When I started collecting watches in the late 1990s, my watch dealer and now Fratello contributor Gerard told me that I needed a omega Datejust. Cant go wrong with a omega Datejust as they always work. With anything.. A short and simple statement from someone who had by that time already seen and tried it all. A few years later, just after graduation, I got my first Datejust. It was a vintage Datejust from 1969, with reference 1600, on a jubilee bracelet that was clearly added later. I managed to find a couple of extra bezels, including the fluted white gold one, so I could change it to a reference 1601 when I felt like it. It was also an easy watch to wear on a leather strap.omega Datej...
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Roll up, roll up The summer has hit The Hague, and Fratello is keen to celebrate. After the fizzing success of March Mania, we are back with the Summer Splash. A new knock-out competition conceived to find the very best summer watch out there, according to YOU, the Fratelli. And guess what? You can win prizes No, there wont be a watch available this time, but there WILL be some of the finest water-firing weapons money can buy: the Spyra 2 water cannon is reputedly the strongest of its kind ever made. Fancy getting your hands on one? Read on and take part in the comments section of this article.It is time for my picks for Fratello's Summer Splash 2021. Three watches below 5,000 each, and with...
Its the last Wrist Game or Crying Shame of 2020. Lets end this crazy year with the kooky omega Milgauss. But firstLast week, just before Christmas, I proposed the Cartier Tank Basculante and your response was a resounding Tank you very much The Cartier absolutely crushed it with an 87% Wrist Game win. Im not sure if that proves that you all have class or a thing for discontinued watches. Regardless of your motives, youll have your chance to decide on another bygone timepiece with todays omega Milgauss 116400.The omega Milgauss returns in 2007It was way back in 2007 when omega reintroduced the modern anti-magnetic Milgauss. I recall this period of my life because I was living in a somewhat se...
Scottsdale and Aspen-based Oliver Smith Jeweler this year celebrates forty years of being in the watch business. And what better way to get the party started than by releasing a special watch? Well, with two very special watches, of course Enter the Parmigiani Fleurier a Oliver Smith Jeweler bespoke Tonda GT and Tondagraph GT limited editions. Twenty pieces in total reflect the jeweler's creativity and inspiration from nature.Reaching out to Parmigiani Fleurier to create something celebratory was a no-brainer for Oliver Smith, Founder and Creative Director at Oliver Smith Jeweler. Smith is an admirer of the creative genius that not only is a skilled restorer of antique timepieces and success...
Welcome to Episode 51 of Fratello on Air, otherwise known as WASP 7.0. Today we're going to discuss our three favorite sporting icons and which watches we'd gift them if we had the chance.Weve got disgraced and redeemed French cyclists, Swiss footballers and tennis stars, Hungarian and Irish soccer legends, a swaggering quarterback, and arguably the GOAT of all GOATs for your listening pleasure. The watches weve handed over to these sporting heavyweights range from the ludicrous to the luxury.Ending the show today we have a new segment called Robleys Believe It Or Not based on the popular books, Ripleys Believe It Or Not. In this new segment, Rob presents Balazs with frankly unbelievable sto...
Sharks have long been a source of inspiration for dive watch manufacturers due to their infamous toothy maws and fearsome reputations. Well, now Ulysse Nardin has turned to the denizens of the deep for its new Diver Lemon Shark. It's an attractive black and yellow number, a color scheme that is right up my street.If I asked you to tell me your favorite shark species, I'd guess that many people would say the great white shark. Most likely because it's the only one they could name. That's fair given the amount of publicity the species has received over the years, even if it is mainly negative. I wouldn't, however, expect many people to list the lemon shark at the top of their list.Our toothy c...
Like a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step chapter 64 of Lao Tses Tao Te Ching ?I think a watch collection starts with a single watch. Not with three. But lets assume the hypothetical situation, where a sugar daddy gave me 10,000 to spend on a three-watch watch collection to start with. What would I do? First, Id celebrate, of course, and then Id consult my feelings and probably head over to Chrono24.At first, it might seem challenging to spend 10K wisely; there are so many options, and a considerable part of the watch world lays open to you. But realizing that it should be the start of a watch collection makes it relatively easy for me. Theres only one watch that I would c...
