Two different price tags, two different styles, yet one of our readers asks us to help him to make a decision.?We already included the Longines HydroConquest in a previous You Asked Us article, but this time, the popular affordable diving watch is up against a brand from the same stable: Tissot. The Tissot Powermatic 80 Seastar 1000 is a bit cheaper and has a slightly different appearance, so it comes down to taste and,?perhaps, technical specifications.You Asked Us: Tissot Powermatic 80 Seastar 1000 or Longines HydroConquestOur reader Amar contacts us to ask about the Tissot Powermatic 80 and the Longines HydroConquest (2018 model). He adds: The Tissot is a bit cheaper but has 80 hours of p...
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Welcome back to Wrist Game or Crying Shame where you can choose whether youd like a serious watch or not. Well find out with todays Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Perpetual Calendar. But firstLast week I gave you the Seiko 6159-7001 Professional diver for consideration. Even though it carried a stiff price tag, the watch swam away with a 67% Wrist Game win. I was happy to see Seiko get some love in this Swiss-dominated arena. Today, well do a serious 180 with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Perpetual Calendar.Growing upI know that the world has become more casual and as a native South Floridian, I could live in shorts and flip-flops for the rest of my days. I dont think it would make me...
Although we already did an in-depth article of the Omega Speedmaster Mark II Co-Axial that was introduced last year, including a comparison to the original Omega Speedmaster Mark II, we thought it was about time to actually wear one for a while and share our experience.To be totally honest with you, when Omega announced their new Speedmaster Mark II Co-Axial I thought to myself that it could be wise to buy an original model as these were available under 1000 Euro on the market. Although I never warmed up to the Speedmaster Mark II but I have to say it was probably even before 2003 when I tried one on for the last time due to the shape of the case, I decided to pull the trigger on a Speedm...
Ronde Louis CartierCartier has been best known for its square and rectangle watches, ask anyone on the street to name a Cartier watch, and you will get an answer like; that watch with the screws.'. That is what Cartier is among the general public; the Santos and the Tank watches. They represent the common understanding of the essence of Cartier, in the luxury world of watches.?It therefore had lasted 30 years, after the first Cartier men's watch was made,?before a round mens dress watch was launched on a larger scale.Elegance, Style and SophisticationThe Ronde Louis Cartier' as it's still called, was born around 1937 and is a creation by the maestro himself. I have to be a bit vague since th...
What an installment of This Week in Watches we have for you. So much exciting news reached us this week. Lets get to it Ill start with a watch which was presented last week, but exclusively in Japan. It must have taken the news a little while to travel to our region, but trust me, it was worth waiting for.Grand Seiko SBGA421We havent been able to find any official press information in English quite understandable for a watch exclusively sold in Japan but this watch is too beautiful not to show you. Were talking about a limited edition Grand Seiko. In the year that Grand Seiko is celebrating its 60th anniversary, the AJHH the Association Japon de la Haute Horlogerie? celebrates its 15th.Excep...
The field is set with two heavyweight chronograph juggernauts at the ready. The new Omega Speedmaster is primed to take on the omega Daytona. Does the Moonwatch now have what it takes to defeat the hypebeast darling?It was one week ago that the new Omega Speedmaster finally broke cover. Most of us had seen leaks the month before, but Omega still brought some refreshing surprises. As such, the responses were quite positive aside from a few concerns regarding pricing. The first meaningful changes in 25 years to one of the worlds most recognizable watches qualify as big news. However, once the dust settles and I see the specks before me on the desk questions begin to form.A meaningless, yet f...
Every watch enthusiast can think of a great discontinued timepiece that should return to the spotlight in a more modern version. At the Fratello offices, we are no different. It inspired us to come up with a series about watches that the Fratello editors would like to see make a comeback. Some of the watches are iconic, some of them are less popular. But all of them are loved by at least one of our editors. Lets look at some of our favorites in this series. Jorg kicks off with the IWC Ingenieur SL Jumbo Ref. 1832.In Fratello team discussions, we regularly dive deep into the archives of a brand to talk about some of the watches from the past that we love. As a result, the question, Wouldnt it...
