would like to tr...
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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. After the excitement of our Speedmaster World Cup, its time to get back into the groove of the Sunday Morning Showdowns. And this is quite a special one. For the final SMS of this year, two iconic Omega James Bond wristwatches go head-to-head.Well, that was a body blow. We waited five years since Spec...
Slowly but surely, the world seems to be reopening. For us watch nerds, that brings about a question we haven't been faced with for some time. Namely, which watch comes along when it's time to hit the road or take to the skies is a quandary. The travel watch is an oft-debated topic, but I have four recent journeys to share where I had to make such a choice.It's funny, I've come full circle when it comes to the travel watch discussion. When I first began to travel years ago as an adult, I really had only one watch. My faithful omega Explorer went everywhere with me. As time progressed, though, and I collected more heavily, I began to think more about what to take. I considered the activities,...
This year Hamilton is releasing some excellent watches for women. These are well designed, high grade, mechanical timepieces that bring to women the value and vintage-like, classic style that is at the base of the companys success.There are many mechanical watches for ladies to choose from in more expensive price brackets. This is not so in Hamiltons set range of CHF 500 to CHF 1,500 for which the market of female watch enthusiasts is under-served. Hamilton, who holds perhaps the strongest position at the entry price level for luxury watches, is coming to the rescue. After seeing Hamiltons new JazzMaster Medium, Seaview Medium, and RailRoad 38mm for myself, it appears as if they will succeed...
I hope you enjoyed a real good weekend and that you're ready to start the week with a real good coffee. With the emphasis on real, because in the first part of this weekly kick-off article, we warn you that fake Omega ?bSwatch Speedmaster MoonSwatches have been spotted. Also, if you're into cycling, Tudor, or both, you might want to know more about the new Tudor Pro Cycling Team. I also have a book tip for you, and that's a re-printed edition of Watches: A Complete History of the Technical and Decorative Development of the Watch by horological experts Cecil Clutton and George Daniels a must-have for horology enthusiasts.It was only a matter of time, of course, but the first fake Omega ?bSwa...
Even before the SIHH 2017 starts, Omega announces some BaselWorld 2017 news. Besides the Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday limited edition, they announce the Speedmaster Automatic Racing Dial and the Speedmaster Automatic 38mm. We will cover the ladies 38mm model at a later stage, but lets have a look at the Speedmaster Automatic Master Chronometer with racing dial.Speedmaster Automatic Racing DialJust like last year, when Omega actually announced their Speedmaster Moonphase Co-Axial Master Chronometer during SIHH, it is now time to unveil their Speedmaster Automatic Racing Dial. Also equipped with a Co-Axial Master Chronometer (caliber 9900) movement, of course. While Omega some times still refer ...
I just finalized a write-up for Watch Freaks, a blog hosted by Alon Ben-Joseph. It is about web 2.0 and horology and how this combines. Or should combine in my opinion ??Click here to read the article what did web 2.0 did for horology?An example of what it didnt do for Ebel....
In the past, I have found my gold Omega on the wrist of a stuffed animal. And for a long time, there was a Seiko on my daughter's nightstand. Can you guess the reason why? Because it was so pretty in the dark. Of course, theres no one to blame for that but me. My daughter has no idea about the value of these things. It means, however, that I need to take care that my watches are not easy for my daughter to grab. An expensive mechanical watch is no toy for a child.Owning and wearing a precious watch comes with a responsibility the responsibility of taking care of a valuable item. There's a reason why parents don't gift their daughter or son a costly watch before they have reached a certain ag...
Omega Speedmaster Pro MoonwatchThis is our second Speedy Tuesday on Fratello Watches and this weeks pick is the Omega Speedmaster Professional with reference number 105.012 and caliber 321 movement. Every Omega Speedmaster enthusiast knows that this is the same model that went to the Moon on the wrist of Neil Armstrong (we covered it here).Besides the pictured Omega Speedmaster ref. 105.012, astronaut Collins was wearing a similar model, the Speedmaster ref.145.012. Buzz Aldrin supposedly wore the 105.003 (pre-Professional), but this watch got stolen afterwards.Speedmaster fan Jmsrolls (John) shot a picture of his ref.105.012 Speedy on a 1969 copy of National Geographics magazine, covering t...
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...
Its Speedy Tuesday!?A few weeks ago, our watch photographer did a photoshoot with a number of Omega Speedmaster watches. Ranging from vintage to new and including a few (rare) limited edition Speedies as well.Speedmaster Printing and TypographyIn this photo essay we selected the coolest Omega Speedmaster pictures and present them to you. With this photo essay we try to show you the details of the Speedmaster designs and wonderful different dials and styles they had over the decades.The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch wording and logo is printed in white since 1968 and its typography changed a tiny bit since then. Long r, a wide S, large OMEGA or a tad bit smaller. a connected S or a...