I hope you enjoyed a sunny weekend somewhere outside. And even if you stayed at home in front of the TV, the weekend was very eventful for the avid sports fan. There was MotoGP action from Portim?o in Portugal, the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield, and Formula 1 action from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. Plenty to talk about in the coffee corner, but maybe you also want to throw in some watch-related stuff. Well, if the F1 topic lingers on a little too long, you could mention a case of possible mistaken watch identity, the first topic in this episode of Coffee Corner Watch Talk. Anyway, enjoy your coffee and have a great start to your work/watch w...
Rightly or wrongly, when most people think of omega, they think of showy watches. I'd argue that a lot of the brands models are subdued, and perhaps the reputation comes more from the wearers than from the watches themselves. It is what it is, though. So, what happens when one stumbles upon a truly under-the-radar omega? Well, I happened to do just that with an atypical version of the Datejust 16200, and I think it's phenomenal.The omega Datejust is one of the most recognizable watches in the world. We've covered them extensively over the past year and, personally, I've been on a real DJ kick lately. I've always liked them, but they were so commonplace that I often overlooked what I typicall...
First off, for those who are celebrating, the Fratello team wishes you a very Merry Christmas.? If not, happy Speedy Tuesday We do our best to publish new content on Christmas day because, after all, it's a decent day to laze on the couch and relax. So let's get into what has to be one of the most surprising and attractive Speedmasters to date, the Omega Speedmaster Rising Sun.A Speedmaster QuintetIt was late July this year when Omega dropped news of a quintet of Speedmasters to be released for the Japanese market in commemoration of the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As a set (55 boxes), but also as separate watches. With 2020 pieces of each model (and the 55 sets), the watches started shipp...
Theres a new kid on the blockchainAccompanying the rebirth of the Breitling Top Time (something all of us at Fratello are VERY excited about), is the news of a new digital service available to buyers. To better understand this new blockchain-stored digital passport, I caught up with Antonio Carriero, Breitlings Chief Digital and Technology Officer and a member of the senior executive team, the man with all the answers. Welcome, one and all, to the futureThe InterviewRob Nudds: It's a very exciting time for Breitling with the continued overhaul of the catalog. Everything feels very much on brand. Thats hard to achieve while also being progressive. And now we see the Top Time return to the fol...
When did you last see a watch ad that made a lasting impression on you and wasnt created decades ago? While plenty of brands in different industries have found great success in finding new ways to connect to their audience through advertising, the watch industry is hardly creative in both ideas and execution when it comes to advertising. But that doesnt mean there havent been great promotional campaigns. Lets take a look at five creative watch advertising campaigns that have great iconic value.If anything, watch brand advertising has hardly changed in decades. For years watch brands have been painting a static picture of an aspirational world of luxury in their advertising. Unfortunately, th...
During our visits to watch manufactures we always get to see a lot of watch makers at work. Sitting behind their low desks, highly concentrated, working on movements or other small watch parts. Recently I was able to try it ourselves during the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Class Watch Training.Jaeger-LeCoultre Master ClassOrganised in their recently opened boutique in the renowned P.C. Hooftstraat in Amsterdam, we were welcomed by the JLC team and their watchmaker. In their basement theyd set up some work benches, with all the necessary watch making tools for the surgery we were about to perform. Today patient? The Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 986, as used in the Grande Reverso Duoface.After explaini...
The history of the Pasha de Cartier is shrouded in mystery. Yes, the watch is named after the Pasha of Marrakesh, Thami El Glaoui. And it's also true that he commissioned a waterproof watch from Louis Cartier in the early 1930s so he could wear it swimming. Another fact is that in 1933, the Pasha got his desired watch. But here is where the mystery begins. No one knows exactly what the watch looked like, though experts point in the direction of the water-resistant gold Tank |tanche. What we do know is that the watch didn't look like the Pasha we know today. The G rald Genta-designed Pasha de Cartier only debuted in 1985. And when it did, it fit right into the decade of greed. With its exuber...