To set the time correctly on your mechanical wrist watch, you definately need at least one quartz controlled wrist watch. Even better, you need a watch that keeps perfect track of time. You need a radio controlled wrist watch In 1990, Junghans introduced the first radio controlled wrist watch, the Mega 1. An integrated antenna in the strap receives a long-wave radio signal every morning broadcasted on 77.5 KHz from Frankfurt. This broadcast carries time information from Germanys national atomic clocks at Braunschweig. These radio transmissions automatically set the watch correctly.Currently, Junghans still carries one radio controlled watch in their Avantgarde collection. The Mega 1000 watch...
One of the cool things of being a watch blogger is that you get to try some really nice watches. One of the watch we had in our possession for a while was this Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee in platinum. Thats right, platinum. In hommage to 180 years of watchmaking from this company from Le Sentier, they created this ultra thin Master in platinum. The watch is just 4.05mm thick but even more astonishing is the Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 849 movement that is just 1.85mm thick.This Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee watch only has an hour hand and a minute hand otherwise the movement would probably became too bulky for its 4.05mm thick case. The caliber 849 movement consists ...
Thats it. Its over. After a strange few months, the 2020/21 season has come to a stunningly normal conclusion. If Tom Brady keeps this up, hell be in the market for extra fingers before we know it. With his seventh ring and fifth Super Bowl MVP award in the bag, there is not much left to be said about a career that could be broken in half, viewed sideways, with one eye closed, while standing on your head and still be worthy of a first-ballot induction to the Hall of Fame. Instead, were turning our attention toward one of the most worn watches of the event. The new Breitling Chronomat.In all honesty, I am still bitter about the whole 2020/21 season. As a die-hard Broncos fan since the John El...
After the impressive auction result of the Elvis Presley Omega Tiffany, we decided to give you an overview of some of his other watches as well. We discuss two of his Omega watches (one is the 1.8mio Swiss Francs Omega Tiffany), his omega King Midas and the well-known Hamilton Ventura. Without further ado, lets have a look.Elvis Presleys WatchesElvis Presley was one of, if not the, most influential musician of the last century. Throughout his career, that spanned over 30 years, it was estimated that he sold over 1 billion records. He also sold out 837 consecutive shows in Las Vegas, starred in 31 feature films and musicals and had 18 number one songs on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Chart in the U...
As the year comes to an end, some of our editors will be highlighting their favorite watches released this year. I think you'll agree that narrowing it down to just five watches is no easy feat, especially as this year saw so many special releases from big and small brands alike. From an update to the Omega Speedmaster and new omega Explorer models, to classics like the Patek Philippe Nautilus receiving a splash of color on its dial. Even microbrands kept busy this year, launching almost too many exciting watches to count during the past 12 months.So, needless to say, I was dreading making my list. Having spent far too much time slotting brands and in and out of the list, I feel confident in...
Watches And Wonders is an event centered around some of the watch worlds finest and most exclusive brands. omega, Patek, Lange, everyone is invited to the party and its a suit-and-tie affair (for those brave enough). Something I did not expect when touching down in Geneva this past Tuesday was that the very next day during breakfast a white paper bag adorned with a red Swatch logo would be waiting for me. The bag looked familiar. I had seen it in the hands of some of the lucky few, greeted by jealous stares as they exited the Swatch boutique in Rotterdam shortly after its 9:39 AM opening. Inside was the new Omega ?bSwatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch. Undeniably, its the watch launch of the year,...