Recently, Fratello was invited to visit the Vacheron Constantin Head Quarters in Switzerland. In this article, we give an overview of the fantastic things Vacheron Constantin showed us during that day.Unlike most factory visits, we found our way to the Vacheron Constantin HQ within 30 minutes after touchdown. This is also one of the reasons we could do this visit in just one day, as the flight is only 1.5 hours from Amsterdam to Geneva. Without further ado.Vacheron Constantin through the yearsBesides Fratello, some other journalists were invited as well to visit Vacheron Constantin. As you can see above, the Vacheron Constantin building has an impressive architecture. Although I am out of th...
Once rejected by watch enthusiasts, now one of the most sought-after Patek Philippe's models, the Aquanaut is a major source of buzz for pretty much everyone. Therefore, it seemed inevitable that Patek would address the dearth of options for its female collectors sooner rather than later. Of course, Patek Philippe masterfully embraces not only the hottest color in the watch industry but also appeals to the serious watch lover with different types of movements. Lets take a look at the five new iterations of the Aquanaut Luce, revealed earlier today.Green enters the mainstreamHow wonderful is it to admire such intriguing new releases? The women's Aquanaut Luce has been with us since 2004. Its ...
Aside from perhaps the Freak, Ulysse Nardins Marine Chronometer is without a doubt the brands most recognizable model. And indeed it should be, for when Ulysse Nardin first established his workshop in 1846, he set his sights on producing the finest marine chronometers the world had ever seen. Through the rest of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ulysse Nardins superbly accurate chronometers became indispensable tools for over 50 navies worldwide. In 1996, for the brands 150th anniversary, the marine chronometer aesthetic finally made its way into a wristwatch.In the 25 years since then, the Marine Chronometer has proven to be a very successful style indeed. These days, Ulysse Nardins standa...
Speedy Tuesday is here One of the Speedmasters that I didnt discuss on Speedy Tuesday before is the Broad Arrow Automatic. OMEGA introduced this Speedmaster Broad Arrow in 2001, based on the Speedmaster Professional case dimensions, but with an automatic movement.This automatic movement has been topic of several heated discussions in those early years. What was the case? The Frederic Piguet based caliber 3303 movement had some issues with the chronograph function. A number of cases are known where the chrono hands didnt reset properly to zero or just stopped functioning. The late Chuck Maddox was on top of it with his OMEGA caliber 33xx failure blog posts.It seems that after a fix of the Spe...
Golf and watches go together very well. Although there are only very few golf players who actually wear a watch during the game itself, the association is clear. Precision, prestige and enjoying the finer things in life. Last weekend was the final of the Omega European Masters 2018 in Crans Montana, Switzerland. A tournament that has been around since 1923 and title sponsored by Omega since 2001.Omega European Masters 2018On the golf course in Crans Montana, you will find the most beautiful scenery you can wish for. The golf club Crans-sur-Sierre has a length of over 6200 meters and is located at an altitude of approximately 1500 meters. Walking this legendary course will treat you with some...
Although the focus seems to be on the new Panerai Luminor Due this year, with a small diameter, I like to give some attention to the new Panerai Luminor Base Logo and Luminor Marina Logo. These watches used to be equipped with the Unitas/ETA movement, but now have the new caliber P.6000 movement. Developed and manufactured at Panerai in Neuchatel. Lets have a quick look at these new watches.Before I start, let me tell you that all watches are water resistant to 10 bar (~ 100 meters) and have the P.6000 movement, that offers a power reserve of 72 hours. As you can see, the dials are not the typical sandwich dials, but instead have painted numerals.Panerai Luminor Base LogoThree new references...
We told you this would be fun. After four weeks of voting, you, the Fratelli, have selected the winning Instagram images that have made it through to this, the second semi-final. One more hurdle awaits these champions. Winning this week's vote guarantees the image a place in December's final. Better still, it puts the photographer behind the image in the running for some very tasty prizes indeed Below you can find the winners of the last four rounds'. Some cases were obvious from the start. In other instances, we saw heavy voting battles (and surprising last-minute swings) between the contestants. However, in the end, there could only be one winner each week. Now we need you, dear readers, t...
The first Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor I laid my hands on was a Master Compressor Memovox in 2004 and as far as I recall, there were no other Compressor models at that time. I really liked it and still do but it seems that the Master Compressor models in general are not as well received by collectors and enthusiasts as the more conservative Reverso and Master collections. Ive tried and tested Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso and Master watches in the past, but never gave the Master Compressor really a chance.In the past, weve reviewed a couple of Jaeger-LeCoultre watches, like the Gyrotourbillon, the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2, the Master Minute Repeater, Master Tourbillons and the Reverso Cla...
Personally, I like the idea of a limited edition release. But I have started hating the frequency with which brands like to use the words limited edition. And thankfully, some brands have taken a step back and realized they might have pushed the limits of the credibility of these two words.? But it does not necessarily mean there are no worthwhile limited editions anymore. We saw some pretty amazing limited-edition releases in 2020. These are my favorites of last years string of limited releases.While there is something to be said about brands actually overusing the term limited edition, the behavior it sparks in consumers remains mindblowing. There is hardly a consumer phenomenon as powerfu...