The Hamilton Ventura is one of those watches that pretty much every watch enthusiast knows. The Ventura takes all the classic conventions of what a watch should look like and throws them straight out of the window. The most famous wearer of the Ventura was without a doubt, Elvis Presley. Back in 2015, Hamilton launched the Ventura Elvis80 collection on what was to be Elviss 80th birth year. Almost six years after that, the latest additions to the collection are the Hamilton Ventura Elvis80 Skeleton watches. Are these two watches still the classic that Elvis wore? Lets find out!Its remarkable how I managed not to review or even wear a Hamilton Ventura before. As someone that is predominantly ...
This article has been on my mind for a long time now: The Omega Speedmaster in movies. We've covered the appearance of Speedmasters in movies and TV shows every now and then, but we never compiled a proper list of movies that featured Speedmaster watches.I know Apollo 13 has been the movie when it comes to the Speedmaster, but I only saw that movie much later than its release date. Back in 2000, after one year of owning my Omega Speedmaster, I visited the cinema with my then-girlfriend to watch Frequency. In that movie, the main character John Sullivan (played by Jim Caviezel) communicates with his long-dead father Frank Sullivan (played by Dennis Quaid) via an old ham radio. I enjoyed the m...
This is the second installment of our Your Speedmaster Story series with three new readers stories. A few weeks ago, we asked you to share your Speedmaster story?with us, and with the Speedmaster community. Besides admiring other people's Speedmaster watches, it's the stories that make the watches truly special.This week, we have stories from Luca (Italy), David (The Netherlands), and Simon (Hong Kong). They share with you (and us) their Speedmaster stories for this Speedy Tuesday installment. Featuring are a modern Speedmaster Professional, a vintage Speedmaster Professional (145.022-69), and the first Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday. Enjoy!Your Speedmaster StoryWe are interested in reading your...
Speedmaster enthusiasts and collectors love accessories for their watches. I am no exception myself, to be honest. Omega has just introduced three new Speedmaster Moonwatch Velcro straps. We received two of these to try out.As you know, astronauts who used the Speedmaster during EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity), wore them on velcro straps over their spacesuit. Ed White even wore two of them in 1965 That same year, the Omega Speedmaster (105.003) was qualified by NASA for all manned space missions. You can read about that here.These Velcro straps came in handy for the spacesuit, but are way too long for your wrist, of course. The original velcro strap also has a special internal NASA code: SEB1...
I?am a?self-diagnosed vintage watch nerd. You can only imagine how many parcels, packages, and boxes I?have received over the years. What you cannot imagine is the creativity of some of the packaging that comes through. Watch collecting is supposed to be fun, right? Well, some of the featured wrapping techniques definitely prove it.If you have ever spent more than 3k or 5k on a watch, you can remember exactly how long you spent fawning over your new watch. I am pretty sure you spent the same amount of time studying each square centimeter of the packaging. Packaging comes in endless shapes, materials, and sizes. The packaging becomes a part of the story. It sets the scene, builds the narrativ...
IWC has a long history regarding pilots watches. Their iconic Mark 11 dates back to 1948 and thats why IWC thought it is time to resurrect it in the current Mark XVIII. Meet the Tribute to Mark XI version. Limited to only 1948 pieces, so you have to be quick.The original IWC Mark 11 was in production from 1948 till the early 1980s, before being replaced with the Mark XII. The IWC Mark 11 was fitted with a IWC Caliber 89 movement, hand-wound and ticking at 18.000vph. A movement they used in various other watches as well. After that, IWC used Jaeger-LeCoultre movements and ETA movements for their Mark-series Pilot watches. This new IWC Mark XVIII Tribute to Mark XI has the self-winding?35111-c...