In this series, our editors will each share their personal grail watch. Its the watch they want the most, their exit watch, or whatever you want to call it. For now, let's stick to grail watch. I will kick it off by sharing my own grail watch, my journey to discovering it, and the grail watches (I thought) I had.In the late 1990s, my grail watch was an Omega Constellation. Funnily enough, it wasnt a pie-pan or any vintage model, but the standard model Omega introduced in 1995. There was no influencing, and there was no proper website about watches. Watch brands websites looked like they were made in Frontpage 1.0, and perhaps they were. There was just the authorized dealer and its stack of b...
Known for its flamboyant watches and jewelry, and one of the world's thinnest automatic watches, Piaget is no stranger to the spotlight. The Limelight Gala collection embellishes the Swiss Maison's iconic collection.It's a great time to be a watch-obsessed woman. Its been a long time coming, but the tide is turning. Finally, we are getting more and more pieces of interest. Brands are finally taking note of their modern customers needs. Firstly, creating timepieces exclusively for women is a must. Gone are the days in which it was acceptable to cover a mans watch with diamonds. This exclusivity shines through in the Piaget Limelight Gala models and exactly the kind of spontaneous femininity I...
What we're having today at the Fratello Head Quarters, is a real mens dress watch. A type of watch that is not often discussed here, but since this watch ?is such a prime example of what a dress watch should be, an exception has been made.Nowadays any watch, that's not a 47mm diver, is often called a dress watch. Even well known watch blogs, dare to?call a omega Datejust or Panerai Radiomir a dress watch and while many guys wear those watches with cuffed shirts and to wedding parties, it's a fact that many occasions require a different and more discreet type of watch, or no watch at all.Van Cleef Arpels, well-known for their exclusive collection of jewelry and ladies watches, also has a gre...
When it comes to press release justifications for celebrating a non-centennial anniversary, few have left me with as warm a feeling in my chest as Grand Seiko's recent explanation of the logic behind its 60th birthday extravaganza. A person's 60th birthday is significant in Japan's culture. At that age, a human has lived through all phases of the Zodiac. As such, it is time to begin again. And, to mark the onset of a new existential era, the Grand Seiko SBGP007 is a fitting release.Let's face it. There's a reason why Grand Seiko ranks close to the top of every Fratello team member's hot-list. While each team member is an individual with individual tastes, Grand Seiko unites us all. Why? Beca...
Aint it funny when things coalesce? Take for instance, Armageddon coming out in the same year as Deep Impact in 1998. Two big-budget asteroid disaster movies from separate studios releasing within months of each other. While Im bringing it down to a much smaller scale, 2020 also saw another conceptual overlap. The vintage flat-link bracelet design for the Omega Speedmaster. The conceptors? Forstner and Uncle Seiko.Before I go into more detail on both these bracelets, let me explain a bit of backstory on the flat-link. The three-link construction with flat surface on the outer side of each link is a design both brands pay heavy homage to from the past. None more so overtly than the reference ...
From March 6th till March 15th, the 36th edition of the Americas Cup will take place. Just recently, Omega introduced its Seamaster Divers 300M Chronograph Americas Cup edition, with chrono lock. We wrote about it here. But last year, Omega debuted a very handsome Seamaster Planet Ocean Americas Cup Limited Edition, to celebrate the 36th race. We had the chance to go hands-on with it not so long ago and thought it would be nice to give it some attention right before the start of this years Americas Cup.Planet Ocean Americas CupOmegas Seamaster family consists of many members. We have the famous 300M, the heritage-inspired 300, the versatile Aqua Terra, the not-so-versatile PloProf, the funky...
The Memovox is probably the most sought-after Jaeger-LeCoultre watch amongst collectors. JLC is about to present a limited series of three new Master Memovox International watches at the Parisian concept store Colette. Why? Well, from the 29th of November till the 31st of December, 25 participants are showing off their best pieces of art (and timepieces are included in that definition) during a project called The Cabinet of Curiosities by Thomas Erber.For this event at Colette, Jaeger-LeCoultre has created a special edition of the Master Memovox International watch in a black PVD-coated steel case. This model is issued in a three-piece limited edition.The Memovox was introduced in 1956 and f...